The Extra Strategist’s Royal Road Chapter 186
The old man told everything about this place without hiding anything.
The scale was quite large, so it took some time to absorb the information.
“So to summarize, it’s like this… In the end, it was all caused by humans?”
“That’s the unchanging principle of the world.”
The root cause of all this was a special monster living in the center of the Forest of Lament.
The monster is called Mepatra, and it has the ability to erode space and deceive intruders within that space, making them kill each other or go insane.
However, even so, its level of danger wasn’t particularly high. Even if there was damage, it was at a level that could be subjugated.
The problem was the faction that had its eye on this creature.
“They thought that if they could tame it, controlling and bewitching people would be child’s play. The Pax family, who highly valued this aspect, didn’t kill it but instead called in a black magician to try and control the monster.”
At the mention of the Pax family, Rinoa and Lucretia’s expressions hardened.
“Pax…?”
“Are you talking about the Viscount Pax family!”
Rinoa’s expression was particularly grim. The old man, seeming to guess what was going on, grinned and continued speaking.
“However, not everything went according to Viscount Pax’s plan. Others who noticed his intentions also mobilized black magicians to try and snatch away the benefits. As the situation escalated, Viscount Pax spread rumors about something unknown in this forest, controlled this area, and reported to the kingdom that further exploration of the lost lands was no longer possible.”
Coincidentally, the kingdom was also burdened by the increasing power of the southern continent nobles, so they readily agreed and halted the exploration of the lost lands.
Once the kingdom turned a blind eye, numerous nobles who had no reservations set foot in this Forest of Lament to try and tame the monster, and endless covert struggles ensued.
Among them were renowned black magicians whose names alone were enough to know their infamy.
“I was also one of the magicians invited at that time. Well, I quickly realized the reality and fled here.”
The old man introduced himself as Polarian.
Glancing at Rinoa’s reaction, she shook her head, indicating she didn’t know him.
Seeing this, Polarian continued, speaking as if in self-mockery.
“It’s not strange that you don’t know me. Black magicians generally weren’t known by name. If you know their names, it means they either have extraordinary skills or have committed enough evil deeds… And such individuals are here. There are archmages here that I can’t even compare myself to.”
He says that three factions centered around them are still engaged in covert struggles.
“That’s the gist of it. I suppose you now understand what kind of situation you’ve stepped into.”
“I understand the general idea… But why are you still here? Why did you make Gunther your familiar?”
“I’m just a black magician too. Even if I went back to the outside world, I wouldn’t be welcomed. I made that big guy my familiar simply because he wanted it that way.”
“Are you saying Gunther volunteered…?”
“Ask Meissen about that part. I need to go check outside now. That Gramper fellow must be quite angry that I brought you lot onto my territory.”
The old man, leaning on his staff, went outside.
I turned my gaze to Meissen.
Meissen nodded heavily.
“Mr. Polarian is right. Gunther voluntarily became a familiar.”
“What exactly happened?”
“It’s all because of me…”
The sound of crickets could be heard from outside.
Meissen began to unfold his story with a sad face.
* * *
The next morning.
I was looking around the village, thinking about future plans.
‘It wasn’t a small matter.’
It was on a national scale.
It was troublesome that my acquaintance was involved in this national-scale incident.
‘Gunther…’
After parting ways with me, Gunther had apparently acted together with a mercenary group. With their help, he roamed the southern continent and found clues about Meissen in Iswakan.
He also received help from that mercenary group when dealing with the noble who had kidnapped Meissen, but the problem came after that.
Gunther, who got entangled in the Forest of Lament, experienced despair. A situation occurred where comrades killed each other due to a black magician named Gramper.
Moreover, some were even kidnapped alive by Gramper.
‘Apparently, among them was a woman Gunther loved…’
Knowing Gunther, he probably fell in love easily, but that doesn’t mean the wound would be small.
Gunther, who somehow survived, met the old man Polarian and made a deal.
He would become a familiar in exchange for ensuring the safety of Meissen and his comrades. And he asked for a chance to take revenge on Gramper.
‘Sigh! I shouldn’t have let Gunther go alone after all.’
It was a result-oriented thing. If Gunther hadn’t been sent to the southern continent, Meissen would have experienced a great tragedy.
Thanks to Gunther, Meissen didn’t suffer much. Gunther probably feels satisfied about that part too.
‘More importantly, about future matters…’
This wasn’t something I could resolve on my own.
Deciding to judge the situation coolly, I quickly made a decision.
I gathered my companions and said, “We’re going to leave this forest.”
“Does that mean you’re going to leave this situation as it is?”
Lucretia asks with sharp eyes.
“For now, yes. But let me ask you in return, what can we do in the current situation?”
“That’s… I don’t know yet, but if we look, we might find something.”
“That’s too vague. Rather than that, it would be faster for us, who know the situation, to go outside and ask for help. That’s probably what the enemy fears most too.”
Just look at how they tried to kill Lucretia without question when she revealed her identity as a member of the Royal Guard.
“Lucretia, you’re saying that from a broader perspective, it would be right for you to explain the situation to the king and organize a large-scale subjugation force, right?”
“Certainly… But what about justification? It’s clearly a gruesome incident, but whether the royal family will move is another story.”
“Rinoa will take care of that part, so don’t worry.”
“Miss Rinoa?”
Rinoa nodded in agreement with a stern expression. She understood what I was trying to say.
“Wait a minute!” It was Meissen. “What about Gunther?”
“I’d like to take him if possible, but I don’t think the old man will agree. And we can’t forcibly take him either… So we’re leaving Gunther behind.”
Even if we managed to persuade the old man well and bring Gunther back to his senses, Lucretia would immediately arrest him. The crime of killing a noble is punishable by at least execution, so it was better to leave Gunther here until the situation was resolved.
“That can’t be! Think about it again!”
“Don’t worry too much. I’m planning to assign Gaspar to him.”
Gaspar, receiving my gaze, nodded as if to say not to worry.
“Exploring the lost lands of the northern continent or exploring here is the same to me. Don’t worry about me. As for Gunther… If he dies, there’s nothing we can do, but I’ll try to look after him as much as possible.”
This was the best we could do for now.
There was no need for everyone to take risks.
When we expressed our intention to leave this place, the old man Polarian made an ambiguous expression.
“If it were that easy to escape, there would be no reason for this place to be called the Forest of Lament.”
“But there must be some way, right? I think you, who have stayed here for a long time, would know.”
“Hmm… Well, yes, but…”
“I’m asking you to tell us that method.”
“There’s no particular straightforward method. The only way is to break through by force.”
“That’s enough.”
I shouldered the iron spear I had procured from the village.
The old man led us to a certain point as if saying, ‘If you can do it, go ahead and try.’ As a bonus, he selected people from the village who wanted to go outside and attached them to us.
These villagers were people who had entered this forest looking for missing persons, and were being protected by Polarian.
They seemed tired of living here and came out in small groups at the possibility of being able to leave.
“This is the place. This is the boundary of the monster’s territory.”
When the old man cast some kind of magic, black magical power swirled and collided at a point. As if there was a wall.
“If you destroy this, a gap will appear for a moment.”
“It looks quite solid.”
“It is solid. Even I can’t break it.”
Just in case I couldn’t do it alone, Erina, Rinoa, and Lucretia also decided to cast magic together.
I concentrated magical power on the spear.
It seems I’m getting the hang of it, as I was able to create a spear of magical power more efficiently than last time.
‘Concentrate the power more precisely.’
The old man looked at this magical spear with a mysterious gaze.
“A weapon spell! At this level! Impressive!”
“Be quiet, you’re disturbing my concentration…!”
I finished casting and glared at the wall.
“Huff…! Hup!”
Swoosh! The spear flew fiercely towards the wall. At the same time, the magic of others also hit the wall.
Soon, the invisible wall began to crumble with a cracking sound.
Along with this, the red-lit sky began to clear, and the taste of the air changed.
“Kuooooo──!”
The scream of a monster was heard from behind. It seemed that this attack had indirectly impacted the monster.
The old man urged us.
“The others must have noticed. If you’re going to leave, leave quickly.”
“…”
I glanced at Gaspar. Gaspar sent a sign with some meaning.
After sending a sign of permission, I decided to hurry and leave the forest.
* * *
When we returned to Freyja after escaping the forest, we were greeted with astonished welcome. Although there had been people who had returned from the Forest of Lament before, there had never been a case where they brought back previously missing people like this.
‘As expected, they’re not purely welcoming.’
The eyes of some people showed signs of confusion, as if this was different from what they had expected.
I didn’t waste time and immediately found a ship heading to Iswakan. Someone who looked like a noble suggested that it would be better to stay for a day, but I firmly refused.
Fortunately, thanks to Rinoa being a current Countess, we were able to use her authority to fend them off. After returning to Iswakan promptly by ship, we didn’t waste time here either and headed for the capital, Baien.
And in the meantime, an attack did occur, but the attackers seemed to be hastily recruited thugs as their skills weren’t particularly impressive.
By the time we finally arrived in Baien, it was checkmate.
Lucretia, along with Rinoa, immediately headed to the royal palace and began reporting the full story of this incident.
‘I hope this resolves things smoothly…’
That’s probably an optimistic view.
Viscount Pax’s purpose in using the Forest of Lament was most likely rebellion.
The corpse soldiers there were probably tools to be used in the rebellion.
We had talked about this before.
That soldiers are always necessary for a rebellion. That a rebellion without private soldiers is impossible.
To this end, Rinoa’s father attempted rebellion by bringing in the Savior Alliance, but Viscount Pax was different.
He had been secretly gathering troops using corpse soldiers in the Forest of Lament.
If this part is proven, the kingdom would move immediately, but there would also be political maneuvers from the opposing side.
How this progresses was the key to this incident.
“Sigh! This has become troublesome.”
I might have become a target because of this incident.
I have no regrets as I checked on Gunther’s condition and rescued Meissen, but the situation has clearly become more complicated.
To protect myself from this threat, I needed to create my own faction soon, beyond just Rinoa’s protection.
When I think of my own faction, the only thing that comes to mind are my vassals.
‘If all the vassals gather, we should be able to deal with any situation.’
Then Dorofei came to me with surprising news.
Dorofei, who had visited Baien to see Erina, made a suggestion.
“Ars, do you have anything related to other people?”
“Related to other people…? Why?”
“I know someone who’s a master of tracking magic. I was thinking we could ask that person for help.”
This suggestion from Dorofei was enough to become a turning point.
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