I am the Monarch

Chapter 256: Path of a King (4)

“Hahahahaha!”
“Waaaaah!”

The citizens of the capital, Miller, each tilted their cups and cheered.
The sound of music and laughter endlessly followed on.
A festival.
A festival most happy and joyful in the world opened.
The sun had already fallen and turned into midnight, but the people stayed at their places to the end.

“In the end, even the nobles who stubbornly opposed all surrendered, right?”
“Of course! You saw before how that senate member tried to throw in a wedge and then lower his tail. Hahaha!”
“Now there’s not one noble rebelling against Sir Count Lancephil!”
“Seeing those trash-like nobles that guarded just their own lives, wealth, and power all during the war turning into pale faces, my insides felt all free! Hahaha!”

The castle’s citizens freely grabbed and ate the foods that fully filled the tables and loudly chatted.
Most sincerely, it was the first they cursing and criticizing nobles this openly while living.

“Hahaha! Us freely laughing and talking like this is also all thanks Sir Count Lancephil.”
“Right, right. We can boldly and loudly speak up because Sir Count Lancephil is watching our backs.”

It was the truth.
Roan, after entering the capital, Miller, without spilling a single drop of blood, opened the grain storages and supply storages and abundantly supplied drinks and food to the castle’s citizens.
Simultaneously, he once again requested the Capital City Guard for the safety of the Miller Castle’s citizens.

“It definitely will become a good world to live in. Right?”

One man murmured with a redly flushed face.
For an instant, a silence fell down.
The nearby castle’s citizens nodded their heads with expressions drenched with elation.

“It definitely will be like that.”
“Right.”

Everyone matched their mouths and added on in one voice.

“Since Sir Count Lancephil is special.”
Everyone’s beliefs gathered into one.
A thought that Roan at the least would be different.
Their gazes naturally headed towards the castle’s center.
At the end of the gazes was the highly rising palace.
At that place was Roan who carried everyone’s hopes and dreams on his shoulders.

“What we need immediately at this moment is not a declaration of founding nor a coronation ceremony.”

Roan slowly strolled inside the grand hall and spoke in a strict voice.
The grand hall which originally had been completely empty was filled with numerous giant tables linked together.
The Count Lancephil House’s retainers and the Fief Regiment commanders, and the nobles and other civil and military officers who joined at this time were seated along and around the table.
Everyone looked at Roan with serious expressions.

“First, we concentrate on stabilizing the political situation.”

At those words, the Count Lancephil House’s retainers including Austin nodded their heads.

“That is natural, sir.”
“The enemy army’s remnants are still boldly active in the North and the South, sir.”
“There also should be nobles who openly raise revolts, sir.”
“We must also finish our matter with the Estia Empire, Byron Kingdom, Istel Kingdom, and the Diez Kingdom, sir.”

There was more work to do than most had thought.
At that moment.

Ggiiiick.

The tightly closed grand hall’s door fully opened.
Everyone including Roan looked towards the door.
Instantly, a bright smile hung on Roan’s mouth.
Fully on his face a delighted and happy look floated up.

“Aily.”

A quietly calling voice.
The person entering through the wide open door into the grand hall was none other than Aily Rinse.
She was wearing not the robe she usually wore but a clean uniform.
Even though it wasn’t a dress, Aily’s appearance was beautiful enough to blind.

‘Was Princess Aily that beautiful?’

Few nobles shook their heads with surprised expressions.
Aily, after revealing on her own that she was the queen of the elves, freely showed off her beauty she had hidden.

“I’m a bit late.”
“It’s fine. Are you injured anywhere?”

Roan only had worries for Aily.
Aily slightly shook her head and raised her hands.

“I’m fine. Nothing’s injured.”
“Good.”

Roan exhaled a short sigh with an expression relieved of worry.
Aily quietly stared at such Roan.
Honey and light flowed on her large eyes.
The two people’s gazes softly mixed.
An abrupt lovey-dovey foolery started in the middle of a grand meeting.
In the end, Austin let out a cough.

“Hm! Hm!”

Only then Roan and Aily awkwardly smiled and moved back.
Aily went to an empty seat and sat.
Roan quietly watched that scene, then once again made a serious expression.

“We will stabilize the political situation before spring comes.”

As expected an abrupt change of attitude.

“Yes, sir. Understood.”

Everyone faintly smiled and answered in one voice.
Afterwards the meeting continued until everything turned dark.
Roan leaned his ears at everyone’s opinions.
He absolutely did not made any needless act of obstinance.
He knew how to recognize the parts he lacked and step back on his own.
Thanks to that, the plans of people talented across each field poured down.
Ian, Swift, and so on calmly and meticulously organized the numerous plans.
At the end of the meeting, a rough plan was set.

“Huu.”

Roan exhaled a long sigh.
It literally was a fiery debate.
The numerous retainers, commanders, and nobles had already turned to mush and were melting.

“Good. Let us end the meeting around here for today.”
“Ah……”

Instantly, sighs of relief burst out.
But soon following, their faces bleached white at Roan’s words.

“We will meet again the moment the sun rises.”
“Yes, yes. Understood, sir.”

It couldn’t be helped.
Everyone knew very well just how important a time now was.
If not careful, everything could collapse from a mistaken decision and carelessness.

“Then. Everyone return and rest fully.”

When Roan announced the meeting’s end, everyone stood and moved their steps towards the door.
All were plain with tired looks.

‘Huu.’

An apologetic and sorry feeling.
But.

‘As much as we suffer, the lives of the kingdom’s citizens become easier.’

Roan deeply breathed in.
As a position, a status went up, just as heavy a responsibility followed.
He once again resolved his heart.
He himself must remain firm so that the people who follow him too do not shake.
That was one of a monarch’s duties.

“What are you thinking of so much?”

A sweet voice was heard through his ears.
It was Aily.
In the grand hall where everyone left.
She alone remained and was staring at Roan.
Roan faintly smiled and answered shortly.

“Of you.”

A brazen lie.
Roan, he too was a helpless man before his lover.

*****

The Lancephil Fief Regiment was unstoppable.
The Lancephil Legion, with the capital, Miller, as the center, focused their strengths on the northern regions’ remnant subjugation and stabilization.
In contrast, the Tale Legion, with the capital, Miller, as the center, took responsibility of the southern regions.
The North Rinse Kingdom and the South Rinse Kingdom’s remnants, and even the few factions that still followed Simon all were annihilated without even putting up a proper resistance at the extensive subjugation attack.
Meanwhile, Roan hurriedly dispatched Swift, Buro, and Nuns respectively to the Byron Kingdom, Diez Kingdom, and the Istel Kingdom.
The Byron Kingdom, which was defeated, held up both their hands and feet at Swift’s forceful manner.
Furthermore, they also accepted the conditions to open their borders and allow Roan to freely dispatch his army when necessary.
In the first place, the Byron Kingdom couldn’t help but agree to the humiliating agreement.
For they were the heinous criminal-nation that had twice attacked the Rinse Kingdom first.
Diez Kingdom too, with the condition of getting back Prince Lukan Diez, agreed to pay a war reparation.
Only, Lukan Diez’s extradition was cemented to right after Roan climbed to the throne.
In contrast, the Istel Kingdom, which fought together with Roan, was returned their land as promised and had its war reparation erased.
Originally, the negotiation ended with this.
However, Viscount Peid Neil, who was the negotiation representative of the Istel Kingdom’s, wanted the two nation’s relationship to advance a step further.
He proposed a suggestion to turn three amongst the border gateways into free gateways and make the travel of both kingdom’s citizens easier.
The reason was obvious.
He wished to increase the amount of trade with the Rinse Kingdom that was plenty with supplies.
It was because the Istel Kingdom’s situation was still impoverished even though they had their land returned and even got their war reparation cancelled.
Nuns, who already had received full authority from Roan, accepted that proposal and then suggested another proposal in counter.
That specifically was the navigation right to the Istel River that crossed the Istel Kingdom.
If they could just earn this navigation right, the Lancephil Navy, which acted with the Poskein lake as its base, could earn the chance to exit out into the ocean through the Istel River.
Peid, who knew well of such fact, obviously refused the proposal.
However, Nuns did not back down.
He, stating that the free gateway proposal too cannot be accepted if he did not accept this proposal, expressed a stout stance.
The negotiation fruitlessly dragged on.
At that very moment, Nuns raised up a new proposal.
He had promised to build ports at riverside cities simultaneously as they used the Istel River as a trade route.
Peid, who already had seen the Lancephil Navy and realized the importance of river and marine industry, shook at Nuns’s proposal.
Nuns stressed that this was the final offer, and Peid ultimately accepted that proposal.
The two people each earned the results they wished and ended their negotiation with satisfaction.
The Rinse Kingdom, thanks to the brilliant actions of such Count Lancephil House’s retainers, quickly recovered its stability.
Especially, Ian and Swift’s actions were notable.
The two people, simultaneously as they combined together and reformed the Lancephil Fief Regiment and the many factions’ forces, reorganized the administrative regions, institutions, groups, and systems.
They, with the system they made as basis, commanded the numerous scholars and nobles and rapidly resolved the complicated issues across the entire kingdom.
They received in this process a large help from the intelligence and espionage groups of Agens, Evishun, and Tenebra, but the biggest help among them was in fact.

“This truly is shocking.”
“To think it possibly was this much……”

Ian and Swift, who had frantically ran up having received the agents’ report, shook their heads with their eyes widely goggled.

“I was also speechless when I first saw it, sirs.”

Chris who was nearby made a bitter smile.
The three people stood in front of a small door and stared at the space inside.
The space of incredible size was bumpy like an inside of a cave.
But the reason they were shocked wasn’t because of that peculiar shape.
Ian, Swift, and Chris stepped inside the space.
Their footsteps were extremely careful.
The reason they couldn’t help but be so.
It was because this ridiculously large and wide space was fully filled with an incredible number of books.
Swift picked up a book among the volumes that were randomly stacked before his feet.

“These seriously are all……?”

An incredulous voice.
Chris bitterly smiled and nodded his head.

“Yes sir. The majority of the books here are……”

He exhaled a short sigh.

“Those Clay have written.”

Clay.
The genius who overestimated his abilities and tried to change the world alone.
His name, who ultimately lost to Roan and had his head cut off, had abruptly appeared.

“Huu……”

Ian and Swift shook their heads with speechless expressions.
Chris walked between the books and widely opened his arms.

“I knew that he was talented in multiple fields, but……”

The tip of his voice slightly shook.

“I didn’t know that it would be this much.”

At the very minimum, it was more than thousands of volumes.
Even if he possibly knew many things, it absolutely wasn’t a number that could be written alone.
But.

‘He must have used the druids’ skill.’

If it was Clay, it was something more than possible.
The three people for a long time poured over the numerous books.

“This really……”
“To think this could also be thought of this way……”
“This is a point I haven’t even thought of.”

The more and more they read, only exclamations popped out.
In the end, the three people put down the books they were reading.
The end wasn’t visible this way.
“For now, we will have to send these books to the Mediasis Castle.”
“Certainly, that would be good, sir.”

Swift and Chris nodded at Ian’s words.
The three people bitterly smiled as they looked at each other, then moved their steps towards the door.

“Although Clay is dead……”

Ian deeply breathed in.

“If these books were to be known to the world……”

Swift and Chris continued on the final words.

“A reappraisal of him would be made.”
“He may perhaps earn an excess nickname. No, I guess it wouldn’t be excessive, sirs. Since it is true that he is incredible.”

Clay who even after death spread his name.
He certainly was an incredible man.
Ian paused his steps and looked back.
The incredible number of books entered into his eyes.

‘Clay. The knowledge you left will be used to better the world.’

Although his means were wrong, Clay’s goal also was to better the world.
Perhaps since he came to help that goal even if through death, it could be said that he achieved to a degree his goal.

‘As for evaluating you……’

It wasn’t something that could be done right at this moment.

‘I will leave it to history.’

Ian faintly smiled and then moved his steps again.
Clay’s secret library.
That was a great wealth that afterwards would become the new kingdom’s basis.
Like that, the time slowly, and very quickly flowed on.

*****

The entire Rinse Kingdom recovered its calm.
The international situation too was peaceful.
The Byron Kingdom greatly shook from paying the immense war reparations and the Diez Kingdom too remained quiet to get back Lukan. The Istel Kingdom put forwards Peid Neil and strengthened their friendship.
Roan and his retainers used the entire war reparations for the citizens of the kingdom.
Thanks to that, they could peacefully pass the cold and starving winter.
The citizens of the kingdom praise Roan saying it was the warmest winter to date.
And finally, the winter passed on and the spring arrived.
The cold sunlight embraced the warmth and the brown earth dyed with a green light.
Water flowed at the places snow and ice melted.
The world stretched and received a new life.
And Roan too faced a start of a new life before his eyes.

“My lord. The preparation is all complete.”

Austin approached with a moved expression and lowered his head.
Unlike usual, he was wearing a clean suit instead of an armor.
Of course, the suit too was a red color which now was essentially the symbol of Lancephil.
Roan, who sat on his desk and was reviewing through files, faintly smiled and nodded his head.
He too was wearing the same suit as Austin.
Austin looked at that appearance and exhaled a short sigh as if to show lingering regret.

“It would have been better if you wore just a bit more brilliant suit, my lord.”

At those words, Roan stood up from his seat and shook his head.

“I wish to wear the same clothes as you guys.”

Everything was settled with just that one sentence.
Austin as well as everyone lined up behind him lowered their heads with moved expressions.
Roan brightly smiled and moved his steps.
A brilliant sunlight poured down when he exited out through the wide open doors.
It was a brilliant day.
That day had finally came.

<Path of the King (4)> End.