GDTEA Ch 65

The Uncivilized Ones

The Tower Master ignored the stinging sensation at the back of his head. Darhan Bridend’s anger had no impact whatsoever.

Rather, the Tower Master placed his hand near his heart and with a subtle smile, drove in the wedge.

“As a testament to the strong alliance between the Empire and the Magic Tower, I will protect the northeastern border for you.”

In that moment, Darhan’s composure cracked.

He needed to stop the Tower Master’s words immediately, but the Emperor reacted faster.

“Oh? If the Tower Master would do that for us, my worries would be greatly eased. However… the deal seems unbalanced in our favor.”

The Emperor, who had seemed ready to immediately offer the land with delight, paused the conversation while rubbing his lips.

The condition set by the Tower Master was excessively favorable to the Empire. Normally, such a flow of negotiation would reasonably suggest a hidden trap.

It was typical of the Emperor, whom Darhan assessed as cunning.

“This doesn’t seem like the precise calculations the Tower Master usually makes.”

“Ah, as expected of Your Majesty.”

The Tower Master smoothly received the Emperor’s suspicion with a smile.

“Actually, there’s a ‘secret’ in that mountain.”

“…!”

“Oh, a secret?”

At the Emperor’s sharp observation, Darhan’s expression, which had momentarily relaxed, instantly hardened.

The Tower Master slightly covered his mouth with his hand and leaned toward the Emperor. While doing so, he did not forget to glance at Darhan and whispered softly.

‘…A sound-blocking spell!’

Despite the close distance, Darhan couldn’t hear the Tower Master’s voice.

While watching Darhan’s real-time failure at managing his expression, the Tower Master continued whispering.

The Emperor, unconcerned with Darhan’s anxiety, kept nodding in agreement.

“-Ha, is that really true?! -Hmm, hmm, that…”

Darhan, who could only intently watch the Emperor’s expressions instead of hearing the conversation, felt his insides burning black.

With suspicions in mind, he couldn’t hastily open his mouth.

‘Among the countless mountains in the northeast, it’s just that one.’

There was no need to leave room for misinterpretation by responding too sensitively.

Just as Darhan was trying to regain his composure, the Tower Master’s voice became audible.

“-That’s why I need that mountain. The honorary nobility is still a title bestowed directly by Your Majesty.”

“Hmm, I understand the Tower Master’s intentions. I’m pleased that you consider me so thoughtfully.”

As soon as the sound-blocking spell was lifted, the Emperor readily agreed and shook hands with the Tower Master.

“Your Majesty-.”

Darhan could no longer remain a silent observer.

Gathering all possible justifications, Darhan calmly began to speak.

“It would be right to make decisions about transferring imperial territory through the noble council, especially right after the end of a war.”

“I’ve already discussed with the Tower Master-.”

“It’s fine, let’s continue listening, Your Majesty.”

As the person who had invited Darhan, the Tower Master granted him the right to speak with apparent magnanimity.

The gesture appeared so condescending that Darhan’s eyes hardened.

But showing it naively would be beneath a noble’s dignity.

“I’ll speak frankly, Your Majesty.”

As always, Darhan began coolly and arrogantly while maintaining proper etiquette.

“Before being an honorary noble of the Neweiton Empire, the Tower Master is the ruler of the Magic Tower. If we give imperial territory to someone who owns the large nation that is the Magic Tower, the Magic Tower’s influence on the Empire will certainly become a topic of discussion.”

“Hmm.”

“Ah, influence.”

The Tower Master covered his mouth and chuckled as if amused.

Darhan’s gaze turned cold. The Tower Master was openly disrespecting him to a point that was impossible to ignore.

So he realized. The Tower Master had seen through the Marquis’s petty scheme.

Darhan desperately pulled at his facial muscles that threatened to contort.

“…There’s no separate territorial ownership in the mountainous area bordering the nation. I’m concerned about potential scandalous rumors.”

He concluded his act by lowering his gaze.

He desperately wanted to demand how they could trust this foreigner with the Empire’s border, but the words only lingered on the tip of his tongue.

‘But my will as the leader of the noble faction has been conveyed.’

It was a kind of warning that the aftermath of a decision made without going through the noble council would fall entirely on the Emperor himself.

Unlike the Tower Master who was unfamiliar with high society, the Emperor would have understood the noble’s rhetoric well. Sure enough, the Emperor remained silent.

“What if someone like Gwendhill appears again?”

He subtly pointed out that sharing power with the strong would only repeat past results.

“So this is why the Tower Master called for the Marquis.”

“Haha, indeed.”

The Emperor and the Tower Master laughed and exchanged words as if Darhan’s attempt at creating discord was completely transparent.

The Tower Master relaxed his eyes.

“Recently, a secret letter was discreetly delivered to our Magic Tower.”

“…A secret letter, you say?”

“Well, it contained a report accusing some group of exploiting imperial law.”

“…!”

Darhan realized his verbal mistake and bit his lip.

But unfortunately, the Tower Master returned his words to him verbatim.

“I heard there are nobles who cleverly exploit the fact that no one owns the mountainous areas along the border to train private armies.”

“…Can the Tower Master take responsibility for that statement?”

Darhan issued a cold threat.

Of course, it didn’t work on the Tower Master. The Tower Master lightly raised his hand and shrugged.

“Without being a god, it’s impossible to know which among the many nobles of the Empire harbor ill intentions. Unless I, a mere human, use my power as Tower Master to extract the thoughts from the heads of Neweiton’s nobles.”

“……”

“Ah, come to think of it, the Marquis Bridend’s concerns seem similar. His mention of Grand Duke Gwendhill must be in a similar context. Yes. One shouldn’t trust people too easily.”

Darhan’s brow furrowed at the Emperor’s persistent reference to Gwendhill as Grand Duke. The Tower Master was giving strength back to the Emperor, making Darhan’s previous pressure on the Emperor using Gwendhill’s existence seem futile.

It felt like they were back to square one.

“Your Majesty. All of this is merely the Tower Master’s suspicion.”

“That’s rich coming from a Marquis who was just hinting at scandalous rumors.”

“…Tower Master!”

As the Tower Master kept picking at his words, Darhan finally stood up.

At that moment, the Tower Master snapped his fingers. A document appeared in mid-air right in front of Darhan’s nose.

“It’s just a ‘mountain,’ Marquis.”

“…!”

Darhan gasped after checking the document’s contents.

The Tower Master smiled pleasantly while observing the frozen Marquis with wide eyes.

“There’s a ‘secret’ that people with complicated histories have gathered to make a nest and live in hiding there, but that’s not really a problem, is it?”

Darhan’s lower jaw trembled.

Right before Darhan’s eyes was an unreported document about a nest created by people with complicated histories.

It contained detailed information about the “Hidden Village” that Darhan had ordered and diverted long ago.

“What I want is for those people with complicated histories to properly, with authorization, officially belong to the Empire.”

“This is absurd, Your Majesty!”

He had to stop this. Darhan reflexively grabbed the document and shouted.

It was land where an immeasurable amount of magic resources was hidden. He couldn’t tolerate someone like the Tower Master coveting what would eventually be his solid possession.

Darhan Bridend always obtained what he wanted by any means necessary and never let anyone touch his possessions. His reddish-brown eyes flashed with ignited greed.

“The Tower Master is a foreigner. By what means did you learn about the existence of those hiding within the Empire, listen to their stories, and come to care for them!”

“Am I in a position where I need to recite such private circumstances to the Marquis?”

The Tower Master was still smiling. Only his mouth was smiling.

There was killing intent in his eyes. Darhan’s mouth closed powerlessly, beyond the capability of an ordinary human.

From the beginning, he had been caught in the Tower Master’s scheme designed to provoke him.

“That can’t be the case.”

The Emperor, who had been enjoying the confrontation between the Tower Master and Darhan, put down his wine glass and calmed the atmosphere instead.

“It’s clearly stated in the alliance contract between the Neweiton Empire and the Magic Tower. That we would give whatever is desired regardless of imperial law. Marquis Bridend, being called here as a representative of the nobility, is merely providing examples of objections that would have been raised in a noble council meeting. Isn’t that right, Marquis?”

“…I apologize for my rudeness.”

Darhan barely managed to suppress the glare he almost directed at the Emperor. From the moment he was summoned, everything had flowed according to the Tower Master’s intentions, and the Emperor had been a complete bystander.

“Moreover, after the Tower Master publicly pledged to personally take charge of the border that couldn’t have been defended without the Magic Tower’s support, it would be uncivilized to object, unlike Marquis Bridend.”

“Yes. I thought the same, which is why I called him as a witness for this occasion.”

“……”

Darhan forcibly suppressed his surging anger.

Humiliation, disgrace, and rage. The dignity of his noble status was being mercilessly trampled.

‘To humiliate me, the leader of the noble faction, in front of that foreigner.’

The area under Darhan’s eyes trembled slightly.

Just as the sound of gritting teeth was about to escape, Darhan rose from his seat.

Instead of storming out in indignation, Darhan calmly bowed his head with the cold noble expression he usually wore.

“I understand Your Majesty’s will. Then I shall withdraw and relay instructions to proceed with the land grant procedure for the Tower Master.”

“We haven’t even completed the paperwork yet.”

“Isn’t this the mountain the Tower Master desired enough to visit the palace at this late hour? Since you seem to want a quick process without ceremonial procedures, I have much to do.”

The Emperor observed Darhan intently with a smile.

Given that this was a land grant created as an exception by the Emperor’s authority regardless of imperial law, Darhan, as the leader of the noble faction, indeed had much to do.

However, the change in Darhan’s attitude was suspicious, considering he had been losing his composure and crumbling just moments ago.

“Mmm~ That’s right. You must have a lot to handle. I understand.”

The Tower Master nodded with a bright smile. His eyes still weren’t smiling.

Darhan quietly withdrew without reacting to the Tower Master’s provocation.

Thud. As the audience chamber door closed, the Emperor picked up his wine glass and moistened his throat.

“It seems there’s another ‘secret’ on that mountain the Tower Master wants, besides Marquis Bridend’s private army.”

Weariness from a full day of administrative duties showed as the Emperor rubbed his face.

The Tower Master, with a curved smile on his lips, gestured to the air and created a land grant document.

The imperial seal sitting on the office desk also appeared before the Emperor.

“I thought you already guessed. If you want confirmation, I’ll tell you.”

With a nonchalant face, the Tower Master also produced a village registration application form along with the land grant.

“After such a tense confrontation with the Marquis before me, do I really need confirmation?”

The Emperor chuckled while checking the documents placed on the table.

Darhan Bridend’s attitude alone gave him a rough idea.

‘He must have collected materials necessary for rebellion. What couldn’t he do after successfully removing the Grand Duke?’

The Emperor is always a being who must anticipate and prepare for contingencies. Despite having the most powerful authority, he constantly lived on edge, fearful of losing that power.

Having concluded the long war with a great victory, all that remained was stability within the Empire.

‘Stability, is it.’

Civil war, most likely.

The Emperor swallowed a bitter smile and willingly stamped the imperial seal on the documents.

Having received the Emperor’s authorization he desired, the Tower Master rose from his seat without lingering.

“I trust that the Tower Master will keep the promise made to me earlier.”

There had been a promise secretly made by the Tower Master when he cast the sound-blocking spell.

The condition set by the Tower Master was so satisfactory that the Emperor had not only irritated Darhan, the leader of the noble faction, but had openly supported the Tower Master.

The Emperor chose the side that benefited him through simple calculation. His personal feelings toward Darhan were separate matters.

“Yes. I will personally look into whether Grand Duke Gwendhill is alive or not.”

“Please proceed as quickly as possible. Soon, petitions demanding the official announcement of the Grand Duke’s death will pour in like rain.”

Since Darhan had just left grinding his teeth, pressure against the House of Gwendhill within the Empire would intensify in earnest before long. To prevent imperial citizens from questioning the Grand Duke’s passing, they would have to acknowledge the death of the Grand Duke without a body and proceed with the long-delayed funeral.

The Emperor’s situation wasn’t favorable enough to insist on the groundless conviction that the Grand Duke was missing rather than executed.

“I will try my best, Your Majesty.”

The Tower Master bowed gracefully to the Emperor.

Then he lightly snapped his fingers. His destination was the Magic Tower.

“Since I’ve done this much work, Vireta, you should put in some effort too.”

The Tower Master passed all of Darhan’s transparent schemes to Vireta.

****

Near midnight, after the Tower Master had left the palace.

Uninvited guests were swarming like ants toward Ashu’s village, centered on a mountain that had an owner.

“They’ve come.”

As the sound of rustling trees grew louder, Vireta silently drew her sword in the pitch-dark village without a single light.

According to plan, the Tower Master had properly irritated Darhan Bridend, so it was now the Krofl Mercenary Group’s turn to bear the brunt of his rage.

“Make sure not to wake the villagers.”

The night would be long, but dawn would pass quietly.

The Krofl Mercenary Group disappeared into the darkness all at once.

At this time, the Krofl Mercenary Group did not know.

What held their attention was merely bait; the real uninvited guests were beginning to reveal themselves inside the village.