Chapter 102: Let Me Go Back (Final)
<The Empire’s Hero Departs the Capital!>
“It’s truly regrettable. Can’t you reconsider? I had hoped to build this millennium empire with you.”
“I have already made up my mind.”
“Then I suppose it can’t be helped. Ascal, if you ever miss me, come back to the capital. Your place will always be ready… Please, stay healthy and don’t go hungry…”
“I am deeply grateful, Crown Prince—no, Your Majesty.”
Kain Barba, now the new Emperor, saw Ascal off as if he were a grandmother bidding farewell to a beloved grandson.
‘Finally, I’m free.’
Though Kain repeatedly tried to persuade him to stay, Ascal’s decision was firm.
-“I suffered injuries in the battle with the ancient dragon and need some time to recover.”
-“…? You didn’t even fight one.”
-“I sustained injuries of the heart.”
When Ascal said this, Kain looked at him with a peculiar expression.
It wasn’t a lie.
The injuries were real. The exhaustion accumulated from traveling between past and future had left him unable to lift even a finger for a while.
‘Now, I’ll head to Erindale and live out the rest of my days peacefully.’
Finally, retirement.
Without Bernstein, who became the chancellor, and Sirius, who would now serve as the next Minister of Evaluation, retirement would have been impossible.
The Crown Prince would have done everything in his power to keep him.
‘Thank you, Sirius, Bernstein. I won’t forget this.’
Ascal looked up at the night sky.
The stars were unusually beautiful.
‘From now on, only a smooth future awaits. Don’t you agree, stars?’
Whooooosh―――
‘Wait a second, why is that falling?’
Then it happened.
Ascal’s body shook violently as a meteor landed nearby.
‘…….’
A sense of unease crept over him.
A very serious one.
****
“A mithril mine has been discovered in the mountains behind us! The dwarves wish to meet you, Lord!”
“Elves, whom we thought extinct, have appeared in the western Galadria Forest! They want to negotiate with you, Lord!”
“A dragon… A dragon has appeared and says it wants an audience with you, Lord!”
Ascal shouted in frustration, “Host a martial arts tournament!!!”
Watching the frantic Ascal, Lia pulled on his ear firmly, forcing him to come to his senses.
With a sigh, Ascal sat in his office chair—a familiar executive seat he had brought from the Evaluation Department.
“You can have everything else, but not this chair, Sirius.”
“What? Fine, take it.”
That bewildered look Sirius had given him back then was something Ascal would never forget.
“What work could a rural territory possibly have? Hahaha.”
“Just delegate everything to your subordinates and take naps all day.”
That’s what the central nobles, who were on friendly terms with him, said when he left the capital.
At first, Ascal agreed with them.
The Erindale territory he remembered was a peaceful rural land where, at night, villagers gathered to share home-brewed liquor, saying,
“Have a drink with us, Lord.”
‘Where did it all go wrong?’
Looking out the window, Ascal sighed.
An enormous tree stretched endlessly into the sky.
The Sacred Tree.
‘Who would’ve thought the Sacred Tree would uproot itself and relocate to Erindale?’
Back then, his eyes almost popped out of his head.
Thinking about it, maybe everything was the Sacred Tree’s fault.
After its arrival, extinct elves began appearing near the territory.
Tourists flocked to see the elves, bringing vitality to the land. Merchants followed, selling goods to the visitors.
Veld, the repentant guild leader who had rooted himself in Erindale, worked his magic, making the merchants settle there permanently.
It felt like he could hear such messages in his ear.
“Come to think of it, it hasn’t rained recently.”
“Is that so? It might be time for a rain ritual.”
“Eileen, when did you get here? Wait! There’s no need to go that far—”
Before he could finish, Eileen gathered the lion tribe and held a rain ritual.
As a saintess, Eileen naturally brought a downpour.
And so, Erindale developed day by day, advancing at an alarming rate.
‘This is getting a bit dangerous, isn’t it?’
If Erindale continued developing like this—though it seemed improbable—this once-isolated rural territory might end up with a population of over a hundred thousand and a private militia exceeding three thousand soldiers, just like a song lyric.
And why was that a problem?
When the population of a territory increases, disputes naturally become more frequent and more complex.
Right now, the most serious issues were things like Thomas from next door getting drunk and getting into a fistfight with Henry from behind the house. If problems grew any more complicated, Ascal knew he’d be the one stuck dealing with the headache.
Development had to be stopped.
“Chef Hanson has arrived in Erindale! He says he wants to open a restaurant here!”
“What? Why on earth would he? His business is thriving in the capital. Why come to this backwater territory?”
“He says he has a disciple managing the main branch, so there’s no issue. He wants to challenge himself by starting anew in your territory, Lord.”
<The New Hanson Restaurant has been established in Erindale! Landmark construction complete!>
Despite his efforts, Erindale continued to develop.
“An abundance of gem frogs has arrived from your family estate!”
“A large shipment of refined magic stones has also arrived as a gift!”
“Tell them to stop! Enough is enough!”
Unlimited wealth cheat activated.
“You don’t have to worry about security. Our lion tribe does not sleep.”
Unlimited security cheat activated.
“A neighboring territory has provoked us…? Lord Ascal, would you let me loosen my hair for a moment?”
Unlimited diplomacy cheat activated.
“Talented individuals from Haven Academy have come, saying they wish to work under your leadership, Lord!”
Unlimited talent cheat activated.
There were simply too many cheats.
*****
<The famous “Hero of the Empire,” Ascal of Erindale, governs the Erindale County, which has recently experienced an unprecedented and extraordinary rise across all fields…>
“Stop… Just stop!”
***
The more Erindale thrived, the more work piled up.
At this rate, every reason Ascal had for coming to Erindale would disappear entirely.
A major blunder was needed.
For example, committing a critical mistake in the upcoming diplomatic negotiations with the elves.
“I heard a diplomat is arriving from the capital to assist us.”
“Oh, I hope it’s someone utterly unremarkable.”
‘Utterly incompetent.’
Knock knock.
Right then, the diplomat arrived at Ascal’s office.
“Come in…”
The moment Ascal saw who had entered, he was rendered speechless.
“Didn’t you miss me, Lord?”
Standing before him was Sushia, now a fully mature lady, bowing gracefully.
“A diplomat… is… Sushia? Nepotism, perhaps?”
“I passed the exams fair and square! And by the way, I’m now Duchess Senestia. Oh, and my husband’s position is still open, in case you’re wondering!”
“Sushia?”
“Eep!”
Despite himself, Ascal felt relieved.
‘If it’s Sushia, there’s nothing to worry about.’
Brace yourselves, elves.
Sushia is coming.
****
“Ara mae, lye.”
“Vanda sina téna, o mellon.”
“Aratoamin, imya landa en’ cala ento lye, mielalye?”
“Vanda sina, amin merna lúmesse auta a’ tyalië coiviéna.”
Ascal was more surprised this year than he had been in a long time.
Sushia was skillfully conversing with the elves—using the notoriously difficult Elvish language, no less.
“They say it’s an honor to meet you and that they’ll visit often in the future.”
“Do they have any requests?”
“They said they’d be content if they could occasionally get fallen leaves or branches from the Sacred Tree.”
“Wait, aren’t elves supposed to be proud and haughty? Why are they being so deferential to humans?”
The elf representative locked eyes with Ascal. The elf, with long golden hair, bowed slightly.
“Lúmesse sina téna.”
Ascal turned to Sushia.
“What does that mean?”
“It means ‘Noble Master of the Sacred Tree,’” she replied.
In the end, the scenario Ascal had hoped for—a clash of wills with the proud elves or fierce diplomatic tensions—never happened.
The title of “Master of the Sacred Tree” rendered all of that impossible.
And so, the negotiations with the elves ended anticlimactically.
Sushia decided to stay in Erindale for a while, effectively adding another freeloading mouth to feed in the territory.
***
Elves weren’t the only non-humans flocking to Ascal’s domain.
“The Cat tribe is migrating to our territory!”
“Even the Wolf tribe, who are famously at odds with the Cat tribe, want to settle here!”
Thanks to the Sacred Tree, all kinds of non-human races were arriving in droves.
The Cat and Wolf tribes…
“Well, we are short on manpower. This works out.”
Still, Ascal couldn’t understand what could possibly be so attractive about this rural backwater to keep drawing people in.
At this point, he couldn’t exactly refuse the other races’ envoys anymore.
After all, the Rabbitfolk had already settled in a corner of the territory, cultivating medicinal herbs.
That very night…
“Master of the Sacred Tree, I am the representative of the Shinbiad Merchant Guild…”
“Out.”
“Pardon?”
“Peddlers are not welcome.”
“…I’ll return another time.”
Even demons with horns on their heads were coming to negotiate.
Ascal’s mind was already nearing its limit.
He had to find a way to stop this madness.
Perhaps he needed to hold an exorcism or some sort of ritual.
‘An exorcism… That reminds me, Serena is here.’
Serena, to pass the time, had opened a fortune-telling shop in the territory. As the daughter of the great witch Elenia, her fortunes were uncannily accurate, earning her great popularity.
The next day, Ascal walked into her shop.
“Welcome, darling!”
Serena dashed out and hugged him tightly.
“I was about to head to your mansion soon anyway. Did you come to pick me up after work?”
“Actually, I came for a fortune reading.”
“Oh? What do you want to know?”
“What do you think will happen to this territory in the future?”
Serena performed her reading, and the crystal ball began to glow.
“It’s going to become a great empire!”
“?”
Ascal felt like he had misheard.
“It’ll surpass the Barba Empire and become the greatest empire in history—”
“You need more practice, Serena. That’s absurd.”
“Huh? My readings are always accurate, though?”
Desperate to ignore her words, Ascal tried to shake it off.
At that moment, the divine beasts residing in Serena’s shop appeared before him. They claimed the area near the Sacred Tree had excellent spiritual energy.
“Decide now, Ascal.”
“Which of us shall be the official guardian of your territory?”
“I… am interested… as well.”
“I’ve never been a guardian before, but it sounds fun.”
Snakes, dogs, turtles, and lizards…
These creatures hounded Ascal day and night for a decision.
“…Aren’t you already the Empire’s guardian dragon?”
This felt like blatant tampering.
“I can switch allegiances.”
“Me too.”
“I… am unaffiliated…”
The lizard chuckled smugly.
“Clearly, the best guardian for this territory is none other than the primordial dragon, Karnax.”
Dizzy, Ascal tried to flee the shop. Serena, smiling brightly, handed him a tonic.
“It’s herbal medicine, darling. Drink it and keep up the good work today!”
The love-filled tonic tasted strangely medicinal.
And so, he found himself back at the lord’s office, where Lia was waiting with an overwhelming stack of documents.
As lord, he was the ultimate decision-maker.
The workload was already more than three times what he had dealt with as Minister of Evaluation.
“You’re just in time, Lord. About a hundred more documents have piled up for your approval. Oh, and there’s something from Chancellor Bernstein.”
Lia played a recording from a magic crystal.
-How are you, Ascal?
-When I first became Chancellor, I resented you so much I wanted to kill you. But surprisingly, the job isn’t too bad.
-Over time, the workload has decreased quite a bit.
-By the way, I hear your territory is all the rage these days? They say you’re so busy you barely have time to breathe.
-I must admit, I’m jealous. I’d love to live a laid-back life in a rural territory like you, but His Majesty is far too fond of me for that.
-When I eventually get some free time, I’ll come visit. Until then, keep working yourself to the bone, Count of Erindale! Hahaha!
***
“To the capital…”
“Pardon?”
“Send me back to the Empire!”
Ascal screamed at the top of his lungs.
***
[BONUS] Author’s Afterword
I have a confession to make.
I love writing serious and heavy novels.
Just kidding.
I just wanted to start with something dramatic for a change.
Now that The Tyrant Empress is Obsessed with Me is complete…
This afterword is starting to feel like one of those long-winded speeches from a school principal, huh?
I’ll keep it as short as possible and stick to the essentials.
First and foremost, I want to thank my readers.
Whether you read my novel on the subway, in the car, during a break, or just before bed, if you chuckled even a little while reading it, then as a writer, I couldn’t ask for anything more.
That said, there’s something I regret about the later chapters.
As winter set in, my ultimate cheat code—“conceptualizing ideas while taking a walk”—was taken from me.
Because of that, the tone may have shifted a bit toward the end.
I’m disappointed. If only I could’ve kept walking…! (Excuses, I know.)
I’d also like to thank my friends Taejin and Kyungsoo, who helped me immensely with this work.
And, of course, my gratitude goes to the team at Novelpia and my PD, who supported and accommodated me in every way possible.
It’s cold these days, so stay warm and don’t catch a cold!
I’ll return soon with a side story for all of you.
Until then, goodbye for now!
****
Author note: To all my supporters,
Thank you so much. Your support has been a tremendous source of strength for me.
To those who read my work and supported me every time I uploaded,
To those who contributed generously,
To those who supported me for the very first time,
And to everyone who lent me their strength,
I am sincerely grateful to each and every one of you.
Thank you from the bottom of my heart.
– – The End of The Chapter – –
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