Chapter 138 – Hero of the North (1)
What is it?
What is it really?
just a stupid mind.
Amelia calmly recalled why this situation had unfolded.
It all started with Xian’s letter.
A letter that arrived urgently in Ruben.
And there was nothing in it.
Pack your supplies quickly and come up to the north.
This one sentence was all.
I wondered why, but Amelia immediately got ready.
The great incident that swept the North.
This incident had already spread far and wide throughout the empire.
Of course, Amelia also knew the whole story.
In the process, he also knew what Xian had done.
Did something urgent happen?
Amelia packed her supplies.
Inventory piled up enormously due to various production buffs.
The amount was not an amount that could be produced in one territory.
Amelia gathered all those supplies and headed north with Ruben’s soldiers.
A barren northern land where snowstorms rage all year round.
The road was quite steep, but Amelia steadfastly headed north.
And now.
“thank you. thank you.”
“How can I repay this favor…”
Amelia was receiving people’s sincere thanks.
It had to be.
Ruben’s supplies brought by Amelia.
Because they were releasing those supplies for the northerners.
Apparently, the incident that turned the North upside down was well resolved itself.
However, the damage was not well resolved.
Many people were starving because they could not eat.
It was a situation where people who did not heal their wounds in time and became sick one after another.
However, the barren northern land did not embrace all of them.
Even if the material was scarce, it was a very insufficient situation.
Ruben’s supplies brought by Amelia in such a situation.
“You donate items for people like us…”
“Thank you… Thank you very much sir.”
Even the words of the sweet rain of a drought were not enough.
“Besides, he gave it away without getting paid…”
“I don’t know how to repay the kindness that helped the North…”
I didn’t even get paid for the materials.
In a word, free.
No, it wasn’t free.
“Hey, hey! Wait there.”
A voice heard in an instant.
Where I looked, Xian was calling for a woman.
The woman flinched and trembled and stood still.
“Are you going back with food rations?”
“That, yes…”
At Xian’s question, the woman looked up and nodded.
Soon, Xian’s gaze turned to the bread the woman was holding.
And two loaves of bread in my hand.
At that moment, the woman screamed, closing her eyes tightly.
“I’m sorry… I don’t know because I have three small children at home…!”
The woman trembled and begged for forgiveness.
It is also common sense that rationing is usually one meal per person.
In particular, in a situation where everything was lacking, it was impossible to have one meal per person.
Nevertheless, the woman secretly brought two loaves of bread.
Because I couldn’t help it if I had to feed starving children at home.
kids who don’t know anything.
He was the only one responsible for those children.
My husband… left because of this incident.
So I had to endure.
If only a few hits could save me another loaf of bread.
If only that could give food to starving children.
“If you forgive me just once…”
The woman trembled and begged for mercy.
however.
“huh? What are you sorry about?”
What I heard was quite different from what I expected.
“Bah, what did you just say…?”
For an instant, the woman began to be dumbfounded.
Then he tilted his head to become the aristocrat in front of him, Xian.
“I was going to ask why you only took that, but what are you sorry about? Do you even have three kids? But why don’t you just take that?”
“yes···? yes?”
“You have a child, so why don’t you take only that?”
And then, Xi’an strode off to somewhere.
Before long, he brought a bag full of bread.
“take it.”
He willingly put him into his wife’s arms.
“This, this…”
Confused woman.
Xian shrugged once.
“You have young children, so you have to take them with you to use them. Go and eat your fill.”
And then, as if it was not a big deal, Xian left the seat.
And the woman who looked at Xian’s back.
“Ahhh···.”
The woman shed tears without realizing it.
I couldn’t think of anything to say.
Something unknown warmed up in my chest.
Is it all the sadness I’ve been through?
Or is it the vagueness of how to live with young children who only look at themselves?
Or was it her resentment toward her husband who left her alone and left her alone?
Unknown emotions surged up, and the woman collapsed in her seat.
“Go… Thank you… Really, really thank you… Ugh.”
The woman did not get up from her seat for a while.
And it wasn’t just that woman.
“Come on, there are a lot of them, so take a lot.”
“As a concession, don’t starve.”
Ruben’s goods distributed by the Knights of Ruben.
“Ooh, we…”
“Thank you… thank you so much…”
The people of the north expressed their gratitude over and over again with tears in their eyes.
That’s why Amelia didn’t know at all.
“Amelia. Materials currently being spent. Are you sure you recorded it in the ledger? We have to claim all of this to the imperial family, so we have to record everything.”
How should Amelia deal with this?
And I just couldn’t figure out how to understand it.
“·······”
Chin, and the words that get stuck.
No, that’s the right word.
Isn’t it different from ripping off the imperial family right now!
What kind of bullsh*t is this!
No, this wasn’t even bullsh*t.
What kind of bully in the world would rip off the royal family!
“Oh, but don’t lie about it.”
In the meantime, I was taking care of my conscience again.
No, no.
Can you say that you care about your conscience?
furthermore.
“cog? What is it? Um… Human words are too difficult.”
Who the hell is the elf next to me?
“·······”
Amelia couldn’t understand at all how things were going.
To be honest, I didn’t even want to understand.
“Come on, it doesn’t come every day!”
“no!”
“Special price sale on Leuven specialties! Everything you need is free!”
“free!”
Wouldn’t this be beheading for treason?
In other words, for the crime of subverting the state by draining the royal family finances.
I really don’t think I have anything to say.
“Amelia what are you doing? There are 3 bags of soap and 5 bags of wheat.”
Xian’s words at that moment.
······ Eh, I don’t know.
“Three sacks of soap, five sacks of wheat, and…”
Be it what it is.
#
The capital of the Charlotte Empire, Darkan.
The heart of the Empire, the Imperial Palace, located in Darkan.
And the place that can be called the heart of the imperial palace.
Emperor’s audience room.
There were two blonde haired men.
And of the two blonde men, the one sitting on the throne.
“You mean. Do you mean to set aside 20 million gold as compensation?”
number 1 of the empire. Emperor, Valois.
And the one who receives such words from Balois.
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
It was none other than the crown prince, Conrad.
Seeing Conrad lowering his head, Valois was speechless for a moment.
Respond without hesitation.
“Are you sane?”
To be honest, that was all I could think of.
That would be the case, who is the dog’s name for 20 million gold?
Truly an astronomical amount.
It was never a reward given to one person.
“I’m sorry… that’s right.”
Even so, Conrad did not show the slightest hesitation.
Could it be that Conrad doesn’t know the value of 20 million gold?
It couldn’t be.
If that were the case, he wouldn’t have installed Conrad as the crown prince.
It wasn’t the level of ignorance, it was the level of what happened to the head.
Even so, it is a bold proposal.
“Why?”
There must be a reason for that.
“His Majesty promised to give Xian gold as a condition of meeting Elena. And Sian chatted with Elena.”
Baluaga nodded slowly.
He couldn’t escape the emperor’s eyes and ears in the imperial palace.
That’s why Xian and Elena had a chat.
Baloaga, of course, knew that.
but.
“I didn’t promise that the amount was 20 million gold.”
It wasn’t 20 million gold.
“Elena came to see me right after meeting Xian.”
Conrad’s next words.
Baluaga nodded once again.
Because I knew this too.
But I didn’t know what the two of them were talking about.
Conrad gently lifted his head and opened his mouth.
“Elena asked me for a favor.”
“ask?”
In an instant, Balois’ head tilted to the left.
That was also because Elena was not the kind of person to ask anyone for a favor.
If asked again, I did.
Until now, he was a child who had never asked anyone for a favor.
“He asked me to persuade Your Majesty.”
“Convince me? Explain so I can understand.”
Balois’ eyebrows twitched.
Conrad then explained the details of the situation.
After a story that is neither too long nor too short.
“·······”
Valois was at a loss for words.
So, just to summarize Conrad’s story.
“Does Elena like him?”
“That’s right.”
“By the way, is that bastard hitting Elena?”
“yes.”
“That’s why I offered him 20 million gold to catch his eye.”
“… To be exact, it’s to create a bond.”
“I am.”
Valois had lost her temper.
Well, he knew that Conrad favored Xian.
And I’ve met you in person.
To some extent, I could guess why.
Marquis’ madness.
incompetent bastard.
I knew the rumors surrounding Xi’an.
Xian, who met and talked with him in person, was different.
At least, it was a man different from the rumors above.
So, it is true that I was a little interested.
It was also for this reason that he asked me to meet Elena.
But that was all.
It wasn’t enough to hold on to people who didn’t like it.
Above all else, Elena was a princess.
What on earth would a member of the imperial family cling to, feeling regretful?
It’s not this side that needs to stick, it’s that side.
“You feel sorry for Elena’s brother…”
“That is···.”
Conrad hesitantly spoke out at Balois’ reprimand, not reprimand.
“With all due respect, I also thought it would be nice for Xian to become a member of the imperial family.”
And Valois was once again bewildered.
Doesn’t that mean that you like them enough to want to become a family beyond friendship?
At this level, it was Conrad, not Elena, who liked Sian more.
“What aspect of him did you like?”
“There are many things… the attitude towards the world. And I would like to say that it is a distribution that embraces people.”
Then Baloiga’s eyebrows twitched.
Before long, an unknown energy erupted from Baluaga’s whole body.
“Conrad. You are the prince and ruler of the empire. And the things you just said are the virtues of a monarch.”
The majesty of a monarch and an emperor.
“By the way, did you learn from seeing such things from a mere nobleman?”
Baloiga’s gaze at Conrad shone sharply.
“A monarch is one who reigns over everyone. That is why the monarch must stand upright on his own. without relying on anyone. A helpless, indecisive monarch is a reason to be despised.”
“A desirable ruler is one who creates a situation in which his subjects must be loyal. Therefore, to unite the people and keep them loyal, they must be unafraid of cruelty.”
“Deep loving-kindness is poison to the ruler, and I have told you that you must not be only good…”
Baluaga finally clicked his tongue.
A competent servant is essential to a ruler.
That is too much, and the subject the monarch relies on is poison.
It’s worse than not having such a god.
“I will make this a thing that never happened.”
Baluaga made a decision right away.
And just then.
“that.”
Conrad’s voice came.
Eventually, Conrad slowly raised his gaze.
And Conrad’s words that followed.
“It is the path of a monarch that His Majesty walks.”
Conrad met Baloiga’s eyes right away.
Baloiaga said to Conrad.
“It is the road I walk, and it is the road you must walk.”
That is the fate and duty of a monarch and a crown prince.
I have to do it even if I don’t like it.
Even if it’s not right, you have to nod.
That is the kind of ruler the people long for and desire.
This is how the world looks at Conrad.
But why?
“I once asked Xian.”
In an instant, Conrad brought up an outrageous story.
“As your Majesty knows, there are bad rumors about Xian.”
Marquis’ madness.
incompetent bastard.
“And in reality it is not. Even so, Xian didn’t care about these evaluations or people’s eyes at all. I’ve always wondered about that. Aren’t you embarrassed? So I asked him about it.”
Why don’t you try to correct those rumors?
“Then he answered me.”
‘Why?’
‘Isn’t it unfair? Aren’t they being insulted for things that aren’t true?’
‘Well, it’s not particularly true…’
And a word from the ensuing poem.
‘The way the world looks at me doesn’t have to be my reality.’
“The teachings Your Majesty has given me are engraved deep in my heart and I am trying to learn and follow them. I understand that it is my duty, and that I am the monarch the people aspire to be.”
However.
“Even in the midst of that, I will walk the path of a monarch that only I can walk.”
Conrad lowered his head at the end of those words.
And Valois, who was watching it.
“·······”
The moment I left Valois, I was at a loss for words.
That’s what Conrad looks like now.
It’s quite… doesn’t it look like a king?
Conrad, whom Valois had seen so far, was an example of a true monarch.
I knew how to truly understand the hearts of the people.
I knew how to look at the lowest place from the highest place.
Conrad possessed the qualities of a monarch that Valois did not possess.
However, it was also true that Baloiga was worried.
A ruler can’t just be good.
A good ruler is worse than a bad ruler.
Conrad understood the hearts of the people too deeply.
Therefore, as a monarch, he had a weak aspect.
Now, he was being praised as a model of the Holy Spirit.
However, someday when I sit in this seat now.
That disposition would become poison and bind Conrad.
so I pushed
He taught the virtues of walking the path of a righteous ruler.
But looking at Conrad now…
What is it that makes you change your mind?
Was that really the path of a ‘right’ monarch?
Perhaps it was not the path of a right monarch, but the path of an ‘easy’ monarch.
Even if you walk with the king, do not lose heart of the people.
The most outstanding quality and most difficult virtue of a monarch.
Conrad was trying to walk his own path that Baloiga could not go now.
It wouldn’t be a very good move for a wise monarch.
No, it could be seen as an act that was not right as a monarch.
But the Creator does not follow.
just make your own way
I thought I was still far from becoming a monarch.
I thought my time wasn’t over yet.
‘······ It seems that time has passed.’
Baluaga let out a small laugh at the end.
And at the same time, Baloiga revised his evaluation of Xi’an.
Also, I could fully understand why Conrad favored Grissian.
At first, I thought he was nothing, just an insignificant bastard.
A servant who makes a true monarch.
Such servants should be held by their ankles and kept by their side.
“However, 20 million gold is too much.”
But if it’s 20 million gold… I’ll have to think about it a little.
Conrad raised his head again at Balois’ words.
“Hey, Your Majesty. Here comes the first man Elena has in mind. Please think again.”
“hmm···.”
And Baluaga couldn’t refuse at once this time.
To be honest, I was a little inclined…
More than anything else, Elena’s request made Baluaga hesitate.
As the father of Baluaga, he did nothing for Elena.
I wonder where it was that allowed me to be born as a princess.
Isn’t Elena obsessed with an excessive sense of duty because of that?
As a father before becoming an emperor.
It was true that Valois was heartbroken.
In the meantime, he is a man Elena has a crush on.
At the same time, it was also the first thing Elena asked for.
“Above all, Elena is nothing more than a side branch.”
“hmm···.”
And this was also true.
Of course, he didn’t mean to use Elena as an arranged marriage.
Contrary to Elena’s wishes, Valoiga had no intention of marrying Elena of convenience in the first place.
So, the side branch that Conrad said.
This was meant to be a sideline in giving compensation to Xian.
So, even if it wasn’t Elena, Balois intended to reward Cyan.
That’s because it was to praise Xi’an for his work in the North.
Even so, 20 million gold wasn’t too much, but…
Still, it wasn’t to the point of being too exaggerated.
Because what Xian did was worth it.
In the process, it was just that Elena was slipped in.
However, it’s just that Elena came out more aggressively than expected.
‘It’s Xi’an… it’s Xi’an…’
What did he say that Elena went so far…
Why do I suddenly feel that Xian is disgusting?
Baluaga felt a complex and delicate feeling and was deeply troubled.
How much time had passed like that?
“······ good night.”
Eventually, Balois nodded.
20 million gold was a large expenditure.
However, it wasn’t to the extent that the royal family’s wealth could not be spent.
Above all, how to show clearly when showing distribution.
Baloaga had no further concerns.
“by the way···.”
Instead of going to Valois, he turned to a different subject.
“What is the current situation in the North?”
situation in the north.
The case was well resolved, but even the damage was not well resolved.
The damage was directly leading to the suffering of the people.
At first glance, the royal family’s finances, of course.
I heard that the supply materials themselves are not enough.
And sure enough.
flinch.
Conrad shook his body greatly.
I don’t know if I’m quite embarrassed, but I thought the situation was serious.
“Ah, anyway… I have something to tell you, Your Majesty, regarding that matter…”
Conrad stuttered unanswerably.
From nob le mt l. co m
Just before, when he ripped off 20 million gold, he was Conrad who was confident.
How serious was the situation that Conrad was doing that?
“What is it?”
In response to Balois’ question, Conrad swallowed and spoke.
“Tongue, now the situation in the north has stabilized a lot. The people who received supplies are no longer starving, and the injured are all recovering well. In fact, it is desirable to see that post-war processing is over.”
“what?”
Baloiga involuntarily shouted.
Although it was expected that the situation in the north would be disastrous.
Are all post-processing done?
“Is that really true?”
“It is.”
Conrad nodded without hesitation.
Hopefully, Conrad can’t lie.
“How? I heard that they are struggling due to lack of supplies.”
“That’s… someone did not hesitate to release supplies for the northerners.”
Free supplies for the northerners?
“Who? Who showed such a distribution?”
“This is Xi’an.”
And the name of Xian heard again.
“Huh…!”
Baluaga finally burst into exclamation.
It wasn’t enough to solve the northern situation alone, did you release supplies without hesitation for the suffering people?
Was there such a noble in the empire?
For a moment, Baloiga felt ashamed of herself.
Valois, who was worried about giving 20 million gold to Mane until just now.
If that’s the case… didn’t you think about it for nothing?
If I had brought up this story from the beginning, I would have given it right away.
Why didn’t Conrad bring up this story first?
Baloiga was very puzzled.
I could soon hear why.
“I’m sorry to inform you… Actually, Xian didn’t just unpack the supplies.”
“Isn’t it just loose?”
“It’s actually…”
Conrad was very hesitant to bring up the story.
And to sum up the story in one sentence.
“You charged the imperial family for the materials?”
“Yes, it is.”
“Even put a premium on the price?”
“I added the word wartime situation…”
“·······”
The moment I left Valois, I was at a loss for words.
At the time of the last audience.
I thought it was bold to say gold as a reward…
Isn’t this so bold that I doubt if I’m sane?
But what…
It could be.
In the first place, the imperial family was trying to support the north.
It was a situation where the material itself was lacking and rotting the headache.
In that situation, I unpacked the bar stuff I had.
In a situation where the entire empire was already in a famine.
Thanks to that, the situation in the north quickly stabilized.
I heard that they put a premium on the price, but…
How much do you do?
That was enough to show the distribution.
In any case, it quickly relieved the suffering of the people.
“so. How much are they all worth?”
“That, that’s…”
Conrad did not open his mouth easily.
But it is something that can never be avoided.
Conrad said slightly, averting his gaze.
And Baloiga understood at once.
“About 12 million gold so far…”
Why is Xi’an called the marquis’ fool?
Wow, Baloiga’s expression was distorted.
bang!
“This is like this!”
Baloiga jumped up from her seat.
#
“Then I’m done.”
Yale left with a modest greeting.
Yale, the leader of the 2nd Royal Knights Knights, and an escort knight under the direct command of Crown Prince Conrad.
As an absolute skill that reaches the master intermediate level.
The reason he was in the northern part of the palace and not in the imperial palace was simple.
The two slips in Xi’an’s hands.
It was to convey this to Xian.
I wondered if the Royal Knights needed to step in just to deliver the slip.
That is also the greeting of the leader of the master intermediate level.
However, this was not such a simple slip.
One slip guaranteed by the Emperor’s name.
One slip guaranteed in the name of the Imperial Family.
And the amount written on each slip.
20 million each. 12 million.
A total of 32 million.
“aaa!!! AA AA AA!!!”
Xian couldn’t control the tremors that filled his whole body.
and.
Tring!
《Bur, bur, burr, must have caught a bug oh oh oh!!!!!!!!!!》
Mobile lord also couldn’t control the rising seizure.