Chapter 221: Surrounded and scolded by 21 Flat Gaze, accompanied by 9 geeks and idiots, the meals are all made by myself, and I have no money to waste?
Day 58 Royal Capital, Royal Castle
There will be a civil war. An internal strife under a decline so heavy that sustaining national power will not be possible. That is in case it can be called internal. The great nobles.
They already turned traitors, becoming puppets of foreign states. And now they began swarming for the magic stones of the frontier, the last bastion of loyalty. That's the last thing left for the kingdom. And they want to plunder even that.
Your Excellency, here is the result of our investigation of the current information. We can't assure its reliability, but this is the result of our analysis and filtering of all the information that we obtained so far.
The time won't allow us to do more.V/\\IssT n0(v)eL/b(i)(n)./ for the b/est novel reading experi/en/ce
If only my older brother, the king, regained consciousness, we could break this deadlock, but there is no time left. To think that I'll have to meet sir Mellotosam as an enemy No, that is precisely what I cannot allow the brother to do.
I can't bear even the thought of the brother and count Mellotosam opposing each other.
If only this could've been resolved with my, the Royal Princes defeat, if only it would have brought peace to the country, I would've gladly gone to die in battle, but the cause is so deep and circumstances are so complicated that it won't solve anything.
This issue was bound to come up one day, but we have no solution ready even now.
And I have no excuse to give sir Mellotosam. He simply kept enduring it all for the King's sake, enduring hardships for the royal family, resigning himself to humiliation.
And as soon as the King collapsed with the illness, the great nobles began doing as they please, and finally, even sir Mellotosam's life became a target of those nobles. But even those transgressions they managed to cover up by sacrificing some small nobles under them.
So you are saying, that a brat aspiring to become an adventurer, who is yet to reach even level 20, had an accident in the great dungeon, and fell to the lowest floor.
The brat, that miraculously survived, returned with the treasures of the dungeon master, that died in the cave-in, and is using that money to buy up and monopolize the frontier?
This is merely a deduction from connecting pieces of information that had credibility to them, but I reckon this version is the closest one to the truth. The rest of it are absurd tall stories, no different from fairytales, or some heroic epics overdramatized for fun, utterly lacking in authenticity.
According to the latest information, he is surrounded by 20 beautiful maidens, guarded by 10 brawny A-class adventurers, renting an entire inn all for himself has luxurious meals there every day, and wastes fortunes playing around in the town.
As an attempt to compromise, I tried sending an envoy to have that adventurer and the treasures delivered to the capital, but they couldn't accept that. I even heard that sir Mellotosam flew into a fit of rage over the request to hand over a mere adventurer.
Then why is that frontiers count Mellotosam Shim Omui protecting such a frivolous brat? Isn't there no possible reason to refuse the handover to the point of going to the war with the kingdom?
He isn't protecting that youngster, he is defying the will of the kingdom. Using the breach of the old covenant as an excuse and the kid as a pretense, he is trying to threaten the kingdom by cutting the supply of magic stones.
As proof of that, we have information that a giant fortress was built at the entrance to the frontier, which suggests that he was preparing for this for a long time. Judging from the scale of the castle, it's not something that began just some 5 years ago.
I can't tell if his goal is a rebellion or the frontier's independence, he is likely evaluating information coming from here.
The frontier should've long since reached its limit. Located in the most dangerous area, the domain of Omui, that served as the protection of the continent was driven into poverty by the great nobles. They kept fighting monsters of the Evil Forest without the ability to obtain adequate equipment.
Who else would be more fit to rule the kingdom. We, Diorer Royal family, are no more that foolish and incompetent decorations, that were continuously helped and saved by Omui house, but all we paid them with was resentment.
But now, the kingdom is doomed. Corrupt and rotting from the inside, ending up with the money-crazed nobles selling out the country to the neighbors.
And they are trying to turn the only bargaining chip we have for dealing with the outside, magic stones, into gold for the nobles, even putting pressure on the frontier to rip them off. It came to the point where it would've only been natural if we were killed a long time ago. We went that far.
My last act would be meeting Count Mellotosam in my brothers stead. There is nothing I can possibly say to him, but at the very least, I want to apologize as a member of the royal family. Even that might be presumptuous but there is nothing else I can do.
What's the current situation and the plan of the noble's army? If the kingdom is going to fall anyway, then pincering them together with the frontier's army and massacring them right there could be amusing too?
T-that is too much even for a joke! If such divisive words were to leak outside it would undoubtedly become a large issue. If Your Excellency intends on supporting the frontier, they might brand even Your Excellency a traitor.
There is no way that I can stop the worst outcome that even my brother, that even the King couldn't stop.
And while the King is unable to act, the worst is turning even worse. It's getting worse than the worst situation we could've anticipated.
By now, the troops of the nobles are far more numerous than the royal army. And the royal army itself is split, with part of it allying with the nobles. It won't even be a fight.
That weird kid and his treasures is the only condition which might allow for a compromise. Without that there is nothing to bring things to negotiations with the nobles and the church that is backing them.
If Count Omui wasn't protecting him, it might've been possible to take him into custody and crush the nobles' just cause. Even though protecting all of the people is Omui, he is being way too obstinate.
Since the nobles won't pull back unless some concessions are made, that is the only available compromise. And if that can't be achieved, then civil war is the only path left.
But does that lot really think that the royal family and noble riffraff can beat the frontier's army just because they bunched up? Does it mean that garbage hasn't even seen the frontier?
Do they really think that troops of the nobles, who can't squash even a small dungeon, will be able to contend with the warriors of the frontier, who continuously fight in the monster-dominated forest of demons?
It seems the rescue of Shariceres has failed, but that was nothing more than an assassination under the guise of rescue anyway. Now even the pretext for negotiations is eliminated. In the first place, we are not in a position to negotiate, neither do we have anything to offer.
We have no means left but to crush the frontier. There is no way to avoid the war. Please, I beg you understand
Are you saying we should kill Count Omui? The hero of the kingdom and its great benefactor? And you think the people will tolerate that?
Otherwise, the kingdom will fall, and the people will become vagrants without a country to call home. And The continent will fall into chaos. It's not about should we or should we not, we have no other option. Even if we are talking about that Omui.
Fall by our own folly. The situation progressed to the stage where offering the heads of the princes along with my own still wont be enough to settle things. I have to go. To Omui.
If possible, Id like to shut the noble rabble up by handing them that adventurer brat, and then move to negotiations with Count Omui. Apologize, even if it requires offering him a few royal heads. As for the nobles, there is no other option but to compromise by giving them that kid.
This is the last path left for me. Even if I have to hand over my own head. If it comes to a civil war The kingdom will fall.