Chapter 2006: The Red Banquet -Part 1
Chapter 2006: The Red Banquet -Part 1
"Why...are there so many people in the throne room?" Jin asked the mage and he proceeded to say that most of them were the ministers' lackeys. To help them take things, take notes, answer for them...which bewildered Jin.
"Then what does the Minister do?" He questioned and the mage proceeded to say that their positions were most hereditary. "So, it's not based on meritocracy?"
"What's that about?" The mage asked and Jin explained that it was based on the merit of the person to take that position. "If you put it that way, their forefathers from 2000 years ago had done that. The children are now reaping the rewards."
"Now I can understand why this kingdom is still so stagnant. Do other kingdoms do the same thing as well?" He asked and the mage shook his head and asked whether the King wished to go to the first floor where his throne awaited him since they were staring at the crowd from the second floor.
None of them noticed him at the moment and those who looked up only thought that there were some conversations done between fellow mages and did not bother.
"It is not my place to say too much. You can get the official reports from the ministers and their...employees." The mage said then Jin looked at him with a stern face.
"I order you." Those three words. Simple as that. it was more than enough to get the Mage to open his mouth.
"What do you wish to know, my Lord?"
"Are there any kingdoms that are currently at war with this kingdom?" Jin asked and he nodded his head. "How many?" and the mage raised up his hand to show all five of his fingers.
"Five Kingdoms?" Jin asked and he shook his head.
"Not exactly. 4 Kingdoms and 1 Alliance of Nations." The mage said and Jin suddenly realised that the dungeon summoning skill that he had was not because of him, but might be for the kingdom's sake.
"Why so many? And why is the place still so choke full of lousy people?" Jin asked and the mage explained that these Wars were declared but no movements were made from either side. "Wait what?"
"The Magical Kingdom of Ress had declared war against these five but neither side made any moves because Ress who was the initiator of these declarations did not send a single troop to the battlefields. Trades are also as usual but there were a lot of sanctions from both sides.
"Why would they do that? Why not call off the war alarm?"
"This is the so called brilliant idea of the finance and war minister. The War Minister did this, drafting more levies and getting people to work below average wages while also utilising the prisoners to work harder and for free. The mage soldiers as well.
The Finance Minister, on the other hand, inflated the prices of the magic crystals declaring that there was a dwindling amount of crystals left but in actual fact, there were still treasure troves of living crystals that the kingdom could exploit.
"Would that not hurt the relationship between the Kingdom of ..erm Ress?" Jin asked and the mage unknowingly shrugged his shoulders.
"This is the current ministers' way of thinking. They are collecting money for themselves. Even the rest were doing so and only those who licked their feet...erm metaphorically will get a share of that pie." The mage said.
"Huh. Interesting. Did you do those things as well? So is that Gara?"
"No, my lord." The mage incidentally raised his voice before apologising and wanted to kneel but Jin used Maqi to prevent him from kneeling and attracting attention. It was at that point that the mage soldier realised they had summoned a strong king and one with an attitude. It would be best if he could have some know how to govern the kingdom and not just brawns.
"Me... no, I was an adventurer longer than I was an employed soldier. Also, the roads had been filled with so many demons recently, if I dared to call myself a seasoned adventurer, I would not dare to fight these many demons." the mage said and Jin finally asked for his name and his adventurer's rank if any.
"My Lord, my humble name is Linus Rollshaft, I was a Rank B- Adventurer."
"So, I assumed that you got this soldier's job is to feed yourself because of the demon infestations? Are there no monsters around that hate the demons?" Jin questioned, knowing that there might be certain situations where the monsters were at loggerheads with the demons even though they were always categorised as the same group.
"Not all monsters support them. Especially those with average intelligence or more hated them like the beastkins. Minor intelligence like goblins and orcs will obey the demons but the more ...erm for the lack of a better word, subspecies? unique branch of the race? Those will oppose the demons too."
"Oh lol...so the orcs and goblins here are not that smart." Jin said out loud to himself as he continued to let Linus do the explanation."
"So, all these war declarations and status is to make sure that they have enough troops to fight against the demons rather than the others?"
"No, the Kingdom of Ress War Minister had proclaimed that the other nations were doing this to undermine the sovereignty of the kingdom," Linus replied and Jin held him there for a second.
"Please do not tell me that all these nations are bordering the Kingdom of Ress. I do not have a map with me right now but this is how I feel if you put it this way." Jin questioned and Linus unfortunately nodded his head.
"The only one the Kingdom of Ress did not border with is the Alliance of Nations. They have a deep relationship with the Warrior Kingdom of Beil north of us, so they accepted the war declaration with the Kingdom of Ress too." Linus stated.
"Then the other three kingdoms, I am assuming, occupied the east, south, and west regions?"
"Not exactly. The North is where most of the demons are coming from. In fact, a few kingdoms fell while trying to fight against the demons, and their refugees were incorporated into the bordering nations of the North. It so happened that the Kingdom of Ress is now the borderline before the stranded north."
"Huh, then why declare war on each other when you guys have a common enemy?"
"Because by doing so, I believe the War Minister can take those refugees as prisoners of war too. It will lessen the demand for labour... and make them productive. And by being at war with the other nations, the Kingdom of Ress does not need to take in additional refugees from them. There was no pressure."
"This is national politics gone so fucking wrong. What the hell is the Foreign Minister even thinking if there is one." Jin said and Linus shook his head, stating that there was no such post. "Much figures." Jin sighed.
"Then what are the Ministries aside from War and Finance?"
"Your Majesty, even if I tell you, you might not have the power to defy them. The rules for the Kingdom of Ress is that the King is at the bidding of the Ministers. Whatever the Ministers said, the king has to follow the Ministers' law as their word is ironclad."
"So that is what happened to the previous kings and queens as well?"
"Yes, a few of them die in battle against the demons," Linus said.
"Therefore, I am a soldier with a glorified title? I bet the War Ministers use this summoning as a way to get free specialised troops to do their bidding, no? I worried for the so called Queens."
"Huh? There are no Queens that had been summoned before."
"Oh...okay. That's great to know." Jin wondered how the ladies would be summoned and might possibly be abused by these 'ironclad' ministers. It was a terrible thought but seeing how their politics were distasteful to begin with, Jin did not hesitate to consider such a possibility. Discover tales on m-vl-em,pyr
"But your Majesty, if you are able to wield the power of the celestial relic, things might be different for you," Linus reported with respect.
"Hmm. Hmm. Then perhaps, this might be a show that is worth going into." Jin suddenly has very naughty thoughts on how to bully the ministers. Perhaps, Kraft had taught him too many devilish tricks that Jin always tries to find and apply them to such scenarios.
At the same time, the supposed Moon King successor also realised that as long as he can make something out of a molehill, the System that resides in him will provide him with additional achievements.
It was a way to exploit the System to give him more stats and that way, it will better prepare him for the upcoming 5 year invasion of the angels.