Chapter 251 – Apocalypse Knight

The new Divine Tree that Zahina had grown in place of her dead Mother Tree was not a resurrection of her original Mother Tree. It was merely a new Divine Tree created from a branch of the Divine Tree.

But even that alone was a miracle for the elves. No one before her had ever created a Divine Tree without a seed.

It was only natural that Zahina, who had accomplished this feat, would be recognized as a Saintess.

Life returned to the ruined city. A massive tree continued to grow in real-time at the center of the city, withered and twisted houses collapsed, and new tree houses grew to replace them.

The collapsed city walls were filled in again, and the city’s elves were reconnected to the network, freeing them from their outcast status.

However, Zahina once again refused to connect to the racial network.

All the elves of the rescued city, as well as Rashid and elves from other cities who had witnessed the amazing sight of the Divine Tree being created, begged her to reconnect, but she refused to listen.

“That divine power is entirely an ability given by the Divine Trees. Yet after obtaining such power, you choose to live as an outcast? Is that the behavior of someone who has received power from the Divine Tree?” Rashid was angry with her again, but unlike before, he couldn’t speak informally to her this time.

After all, Zahina was now a Saintess recognized by the Divine Trees.

“Whether connected to the network or not, the Divine Tree doesn’t care. Our connection wasn’t something the Divine Trees wanted from the beginning.”

According to Zahina, the telepathic connection of the elves wasn’t something the Divine Tree had wanted, but what the elves themselves had desired.

A way to emphasize the superiority of elves, and to fill their self-esteem by being connected to the Divine Tree and feeling closer to god.

“And it was to escape the suffocation and loneliness. Of course, even with that, nothing really changed.”

At Zahina’s words, Rashid and the other elves were left speechless.

If Zahina had been an ordinary outcast, they would have scoffed at her words, but she was a Saintess recognized by the Divine Trees.

In the end, it was no different than if the Divine Trees themselves had said so.

“You may not be able to sever the connection immediately, but I hope you’ll stop calling those who are disconnected ‘outcasts’ and stop oppressing them. This is the word of a Saintess recognized by the Divine Trees, but also because I myself am an outcast.”

With those final words, Zahina turned and headed toward the gate that Yelena had created.

“Are you okay?” I asked, and Zahina smiled comfortably.

“Yes. To put it in Earth terms, I feel completely refreshed. I’ve done everything I needed to do and said everything I wanted to say.”

As she said, Zahina’s reason for coming to the land of the Divine Tree was to revive the dead Mother Tree’s city and to convey a message about outcasts to the elves as the Saintess of the Divine Tree.

“Since the Divine Trees appointed me as a Saintess, I should repay them.”

There were more dead Divine Trees, so we would need to visit other cities as well, but that wasn’t an urgent matter.

It was something that could be done gradually.

As Zahina said, our work here was now complete.

And with this task finished, all the urgent matters on Earth and in the land of the Divine Tree were now concluded.

It was time to return to the domain.

Time to do what we had been postponing.

As we headed back to the gate, leaving behind the dazed elves, the party members began discussing a different topic.

“By the way, are there any good dressmakers in Ea?” Yerim asked.

“I’ve heard there’s a clothing shop in the Imperial capital that caters to nobles, but wouldn’t Earth still make better ones?” Yelena answered with sparkling eyes.

“But I wonder if there are any surviving designers or shops in this state of Earth. It would be difficult to find one on Jeju Island. I think it would be better to ask before leaving New York.”

As Yerim tilted her head, Irene, perhaps because it was about her hometown, stepped in to answer.

“I think that would be best too. Unfortunately, the people living here in the land of the Divine Tree don’t seem to care much about clothing. I suppose it doesn’t matter since they’re naturally good-looking.”

“It’s not because they’re good-looking, but a mix of self-esteem, the network, and various other factors. I also think Earth clothing is better,” Zahina agreed with Irene’s words.

With everyone’s opinions gathered, Yelena made a decision.

“Alright. Let’s stay in New York before returning and look for a designer together.”

When I turned around at this sudden decision, all the party members were smiling at me.

Expressions that showed they believed I couldn’t possibly refuse.

Indeed, I couldn’t refuse their words.

Though we hadn’t explicitly stated it, everyone knew what we would do once we returned to the domain.

In fact, it was already too late, and even in that situation, they had trusted me and waited for me, so I had no choice but to follow their words.

When I nodded, Yerim immediately spoke up.

“But there’s more to prepare than just dresses.”

Seeing her enthusiastic attitude, as if she wanted to settle everything right here, I waved my hand to stop her.

“I’ll prepare those things. I was planning to pour more money into the domain anyway. Money is sufficient now, so if you want anything, just ask.”

In truth, money had been sufficient from the beginning.

The over 200 tons of gold bullion I had been carrying was already an amount difficult for the domain to handle.

On top of that, the thousands of tons of gold bullion we had obtained this time was an amount that not only the domain but even the Imperial capital would struggle to manage.

Releasing just a portion of it could potentially destroy the Imperial economy through inflation.

But even so, I was planning to release more gold bullion.

Fortunately, I had mages who could create portals and gates to three dimensions at will.

With their help, I could distribute gold bullion not just to the Imperial capital, but anywhere in the Empire, anywhere on the continent of Ea, or anywhere in the three dimensions, and obtain resources in return.

It wasn’t just resources.

Whether people, technology, or information, everything was easier to obtain in these times.

That’s why I was planning to hold an absurdly grand celebration when we returned.

A party that would surpass the New Deal policy implemented by the United States during the Great Depression.

I intended to use that as an excuse to revitalize the domain in one go.

Of course, I wouldn’t share these thoughts with my party members.

If I did, I could easily predict what they would say.

And honestly, such secondary benefits weren’t important to me either.

To be frank, I simply wanted to give my party members, these three women, the most magnificent party and the grandest wedding ceremony… 

And three months later.

In the eastern part of the continent.

News of a wedding in a domain of the fallen Luna Kingdom spread to many people.

A wedding in a fallen kingdom less than a year after the Demon King’s death.

Of course, weddings could happen at any time, and since it was a lord’s wedding, there wasn’t much issue with spreading the word and making preparations.

But the scale of the wedding was said to be incomprehensibly enormous, causing even those who heard about it, those who were invited, and the domain residents to wear puzzled expressions.

The lord renovated the domain’s roads and rebuilt the city for the wedding.

He even expanded the castle.

Amusingly, the construction projects initiated by the lord were set to continue even after the wedding ended.

Projects that would continue for at least a few years.

This made it hard to believe they were truly for the wedding.

Moreover, the lord declared a week-long festival in the domain to commemorate the wedding.

Although the domain where the wedding was taking place had already been somewhat restored, unlike neighboring domains that still worried about survival, the scale of the festival declared by the lord was incomprehensibly enormous.

He gathered minstrels, opera troupes, merchants, and craftsmen from all over the Empire through the portal in the domain.

It was already absurd to make people walk to a dangerous domain in the eastern part of the continent, but to move them all through a portal?

The people summoned by the lord were bewildered by his actions.

Additionally, the lord promised to pay the wages of those he had summoned and all the expenses used in the festival.

Between the construction throughout the domain and spending money so freely.

It was the kind of expenditure that would bankrupt a different domain, or even a small country.

On the morning of the wedding day.

Before heading to the venue, during the morning meeting, even Irene, the domain’s mage, seemed worried about my spending.

“I think you’ll be heavily criticized even after the ceremony. There are already quite a few people talking among themselves.”

Of course, no one would say it to my face.

After all, I was a former hero and still a Sword Master recognized by the Empire.

Moreover, the people I was marrying were all members of the former hero’s party, and though many didn’t know, they were each grand mages and Saintesses.

There might be nobles who didn’t care about such things, but even they would have to be mindful of the Sword Masters beside them, the Imperial Chancellor, and the Emperor.

“Only nobles from other places will criticize. The invited guests will enjoy themselves, and the domain residents will be happy.”

Thanks to the refugees still pouring into the domain, my domain’s population had already surpassed its pre-collapse numbers.

The construction happening everywhere was partly to ensure that the influx of people wouldn’t be idle.

From what I had secretly heard during my incognito inspections, they were all praising me.

To those who had barely survived, I was the best lord who had allowed them to live like humans again.

“That may be true, but won’t it cause problems later if the nobles view you unfavorably?” Irene asked worriedly.

I smiled and shook my head at her concern.

“It doesn’t matter. When have I ever cared about the nobles’ opinions? If they have complaints, tell them to request a domain duel. I’ll crush them all.”

At my response, the serious Irene narrowed her eyes.

“There are no domains around us that would pick a fight. No, our domain is the only intact one in the eastern part of the continent.”

As Irene said, in the eastern part of the Empire, beyond the wall, there was no domain or country that had recovered as much as ours.

Moreover, the Luna Kingdom where my domain was located still hadn’t even established a new royal family.

If I had the inclination, I could have established a country right away.

Though I had absolutely no intention of doing so, as it would obviously become troublesome.

“Then it doesn’t matter.”

“But there are also Imperial nobles… Well, I suppose you don’t care, my lord.”

“Of course, why else would I have obtained a domain in a place like this?”

I watched Irene sigh with amusement, then headed to the venue.

The formal attire I wore instead of armor no longer felt awkward, and the position of lord no longer felt uncomfortable.

But I was still a knight.

Reincarnated in Ea, I had gone from being a knight to a hero to a lord, but being a knight was still my true calling.

To realize this now, at the moment when I was gaining everything, I couldn’t help but shake my head with a bitter feeling.

Just because I felt that way didn’t mean I intended to throw away what I had.

Moreover, there were people waiting for me ahead.

Thud!

The doors to the venue opened.

The hall, converted into a wedding venue, was filled with numerous people.

Many nobles from Ea, my family from this life, and even the bereaved families of my comrades.

Though the people from Earth couldn’t attend, we planned to meet them when we went to Earth for our honeymoon.

Passing through the people who stood to congratulate us, I walked to the front of the venue.

Three women in dresses were waiting for me at the front of the venue.

Zahina, Yerim, and Yelena.

My party members who had traveled with me all this time, my companions.

For such beautiful and wonderful women, I could kick away the values from my previous life several times over.

Of course, even without the memories of my previous life, I knew well that living with three wives wouldn’t be easy, but I still couldn’t choose just one.

I looked at my smiling wives and moved forward with a smile on my face.

Now, once the priest made the declaration, I would live my second life as a lord, and they as the lord’s wives.

With a slight feeling of regret, I stood beside my wives, and just as the priest in front of us was about to make the declaration…

Thud!

The doors swung open wide.

And in rushed the current hero and the princess.

Having grown much larger in just a few months, he now looked more like a proper hero.

But to barge into a wedding ceremony like this because he was late, that wasn’t heroic behavior.

“There’s a problem!”

Wait, is he making excuses for being late?

As I was thinking this, I heard Yelena sigh beside me.

Then came Zahina’s words.

“What’s the matter?”

Following Zahina’s question, Yerim poked me in the side.

“You’re thinking something strange again, aren’t you?”

I redirected my thoughts and shook my head.

“What’s the matter, Hero?”

“We need help. The Demon King’s subordinates that we’ve been tracking have opened a gate.”

A ridiculous entrance followed by ridiculous words.

I had to ask.

“Who?”

“The blood-suckers. The vampire remnants have opened a gate to their homeland, the demon realm. We’re holding them back now, but we lack strength.”

Everyone was shocked by the hero’s words and gaped.

I also looked at the hero with a bewildered face.

But seeing me, Yerim whispered quietly.

“Your mouth is smiling.”

“Is it…?”

At Yerim’s words, I touched my mouth. As she said, the corners of my mouth were turned upward.

I pulled down the corners of my mouth and smiled bitterly.

It seemed it wasn’t yet time for the knight to retire… Knight Egger drew the sword he had been wearing for the ceremony.