282. Impulse Soft (2)
Brindisi, the capital of Ortona.
The beautiful city, once a center of high-quality literature, was now covered with dirty tents of refugees and wandering beggars and no longer looked like its former self.
In the center of the city is the half-ruined Magenda Palace. In the past, this place boasted a size and beauty comparable to that of the Delcross Imperial Palace, but after the fall of the Sardinian dynasty that had lasted for about half a century, it was now becoming an empty ruin without an owner.
The conference room of that desolate palace.
Four nobles are now gathered around a huge table.
They were the lords of Castile, Milo, Benso, and Cavour, respectively, and they were all powerful people who could be said to be Ortona’s real power.
They often held strategic meetings against the Republicans here during the civil war, and occasionally held irregular meetings here even after the fall of the country.
“First of all, congratulations on your son’s wedding, Count of Castile.”
There really wasn’t much to say about the people who met each other after a long time.
The Count of Castile brought in a daughter-in-law from a wealthy Anatolian family. Although she was pale, it was said that she brought a huge dowry that was more than just the flesh on her body. Well, stories like that.
“Everyone is talking so harshly even though they haven’t even seen the new baby. “At least you’re fairer than your daughters, Baron Cavour.”
When the person involved, the Count of Castile, responded politely, Count Milo quietly helped him from the side.
“Baron Benso. “I don’t know about anyone else, but you’re not in a position to criticize anyone’s beauty right now, are you?”
It was a remark that pointed out that his eldest son was even more famous under the nickname ‘Gombo Alberto’.
Then Baron Benso responded with an unpleasant expression.
“No matter what, Alberto’s situation is better than your sons. No family on the continent will ask your sons to marry, Count Milo. Don’t you know that Giacomo Milo is wanted in Delcross? “Where on earth did you hide your criminal son?”
This time it was Count Milo’s turn to get angry at him.
“What? How do I know his whereabouts? He is the one who arbitrarily borrowed the name of his family to create an upper level, and even desecrated it! “He is no longer my child!”
Baron Cavour, who could not see the overheating atmosphere, spoke as if to calm them down.
“now. Let’s all stop talking nonsense and be honest. “I wouldn’t have an in-law relationship with a northerner anyway, so isn’t it the same for everyone who is having trouble with their children’s marriage?”
As he said, the northern lords had been on high alert for several years to prevent any families from marrying each other.
These are the lords who withstood Ortona during the period of turmoil and still have comparable strength. Now is the time for everyone to be wary of combining forces through marriage.
“So let’s all stop talking nonsense and now let’s talk about the future. Doesn’t everyone know? “We can’t leave the North in chaos forever.”
To Cavour’s words, the Count of Castile added in a polite voice.
“yes. We need a king to rebuild the North. A central point that will bring all forces together without breaking the current balance.”
“But who are you nominating?”
okay. That was the problem.
During the Ortona Civil War, Amedeo III, who tried to regain the monarchy by bringing in Brittany, had already died long ago.
And his eldest son, Crown Prince Vittorio, sat in Brittany without any concern for the country and was busy chasing after himself.
He was reputed to be so debauched that rumors spread throughout the continent that he was an outcast who could not function as a human being at all.
What about Benicio, another prince? Although his life or death has not been confirmed, wasn’t Prince Benicio the main culprit that brought about the downfall of the monarchy and the leader of the republican faction?
“You can no longer expect anything from royal blood. Even if you are lucky enough to find a collateral successor and secure legitimacy, do you think he will become a proper monarch? “We are the actual rulers who have maintained order in the North so far.”
Count Milo sarcastically responded to Baron Cavour’s words.
“Now, your true feelings have come out. Do you want to become King of the North?”
“No, of course I’m not saying I will do that… … .”
And there was an uncomfortable silence for a while.
Everyone wants the throne, but no one is willing to step forward. This is because they know that the moment anyone takes a step toward the throne, they will be bitten viciously from all directions.
Then the Count of Castile broke his long silence and spoke.
“If there is no right answer, there is a method handed down from ancient times. “It is we who rightfully elect our king.”
“Do you want to become an elector?”
“exactly. “Isn’t that the most reasonable way to maintain the current balance?”
Quang!
At that time, the door to the conference room opened roughly, and an angry voice rang out.
“Don’t you dare say the word ‘elected’! “Just thinking about the dirty remnants of the republic makes me feel disgusted.”
Jump and jump.
The giant who shouted like that proudly crossed the conference hall, waving his haphazardly cut mountain hair. It was Berseus Dashiano, a central member of the royalist faction.
‘The electorate system is a long-standing tradition that has been passed down in the North since the era of the Three Elder Dragons. It has nothing to do with those damn republicans.’
But no one was willing to say those words. This is because Berseus’s entire body was soaked in blood, and his spirit was quite daunting.
Sure enough, he was holding a bloody ax in one hand and several pieces of severed human hair in the other.
Tap, tap.
The fresh blood dripping from his severed neck traced a long dotted trail as he walked.
“… “What’s with all that hair?”
Pressed by the force of Berseus, who was approaching at a rapid pace, the knights guarding the lords hesitantly approached their master, putting their hands on their waists.
However, paying no heed to the reactions of those around him, Berseus threw the blood-soaked heads on the table and snorted.
“under! They are thieves who attacked me without fear. Unfortunately for them, I’m not in a good mood today.”
The lords blinked.
“What kind of ruthless person dared to attack the Marquis d’Arciano’s coat of arms and commit such a big crime?”
“well. “I guess these guys’ eyes were knotholes.”
Berseus, who had been snorting and murmuring like that, suddenly showed his teeth and smiled viciously.
“Or maybe there was no coat of arms on the carriage to begin with.”
“… … !”
The group was in shock.
If they hadn’t misheard, Berseus had deliberately led the bandits to attack.
“… why?”
“You said it earlier, right? “I’m not in a good mood today.”
Berseus had heard from an elder who came to check on him that the stolen race key had ended up in the hands of the Holy Emperor.
At that moment, Chimi could not control her anger, so she had already caused an uproar in her own mansion.
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“And I’ve been feeling a bit down lately. “I just thought I needed a little exercise after eating for my health.”
“… … .”
Everyone looked sick of that natural answer.
“Come on, there’s no time to stay like this.”
Eventually, the lesser Count of Castile called attention.
“It is no different than me suggesting today’s meeting. “I believe everyone has received the letter from the Merchant Union’s Branch Manager Schmidt.”
Everyone fell silent in a different way at those words. That’s why this proposal was very surprising to them.
Taking advantage of the chaos, the Merchants’ Association, which was prone to rip-offs and reluctant to invest, suddenly creates a large-scale plan to stabilize the economy of the North and seeks the cooperation of the lords?
“I have heard rumors that Director Schmidt is a workaholic. “But when he came forward like this, I thought he wasn’t in the mood to get things done.”
“Anyway, if you follow Lee Jae’s letter, you can make quite a big profit in a short period of time. The problem is that the Northeast monopolizes most of the gains.”
Then Count Milo openly expressed his dissatisfaction.
“Then I cannot cooperate. “What about the Northwest?”
“Or how about going a little bigger? So that all of Ortona can benefit evenly.”
“hmm… … .”
These are lords who consider maintaining the balance of power and minimizing variables to be the most important.
However, Branch Manager Schmidt’s proposal was too attractive to just ignore it. A proposal that might increase the stagnant power of the North and perhaps provide an opportunity to take a leap forward one step ahead of others.
In the end, instead of accepting this, the lords began to devise ways to further increase the scale of the plan so that everyone would benefit equally.
The plan that Seongjin started to create for the ‘Cham Salmon Restaurant’ was showing signs of snowballing before he knew it.
“joy! “You’re doing such a troublesome thing to lower the price of flour that barely gets to the table?”
Berseus, who was quietly listening to this, spoke indifferently.
“You only know one thing and don’t know the other, Marquis d’Arciano. While the southern magnates are feeding their soldiers well, aren’t our northern soldiers all becoming like worn-out mules? “As time goes by, the difference will only get bigger.”
“Then tell me to attack you as much as you want. “I will kill everyone with this axe.”
However, saying that, Berseus was also a capable lord who successfully protected his territory in the chaotic North.
He looked dissatisfied for a while, but after a while, he began to look through the documents, weighing the profits and losses with a rather harsh eye.
How much time has passed like that? Seeing what he had discovered, Berseus suddenly opened his eyes and screamed.
“You shameful thief!”
“… … ?”
Everyone looked up in puzzlement, but Berseus’ eyes were already sparking.
This was because of the name of the merchant listed in small print in the middle of the document.
-Top: Bertrand & Lee
– Top notes: Logan Kline, Maures Kline
Wow!
Berseus jumped up from the table, kicked the chair and shouted angrily.
“You who are prepared! Not only did you take away my race key, but now you are trying to steal the entire North! “Such a shameful guy!!”
“… … ?”
“Are you going to cooperate obediently? As long as this Dashiano keeps his eyes open, your plan will never be carried out!”
His shout, filled with anger, violently shook the air of the ruined royal palace.
In the meantime, the lords who were suddenly faced with enormous anger just silently glanced at each other without understanding what was going on.
* * *
‘This is the key to the Lycanslope race… … .’
Seongjin, who returned to Jinju Palace, looked at the palm-sized disc shining silver.
It was said that anyone designated as the representative of the tribe could use it, and indeed, even without spiritual eyes, clear menus appeared in Seongjin’s eyes.
〚Voting: Locked〛
〚Race: Locked〛
〚Boundary setting: Locked〛
Of course, it’s because they’re all locked.
Only one small menu at the bottom was glowing faintly, as if to indicate that it was active.
[portal=
〚-Workshop〛
〚-Locked〛
〚-Locked〛
〚-Locked〛
⁝
However, the demon king, who was expected to shout out as usual, ‘Lee Seong-jin, this is something from the normal world!’, said nothing.
‘Do you know what this is, devil? It is a racial key held by representatives of the Ionian race.’
The Demon King seemed puzzled by Seongjin’s explanation.
[okay? hmm. On the outside, it functions just like an object from the normal world, but no matter how much I look, I can’t tell.]
The Demon King, who had been contemplating the disk for a while, continued speaking.
[also. If you look closely, you can feel the flow of a grand law, just like the objects of the normal world. But no matter how you look at this, it looks like something from the real world.]
‘okay?’
[huh. Where have I seen something like this again… . Oh, right! It’s the same as that strange jewel you’re holding! No matter how you look at it, it’s confusing.]
milestone?
I heard about that from Dexter. Did he say that he has the characteristics of both the normal world and the real world?
Certainly, the [Key] is an object that governs the essence of the race. If so, it might have felt similar to a milestone created by the Oracle, the living essence of the race.
‘Anyway, we’ll look into this more carefully later.’
Seongjin skipped meditation and got ready for bed. To keep the milestone from getting tired, hug it and lie down on your side.
[Are you going to bed already?]
‘huh.’
It would be difficult if I logged in late and missed Owen.
[If you sleep with it, you will go to a normal world called ‘Pangaea Chronicle’?]
The Demon King asked Seongjin after hearing his explanation of what happened last night.
‘Oh, I see.’
[For some reason, he didn’t sleep-talk at all yesterday.]
Did you? For some reason, Edith had been glancing at me with her strange eyes since morning.
[I’m curious. I clearly felt that the soul was here, but how did it go to another world?]
‘That’s right.’
[I want to follow along too… … .]
Seongjin quietly closed his eyes while listening to the demon king muttering.
[Check the connection of the guest ID.]
And after waiting for a while, I heard a small voice.
[□□□ □□ has been confirmed. Switch to unique ID… … .]
Unique ID?
Without any doubts-
It’s a disaster.
Suddenly, my vision became brighter, and the scene of the small restaurant where the connection had ended yesterday unfolded before my eyes.
“You’re here, newbie!”
And someone called Seongjin. It was a cheerful voice he was already used to.
“You’re just in time! I was just about to enter the dungeon! After all, newbies are meant to be with us!”
Red fox Owen greeted him with a bright smile on his face.
fantasy,
