Chapter 200: Ancestral Blessing, IV

Nearly a year was more than enough time to become accustomed to something. Especially for someone with Lavina’s exceptional affinity, given that much time? If so, even if she’d been dropped behind enemy lines during a war, she’d likely be cozying up with the enemy over a drink. After spending eleven months within the Order, it was no surprise that her popularity there skyrocketed.

Lavina’s fame was evident even on a leisurely stroll.

“Hey, Lavina! I scored some good booze this time, so let’s have a drink together! My wife’s been asking when you’ll drop by next!”

“Sounds great! Just gimme a call anytime!”

In the warriors’ village, there was only one establishment serving drinks—a bar run by Hairy Dan.

“Lavina! Wanna go hunting together tomorrow? I spotted a pretty big two-horned wild boar not too long ago!”

“Oh? Really? Let’s go together soon!”

From the village’s most renowned hunter, Jaroon:

“Lavina! Lavina!”

“Lavina-oppa! Let’s play together!”

“No way! I already promised to play with us today, Lavina-nuna!”

Even the village troublemakers, a group of young children, called out to her.

People gathered around Lavina with every step she took, their faces betraying their genuine fondness for her. In response, she always greeted them with a smile.

“Sorry, folks! I have some errands to run today!”

True to her popular status, Lavina was detained by villagers for quite some time before finally managing to slip away with her excuses.

“Hmph… Can’t escape this fame…” Lavina shook her head slightly, but a deep sense of pride was evident on her face.

Lavina continued her stroll with a slight smile playing on her lips. She turned and wandered through various parts of the village. After roaming around for some time, she entered a particular building.

It was a recently constructed, modern structure. Pablo’s office was located all the way up on the top floor.

Click.

Lavina opened the door without knocking, peering inside cautiously.

“What are you doing, Mister?”

Pablo, buried under a towering stack of documents, lifted his head at Lavina’s question.

“Can’t you see? I’m working, working!”

Pablo bristled and returned his attention to the paperwork. This behavior had become a constant for him; days spent indoors, buried in files, rather than participating in external activities. He would mutter repeatedly, “I’m gonna curse you all…,” his eyes turning red from the strain of processing so many documents.

“It seems you’re quite busy…”

“I am indeed.”

“I see…”

Lavina gently closed the door behind her as Pablo waved at her to leave without saying anything else.

Hmm… Where should I go now?

After pondering for a moment, she decided to head outside. Though she called it taking a stroll, she had no real destination in mind and simply walked aimlessly. Before long, she found herself standing at a cliff, overlooking the village below.

From this height, Lavina gazed down at the village with wonder in her eyes.

“Wow… It’s really grown so much.”

When she first joined the order, the village wasn’t nearly this size. Granted, even back then, it could have been considered quite large for a settlement consisting of members of a single religious group. But ultimately, it had still been a modest-sized village. After eleven months, however, the Village of the Divine had grown to a point where it was becoming embarrassing to refer to it as such.

I’ve heard they have around 20,000 permanent residents now?

Including the Order’s warriors stationed outside, the total approached almost 30,000 souls. Such a remarkable transformation had occurred in just eleven months. Having observed these changes firsthand, Lavia was utterly astounded.

Even more astonishing was the village’s continued growth trajectory. Though this meant more paperwork piled on someone’s desk…

I silently bid farewell to Mr. Pablo, who will soon be departing.

Lavia paused briefly in the direction of Pablo’s office before chuckling at her own thoughts.

I didn’t plan on staying this long.

Initially, she intended to leave as soon as Nabi completed her migration. But…

“How did I end up here?” she mused, already knowing the answer to the question.

The smile playing at her lips was proof of her amusement.

How entertaining.

While leaving home alongside Nabi had partly been about earning vast sums, the real reason was escape from boredom. Her family might have fascinated outsiders with their collection of mystic artifacts, but after spending 23 years there, it held little interest for Lavina. She’d wanted to travel the world with Nabi, earning money and seeking adventure…

I…ran away.

She’d left behind nothing more than a letter.

But then…

That monster ruined everything.

Nabi’s true master appeared out of nowhere—a monstrous imposter who slaughtered the Snow King, a top-tier monster, and tens of thousands of other creatures in a single blow.

At first, she had thought he might scare her away. Ironically, Louis was also the reason Lavina had stayed with the Order for so long.

To be precise, it was because everything Louis did was ludicrously fascinating.

*Isn’t it Louis who let loose that Snow King in the Empire?

Of course, Louis didn’t tell her about it himself. But who did she think she was? The queen of charm and charisma. During the past few months, she had been hovering around the twins, the flame siblings, Pablo and Fin. How many such tidbits had she picked up? She had been utterly shocked when she learned Louis was behind the situation in the Empire. She thought her heart had stopped then. After that, every move Louis made sent shivers through her heart. These were not the shivers of surprise, but something entirely different.

The excitement was unmistakable.

For some reason… I feel like fascinating things will keep happening when I’m with him.

Since she had already run away from home, there was no turning back now.

This isn’t because I’m scared of getting scolded and don’t want to go home! I’m simply staying out to broaden my horizons! Yes, that’s exactly it!

With a resolute nod, Lavina turned once more.

Crunch, crunch!

Lavina danced through the snow, using the sound of her boots sinking into the white blanket as her soundtrack.

After walking for quite some time, her footsteps led her to…

“Haaah!”

“Hee haaah!”

Crash!

…a training ground where rough shouts and wild cries echoed every day.

It was a specialized training ground reserved only for the highest-ranked warriors of the Order.

Inside, a red-haired giant was engaged in combat with twenty of the Order’s best.

Klak!

Swish.

Lavina clicked her tongue as she watched Kendrick swing his sword with reckless abandon.

“That lunatic… They must be twenty-to-one today.”

Kendrick was facing twenty elite warriors from the order’s special forces at once, yet the problem wasn’t that he was vastly outnumbered. Rather, it was the fact that he was the one driving the twenty elites back. That, along with the fact that the battle was taking place within the restricted force field, made Lavina’s brow furrow.

…Damn fool.

Though she still bickered with Kendrick, even she couldn’t help but allow her jaw to drop at his talent. “He’s second rank but only a boy…”

Supposedly, he was the same age as her, but last month he had broken through the top barrier to become second rank. All he had to do was break through one more wall and he would be first rank.

Of course, the barrier to Tier 1 was by no means low, but given Kendrick’s talent as Lavina had observed it, reaching that peak wouldn’t be too difficult for him. If he did, a prodigy would be born—a small monster who attained Tier 1 at just 20-23 years old.

Well, he is the disciple of that white-haired beast…

As Lavina acknowledged this…

“Switch!”

Kendrick stepped back, replaced by Tania. The Order’s warriors tensed, their eyes flickering nervously as Tania approached with her hands casually clasped behind her back.

Months of experience had taught them one thing: the petite young lady was far more terrifying than the young man they’d faced moments ago.

Kendrick was a prodigy, but his little sister was yet more gifted.

Soon, the match between one and twenty began.

Kwajik-kwok!

It wasn’t a sound that seemed possible when fist met weapon. It reverberated so violently that Livina couldn’t help but shake her head.

“Whoa… Uncle’s really going all out today.” After a moment of silently bidding the martial academy trainees farewell, her gaze shifted to a particular direction.

In contrast to the savage training ground, it was a peaceful sanctuary. A pair of silver-haired twins were enjoying a snack they’d somehow procured, and Nabi was curled up and napping on Kani’s knees. Upon spotting them, Livina’s eyes lit up, and she dashed over with a cheerful, “Lavina’s here!”

She promptly plopped down beside Kani, chuckling mischievously. She linked arms with Kani, who affectionately patted her cheek.

“Are you here, sis? Hehe.”

“Lavina’s here?”

“Lavina, hi!”

“Hello, Big Bro!”

Lavina fawned over the twins as if she would spare no effort to ingratiate herself with them. She was even more desperate than when she first joined the Order. Her reason for this was simple: She had witnessed a match between the twins and the Flame siblings. On that day, Lavina realized why the twins held the second-highest position after Louis. Of course, being Louis’s childhood friend played a part, but seeing how effortlessly they toyed with the little monsters known as the Flame siblings left her shocked.

At that moment, Lavina made up her mind.

I may not be able to take on the White-haired Fiend, but I can at least latch onto the second-in-command!

If worse came to worst, she figured the twins could use her as a shield. So, she decided to cultivate their friendship at all costs. After showering them with excessive affection for some time, Lavina finally asked, puzzled:

“By the way… where did he go?”

“He?” Kani repeated with a grin.

There was only one person whom this impetuous young lady treated with such deference—their intimate friend whom Lavina greatly feared.

Khan answered with a smile, “Oh, Louis? He mentioned leaving earlier.”

“Where did he go?”

“I’m not sure either. He said something about going to get a pledge or something.”

“Pledge?”

A question mark appeared over Lavina’s head at this unexpected remark.

The emperor’s eyes wavered.

How… How did it come to this…?

The long and drawn-out civil war had finally ended with the beheading of Baron Ba-ro, the chief of the rebellious forces. It had been just a few days ago. The conflict had lasted several times longer than anyone had anticipated, plunging the Empire into numerous difficulties.

But just as the civil war concluded, an even more severe crisis erupted.

“Three hundred million, one hundred fifty-eight thousand, four hundred eighty.”

With each number recited, the emperor’s heart sank lower. This was not unique to him; every noble present reacted similarly upon hearing those figures. Louis’s gaze remained cold as he observed their expressions.

“You understand that this is solely the principal balance due immediately, correct?”

“Yes, I am aware of that.”

“The interest for next month alone amounts to approximately three million one hundred fifty thousand gold.”

The interest had initially been set at a modest 12 million gold, but it had since ballooned to one-third of the original principal.

“And when will you finally pay me back?”

“…” The Emperor was rendered speechless by Louis’s aggressive debt collection tactics.

Had anyone else dared to demand such exorbitant repayment, it would have been easy enough to ignore them. In fact, executing the would-be extortionist for daring to scheme against the Empire would have neatly resolved the matter.

But this time, things were different.

“Has your tongue swollen up? When will you share your gold with me?”

The problem lay not just in being forced to repay, but rather in how Louis was insisting on it. If they refused, and that monster went berserk… it could spell the end of what remained of their empire’s former glory.

Yet paying off the debt wasn’t an option either.

The long and drawn-out civil war had finally bled dry the Empire’s coffers. If the emperor handed over every last cent of the remaining funds to Louis, they wouldn’t even have enough to operate the Empire.

As such, His Imperial Majesty had only one course of action left.

“I… I beseech you to show some mercy… Priest.”

All he could do was plead for the creditor’s compassion. But how could this debt collector be anything but ruthless?

Louis’s eyes glinted darkly. The Emperor’s pitiful gaze elicited a slight sigh from Louis.

“Mercy, you say…” Louis muttered, sweeping his eyes around the room.

The chamber was adorned with opulent finery, which only served to further agitate Louis. How could his voice remain pleasant amidst such surroundings?

“Your Majesty, with your life of such abundance, why would you seek leniency?”

“What do you mean…?”

“You intend to live well in fine clothes, good food, and a splendid home without paying my money back, don’t you?”

”…”

“Leniency should be sought when one has nowhere left to retreat.”

”…What exactly are you trying to say?”

“I’ll give you a few days. Sell all the valuables in the imperial palace and bring the cash to me.”

“H-how… We are the imperial family! How will people view our dignity?”

“Dignity? Are you enjoying pleasures with your money while failing to repay my loans? Do you think I’d keep quiet about that?”

”…”

“I’ll give you half a month. If you don’t want to be thrown out of this palace… then get rid of all your luxuries.”

”…I understand.”

“Oh, and one more thing…” Louis reached into his coat and pulled out a piece of paper, which he handed to the emperor. “Here, take a picture.”

The emperor’s eyes widened as he looked at the paper Louis was holding out to him.