CH 154

“Hmm……I’m glad you’re all here today.”

Raidorl sat on his throne and looked at the kneeling nobles.

The throne is a chair reserved for the king. The regent, Raidorl, could be accused of disrespect for sitting on it, but there is no one here to point this out.

Everyone understands now. Raidorl Zain is the ruler and the real king of this country.

“Some of you have come a long way to come here, the Royal Capital. First of all, let me thank you all for your loyalty. I have prepared a banquet for you in a separate room, so you may enjoy yourselves tonight!”

When Raidorl said this with a generous smile on his face, many of the assembled nobles patted their chests in relief.

Half of the nobles here have been loyal to their brother king, Granard. Others have been uncooperative in the last war with the Empire.

They were blatantly relieved by the warmth of his words, as they had been tormented by the fear that they must be neglected by Raidorl.

“However,……First of all, let’s talk about the future of the Kingdom of Zain, and the people who are involved in the management of the state. We’ll save the fun for later.”

Raidorl takes one look at the knight standing beside him. One of the knights stepped forward, signaled by his lord with his eyes.

Standing in front of the nobles was Darren Garst, a close associate of Raydor and son of the general Bazel Garst.

“So…..I will now proceed on behalf of His Highness Prince Raidorl.”

Darren began in a polite manner.

Instead of his usual armour, Darren wore a ceremonial dress.

He had the features of a nobleman, which were emphasised by his elegant costume. Standing in full view of the eye, he looked less like a knight and more like an actor on the stage.

Some of the noblemen kneeled down and looked up at him, blushing and admiring him even though they knew that he was a man.

“First of all, I’d like to talk to you about the appointment of our personal’s successor.”

“…..!!”

Some of the noblemen’s faces changed when Darren broached the subject.

Some of the noblemen, especially Crowley Rhodis, who has no doubt that he will be the next Prime Minister, could not conceal his joy and lifted his lips in a smile.

Darren takes out a sheaf of paper and glances at it.

“As many of you will know……the Prime Minister, Lord Lockwood Marcell, has recently had the misfortune to retire from the office as a Prime Minister.

“……….”

“In addition, my father, Bazel Garst, has also offered his resignation and will be stepping down from his position as General. Bazel is currently in charge of the defence and pacification of the eastern part of the Kingdom, which was returned to us as a result of the peace with the Arslanian Empire, and as soon as his duties are completed, he will be replaced by his successor.”

(TL:Alsatian chg to Arslanian アルスライン) 

“What….!”

“General Garst…!?”

A murmur rose among the nobles as the report was delivered in an unhurried manner.

The general, Bazel Garst, was the god of war who had defended the kingdom of Zain from the invasion of the Arslanian Empire and was the symbol of national defense.

He is a symbol of the defense of the nation, and his ability and necessity is something that even a greedy nobleman like Rhodis would have to admit, and it had a significant impact on most of the people present.

“I wonder if General Garst has …… been replaced?”

A young nobleman in the front row murmured to himself. He was not asking a question, but was speaking to himself…….The question was answered, not by Darren, but by someone else.

“Aa, of course it’s decided. I’ll introduce it from my mouth because it’s a big deal.”

“Aa,…..I’m so sorry!”

It was Raidorl who answered the question.

The young nobleman, who had slipped up and realised that he had spoken without permission, paled. But Raidorl waved his hand in the air, saying “Never mind”, and continued.

“Bazel Garst’s replacement, Darren, who is standing here, will be taking over.”

Raidorl was adamant.

It was a decision he had taken after consulting with Bazel and the rest of his staff.

“We have decided that Darren is the best and most loyal of the thousand horsemen currently in office. The other chiefs agree with me. You have no objection to that, do you?”

“…………”

When Raidorl looks around at the nobles in the crowd, he sees that some of them look satisfied with his decision, while others look confused but there was no one who disagreed with the decision.

Originally, the nobles in this room had no authority to interfere in military affairs. There is no reason to oppose Darren’s decision to become a general, as there are no other strong candidates.

“It was decided that Bazel would not resign from the Order, but would take on the role of advisor and train his successors. He seemed to be planning to leave the Order altogether, but……it would be a shame to let a warrior like him go into hiding. In addition to that, there are some changes in the personnel of the Order along with Darren’s appointment to the position of general.”

“As a result of the reorganisation of the Order, we have had to change some of our Thousand Horsemen.”

Darren opened his mouth again, taking over from Raidorl.

“Firstly, Lucas Rodd, who was killed in action against the….Empire. And to replace the two captains who, due to injury and age, have been deemed unable to carry out their duties, I hereby appoint Saara Leifet, Justy Oigist and Angelica Ilkas as captains.”

Three of the knights who were present stepped forward.

Sarra was a lady knight who was second in command to Darren, and Justy and Angelica were each noblemen with estates in the east of the kingdom.

The three mainstays of Raidorl’s army have been appointed as the Thousand Horsemen of the Royal Knights.

“In addition, I am appointing Orba Cates, Worcester Gordo and Ranid Zens as captains of the newly added infantry unit.”

Cates was a captain of knights in the service of the Arbeil family, an Eastern noble family. Gordo was the chief soldier of the Barony of Eladin, and both were commanders in the army of Raydor.

Ranid Zens was a man who had originally been assigned to guard the walls of the capital. He had been appointed captain of a thousand men for his brilliant command of the walls of the capital during the battle between Raidorl and Granard.

Appearing before the nobles, Ranid’s face was strained by the unexpected promotion.

“These men will be formally commissioned by His Highness Prince Raidorl later. Now that we have announced the military and knightly appointments……”

Taking over from Daren, Raidorl rises from his throne and says

“Next,……will appoint a new “Prime Minister”. I shall announce who will fill the vacant chair of Lockwood.”

The Prime Minister is the head of the civil service. If the king is the “heart” of the state, the minister is the “brain”. It is a position that is sometimes even more important than that of the king.

Some of the noblemen turned their heads at the mention of the long-awaited word “Prime Minister”.

“I’m looking for a replacement for my predecessor who unfortunately had to retire. We have a number of candidates……”

Instead of making an immediate announcement, Raidorl clicked his heels and walked ponderously left and right in front of the throne.

A glance to the side shows Crowley Rhodis and several other noblemen, their faces stiff with nervousness and their dwellings tense.

Apparently there are other over-confident people out there who think they are “the one”.

“………heh”

Raidorl laughed at the expectant nobles and made a shocking announcement which crushed them all.

“The new Prime Minister will be Sven Arbeil, who is here. I look forward to working with you!”

“Yes, you can count on me!”

Raidorl walked up to one of his vassals on the wall and patted him firmly on the shoulder.

The new prime minister smiled and puffed his chest out, then turned to face the stunned nobles.

“The head of the family is the Earl of Arbeil. My name is Sven Arbeil. As you can see, I’m a young man, but I’ll do my best to fulfill my role as Prime Minister. I look forward to working with you!”

Sven Arbeil.

He is a survivor of the Earls of Arbeil, who perished in the war against the Empire, and was a military strategist for the army of Raidorl.

At the age of thirteen, he was the youngest prime minister ever to be born.