Chapter 267: Summer (4)

The Summer Continent blazed under the scorching sun.

Suddenly, a group of figures materialized on the pristine white sand beach, their arrival utterly silent, as if they had always been there.

Swish.

It was Louis and his party, who had just teleported from the Spring Continent.

A satisfied smile spread across Louis’s face as the space movement succeeded.

It worked perfectly.

Despite his frequent use of space movement in the past, Louis was particularly pleased this time because the method had changed. Previously, his standard approach involved ascending to dizzying heights before teleporting.

This was to prevent those undergoing space movement from being severely impacted by objects present at the destination.

For this reason, Louis had always preferred to teleport to altitudes so high that even birds couldn’t fly. However, as his spatial attribute reached Zero Rank, his method of space movement underwent a profound transformation.

He became completely unaffected by obstacles during teleportation.

Immediately after teleporting, he could evade detection by nearby living beings.

This achievement stemmed from his ability to interfere with and alter the fundamental laws governing space itself.

A pristine white sand beach stretched beneath the scorching sun.

Crowds of people basked in the sun and frolicked in the waves.

Yet no one questioned the sudden appearance of Louis and his party.

They seemed to accept their presence as if they had always been there, perfectly at ease in their surroundings.

Several people glanced at Louis and his party, but not because they had suddenly appeared. The problem was their clothing.

Their outfits were a bit too thick and long-sleeved for the summer heat. Pablo, who had been dragged all the way from the Winter Continent, wore a particularly conspicuous thick coat covered in white fur.

For those born and raised on the Summer Continent, such clothing was utterly novel, a sight worth marveling at.

Just as the locals stared curiously at them, Louis and his companions were equally entranced by the unfamiliar scenery.

“W-wow…”

“Wh-what is this place?!”

“Is this… the beach?”

“Wow, I’ve only ever read about this in books… People really walk around like that here!”

The travel party was experiencing the concept of a beach vacation for the first time.

Unlike the Twins, who had vaguely heard about it, Lavina, Kendrick, and Tania looked utterly shocked by the cultural difference.

They couldn’t tear their eyes away from the scantily clad people enjoying the beach.

“Oh my goodness! What is this?!”

“Is this… paradise?”

“I can’t believe a place like this exists…!”

Tanned men and women with toned bodies strolled along the shore in little more than swimwear. Their casual nudity was a shocking sight for the party, who had never encountered such a culture before.

Dazed and slightly flushed, Lavina and Kendrick repeatedly glanced around in stunned silence.

They nodded in unison.

“I… I’ve made up my mind. When I retire, I’m moving here.”

“Let’s come together!”

Lavina and Kendrick, in perfect harmony, clasped hands.

Tania scoffed at them. ”…Perverts.”

“Oh, really? At least we’re upfront about it. Sneaking glances like you do is even more perverted, don’t you think?”

“H-hey! Who’s sneaking glances?”

“You are! You pervert!”

At the accusation, Tania’s face flushed crimson, and her shoulders trembled with fury.

For the first time in ages, Kendrick wore a smug grin, relishing his victory over his little sister.

Meanwhile, Louis, who had been gazing out at the beach, clicked his tongue softly.

“Tch, my coordinate setting is still a bit rough,” Louis muttered.

It seemed he’d made a minor error while experimenting with his new space movement technique.

He had originally intended to teleport directly to the Frenche Royal Palace.

Just as he was about to initiate another space movement, Pablo urgently intervened.

“Wait! Stop right there!”

“Why?” Louis asked.

“This isn’t it!”

”…?”

“They moved the capital!”

Pablo knew exactly where they were and why Louis had come here: to reach the Frenche royal family’s palace as it existed in Louis’s memories.

But Pablo knew that Frenche had relocated its capital long ago.

At Pablo’s shout, Louis blinked and asked, “Where to, then?”

“That’s…”

Louis’s eyes narrowed as Pablo hesitated, fumbling for an answer.

Meeting his gaze head-on, Pablo opened his mouth with a determined expression.

“Did you know…?”

“What?”

“That it’s been 170 years since I left the Summer Continent and settled exclusively on the Winter Continent?”

“Is that supposed to impress me?”

“Not exactly, but it means I’ve only been here for 170 years myself.”

“Didn’t you just say that my name would get us anywhere?”

“E-erm… when did I ever go that far?”

Waving his hands dismissively, Pablo noticed Louis’s increasingly icy glare and hurriedly scrambled to his feet.

“I-I’ll go find out where they moved the capital right away!”

With that, Pablo turned and fled, practically running for his life.

Louis watched his retreating figure and muttered to himself, “Can I… really trust that guy?”

Contrary to Louis’s concerns, Pablo quickly returned with the information.

But when Pablo revealed the capital’s location, Louis tilted his head in confusion.

“Are you sure it’s here?”

“Yes! Absolutely!” Pablo replied, his face beaming with pride.

“Really? Right in the middle of the Summer Continent? You’re sure you didn’t misunderstand?”

“No! That’s it! Right there!”

“But… this is the exact center of the Summer Continent!”

The Frenche Kingdom, Louis knew, was located in the east of the Summer Continent. Yet Pablo claimed its capital was smack-dab in the continent’s heart.

Louis repeatedly questioned the location, but Pablo stubbornly insisted he was right, nodding emphatically each time.

”…You’d better not be wrong.”

“Come see for yourself! You’ll understand when we get there! Heh heh heh.”

Louis eyed Pablo suspiciously, unnerved by his overconfident demeanor.

“Alright, let’s go.”

Before the words had even left his mouth, Louis and his party vanished in a flash.

Poof!

They reappeared high above the world, materializing amidst a sea of pristine white clouds.

Pablo erupted in a panicked yell. “Ugh! Wait, wait! You were just teleporting us safely to the ground, so why are we in the sky now?!”

“Because I felt like it.”

This space movement was clearly designed to torment Pablo.

While Pablo flailed wildly, the rest of the party, now accustomed to such antics, calmly gazed downward.

A gust of wind swept the clouds aside.

“Wow…”

“Whoa…”

Gasps of awe escaped their lips as a colossal city unfolded beneath them.

Ariana, seeing a city of such immense scale for the first time, flailed her arms wildly in excitement.

“Woah! Woah! Woah!”

“Ariana! S-stay still! You’ll fall!” Kani, who was holding Ariana close as if she were her own child, panicked and tried to calm her down.

Meanwhile, Louis was equally astonished.

“This is… incredible.”

He had seen the capital of the Dominant Empire, the largest city in the Eastern Winter Continent, and Syron, the greatest city of the Autumn Continent. Louis considered himself well-traveled, but compared to the sprawling metropolis beneath them, his previous experiences seemed like mere visits to rural villages.

Roughly speaking, it’s at least ten times the size of Syron.

Towering castle walls surrounded the entire city.

Smooth stone-paved roads crisscrossed the urban landscape.

The city’s residential areas were densely packed within the castle walls.

But what truly astonished Louis was the colossal castle that stood squarely in the city’s heart. Even from afar, its immense size defied easy comprehension.

Looking at it, Louis was reminded of a modern architectural marvel.

The Taj Mahal?

The castle was built with a massive, snow-white dome-shaped roof that dominated the skyline. Though he had never seen the Taj Mahal in his previous life, he instinctively knew that the structure before him was far grander.

As Louis and his travel party stood in awe, a soft chuckle drifted from beside them.

“Heh heh heh.”

Pablo, who had moments ago been flailing about like a newborn, now stood composed, his arms spread wide as he exclaimed:

“Welcome! The first of its kind on the Summer Continent! Welcome to the Frenche Empire, the Continental Unified Empire!”

”…?!”

Pablo’s shout was brimming with pride and satisfaction for his descendants.

Louis and his travel party stood at the entrance to the Imperial Palace, having descended from the sky.

“Wow… this is truly staggering,” one of them murmured.

”…Incredible,” another added.

They had glimpsed its grandeur from above, but standing on solid ground, the majesty of the Imperial Palace was even more overwhelming. It was almost inconceivable that human hands could have built such a thing.

Louis himself was equally dumbfounded.

A Continental Unified Empire?

He had aided the Frenche Kingdom in his youth, but he could never have imagined that this small kingdom would one day unite the entire continent.

They say the future is truly unpredictable…

This was far beyond the realm of anything he could have foreseen.

Just then, Kendrick whispered softly beside him.

“But Teacher,” Kendrick began, “can we really just go like this?”

“What do you mean?” Louis asked.

“Well, you know… the United Empire. Do you think they’ll just let us into the Imperial Palace? Of course, I trust your judgment, Teacher, but still… it’s the United Empire. Do you think they’ll just let us in if we show up unannounced?”

Lavina nodded anxiously beside him, her face etched with worry, clearly sharing his concerns.

After all, to them, Pablo was merely a great warrior from a religious group operating on the Winter Continent, and someone Louis happened to know as “Mister.”

“Hmm…”

Louis nodded thoughtfully, seemingly understanding their worries.

True enough… we can’t exactly cause a scene here if things go south.

If this were the Dominant Empire, they would have brazenly barged in and caused a ruckus. But the Frenche Empire was a potential ally, a force they needed on their side.

They couldn’t afford to get off on the wrong foot.

That’s why Pablo’s role was so crucial…

God, I hope I can trust him.

Louis narrowed his eyes and called out to Pablo, who was walking ahead.

“Hey, Pablo.”

“Yes?”

“Do you even have a plan?”

“What kind of plan?”

“You said it’s been 170 years since you were last here. How do you expect people to recognize you if we just show up like this?”

Louis spoke from experience.

Yet Pablo, unconcerned by Louis’s worries, confidently puffed out his chest.

“You worry too much! Just follow me!”

Even a mangy dog gets half a meal in its own yard.

He was no longer just Slave No. 1.

He was Slave No. 1 of Giga Mountain, no less.

Pablo strode forward with a cheerful grin.

Soon, they spotted a long line of carriages stretching before them—not ordinary carriages, but the luxuriously decorated vehicles of nobles.

All were waiting to enter the Imperial Palace, but Pablo ignored them completely.

He briskly walked past the carriages, pushing forward without hesitation.

“Hey! What’s that?”

“Who do they think they are?!”

The carriage drivers and warriors guarding the vehicles shouted in surprise.

But Pablo paid them no heed.

As he approached the main gate of the Imperial Palace, a group of warriors clad in gleaming armor emerged and blocked his path.

Clang- clang.

Without warning, swords were drawn, their tips pointed at Pablo.

The intense, murderous aura radiating from the man was far from ordinary, bristling with lethal intent. Startled by the sudden development, the noble being inspected at the checkpoint stumbled back.

“Who’s there?”

A middle-aged man emerged from behind the warriors who had drawn their swords.

“No one may pass without permission.”

His voice, heavy with a sharp, killing intent, would have made any ordinary person’s knees buckle instantly. But Pablo, facing the man, wore a thoughtful expression, as if trying to recall something.

That face… it looks familiar…?

Then, as recognition dawned, he grinned brightly.

“Heh heh, aren’t you from the Mailer Family?”

”…Child?”

Count Miles’s eyebrow twitched at Pablo’s question. He was nearing fifty now—hardly the age to be called a child.

Despite Count Miles’s displeasure, Pablo remained smiling.

“Indeed, the Mailer Family has guarded the Royal Family since the kingdom’s founding. It seems your family’s legacy still endures.”

”…”

Count Miles glared silently at the hulking man spouting such bizarre remarks. The man wore thick fur clothing, unsuited for the Summer Continent’s climate. Though they appeared to be of similar age, this stranger treated him as if he were a mere child.

Casually placing his hand on his sword hilt, Pablo said, ”…I’ll say it again. No unauthorized personnel may enter this place. Furthermore, today is an important Imperial Court ceremony. If you refuse to withdraw, I will cut you down.”

A wave of murderous intent surged from Count Miles’ body.

Pablo’s gaze turned cold. “Suppress your murderous intent.”

“Withdraw,” Miles snarled.

“Hmph, must I ask permission to enter my own home?”

”…What?”

As if in answer, Pablo reached inside his chest.

His unexpected action caused the guards behind him to tense, their murderous intent intensifying.

But all that tension proved futile. Pablo’s hand emerged holding a single necklace.

Without hesitation, he ripped the necklace apart.

Snap!

The chain broke, falling to the floor, leaving only a single ring dangling from the broken end in Pablo’s hand.

Count Miles’ eyes widened in shock.

“T-that ring?!”

The snow-white ring was shaped like a dragon coiled around itself.

Pablo slipped it onto his index finger and bit his opposite thumb, drawing blood.

Drip.

The moment the crimson droplet landed, the ring instantly absorbed Pablo’s blood.

Whoosh!

It erupted in a blinding light.

A small pillar of light shot skyward, coalescing in mid-air until it formed a distinct shape.

Tsu tsu tsu-.

Moments later, the light had fully materialized into a perfect figure: a pure white dragon with gleaming violet eyes, so lifelike it seemed to breathe.

“H-huh?!”

The warriors, confronted with the meter-long dragon, immediately dropped to their knees, as if they’d never raised their swords in the first place.

They had no other choice.

The White Dragon with amethyst eyes—the symbol of the Frenche Imperial Family.

Sss.

The White Dragon materialized swiftly and alighted on Pablo’s shoulder.

With a regal gaze, Pablo addressed those kneeling before him. “Go and spread the word. Pablo Kwon Frenche has returned.”

Pablo Kwon Frenche.

Count Miles shuddered violently at the name. Every citizen of the Frenche Empire knew it well—a figure forever etched in the Empire’s history.

The people of Frenche had added a title before his name: “The Emperor of Conquest… Pablo Kwon Frenche.”