I am the Monarch

“…Pirates?”

Peid Neil asked back with a frown. Only after seeing that did Marino Pelburn realise that something was off.

“It seems that we must share the information we have first.”

Hearing that, Manus Fon Persion nodded his head. Then, he stole a glance at Roan Lancephil before slowly talking about their fight with the Dark Regiment and its generals at the Eviance district.

His story lasted for a fairly long time.

“Hmm. The Dark Regiments were ground forces…?”

When it ended, Marino shook his head with a short murmur.

“On the other hand, the Dark Regiment that appeared on our kingdom was…”

Now, it was his turn to explain about the Dark Regiments that appeared at the Rite Kingdom.

Marino’s story was baffling. According to him, the Dark Regiment that appeared at the Right Kingdom was a group of around 100 large ships with both the body and the flag painted deep black. Although it was impossible to properly identify the exact number, the number of sailors were estimated to be over 20,000.

“The appearances and clothes of the pirates are the same as the Dark Regiment we saw.”

It was made clear that both the ground forces and the navy were of the same nature.

In addition,

“The captains leading each ship all had strange appearances as well.”

Just like the ones referred to as the Dark Generals of the ground forces, the Dark Captains also appeared like a strange, grotesque mix of humans and monsters. Besides, their abilities were well above normal human standards.

“Seriously, where in the world did those guys suddenly pop out from…”

Peid wore a frown before turning towards Roan. Since the one that knew about the Dark Regiment and the Dark Generals before them was Roan, Peid thought that perhaps he might have some concrete information which they weren’t aware of.

Naturally, the eyes of others gathered at Roan who then nodded with a faint smile.

“I’ll tell you about the mastermind hidden behind the Dark Generals and the Dark Regiments.”

Finally, it was time for him to unravel the truth.

Gulp.

Manus and others gulped in nervousness as their eyes reflected their inner tension.

“The one that made those guys…”

In that instant, they frowned.

‘Made?’

They were doubtful of Roan’s choice of word but for now, they decided to stay quiet and wait for his next words. Soon, Roan heaved out a short sigh and continued.

“Is the Mad Dragon, Lunark.”

Kung!

As soon as those words left his lips, a great turmoil shrouded the crowd.

“S, sorry? W, who?”

Even Manus who was known for staying calm stuttered his words. In fact, it was only Manus who could even spare the room for a question. Marino, Peid and Aerea Britz widened their eyes without letting out a single word. They were extremely startled at the sudden appearance of an unexpected existence.

“The Black Dragon – the Mad Dragon Lunark was the one that created the Dark Generals and the Dark Regiments.”

Roan once again calmly revealed the identity of the one behind it all.

“Huup!

Marino, Peid and Aerea who were stiffened like statues took deep breaths in and settled themselves down. With their reddened faces, they faced Roan.

“Y, you’re saying the Mad Dragon has appeared again?”
“Didn’t the d, dragons all disappear?”
“Why was the Mad Dragon the only one that…”

They shook their heads in disbelief but Roan added more words with a bitter smile.

“That’s not the end. There’s a person that’s trying to destroy the Middle World together with Lunark.”

It was a continuation of shock.

“A person?”
“You’re saying someone allied himself with the Mad Dragon?”
“A crazy bastard…!”

Their reactions got more and more intense. Roan stared directly at the eyes of the four gathered and replied with a clear voice.

“He is the Archbishop of the Tallian Church, Latio.”

Kung!

It was a shock much greater than when they heard about Lunark. Now, even Manus couldn’t find any words to say as silence filled the room.

A short while later, Roan heaved out a short sigh.

“First off, I’ll talk about everything I found out.”

Gulp.

The listeners nodded in tension and forced themselves out of their turmoil as they couldn’t stay shocked for the rest of their lives. Slowly, Roan talked about the truths and facts he discovered with a calm and gentle voice.

He shared Latio’s past, Lunark’s greed, the Gates of the Boundary, the reason for the disappearance of the dragons as well as the strange altars and the gruesome rituals. There was not a single thing that didn’t shock the gathered people.

“T, then, the reason why the citizens are disappearing is…?”

Manus carefully asked with a stiff expression and Roan nodded with a similarly stiff expression.

“Yes. They were sacrificed for Latio’s cruel ritual.”
“Ah…”

A low mutter escaped. No-one could easily find the next words but soon,

“Indeed, just like what His Majesty Lancephil has said…”

Manus carefully opened his lips.

“Now is not the time for us to fight each other.”

Hearing that, they all nodded their heads. Then, Aerea quickly poured words out with an urgent expression.

“F, first off, shouldn’t we tell the C, Church about it?”

Her sharp voice echoed within the drawing room but Roan only returned a bitter smile and so did Manus and Marino. When Aerea tilted her head in confusion, Peid opened his mouth as a low voice seeped out.

“The Church…”

His voice reflected helplessness.

“Probably knows about it already.”

As soon as he said that,

“Sorry?!”

Aerea immediately asked back with surprise.

“They know about it? But then, why would they gather the crusaders against the Amaranth Kingdom?”

Hearing her words, Roan, Manus, Peid and Marino all looked at each other before replying at the same time.

“They’re not taking it seriously.”

Like before, their voices had signs of helplessness.

“What?”

When Aerea scowled with a completely clueless expression, Roan continued the explanations as a representative.

“Because of the pact between the gods and the dragons, the dragons cannot harm the priests. That is why the Church is not afraid of the Mad Dragon Lunark.”

However, even after hearing that, Aerea kept a clueless expression.

“But the Mad Dragon’s not the only problem. You said that Letio or whatever of the Tallian Church was carrying out a horrible ritual right?”

Peid gave a response to her question.

“They’re probably not even taking the Tallian Church into account. They probably think that they could suppress and obliterate them whenever they desired. Because historically, the Tallian Church had been on the receiving end of one-sided harassment.”

Aerea shook her head with a stiff expression.

“But it’s different now. The Dark Generals and the Dark Regiment, as well as the dark elves and orcs, are on his side.”

It was true. Even the Church had no room for leisure in a situation like this.

Suddenly, Marino who had been organising the situation in his head whispered with a serious expression.

“The Church is most likely thinking of first punishing the Amaranth Kingdom before forcing their way down to take care of the Tallian Church.”

It appeared to be an extremely effective and logical decision from their part. From one crusade, they could punish both the Amaranth Kingdom and the Tallian Church that were like thorns.

Aerea shook her head with a bitter smile.

“They’re not realising the gravity of the situation.”

They all nodded in response.

“It’s because the Church never had a danger before.”

Because of that, they viewed every situation optimistically and didn’t take things seriously – they were completely proud of themselves. They all sighed while thinking that and Roan stared at the others after a deep breath in.

“It won’t be easy to persuade the Church. From now…”

His eyes flickered brightly.

“We must be the ones controlling the situation.”

Hearing that, the listeners all gave a nod and prompted by it, Roan continued.

“For now, I’ll take care of things on the Church’s side. As for you…”

Roan then slowly explained various strategies he came up with after brainstorming with the talents of the Amaranth. The longer his story continued, the more Manus, Peid, Aerea and Marino were in awe.

‘So many preparations done already…’
‘He has already taken care of things at the Estia Empire, the Diez Kingdom and even the Aimas Union – the home of the Tallian Church let alone the Church.’
‘He’s controlling the continent while sitting down.’

Their continent had been living under the protection and wings of Roan and the Amaranth Kingdom unknowingly. After all the plans were revealed, silence filled the room for a short while. The plans that the Amaranth Kingdom and Roan thought of were perfect, or rather, it was correct to say that there were no other viable options.

In other words, there was nothing to touch on from the overarching plan and only the minor details had to be tweaked depending on the situation of each kingdom. However, there was a new issue which even Roan and the Amaranth Kingdom hadn’t foresaw – the current happenings at the Rite Kingdom.

“The Dark Pirates are a problem.”

Aerea commented with a slight frown. Then, Roan stared at Marino as he whispered in a soft tone.

“For now, I will support you with the Amaranth Navy. They became quite skilled while dealing with the monsters of Poskein so they will be quite useful.”
“Ah… Thanks very much.”

Marino bowed his head with a forced smile but in that instant, Peid interjected carefully with a cough.

“Hmm. Hmm. I apologise for saying this but this won’t be solved by mere support of the navy. The Dark Captains each leading the ships are not existences that can be dealt with by normal soldiers.”

And yet, there wasn’t anyone skilled in ocean warfare from those above knights with the abilities to use mana. The situation was currently in omnishambles.

“Hmm.”

A low murmur escaped his lips because there was nothing incorrect with Peid’s words.

‘But that doesn’t mean I can lead the navy and go to the Rite Kingdom either…’

Roan thought with a frown. He had a much more important mission that had to be fulfilled. He fell into deep contemplation but suddenly,

[Roan, leave that to me.]

A sharp voice sounded as a reddish-black light sparkled from above Roan’s head.

“Hup!”
“…?!”

In front of the sudden turn of events, Manus, Marino, Peid and Aerea all shot out of their seats instinctively as their hands reached out to the weapons on their waist.

Roan quickly stood up and gently let out a flow of aura. When he did, the hands that were quickly reaching out halted before being pushed away from their waists. With just his aura, he had stopped the actions of four people. It was literally an unbelievable show of power at a godly level.

‘Hmm.’

The four were baffled by Roan’s abilities and gasped. However, it wasn’t the time for them to stay baffled and their gazes gathered at the spot above Roan’s head. Seeing a spark of reddish-black light still brightly giving off light, curiosity filled their eyes.

With a faint smile, Roan took a step to the side.

“This here is my friend.”

As soon as he finished his words, the reddish-black light disappeared as a cute girl appeared instead. She was a girl with an oddly charming reddish-black skin. After turning once mid-air, she gently landed on the ground like a feather and resembled an angel. Everyone present stared at the girl with widened eyes as Roan’s voice reached their ears.

“Her name’s Kinis. She was a spirit of water.”

When he finished the introduction,

“Spirit of water?!”

Aerea asked back with surprise but Manus, Peid and Marino were interested in a different word of Roan’s sentence.

‘…was?’

Born a spirit of water, she should be a spirit of water till the very end so they were curious what ‘was’ meant. Oblivious or not to those thoughts, Roan made a faint smile before turning towards Kinis. When he did, she immediately lowered her head towards others.

[Nice to meet you. I’m Kinis.]

Seeing her straight-forward manner, Manus, Marino, Peid and Aerea all lowered their heads with awkward smiles. It was their first time seeing a spirit that resembled a human so perfectly. A strange silence befell the room until Roan broke it.

“Kinis. Even though you were a spirit of water, it is impossible for you to deal with the pirates alone.”

Besides, further she was from Roan, the mana she required increased exponentially. It was not a situation that allowed Roan to leave it on her hands but Keneath waved her right index finger, gesturing for him to not worry.

[I’m not thinking of fighting alone either.]

An odd smile appeared on her lips.

[I’m thinking of making my own regiment.]
“Your own regiment? Don’t tell me, are you thinking of receiving help from the Spirit World?”

Roan asked with a clueless expression but Kinis shook her head with folded arms.

[No.]

She returned an extremely simple reply as the smile hanging on her lips deepend.

[I’ll go to the Poskein Lake.]

Her sentence was yet again difficult to understand and Manus, Mario, Peid as well as Aerea frowned in response.

“Poskein Lake?”
“There are only monsters there though…”

They all seemed to be puzzled but it was then.

“Ah…”

Roan let out a low mutter while forming a faint smile. Seeing that, Kinis shook her finger yet again.

[Did you finally remember?]
“Yeah. I completely forgot about it.”

With a short sigh, Roan blamed his stupidity. Soon, Manus who had been watching on from the side couldn’t hold back his curiosity and carefully asked.

“What is there inside Poskein Lake?”

Hearing that question, Roan and Kinis faced each other and gave smiles before turning back towards everyone else. The reply that left their lips was short and concise.

“The mermaids.”

<Alliance (11)> End.