Chapter 12:First Encounter (2)

Clatter, clatter.  

The carriage rolled smoothly along the well-maintained road. 

It moved through the heart of the Millias Great Forest.  

That was why the knights were in confusion.  

“Commander, what is this…?”  

“Wasn’t Millias supposed to be a dense forest where even horses struggled to run?”  

“But the carriage is moving effortlessly! This road wasn’t just made in a day or two!”  

Their eyes darted busily outside the carriage window.  

Wheels rolling smoothly over the well-packed ground.  

No matter where they looked, this was nothing like the Great Forest they knew.  

“Not to mention, the monsters around us… They’re mingling, strong and weak ones together?”  

“Weren’t Millias’ monsters supposed to be especially savage, preying on each other?”  

“Wait a second. Did that goblin just salute us? And next to it… was that an orc?!!”  

Not only were the monsters not fighting each other, but they were coexisting.  

Recognizing the owner of the carriage and even saluting them—all of them, without exception.  

That was why the knights bombarded their commander, Seras, with questions.  

“…….”  

‘Idiots. Not a single one of them has realized the most important thing.’  

From Seras’ perspective, all she could do was sigh.  

Of course, she understood their astonishment.  

When she first saw it, she had also thought she was hallucinating and had rushed straight to the High Priest.  

‘How has no one noticed… that they’re speaking the same language?’  

—Because the truly shocking fact was something else entirely.  

Twitch. She focused mana into her ears. With her enhanced hearing, countless voices reached her.  

“That’s them, right? The humans we heard about?”  

“They told the ones scared of humans to stay inside today. So that’s why.”  

“Still, I can’t believe Lady Aurelia is personally escorting them. Are those humans really that important…?”  

Conversations of various non-human species.  

An orc speaking with a goblin.  

An imp whispering with a werewolf, a lizardman chatting with a lamia.  

It wasn’t Arkenian. She couldn’t understand the words.  

But—  

‘No matter how I listen, it’s the same language.’  

She could tell just by hearing it.  

They were all using a single, unified language.  

Monsters, who by nature could only speak their own race’s tongue, were communicating as one.  

Gulp. 

She swallowed dryly.  

‘A situation where they’re not hostile toward each other… Could it be? Have the monsters united? Have they really come together under one nation?’  

‘If so, how strong is their military power? Do they have Chaos Ogres among them?’  

‘No—if even one more monster of that caliber exists… even if we mobilize the entire knight order, we wouldn’t stand a chance.’  

Seras’ gaze shifted to the side.  

Her eyes met those of a green-haired woman.  

And in that instant—  

A chilling sensation ran down her spine.  

The instinct of a prey facing an overwhelmingly superior predator.  

To be honest, she wanted to draw her sword right then and there.  

She forcibly suppressed that fear.  

“I need to have a word with that…being. No, with whatever that is.”  

“Commander!? Are you insane…….”  

“You there. May I have a moment of your time?”  

She moved forward.  

The being that had been gazing out of the carriage turned its attention to her.  

And then, a gentle smile curved Aurelia’s lips.

“Have you finally decided to have a conversation?”  

“…Yes. Hah. First, let me apologize for the rudeness I committed just now, as well as that of my subordinates.”  

“Heh. I accept your apology.”  

“Thank you. Then, how about we start by introducing ourselves? I am Seras de Valois, Knight Commander of the Kingdom of Arkenia.”  

“Aurelia, Minister of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries of the Millias Federation.”  

A peaceful conversation flowed between them.  

‘…Disgusting.’  

To Seras, the exchange felt unsettlingly smooth almost to an eerie degree. Her wariness only grew stronger.  

“Minister of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries, you say. That’s not a term we have in Arkenia. It seems related to farming, but may I ask for a precise definition?”  

“It refers to an official overseeing all agricultural and fishing activities in Millenia. In your kingdom’s terms, you could think of it as equivalent to a duke.”  

“…….”  

‘She’s involved in the agriculture of an entire nation? So, she’s a noble.’  

And not just any noble—her title carried considerable weight.  

Managing the entire country’s agriculture… Even her own liege, the king, couldn’t wield such authority carelessly. That was the domain of the lords. How much they harvested, how much they taxed the tenants—those were all rights reserved for the nobility. Even a king who meddled too much would face fierce backlash from the aristocracy.  

And yet, here? Someone was overseeing the entirety of agriculture?  

There was no way that was a low-ranking position.  

The Minister of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries had to be among the highest offices in this monster-led federation. Considering its scale, even by Arkenian standards, it was at least equivalent to a viscount—perhaps even a count.  

Seras reached a conclusion.  

“I must apologize once again for my discourtesy. Or should I say, I must formally apologize?”  

“It’s fine. I only used ‘duke’ as an analogy—we are merely loyal servants to our liege.”  

“Is that so? Then I shall speak more ca—”  

“Oh, but be sure to use formal speech in front of our liege.”  

“…Your liege, huh?”  

A single word. 

“Liege.”  

At that moment, an image flashed through her mind—her king, childhood friend, and sovereign, Leopoldus.  

‘Your Majesty. No… Leo. I’ll do my best…!!’  

A bit more courage welled up within her.  

“Of course, I had intended to do so. As a knight serving my king, I fully understand that sentiment.”  

“I’m glad to hear that. Ah, and please keep your subordinates in check as well. I don’t mind their behavior toward me, but should they insult my liege…”  

—Crack.  

“It would cause significant difficulties in the relations between our nations.”  

“…I will make that very clear to them.”  

‘What the hell… That was terrifying.’  

That feeble courage she had just mustered? Instantly crushed by the aura of an absolute ruler’s wrath.  

The mere thought of Teo a human, a mere human speaking informally to their liege had been enough to make Aurelia’s anger seep out.  

Seras’ legs began trembling uncontrollably.  

‘She’s… a monster wearing human skin…’  

“A-hem. If it’s not impolite, may I ask what kind of liege you serve?”  

Her voice faltered, slipping awkwardly between formal and informal speech—a clear sign of fear.  

This situation was exactly what Teo had told Aurelia not to do threatening a diplomatic envoy…..

Aurelia didn’t notice.  

Her overflowing devotion toward her liege, Teo, clouded everything else.  

“Of course. Our great liege is none other than Lord Teonar, the last dragon remaining in this world.”  

“A d-d-dragon!!!? But they were said to have gone extinct over 50 years ago!”  

“He merely went to another dimension for leisure, thus avoiding that fate. Of course, had our liege remained on this continent, dragons would never have gone extinct in the first place.”  

“Hah…”  

Thanks to that explanation, some of Seras’ fear subsided.  

A dragon—the strongest species, believed to have vanished 50 years ago.  

And now, that long-forgotten name had resurfaced.  

For someone like Seras, who had become a knight out of admiration for dragon slayers, this revelation was nothing short of fascinating.  

Instead of fear, she found herself in awe.  

“I see. So that’s how the forest disappeared overnight and turned into farmland. It was a dragon’s doing.”  

“Hehe. Feel free to praise him more. Our liege is truly magnificent.”  

“Right. I can understand why you take such pride in him, Aurelia. With a being like that, it’s only natural.”  

“Of course. Ahh, our merciful and glorious liege…♡”  

“……”  

‘Wait… Could it be that she, like me, feels that way?’  

Even her reaction was unusual.  

Her face flushed, her breath coming out in heated sighs.  

No matter how she looked at it, this wasn’t the kind of expression a mere vassal should have when thinking of their sovereign.  

Somehow, the unexpected sense of kinship further dulled her fear.  

“Is it also your liege’s doing that all the monsters…..no, the citizens here speak the same language?”  

“Of course! Our great liege created a writing system for us called Hangeul and even taught us how to speak!♡”  

“He personally taught everyone?”  

“Oh no. Only we five ministers, who have served him from the beginning, learned directly from him♡”  

“Then how did the other monsters…..no, the other citizens learn? Teaching language to so many different species… That wouldn’t be a task completed in just a few decades.”  

“Our liege created Skill Books to help everyone learn quickly! Though there is a prerequisite…..they must first learn Hangeul.”  

“A Skill Book, huh? That certainly sounds like something a dragon would do.”  

Seras couldn’t help but click her tongue in amazement.  

Skill Books — Legendary magical artifacts that only those known as Grand Mages could create.  

Mass production was usually impossible, but…  

If their sovereign was truly a dragon, then it was more than feasible.  

The sheer scale of a dragon’s capabilities, once thought to be nothing more than myth, left Seras awestruck.  

“So then, is this the capital? It seems you’ve gathered only the most intelligent individuals among the various species.”  

“…Pardon?”  

“The people I’ve seen while passing through number around a hundred. If they are literate, then surely this is the entirety of them, yes?”  

At the same time, she reached another conclusion, that there couldn’t be many citizens fluent in Milleanian.  

After all, to learn something from a Skill Book, one needed at least some prior knowledge or experience in that field.  

A swordsman needed to at least know how to perform a basic three-strike combo.  

A mage had to have memorized runes before using magic.  

If that principle applied here, then the Skill Book’s requirement of learning “Hangeul” first seemed reasonable, but…  

“Learning a language and learning to read are two entirely different matters. No matter how many monsters you’ve gathered, only a few would have been able to grasp literacy.”  

Unlike spoken language, which people naturally acquire by living in a society, literacy required advanced education.  

That was the common sense of Seras. The common sense of the entire continent.

Since it took her nearly 20 years just to learn to read and write runes, her reaction was only natural.  

“No? This is the southern region of Millenia. Just a simple granary area, not the capital. Most of the nearby monsters are just farmers.”  

“…What? You’re using literate people just to plow fields?”  

“Well, everyone at least knows Hangul.”  

The common sense of the continent didn’t apply in Millenia.  

Seras smiled awkwardly.  

She thought the other person was seriously misunderstanding something.  

“It’s not Hangul, it’s Millenian. Those orcs probably barely learned to speak without the help of skill books.”  

“Haa…”  

Of course, Aurelia wasn’t misunderstanding anything.  

She couldn’t help but sigh.  

‘This is Lucia’s area of expertise… How am I supposed to explain this? How do I make them believe these lower creatures?’  

“Wait a moment. Halt.”  

—Creak.  

So, she decided to stop the carriage for a moment.  

Right then, an orc was saluting nearby.  

“You there, come here for a second.”  

“Y-Yes, ma’am!!!”  

At Aurelia’s call, the orc hurried over with heavy thuds.  

“Captain!! Is this a battle!?”  

“Have the monsters finally revealed their true colors…!?”  

The knights, naturally, misunderstood the situation.  

Thinking they were under attack, their hands moved to their sword hilts…  

“Write ‘Glory to the Great Teonar’ on the ground in Hangul. Right now.”  

“Understood!!!”  

“…Huh?”  

Their misunderstanding didn’t last long.  

The orc, pale as a sheet, immediately sat on the ground and began scratching at the dirt.  

‘If you can’t write it, you’ll die by my hands, not Lucia’s.’  

‘Damn it, wasn’t this something only Lucia did!?’  

Faced with a faint but undeniable killing intent, the orc moved its thick fingers even faster…  

Soon, letters began forming on the ground.  

Consonants, vowels, and final consonants coming together.  

A script with an undeniably structured system.  

It was Hangul.  

“A-An orc is writing!?”  

“This is absurd!!!”  

The knights were utterly shocked.  

Orcs creatures known as the epitome of brute stupidity.  

The idea that they could write was enough to make anyone fall over in disbelief.  

Some even pinched their cheeks, thinking they might be dreaming.  

“My goodness. So this is Hangul?”  

‘It’s definitely far simpler and less refined than runes… but it’s certainly easy.’  

Even Seras was stunned, which said everything.  

But the real shock was still far from over.  

“Yes. This is the official script of the Millenia Federation. Every citizen of Millenia can read and write it.”  

“…Every citizen? No, even if it’s a small country, there must be at least a few thousand people. How could all of them be literate?”  

“Small country? Our population easily exceeds five hundred thousand. We’ve gathered various races from all over the world.”

“……F-F-Five hundred thousand!?”  

Seras’ eyes widened in shock.  

She hadn’t expected such a staggering population number to come up.  

“That’s impossible,” she muttered unconsciously.  

“This can’t be real!!”  

“My lord personally conducted the investigation.  

Doubting that is… quite offensive.”  

“Hiiik!! N-No, that’s not what I meant… It just doesn’t make sense!!”  

“Why not? Choose your words carefully.”  

Aurelia was clearly irritated.  

Daring to question her lord’s words?  

For a moment, she considered turning these lowly creatures into fertilizer…  

“It’s the food! The food supply!!”  

“…What?”  

“Orcs and other non-human races eat several times more than humans!  

There’s no way you have enough food to sustain such a population!!”  

“Aha.”  

Her anger faded almost instantly.  

Instead, a smile returned to her lips.  

‘Finally, something in my area of expertise.’  

“I see. You’re forgiven.  

Even my lord predicted that humans would find it hard to believe.”  

Then, she casually pointed in a direction.  

Their destination was nearby.  

“I’ll give you a simple tour of our facilities.  

Once you see them, you’ll shed tears of awe at my lord’s greatness.”  

“Facilities? What do you mean…..”  

“We’ve arrived. Everyone, disembark.”  

With a graceful movement, she hopped lightly off the carriage.  

Then, she strode toward a particular building,  

as if she were guiding the humans.  

Seras and the knights had no choice but to follow.  

And when they finally saw it…  

“What… is this?”  

“What the hell? Are those iron barrels for orcs?”  

“…Aurelia, what exactly are these? They look incredibly dangerous.”  

And then, the humans heard her soft chuckle.  

“Fufu. You see these?”

“A device that creates fertilizer from thin air. A miraculous machine, invented by our great lord.”  

According to Teo, even compared to Hangul, this was the greatest chemical invention in all of human history.