The Prince Wants to Retire

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Crown Prince Wants to Retire

45. The Ignit Federation Shaking the West Continent (2)

Kariel’s plan was promptly communicated to the Southern Kingdoms.

After making a public announcement so that the High Nobles and the King couldn’t squirm out of it, they formally submitted the proposal.

Both kingdoms were taken aback.

‘Now of all times?’

Initially, they reacted this way, but upon grasping the hidden intentions, they grimaced.

“State the issues that would arise if we accept this.”

At the King’s words, Marquis Chester sighed and replied,

“……The wealthy class will increase dramatically. The problem is, most of them will be commoners.”

Hearing the remarks from Chester, the Minister of Finance and the subject of the discussion, King Roteon sighed.

“Our power will diminish then. Should we decline?”

“It won’t be easy to refuse without knowing the Empire’s exact intentions. They may be using this as a pretext to declare war immediately.”

“Still, we cannot allow our strength to erode.”

“That is true, but….”

As Chester trailed off, King Roteon sighed and asked,

“If we accept, the Revolutionary Forces will surge. Can we stop them?”

“It will be difficult to contain them if the Revolutionary Forces establish their base in the neutral zone,” replied the Head of Intelligence, Marquis Delonde, lowering his head. King Roteon tightly shut his eyes.

Even now, they were barely controlling information, and if they lost control over the Revolutionary Forces, from that moment the noble system would quickly collapse.

“Despite that, we are somewhat better off. Talos….”

As Marquis Delonde trailed off, everyone sighed.

If things continued as they were, they would be absorbed into the Empire. With time passing, they were in a situation to become a vassal state, so they made some preparations.

Even if doom was imminent, shouldn’t they put up a last struggle?

To that end, Roteon maximized the withholding of information and pushed forward with war preparations.

Talos was also doing its utmost to gather funds to create extensive underground facilities and develop war weapons.

However, it seemed the Empire did not intend to give them even that time.

“The Empire must be struggling too… Are they truly willing to pursue war with us?”

At King Roteon’s words, everyone fell silent, their expressions heavy.

The Empire, too, surely needed time. Hence, both sides were preparing for the final war with the luxury of some time.

However, with the Empire suddenly striking, they were taken aback.

“What will you do?”

At Duke Pires’s question, the King remained silent for a while before opening his mouth.

“Secretly mobilize the troops.”

“Yes.”

“Your Highness! Are we immediately going to war?”

In stark contrast to Duke Pires’s prompt response, Marquis Chester spoke as if saying it was absolutely not an option.

Engaging in war right now was dangerous.

At the very least, they needed to completely eliminate the pirates and criminal organizations to stabilize their rear before entering into war.

“I’m not saying we should do it immediately.”

At the King’s words, everyone wore puzzled expressions.

“When the nobles are willing to actively cooperate. That will be the timing for us to go to war.”

“You’re planning to seize this opportunity,” observed Marquis Chester, nodding as if he had grasped the intent.

Even for Roteon, they couldn’t keep the Revolutionary Forces restrained indefinitely. Thus, they needed to incite them to stir up chaos and rally the strength of the nobles.

This moment might be the last opportunity for Roteon to oppose the Empire.

“Marquis Delonde, inform Talos and the Holy Nation of this news.”

“Understood.”

After Duke Pires and Marquis Delonde left, the remaining Marquis Chester quietly asked,

“When do you think the war will take place?”

“When the Revolutionary Forces rise up. That will be the right time to rally the nobles’ strength.”

“Then we need to set things in motion beforehand.”

They had to impress upon the nobles that if they fell into the Empire’s hands, they would have no future.

At least if the nobles could unite, they could withstand the Empire’s assault, albeit a little.

In the worst-case scenario, Roteon was preparing for a final resistance by uniting the nobles.

And the same went for Talos.

“What a mess.”

King Talos wore a wry smile, looking utterly drained.

Talos’s future was already over.

Even if they were to endure the Empire’s relentless assault, the future of the weakened Talos was dim.

Talos had long become the playground of foreign nations. The future of such a state would be no different than a small nation, stripped of its interests and merely watching.

Thus, the time to make choices was drawing near.

“I thought I would have a bit more time….”

King Talos chuckled bitterly.

His choice was to fight honorably and face destruction, yet now, the faces of the citizens continued to weigh heavily on his heart.

“Your Highness, a secret letter has arrived from Roteon.”

Upon reading the letter handed to him by the attendant, King Talos couldn’t help but smirk.

Roteon’s letter had erased his last dilemma and dictated one choice.

“The timing is the uprising of the Revolutionary Forces?”

Muttering that, King Talos secretly gathered his key ministers.

Having hesitated until the very end, if he resolved to go to war, he could no longer afford to delay it.

“Duke.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

“It seems we must draw our swords.”

“……I shall prepare.”

Nodding as he watched Duke Cletta quietly bow and exit, King Talos then turned his gaze to Marquis Altan.

“Marquis.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

“Root out the rats slinking into my kingdom.”

“Shall I eliminate them all?”

At Marquis Altan’s question, King Talos shook his head.

“Give them a chance. We must recover the wealth they gained by selling out the nation.”

“Understood.”

They planned to retrieve the assets of those who had gathered wealth by selling information about Talos in exchange for their lives.

With the amassed funds, they would have to prepare for a final stand.

*

Under the decree of King Talos, Marquis Altan sought the rats hiding within the nation in secret, while Duke Cletta personally moved to eliminate the identified traitors.

Just as they were busily on the move, a messenger from the Empire arrived.

“We shall accept.”

“Thank you for Talos’s decision. I will promptly relay this joyous news to His Majesty, wishing for long-lasting peace among the three kingdoms.”

The Foreign Minister expressed gratitude to King Talos for the decisive resolution and took his leave.

Shortly thereafter, a proclamation was made that Talos had accepted the Emperor’s proposal, and a free trade city was established in the area where the borders of the former small nation, now the Empire’s territory, Tria, Talos, and Roteon overlapped.

A grand city established where the borders of the three nations converged.

“A new free trade city of the Empire, Graham! A symbol of peace among the three kingdoms!”

Graham, the newly established free trade city of the West Continent, was announced in grand fashion.

Many people wondered, “Has peace truly arrived at last?”

However, merchants crossing between the nations sensed that this peace would not last long. They were already aware that the Southern Kingdoms were secretly purchasing significant amounts of iron and magic stones.

Above all, knowing the nobles were amassing vast funds only heightened their awareness that the Southern Kingdoms were sharpening their blades beneath the veneer of peace.

There was no way the Empire wouldn’t be aware of what merchants knew.

Both the Empire and the Southern Kingdoms looked toward the future with the same expectation. They were focusing intently on Graham.

More precisely, they were observing the Revolutionary Forces gathering there and the multitude of people drawn in by the prospect of making profits.

“Let’s raise the scale of the Revolutionary Forces to the maximum. The moment they rise up, that will signify the start of the war….”

Markus, appointed as the governor of Tria, sighed upon reading the Emperor’s secret letter.

He lamented the use of the Revolutionary Forces, established under the banner of freedom and equality, as a means to further war, but there was no other option.

Having already resolved to be the Emperor’s loyal subject, he had to follow through resolutely.

“From now on, let’s appoint bureaucrats centered on the Revolutionary Forces in Tria’s major cities.”

As Markus issued orders while observing the important bureaucrats in Tria, everyone looked taken aback.

“The nobles will surely oppose this.”

“This matter has been permitted by His Majesty.”

“Pardon? His Majesty?”

Everyone looked bewildered, but Markus shook his head firmly as if to signal them not to ask further.

As a result, all of them bowed their heads in understanding and withdrew.

What would happen if the multitude of people flocking to Graham, as well as the numerous merchants and bureaucrats hiring them, and the major cities of Tria trading with Graham, were all seized by the Revolutionary Forces?

People from foreign lands flocking to Graham would inevitably be influenced by the Revolutionary Forces.

“War…”

Although Markus knew full well that war would arise due to the Revolutionary Forces, he nonetheless didn’t slow down and accelerated their expansion. The reason stemmed from a degree of insight into the Emperor’s intentions.

He didn’t know the details, but he sensed that Kariel wished to unite the West Continent in a short period.

Knowing the reason lay with the East Continent, he had no choice but to follow along, accepting that sacrifices were necessary.

“All for His Majesty’s will…”

Markus tightly gripped the necklace he retrieved from the Temple of Fire, thinking of the Emperor while hurrying about on his duties.

*

With the newly established city of Tria and the free trade city Graham, vibrancy began to return to the southern part of the Empire after a long time.

In contrast, the situation in the northern part of the West Continent was dire.

Unlike the Southern Kingdoms, who created a semblance of peaceful conditions, the situation between the Holy Nation and the Empire remained tense.

Moreover, incidents finally erupted within the Holy Nation.

“Your Highness.”

“Not yet.”

The Pope firmly shook his head at the words of the Sun Blade calling for him.

“You focus on crossing the wall.”

“……Understood.”

A certain force, whether that of Roman or a Dark Mage, had been amassing power within the Holy Nation.

The Revolutionary Forces had long since infiltrated the interior, but what set this group apart was that many bishops were involved, unlike the predominantly laypersons among the Revolutionary Forces.

There were even intelligence reports indicating that several Cardinals had joined them.

Even knowing this, the Pope refrained from taking any action, as he was unaware of where the roots were.

“We must not reveal our knowledge until they fully show their faces.”

As the Pope cautioned, Cardinals loyal to him and the leaders of the Holy Knight Order bowed their heads.

Perhaps the last war was approaching, and before that, all internal enemies needed to reveal themselves to clean up the rotten interior.

Thus, the Pope bore various humiliations while waiting for the opportune moment.

While the three kingdoms were patiently preparing for their final hour, the Empire was developing rapidly.

*

“How is the development pace of Graham?”

“Faster than Salem.”

In response to Kariel’s inquiry, the Minister of Finance reported on Graham’s development status.

As Kariel received the report and gazed at the Minister of Finance, he questioned,

“When do you think we can execute our plan?”

“Late, in about 20 months; if fortunate, things might come to a head in less than a year.”

“That’s sufficient for a preparation period.”

Kariel smiled with satisfaction at the Minister of Finance’s explanation. It was more than a year earlier than initially anticipated.

As the Empire gained time to prepare and streamlined its unification efforts on the West Continent, Kariel finally smiled, as if a weight had been lifted off his shoulders.

Seeing Kariel’s smile, the Minister of Finance returned it with a grin.

“Let’s just keep going this way.”

“Yes.”

With the Emperor’s praise, the Minister of Finance beamed.

Truly, after a long time, a compliment had been received, and he boasted to his fellow ministers while drinking that day.

This naturally led the Minister of Internal Affairs and the Minister of Military to feel a tinge of envy.

Though the two were recognized as the architects of this plan, having helped ensure Graham’s trade city was operational, they had yet to receive accolades.

“Are you jealous?”

“No reason to be… What age am I now?”

The Minister of Internal Affairs snorted at the Minister of Foreign Affairs’ words.

However, his eyes were now filled with a sense of grievance toward the Emperor. The same went for the Minister of Military.

Such grievances turned into leverage from their subordinates’ prattling and ended up motivating the bureaucrats to move even busier.

Unintentionally, Kariel’s approach triggered a competitive spirit within various departments, prompting them to start putting in overtime.

As central bureaucrats rushed about, regional officials began to pick up the pace as well, leading to a quicker acceleration of the Empire’s development.

Through this virtuous cycle, the development of Salem and Graham—key to the Empire’s reform—moved at an even swifter cadence, thus hastening the establishment of distribution networks across the Empire.

At long last, the awaited time had come for both the Empire and the three kingdoms.

“Your Majesty! The Revolutionary Forces have begun to gather at Graham!”

At Talion’s report, Kariel leapt to his feet.

It has been a year since Graham was established.

The awaited uprising of the Revolutionary Forces had now begun.