NOVEL WEB Book 1: Chapter Ep
The Kingdom of Natra was on the northernmost point of the continent, where summers were short. Just as the sun’s rays grew strong and the vegetation verdant, fall and winter would come knocking on its door. Such was its weather.
But it also meant its townspeople knew how to enjoy summer to its fullest. Visitors to this land would often find people jovially going about their day. Festivals and laughter in the Kingdom of Natra usually continued late into the night around this time of year.
But unlike the merriment in the nearby castle town, Wein was splayed across the desk in his office, wallowing in self-pity.
“How did this happen…?”
It’d been one month since the end of the war with Marden over the Jilaat gold mine. Hagal had stayed behind to guard it, while Wein returned home to deal with the massive pileup of government affairs and continued to gather intel on Marden.
The entire continent soon heard the news of Marden’s fall to Kavalinu. It may have been a small northern country, but it was a country nonetheless. The collapse of a nation and the end of its history would interest anyone involved in politics. Especially because Marden had a gold mine. It was common knowledge that Marden and Natra fought over it, but everyone wanted to know how this land would be dealt with in the end.
The Kingdom of Natra pretty much stole it from under their noses.
The Kingdom of Marden wouldn’t stand for it and fought back.
The Kingdom of Kavalinu destroyed Marden in the meantime.
Considering this series of events, the mine would normally be considered Natra’s territory now—but the caveat was whether Kavalinu would allow that.
And sure enough, this was the day Natra and Kavalinu had planned to meet and hopefully come to an agreement.
“—Excuse me.” The office door opened, and Ninym walked in. The moment she saw Wein lying across the desk, she gave a look that said Oh. “Your meeting with the messenger from Kavalinu didn’t work out?”
“…Nope,” he mournfully croaked, looking up at the ceiling theatrically. “I COULDN’T GET RID OF THE MIIIIIINE! SHIIIIIT!”
His plan to sell the dried-up mine back to Marden for a high price woefully fell apart after Kavalinu destroyed them.
But Wein hadn’t given up hope yet. Kavalinu desperately wanted the mine. Or rather, they weren’t above invasion to get what they wanted. Their plan had likely been to engage the battle-weary Marden once Natra had been defeated and then take both the country and its gold mine in one go.
Meaning Kavalinu had been thrown a curveball, too. They wanted the mine now, even if they had to take it by force. But they needed to think twice before dipping their toes in an unanticipated war. And so, Wein looked for any possible advantages and quickly sent messengers to Kavalinu to set up a meeting so he could pawn the mine off on them.
But this dream was not realized.
“Wasn’t there talk about the Marden royal family escaping from Kavalinu’s hands?”
“Yes, according to the information in our spy reports. We’ve heard the royal family is rallying the defeated troops that returned from the battle for the mine, lying low, and forming a resistance movement against Kavalinu.”
“It seems like they’re having a pretty hard time keeping their grip on Marden. A two-front war with us would spell bad news, so they did their best to push a nonaggression pact. They insisted we keep the mine in exchange, so I had no momentum.”
“Oh dear.”
Kavalinu was a Western nation, so Ninym wasn’t present for their meeting, but she imagined Wein’s bitter expression—as if he’d ground his teeth on a mouthful of insects—and giggled.
“Hey, hey, this is no laughing matter, Ninym. Read this report. The costs of all the people, material, and money for this war! Thanks to that, the national treasury is empty! There’s nothing left! And our prize? Some dried-up old mine! AGHHHHHHHH, COOOOOOOME OOOOOOOON!”
As Wein held his head and writhed in agony, Ninym walked over and thrust a bunch of papers under his nose. “Well then, here. A little present for you.”
“What’s this? Love letters from the ladies? I mean, I am a supercool guy for beating an army of thirty thousand, right?”
“I would have torn up and thrown those away. It’s a report from Pelynt.”
The miners who’d participated in the fight were rewarded medals of honor. Pelynt, who had acted as mediator, now worked as a mine inspector for them.
“Okay, so it’s a report. No big deal… Huh?” Wein quickly flipped through the report, and his eyes stopped. “More gold…has been discovered… Wait, seriously?”
“I personally went over there to investigate, and it’s true. I wouldn’t call it another gold rush, but it could mean we’ll turn a profit.”
“Ohhhhh…” He sighed deeply, leaning against the back of his chair. “I’ve been trying to plan a good time to tell my troops that the mine is a bust, but I guess there’s still a shred of hope left.”
“With your reputation now, I think you’ll be fine even without the mine. The people adore you, you’re proven in battle, and your political savviness is second to none. Many believe you’ll be the wisest, most benevolent ruler to date.”
“Nah, approval ratings are temporary. My failures will be what sticks forever. Carelessness is our greatest enemy, Ninym,” he warned.
She gave a wry smile and sighed at his obstinance. He could masterfully craft all the daring schemes he wanted on the battlefield, but he always returned to his normal self at the palace. Even so, his methods had helped solve a number of national crises, so she supposed there wasn’t too much of an issue.
“But, wow, who knew? Turns out we might be able to use the mine after all. I guess that gives me a little elbow room. I’ve been so busy since I got back. I might even take a few naps around here.”
“No.” She placed a pen on the mountain of papers in front of Wein.
“…After I finish this, then?”
“Nope, there’s more.”
“……”
“Ambassadors of several nations have requested to meet with you. The civil officials would like to discuss the budget. There’s also the pressing issue of supplying the military with new arms and equipment. Oh, and Her Highness Princess Falanya misses you. You’ve delayed inspecting a town for the war as well. The list goes on and on.”
A meticulously itemized, overbooked schedule. Even though he’d overcome a national crisis, new challenges were already cropping up one after the other. Wein gave a small sigh and yelled.
“LET’S JUST SELL THIS COUNTRY OFF AND GET THE HELL OUTTA HEEEEEEERE!”
Wein earnestly howled in agony, but alas that, too, dissolved into nothing.
The death of the Emperor of Earthworld set off a disturbing series of events across the continent. In time, the curtain would rise on an age known as the Great War of Kings.