I told the visiting diplomats exactly what they wanted to hear. A meteorite had fallen from the distant sky, and Buyuseong had done everything in its power to block it and protect the Mado Federation and the Lower Realm. However, the meteorite was far too mighty, and Buyuseong had no choice but to resort to its ultimate measure.
That was a body slam. Go, Buyuseong. I choose you.
A dizzying moment, Buyuseong charging at the falling meteorite resulting in a massive collision. Destruction and crisis. Yet, by activating Buyuseong's gravity magic, it barely secured victory. Afterward, Buyuseong, having sustained massive damage, precariously plummeted to its current state.
For the most part, this is true, and the evidence is right before their eyes. The sight of Buyuseong, pierced and crushed by the meteorite. A result achieved by offering a massive sacrifice. It cannot be doubted.
The man claiming to be the Hangsu of the Hugyeong Merchant Guild spoke up.
"...I have a question. There is a sighting report that the Sword Saint headed this way."
"There was a sighting report? He popped up so suddenly I thought he used teleportation."
"The Sword Saint's Flying Sword Art is famous, after all. What did the Sword Saint do, and where did he go?"
"He attacked the Demon King, and we repelled him."
"Attack? Repelled? Exactly what happened..."
"Are you interrogating me?"
I answered briefly, not hiding my displeasure.
"Buyuseong made a great sacrifice to block the meteorite. But he suddenly burst in and attacked the Demon King, claiming to hold him responsible. I don't know if that was the Empire's will or the Sword Saint's arbitrary decision. Because of that, the Demon King was injured, and..."
"Injured?"
"...Tch."
Clicking my tongue as if I had let the information slip by mistake, I said to the Hangsu,
"Anyway. The Mado Federation repelled him. You won't see him on this land anymore."
"...It's surprising in many ways."
"Which part? That we repelled the Sword Saint? This is our home ground, and the Demon King's power shakes heaven and earth. Even you must have heard the legends of the Demon King who lifted castles and altered the climate."
"That's not it. I mean the fact that mages sacrificed Buyuseong to block the meteorite. To think that people as cold and rational as mages could make such a heroic choice."
"Heroic? I merely calculated the pros and cons."
I continued explaining in a cold, monotonous tone.
"Buyuseong can be rebuilt at any time. But if the meteorite had fallen to the ground, the damage would have been immense. We simply protected the Lower Realm through a simple cost-benefit analysis. If only the Sword Saint hadn't sliced the meteorite, not a single fragment would have fallen."
I subtly shifted the blame and shrugged my shoulders.
"Come to think of it, this is the mages' consideration and benevolence."
"Haha. The mages' consideration."
"Don't you possess something similar? You are the Hangsu of the Seven Upper Tiers, blessed by the Holy Maiden of the Contract. Since you cannot lie, you will deliver this news without falsehood. That is why I am explaining this to you, believing in that."
The Hangsu sipped the tea in front of him as if his throat was dry. His eyes were trembling with tension.
'Actually, I am not the Hangsu. The one who cannot lie is the Hangsu, but anyone can pretend to be a Hangsu. I must deliver this news to the Rudbekia Principality. It seems to be a clear fact that the Sword Saint is not here.'
"The situation... is changing too rapidly. Then I shall take my leave."
The spy pretending to be a Hangsu bowed his head and stepped back. As soon as his figure disappeared, the Cheongtapju asked me.
"Did you tell the Hangsu the truth because he cannot break the contract?"
"No. That person is not a Hangsu. He is someone pretending to be one. Most likely, an intelligence agent from another country."
"Then why?"
"It doesn't matter. As long as he's not from the Empire. Then the truth we shared will spread to where we want it to. The truth itself is in our favor right now."
I immediately rose from my seat and headed to the office of the Celsius Territory. Currently, Buyuseong was under repair, and since access was inconvenient, we were borrowing the Celsius Territory for major tasks.
Kicking the door open, I found Elisia Celsius, who was acting as the lord. As soon as she saw me, she said,
"You came at the right time. A problem has arisen in the territory."
"I figured. With Buyuseong having fallen, new problems will arise every day. What is it?"
"Since Buyuseong fell, refugees and vagrant commoners have been flocking here. Security, food, supplies—everything is in short supply. Criminal acts are also increasing day by day. We're establishing various countermeasures, but if we don't resolve the root cause, it will escalate into a major issue."
"The root cause is the people themselves, right?"
"Exactly. Unfortunately."
Elisia Celsius said so, yet she seemed to be in a good mood. She placed refreshments and drinks in front of me and spoke affably.
"It's not something I should leave to an outsider like you, but you are with Elisia and one of the executives of Buyuseong."
"I'm not really an executive."
Pouring the drink into my mouth in one gulp, I asked her.
"What's the countermeasure?"
"The damaged Buyuseong also needs a lot of hands right now, so it would be good to use them as labor for rebuilding Buyuseong, but..."
"It's a building constructed with magic, and you want to use refugees? That's impossible. The refugees won't be able to do anything beyond simple labor. And since the mages of Buyuseong don't have a chain of command, it'll be hard to force them to supervise."
"That's why I'm asking you. The Celsius Territory's land has reached its capacity. Isn't there any method?"
What we're lacking is land and jobs. Hmm. Where could land and jobs just spring up from... Ah. There is.
"Cheongtapju. We have leftover land."
"Land? We do have land, but land not protected by the rules is frozen and useless."
"Not there, inside Buyuseong."
"...Babel's subspace?"
"Yes. That place the Demon King said he'd use as farmland. We sell it off. At a high price to the humans of the Lower Realm!"
There is a saying that land prices in the Empire's capital are more expensive than gold of the same area. As long as humans need a place to stand and live, land prices cannot fall, and that's even more
But Buyuseong has land created by spatial distortion! The Demon King intended to forcefully cram the commoners in there and work them like slaves, but thinking about it now, that's a stupid and barbaric method.
If we sell it to them with a mortgage, they'll willingly become slaves!
Even though it's money that would take a lifetime to barely pay off, they'll work hard believing that one day it will truly become theirs. No different from slaves!
"Kekekeke. Alchemy? Transmuting mere gold? Now is the era of transmuting land! We'll make a fortune with infinitely expanding land! Gold is a luxury good so its value drops, but land is a necessity!"
"We can't expand it infinitely, though. But leaving that land idle is a waste. Alright. Let's try it."
'Buyuseong's population is too small, and the majority are mages immersed in their own research. Now that it has immediately lost its mobility, it must have some degree of buoyancy. It also makes up for the economic loss. Hughs spoke as if joking, but it's the optimal move to solve the immediate crisis.'
"You're suggesting we utilize Buyuseong's spatial anomalies? Hmm. Good. An increase in Buyuseong's population is welcome. Since Buyuseong is in the Celsius Territory, it means the Celsius Territory grows larger."
Elisia smiled without hiding her ambition.
Buyuseong is the capital of the Mado Federation. It used to wander the sky and descend to the Lower Realm about once a year, but now it's stuck in the Celsius Territory. Then where is the capital now?
The Celsius Territory.
Buyuseong is too small. It only covered its broad operational range because it could move; it is lacking in many ways to serve as a proper capital. Since falling to the ground, it has relied on the Celsius Territory for most of its supplies.
'But it hasn't completely lost its mobility. If we're too greedy, it'll just fly away...'
With its exceptionally high level of magic, the brand value of Buyuseong, and the Demon King not being dead, there is a hierarchical relationship. Even so, this is something. Just from the magic flowing out of the broken Buyuseong, the Celsius Territory was experiencing an unseasonal boom.
That was the reason Elisia could smile even amidst this march of overwork.
And it's thanks to me.
"Lady Elisia. I kept my promise. How is it?"
The promise to give her Buyuseong, I definitely kept it.
Elisia answered, smiling happily even amidst her overwork.
"It's the best."
***
"We've done diplomacy and internal affairs, so shall we go on patrol next? How about it? Want to go out together?"
"Yeah. Hold on... Let me catch my breath."
"Is it because you're a mage? Your stamina is weak."
Even if active, a mage is a mage, I suppose. She looks tired. I walked slightly ahead, then, sensing a thought, I changed my direction.
Bump. I bumped shoulders with a fierce-looking man. A terrifying gaze briefly darted toward me.
"Ah, excuse me."
I bowed my head slightly and tried to pass by. Then the fierce-looking man grabbed my shoulder tightly.
"Hey. Does an apology fix everything?"
"Excuse me? An apology doesn't fix everything?"
"If it did, why would the word 'compensation' exist?"
The man grinned, picking a fight. I looked at the group slowly gathering around him and thought:
These guys. A mercenary band.
Mercenaries? They're called mercenaries, but they're no different from a gang of bandits banded together because they have no money. Even mercenaries are tame in the Mado Federation, where you can't survive without the power of magic, but these guys are drifters. They came here to scavenge what Buyuseong had spilled.
They ambushed and killed a mage who made a bad landing, stole his clothes and belongings, and made it this far.
Well, if it's hard to survive in a rough world, you might resort to pillaging. I understand.
"W-Why are you doing this? This is the Celsius Territory. Using force is discourteous. Let's resolve this with words."
"There's something better than words. Follow me."
"Ah, h-hold..."
But pillaging is a no-go.
"Huh? A wall?"
As soon as we entered, I blocked the escape route with earth magic and revealed my true colors. Mercenaries are nothing more than armed thugs. Even an ordinary person could easily subdue that level. Me right now? As long as it makes sense, sure.
"There really was something better than words! It's really so good!"
"W-Wait! Words! Let's resolve this with words!"
"My body can no longer be resolved with words! I've reached a point of no return!"
As expected, power is relative. Beating up guys weaker than me really makes it hit home.
I just lightly touched them and they went flying, snapped the hands holding knives. I'm pulling off moves I only imagined. This is a world where a gap in ranks exists. The mercenaries quickly realized the difference in level and played dead.
The Cheongtapju, who approached a beat later, saw my state and let out a sigh.
"What are you doing right now?"
"Relieving stress. I've only met people who are too strong up until now, so my self-esteem was a bit low."
"You didn't necessarily have to do it this way."
"No. It has to be this way."
Having beaten them thoroughly, I grabbed one of them by the collar from the pile of fallen humans and asked,
"Anyway. What brings drifters like you here?"
"Ugh... That's..."
"So you were lying about resolving this with words? Can't be helped. Oh, how joyful."
"W-Wait... W-Words! I'll talk! There was a directive from the Guild."
"The Guild?"
"Yeah... The Guild. They said the situation around the Mado Federation is unusual, so available personnel should go and investigate..."
The Guild refers to the Empire's civilian mercenary unit management office. They are not the Imperial Army, but they are an armed group the Empire can easily command.
Since the Empire viewed 'Arrogance' as an attack by the Mado Federation, such a response itself is rational, but....
"But you aren't even affiliated with the Guild, so why did you come?"
"Well... Where there's an incident, there are jobs..."
"Jobs? Not pillaging?"
Then the mercenary shook his head.
"W-We didn't attack anyone! Really. We were just scouting the perimeter, and since security was weak, we just went a little further in!"
It's a lie.
They were wandering around to pick up things spilled from Buyuseong, killed a mage they encountered, and plundered his belongings. And they came here in disguise, thinking there might be more to scavenge. Then, using the shoulder bump as an excuse, they were trying to pry information out of me.
Then shall I tell a few lies too.
"These clothes. They look familiar. Where did you get them?"
"I bought them at a nearby shop!"
"Where."
"Uh... I, I don't remember that well. I bought it nearby..."
Of course you don't. You've never been to a shop in the first place. Then you wouldn't know the other things either.
"These clothes are robes, right? In the Mado Federation, only mages can wear robes with patterns."
It's a lie. Robes are worn because it's cold. Mages wear them often, so it became a symbolic image, but that's it.
"Ah, no! We didn't know that. We bought them before coming to the Mado Federation! We didn't know there was such a rule!"
"What? Before coming to the Mado Federation? They sell robes with warming magic outside the Mado Federation?"
This is also a lie. There is no magic woven into this robe. The White Mages of Buyuseong wouldn't carry a magical tool just because they can't use a mere warming spell. They infused it with magic to sell it at a high price.
"I-It had warming magic...?"
"Didn't the shop explain that to you?"
"Ah, right. They did! Yes. Thanks to that, it was warm!"
"Try activating the magic."
The mercenary's movements stopped. I let him go and slowly stood up.
"No... We..."
"Ah, and by the way. If a commoner harms a mage and steals their belongings. They will be tortured to death with elemental magic from the Five Towers."
Only this was the truth.
Someone stirs behind me. Someone crouched is readjusting their grip on a blade. They must think killing me here is their only way out. But even they know the odds are low; their hands are trembling, and their eyes are wavering with fear.
Right. I'm quite curious too.
Did they really think they were the only ones who could wield savagery?
"Die...!"
"Phew."
And before I could even lift a finger, ice settled over the entire alley. The mercenaries who had hidden their blades turned into ice sculptures in an instant, freezing just like that.
In the alley where even the noise froze cold, I turned around. The Cheongtapju stood leaning against the wall, wrapping their arms around themselves.
"Summary execution?"
"Their belongings were what Mage Mikron had on him. I've interacted with him a few times. I was suspicious, so when I checked with the Determination Theory, I felt frozen blood dripping at the critical point."
"Ah, what the heck. I didn't even need to test them."
You guys were dead meat anyway. All I did was alleviate the Cheongtapju's guilt a little.
"You're not going to interrogate them after keeping them alive?"
"I'm not a fool. The physical evidence is obvious, and their testimonies are no longer believable. If we let them live for a moment, someone else would just end up killing them."
The Cheongtapju spoke calmly and let out another long exhale. As the Determination Theory was released, the bodies of the mercenaries, frozen solid, crumbled into white powder and fell. Their bodies, even their blood frozen, resembled the swirling snow dust.