The Strongest in the World Doesn’t Want To Do Anything

41 – Sandstorm in the Empire

Inside the empire, the news of the treaty ending the Telosa-Ratibi war was the talk of the town.

It was the story of what happened in the conference room.

It was common knowledge that the leaders and their families of the defeated nation would be executed.

However, it was unprecedented for a country to invite the officials of another country, unrelated to the war, to a negotiation and execute them in front of them.

After the negotiations, Telosa annexed Ratibi’s territory quickly.

During this process, many Ratibians who refused to become citizens of Telosa lost their lives.

It was a ruthless act, but there was no place for them to turn for help.

It was a small-scale war between small countries, and it was clear that helping the losers would only lead to retaliation in the form of bloodthirsty barbarians.

It was more practical to support the ambitious new ruler who would at least have a foot in the door.

Countries and alliances, both big and small, that had never had any contact with Telosa before began to take notice of the country.

The empire also viewed Telosa differently from before.

Some of the participants in the negotiations and those who received the news within the empire began to recognize the growth potential and the danger posed by the young queen of Telosa.

However, the empire still tended to ignore Telosa because fundamentally, the country’s rise was due to the collapse of the empire’s own family.

Lorisaria’s actions had also caused a great deal of change within the empire.

She seemed to be eliminating those who were already aware of who she was, as if she knew who they were.

The execution of the traitor Teo and the extermination of the “old man” who was trying to sell information about Ratibi were two examples.

Plans that had seemed foolproof and airtight turned out to be failures, causing everyone to suspect each other.

There were suspicions about who had leaked the information, whether there were double agents hidden among them.

Some even turned against the queen.

There were those who were afraid of her cruelty and cold-bloodedness, but there were also those who were simply grateful for her leadership in winning the war and expanding the country’s territory.

As a result, the faction supporting the queen gradually weakened.

Understanding this, Lorisaria led the army directly and marched towards the last remaining territory of Ratibi.

At her side was Handro.

“So there are… the commanders of the army?”

“Yes, there are. I don’t believe it either, but the testimonies of the soldiers who survived from different battles match. The rotten Ratibian soldiers broke through the bottom and attacked themselves.

“However… Necromancy? That’s something you’d expect in made-up stories. Such a thing couldn’t possibly exist.”

“I agree with you on that.”

“…We’ve arrived.”

Rosalía and Handro’s army, having reached the desolate desert, stood still as they faced the scorching desert winds.

It was a small village built atop the desert at the southernmost edge of Latvia, called ‘Gota’, the last territory of Latvia that hadn’t fallen under the rule of Terosa.

Attempts to occupy it had led to two failed expeditions. Only a fraction of soldiers returned, most of them not in their right minds.

Questioning the half-mad survivors revealed only stories of Latvian corpses rising to attack them.

Such tales spread among Terosa’s soldiers, suggesting the existence of necromancers in Gota, or that it was a cursed land, preventing the souls of Latvians from passing on.

Eventually, against all odds, Rosalía decided to lead an expedition to occupy Gota. Handro opposed her, offering to go in her place, but unable to break her determination, he agreed to accompany her.

“Even more desolate than I imagined.”

“I thought it’d be desolate, but not to this extent.”

The queen and Handro looked at a roughly planted sign in the sand.

They led the troops past it and moved towards the village’s interior.

Inside Gota, the scene was akin to a ruin, with torn tents, unidentifiable bones, desiccated bodies that seemed human, collapsed stone walls, and an air filled with an uncomfortable, eerie stench, welcoming unwelcome guests from Terosa.

“What do you think, Handro?”

“Nothing particularly unusual stands out. Let’s move to a safer place…”

As Handro was answering the queen’s question, he suddenly stopped, his expression focusing on something. Swiftly, he began covering the queen’s face with cloths.

“It’s a sandstorm!”

Simultaneously, an enormous sandstorm engulfed Rosalía, Handro, and their army.

In an instant, the entire expedition found themselves trapped within the sandstorm.

From Noble mtl dot com

Coarse sand carried by the wind blinded everyone.

Standing steady amidst the tremendous speed became challenging, and even cries for help nearby couldn’t pierce through the howling wind.

Swallowed by the sandstorm, Handro tightly wrapped his arms around his face, waiting for the storm to pass.

As the wind calmed a bit, he slowly opened his eyes.

The sand dust made his eyes sting.

Wiping away tears to clear the sand, he surveyed his surroundings.

He saw the queen, whom he had wrapped in cloth, collapsed on the ground.

Handro took steps toward the queen, accompanied by coughing.

“Cough… Your Majesty! Are you okay?”

“I’m alive…”

Handro, relieved to see Rosalia’s condition, let out a sigh.

He felt discomfort as if sand grains had lodged in his throat.

Coughing again, he surveyed the area where the soldiers were forming ranks.

Dust was still swirling, making it unclear, but he could make out the soldiers’ figures.

Handro supported the fallen queen.

“Are you really okay?”

“Thanks to you… I appreciate it.”

“It seems like everyone is startled and fled. I need to check on the soldiers’ condition. Please wait here for a moment.”

“Okay.”

As Handro’s figure disappeared into the dust, Rosalia remained vigilant, not letting go of the tension around her.

The sudden weather anomaly reminded her of the teachings of the palace wizards, mostly about magic.

A sandstorm that struck without warning.

There was definitely something in this village.

As time passed, the dust that obscured the queen’s vision gradually began to clear, revealing soldiers and Handro forming ranks far from where the queen stood.

“They all waited for the storm to pass.”

They slowly began to move toward the queen.

Rosalia also stepped forward to join them.

As the distance diminished, the faintly visible figures became distinguishable.

With each step they took, the dust kicked up created a new sandstorm, as if they were overturning a considerable amount of dust.

In an attempt to avoid the flying dust, everyone seemed to be walking with their eyes on the ground.

The queen found their behavior somewhat unfamiliar and strange.

“Something… feels strange?”

Over a small sand dune, looking closely at the ranks from a slightly closer distance, Rosalia confirmed their identity and could not hide her confusion.

“T-they’re corpses!”

The group, thought to be soldiers and Handro, were coming towards her, each twisting their bodies grotesquely, raising half-rotten faces.

Rosalia thought she should run, but for some reason, her steps wouldn’t move.

Her foot was caught on something buried in the sand dune.

She desperately tried to shake off whatever was gripping her ankle.

Attempts to kick it off and even trying to remove her boots were futile.

Eventually, the queen sat down and dug into the sand with her hands.

“Ah!”

As she cleared away some sand, a hand that had been clutching her ankle was revealed.