Episode 154 Krafte War – Show Me the Money
“Your distribution is amazing, Your Majesty.”
If we defeat him, we will help you against the Abyss Corporation.
At first glance, the distribution may sound like a big deal, but to put it conversely, the Great King is not seriously considering the possibility of losing to us…
or is not assuming that even if he loses, Krafte may suffer great damage.
So, you can make such a promise without hesitation.
“Why don’t you like it?”
The great king asked shamelessly, and I silently looked at him with my mouth shut.
Charles II.
He is the one who turned a country that was just a northern electorate of the Germanian Empire into the conqueror of the northern part of the empire and the strongest military nation in the central continent.
When everyone expected Krafte to be defeated, he achieved victory over the empire with overwhelming power. During his reign, Krafte became an official kingdom and doubled its territory.
The most famous hero of this era, to whom the people dedicated the title of Great King.
But that’s why you don’t realize it.
In the end, everything he achieved was possible because of the foundation laid by his predecessors.
The people of Krafte, who absolutely obey him, also do not doubt him because they believe that he can never be defeated due to the achievements of the great king.
“No, after a long time, His Majesty the Great King of Krafte has offered me a valuable trophy, so I must gladly accept it. but.”
I said, looking at the king with an amused face.
“I hope your Majesty will not regret or withdraw.”
“Hahaha….”
The great king responded by reaching out to the scribe and signing the paper he held out.
“Then I think the story is over.”
The great king laughed, stood up, struck the ground vigorously with his staff, and asked while holding it with both hands.
“Do you guys need more time?”
under.
I answered after looking at Eris’s face, which was full of anger and resentment.
“It is not we who need your mercy, but the people of Krafte.”
“Ha ha ha ha ha!”
The great king burst into laughter and said with a deep smile.
“good night. In that case, let’s launch an all-out offensive four days later. “I look forward to it.”
* * *
I returned to the garrison after finishing my tea time with the King.
“I just can’t understand that great king.”
Eris burst into anger as soon as she returned.
“How can a person like that who manipulates the country and people as he pleases to achieve his own personal greed be respected by the people?”
“Because it brought great honor and pride to the people. It is true that the Kingdom of Krafte became a powerful nation during the reign of the Great King.”
“Does that mean you are willing to give up your life for the King?”
At least the Great King believes so.
-As a result, I devoted myself enough to my country that they called me an enlightened despot and a great king. If so, wouldn’t Jim also be qualified to order his people to devote themselves to his cause?
So he must have said that with confidence.
“It can’t be like that. To be precise, sacrifices may have to be made for the glory of the Great King, but I don’t think that is the case, so I am willing to be enthusiastic for the Great King.”
“The king and the entire country must be crazy.”
“That’s interesting. “I thought the compatibility was extreme, but I think this is the first time I’ve seen Her Majesty hate someone so much.”
It was only after Eris heard me that she realized how angry she was, so she kept her mouth shut.
Eris believes that as a queen she should serve the people because she enjoys the nobility that comes from the people, and tries to help and save as many people as possible.
The great king believes that he is worthy of ordering devotion from his people because he has shown them greatness, and he does not care about the sacrifices of his people for glory and pride.
Beings who stand in completely opposite positions and will never be able to understand each other.
Eris, who had been silent for a while, opened her mouth in a suppressed voice.
“It is so terrible that our people will shed blood because of someone like that. … I have never needed power so desperately as I do now.”
-His Excellency the Marquis. Can we win against that great king? I don’t want to lose to a guy like that who wants to create a sea of blood just for his own satisfaction…
Eris’s voice overlapped with the voice of Jose Vachet, who had asked me a pleading question before arriving at the garrison and returning.
I paused for a moment and then answered.
“That’s a good thing, Your Majesty.”
Eris blinked and answered.
“yes?”
“…I’m going to give Her Majesty the power to the point where I’ll get drunk if she does something wrong, but I don’t think Her Majesty will be reluctant right now.”
“What do you mean?”
I smiled and answered Eris, who had a puzzled look on her face.
“If we want to catch the great king, we must have at least one secret weapon.”
* * *
two days later.
Eris was looking at the 10 crystals in the box with her mouth wide open.
“It’s been a while, Bishop John. No, you are the archbishop now. Congratulations.”
“Long time no see, Marquis de Lafayette. “The marquis’s virtue is great, hehe.”
Bishop John once led those who tried to protect their faith against the Republic, which oppressed religion in the western region south of the Loire River.
He played a central role in the religious world of Francia, which was in turmoil after the death of Bishop Richelieu, a renowned figure in the capital Lumière.
It is strange that there is no archbishop in a country where Eris, who has so many saints, is crowned as queen, so John, who had both the merit of protecting the faith against religious oppression by the previous National Assembly and his close relationship with Eris, became the archbishop in charge of the Diocese of Francia. That’s it.
While I was greeting Archbishop John, a wizard dressed in robes was explaining things next to Eris.
“Unlike the magic amplification crystals previously sold at the Mage Tower, this is a special product made strictly for users of divine power.”
Basically, divine power consumes the user’s magical power like a knight or wizard.
Therefore, it was possible for Eris to temporarily greatly enhance her divine power by using the magic amplification crystal.
In fact, when fighting the Storm Witch, it was used as a temporary measure and worked like that.
However, although magical power is used as a material, users of sacred power convert it into sacred power, which is a greatly different form from magical power.
So, using the same magical power amplification crystal was bound to be less efficient than a wizard.
You can only use the magic power of the crystal properly by converting it into divine power, but a considerable amount is lost in the process.
…I’m not sure, but I assume that the huge burden Eris was under at the time was also due to the process of converting the suddenly enormous amount of magic power she was given into divine power.
“Previously, there was no reason to create a product like this. Not only is the relationship between the Magic Tower and the Holy Church not very good, but no one was willing to use divine power to such an extent.”
Because the Holy Church is busy making money with divine power. Who would waste money like this and repeat miracles?
“However, the order came in after a long time, and thanks to Archbishop John’s cooperation for the magic tower, which has relatively little research on divine power, we achieved significant results. Although it is an early-model product, at least for users of divine power, you will be able to see effects that are incomparable to previous magic amplification crystals.”
Eris, who had been listening blankly until then, suddenly came to her senses and asked.
“Isn’t this… extremely expensive?”
The wizard smiled very kindly and answered.
“The payment was properly received. Of course, I received some help from Magic Tower, and since it was an interesting project, they even gave me a decent discount.”
Instead of asking the wizard again, Eris turned her attention to Christine next to me.
“So how much is this?”
Christine answered calmly.
“Payment was made by the National Assembly, Your Majesty.”
“What kind of money does the National Assembly have?”
“The bond sales and donations encouraged by Her Majesty the Queen, and…”
Christine ran her hand through her hair and added.
“It is the sales amount of government bonds purchased by the Aquitaine merchants.”
“How much did the Aquitaine merchants buy?”
“Hmm…”
Christine unfolded the fan, waved it around, and answered.
“About 5 years’ worth of the National Assembly’s budget?”
“Are you crazy?!” How much does that cost! Even if we win the war, we can’t pay it all back!”
As Eris’s pupils were almost causing an earthquake, Christine answered very leisurely.
“It was a confidential matter, but this was also approved by the National Assembly, so they will take care of it. Mangi is willing to adjust it based on the situation of the National Assembly, and if the war is lost anyway, the blow to Aquitaine will be the same, so it doesn’t matter, Your Majesty.”
Still, Eris was swallowing dryly as she looked at the crystal in front of her, so I spoke.
“Your Majesty has always expressed regret that no matter how hard you try, there are people you cannot save due to lack of ability. And now, before you, Your Majesty, there is a great power that can stand against them and save many people.”
I asked, looking directly into Eris’ shaking eyes.
“Your Majesty, you probably don’t think that those who will fall in this war and the pain that Francia will go through if it loses this war are worse than money.”
“Ahaha….”
Eris slammed both hands on the table with the box on it with a loud bang and responded with a face full of fighting spirit.
“It can’t be. … Thank you, Marquis de Lafayette, Count of Aquitaine, and Archbishop John. Since you’ve done this much, let’s give that unlucky king a shot.”
I also smiled and answered Eris.
“Of course, Your Majesty.”
Eris smiled at me, then turned timid, turned her gaze to Christine, and opened her mouth.
“I didn’t know that the Count of Aquitaine was so patriotic, but if possible, could you please indemnify him just a little bit? Anyway, this is too much…”
“Do you want me to go bankrupt, Your Majesty?”
“Oh, no, that’s not true…” But
he immediately frowned in front of Christine, who answered with a very sweet smile.
When things seemed to have been sorted out, the wizard waiting next to me opened his mouth with a friendly face.
“It looks like things have been resolved well. In fact, I already received the payment and was preparing 10 reasons why I couldn’t return it.”
“Ahaha…”
Eris’s face was blatantly saying, ‘You guys are thieves,’ but the wizard of the Magic Tower, who had sacrificed both his sense of money and his conscience to spend the research funds like water, did not blink.
“Still, since it is an expensive product, we will provide at least a service to adjust it to optimize it for Her Majesty the Queen. Would you like to lightly inject some divine power as a test?”
“Even if you inject it, it doesn’t mean it will be consumed, right?”
“no.”
I smiled bitterly as I looked at Eris, who was almost shaking, and the wizard with a straight face.
Although she is the queen of a country, she has been a wandering bard for a long time, so it is rather cute that she is weak in front of expensive goods.
A happy smile…
“No, I didn’t think anything, Christine.”
Christine answered with a grin.
“I didn’t say anything either, Pierre?”
Christine seemed absolutely fine.
…As long as you don’t hold the fan that was leisurely swinging as if you’re going to break it.
While we were doing this, Eris did as the wizard instructed, lightly placing the crystal on her hand and closing her eyes.
And at the same time, a brilliant golden energy spread, covering the entire room.
“Oooh…!”
Archbishop John immediately knelt down and made the sign of the cross, and not only the wizard but even Christine widened their eyes in surprise.
The golden aura floating in the air like the flapping wings of an angel moves brilliantly as if caressing the entire room. None of the divine powers that Eris had shown so far had reached this level.
I opened my mouth as if mesmerized by a scene that could not be described in any words other than sacred.
“…That’s amazing.”
“You didn’t really use this, did you?!”
…That pious atmosphere was shattered by Eris’ scream-like cry.
“Oh no. “If it were actually used, its power would be incomparable to this.”
Eris belatedly came to her senses and answered the wizard’s words, putting the crystal back into the box with trembling hands and then suddenly running towards Christine.
“oh…!”
While Christine was confused, Eris hugged her tightly and shouted.
“Of course, money is the best! Christine is a god!”
“Oh my God…”
Archbishop John clutched his chest and made the sign of the cross at the truly blasphemous words that came from the Virgin King’s mouth.
Haha, that’s bullshit.
Still…
it’s definitely worth doing.
Let’s see what the great king will say after tasting the asymmetrical power and money given by God.
