Sword, Magic and Academic Society

The curtain to the short winter had opened, and with the precursor that was the Marquis Meeting, the Royal Capital was dyed with the vibrant colors of social events.

It was a few days after the event of the Marquis Meeting when a certain piece of information made its way to the Royal Capital in absolute secrecy, prompting the top echelon of the Royal Palace to hold an urgent strategy meeting.

◆◆◆

The urgent report — originating from a certain explorer who discovered an abnormality on a Hellrowcast egg — came from the Knight Order’s fourth legion.

The said Knight Order legion sent its team to ascertain the authenticity of the news, and they, too, confirmed the same. Moreover, the situation was hopelessly dire— the eggs were roughly 8 at the minimum to 10 at the maximum days away from hatching.

Speaking of the Hellrowcast, they were pretty ordinary monsters with their habitats spread across the continent. However, once in a decade up to a century, their numbers would increase comparable to that of a locust plague. The cause of such a mutation has yet to be identified to this date.

Their eggs were typically small enough for an adult's hand to be able to hold it completely, and they could give birth to roughly 100 of them. However, when a mutation occurs, they could usually give birth to as many as a million of them at once. But should the land the mutation occurred in have abysmal luck, these monsters could spawn even tens of millions of eggs all at once.

A mutated Hellrowcast's trait was their intense appetite. They would gorge on any and all kinds of leaves around them to spur their growth, enough to push a forest to the brink of extinction, and when there was nothing left, they would move on toward another target that was abundant in nature.

Hellrowcast moved as a group, and should they move toward the Rosemieur Empire at the north, the damage to Yuglia would still be negligible enough. However, the consensus among the experts was that they typically traveled southward seeking warmer climates.

And should that turn out to be the case, then the Grauksh region, which was the kingdom’s major rye producer, and the Dosperior region, which was a major producer of wheat, would be facing an inevitable disaster.

It was still early in winter and the seedlings had barely sprouted, so it was basically impossible for them to do anything about it. Yuglia would be facing an unprecedented foot shortage nation-wide should they fail to stop this disaster, and that wasn't even considering the effect it would have on the ecosystem.

They were calamitous monsters that had brought many small nations to their ruin in the past.

Had it been spring instead with abundant fodder, Yuglia could have had a chance to solve it by deploying its army.

But it was winter right now. The Hellrowcast horde would surely move at a rapid pace in search of food. Should this disaster befall the kingdom, then the damage to its military would be inevitable. And at worst, it could even become the trigger for the war. After all, with the kingdom going through a tumultuous period, it was impossible to think that the Rosemieur Empire would be generous enough to overlook that chance.

The extermination of Hellrowcast would surely require the army to deal with it. And most of all, it could easily take several months just to deal with the horde. So unless their opponent had gone blind, it would be like a red rag in front of a bull.

One reason why they were considered a nuisance was due to the nature of their eggs. It was nearly impossible to actually prevent the hatching of their eggs.

The main approach in preventing the eggs’ hatching was by freezing them. However, ice was a rare attribute, with its appearance being only 1 in 1000. Besides, the Ice Mages also would need to have sufficient mana reserves and a firm control over their magic operation so as not to scratch the eggs when using their magic.

As a matter of fact, the number of Ice Mages in the kingdom's ranks was only in the three digits at best.

They also required potent ice attribute magic stones that they'd need to use in destroying the nests as well as critical magical tools which were just few and far in between.

As of now, the Knight Order was already on the move, gathering ice attribute folks, whether they were explorers or knights, along with the necessary magical tools, but it was nothing more than a band-aid plastered on a leaking dam. At their current pace, even disposing 10% of the egg population seemed like a pipe dream.

The Royal Capital had quite the number of Ice Mages, but they absolutely wouldn't be able to make it in time.

The Yabure Barony, where the eggs were spotted, was located at the northern edge of the kingdom, so no matter how much they hurried up, it would at least take them 10 days to travel there from the Royal Capital, which was just around the time when the eggs were predicted to hatch.

A gloomy air hung above the Emergency Strategy Meeting taking place in the presence of the King.

◆◆◆

Olina, the standing leader of the military, and the commander of Yuglia's Knight Order, summarized important points for the people present.

Olina initially was an ordinary commoner by birth, but she clawed her way to the position of the Knight Order's commander by virtue of her talent, and, later on, marrying into a Duke family. Such a striking personal history was rather rare even in the Yuglia kingdom.

As much as Yuglia tried to suppress the status discrimination between the nobles and commoners, it just wasn't realistically possible for the nobles to quietly obey given the difference in status and their pride in their lineage and heritage. So the usual way for commoners to bridge the gap was something along the lines of being adopted by a high-ranking nobility and such.

But Oliana didn't want to forsake her knight career over such an irrelevant matter, and she never cared a bit about becoming a duke or whatever.

Of course, if one had the will, subverting the norm wasn't an impossible task.

William Zatsinger, the previous duke of the Zatsinger family, fell in love with Olina. He broke tradition, and instead welcomed her into the Zatsinger family despite her commoner status, honoring her career.

Knight Commander Olina Zatsinger— she was also Leo's grandmother.

"......We don’t have the means to completely stop their hatching as of now, so we can only prepare ourselves for the disaster as we move to eradicate as many as we can. Unfortunately, this would indeed create a shortage of manpower at the border, but what would be the meaning of holding the border if the citizens have no means left to stay alive.

All the army commanders, except the Northern Division's commander that has been in a standoff against Rosemieur, are to draw a portion of the army and come together to form a special unit to march toward Yabure Barony. I’ll request the explorer association's help on my end. There's no saying how the other countries will react, so I’ll stay here in the Royal Capital. Consequently, the commander-in-chief will be first legion commander Hugo, who's already heading toward the place of the incident."

Since the battle was expected to last for months, the formation of elite forces was going to financially burden each fief. But this was the price that must be paid to strike down the Hellrowcast horde as quickly as possible, especially when no one knew what their movement pattern would be. The other lords couldn’t turn a blind eye even if they wanted to. If one was hit with a crisis, the aftermath would also affect the others as well.

This disaster would still be considered manageable if they could just guide the Hellrowcast horde to move horizontally. Though for that to happen, it would require effort from every marquis who represented their respective vast regions.

"I’ve already sent a collaborative request to each marquis through the Department of Internal Affairs."

The Minister of Internal Affairs chimed in, and the Minister of Trade followed after.

"Our Department of Commerce will immediately move to secure food as well as other goods. However, since it’ll include the involvement of a huge amount of human resources as well as the movement of supplies, it’ll be impossible to do it in absolute secrecy. Some may also take advantage of the chaos and increase the prices by a slight margin, but we’d have to bear with it given the situation."

Continuing after them, the rest of the ministers from the agriculture to the foreign affairs departments chimed in, gradually sorting out their roles in the upcoming crisis.

It was then that Glover, the commander of the second legion, gingerly raised his head, hesitation clouding his face.

"......Your Majesty. If you may permit, how about summoning Allen Rovenne? I won't say much... and it may just be a small amount of help but... I think he can probably show us a way to turn this situation around."

Everyone's gazes immediately fell on Glover.

It was a natural reaction. Allen might be a provisional member of the Knight Order, but it didn't grant him the right to participate in the affairs of the Royal Palace. However, it did grant him the status to join in times of emergency. And if the reason was valid, along with acknowledgment of the King, no one should have a reason to oppose it by following the right order.

With a wry smile, Dew, Allen's master, turned to Glover.

"Glover-san. As much as I admit the usefulness of his wind magic, it should be impossible for him to cover the millions of Hellrowcasts spread out in a vast range."

But Glover shook his head saying, “That isn't the reason.”

"My decision isn't based on that. I would like to explain it in detail as well, but this is something I’ve come to learn about only recently from indirect sources, so even I haven't fully grasped it yet— or more like I barely scratched the surface of it. It would be much more efficient to just summon him for the explanation."

King Patrick then announced with a dignified expression.

"You have my permission. Summon him as soon as possible. We're at a juncture where the livelihood of our citizens... their lives are at stake. We must explore all the possibilities no matter how miniscule it is."

◆◆◆

I was practicing archery under the supervision of Kiana-san in the central military post when I received a message from Master commanding me to appear at the Royal Palace within 45 minutes.

Good grief, that wasn't how one made a request......

I sighed as I walked to the Royal Palace while wondering if it was another summon to work in tandem with the imperial army.

At the back entrance of the Royal Palace that had a magically reinforced gate, I saw Master waiting for me. He just said 'Follow me' at my arrival and led me toward the palace.

And... I was surprised, truly. He actually took me to the Imperial Council. I had just taken a step inside when everyone's intense gazes fell on me.

It was a grand hall with a luxurious ambience, like the ones you would see in dramas that showed the meetings of those business giants, though I personally felt like a prisoner from the Edo period who had been dragged into court.

A vast majority of them were people I've never seen before, which just reinforced the idea that this wasn't a place for the third son of a viscount to set foot in.

At the very end of the room opposite the entrance, I could even see His Majesty sitting at the head of the table.

Haa, would they mind if I immediately turned on my heel and ran away from this place?......

My face muscles were completely tense just imagining what warranted all this. Amidst my swirling thoughts, Glover-san, the commander of the 2nd legion whom I had the chance to meet once in one of the days we used their military port for our Sail Club activity, posed a question.

"It's been a while, Allen Rovenne. We have a pressing situation, so to cut to the main topic: do you know about the Hellrowcast monster?"

"............I do. Where are they? How long until they hatch?"

Ah, so that was the situation. I immediately asked for the main details. Though Glover-san seemed surprised, in my eyes, it wasn't that hard to figure out.

First, I was summoned to this meeting hall where the top brass of the kingdom were present, and second, the question had come not from Master, but the 2nd legion commander Glover-san. He was in charge of the navy, so I could guess it was somehow related to the Sail Club. After all, aside from the Sail Club matter, we had never talked before.

And if he was mentioning Hellrowcast right off the bat, I could guess the agenda of this Imperial Council.

The method on how to deal with and dispose of the Hellrowcast eggs was spread far and wide due to its special characteristic. A random book that was minutely related to monsters would specifically mention all those details as well.

The point was to deal with the eggs before they hatched, but if it was already too late, a mere Sail Club which only had one ship to its name would do jack shit.

But if it wasn't too late yet, then the destination was probably hard to reach and required transportation via the water route. And what they probably wanted to transport was the human resources needed to prevent the hatching.

"......Quick-witted as always, huh, Allen Rovenne? I doubt this would have reached your ears, irrespective of your status as a provisional knight… The location is the Yabure Barony in Marquis Grauksh's territory. And the remaining time before they hatched is— 10 days at maximum. Worst case scenario, the morning of the 8th day."

I immediately shook my head.

"It's impossible by myself."

I guess they must have pinned their hope on whatever straw they could find. My presence was the proof of that. As my words echoed inside the hall, the onlookers held their breath, and closed their eyes.

I glanced at their expressions, and, as I apologized in my head for bringing him into this mess, continued.

"It's impossible… unless Dan is here as well. Oh, he's my classmate— Daniel Serdos. If he gives it his all, I think we can make it in time."

A buzz spread across the council room at my words. Some of the people's gazes fell on a middle-aged man sitting at the lowest seat.

The man slightly cleared his throat and introduced himself.

"Ahem. I'm Findoll Von Grauksh. The incident this time occurred in my fief, so I'm in this seat attending this meeting as someone who can explain the general details of the region. May I ask, what do you mean by ‘If he gives it his all, I think we can make it in time'? It sounds as if you're implying that Daniel is superior to you."

Aaahh, so it's him. The one putting pressure on Dan's father, and trying to intervene in our Sail Club. Well, though it seemed like it was just Count Serdos who was going all ballistic by himself for the most part.

"...And he is, Marquis Grauksh. Dan's much better than me. I can't even compare myself to him when it comes to sailing ships. Though this time it’ll take both of our best efforts given the situation."

The potato-face of Dan flashed in the back of my mind as I recalled the dedication he had for ship sailing no matter how one tried to throw him off. His blood-soaked palms, and that shining radiance in his eyes despite his embarrassed visage back then during the summer vacation.

This time, I deliberately didn't hold back my praises.

"Dan is an unmistakable prodigy. After all, he has an undying passion for ships. There would surely come a time when he, Daniel Serdos, the first generation president of the Royal Academy's Sail Club, would sail through uncharted seas. A horizon that no one has ever seen before."

I quietly declared so while feeling a tug in my mind as if that potato-face was yelling «Nooo! What cringy lines are you spouting, Allen!? Just shut up!» at me while grabbing me by my collar. I chuckled imagining that.

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