I Picked Up a Witch With Amnesia

5. A Conflict Named Desire – 02

A thousand years ago, the entire continent was engulfed in fear of the battlefield. It was an extremely chaotic era when dozens of countries were scattered on the ground and each pointed their swords at each other. It was a cruel era in which countless people fell fleetingly on the battlefield due to the desires of a few powerful people. It was also the era of barbarism when the common people were trampled on by military boots and groaned due to a war with no end in sight.

Eventually, people got tired of it. Tired of repeated wars without any meaning. I became disillusioned with the countless lives scattered in meaningless battlefields. I was sick and tired of everything that made up that era.

People prayed. I don’t want any more meaningless blood to be shed. I hope that a peaceful era will arrive, taking for granted that tomorrow will be like yesterday. With such hopes and aspirations deep in his heart, he prayed earnestly to the goddess.

And as if to represent the general harmony of the people, a man appeared. No one knew where he came from or what he was doing. However, as soon as he appeared, he subdued everything that stood in his way, based on his powerful military force and unique overwhelming charisma. He is said to have exerted a force equivalent to 10,000 troops with his single body, and in just ten years, he succeeded in tying one third of the continent together and ending all the wars that were rampant on this land.

The man’s name is Devhard. He was the great ancestor of the imperial family who would reign as the masters of the empire for a thousand years.

And, it is said that Devhardt had four servants who helped him the most in the process of building the empire. It is said that Devhard granted them and their descendants the right to have an audience with him at any time, and prayed that their glory would continue from generation to generation.

Their names are Estelle, Tournigen, Decaraznan, and Crusell, respectively.

This was the beginning of the imperial family, who could be called the masters of the present continent, and the four glorious ducal families that supported them.

However, listening to the story, there will be many people who have one question. Often in fairy tale books for preschool children, there is a wizard who pulls fire or ice out of his hand as a side leg for the level and interest of the listener, but in the founding myth of an empire, it is difficult to find such stories even after washing your eyes. Because. It was a stark contrast to today’s many wizards who say that they are nobles among nobles and stiffen their necks.

The reason why wizards do not appear in the founding tales of empires is indeed simple. Because a thousand years ago, the level of magic was incomparably miserable. Now, magic can cause all kinds of strange phenomena, but a thousand years ago, it was said that it was only at the level of artificially recreating natural phenomena in a localized area.

Well, even at that level, there would have been no problem with the power of magic acting as a variable in the actual battlefield. However, it is said that the warriors who stood at the forefront of the army at the time and cut down the enemies could not hide their displeasure at the actions of the magicians. It is said that unlike themselves who risked their lives to fight against enemies, they did not have any hesitation in laughing at the tribe of wizards who used magic while sitting in a safe place, calling them idiots.

Among them, the nobleman with a record of not particularly liking wizards was my proud ancestor, the first Duke of Estelle. It is said that the nobleman was a truly unmanned human being down to the marrow, who is said to have regarded the flames emitted by wizards as worse than cigarette lights.

And at the time, Archmage Castana, who was under Devhardt’s command, hated Estelle for talking about such things openly, and in the end, the two of them end up lying around.

Not to mention the results. It is said that Estelle, who had risen to the level of Master, literally beat the archmage Castana to death.

However, the bad relationship between the two did not end there. After all the wars on the continent had ended, when Devhard granted fiefs to his subordinates, he assigned Castana’s territory right next to Estel’s territory.

What was even more shocking was that neither Estelle nor Castana expressed any objection to Devhardt’s decision. Devhardt, who forcibly turned the two people who were tightly bound by evil ties into neighbors, and Estelle and Castana, who nodded obediently to that decision, may have had some taste.

How did he come up with the surprising idea of forcing two people who, with common sense, were both busy growling at each other’s faces, into neighbors?

Estelle and Castana were forced to become neighbors, but naturally, the relationship between the two showed no sign of getting better. No, rather, it is said that the relationship between the two families worsened as time passed. It was because Estelle and Castana not only hated each other, but passed their hatred on to their descendants.

In this way, a thousand years of education on the table was carried out. A chain of hatred began. As the years passed, the blind hatred only amplified, and it eventually reached a sublimation into a tradition. And now, after a thousand years have passed, the relationship between the two families has reached a point where even lies cannot be said to be good.

Even a thousand years ago, the fact that there were neighbors next to the Duchy of Estel who would express blind hatred at the sight of them did not cause any problems. Even in the early days when the Empire was founded, the Duke of Estelle was one of the wealthiest families in the Empire.

All kinds of precious metals, including gold and silver, were pouring out from the mines of the Duchy of Estelle, and huge amounts of crops were being harvested in the fertile plains, starting with the Kildern River. Even if there was a neighbor cousin with whom he didn’t get along very well in the next estate, he had the power to laugh at them.

However, as time passed, that relationship gradually began to reverse. While the mines of the Duchy of Estel were being abandoned one by one, and the plains’ intellect was drying up and walking on the path of decline, the Marquis of Castana gradually began to walk on the path of victory.

This is because the level of magic on the continent gradually rose, and the status of wizards began to rise even higher. It wasn’t just the level of making fire or ice with your hands, but the study of magic combined with everyday life itself reached to make life even more prosperous. And, at the forefront were the castana marquis mages.

They developed several artifacts that even ordinary people who had no knowledge of magic could use without problems, and thus succeeded in acquiring truly enormous wealth. In other words, the enormous wealth they have amassed over generations has reached a level so great that they lightly crushed their neighbors who were on the path of decline.

At least, if there was one fortunate fact about the Estel family, it was that after the difference in level between the two families widened between heaven and earth, the Marquis of Castana only looked at the Duke of Estelle like a cow and chicken, but did not directly quarrel with them. It meant that even if they happened to face each other in public, they had refrained from physical clashes.

As far as I remember, there must have been an official exchange between the two families, at least a hundred years or so in the distant past. But now, what is the purpose of sending these guys a delegation or something?

“…Did the Castana marquis eat something wrong? For what purpose did you send the delegation?”

In my personal opinion, I was concluding that if an envoy came and went between the Duke of Estel and the Marquis of Castana, it would only happen when they declared war to kill each other.

“That’s true. It’s a very interesting case. It is also a situation that is not easily understood.”

Saying that, my father handed over the letter to me. When I received a letter from my father and read the contents carefully, I understood why my father said such a thing.

The content of the letter sent from the Marquis of Castana was simple, if simple. Currently, a huge fault zone exists between the Duchy of Estel and the Marquis of Castana. There was no need to draw a boundary line with much effort, the fault zone served as a boundary between the two territories over a period of about a thousand years. And about a month ago from now, in the middle of the fault zone, it is said that a pile of kitelene ore, which acts as a catalyst for magic, was discovered.

‘…It was a very rare metal, ten times more expensive than gold of the same weight.’

The first to discover Kittelene ore was the Marquis of Castana. However, since it is a place that straddles the border of the territory, the Castana Marquis must have noticed that it was not openly gulp. So, it was a letter with the contents that a delegation was sent in the sense of establishing a proper negotiation in relation to the ownership and profit of the ore.

“…..”

However, when I saw this book, I felt something strange. No, it wasn’t that strange. The suspiciousness is so thick, I feel a sense of incongruity to the extent that I can’t help but pay attention.

‘…Does this make sense?’

At this point, the difference in strength between the Marquis of Castana and the Duke of Estelle was literally the difference between heaven and earth. To put it bluntly, even if the Marquis of Castana proudly proclaims that they will monopolize Kitelen Ore by using their strength, we are in a position to accept it without even making a sound. However, the Marquis of Castana, who knows the Duke of Estelle and thinks that even dogs in the neighborhood do not know about it, made such a proposal first?

Crucially, this had never happened before my regression. There was no such thing as the discovery of ore in the fault zone or the dispatch of an envoy from the Marquis of Castana.

I was aware of the fact that the history of the continent itself might be slightly shaken by the actions of Cain von Estel, a regressor, but I think this has gone far beyond that level. What is the connection between my return to the past and the discovery of ore in the fault zone?

“…..”

However, it was impossible to come up with a proper answer if I thought about this problem at the level of my head. I scratched the back of my head and quietly told my father what I was thinking.

“…First, I’ll have to listen to them. I guess I’ll have to listen to what nonsense comes out of their mouths and judge what’s going on.”

“Yes, I am of the same opinion.”

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My father nodded as if he agreed with me.

“Ah, come to think of it, the general manager of this delegation. A child you know well has taken on that role. In that sense, I want to leave the role of negotiating with the delegation to you.”

“…someone I know well?”

As soon as I heard my father’s words, my face twisted grotesquely. Because, there was only one person I knew personally in the Castana marquis family.

“Yes, Bianca. They say that the child took on the role of the general manager of this delegation.”

“…yes?”

In an instant, the fact that my mouth opened wide involuntarily could not have been the result of the joy of meeting my childhood friend after a long time.