Life didn't get easier, even in another world

335 Around the bonfire

The Dragon of Frost was killed.

The guardian dragon that had lived in the north of the empire was under the attack of the forces of the religion for a long while, but they couldn’t win against the dragon. That was until the head of the religion, the man calling himself the holy saint, stepped up and murdered the dragon.

That was the trigger of the disaster that descended upon that land, upon that once glorious empire.

The northern part of the empire was reduced to dust. No, actually, it was reduced to nothing but ice. The lands, the mountains that were once home to hundreds of people were now barren, covered in layers of snow and ice. The dragon had released its anger on the innocent people of the land, turning the area into a cold tomb for its body.

Things got worse after that. While the emperor and his generals were busy dealing with the various revolutions all over the empire as well as dealing with the aftermath of the death of The Dragon of Frost was when the number of monsters appearing in the nation suddenly raised in number, increasing so much that it wasn’t possible to suppress them anymore.

While all this was going on, the holy saint declared that the emperor was evil. It was because of the emperor, Emperor Stefan, that all these were happening to this nation. He had to be taken down. He had to be sacrificed to the god if they wanted to cleanse their land and be freed from the curse that was cast upon them.

This was a clear declaration of war. The emperor in return, revealed all of the holy saint’s schemes, the things he had done behind the scenes to increase the fire of the revolution and raise the hatred of the people. He exposed the information he had kept secret by then and let everyone know about the true nature of the man called the holy saint.

But that was in no vail.

Even if the people knew about the man’s true nation, they couldn’t stop his forces. They couldn’t resist his dedicated believers. The empire didn’t have the military power enough to take care of all of the small and large battles that were going on. It didn’t have the money to feed the soldiers who were fighting, and the people who were starving, and keep the nation ongoing.

.....

It was a nightmare for the emperor, for the soldiers, and for the people.

“My informants have noticed those believers conduct strange rituals on those seven temples. They noticed that the number of the monsters would increase every time a ritual is held.”

“I’ve also received information saying that they had noticed strange powers around all of the temples. They said the power looked holy and at the same time evil. They said they had never seen such a thing before.”

“I followed the holy saint as long as I could. I found that he went inside a strange... area. A weird domain. I don’t know what it was... I couldn’t enter it, nor I could see it, but I know that there was something. Time was twisted there.”

All of the people who were sitting around the bone fire turned to the golden-haired man. He spread a map on his lap and pointed at a spot.

“It was somewhere around here. I don’t know where it was and how we should enter it, but I’m sure that there is something important here. He is scheming something again.”

The group looked at the map one after another before the man with the long black hair nodded his head and heaved a sigh.

“I’ll observe this area. I guess I can communicate with nature and ask it about that place.”

“Didn’t you say that you need a few more yours to learn how to communicate with nature?”

“That,” Beathan lowered his head and muttered. “I can do it now...” His hand slowly moved to touch the bracelet on his wrist. The old bracelet was now glowing with a faint green light.

“Beathan!” Stefan almost yelled at his general, making the man crouch a little bit and lower his head. “Haven’t I warned you not to use those artifacts? What do you think you are doing? Stop using that power!”

His voice reverberated in the silence of the camp, reaching the ears of all of his generals, but oddly, no one gave him an answer. Narrowing his eyes, Stefan observed all of his generals one by one.

“You all...” He mumbled as he glanced at the artifacts that his generals were carrying. “Why are you all doing this... I’ve clearly wanted you before! I’ve told you not to use them no matter what!”

Rage and frustration raised up in his heart. He clenched his fists and glared at his subordinates, demanding them explanations with his gaze, but he received no answers but silence. The generals were all looking away from him while keeping their mouths shut and their gaze on the fire. It made him feel even more frustrated. His head was pounding and it felt hot all of a sudden, his breathing got more rapid and his heart started to beat fast. He felt an uneasiness, a bitter feeling, and an indescribable anxiousness rise in his throat. All of a sudden, he was feeling fear. He was scared and frightened. He couldn’t understand why he was suddenly getting all these feelings, but he knew that he was definitely terrified. He was worried, worried about his friends who were putting their lives on the line in these battles. He had always told himself that things would be fine but seeing his trusted allies going to this length to save their land, he couldn’t hold back the feelings of fear and worry he had suppressed in his heat for such a long time.

“It’ll be fine!”

Stefan raised his head after feeling someone tap his shoulder. He made eye contact with Emil who was sitting on his side. The necklace around his neck was also shimmering in purple.

“We’ll fight against them, and we will win!” Emil raised his fist up. “We are going to attack their temples one by one. No matter what happens, they can’t possibly win against all of us! Even if the empire is divided into smaller parts, even if our land has turned to ice and snow, once we get rid of that white bastard, we can bring everything back to normal!”

The people sitting around the bonfire stared at him for a few seconds, before they started to either chuckle or cheer.

“Right! We’ll win this!”

“That bastard can’t win against all of us!”

Their cheerful voices and silly faces were enough to make Stefan smile once again. He stared at his generals’ chat and eat as he felt his heart ease a little bit.

“Your highness.”

Stefan turned his head to the right, only to see a messenger bowing to him.

“You have a letter from the princess.”

“Oh!”

His eyes instantly lit up and he reached out his hand to grab the paper. He opened the letter and started to read it immediately.

To Stefan, my dear little brother.

I write this letter to you as per your request to inform you of the situation in the castle. Well, you should know it without me telling you. Nothing is how it is supposed to be. Some of the ministers are not cooperating with me anymore, and a lot of them disobey me. Sigh. I’m doing my best though. Don’t worry and keep fighting. Remember that you should return back safe while I’m taking care of these matters in your stead, okay? Your older sister will manage these small issues and wait for your return. Your nephew is also waiting for you. He keeps asking where you are day and night. He misses you a lot.

By the way, once you return, I won’t let you run away any longer! You must get married and have children! I swear to god Stefan if you don’t get married until next your I’ll disown you!

Ahem, anyway! Be healthy and be safe, my dearest.

From your sister, Selena.

“Hah!”

Stefan couldn’t help but chuckle after reaching the end of the letter. He neatly folded the letter and placed it in his pocket, near the other letters sent by his sister. Just then, he heard a faint voice from his other side.

“L-Look, Alan... M-my... My ancient artifact is a ring!”

It was the trembling voice of Matilda that he was hearing. She raised her hand and held it in front of the golden-haired grumpy man beside her.

“M-mine is a ring, and yours is a ring as well! Don’t y-you think that it- it’s kinda... romantic?”

“....”

Alan was blankly staring at the woman beside him.

“W-what I mean is that... That... This shows that we have... connections! Look! Yours glows golden, and so does mine! I-I mean... This is... I... We both...”

The woman seemed to be about to start crying.

“Unlike your god-like swordsmanship, your talent is flittering is zero... even lower than that!”

Alan whispered those to the woman’s ears. Seeing how her face and the tips of her ears got red, the man smiled and leaned closer, wrapping his hand around the woman’s shoulder.

“But you don’t need to flitter.”

“...I-I don’t?” Matilda lowered her head. “B-but I heard from Selena that you should do these kinds of stuff to get c-close to a man you l-love...”

Alan heaved a sigh.

“Matilda, we’ve been engaged for two years.”