385. Omen (4)
How should I put this? Fernandez gazed at the cloudy sky, carefully choosing his words. One of Altberth’s camps was hastily preparing to withdraw.
The northerners’ camps were being quickly reorganized. They were in a very delicate situation. Most of the refugees remaining here were those who had fled from their hands, and yet these same people had suddenly helped fight against the Phaeirn army.
Friend or foe? It was hard to outright treat them as enemies, and even if they did, there was no way to oppose them. The refugees simply avoided the paths where these towering warriors strode, their eyes filled with fear.
“Hey! Fernandez!!”
From afar, Aeren recognized him and cheerfully ran over. Her pale, almost ashen blonde hair fluttered like a painting. With her lion-like mane tousled, she spoke in a husky voice.
“I was just thinking of seeing your face before leaving, so this is perfect! What, does it look ridiculous for me to enter that castle?”
“Hi, Yarl. I have something important to say…”
“Hahaha, ‘Hi, Yarl’? Why so formal? Relax, just relax.”
Aeren laughed heartily. To her, Fernandez was like a golden goose. He handled all the dangerous tasks, and even if she just took the crumbs and headed north, winter preparations were already complete.
Moreover, the Empire and the Elves, the two great powers of the continent, had firmly established diplomatic relations. They could start trading or mercenary work as soon as winter ended. The more money-making opportunities arose, the fewer starving northerners there would be.
But Fernandez remained stern-faced.
“Could you clear the area for a moment?”
“Ah, these guys are all trustworthy, right? Hmm… Well, is it serious?”
“Somewhat.”
“Alright. Everyone, cover your ears, turn around, and take fifty steps back!”
At Aeren’s shout, the curious northerners quickly stepped back. Fernandez sat down on a chair in the camp with a bitter smile.
“Hmm. Feels like I’m the guest here?”
“Sit. It won’t take long.”
“Why so serious? You, who defeated Jormungand, acting like this gives me the creeps.”
Aeren opened a canteen and poured red wine into a wooden cup. Holding the cup, Fernandez chose his words carefully.
“The continent will turn against the north.”
“Hmm… The eastern lords will, of course. We were raiders, after all. What can we do?”
“Not just the east, but the Empire and the churches will also turn against you. Aeren, you will become the continent’s public enemy, and the north will remain a foe humanity must eventually deal with.”
“…Why?”
The smile faded from Aeren’s lips. She narrowed her eyes and looked at Fernandez. He fiddled with the cup before speaking.
“Do you know the church was favorable to you?”
“Hmm. The Temple of the Gods isn’t exclusive in religion. From our perspective, they came to deal with Muspel and Jormungand directly, so we’re grateful.”
“And most of the eastern kingdoms you raided recently tried to distance themselves from the Temple of the Gods.”
“…”
Fernandez tilted the cup and took a sip. He was used to discarding used pawns, but he and Faijashi from back then were fundamentally different. It was no easy task now.
“The northerners suddenly seizing the Empire’s ships and stepping into eastern affairs can’t be a coincidence. There must be royals who think so.”
“You’re quick.”
“Did you think I was a fool, Fernandez?”
It was simple logic. The church had recently begun forming ties with the north. This was revealed by the Vaitas Church, which had gathered forces during the last crusade.
A saint from the church had carried out a secret mission in the north. Some complications arose, and the church gathered forces to conquer the north. But the saint returned, and amidst subtle tensions and conflicts, the mobilization order was lifted.
The secular monarchs aren’t fools. They are hounds who quickly sniff out the stench of political maneuvering in a series of events. The church’s mobilization and unexplained disbandment, followed immediately by the Empire’s civil war.
It wasn’t hard to see the connections amidst the chaos. The political situation was just temporarily forgotten in the confusion.
Thus, the northerners seizing the Empire’s ships and raiding the east was a political time bomb that would inevitably surface someday.
“You couldn’t have been unaware of this. So, was this all planned from the moment you asked for our support until now?”
Aeren looked at Fernandez with wounded eyes. But Fernandez shook his head heavily.
“That itself can be denied. I intended to. But the situation has changed. You know our plan, don’t you?”
“The one-armed king died, and a new dynasty would be established in the east, which fell into anarchy. That was the plan. Yes.”
“King Vicente is still alive and even writing his own myth. The pacification of the east is near, but for the former dynasties that would rebel against his reign, the northerners would be good prey.”
“The alliances between the Church, the Empire, and the North, and the new great nation of the East built with their power. For the former dynasties that had lost their power, this could be a good justification.
So, to lay the foundation for the new kingdom, they abandon the North. That was Fernandez’s rewritten strategy.
‘You will retreat to the North, and the pilgrimage knights will chase you. Since remnants might remain, the pilgrimage knights will naturally stay in this land.’
The St. John Pilgrimage Knights are a special-purpose force. This means they have no reason to stay once the tactical objective is completed.
However, if they declare the eradication of remnants in the lands of the weakened Dane and the Eastern Union, they gain a reason to stay.
This justification is not only needed by the Eastern royal families. In truth, the strongest justification is power, and the East no longer has the military strength to openly oppose the pilgrimage knights. So, this justification…
‘It means you must sacrifice yourselves to prevent a religious war.’
It is to prevent internal strife within the Church of the Temple of the Gods. The dispatch of the pilgrimage knights was not the will of the entire Church of the Temple of the Gods. The Pope did not have enough time to gain the agreement of all sects. So now, they needed a justification to show the Church of the Temple of the Gods.
No sect would dare oppose the pilgrimage knights under the banner of heresy purification. With the St. Bartholomew Monastery officially destroyed, the pilgrimage knights have taken on the duty of eliminating heretics and cultists.
Holding the military authority of the legally stationed pilgrimage knights, the goodwill created by the wandering of the Knights of the Round Table, and the justification of being a great king who alone stopped a great army against Phaeirn. And behind the scenes, receiving massive support from the Empire.
Now, the new dynasty will seize the initiative in the East. A dynasty without any flaws, both in the Church and the secular world, the greatest dynasty on earth. The Eastern Dane will submit to this nation of great knights—
‘You, supported by both the Church and the Royal Palace, will reign as the true power of this land.’
Aeren shook her head with a smirk. Fernandez had been deliberately sparing with his words, but she wasn’t stupid. The Dane Royal Family rewriting myths? No, surely there would be a story of a knight who stood by the king against enemies in that myth.
The story of a righteous knight who was ready to die with the king in the nation’s most critical moment must be written in that ‘myth’ Fernandez didn’t mention.
Aeren finished her drink and stood up.
‘The birth of a great royal family supported by the Church, the obedience of the people, and the aid of the Empire. It would fit just as well with your name instead of the king’s, Fernandez.’
‘That’s not what I wanted.’
‘So humble for someone with such ambition.’
The Emperor of the Empire is favorable to him. The one-armed king of Dane was the same, and the Pope was no different. Aeren stroked her chin as she looked at Fernandez sitting there.
‘In the future, on this land where we have all disappeared. I wonder how history will remember you.’
The North will record you as a monster. Aeren laughed deeply and took his hand. Shaking his rough, calloused hand firmly—
‘Is it over now?’
‘…What do you mean?’
‘I mean, is the story about your conscience over, Fernandez? You look like you feel guilty for betraying us. But we both know that doesn’t suit you.’
Surprisingly, Aeren looked relieved. She giggled like a mischievous child.
‘The North gained vast amounts of food and resources, and you found justification and stability. Our operation was a success. What that means is clear. We are the villains who will be remembered in history. I have the duty to take responsibility for the people of the North, and you have the duty to stand tall in your villainy.’
‘Are you okay?’
‘Your plan? Or my villainy? Thanks for the concern, but I think conscience and morality are issues for after survival, don’t you? Since the civil war Erik started, our North has been a complete mess. People who can barely scrape by day to day might snap and slaughter their neighbors at any moment. Isn’t repentance something you do after surviving?’
Aeren was serious. Friendly relations with the continent? That was just a future benefit anyway. The situation could change at any time, and she wasn’t foolish enough to dwell on missed opportunities.
Seeing the capable clan leader laugh, Fernandez felt his worries wash away and nodded readily.
‘Now, let’s talk about tangible benefits between the real powers. Let’s plot some evil schemes, villains. There are still more items to trade between you and me.’
‘I will allow raids on a specific port.’
‘That’s more like it.’
To put it the other way around, the plan to quell internal strife by making the North an enemy meant tolerating the North’s hostile actions. When the continent attacks the North, the North will have ample justification to attack the continent.
Aeren called this opportunity a ‘trade item.’ The meaning was clear. No matter how perfect the justification for a unified nation, there will always be dissenting forces, and this would be the tool to deal with them.
A very sophisticated mercenary contract. In truth, nothing had changed in the nature of this war. Fernandez has enemies, and the North lacks resources. It’s a deal where everyone can be happy.
Except for the fact that it’s an inhumane atrocity and a terrible conspiracy. The Church’s saint and the reincarnated angel exchanged handshakes with malicious smiles.
‘I’m not sure if this suits the nature of an archangel, though.’
A meaningless question. Having fallen from divinity and become human, he couldn’t be the same as in his past life. Even he, who retained his spirituality, was living a completely different life from his past incarnation.
But the fact that an archangel was plotting a conspiracy was quite amusing, and Fernandez couldn’t help but laugh heartily.
‘So, what do you plan to do now? Conquest? Politics?’
‘Subjugation.’
Fernandez looked at the campfire and brushed off his hands.
‘It’s the final task.’
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