"We've arrived, Young Master."
The carriage passed through the gate of the Grand Duke's estate and came to a stop.
I jumped down first, followed by Celine and Julian.
Kardenos's knights and attendants stood in formation before the gate.
Hendrickson stood off to the side with his arms crossed and one leg cocked.
'He's come to his senses already.'
He'd shaved his shaggy beard and dressed decently. He should've kept himself clean from the start. Stubborn old man.
I looked around carefully, but Father wasn't there.
No matter how busy he was, he would've come to greet me after my return from the Imperial Capital.
He'd probably had no choice but to leave.
To resolve the trade cutoff with Rosenthal, for instance.
"Young Master, you've returned safely..."
The knight's voice, which had been raised in greeting, abruptly stopped.
The knights' sharp gazes immediately turned toward Julian, who stood behind me.
"That bastard!"
"Isn't that Julian? What are you doing here, you son of a bitch?"
A few of them put their hands on their sword hilts, ready to cut off his head at a moment's notice. Their murderous intent made it clear they still held a grudge over the Duel.
I waved my hand casually.
"Everyone, calm down and take your hands off your sword hilts."
"That man insulted you, Young Master!"
"Not anymore. He's going to be your fellow who breathes the same dust in the training grounds."
I gave Julian's shoulder a light pat.
"He came to find me at the Founding Day Festival and apologized in person. He said he wanted to start over from the bottom, so I brought him here."
Even after I explained, the knights' expressions didn't soften easily.
They continued to glare at Julian with eyes full of distrust and hostility.
I'd expected as much. Julian hadn't just insulted them.
He'd stolen my fiancée, then shamelessly challenged me to a Duel.
The Black Lion Knights' anger was justified.
Amid the hostile atmosphere, Julian bowed deeply.
"Forgive my shamelessness. My name is Julian."
The knights clicked their tongues or even spat on the training ground.
If I stepped in again, I'd only make them more resentful.
'Stop fighting and get along!' was something you'd only hear at school.
Julian glanced at me and forced a bitter smile. It was meant to reassure me.
By his reckoning, this reaction was more realistic and probably put him at ease.
Thud. Thud.
Hendrickson strode over from where he'd been standing off to the side.
He gave Julian's body a cursory once-over with a disinterested expression.
"Your Mana Circuit's completely wrecked. How'd you end up like this?"
As expected of a Swordmaster.
He'd seen through Julian's condition with a single glance.
"He says he destroyed it himself. He wants to forge a Ring."
"Oh..."
Hendrickson stroked his beard, looking intrigued.
Hendrickson, the Ring fanatic. Praise the Solar Ring in front of him and his attitude would change in an instant.
"You're young, but you've got a decent attitude. Good!"
"I-I'm honored, Sir Hendrickson."
Julian's eyes sparkled with admiration.
The guy was old enough to know better, but he still lived in a world of youthful innocence.
Grab!
A palm as big as a cauldron lid clamped onto Julian's shoulder.
"You came prepared, right?"
"Yes!"
"Not some half-assed resolve. I mean the resolve to give your life. Once you're here, your life isn't your own."
"Yes, sir!!"
"Listen to that voice. Is that all you've got?!"
"Argh!!!!"
"That's the spirit! But a knight's foundation isn't spirit, it's stamina. Get running around the training grounds right now—go!"
"Argh!! How many laps should I run?"
"Tsk... You're about to disappoint me."
"Argh!!!!"
Julian took off running around the training grounds.
With his stamina, he'd have to run by himself until sunset.
At least he wouldn't be alone. That should be a comfort.
Thud-thud-thud!
Countless footsteps followed behind Julian.
The Black Lion Knights, who'd been growling at him moments ago, had started running in formation.
Julian looked back, his eyes widening.
"Watch where you're going!"
"One hundred laps! Fall behind and you're dead!"
The men ran, kicking up dust as they shouted in booming voices.
Men became one in no time once they mixed their sweat.
By my standards, nothing bound people together more tightly than camaraderie.
Marine fiction about brotherhood was better than Romance Fantasy prattling on about love.
...If you took that sentence literally, that is.
***
"The Head of Household left for the South early this morning."
The Butler's complexion was noticeably haggard as he delivered his report.
"Rosenthal?"
"Yes. The South's trade routes have been blocked one after another."
"Figures."
He could've sent his staff officers. Father was the type who couldn't rest until he'd gone out and seen things for himself.
It was just like him, but it also meant the situation wasn't giving us much breathing room.
This wasn't the usual WWE, either. Rosenthal had retaliated in earnest, and Kardenos had responded in kind.
In the end, they were dragging each other down.
The central rulers would watch until both sides had taken an acceptable amount of damage, then step in at an opportune moment.
"Got it. You can go."
"Yes."
There was no need to get worked up about it.
I'd disliked Rosenthal even before my Regression. They were despicable people who measured human worth in money alone.
When humanity stood on the brink of extinction, they abandoned their responsibilities and gave up fighting.
The Head of Household of Rosenthal, who'd claimed to be the South's leader, gave up the fight and hanged himself.
I wanted to kill the bastards who became the Outer Gods' lackeys.
But those who turned their backs on the greater cause and ran away were no better.
The first thing I had to do was put an end to the economic retaliation and solidify my family's standing.
Naturally, that would take a massive amount of money.
"That's a piece of cake for a regressor."
Information brings in a lot of money, and a lot of money brings in even more.
Knowledge I'd gleaned from Romance Fantasy novels, along with vivid memories I'd gained by risking my life and fighting before my Regression.
This time, I wouldn't repeat the mistakes I'd made before.
***
As the sun set and night grew darker,
I called Hendrickson and Julian to my room.
"I called you two here because of those bastards in Rosenthal. There's something I want to discuss with you."
Hendrickson pulled up a chair and sat down, looking intrigued.
"Are you planning to take up arms?"
"Of course not. War is for spending money, not making it. I'm going to make money."
Meanwhile, Julian's expression grew noticeably gloomy. He always got like this whenever Rosenthal came up.
"Julian."
"Yes."
"That's right. This is your fault."
"...!"
He didn't need comfort.
I hoped a cold dose of reality would serve as a catalyst for Julian.
"If you hadn't let Azelin play you, none of this would've happened."
"...I know."
"Don't just shut yourself away and blame yourself. Try to take responsibility. Of course, you can't do it alone. That's why you came here, right?"
"What... should I do?"
Good. His eyes were clear. I liked how straightforward he was, with nothing complicated about him.
I looked between the two of them, then spoke.
"We're going to conquer the Ashen Forest."
Their reactions came fast and fierce.
Julian's eyes nearly popped out of his head, and even Hendrickson's usually impassive face creased like a plowed field.
"Did you just say the Ashen Forest?"
"You heard me."
"You crazy bastard. Do you even know what that place is?"
"I wouldn't have brought it up if I didn't."
The Ashen Forest.
An unexplored region at the edge of the Empire's West.
A realm of death where mutated Magical Beasts lurked without end.
The Imperial Court hadn't dared to conquer it, so they'd built a massive wall to seal it off.
In some ways, it was similar to the North.
The difference was that the North had to fend off the Monster Wave that periodically swarmed the walls.
By contrast, the Ashen Forest in the West was all but abandoned behind its blockade.
As long as they weren't provoked, the Magical Beasts wouldn't cross the wall.
"Have you gone mad, Young Master?"
"That's insane."
Their reactions were only natural, given that I'd just said I planned to stir up that hornet's nest.
They didn't know, but I did.
The Ashen Forest held enormous veins of mana stones and rare resources that could help us prepare for the apocalypse.
Generally, places with Magical Beasts had a high chance of containing mana stone deposits.
Even so, the accepted wisdom was that the Ashen Forest's risks outweighed the rewards. That was all based on ignorance.
The amount of mana stones buried there would be nearly thirty times higher than expected.
If we succeeded, we could claim the greatest wealth and honor in the Empire.
According to the original story, an expedition led by Lucia would discover it.
I'd have to bring that discovery forward by a lot.
"Conquering the Ashen Forest will take a huge army. Do you think the Imperial Court will sit by after seeing that?"
"I'll negotiate with them directly. If I frame the conquest of the Ashen Forest as a great cause for humanity, they'll turn a blind eye. The Magical Beasts in the Ashen Forest will cross the wall someday. Then they'll become a major threat to the Empire. Who'd object if I called this a preemptive purge to prepare for that day?"
I could also appeal to them by saying I was seeking a way to support myself because of Rosenthal's trade cutoff.
If I said I'd hand the conquered territory over to the Empire, they'd gladly approve.
Of course, the territory and its buried resources were two entirely separate things.
We only needed to gobble up the valuable mana stones.
"Regardless, the whole plan's impossible from the start. Maybe if we had two or three more Swordmasters."
Hendrickson rebuked me coldly. Even he, a Swordmaster, thought it was reckless.
"They don't have to be Swordmasters."
"Why the hell would he give you a knight order?"
"I don't plan to use a knight order. I won't even ask Father for support in the first place."
"Getting support from the central government won't work either. They'll sit on their hands and toss us a tiny force. The Ashen Forest's a hornet's nest, trouble just waiting to happen. We'll lose far more than we gain."
"That's hard to say."
His last point was wrong. We'd gain far more than we'd lose.
But everything else he'd said was right.
I couldn't ask the Imperial Court for support, and I couldn't ask my family for help either.
"I'm going to form an expedition. I'll recruit elite mercenaries, mages, and knights from among the public to enter the Ashen Forest."
Julian gaped at me, as if he couldn't believe his ears.
"Recruiting people for an expedition? Who'd be crazy enough to volunteer for that? No matter how much you pay, no one would set foot in the Ashen Forest."
Everyone knew what kind of place the Ashen Forest was.
Even mercenaries wouldn't crawl into certain death for a few coins.
Seeing is believing.
I took a sheet of paper from my pocket and placed it on the table.
"I came up with a slogan for a recruitment notice to run in the Imperial Capital Daily. This should be enough to move people's hearts."
Julian and Hendrickson looked down at the paper. Their eyes raced over the words.
[Seeking Volunteers for the Ashen Forest Expedition]
[Extreme Cold and Magical Beasts, Thick Miasma, Endless Darkness, Constant Danger, Safe Return Uncertain]
[Pay Undetermined]
[Unlimited Honor and Glory Upon Success]
"......"
"......"
A brief silence.
"Young Master."
"What?"
"Are you seriously insane?"
"Hey, watch how you speak to your superior."
Julian grabbed the paper, his veins bulging.
"What is this?! You're advertising how dangerous it is! And the pay's undetermined, too? Who on earth would come?"
It was an entirely reasonable response.
Which meant Julian was a sane person, and...
"Hmm."
The old man beside him, stroking his beard and murmuring thoughtfully, was insane.
His eyes were fixed on the last sentence on the paper. On the words honor and glory.
The corners of his mouth curved faintly.
"If it were me, I'd volunteer right away."
"What?!"
I thought Hendrickson would change his mind.
Julian recoiled and turned to stare at Hendrickson.
"You're a little squirt, but you understand people. You don't know the first thing about a woman's heart, but you know how to move a man's."
"You're too kind."
This slogan was adapted to my liking from the recruitment notice for Ernest Shackleton's expedition to Antarctica, the greatest polar expedition in Earth's history.
An expedition with death all but certain. Low wages. A grueling journey. Thousands of men flocked to that notice.
Of course, there was widespread belief later on that the notice itself was a legend.
No matter how romantic that era was, reality and romance were different things.
But it was possible in this world.
Honor and glory. Things a man destined for greatness valued more than his life.
An age steeped in romanticism, where people spoke of chivalry.
Hendrickson was proof of that.
Meanwhile, Julian still couldn't accept the situation. He looked like he thought the number of crazy bastards had gone up by one.
"You'd volunteer after reading this insane notice...?"
"Reasonable people won't even look at it. They'll spit and say we're out of our minds."
"Then why?"
"That's the standard, Julian."
I tapped the recruitment notice on the table with my finger.
"We won't lower our standards. We'll just wait until someone comes along who can meet them."
We only needed people like that for the Ashen Forest expedition.
Crazy people thirsty for recognition more than survival.
Monsters in human skin who longed for the impossible.
"We don't need a bunch of nobodies who'd move for a few gold coins. We need crazy bastards who can smile in the face of death."
No one wanted a pointless death.
But countless people longed for an honorable one.
The Ashen Forest was an unexplored realm of death. Conquering it would be a noble mission to push the boundaries of humanity.
Death on the expedition would be more than honorable.
"People like that have a tenacity that would make even the gods sick of them. There's nothing they can't do."
That was how Hendrickson met his end.
I'd seen many comrades meet the same end as him.
A person decides the worth of their own life in their final moments.
Those who'd been desperate to die in the face of the apocalypse made noble sacrifices.
Those who'd only run around wanting to live died with lives worth less than a bug's.
"I won't let those people slip away after using them just for the expedition. Even after it ends, I'll make sure they rally beneath Kardenos's banner."
Even as I said it, my last statement was vague.
After a brief pause, I added one overarching condition.
"If they survive."