The Nebula’s Civilization

“But Kyle, you know that I can’t give up the seat of crown prince just because I want to, right? Now that I’ve decided to do it, of course I’ll help you, but…”

“Yes. I’ll get ready.”

Silently, Vasen admired the fact that he was able to put weight on the words of a 12 year old child.

“But what do we do about that?”

Kyle’s gaze trailed to where Vasen was pointing at.

“Oh, Manun?”

Kyle had solved the problem that had been on his mind for a while, but not the problem in front of him. Bringing Manun back to the palace wasn’t an easy thing to do. Kyle was looking down at Manun when he saw Deyanin riding his Cockatoo toward them.

“Usually, the person in charge would have to take care of it, but…”

“But?”

Vasen stroked his chin.

Manun was a giant monster. The range of a Drake’s activity was not small, so it would be a big problem if they just left him there and allowed him to go to roads or private houses where there were people. At first glance, the idea was absurd, but it seemed somewhat reasonable when Kyle was the one proposing it.

“How?”

“I’ll explain when the Hunting Minister gets here.”

Kyle got on the Cockatoo with Vasen, and they went down the mountain together with Deyanin. As they were going down, Kyle talked about what to do with Manun. Deyanin was reluctant at first, but then his expression turned thoughtful, and he eventually nodded.

As they got to the wooden bars where Manun had escaped through, Deyanin said, “Alright. Let’s do as Prince Kyle said. It’s also an offer that I have no reason to refuse.”

“I look forward to your cooperation, Hunting Minister.”

After saying so, Kyle and Vasen disappeared into the palace.

Deyanin looked at Kyle in wonder. The hunting department was loosely connected to the royal family since the department prepared banquets and hunting, but there was no need for Kyle, who liked to read books and talk with other scholars, to care for the Hunting Minister.

‘Perhaps… Maybe…’

***

At Orazen, Eldar said to Sung-Woon from on top of the palace’s roof, “Nebula, would this be okay?”

“Why do you ask?”

“It’s good that the third prince is smart and doesn’t go against God’s will. And he also seems to have an innocent side to him. But…”

Sung-Woon nodded.

“He can interpret the revelations I give as he pleases, right?

“Aren’t you worried?”

Sung-Woon answered, “Not really.”

“Why not?”

“When playing The Lost World, I thought the game characters were the problem since they didn’t move as I intended for them to. But I still played well.”

“...Yes.”

Just as Kyle had deduced, Sung-Woon hadn’t put all his hopes on his first plan, which he wasn’t sure would work or not. He had a second plan and a third. Sung-Woon’s goal was to make Kyle king by whatever means necessary, and in addition to Kyle’s ability to deduce Sung-Woon’s wishes one by one, Kyle’s honesty in revealing his own wishes to Vasen turned into a catalyst for Vasen to give up his seat as the crown prince.

“But now I know they are people. Even if their will does not align with mine, it doesn’t matter as long as they end up giving me the result I want. There’s no need to dwell on it. And overall…”

“Overall?”

“The situation is better, isn't it?”

Kyle would, of course, be a better king, but Vasen was a valuable asset that would be a waste to give up. Without Kyle, Sung-Woon wouldn’t have thought that there was any problem in Vasen becoming king.

‘However, there can’t be two kings.’

Eldar nodded.

“But are you not worried? It was fortunate that your will has aligned somewhat with Kyle’s until now, but…”

“Eldar.”

“What?”

Sung-Woon leaned over. Looking to the side, Eldar flinched when Sung-Woon flicked their forehead.

“Ow.”

Eldar knew that Nebula hadn’t simply done that to inflict pain, but rather intended it to be a wake-up call.

“Why?”

Sung-Woon raised himself back up and said, “I didn’t simply decide on Kyle for no reason.”

Intelligence was only one factor. Sung-Woon was there when Kyle Lak Orazen was born, he listened to the conversations that Kyle had with the scholars, and he also knew what Kyle had written down. Kyle respected and valued the heroes of the previous generations, and at the same time constantly explored whether there were better ways to do things. Even if one day Kyle ruined Sung-Woon’s plan, that in itself could become more meaningful.

‘Just like Lakrak did.’

***

King of Serenity was absent from the evening meeting.

There was word going around among the ministers that his disease had returned, but the King of Serenity’s symptoms had started when he was younger, so it wasn’t anything new to the ministers.

The Administration Minister, Salusin Oh, presided over the meeting. The first topic was, of course, Manun. The ministers attending the meeting had all been at the palace since the morning, so it was obvious that Manun’s escape would be the topic of the day.

“However, I haven’t heard anything about Manun being caught yet, Hunting Minister.”

At those words, the commander of the palace guards replied faster than Deyanin, “Yes, our palace guards are still waiting.”

“Oh, you weren’t able to catch him before the sun set, and you can’t go find him until it’s daytime again. What are you going to do if Manun hurts people before you find him, Hunting Minister?”

Deyanin slightly nodded and said, “Fortunately, I have found where Manun is.”

The Finance Minister, who was always strict toward Deyanin, spoke up.

“Isn’t that obvious? Not being able to find a big thing like Manun…”

Deyanin interjected, “Prince Vasen helped me.”

“...is possible, but it’s good that the prince helped.”

“Yes. We’ve been watching him since then, but perhaps because he had been moving around all morning, he is now quietly sleeping. There shouldn’t be a problem.”

Then the Administration Minister said, “That is a relief, but…His Majesty is very worried, and we can’t mobilize our palace guards until tomorrow morning. You should’ve come to get the palace guards when you found Manun and brought him back to the palace at once.”

Deyanin nodded.

“I was going to do that at first, but then I discovered something suspicious when I investigated the process of Manun’s escape. I decided not to bring Manun back for now.”

The ministers at the meeting were all surprised.

Then Hwee-Mun, the white haired leader of the left ministers asked, “Does that mean you not only had no intentions of bringing Manun back today, but also plan not to bring him back in the future either?”

“Yes.”

“What excuse do you have to shirk the duty that His Majesty has given you?”

Deyanin walked forward, as if talking while standing still wasn’t enough to make his point.

“I’m sure you are all surprised that I’m saying something different from what I proposed in the morning meeting. However, there is a reason, so I hope you'll hear me out.”

The Finance Minister was about to say something, but the Administration Minister shook their hand.

“Alright, Hunting Minister. Let’s hear it.”

Deyanin said, “This morning, I went to Manun’s garden in order to chase after him, but when I looked at the broken wooden bars, I discovered that bugs had eaten it.”

The Finance Minister rebuked, “You’re not trying to say that someone deliberately had bugs chew through the wood to play a trick on you, right? And even without the bugs, Manun still would have been able to break through the wooden bars without any trouble.”

“Yes, of course that’s not what I’m saying. I had the same thought as you.”

“But?”

Deyanin smiled.

“But Prince Kyle seemed to think differently. He said that due to the parts the bugs had chewed on, the wooden bars easily broke, and the stone pillars connected to the wooden bars didn’t fall, which was why there wasn’t any noise last night, and the palace guards’ discovery was delayed. However, like you said, it isn’t possible for someone to have done it on purpose, and even if they did, they would have quickly been caught by the palace guards and gotten punished.”

“So isn’t it a coincidence then?”

“No. If it’s done on purpose, but not by a person, who would be able to do such a thing?”

Some looked at Deyanin with curiosity, while others looked at him with eyes widened in wonder.

The Administration Minister then said, “Are you suggesting it’s…”

“Yes. It was done by Night Sky.”

“But you're not the one to decide whether it’s a miracle or not.”

“Exactly. So I went to the religious order this afternoon and exchanged opinions with the priests. I’m not sure if you all know, but Night Sky used to be called Blue Insect God in the past, and even before that, they were called Nameless Beetle God. That means many of their miracles are carried out by insects. And the priests visited the scene to check the wooden bars the bugs had chewed on. Then…”

Deyanin’s speech was interrupted when the door to the great hall opened and someone came in. It was a priest of the Night Sky religion dressed in a robe, and as soon as everyone saw the priest, they all quickly bowed.

“Yes, I have checked it myself. It is a miracle from Night Sky.”

At the priest’s words, the Administration Minister asked, “What brings you here, Prince Shune?”

Shune Lak Orazen, the King of Serenity’s second son, said, “The Hunting Minister said it would be better for a priest to come share the finding, so I did.”

“You didn’t have to do this yourself, Your Highness…”

“Now that I am a priest of Night Sky, you don’t need to address me as a prince. And I heard that both my brothers helped find Manun, so I couldn’t just stay out of it.”

Shune had joined the Night Sky religious order and became a priest. Deyanin bowed to Shune in gratitude before turning around.

“Therefore, it is all the will of Night Sky that Manun went out. I couldn’t possibly go against the will of Night Sky and bring back Manun.”

No one could express discontent. It was the will of the King of Serenity to bring Manun back. However, sending Manun out was the will of Night Sky, and the god’s will had been the main source of the royal family’s authority.

The Administration Minister then said, “Alright, Deyanin. If this is the will of Night Sky, it should not be disobeyed. However, I do wonder if it’s okay to leave Manun as is. The priests of Night Sky should be the ones to decipher Night Sky’s will, but until then, shouldn’t we look out for the safety of our people?”

The other ministers nodded in agreement.

Then Deyanin said, “So I wish to expand and restructure the hunting department.”

The other ministers murmured among themselves.

“What do you mean?”

“If Manun stays there as is, he can be a threat to the safety of many hunters, snake hunters, and peddlers. Therefore, we need to supervise the area so that no one would get near Manun, and in order to do that, we need a lot more people assigned to the hunting department.”

It was a very valid statement. However, the palace was a place where everyone kept each other’s authority in check. Expanding the number of people in a group meant that a new force would be created.

With those concerns in mind, the Administration Minister said, “Well, Hunting Minister…”

“I know it’s an urgent issue. Just as many ministers have pointed out, Manun is a beast, and we can’t predict where he’ll go. Furthermore, if you think about his size, this matter really shouldn’t be taken lightly. I would like to borrow the palace guards to do the job, but I cannot have the palace guards keep watch on Manun when they should be protecting the palace and His Majesty.”

“That’s true. Let’s think realistically. Manun is a beast, so from where would you make up for that manpower?”

“There are many hunters in the private district that are good at navigating the mountains. We should hire them to track Manun, and also hire others to stop people from approaching Manun…”

“Would more manpower be enough?”

“What? Of course not. If we don’t want Manun wandering somewhere else, we need to feed him as we have done until now. We will need a wagon to move cows into the mountain. And since wagons break easily on mountainous paths, extra funds will be needed. And…”

As Deyanin listed everything that would be needed, the faces of the ministers, especially the Finance Minister, crumpled in dissatisfaction. They all wanted to deny and counter Deyanin's arguments, but it was going to be troublesome if they did that and Manun later caused an issue. If that happened, Deyanin, the Hunting Minister, would bring up those who opposed the expansion and restructure of the hunting department.

“Hm, I understand the general idea. Then how about you organize everything into a document by tomorrow morning, and we and His Majesty will go over it?”

“That’s a good idea.”

“Then…I do have a little headache. Let’s move on to the next item on the agenda.”

Deyanin returned to his seat. Normally, Deyanin wouldn’t have been so greedy even if he had such an opportunity. And while he wanted the third prince to become king, that opportunity wouldn’t easily come. So instead, he would have looked out for himself and invested a long time making those in the palace turn to his side one by one. However, Deyanin had come to see Kyle’s will through this matter.

‘Prince Kyle intends to become king.’

If that was the case, things would be easier for him. Even though he would be seated in the very back in their meeting with the king, Deyanin thought it all depended on who was in that seat, and how he used the opportunity. If he was able to increase manpower and expand their finances, that would create power in itself, and he would be able to use the power to further his cause. And Deyanin thought to use that personal power openly.

‘With that power, I will help Prince Kyle become king.’

***

Six months later, the King of Serenity had Vasen Lak Orazen relinquish his title and made Kyle crown prince.

And three years after that, the king died of his longtime chronic disease, and Kyle Lak Orazen became the 11th king of Orazen. This happened when Kyle was at the tender age of 15.