Vol 3 Chapter 58 – The Neighboring Lord is Scheming【Empire War Arc】

The nobles of this world are divided into six ranks: Pawn at the bottom, then Knight, Bishop, Rook, Queen, and King.

However, their nature and operation differ greatly by country. For example, in Regzeria Kingdom, nobles up to Bishop rank hold territories, while higher nobles reside in the royal palace and hold executive positions.

And with each generation, the Regulus royal family feared rebellion more, keeping powerful individuals close to prevent revolts beyond their sight.

Now, living in the royal palace is considered a great honor.

In contrast, the Empire, being the oldest nation, had excess vast territory, so most nobles owned territories of some size.

Among them, Ignia territory was located on the eastern frontier—a small domain with only one mine that produced iron ore.

☆☆☆

“That’s the thing—my rank is Pawn. So positionally, I can’t come on strong with my neighbor.”

Eiden, riding slowly on horseback at the front, said self-deprecatingly. Accompanying him were Roy, Yukino, and Sophia, plus about ten other Stark members.

Manabu and Sarina had received information about a mutant Snow Wolf appearing and headed to subjugate it.

Meanwhile, Roy’s group was currently heading to negotiations to protect the rights to their only source of funding—the mine.

“So until now, they didn’t even look your way?”

Roy asked Eiden. He’d heard the neighboring lord suddenly claimed rights.

“Probably, but I think our neighbor exhausted their own iron ore. You know, with the Tower of Agni opening, weapons started being produced worldwide, right?”

“So they mass-produced but ran out of resources, and now they want to make your mine—right on the territorial border—their own?”

“Exactly! Plus they hired dozens of earth mages to tilt the mountain. Just because it entered their side a little, they claim it’s theirs… how unreasonable!”

Eiden adjusted his glasses as he grew indignant. With his thin frame and white coat, he didn’t feel very threatening.

Finally, their destination mine came into view. Just as Eiden said, the rocky mountain was slightly tilted, and armed knights could be seen standing guard near the entrance midway up.

When Roy’s group arrived, knights came streaming out from inside the mine and immediately surrounded them.

Pushing through the knights, one man walked up to Eiden.

“Been a while, Ignia-dono. You came here because you wanted one last look at this mine?”

With a vulgar smile, he began walking leisurely around Eiden.

“Ganalkin-dono, I have no intention of relinquishing this mine. Because this is my territory, and the mine that exists here belongs to Ignia.”

Ignoring Eiden’s resolute attitude, neighboring lord Ganalkin placed a hand on his shoulder and brought his face close.

“You usually slip away evasively, but today you’re quite spirited.”

“Slipping away or not, isn’t your territory about a hundred meters from here? Despite that, what were you doing entering the mine without permission?”

When Roy’s group arrived, Ganalkin had come out of the mine. The fault was entirely on his side, and he’d brought a number of people that no one would believe had simply gotten lost.

Still, as Eiden refused to yield, Ganalkin grew angry and drew his excessively decorated sword.

When Roy saw that and tried to enter combat stance, Sophia placed a hand on his shoulder and shook her head.

“Roy, this is a ritual unique to the Empire where territories frequently conflict—so it’s not your turn yet.”

“But that guy drew his sword.”

“Just watch. By drawing a sword with a family crest and holding it in middle guard position, an Imperial Duel is acknowledged.”

The moment Ganalkin held his sword in middle guard, red letters lined up one after another in front of him.

“That’s… Geas magic?”

“That’s right. The Empire settles disputes with Geas.”

“Um… what exactly is Geas?” Yukino, hearing an unfamiliar term, asked a question.

“Well, there’s the origin and various things but, um, to put it simply—think of it as magic where you die if you break the rules. Unlike the Kingdom, the Empire won’t move unless it’s something serious, and that’s because of this magic.”

However, it wasn’t a completely correct method since some people forced others into Geas and claimed legitimate victory.

Therefore, Eiden had been avoiding direct meetings, wanting to avoid being forced into Geas under overwhelmingly disadvantageous circumstances.

“Then I suppose I’ll accept.”

Eiden held up a dagger engraved with his family crest before his eyes and activated Geas.

(Being inferior economically, even hiring mercenaries would mean losing the money game. But now it’s different—my original private soldiers gained experience at Grentze Fort, and I’ve even allied with Roy, a talent who defeated a Hero.)

That’s precisely why they visited while the enemy was off guard.

And so, the contract was sealed—the Imperial Duel would begin.