Chapter 367: The Choice Lies with the Individual
“This temple and the Royal Capital are both such powerful and beautiful places—when I visited, they were already like this, but my father showed me using the Water Basin.”
As Haulon recounted tales from the past while descending the well stairs leading to the Underground Temple, the light magic he conjured illuminated our path. Retze, with a serious expression, kept poking me gently.
The Butler wore a subtle smile. A bit further back, Dinoss was engrossed in play with the children, likely unaware of our conversation.
“It’s an honor to stand in this land! And to have met the king and the mage who supported the glory of this kingdom until the end!” Chris exclaimed, his expression brimming with emotion.
“Hmph. The king of ruin who destroyed the kingdom,” Karn replied bluntly.
“King Tildonai… I’ve heard that by the time you became king, it was already impossible to stop the descent into ruin,” Haulon continued.
“A powerful nation, especially one with the King’s Branch, tends to follow a pattern from past examples. Once it steers towards destruction, a cascade of Black Spirits and human desires begins, making it hard to halt,” Retze added.
As Retze pointed out, when I researched the reasons for the downfall of nations with a King’s Branch, it generally boiled down to them growing too large and collapsing. As the population increases, so do the types and changes in desires. It becomes difficult for all citizens to uphold their original oaths to the King’s Branch.
The ideals of nation-building succumb to the harsh realities of life and desire. Moreover, they begin to take for granted the unique blessings that the King’s Branch provides, unlike other nations.
When the oaths are broken, the corruption of the King’s Branch begins, and Black Spirits born from human hearts and actions start to linger in the cities. Some nations attempted to implement barriers like those used by temples without a branch, but it seemed futile, as the corrupted King’s Branch only attracted more Black Spirits.
I didn’t want to dwell on such thoughts, so I decided to stop there. The agricultural lands on the Island and Talia Peninsula would be my limit. I wouldn’t allow any more residents than necessary, and I wouldn’t be granting migration permits.
But with marriage and childbirth, the population would inevitably grow. I was pondering how to handle that.
Grandparents, parents, and three children. I set a limit of seven people living in a house, raising the Poll Tax for the eighth person. If a branch family were to form, they could be permitted under looser conditions if there were available houses on the Island, rather than from outside. For now, I was adopting Soleil’s proposal.
As for the agricultural lands, they would continue to accept the original residents, so I had no plans to place a Spirit’s Branch there. Some people might not comply with my policies, and I couldn’t just tell them to leave suddenly. I would think about maintenance and other matters gradually.
“Wow, so this is a Spirit Lamp,” I said.
“It’s broken, though. But it was beautiful,” Haulon replied.
Lost in thought, I reached the end of the stairs and entered the corridor. The traffic-stopping mechanism we encountered along the way was opened by Baylis and Haulon.
Retze was peering curiously at something I had investigated during my first visit.
“…Why is there a wooden box in a place like this?” Haulon wondered, glancing at the relatively intact Spirit Lamp.
That wooden box was something I had set up to get a better look at the Spirit Lamp. I had forgotten to put it away!
“…”
Retze’s gaze was piercing! Please stop reading my actions.
And then we arrived at the King’s Chamber.
The stone pillars lining the sides must have been magnificent before they crumbled. The high ceiling loomed above, and there was the stone throne where Karn once sat.
Sand trickled in from somewhere—no, it was being pushed out. Was Baylis removing the sand to prevent this place from being buried?
“I’m going deeper. It won’t take long,” Karn said, then vanished down the corridor with Baylis.
He was probably going to pray for those who had served at the site of the King’s Branch. Though Karn wasn’t the sentimental type, he would do so out of courtesy.
“Then shall we have some tea?” I suggested, pulling out several carpets from [Storage] and preparing the tea.
“Tea~!”
“I want to drink!”
“I’m hungry!”
The three children were full of energy.
Using cinnamon, cloves, and cardamom, I crushed and broke them just before use to enhance the aroma. It was chai, and I wasn’t giving up on the cinnamon!
I served the children, who seemed to be a bit hungry, some banana cake with less sugar.
“You’re not trying to hide it at all, are you?”
“Not with this crowd,” I replied to Haulon, who looked exasperated.
“How sweet this is.”
“Yeah, but strangely, it pairs well with this heat!” Dean and Chris said after sipping their chai.
“…”
Ash seemed to enjoy the sweetness, scattering flowers around.
“The spices smell wonderful. I wonder what’s in it?” Shiva appeared to be curious about the blend.
“It’s more filling than regular tea,” Dinoss remarked.
“By the way, you all seem to have something you want to say to me,” Haulon said, catching us off guard.
“Ugh.”
“Don’t look at me!” I pleaded with Retze, but he fled! How terrible!
“Haulon,” the Butler called.
“What is it?”
“Would you prefer to hear it clearly here and collapse, or would you like to understand it gradually?” the Butler asked calmly.
“Wait! Did you just say ‘invade’!?”