RGS Vol 8 Part 18

Right and wrong, good and bad. It was something Ashler had thought would be obvious to anyone. He believed that people generally had a sense of conscience that would warn them, even without education, when something was wrong. Surely, they would know, ‘Oh? This isn’t right?’ This was why, at first, Asher had been skeptical of Abel’s suggestion.

‘They regard the wizard as a god, so they might be mistaken. They might have believed that his wrongdoings are actually good deeds.’

There’s no way that could be true. With doubts, Ashler began asking the people about the good things the wizard had done. Those eager to praise the wizard couldn’t wait to speak up immediately, and one by one, they began to talk. The paper which usually remained empty due to the lack of responses each day, quickly filled up, and it wasn’t enough to contain the endless stream of words from those clamoring to speak.

Within just half a day of investigation, Ashler realized that what he had been searching for was right there among the words of these people. Snapping out of his deep thoughts, Ashler handed the paper he had written on to the other three commanders who were waiting for his explanation.

“These are the things I’ve learned about the wizard today.”

“What? You found this many faults with him? The people actually told you these things?”

Roster, who was the most frustrated, was the first to snatch the paper in shock. Along with the other two, he quickly scanned and read the first sentence with his eyes. However, it began in a completely unexpected way.

‘The good deeds the wizard has done for the people of the plains.’

Just reading the title, the three of them immediately looked up.

“This isn’t what His Majesty ordered us to do, is it?”

Clara pointed out, but Ashler motioned for them to keep reading. The three of them reluctantly continued reading Ashler’s neat handwriting. Yet the beginning was still filled with praise for the wizard, which made them frown. Just as they were about to give up, they came across a particular sentence.

‘Thanks to the wizard’s miraculous magic, people here have been able to continue having children. The wizard personally uses his magic on the young girls who are about to become adults to make them capable of bearing children.’

Make them capable of bearing children?

Everyone reading this felt that something was off. As they read further, another explanation followed below.

‘The girls take turns attending to the wizard. This is a method the wizard devised for the good of the village. Because of the power of the evil dragon from the Ice Mountain, the women here are vulnerable to the cold. Thus, the wizard personally examines each girl, allowing them to experience his energy from a young age to build their resistance. Then, once the girl grows up, he sends them back home. How fortunate we are!’

In an instant, chills ran down the spines of the three commanders as they read. When they raised their eyes in disbelief, Ashler pointed to the paper with a blank expression.

“Those who spoke of it were all moved to tears, expressing their gratitude that their daughters had received the wizard’s blessing.”

“Surely… surely the way the wizard bestows his blessing isn’t what I’m thinking it is, right?”

Clara asked with horrified eyes, but then immediately fell silent. The other person nodded in response.

“Yes. But even if we consider that the wizard really was treating the children as the villagers believe, there’s something else…”

“There’s no way it’s treatment! Do they really believe this absurdity is right? Are these people insane?”

Roster, overwhelmed with anger, interrupted and began breathing heavily. However, Ashler remained calm.

“These people aren’t insane. Look at the other aspects. All the grain and food produced in the plains belong to the wizard. They store everything in a communal warehouse, and it’s the wizard who decides each month how much everyone gets. Those who receive the most are usually the parents who sent their daughters to serve the wizard. It’s not just food. Even marriages are decided by the wizard, and they can only marry the person the wizard chooses for them. The bandits we encountered were those who rejected these arrangements. Do you know what’s most interesting? The people are thankful that the wizard ‘disposes of’ those who don’t work properly each year, as if they were mere trash.”

Those who don’t work properly?

The answer to the question that arose in their minds came right away.

“The elderly, who are too old and weak.”

A strange silence fell over them. An indescribable chill settled heavily upon them.

“Did anyone see any elderly people while we were walking around the village?”

No one answered the question. They had simply assumed that the elderly were inside their homes.

“When winter arrives and food is scarce, the weak and unproductive elderly are driven up to the Ice Mountain on the wizard’s orders. Thanks to the wise wizard’s decisions, the village survives these crises. But here’s the thing—despite the Ice Mountain having melted and a path opening to the outside, allowing them to get what they need, they still dealt with the elderly in this way every year. People even joke about how the wizard’s wisdom allows them to easily deal with those who are useless. And the most shocking part? The elderly walk into the Ice Mountain on their own without even thinking of going to another world.”

This was a place where insanity was accepted as normal.

“What seems like madness to us is seen as just and natural by them. That’s why we couldn’t find any fault with the wizard. They genuinely don’t know that the wizard is doing anything wrong.”

Ashler looked around at the others, who were speechless with shock, and then stated his conclusion.

“Anything becomes righteous when it’s for their wizard who is revered like a god.”

⊹˚. ♡.𖥔 ݁ ˖ ⊹˚. ♡.𖥔 ݁ ˖

“Of course, as expected, th-the villagers didn’t say a word against the wizard.”

The village chief knelt on the cold ground outside the house, reporting loudly enough for the wizard inside to hear.

“Even though the emperor’s men searched the entire village for days to find any fault with the wizard, they found nothing. They even tried asking ridiculous questions with the intention of tarnishing the wizard’s reputation, but no one wavered. In the end, they gave up and stopped trying to find any fault with the wizard. They had no choice. After all, how could they find anything wrong with someone as great as the wizard…”

“Enough.”

The wizard cut him off and added gently.

“After spending a few days as the village chief, you’re starting to speak as if you’re really their representative.”

Startled, the village chief lifted his tense face and looked at the closed door.

“W-Wizard, no, that’s not it. I never wanted this position. And to be the village’s, r-representative, no, never. I would never betray you.”

“Of course, you wouldn’t betray me. You couldn’t even if you wanted to. Now go.”

Although the wizard said nothing further, the village chief fled with a face pale as a ghost. As the desperate sound of his running footsteps faded, the wizard, with an expressionless face, turned his gaze to the window. From this new house, just like the one he used to live in, he could see Ice Mountain looming under the dark night sky like a monstrous figure.

The Ice Mountain, which had once surrounded the plains on all sides, had now been half-melted, yet the fog seemed to stretch over the mountain, reaching as far as the village.

Is it making one last desperate struggle?

If so, that would mean it might soon disappear entirely, but the wizard couldn’t be certain. For hundreds of years, the Ice Mountain had imprisoned him here.

What if, despite overcoming this time with the hope that it would be the last, it still wouldn’t disappear?

If he had to wait for another few hundred years, he could do it. He was willing to wait even thousands of years if necessary. But the wizard knew he didn’t have much time left. Knowing this had driven him to despair. But then, as if by a miracle, the mountain began to melt, and an emperor with the strong power of a dragon appeared. The previous kings had only wielded small, insignificant magic, so even if this emperor’s power was strong, it likely wasn’t anything extraordinary. In that sense, the emperor was perfect.

He wasn’t too weak, but neither was he stronger than him. Hope had finally emerged. The thought of losing the hope he’d clung to since the mountain first started melting 12 years ago was unbearable. If Ice Mountain was making its last desperate stand, he would have no choice but to respond accordingly.

He had successfully manipulated the lord into bringing the right person. The emperor, who indeed possessed the power of the dragon, had eyes like a snake—eyes the wizard was familiar with. Seeing him in person, the wizard realized he was even more suitable than expected. Those yellow eyes, devoid of any power.

His Regas had once said that it might be a sign of potential, the possibility to use any kind of power. The Regas words were correct. The emperor was an empty vessel. All that remained was to fill that vessel with one thing and send him up to the Ice Mountain. Then the mountain would melt completely and disappear.

But now, when the moment the wizard had longed for was within reach, the emperor was causing trouble.

Wasn’t his name Karas?

Perhaps angered by his inability to wield any power in this land, he was acting childishly, throwing a tantrum. The wizard hadn’t seen even a trace of him for days. They said he was holed up in his house, spending all day in bed with that beautiful Regas. The wizard had already heard rumors. He knew that to the emperor, the Regas was nothing more than a sexual plaything.

The one conversation he had with the Regas left him with the impression that the Regas was somewhat naïve, so all he likely did was accommodate the emperor’s personality and satisfy him with his sexual desires.

He was almost there. The person he needed was finally in his grasp, but he couldn’t put him to use. After waiting for hundreds of years, his patience seemed to be wearing thin at the very last stage, and his unsettling anxiety was beginning to creep in.

Whether the Emperor was clever or foolish, if he kept stirring up the village in such a manner, it was certain that something troublesome would arise. It needed to be stopped at this point.

How could he further use the most anxious lord?

The wizard thought of another person who would be easy to manipulate.

Yes, the Regas.

“W-Wizard, I’ve finished washing.”

At the sound of a child’s voice, the wizard turned his eyes. A small girl, her eyes swollen from crying and fear, was staring at him. The wizard gently ordered her.

“There’s no need to attend to me any further today, so go back to your room.”

However, his eyes, which turned towards the window, were as cold as ice, devoid of any emotion.

⊹˚. ♡.𖥔 ݁ ˖ ⊹˚. ♡.𖥔 ݁ ˖

“The prince is still asleep.”

This was something they had heard repeatedly since arriving here. The four commanders had been waiting since morning to report what Ashler had discovered, but all they got in return was Abel’s apologetic face.

“He must be very tired.”

Though Abel innocently offered an explanation, the adults couldn’t help but think of one reason for such exhaustion.

Ahem.

Someone cleared their throat loudly, and everyone turned their eyes away. Abel, misunderstanding their avoidance, asked with concern.

“Ah, is it because of the bad things the wizard did? Are they really that bad?”

Clara nodded in agreement, but the other three people found Abel’s question strange. It was as if he wasn’t asking whether they had found anything bad about the wizard, but rather, he was already certain that he had done something wrong.

Could it be that he already knew something about the wizard?

They grew curious, but Clara was already handing Ashler’s documents over to Abel.

“Lord Abel, please take a look at this. The wizard is truly an evil man.”

Abel, seemingly at a loss for words, simply opened and closed his mouth a few times, then looked down at the papers again as if to confirm what he had read.

“Do the people really believe that all of this is right?”

“Yes, they do.”

Ashler replied, casting a glance toward Karas’ room.

“We can only hope that His Majesty will immediately see this and punish the wizard accordingly.”

“He won’t do anything.”

At Abel’s disheartened voice, Ashler turned back to him with a surprised expression.

‘Pardon?’

What does that mean?

When he questioned with his gaze, Abel sighed and raised his eyes.

“It seems he has no intention of changing this place or punishing the wizard for his wrongdoings.”

The commanders exchanged glances with bewildered eyes.

Then why did he order us to find the wizard’s faults in the first place?

At that moment, Ashler recalled something Abel had said.

‘I think he’s trying to find something wrong with the wizard for my sake.’

Was the emperor simply trying to confirm to Abel that the wizard was indeed a bad person?

So that whatever he does, it can be justified?

Ashler suddenly realized that Karas’ original goal wasn’t to destroy the Ice Mountain but something else. However, there was no time to ask Abel further questions. With the sound of heavy, thudding footsteps, the agitated lord burst into the room.

“His Majesty, please, allow me to meet with His Majesty!”