With the unexpected plan, Henry calmly thought of the people he needed to meet. After a few minutes, he realized that the list was longer than he had expected and that he would be on the move for quite some time.
He had no intention of disregarding any one of those people. Even though they couldn’t possibly know about what they had done for Henry, he was still grateful to have had them as comrades along his journey.
Henry made up his mind on whom to see first.
‘I think I can meet everyone before the founding ceremony ends, since there’s still around two days left. Let’s see who I should see first...’
Henry decided to meet the Khan first. There wasn’t any particular reason except for the fact that he felt more affection toward the Khan dynasty. Besides, Herarion hadn’t even been born at this point in time.
Henry would meet Khan II, Herarion’s father. He knew he would have a lot more to discuss with Herabola than with the other leaders. Moreover, since Herarion wasn’t yet in the picture, there were many things he wanted to teach Herabola, starting with how to properly discipline children.
Of course, Henry had no intentions of insulting Herabola. No matter how sound his advice would be, he knew that Herabola wouldn’t take it if it made him feel bad.
With that in mind, Henry went around asking for Herabola’s whereabouts. It was still early in the night, but it didn’t take long for Henry to find the desert emperor.
He found out that Herabola was at the training grounds of the imperial palace. He hadn’t expected to find Herabola there, especially after the heavy drinking from yesterday.
Henry once again realized the extraordinary discipline of the man who had unified the desert.
As he stepped into the training grounds, Henry saw Herabola in the middle of practice. He observed him from afar for a while, not revealing his presence.
Swoosh, swoosh!
The silence of the night was disturbed by Herabola swinging his wooden sword. Each of his moves was flawless, and Henry realized that he never would’ve realized how impeccable Herabola’s swordsmanship was in his past life, when he used to only care about magic.
However, having become a Sword Master in his second life, Henry could properly appreciate Herabola’s great moves.
‘Tsk, tsk... How did Herarion end up like that when his father is so diligent...’
Henry suddenly remembered Herarion’s dislike of swordsmanship and how he hadn’t swung a sword until becoming an adult. He couldn't help thinking that if Herarion had followed in his father’s footsteps and taken up the sword at a young age, he could’ve avoided the humiliation of Benedict taking over his country.
As Henry was lost in thought, Herabola eventually stopped swinging. He stretched out and took a few deep breaths.
“Herabola.”
“Hmm?”
Herabola glanced at Henry, his expression brightening instantly.
“Hey!”
He pointed at Henry with a big smile on his face, and Henry smiled back and made his way into the training grounds.
“Training right after all that celebration from last night? The King of the Desert sure is something else!”
“Heh, you know it!”
The two had become close after the continental conquest. Because of Herabola’s exceptional skills and harsh desert conditions, Henry and Golden had struggled a lot more with Shahatra than with the other regions.
Despite that, they eventually managed to get Herabola to surrender. However, having recognized his brilliance, they proposed an alliance with him. Herabola also acknowledged his defeat and ultimately accepted the alliance.
That was how Herabola and Henry had become friends.
“Did you not drink yesterday? Took a break or something?”
“A break? Shahatra men don’t shy away from drinks!”
“Then how do you not have a hangover? How’d you pull yourself out to practice?”
“Hehe, you think I’m a weakling like you?”
“Well, you lost to this weakling... Anyway, are you done with your morning training?”
“Pretty much. But what brings you here this early in the morning? I’m sure you’re not here because you need a drinking partner.”
“Of course, I’m done with drinking. Let’s eat. I have something to tell you.”
“Huh? Something to tell me, you say?”
“I’ll get into details at the table.”
Herabola seemed puzzled. It wasn’t just anyone who wanted to speak to him; it was the greatest wizard on the continent, Henry Morris himself. That made him both curious and skeptical.
The two headed to Herabola’s accommodation. As Henry sat down across from Herabola, two aides came to assist the desert emperor. Seeing them, Henry burst into laughter.
“Why are you laughing?” asked Herabola.
“Oh, it’s nothing.”
Henry laughed because the two men assisting Herabola were none other than High Priest Viram and the traitor, the Benedict Caliph.
“Herabola, can we talk privately?”
“Oh? Sure.”Updated chapters at novelhall.com
At this, Herabola nodded toward the door. Then, Viram and Benedict bowed and left the room. As soon as they closed the door, Herabola immediately looked at Henry.
“First of all, you’ll soon have a son.”
“Son? Will he perhaps be my only son?”
“Yes, but your son will hate swordsmanship training so much that even as an adult, he won’t be able to swing a sword properly.”
“What?” Herabola asked in disbelief. He was the ruler of Shahatra, the god of the desert, but his son wouldn’t master swordsmanship? He found it insulting. However, he couldn’t get angry because he knew that Henry was being truthful.
Herabola was lost for words. He looked utterly perplexed, but he tried to mask his reaction.
Seeing his face, Henry almost burst into laughter, but he tried his best to maintain his composure and speak in a serious tone.
“I’m not joking. And because of that, your son won’t be able to properly protect the throne he inherits. Your favorite subordinate will take it away from him.”
“So a rebellion?! What lunatic would dare rebel against my son?”
“Benedict. He’ll be the one to cause a rebellion.”
“What?”
Henry tried to explain Shahatra’s future based on what he had experienced. Of course, since Arthus was now dead, there was a chance that Benedict wouldn’t rebel, but given what Henry had just told him, Herabola would inevitably change his attitude toward Benedict.
However, Henry didn’t want Benedict to be hated for something he hadn’t done and might never do. Thus, he tried to clear up the misunderstanding.
“But it’s not just Benedict’s fault. He was simply tempted by a member of the imperial family to rebel. I took care of that person a while ago.”
“You mean you killed someone?”
“Yes.”
“...”
Herabola burst into laughter as he saw Henry answering without the slightest hint of remorse or shame. He had no clue if he was supposed to be shocked, sad, or happy that Henry had done such a thing.
Henry could tell how Herabola felt about this, but he also knew that killing Arthus had been the right thing. Even though he was gone, Henry was still furious when he recalled the hardships and the pain he had gone through because of him.
“So there’s no need to be confused,” Henry continued in a more serious tone. “I started preparing for the future a long time ago, and the guy I killed was just part of that preparation.”
“Preparing for the future, huh...”
That resonated well with Herabola. Besides thinking it was a cool saying, he also considered it a righteous and noble thing to say.
“So as a result, Benefit and his rebellion will somehow be prevented. The real problem is Janus.”
“... Keep talking,” said Herabola with a much more serious face.
He knew that one could always take preemptive measures when it came to humans. However, Janus was a god, one of the only two gods in Shahatra. And so, he was naturally puzzled to hear from Henry that Janus was a serious problem.
“Then what should we do about Janus?”
“What do you mean? We need to bury him deep underground.”
“What?”
“I’m sure you know how dangerous Janus is. I mean, that’s why you’ve built an underground temple that only the royal family knows about.”
“How did you find out about that...?”
“I told you I can see into the future.”
Herabola was surprised once again as he listened to Henry casually talking about the royal family’s secrets. But this wasn’t the important thing to Henry.
“Listen carefully, Herabola. Humans cannot kill gods, but they can push them into obscurity and ensure that nobody worships them. Thus, you have to seal off Janus’ underground temple. Otherwise, a terrible disaster will befall Shahatra.”
And with that, Henry told Herabola everything he wanted to say. Herabola nodded, acknowledging that Henry's method of dealing with a god sounded effective.
Of course, it was only natural that Henry knew how to deal with gods, given that he himself had been one.
Herabola made a complicated face once again. Even though Henry was a close friend of his, he was reluctant to have an outsider make decisions on internal affairs, especially on those concerning one of Shahatra’s gods.
Seeing Herabola contemplate, Henry was somewhat frustrated. He decided to add the cherry on top.
“Herabola, you have to trust me. This is the only way to honor your father, who’s resting in the Khan’s Eye.”
“Y-you even know about the Khan’s Eye...!”
“Found out about it from a vision.”
The Khan’s Eye, the tomb holding the souls of the rulers of the Shahatra Dynasty, was as closely guarded a secret, just like Janus’ existence. And yet, Henry had mentioned it as casually as possible, leaving Herabola utterly shocked.
With this, Herabola felt that he had to completely trust Henry, as he seemed to know everything about Shahatra...
“...I understand. I’ll follow your advice.”
“Thank you, Herbola.”
With this, the history of the desert would follow a different path.