The capital of the Lilac Marquisate, Lailakia.
The Black Tiger General, Marquis Raphaeno the Yeontan Sword, had been killed by a tiger. That news brought despair and rage simultaneously to the Lilac Marquisate.
Marquis Raphaeno the Yeontan Sword possessed a power whose defensive prowess was absolute, embroidering the trajectories of his sword in the air. Ranked 3rd among the Masters of the Lilac Marquisate, which symbolized the five tigers. He was the pride of the Marquisate, a famous figure who had even participated in the Olympics, yet he had met his end in a single moment. And at the hands of a tiger king that had appeared out of nowhere.
A treasure that a marquisate with hundreds of years of history had spent decades cultivating was killed by a tiger. The emptiness was indescribable. Was man not the lord of all creation? How could he bloom so brilliantly like a flower, only to wither so vainly?
Still, it was a tiger attack. It was a tragedy that occurred frequently both historically and racially. Why else would special names be given to tiger attacks and smallpox? No matter how sad and miserable, it was an incident of a scale that they could somehow accept.
However, bad things never come alone.
[Lilac Marquisate's Master, Shumahel! Naturalized to the Empire!]
[A new martial gate has been born in the Seat of Stars!]
[The newly risen fifty-seventh star. What results will they show at the next general assembly.]
One of the Marquisate's Five Tiger Generals. The White Tiger General, Shumahel the Neoul Sword.
A young man who, though still young and immature, was highly anticipated to become the Golden Tiger Grand General before long if he just accumulated a bit more training.
He had abandoned his position as one of the Marquisate's Five Tiger Generals and naturalized to the Empire.
Two of the Five Tiger Generals had disappeared. One was taken by the Mountain Lord, and one was taken by the Empire. Hearing this news, the citizens of the Lilac Marquisate were enveloped in unprecedented emptiness and rage. Filled with anger, they held up pickets and marched through the capital of the Lilac Marquisate, Lailakia.
It was a march with no particular purpose or desire, merely to vent their anger. The protesters denounced the Mountain Lord who killed the Black Tiger General, the Empire who stole the White Tiger General, and the White Tiger General who betrayed his homeland. The Leaf Marquisate, which was in the midst of a border dispute, and Ende, which had caused the Black Tiger General's death, also became targets of their denunciation.
Though the anger spread like wildfire, the Marquis did not disband the protesters. Rather, she defended them.
Because they were speaking the words the Marquis wanted to say.
Riiip. The crowned Marquess tore the newspaper to both sides in extreme fury. Her face turned from red to ashen, and the veins on her face and hands bulged. The Purple Marquis of the Seventh Marquisate, enraged by the news she had learned late, screamed.
"What kind of nonsense is this!! Shumahel. How did I raise you! How could you do this...!"
Raising a single Master consumed tremendous resources. Just finding a talented child took an enormous amount of time, and to learn a qi art suited to their aptitude, expensive spirit elixirs and outstanding masters had to be brought in. There were countless cases where they sucked up resources until just before reaching enlightenment, only to end up as commoners.
In the midst of all that, the Master who appeared like a comet, Shumahel. When a new tiger was born, the people of the Lilac Marquisate rejoiced as if it were their own affair. They believed Shumahel would become the future of the Lilac Marquisate.
That belief was shattered to pieces today. Along with the pride of the Lilac Marquisate.
"What on earth did the Empire offer? What kind of brilliant reward did the Seat of Stars promise that Shumahel would abandon this glorious position and leave!"
"That is..."
"Speak! If the Intelligence Department hasn't embezzled the budget they devoured, you should at least know what Shumahel was promised! Did they promise him one of the Twelve Zodiac Palaces!!"
The Empire's strongest twelve. What if, perchance, the pride of the Lilac Marquisate had his name listed among the Empire's strongest twelve? If it were the supreme twelve with tremendous power and influence, that could be a justification in its own right. If Shumahel reached the Twelve Zodiac Palaces, it could be a greater benefit politically and economically than the Golden Tiger Grand General of the Marquisate.
She thought that if it was Shumahel, he would have temporarily entrusted himself to the Empire for the sake of the Marquisate's future. The Purple Marquis asked, holding onto a very faint hope, but.
The minister avoided her hopeful gaze and answered.
"The lowest seat..."
"What?! The lowest seat?"
"Shumahel... received the lowest seat, and chose to become a new Seat of Stars."
The hope and future of the Lilac Marquisate. The Marquisate's treasure who bloomed receiving all kinds of expectations and support.
Only the Empire's lowest seat. Unable to surpass anyone among the 56 Masters.
That meant one thing.
It wasn't that Shumahel was scouted or promised better treatment.
It was solely by his own will that he decided to become a member of the Empire, even if it meant starting from the very bottom.
"Why..."
Why?
Only such a question brushed past the minds of the Lilac Marquisate's leadership.
Why did the 3rd ranked Master of the Marquisate?
Why did the one who would become a general above ten thousand and below one?
Why did he, who had eaten the country's salary for nearly twenty years, bearing expectations and hopes?
Betray his homeland and go to the Empire? Just to take the lowest seat in the Seat of Stars?
Feeling empty, the Purple Marquis suddenly found a photo of a blond, handsome man smiling in the torn newspaper fragments. It was Shumahel. Below the photo, his interview was briefly written.
["The Marquisate was originally a nation that stemmed from the Empire. The same blood flows in our veins. We speak the same language, believe in the same gods, and share the same history as a people. Isn't the distinction between the Marquisate and the Empire just a line? I merely crossed that line slightly."]
He crossed the line. How could he. The Marquisate promised him everything. How many expectations and hopes they had placed on him. Yet he betrayed this heart and went to the Empire?
["The Marquisate will also cheer for me. Even though my body will be in the Seat of Stars, I will not forget the homeland where I was born. Believing it to be a place I will surely return to someday, I will bloom a lilac flower in the Seat of Stars!"]
He will return someday. Everyone knew that was just a hollow facade.
Shumahel would live a luxurious life in the Seat of Stars. With dozens of beauties by his side, receiving systematic management, he would repeatedly spar with dozens of Masters and gradually reach higher realms.
He would live a freer, more brilliant, and fulfilling life than the richest man in the Marquisate. His skills would improve by leaps and bounds, becoming more seasoned, and eventually he would gradually raise his rank even there. He might not become the best, but he would be better than he is now.
The most miserable thing was.
That no one could deny it.
Even the greatest tycoon of the Marquisate was just one of the common upper class in the Empire. Even the Marquisate's strongest Master was in the lower ranks in the Empire. There were even rumors that a beggar in the Empire lived better than a commoner in the Marquisate.
That was the Empire indeed. The pinnacle of civilization.
The hegemon that monopolized civilization.
Suddenly, the Purple Marquis felt miserable about her own situation. Although she was playing the role of Marquis in this Marquisate, although she was revered as one of the Seven Marquises, she was just the head of a snake. At least ten thousand Imperial citizens would not take the position of Marquis even if given to them. Because they already lived without envying the Marquis.
A sense of betrayal and jealousy washed over her. Collapsed over her desk, she suddenly spoke words she would never normally utter.
"...Should I send an assassin?"
Even a Master was not invincible. If attacked while sleeping or off guard, they could certainly be killed.
Assassinating an Empire Master. It was not a sane thought. The ministers naturally rose up in protest.
"Compose yourself, Your Highness! What assassin could enter the Iron Valley!"
"Shumahel was a Master of the Lilac Marquisate. If he is assassinated, they will immediately hold our country accountable!"
"No matter how outstanding an assassin is, they cannot help but leave traces. Unless it's a mountain hermit from a legend..."
"Not even a mountain hermit. If it were him, he could dye the Seat of Stars in darkness, but he wouldn't be able to avoid 'her' eyes."
"Her?"
"The Saintess of Karma."
At one minister's words, the noisy conference room fell dead silent.
The Saintess of Karma. A saintess who measured all the karma in the world and uncovered truths that would never be revealed. She was the most relentless executioner in the world. Because no sin could escape her.
"She sees karma. Whether the assassination succeeds or fails, the Empire will request her, and she will trace all the karma involved in the assassination and find us."
Then the Empire would express 'regret.' The Marquis would have to personally appear in the courtroom to defend herself, cough up consolation money, and somehow fill the empty Seat of Stars. If she refused, trade routes would be cut off, tariffs would be imposed, and her assets within the Empire would be confiscated.
The Marquisate would stagger. There were no means to resist the Empire. They couldn't even complain after having a Master stolen. If they protested, the Empire would dismiss it as an 'individual's choice.'
They could do nothing.
Military force?
The Marquisate's second seat was the Empire's lowest seat. This was not just a problem for the Lilac Marquisate. Other Marquisates were in similar situations, and the Rose Marquisate, the Empire's lackey, had the Marquis personally step up to put their own Master in the Seat of Stars. Even though there was no Master to protect the home country, the Rose Marquisate, which shared a border with the Empire, had enough just by leaning on the Empire's defense capabilities.
Intelligence? The Empire's intelligence, which controlled the seven Patron Merchant Guilds, would know the Marquisate's affairs better than the Marquis themselves. Moreover, within the Empire's territory was the Seonghwang Temple. Although the Seonghwang Temple was an independent domain, just the physical proximity was an advantage.
Economic power?
Out of the question. The Empire's mathematics, Demonic Studies, Qi Engineering, medicine, and engineering levels overwhelmed the other Marquisates. What the Marquisates could provide were resources like minerals and grain. A fair exchange ratio could not be established. The Patron Merchant Guilds, blessed by the Saintess of Contract in the distant past, promised fair trade to everyone, so they couldn't even do things like cutting prices or selling drugs.
Within this order maintained by 'righteousness'.
It was impossible for the Marquisate to surpass the Empire. They couldn't even pose a threat as small as a speck of dust.
The hegemony created by the Empire. The supremacy. The framework. Struggling within that order would only make them a part of the order. The Empire would prosper forever, and the Marquisates would survive by picking at its scraps.
"We need something outside the framework... We should have used Ende as a foothold. But of all things, a tiger attack had to happen."
"I have something to report regarding that matter, Your Highness."
The Deputy Minister of War stood up vigorously. The Deputy Minister of War, who was in charge of the Marquisate's military operations, was the one who had deployed the Black Tiger Corps to Ende, and was under immense political pressure due to the Black Tiger General's death by a tiger. Shouting to make up for that failure, the Deputy Minister of War cried out.
"Before the Black Tiger General and the Black Tiger Corps were killed by the tiger, the beastmen of Ende engaged in a battle with the Wolf King. They call it a war, but."
"A war? What kind of war with mere beasts."
"Indeed. A war just to chase away a pack of wolves. It's preposterous. However, one thing. The Mountain Lord..."
The Deputy Minister of War, who had been blabbering, suddenly recalled an old proverb and closed his mouth. The saying that a tiger appears when spoken of was just a baseless proverb, but 'what if' had always killed people. What if it actually appeared? When even the Black Tiger General couldn't defeat it, how could the Deputy Minister of War withstand it? The Deputy Minister of War cleared his throat and changed his words.
"...There is intelligence that the king of that mountain beast asked the beastmen of Ende where the Wolf King was."
"That mountain beast held a conversation?"
"Immediately after, that mountain beast caused the tiger attack. Not targeting the beastmen of Ende, but only the Black Tiger Corps. After leisurely annihilating the Black Tiger Corps, that mountain beast reportedly stayed in Ende for a while, receiving lavish hospitality."
"What! That means...!"
The fact that Marquis Raphaeno had attacked the Mountain Lord first was intentionally omitted from the report. The Deputy Minister of War did so to reduce the political pressure on himself, and had to shift the blame to the beastmen of Ende. Therefore, there was no need to mention the disadvantageous details.
"The tiger attack that befell the Black Tiger General was instigated by the beastmen of Ende."
What the Lilac Marquisate needed was an outlet for its anger. That was all. Ende was simply chosen.
Ende would become a foothold to expand beyond the Eongoer Plains. It was a land worth taking. They had the justification of the Black Tiger General being killed by a tiger, and the city's members were insignificant beastmen without even citizenship, so they could be killed without hesitation. Since Ende was technically Imperial territory, it was also a step toward reducing the Empire's influence.
'The death of the Black Tiger General and the annihilation of the Black Tiger Corps. To cover up that blunder, you beastmen bastards must all die.'
From the Lilac Marquisate's standpoint, that was strategically correct. The Deputy Minister of War harbored a cruel scheme in his heart.
'It should have ended with the Black Tiger General. Don't blame me. It's your fault for not submitting sooner.'
Now, when the Marquisate's citizens were angry, despairing, and grieving. A place to turn their eyes was needed. The sweetness of victory was needed. The driving force to raise the crumbling Marquisate again was needed.
A war against the Free City, Ende. That would solve the majority of the problems. And the Lilac Marquisate would gain a foothold leading to that distant land.
The Purple Marquis also knew that fact well.
A judgment made out of anger might be right, but this was a judgment for the nation. And it was also the right judgment. Who cares about the beastmen of Ende. They were not Marquisate citizens, nor even human.
"Gather the troops as soon as the Black Tiger General's funeral is over. It would be better to send an envoy in advance. Put my seal on it, and let the beastmen know of my wrath at losing the Black Tiger General!"
"We will obey!"
The wind blows. Although the Black Tiger General died, precisely because of that, they must advance further. It was the moment when the excited ministers were all clenching their fists and about to rise.
"There's big trouble!"
An elderly man with a beard reaching his waist ran in, leaning on his cane. The sound of the cane striking the floor echoed through the Marquis Palace, click clack. It was not originally tolerated in the Marquis Palace, but that old man was the one person for whom it was tolerated.
"Chancellor! Keep your dignity. Where do you think you are, entering without being called!"
The Deputy Minister of War jumped up and shouted, but the Purple Marquis stopped him with a gesture.
He was a renowned chancellor who had served as chancellor for three generations of Marquises. It was no exaggeration to say he was the pillar that supported the Lilac Marquisate, and he was also the master who had taught the Purple Marquis when she was young.
Now he was just an old man who only said fussy things and found fault with everything, but it was hard to find a chancellor who would never betray her and handle matters cleanly. The Purple Marquis asked, holding the necessary amount of respect.
"Chancellor. What is the matter?"
The Purple Marquis asked so, but felt puzzled.
Although the Chancellor had risen to a position above ten thousand and below one, he had never failed to keep his manners. It was the first time he had run in making noise with his cane, and the first time he was breathing in bewilderment. The Chancellor was the most excited he had ever been in his ninety years of life.
When he had only sighed softly even when the Black Tiger General died, what on earth had happened for him to show such a state? When the Purple Marquis expressed her doubt.
"That is. An esteemed guest has arrived from the east beyond the Eongoer Plains. You seem to need to go out and see. Your..."
The Chancellor snapped his mouth shut as if his words had been blocked. For a moment, his face turned ashen. The word 'Your Highness' should have naturally followed, but.
"Your... Your..."
The title 'Your Highness' should have attached to it, but. The Chancellor coughed as if something was stuck in his throat. His breathing gradually quickened and his body trembled.
"Chancellor. Are you alright? Is there something wrong with your health?"
Even his political enemies carefully asked about his well-being. The Chancellor shut his mouth tightly and straightened his back. He showed a resolute will.
"Why is a thing like you my king?"
To none other than the Purple Marquis herself.