Chapter 260 — 겨울(Winter)

Chapter 260

Winter

After the commendation ceremony ended.

Answering every cheer from the crowd one by one, Elric finally climbed into the carriage waiting before the Imperial Palace.

An eight-wheeled coach bearing the sigil of Merbinger.

Only after boarding the carriage that had been the most sought-after sight in the Imperial Capital for nearly a month did Elric at last catch his breath.

“Ugh… thought I was going to die.”

Responding to every shout from the citizens was exhausting in its own way.

At first, he’d been delighted to haul the glory of his house back into the light at last, but lately he’d begun to feel this wasn’t exactly the sort of thing to celebrate.

How on earth did emperors and grand marshals enjoy this headache every time they held a triumph…? At this point, it was a wonder.

“You look half-dead.”

Then, from the far corner of the seat opposite Elric, a man with his hood pulled low muttered under his breath.

He was so massive the already large coach felt full.

Elric crossed his arms and snorted.

“This is all because I’ve been cleaning up after you.”

“How unfortunate.”

Despite the words, his tone carried not a hint of apology.

Elric, who knew what kind of man he was to begin with, could only shake his head.

He cracked open his eyes and looked at the man opposite.

“So. Have you decided, Batu?”

Anyone else hearing Elric just then would have jumped out of their skin.

He’d spoken a name that shouldn’t be here.

Batu.

High Chief of the mountain tribes, the tragic hero who once drove the Empire to the brink of storm, then, so the tale went, closed his eyes at Elric’s hands.

The man everyone believed dead was sitting across from him!

『I do wonder how people will react when they find out the so-called heir of Merbinger—whom the whole world calls a hero—has been two-timing them behind the scenes.』

Mephisto stroked his chin and chuckled.

Indeed, the world—Empire included—was thoroughly fooled by Elric right now.

Batu had lost the battle, but he had not died.

It helped that Elric had pulled his power at the very end, and the dragonkin’s abnormal vitality made recovery far too easy.

Instead, under the pretext of personally taking the enemy commander’s head, Elric had collected the fallen Batu and—out of sight—treated the Anomaly himself.

Even with Mia glued to his side and helping at every step, the treatment was anything but easy; half of Batu’s body was still being eroded by the Anomaly.

Even so, Batu neither lamented his fate nor fell into despair.

As if being able to think and move by his own will sufficed, he even offered Elric his thanks.

And then he asked:

Why go this far to help me?

Looking into it, it turned out Elric hadn’t saved only Batu’s life.

Many prisoners of war who should rightly have met the headsman’s axe for treason were spared.

Granted, those classed as leadership couldn’t escape punishment altogether—years in prison, forced labor—but Elric managed to have their postings assigned in the East.

Prince Cromhel had extended leniency at Elric’s request, knowing they had to soothe the people if they were to rule the eastern borderlands.

The Red Lion House, then the mountain tribes.

Thanks to Elric, most of the forces tied to this rebellion—everyone but Grigori—managed to survive.

So Batu all the more had to wonder.

If Elric wanted to seize the eastern marches intact, he could simply look the other way, finish Batu off, and absorb the remnants.

Rule would be far easier. Why leave seeds of unrest?

If it were him, he’d have ripped them out.

But.

Elric’s answer to his question was simple.

—I promised Sarnai. I’d save you.

Batu could say nothing to that.

His lieutenants had branded Sarnai a traitor for “betraying the tribe,” yet in truth she had saved them.

Had she seen even this far ahead?

He didn’t know.

But he would be able to ask soon enough.

Elric had announced he would move the few Merbinger strongholds near the capital to the eastern lands.

With the entire Wynz March fallen into Elric’s hands and the authority to dispose of the mountain tribes besides, his base was, for all intents and purposes, moving East.

So there was no reason to delay the relocation.

However, as a condition of following Elric into the eastern borderlands, Batu had been given one term.

Come under his banner.

In other words, Batu of the dragonkin and the twelve mountain tribes would pledge their fealty.

“In the end… you don’t just want the Wynz March. You want the whole East in your hand, don’t you?”

“Of course.”

Elric nodded calmly and continued.

“My grandfather and the other ancestors didn’t covet base or power. They didn’t need it; they were that brilliant. But having tried that way… it doesn’t end well.”

Ever since Usthen fell in the Great Demon War, Elric had watched a noble house like Merbinger decline.

Count Calliger, Viscount Kuran Sibil—every retainer left Merbinger, until in the end only he and his sister Hayes remained at the manor.

Looking back now, it seemed the reason came down to lacking a base.

A distinguished house, revered by the Empire’s people, without seeking power, without holding lands.

But that meant if the lord’s seat went empty or no “genius” was born, decline was inevitable. The imperial family and nobles always saw the popular Merbinger as a thorn in their side.

So Elric meant to walk a slightly different path from his forebears.

A house that would not easily waver even if he were absent, even if no great prodigy was born among his descendants.

He would grow a great tree, rooted so deep that no gale could topple it.

He would raise it so high that the world, the nobility, even the imperial house, would not dare encroach—and hold the Empire beneath its shade.

The Hegemon’s Way (覇道).

Some might call it that, and Elric intended to tread it.

The first step was the Star Host, and the second, the vast fief of the eastern marches.

“Andre Wynz has already surrendered the title of Red Lion and volunteered his house as Merbinger’s banner house. He’s become my right hand. Have the mountain tribes join the same way.”

“You’re telling us to be your left hand?”

“If needed.”

“To enter under another’s command….”

Batu closed his eyes and murmured.

Watching him, Elric clicked his tongue inwardly. Of course it wouldn’t be easy. Not long ago Batu had been a king who led tens of thousands and twelve tribes besides.

Still, from what he’d seen, Elric thought the man would endure even that much for his people’s survival.

Apparently, he’d guessed wrong.

“You don’t want to?”

He asked to be sure—to get a definite answer.

“As if.”

The reply missed Elric’s expectations entirely.

Batu opened his eyes.

His gaze shone clearer than ever.

“What I desire is only my people’s prosperity. I hesitated for just a moment, to decide whether you are a righteous hero—or a cunning opportunist.”

“What’s the difference?”

“If you’re the former, you’ll sacrifice us whenever need dictates. If the latter, you’ll look for every chance to use us.”

“And your judgment?”

“I don’t know.”

Batu let out a small laugh and went on.

“If you’re a righteous hero, I should be ready for a knife in the back at any time. If a schemer, I’ll have to prove our usefulness every time. And I can’t tell which you are. If I had to pick, you lean toward ‘hero’ but….”

His laughter grew louder.

“That makes it even harder to tell.”

Elric’s face scrunched.

“Oh, come on, how do you not know? Obviously the last one!”

“Do you really not know why?”

『This king thinks he does… obviously because of your personality.』

[Will you shut up!]

Elric snapped at Mephisto, who was busy sniping from the side, then scowled and pressed again.

“So. Spare me the preamble. What’s your answer?”

Batu rose to his feet. His bulk filled the carriage all the more, but he didn’t care; he dropped to one knee and bowed his head.

“Batu of the Borfuur tribe greets his new liege.”

And so—

All preparations to depart for the East were complete.

* * *

“The excavation of the Gem Dragon’s nest is almost finished. What we’ve found inside so far…!”

Riding east, Elric tore through the backlog of minor duties he’d put off.

He’d considered taking a magitech steam train to speed things up, but there were too many stops he had to make along the way, so he chose the carriage despite the inconvenience.

Naturally, the Star Host insisted on protecting him by assembling a grand procession, which was a headache all its own.

In any case—

As he handled the paperwork, Elric took several reports.

The biggest of them concerned the Gem Dragon’s nest.

The place where he had met Mephisto and taken the turn into a new life.

Tasha Neresta, the Witch of the Phoenix, recited her findings with a face flushed with excitement.

‘Sean kept calling her a dragon-fancier. Looks like he wasn’t wrong.’

Elric chuckled and speed-read through the dossier.

His conclusion was “as expected.”

As expected of a Neresta.

Every result was the sort to set academia abuzz.

Ancient grimoires, yes, but also art that would prove invaluable in reconstructing the culture of that age. The prevailing currents that defined an era don’t just touch learning, art, philosophy, and thought—they breathe considerable inspiration into magic as well.

‘I was thinking of stopping by once more before moving fully East anyway—might as well go now.’

At the moment, Interresia, his magic vault, held three dragon eggs left by Borfuur’s guardian dragon.

They’d petrified like fossils, and who could say if they would hatch—but perhaps the Gem Dragon’s nest would hold a hint.

‘If I can secure “Spring,” I can probably make it work somehow, but nothing’s certain. And I need to study mana stones in more detail, too.’

He’d just finished securing all of ‘Winter,’ so it was time to hunt for clues to ‘Spring.’

All told, he had a lot to do.

‘All right, first I’ll visit the Gem Dragon’s nest—’

He was about to ask Tasha something when—

Clang!

The carriage lurched to a stop.

“So right now, we’re cataloging these by—Eek!”

Tasha cut off mid-sentence.

When Elric glanced toward the coachman’s seat, Brian—who held the reins—looked back, visibly flustered.

“My apologies. Someone just jumped in front of the carriage. I’ll tell him to move along.”

There were always people who tried stunts to meet the hero of Merbinger up close, so Elric nodded—then froze as he saw the figure through the window.

“Wait.”

“Sir?”

“That one looks like he’s here for me. Bring him inside.”

Brian had no idea why Elric said that and blinked, but Elric’s expression was too grave; he nodded. Tasha, too, paused her report and stared, wondering what was going on.

But—

Elric’s eyes stayed fixed on the man walking toward them.

Outwardly he looked like a simple commoner, but Elric’s sight would not be fooled.

Demonic mana leaked off him without him even trying. He was demonfolk.

No—precisely, he was a Demon Lord.

A high-ranking Demon Lord, brimming with power.

Yet the tenor of him differed from the Grigori Demon Lords Elric had faced so far.

A nature Elric knew all too well.

In fact, one he bore in part himself.

A biting chill.

‘Why do I feel the Camellia God’s power…?’

(Season 1, Complete)

Author’s Note

I think this is my first time greeting you from the author’s note. Hello, I’m Bread-Eating Squirrel, author of The Mage Who Devoured Talents.

I’m writing here to ask your understanding for a short break that will follow the end of the long Season 1.

When I first planned The Mage Who Devoured Talents, it was conceived as the original novel for a mobile game in production.

It’s an OSMU (cross-media adaptation) between web novel and mobile game, a rarity domestically, and a webtoon is being produced in parallel as well.

Both the game and the webtoon are slated to be announced in the not-too-distant future. I’d be grateful for your interest and support. After a brief rest, I’ll return with a richer, better-prepared Season 2.

Winter has arrived. Please take care not to catch cold, and I’ll take my leave here.

Wishing everyone a happy New Year!

The Mage Who Devoured Talents