CH 201

wheel of fortune (1)

Dmitry's waiting room.

As I entered, I saw a familiar face.

Edwin Hector, who was drinking tea, greeted Roman Dmitry with a natural expression.

Long time no see.

"What made you want to see me?"

"You are in a hurry. Please take a seat."

It was surprising.

The last memories of Roman Dmitry and Edwin Hector were not very pleasant.

As he broke down the walls and slaughtered Hector's soldiers, Edwin Hector showed hateful eyes as if he was about to shed tears of blood.

The relationship between the two was clearly negligible.

No matter how much they said private feelings should be excluded for the sake of the national interest, they were not in a relationship that peacefully asked for their regards.

sat down

Edwin Hector threw the topic of conversation lightly, perhaps to relieve tension.

"First of all, congratulations on the opening of the Duchy of Dmitry. I knew that Roman Dmitry was a great person, but I didn't know that he would put an end to the civil war in Cairo and even defeat the Kronos Empire. Even in Hector, many people were surprised by Roman Dmitry's actions. Everyone is outraged by the atrocities of the Empire, but nobody puts it into action like Roman Dmitry."

"Let's go straight to the point. Aren't we close enough to praise each other with shame?

" That's right. In fact, I didn't even know that we would meet somewhere other than on the battlefield.

The atmosphere was cold.

thing at that time.

Edwin Hector is still not forgotten.

Although now forced to laugh for a special purpose, on the battlefield, Roman Dmitry presented a truly overwhelming horror.

When I crossed the border for the country.

Hector's soldiers were unilaterally slaughtered, and the defeated soldiers who had nothing to gain had to spend a really cold and difficult winter.

And.

Butler, who suffered serious internal injuries, needed a year of rehabilitation to regain his sword.

My heart was burning hot.

Hearing Butler's despair and frustration every night, Edwin Hector, who was living in the sky, fell into guilt that he had made the wrong choice.

Hector was in decline.

If he hadn't encouraged the war, it would have been difficult right now, but he would not have experienced the pain of defeat.

took a breath

past mischief.

Having experienced Roman Dmitry on the battlefield, I was convinced that I should meet Roman Dmitry even more.

Edwin Hector said.

"I will tell you straight up. The war between Cairo and Hector. Behind it was the darkness that instigated the war."

* * *

Roman Dmitry's expression did not change much.

Seeing the shocking news he received, Edwin Hector spit out the words he had put together in his head.

"As Roman Dmitry knows, the kingdom of Hector decided to go to war due to the continuous poor crops every year. I'm not making excuses for that. We attacked Cairo to live, and that's the inexcusable part. But right after the war ended. We have established circumstances that the poor crop may have been artificially created."

The timing was coincidental.

The village, which was initially okay, showed signs of anomaly as soon as the war was over, as if there was no need to hide it now.

"It started with a village in Hector. It was a village with a strangely poor crop, but as soon as the war was over, the ground became dry and crumbly and black, and there were reports of excessively found dead animals nearby. And that was just the beginning. With the sudden outbreak of anomalies throughout Hector, we learned that there was another reason for the poor crop that was afflicting Hector. It was obviously the Necromancer's curse. The beings who worked hard to dry the earth for a long time did not hide the reality of the curse any longer when they achieved their purpose."

It takes some effort to keep the curse.

situation was seen.

Hector thought that God had abandoned the country in the face of a continuous poor crop, but in fact there was another real reason.

When doubt turns into certainty.

Edwin Hector could not contain his boiling rage.

War with Cairo.

how many people died

Those who went to the battlefield to try to feed Hector, met a monster called Roman Dmitry and did nothing.

I didn't want to hold the other person accountable.

The stupid plans of the black screen and the defeat in the war were all because of the lack of leaders who governed Hector.

but.

I needed to find out the truth.

He entered the horse tower through a deal with the sky, and he had a really intense time for the past year.

"Which faction has benefited the most from the war between Cairo and Hector? Simply put, it can be said that that power is the Kronos Empire. For those who want to use Cairo as a bridgehead for conquest of the continent, whoever wins, Cairo or Hector, has no choice but to gain, so we focused on them and started investigating. At first I didn't want to believe it. Even though the empire's ambitions have reached their peak, black magic is a realm that mankind must not touch."

exactly one year.

I recently discovered a fact.

And that fact, led Edwin Hector to Dmitry.

"10 years ago from now. I discovered that there was a phenomenon similar to that of Hector in the Kronos Empire. This is a deliberately poor crop, but the Kronos Empire did not actively try to solve them, but rather hid the truth. And when we found a clue to one of the people involved, we found out that their poor harvest was the result of an 'experiment'."

It wasn't perfect evidence.

The person who knew about the poor harvest was only an errand man, and had no power to use it as evidence.

However.

Edwin Hector was convinced.

Looking at Roman Dmitry, he revealed the purpose of his visit to Dmitry.

"It was as we expected. The true nature of the darkness was the Kronos Empire."

* * *

War between the two kingdoms.

The benefits to be gained from that were obvious.

It's Lee Jae-yi (以夷制夷).

Even if the Chronos Empire does not put much effort into it, it can draw in external forces and push Cairo into a corner.

In fact, the war on the southern front was directly linked to Kronos' gain.

Hector Kingdom tried to bring in the Kronos Empire to solve the adverse situation, and regardless of the outcome, Cairo Kingdom had no choice but to focus on the Southern Front rather than the Western Front for a while.

So slowly.

Cairo caught his breath.

Just as Hector withered from a poor crop, the riots inside and outside gradually weakened Cairo.

Edwin Hector said.

"People focus only on the atrocities that the Kronos Empire is doing right before their eyes. They openly speak of conquest of the continent, so they are lucky if it is not directly invading the border. But the truth is different. The Kronos Empire is cleverly destroying beings that stand in the way. Our top priority is Cairo. They want to use Cairo as a bridgehead for war, which can be defeated relatively effortlessly, unlike the Kingdom Union, where four kingdoms joined forces. Cairo, Hector. If we destroy the two kingdoms and take full control of the northern part of the continent, then we will split the continent in half and start a full-scale conquest."

"If that is true, then why did you come to me without making it public? Black magic is a sensitive subject, so even the Kronos Empire would not have been able to completely evade responsibility."

I agree. But that alone will not bring down the empire. no. It may be the starting point of hastening the Continental War. The Empire of Kronos is stifling their ambitions with the existence of the Empire of Valhalla, but in fact, it would be no wonder that war broke out right now. And there is no certainty that the power of the confederation of kingdoms alone, excluding the empire, will not be able to meet the ambitions of the empire."

The evidence was scant.

Kronos was well aware of the fact that it would be enough to get away with it, and that an argument without strength would be meaningless.

so that.

Edwin Hector first thought of Roman Dmitry.

"Our relationship was wrong from the start. The responsibility rests entirely with Hector, and if you are asked to take responsibility for this, I will gladly accept it. However, Dmitry and Hector need to work together to thwart Kronos' ambitions.

That was the real purpose.

alliance.

I hoped for the power of Roman Dmitry.

"For years, Hector's people starved to death. Whenever I think of their withered faces from the Kronos Empire, I feel unable to live under the same sky with them. My heart is still warm. I feel angry and go crazy. This is not just Hector's problem. So, please join me in my plan to bring down the Kronos Empire."

It was a rather one-sided conversation.

Edwin Hector vomited the anger he had accumulated over the years, and his words were quite persuasive.

By the way.

It was strange.

Even after hearing all the truth.

Roman Dmitry's expression was so calm.

* * *

It was a strange atmosphere.

Roman Dmitry took a sip of tea, put down the teacup and looked at Edwin Hector.

"I knew."

" What is that?"

"After the battle on the Southern Front. I spread my people across the continent. In fact, the war between Hector and Cairo was something no one wanted, and I thought it might have been artificially created. As Edwin Hector said. It was very clear that both countries benefited from the shedding of blood."

Hao Moon.

The people of the information guild permeated all over the continent.

They gathered a variety of information, and the information they put together in the puzzle got a clue about black magic.

Hector's failure.

It smelled artificial.

As Edwin Hector investigated, there was no clear evidence that it was the work of the Kronos Empire, but at least it was possible to infer that someone had a conspiracy.

Actually, it wasn't that surprising.

Edwin Hector seemed to express his anger over how humans use black magic, but in Moorim, he often experienced more than that.

A gang made out of a corpse.

Monsters that suck people's energy.

There were a lot of people who gave up on living as human beings in order to achieve their goals.

Roman Dmitry said.

"We are already preparing for war against Kronos. If they were, they would certainly carry out their ambitions to conquer the continent, and they would do whatever it takes to bring down Dmitry, just like in Hector's kingdom. But that's it. Aside from that, why should Dmitry join the Hector-led initiative?"

" Do you mean that you will decline my offer?"

"Let's be straight. To be precise, I'm asking if Hector would be in a position to make such an offer.

eyes changed.

appearance on the battlefield.

Roman Dmitry looked ferocious as if he was about to eat Edwin Hector.

"The kingdom of Hector was at the mercy of Kronos' intentions. And even though they attacked the Cairo Kingdom by surprise, they did not achieve their purpose at all. It means Hector's weakness. Due to a long poor harvest, Hector was scorched from the inside, and those who did not eat and enjoy properly lose their meaning as soldiers over time. Not only that."

It was the cruel truth.

What he was trying to ignore, Roman Dmitry was mercilessly exposed.

"The war with Cairo is over and the intentional poor harvest is over. However, it takes time to restore the already dry land, and the people of Hector are still complaining of hunger as an unresolved problem. I have heard that Prince Edwin Hector has received great support as he enters the sky. But has Hector's problem been completely resolved? If war breaks out right now, does Hector have ample supplies and the perfect environment to arm them? Prince. I don't know your sincerity. His heart for the people and his heart for revenge seem to explode, and he wants to destroy the Kronos Empire somehow. However ."

this meeting.

The conversation that was expected to go smoothly, like the relationship between the two men, went wrong from the start.

"Give me the reasons why Dmitry should join hands with you, rather than the obvious ones I know."