Ｓｉｄｅ・マナ
Upon entering the city of Ovest, we were immediately welcomed by Baron Neige Ovest, who is also the lord of the city. I didn’t expect to be reunited with my cousin Prim here, and she was hugging Prim with tears streaming down her face. That’s precisely why I believe she’s trustworthy. If someone were to tell me that was an act, I wouldn’t be able to trust anyone.
However, Baron Neige was about to reveal an unbelievable truth to us.
“Although I publicly oppose His Majesty Gumnos, I have been in close contact with him in secret. Baron Noct is the same, but unfortunately, he lost his life due to the weapon known as the Solemnne Steam Battleship…”
To my surprise, Baron Neige and the Beast King were not enemies. Furthermore, the story about them joining forces with the Anti-Beast King Organization was just a rumor spread by others, and Baron Neige stated he had never cooperated with them.
“You’ve never aided the Anti-Beast King Organization? But that rumor is circulating in Amister?”
“As I suspected. That rumor was spread as a falsehood by the barons of the East, South, and Central regions.”
“A falsehood? Or does that mean the barons of the East, South, and Central regions were cooperating? If that’s the case, then Valentia was on the verge of splitting between East and West?”
“I cannot say for certain. While it may appear to outsiders that the Royal Family, North, and West are cooperating, and the Central, East, and South are doing the same, unlike us, they are not closely allied.”
From what I heard, Baron Reine Estait of the East, Baron Gilfa Trial of the South, and Baron Schlechtheit Freiheit of the Central region, who also serves as the Prime Minister of Valentia, all seem to desire the throne.
“As Your Highness Manalease said. While there is no concrete evidence yet, the assassination of the previous Beast King was also the work of one of them.”
The previous king’s assassination was the work of one of those barons? Wait a minute, wasn’t the assassination of the previous Beast King orchestrated by the current Beast King, Gumnos, to usurp the throne?
“I had suspected it from our earlier discussion about the Anti-Beast King Organization, but it seems it was indeed them. Prim, please listen calmly. The rumor that His Majesty Gumnos usurped the throne is centered around the story that he assassinated the previous Beast King and then assassinated His Highness Tyrus afterward.”
“Ah, that story is circulating in Amister.”
“However, it was His Highness Tyrus who passed away first.”
“What!?”
Prince Tyrus passed away first? Moreover, from what I heard, it can be definitively stated that Prince Tyrus’s death was a pure accident. Prince Tyrus had been dispatched to Valentia to deepen friendly relations, but on his return journey by ship, he was attacked by monsters, and as a result, he lost his life. Furthermore, the Valentian side is aware of this fact, making it unlikely that someone plotted it.
“After that, the previous king was assassinated. Normally, Leonas would have ascended to the throne. However, His Majesty Gumnos, fearing that the country would be destroyed if Leonas ascended to the throne, stripped Leonas, who was not in the country, of his succession rights and took the throne himself. Duke Ternal agrees with this as well.”
Indeed, at the time of the previous Beast King’s assassination, Leonas was not in Valentia; I believe he had gone to Torencia. Despite the death of his father, the previous Beast King, and his brother, the Crown Prince, Leonas showed no signs of returning to the country. From the perspective of the nation’s well-being, it is understandable that Gumnos would become the Beast King. Even my father was worried about that very point upon hearing the news of the deaths of the previous Beast King and Prince Tyrus. Moreover, the fact that Prim’s father, Duke Hydransia Ternal, also agreed implied that Leonas not only lacked the awareness of a successor to the throne but also that his qualifications were doubted.
“Originally, His Majesty Gumnos and Duke Ternal were political rivals, but this was because they each insisted on their own opinions regarding the baronial system. Both were benevolent lords who cared for their people, so in other respects, they could be considered to have been in a cooperative relationship. However, at the same time as His Majesty Gumnos’s enthronement, a disturbance occurred in the Southern Baronial family.”
The current head, Gilfa, killed his father and brother and usurped the title. In Amister, I only heard rumors, but according to Baron Neige, it is true, and Baron Streihait is also involved. It is said that Baron Streihait favors Gilfa and succeeded in driving a wedge into the relationship between Beast King Gumnos and Duke Ternal.
“That is likely why it is rumored in other nations that His Majesty Gumnos assassinated the previous king and His Highness Tyrus to usurp the throne. Normally, Duke Ternal would have stopped it, but due to the wedge driven between them, His Majesty Gumnos and Duke Ternal could no longer trust each other, and their relationship was severed.”
The result of that was the execution of Duke Ternal and the dissolution of the Hydransia ducal house.
“Precisely. Not only Streihait and Gilfa, but even Reine presented evidence of Duke Ternal’s intent to rebel, forcing His Majesty Gumnos to execute Duke Ternal.”
To think that the baron of the East was also involved. Although Baron Reine of the East desires the throne, it appears she was not actively contacting Baron Streihait or Gilfa. However, since they both understood that Duke Ternal was an obstacle, they actively cooperated to eliminate the obstacle and bring the throne closer to themselves.
“I see, that explains a lot. Baron Neige, who is the mastermind?”
“Baron Streihait. He has served the country as Prime Minister since the previous king’s reign, but the previous king was focused on restoring the baronial status, so national affairs were often neglected. Therefore, a portion of state affairs was entrusted to Baron Streihait with full authority.”
That ignited Streihait’s ambition, and with the coincidental death of Prince Tyrus, it flared up.
The reason for the decline in the status of the barons is that in Amister, one conclusion has been reached. The baronial families, being the royal families of the six countries that preceded Valentia, could never have their baronial titles revoked or their territories confiscated, no matter what happened. Furthermore, Valentia, as its name as a united kingdom suggests, is governed by the consensus of the Beast King and five barons. I’ve heard that they once wielded power exceeding even that of dukes from the time of its founding. However, as their respective capitals were far from the central government in Centro, they gradually began to appoint proxies or their absences became noticeable, leading them to withdraw from national affairs. As a result, other nobles began to rise in place of the barons, and eventually, the system of consensus itself ceased to function. While other nobles worked diligently for reasons unknown, the barons maintained their titles without doing anything, and their territories were not reduced. Consequently, successive Beast Kings no longer relied on the barons, leading to their current status.
From my perspective, it’s the barons’ own fault, but they still governed their territories diligently, and some barons advocated for the system of consensus, so it’s not as if the Beast King’s side had no issues.
Therefore, the late previous-previous Beast King, Prim’s grandfather, proposed the restoration of the baronial status, and the previous king agreed, leading to a significant recovery of baronial status. Even the previous Baron of Ovest benefited from this and actively participated in the consensus.
Duke Ternal also actively cooperated, but Beast King Gumnos objected. The reason was the special nature of the baronial title. Even if it were good now, there’s no guarantee it wouldn’t happen again in a few generations, so he wanted to abolish the baronial title while he still could, leading to a direct clash with Duke Ternal.
“However, the current His Majesty Gumnos shows no signs of abolishing the baronial title. He argued so strongly for it, and what he immediately focused on after ascending the throne was the treatment of barons in place of the baronial title, so there should already be a certain form in his mind, yet there is no sign of its implementation.”
That’s what I don’t understand. By abolishing the baronial title, Valentia’s system of consensus would disappear, and it would become a single-ruler governance by the Beast King. Furthermore, the abolition of the baronial title would mean increased territories for nobles other than barons, and barons would also be subject to punishment, so there are many voices welcoming it. Duke Ternal and the previous kings considered that the barons were originally royal families who relinquished their thrones to establish Valentia, but even so, they seemed to be considering revisions to the baronial system, so even if Gumnos and Duke Ternal clashed head-on, they could have sought a compromise, and perhaps a compromise was already reached. Since Duke Ternal is now deceased, the truth remains shrouded in darkness.
“I can’t say anything about that. However, the enthronement of Beast King Gumnos, who advocates for the abolition of the baronial title, should be an unwelcome development for those three barons. Yet, why did they do nothing? No, they did act, but why did they allow His Majesty Gumnos to ascend the throne?”
“It’s because Leonas did not return to Valentia. Regardless of the reason, since the previous king passed away, a new Beast King would ascend the throne. However, Leonas did not return, and moreover, he did not even attend the funeral. Such a person being enthroned would be unacceptable, even if he were a prince with succession rights.”
So, Gumnos, who was next in line after Leonas, ascended, and Leonas’s succession rights were revoked. It’s a natural progression.
“That must have been a headache for the barons as well.”
“It seems so. However, if His Majesty Gumnos did not ascend, Prim, who is here, would have succeeded to the throne, so it should be considered that they avoided that.”
“I suppose so.”
That’s certainly true. Prim originally had succession rights to the Valentian throne and was ranked fourth, following Beast King Gumnos. If Gumnos had not become the Beast King, Prim would undoubtedly have become Queen. Furthermore, Prim believes that the land of Valentia should be returned to Amister, so if Prim had ascended, Valentia might have been annexed by Amister. In that case, there would be no barons, so it is likely that the barons found Gumnos easier to deal with. After all, even if the baronial titles were gone, other forms of treatment would certainly be granted, and their status and honor would not change significantly.
“However, now Leonas has become the figurehead of the Anti-Beast King Organization and is also allied with Solemnne. What about this?”
“To put it simply, Leonas has merely been put on a pedestal. He is merely justifying his actions by claiming His Majesty Gumnos assassinated the previous king and His Highness Tyrus. It is likely, though I can only surmise, that one of the three barons has made an agreement with Solemnne to succeed upon the demise of His Majesty Gumnos.”
The one with the highest probability is Baron Streihait, who is suspected of being the mastermind behind the assassination of the previous king.
“Since Ovest was attacked, the next target is likely to be Trial. After that, it will probably be Bacion, but if Reine is not actively communicating with Streihait or Gilfa, then it is still Streihait. This is troublesome.”
Of course, Reine, who seeks refuge in Amister, could use the annexation of Estait Baronial territory and the renunciation of baronial titles as conditions, and regardless of the outcome, it would serve as a check. In Gilfa’s case, it’s simpler; spreading even a rumor that he was directly targeted would cause him to self-destruct.
However, Streihait is truly troublesome. The Freiheit Baronial territory is far from the sea, so it is not exposed to the threat of Steam Battleships. It is also surrounded by the Hauara Great Forest, making timber procurement easy. Furthermore, Streihait is also the Prime Minister of Valentia, so he can easily obtain crucial state secrets. Therefore, it would be easy for him to direct the movements of the Anti-Beast King Organization, and if he fed information to Solemnne, attacking less guarded regions would not be difficult.
“This is a more dire situation than I anticipated. I never expected three baronial families to be connected to Solemnne.”
“Reine is a bit ambiguous, but if Solemnne were to attack Bacion, she would likely side with them.”
Streihait, Reine, and Gilfa are the three who are considered to have betrayed Valentia and sided with Solemnne. Streihait and Reine are both aiming for the Valentian throne through their own means. Gilfa is similar, but being the youngest and most hot-tempered, he is likely being used by the other two. It is only a guess, but if Ovest were to fall, the next target would have been Trial, ruled by Gilfa. Whether it’s Streihait or Reine, Gilfa’s existence is likely already an obstacle. Furthermore, if Trial were to fall, the next target would likely be the Bacion Theocracy. The capital of the Bacion Theocracy, Esperanza, faces the sea, and more importantly, it is the home of the Bacion faith’s headquarters and the Priests’ Guild headquarters. Should something happen, Valentia, Alegria, and perhaps even Libertà would not remain silent. If that were to happen, the Philia Continent would certainly be engulfed in war, and at worst, Inn magic could be sealed by Solemnne.
Inn magic is magic granted by the gods, but it can also be sealed. What makes this possible is the Divine Magic: Punishing. It is magic that strips Inn magic from those who have fallen into thievery or are criminals. However, I’ve heard it can normally only be used on individuals. But there is a rumor that only an O-rank Priest, that is, His Holiness the Pope, can use Punishing on a national scale. Whether Solemnne is aware of this rumor is unknown, but it is unlikely that Reine, the lord of Estait Baronial territory adjacent to Bacion, is unaware of it. Therefore, she must be aiming for the annexation of Bacion and the person of His Holiness the Pope.
“That possibility is high. However, I doubt His Holiness the Pope would leave Esperanza. I will send word, but we must prepare for the worst.”
Indeed. After all, there’s a possibility that a fleet is being organized to attack Trial and Bacion, so it’s too soon to be at ease just by defending Ovest. While Bacion must be defended, the forces of the Holy Order Guild alone may not be sufficient. Although the Bacion Theocracy is larger than regions like Feel or Prada Village at the foot of Mylight, it only has about 200 members in the Holy Order Guild. While they are undoubtedly aware of Flying and Scaffing and have likely undergone familiarization training, there are only about 30 High Holy Orders, so depending on the number of ships dispatched by Solemnne, it will be more than just tough. Amister also has a Bacion it must defend, but with orders dispatched to Torencia and the current situation of being wary of Retisencia and the Anti-Beast King Organization, it’s difficult to dispatch reinforcements. This is truly a predicament.
