Arriving at the palace, Carl Ronberg looked around with strange eyes.
There was a mixture of interest and curiosity in his eyes.
When I first saw the palace, I was surprised by its scale in many ways, so it wasn’t a strange reaction.
“There is a big difference between just hearing about it and seeing it in person.”
“Thank you for the compliment. The palace is also the pride of the kingdom.”
“Yes, what a wonderful place.”
Ik-
We arrived at Daejeon while walking slowly through the palace.
It was quite different from usual.
There were no bureaucrats as always, it was full of soldiers.
The most notable among them were the Knights Templar.
The battlefield was full of people wearing heavy brown armor.
It was the first time I had ever seen so many Knights of the Royal Guard gathered.
Jerk, jerk, jerk.
It was a situation that could feel intimidating, but Carl moved his steps slowly as if he didn’t mind.
Countless eyes stared at Carl and his escorts.
However, they walked slowly as if they didn’t mind at all, and bowed.
“Nice to meet you, Her Majesty the Queen. I am Ronberg’s head, Carl Ronberg.”
“Nice to meet you, these are skills worthy of the name of the Myeongga.”
“It is an overestimation.”
“As long as you don’t do anything stupid, I guarantee you safety in the kingdom.”
“I will keep that in mind.”
“I will ask straight forward. What are your true intentions?”
The Queen’s questions were comprehensive.
But everyone in the room understood what it meant.
Why did you propose an alliance in the first place, why did you accept the transfer of some of your family’s skills, etc.
Because I was asking what the true intention of all these actions was.
“You’re digging into a simple but hard-to-answer question.”
“The fact that you can’t answer simple questions is proof that you have a dark heart.”
“I will not deny it. I don’t even have the confidence to fool the eyes of someone the size of His Majesty.”
“Is it okay if I accept that I will not answer?”
“I want you to accept it as meaning that I will not tell lies. To add to this… … .”
Carl Ronberg took a slow breath, as if choosing what to say, then opened his mouth.
“This is an action for our family, not to harm the kingdom.”
“As you said, it doesn’t seem like a lie.”
“However, I also want to receive one definite answer from Your Majesty.”
“Oh, answer Jim for sure. tell me.”
“I want Henrik to say for sure that he will never join hands with them no matter what conditions he puts forward.”
“It is not difficult. Wasn’t this what we discussed earlier?”
“I am grateful for Your Majesty’s firm reply.”
After that, discussions on what to tell us continued.
After a short conversation, Carl Ronberg finished his audience with the Queen.
I was the one who responded to him when he came out, to help tour the kingdom as he requested.
Natural exploration was impossible due to Carl and my escort, but… … .
“Your Highness, there is something I would like to suggest.”
“What is it?”
“Wouldn’t you like to stop escorting each other at least this time?”
At this, the escorts on both sides were surprised.
No matter how much it was, I sent my eyes that it was impossible, but I nodded my head indifferently.
“That would be nice. It would be impossible to see something like this.”
“Your Highness, it is… … .”
“It’s okay, this is in the kingdom, so there’s nothing to worry about.”
“It is as your Highness said. Let me get away.”
“… … .”
The escorts on both sides were hesitant, but soon bowed their heads and retreated as if they were convinced.
Then, while strolling the streets in silence for a while, looking at the royal capital, Carl spoke.
“You are much better developed than I thought. I was surprised that there are many better things than Feyer Continent.”
“exactly? I don’t feel bad when you compliment me.”
“Seeing that you’ve developed to this extent, it’s understandable that Your Highness has confidence in the kingdom’s military power.”
“hahahaha! This is just embarrassing.”
“… … Yes, it really is.”
After that, Carl paused for a while, and then continued.
“The kingdom is blessed in many ways. Your Majesty and Your Highness, both of you are excellent.”
“Thank you for the compliment, but I’m still not up to my mother.”
“Well, I think a little differently. When I came across that information, I was quite surprised.”
“That information?”
“It’s a reorganization of the formula.”
I was going to use it as one of the negotiation materials, but I had already developed it, so I had no choice but to come up with something else.
… … As he added, Carl stared into space for a moment.
There was a sense of hesitation there.
As soon as he made up his mind, he spoke calmly.
“Maybe because of that, it reminded me of someone I knew in the past.”
“You mean the past doesn’t exist now?”
“… … Yes that’s right. Like Your Highness, he handled the dark spirits and even used magic.”
“Are you talking about Nicola Ronberg?”
“Your Highness knows it too.”
“The spirit that contracted with me informed me. It helped me a lot in my training.”
“That’s why, Your Highness uses magic in a similar way to Nicola.”
That would be the information I deduced from the traces of my fight with Boris.
It erased as much traces of invisible magic as possible and disguised itself as using elemental magic.
“I’ve been wondering since before, do you think Boris’s death was nothing to you?”
“It’s not like that, but… … It wasn’t to the point of being too upset.”
“I heard that they were brothers, but it seems that they did not get along.”
“It’s not like that, it’s just that I’m used to it.”
… … I tried to dig up the information without revealing the feelings of the past as much as possible.
It seems that it is not possible to completely cut it off.
“You mean Nicola Ronberg?”
“Yes that’s right.”
“It sounds like you miss something, is it my mood? I heard that you were purged after losing a political battle.”
“Your Highness is right. In fact, Nicola’s death touched my heart more.”
“It’s a little hard to understand, I heard you weren’t on good terms with him. Isn’t that what led to the purge?”
“… … Yes, it was.”
Carl stopped walking for a moment and turned his gaze to the void.
Those eyes, recalling the past, harbored an unknown bitterness.
“It is as you said. I hated Nicola.”
＜What is this!? How dare you humiliate those who died while working for your family!＞
＜Karl Ronberg, lower your voice! What kind of place is this now… … .＞
＜This is a place to mock and despise Nicola. It’s you who should keep your voice down!＞
＜What… … !?＞
＜I will never forget the names of those who mocked Nicola for losing a subordinate.＞
… … Unwanted memories of the past kept springing up.
Other people may not know, but the memory of this Jawa kept touching my feelings.
“You seem to agree a little with the head of the family, since I also fought with my brothers to become the crown prince.”
“Maybe.”
“I’m asking you, did you hate him from the beginning?”
“… … .”
At that question, Carl Ronberg couldn’t speak for a while.
“I decided to take it that way.”
I put words in my mouth that seemed to promise.
“… … What a strange answer.”
“I’m sorry, I said something irrelevant to Your Highness.”
“No, it’s fine. The race for the succession is a problem I’ve been through.”
“Maybe that’s why I feel a strange nostalgia for Your Highness.”
“Wouldn’t you like to get to the point? I want to hear the skills you brought with me.”
“Yes, I guess.”
* * *
Carl Ronberg arrived the next day.
I called the key figures of the kingdom’s power separately.
As well as the Marquis of Brisman, the commander-in-chief of the Illami estate.
I called the leaders of the Blue Lion, Royal Palace Knights, and Royal Guard Knights.
It was to let me know in advance what I had planned.
“Now that we are all gathered, let’s begin. Please understand that from now on, what I am about to tell you is not to be told to anyone.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
“First of all, I want to hear your evaluation.”
“As for evaluation… … ?”
“The troops of House Ronberg.”
The atmosphere in the room became heavy for a moment.
It was a natural reaction, as the stronger the player, the more the level of those Carl Ronberg brought would be noticed.
“I knew it in my head, but when I saw it in person, I felt something different.”
The first to speak was Marquis Brisman.
He continued with a bitter smile.
“At first glance, it seems that there are more than 10 people in the escort group who are 7-star or higher.”
“… … It was a bit shocking, because the escort alone easily surpassed the highest level of the Royal Palace Knights.”
The leader of the Royal Palace Knights, Khan Evert, frowned and said.
The highest level of power he mentioned meant 6-star or higher.
Even though the number of escorts was small, it was a natural reaction because of this difference.
“I understand Lord Khan’s reaction, but I don’t think there is any need to be overly discouraged.”
Unlike the other two, Kielus continued his speech with a calm face.
“They are like the Royal Guard, like a kingdom. In other words, it can be said that it is a force gathered only by the best.”
Kielus’ words were not vain consolation, but closer to the truth.
Currently, there are a little over 80 people who have reached 7-star or higher in the kingdom.
Because more than half of them belonged to the Royal Guard.
“… … I’ve heard and seen it. hehehe, I guess it’s time for me to retire. To think that your field of vision is narrowed under the pressure of the momentum.”
“Never mind, I have recently opened my eyes too.”
“So I want to share the enemy’s detailed strength with you guys.”
The eyes of the people gathered at my words changed sharply.
It was a natural reaction to tell him in detail what he had been told vaguely and obscurely so far.
“Please note that this is an inference based on the information in the first-class reading room and the contents of my personal research.”
That’s how I listed the rough strength of the three families: Ronberg, Solstad, and Yorgil.
I summarized the size of the entire army and the number of people who reached a certain level.
Hearing this, Khan Ibert murmured softly.
“At least 13 8-stars, over 1700 7-stars… … .”
“In the kingdom, there are about 8 people in 8 stars and 800 people in 7 stars, so it can be seen that the gap is large.”
“Thanks to Your Highness’s strategy, even though one of the four places was evacuated, it’s this much of a difference.
“Among the top tier powers, the only ones that are similar are 7-star advanced.”
“That’s right, everyone else is being pushed back. Do you know why there is such a difference?”
“Is it a difference in education?”
I nodded at Kielus’ question.
“If you look at the power distribution of the kingdom, the number will decrease significantly after the 6-star intermediate level.”
The total number of troops in the three families and the kingdom was about the same.
However, there was a big difference in the distribution according to the cultivation area.
After the 6-star Intermediate Kingdom, the number has drastically decreased.
The huge family showed a tendency to drastically decrease from the lower 7 stars.
“The difference in basic training methods expands the limits of what individuals can achieve.”
I’ve reworked all the magic tower’s basic spells, so the wizard should be able to solve this problem relatively quickly.
However, it would take several years to see the light of day, so it was hard to see it as effective right away.
“Geniuses like you can overcome these problems, but most don’t.”
“hahahaha, it feels strange to be called a genius by Your Highness.”
“Don’t lower yourself too much. Compared to Mama, I have no choice but to become small.”
Combining the powers of the Lien family will narrow the gap, but it won’t decrease dramatically.
Moreover, according to the investigation, they have not yet actively used the methods of the Resurrection Church to forcibly raise their level.
“I will buy time for at least half a year. I wish I could draw more… … .”
He had promised to trade with Ronberg and trade with the other two.
This was also the result of the three families deciding to hit Henrik.
The current plan was to observe this and launch a surprise attack.
It was said that they would move so that the time to fight each other was delayed as much as possible.
“Until then, we will have to prepare as much as possible. Whether it’s training, skill development, or powerful armament.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
“Thereafter I will not speak of this plan. You, too, will have to be mindful of security.”
So I returned to the continent of Feyer after taking care of things in the kingdom for several days.
While staying with the Rien family, he was coordinating the time to visit Ronberg.
“Your Highness, Henrik’s head of household, Inabet Henrik, wants to see you somehow, and is asking for a meeting. What should I do?”
My eyes twinkled at the familiar name.