Chapter 191 - Central Powers (5)
Three countries were left.
Henry decided to stop by the Snow Spire before heading out for the other Central Powers. By then, all the school heads had to have returned from their duties.
“Wow, did you really bring all the wizards from the Magical Spire in the palace all the way here?”
“Of course.”
After passing through the White Gate, Herarion was surprised to see the once-empty Snow Spire filled with imperial wizards.
When the two arrived back at the Snow Spire, McDowell was waiting on the ground floor. He walked up to Henry and said in an agitated voice, “Hey you, Archmage! Where the hell have you been, leaving us here?”
“Ah, I apologize. The meeting dragged on, and I forgot about the Imperial Ten Swords for a moment.”
“What? You forgot about us?”
“I apologize. I just came back from Amaris.”
“Hey, even so, you left us here for hours... Wait, what did you just say? Amaris?”
“That’s right.”
“Why were you in Amaris?”
“I went there first for the purpose of uniting all the Central Powers, the former allies of the Eurasia Empire, into the Allied Powers.”
“Allied Powers? And who’s the person next to you...?”
As McDowell cocked his head, Herarion bowed slightly and introduced himself.
“Nice to meet you. I’m Herarion Khan, the king of the Shahatra kingdom.”
“Shahatra!”
Shahatra had never interacted with the outside world except to offer tribute, so this was McDowell’s first time seeing someone from Shahatra. In addition, the person next to Henry wasn't just a citizen from that kingdom, but the king of the desert!
McDowell quickly bowed and said, “It’s an honor to meet you, Your Majesty! My name is McDowell Curgs, the third sword of the former Imperial Ten Swords.”
“Ah, I've heard about you. McDowell, as in Sonic McDowell?”
“Haha! Has my fame reached all the way to the desert?”
“Of course. Even if my kingdom has no contact with the empire, we are still aware of the basic political landscape.”
“Oh, I see. By the way... Have you met this guy just now when you joined the Allied Powers?”
“No. I’ve known Sir Henry way before that.”
McDowell and Valhald hadn’t been aware that Shahatra had traded with the Empire because ever since they had left the palace, they had stayed in Beaustiel.
Herarion kindly explained everything that had happened, and after understanding the situation, McDowell laughed and clasped Herarion’s hand.
“I see! Then will you please invite me to Shahatra sometime in the future when you get the chance?”
"Absolutely. A distinguished guest like you deserves nothing but the best!"
“Ohh! Your Majesty, you mustn't forget the promise you just made!”
McDowell had been grumpy just moments earlier, but his disposition had quickly improved and he was now laughing with a big smile on his face.
Von tugged on McDowell’s clothing and asked in a quiet voice, “What happened to you? Just a minute ago, you said you were going to kick Henry’s ass, so why the sudden change in attitude?”
“His Majesty said he’ll invite me to Shahtara! Haven’t you heard the rumors about how beautiful their women are?”
“Rumors?”
“That’s right! Those women are supposedly extremely captivating, and they have sun-kissed skin! Do you even know anything about Shahtara?”
“I’ve been to Shahatra before.”
“Oh, really? Then you must know. How are the women in Shahatra?”
Von initially kept quiet at McDowell’s question, but then gave a thumbs up and said, “...They’re awesome!”
“As expected. I knew it. Hehehe!”
The two of them were close, and even in their old age, they got along well.
Henry laughed and told them, “Good timing, because I was just about to ask both of you for help.”
“For help?”
“Yes. I need more people for this one.”
“More people? What do you mean?”
“I’ll tell you more about it later, so could you please wait here for a moment? I’ll come back after a quick meeting with the school heads.”
“Okay.”
“Your Majesty, you can come with me.”
“Alright.”
Henry and Herarion moved to the top floor of the Snow Spire. There, at the round table, five wizards were waiting for Henry, including Douglas, who had just been released from Amaris.
As soon as Henry entered the room, everyone got up from their seats and bowed.
“You may all sit.”
Even at first glance, it was obvious that everyone was a renowned wizard, but when all those wizards bowed to Henry, Herarion realized how powerful Henry really was.
“This is His Majesty Herarion, the king of Shahatra, one of the five Central Powers.”
“I’m Herarion Khan from Shahatra.”
Henry introduced Herarion to all the school heads, and in turn, all of them introduced themselves.
“Okay, has everyone delivered the letters?”
“Yes, Archmage.”
“Out of the five Central Powers, Shahatra and Amaris have agreed to join the Allied Powers. Now, that just leaves Stan, Junky, and Linky. Have any of you received a response from the other three Central Powers?”
The three wizards had traveled to Deucekain, Sore Empire, and Jeband, respectively.
Stan spoke on behalf of all three of them, “I’ve got a response from them, but the Sore Empire and Zipan asked for more time.”
“Really? And what did Deucekain say?”
“They said they’re not going to ally with anyone, but instead take this opportunity to become an independent country.”
“Hmm, Deucekain... An independent country...”
Deucekain was a nation of warriors, with the majority of its citizens having black skin. They were physically the strongest out of all the races of the continent, and both men and women were belligerent and strong-willed, irrespective of their age.
‘Well, of course, they’re going to use this opportunity to become independent. Even during the unification war, they were basically forced to surrender.’
Henry had somewhat anticipated the situation with Deucekain, just like he had done with Amaris.
The reason the Central Powers couldn’t convert to free cities in the first place was because their cultures were too rich.
‘But on the other hand, it’ll be easy to deal with them as long as we respect and resonate with their culture.’
Henry smirked, because he didn’t think that Deucekain was going to listen to him anyway.
“The Sore Empire and Zipan have asked for a little more time, so that’ll make Deucekain our next stop.”
“What? Archmage, are you going to convince Deucekain yourself?”
“Yes. This war is going to be pointless unless all the Central Powers work together.”
“Then we’ll join you. It's too dangerous for you to go alone, Archmage.”
“Dangerous? For me?”
Of course, it was merely a polite thing to say, but Henry still found it hilarious. He waved his hand and said, “No, it’s okay! Taking manpower with me in Deucekain will be pointless. Plus, I already have someone who will accompany me.”
“Already?”
“Yes. We’ll have to deal with the people of Deucekain in a Deucekain-like manner. They’re a little barbaric, aren’t they?”
“Then what should we do in the meantime?”
“Lore, have you guys finished moving?”
“Yes, Archmage.”
“Okay. Then take this and head to Amaris.”
“What is this?”
Henry held out the Blood Moon, the treasure of Amaris that he had received from Hela.
“This is a treasure handed down within the royal family of Amaris. If you take this with you, they’ll know I sent you. As soon as you reach Amaris, reinforce their castle walls so that they can withstand the destruction that this war will bring about. You've spent all this time developing daily life magic, so shouldn’t you use it for something like this?”
“Understood. Is there anything else you would like us to do?”’
“Hide the teleportation gate in an inconspicuous place. The gate will be used strategically during the war.”
“Alright.”
“Oh, and I sent Argus and Maker to Enkelmann for the same reason I’m sending you to Amaris.”
Although Monsieur's craftsmen had been hired to build the walls of the free cities and make them stronger, those men weren’t perfect in their craft. Therefore, Henry planned to use the archmage magic to transform the free cities into perfect fortresses.
“That’s it for this meeting. You may use the 4th-Circle wizards if you need, but return to the spire once you have completed all your duties.”
“Yes, Archmage!” all the wizards answered firmly.
Thus, Henry’s second step toward the war had begun.
* * *
Deucekain was a large kingdom made up of brave warriors who worshiped power. They weren’t a big ethnic group but a confederation of warrior tribes.
Every year, the warriors would nominate a representative from each tribe and then select the ruler of Deucekain from those representatives.
The tribe that had been the ruler of Deucekain for about twenty-one years since the founding of the empire was none other than...
“It’s the Chowan Tribe.”
“The Chowan Tribe?”
“They were once a gang of bandits that roamed between the borders of the kingdoms of Casevenia and Lilda, but the gang itself no longer exists.”
“What? So a bunch of bandits are now acting like royalty?”
“Technically, they’re not royalty. It’s just that the Chowan Tribe is the strongest one, which naturally allowed them to rule for a long time. The people of Deucekain establish their hierarchy strictly based on strength.”
“So what? Are you telling us to make a show of strength to the Chowan Tribe?”
“Precisely.”
McDowell had unexpectedly hit the nail on the head.
The people of Deucekain only believed in raw strength and superstition, so to them, magic was just a sly trick of the weak. Therefore, even if an archmage went there with a letter, there was no way they would accept Henry’s proposal.
“They say that they’re going to use this opportunity to become independent and whatnot, but if they end up losing to Arthus, I know for a fact that the Chowan Tribe are going to surrender and join him. So, we must make them join the Allied Powers before Arthus can get to them.”
“Okay! I get what you’re saying, but why do you need to bring us along? You said you’re a swordsman yourself. Can you not deal with them yourself?”
“It’s not that.”
“Then why?”
“In Deucekain, they have a culture called Winner of Three. It means that in anything that you do, you have to do it three times before they acknowledge you. That’s why I’m bringing you guys, because even if I win all three times on my own, they won’t admit it anyway, so I’m just going to bring three people from the start.”
“They’re so picky for a bunch of bandits.”
If one couldn’t get a definite result out of controversy, don’t make it a controversy in the first place. That was Henry’s way of dealing with the Chowan Tribe.
“Let’s go then,” said Henry.
Henry used Teleportation together with Von, McDowell, and Valhald.
Just like he had done in Amaris, Henry used the center of the Deucekain palace as their arrival point.
* * *
Rumble!
Deucekain was located in Mount Mecca.
A thunderbolt powerful enough to shake Mount Mecca crashed into the center of Deucekain’s palace.
“...Let’s teleport to a more normal place next time, like the entrance...” murmured McDowell.
“This is how all wizards do it.”
A cloud of dust formed right after the thunderbolt struck, and countless arrows were shot toward Henry through the dust cloud.
“Shield.”
Clank!
Henry instinctively cast his emerald-colored Magic Shield, which blocked the Aura-enhanced arrows, causing them to break like toothpicks.
“Wind.”
Henry blew away all the dust using the wind. He could then see the people of Deucekain everywhere with their bows and arrows pointed at him.
“See, look at them! They’re mad.”
“It doesn't matter. We’re going to be fighting against them anyway.”
Von shook his head and sighed, but Henry shrugged it off like it was no big deal.
Just then, a single arrow shot toward Henry at an incredibly fast speed.
Shunk!
“Huh?”
This single arrow was different from all the others that had been shot before.
‘My, my. Would you look at this...?’
Upon impact, the arrow remained stuck in Henry’s magic shield, still intact. Only an archer at the level of a bow master could’ve shot such an arrow.
Henry looked up and spotted the archer within the crowd of Deucekain people. He had an awfully familiar face.
“Terion?”
The man who had shot the arrow was none other than Count Terion Falcon, who had participated in the Shahatra subjugation.
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