SWNOVELS
Chapter 243 - The Birth of a New Emperor (1)
A stifling silence filled the barracks of the imperial army. The corps commanders were scattered from one another, each thinking about the revelation Henry had shown them.
If what Henry had said was true, Kington's position as the commander-in-chief meant nothing, and both Faesiling and St. Hall had no valid reason to maintain their alliance with the Aenia Empire.
This disturbing revelation spread throughout the soldiers like wildfire, giving rise to rumors at the worst possible time.
“Shit...!”
Kington was furious at Arthus’s betrayal. He had considered him a trustworthy man; he had truly believed that Arthus would keep his word. However, Kington ended up with nothing but the realization that Arthus was just a snake.
He vented his frustration and anger by breaking desks and chairs, and because it wasn’t enough to calm him down, Kington called his adjutant to bring him some alcohol. Soon, plenty of new desks, chairs, and bottles of alcohol came his way.
Gulp, gulp, gulp!
Once the adjutant came back with the liquor, Kington took a bottle and finished it in one go. Only then did he wipe his mouth and lay in bed.
“That fucking bastard...!”
Kington finally seemed to calm down a bit, but his mind was still racing as he thought about what Arthus had done. As he closed his eyes, he contemplated how to get through this dire situation, which was worse than being part of a ruined country.
‘So the emperor just fucked off to god knows where... There are no royals in the Aenia Empire and the nobles haven’t figured out a proper hierarchy yet. Tsk, I don’t even want to think about the administrative system of the empire...’
Kington analyzed the situation surprisingly calmly despite having consumed an entire bottle of hard liquor. Given that the emperor was gone, any other military officers might’ve taken the opportunity to seize the empire for themselves, but Kington was different.
His logical and composed demeanor helped him realize that in this situation, the throne was a poisoned chalice.
‘The throne is ruined. Even if I take over, I doubt my subordinates would follow me. And if this hastily established empire sees another change in leadership, the public support will decline regardless of how good my policies are!’
Kington knew this wasn’t a problem he could solve right away, and before he could ponder more on it...
“Sir, we have visitors from Zipan.”
“Visitors?”
“Yes, Archmage Henry Morris and the commanders of the Allied Powers have come to visit.”
“What?”
At the adjutant’s words, Kington quickly rose from his bed. The corps commanders of St. Hall and Faesiling did the same. All the commanders of the imperial army quickly gathered at the headquarters barracks. Inside, they saw Henry sitting in a chair, smirking at them as they came in.
“Well hello, hello. How are you folks doing?”
“You!” Kington bellowed the moment he saw Henry and the commanders. He normally wouldn’t get drunk from just one bottle of liquor, but seeing Henry made him feel dizzy and intoxicated.
Irenae, Logger, and Ananda, who came after him, held Kington back and dragged him away.
“Let go, you bastards! Who the hell do you think you’re putting your hands on?!”
“It seems like Sir Kington already had some drinks.” contemporary romance
Seeing how much of a fuss he was making, Irenae gently placed her hand on Kington. From her palm, a ray of light burst in all directions, and Kington’s flushed face soon returned to its normal complexion.
The Saint had removed the alcohol from his system with her Holy Code, just like wizards relieved themselves of hangovers by circulating their mana.
Kington cleared his throat and lowered his head in embarrassment once he sobered up completely. Allen, Masila, and Walker also looked embarrassed.
Masila, Allen’s advisor, was the one to break the silence, asking Henry for the purpose of his visit in a calm and tactful manner, just like an advisor would do.
“What brings you here, Archmage?”
Maintaining his smile, Henry replied, “You’re still wary of us even though we no longer have a reason to fight. How about we sit down comfortably so we can properly look at each other? I’m here to make you an offer.”
“An offer... you say?”
“Yes, that's right.”
Even though they no longer had a reason to fight, the two sides had just been pointing their swords at each other not too long ago. Thus, Henry was very audacious to come here with a smile on his face and ask to negotiate just because they no longer had a reason to fight.
The commanders of the imperial army, including Masila, stayed silent as they kept a close eye on Henry.
Seeing their reactions, McDowell shouted in frustration, “Oh, for crying out loud! Someone help these people! What are you so hesitant about? We said we’re here to make a good offer, since we don’t have to fight anymore. Aren't you going to sit down? Should we just go back?”
“Oh, no! We just thought this situation was a bit awkward...”
“Awkward, my ass. It wasn’t awkward when we were trying to cut each other’s throats, but it’s awkward to just sit down across from each other?!”
Once McDowell was done complaining, all the commanders from each army sat down at the round table.
Once again, Henry was the one to lead the discussion.
“I don’t think anyone is in the mood for jokes, so let’s just get to the point. As you know, Arthus has abandoned the imperial palace, and only the people on this battlefield are aware of that.”
“So?”
“Well, what I’m trying to say is that only the emperor ran away. The empire hasn’t collapsed, right? Obviously, if we leave things like this, everyone else will soon know that the emperor has disappeared. That’s why I came here to ask for your opinions.”
“To ask us for our opinions? You’re not thinking about choosing the next emperor from one of us, are you?”
Masila was the one to finally bring up the one thing everyone had on their mind but couldn’t dare speak of: a new emperor.
“Exactly.”
“...!”
“W-what?!”
“Huh, heh heh...!”
Henry answered her question without the slightest hesitation, unlike some people who were hesitant to bring up the topic.
He continued to explain, “Well, strictly speaking, we may or may not be choosing the next emperor, but in any case, the empire right now needs some kind of leader who can run things, even if they’re just a figurehead.”
“Yes... You’re right.”
“If we leave the empire the way it is right now, it’s crystal clear that the nobles under Arthus’ command will use their fiefs as their territory to seek independence. So, I think it’d be better to replace the emperor when we have the power to do so.”
Henry meant every word he said. He knew that if they didn’t do anything because they were worried about the consequences, they would ultimately regret not taking action when they could. Therefore, Henry was willing to come up with a pragmatic plan to take care of the whole situation before it was too late.
But then, Kington, who had been silent, erupted in frustration as if he couldn’t listen to Henry’s blabbering anymore.
“You bastard! Do you think replacing the emperor is as easy as a child’s game?”
“Is it not?”
“What?! What the hell are you saying?!”
“Didn’t Arthus do so? He made people pick a side and planned to overthrow the empire by saying who's on your side and who’s on their side as if he was playing a game. If I hadn't overthrown the palace first, Arthus would have done it anyway. And Sir Kington, aren’t you one of the people who urged others to pick a side?”
“Well, that’s...!”
Henry knew clearly what he wanted now that Arthus was out of the picture. Also, even though there was no reason for them to fight anymore, there was also no reason for him to be particularly kind to the other side. That was why he had a straightforward approach, skipping all the unnecessary details.
Kington was left speechless, and seeing this, Henry smiled and continued, “Whatever you’re worried about, it won’t even compare to what Arthus will do to this empire down the road, so I ask you to stop worrying about trivial things. I believe the right thing to do is to elect the next emperor since all of the commanders are gathered here together.”
There was already an empire, and it just needed someone to take the throne. Getting rid of the throne for the sake of equality was also an option, but the power of the throne was too tempting to let it slide away.
With that in mind, Henry planned to take away some of the tempting aspects of the throne and take advantage of it for as long as he could.
‘There’s an old saying that a person adapts to their environment and circumstances they find themselves in. No matter how kind-hearted and wise a man is, you never know how he’s going to change after he sits on that throne.’
In other words, there was no one Henry could trust; he had no intention of handing over the throne of the Aenia Empire to anyone. But at the same time, he also didn’t want to claim the throne himself. There were actually a lot of things to do as an emperor. It was just that Silver Jackson had been grossly incompetent.
Everyone looked at each other tentatively as Henry opened up the position for the new emperor of the Aenia Empire.
Having enough of the silence, McDowell suggested, “How about you do it?”
“Me?”
“Yeah. You think we can trust that greedy Kington, or to the Church of Peace that prioritizes politics over their own religion for their gain? Don’t tell me you’re thinking about giving the throne to the mercenaries...? You know they’ll backstab anyone out of greed.”
McDowell bluntly said exactly what he had on his mind. The Saint, Logger, and Ananda were furious at his words, but they couldn’t say anything because they knew deep down that he was telling the truth, which in turn made them more angry and upset.
However, Masila was different.
“Still, how about we go with the mercenaries?”
“Huh?”
“Well, don’t all people betray because of greed? We all know it’s not just the mercenaries? I know for a fact that those involved in politics are far worse,” Masila responded firmly to McDowell before expressing another opinion.
“With that, I want to suggest Allen for the throne. Ever since Allen became the leader of Faesiling, he has maintained the title of Mercenary King, and he does an excellent job in taking care of the city. And I don’t think there’s much to being a king. Taking care of himself and of the people, being able to make use of their subordinates, and also having the people look up to him is what a king needs to be capable of!”
Given Masila’s tone and wording, it almost seemed like she was recommending a dear friend. At times, it sounded like she was talking about Allen as if he were her son, trying to butter him up as much as possible. But despite that, she still made some valid points.
Henry looked at Allen as if he found this whole situation rather amusing. Eventually, everybody was staring at Allen before he knew it.
“Huh?”
Allen had been listening silently with his arms crossed, and now he was caught off guard by all the eyes on him. He looked bewildered and winced at the curious gazes that pressed down on him
Seeing his reaction, Henry asked him point-blank, “How about it, Sir Allen? Ma’am Masilla strongly recommends you. I want to know what you think of this.”
"I-I..." Allen trailed off, making everyone focus on him again. After a brief moment, he finally said, “I have no interest in the throne. I'm sorry.”
“Allen!”
“Quiet, Masila! I’m enjoying my story, my power, but to be emperor? Most definitely not my cup of tea. I don’t want to be some emperor. Besides, you're actually handling most of the tasks I should be doing in Faesiling, are you not?”
“That's...” Masilla trailed off as well.
Then Henry quickly took the stage again to keep the conversation from derailing.
“So, are we back to the drawing board?”
But then McDowell objected, “Back to the drawing board? What do you mean? Just seize the throne for yourself man. You’re the only 7th-Circle Archmage on the continent, and on top of that, you’ve assembled the Allied Powers that almost fell apart and took them to fight against the imperial army. You also have a lot of credibility as you were the sole disciple of the late Archmage.”
McDowell tapped his head with his fingers as he made his point, clearly frustrated. Hearing this, Henry smiled in satisfaction; he had anticipated McDowell to act this way because of his impulsive nature.
McDowell looked at everyone else at the table and asked, “Anyone have any objections? I mean, if it weren’t for Henry, we wouldn’t have been able to drive Arthus out anyway. On top of that, if not for Henry, we never would’ve found out that Arthus is a filthy bastard that deals with Chimeras.”
“That’s true, but...”
“Then it’s settled. Let’s be honest here. Henry has all the mages with him. Who else could be the emperor if not him? Surely, nobody's thinking of giving up the mages, right?”
Henry had a lot of tricks up his sleeve and the mages were one of them. McDowel’s point was that if Henry were to become corrupted and monopolize or control the mages, the magical items circulating in public could well disappear. His logic and reasoning were straightforward, but made good points nonetheless, and because of that, no one was able to argue against him.
Finally, Henry gave his response, “Haha, I’m sorry, brother, but unfortunately, I'm not interested in the throne either.”
“What?!”
“Instead...!” Henry interrupted before McDowell could say anything else. “I would like to recommend someone else. I have a friend who is ambitious, competent, and who has been helping me for a long time."
“And who is that?”
"Ten."
“Huh...? What?”
With that, the entire room fell into disorder again.
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