Volume 5, Chapter 29 – Pepe’s Dream (Part 3)

This was the third day since Yisi had returned from the orphanage.

As the sunlight on the distant horizon gradually gathered and sank, a procession of carriages escorted by an army of several thousand soldiers finally arrived at the Blood Clan’s granary—the Astrid Territory, located in the far east of the Alexia Continent.

The leader of the escort, Boris, turned his horse around and returned to the frontmost carriage.

“Your Majesty, we have arrived.”

“I know. Have the army station themselves in the city. I want to take Lady Yisi for a good look around.”

Although Andrea did not emerge from the carriage, Boris still bowed to her in a salute.

“Please allow me to serve as your guard, Your Majesty.”

“There is no need. The Royal Guard entering the city will put pressure on the city administrators. These matters require you to handle the handover and coordination, Boris. Moreover, the Festival of Original Sin is approaching. You should focus on the security of the ceremony.”

“But your safety…”

“Having Lady Yisi and Augustin is sufficient. Lord Loiswell will be with me as well.”

Andrea’s words were not willful or unreasonable. Boris did indeed have the duty of handling the transfer of city defense and managing the festival activities. If he didn’t make preparations quickly, he would have to work through the night to ensure everything was foolproof.

It was also worth mentioning that while the Blood Clan’s night was equivalent to human daytime, their term for “staying up all night” had not been changed to “staying up all day.” Rather than the literal meaning of the words, the Blood Clan used it more as a pronoun; “daytime” specifically referred to when it was light out, not when they were active.

Understanding what Andrea meant, and having recently put his worries about Yisi to rest, Boris nodded. “I understand, Your Majesty. I ask that you please return to your residence by midnight. The regent of the Astrid Territory has prepared a welcome ceremony for you.”

“Mm.”

…

After the army had entered the city and settled in, Andrea and Yisi’s group were finally able to disembark from the carriage and, under the cover of night, admire this rustic city that was even more ancient than the Royal Capital, Alvier.

“Wow, even in the city, you can smell the fragrance of wheat.”

Taking a deep breath, Mary, who was walking at the very front of the group, exclaimed with excitement. Andrea, who was slightly behind, explained.

“The Astrid Territory is the granary of the entire Blood Clan. The territory’s core city, Astrid, is surrounded by villages. Most of the land in the territory is plains suitable for farming, and there are no monster attacks. Before the First Queen was born, this was the settlement of the Blood Clan. However, at that time, the Astrid Territory was still a forest landscape, and the Blood Clan living here could only rely on what nature provided. It was not until the First Queen ordered the people to cultivate farmland that the Blood Clan slowly transformed from a tribal settlement into a city-state of a certain scale.”

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Tiffany pointed into the distance. “Windmill.”

“This is also a unique sight of the Astrid Territory. Windmills can grind wheat into flour and also save a great deal of manpower. They can only be seen in the Astrid Territory, which has ample sunlight.”

Looking at Andrea with admiration, Mary’s purple eyes widened. “Your Majesty, may I go and see the windmill tomorrow?”

“Of course you can. It’s fine if we go after we’ve seen the city.”

Compared to Mary, who found everything novel, Edith, who was walking in the middle of the group in front of Yisi, paid more attention to the passersby. Although Astrid City lacked tall buildings and did not have carriages passing by as frequently as the Royal Capital, the number of pedestrians and street vendors was overwhelming.

“Is the population here even larger than the Royal Capital’s?”

“I think it’s because of the war in the front and the upcoming Festival of Original Sin that people from other territories have flooded into the safest territory, Astrid.”

Augustin, walking beside Andrea, pushed up his glasses and answered Edith with his usual gentle smile. But Edith just frowned in displeasure, one, because she disliked men, and two, because Augustin had an aura that she found repulsive.

Augustin, wearing his blue magic robe, did not seem to mind and continued to add. “The reason the First Queen established the Royal Capital to the west of the Astrid Territory was to block the possibility of other territories reaching it directly. As long as there is sufficient food and a suitable environment for people to live, the royal family can quickly recover even if they encounter difficulties.”

“Doesn’t the Astrid Territory see a lot of sunlight? In order to grow grain, you have to use the Alexia Tower to regulate the climate every day. It’s not that suitable for the Blood Clan to live in, is it?”

Since it was already autumn, Yisi had changed her thin, short-sleeved dress for a white formal one. This attire drew some sideways glances from the passersby. Most members of the Blood Clan would not wear predominantly white clothes, not only because of tradition but also because white clothes were easily stained by blood.

“It’s fine as long as you don’t go out during the day. And if you do need to go out, you can wear a conical hat like this to block most of the sunlight. As long as you’re not directly exposed to the sun, it won’t cause too strong a reaction. But that being said, very few people go out during the day. I hear Your Grace, the Duchess, has just returned from the human world. You must have seen what the night is like in the human world, with no one on the streets.”

If she hadn’t seen with her own eyes how cruel Augustin was to the robbers, she would never have thought of the current Augustin as an exceptionally cruel person. Throughout the journey, no matter who looked at him, they would think he was the most gentlemanly of gentlemen.

Augustin’s words aroused Andrea’s curiosity. “Have you been to the human world, Augustin?”

He paused for a moment, then smiled and bowed his head. “I have. A long time ago.”

“I’ve never heard you mention it.”

“If Your Majesty would like to hear about it, I can tell you everything I saw and heard in the human world.”

Andrea, wearing a pink top and a white short skirt, looked embarrassed. “N-No… that’s alright.”

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Not to mention that Andrea had been to the human world before; when she had the necklace, she would often swap identities with Evelyn and guide the believers in her place. One could say that Andrea had come into contact with more humans than Yisi had.

“Onee-sama.”

Abruptly, Camilla, who had been following beside Yisi, pulled her toward the inner side of the road. At the same time, Augustin also pulled Andrea inward, while Mary and Tiffany were each pulled under Refina’s arms.

“Out of the way, all of you, out of the way!”

With the approaching sound of horse hooves, a squad of soldiers charged recklessly down the street. At first, I thought someone was trying to harm Andrea, but the squad, moving like a fierce wind, quickly disappeared at the end of the street.

The originally clean street instantly became dirty and messy. Many roadside vendors hadn’t had time to move their stalls, which were knocked over by the soldiers, their goods scattering messily on the ground.

“How awful!” Mary’s eyebrows shot up immediately, along with Tiffany’s and Andrea’s.

Looking with sympathy at the vendors who were picking up their goods, Andrea took the initiative to walk over to them and help pick up the items that hadn’t been trampled. Following her lead, Mary, Tiffany, and Augustin also went forward to help.

“Here we go again. How many times is this for this month?”

“Too many to count. It’s almost every day.”

“I’m new here. Is something happening in the Astrid Territory?”

“You’re from out of town? Besides producing grain, another less-known feature of the Astrid Territory is the Lost Lands. Ever since the previous Queen fell on the nearby Rilo Plains, the great battle turned the plains into a hilly area shrouded in dense fog all year round. The soldiers of both races who died there became undead and often came out to attack the surrounding villages.”

“Were those soldiers just now going to subjugate the undead?”

“I don’t know the specifics. Those adventurers might know something.”

Overhearing the conversation between the passersby, Yisi looked at Edith, who might know something. She had originally intended to ask Camilla, but Camilla had already gone into the crowd to gather information, which meant she didn’t know either.

Edith raised an eyebrow. “Captivated by me?”

“I wanted to ask you about the Lost Lands, Pepe.”

Her joke having been ignored by Yisi, Edith shrugged. “It’s just as you heard. They’re just the undead remains of the Queen and the fallen angel’s army. The three-hundred-thousand-strong army led by the Queen was all but wiped out after a battle with the army under the Demon Lord Ouranos. The Queen herself also perished on the battlefield. A rough estimate puts the number of deaths there at at least four hundred thousand. It’s only natural that it would become a land of the undead.”

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“Four hundred thousand? I remember you said that there was only one fallen angel, Camael, leading the demon army. Even if Camael was strong, in terms of elite forces, it’s impossible for him to defeat the Queen of the Blood Clan, who had the help of an Alexia Tower and was fighting on her home turf… Was Alvier VI’s level low?”

“No. Alvier VI’s strength was second only to the First Queen. Her level of 60 far surpassed that of other kings in history. She was one of the few in the Blood Clan to have surpassed the hero-class. And in that battle, nearly half of the entire Blood Clan’s elite forces were concentrated, with a full five hero-class individuals at Level 50.”

Did Andrea develop a habit of dependency because her mother was so strong? Putting that thought aside for the moment, Yisi pressed on. “Then why did they lose in the end?”

“Betrayal from her own subordinates.”

“Betrayal?”

“This is a secret known only to the high lords. Although I should have told you after we were married, it doesn’t matter if I tell you now. In that battle five years ago, the one-hundred-thousand-strong army conscripted from the southern nobles betrayed Alvier VI at a critical moment. The sudden turn of events led to a three-way melee, and the Queen, who should have had the advantage, was caught in a pincer attack by the rebel army and the demon army led by Camael.

After a desperate resistance, Alvier VI’s army was still no match for the two sides. In the end, with the thought that she could not let the heart of the Blood Clan, the Astrid Territory, be destroyed, she killed Camael with a fearless will. Then, the leaderless demon army clashed with the rebel army, and both sides nearly wiped each other out. And with that, the war ended.”

“So the southern nobles had rebellious sentiments since way back then…”

“No. According to the surviving soldiers, the only southern noble who truly rebelled at the time was one. But that southern noble used something—possibly the families of the other nobles as hostages—to force the other southern nobles to rebel with him, which is why there was a total of one hundred thousand rebel troops.

However, in the end, this group of despicable people also received a curse more terrible than death. With her dying breath, Alvier VI cursed the rebel army that they would not find release in death, that their souls would be forever imprisoned in this land. This is perhaps one of the reasons why the Rilo Plains became a land of the undead.”

Edith’s calm explanation made a question mark pop up in Yisi’s head. “A curse? Is that a type of magic too? A magic that can cover a hundred thousand people, just how large-scale would that have to be…”

At the very least, a Level 60 could definitely not cast a magic spell that covered a hundred thousand people. After all, even the skeleton fallen angel, Ariel, whom she had defeated and who was the best at wide-area annihilation magic, had a most glorious battle record of only destroying a three-thousand-strong subjugation force in a single blow.

Edith began to look at Yisi as if she were an idiot. “Is your head really that slow? How could there be a magic that can cover a hundred thousand people at once in this world? The curse I’m talking about is just an ethereal thing, like a prayer offered to a god. It’s just a psychological effect.”

“Is that so…”

It wasn’t that there was no magic that could cover a hundred thousand people. It was precisely because she knew it actually existed that she was considering the possibility. Yisi sighed internally. Well, if there really was a magic that could cover a hundred thousand people, Alvier VI wouldn’t have been in such a predicament.

Sometime after this conversation ended, Camilla and Andrea’s group also finished gathering information and picking up goods, respectively.

“Onee-sama, I’m back.”

“Mm. Did you find out anything, Camilla? I’ve made some discoveries here.”

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“Hey.” As if warning Yisi not to tell others, but also as if displeased that Yisi was telling her secrets to Camilla so readily, Edith called out to her.

waved her hand, indicating that she understood, but it was still Camilla who spoke first. The latter, wearing a luxurious white formal dress far more extravagant than Yisi’s, bowed her head slightly, her golden hair, tied back by a large white ribbon, swaying with the movement.

“The reason those soldiers were in such a hurry was because of recent abnormal movements of the undead in the Lost Lands. Similar incidents have happened more than ten times this month.”

“The Lost Lands are the Rilo Plains where Alvier VI fell, right?”

“Yes, Onee-sama.”

“Those soldiers looked like they were in a great hurry. Does ‘abnormal movement’ mean the undead have come out of the dense fog?”

“Undead have appeared in a nearby village. Normally, it wouldn’t require such urgency, but because of Her Majesty the Queen’s arrival, the entire city’s alert level has been raised to such an emergency level.”

“I see.”

If they knew that their actions had caused the Queen to bend down and help, they would surely be terrified. Fortunately, Andrea had no intention of taking it up with the soldiers—no, her focus should be on Augustin. Although she didn’t know if it was out of loyalty or love, Augustin’s support for Andrea was definitely beyond the scope of an ordinary person. He might very well go looking for those soldiers.

But before that, it was better for her to comfort Andrea first. Due to the actions of those soldiers, Andrea was in very low spirits.

As Andrea was passing by her, Yisi called out to her. “What’s wrong? Why the listless expression?”

Andrea looked up blankly, then, as if trying hard to put on a happy face, she shook her head vigorously.

“I was just thinking about some things… Lady Yisi, should I really be in the Astrid Territory at a time like this? If it were my mother, she might already be in the Vladimir Territory, facing off against Count Hillary—ah.”

Yisi placed her hand on Andrea’s head.

“Doesn’t the Festival of Original Sin forbid killing? During the festival, you should just focus on the festival. Otherwise, the First Queen won’t be able to receive your prayers, you know?”

“…Yes.” There was not much life in her voice. Andrea looked to the east. “Augustin, I’m going to the Lost Lands.”