The Shepherds Are Dense – Chapter 947

Chapter 946
Rebuilding the Hrasal Empire?
After Landon left, Eivass, holding Little Crow in his embrace, suddenly spoke.
“I quite like that young man.”
Although Eivass was nearly ten years younger than Landon, his words, which sounded quite mature, surprisingly didn’t feel out of place.
“Why?”
Viness felt inexplicably displeased. “Because of the compliments he paid you?”
“Because of you.”
“……What?”
Eivass’s words caused Viness to momentarily falter.
“Just kidding,” Eivass chuckled. “Actually, it’s because he has empathy, acts cautiously, and doesn’t want to deceive people. The fact that he thought of those who weren’t saved, remembered that Avalon previously didn’t readily accept Transcendent beings, and when I said ‘we need a Beyad,’ he directly stated he might not be able to help me… instead of agreeing first and then figuring out how to cope, shows that he subconsciously considered how he should complete this task.”
“Given your standing, it’s normal for him to not dare deceive you.”
Instead, Viness began to pour cold water on her junior. “This doesn’t prove he can be so cautious in other matters.”
“That’s a matter of mindset, not ability. Even so, there’s a possibility for him to adjust.”
Eivass said casually, smiling as he squeezed the warm belly of Little Crow in his embrace. “Why are you jealous of your junior? He’s a guy, my little crow.”
He could feel that Beyad was jealous because he was praising another Beyad.
“…This is the influence of the Jealousy Imprint on me,” Beyad said stubbornly.
“Hmm, I thought so.”
Eivass didn’t dwell on the topic. “But you said… ‘territory is the secret treasure, blood is the key.’ Is this a universally applicable principle of Curse Studies? Is the Hrasal Secret Treasury also derived from this? Was it also made by your Beyad family?”
“Definitely not.”
Viness replied with certainty. “That’s the imperial treasury. How could they possibly hire curse masters from the common folk to set it up? If a certain generation of Beyad went mad or was bribed, wouldn’t that be equivalent to the treasury’s keys being privately duplicated?”
“However, the principle is the same… it must also be a curse. Whether it’s a ritual, a mechanism, or a barrier, they are too easily broken. As long as there is enough time for manipulation, no matter how complex the ritual, it can be deciphered. Since the Hrasal Secret Treasury has not been broken yet, it means it can only be based on curses.”
That was certainly true, Eivass thought.
The ritual at Eagle Cape Village was like that. Eivass, who was only Third Tier at the time, could already decipher the Swamp Dweller ritual his grandfather had set up. He didn’t act, only because he didn’t know if it would cause harm to the residents of Eagle Cape Village. Even Viviane, who had no understanding of rituals, was able to damage the Shadow of Avalon ritual set up by Merlin by stealing Arondight. She didn’t even know that this “dagger” was related to the Shadow of Avalon ritual, yet she could easily disrupt someone else’s ritual.
Rituals were like that. They could allow the weak to defeat the strong, but the process was too complex and the principles too much of a black box. It was like a transmission mechanism made of many gears; if any one gear stopped or broke, it could lead to an unexpected outcome through a series of chain reactions.
“…Since it’s a curse,” Eivass began, “can you help remove it?”
“I can’t.”
The crow shook its head. “This is the biggest difference between curses and rituals. Ritualists can remove or counteract the rituals of other ritualists, but curse masters cannot remove curses cast by others. To have a universal method of deciphering, one would need light. Sufficiently strong purification power can also remove curses. But in that case, the curse itself would be completely destroyed.”
In other words, a brute force unlock…
Eivass thought, and then asked, “If the curse is used to store treasure, would this method of deciphering damage the treasure inside?”
“It would.”
Viness said with absolute certainty. “Just like the contaminated remains of Sister Sasha. Master, you would have to pray for Sister Sasha to purify the contamination herself, rather than directly soaking it in holy water. A person who has been ill for a long time cannot take strong medicine; their body wouldn’t be able to withstand it.”
But as soon as she said that, she realized what Eivass intended to do. “You want to open the Hrasal Secret Treasury?”
“Although the Hrasal Secret Treasury is occupied by Valentine… it doesn’t belong to Valentine, nor to Star Antimony. Moreover, that’s not all.”
Eivass pondered, speaking in a low voice. “Landon’s existence gave me an idea… even a Beyad living in exile can be considered a Beyad.
“So, if a Swamp Dweller was made using Hrasal royal blood, could they also be considered a true Hercules?”
Now that Valentine VII was dead, Valentine VIII was being transformed into a Child of the Moon, and the former Regent, Queen Mother Louise, had willingly fallen into being a Succubus. In a sense, the royal lineage of the Star Antimony Kingdom was already in disarray, and the regime had completely fallen.
Although the Crown Princess had the temperament to inherit the throne… her control over Star Antimony was now nearly non-existent. Even the public had lost trust in Valentine. Moreover, the Crown Princess’s desire was less about becoming monarch and more about improving the chaos in Star Antimony so that the Star Antimony people could live good lives.
As for Prince Xiardo, he had no desire to become monarch; he only wished to be a stable Alchemist.
And the other royal family members with the potential to inherit the throne had all been killed by Hong.
In this situation…
“I suddenly remembered… Yulia’s true name before she was adopted was Yulia Hercules.”
Eivass narrowed his eyes slightly. “Coincidentally, she is also an Alchemist. The Star Antimony people would like her… after all, she will also participate in the final battle.”
There was another reason for Eivass to suddenly have this thought.
Didn’t the Children of the Moon want to rebuild the Hrasal Empire? Reviving the glory of Hrasal was their rallying cry, the slogan that allowed them to cooperate across nations and factions.
So, if a true Hrasal was rebuilt on the ruins of Star Antimony… how would they choose?
Merging Star Antimony with Avalon – possessing all the Nine Great Paths heritage, geographically located within the former territory of Hrasal, able to reopen the Hrasal Secret Treasury, with subjects who were pure-blooded Hrasal people of the past, and a ruler who was as pure-blooded as could be of the Hercules line. Furthermore, the legitimacy of this ancient empire’s revival could be recognized by the Pope and allow Yulia to be crowned Empress.
This way, war and hatred would be eliminated.
The dispute between Avalon and Star Antimony would become an internal regional conflict within a single nation. The Daffodil Duchy and the Black Hawk Duchy, which had previously declared independence under the claim of “true Hrasal heritage,” might also be able to rejoin. They had severed ties with the Star Antimony Kingdom, but what did that have to do with the new Hrasal Empire?
The Iris Kingdom, which was equally wary of Star Antimony and Avalon, and had likely played a significant role in the independence of the Daffodil Duchy and the Black Hawk Duchy, would not come into conflict with the “new Hrasal.”
Thus, peace would arrive. And peace would bring prosperity, and prosperity would bring glory.
At that time, truly “reviving Hrasal” would not be difficult at all.
When a nation looks like Hrasal, sounds like Hrasal, and feels like Hrasal…
—Then it is Hrasal.
(End of Chapter)