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The young man let out a groan and opened his eyes. His entire body ached and throbbed.

‘What on earth happened?’

Feeling puzzled, he looked around. It was pitch dark all around him. Reaching out his hand, it seemed like he was trapped inside a large box. Struggling to clear his mind, he tried to recall his memories.

‘I was definitely… fighting against Fist King Repenhardt… and got hit by his attack…’

It was then that a deep voice came from outside.

“Hey, it seems this guy has woken up?”

At the same time, the top of the box opened, and a faint light filtered in. The young man looked up. A rather cute-looking, young girl was looking down at him.

“Who are you?”

The girl smiled softly and spoke.

“Hello, Mr. Carsus. I am Tilla, a colleague of Mr. Repenhardt.”

For a moment, Carsus’s expression hardened. He had thought she was just a young girl, but seeing her ample bosom, he immediately recognized her true identity.

“Dwarf!”

Carsus frowned and tried to get up. However, he struggled for a moment before collapsing back down. He hadn’t noticed before, but his entire body was tightly bound with thick ropes.

‘Well, of course, they wouldn’t just leave me free.’

Groaning, Carsus asked Tilla.

“What happened? Wasn’t I supposed to be dead?”

The moment he saw that golden light covering his vision, he thought of death. But judging by the situation, it seemed he was just sore all over without any serious injuries.

“Honestly, we were a bit worried because you wouldn’t wake up. Mr. Repenhardt, he said he just knocked you out, but how could someone who fainted stay unconscious for a day and a half?”

Tilla clicked her tongue and muttered to herself. Carsus frowned.

“Fist King Repenhardt, did he save me? Prince Yubel would never have allowed that.”

“Yes, officially, your head is displayed in the central square of the royal capital, Krotin.”

Tilla replied with a bright smile. Carsus nodded.

“A fake.”

“They cut off the head of a similar-looking corpse and used magic to change the head and eye colors.”

“I see, so Prince Yubel’s side doesn’t know I’m alive. But how could such a trick work right in front of them? Ah, that strangely dazzling aura was for that purpose? It was a trick used by street magicians.”

This is why dealing with a smart opponent is convenient. With just a few pieces of information, Carsus had almost completely figured out what had happened. Tilla clicked her tongue and added a comment.

“To be precise, we were waiting in advance in the secret passage behind the Holy Hall, then swapped your head with the decoy. And to cover any traces, Mr. Repenhardt completely destroyed the passage.”

“But the secret passages of the royal palace are only discreetly known to the royal family. How did you know about them?”

“You can see them just by looking.”

Dwarves are masters of architecture, incomparable to humans. Although the royal capital, Krotin, was not influenced by dwarves, they could discern the locations of hidden secret passages merely by observing the exterior.

No matter how secretively passages were constructed, the process of supporting the weight with columns and strengthening the walls inevitably made their structure visible. If they thickened all the columns and walls of the palace to conceal the places with secret passages, the budget would skyrocket. No secret could remain hidden from the constraints of a budget, reflecting the cold reality of the world.

Anyway, having figured out what happened, Carsus sighed and lay down in the box. Although he had survived, he felt no joy; having already resigned himself to death, everything now felt bewildering and empty.

“Fist King Repenhardt… why did he save me?”

His mind was in turmoil. He couldn’t guess why Repenhardt had saved him. Or rather, there were too many possible reasons, and that was the problem.

‘Was his true intention to pretend to side with Yubel and cause a rift in the Crovence Kingdom? Hiding me to rebel against Prince Yubel? No, if that were the case, he wouldn’t need to end the war so quickly. Then was it to divide the kingdom’s nobles? A conspiracy of another nation? Damn, any of these make sense, but none of them do!’

Watching the troubled Carsus, Tilla gave a wry smile. It was evident from his expression that his mind was in a mess. She spoke in a soft voice, as if comforting a child.

“He thinks it’s a waste.”

“Hmm?”

Carsus groaned, lifting his gaze. Tilla continued.

“He said you’re too valuable a person to die.”

Carsus couldn’t understand what she meant. Wanting to hear more, he leaned forward. At that moment, Tilla placed her hand on his forehead and gently pushed him back.

“Then sleep a bit more.”

“Ugh! W-wait a minute!”

Despite Carsus’s pleas, the box closed again. As darkness enveloped him, an overwhelming fatigue that he hadn’t felt before suddenly washed over him. He didn’t know what effect that golden aura had, but sleepiness quickly overwhelmed him, and his mind grew hazy.

‘I need to know what happened…’

Mumbling, Carsus fell asleep again. Watching the unconscious Carsus inside the box, Tilla shrugged her shoulders and walked to the driver’s seat of the carriage.

“Alright, let’s keep going.”

Outside the carriage, five armed dwarves were standing guard. Tilla lightly whipped the horse’s rear.

“Hyah! Let’s go!”

Clunk, clunk.

In the dark, dense forest at night, the carriage and dwarves slowly began to move forward.

Chapter 20: Is the Grace of a Master Like the Sky?

Fist King Repenhardt, who had rendered the greatest service in elevating Yubel II to the throne, was granted the title of Count. The King acknowledged Repenhardt’s surname and conferred a title upon him, making him now a noble of the Crovence Kingdom, Count of Antares.

There was no opposition to a foreigner becoming a noble in the Crovence Kingdom. Even without any service, an aura user of Repenhardt’s caliber would be treated with similar respect in any country. Since there were many cases of foreign aura users becoming nobles, the nobility did not oppose.

In fact, considering Repenhardt’s contributions, he could have been given the title of Duke or Marquis. It was only because he was a foreigner that his title was greatly reduced to Count. Of course, Repenhardt didn’t care about titles, so it didn’t matter much to him.

The part he truly wanted, the territory of Viscount Gelfein and the accompanying conditions, however, caused much controversy. Repenhardt didn’t just want the land; he wanted complete autonomy, independent of Crovence Kingdom’s laws. It was akin to creating a new state within the kingdom, similar to the relationship between the Graim Kingdom and the Duchy of Chatan.

This unprecedented demand naturally faced strong opposition.

The nobles were divided into two factions, fiercely debating the issue. The neutral nobles generally opposed it, while those who had always supported Prince Yubel were in favor. Having received direct help from Repenhardt and witnessed the power of his multi-racial army firsthand, they didn’t dare to oppose him.

“Such a precedent is not favorable. No matter how great his achievements are, how can we grant him autonomy?”

“But his contributions are immense in reality. He can truly be called the foremost contributor, can he not?”

“Indeed. How can it be fair to grant such a great contributor only the title of Count and the barren lands of Viscount Gelfein’s territory?”

“Then we should reward him appropriately according to his merits. Granting autonomy is still excessive.”

The one to put an end to this debate was, once again, the new king, Yubel II.

“Then would it be better to grant him another territory instead? But since the amount of land is fixed, this would reduce the rewards for other contributors. Hmm, considering his merits, we would need to give him something as substantial as the Fernando Duchy…”

At this, the neutral nobles who had been opposing the idea quickly changed their stance to support. Compared to those who had been with Yubel from the beginning, their contributions were relatively minor. If Repenhardt were to be given land fitting his merits, it was likely that the territory would come from the rewards designated for the neutral nobles. Hearing that their own share might be significantly reduced, they shamelessly changed their attitudes.

In the end, this too passed with majority support. When Yubel II firmly presented the royal seal and declared:

“Granting land and autonomy to Lord Repenhardt, from now on, his territory shall be called the Duchy of Antares!”

This marked the birth of a new state within the Crovence Kingdom, the Duchy of Antares.

* * *

The western part of the Gloten Mountain Range, once known as the territory of Viscount Gelfein.

In the audience room of a large castle built against the mountains, a giant of a man gazed out the window with a sentimental expression. A young man standing nearby looked at him and smiled gently.

“Congratulations on becoming the king of a nation, brother.”

The giant man, Repenhardt, glanced at the young man and gave a faint smile.

“If you had set your mind to it, Russ, you could have received the same treatment.”

Russ, who had gained fame by defeating Sir Spirius, was also granted the title of Count and a suitable territory by the Crovence royal family. Given his merits and the fact that the Crovence royal family had lost two aura users in the civil war, they wouldn’t simply leave a new aura user alone.

However, Russ politely declined the offer. He explained that he couldn’t swear allegiance to Yubel II as he would eventually return to his family. Instead, he accepted rewards of gold and silver and followed Repenhardt.

“But I could never have become the king of a nation.”

“Ah, calling this a nation is a bit embarrassing.”

Repenhardt gestured toward the scenery outside the window with a wry smile.

Indeed, as the master of the duchy, he had the right to be called the Duke of Antares externally, as long as he was not within the Crovence royal court. However, the territory that was once the Viscounty of Gelfein, now the Duchy of Antares, was too small and humble to be considered a nation. It was mostly mountains with almost no inhabitants, more like a villa estate. Even though it was legally recognized as a duchy, no one would acknowledge this land as a true country.

“That’s true. Why didn’t you ask for a bit more?” Russ remarked with a regretful expression. The nobles adjacent to the Viscounty of Gelfein had all sided with Carsus and were executed for treason. Most of their lands were awarded to other nobles, and Repenhardt only received a small additional area of farmland. Although the farmland was fertile, it was meager compared to his contributions.

“Honestly, if you’d asked for a couple of baronies nearby, no one would have objected.”

“But then I wouldn’t have gotten the autonomy. Right now, what’s important to me is not the size of the land but the autonomy allowed by human law.”

Repenhardt shook his head. The reason the nobles didn’t oppose was that they thought granting autonomy to such a humble land wouldn’t cause significant problems. He had carefully calculated what to demand, considering the nobles’ thoughts.

‘And I can gradually take more land later. Land wars are fun, right?’

Repenhardt laughed to himself with a sinister thought. The nobles might have allowed the autonomy for immediate benefits, but their opinions would change over time.

At that moment, a human servant entered the room and bowed respectfully.

“Count, the dwarves have gathered in the audience room.”

The Gelfein Viscount family, who originally lived here, were all executed or sold into slavery for treason. Repenhardt allowed the servants and maids who had served the Gelfein family to stay in the castle if they wished. The loyal butler and some servants left in shock at the change of masters, but most stayed. The servant was one of those who remained.

“Let’s go, Russ.”

“Yes, brother.”

With Russ accompanying him, Repenhardt left the room.