Chương 74: Map

Adolin studied the map spread on the table. The map displayed a single continent that was shaped like an hourglass with broad northern and southern landmasses connected by a narrow central bottleneck. The Empire he was currently in occupied the southern part of the continent and bordered four neighboring kingdoms. Of them, the Kingdom of Relon was the largest, nearly rivaling the Empire in size.

The other three were smaller: the Kingdom of Auslirin, the Kingdom of Ruian, and a third whose name was unreadable due to damage on the map. There were three more kingdoms on the continent, though none bordered the Empire. They were located in the southeastern part of the continent. To the northwest of the Empire lay the Death Desert. A small portion of it fell within the Empire's borders, while the rest belonged to the corrupted. A significant portion of the Empire's northern border was marked in black.

Both the Empire and the Kingdom of Relon shared borders with the corrupted lands. The northern half of the continent was filled with question marks and walls of text. Adolin couldn't make sense of most of it. The corruption had spread through that region as well. The only name he managed to read was the Vilum Dynasty.

The Count continued, "Before the corruption appeared in our world," he said, pointing toward the central part of the continent, "a great Empire occupied the heart of the continent for at least a few centuries. My guess is that the organization is connected to it—or at least to some of the old fossils who have survived through the ages." Adolin wasn't surprised about the old fossils, there were quite a few of them in his old world.

There were a lot of different ways one could extend their life, from magic to divine intervention. But for one to survive for centuries, that wasn't something regular magic could accomplish. That could be related to dark magic, or divine magic. And using dark magic to extend your life usually required other lives.

"A great Empire?" Adolin asked. The Count was talkative, so it wouldn't hurt to use the situation to learn as much as he could. And history was something he had taken a great interest in during his younger years—which mostly meant tales of heroes. The Count nodded.

"The name had been lost to history, but there are a lot of names scholars use nowadays. I just refer to it as the Empire. After the invasion of the corrupted, and the defeat of the Empire, what remained of it, fled and founded the Mithian Empire." Adolin slowly nodded.

"From the old texts connected to the old Empire that we have recovered. We found information about an organization that had existed since the Empire's establishment, one that worked directly for the first Emperor." He took a deep breath and continued, "Now, you might be asking yourself, isn't that too little to go on and make a fictional organization based on texts from almost ancient times?" He chuckled. Adolin didn't think of anything of the sort, he was just waiting for new information.

But based on that, he concluded that the Count had been called delusional for his discovery, and by more than a few people. The Count continued, "Between the destruction of the Empire and the nobles fleeing south, something happened that turned the organization against humans, or at least against the Mithian Empire and the Kingdom of Relon."

"Why do you think that?" Adolin asked. History was interesting, and he was curious about the history of the world he found himself in. Particularly, the history that was influencing the present. As it seemed this one was doing. The Count went silent for a few moments before he shook his head.

"I can't talk about it. At least not now." Adolin just tilted his head. Why mention it if he didn't want to talk about it?

"It would just paint a target on your back, as it did with me," the Count said.

"And knowing it won't change anything other than making you some new powerful enemies." This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it Adolin stared at the Count, then at Eduard.

"I'm pretty sure you've been trying to make me new enemies." The Count chuckled slightly.

"That would be my... son. But there is nothing to worry about, even if you get caught up in this. As long as you don't know more than you should, you will be treated as nothing more than a common soldier. And they do not risk exposing themselves for common soldiers." Adolin just shrugged. He wanted to learn more about the organization, but didn't want to press the Count right now, since there was a lot more he could learn. Like about the northern part of the continent, and the question marks all over the map.

He stood up slightly and pointed toward the northern part of the continent.

"What's that?" The Count studied the map for a moment.

"That's the northern part of the continent." Adolin stared at him. No shit. The Count continued, "After the destruction of the Empire and the corrupted gaining control over the central part, communication and trade with the northern part was cut off. No one since has managed to get a letter or any kind of communication from them."

"Not even mana communication?" Adolin said. Communication through mana was the best way to send messages over long distances. The most efficient way. The Count shook his head.

"Maybe in the past, in the years after the Empire. But ever since, there has been no communication. Merchants tried to open up sea routes, but none of them ever returned. And every surviving document about that part of the continent has been destroyed. Most of them anyway, the last one burned in a fire that had somehow started in the Emperor's personal library." He said that with a hint of disdain.

"You think the organization is behind this as well?" Adolin asked. The Count just nodded. There was a lot of information Adolin needed to digest. From the organization to the northern part of the continent, and everything else. That part did make him feel like the decade without his party was possible. He was certain that at least half of them would be stuck there. Well, it was more like he hoped they would be stuck there. And everything pointed toward their eventual reunion in the central part of the continent.

Was that the plan of the goddess? For them to deal with the corruption that plagued the world before their reunion? He couldn't blame the goddess for this one. Every choice he had made ever since he came to the new world had led him here. He could have always opted out and taken a different path, but he didn't. So, for the first time, he really couldn't blame the divine. And it wasn't like he wasn't curious about the corrupted. There was also the issue with the church, but he didn't care about the church.

There wasn't really anything they could do to him... probably? If he continued at the pace he was leveling, in a year or less, he would be close to recovering his old strength. Well, it depended on whether the blessing made leveling any more difficult. If it did, he wasn't sure how much it would affect him. The Count continued talking about the northern part of the continent.

Adolin learned that the last remaining written document about the northern part mentioned the Vilum Dynasty, which had ruled most of the northern part for centuries, even before the corruption had appeared. The same document had been burned a couple of years ago during the fire in the Emperor's library. They also mentioned a few other events that the Count suspected the organization was behind. The oldest event he had managed to trace back was a hundred years after the corrupted arrived.

Adolin mostly listened and wondered why they were revealing that much information to him. It wasn't like he didn't have any theories, but still. There were a lot of other ways to better their relationship with him, starting with less deceit and more mana potions. Also, gold, he would never say no to gold. He was still mad at Eduard, but he decided to let go of it for the time being. The time to get back at him would come... and the innkeeper.

He'd almost forgotten why he came inside, and that he had locked the door. He released the spell on the door, and a knight barged in, scanning the room. Eduard glanced at the knight, silently dismissing him. The knight immediately left. Oops.

"So," Adolin said, leaning on the chair.

"What are your plans when the organization comes?" The Count glanced at Eduard. Eduard remained quiet for a few moments.

"Fight," he said. The Count just shook his head, while Adolin chuckled. He spent a few more minutes inside the room before Eduard, and the Count had to leave, and he joined them as well. Eduard told him some of the plans, which sounded... bad? He didn't agree with them, but since Eduard wasn't dumb, he suspected that everything the man told him was a lie. Outside the building, the estate was alive. Soldiers were running everywhere, carrying weapons, arrows, and other supplies.

The whole estate was lit by magic and hundreds of torches. The sun had already gone down. Night had come. He hadn't even noticed the passage of time while he was with the Count. Soon, Sir Tristan stopped in front of him.

"Lords," the knight said with a slight bow.

"Everyone in the estate was questioned, and no one reacted to the questions in any suspicious way." Why wasn't anything going easy for him?