Astartes of the Bear School

Chapter 1860, Section 1832: Behind the Civil War

Lan En rarely makes decisions for those with strong wills.

After all, a decision made from the heart deserves respect, regardless of whether it is right or wrong.

However, after a few days of contact with Tops, Lann was certain of his abilities.

He did have a firm goal, a goal that even surpassed his regard for his own life.

That goal was the desire for knowledge and magic.

The reason why 'changing one's aptitude' is so important to Tops is simply because he feels it is the only way to achieve his desired path.

Ordinary people, even Tops himself, might confuse the two in the process of pursuing them, but as an observer, Lann could tell the difference clearly.

That's why he's now shattering Tops's hopes for a rebirth.

“Talent isn’t everything, Tops.” Lann patted him on the shoulder. “Memory, processing speed, control over the power of the Radiant Stone… these are indeed key to using Radiant Stone magic.”

"But you might not believe it when I tell you, don't let my appearance fool you." Lan En raised his hand, making a gesture of showing off his biceps.

His robust physique and thick, powerful armor clearly demonstrated his exceptional skill as a warrior.

"I am actually a serious researcher and scholar. In my experience, inspiration and sensitivity to the essence behind phenomena are more 'qualities' than mere intelligence in research."

"Don't be blinded by appearances, Tops."

The bald, bearded magic apprentice looked up at Lan En and suddenly said, "Thank you."

Lan En smiled back at him.

"I...I know you're trying to comfort me. But still...thank you anyway."

Tops, whose hopes had been shattered, seemed to regain some strength from Lann's encouragement.

"This is the first time someone has told me that I might have good potential... Ha, but believe it or not, that's just how it is."

"To be honest, I did have some inspiration and ideas before. Now that it's impossible to pursue rebirth, perhaps it's time for me to face reality and try to start some research on my own."

Tops smiled wryly, but he also seemed to have regained some spirit.

Afterwards, Craig tossed all the dried Roya fruit he was holding to Qilin and ran over, asking curiously, "What's wrong with Tops? I saw him stop processing the pyroxene and go to his room to sleep. How interesting!"

Lan En briefly explained it to him, mainly about the unreliability of recreating this technology.

"Oh dear, no wonder he was so devastated!" But Craig's expression wasn't particularly serious. "But it's alright, I felt exhausted just watching Topps. Leave it to me! Let me talk to him, I'm sure he can get some rest!"

The collapse of faith might be a serious matter elsewhere, but in the Golden Dynasty, everyone lived long lives and could be reincarnated. Since the soul was immortal, there was really nothing to fear.

Life and death are big matters.

If you can't die, then nothing can really be considered a big deal.

With that, Craig straightened the thick wooden board around his neck, which resembled a shackle and symbolized the people of the Golden Tree, and walked into the room.

He seemed confident enough to persuade his friend Tops to start living a more relaxed life.

As Craig went into the room to comfort Tops, Lann stood in the courtyard looking up. Even from this angle, the towering magical buildings of the Realucalia Academy could be seen peeking out from their eaves.

He gazed at the spire of the magic academy, but his mind was preoccupied with what he had heard from Milie during the day about the history and situation of the entire Lienia.

"Lenara has been imprisoned in the academy's grand library... for over two hundred years now, hasn't she? Ha."

The Witcher murmured to himself.

Even after only half a day of conversation with Milie, Lann had already gained a great deal of new information. From this, many new inferences could be made.

The Caria royal family originally held absolute leadership in the Lienia region, but after Radagan abandoned the marriage alliance and left, the region immediately descended into civil war.

When Milier describes it, the time frame is very short, and it basically happens sequentially.

Radagan's departure caused Renara to lose her heart as a hero and queen. Realizing this, Rearucaria immediately rebelled, and a civil war broke out.

But at that time, who gave Real Lucaria the courage to start a rebellion?
When the First King was banished and Radagan became the second King's Consort, his three children with Renara had already grown up.

Lakad and Lani were not particularly famous.

However, the power of that "Shattered Star General" Ratahn, which is also the origin of the title "Shattered Star," was already revealed when he was studying!

Despite being the son of the Full Moon Queen, Rataen did not study magic in Lienia. Instead, he crossed the border into Nimgford and went to the magic town of Seria in Galid.

He didn't go there to learn brilliance magic, but rather gravity magic.

When he finished his studies, a meteorite fell from the sky and headed straight for Seria.

At that moment, Rataen stepped forward and shattered the star. Thus, the [Starshatter] was born. And after that, Rataen's gravity magic covered the entire world. From that moment on, no meteor could ever again strike the ground.

People called him 'the powerful one who sealed away the stars'.

This is just the most famous of the three siblings.

How dare Reallucaria imprison their mother? How dare they instigate a rebellion against the Carian royal family from whom they derive their lineage?
They couldn't even defeat the Full Moon Queen herself and were forced to submit, so why were Renara's three more powerful children not afraid?

But the problem is... Real Lucalia's current situation shows that they are not afraid at all!
Not only were they not afraid, but Renara's three children also genuinely had no intention of causing them any trouble!
This situation is very abnormal.

After all, although the war is over, it is not convenient for Rataen to take large-scale actions at will.

However, Lienia was still a territory under the Golden Dynasty, and with the prestigious position of Lacad [Judge] being placed under its control, Realucalia was basically unable to cope.

Furthermore, during the reign of [King Fu] Radagan, he himself could not make decisions on his own; he had to hold discussions with the demigods under the Golden Tree.

Whether they choose the path of civil administration or military force, under the Golden Dynasty, Realucalia should theoretically be no match for the three demigods from the Caria royal family. This has led to the current situation.

But the reality is: this situation, which should not have come about in the first place, has actually been in place for over two hundred years.

Lann was certain that the differences between the borderlands and other worlds were not so great as to be reflected in basic logic.

So the problem isn't with the world, it's with this issue itself!

From another perspective, the three siblings who were granted the title of demigods as relatives of the emperor, two of whom held incredibly high positions of power, were almost illogical within the system of the Golden Dynasty.

With great power in hand, he could easily deal with the rebellion launched by Real Lucaria.

But what if... their current 'high position and power' were obtained in exchange for 'not interfering in Lienia's affairs'?
By using important powers and responsibilities, the three demigods from the maternal relatives' families were each sent away separately.

This right and responsibility itself serves as a guarantee that they cannot overstep their bounds and interfere in certain matters.

After all, he already has such heavy responsibilities, and to still reach out to outsiders seems like a sign of excessive ambition and restlessness.

Even a demigod has a god and a king above him.

And now that we've come to this conclusion, the person responsible for this situation naturally comes to the fore.

—Who else but that one god and that one king could assign authority to a demigod?

Considering Queen Marika's indifferent approach to the dynasty's governance and her detached position above the entire dynasty, her primary responsibility was the issue of faith in the Golden Law.

The only person who could do that is the King of Elden, Radagan.

The moon was already high in the sky, and the sky had turned a dark, deep blue.

However, under the radiant light of the golden tree, the presence of both the moon at night and the sun during the day is far weaker than in the normal world.

At this moment, when Lan En looked up, he could at least say that 'gold and moon coexist in harmony'... right?

A dark shadow swept across the night sky strewn with golden branches, stars, and moon—it was a dragon. In Lienia dwells a dragon renowned for devouring magicians, named Smarag.

It lingered around Reyarukalia searching for magicians, but it wasn't bold enough to storm the academy and town. The people around had even grown accustomed to its presence.

After all, the magicians who are eaten are merely physically destroyed and will have to line up to return to the tree.

There's really nothing to panic about.

Lan En lowered his head again.

It was Radagan who drove away the demigods and caused Lienia to fall back into civil war.

To take it a step further, perhaps this "Royal Consort" hinted at the academy before leaving, which emboldened Raya Lucaria to imprison Queen Full Moon and rebel against the Caria royal family immediately after his departure.

As for maternal relatives, although they are one's own children, they are not considered legitimate members of the Golden Dynasty.

Using certain methods to restrict and weaken may sound inhumane, but it is politically justifiable.

Although they had never met or interacted with each other, based solely on the information gathered from Lienia, Lann had already begun to sketch out an inner image of Radagan in his mind.

— He's either a ruthless power-hungry animal, or... a fanatic who's utterly loyal to the Golden Dynasty and the Golden Law, and who wouldn't tolerate even the restriction or weakening of his own children for the sake of the royal family's stability.

His appearance was quite clear; Lan En had seen many statues of this royal consort when he was in Rodel.

But now, Lann's questions can only be considered half resolved through Milie.

He figured out the general possible reasons for the Lienian civil war.

However, it remains unclear what the stance of those Flame Watchers who descended the mountain is, or who they are connected to.

(End of this chapter)