NOVEL NEXT WORLD Chapter 26
Chapter 26: The Mad Prince’s Route (1)
Outside the cave, the shaman and Three-Eyes were waiting together.
“Master said to give this to you when you came out.”
The shaman held out a large stone engraved with a spiral pattern. Am I supposed to take this? This thing looks heavier than I am!
“Your Highness, it could be dangerous. Allow me to take it and check first.”
Quick-witted Meredith took the stone in my place and pretended to inspect it thoroughly. Poor thing, going through all that trouble to save my pride. Still, I was thankful.
I alternated my gaze between the two ogres and asked a question.
“What is this? What does this stone do?”
“The Connecting Stone links to the entrance of the sanctuary.”
“…What?”
“This here is the other stone.”
The shaman tapped on something standing beside the entrance to the cave—a tall, obelisk-like structure.
“This is also a Connecting Stone. Do you see the pattern here?”
“Uh… yeah. It’s got the same spiral design.”
“The two stones are connected. So, if you bring anything near this one…”
The shaman brought an empty cup close to the spiral pattern on the obelisk.
Wooong!
The cup emitted a translucent light before disappearing, only to immediately reappear on the surface of the stone Meredith was holding, dropping to the ground.
“…”
Meredith flinched and took a step back. I picked up the fallen cup and bit my inner lip.
What the hell is this!?
This is absolutely amazing! Is this some kind of teleportation device? How is this even possible?
“The Connecting Stone is our tribe’s greatest treasure.”
Three-Eyes crouched down to meet my eye level as he approached.
“Giving it to you means our master has acknowledged you as his closest friend. You are now no different from an ogre of our tribe.”
“That’s an honor. But how does it work? Can you send things in the opposite direction too?”
“If you’re curious, try it yourself.”
I brought the cup back to the Connecting Stone Meredith was holding.
Wooong!
Just as before, the cup disappeared and reappeared in front of the obelisk, falling to the ground.
“So, it does work both ways. This is really useful.”
“I don’t know exactly how it works, only that it operates through the power of our master.”
“The power of the Earth Spirit?”
“There are, however, rules. You can’t send living things, and nothing larger than two ogre fists can be sent.”
Three-Eyes laughed, thrusting his oversized fists forward.
“My fists are a bit bigger than most ogres’. The size limit might need adjusting. Anyway, if you place an object on the stone and it crosses over, it means the size is right. If not, it’s too big.”
“Aha.”
“There’s also a limit to how many times you can use it in a day. Usually, it works between twenty and thirty times. It depends, probably on the master’s condition.”
“What about distance?”
“Hm?”
“I mean, does the distance between the Connecting Stones matter? Can it still work if I’m far from this obelisk?”
“Distance doesn’t matter. According to the lore of our tribe, it can work as far as the northernmost point of the Zairut Mountain Range.”
That’s comparable to the distance from the western to the eastern edges of the Empire.
This is basically a super-speed transport system, completely unaffected by distance.
But there is one problem…
“So, does the Connecting Stone have to stay here permanently?”
I pointed at the obelisk, and Three-Eyes nodded firmly, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.
“Of course. The Mother Stone must remain here at all times. Only the Child Stone given to you can be moved.”
That limits the stone’s use to merely exchanging goods from afar with the Mar Ogres.
But still, this is incredible!
A flood of ideas immediately came to mind on how to exploit this Connecting Stone.
But first things first: my original plan. I decided to use the Connecting Stone and got straight to the point.
“You guys have silver, right? Could you give me some?”
“Silver? You mean silver ingots? You want silver ingots?”
“I’m not asking for them for free. I’ll pay in meat, as per the agreement with the Empire. You’ll run out of Sea Serpent meat in a few days, and you’ll need more food, right?”
“Meat! We always need more meat!”
Three-Eyes nodded eagerly. I lowered my voice and made my offer.
“Then, let’s deal directly from now on, just between us.”
“Just with you?”
“Yeah. I’ll supply you with fresh meat regularly through the Connecting Stone. In return, you send me silver ingots whenever you can. You’ve stockpiled a lot of silver, haven’t you? You were saving it for when the negotiations with the Empire resumed, right?”
“Uh… Yes, that’s true. You sure do know a lot about us, Prince. You really are worthy of being our friend! Wooaah!”
Three-Eyes shouted with admiration. Jeez, what’s with the sudden outburst?
“For today’s meat, I won’t charge anything. Consider it a gesture of goodwill.”
“Oh! Prince, you’re so generous!”
“But I’ll need a deposit in silver ingots. I need them to buy more meat.”
“Understood. Should I send them via the Connecting Stone?”
“For now, I’ll load them into a wagon and take them. Once I’ve got more meat, I’ll send it through the Connecting Stone. From the next trade onward, you can send silver that way too.”
First, I’ll have to store this Connecting Stone somewhere safe before starting the exchange. Three-Eyes seemed to think for a moment before nodding in agreement.
“I get it. The order is important.”
“We’ll keep the trade ratio the same as your previous deal with the Empire. How does that sound?”
“That sounds perfect!”
Three-Eyes smiled broadly and nodded.
“If it’s you, Prince, I’ll send as much silver or gold as you want. We don’t need it. As long as we can exchange it for lots of meat, that’s all we care about!”
“Wait, gold? You have gold too?”
I asked, my eyes widening. Three-Eyes coughed and cleared his throat.
“Ahem. Of course. We have less gold than silver, but we also have rarer things.”
“Rarer than gold? What are those?”
“You’ll see. If you send more Sea Serpent meat, we’ll send those rare items as a gift in return.”
“Sea Serpent meat? Hold on…”
Wait, I wasn’t planning to send Sea Serpent meat but rather the usual meat you can find anywhere.
Hmm…
Well, no matter.
I could either go hunt more or send the Seal Priest to capture more Sea Serpents on a regular basis.
“Fine. I’ll send more Sea Serpent meat as soon as I can. Until then, I’ll send regular meat.”
“Sounds good. But we prefer land meat over fish. Except for the Sea Serpent, of course.”
“Got it. I’ll send you the best four-legged animals I can find.”
Then, I extended my right hand to Three-Eyes. He carefully grasped it, as if worried about crushing it, and nodded.
* * *
“Now, we shall discuss the matter concerning the Empire’s sixth prince, Claude.”
Jess’ voice trembled slightly as he spoke from the proxy throne. He must’ve been fuming inside, struggling to keep it under control.
“Prince Claude rid the Yotun Bay of the Sea Serpent infestation, rescuing the suffering local residents. Furthermore, through negotiations, he reclaimed the trading town seized by the ogres in the Zairut Mountain Range and secured a massive amount of silver ingots from them, which he delivered to the Empire.”
To be precise, I presented the advance payment for the meat under the guise of a tribute. We loaded it all onto wagons—enough silver to mint about 20,000 coins, I’d guess?
Not that I wasn’t a little reluctant to part with it… But this was necessary to clear the ogres of rebellion charges in the Empire’s eyes. Think of it as payment for contracting with the Earth Spirit.
“However, all of this was done independently by Prince Claude, without the Empire’s approval. In the grand scheme of things, such actions could be seen as rebellion. Considering this, as the acting Regent of the Empire, I, Prince Jess, must…”
“Regent, Your Highness! This event is an extraordinary fortune for the Empire!”
At that moment, Count Balvenie, the Minister of the Interior, seized the opportunity to deliver an impassioned speech.
“The Sea Serpents of Yotun Bay were monsters of the deep, difficult for even knights to deal with. Even the mages avoided it, saying that their magic didn’t work well in the water, and those we managed to deploy failed miserably.”
He was referring to Trombone, one of the four Archmages of the Empire.
He’s a top-level Archmage, but his problem was that his magic was fire-based. What use is fire magic in the sea, except to create steam?
“Because of this, the Empire, knowing the gravity of the situation, ignored the issue as if it didn’t exist. But it was Prince Claude, along with several priests, who joined forces to resolve the matter!”
“…”
“This wasn’t simply about whether or not he acted under imperial orders. It’s clear that Prince Claude acted out of loyalty to the Empire. Can we truly punish someone for defeating a
sea monster without prior approval when it was done in service to the Empire?”
“And what about the ogre situation?”
Jess asked the Minister of the Interior with a defeated expression. Then, Count Hobbs, the Minister of War, stepped forward to answer in his place.
“The ogres have occupied the trading town in the Zairut Mountains for over a year. The Empire hesitated to deal with them because it was impossible to estimate how many troops would be required to subdue their rebellion.”
Right. If the entire ogre population in the Zairut Mountain Range were the enemy, it would take far more than a couple of knight orders to handle it.
In reality, they only needed to subdue the Mar Ogres, but since the Empire didn’t know the internal dynamics of the ogre tribes, they couldn’t mobilize their forces recklessly.
“However, the Empire is surrounded by enemies on all sides. We cannot afford to concentrate a large portion of our military in one area. We can’t withdraw the main knight orders, who are facing the Northern Coalition of Other Races, nor can we reassign the capital’s defense forces, which must be kept ready for emergencies.”
By the Northern Coalition, he meant the alliance of Elves and Dwarves.
Historically, those two races have always had a terrible relationship, but in recent decades—though I know why—they’ve formed a military alliance and maintained a tense standoff with the Empire.
“Amid such constraints, the western issue was resolved without any loss of troops. It’s truly a stroke of fortune. To punish Prince Claude for this would be unjust, given the current situation.”
“But he did act without orders, didn’t he?”
Jess seemed half resigned. The Minister of War bowed his head and replied firmly.
“Yes, he did. If Prince Claude had led the Empire’s army without permission, it would’ve been a serious violation of the law. But he acted as an individual, persuading the ogres to retreat without the use of force. He didn’t command any military forces. To accuse him of rebellion would be excessive.”
How moving.
In my nine previous regressions, I’ve never had ministers defend me so fervently. Defeating the Undead Army and earning the title of Saint must’ve really worked in my favor.
“…I understand.”
Jess silently sighed and nodded. The Minister of the Interior and the Minister of War exchanged quick glances and smiled.
-Good. Well done. That should’ve scratched the Regent’s itch nicely. He probably couldn’t bring this up himself due to his position, but we’ve given him the excuse he needed.
I could see it clearly in their faces.
Both of them thought Jess was secretly on my side, but his position as Regent prevented him from openly siding with his younger brother.
Their mistaken assumption had led to this passionate defense. While I appreciated it, Jess must be absolutely livid on the inside.