Sky Castle, Erica’s office.

The wind carrying mist entered through the open window and filled the ceiling.

The light falling between the stone pillars was dim, and the drapes hanging high from the ceiling swirled on the wind.

It looked as though the entire office had sunk into some mysterious sea.

Erica sat quietly on the throne within that office.

The light of the jade lamps illuminated her eyes, which held the same hue.

“...An Elector Princes Council for the extermination of the mutant demonic beasts. What do you think?”

She opened her mouth.

At first glance, her tone sounded indifferent, but tension clung to the end of her words.

“What do I think? The cooperation of the Myriad Star Church is essential in itself. Even if it were not for the mutant demonic beast problem. Or are you all fine because your feudal system is much stronger?”

Tap, tap.

I answered while tapping my fingers on the table.

“No. That is true. It is not as though we grant fiefs to our blood relatives because we enjoy it. If I had my way, I would reclaim every last estate the way House Astreos does and make them live only as military nobles of the capital.”

Erica let out an honest laugh.

It was a throne she had lost once and reclaimed.

If it was to preserve her authority, she would spare neither blood nor sweat nor tears.

“And to do that, the church’s cooperation is indispensable in every respect. Even if it is only a matter of taking a census of the population in those territories or surveying the land....”

“I understand the necessity itself very well. Are you all right?”

Erica asked with a slight crease of her brows.

“Me?”

I asked back.

“What do you mean, am I all right about?”

Her expression stiffened for a moment.

“...No. The Myriad Star Church tried to kill you, and it tried to drive a wedge between you and your sister. And yet how can you move on this quickly... no. Forget it. You need not answer. That is House Astreos, I suppose.”

Confusion and understanding mingled at once in Erica’s voice.

Her beautiful green eyes traced over my face as though feeling along it, then she slowly nodded as though she had found the answer on her own.

I saw a light of sorrow and pity rise in those eyes and then fade.

I guessed the reason.

I did not bother trying to make it any clearer.

The things that were best when one was a vivid thunderbolt were different from the things that were best when one was like a passing wind.

I saw a future where the world is destroyed because of the mutant demonic beasts.

As the memory surfaced, a chill ran down my spine.

At that time, Andromeda, you, and the throne of Emperor will all be useless. And I will fall into the abyss and burn forever.

I certainly did not like the Myriad Star Church.

Their words and actions differed, and their lust for power was so blatant it was nauseating.

Even so, I had once heard somewhere that an adult is someone who can do things he does not like damn well.

In the end, what mattered was the result.

If I could choose only one between a process I liked and a result I liked, I would choose the result.

The goal cannot justify the process, but the result always justifies the process.

The road I had to walk was the road of the Emperor.

On that road, emotions, grudges, even convictions were nothing but means.

Of course, I had no intention of obediently dancing to the church’s tune.

Pit the Myriad Star Church against the Dawn Council and those bastards called the Hall of Purity, and let them annihilate each other. Cathedral knights are as hard to replenish as Blue Knights, and those so-called revolutionary warriors are even harder. All the more so because they cannot build large-scale training camps or scrape up talent from every corner of the land. Once only their military force is gone, the Myriad Star Church too will have no choice but to become servants of us great houses again in the end.

That was my realism.

“Hmm?”

At that moment, Erica tilted her head as she looked at my face.

“Do you know?”

“What?”

“Sometimes you smile in a way that is truly splendid.”

It was the kind of expression that made me want to poke her cheek, like a peacock that was curious yet dignified.

“Really?”

I smiled once more.

Erica smiled as well.

Our laughter filled the office together with the sound of the wind.

A few days later.

Rikentrion Grand Cathedral.

A place where shadows fell in layers along the towering colonnade, and stained-glass mosaics embroidered in light and color covered the entire vaulted dome.

Whenever the sun broke through the clouds and passed in and out, it became a court of the Myriad Star where blue, red, and golden light crossed over one another.

“...Erica of Rikentrion Rikenta.”

“I am here.”

There, Erica’s official coronation was held.

Saint Phobos the archbishop solemnly opened the scriptures.

His voice was like the deep resonance of a bell, and the entire crowd filling the grand cathedral held its breath and moved its gaze with his lips.

“Under the light of the Myriad Star, will you above revere the courses of the stars that never fade for all eternity, and below care for your blood kin and your subjects, delivering them from darkness and calamity?”

“I shall.”

“When you advance, will you stand at the vanguard and show courage to your subjects, and when you retreat, will you take the rear and guard their backs?”

“I shall.”

“Will you not use the throne for private ends, but in the stead of the will of the Myriad Star govern fairly across the islands of Rikenta? Will you not abandon the orphan and the widow, and will you embrace the one who wanders the seas and the one who has lost the way?”

“I shall.”

The archbishop slowly raised his hand, marked her forehead with holy oil, and proclaimed.

“Then now, in the name of the Myriad Star, I command: Erica of Rikentrion Rikenta, you are the Viceroy of this land and the great sovereign of storms. I, Saint Phobos, archbishop of the Myriad Star Church, hereby proclaim before all under heaven that you possess the authority to protect and govern the eight thousand islands and archipelagos of Rikenta in the stead of all the stars.”

Then the golden viceregal crown was placed upon her head.

In that instant, the crowd within the grand cathedral and the nobles gathered before it erupted in cheers.

“Erica! Erica! Erica!”

“Viceroy of Wind! Viceroy of Wind! Viceroy of Wind!”

“O sub-constellation that becomes the center of the orbit!”

The Myriad Star Church had recognized her accession.

Now the bishoprics and priests across Rikenta’s thousands of islands would have no choice but to accept her name as well.

The same went for the knights and Navigator lords of those thousands of islands.

They were people who could not even levy taxes properly without the church’s administrative support.

The church’s recognition was the guarantee of authority itself.

With this, the strength of Ortupios’s remaining faction would be greatly broken as well.

Erica’s rule had been firmly built upon bedrock.

And upon that bedrock, there was a portion that would fall to me as well.

“Furthermore, in this sacred place, I proclaim: I bless Duke Kyrie of Astrion Astreos, Grand Duke of Wind of Rikenta and former Comet Rank of House Astreos, in the name of the free Storm Star. This Myriad Star Church, receiving the will of all constellations, recognizes you as Grand Duke of Wind of Rikenta and establishes you as the second person of this land, as the state consort of Her Highness Viceroy Erica. This is not merely the agreement of humans who cannot live even a hundred years, but a vow offered before the witness of starlight.”

Saint Phobos turned toward me.

For an instant, hesitation and humiliation flickered in his eyes, but cold reason and the duty of a clergyman soon crushed them down.

“Grand Duke of Wind. From this day forth, you possess the authority to express the official position of the great wind house Rikenta, to speak freely at the Elector Princes Council, and in the absence of the Viceroy, to exercise in his stead the right to elect the Emperor and the right to stand for election. As starlight bears witness, all these powers are sacred duties granted beneath the providence of the constellations, and you shall use them not for your own heart, but for the Empire and its subjects.”

The content of the declaration was closer to placing obligations upon me than bestowing a favor.

His gaze as well clearly showed his aversion toward me.

That suited me better instead.

Because it felt as though I had won it in battle, in the way of House Astreos.

【Hero’s Journey Step 12】

【Step 5: Attend the Elector Princes Council】

【Detailed Objective 1: Myriad Star Church】

【You have secured the cooperation of the church. As the second person of Rikenta, you may freely participate in and speak at the Elector Princes Council.】

【Reward for success: Thunderbolt Body +50%】

【Penalty for failure: Thunderbolt Body -100%】

The stigma above my right eye flared.

The peculiar ecstasy of the Thunderbolt Body surging upward pierced from the crown of my head to the base of my spine like lightning.

I had to grit my teeth so that I would not break into a foolish grin in this important place.

【Hero’s Journey Step 12】

【Step 5: Attend the Elector Princes Council】

【Detailed Objective 2: The Protagonist of Tonight!】

【Ensure that your own agenda is discussed as a core matter at the Elector Princes Council】

【Reward for success: Thunderbolt Body +100%】

【Penalty for failure: Thunderbolt Body -10%】

Immediately, a second detailed objective appeared.

A core agenda.

Ordinarily, it would have been something that required long deliberation.

It was difficult to draw out an issue that all six great houses would pay attention to.

Not anymore.

Now I had a verified answer.

I just need to bring out the elixir of sacred radiance.

Flammerios had already shown enough favor on that basis alone to dispatch Red Knights to the border.

I went further and even conceived a method to increase production of the elixir of sacred radiance efficiently.

I will have to hunt more skeletal specimens. Even if it means going deep into the corpse-waste plains.

The electric arts of the Blue Knights were not especially effective.

The wind arts of the Navigators were effective, but given the current political situation, I could not draw large-scale troops out beyond Rikenta.

The flame arts of the Red Knights were out of the question from the start, since they left not even a corpse behind.

In the end, is it only them?

The faces of several superhuman soldiers passed through my mind.

When it came to hunting skeletal specimens, there were none more suitable than they were.

Not every corner of Rikenta Sky Castle was mysterious and majestic.

Rainwater that fell upon Table Mountain ran down the split cliffs and eventually formed limestone caverns.

The heads of House Rikenta had expanded and renovated those caverns into a prison.

Drip, drip.

Groundwater flowed like a small stream along the grooves in the floor.

Inside the iron bars, where dampness, the smell of iron, and the musty odor of mold were mixed together.

I lost.

Blue Hydrangea, a third-year of the marksman school, sat with her back against the stone wall.

I did not think he would withstand quadruple-layered authority fire. To think he would overlay the Sacheol shield with a magnetic field, and then crush me in that state through shape transformation.

She reviewed the previous battle with her eyes closed.

How should I have fired?

Even as she quietly drew her breath in the exhilaration of seeking the answer to a problem she had failed once, her body still twitched.

The eyes of the guards never left her.

Yet those gazes were neither impure nor lewd.

Blue Hydrangea was certainly a beauty, with sea-colored hair, bright yet composed eyes, and a striking tear mole.

Even so, the guards still feared her.

That remained true even though her hands, feet, and even her neck were bound in magic-tool chains.

The guards knew.

Blue Hydrangea was a superhuman who, with nothing but a single old musket, could stand against Kyrie the Lightning Blade.

Contrary to the common misunderstanding, the authorities of the marksman school were not limited only to the handling of firearms.

They knew that fact all too well.

“Loyalty!”

“No irregularities while on duty!”

Thus, when the door opened and footsteps drew near, the guards were able to snap into a rigid salute all at once.

Step. Step. Step.

“Duke Kyrie... no, should I call you Your Highness now?”

The footsteps stopped before the prison.

Blue Hydrangea slowly opened her eyes.

Blue eyes of a different texture from House Astreos met blue eyes that were more Astreos than anyone’s.

“Call me whatever you like.”

Kyrie shrugged.

A detached yet dizzying smile spread at the corners of his mouth.

“Soon enough, you will want to call me by the finest title you know.”

Blue Hydrangea frowned very slightly, but did not answer.

That smile called lightning to mind.

Unlike a gun, which did not fire unless the trigger was pulled, lightning simply fell without hesitation.

As it had been born, in a blazing flash.

“At the moment, there are about four hundred survivors left in your marksman school. Naturally, we cannot keep feeding mercenary prisoners who are not even nobles.”

Kyrie recited it indifferently.

“The school will pay a ransom.”

Blue Hydrangea recognized it as a threat.

If it had truly been so “natural,” there would have been no need for a figure of his stature to come in person.

“Please spare at least my juniors.”

There was some condition.

If she learned that condition and fulfilled it, she might live and might return.

“I do not want to kill people outside the battlefield either. If possible.”

Kyrie continued slowly.

“But it seems the other Blue Knights and Navigators think differently. Once an enemy, forever an enemy. On the battlefield called life, one can rest easy only after sweeping away every last enemy.”

Silence flowed for a moment.

Drip, drip.

The sound of the groundwater seemed to echo even louder.

“What do you want from me?”

Blue Hydrangea asked openly.

“I will continue Ortupios’s employment contract.”

As though he had been waiting, Kyrie smiled.

“However, I can only pay one silver coin of the remaining balance. Is that acceptable?”

“What?”

Blue Hydrangea’s mouth trembled reflexively.

“No. Rather than fight for that money, I would rather just die. The arrows would be too precious to waste, so just bind me and my sisters together in chains and shove us off the cliff.”

Chapter 191

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