Grave Keeper of the Fallen Kingdom

A grand celebration was held at the Ein Bayer Fortress after a long time.

Len Argen, Stefan Ibenschutz, the Amaranth Knights, and the Black Panthers, who captured the legendary monster known as the Troll Warchief.

Returning to the citadel, the troll warchief’s massive head proudly hangs at the head of their procession, and behind them is the skin and blood of countless trolls.

“With this, my finances will be generous for about half a year.”

“Yes, this is all thanks to Ren.”

Stefan and Arthur, looking at the lively atmosphere inside the castle from the mansion, discussed the future direction.

“First of all, make sure to compensate the bereaved family.”

“Yes, the damage wasn’t that great compared to the achievement of catching the troll warchief. I can fully prepare myself.”

One Amaranth Knights, 11 Black Panthers, and 3 soldiers were killed.

Certainly not a few people were sacrificed, but considering the scale of the frequent battles in the north before Ren came and the damage, the number was overwhelmingly small.

Of course, considering the number of injured, there were much more.

“For the time being, I will focus on recovery. Fortunately, the monsters are not showing any movement in the snowfields of the Black Land yet, but you never know when they will come.”

“Okay, don’t be alarmed. The troll warchief was not within the scope of our worries. It was just a huge disaster that came on suddenly.”

The atmosphere outside was lively and good, but on the contrary, Stefan felt that this was the biggest crisis.

In the first place, the reason why the northerners requested reinforcements considering the danger was because of the monsters of the black land, but a natural disaster occurred and the power gap greatly increased.

If the black land monsters attacked at this timing, the possibility that the North would really collapse could not be ruled out.

“I’ll have to ask for more reinforcements.”

“but.”

“The troll warchief has appeared. Don’t you see what this alludes to now? Something unknown is happening in the mountains.”

“All right.”

Arthur bowed his head and went outside.

Stefan’s expression showed no sign of straightening.

‘This might be the biggest crisis in Ain Bayer’s history.’

* * *

Ren, who was lying down, woke up after two days, a little faster than the last time.

The fortress was nearing the end of the festival, but they enjoyed the festival to relieve their hunger.

This time, as well, Alan enjoyed a drink with the northern warriors, and this time Ren joined them and had a good time, albeit for a while.

Neither did Ren, nor did the quick-witted Alan ask them about their dead comrades.

The fact that the members of the Knights of the Golden Lion were also intentionally avoiding them was something that I could tell without being as much annoyed as Ren.

“however… Can we play and eat like this without holding a funeral for the warriors who sacrificed themselves this time?”

However, there are always ignorant guys everywhere.

Andrew of the Knights of the Golden Lion spit out that while drinking with the Knights of Amaranth, and the atmosphere that had settled for a moment was quickly relieved by Ralph.

“Are they really going to be sad if we die like this? I’m sorry I don’t see you being a nerd who can’t even drink because he’s scared of training the next day!”

“what? Who, who is scary! hey! Bring more drinks! You’re going to die today or I’m going to die, right?”

“How are you? There is always a hot fire boiling in the hearts of the northern warriors! Do you think we’ll get drunk on something like this?”

“Right!”

“yes! Ralph, this guy knows the weather in the North!”

“Honestly, there’s no way I can lose to the guys who were in a warm place.”

“hahahaha! that’s right. cute? Our golden lion friends?”

The light rivalry that started between Ralph and Andrew gradually spread to the rivalry between Amaranth and the Golden Lion Knights, and the drunkenness began to grow.

“Ears, are you cute? we?”

“driving me crazy. I treated them like northern warriors last time, so you really think they eat better?”

“hey! If you fell asleep here first, prepare to die tomorrow at training!”

Andrew shouted at the members with a slightly drunk face.

“Let’s show the strength of the Amaranth Knights! The warriors who stretch will go up after seeing Arthur brother tomorrow?”

Ralph also jumped up and inspired the Knights of Amaranth.

“here! Bring me the strongest drink here!”

“Ten barrels! No, there must be thirty!”

“What is it? Should there be fifty? Are you all alone?”

“what? what a noise! aunt! Just bring all the drinks in the citadel! hurry!”

A stout woman carrying a barrel larger than her body on her back set it down among the members and hit Ralph in the back of the head.

“ah! Why, why are you hitting me?”

“How much are you going to drink again? Then, if you can’t go to training tomorrow, will your brother scold you again?”

“Aye! are you okay! Do you think we will lose to the guys from that continent?”

Drunk and excited, Ralph shouted while provoking the Golden Lion Knights properly.

“what? this child! Aunt! A little more, please.”

Even Dominic, who had been quiet, could not stand it and got up and joined the drinking party.

“Ugh… … .”

The lady shook her head and went to get another drink, and a drinking party started between the members.

“ruler! Let’s drink!”

Ren and Stefan, who watched the members drinking from a distance, left them alone to enjoy themselves, and Arthur, who was next to them, stood up to stop them and then sat down again at Ren’s persuasion.

“I tell you to enjoy it until today.”

“but… … .”

“Prince, it’s not something to talk about in this atmosphere, but I think we need to ask for more reinforcements. Would that be possible?”

Alan, who had just joined the seat, felt his drunkenness run away at Stefan’s heavy talk.

“Is it very serious?”

“It looks serious now.”

Alan hardened his expression and pursed his lips as if in thought.

Seeing Alan like that, Ren wondered if he would return to Brillant under the pretext of sending reinforcements, but the answer that came out of his mouth was unexpected.

“To request reinforcements, we need to communicate, but in order to do that, we have to go down to Castle ‘Froviant’, don’t we?”

“Yes, since long-distance communication magic tools don’t work in the northern climate… … .”

Stefan licked his lips in regret and blurted out his words.

“I will come and go. Brilliant also has a long-distance communication magic tool, so if I ask you to connect it, it should be possible.”

“But the road to the north will be quite arduous. You don’t have to send a messenger other than the prince.”

“Isn’t the northern part urgent right now?”

“you’re right.”

“Fundamentally, wouldn’t it be much more helpful to receive the support of the Rosaria Kingdom’s magic corps rather than Brillant’s help?”

“That means… … .”

“I’ll try to convince you.”

Alan took a sip lightly like drinking beer and said with a light smile.

Not only Stefan, but also Arthur and Ren, who were next to him, widened their eyes at Alan’s unconventional proposal.

It was because there was no reason for a foreign prince to do that for the North.

“Isn’t it hard for Sir Stephen and Sir Arthur to be away anyway? If I go, it suits me the most, and I will listen more carefully to every word you say.”

That was right. Even though it is a small country with weak Brilliant power and difficult to exert any influence, it is a symbolic country on the continent.

A country where there were heroes who prevented the catastrophe of the continent.

Wasn’t it that the three great powers joined forces to revive Brilliant in honor of that?

Of course, it was used politically in consideration of mutual interests and various advantages diplomatically, but it was more efficient for Alan to go than the northern cadres who were hard to vacate anyway.

“If Prince Alan said that first, we would be grateful. Let’s send the olives too. I won’t be ignored because I’m not from the North.”

“If possible, take the head of the troll warchief as well. And if you go all the way to Ren who killed that monster, you will definitely receive strength.”

“Sir Ren… Are you going to take me with you?”

Stefan said in a slightly trembling voice.

Arthur also hardened his expression, wondering if that was a bad idea, but he didn’t show it too much.

The original Alan would have shown the nuance of stepping back to match the mood of the two, but not this time.

“We go with a minimum number of people. With the Black Panthers effectively out of action, it seems like a perfect fit for Sir Olive, me, and Ren.”

“But Sir Ren is currently the warrior the northern warriors rely on the most. It is also the strongest power. No matter how far it goes to Proviant, it takes two weeks even if it is just a round trip.”

As if Arthur knew what the situation was, he calculated the time and said it, but Alan did not intend to bend his mind.

“I don’t understand.”

“What do you mean?”

“Since when did the North depend so much on Ren?”

Alan’s words put a dagger into the chest of Stefan and Arthur.

Looking back, yes.

Until just two weeks ago, Ren and the reinforcements were just reinforcements who came to help, not expecting much.

But in just two weeks, Ren was deeply embedded in the hearts of the northerners.

Stefan and Arthur felt a little hurt in their pride even though they were surprised that even they themselves thought this way.

Even if you think about it rationally, Alan’s proposal wasn’t that bad.

In Rosaria, there is a high probability that they do not know the situation in the north and will not accept its seriousness as it is.

However, Stefan, the commander, and Arthur, the leader of the Amaranth Knights, could not go.

It is a self-evident fact that Ren, who felt the ominous portents of the North the most, would be better than anything else to convince them.

Moreover, he said he would go the hard way to Alan himself, but why was he blocking them?

“… … That’s right. hahahaha, you didn’t look like a commander.”

“Me too. I must have been leaning heavily on Lord Ren before I knew it.”

The two of them blamed themselves and smiled bitterly.

“You don’t have to beat yourself up that much. Even now, it’s just a matter of moving in the right direction.”

“What do you think?”

Ren, who had been watching silently, opened his mouth for the first time at Stefan’s question.

“Certainly, like Prince Allan said, I think going will be helpful in making the negotiations with the Kingdom of Rosaria a success.”

If the kingdom’s magic corps came to assist, it would certainly help.

The kingdom of Rosaria was comparable to the Empire in terms of magic bottle power alone.

“Then let’s do that.”

After Stefan’s permission was granted, Alan relaxed again and proposed a toast.

* * *

Two more days passed and the situation in the north remained calm. The atmosphere of the mountain range, which seemed like something would happen at any moment, was still calm, and the magic tools planted at the entrance to the black land did not respond at all.

After watching the progress for two days and completing preparations, Ren and his party left for Proviant to request reinforcements.

After passing the northern border where heavy snow fell, the weather changed to a pleasant lie.

When the three men appeared, the soldiers waiting there handed over the supplies they had prepared, filled their hunger, and guided them to the wagon.

“There is no time. Hurry up.”

“egg plant.”

Before arriving in Proviant, when Olive was absent for a while on the way, Alan sneaked out to Ren about the reason he had taken him for this request.

“Ren, don’t you want to go back to Brillant?”

“What are you talking about all of a sudden?”

“The atmosphere in the north is unusual. Not only that, Brilliant is also in a dizzy situation because of Lev-hyung.”

“… … Are you sure you want to go back?”

“Okay, what about it? i felt it this time Watching you die twice, I said I shouldn’t be in the North. You have room to grow even bigger in the future. It’s too risky to be in a dangerous place like the North right now.”

Although he did not directly go to the battlefield or participate in training properly, Alan had an accurate insight into the situation in the north in his own way.

And in the process, he planned this, thinking that it would be beneficial to take Ren back even if it meant throwing away all the relationships and images he had built up in the North.

“The Rosaria Kingdom won’t make it an issue just because the two of us are going back.”

“… … That’s not okay.”

Ren rejected Alan’s offer without hesitation.