Rebirth in a Ruined Nation! The Life of a New Strategist Starting From Now - Chapter 46

Drifting Ship Disturbance (12) – The Greedl Empire

The journey to the Empire to escort Luluria and her people proceeded smoothly.

Of course, the journey would go smoothly. Aside from the knights of the 10th Division, the knights of the 5th Division also assisted with keeping our group safe.

The 5th Division was the division in charge of guarding the Yolos Corridor.

The 5th Division, whose main job was to repel the Empire’s invasion, had mixed feelings about Luluria, who would marry an Imperial Prince.

In case his soldiers went out of control and attacked Luluria and her people, the Commander of the 5th Division declined to escort us directly.

Instead, the 5th Division temporarily halted the flow of people going to the Yolos Corridor. That was why there were no other people on the road except for our group.

“We’re almost at the Empire,” Wickharlt murmured next to me.

“Yeah, we’re almost there..”

I replied, remembering that I hadn’t been to the Empire inside in a long time.

Wickharlt stared at me with a puzzled expression.

“Roa-dono, you seem to be very calm. Have you been to the Empire before?”

Shoot. I’ve traveled to the Empire before, but only after Rudek was destroyed. There was no way that an ordinary Rudek Kingdom court official could have traveled to the Empire in the current era.

“It’s the first time I’ve been to the Empire, but I’ve read about it many times in the book, so it didn’t feel like it was my first time.”

“I see. I am once again amazed by your deep knowledge.”

It was easy to convince Wickharlt, who, for some reason, held unnaturally high admiration for me.

“I think we’re almost there,” Luluria said, poking her head out of the carriage.

Even if we told her not to poke her head out the carriage window, she wasn’t the type to listen. It was already great for us that she didn’t ask to go to the Empire on a horse like us, so Rays-sama never reprimanded her for her behavior.

“The road in this area is pretty bad, so the carriage must have shaken a lot, right?”

I asked, to which Luluria responded, “Right. The road on the southern continent is far better.”

“How is a road built in the southern continent?”

“First, we dig the land, then we put a layer of crushed stones inside it, then a layer of fine sand on top of that, and finally a layer of soil on the very top. We then compress the road before applying tar on the road’s surface to smooth it.”

“What’s tar?”

“You’ve never heard of tar? It’s a sticky, black stuff that can be used to make a variety of things.”

“Heeh…I had no idea such a thing existed. You seem to know a lot about tar.”

“Of course I do. One of Fezaris’ specialty products is tar so as a Fezaris’s princess, I should know about my own country’s specialty product.”

“Tar…hmm…If we can acquire it in the northern continent, that’s great…Wickharlt, have you ever heard of tar?”

“No, sir.”

“I see…I’ll ask Rays-sama about it later…”

“Roa, you’re interested in tar?”

“Yeah. Our kingdom is currently thinking about building a wider road.”

“That’s great news. Wider roads can attract more people, speed up the movement of goods, and even boost the economy.”

“Right, but it’s not easy to rebuild the road…plus, it seems like this thing called ‘tar’ is also hard to find…”

“What are you talking about? If you can’t get tar in your country, you can just buy it from my country.”

“Huh? Is it okay if we do that? But you’re going to marry an Imperial Prince!”

“And? Fezaris is willing to sell it to anyone as long as we make a profit. When we arrive at the Empire, I’ll write you a letter to my country’s minister, so you can start trading with my country. If you’re serious about buying tar from us, just hand that letter to a person from Fezaris at the port.”

“That will be helpful. I’m not sure if I’ll be able to trade with your country, but I’d be grateful if you could write that letter.”

“We, Fezaris, are also grateful to have found a good trading partner.”

…To think I would be able to gain a useful thing for the road rebuilding project in this kind of place. I’d tell Drew about this once we returned to Rudek. She should be able to calculate the budget needed.

While I was thinking about the road reconstruction project, the border of the Empire finally came into our view.

***

Luluria and her people would be picked up by Empire soldiers in the Gradario Fortress, an Empire’s fortress located near the Yolos Corridor.

I could see the Imperial army waiting for us outside the fortress in the distance.

“A crescent moon embroidered on a navy blue banner…”

“Roa, do you know which army has come for us?”

Rays-sama, who appeared from behind me, asked.

“I know. Isn’t that the banner of the Great Sword, General Gafor’s army?”

“You’re right. I didn’t expect Gafor to be the one to receive us… No, now that I think about it, the probability of us being received by Gafor’s army is pretty high…”

Rays-sama made a complex expression. Rays-sama has a long history with the Gafor army, so I wasn’t surprised by his behavior.

The Empire had been entangled in an intense war with the powerful Zanadefol in the north in recent years, thus their attack on Rudek wasn’t as fierce.

However, back when the Empire was focusing on invading Rudek, General Gafor was frequently in command of the Imperial army.

On the other hand, the main figure who led the Rudek army that fought off the Empire’s invasion during that time was, well, Rays-sama.

The fact that the borders have not changed to this day demonstrates the result of multiple imperial invasions. The battles, which were later known as the Great Defensive Battle of Yolos, were reported to have comprised as many as seven major battles and many more minor battles.

This series of battles established Rays-sama’s reputation as a renowned general throughout the continent. Rays-sama was formerly only known in a portion of the Rudek Kingdom and among the people of the Gorber Kingdom.

In other words, General Gafor, whom we were about to meet, was a general who had suffered many losses at the hands of Rays-sama.

We shouldn’t be afraid about being unexpectedly besieged and slain by the Empire’s army this time, because the general was here to receive Luluria and her people…probably…But I was still nervous.

It didn’t take long before we came face to face with the Imperial army.

I recognized General Gafor immediately because he carried a sword as tall as himself. 

When General Gafor saw Rays-sama, he raised his eyebrows slightly but made no further move.

Instead, it was the young man next to General Gafor who stepped forward.

“Are you General Rays? Thank you for looking after my wife and her people. I am Tsetsedra, the Greedl Empire’s Fourth Imperial Prince.”

Tsetsedra. I shivered when I heard that name.

I then looked at the carriage in which Luluria was riding.

I should have properly checked who she was going to marry.

Tsetsedra, the Fourth Imperial Prince.

According to the future that I knew, he would die in less than half a year.