Arc-6 Ch-45

"Let me ask first: there’s no hidden military force left under the royal family, correct?"

I hate the idea of getting marked as a suspicious person for knowing any secret information the royal family is hiding, but it can’t be helped. When commanding an army, the first thing you need to know is your own military strength and the enemy’s. There’s also terrain and logistics and all that, but those change depending on the situation, so I’ll leave them aside for now. Unless the royal family lays all their cards on the table, I can’t make any proposals. If they’re hiding a Lost Item battleship, using that would be the fastest way to solve this.

"Rest assured, Mr. Bartfort. At present, there is no hidden military power the royal family is concealing."

"The special armor made for royalty has been sold off as well. Right now the kingdom’s military strength has dropped to nearly half."

The idiot king twitched. Now that I think about it, Angie told me the queen sold off the armor that masked knight used to ride around in. Act like an idiot and your wife will do things like that. At the same time, it’s pitiful that the royal family is in such a state they had to do all that just to get enough money to rebuild the collapsing country. Maintaining an army costs money, so once peace comes, it’s normal for the army to be downsized or for soldiers to be dismissed. But dismissed former soldiers might turn into sky pirates, and selling captured enemy airships or armor makes public order worse, so as a feudal lord I’d like them to stop that.

Come to think of it, ball-thing told me that in another world, I built my own factory, sold airships and armor cheaply, and made a fortune on repairs and modifications. Definitely a demon, the other-world me. No wonder he teamed up with the Redgrave dukedom, pulled down the Holfort royal family, and became king.

"That Lost Item ship, you can’t repair it?"

"We’re still trying even now, but it seems impossible. It would take an extremely long time to repair, and even if it could fly again, the function that amplifies the saint’s power is beyond our ability."

"With our technology it’s impossible to reproduce. That is why it’s a lost heritage. As a symbol of the royal family, there was nothing greater, but going forward the Holfort royal family must seek a new path."

Should I ask ball-thing to fix it?

No, can’t.

If I leave it to him he might steal it instead, and even if he repaired it, the royal family would probably use it again to keep the feudal lords under control. The royal family’s ship has been used not against hostile nations like the Fanoss Principality or the Rachel Holy Kingdom, but to silence rebellious feudal lords within the kingdom. If something like that attacked, no feudal lord could win. The only one that might stand a chance is ball-thing’s airship. But if that thing ever teamed up with the royal family’s ship, the kingdom—no, the world—might end.

"Then, will you allow the feudal lords to increase their military strength?"

"…………"

"I’ll say this now: I can’t pull off something as convenient as keeping the feudal lords’ military power stagnant while only restoring the royal family’s."

According to what Angie told me, the Holfort royal family had a long-term plan to slowly reduce the number of feudal lords until only obedient ones remained. The very foundation of this country comes from the founders and our ancestors, wanderer adventurers with no backing. They found an undeveloped floating island and gradually cultivated it, only for some adventurers to suddenly show up and say, ‘You’re our subordinates now,’ and force them into submission. Of course resentment remained. And on top of that, the principality of Fanoss was founded by a former grand duke who broke away from the kingdom.

So the royal family kept desperately thinking about how to suppress the power of the feudal lords and force obedience, and they reached one conclusion. Weaken them so much they lose the will to rebel, and eventually destroy them—basically that. Restrict their military, increase taxes, force unwanted political marriages, make them attend the royal academy where they get education favorable to the royal family, implant the women-supremacy ideology—continuously torment the feudal lords. If any rebellious noble appeared, crush them with overwhelming force. That’s how they secured domestic stability—no, security for the royal family.

But they could only do that because they had the powerful Lost Item, the royal ship. When the royal ship sank, their supposedly perfect domination collapsed with it. Especially the excessive oppression and military restrictions were a mistake. Restricting their military meant they couldn’t respond if another country invaded. Forcing political marriages to prevent lords from forming alliances meant they would never help one another and only focus on protecting their own territory. Doing all this for so long weakened loyalty to the royal family, and when Fanoss invaded, huge numbers of lords defected. The nobles who defected to Fanoss during the war weren’t all just seeking money or rank or acting out of fear.

Many were genuinely fed up with the Holfort royal family and believed Fanoss was liberating them from oppression. The royal family feared rebellion so much they went too far, and were then actually betrayed—ironic.

"With the kingdom’s army weakened, the only ones you can rely on are the feudal lords. So first, remove the limits on the number of airships and armor they can possess. Strengthen their autonomy over territory and airspace, reduce tariffs, and use the freed resources for rearmament. That should buy time."

"Are you sane? If we allow that, it could become a new spark for trouble."

"If you don’t like it, do as you please. ‘We will continue to suppress the feudal lords because we’re afraid of rebellion.’ I’d love to see how many will obediently follow after hearing that."

The queen and the chancellor made sour faces, while the duke smiled pleasantly. Of course the duke, who had been planning rebellion, would find it refreshing that his son-in-law is provoking the royal family. Honestly, if I had known beforehand what kind of king he was, I might have sided with the duke. But time doesn’t go back, and adults should clean up their own mess.

"Most nobles will prioritize reconstruction and don’t have the money or manpower to expand their military. So if tariffs and restrictions are temporarily lowered and domestic distribution becomes more active, it benefits not just the nobles but the royal family as well."

"I understand what you are saying, Lord Bartfort. However, if we reduce taxes, the kingdom’s revenue will drop."

"Then reduce the nobles’ burden by the amount of compensation received from the principality. Make it limited-time until national strength recovers."

"You say it like it’s simple. We’ll have to revise the entire budget we just finalized."

"Please don’t be discouraged."

Well, I do have my own motives as the lord of the Bartfort territory. If tariffs are reduced, we’ll earn more when selling our crops to other territories. If distribution becomes more active, more tourists should visit our hot springs. Money is important. A noble who can’t make money has no right to govern a territory—Angie’s words.

"At the same time, to strengthen the unity between the feudal lords who protect the country, we should lift restrictions on political marriages. And of course, political marriages that serve only the interests of the royal family or court nobles should be banned, and possessing women-supremacy ideology should be a clear legal ground for divorce."

"Wouldn’t that increase the risk of the feudal lords turning against the royal family?"

"It can’t be helped. Political marriage is a noble’s duty, but if it’s too convenient for one side, resentment grows. My father and I are victims of that, and it’s the reason the Forest of Ladies was created."

"Forgive the rude question, but I heard your mother was treated as a concubine."

"My father’s legal wife was from a court noble house, but she was terrible. She barely came to the territory, cheated, and bore children with men other than her husband. She even planned to sell me to some older woman, pretending it was a marriage. I later learned that woman was a member of the Forest of Ladies. That organization was born precisely because of harassment toward feudal lords and the women-supremacy policies. They intended to protect the royal family, but instead they raised traitors who undermined not just the royal family but the entire country."

In this room sit the royal family, the queen who married in from another country, the duke, and the minister who is a court noble. The royal family and court nobles are all people who rule over feudal lords, and the Redgrave duke, having royal succession rights, can hardly be called a pure feudal lord. They’ve never truly experienced the resentment of actual feudal lords. All that accumulated resentment has brought the country to this crisis. The cause is the royal family’s prejudice and widening of disparities—nothing but their own fault.

"Forcing arrogant women as brides, looking down on rural nobles while extracting taxes, refusing to promote them even if they earn merit—doing as they please. After all that cold treatment, when things get bad they flip their palm and beg for help. Of course they’ll be abandoned."

"Harsh words."

"But true. Unless you improve their treatment, feudal lords won’t work. And they’ll defect to the Rachel Holy Kingdom or the Voldenova Holy Magic Empire and guide their invasions. It weakens the kingdom and gives the enemy detailed intel. If I were them, I’d also think now is the perfect chance to conquer the kingdom. So the only option is to treat them better so they don’t defect."

Trust is not built by words but by the weight of the purse you hand over—who said that proverb again?

Under a stingy lord, subordinates lose motivation and move to a better employer. The royal family wanted to gradually weaken the feudal lords’ power, but that was purely for their own convenience. If you tell someone to perish, they won’t obediently die unless you’ve given them suitable treatment. The Holfort royal family failed at that. They should have acted before the ones they deprived noticed and before they lost the power to prevent retaliation.

I myself have almost no loyalty to the Holfort royal family. I only mediated the reconciliation between the royal family and the duke for my own reasons, and if not for threats from other nations, I might have sided with the duke.

"Leave those matters to the top people to decide. Next, regarding the development of the military, we should increase recruitment slots. And we should create a new institution to train those who will command the army."

"Then we shall establish a dedicated class in the soon-to-reopen royal academy."

"The academy, huh…"

"Mr. Bartfort, is something troubling you?"

"Hmm… The academy that’s reopening—how different is it from before?"

"The former academy had the standard class for lower nobles and commoners, and the advanced class only for high nobles and scholarship students. However, such divisions unquestionably contributed to the arrogance of upper-class noble sons and daughters. Therefore, in the new advanced class we plan to select students based on written exam performance, interviews for personality evaluation, and also investigations of the student and their household."

"Does that mean you won’t differentiate between nobles and commoners?"

"Yes, Miss Olivia served as an excellent precedent. The academy will support those with talent. We plan to introduce scholarship programs and devote ourselves entirely to fostering capable individuals."

The chancellor, who had served as the academy director, spoke to me with a gentle demeanor. He’s probably a good person, but to me he still feels shady. From what Angie and the duke told me, he recommended that man to become king because he was reluctant to take the throne himself. He also half-ignored the fact that the academy’s advanced class had rotted into a den of corrupt nobles.

The reason my opinion of him has worsened is mainly because he failed to properly deal with things like Angie’s engagement-annulment uproar and Olivia-sama’s bullying. If he had properly protected Olivia-sama and conducted an investigation into the bullying, Angie would never have been criticized. Even if, without that, Angie and I wouldn’t have been able to get engaged, it’s still not something I can accept.

"To say it plainly, the education required for the military and the knowledge required for nobles are far too different. I think it’s better to keep them separate rather than mixing them poorly."

"However, under the current circumstances, commanding the military is the duty of royalty and nobility. Many knights conduct warfare as their profession, and considering that, this method is the most efficient."

"Then let me ask in return—how many noble sons actually study tactics or the knowledge necessary for military operations before or after a war and conduct real training?"

"That is…"

The Chancellor is misunderstanding things, and the others are probably the same. Because of the education they’ve received since birth as royalty and nobles, their minds have become so rigid they can’t leap beyond their assumptions. Certainly, when the kingdom or their territory is in danger, royalty and nobility have the duty to be the first to fight. Nobles like Zola or the Lutoart household, who abandon their territory and people and flee, don’t even deserve to be called nobles in the first place. Even among nobles who do have the resolve to fight for the sake of fulfilling their duties, there’s something I’ve always found questionable. I’ll throw that right at these high-ranking folks now.

"I’ve been thinking this for a long time. Why is it that when it’s time to fight, the ones entrusted with command are nobles who are amateurs in both strategy and tactics?"

"Naturally, because fighting to protect the people and the land is the role nobles must fulfill."

"I question how many nobles actually study strategy and tactics seriously in order to fulfill that role."

At the very least, those who are part of the military are probably studying seriously. The ones who handle logistics, negotiations, and armaments should be the same. So why is it that when war begins, royalty or lords appear, concoct unreasonable plans and foolish logic, and mess everything up?

"When I was still serving in the Royal Army, my superior was someone who had served in the military for many years. He was commoner-born but was, as I recall, a capable commander. But when the Principality of Fanoss invaded, the one appointed as commander was a court nobleman who barely knew anything about military affairs and had never undergone any real training. Someone like that becomes a commander just because of the title he inherited from his parents. With this, you can’t win battles you should be able to win."

"That was undeniably our fault. We did something inexcusable to the soldiers."

"It wasn’t limited to court nobles either. There were feudal nobles just as terrible. Not coordinating with other nobles, never doubting that their own command was the best, and mistaking outdated armor inherited from their parents and tactics abandoned decades ago as unbeatable methods."

"It’s the sort of story that gives you a headache."

"The troublesome part is that such people bring up their peerage or court rank and assume other nobles are their subordinates. They treat the battlefield like it’s a playground or a stage. They’re oversized children who genuinely believe they can become legendary heroes who mow down enemies."

As I answered with disgust and glared at the idiot king, the queen and the prince followed with the same look. You’re the same kind, idiot king. Reflect a little. That’s why I hate royalty and nobles. No matter how many wrongs they commit, they hide behind their status and nothing ever improves. Even if the seed is normal, a crop raised twisted will be ignored by everyone and rot without ever being sold. If it were crops, you could remove the bad seeds, nurture the good ones, and raise them carefully, but with nobles, no matter what they do, they aren’t judged and are left as they are. And so rotten seeds keep joining with other rotten seeds, producing even worse seeds raised in rotten soil, over and over again. The headache-inducing thing is that those decayed flowers and fruits multiplied and sucked the lifeblood out of lower nobles and commoners—that was the Holfort Kingdom until just a few years ago.

Honestly, it might be quicker to abandon the whole thing and cultivate a new field elsewhere. But I earned achievements in this country and rose in rank. The people from the former principality resent me, and other countries see me as someone to keep an eye on. If I betrayed the kingdom, the kingdom’s people would be the first to come kill me. So I have no choice but to continue being a noble of the Holfort Kingdom. Why is it that life always has more suffering than happiness?

"But during the war, many nobles followed your instructions. Even those of higher rank. What kind of trick did you use?"

"When they were in danger, I sent help. That’s all. A simple answer."

"Just that?"

"Just that. You can’t survive on the battlefield without cooperating with someone. Those who abandon others will someday be abandoned by someone else. So when other nobles were in danger, I helped them whenever I could. Repeating that over and over, before I knew it, I was the one leading the gatherings of nobles."

To be honest, I just wanted manpower and shields behind me. Those who acted too stupidly were impossible to manage, so I ignored and didn’t help them. I’m not a genius like the Saint or the heroes, and I’m not some philanthropist. I’m a despicable man who just doesn’t want to die and desperately does what he can while selling favors. The other nobles must have sensed that to some extent. If not, they wouldn’t have followed a young upstart like me on the battlefield.

"If they follow me, they can hold out. At the very least, the chance of dying is reduced."

Even nobles who always preach about pride and duty are terrified of dying, in the end.

"Actually, the biggest disputes happened at the start of the war. They knew they needed to cooperate, but who would take the lead? Peerage, age, experience, reputation. If an operation succeeded, they fought over credit, and if it failed, they pushed the blame. Their communication frequencies and codes were all over the place, and they hadn’t even decided on replacements in case the commander died. With commanders like these, no matter what you do, you can’t win."

"It seems the allied forces of the feudal lords had problems too."

"So first we simplify the military chain of command. Then we give them ranks separate from peerage or court rank and make them obey the orders of superior officers. If someone doesn’t hold a military rank, even if they’re a noble, they shouldn’t be allowed to interfere in operations. That alone will reduce the damage caused by nobles who mistakenly think they’re strong."

"Wouldn’t it be simpler to just transfer military authority to the knights?"

"In two wars with the principality, we lost many knights. Right now we’re promoting noble sons and commoners who distinguished themselves, but even that isn’t enough."

"I have something to say about that too."

Please don’t look like you want to say "there’s still more?"

I don’t want to keep complaining to the high-ranking folks either. But if I don’t say it now, it’ll cause trouble later, so I’m using this opportunity to speak.

"Promoting those who achieve merit into knights is fine. But I think we should require some kind of education or examination before allowing them to serve as knights."

"Why? Rebuilding military strength is essential to restoring national power."

"Because making low-quality people into knights won’t restore our forces."

In the Holfort Kingdom, knights are mainly those with court ranks seven to nine. Ranks eight and nine are lifetime-only, and from rank seven upward, it becomes hereditary. The lowest noble rank, baron, is rank six, and if requirements are met, even meeting royalty is possible. So everyone here likely has little to no experience talking with ordinary knights. You probably think the knights who guard you are just human-shaped shields. You only ever see the high-quality knights; you don’t know what the knights who do actual military duties are really like.

"If you loosen the requirements to replenish knights lost in the war and hire aggressively, you’ll end up increasing the number of violent types or those who don’t meet basic standards. Those who earned merit and became knights are still better, but the real problem is the hereditary rank-seven knights and nobles who become knights."

"Noble sons receive education from childhood. I don’t think they’d have issues behaving as knights."

"Think about it carefully. Most of them come from corrupt noble families."

A few seconds after I said that, the color drained from the faces of the high-ranking folks as they understood what I meant. Royalty and high nobles have this flaw—they take hereditary succession for granted. They unconditionally believe that children of capable parents will also be capable. But it’s common for a parent’s talents not to be inherited, and even the best seed can contain a percentage of bad seeds.

"Those who become knights from noble families are the sons who couldn’t become heirs. Some exceedingly rare ones later become successors because they’re competent, but most are sons their parents deemed talentless and abandoned. Do you really think men like that, full of pent-up resentment from their noble-born arrogance, can genuinely defend a territory or protect their lord?"

"I don’t even want to imagine it."

"People who make no effort, gain no achievements, and just ride around in armor because of their noble birth, shooting commoner men for fun and violating commoner women. Their families bribe the noble who took in their idiot son as a knight to cover up the crimes. The lord sees commoners as numbers to squeeze taxes from, so he ignores the knights’ abuses. Some of the worst even incite their lords into wrongdoing."

"You speak as if you’ve seen it yourself."

“I actually saw and heard it myself.”

Before the war broke out—while I had left home to wander a bit before joining the royal army—I saw knights abusing their authority many times. Those types either quickly ran away when the war began, or overestimated their own skills and most of them died. But some tenacious knights survived, and since ruling nobles are short on manpower, they’re hiring new ones, which is frightening.

“When I became a lord, I put out a call for soldiers and knights. Some overestimated commoners, noble youths, and knights formerly employed by noble households came to me, but… well, nobles are worse than commoners.”

“They were rotten to that extent?”

“As someone responsible for education, I have to admit it. In fact, compared to Ms. Olivia, there were almost no girls who surpassed her. The only one who barely measured up was Miss Angelica.”

“Among commoners, there are clearly people with no talent, but some recognize their shortcomings and work hard to improve. As for those born nobles—they can’t seem to forget their formerly luxurious lifestyles. Some even demanded more extravagant treatment than myself, their lord.”

“There are knights who would do such a thing to their own liege?”

“After knights became scarce due to the war, the authority to grant appointments for those directly employed by lords was delegated, remember? In the Bartfort territory, commoner-born or noble-born, we treat them equally as simple foot soldiers. From there, based on recommendations from superiors and actual achievements, they can take exams. Amusingly, the higher their family’s rank, the more likely they are to cause trouble or drop out. Don’t you think it’s strange? These nobles who supposedly inherited noble blood and should be superior to commoners are actually inferior to them.”

Hmm, even I think I’m saying some awful things. After all, I’m denying the very existence of nobles and criticizing hereditary systems.

“You’re a noble too—have you gone mad?” It wouldn’t be surprising if everyone here insulted me like that. But unless I say at least this much, these high-ranking people who are slow to act won’t move. I’m a heretic to the monarchy and aristocratic society for saying these things in front of royalty.

“Bartfort is a dangerous man. Who knows what he’ll do if promoted,”—that impression works in my favor.

“If we were to carry out your ideas, the kingdom would be overturned from the ground up.”

“You said to speak without reserve.”

“But Mother, if I may offer my own impressions from the inspection, it was an admirable force—unbelievable that it was built in only a few years by a newly risen lord.”

“Above all, the fact that Olivia-sama protected the kingdom is undeniable. From a human-resource development perspective, continuing to excessively favor nobles will only create a new breeding ground for corruption.”

“Nepotism is indeed fueling factional disputes. Among the young ministers assigned across various departments, some left the work to their subordinates, indulged in pleasure, and repeatedly accepted bribes.”

“This is a good opportunity to squeeze out the rot. Reducing the number of incompetent nobles who cling to vested interests will also improve the organization’s openness.”

“So isn’t actively hiring commoners going too far?”

“Olivia’s popularity no longer fits within the temple. The majority of the kingdom’s people already support her. She might even be trusted more than His Majesty, my father.”

“You go too far, Julius. Mind your words.”

“But it’s the truth. As Olivia’s fame grows, the commoners’ awareness rises with it. At this rate, the commoners might riot against the nobility.”

“We’d like to avoid a civil conflict now that the kingdom’s nobles were just beginning to unite.”

“On the contrary, someone might try to elevate the Saint and make her the new ruler.”

“Oh? And who might that be referring to?”

“How shameless. Or are you saying there’s no longer any need to pretend?”

Finally the dignitaries began exchanging heated opinions. Can I go home now?

For a full year—no, counting the war, for more than two years—I’ve been dragged into the kingdom’s troubles. Please, let me go already. Let me have some peaceful family time with my wife and children.

I’ll return to the Bartfort territory and gradually cultivate and develop the land. When the territory stabilizes, I’ll have my properly raised child succeed me and retire. I’ll till my own fields however I want and soak in hot springs while enjoying a quiet retirement. And when I grow old, I want to die peacefully, surrounded by Angie, my children, and my grandchildren.

That’s my ideal.

So becoming a military advisor is absolutely out of the question! I refuse!

“…Thank you for your valuable opinion, Earl Bartfort.”

“My shallow ideas cannot compare to Her Highness’s profound foresight.”

So please let me go. I beg you. That’s why I used inflammatory phrasing—prevent royal and court-noble interference, secure greater rights for ruling nobles, propose a new class system, and promote the hiring of commoners. If even one of these suggestions is adopted, it’s a win. It’s far too dangerous to place a noble who could demolish the entire social system into a major post. From here on, I’ll be treated as a dangerous person and kept out of national politics, so I’ll leave the rest to everyone else.

“Somewhat extreme and too progressive, but your insight is remarkable. Where did you gain such knowledge?”

“My military knowledge comes from self-study—reading as many manuals as I could. As for politics and noble customs, my wife drilled them into me.”

“Angelica trained you this thoroughly, did she?”

“I’m just an ordinary man you can find anywhere. There are countless men more capable than me. If my wife trained them, even the biggest idiot could become a respectable noble.”

“…………”

“………………”

“……”

“…………”

Why is everyone going silent? I’m a plain man.

I just happen to have had a capable ancestor, and my only real skill is my luck in surviving the battlefield. To survive, I set traps for the enemy, and for developing the territory, Angie kicks my backside to make me work hard. There’s no way I could handle an important post.

“I understand. We will take your valuable opinions into consideration as much as possible.”

“Thank you.”

“You really are capable. You’re indispensable to the future of the Holfort Kingdom.”

Why is the Queen smiling but her eyes aren’t?

And why are the duke, the chancellor, and the ministers smiling pleasantly? The prince is even raising his hand happily. Meanwhile the foolish king is glaring at me with clear displeasure—seriously, he never changes.

“…If a young ruling noble like me becomes involved with the kingdom’s military affairs, many nobles won’t be happy.”

“If you want to propose the elevation of ruling nobles, isn’t hiring you the fastest way?”

“I’d really prefer to devote myself to developing my territory for a few years…”

“Of course, you will receive appropriate compensation. Exemption from military service, salary for the position, and various other expenses will be covered by the royal family.”

The Queen, slowly closing in the escape routes, is terrifying. I can feel her determination not to let me escape no matter what I say. And honestly, exemption from military service is huge. It will greatly reduce the burden on the territory. If I can continue developing the land during that time, I can make significant progress repaying the loan from the ducal house.

“Oh yes, it seems your elder brother is to marry the young lady of House Roseblade.”

“It is an honor that Your Majesty is aware of it.”

“But a count’s daughter marrying a baron is difficult in many ways. If you accept the position of military advisor, I’ll expedite your brother’s promotion to viscount.”

“…………”

Originally, with the support of the Redgrave Ducal House and the Roseblade Count House, my brother was supposed to succeed the barony and eventually become a viscount. The Queen intends to approve his promotion in exchange for making me work. Damn it, isn’t there any escape!?

“I happen to be recruiting maids to serve me personally. Are there any good daughters among the ruling nobles?”

…Are you referring to my older sister and younger sister?

Certainly, my older sister and Finley haven’t achieved satisfactory results in their bridal training to become noble ladies. And due to backlash from the former matriarchal policies, noblewomen are struggling to marry. At this rate, both will be left behind and spend their lives single at home. But if they become maids to the Queen or gain experience training at the royal palace, it’s a different story.

With that prestigious background, prospective suitors will view my sisters as distinguished young ladies, increasing their chances of marriage. And until they’re ready to not embarrass themselves at the palace, Angie will thoroughly beat etiquette into them…

Well, they’ll simply have to work hard. The Queen is truly cunning. She must have known I could never abandon my family and approached me with this offer. Ah, I hate this. Just thinking that I’m doing the same thing as the nobles I was criticizing earlier is depressing. Why can’t people live cleanly and righteously?

The higher your rank, the dirtier you feel you become.

“I understand Your Majesty’s sentiments very well.”

“Yes, I’m pleased.”

“I, Leon Fou Bartfort, shall humbly accept the post of military advisor.”

And so I, Leon Fou Bartfort, was promoted to Earl and simultaneously appointed military advisor to the Holfort Kingdom’s army. For some reason, I ended up being favored by the dignitaries. Really… how did it come to this?

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Authors Note

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And thus Leon rose to the position of military advisor—happily ever after. (Hey!)

Reading the original, Luxion’s overwhelming power and the crisis situations stand out, but I feel the Holfort Kingdom’s governing structure itself was reaching its limits.

In the original story, with Luxion’s strength and the Redgrave family’s backing, the Bartfort Kingdom arose, but in this story the Saint Olivia and the heroes have improved the situation to some extent.

Hang in there, Leon—everyone is counting on you.

If you share your thoughts or impressions, it will encourage me in the future.