Chapter 213 – [12th Round] The Great Master

Due to a prolonged drought in the Holy Empire, they hadn’t seen any harvest for the second year in a row now. That only further weakened the power of the emperor.

It was a country ruled by God, after all.

But the emperor, who proclaimed himself God, was unable to solve the drought problem. As a result, it led to the invocation of his citizen’s distrust.

Was there a use for a god that could do nothing?

“This is the limit of a god created for political purposes.”

But in this world, unlike the Earth, there was magic.

When a country suffered from drought or floods, they could use magic to cause rain clouds or, on the contrary, disperse them.

On Earth, special planes were used for this, but it was so expensive that it was better to abandon farming altogether for the year.

What about magic?

In the Fantasy World, wizards were considered elite.

It was just that there were so many wizards on the Northern Continent that their services became cheap. Due to the great competition, many of those from the northern continent moved to the Central Continent, which was the nearest place they could go to.

They landed at the port of the Holy Empire, which ruled the northern part of the continent, and settled nearby. Due to the geographic location, this was a natural outcome.

Because of these migrations, the Holy Empire became the only country on the Central Continent that knew how to control the weather.

In the Northern Continent, weather control was called “beneficial magic,” but in the Central Continent, it was considered a “miracle of God.”

That was why the Holy Empire was called Holy.

But it was no longer like that. Magic couldn’t oppose the drought that occurred due to the energy of the universe. A heavy downpour should have come upon casting the most powerful spell they had in their arsenal, but only a drizzling rain did.

Therefore, new measures were needed.

“Isn’t that right, Imperial Princess?”

The Emperor’s daughter had arrived from the Holy Empire.

There were three years left before the initial call of the Hero. Because of this, the daughter of the emperor was still contentedly young and couldn’t boast of any outstanding features.

Still, this girl with big ambitions had a good head. She had been interested in politics since childhood. That was evidenced by the fact that now before me wasn’t the first son of the emperor, but the princess, ready to swallow her own homeland entirely without choking.

“So the rumors were true. There is nothing that you do not know, Your Majesty.”

Usually, princesses waited quietly behind, like a beautifully wrapped doll, but she was different. She stepped forward, covering the real ambassador who accompanied her, and came face to face with me.

Regardless, nobody said anything. After all, her future life depended on this meeting.

Why?

“A marriage of convenience…”

‘Your Majesty, did this happen in the future?”

“No. Never. I once trained an imperial princess with my holy spear but never married her.”

“Just now…”

The Holy Empire realized that they could not defeat the Holy Mollan Empire in a war, so they chose a marriage of convenience.

They were giving their daughter up in exchange for food.

After all, it was beneficial for them.

First, through this marriage, it would be possible to strengthen the emperor’s reputation, which had fallen below the baseboard due to lack of food, ultimately stabilizing the economy. Secondly, it would eliminate the daughter trying to prevent the eldest son from inheriting the throne. Third, by manipulating food distribution, the loyalty of the aristocracy could be restored.

Well, there was so much more.

“Then what is the benefit of this for the Holy Mollan Empire? As you can see, there are already many beauties around me, so I don’t need anything from you.”

“The more beauties, the better, right?”

“Do you mean that you are beautiful?”

“I plan to become one within three years.”

“Huh… how cocky.”

“Have you seen what I became in the future?”

“More or less.”

It was true that I wasn’t interested in the young princess in front of me, but it wasn’t even a matter of appearance.

It wasn’t her fault that she was too young.

In a society of aristocratic Fantasy, this was quite normal. A boy was considered a man after the first night with a lover or maid, and a girl was considered a woman after her first menstrual period.

Apparently, she had already gone through it.

“This is just a political marriage, but it seems to me that I’ve fallen in love with you. Perhaps this is the love at first sight that I’ve always heard of.”

Whoa! That was a nice way of putting it.

“And you are straightforward.”

“It’s true. Whenever I meet your Majesty’s gaze, my heart begins to beat so hard that it feels like it’s about to jump out of my chest. This is the first time I have met a man like you, Your Majesty.”

Before me was just a young image of an insidious woman who removed her brother to take the throne, and now she had put on the mask of a stupid girl.

How ridiculous.

She tried to defeat the Hero with 61 years of experience in eloquence.

“Don’t bother me, but get down to business, Imperial Princess. Tell me, how will the Holy Mollan Empire benefit from this marriage? If you cannot, then you will return only with a scandal to your home.”

“You will receive everything that belongs to me, Your Majesty.”

Many people were around, so she tried to speak in hints, but I understood exactly what she wanted to say.

Everything that belonged to her.

If she were a simple woman, this phrase would mean nothing. But since the emperor’s daughter was the one who said it, this became a completely different level of conversation.

Anything that belonged to the daughter of the emperor?

Position in society, blood ties, body, love, loyalty, skills, power…

Those words included much more than the body and soul of an ordinary woman.

In other words, if this marriage took place, then she would give me the Holy Empire.

That was exactly how it would go. She wasn’t the emperor, but she was still his daughter. Therefore, it also wasn’t the worst option.

Although I already expected that everything would lead to this.

“Imperial Princess of the Holy Empire, as you already understand, you are not ready yet. However, I’ll give you a chance. Get yourself in order and come back in 3 months. Then let’s talk about the wedding. However, to avoid scandals, I will give you a gift, so don’t be upset.”

“As expected, you are no simple person. That just makes me love you even more.”

“Show me the result of your feelings.”

“I shall, Your Majesty. Three months isn’t a long time, but if you send a good gift, I will do my best to look even better.”

That concluded our ‘deal’.

Some would think that I didn’t like her appearance, so I turned her down, while others would think that the reason for the refusal was the lack of benefits for the Holy Mollan Empire.

But that wasn’t it.

“What gift should I send…”

The imperial princess had no influence in her country.

She had developed the image of a beautiful doll, which was used for a marriage of convenience.

Therefore, it was necessary to make up for this deficiency.

“I believe in your discretion, Your Majesty. I think you know perfectly well what to give me.”

“Stop acting so impudent, Imperial Princess. Believe it or not, your words do not affect my decision.

“Oh! Forgive me for being rude!”

I didn’t like this woman after all.

After thinking for a second, I decided.

“I’ll send you some food as a gift. And since you personally deserve it, only you have the right to dispose of this food. I will send a caretaker with you on behalf of the Holy Mollan Empire. He shall deal with anyone who’d try to steal from you for their own profits.”

“Thank you, Your Majesty.”

“To avoid misunderstanding, I’ll state this outright. The name of your escort is Green Cake, my adopted son and dragon. You must have heard about him.”

I didn’t want to recognize the reptile as my son, but there was no choice.

As I was the Emperor of the Holy Mollan Empire, my favor wouldn’t be taken for granted. Even the Emperor of the Holy Empire wouldn’t dare object.

After all, the Holy Mollan Empire annexed even the Trade Republic, becoming the master of the Central Continent. Our only remaining rival, the Holy Empire, could do nothing.

“As you wish, father- Your Majesty! I will do my best to protect the food and not tarnish the honor of the Holy Mollan Empire and its greatest emperor!” Cheerfully answered the boy who heard our conversation from the corner of the hall.

His hair, eyes, and clothes were green. Anyone could tell by his appearance what kind of dragon he was.

He was still young, but it was already evident that he was a Divine Dragon.

And this wasn’t a spontaneous decision.

We could say that this was a coincidence.

I never called him son, but everyone in the palace and the capital inhabitants knew that he was.

He was called ‘a son, unlike the emperor’, which was only natural. There was not a drop of my blood in his veins.

“Ah…”

Surprised by the gift, the imperial princess couldn’t close her mouth.

“Green Cake. Stay with the princess as she spearheads the distribution of the food I have given her for three months. However, don’t meddle in her affairs.”

“As you wish, my Lord!’

I didn’t like the imperial princess, who cared not about the means she’d use to reach her ambitions, but it was worth recognizing her diligence and skills.

It would be excellent if Green Cake learned something from her. He was now far from becoming the greatest evil dragon, anyway.

“I will wait.”

But there was something I hated about this. This plan was perfect because I chose the best of 37 options that went through my head in a second.

It felt as if I forgot something important.

***

Three months later, the Holy Empire split into three factions:

The traditional faction, which supported the old emperor.

The aristocrats that supported his food-bearing daughter.

And traitors who wanted to join the Holy Mollan Empire.

But in reality, 2/3 were on the same side.

According to Saintess H, to gain Green Cake’s favor, the daughters of the aristocrats lined up in front of him.

The imperial princess held feasts every day, luring the aristocrats with food and parties.

Ordinary residents complained as they continued to die due to prolonged drought and hunger, but she did not pay attention to them.

Because these complaints only weakened the power of the emperor.

The Imperial Princess of the Holy Empire and the aristocrats had a ‘reason’ for hosting feasts. They were showing off to Green Cake, the Prince of the Holy Mollan Empire, to earn more food.

And feasts were necessary for that.

For the most part, though, hungry aristocrats came to the princess to fill their stomachs.

The point was that there was a reason for everything.

“Let’s overthrow the incompetent emperor!”

“My wife and children are dying of hunger!”

“Show us God’s miracle!”

“Save my mother, false God!”

“Long live the Holy Mollan Empire!”

Protests began in front of the Imperial Palace of the Holy Empire.

At first, they tried to suppress them, but the number of rioters only increased, leaving them with no other option but to block the entrance to the palace.

I watched this using the Teacher’s Authority skill.

“This is more convenient than I thought.”

I sent Lemon to spy on the Holy Empire, posing as a mercenary.

In other words, I saw the situation in which Hero Lemon was now.

“Drug Hero, then why did you come here?” The First Spirit questioned my actions again, sitting on my head.

As she said, I sneaked out of the Imperial Palace and entered the Holy Empire.

It was all to meet Master Mollan.

I felt fear and respect every time I met with him, but our meeting could no longer be postponed.

It didn’t matter what happened to the Holy Empire.

I was curious about the village where Master Mollan lived.

“I was stupid. You should have thought about this earlier. Everything will be alright with Master Mollan, but the girl and her parents are ordinary people. If something happens to them, Master Mollan will be angry.”

This wasn’t an assumption but rather a belief.

I didn’t know why, but when the fake princess created by the Phantom King Shakespeare on the Western Continent got into trouble, the fake Master Mollan came to her defense.

Then I thought I was finished.

“Drug Hero, you worry too much.”

“You can say that only because you know you’ll never disappear.”

“Which means you won’t disappear either due to the new characteristics of the race.”

“Tsk, tsk. I really don’t know. Master Mollan can easily ignore this entire Fantasy system. That’s how incredible he is.”

“I mean, he’s just a slime…”

“Drug Spirit, jealousy is bad.”

“Hmph!”

Spreading the wings of the righteous hero, I flew all day to the village where Master Mollan lived, talking with the First Spirit.

But something felt wrong here.

I decided to ask the passing Merchant A.

“Let’s talk.”

“Eh?! My throat- Kh! Let me go!”

After talking to him, I found out that this was the only area in the Holy Empire that hadn’t been affected by the drought.

The year wasn’t the most fruitful, but it was prosperous enough to live.

Because of this feature, this village, unlike others, was prosperous.

“My God…”

“When I first heard about this, I was also surprised. Who knew that this village would grow into a city? The wizards tried to find out why only this village managed to avoid the drought and concluded that it was all due to the fact that this place is closest to the city of angels El Molando. Thanks to the blessing of the angels, this location was able to avoid this calamity.”

“Is that so…”

Blessings of the angels?

These rogue chickens had taken all the glory for themselves…

“C-can I go now?”

“Haha! Thanks for the detailed explanations. Have a nice trip, Merchant A.”

“Have a nice trip too. I hope we don’t meet again… Ahem! Anyway, see you!”

Was it because I grabbed him too hard by the throat? He immediately ran away without looking back.

The village where Master Mollan lived has become a city. There was no end to the merchants who came here for food and supplies.

The reason for this was the greatest being, Master Mollan.

Even the power of the universe couldn’t withstand him.

Regardless…

“You’re next.”

I, the righteous MAX-Class Hero, looked up at the sky.

I decided to punish the vile chickens who stole the glory of the greatest teacher to ever exist!

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