Episode 311 Signs of War (5)
King Celia, who was wielding a sword in the middle of the training ground, raised his hand at someone’s presence.
“What is it, Marquis Meches?”
“I knew you were busy, but I dared to interrupt.”
When the Marquis of Meches bowed his head and bowed, he smiled awkwardly and put down his sword.
“ha ha ha. It’s okay, so tell me. I don’t think it’s normal for you to come to me.”
I smiled to try to relax, but the Marquis of Meches still couldn’t raise his head.
“…Excuse me, but could you please change your seat?”
expression hardens
It seems to be a serious matter.
As a result, King Celia’s innocent smile gradually hardened.
“We’ll talk in my office.”
“thank you.”
The king’s office was quite spacious.
The huge table seems to be able to accommodate dozens of people.
When he sat down, the Marquis of Meches also sat down.
“Now let’s talk. What the hell is going on?”
The Marquis of Meches hesitated for a moment, then started to rush.
“Do you know the kingdom of Seren?”
“Everyone knows. There was a time when I met the king of that place in the past.”
“A letter arrived from there.”
“Correspondence?”
When King Celia asked questioningly, the Marquis of Meches took out a piece of parchment from her bosom.
It is tightly sealed with beeswax.
politely hand it over and say
“It seems that the king of Serene Kingdom sent it. Since it was a very confidential matter, I do not know the details, so please see it for yourself and judge.”
“Mmm.”
He opened the parchment.
– To King Celia.
Examine the contents of the letter that began with a formal greeting.
At first, the king’s expression, which looked at him with interest, gradually changed into a subtle one.
King Celia, who had checked the parchment several times, asked.
“Are you sure this letter was sent by King Seren?”
“No doubt.”
Drooling at the Marquis of Meches’s assertion.
“Hmm… I don’t think this is something I’m thinking about alone. We’ll talk about it later, so you hurry up and call the nobles of the capital.”
King Celia issued a summons.
The summoning order of the kingdom does not happen at any time.
It was so far that I wondered if it would happen two or three times in ten years.
Even the king knows that if nobles are frequently called in for trivial matters, the tired nobles will not walk to the royal castle.
Even so, the fact that the summons was issued meant that this was such a big issue.
The Marquis of Meches lowered his head without a word.
“I’ll put the chimney right now.”
* * *
Within three days of the convocation order being exercised, most of the nobles had gathered.
High-ranking aristocrats such as dukes and marquesses originally lived in the capital, so it didn’t matter, but low-ranking nobles from the outskirts had a hard time coming to the capital.
King Celia, aware of their hard work, looked around at his son-in-law and said,
“Thank you for taking the hard steps. The reason I summoned you this time is because of a letter from Seren Kingdom.”
Some nobles show interest in the word Seren Kingdom.
“If it’s Seren Kingdom, it’s the center of trade. I heard that they have plenty of resources, so they are free to borrow money.”
At those words, King Celia nodded.
“You know that. That’s right. Seren Kingdom is a country famous for its trade.”
“If it’s a letter from Seren Kingdom… is it about trade?”
“…no.”
“Then what the hell is going on…?”
When I asked with a trailing edge, King Celia put the parchment down on the table.
On the straightened parchment, you can see the densely written letters.
On one side, there was even the seal of King Seren.
“This is a personal letter sent to me by King Seren. Looking at the contents, it seemed that it meant to interfere in internal affairs.”
The nobles who had been quietly listening to the story were startled by the words.
“Meddling in my internal affairs?”
“Are you saying that the King of Serene himself conveyed that intention?”
“It’s something I’ve checked over and over again. I couldn’t believe it either at first. But the letter clearly says so. If in doubt, you can check it out.”
Permission was granted to read the personal letter, but there were no great nobles in the hall who did not openly believe the king’s words and tried to steal the parchment.
As they cleared their throats and noticed each other, the Marquis of Meches opened the parchment as their representative.
The Marquis, who had been reading for a while, opened her mouth.
“As Your Majesty guessed, this letter is a request for interference in internal affairs.”
After King Celia and even the Marquis of Meches said that, the nobles’ expressions became much brighter.
I never thought there would be a country asking for interference in internal affairs.
If you do well, you can work as a vassal and earn some money.
They licked their lips and said.
“You must accept the request right away! It only pays off!”
“That’s right! If we use this as an excuse to put the Seren Kingdom under us, Celia will be able to grow even more!”
Aside from the growth of the kingdom, they can fill their barns to bursts.
If there is a noble who pushes, there will always be a noble who doubts.
Viscount Crewe tilted his head as if it were strange.
“Anyway, something is unclear. I’ve never heard of a kingdom asking to interfere in internal affairs. Besides, I can only think that there is something about the Celia Kingdom. It seems good to refuse this request.”
“To give up the resource-rich kingdom of Serene! Then what if they choose the kingdom of Devon over Celia!”
“A fruit that looks desirable by nature is poisonous! If you pick it up without even suspecting it and eat it, you could be beaten!”
As the voices of the nobles rose, King Celia clapped her hands lightly.
His hand claps, which even contained mana, subsided the turmoil in the hall.
Truly a great inaction.
As if it were not a lie to say that he had risen to the rank of Sword Master, the momentum of the mana flowing around King Celia was quite daunting.
They only clapped their hands once, but the mana, like the solid earth, revealed their size.
The nobles coughed awkwardly and lowered their tails.
“Kuhmm… I’m sorry for causing a commotion, Your Majesty.”
“I inadvertently raised my voice.”
“ha ha ha. It’s okay. When all discussions become heated, can’t we raise our voice?”
Contrary to what he said while smiling emptyly, his eyes were extremely cold.
The Marquis of Meches, who was closely examining the parchment from the side, gave his opinion.
“Your Majesty, I think it would be better to accept this request.”
“Why do you think so?”
“From my shallow knowledge, Seren Kingdom is a kingdom where nobles have strong power. As much as that, the king of the place, on the contrary, has no choice but to be weak. In the correspondence, the expression ‘Jim, the King of Seren’ appears a lot, but there is no word about the ‘Seren Kingdom’ anywhere. As Viscount Creuet feared, his beliefs are also uncertain, but there is a possibility that King Seren felt a threat to his safety and asked for help.”
“Ummm…”
I drool and fell into thought.
The Marquis of Meches added.
“If we miss this opportunity, all they have left is the kingdom of Devon. It’s a geographical location that can help, and there’s no hostility, so I don’t think King Seren will have any objection.”
Even so, the Devon kingdom is aiming for Celia.
You can tell how much they hold themselves in check just by seeing how they stopped them.
However, if they solve the problems of the Seren Kingdom and take even the resources, the balance of power will begin to collapse little by little.
King Celia, who was worried, quickly made a decision.
“…It would be better for Celia to accept the request of Serene Kingdom and bring a suitable reward.”
As soon as the words they had been waiting for fell, the faces of most of the nobles turned bright.
“You are right.”
“Even though the kingdom of Serene is far away, it is a kingdom that used to be an ally in the past. It’s against your morals to pretend you don’t know.”
He looked around and said.
“Then who will step in and do this? Would you like to see the Marquis once?”
If it were others, it would be something that each other was eager to do, but the Marquis of Meches lightly bowed his head instead of answering.
“When it comes to diplomatic conversations, Count Evos is more proficient than I am. How would you like to send him?”
Count Evos, who was recommended by the Marquis of Meches, lowered his body as well.
“If you ask me to, I will dedicate my whole body to you.”
“Okay, you should try it. I’ll give you one knight. It will be difficult, but let’s start tomorrow for Serene.”
“thank you. I will definitely repay your trust.”
The nobles were restless as things progressed in a flash.
However, the king’s horse has already fallen.
Talking about it is, on the contrary, falling outside the king’s eyes.
In the end, the nobles did not dare to step forward and had no choice but to keep their mouths shut.
* * *
Laying down on the grass in the yard as usual, he heard a thin voice in Ray’s ears.
“Brother.”
A subtle aegyo drips from it.
He closed his eyes without answering, but he puffed up his cheeks and lay down next to him.
“What are you doing in a place like this?”
“I’m enjoying my free time after a long time.”
I don’t know how much free time there is.
I’ve been shooting so many times lately that my legs seem to get sore.
‘I should rest in peace now.’ Seeing her brother muttering, Lacia nodded.
“It’s all in favor.”
She is sympathetic to Ray’s attachment to the house.
I still don’t see them a few times a year, but I was even confident that I would be able to feed them if I stayed at home like this.
Judging by the atmosphere, it doesn’t look like I’m going to go out yet.
‘If you need anything, I’ll get it for you. So it’s only for me.’
Whether or not he knew his sister’s inner thoughts, Ray was complacent at the thought of going out.
It was hard, so I regained my adventurer qualifications.
If you didn’t move, you could be deprived again.
So it’s better to make a request whenever you have time.
‘Although there won’t be any requests yet.’
Not only the village of Billo, but also the village of Deron next to it was in an uproar due to the crowds.
The number of adventurers who travel increases as the company and the company develops day by day.
Deron Village, which had poor welfare, benefited a lot because of it.
So there was no way the adventurers would just let go of requests from the adventurer’s guild in that area.
Ray opened his closed eyes.
‘Something is strange. Both the business and the guild, the water rose too suddenly.’
Abundance is something that takes time and comes slowly.
Even though this is not a crop, it cannot reap an explosive harvest.
He glanced suspiciously in the direction of the village.
The town was still full of life.
