Chapter 194 : The Opportunity Called Saint
Chapter 194: The Opportunity Called Saint
–I, Alex Level, as the sole legitimate heir of the Level Kingdom, hereby declare that the Level Kingdom has been restored.
Honestly, I didn't think it was a big deal.
The restoration of the Level Kingdom.
To put it bluntly, wasn't Deron Level trying to do the exact same thing under that justification?
He intended to unify the Levela Peninsula under himself as a member of the royal family.
But it turned out it wasn't something that simple.
After Alex Level declared the restoration of the kingdom, the residents were visibly shaken.
Rumor even had it that some lords were beginning to waver.
“I don't get it. Deron Level was royalty too, wasn't he? So what's the difference?”
“Come on, a collateral branch isn't really royalty. They're basically just relatives. The difference between a collateral branch and the direct line is about the same as the difference between a Horn Rabbit and the Rabbit Tribe.”
“It's that big?”
The Level Kingdom had ruled the Levela Peninsula for roughly five hundred years.
Even before the Great Cataclysm, the Level royal family had governed the Levela Peninsula exceptionally well.
Perhaps because of that, a mere few decades since the Great Cataclysm hadn't been enough to erase the memories of those days.
Even now, stories reminiscing about those prosperous times continued to circulate.
It was a completely different mindset from the people of the frontier Johnson Territory.
As for me, I wasn't even originally from this world, so it was even harder to understand.
Still, I had to admit one thing.
The bloodline of the direct royal family truly carried a special kind of influence.
'On top of that, the timing couldn't be worse.'
It happened to be the very time when the Lord of Haken had announced a generational transition.
The Lord of Haken was undoubtedly recognized by the surrounding lords as a Great Lord, but if someone asked whether the position of Great Lord was hereditary...
The answer wasn't so clear.
Ulrison hadn't accomplished anything yet.
Nor had he earned the recognition of the other lords.
If he had inherited the position under normal circumstances, it wouldn't have mattered.
But with a variable like this appearing, things became troublesome for us as well.
“So we're not just going to bow our heads and accept this, are we?”
At that very moment, discussions were taking place inside Haken Castle regarding how they should respond to Alex Level's declaration of the kingdom's restoration.
No matter what ordinary people thought, there wasn't a single Great Lord who would lower his head over nothing more than a declaration like that.
Vines was probably holding discussions similar to Haken's.
'In the end, it's a matter of how well they can keep the other lords under control.'
It was true that public sentiment had been shaken.
However, there were almost no residents packing their belongings and defecting to New Level.
Even if they were tempted by the cause of restoring the kingdom, actually choosing to migrate was an entirely different matter.
Ultimately, what the Great Lords needed to worry about were the other lords.
This world, resembling a feudal medieval society, granted tremendous authority to its lords.
Haken wasn't considered a Great Territory merely because of its size.
It was because all the surrounding lords acknowledged the Lord of Haken as their Great Lord.
If something like this happened right in the middle of a generational transition, it wouldn't be surprising if several territories near New Level switched allegiance.
After all, New Level was also undergoing a generational transition.
The difference was that they now possessed a powerful justification.
Losing even a single lord would be an extremely painful blow.
“We need something that will draw people's attention elsewhere.”
“We have to find some way to win over the hearts of the other lords.”
“Simply keeping everyone under control isn't enough. We have to show them we're making a move as well.”
How could they stop the other lords from entertaining dangerous thoughts?
The discussion never progressed beyond general principles.
No one was offering any concrete solutions.
It seemed finding an effective response wasn't easy.
'Maybe it's because they were caught completely off guard.'
Haken certainly wasn't lacking capable people.
That was why watching them waste time on meaningless arguments felt especially frustrating.
“If that's the case, why don't we declare a kingdom ourselves? The newly founded Kingdom of Haken.”
The Haken family, whose plans had been unexpectedly halted by this sudden crisis.
The Lord of Haken—more precisely, the former Lord of Haken, Uldea Haken—and Gios Haken, whose relocation to Johnson Territory had already been decided, were both attending this meeting.
Since this wasn't the time to be selective, it seemed they'd gathered everyone they could.
The astonishing proposal to establish our own king came from Gios Haken.
Several dozen seconds had passed after Gios finished speaking.
Yet not a single person opened their mouth.
The suggestion had been that shocking.
'Is it really that surprising?'
Ultimately, there were only two choices.
Submit...
Or resist.
Judging from the atmosphere, everyone had already decided to resist.
But if that was the case, the situation looked rather awkward.
King versus Great Lord.
No matter how you looked at it, that was an extremely unfavorable comparison.
So Gios's proposal was to twist the situation into King versus King instead.
If they weren't planning to follow Alex Level, then this really was the most efficient response.
'In the end, it's all about legitimacy.'
The real issue was whether the people of Haken—and the other lords throughout Haken's domain—would willingly accept such a drastic change.
Even now, Haken already exerted enormous influence throughout the region as a Great Territory.
But becoming a kingdom carried an entirely different meaning.
It was something that had to be considered very carefully.
'I might be able to provide them with a small opportunity.'
It seemed I needed to have a serious conversation with Ulrison Haken, the newly appointed Lord of Haken.
After the meeting ended, I quietly sought out Ulrison.
There was something I wanted to discuss with him without the retainers knowing.
Ulrison wasn't an exceptionally brilliant individual.
But neither was he incompetent.
Most importantly, he was someone who listened with an open mind, so offering him advice didn't feel burdensome.
We had spoken briefly during the Haken Festival.
He also held a favorable impression of me for safely bringing Irene back.
And during this rebellion, I'd earned even more goodwill by personally rescuing the Lord of Haken.
“Shouldn't preventing the surrounding lords from defecting be our top priority?”
“That's right. Do you have a good idea?”
“Show them strength.”
“Strength?”
“Yes. Strength.”
The truth was, all this talk about restoring a kingdom was ultimately nothing more than an illusion.
The phrase 'Restoration of the Level Kingdom' certainly sounded impressive.
But until recently, the three Great Territories had all possessed roughly equal military strength.
Simply declaring the restoration of a kingdom wasn't going to magically increase New Level's military power.
That was why Haken needed to demonstrate its own strength and prove it wasn't an easy opponent.
People could talk all they wanted about restoring kingdoms.
In the end, the thing that protected them was strength.
If all three Great Territories remained roughly equal in power, there was no reason to risk everything by seeking a new master.
Changing allegiance wasn't exactly a decision one could make lightly.
“We happen to have the perfect target. Saint.”
Gios had justified his purge under the pretext of suppressing a rebellion.
His official justification was that several retainers of the territory had conspired with the Imperial Army to assassinate the Lord of Haken.
That was also what the residents generally believed.
Since the plan had originally accounted for Durek returning to Haken, there had been no other plausible justification they could use.
As a result, only a handful of people knew the truth—that the real traitor had actually been Durek.
Those who knew the truth were either already dead or were trusted retainers who had pledged loyalty to Ulrison.
Now that the Lord of Haken had safely returned, Durek was publicly known as the heroic Master who had fought against an Imperial Master to protect the Lord of Haken before dying gloriously.
Roman, Durek's disciple, had also played a part in that narrative.
Ironically, despite being Durek's disciple, Roman had refused to participate in the rebellion until the very end.
He was still inexperienced, but a Master was still a Master.
Since he was Durek's disciple, Durek had imprisoned him first before carrying out the rebellion.
However...
Once Durek's rebellion failed, the situation became rather awkward.
Roman was Durek's disciple, yet he had rejected the rebellion.
They couldn't punish him.
But at the same time, simply putting Durek's disciple back into service would also be problematic.
The problem wasn't how the Lord of Haken or the newly appointed Lord Ulrison viewed it.
The problem was how everyone else would see it.
Neither the Lord of Haken nor Ulrison had any intention of wasting the valuable combat power of a Master.
Especially now, after losing one Master, every remaining Master was precious.
So they arrived at this conclusion.
Turn Durek into a hero.
That would create the ideal circumstances to continue using Roman.
It was also the best way for Gios to leave the territory safely without being executed.
'But it is true that an Imperial Master tried to assassinate the Lord of Haken. We even have the bastard's corpse.'
It was an undeniable fact that an Imperial Master had attempted to assassinate the Lord of Haken.
And it was equally true that Durek had died in the process.
Which meant Haken now possessed a perfectly legitimate reason to avenge Durek—the loyal Master who died protecting the Lord of Haken.
–You should at least wipe the saliva from your lips before saying that.
Using an external enemy to unite people internally had always been one of the oldest methods of governance.
Wasn't that half the reason those Japanese bastards started the Imjin War?
If Haken mobilized its army under the banner of avenging Durek, it would become much easier to unite everyone within the territory.
'And if they successfully capture Saint, the surrounding lords will start looking at them differently.'
Ulrison hadn't proven himself yet.
But if he drove out the Imperial Army and captured Saint, none of the surrounding lords would be able to look down on him anymore.
As a bonus, Haken would also gain influence over Saint.
If Haken proudly drove the Imperial forces out of Saint and extended its influence there, the position of the newly appointed Lord Ulrison would become extremely secure.
“And there's one more advantage.”
“What is it?”
“The Imperial bastards in Saint... They're not just Haken's enemies, are they?”
Alex Level had publicly declared this:
Deron Level, the Great Lord of New Level, had been murdered by the Imperial bastards.
As a result, his retainers had chosen Alex as their new lord.
Which meant...
The Imperial bastards were also New Level's enemies.
But what if Haken avenged New Level's enemies first?
That would put New Level in a rather awkward position.
Naturally, Haken's prestige would rise.
“But isn't there a reason they're hesitating?”
Exactly.
Under normal circumstances, New Level should have marched straight toward Saint.
The reason they were hesitating was because Saint intimidated them.
Why?
Because they mistakenly believed the Imperial bastards still had the High Priest with them.
Since New Level's forces had been driven out of Saint, that misunderstanding was only natural.
Otherwise, they would have marched on Saint immediately without any hesitation.
New Level also wanted to display its strength and sway the surrounding lords.
–But they don't, do they?
The only ones who knew the High Priest wasn't in Saint...
Were us, the ones who had escorted the High Priest away.
As long as that information imbalance remained, this was the perfect opportunity for Haken to display its might.
“…Is that really true?”
Ulrison's eyes widened when I told him the High Priest was with us.
Judging by his reaction, that information hadn't spread yet.
Irene already knew we'd stationed members of the Rabbit Tribe and Dog Tribe around the entrance to Saint.
Even so, it seemed she hadn't shared the details of our operational plans—not even with her own family.
That was exactly like Irene.
“Yes. We don't have much time.”
It seemed New Level truly didn't know Saint's exact situation.
That ignorance wouldn't last long.
We needed to act before they did.
“Good. I understand the situation now. We'll move immediately.”
One of Ulrison's strengths...
Once he made a decision, he acted immediately.
The Lord of Haken had been the same.
As expected of former knights.
This wasn't the sort of matter where you dragged your feet.
If Haken captured Saint now, it would create an excellent outcome in every respect.
–If they gain the High Priest's support, declaring a kingdom might actually become possible.
'Exactly. If Haken liberates Saint and brings the High Priest back, things could become very interesting.'
The small 'opportunity' I had in mind...
Was the High Priest.
I didn't mention it because it was something that would only become clear after the fact, but the High Priest's support could become a very important factor in declaring a kingdom.
The Rabbit Tribe Priest-Warriors were currently riding the Hounds.
I'd already had them explain the overall situation to the High Priest.
Saint had suddenly been attacked by the Imperial bastards.
Deron Level, who was supposedly killed by the Imperial bastards, had mysteriously turned up alive.
Anyone could tell something about that was suspicious.
Even if the High Priest didn't completely believe our story, he would at least realize something was wrong.
The position of High Priest wasn't entirely separate from politics.
If Haken recaptured Saint and returned it to the High Priest, the High Priest would naturally come to view Haken far more favorably.