Chapter 96: Secret Promise (1)

Everyone’s attention was on Herarion, however, he did not seem taken back at all and said, “Does anyone here know about La?”

“La… I know it as the god that the Shahatra people believe in.”

“That’s right, but he is not the only god.”

“What does that mean?”

“There are two gods in Shahatra. There is La, who reigns over the sun and the desert, and Janus, who governs everything in the afterlife.”

‘Janus?’

Henry believed that he knew quite a lot about Shahatra, but he had never heard of Janus before.

“We, the Shahatra people, are chosen by La. Therefore, only our people can borrow the powers of La, as well as the power of Janus, the god of death.” Herarion said.

“What are you trying to get at?” Eisen became slightly irritated.

Despite Eisen’s reaction, Herarion smiled slightly and continued, “By any chance, did Benedict mention the king’s badge?”

“The king’s badge… He did mention it, but he said La’s Badge rather than the king’s badge.”

“It means the same thing. However, the ruler of Shahatra needs not only La's Badge, but also Janus’s Badge to prove that he is the king.”

“Janus’s badge?”

“That’s right. Benedict is also known as La’s Sword, and as the king, I am known as La’s Son. However, I am also known as Janus’s daughter.”

“Janus’s daughter? Does that mean Your Majesty can borrow the power of Janus, the god of death?”

“Yes.”

This was also new to Henry. He couldn’t help feeling curious and asked on behalf of Eisen, “What powers does Janus have?”

“I can’t tell you everything because this is a royal secret, but to give you one example, deprivation of death for all living things.”

“Deprivation of death?”

“It’s just as it sounds. It is the power to take away the ability to die for eternity.”

“Isn’t that a good thing? It’s giving someone immortality, is it not?”

“I think it’s just better to show you rather than explaining it a hundred times. If you have any spare livestock, could you give it to me?”

Oscar signaled with a slight movement of his chin, and one of the soldiers guarding the meeting room entered holding a chicken by the neck. He’d been planning to cook it.

Cluck cluck!

The hen was fluttering. However, despite the flurry of feathers, it couldn’t escape the soldier’s grasp. The soldier handed the chicken to Herarion, who began to cast a spell in a low voice.

“Vudwja wha dhffuwntpdy.”

Swoosh.

Immediately after Herarion cast the spell, a dark energy started to flow from the hand holding the chicken’s neck. Henry’s eyes filled with joy, like someone who had discovered a treasure.

‘Black magic…!’

It was black magic for sure. Henry instinctively gulped.

The dark energy t started to wrap around the entire chicken, concentrating on the chicken’s neck, making it look like a withering flower. All of its feathers fell off, and its pink body turned dark, as though it were a mummy.

Thud

.

Herarion placed the chicken on the round table.

Cluck…

Surprisingly, the chicken was not dead. It was still breathing, but it couldn’t do anything else.

“This chicken will now live like this for the rest of its life. Even if its head gets cut off, if it’s burned or fried in boiling oil, the chicken will only be able to breathe and cry out in despair. All of its five senses will be intact and it will struggle to live in pain forever,” said Herarion.

Gulp.

It meant losing everything and having to live a life of pain forever.

Everyone who saw the hen’s miserable end swallowed at the gruesome power of Janus.

“This is a part of Janus’s power and we, the Khan royal family, have a duty to protect Janus’s power so that it is not abused.”

Henry and Eisen finally understood why Benedict had asked for the entire Khan royal family.

La’s Badge was only an excuse. What Benedict needed was the power of Janus.

‘If he had a power like this, he could put up a fight against the imperial army.’

Eisen nodded after exchanging glances with Henry. “This… It seems that La’s Badge was just an excuse,” he said slowly..

“Benedict has been consistently advocating a war of independence ever since Shahatra became a vassal of the empire. However, his suggestions were frequently ignored. Benedict had enough of this, and he finally started a civil war and usurped the throne.”

“Did he insist on using the power of Janus during the process?”

“I will not say anything regarding that.”

There was no need for further explanation.

Herarion had justified the need for a subjugation without stooping to doubling the amount of tribute.

‘It seems like you’ve spent your time doing something.’

Henry smiled at Herarion for his commendable growth.

‘Anyway, I can’t believe it’s black magic. I didn’t expect that so many things would be intertwined like this.’

However, the black magic and Duke Arthus’s possible role behind the rebellion made Eisen’s victory the last thing on Henry’s mind.

‘I’ll start getting busy soon.’

The meeting continued as Henry organized his thoughts.

Now that Benedict’s subterfuge had been revealed, they could focus on the subjugation.

“Then whether we like it or not, we must proceed with subjugating the rebels,” said Count Oscar.

“It’s actually better this way. I hated seeing Benedict act so arrogantly anyway. Let's move on and start talking about our plans. The scribe will take down the meeting notes and write a report for the imperial palace.”

There was no need to inform Benedict of the empire's will. An unnecessary declaration of war would cause them to lose the opportunity for a surprise attack. Now that they had fully established what they were going to do, it was necessary to report the situation and a rough plan for the future to the imperial palace.

‘But I can't let that happen.’

Although this was the standard way of doing things, it only worked when they were sure that there were no spies. However, there was a possibility that Duke Arthus was behind the rebels.

In this case, reporting their plans would only expose their strategy to the enemy.

“I will organize the forms and plans for the report and then give them to the scribe. We don’t know what the subjugation will look like yet, so let’s make our plans as flexible as possible.”

“I’ll trust you with it.”

Henry took the meeting minutes.

“It’s quite late into the night. Let’s end the meeting here and talk about the details tomorrow morning,” said Eisen.

They had made a lot of progress through the meeting. Henry wondered if they would mention the supplies that he’d given the soldiers, but as expected, the counts didn’t seem to know anything about it.

‘Tsk tsk, and they call themselves commanders in chief.’

They were commanders who didn’t even know what their soldiers were wearing or eating. Henry left the barracks, clucking his tongue at the incompetence of the commanders.

‘As for the meeting tomorrow, we’ll probably review the report for the imperial palace and determine when we will reorganize the army.’

There would be only one thing left to do: deciding who would take care of the royal family until the subjugation ended.

‘No one is going to want to do such a troublesome thing, but this is actually a good thing. It would be better if I do it myself and get close to them.’

Henry had had connections with them in his previous life, but even without that, the power of Janus had piqued Henry’s interest.

‘Shall I go and deliver some unpleasant news to Eisen now?’

He immediately went to Eisen to suggest that they protect the royal family.

Eisen frowned and said, “Protect the royal family? Why do we have to do such a troublesome thing?”

“It is a simple problem. At first glance, it may not seem advantageous, but that’s because we don’t know how much power Khan will have after the subjugation is over.”

“Are you trying to win him over with kindness?”

“That’s right.”

“Hmm, I don’t really like the idea, but I’ll go with it since you want to.”

“Don’t worry. I will be in charge of taking care of the royal family, so all the count has to do is worry about the upcoming subjugation.”

“What should I prepare this time?”

“I have already planned ahead. I will let you know the details. Please prepare accordingly.”

“As expected, you’re perfect. You must have been really busy while you were accompanying, how did you find the time to do everything? I’m so proud of you.”

“I just did what I had to do. Also, after tomorrow’s meeting, we will have to reorganize the army, but in the meantime, I have to prepare something else.”

“There’s more to prepare?”

“Yes. I need to secure additional magical horseshoes to hand out to the other armies. The subjugation may turn into a long battle, and we’ll have to prepare for that as well.”

“Is there really a need to prepare magical horseshoes for the others? If we're competing anyway, shouldn’t we take any advantage over them, no matter how small?”

“In the end, if the subjugation isn’t successful, none of this will mean anything. So, could the generous count please consider it just this once? You will soon become a marquis and rule over the two counts anyway.”

“You’re right. I should set examples for my subordinates. Hmm, anyway, how much are the magical horseshoes?”

“I apologize for not letting you know earlier, but I started a line of credit for the horseshoes under the Shonan family’s name.”

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