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Vol 02 Chapter 39: The Patrician Council

The country of King Rosais determined its policies through discussions between its patricians. These discussions between the king and the patricians were called the Patrician Council.

Incidentally, there were two types of patricians: the great patricians, who owned a certain scale of territory, commonly known as lords, and the lesser patricians, who owned smaller territories and were under the dominion of the great patricians, commonly known as landlords.

Generally, lords were considered equals to each other.

The king governed the lords, the lords governed the landlords, and the landlords governed the people. This was the political system of King Rosais’ country, excluding the directly controlled territories.

Since the area of land governed by the lords was larger than King Rosais’ directly controlled territories, King Rosais could not conduct centralized politics. This was why the country of King Rosais remained a small country that couldn’t be called a kingdom.

「King Rosais. Is it really wise to entrust the Aris family’s territory to someone whose background is completely unknown?」

Rigal Dibel, the greatest Patrician with the largest influence in King Rosais’ country, shouted vehemently.

「Whose background is unknown? I have known that man for several years now. Every time he visits, he brings honey as a gift, a fine young man, isn’t he? Besides, rumors say he is the child born from the love between the Griffon and a human. I see no problem with it.」

This rumor was indeed circulating, and the thought process behind why the rumor appeared… ‘Griffon-sama is a fearsome Divine Beast that devours the humans who dare enter his forest → but there seems to be a village in the forest → those villagers must be special beings → surely, the village chief is the son of the Griffon!!’

After circulating for some time, the rumor evolved so much that it sprouted fins and wings. There were two versions of the story: one where Almus was the biological son of a girl offered as a sacrifice and the Griffon (here, it’s divided into whether the girl was forced by the Griffon or if both fell in love) and another where a girl, impregnated by a god while still a virgin, was abandoned by her parents in the forest due to social concerns, only to be picked up by the Griffon.

The latter theory was more popular, likely because it was more difficult to imagine being able to conceive the son of a beast. Why was it easier to conceive the child of a god than the child of a beast? No one has the answer.

After all, these were just rumors, believed only by the people around the forest and the former subjects of the Kingdom of Ferme – now Almus Aris subjects.

「That is the same as being an unknown. There surely must have been someone more suitable than that boy.」

「Hmm, I’m not sure who are you talking about. Bartolo-dono’s territory has been increased already. Is someone else more suitable? I really can’t think of anyone. Are you suggesting that we should divide the land among all the soldiers who participated in the war? But they lack education. Almus-dono is able to write in Kirisian and is also good at arithmetic. I think there’s no one more suitable than him.」

Almus had become proficient in reading, writing, and conversational Kirisian thanks to his lessons with Tetra. Not to mention mathematics. In this region, a person able to perform basic arithmetic was considered highly educated, and being able to read, write, and converse in Kirisian in addition would make that person highly sought-after personnel. Even among the lords present in the council, who had received relatively advanced education, not many could perform basic arithmetic and speak Kirisian. Perhaps not even twenty percent of them could.

Naturally, Rigal couldn’t. In the end, he was just a Patrician from the hinterlands.

By the way, Tetra, who had mastered Kirisian by the age of ten, was an exception. She didn’t fit within the bounds of ordinary humans.

「The ones who participated in this war were Almus-dono, Bartolo-dono, and Boros-dono. What’s wrong with those who participated in the war getting the spoils?」

At those words, the patricians averted their faces. All of them were too afraid of King Ferme to send their troops.

After all, King Ferme’s defeat was largely due to the impossible-to-counter weapon known as black powder. It would be fair to say that he fought well against those odds.

「However, that territory needs to be prepared for King Domorgal’s invasion. To entrust it to an unknown brat…」

「An unknown brat is far more trustworthy than the cowards who were too scared of King Ferme to come out of hiding.」

With that, King Rosais glared at Rigal. Pressed by that gaze, Rigal involuntarily flinched.

「Does anyone else have any objections?」

No one answered.

「Then, let’s adjourn,」

he declared.

And thus, the Patrician Council came to an end.

◇

「That damned old fool. How infuriating.」

「Now, now, Rigal-sama. Calm down. The king won’t last another two years. After that, the throne will be yours.」

Rigal’s confidant, Belmet tried to pacify Rigal.

Belmet was sixty years old. He had no grandchildren. In fact, he wasn’t even married.

He had devoted his entire life to the Dibel family. That’s why he was so valued by Rigal.

Rigal primarily staffed his vassals with relatives, but there were a few who were not related. All of them were recommended by Belmet.

In essence, Belmet was like Rigal’s brain.

「Well, it’s pretty much decided that I will be Princess Julia’s fiancé.」

「Rigal-sama, don’t be too careless,」

Belmet warned.

「Which side are you on?」

Rigal asked his confidant with a look of exasperation.

「Rigal-sama, you are the most powerful among the great patricians. It’s almost certain you will be the next king. Not even the bedridden king can stop that, no matter how much he dislikes you. But that boy… If he gains the support of many patricians in the future…」

「Hmph. That brat’s victory was just a fluke. I could have done it too. That’s impossible. A brat without a decent backer like him? In the worst case, I just need to crush him.」

Rigal said this confidently.

「That’s the last resort! You have a habit of being too complacent. Be careful. If you are to be king…」

Belmet began his sermon in a grumbling tone.

Rigal, ignoring the sermon of his elderly confidant, left King Rosais’s palace.

「I am a man chosen by the fairies. I will be the king.」

Rigal murmured.

◇

「Hey, Dad. Will my fiancé be Rigal Dibel? I don’t like him; he’s a brute.」

「I agree. But it seems we have no choice but to go with him given the current situation.」

Rigal Dibel was the most powerful patrician in the country. Rigal Dibel himself had a bit of Rosais royal blood flowing through him, and he had many followers.

Choosing anyone other than Rigal Dibel as king would surely lead to a civil war. If a civil war broke out, neighboring countries would intervene.

The chances of victory were dubious, and even if he could win, he would lose a significant amount of territory.

「I guess I have no choice but to marry him…」

Julia looked down sadly. In her heart swirled the sorrow of not being able to be with the person she loved, jealousy towards the friend who married that man, and disgust at having to bear the child of a man she disliked.

「Actually, when I was ten, I fantasized about the country being conquered by King Ferme, fleeing to the forest, meeting Almus, marrying him, and taking back the country. It was so much fun. If only King Ferme had tried a bit harder…」

「…In that scenario, wouldn’t I definitely not be dead?」

「You would be in jail, alive and well. When we rescued you, you started to scream that you wouldn’t accept our marriage.」

Julia spoke of her fantasy with a mix of fun and sadness. In her fantasy, Rigal would be the first to die, killed by King Ferme. She understood well that it was all just a fantasy.

「At the wedding… Tetra looked so beautiful. I wish I could have a wedding like that… ah, but the groom spoils everything. Maybe I should train myself to think of Rigal as Almus now. Hey, do I also need to train to pretend I’m feeling it when I’m not?」

Julia sighed deeply; her eyes slightly moist.

If she didn’t keep talking, she felt the tears would start to flow.

「Wait, wait. I have a plan. Why do you think I forcefully granted all the old Aris territories to Almus?」

King Rosais said this, and Julia leaped at him, literally pushing King Rosais over.

「Dad!! Are you saying I can marry Almus?」

「Oi, you’re heavy!! I can’t breathe, cough, cough.」

King Rosais coughed violently. Julia hastily got off him.

「This foolish girl… I just lost three months of my life because of that…」

「I’m sorry,」

Julia apologized while rubbing King Rosais’s back.

「Now, back to our conversation… It’s impossible under the current circumstances. The deeds done in defeating King Ferme are offset by the territories given this time. We need another significant achievement to showcase his abilities. And he has no allies.」

King Rosais’ Country, this convoluted name was chosen for a reason. The reason it wasn’t called Rosais Kingdom was due to how the country was established, the country was established by an alliance of powerful patrician families.

The leader of the Rosais Family had the title of King, but the Rosais Family was not royalty. The Rosais Family was a powerful patrician family that gathered other patrician families in alliance, with the Rosais Family as the leader of said alliance. Therefore, while there was a master-servant relationship between King Rosais and the patricians, their relationship was more of equals, especially with the great patricians’ families who had territories with populations of over ten thousand.

The taxation rights held by the patricians were not granted by the king, but were something they owned from the start. King Rosais couldn’t forcefully subjugate the patricians, nor did the patricians need to pay homage to King Rosais.

Thus, support from the other families was essential for the succession to the throne. Without it, even if Almus were to succeed to the throne, he would only control the Aris Family territory of thirty thousand and the Rosais Family territory of seventy thousand. The rest would all become enemies.

Conversely, if he could gain support…

「It all depends on him, then. The chances are slim, but there is hope. I’ll try my best to help… Please don’t cry.」

King Rosais comforted his daughter.