598 596 Inside the Reids Kingdom (2/2)

Let the conductor elaborate, the current situation in the Reids kingdom is rather chaotic. Firstly, the king has died in an accident, and he is absent.

And among the orphans of the former king who died, he said, it has not been decided who to king. The man is dead with the king, and the formal succession is absent.

Several factions are pushing their own well-established candidates, and they're in a muddy state. Even the oldest children are 13 years old and the fact that they do not have enough candidates to be called the most powerful also seems to applaud the prolongation of the problem.

Supporting that confusing kingdom of Reids is the Four Grand Dukes, with second place and territory to the King.

Long ago, the Reids kingdom was only one of a small group of disturbed nations in the north. But it was at one time that the reigning king, who was overwhelmingly superior to his military talents, took over the throne and, by his king, annexed the peripheral nations to build the present kingdom.

At that time it was the four generals who were the belly of the king. The four regiments, led by General East, General West, General South and General North, invaded the peripheral states with the impetus of the bamboo, and the Reids kingdom expanded rapidly.

And after the end of the war, each general was entrusted to the Duke, marrying the royal family of the leading nation of the annexed lands.

However, they have some sequence in each Duke's house. The most powerful are said to be the House of the Duke of the North, followed by the West. They say the east and south feel almost identical.

The difference is due to past performance. The North Expedition General has masterfully manipulated fewer gestures and achieved total domination of the northern part of the targeted continent of Gilbard. That said, the current Duke of the North Conquest is gathering respect from the people and nobles.

General Nishizoku also has the West almost in his hands, although he failed to obtain the Divine Sword Diabolos of the Kingdom of Philears. They are the most economically lubricated by further trafficking in slaves, etc., and the Xizheng Duke family also boasts an unbeatable prestige over the Beizheng Duke family.

Conversely, the Dukes of the East and South are weakening. Although it won't go as far as falling, it will only have less than half the power compared to the north and west.

That also affects past wars. To the east was Wiener Lane, and to the south the Kingdom of Kranzel stood, stopping the advance of both Dukes' houses. Because of this, the two houses had slightly narrower territory, and their voice was lower than that of the north and west.

It seems that the two houses, which did not let the status quo go, continued to fight even after being sealed by the Duke. And they kept losing, and they fell into a vicious circle where swollen war costs oppressed the economy.

They've stopped fighting from the front here lately. Instead, they've been working on various conspiracies under the water.

In this case, the Duke of Higashi-kun is in Taiyuan.

”But I don't know what you're familiar with on the lower end like me! I just heard Mr. Gregory whine about that!

What the conductor's man knew was that the Messer Chamber of Commerce was a hiding place in the Reids Kingdom and that its top was the Duke of the East Zone. That and only meant that the alchemist, who has now been seconded by the Duke, has given instructions.

”Who is that alchemist?

”Wow, I don't know...... But now he's in and out of the Scarlet Water Pharmaceutical Workshop...”

When we get some information out of it, we just punch the conductor and stun him, then tie his hands and feet and roll.

”What do we do after this?

”What are you gonna do?

”Catch the executives. Wolsi's watching, so it'll be over in a minute.”

”Well, can I leave you to it? I'll go back to the guild and head straight to the workshop.”

”Okay.”

Sure, it's unlikely they'll get away with splitting up. Robren seems to be heading straight to the Adventurer Guild when he holds up the conductor.

If the Reids kingdom were to be behind it, I guess that means it's not an individual issue.

”We're Gregory's captivity.”

”Mmm!”