The Healing Solaris Cleric-Chapter 335: A Short Break (1)

2,764 allied soldiers were killed, 17,236 were injured, and the enemy had no survivors.

As King Beoruk read the report, he didn’t show joy but said with a voice full of regret, “Nearly three thousand of our soldiers fell. All were talents of the kingdom...”

Hearing his murmur, every noble in the conference room lowered their heads, taking a moment of silence.

As time passed, Beoruk opened his eyes and looked at Kai.

“Count Kai, I know it was thanks to your help that the damage was limited to this extent. Had you not stepped in, the loss would have been far greater.”

“Thank you, truly.”

“You saved this nation.”

Receiving thanks from the nobles, Kai only quietly nodded.

Seeing this expression, Beoruk misunderstood and showed a look of pity. “You can hold your head higher.”

“Yes, it is tragic that we suffered losses... but this was war. A dream where no one dies does not exist.”

“So do not blame yourself, Count Kai.”

Snapped out of thought by the nobles’ continued comfort, Kai blinked. “Pardon?”

What dominated his mind was none other than Atroc. Who was he? He used dark divine power—what was his position in the Church of Muldine? Just how powerful was his real body?

As Kai pondered this, he returned his focus to the meeting and casually accepted their consolation. “Oh, that is all too much. This success was only possible because Count Hind believed in me.”

To that, Count Hind responded with a gentle smile, “If you want to earn someone’s trust, show them your true self. That’s what the old saints said. You’ve shown many sides of yourself in the past days. I simply saw those and decided to trust you. So all the seeds were sown by you.”

They were kind words, but also a little embarrassing.

As Kai nodded with an awkward expression, Beoruk stood from his seat.

He looked each of the nobles in the room in the eye before saying, “I’ve always believed this—any attack that cannot break us only serves to strengthen us. And today was such a day. The vile schemes of the Church of Muldine failed, and we achieved victory. At the same time, we rooted out their spies embedded within the kingdom.

"Thanks to this, we are stronger than before. The Kingdom of Rashion will continue forward, undeterred by any storm, and this resolve will not waver even in the face of the Church of Muldine. This great feat was made possible because of you all.”

“Glory to Rashion!”

“For Rashion!”

The nobles shouted in unison, passionately responding to Beoruk’s words.

“The forty-two nobles I believed were comrades until yesterday were traitors. I will wipe out everyone connected to them, no matter how small the link, and this will declare the new beginning of Rashion to the world.”

True to his title as the iron-blooded king, Beoruk ordered the total annihilation of all relatives connected to the forty-two nobles.

“And Count Kai.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

Beoruk commanded, “Your tactical skill, leadership, and judgment displayed in this war are exactly what Rashion needs in this great war already unfolding against the Church of Muldine.”

“I’m honored,” Kai bowed his head humbly, as he always did.

To him, it sounded like just another compliment.

However, Beoruk, as he had made clear earlier, seemed fully determined to destroy the Church of Muldine.

“As a result of this incident, I will entrust you with half of the eastern territories that have been left vacant without a lord.”

Startled, the nobles protested.

“Y-Your Majesty!”

“You must not!”

“Please reconsider, Your Majesty!”

What? They were thanking me just now, what’s with their reactions? How much land are we talking about?

Just as Kai began to feel slight irritation at their two-faced behavior, an attendant brought in a two-meter-wide national map and spread it open. The map looked ordinary, except for one thing. Roughly half the eastern region was marked with blue stripes.

“Huh? That’s my territory...” Kai murmured, realizing that within those stripes were all his territories, including Libertia and Arkan.

Beoruk nodded and said, “Everyone, silence. This is already decided. I judged that it must be Count Kai.”

Standing tall, King Beoruk scolded the nobles who had objected to his decision. “Get a hold of yourselves! The age of peace has already ended, and a time of battles is upon us. The Church of Muldine has surely returned and is preparing to devour the continent at any moment, yet how can you, as nobles, still think only of your own gains to the very end?”

“A-ahem.”

Everyone fell into awkward silence.

Kai once again felt the full weight of Beoruk’s authority and quickly lowered his head as he was afraid the fire might spread to him.

“Count Kai, from this moment forward, you are to manage all of these territories.”

“Pardon?” Kai unconsciously raised his head to check the map.

Could it be all those territories marked with blue stripes earlier?

As he asked Beoruk if he was serious with his eyes, Beoruk gave a firm nod. At the same time, a notification window appeared.

Ding!

[You have achieved 51% control over the eastern region of the Kingdom of Rashion.]

[Special title acquired: Lord of East.]

[Level increased.]

[Level increased.]

[Level increased.]

[Acquired 15 stat points.]

[+725,600 Fame.]

“Uh... um...”

Kai stared at the interface window in front of him, unable to close his mouth, wondering what kind of nonsense this was.

Lord of East? Me, the ruler of the East?

It wasn’t supposed to be, and yet it was.

Beoruk patted Kai on the shoulder, his gaze full of trust.

[Affinity with Beoruk greatly increased.]

[Beoruk now trusts you unconditionally.]

“Oh, please...”

Kai was already worried about going bald from the stress of managing a single territory, but now, how many territories were there?

Beoruk, ever helpful, answered without being asked, “With this, you’ve become a great lord governing a total of seventy-four territories. Of course, I trust you’ll handle it well. I’ll leave it in your hands.”

“Ah... yes...”

Honestly, he wanted to refuse that request, but Kai accepted it with a bitter heart.

I seriously don’t want to do this... but logically, this is a huge deal.

No matter how exhausted his body and mind were, Kai wasn’t the type to kick away a pumpkin that rolled in on its own. In fact, he was the kind of person to work relentlessly and master every dish that could be made with that pumpkin.

First of all, it’s a special title. I can’t pass that up.

Seeing that Beoruk was busy scolding the nobles, Kai opened his title book.

[Lord of East]

Description: A title given to one who has taken control of a major region of the kingdom.

Effect: +50 to all stats, +50 Dignity (This effect remains even when title is unequipped).

Precaution: This title will automatically disappear if your control over the eastern territories drops below a certain percentage.

Of course.

After all, there was no way the game would hand out a title that was basically a free pass to 50 levels for nothing. On top of that, the name of the title itself was Lord of East.

So the moment I’m no longer in control of the East, the title disappears... or it goes to someone else.

This gave Kai even more reason not to refuse Beoruk’s request.

It’s not a bad offer.

In fact, it was a good one because the eastern region of Rashion didn’t border any other country. The only areas adjacent to the East were the kingdom’s own North, South, and Central regions. To the east was an ocean, so there was no need to worry about foreign invasions.

Even if a navy tries to invade, I can easily handle it by borrowing the power of the merfolk and Harley.

Concerns about foreign invasion, resolved. Now the only thing left to worry about was internal administration.

Hmm.

After about three seconds of thought, he hadn’t come up with a solution, but he still reached a conclusion.

I’ll delegate it.

Delegate it to someone else, and entrust everything to highly competent individuals. As he reached that thought, a certain location flashed through his mind.

Arkan Academy!

Wasn’t that the very place where all the continent’s most talented individuals, royalty, and nobility, gathered? Among them were also students who had lost their place in succession battles or were illegitimate children unable to inherit their families to begin with.

Oh, now that I think about it, this is great.

There were plenty of sources to extract information from. Starting with High Priest Albert, and including professors from every discipline. After all, the one paying their salaries was none other than himself.

Alright, nothing more to think about.

Kai suddenly felt joy as if his hair loss had been postponed by twenty years.

***

Kai headed to Aquaria for the first time in a while. In a city where couples flirted in canoes atop the waterways, and walking alone somehow made one feel lonely, the reason for his visit was to meet with Tardal.

Come to think of it, it really has been a long time.

Had the last mission he received from him been during the Aosa incident, or was it the Death Dragon? He could barely remember.

“Welcome!”

“Please, this way.”

In the past, getting into Tardal’s mansion took all sorts of schemes and efforts, but the treatment now was vastly different. It was because Kai’s current rank was Count, and not just any count. He was the great lord ruling the entire East.

Kai entered Tardal’s mansion without the slightest interference, as if he had a theme park express pass on him. Of course, the place he went straight to was Tardal’s office. Then, he knocked on the door.

“Hm? Who could it be at this hour... Come in.”

When the door opened, Tardal’s eyes widened upon seeing Kai.

“You...”

Feeling oddly awkward, Kai offered a polite greeting, “It’s been a long time. Have you been well?”

Tardal, seemingly surprised by Kai’s visit, calmed his startled heart and nodded. “I’ve been doing well. I’ve heard quite a bit about you, though.”

“I-Is that so?”

“Of course. If my memory serves me right, there hasn’t been a single major event in the kingdom over the past few years where you haven’t played a part.”

Now that he mentioned it, that did seem to be the case. Kai had either started something or been dragged into it more times than he could count.

“So, what business does someone like you have with an old man like me?” Tardal scoffed briefly, adjusted his reading glasses, and turned his eyes back to the book he was reading.

Hmm, he seems really upset.

Well, it was true that Kai hadn’t come to see him simply because life had been comfortable for a while.

Kai put on the cutest expression he could manage and tried to charm him. “Hehe... You’re upset I didn’t visit because I was too busy for a while, aren’t you?”

“Upset? Nonsense. I’m a busy man. If you have no business, then go on your way.”

“Hm.” Scratching the side of his head, Kai had no choice but to bring up his reason for visiting. “Do you happen to know anything about someone named Atroc?”

Tardal’s hand, which had been flipping a page, came to an abrupt stop.

He looked at Kai with an expression of disbelief and slowly removed his reading glasses.

“How... do you know of that name?”

Seeing his reaction, Kai was certain.

This trip wasn’t a waste.

Tardal knew who Atroc was.