Chapter 200: Joining a war (1)

“This is our chance!”

“The Torian king has blamed the count to attack!”

“They have made him a traitor.”

Nobles wearing lavish clothing shouted in excitement as their beautiful ornaments shined in the sunlight coming through the window. An old man who sat in the chair in the middle sighed deeply.

“How can they do that to… the hero of the land? Who fed all of us in a time of crisis?”

“It was a matter of time. The king of Toria is known for his small-mindedness. He must’ve grown weary of his man becoming too powerful.”

“Is that so?” Benzen’s old king asked back.

‘Is this another war?’

Benzen had experienced a great disaster because of their greed. Their country was torn apart and was left in ruins.

‘If we were not greedy…’

The king regretted his choices from the past. He knew it was the greed that led the country to its ruined state. Not long ago, the nobles also fixed their way of thinking to work with each other to rebuild the kingdom. But they changed as soon as they heard the news of war inside Toria.

‘I am no different.’

The king also was considering this as a chance.

‘If we advance after they are worn out from the continued war… we might have a chance. But will the world leave us be? Will HE leave us be?’

The ing became concerned.

‘Brant is a hero. That’s for sure. But his son… He is to be a king. Everything that happened resolves around him.”

Heroes were temporary beings. They were only temporary figures that helped the people survive in hard times. But a king was different. A king was to stay and rule for a long time.

‘They even fought with the empire and took part in the empire’s civil war. They are the culprit of the world at war!’

The empire knew that Khalodian were meddling in their internal affairs, but they couldn’t say anything when they were being supported heavily by food.

‘He’s evil! Almost like a demon…’

The king shivered as he thought about Joonbum.

“We should gather our troops and…”

“QUIET!”

“Fight… ?”

“You all have gone mad! We still have people starving out on the streets! We will not go to war in this state!”

“But this is our chance…”

“That chance led us to our current predicament. You still call for a chance? Guards! Drag him out!”

“Y-your Majesty! Forgive me! Forgive-”

The noble was dragged out by guards and all nobles became silent.

“None of you are allowed to talk about any war. We will not join the war. That will be our doom!”

Many nobles were uncomfortable about the decision. They were obviously disappointed.

“We might win the battle, but what happens after? There are others who will come for us when we are worn out, just like how we wait for Toria to wear out. Never forget that we have our own enemies!” the king stated firmly. It made the greedy nobles to come back to their senses. The king still had doubts in his mind, not completely shaking off the greedy thought of invading the weak Torian Kingdom.

*

“Oil? Really?”

“Yeah. We need to refine it, but it’s good quality.”

“Isn’t it hard?”

“I have the machine. I even tried it once before.”

“Oh, you learned it from Mr. Park and his friends, right?”

Joonbum smiled at the mention of Taesoo’s name. It was Robert, an American with a farm back in his country. He had low quality oil on his farm that he used to refine.

“So, this place really has everything then? It’s littered with resources!”

Jinpok smiled as he grabbed a bucket of ice cream. Doral was glaring at Jinpok and his ice cream bucket.

‘If only it wasn’t in the middle of war.’

It was an ordinary day. Joonbum smiled.

‘But the war is really terrifying.’

It was like a devil’s charm. War within Toria had expanded to the neighboring countries. They began watching them like hyenas, looking for a chance to attack.

“I didn’t know I would get the chance to eat ice cream here! Anyway, they are looking for their chances, you know. Why don’t we wipe them out at once?”

Jinpok mumbled like it was nothing, but it was a grim suggestion.

“That’s impossible.”

“Impossible?”

Jinpok frowned as Jackson answered his suggestion.

“Why? They have a lot, but they don’t have leaders!”

“Enemies are becoming more tactile. I heard we achieve less effect from sniping now.”

“Hmm…”

Jinpok moaned as he looked unconvinced. Jackson drank his cup of coffee and continued, “Besides, we can’t expand too fast. Our land is already as big as a duke’s province in the empire. The reason why we were able to take care of it was because of the desolate lands. But it isn’t like that anymore.”

Jackson pointed to a great map on the wall, showing the world in detail.

“Look at this. We can wipe them out, as you suggested, but we will not keep them under control. We are not yet ready. Huge land that we cannot control is not helpful at all.”

“Then you suggest we just sit back and watch?” Jinpok answered sarcastically, but Jackson grinned, “No. If they join in, then it’s welcome. We’ll increase our population without hesitation.”

“Are you…?”

“Correct, sir.”

Joonbum intervened at Jackson’s word, and Jackson tried to explain, but he was cut off by a soldier who just barged in.

“Benzen has raised an army, sir!”

Everyone turned to the soldier.

“Wow, they finally came!”

Jinpok let out a laugh. It was the worst possible news for the Torian Kingdom but it meant that Khalodian now had an ally.

“We will have less pressure then.”

Jackson smiled and turned to the map. He picked up a Benzen flag and placed it on Khalodian land.

“There will be more coming. We should start acquiring neighboring lands.”

“Huh? Didn’t you just…”

Jinpok became puzzled but Jackson quickly replied, “We are annexing the land, not invading. We will have them under us and they can live freely.”

Jackson continued to explain. As the day passed, more news arrived.

“Katzback has…”

“The southern boundaries…”

It was a chance for the land of Khalodian.