Chapter 137

"Fargar... we'll need to be cautious."

Ian packed his belongings and headed southwest.

Up until now, Ian had been staying and working in the northwestern region of the Empire. After a stop at the Blue Key Monastery near the center, he was now moving southwest.

The ruler of the northwestern region was Duke Araz.

And the ruler of the southwestern region, where Ian was now headed, was Duke Fargar.

Kira muttered as she recalled the name Fargar.

"Fargar... where have I heard that name before?"

Ian briefly recalled an old memory.

Fargar... Fargar...

"Oh."

It came back to him.

Once, when he visited Riverville, Baron Kaltz had told him about the state of the Empire.

He had mentioned that Duke Fargar and Duke Roxlan did not get along.

Duke Roxlan was a neighboring ruler to the east of Fargar.

According to the story, Duke Fargar had his eyes on Duke Roxlan's land...

"I heard before that Duke Fargar is preparing for war."

Kira spoke up.

In the past, she had been a con artist pretending to be a wizard.

Kira was from the southern part of the Empire (probably).

An orphan and a wanderer, she had no place to call home, but she had picked up a lot of knowledge from traveling around the Empire.

Of course, she had once set foot in Duke Fargar's territory.

... She had immediately fled upon hearing rumors that Duke Fargar was preparing for war.

A fake wizard dragged to a battlefield would only face execution.

"Hmm. We need to be careful."

Ian thought he especially needed to be cautious.

There was always a high demand for wizards, but that demand exploded during times of war.

On the battlefield, wizards displayed god-like prowess.

They could change the weather, alter the terrain, and even unleash massive fires to burn soldiers.

A side that didn't hire wizards would seem incompetent; thus, wizards were crucial in war.

The value of a wizard was extremely high, but this also meant that nobles might want to conscript them through forceful means.

When war broke out, nobles often tried to forcibly 'requisition' wizards.

A wizard was an individual, and a noble was a person of power, so the story usually ended with the wizard being conscripted.

Wizards would be extremely displeased, but... what could they do? It was a hundred times better than being executed.

Even though wizards created things like [Calling a Wizard] to protect each other and exercised the virtue of mutual aid, there would always be blind spots.

Inevitable sacrifices occurred.

If Ian was unlucky, he could become one of those sacrifices.

Of course, if a duke tried to conscript Ian because of a war, other wizards would desperately try to prevent it. That was the virtue of wizards.

Then the duke would back down, knowing his limits...

But you could never be certain about human affairs, could you?

Since anything could happen, it was better to be cautious.

"... Araz was a peaceful place."

Ian mumbled to himself.

The northwestern part of the Empire, where Ian had stayed, was relatively peaceful under Duke Araz's rule.

Though Ian had even participated in Lucy Talian's territorial war... still, it was peaceful.

In this medieval fantasy world, war was a part of everyday life.

A baronial dispute was like a greeting.

But a war involving a duke meant, 'Oh, a big battle is brewing somewhere!'

"If a war breaks out, the emperor would intervene."

Ian muttered to himself and then tilted his head.

"But where is the emperor?"

This place was a Holy 'Empire.'

The ruler of the country was the emperor.

However...

Ian had never heard the damn emperor's name in his life!

I mean, he's the emperor.

But how can someone from the Empire not know the emperor's name?

"I don't know either."

Kira, being from the streets, knew nothing about the emperor.

But Belenka knew something.

"The knights say that he has moved his palace to Duke Roxlan's territory."

"... Moved the palace?"

A king lives in the capital of his country, and moving the capital is often referred to as [relocating the capital].

Someone unfamiliar with the Holy Empire might assume, "Oh, the emperor moved the capital to Duke Roxlan's territory."

That's only half right.

"Well, yes. The imperial palace keeps moving."

"???"

Ian was momentarily dumbfounded by Belenka's explanation.

What, the emperor's palace is mobile? Like a Ghibli animation?

Wow! Because it's a fantasy world, the palace must have legs!

"The palace moves? How???"

Kira reacted the same way as Ian.

In fact, both of them were from humble origins.

Ian was the son of a serf, and Kira was an orphan taken in by a street performer.

On the other hand, Belenka was the daughter of a knight.

In this party, the person with the most noble blood was Belenka!

She laughed lightly at the reaction of the two commoners and explained.

Although she was a foreigner, she had knowledge of the Empire's upper class through frequent interactions with knights.

"Kira, what do you think the imperial palace is?"

"...? The place where the emperor lives...?"

"That's right. The place where the emperor lives is the imperial palace. So if the emperor moves his residence, doesn't that mean the palace moves as well?"

Kira murmured blankly.

"So the emperor of the Empire... keeps moving?"

Exactly.

Kira got it right.

The emperor of the Holy Empire traveled around the empire, changing the duchy he stayed in periodically.

Just like the "Heaven's Domain" in a fantasy novel written by a bored orchard owner!

In the Empire, the emperor comes to you!

"Wow... I didn't know? I thought the emperor, like other nobles, stayed put on his own land."

Belenka shrugged.

"Still, he's the emperor of the Empire, so he can't just take care of his own land."

There are several reasons why the emperor traveled around the duchies.

To maintain the balance of the empire, to monitor the dukes, and for traditional reasons.

But the biggest reason was...

To listen to the whining of the dukes.

'Waaah~ Emperor~ The crops failed this year~ Support us~'

'Emperor~ The heretics have been invading too often lately~ Help us~'

'The neighboring estate keeps picking fights! Do something about it~'

'This orchard! I claimed it, but they keep trying to take it!'

'No way~ It's originally mine!'

'No, it's not!'

'...'

When the dukes whined endlessly, the emperor would clutch his aching head and listen to their petitions.

After all... the emperor is the ruler of the empire!

Other nobles might manage their lands haphazardly, but the emperor had to take care of the entire empire.

Of course, the empire belonged to the emperor, so he had to manage it personally.

That's right.

The emperor of the empire was like a kindergarten teacher... or the leader of a group project.

"So the reason the emperor went to Duke Roxlan..."

"Well, it's probably because of the war."

Duke Fargar was eyeing Roxlan's land.

But the emperor moved his palace to Roxlan's land.

The message was clear.

'The emperor is staying here. Want to start something? Try if you can!'

It was a subtle warning to Duke Fargar.

Duke Fargar would pause if he were sensible.

The problem was, Ian didn't know much about him.

If he ignored the emperor and just threw a punch...

That would definitely spark a civil war within the Empire.

"According to rumors, the King of Roland is backing Duke Fargar."

Duke Fargar's land was in the southwestern part of the Empire.

And further west lay the Kingdom of Roland. It was a typical kingdom as Ian knew it.

There was a king, his vassals, and beneath them, the common people.

It was also a feudal state, but the king's power was much stronger than that of the emperor of the Empire.

They didn't call him 'king' for nothing!

"Isn't the Kingdom of Roland your destination, Belenka?"

When Kira asked, Belenka nodded.

Her father had served as a knight in the Kingdom of Roland in his youth.

She, too, had planned to become a knight there...

"It's not that important. As long as I can make money, I'm fine."

Belenka playfully poked Ian's back.

"If this guy doesn't pay me, I'll just move over there."

"I won't cheat you. If I run out of money, I'll pay you with fairy silk from Talian territory. How's that?"

"Oh. If you're going to pay me, I'd prefer a dress made from it."

"Why?"

"Why do you think? Because pretty clothes are nice."

Belenka proudly waved her fairy silk hair tie.

Kira stared at it enviously. She had always been jealous of Belenka's hair tie.

"I heard that even duchesses find it hard to get dresses made of fairy silk..."

When Kira murmured, Belenka chuckled.

"Who cares? Ian here has plenty of fairy silk."

Ian had forgotten, but he was indeed wealthy.

His wealth mainly consisted of fairy silk...

If he managed to sell it in a city, he could make a lot of money.

'I hope Lucy is doing well.'

Ian thought as he stretched lazily.

After this journey, it might be nice to stop by Talian territory and rest for a while.

'... I should buy some gifts if I visit the city.'

Ian added more items to his shopping list.

A magic book for Kira. And a gift for Lucy.

'Should I get something for Sister Mionia too?'

Duke Fargar might be stirring up war, but that wasn't Ian's problem.

Surely he wouldn't start a war with the emperor right next door?

Sitting on his donkey, Ian looked up at the sky.

It was reverently blue and clear.

It seemed to be watching over Ian's journey.

The journey was smooth.

But a problem arose around noon.

"Damn."

It had been clear in the morning.

But in the afternoon, the weather suddenly turned gloomy, and a downpour began.

Getting wet wasn't the issue.

People aren't made of sugar. A few drops of rain wouldn't melt them.

But the roads in the Empire... were like sugar cookies.

"The road's gone."

"..."

The path Ian was traveling on wasn't one laid down by the ancient Golden Empire.

It was one laid by the proud Holy Empire.

The ground was just dirt, and sometimes the path would be interrupted by overgrown grass.

It wasn't a deliberately made road but a path that had naturally formed from people walking on it, like a local hiking trail.

It was bad enough that the dirt became muddy.

But when the stepping stones across the river disappeared, Ian was flabbergasted.

"No bridge nearby so we can't cross the river? How does that make sense?"

It does.

That's the Empire (nod).

Ian considered stopping the river with magic, but realizing it required a magic circle, he gave up.

Ian couldn't stop the river with his level of water magic.

When it rains, the river naturally flows more vigorously.

Trying to stop it would undoubtedly annoy the mysteries of the river.

Since there wasn't a murderer with a knife chasing him, there was no need for unnecessary requests.

"Shall we find a detour?"

"Let's do that."

Ian decided to look for another path.

Fortunately, there was a farmhouse nearby where they could ask for directions.

"Ah! There's a path made of stone! It's very sturdy!"

It was undoubtedly a road built by the people of the Golden Empire.

Ian smiled brightly at the farmer's words.

As expected of the Golden Empire!

They had prepared the roads for their descendants in advance (or not)!

"But it might be difficult to use that path."

"Why?"

The farmer grumbled.

"Some strange folks have taken over the area recently and are doing something weird... uh!"

The farmer quickly covered his mouth.

He was worried that badmouthing armed thugs might get him in trouble.

"Strange folks?"

"Well, they seem to be hired by someone important..."

There was only one type of person that important people would hire.

Mercenaries.

"What do you mean by weird?"

"I couldn't tell even if I saw it! They seem to be searching for something in the river, but they chase everyone away who gets close!"

Hmm.

Ian nodded at the farmer's excellent explanation.

Strange folks doing strange things...

There couldn't be a more perfect description.

"Ian, what are we going to do?"

Belenka and Kira awaited Ian's decision.

Ian spoke lightly.

"First, let's go to the bridge."

Ian was a wizard.

He had all sorts of tricks and the authority that came with being a wizard.

Wouldn't it be enough to just go and say, 'I'm a wizard,' and pass through?

Ian and his party headed toward the bridge.