Chapter 30 : The Shape of a Dream

Chapter 30: The Shape of a Dream

The place we were living in now was a certain grand mansion that had once stood next to the Lord’s Keep.

The good thing about a purge was that plenty of houses suddenly became available for free. And in prime locations, no less, with some truly splendid properties.

‘Nice. The city view looks great from here too.’

I looked down outside through the wide, tall window left open in one corner of the conference room.

Collapsed buildings still remained as they were, but at least there were no corpses lying on the streets anymore.

The city was slowly regaining its daily rhythm.

On the night streets lit with lamps, people were buying and selling, drinking and enjoying themselves.

Clack.

The conference room door opened, and Seah, with her small frame and navy hair, entered carrying an armful of papers.

In the hand that supported the bundle of papers, she also held a sword with a blade glinting cold and blue.

Seah stared at me for a moment and asked.

“Do I really have to do this? Even during meetings?”

She was talking about the sword in her hand. I had told her never to let it go, no matter what, twenty-four hours a day.

“Yeah.”

“...There wasn’t a single swordsmanship theory book that ever said to carry a sword around twenty-four hours a day.”

“I’m a hundred times greater a swordsman than the guys who wrote those books.”

“...”

“Just endure it. Someday you’ll be bowing to me.”

Pff— Letting out a small sigh, Seah gave up on arguing and placed the stack of documents she had brought onto the desk.

I looked at the crown of her little head and asked.

“Why did you want to see me first?”

We already had a full meeting scheduled.

But Seah had called me in an hour before the meeting, saying she wanted to talk first.

If she wanted to talk alone, just the two of us… what could it be about?

“Do you remember what I said before—that I had to confirm something?”

“Before? Ah… the time travel?”

“Yeah. Time travel through the Book of Fate. I said I had to check whether it really changed history or not, right?”

“You did.”

“Didn’t you notice anything?”

I shrugged my shoulders.

Honestly, how was I supposed to know? It had already been ten thousand years in the past. Even if I had done something back then, would any trace of it still remain?

“I figured you’d say that. So I went and did some research myself.”

Slide.

Seah pulled out a single sheet of paper from the stack and handed it to me.

Skimming through it, I saw it was an excavation report about an Elixir unearthed two hundred years ago.

“This is…?”

“As you can see, the Elixir excavated two hundred years ago was only half a bottle.”

“It’s true… Then that means what I did in the past really did affect the present?”

“It seems that way, but I can’t be sure with just that. However, while they were excavating the Glowingsteel ruins this time, they found something like this.”

Chuk.

Seah rummaged through the stack of documents again, then pulled out a sheet of paper folded several times and spread it out on the desk.

It was a rubbing.

A rubbing made by inking a rather large monument and pressing the whole thing down onto paper.

“Huh…?”

What was engraved on the monument was a single relief carving.

There were also words written beneath it, but most of them had been damaged and were unreadable.

‘…defended the city?’

That was about all I could make out.

But it wasn’t the words that caught my attention.

The relief looked strangely familiar.

A monster shaped like a hairless werewolf, with long tendrils sprouting from its mouth and tail. And a man and a woman cutting at its neck.

‘Isn’t that me and Iodin?’

At just a glance, it seemed so.

And when I looked more closely…

“What do you think, Oppa? What stood out to me more than anything was the sword. The crescent-shaped crossguard that curves upward. You don’t see a design like that often.”

She was right.

I had seen countless swords, both ancient and modern, but there was only one sword shaped like that.

‘Banroa.’

The King’s Sword, bearing the name of our lost kingdom.

Looking at the crossguard that protected the hand from the sliding blade, there was no mistaking it.

The top flat, the bottom rounded like a crescent moon. Delicate constellations carved within.

The moment I recognized it, a flood of emotions surged through me all at once.

‘…That event was preserved on a monument?’

And the ones who commemorated us… had all died long ago, buried in the swamps…?

Life. What the hell was this?

Suppressing the strange, surging feelings, I answered as evenly as I could.

“That’s me.”

“I thought so. When you went last time, you fought monsters like that, right?”

“I did.”

“Then it’s more than ninety-five percent likely. The probability that it’s you.”

Folding the rubbing neatly back up, Seah looked at me and said.

“With this, we can accept the hypothesis that the place you traveled to was truly the past, and that what you did there really altered history.”

“Hmm… And you said that could be a problem, right?”

“Exactly. From now on you need to be even more cautious. Every single action you take could drastically change the present.”

“But… honestly, there’s a part I can’t do anything about. The Book of Fate itself seems to want ‘alteration of history.’”

I explained to Seah about the regression phenomenon that had happened this time.

Her eyes narrowed slightly.

“The Book of Fate. So it really is an artifact with its own will?”

“Exactly. Even if I try to be careful, if it orders me, then I have no choice but to change history. There’s no way around it.”

Seah lowered her head, lost deep in thought.

Her lips moved quickly, mumbling to herself.

“What’s its goal? If it’s something on a scale grand enough to turn back time… preventing destruction? Then what about us? It’s too dangerous to use recklessly… No… there’s far too little information. Why did the ancient civilization collapse in the first place?”

After a moment, as if she had organized her thoughts, Seah raised her eyes and stared at me again.

“For now, let’s just focus on gathering more information. Track how changes in the past affect the present, and find out what exactly happened to the Ruceras civilization.”

“Alright. I’ll try.”

“But thanks to this, I’ve come up with quite a few things worth attempting.”

“Attempting?”

“Yeah.”

Tap.

Seah spread out a map of Roberland and pointed to the area near Kushan City.

“Here,”

She said, pronouncing each word deliberately.

“What if we planted… Dracium?”

“!!!”

A thunderbolt roared in my head.

Dracium.

The supreme treasure known as the Essence of the Earth.

If its seed was buried deep in fertile ground and left for an incredibly long span of time, it would eventually form a gem saturated with the earth’s mana—Dracium.

For knights, it was the ultimate elixir; for mages, the supreme magical artifact.

And the time it took for a Dracium seed to mature… was exactly ten thousand years!

My heart pounded.

“Seah! You’re a genius!”

“Well… there are plenty of other things we can try besides Dracium. I’ll make a plan and report back with the details. For now… let’s first make sure we know how to activate the Book of Fate.”

Ah, of course. Nothing would be possible without using the Book of Fate first.

But,

“Don’t we more or less have that figured out now? The Book of Fate reacts to the Cult, doesn’t it?”

“Yeah. Most likely the religion Count Kxias followed was that very Cult.”

“Right. The only problem is we don’t know where the cultists’ ruins or chapels are located…”

At my words, Seah’s navy-blue eyes sparkled.

“There is one. A place that’s definitely connected to the Cult.”

“There is? Where?”

“Kashu City.”

Kashu. The city once ruled by Blood Count Delkash. After I killed him, it had submitted to Kxias.

“There… cultists? Why?”

“Where do you think Kxias got his knowledge of the Cult from?”

“Ah!”

“Both in timing and in circumstances, it’s almost certain. Delkash was a cultist himself, and when Kxias stole his pure blood, he inherited the knowledge of the Cult.”

“Then Kashu City also has a cultists’ chapel…?”

“With high probability.”

I looked back out the window.

By chance, it faced the east—the direction where Kashu City lay.

The land of despair that had once brought me to ruin.

“Well then. This works out perfectly. I was planning on sweeping away Kxias’s remnants anyway.”

“Yeah. The current governor there is also one of Kxias’s clansmen.”

Then there was nothing more to think about.

“Decision. As soon as things stabilize here, we’ll conquer Kashu City.”

Another task had been added.

Seize Kashu, activate the Book of Fate once more.

Step by step, I had to expand my power and my influence.

“And finally…”

Seah fiddled with the stack of documents.

She seemed hesitant to speak.

Why was she acting like this, when she was usually the type to blurt out whatever was on her mind?

“What is it? What’s wrong?”

“…The truth is, the main point is still left. I thought this should just be between you and me for now. That’s why I asked to see you first.”

“What is it?”

After hesitating for a moment, Seah asked,

“What’s your goal, Oppa? Your true goal. What you really want.”

She stared straight into my eyes, her gaze deep like the midnight sea.

“My goal…?”

I gave a bitter smile.

“Well, my official stance is that I don’t care, so long as we’re happy…”

But if she was seriously asking for my true feelings,

“Isn’t it obvious?”

Whoosh!

My vision warped.

Right now, my pupils must have been burning with deep-blue flames.

Just like this phenomenon that proved my bloodline of Banroa, my heart had never wavered.

“To sever the head of the Imperial Emperor, Rokshutalen Galotin. To tear the Empire into pieces. And to rebuild Banroa into an eternal kingdom that will never again fall. That’s my goal. That’s the truth.”

That was both,

My revenge for losing my family overnight,

and my duty as the last royal of Banroa.

Whether I wanted it or not, that goal was unavoidable.

On Seah’s face—usually expressionless—

A faint smile appeared.

“I thought so. That’s why I prepared this.”

From the stack of documents, Seah pulled out a thick bundle of papers.

On its cover were written the words:

<Three-Sea Expansion Strategy>  

“This is…?”

“The Empire is strong. Absurdly strong. We can’t possibly grasp the full extent of its might, and even the forces it shows openly make no sense. In truth, except for the western part of Gloryland, the north and the south are already Imperial territory or Imperial vassals.”

Flap!

Seah spread out a massive map and connected three points with her finger.

“So we’ll have to unite forces. Through the seas.”

On the Empire’s west—join forces with Avalond, Novarea, Briddencia, and Eoria.

On the Empire’s south—join forces with Arandria, at the northern tip of Deathland across the sea.

On the Empire’s east—we would take responsibility.

“The prerequisite is to seize the ‘Ailun Region,’ ruled by Haarun the Storm King, and the ‘Shamalun Region,’ ruled by Jafar the Sea King. Without those, this strategy can’t even begin.”

From that small mouth of hers, Seah poured out a tremendous story.

Haarun the Storm King and Jafar the Sea King.

Across the vast continent of Roberland, in this land swarming only with robber counts, there were merely five people who could claim the title of king.

The Five Kings.

Each one’s personal might far surpassed even a Swordmaster, and the forces that followed them rivaled the kingdoms of Gloryland.

And Seah was saying we would have to make not one, but two of those absolute rulers kneel.

“If we seize Ailun and Shamalun, we’ll take control of the golden trade route connecting Oldland in the east and Gloryland in the west. On top of that, through Roberland’s largest port city, Mashanka, we’d open direct trade with western Gloryland.”

When simplified, Seah’s plan went like this:

Conquer Ailun and Shamalun.

Forge alliances with Western Gloryland and with Arandria of the southern continent.

Grow prosperous through exchange, then press the Empire from three directions.

“I also call this the Three-War Strategy. To succeed, we have to win three battles.”

First, we block the Empire’s trade routes between the eastern and western continents to weaken it. Of course, we’ll have to withstand its fierce retaliation.

Second, we protect the sea trade route that passes through the Inner Sea from the Empire. For this, the cooperation of southern Arandria is essential.

Through the secured sea trade route, the three axes exchange tightly, enriching one another.

Finally, with the strength of the enriched alliance, we strike the Empire all at once.

Only by winning these three battles would the Three-War Strategy, or the Three-Sea Expansion Plan, be completed.

“I thought it was still too dangerous to make this story public. So I just wanted us two to go over it first.”

I skimmed through the documents Seah handed me.

I could see how hard she had worked on this.

Each page was filled with material.

From an analysis of the Empire’s military power,

to detailed information about Western Gloryland and Arandria, and strategies based on all of it.

Every word Seah had spoken carried pages upon pages of supporting evidence.

‘Was she always this… thorough?’

I had known she was smart…

But for her to be trapped in this narrow Kushan City, and yet look down upon the entire world?

I set the papers down.

Met her eyes.

“Let’s do it, Seah.”

I extended my palm.

Seah slowly, but firmly, took my hand.

That day, we defined the shape of our dream.

Precise and unmistakable.

A grand dream that would change even the shape of the world.

<Three-War Strategy>

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