Azimuth: The Elden Throne

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Dale followed Erile to her room at the end of a corridor connected to the main hall, taking a seat at a small and simple wooden table by the window as she walked to a cabinet nearby, grabbing a small tea set before putting it on the table.

"Here… I boiled it before you arrived, it's not as hot as before but it's still more than warm." She said with a smile as she poured Dale some tea

"Tea? I don't see that around these parts…" Dale said with a small smile as he felt the fragrance of the tea in the air

"Yes… People here don't seem to have the practice to drink it but back home, it was almost kind of mandatory, learning how to brew and drink it for the Aristocrat parties." She replied in an exhausted tone as she remembered her tutelage as she grew up

"I didn't have much material to work with, but some of the merchants brought tea leaves with them… Though it would be more correct to say I had them bring some, a bit selfish but I don't regret it as I'll have some for a while."

"Honestly, being like this, uncaring about keeping formalities and appearances is liberating, yet, I often see myself returning to those old habits." She said as she raised a teacup to her lips

"Uhum… Just like now?" Dale asked as he looked at her hands

Erile had one of her pinky fingers raised, it was rather classy…

"Oh!... Yes, like now." She said with a chuckle as she put the teacup down

"... It's very good, can I pass by and have a cup every once in a while?" Dale asked with a smile as he looked at his Status screen

[Populus Tea-> Mental Power +5]

As per usual, a food item gave him a buff, albeit a weak one.

Nonetheless, Dale wasn't surprised, as despite not being a Cook and hence unqualified to prepare special meals with buffs, Erile's teas were good enough to qualify by the System's parameters.

When he first drank it, he was quite surprised, not expecting Tea to have such benefits, but then again, a Tea can be interpreted as a potion, regardless of how angry an alchemist will become upon hearing this statement.

"Of course you can, I would be honored."

[Erile's intimacy has risen slightly]

"And... Thank you, I was never very good at it, but after failing a thousand times, it became muscle memory... Even if it's still not up to par."

She chuckled, reaching for her air as she brushed it, gazing at the window and the outside, her eyes distant as she looked for past memories.

"Compared to me, Xon is much better… Oh! I never told you about him, did I?" Erile said as she realized her blunder

She blinked quickly, looking straight into his eyes, like two emeralds shining brightly.

"You haven't, but I'm all ears, we do have the time." He said with a smile as he waited for her to speak

'Her Buttler, he couldn't come as that would not only break her disguise, it would also disrupt her plans.'

'He was one of the diversions she left behind so her father wouldn't realize just how far her "vacation trip" actually was.'

'For everyone back in her hometown, Erile just went on a small vacation to relax, but in truth, she essentially fled home to seek something her grandmother often spoke about…'

'Either out of curiosity or respect, though she did receive a "revelation" from her Goddess.'

'It's a complicated situation... Or not, it depends...'

"W-Well… Xon is…"

For the next few minutes, Erile narrated a story, eventually chaining into several other stories as Dale kept asking questions.

Time flew by as she talked but Dale did not stop her, only adding more fuel to the fire by exchanging stories with her, laughing with her from time to time as he did so.

[Erile's intimacy has risen considerably]

It seemed that just by listening and talking with her, their relationship strengthened. She began to open up, bit by bit as the moments passed by.

But eventually, she began discussing what she heard from the Soundbox…

To simplify things, Erile just played the entire soundbox to Dale, and just as he remembered, it took well over half an hour for the entire 'podcast' of the Commander to end, almost causing him to sleep midway through.

Though he didn't of course, otherwise Erile would've gotten upset… Although she did yawn once as she watched through it again.

It was important to say that this wasn't her second time hearing it, nor her third…

She listened to it numerous times to fully understand the scope of the issue.

"..."

'I almost slept through it all… How tiresome.'

'The Commander really loved to talk… Although those are likely the words of a dying man rather than those of a talkative person.'

The Commander's sound box was mostly centered around information... Critical information.

The passing of old family traditions, rules, ideals, passwords, and other things related to him on a personal level and not. Mostly things that weren't properly recorded if at all on paper, things his successor would find useful. If anyone ever reached his body that is.

This also included anything related to the Wall.

The second part of the Sound Box was a description of his life, a short description, a sort of autobiography, something normal to leave behind in a soundbox, a self-description for generations to come to listen as they tried to visualize the past.

The grand descriptions of the South, the people, what they built, how they lived, what they faced... Their legends and fears, their Heroes and Demons...

This part also included some achievements he was proud of, from monsters he slew to how he climbed through the ranks of the Corps, including even the day his children were born.

To even things he was embarrassed to share, his mistakes, like when he tried to peep in the women recruits bathing, although that was when he was a recruit also...

The third part was all about this subject, but on a more narrow pair of lenses... His family, or in short, it was a letter to them, an apology letter... Together with a lot of personal things neither Dale nor Erile would fully understand, things likely meant for his parents, wife, and children, whom he did not have a lot of time to grow with.

Unfortunately, all passed away before they even had the chance to lay their eyes upon it.

Lastly, the fourth part was about the reasons behind the fall of the Corps and what the future has in hold for the Empire. In essence, it was everything the Commander fought for and the things he figured out during his time as the Commander of one of the five Major Corps of the Empire.

This was the most important part as it contained bits and pieces of the truth as to why the Kingdom 'feared' the Corps and why they let them be exterminated even if it meant losing the South and all of the progress they attained in its colonization in the past several hundred years.

"... That was when, at the ballad of Yuirta, disaster struck..."

"..."

Dale let the Commander speak, eventually trailing off to his own thoughts...

'The way he speaks about it is a bit cryptic, as he was likely fearful of who would get access to the sound box, but it's simple to piece the clues together into something coherent if you have the time to think about it.'

'This issue can be broken into several pieces, Political, Economical, Personal, and so on... But the one that matters for Erile would be that of her family line.'

'In essence, the problem lies with Erile's Great Grandmother.'

'It isn't unusual for a couple to have multiple children, boys, girls, in this time period, most families would have between three and five kids to take care of, with their ages being close or somewhat far from each other, as it isn't unusual to see 18-

Year-olds with children already.'

'This is no different for Nobles. And although it is the norm to pass hereditary Titles to the oldest son, a daughter is also eligible to become the matriarch if the family allows it from their traditions.'

'As for the other children, it's not like they're discarded, they live on, joining branch families, pursuing their goals, receiving positions within the Family business... Or sometimes, losing their Noble Status to a degree as they distance themselves from the household, but never becoming peasants, they usually receive honorary Titles, ones that will be voided once they die and that cannot be passed down.'

'Erile's Great Grandmother was one such case, she was part of a Noble Family but wasn't chosen as its inheritor, nor could she maintain her Title due to its sensitive nature.'

'Her father sent her far away from her home, wishing to give her the chance to live a life of her choosing, and it worked, she found a husband and had a happy family, even if it came to an abrupt, short end.'

'And it's even said in some of the letters I found with David that he talked with her father on more than one occasion, albeit not for long as they died not too long after.'

'Yet, the problem stems from the fact, the main family line was exterminated in an unforeseen event, causing great disputes of inheritance and rulership.'

'Her Great Grandmother was the second daughter of King Jumieus Armiral Roy G.... And a lot of extra names, the father of Leoseus Armiral.'

'While the Title was passed to Leoseus, making him the King/

Emperor, the daughter became a tool for the sake of political strengthening, but the previous King did not wish for that.'

'She was sent far away, before Leoseus could take over and seal her fate, but that wasn't enough for him, Leoseus found where she was and began applying pressure with the intent of quelling any embers of a rebellion forming. Knowing that with her backing, the future generations of his Family could be in potential danger.'

'Even if not, the Political stability in the Empire could shift with the appearance of a new heavy fighter, a family backed by the entirety of the Southern Corps, the most independent of them all.'

'Applying the pressure wasn't hard, the King made use of past pretenses to curb the Corps down even further, not even trying to pull them to his side.'

There was one problem in all of this...

Why would the Royal Family be interested in curbing the Corps? Why fear them so much?

This wasn't a process that began yesterday, it was something that had been going on for decades if not longer, Jumieus was no compassionate King, he applied just as much pressure at the Corps as his son did to his sister.

The question is, why did the Empire suddenly desire to seemingly 'abandon' the South?

This was something Dale had been trying to figure out for a while...

'In the end... It worked, as soon enough, the Corps fell…'

'I wonder what the king thought when he realized that? Did he feel it was a shame or did he feel relieved? Regardless, he wouldn't live to see the consequences of his actions so who cares, right?'

'Leoseus passed his Title to his son, and eventually, it came the time for his grandson to rise to the throne…'

'But in an extreme and violent incident, three entire generations of the Royal Family were all brutally murdered, leaving behind only offshoots, the brothers and sisters of the past Kings.'

'For the coincidence it was, they were now the only Royals with a veridic claim to the throne… But then, disaster struck again, and all women were slain.'

'Why women? For one reason only, the traditions of the Empire.'

'The Title can only be passed to men, this means that if a King has four sons and he passes the Title to one with the ceremony, if he perishes before having a proper successor, the other brothers won't ever have a proper claim in the throne.'

'And neither would a sister have, if she were to exist… But she has one thing they do not have… She can foster a new generation.'

'A baby born within the Royal Blood, if a son is born, he would have the qualifications to partake in the fight for the Throne and likely will, and for those that survived the onslaught of the Royal Family's death. Such a thing could be disastrous.'

'In the letters between the Commander and many of his associates, it seemed that the death of the Royal Family was something he had foreseen, not orchestrated.'

'For too long the current Royal Family has neglected important issues and with his power, he managed to peer into the darkness underneath the curtains, the Royal Family's time was fast approaching, and they knew it… They were just unable to fully defend themselves. The culprits were too proficient.'

'And that's something that pales me even now, the capability of a group or individual that can perform such a feat in the territory of the Imperial Arms…'

'There is a ploy going on in the Center of the Continent, an organization, a group, someone, that has a deep-rooted hatred for the current dynasty, and he almost succeeded in carving them out of this earth.'

'I say... This is the shadow of a Main Storyline, a mystery grand and significant enough that may chain together with many, many other issues, eventually leading to an "end", possibly the birth of a New Generation of Adapters... But that is another matter altogether.'

'Either way… The current Royal Family is an illegitimate one, descendants of other Noble Families with heavy ties to the original Royal Family but not direct ones.'

'Erile is now the sole female descendent of the original line, her Second-order great-grandfather was Emperor Jumieus, and her great-granduncle was Emperor Leoseus.'

'Not only that, her bloodline is "pure", having only High Nobles as her ancestors from her Great Grandmother's time to now, including even the Commander of the Corps, a man of great power, strength, and respect, even if that only extended to the South.'

'Besides, she now has become a Saintess and if she receives support from the Arkesian Church, her influence would reach an all-time high.'

'Her existence would likely shake the political scene of the Empire if it was confirmed, not that it's hard… Her Red hair says a lot.'

'Red hair is associated with the Royal Family, they say that all of those who possess it are connected to them in one way shape, or form, many Nobles possess it, treating it as a token of royalty.

'I particularly find it difficult for a single family to hold such genetic heritage, but this mystery is something that can only be solved by following the clues left behind in the Commander's letters, or in other words, to leave the South towards the central parts of the Continent.'

'For a single group to possess a specific genetic trait says a lot about what they could possibly be... The last descendants of another extinct group? A mystery with great possible repercussions...'

'Heck, for all that's possible, the Royal Family could be the descendants of an important group of the Old Empire, that's not completely impossible to think about, is it? Everyone has ancestors, and it had to have passed by the Old Empire, though if that's significant or not will be left for a player to figure out somewhere down the line.'

'For Erile, this revelation bears weight due to the words her Grandmother used to tell her and of her upbringing as a Noble.'

'Seeing herself as the last rightful heir of the Royals must've made her heart beat with power and desire, only to be curbed by the waters of her incompetence.'

'As she's now, she would only be used by the current Royals, to be bred and strengthen their claim of the throne, even if it meant some degree of inbreeding…'

'A horrifying thought to entertain, but a reality the Nobles wouldn't hesitate to follow through if it meant solidifying the Royal Familie's dwindling power.'

'Currently, the Royal Power falls to the hands of a young and recently crowned Emperor after the sudden retirement of the previous one, the times are changing and the political scene is unstable and full of strife for territory, power, and wealth.'

'This is how the Continent operates.' Dale thought as he listened to the final words of the Commander

"... And despite everything, do know that out of everyone, you're the only one that I ever and will ever love, be it in this lifetime, or several more in the future." The Commander said with a light gasp as the sounds of clashing and conflict died out outside of his chambers

The Audio of the Sound Box had been made over several days, and with each, the Commander's restlessness grew quite visibly…

And now, he was taking his final gasps, the moment before his death, where the Elite Soldiers of the Corps all fell just outside of his Office.

The fall of the Southern Corps.

[DING]

[Your quest has been updated]

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Notes