After nearly a week full of meetings, the Altanian upper class decided to move to Paradise. From there, it took two more weeks to make the necessary preparations and complete the move. Raid and Eluria cleared up all the Offspring along the route and also had the giants sweep up the area around Paradise. With the new residents in place, they then escorted the former residents to the capital.
“Wooow! A castle! A super-duper humongous castle!” cheered Norn, all giddy hops and sparkling eyes. “Is this our new house?!”
“Sure is,” said Raid. “You and the former residents of Paradise have this castle and the aristocrats’ estates all for yourselves until things settle down.”
“Wowie! Oh, by the way, what’s that big chair over there?”
“Eh. You can think of it as a special chair, just for you.”
“Really?! I want to see how comfy it is!” Norn skipped across the room and plopped right down on the imperial throne.
Once everything was over and the dust settled, that throne would officially belong to the Lambut family. Eluria would make a new World Tree, teach Norn everything she needed to know about it, and have their family build a new country from the ground up.
Would everything go well? They didn’t know, but that was how the future was always meant to be—neither a guaranteed success nor fated destruction, but an uncertain path that could branch out in whatever direction they desired. Now that they had steered the world away from certain ruin, they simply had to help steer this new country onto a good path of its own. Raid smiled as his mind wandered to thoughts of the future...but his wistful mood was cut short by a piggish cry.
“Waaah! To think... To think I’d get to witness such a grand promotion for my family...!” Millis wailed, tears streaming down her face. “You know, I was just joking when I talked about my descendants building a castle—but here it is anyway, right before my eyes! I’m so moved, the tears just won’t stop!”
Raid shrugged. “They didn’t build this one, though. We basically stole it.”
“Let me have my moment, will you?!”
“Also,” Eluria added, “once everything’s settled, we’ll probably have everyone move back to the central continent. So this castle will be abandoned and maybe even demolished later on.”
“So I’ve witnessed my dreams become reality...only to watch it crumble to pieces down the line?!”
Wisel hummed. “Then you’ll just have to build a new one after the move. You could even set it up in Norberg.”
“Oh, that actually sounds feasible with the giants’ help,” Alma mused. “Maybe we’ll actually get to see Norberg turn into the capital city in the future. Who knows?”
“But we still don’t know what will happen to the rithmoles without polluted mana,” Eluria muttered thoughtfully. “My findings so far reveal that Calamities are like manabeasts that hyper-evolved to adapt to this extreme environment, so it might be possible to revert them back to normal. Of course, Offspring are a different matter entirely.”
With Altane now in their hands, Eluria had finally gotten ahold of all the accumulated research and findings over the years. Thus, while Raid and Alma had been escorting the new tenants of Paradise across the continent, Eluria had stayed with the rest in the capital to progress her investigation into the mana pollution of this world. With some more progress, she’d determined it should be possible for her to revert the world’s biosphere to its original state once everything was fixed.
“In any case...” Alma sighed and shook her head. “You’re as merciless as ever, Your Excellency.”
“Suddenly insulting me? What did I do?” Raid asked innocently.
“You moved all those bigwigs to Paradise.”
“And what’s so merciless about that? They’re safe and sound, aren’t they?”
“Yeah—safe and sound, and nothing more. No way those spoiled and entitled moneybags can survive life out in the sticks.”
Paradise was a safe haven, but it was entirely self-sufficient. In other words, what the aristocrats used to leave to their servants, they now had to do themselves. Life in Paradise would be the complete opposite of their luxurious lifestyle, and it might even be too tough on some of them—but Raid had already known that when he made the offer.
“I never forced them, though, did I? It was always an offer,” he said with a shrug. “If they can’t even look that far ahead, then I don’t need them here. Most of the time, organizations and countries fall not because of external threats but because of internal incompetence.”
He hadn’t been lying when he’d said that they needed to centralize the authority for their plans, but the main reason Raid wanted Altane dismantled and the aristocrats moved to Paradise was to get rid of any miscellaneous variables. From now on, they would be working toward saving the world—he didn’t have any time to waste on selfish aristocrats butting in for their typical power plays and greedy schemes, so he took the chance to lure them out and strip them of their power and influence.
“If they’re foolish enough to be blinded by their own safety and fail to look ahead and plan for the future, then they’re more than just deadweight—they’re a hindrance.”
“True... There’s no benefit to keeping them here.”
“And there you have it. There’s no space for such a pesky lot when now’s the time for us to band together to save the world.”
“But some of them turned down the offer, didn’t they?”
“Well, that means they’re at least a tad bit smarter than the rest. And now that we’re all in the same boat, they should be more cooperative. They’ve been briefed on our future plans, so I doubt they’ll be causing us many problems.”
The name “Raid Freeden” held a lot of sway in this world, all the more now that Raid himself possessed the power of a Hero. Now that he had personally briefed them on their plans, they must have come to the conclusion that cooperating now would reap them more benefits in the future.
“Any who take the initiative to offer resources or assistance are trustworthy,” Raid added. “We can assign those people as temporary assistants to the Lambuts, and that should help set this new country on its way.”
“Wow... Saving the world and prepping personnel while you’re at it? It’s just too easy for you, isn’t it?”
“Well, things have gotten a whole lot easier for us now that everything’s in our control. Military authority, personnel allocation, and a safe base of operations. Not to mention...we’ve finally gotten the information we need.” Raid’s gaze fell to the side, where his hand rested atop a box. The box was sealed tight with magic—naturally, as it contained the manuscripts left behind by the venerable Sage Raid Freeden.
Raid gave the box a small pat as his lips formed into a smile. “Now then...let’s take a look at the Sage’s Codex, shall we?”