When the Saintess Arrives, No King Exist

"Are you going with me to see Baleri?"

"No." Anrejock turned over in bed.

This once-proud genius of Falan was now unshaven, lying on the soft bed of a hotel, holding a newly published dictionary from the Holy Alliance.

The previous events had been quite a blow to this talented person from Falan.

Not only had he seen the terrifying machines at the expo, but he also understood their underlying potential.

Anrejock was not narrow-minded. After broadening his knowledge and horizons, he immediately conducted research on the ether clock and the Ethereal Tower.

Realizing the inevitable tie between the Ethereal Tower and the Holy Alliance, Anrejock knew nothing could prevent the rise of the Holy Alliance.

It wasn’t because of the Ethereal Tower; such treasures naturally belonged to the strong.

The problem was, the Holy Alliance was that strong entity.

A child carrying a fortune through a crowded market might be in danger, but if a three-meter-tall mechanical monk in a powered suit carrying the fortune, no one would dare to be greedy.

In peaceful confrontation, the Holy Alliance, with the support of the ry Court Barracks, is equivalent to the Earthly Divine Domain on this land.

In military confrontation, based on the current power balance of the empires, at best it’ll be a protracted conflict.

When a protracted conflict drags on, things are bound to break.

The Holy Alliance has only been rising for thirteen years; the internal political power structure has not solidified yet, so let things break if they must.

But what about Falan? Or Norn? Do they still have the resolve, or even the capacity?

So in the end, there was a seventy to eighty percent chance the Holy Alliance would win this round, even if Anrejock couldn’t accept it.

But he still had to consider a major question:

In the future, including Fat Cow Castle, what place should the northern Norn Region occupy?

This is why Anrejock had been reading Holy Alliance books lately, seeking a path of salvation for Fat Cow Castle.

Seeing Anrejock like this, Alexei could understand, but he thought Anrejock would recover soon.

His little cousin wasn’t that fragile.

Alexei stepped out, walked down the hotel stairs to the first floor, then took the rented carriage outside and headed towards the suburbs.

Not far from the platform was a rundown little tavern, the greasy tables repeatedly wiped by the owner with a greasy cloth, getting more and more oily.

But Alexei didn’t mind and skillfully opened the tavern door, raising his hand to greet the owner.

"Boss."

The owner saw him and immediately shouted to the back kitchen: "One sheep’s head, a portion of sheep bone soup, two purple apples, and a cup of dragon blood pepper!"

No need to order more; the owner was already familiar with Alexei’s combo meal.

An old acquaintance was already seated at their usual spot, wearing simple coarse clothes, holding a newspaper, chuckling at the joke illustrations.

"Baleri, you’re here early?"

"It’s close to my house."

This conversation had occurred countless times over the past three years.

This was their most frequented joint back in the day, young students without much money, here to eat leftover sheep’s heads.

Sheep heads were rarely eaten, so they were particularly cheap.

Besides, this "Old Soldier’s Sheep Head" offered a discount for military academy students who came for sheep’s head!

Though Alexei did have money, he preferred to spend it on arming more soldiers, opening more trade routes, and building more workshops, so he saved wherever he could.

A group of military academy officers gathered in this little tavern for various reasons.

Every rest week, they had to meet here, almost turning it into their regular canteen.

"Who’s still at the ry Court Barracks?"

"The juniors are still in training, probably too busy to come out for a drink."

"Training?" Alexei looked puzzled. "Didn’t they train already? Why are they still training?"

"It’s not them training; they are training the next batch of juniors."

Only then did Alexei realize, they once trained their juniors as seniors, and now those juniors had become seniors themselves.

He had a feeling he couldn’t quite describe, so he quietly poured himself a glass of gin.

"Where did Endorix go?"

"He went to a battle regiment at Black Snake Bay, stationed at the Falan border."

"And Savindel?"

"He went to the Black Champion Army; he was originally recommended by them, returning to his old unit with honor."

The two chatted for a while, with many old friends from the Saint Danji Military Academy having gone their separate ways.

Alexei suddenly felt that perhaps when he had said goodbye to his friends at the school gate, for many, it was the last time they would meet in this life.

"What about Pulpodors?"

"He went home to get married and might seek a military position in the local defense regiment."

"Bastard, getting married so early."

Raising his glass, Baleri gestured in the direction of the Holy Seat Mansion: "His eminence is getting married too, to four Saintesses."

Aleksei remained silent, for even the Pope’s marriages were usually secretive, not out in the open like this, and especially to marry four at once was unprecedented.

Yet the people of the Holy Alliance seemed to consider it a common event, even looking forward to it with great excitement and joy.

Except for some old scholars from Kasha County and stubborn farmers from rural areas who might grumble a bit, most Holy Alliance people didn’t see it as anything significant.

"What about you, Aleksei, where are you planning to go?"

"Of course, I’m heading back to Norn, back to Fat Cow Castle." Aleksei took a small cookie from the table’s complimentary offerings and tossed it into his mouth, "The Shooting Army is ready, my allies are ready too.

I’ll pretend to travel in Norn, then suddenly return to Fat Cow Castle with the Shooting Army to launch a coup, sending those old antiques sky-high using clockwork cannons one by one!"

"I wish you success, Aleksei, though you are a noble, you are a kind and good person." Valeri raised his glass to him.

"What about you, Valeri, where do you plan to go?"

Due to not having remarkable achievements, Valeri’s achievements were outstanding, but the military positions were not too favorable.

Aleksei set his sights on Valeri, not just because of their good relations.

Look, the other military academy students had secured positions and dispersed, while Valeri was still stationed at the ry Court Barracks, eagerly waiting for a position.

And if he could come to Norn, within the Shooting Army, Aleksei could at least offer him a position commanding five hundred men, equivalent to a Corps Commander in the Holy Alliance.

Before Valeri could reply, the owner came over with two large plates.

"Here are your sheep’s head and beer, enjoy."

The steaming sheep’s head sent misty vapors rising, condensing into dewdrops on the knife and fork.

But Aleksei and Valeri didn’t like using knives and forks, instead they wiped their hands with hot towels and started tearing into the food by hand.

The sheep’s head shouldn’t get cold, as it wouldn’t taste as good.

So in this sheep’s head restaurant, no matter the event, once the sheep’s head is served, it must be eaten first.

Strands of red and white muscle fibers were torn apart, with white fat exposed under the light, and the meat juices flowed down the plate.

Occasionally, they had to wipe their hands to dispel the heat from their fingertips, but they continued with pleasure.

They competitively tore apart the steamed sheep’s head before them, using hot oil to splash over the powdered dragon-blood pepper, forming semi-solid oil.

Chunks of sheep’s head meat mixed with tendons and fat were torn off, and at times, they picked up purple-skinned apples from the table for a bite.

"Slurp, slurp—"

The two were experts at eating sheep’s head, and within a minute, the sheep’s head before them revealed its bare bones.

As he gouged out the eyes and popped them into his mouth, Valeri suddenly stopped from peeling away the sheep’s head.

"Aleksei, I’m getting married."

After sucking the last piece of sheep skin into his mouth, Valeri handed a wedding invitation to Aleksei.

"Actually, I received a military position early on, but I delayed taking it due to my marriage." Valeri noted the slowing pace of Aleksei’s sheep meat consumption, "I wanted you to be my best man, but with Leanna catching a cold from swimming, the wedding got postponed, and by then you might have already left the Holy Alliance."

"Congratulations." Aleksei’s voice was muffled in the nasal cavity, his tone somewhat nonchalant.

"What kind of reaction is that? You’re acting like a little grievance-stricken wife."

Aleksei wasn’t resentful towards the sister-in-law, rather he suddenly realized—

His best friends were all in the Holy Alliance, he grew up in it, where he learned, where his teachers and his secret crush were.

The cramped castle, the chilly court, the secretive courtiers; he preferred being a commoner in the Holy Alliance.

After returning, he would surely miss this place.

"If only time could stop."

"Time won’t stop." Valeri downed his beer, "We can only keep moving forward."

Picking up a spoon, Valeri suddenly clinked his glass and began singing on his own: "Young friends, we are always too anxious like this, the sky full of stars is my home..."

This song composed by the Saint’s Grandson with lyrics by him is a classic farewell song.

"...wherever you’re going, I’ll go wherever, I don’t mind..." Aleksei joined in.

"...afterwards, we each will have, a life of miracles."

After the song ended, they exchanged smiles and slapped the table, "Boss, bring two more pints, no, make it four!"

"Alright, eight pints of beer!"

Originally intended as a meeting to recruit Valeri, it turned into a drinking party for the two, from six to eleven, leaving a mess behind and most guests gone before they finished.

"It’s time to go." Aleksei was unusually quiet.

"Goodbye!"

Standing up, Aleksei headed towards the door, feeling Valeri’s gaze lingering on his back.

As he reached the door and pushed it open, he bumped right into someone.

Looking down, it was Anorok.

"Why are you here?"

"Something happened, Aleksei!"

The sweat-drenched Anorok handed Aleksei a letter.

Picking up the letter, before reading a few lines, his face, which was flushed from drinking, turned pale instantly.

"Impossible, absolutely impossible, how could vampires attack Fat Cow Castle!"