Chapter 94 - New Year

It was a weekend and there were no classes today. Cecil was alone walking down the main campus road.

He was currently wearing a black cloak and covering his face to mask his identity. Cecil had sneaked off without informing Lucia or any of his friends. He lied and said that he would be going out to the forest near the school to train by himself.

When Cecil got to the entrance of the academy district, he walked off to the side. He went behind a building and made sure that no one was around. He activated Mana Burst and disappeared from his spot.

He then magically appeared in front of the Ironforge Smithy not long after.

'Phew, I've been using this technique for a while now, but the strain on my body is still a little much.'

Cecil thought with a grimace. The technique that he used to almost teleport to his location was his new combat skill that was an upgraded version of his 'Shukuchi'. He called it Blink, since from an outside perspective he literally blinked out of existence before appearing somewhere else.

'Even with my trained body that's enhanced with mana I'm still feeling the strain. There's no way this could be used in battle anytime soon, but I guess it's a good way to move around discretely...'

Cecil walked into the smithy's housing area and headed towards Radon's private smithy. As he got closer to the place, Cecil could hear the rhythmic clanging and pounding of metal against metal.

He smiled hearing this, "The old man's busy today..."

Cecil arrived at the door and knocked. After a moment, the clanging stopped and the door opened.

"Oh, it's you boy!"

"Yup! Is my spear ready?"

"Ahaha, that's the first thing you ask? No greeting for your uncle?"

"Good morning gramps, how are you. Doing fine? How's the smithy?" Cecil said in monotone with a deadpanned expression.

"Tsk, never mind."

"Just kidding gramps, besides I see that everything is going well. Business is good and all."

"You bet! We just got a batch order from the kingdom... though it's a little suspicious..."

"Hm?"

"Well, they're asking for a 100 sets of armor, swords, spears, shields... well practically everything in 100 sets. It's almost the end of the year so they asked us for it to be ready by the start of summer next year."

"Okay... other than the abnormal amount of equipment they want and the close to unreasonable deadline, what's so suspicious about it?"

"Well lad... since you've been staying at the academy for a while now, you haven't heard about the recent rumors have ya?"

"What is it?"

"The Midgard continent has been frequently sending attacks on Urrugdrasil's borders."

"...is that true?"

"I can't confirm for sure, but the rumors from merchants and immigrants from the border areas can't be just for fear-mongering..."

"...tsk."

This was obviously bad news for Cecil. He planned to only stay in the academy for a year or so before he dropped out to continue on his journey.

If a war was to break out between the Midgard and Urrugdrasil continents... then with just his meager amount of strength there was no way he could safely cross into the Midgard continent in the midst of wartime.

"The deadline is at the beginning of summer next year right?"

"Yeah... although it's only speculation, but I hear that the Midgard continent has been attacking so frequently in order to take the beastman race's population and turn them into slaves. Also, this was something I inadvertently heard from when I was visiting the palace last time, butapparently the beastmen who aren't in the best relations with us beastkin, have even come to negotiate for our assistance..."

Radon stopped to wipe the sweat on his forehead. He then went to grab a long plain looking box before continuing,

"Anyway this is only speculation, but I think it's the truth since the kingdom's been making some sketchy movements lately... not to mention these abnormal orders and considering the beastkin immigrants who are most likely refugees flowing into our city."

"...let's just hope that war doesn't break out... I planned to travel and roam around the Midgard continent after I've finished seeing all the places here on Urrugdrasil!"

"Oh? Now that's pretty adventurous of you!"

"Haha, well is this my spear?"

"Sure is. Here, I made the case using 1000 year old malorken wood. The wood will absorb mana from the surroundings so it can maintain the condition of the spear to some degree as well as keep the natural array in the spear in top condition at all times. I also made it as plain as possible."

"Thanks, gramps!"

"Yeah, yeah... by the way, I don't see Lucia anywhere?"

"Oh, I actually sneaked off by myself! I wanted to do some lone training for now."

"...Don't go and make my niece sad now Cecil."

"Hah, how could I make her sad? Besides, she's out with her friends right now!"

"Alright then, make sure you tell her to stop by every now and then."

"Sure thing old man."

"Off you go then."

"See ya later gramps!"

Cecil walked out of the private smithy and headed towards Silver's dog house. He called out to his friend and the two left the smithy heading out of the city.

On the road just outside of the city, Cecil was looking at a map of the surroundings. The map also had marks that indicated where the habitats of monsters were located.

"Alright Silv, I've got today and tomorrow free from class so let's head up to the mountains and do some training!"

"WOOF!"

With the resounding roar that startled the people nearby, Silver roused his mana and dashed forwards, leaving behind a mighty gale.

Back at the academy, Lucia and her friends were currently roaming around the district looking for something interesting to do. It was a rare day of rest for Lucia and she wanted to hang out with her friends for once.

She wanted to call Cecil, but decided against it. She wanted to try hanging out with only her girl friends.

They were going around in their casual clothes, but it was a bit clear that Lucia's clothes were a bit too plain and simple. The girls decided to go out shopping for things for their fashion-less friend.

"Hey, Lucia... who picks your clothing?" Velicia asked.

"Hm? I do? Why?"

"How come it's... a bit plain?"

"Oh! Well, Cecil suggested not getting anything too gaudy or pricey since we were traveling all over the place. I'd just ruin it and there weren't any times when I could actually use them if I had any!"

"No wonder..."

Everyone now had an understanding as to why such a beautiful girl like Lucia had no sense of fashion.

"Well since you're in the city it's time you dress like one of us y'know!"

Lucia shrugged and said, "Whatever you say~ I don't really care though~"

"Good, since you don't care then we're going to go and dress you up!"

"Consider it our new year's gift Lucia!" Fina added with a smile. On the side, Eli nodded in agreement.

After that, the group of girls dragged their friend from clothing store to clothing store to dress her up in new clothes. They purchased whatever they found nice on her insisting that it was a gift.

Ainz was spending the last day of the year out on the training field running laps around it. He wanted to train with Cecil, but his friend had something to do so he was told to go train by himself.

All in all, today was a great and normal break day, except for the plots and undercurrents that were currently brewing over at the Midgard continent.

In a majestic castle's council room in the Tempest Kingdom's capital city, Tempest, on the Midgard continent, a wartime council was currently being held by all the human nobles of the kingdom.

"The time is nigh! With all the transcendent level figures being preoccupied with next year's centennial void sealing for the next 5 years... it's time for our kingdom to conquer those hapless animals over at Urrugdrasil!" declared an old man with a kingly air.

This man was the current king of Tempest, Volsung Alexandre Tempest.

The Commander of the Tempest's royal army voiced out a concern,

"My lord... although we can conquer those animals, but what will happen when the void sealing ends?"

"Hmph. It's not like we plan to take over their lands. After we conquer those animals, we'll only take their people and enslave them. We need more free laborers to finish excavating the ruins and create the star tower. With the tower, even a transcendental level figure will have to think twice if they want to attacks us in retaliation!"

"...the star tower... its considered taboo and the construction plans of those towers were long lost... Your majesty, don't tell me that the ruins you found?!"

The king only chuckled in response. He turned his eyes and imperiously gazed around at the other nobles inside the room.

They bowed down in response to the king's gaze.

"Remember! All those years ago when those animals dared to attack our borders! They didn't want us to establish trade relations with the Oceanic Kingdom of Neftersea and they massacred our people!"

The King's eyes were now burning with fury.

"...my wife died in that tragedy... and I'm sure that many of your family members who were there to attend the banquet to celebrate with my queen were also caught up in those animals' selfish schemes!"

"We've been enduring for the past 10 years and now we've finally amassed our forces! It's time we strike! Will all of you follow this king to battle?!"

"YES, YOUR MAJESTY!" The nobles inside the room responded loudly.

"GOOD, NOW GATHER YOUR MEN! WE STRIKE NOW! BEFORE THE WINTER ENDS, WE'LL DELIVER A RESOUNDING BLOW TO THOSE ANIMALS!"

The meeting continued and they began discussing their battle tactics and plans. Not long after, the king dismissed the nobles and headed into his private study.

The commander was following behind the king.

"Do you feel that going to war is a mistake?" The king asked in a tired voice.

"...I'm not sure Your Highness..."

The king chuckled, "Don't be so stiff Cain. You're still my son-in-law despite having lost the princess in that tragedy..."

Cain Miltaer, the commander of the royal army removed the helmet that was covering his face. Under the helmet was a youthful and handsome face. The handsome blonde haired commander had a sad expression plastered on his face at the mention of the late princess.

"If I may be frank, father..."

"Mhm."

"This war... is indeed a mistake..."

"You are right... it is undoubtedly a mistake... but I will still go through with it. My queen and my daughter may not want this but... where the hell am I supposed to direct all this grief and anguish that's been smoldering in my heart for the past 10 years?!"

The king yelled furiously. A spark of madness could be seen flashing in his eyes.

"My king... no, father... whether it is a bad choice or not, I will follow whatever it is that you choose." The Commander, Cain, responded resolutely and kneeled.

"...Good. How're the negotiations for cooperation from the surrounding border kingdoms going?"

"As of today, we've successfully 'acquired' the cooperation from all the small kingdoms bordering the Urrugdrasil continent. My king, on your command they will set off with all their forces and launch a blitzkrieg on those beastman kingdoms and settlements."

"Excellent, contact them. On the day of Void Sealing we'll launch our attack!"

"Yes, Your Highness!"

The Void Sealing was a centennial event that happened on the very first day of the New Year. Every transcendent powerhouse in every continent on Alterna had to attend. It was a ritual to seal a calamity and it was something that no powerhouse could miss.

Year 4099, on the 1st of the Month of Beginnings, Sartuar, exactly on the day of Void Sealing where the transcendent level figures of both the Midgard and Urrugdrasil continent were attending the ritual, the Royal Kingdom of Tempest and the border kingdoms of the human race launched an all-out attack on Urrugdrasil.

The results were an overwhelming victory on the human's side. They attacked swiftly and without warning. The next day was supposed to be the celebration of the New Year, but all that was celebrated was the news of a massacre.

Historians would label this day as the Hundred Year Massacre.