Chapter 60: A Tea Party with the New Neighbor (Part 2)
Barrett personally carried in an oak cask nearly as tall as half a man and slammed it down on the table with a thud. Then he pulled out the stopper, and a rich wheat aroma instantly spread through the hall.
Using two coarse clay bowls, he poured out the amber-colored liquor, set one in front of Caesar, and shoved the other toward Augustus.
“Lord Inquisitor, have a taste of our wasteland horse piss. It’s got a real kick.”
Barrett grinned, showing a mouthful of yellow teeth. His words were crude, but there was a kind of wild sincerity in them.
Augustus paid no mind to the discourtesy. He simply lifted the clay bowl, glanced at the cloudy liquor inside, then looked at Caesar.
Caesar raised his own bowl toward him.
“To our new neighbor.”
Augustus touched bowls with him through the air, then brought the drink to his lips and took a light sip.
It was sharp and rough, with a hint of smoky bitterness, but once it went down, a powerful warmth rushed straight into his stomach, driving away the wasteland’s cold.
“Not a bad drink.”
Augustus set down the clay bowl and gave an impartial judgment.
“The wine brewed by those who manage to survive is rarely poor.”
Caesar picked up a dagger, sliced off a chunk from the enormous roasted leg of lamb, and stuffed it straight into his mouth with his hand, eating until grease covered his lips.
He did not invite Augustus to join him. He simply ate on his own, like a wolf that had gone hungry for a long time.
Augustus did not touch the meat.
He merely watched in silence, like a seasoned hunter observing every movement of his prey.
“I am curious, Lord Valerius.”
At last, Augustus broke the silence that had held only the sound of chewing.
“What kind of power allowed you to create such a miracle upon land this barren?”
His gaze swept across Caesar, then over the iron-tower figure of Roland standing behind him, and finally over the vicious-eyed soldiers outside.
“I heard from Kellan that you are… an Earth Knight.”
He spoke the words Earth Knight lightly, yet they were like a needle, striking directly at the heart of the conversation.
Caesar swallowed the meat in his mouth and wiped his hand with a napkin, his movements slow and unhurried.
“Power?”
He let out a low laugh and leaned back into his chair. In the firelight, his deep violet eyes flickered uncertainly.
“Lord Inquisitor, what do you think is the greatest power in a place like the Wailing Wastes?”
Without waiting for Augustus to answer, he answered for himself.
“It is not Battle Energy, and it is not magic.”
He raised two fingers.
“It is two things. First—the desire to survive. When a man cannot even see tomorrow, he can unleash a strength beyond anything you can imagine.”
“My soldiers crawled out from heaps of corpses.”
“When they took up weapons, it was not for any damned glory. It was only so they could eat one more full meal, so they would not become the next meal for the beasts or undead outside.”
Caesar’s gaze sharpened.
“And the second thing—and the most important one…”
He paused, then spoke each word with deliberate force.
“Is the land beneath our feet.”
“Every inch of ground beneath my feet has been watered with the blood of my men.”
“It acknowledges us. It accepts us.”
“When I stand here, I am not standing alone.”
“Behind me stands this city, this wasteland, and the countless souls who want to keep living.”
His words were stirring, filled with a savage force that could infect the hearts of others, like a born king proclaiming his sovereignty.
Yet Augustus still wore that faintly courteous smile.
“Well said.”
He applauded softly.
“The desire to survive, and the recognition of the land.”
“It sounds like the perfect script for a hero’s epic.”
Then his tone shifted abruptly.
“But, Lord Valerius…”
“A script is still only a script.”
Augustus leaned forward slightly, and an invisible spiritual pressure belonging to an archmage spread silently through the entire hall like liquid mercury.
The flames in the hearth suddenly faltered.
The smile froze on Barrett’s face. He felt a chill shoot from the base of his spine straight to the top of his skull, as though some abyssal beast were staring straight at him. Even breathing became difficult.
Roland let out a muffled grunt and stepped forward, placing himself in front of Caesar. The Battle Energy of a Grand Knight roared to life within him, and only then could he barely withstand the spiritual shock.
Only Caesar remained seated firmly in the seat of honor, without the slightest change in expression.
He even picked up the bowl and took another long drink.
The Domain of an Earth Knight had become one with the castle beneath his feet, and with the land itself.
Though Augustus’s mental pressure was strong, it was like a wave breaking against a mountain range, unable to stir even the slightest ripple.
“Heroic epics are written for dead men to read.”
Caesar set down the bowl, his voice calm.
“The living only care about what is in front of them.”
“Lord Inquisitor, since you came here this late at night and risked an undead ambush on the way, I assume you did not come merely to discuss philosophy with me?”
He tossed the question back.
At last, true appreciation flickered in Augustus’s ice-blue eyes.
Interesting.
This young man possessed not only power far beyond his years, but also a heart strong and calm enough not to be shaken by any outside force.
Augustus slowly withdrew the spiritual pressure.
The air in the hall began to move again.
Barrett gasped like a man who had narrowly escaped drowning. His back was already soaked through with cold sweat.
“Very well. Since Lord Valerius is a straightforward man, I will stop circling around the point.”
Augustus leaned back in his chair and laced his fingers together before him.
“On behalf of the Church of Light, I offer you a proposal you cannot refuse.”
“The Church can acknowledge your sovereignty over this land. In fact, once the war is over, we can jointly recommend to His Imperial Majesty and His Holiness the Pope that your rank be elevated from pioneer lord to viscount.”
Barrett’s eyes instantly went wide!
A viscount!
A single leap to the heavens!
“We can even provide you with the finest weapons, the greatest abundance of food, and the Church’s battle priests to assist you in resisting the undead.”
Augustus’s voice carried a seductive sort of magic.
“And what we want in return is very simple.”
“First, the City of Miracles must be opened fully to the Church, allowing us to establish churches here and spread the Father God’s radiance.”
“Second, you and every soldier under your command must obey my command completely in the war against the undead.”
“Third—and last.”
Augustus’s gaze turned deeply meaningful.
“After the war, the Church will take seventy percent of the rights to extract all minerals, timber, and other resources from this land.”
Silence.
The hall fell into a silence as deep as death itself.
Barrett’s mouth dropped open and did not close for a long while.
What kind of proposal was this? This was naked annexation!
While the war lasted, you served as cannon fodder.
When the war ended, the land stayed under your name, but everything in it became mine.
And in the end, they tossed you an empty title and expected you to be grateful for it?
The calculation behind it was so shameless that even an old rogue like Barrett was left speechless.
Roland’s expression darkened as well, the veins on the hand gripping his sword hilt bulging sharply.
Everyone looked toward Caesar, waiting for his thunderous fury.
Yet no anger could be seen on Caesar’s face.
He simply listened to the end, and then… he laughed.
“Lord Inquisitor.”
He picked up the dagger on the table and began cleaning his fingernails with leisurely care.
“This proposal of yours… sounds even more tempting than the one offered by the undead saint.”
Augustus watched him without speaking.
“But.”
Caesar put down the dagger and lifted his head. At that moment, his deep violet eyes were bright enough to make one’s heart tremble.
“You seem to have made one mistake.”
“What mistake?”
“You think you are negotiating with some country lord desperate for protection.”
Caesar rose and walked to the enormous sand table at the center of the hall.
“But in reality, you are doing business with the sole master of this land.”
He extended a hand and drew a great circle on the sand table, with the City of Miracles at its center.
“On this land—my people, my city, my rules. That is the foundation of everything.”
“We can cooperate. I can allow your army to station itself in my territory as allies.”
“I can even, after the war, ‘sell’ part of the extraction rights to the Church.”
Caesar turned around to face Augustus, and a deeply aggressive curve rose at the corner of his lips.
“But everything has a price.”
“Every drop of blood my people shed for this war will be calculated in gold.”
“Every supply I provide will be met with proper repayment.”
“As for the title you mentioned… that sort of empty name is worth less than nothing to me.”
He walked over to Augustus, leaned forward slightly, and in a voice only the two of them could hear, said each word slowly and clearly:
“Lord Inquisitor, I am not asking for your ‘blessing.’”
“I am telling you that if you want to defeat those dead things on this land, you need me.”
“And my value is far greater than the price you offered.”