The Union and the Empire
A single piece of information flew into the royal capital of the Kingdom of Barkat.
"There's a mana stone lode in the Philerium Mountains?"
"Yes, I saw it clearly with my own two eyes! And here is the proof!"
The Philerium Mountains were crawling with monsters and dangerously inhospitable, but mercenary bands seeking profit would sometimes venture there to hunt.
One such mercenary presented a mana stone he claimed to have mined himself, and the news of a major mana-stone vein soon reached the kingdom's crown prince, Pablo.
"I will go there myself."
"But, Your Highness—"
"I need to confirm whether it's true or not. I'm the only one who can explore the Philerium Mountains without trouble."
"A guard escort—"
"Annoying. The more people we bring, the more monsters will come running."
Pablo took the mercenary who first discovered the vein as his guide and secretly headed for Philerium.
"This is the place."
"A cave?"
"Yes. If you follow the path straight in, you'll find a massive cavern. The mana stone is below it."
"Monsters?"
"There are many, but in front of Your Highness, they are—"
"The mana stone is real, isn't it?"
"Who would dare lie before Your Highness?"
The cave was long. The sloping path led endlessly downward.
"When does this cavern show up?"
"We still have to go deeper."
"This deep?"
"Which is why it hasn't been discovered until now, isn't it?"
Bats fluttered around them. Kobolds living in the cave brandished rusty blades at the intruder, but their necks were severed before they could approach.
"Why did you come this far in?"
"We heard there was a basilisk here…"
—KWOAAAAR—
A monstrous roar shook the cave. The source of the heavy thundering vibrations—appearing the moment it was mentioned—was the basilisk.
"…So it really was here."
The enormous basilisk exhaled. Its petrifying breath, freezing everything solid, was terror itself.
Pablo swung his greatsword, cleaving through the breath as he charged. He drove the blade into the basilisk's maw.
—KWOAAAAAAR—
The beast thrashed. Its tail slammed against the cave walls. Its two forelimbs came crashing down on Pablo in succession.
"Damn it…"
The fight grew more intense.
The basilisk's head was eventually severed by Pablo's greatsword, but its rampage collapsed half the cave.
Pablo spat out the bits of stone that had gotten into his mouth.
"Is it dead?"
His guide—the mercenary—was nowhere to be seen. Pablo hesitated a moment. Should he return, or go on?
"I came far enough to kill a basilisk—I may as well see this through."
Hungry, he chewed on a piece of the basilisk's raw flesh. It was tough and reeked. He spat it out in disgust.
He continued downward for an entire day.
—KWA-KWA-KWA-KWA—
Then he heard the sound of a magic tool digging through earth. Through the cracks, he sensed the vast mana emanating from the mana stone.
That was the last memory of Pablo Barkat.
*** * ***
When he opened his eyes, his body wouldn't move. His mana, too, felt unnaturally blocked by something.
"Awake now, Mr. Royal Ant?"
"…A dog of the Empire?"
He shouted on instinct.
A mask—the kind worn at a ballroom—hovered in his sight. A bright smile curved beneath it.
It was the spirit-caller who had blocked his attack. The woman who had summoned a high-rank water spirit to defend herself.
"So you were dogs of the Empire all along?"
Pablo gnashed his teeth.
The Empire was arrogant and pursued might through tyranny. They called the northern barbarians savages; likewise, they disparaged the southern micro-states as ants.
They called the Union an anthill, and mocked Barkat as the "royal ant."
"You filthy bastards…!"
"Filthy? You attacked first."
"Nonsense! The man behind you threw the first punch!"
The man behind her nodded.
"He did."
"Then I suppose that's what happened."
"What the—"
"Still, it was you who stopped the people trying to leave peacefully. You won't deny that, will you?"
"I should never have tried to talk with filthy imperials! I should've cut your throats the moment I saw you!"
"Do ants always lust after what belongs to others?"
"It's mine!"
Pablo roared.
"A Barkat subject discovered it first, and I came here! If it's not mine, whose is it?"
"The Empire's."
"Shut up!"
"Did you mine it? Did you leave any mark proving you discovered it first? No? Meanwhile, we are already mining it."
"Shut your mouth, disgusting imperials! Philerium belongs to Barkat, and the mine belongs to the Southern Union!"
"You're impossible to talk to. You're so shameless it's almost admirable."
"Makes sense. He's exactly like Louise Verft if you just swap the gender."
"Wow. That comparison feels painfully accurate."
"You bastards! You know who I am—!"
"That's precisely why you're still alive."
Ernan's hand lifted his chin.
"Philerium is Imperial territory, and these precious mana stones have no reason to end up in the hands of ants. If you weren't the royal ant, you'd already be dead."
"Shut up!"
"And the mana stones are already flowing into the Empire's embrace."
Pablo turned his head. He screamed when he saw masked workers striking the rock with pickaxes, the pure violet mana stones being unearthed one after another.
"My—my mana stones!"
"I told you, they're not yours."
"Stop! Stop at once!"
At his killing-intent-laced roar, the elves flinched. Berze strode over, grabbed Pablo's head, and yanked.
"GRAAAAH!"
His upper body came up out of the soil. Clumps of dirt fell away.
"Bring me another set of cuffs. One isn't enough to restrain this one."
"Yes, sir."
Logar took out another pair. They locked them onto Pablo's legs. The magic restraints expanded to fit his ankles.
Once Berze released his head, Ernan buried him into the earth again.
"Continue."
At her signal, the elves resumed mining.
"You think you'll get away with this?!"
"Oh, please. Ants getting angry are still just ants. You, on the other hand—how about kneeling before the glorious Empire and begging for mercy? Who knows? You might even get a mana-stone scrap."
"I am Pablo Barkat!"
"I am Louise Verft."
"…?"
"…"
"…You're not a dwarf!"
"That's assuming you are actually Pablo Barkat."
"How dare you mock me! I am truly Pablo Barkat!"
"You're noisy."
Pablo thrashed violently. Ernan formed a droplet of water and pushed it into his mouth.
Berze, sitting on a rock a short distance away, watched the scene and snorted with amusement.
Simply keeping Pablo restrained was never going to be a proper solution.
There were plenty of ores. But miners were few, and among them, only one was truly skilled.
Pablo was just one man—but behind him stood a kingdom and the Union.
You could hold him for a day or two, but eventually the kingdom would sense something was wrong and come searching for him.
Of course, because he was a Star, the grace period would be quite long—but even so, they couldn't mine all the ore before then.
In the end, there were only three options:
Give up at the right moment and let him go.
Keep him restrained until the absolute, bitter end.
The latter was kidnapping. A Demon King kidnapping a prince.
But that was the worst possible move.
Calling him a gender-swapped Louise Verft wasn't just about attitude.
It was about his reputation—his background.
To the Kingdom of Barkat and the Southern Union, Pablo Barkat was the vanguard and spiritual pillar standing against the Empire, that ravenous beast.
To kidnap such a prince meant declaring war on the entire Southern Union.
It went beyond a symbolic act—once they crossed that line, they could never go back until everything was settled in blood.
But if you thought about it, there was no need to cling so desperately to mana stones.
Mana stones were useful, and money mattered, but it wasn't worth ruining the grand design by letting priorities flip.
So then…
They would expand the stage. Enrage the enemy. Escalate the scale of war.
They would compromise on some of the mana stones in exchange for far more magical points.
By the way…
They were playing with him far better than expected.
A natural talent, perhaps.
At Ernan's mischievous smile, Berze's lips curved upward.
***
Pablo wept tears of blood.
Being defeated and toyed with by imperials filled him with humiliation.
Watching the kingdom's resources be plundered by imperial dogs made his blood boil.
I will have my revenge.
But the imperial bastards were not weak. He had been caught off guard, yes, but even without that, there was no guarantee he could defeat them.
After a single loss—and with the shackles cutting off his aura—he felt endlessly small.
And he was not alone.
They're probably just the advance party. More imperials will come.
He had to escape and bring his own forces before that happened.
Fortunately, after mocking him to their heart's content, the imperial dogs grew lax with their surveillance.
Pablo carefully circulated his aura.
The cuffs on his wrists and the shackles on his ankles severed the flow again and again. Not only aura—even the strength of his physical body was slowly being drained.
Even so, he grit his teeth.
Slowly, painstakingly, he gathered aura.
It felt as though his veins were ripping open. No—it was ripping. His muscles ruptured. He struggled to burst the dam they had put in place.
And finally—
Tok—
His hands and feet were free.
Aura surged through his opened meridians. His wounded limbs screamed, but he did not let out a single groan.
Not yet.
Strength slowly returned to his body. But he remained still, watching the dogs' movements.
Laughter echoed as they mined mana stones.
That will be your last laugh. I swear it…
He waited, watching them carefully, counting the hours until night. Every night, the imperials stopped mining and fell into deep sleep.
The disrespect enraged him further—but to him, it was a golden opportunity.
When night fell, the imperial dogs slipped into their magic tents.
At last, Pablo crawled out.
He shot a glare at the tents, then sprinted toward the tunnel he had come from.
He didn't know.
Eyes were watching him.
"Will he fall for it? I feel like my acting was a little sloppy."
"He'll fall for it. He's just a gender-swapped Louise Verft."
"Even the head?"
"Almost identical in every way."
"Then he'll return with the kingdom's army?"
"Most likely. At most, a week."
"So we can only mine for a week."
"Grrr… damn bastard. Dog-shit bastard."
Realizing they would only be able to carry away a portion of the massive mana-stone deposit, Logar shed tears of blood and hurled curses.
"Next time I see him, I'll blast him with mana-cannon fire…! I'll level him with a barrage so thorough not even bone dust remains…!"
Berze ignored him.
"But won't it look strange if we disappear?"
"No. The Empire will likely send troops."
"You've already made your move, haven't you?"
"Not me."
Jayson 's plan had succeeded: the prince of Barkat had come to this place. Yet not a single imperial soldier had appeared.
Could it be that Jayson had made no moves against the Empire?
Impossible.
There were two possibilities.
Either the Empire had solid evidence and was taking time to organize a proper army—
Or the reconnaissance unit had already come and gone, and a real army was gathering.
Soon, imperial troops would swarm in.
And they would run straight into Barkat's forces.
Right here.
The moment Pablo—already seething with hostility—faced imperial soldiers, he would attack without hesitation.
And that moment would be the spark that ignited war.
In the original timeline, the war ended instantly.
The Empire had crushed the mine with overwhelming force and never let it go.
He never understood how—but now he did.
When Pablo Barkat hesitated like this, they must have deployed a real army to seize the position first.
That boldness and decisiveness…
They were counting on it again.
But just in case…
Perhaps it was worth playing one more trick.
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