Esther de Baronia - Chapter 7.1

The silvery white royal castle is bathed in the moonlight, looking more fantastic than it did during the day.

 

The city is lit up by candles and street lights, leaking a pale orange light over the outer walls.

 

The three towers stretching out from the orange-red shimmering earth resembles the stairway to heavens, and the huge circle connecting the towers resembles the edge of the moon.

 

Each of the towers, called the royal castles, has a different role.

 

The tower on the left controls military affairs, and houses the rooms of the military commanders, armories, and barracks, and contains all of the military power.

 

The right tower governs internal affairs, with facilities for food, clothing, and shelter around and inside the tower, such as food storage, material storage, ice room, library, and data room.

 

The central tower, unlike the other two, is the property of the king and is considered a symbol. It rises higher than the other towers and contains the audience hall, throne room, king’s room, offices, treasury, conference room, and so on. In other words, it controls the diplomacy of the country.

 

The triangularly arranged towers are connected by a huge ring floating in the air, which serves as a communication channel.

 

The triangularly arranged towers are connected by a huge circle floating in the air, which serves as a communication channel.

 

 

It is said that some kind of magic is applied to the ring that remains unbroken with only three supports, but it may be true if a system that can be created ignoring the laws of architecture and physics is called magic.

 

 

In the central royal castle, there is an audience hall and a throne room, both of which may seem to have the same meaning, but their roles are slightly different.

 

The audience hall is used when people from the outside visit, while the throne room is used when people from the inside gather.

 

Therefore, originally, the military council used the throne room, which is filled with silver and white and has a gleaming black throne, but the king wants to use the audience hall this time.

 

You may be wondering what they are going to do.

 

 

 

It’s to inquire about the sudden summoning of the dragon zombie that had occurred during the day. They want to know about the king’s true intentions.

 

The commanders of the army who were present at the scene of the summoning are lined up in front of the door of the audience hall, which they had never set foot in.

 

In the meadow where the sun is setting and the twilight is fading, when Rushka askes Karon why he decided to do this, he said.

 

“In two hours, I will answer in the audience hall.”

 

After saying this, the king disappears as if he had vanished into thin air, leaving those who are left behind with only a feeling of disbelief, as if they were dreaming.

 

The king had never demonstrated his secret arts, nor had he ever shown off his power.

 

He loves his people, his soldiers, his subjects, and his country. Without looking after himself, the king has always worked for the happiness of his loved ones.

 

If he wanted to rule over demons, he could usually use force to subdue them, but he never did that. He treats them respectfully as one race, and brings the country together by treating them equally without discriminating between races.

 

Nowadays, there is no one who mocks him as a human king. This is the kind of politics that is possible only because he’s not a demon, and it has made him overwhelmingly happier and more peaceful than in the past.

 

A country where the strong and the weak live hand in hand. The king of Esther de Baronia is the kindest man in the world, and he is adored as such.

 

But this time it’s the complete opposite.

 

The whole city knows that he summoned the mighty undead without paying a price.

 

It’s more confusing than praising the king’s secret magic.

 

Something must have tipped the scales against the kind-hearted king.

 

Did he give them a warning?

 

 

Even a literate demon with the rank of legion leader was afraid of them. How could the non-military people of the city not be afraid?

 

Outside, the sun has already set, and the silver moon and stardust are coloring the sky.

 

The royal castle in the center. It’s not often that the legion leaders step into the tower, which could be called the king’s territory, and they all look nervous.

 

The air is particularly heavy in this castle. The soldiers on guard are specially selected, unlike the military, and they are all quiet and refined in their every movement.

 

The high-ranking officials involved in internal affairs are the same way. They look at the soldiers rudely and sharply, but they restrain themselves from fighting.

 

From their point of view, this castle, the symbol of the king, must be noble. If they defile it in any way, they are ready to lose their heads immediately, no matter who they are.

 

Regardless of the castles on the left and right, this is the only place that must be God’s realm, and no one dares to do as they wish.

 

A kind-hearted king. A king who possesses the transcendent power of the mystic arts, but does not flaunt it.

 

However, this is the perception of those around him, and it is different in this castle.

 

The absolute reigning king who stands at the top of the demons. A great king who rules even over the gods.

 

The last and strongest fortress that protects the king. That’s what this central castle is all about.

 

Gladora and the others are excited to have an audience with the king, but they had long since forgotten that feeling.

 

Gladora, Jeremiah, Albert, Mamoru and Gorobei line up in that order, waiting for the right moment.

 

The two Lizard Berserk, who protect the left and right sides of the door, keep their big swords on the floor with their hands and look at the corps leaders with caution, which makes them uncomfortable.

 

“You seem to be very nervous. Why don’t you just take it easy?”

 

In the midst of all this, it’s Albert who kept his normal demeanor.

 

He’s a gentleman by nature, and his manner is graceful and natural.

 

Jeremiah’s brows wrinkles as he checks Albert’s whole body from top to bottom with his side eyes and lets out a sigh of dismay.

 

“Grandpa, your cane is shaking!”

 

He whispers and Albert hurriedly holds his cane in one hand and grins.

 

“No, I’m embarrassed. But this castle is as wonderful as ever. The air is heavy instead of the sloppy atmosphere of the right tower or the skin-stinging atmosphere of the left tower.”

 

“One question, why is the throne room on the first floor and the audience hall on the 18th?”

 

“The first floor doesn’t seem so tense to me, it’s the second floor and up that’s the most intimidating.”

 

“I’m sure that’s the King’s concern. I think it’s the king’s way of making sure that we don’t have to worry about him. He uses the calm throne room for audiences with people from his own country, and meets people from other countries upstairs where he can show them his majestic ability and where they can’t escape.”

 

The others are convinced, but it’s simply a design error. If you ignore the laws of architecture and physics, it is quite common to ignore common sense.

 

Thanks to Albert, Jeremy is able to relax a little, but it only lasts for a short time.

 

Suddenly, the door opens slightly and Rushka appears from inside. She’s dressed in her usual military uniform, but unlike her usual appearance, which is always overly excited whenever she’s with Karon, she’s nervous today.

 

“I’m ready.”

 

“Why are you so nervous?”

 

Gladora prodded at Rushka’s heavy expression.

 

Rushka chokes on her words for a moment, but then glares up into the wolf’s face, looking like she’s about to cry.

 

“I’ve never been in this room before either! I can’t stop shaking since earlier……”

 

It’s only natural because the audience hall has never been used, as Karon had never done any diplomacy before.

 

But if Rushka, who’s close to the king, is trembling, what on earth is waiting for them inside? The faces of all the demons naturally tightened up.

 

“Let’s go, then. Give the weapons to the soldiers. All of them.”

 

Jeremiah, Albert and the guards, who usually wear weapons, hand them to the two Lizard Berserk.

 

Albert tries to bring his cane, but they are so careful to take away his “weapon of choice,” thinking he could walk without it.

 

When Albert asks Rushka why she isn’t nervous about entering the throne room on the first floor, but she’s on the second floor.

 

“I want you to think of it as a different dimension from the second floor.”

 

Rushka nods to the soldiers.

 

The two Lizard Berserkers look at the people in front of the door carefully to make sure there’s no dangerous weapon left, and then open the steel door at the same speed on both sides at the same time.

 

The throne room is not very ornate, with only the white of the mithril and the black of the throne and the flag being the main colors.. It’s lit up with magical light even at night, as if to evoke the image of a pure and innocent king rather than a luxurious and powerful king.

 

However, the audience hall is designed to express the majesty of the king, not his mental image.

 

Once the steel door with a large dragon carved on it is opened, the army commanders see gold and red.

 

The windowless room is lit only by unquenchable candles, and the intricately carved pillars on either side extend far into the distance to the throne.

 

The walls are adorned with a variety of furnishings, all of which are incomparably more luxurious than those in the hallways, with a single piece of art that would easily exceed the budget of any country.

 

The red carpet, on which their feet sank lightly, stretches straight from the center of the aisle and stops in front of the throne.

 

“Oh ……”

 

The world beyond the open door. A shiver runs through his body at the pressure that overflowed from the solemn room that is separated from the world.

 

Jeremiah almost shouts in admiration, but the sense of intimidation that flows into his lungs kills his words.

 

He always understands in his head that the king is a supreme being, but he is made to understand how much it meant to every inch of his body.

 

“Let’s go.”

 

At the same time as the short signal, Rushka solemnly steps forward, followed by Gladora and the others.

 

The more they go deeper into the corridor, where there is still room for five people in a row, with Rushka in the lead, the heavier the pressure becomes, and the golden [Willful Armor], which is motionless with its sword raised among the ornaments, has a blue light in its eyes and is moving in pursuit of the advancing demons.

 

Someone gulps and clears their throat. Their mouths are dry and they can’t breathe properly.

 

Rushka pauses.

 

When she’s five meters away from the king, she drops to her knees and bows deeply. The rest of the group follows her lead and bow their heads.

 

“I have brought with me the commander of the 2nd corps, Gladora; the commander of the 3rd corps, Albert; the commander of the 4th corps, Mamoru; the commander of the 5th corps, Jeremiah; the commander of the 7th corps, Gorobei.”

 

There is a sign of movement in the back.

 

When they turn their gaze away from the dimly lit throne, there’s a girl holding two long, sharp spears in her hands and coming towards Rushka.

 

The girl is wearing a black inner suit that stretched from her torso to her knees and wrapped around her waist like a strip of cloth.

 

Her visible bare skin is covered with faintly glowing red tattoos, and a black cloth with the national seal is wrapped around her eyes.

 

Besides Rushka, Karon tilts his head at the unfamiliar figure.

 

It’s none other than the seventeen pillars of Baronia who is entrusted with the emblem by the king, but most of them are familiar with her. He knows most of the pillars, if not all of them, including Veios, who is always flying in the sky, and the four who guard the four sides of the country.

 

As he’s pondering who she is, the girl with long black hair and two hills that sway disproportionately to her height opens her pink plump lips.

 

“I am Haldrogia, Commander of the First Corps. My father is waiting.”

 

Silence flows.

 

( ……)

( ……)

( ……)

 

The leader of the first group, Haldrogia, an official cheat monster [Chimera] that can perform magical modifications as good as a rank 10 monster despite being a rank 7 monster.

 

She’s the last bastion of protection for the royal castle in the center of the city, and is a genuine hermit who never comes out of the castle.

 

She is not a rare monster, but her abilities are second to none, even to the leaders of the other groups. It will be difficult to win a one-on-one battle against her, as she has a strong indoor fighting ability, which she has been trained to use due to her unique nature as a chimera.

 

The first group, which is in charge of the king’s bodyguard, usually has no work to do and stays on the top floor of the central tower, but this time, since it’s a formal audience, they appear in front of people for the first time in a long time.

 

This is the first time Karon has seen her, and he’s more concerned about her slurred speech.

 

“Whew …… Oh, Father~~……”

 

As the delicate air lightly dispels the tension, the girl’s mouth begins to wriggle, and the edge of her mouth drops downward and her shoulders begin to shake.

 

It seems like she can’t stand the solemn atmosphere and runs to the back with her bare feet. Thanks to the fluffy carpet, no sound is made.

 

She’s strong, but her childishness and timidity cannot be helped.

 

“…… Let’s go!”

 

Rushka’s tone sounds slightly different than before she entered the room, but the demons continue to follow her lead.

 

The king’s huge, gold-backed throne comes into view, and the figures of his attendants are seen around it.

 

The throne is made of many layers of fine gold woven together. It is more elaborate and intricate than a single piece of gold. The backrest has a six-pointed star with a sword and serpent emblem, and the person leaning against it is clad in black suit, legs crossed, and staring down at his subordinates.

 

To his left and right, six chimera women dressed similarly to Haldrogia stand in a line with spears at their sides. They vary in age, but all of them have unblemished good looks. Their slender bodies are hidden by the black suit, and they are more sexy than the leader, Haldrogia.

 

It’s hard to see the king from the left and right sides of the throne, because the light is shining in front and behind him, but he’s definitely there.

 

“Kneel before the king.”

 

One of the chimeras on the right speaks in a flat voice, and Rushka quickly kneels down in a single, unhurried motion.

 

“Here are the commanders of the Esther de Baronia army. We have come to receive your words.”