After sealing the Ancient Demon King"s soul, the Undead calamity of Atad was over. After those of Demon and Ghost Realms divided those over 50,000 undeads and led them to their respective realms, Valkyrie Cynthia, who had been watching the battle from the sky, used Judgment Light, creating the illusion of her purifying the Undead army.
After the Judgment Light, Atad turned into an uninhabited city. Suzerain Earl Harrison"s complexion was unsightly when he returned and saw his empty treasury. There was not a single copper coin left. Undeads had no interest in valuables, so the thief must have definitely been human, yet Earl Harrison couldn"t imagine who would be capable and daring enough to fish in troubled waters during the Undead calamity.
"Pa, restrain your grief, and accept fate. I guess Third Brother Hal"s situation boded ill rather than well."
"Dad, Vignia and the others… I guess they also."
Behind Earl Harrison, Eldest Young Master Harman and Second Young Master Harriet who had escaped by luck comforted their old man. However, their expressions didn"t have a hint of sadness. Privately, they didn"t feel much about the deaths of their siblings. In this world, only the strong could survive. If their luck had not been good, then perhaps, they would have been the unlucky ones.
"That kid Hal didn"t have any talent, so dying can be considered to have freed himself. The loss of Vignia and the others only meant losing a large number of betrothal gifts, nothing more. Grecia Princ.i.p.ality also doesn"t matter. In any case, Alicia was to marry Hal. Since they had both died, no one can blame anyone. Merely, the matter of Princess Halisi is not easy to explain…"
Earl Harrison and the others didn"t know that this Undead calamity had been caused by Hal. They thought that Hal and his fiancée Paladin Alicia as well as Vignia and the others had all died in this sudden and unexpected Undead calamity. As for the visiting Sacred Moon Dragon Knight Verly, they didn"t think much about it. With Princess Verly"s strength as a captain level Dragon Knight, even if she couldn"t deal with the Undead calamity, she would find no problems in escaping unscathed. Before the flying-type Undead had appeared, Valkyrie Cynthia"s divine trial had already been unleashed; therefore, there had been almost no threat to those on flying mounts.
The matter that made Earl Harrison feel entangled was the grim possibility of Princess Halisi"s death. This matter would not be easy to explain to the king, his brother Kalid the Second. This Undead calamity had inflicted heavy losses on Adelaide Kingdom. Atad, a city with major economic and military importance, had collapsed. After losing over 50,000 residents and 20,000 troops, in accordance with kingdom law, Earl Harrison would probably directly lose his rank of n.o.bility and be downgraded to become a common person. However, King Halid the Second showed mercy considering that Earl Harrison was his own brother and didn"t punish him harshly, only downgrading him to become a baron.
In addition, although Princess Halisi had been lost, King Halid the Second didn"t blame Baron Harrison; he sent an official letter to comfort his own brother. After all, Harrison had lost a son and three daughters. Clearly, he was the party with a greater loss. If he pursued Harrison"s faults, then the common people would have a bad opinion toward him. As for Grecia Princ.i.p.ality that had lost a daughter, it could only suffer in silence. It had finally made friends through marriage, but beyond their expectations, the other party"s rank of n.o.bility had directly been reduced. The actual results of this political marriage were far less than expected.
After the Undead calamity, Adelaide Kingdom redistributed the territory of the border Suzerains. Harrison who had been downgraded to be a Baron lacked the authority to manage a large fief like Atad. King Halid the Second transferred him to the dam area of Casper River, replacing Baron Vincent, the original Suzerain of that place.
During the outbreak of the undead calamity, a mysterious force had carried out a sneak attack on the dam killed all the defenders, nearly leading to catastrophe. Fortunately, the attackers hadn"t destroyed the dam, saving Adelaide Kingdom. As the chief person in charge, Baron Vincent similarly had his rank of n.o.bility reduced. He was downgraded to be a Knight and transferred to a remote region, demonstrating the kingdom"s determination to punish aristocrats who neglected their duties.
Earl Hamm, the highest commanding officer of Fort Fortress closest to Atad, was transferred to Atad as the new Suzerain, taking over this hot potato. Atad had many problems and was impoverished. His complexion was not any inferior to former Suzerain Harrison"s. Kind Halid the Second had stated clearly that this was his duty: he had to think of a way to raise money and rebuild Atad or else risk punishment.
As for the position of the highest commanding officer of Fort Fortress, Earl Hamm"s younger brother, Baron Hake, succeeded that position. Hake was also promoted to Viscount. He was the only one whose rank of n.o.bility had been promoted after this deadly Undead calamity. Because the decline of Atad City couldn"t be reversed in a short time, King Halid the Second made the nearby Vernon City a place of strategic importance and changed its name to Vall, attempting to use it to replace the declined Atad.
Viscount Peter, the original Suzerain of Vernon City, inexplicably became the Suzerain of the new city, Vall. While some parts of Vernon City were handed over to his cousin, Knight Peer, for management. After the Undead calamity, the att.i.tude of Augusta Empire, the nearest empire in Clark Alliance, towards Adelaide Kingdom changed dramatically. They unilaterally rejected Adelaide Kingdom"s requests for a.s.sistance. In addition, tariff preferences Adelaide Kingdom had enjoyed were all canceled. Asking for their reasoning, Adelaide Kingdom"s King Halid the Second dispatched many messengers to Augusta Empire, but the other side directly deported them, leaving no leeway for explanation and negotiation.
Now, Adelaide Kingdom had offended both sides. Not long ago, they had united with Augusta Empire and attacked Adrian Empire, so it was impossible for Victor Alliance to take them. This cold indifference by Augusta Empire made sensitive nearby nations of Clark Alliance notice the change in political affairs, so they distanced themselves from Adelaide Kingdom in succession. Now, King Halid the Second definitely had a most unsightly complexion. He didn"t even know how they had offended Augusta Empire, this kind of giant.
The matter of Steinbeck Fief"s army fighting back the Undead army spread. With skilled touches of bards, the entire Ximengsi Continent knew that a brave army had stalled the crazy offense of the Undead calamity until the lord G.o.ds of Divine Realm had moved. Valkyrie Cynthia of Divine Realm who had come to purify the Undead calamity through Divine Judgement was moved by their spirits, so she used a divine blessing to allow these brave warriors to return to life.
However, out of political need, various forces deliberately obscured the issue of who this army belonged to during the information"s dissemination. Clark Alliance said the army was Adelaide Kingdom"s defending troops while the Victor Alliance said the army was Adrian Empire"s troops. All wanted this credit. There was even a rumor that the army had belonged to the national guard of a Neutral Treaty Organization. As for the truth of the matter, only a small number of people knew. Augusta Empire"s Princess, "Extreme Night Princess" Ophelia, was one.
However, considering the emperor"s repeated requests, she couldn"t admit in public that the legendary army had belonged to Victor Alliance. Like that, Clark Alliance would certainly lose their faces. At that time, the number of Clark Alliance"s troops had been much larger than Victor Alliance"s. Once this contrast spread, who would lose face was very obvious. Even with more people, Clark Alliance had timidly fled, they were not comparable to the courage of Steinbeck Fief"s army. The matter was cla.s.sified as a secret. It was not until the secret was decla.s.sified a hundred years later that the issue of who that legendary army had belonged to was finally settled.
Light Church was not blind. From their channels, very probably from Divine Realm, they learned whose army it was. But, giving consideration to the faces of the various partic.i.p.ating forces, Light Church didn"t publicly announce the truth. Instead, they chose to secretly send a special envoy to Steinbeck Fief and gave Clyde who had commanded Steinbeck Fief"s defenders a "Special Light Knight" medal in order to commend his courage and insight. In addition to this, Light Church"s cathedrals in Steinbeck Fief were exempted from paying tribute for a year.
Clyde didn"t know whether to laugh or cry with Light Church"s decision to award him a "Special Light Knight" medal. If Light Church knew that the person they were awarding this medal to actually was an evil G.o.d, a Great Old One, Light Pope would definitely be infuriated to death. Other than Light Church"s secret reward, Adrian Empire didn"t have any reaction. They didn"t express any opinions on Steinbeck Fief"s performance. Clyde had never expected to be rewarded by this empire. Not making things troublesome would have been enough.
After this Undead calamity, both Adrian Empire and Steinbeck Fief gained comparatively long-term border security. Basically, those kingdoms and princ.i.p.alities of Clark Alliance had suffered heavy damage, so it would take them a long time to recover. In the short term, they had no way to look for trouble with Adrian Empire and Steinbeck Fief. Both Augusta Empire and Franconia Empire had just attacked Adrian Empire. However, since they didn"t have an absolutely irreconcilable hatred, they wouldn"t attack twice in the short term. The purpose of their attacks had just been to plunder wealth and slaves; it had not reached the level of seeking their destruction.
As for Clyde, he had already made a big profit. With his victorious return to Steinbeck Fief, he brought a carriage fleet filled with wealth and spoils of war. These riches might be enough to promote the grade of his fief by several grades at once.