ct 9: Lobbyist
ACT 9 Lobbyist
“It is confirmed that there have been 273 obelisks in Schudenberg Kingdom. We haven’t discovered the identity of the obelisks but it is certain that the mystery monsters are caused by it. They’re far stronger and aggressive than normal monsters so the surrounding villages have received considerable damage.”
“How do we deal with it?”
“The main instruction provided to the Lords of each territory is to protect the citizens and destroy the obelisks. Therefore each territory has received insignificant additional damage and the number of obelisks has decrease by 1/3rd. Yet the overall situation with the obelisks hasn’t had any large results…….”
They were in Selebrid’s royal castle. Various affairs dealing with the kingdom were reported in a serious manner. One of the contents on the list was regarding the black obelisks. The black obelisks had simultaneously appeared in various kingdoms on the same day. The problem wasn’t the black obelisks but the unidentified monsters. The even more disturbing thing was that the monsters from the obelisks resembled monsters from that region’s folklores that had been passed down.
Leviathan was also the same. The monster Leviathan was known among sailors as the ‘monster that tells the end of the world.’ Ark hadn’t understood it when he disposed of Leviathan but when recovering the goods, a black obelisk had been found underwater. The Mermaid Queen said that Leviathan had disappeared a long time ago so the obelisk was probably the reason why it resurrected. The Mermaid Queen also mentioned that the events on the continent were also occurring underwater. Anyway, these events had turned the Schudenberg Kingdom upside down.
Of course, the kingdom always had numerous monsters. But the monsters from the obelisks were different. Furthermore, the monsters over level 100 had high aggressiveness and tended to flock together to attack territories. The balance of the game had completely collapsed. Meanwhile the troops dispatched to each territory and village in the territory had destroyed the obelisk and additional damage was stopped. But not long afterwards, there was a new obelisk so it just led to a vicious cycle. Therefore public sentiment had reached a state of confusion. So an urgent meeting was called to develop a way to calm the turmoil.
“It is unnecessary to say but the people are shaking in fear. It is essential to show a firm attitude to offset that fear. His Majesty the King has declared martial law and regular troops will be sent to take control of all roads and towns.”
“Emergency martial law……”
The King stroked his beard and sighed. If he declared martial law then the entire kingdom would be prepared to fight. In other words, the areas unrelated to battle would come to a standstill. Declaring martial law would decrease the damage of the obelisks but the backlash couldn’t be ignored.
“Does this situation really require martial law?”
A nobleman asked. The person in charge of state affairs stated in a resolute voice.
“Many people don’t know this yet but the damage to the western region of Schudenberg is beyond imagination. Especially thanks to the monster called Doppelganger that can eat their victims and then change into their shape. The only way to minimize the damage is to declare martial law and use the checkpoints between each village.”
“But the damage of martial law to the economy……”
“We have to concentrate on reducing today’s damage before worrying about tomorrow’s damage.”
“I understand. I will entrust the authority to you.”
The King nodded towards the government official in charge of state affairs. Ark’s face hardened at the same time.
‘I’m screwed!’
After receiving the summoning order, he had quickly moved to Selebrid using the Letter Movement. Of course, it wasn’t because of loyalty to the King that he flew so quickly. The central subject of this meeting was the martial law. No, to be exact it was the problem of provisions when martial law was declared.
Martial Law Section 5: The borders will be blocked under martial law. With the checkpoints closed, movement between territories (see exceptions) is strictly prohibited.
The border and territory checkpoints will be closed and movement between territories prohibited! In other words, all types of trade within the kingdom would be forbidden. It was a natural measure when considering the unnatural monsters……
‘I’ve just recovered Gold Dream and now what it this?’
Ark wasn’t happy. He was the Chairman of a business with hundreds of staff (Sailors on Gold Dream, employees of the trading post, etc.) It wasn’t easy to lead a business. If there was a standstill then the business would undoubtedly suffer and receive tremendous losses. He still had to pay the monthly salary to the staff as well as rent for the warehouses. Was that all? If he missed the timing of the sale then he would lose tens of thousands of gold. The business would undoubtedly suffer a deficit. Now all trade was blocked in Schudenberg Kingdom. Ark was like a horse that had just started learning to walk only to die.
‘I haven’t even made 1 gold profit from Gold Dream yet. First it had been swallowed by a monster and I had to pay the costs of repairs and now trade if banned?’
It was to the extent that Ark thought he was cursed.
‘I didn’t realize the situation was so serious when hearing about it from Global Exos the other day……’
It wasn’t just talk any more. No, now Ark’s life was at stake. If this continued then there was no guarantee when the martial law would end. It couldn’t be simply resolved by finding the obelisks and destroying them. The reason was that…….
“What is the true identity of the obelisks?”
Somebody asked and a court magician replied.
“We still can’t determine anything about the obelisk’s identity. Our guess is that it is some kind of curse.”
“A curse?”
“That’s right. The cursed obelisk pollutes the surrounding environment and causes ‘illusions’ and ‘memories’ of the evil in this world to be amplified.”
“Illusions or memories? What do you mean?”
“The monsters don’t exist. They are a virtual image created through the excessive fear of the population. This is the part where the curse becomes tricky. In this case, the fear that the people feel are so amplified that the monsters actually become real. And this curse isn’t simply settled by destroying the object.”
“But didn’t the monsters stop appearing when the obelisk was broken?”
“It is a temporary phenomenon. The obelisk is just the vehicle for the curse. Unless the source is destroyed, the obelisks will just be reformed in the future. Well, using a strong artifact with the power of a god will completely destroy the obelisk but that isn’t a viable solution.”
“What should we do then?”
An aristocrat asked with a pain expression. Then the court magician pointed to a northern area of the continent on a map.
“From our advance reports, the source of this originated in the Sinius Principality. Schudenberg has 273 black obelisks. Bristania has a similar number but surprisingly the Sinius Principality has 700 of them. There are so many obelisks in the whole kingdom that it won’t be able to easily be resolved. And…….”
The court magician laid a memory crystal onto the table. A light was emitted from the crystal and a hologram appeared. A heavy moan emerged from the mouth of the aristocrats and the King. The image which appeared was a city immersed in darkness. It wasn’t night time. But the entire city was covered in something like a black fog. The city covered by darkness was being attacked by a huge number of monsters. The guards swung their weapons to block but the attacks were relentless. In the end, the monsters invaded the city causing flames to rise and a slaughter to occur everywhere in the city. It was a hell like scene.
“This is the current situation of the Sinius Principality. It’s only been a few days and the deformed monsters had already taken over 60% of the Sinius Principality. The areas taken by the monsters are covered in a black fog and the environment is rotting. Our studies showed us that the black fog is the root of the curse produced by the black obelisk. The problem is that the black fog is expanding and pushing close to the borders of the Schudenberg and Bristania kingdoms.”
“What the hell is going on? I’ve lived for 60 years and I’ve never seen or heard of such a thing!”
A nobleman exclaimed with a confused expression. The court magician looked at the King and seemed to ask something with his eyes. The King nodded and the court magician took a deep breath before opening his mouth.
“No, this is not the first time this happened. It occurred a long time ago but there remains a record of this phenomenon. Hundreds of years ago…..when the Dark Lord descended to earth.”
“W-what?”
The nobles burst out with surprise. Their faces were enveloped with shock. After a moment, a nobleman asked carefully.
“……D-did you say the Dark Lord?”
“That’s right.”
The court magician replied calmly.
“Are you saying that the Dark Lord has been resurrected?”
“That’s not it. If the Dark Lord was resurrected then the situation wouldn’t end here. The darkness would’ve already spread across the whole continent. Just like in the past when the continent was seized by darkness. We’ve checked and that isn’t happening. Judging from the current situation, this is just the precursor to the Dark Lord’s resurrection. In other words, someone is trying to revive the Dark Lord.”
Fear appeared in the eyes of the nobility. None of the nobility here had experienced the Dark Century. Yet the people of the continent grew up hearing about the Dark Century. The Dark Lord was like an existence of fear to them. After he finished all that he had to say, the court magician stepped back. Then the King opened his mouth again.
“Now you’ve