Chapter 313

First of all, let’s check how much time has passed during hibernation.

Taking out the pocket watch from my embrace, I glanced at the year… Hmm, around 300 years have passed.

I felt my mind clearing up, likely because I had slept for quite a long time. This kind of refreshment is something you can’t experience without a long hibernation!

Now, shall we go find Asherat to hear what happened while I was asleep?

So, I started walking with Arthur, who had been waiting in front of the room.

No, to be precise, Arthur was closely following behind me as I walked.

Feeling a bit overwhelmed by Arthur, who was following me like a shadow, I turned to him and said,

“How long do you plan to follow me?”

“I will follow you anywhere, Master.”

“No, that’s unnecessary.”

Arthur was sticking to me as if he were my guard.

I knew there was good intention behind that behavior, but… it’s quite burdensome.

“Don’t you have your own things to do now that you’ve become a god? Maybe you should stop following me and go do one of those…”

“What I must do is to protect you, Master.”

“No, not that. Something else. Like protecting your own believers or something!”

“It’s fine. There’s nothing urgent at the moment.”

Arthur said calmly. Seriously… such a troublesome fellow!

“Ugh…”

My words didn’t seem to have any effect at all.

It can’t be helped; despite how burdensome it is, I guess I have to keep him around.

I sighed softly and headed towards where Asherat was, with Arthur trailing behind.

Even after 300 years, the corridor looked just as it did before I fell asleep.

Opening the door to the temple, which hadn’t collected a speck of dust and felt timeless, I stepped inside.

“Alright. I’ll wrap up today’s prayers with this, check the negotiations with the other gods scheduled for the evening later… Ah!”

“Hello, Asherat. You look busy today too.”

Asherat, who was buried under a mountain of paperwork, noticed me.

“Goddess! Have you awakened?”

“Yeah, I just woke up.”

“Just now?! Hey! Sword Emperor!! I told you to notify me as soon as the Goddess woke up! I was allowed to stay in front of the Goddess’s room on that promise!!!”

Hmm? Is that why Arthur was in front of my room?

Well, Asherat wouldn’t have placed Arthur at my door without any thought.

Without my permission or Asherat’s, he wouldn’t even be able to enter the temple. So, Arthur being in here means he received permission from Asherat.

By the way, Sword Emperor? Is Arthur called the Sword Emperor now? He definitely handles a sword better than most humans, but is he really worthy of that title?

Or… has he trained so hard in swordsmanship that he’s earned the title? That’s slightly intriguing.

“I’m sorry, but protecting my Master is more important.”

“Protecting the Goddess? You just want to follow her around, don’t you?”

“…I won’t deny that.”

No, I wish you would!

“Ugh… Seriously, you’re such a clunky human. Anyway, Goddess, it’s a good time you woke up. Things are getting a bit overwhelming.”

“Let’s talk about work later. For now, can you tell me what happened while I’ve been asleep?”

Can’t we wait on work just a bit? Why do I have to hear about work right after waking up?

“Well… Let’s see. While you were asleep, a lot of things happened…”

– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

First of all, several nations emerged on the surface.

Although the Romania Empire flourished, it didn’t cover the entire world.

Considering the vastness of the surface, the Romania Empire is just a small part of human lands.

Various nations rose in the east, places not influenced by the Romania Empire were established, and in the barren northern plains…. many nomadic tribes formed.

With all these nations appearing, the Romania Empire gradually weakened. You could say it felt chaotic as many nations emerged around it.

Some nations began to plunder across borders while others traded peacefully, and due to the increasing number of nations to deal with, the power of the Romania Empire decreased.

Before, the knight order was sufficient to maintain public safety, but now it’s become a bit burdensome, so they’ve had to bolster border defenses.

While the empire was weakening, several incidents occurred within the royal family, leading to a split in the throne.

At the time, the emperor had three sons, with the first son being the most outstanding, so he became the crown prince.

Because of this, the second and third sons were pushed away from power… until the first son lost his life fighting a strong monster.

Deeply saddened by the death of his cherished son, the emperor fell into despair and retreated into drinking rather than governing.

During this time, a power struggle ignited between the second and third sons.
Many feudal lords were drawn into this power struggle, external forces created issues, and ultimately, the emperor, who was supposed to mediate between his two sons, died while lost in his cups…

And so, the Romania Empire was split into two: the North Romania Empire and the South Romania Empire.

It was like the colossal empire had been severed in half.

You can see the exact form of this by the shape of the border starting from the northeast and crossing to the southwest, right?

The northern and western parts of the Romania Empire were claimed by the second son, forming the North Romania Empire, while the southern and eastern parts transitioned to the third son as the South Romania Empire.

Ah, and the flag, which symbolized the emperor, flowed into the North Romania Empire while the black flag went to the South Romania Empire.

The crown… I’m not sure. I heard it mysteriously vanished amidst the chaos.

Other than that… as you know, Lucius Altirius III, the former emperor of the Romania Empire, obtained faith and became a god… yes, that guy behind the Goddess.

Honestly, he kept begging those days in front of the temple to let him serve the Goddess even though he was her disciple.

What kind of god is he? Well… from what I can see, he seems to be the guardian deity of the Romania Empire and the god of swords.

I can’t really tell you how exactly he’s divine since he doesn’t fully disclose that information.

Anyway, while the Romania Empire split in two, the human emperor became a god, and many nations rose, leading to various wars big and small. You could summarize it like that.

Yeah. That was during the 300 years you were asleep.

– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

As Asherat summarized.

Hmm. So the Romania Empire was split? Internally?

Sounds like some Eastern and Western Roman Empire nonsense.

And…

“Arthur. Don’t you feel anything about the nation you ruled being split?”

Why is he sticking to me in such a situation?

His own descendants are living in a country that’s been torn apart!

He claims to be the guardian deity of the Romania Empire! Shouldn’t he protect that country?

“It’s not that I don’t feel anything, but… what can I do? It’s their choice.”

Arthur’s expression held a complex mix of emotions.

Sadness over the nation he ruled being split, regret over his descendants pointing weapons at each other, and a faint flicker of anger.

Those various emotions tangled together.

“Honestly, if it were caused by an external invasion, I might have offered some help… but this is internal strife, isn’t it?”

“That’s true.”

“Even if I have the divinity of being the guardian deity of the Romania Empire, it’s essentially a sword to confront threats to the citizens of the Romania Empire. I can’t offer help in a civil war among the Romania Empire.”

“Indeed…”

So being the guardian deity of the Romania Empire actually imposes restrictions on him.

Well, it can’t be helped.

“Anyway, that’s what happened in the Romania Empire while you were asleep, Goddess. There were various happenings with other races too, but… I wasn’t paying much attention to those.”

“That’s enough for now.”

I can learn about the other races later.

Alright, then.

“I’ll take a little look around the world, so please handle things well, Asherat.”

“Wait! Goddess?! Goddess?!?!”

“Master?!”

And with that, I stepped out of the Divine Hall, leaving Asherat and Arthur’s voices behind, heading towards the surface.

Now, let’s take a tour of the world 300 years later!