Chapter 15.3 (1/2)
Chapter 15.3
With this father’s confession in response to Mio, the group felt like they could sense at least a part of the King’s difficult situation. No matter how much power one held, a single person could never keep control of every aspect in life. No great leader has ever ruled without a fair share of resistance and pushback. King Regnas, especially, (despite his reputation among neighboring nations) only had enough smarts to pluck out some seeds that could sow disarray over fighting for the throne.
Perhaps because of Farlane’s wealth and stability, it’s underlying issues tended to remain largely under the surface. Even the problems that become apparent are often more dangerous to approach than leaving them alone. The various political and policing bodies, especially, were locked tight with regulations. The previous king deserves the credit for making it much more difficult for corrupt nobles to abuse the common people.
While the opposition’s rhetoric was disturbing, their actions (for the large part) followed their expectations. As such, the royal family had found it difficult to charge any of the opposing nobles with a serious crime. The people would forsake the law if their leaders do, and the current system of law (engineered by the previous king) surpassed even royalty. As a blowback to the tyranny of the King before him, the hurdles set for amending these laws were sky-high, making amendments almost impossible without a unanimous vote.
This situation had festered resentment in the top 1% of the country. This was especially a problem when the loopholes in these laws allowed the people who lost money in the previous King’s reform to work with the like of Barold and get away with ridiculous false accusations, making the lives of royalty severely more tiresome. In order to take care of these shenanigans, they would have to start by amending some laws, but the only damage at the moment was that the integrity of both the royal family and the nobles were falling into the ground, in a forced-suicide sort of way. And the opposition, of course, played their roles perfectly around messengers and guests from other nations, which made it even more awkward for the royal family to ask for foreign aid in the matter.
In light of the chain of recent events, Aearis had been left with all of the rippling damage from Farlane’s governing structure.
「But thanks to you, we are approaching a breakthrough in the series of issues that have been consuming us. I can not thank you enough.」
「We just kind of stumbled into all this ruckus, we’re only lendin’ a hand ’cus we wanna. Besides, this ain’t close to bein’ over. We just barely dodged the biggest… arrow.」
「True. Speaking of, do you have the all-purpose potion prepared for what’s ahead?」
「Done. We got enchantments on our clothes, so all we gotta do is drink ‘em.」
Hiroshi said, as he produced some small bottles. Each member from the party drank the entire bottle at the same time. Cringing at the bland (because of the Solmizen) but medicinal taste (from the other ingredients) each member of the party finished their coffee-creamer-sized vial.
「Now, we gotta look at our big kahuna.」
「I expect Katrina to be insulting in some way…」
「Any insults that can be seen as such are the least of our problems.」
Tatsuya declared, against the King. Of course, this wasn’t reassuring in the slightest, but the King was nonetheless somewhat relieved that, even though he had instructed them to do so, that they could be so frank with him.
「Then, I should excuse myself. I will see you later at the banquet.」
「Alrighty.」
The king existed with solemnity, carrying out two vials of Hiroshi’s potion for each person. The second chapter of the opening act was about to begin.
***
Princess Katrina was simply… unhappy.
「Who do those buffoonish adventurers think they are!?」
She spat out with vigor, as she remembered what had happened at the banquet earlier. Dining with royalty was an honor beyond mere adventurers’ worth, she thought. Yet, they held their heads high, confident as ever.