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Chapter 99: Shahatra’s Mountain (1)

Now that he was away from Eisen, Henry used Teleportation as soon as no one could see him and headed for Monsieur. He immediately met with Vulcanus and commissioned the production of magical horseshoes as requested by the two counts.

Vulcanus patted his chest, expressing his confidence. “There’s nothing to worry about. Even though you’re ordering a large number, they’re only horseshoes. Leave this to me and go ahead with your business.”

They hadn’t decided on an exact number for the horseshoes. However, Henry intended to prepare a little more than what the two counts had requested because war was unpredictable.

When Henry was about to pay in advance, Vulcanus waved his hand and said, “There’s no need. I cannot take money from my lifesaver.”

“No, this isn’t a small number; it’s thousands of horseshoes. You’ve repaid me for saving your life through the agreement last time.”

“But still, I don’t feel comfortable accepting this. There’s really no need.”

“It’s really alright. If you don’t accept the money, it’ll be hard to trust you with other requests in the future.” Henry was not the type of person who wouldn’t pay even if it was offered for free.

It would be different if they wouldn’t see each other again, but Henry’s relationship with Vulcanus was important and he wanted to maintain it. He wanted to make the line between friendship and business as clear as possible the closer he grew to someone.

Vulcanus thought about it and answered, “I will only take the cost of the materials and not charge you for the labor.”

“Then use this for the cost of materials, and the rest is my token of appreciation. Why don’t you have a nice dinner with the others?”

“Ha, I can’t stop you, can I…?”

“I’ll leave it up to you then. I’ll trust you and get going to take care of my other businesses.”

Henry had finished his business in Monsieur and used Teleportation again to head to Ten’s mansion.

“You’re here.”

“Huh?”

As soon as Henry set foot in the mansion, Ten quickly greeted him as if he had been waiting for him. The atmosphere of the mansion had slightly changed.

Henry looked around and said, “Ten.”

“Yes, Lord Henry”

“Lord Henry?”

“That’s right. I cannot call Lord Henry ‘Sir Henry’ like I used to. Lord Henry is now a vassal of the Shonan family, so I think I need to pay attention to your title.”

“...I see, the atmosphere seems to have changed, but I guess that\'s why. I guess this means Von told you about me.”

“That’s right. Oh, right! I also heard what happened to Sir Von’s face. He suffered a large wound on his face in Salgaera and happened to meet a good-hearted mage who helped him, right? I’m so jealous. The Plastic Cosmetics turned out so good that I would like to ask for one too if I get the chance.”

“...Right.”

It seemed that Ten had gone through a lot of changes while Henry was gone, and the interior of the house had changed just as much as Ten had, including the paintings on the walls and the servants’ uniforms.

‘He sure is pretending to be someone he’s not.’

His house used to be filled with furniture decorated with gold or jewels, revealing his desire to show off; but now, there were a lot more antiques. He was a rags-to-riches millionaire pretending to be an aristocrat.

Henry could understand why Ten was doing this; it was natural for people to yearn for things they didn’t have.

‘This isn’t too bad.’ There was no need to ruin Ten’s mood; in fact, his desire to improve himself was useful to Henry.

“...Alright, I can’t stop you.”

“That’s right.”

“Anyway, where are Von and Hagler?”

“They’re training in the underground training hall.”

“Alright.”

Henry left Ten and headed towards the training hall in search of the two.

“Faster.”

“Yes, sir!”

Clack clack clack!

At Von’s command, Hagler made a superhuman effort and swung his wooden sword three times in an instant. Hagler was the only man who had defeated all his competitors. However, Von was blocking all of Halger’s attacks with one hand behind his back as if he were playing with a child.

‘He needs to rise to the level of a master quickly.’

Henry briefly reviewed why he chose Hagler as he watched Hagler’s movements.

Hagler was an excellent swordsman, although he wasn’t on Von’s level. Nonetheless, Henry had hired Hagler for a simple reason: Hagler had a genius-level ability that meant he could become a great swordsman like Von. Halger was also a desperate man with a family. Henry needed a loyal person who did not have a big mouth.

After noticing Henry’s presence, Von knocked Hagler’s wooden sword out of his hand.

Thud!

Hagler’s sword flew far away. Hagler raised both hands and surrendered. “I lost.”

“How foolish. When are you going to be a master at this rate?”

“I will try harder.”

“As you should.”

They were partners when working, but at times like this, they were like teacher and student.

“...A lot has changed while I was gone,” said Henry.

“Hmm, sorry about that. I forgot to take off the Shonan badge while I was coming in, haha…”

As Von laughed awkwardly, Henry changed the topic as if nothing was important. “It doesn\'t matter since we had to tell him eventually… Anyway, the date of the subjugation has finally been set.”

“That’s faster than I thought. When is it?”

“It’s in three days. In the meantime, I met the head of the rebels and took a brief look at the situation in the capital.”

“Who’s the head?”

“It is Caliph Benedict, who used to be the military minister.”

“Benedict started the rebellion? Of all people, it just had to be him, huh…”

Looking at Von’s reluctant expression, Hagler asked, “Is Caliph Benedict really that great?”

“He’s known as the desert’s best warrior. His skills are below mine, but the religious power he uses is a bit tricky.”

Von had followed Henry to conquer Shahatra in the past, so he knew how annoying Benedict was better than anyone else.

“To tell you what’s going on right now, the Shonan family is protecting the Khan royal family, and I suspect that Duke Arthus is the mastermind behind this rebellion,” said Henry.

“What? Is that true?”

“Even though Khan and I looked into it separately, we ended up with the same suspect, so this is solid information.” Henry’s calm manner only intensified the shock that the others felt.

Henry continued to speak in a calm voice, “Of course, the fact that Arthus is behind all of this is a secret that only the Khan royal family and I know.”

“Are you allowed to tell us this secret?”

“I wouldn’t tell the counts but I should at least tell you since we have to continue working together in the future. Also, when the subjugation starts, you will definitely encounter Arthus’s people, so you should know this in advance, right?”

“Hmm, you do have a point.”

“I don’t think this subjugation will end like an ordinary one. Although it’ll take some time, we’ll be able to get them to surrender if we just take over. However, Arthus is an obstacle that we haven’t even considered, so I’m thinking of trying a different method.”

“A different method? But Shahatra is a complex area surrounded by mountains; there is no entrance other than the Shahatra Gorge in the northeast, right?”

“You’re right. I plan to cross Shahatra Mountain.”

“Cross the mountain?”

“Yes.”

Von’s eyes had twinkled for a moment when he heard that there was another way, but when he realized that it was to cross the mountain, he looked disappointed again. His reaction was expected because the mountains of Shahatra were impregnable, and even while he was in the army, he had never crossed them.

In a mocking voice, Von said, “You can’t cross there.”

“Why not?”

“It’s nothing like any other place as it’s really steep and monsters roam the area. More importantly, the priests of Shahatra have set up a complex illusion barrier, and no one can ever get past.”

“That’s exactly why we’re going.”

“What?”

“Everyone thinks like you, which is why we have to cross the mountain. If we use a path that people think is impossible, we have a chance of catching our opponent off guard.”

“What do we do after we cross the mountain? Even if we get really lucky and cross the mountain, what can the three of us do?”

“I\'m thinking of heading for the eastern oasis, Shaha.”

“Shaha? Isn’t that where most of the illusionists live? Why there?”

“According to Khan, Benedict hasn’t captured Shaha. We have to use Shaha as our outpost and take even the slightest geographical advantage.”

“Okay, how are you planning to cross the mountain? Even the late grand duke couldn’t cross the Shahatra Mountain.”

Von was right. Illusions were different from magic, which was why in his previous life, even Henry couldn’t break the priests’ illusion barrier. The corners of Henry’s lips rose and he said, “I already have a solution, so please get ready to depart soon.”

The two had no choice but to follow Henry without knowing what they were getting into.

* * *

They arrived in the Shonan region. Henry used Teleportation this time to cover a distance that would usually take several days of travel, and it consumed a lot of his strength.

It was his third time using Teleportation in one day. Henry felt dizzy from consuming mana so rapidly and placed his hands on his forehead for a little while.

‘I’ll never be able to reach the 6th circle if I continue wasting my mana like this.’

It was rare for a mage to move several people on his own or even use Teleportation several times a day, even in the school of movement. However, while Henry could do it, it was bad for him to waste his mana, and whenever he had time, he gathered more mana through mediation.

When Henry arrived at the entrance of the mansion, everyone bowed, including the head of the guards.

Henry’s position within the family was now secure, No one was dissatisfied because Henry had not only become a vassal through his own abilities, his presence also calmed Eisen’s hysteria.

Henry said to Vedican, who was still bowing, “Don’t let the count know that I’m here. I just have something to do and will leave right after.”

“Alright. I will take you by carriage to your destination.”

The carriage headed for the VIP house, where they served distinguished guests. Henry nodded in admiration. ‘As expected of the Shonan family.’

The VIP house was very large and well-decorated; the guest house was nothing compared to it. When Henry and his party entered the VIP house, Herarion warmly greeted Henry in the living room.

“Lord Henry? What are you doing here?”

“I came to see Your Majesty in secret because I have an urgent request.”

“A request?”

“That’s right, Your Majesty.”

“If it’s a request from you, Lord Henry, of course I will listen.”

“Thank you. In saying that… Do you like hiking, Your Majesty?”

“Hiking…?”

“Yes, if you don’t mind, I’d like the high priest Viram to go hiking with us as well.”

“That’s not too difficult to do, but why a hike all of a sudden?”

“Your Majesty will know once we get there.”

Herarion was a bit taken back, but he did not refuse because Henry’s expression was too pure and proud.