Overgeared

Ttang! Ttang!

Tatang! Tang!

The sight of the father and son next to each other was peaceful and joyful.
There was a happy smile on Irene’s beautiful face.

***

“I want to see Grid look bewildered and scared.”

Baron Kons was excited as the carriage moved.
He wondered how surprised and frustrated Grid would be when he heard that he had to offer a tribute to 15 kingdoms, including Gauss.

“It isn’t that simple to build up a kingdom.”

If it was that easy to set up and maintain a kingdom, there would be hundreds of kingdoms on the continent by now.
Baron Kons laughed as he imagined the look on Grid’s face.

“We've arrived.”

Baron Kon’s carriage stopped in front of Reinhardt Palace.

“Hrmm…”

Baron Kons was surprised as he got out of the carriage.
Unlike what he expected, there were no traces of war anywhere in Reinhardt.

‘The damage from the war was repaired so soon? Did he work the people as slaves?’

That bastard called Grid was stupid.
It was only a matter of time before the people’s hostility would grow and the Overgeared Kingdom would self-destruct much faster than expected.

“Tsk tsk, abusing the people when you aren’t fully established yet.
As expected, not just anyone can become a king.” 

“Excuse me.”

A knight approached Baron Kons.
The knights were wearing sturdy black armor.

“Are you Baron Kons of the Gauss Kingdom?”

“Yes.”

It was hard to imagine that these excellent knights had just gone through a war.
Baron Kons gulped nervously while the knights scratched their heads.

“You don’t need to be polite to soldiers like us.”

“Relax your manner of speaking.”

“…???”

Baron Kons was stunned.
It was absurd that they were calling themselves soldiers when they were wearing such excellent armor.

‘Who are they trying to fool?’

Why were these knights pretending to be soldiers and tricking him? Baron Kons soon became angry.

‘That’s right.
Overgeared is trying to tell me not to look down on then because their soldiers are as well trained as the knights.’

Yes, it was acting.

‘Who would be deceived by this?'

Baron Kons shook his head as he was entering the palace garden.

‘There will be no well-known person.’

Which famous person would attend the founding ceremony of a kingdom established by a traitor? Baron Kons predicted that it would be filled with random people or the event site would be empty.
However…

“Oh, Your Holiness.
Look at that wonderful statue.
Brother Grid’s appearance is really reproduced well.”

“Wouldn’t it be nice to put a statue of Goddess Rebecca next to it?”

“Grid wouldn’t want to pay for it.”

“Huhu, Your Holiness is too much.
Brother Grid has contributed so much to the Rebecca Church.
How can he oppose the creation of a statue of Goddess Rebecca? A statue will be built at all costs.”

“Heok.”

Baron Kons became breathless as he walked through the garden.
15 middle-aged men dressed in the clothing of the elders of the Rebecca Church were calling a young man the ‘pope?’

‘This is ridiculous!’

The pope and elders of the Rebecca Church.
They didn’t even come when the emperor of the empire called, yet they were attending the founding of the Overgeared Kingdom? Baron Kons had to deny it.

‘It’s a scam.
It can’t be true! It’s obvious that Grid dressed up his own men as the Rebecca Church’s pope and elders!’

The pope was so dominant that no one dared judge him, but the Rebecca elders were famous for their heavy hips. In order to meet them, the great King Cactus himself had to visit the Vatican.
Yet they were attending the founding of the Overgeared Kingdom?

“Excuse me.”

A group brushed past Baron Kons as he was denying it. 

'Fishy smell?’

Baron Kon blocked his nose and frowned, then he looked at the group passing by.
He recoiled like he had seen a ghost.

‘T-The water clan!’

Water clan. A species that lived in Siren deep below the sea. They were famous for their excellent magic.
Many kingdoms, including the Gauss Kingdom, wanted to ally with them. But they didn’t like humans.
Humans were turned away, even during their most difficult times.
Yet they were attending the Overgeared’s founding ceremony!

‘No, this is impossible.’

The water clan were here for the Overgeared Kingdom’s founding ceremony? He wasn’t convinced.
They must’ve come for other reasons.

‘Maybe Grid needs to repay the water clan somehow?’

Baron Kons constantly tried to deny reality, but it became hard to deny it anymore.

“King Maxong of the water clan is entering!”

“?!?!?!?!”

The water clan’s king? Baron Kons’ eyes widened as he turned towards the entrance of the garden.
The existence who entered was much larger than the water clan people he saw earlier and give off a majestic and overwhelming presence.

‘R-Really.
It really is the king!’

While Baron Kons was feeling shocked, King Maxong approached the group pretending to be the Rebecca Church’s pope and elders.

“Hello King Maxong.”

“Oh, Your Holiness.
It has been a while.
Have you met Grid yet?”

“I couldn’t see him yet.”

“…”

In this atmosphere, the pope and elders seemed to be the real deal.
Baron Kons’ eyes trembled.

‘Is it true that a great demon descended to Reinhardt and that Grid and the pope united their strength to defeat it?’

Rumors had spread throughout the continent that Grid had destroyed a great demon. But hardly anyone believed this rumor. The great demons existed to annihilate the human race. It didn’t make sense, even if Grid was a legend.
The people in the world thought Grid had spread false rumors to increase his reputation.

Now Baron Kons thought the rumor might not be false after all.

‘King Cactus…
I…
I can’t…’

In an event where the greatest figures such as the pope and water clan king were attending, he needed to demand that Grid give them a tribute? It was too much for Baron Kons to do such a crazy thing.