Sword Master of a Fa Chapter 89 : Conclusion and Beginning (2)

Chapter 89: Conclusion and Beginning (2)

The Kingdom’s citizens living in the Kingdom of Daon gathered one by one and looked at the poster attached to the wall.

“Looks like the Ragnar Family has taken control of the Royal Palace.”

“Does that have anything to do with us? No matter who becos the royal house, our lives won’t change anyway.”

The man who had read the poster spoke quietly, his face tinged with self-mockery.

For them, a change in dynasty ant nothing.

Of course, it was true that the situation of the Kingdom of Daon had worsened greatly after Clover beca king.

In effect, it had beco impossible for commoners to seek social advancent.

He had raised the academy’s admission standards and revised the laws so that only nobles could attend.

On top of that, to beco a knight, a letter of recomndation from nobles was mandatory.

No matter how skilled one was, one could not beco a knight. This was also the reason the Kingdom of Daon lacked talent.

“Let’s head back. We have to start our day’s work.”

The Kingdom’s citizens had already been tad by the forr royal family.

They had long since given up on dreams of social advancent, and they no longer trained in swordsmanship or made efforts to beco knights.

Soone wearing a hood watched them closely as they checked the posters throughout the capital yet paid them no heed.

The man standing behind him shook his head.

“It seems the will of the Kingdom’s citizens has been greatly crushed.”

“They blocked every path to success. They must have realized that the dream of social advancent is impossible.”

The capital’s morning, which should have been noisy, seed utterly listless.

At that sight, Kyle removed his hood.

Even if he revealed his face, it would be difficult for the Kingdom’s citizens to infer Kyle’s identity.

“We should execute the Banshee imprisoned in the underground dungeon of the lord’s castle.”

“My lord.”

“We’ve already extracted all the information we can from them. Originally, I intended to use them to lure out the Followers of Darkness, but if there’s a better way to make use of this, then the plan should be revised.”

It was ti to overturn the long-maintained direction and atmosphere.

Only by instilling hope of social advancent in talented individuals could the kingdom rise again.

The mont Ragnar beca the ruling dynasty, they had to execute the Banshee and lead a shift in the overall mood.

As if he understood the intent, Seros nodded and delivered other news.

“The Family Head will be arriving shortly.”

“He’s coming sooner than expected. Even after finishing off the Daon Family, are there still many issues to deal with?”

“It seems so. Will you be returning directly to the North, my lord?”

“That’s highly likely.”

Whether to move after waiting for the capital to stabilize, or to trust Pramo and move imdiately, had yet to be decided.

However, he had no intention of prolonging his stay in the Royal Palace.

As Kyle turned his body to head back to the Royal Palace, he suddenly stopped.

“Seros.”

“Yes, my lord.”

“Do you rember when I told you to look into why the Light Family was accused of treason?”

“Of course.”

At the sa ti, he had also ordered him to find out the current situation of their forr comrades.

Following Kyle’s instructions, Seros had been staying at Chaplin Castle and was investigating the whereabouts of their comrades through other channels.

“When we return to Ragnar, I’ll receive your report. Prepare everything.”

“Understood.”

Until now, it had been a matter he couldn’t focus on due to stabilizing Ragnar.

Now that the Daon Family had been dealt with, it was ti to take care of the postponed matters.

It wasn’t yet clear how much the Followers of Darkness had recovered, but an estimate could be made.

‘Judging by the fact that they sent Jay, they don’t seem to have much leeway in terms of combat strength. Well, that’s only natural, since I and the Special Operations Unit cut off all of their core forces.’

Kyle walked at a leisurely pace, taking in the atmosphere of the capital.

When he slowly reached the entrance of the Royal Palace, a soldier belonging to the Northern Army bowed his head.

“Grand General, the Head of the Ragnar Family has arrived at the Royal Palace.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes!”

“There’s no need to maintain overly strict security. Just keep watch to see if anyone approaches.”

“No. I was taught by Lord Harte that I must do my best in my assigned position.”

“You were a soldier under Lord Harte.”

“I served at Casio Castle for three years. I am currently a centurion.”

Back when Harte had been the lord of Casio Castle, he determined promotions solely based on ability.

Even if soone was a knight, if they lacked capability, he did not hesitate to promote soldiers instead.

“I hope you continue to keep that mindset. The world has changed, and now those with ability will be given more opportunities.”

“I will do my utmost!”

After a brief exchange with the soldier guarding the gate, Kyle entered the Royal Palace.

As he walked toward what had originally been the Grand Hall, soldiers of the Northern Army stationed throughout the palace bowed their heads to him.

Passing them by, he stopped in front of the Grand Hall.

Akun, standing proudly in armor at the entrance of the Grand Hall, noticed him and bowed crisply.

“The Family Head is waiting.”

“Maintain even stricter security around the Grand Hall.”

“Yes, Grand General.”

Kyle walked past Akun and headed toward the Grand Hall, glancing at Seros standing beside him.

“Even if I told you to leave my side, you wouldn’t, would you.”

“Are you saying the obvious? If I were going to leave your side, I wouldn’t have followed you all the way here in the first place. And not just —those other guys would be the sa.”

“I suppose.”

“We will never leave your side, to the very end.”

Had he remained in the Tyless Empire, Seros would have lived extravagantly for the rest of his life so long as Emperor Adrian did not fall from power.

The other Special Operations Unit mbers had been brought along because of Grand Duke Lyka, but Seros was different.

His family possessed authority that even Grand Duke Lyka could not recklessly touch.

Yet even so, he had thrown away the chance to live comfortably and followed Kyle all the way here to remain by his side.

However, becoming the Lord of Chaplin Castle and remaining in the capital as a noble of the Kingdom of Daon were worlds apart.

When Kyle showed signs of asking him to remain by Pramo’s side, Seros had cut him off in advance.

At that sight, Kyle let out a small chuckle.

“I never intended to tell you to stay in the capital in the first place.”

“Please do not worry too much. The Family Head will handle things well.”

Without responding to Seros’s words, Kyle walked down the corridor leading to the Grand Hall.

The tightly closed doors of the Grand Hall swung wide open.

Pramo, who had just arrived in the capital from the Rak Lord’s Castle, and the Lords of the North filled the Grand Hall to capacity.

Tap— tap—

In the space where only Kyle’s footsteps echoed, the throne placed atop the red-carpeted stairs sat empty.

“Thank you all for coming this far.”

Kyle stopped at the foot of the stairs, turned his body, and bowed his head.

Expressing gratitude to the Lords who had co all the way from the distant North ca first.

Nearly half of the key nobles of the Kingdom of Daon had died.

Filling those vacant positions was important, but deciding the owner of the empty throne was the most pressing matter.

The Lords of the North had long been ostracized to the point that, aside from noble investiture ceremonies, they were rarely allowed to enter the Royal Palace.

Though the mont felt new, the expressions on the Lords’ faces did not look good.

They had not expected Kyle to end the civil war so quickly.

They had anticipated it would drag on for quite so ti, and among the Lords, opinions on the civil war had been split.

“I know there was insufficient ti to prepare, but the nation’s situation is not good. We will get straight to the point. Aron, begin.”

As Kyle stepped aside, Aron, who had been waiting, walked forward and stood before the Lords.

“I am Aron, military officer of the Ragnar Family.”

Those affiliated with the Ragnar Family knew how outstanding Aron was, but the Lords of the North and the nobles of the kingdom did not.

Perhaps because of that, one of the Northern Lords raised his hand in response to Aron’s greeting.

“You seem to be soone I’ve never seen before. What position do you hold within Ragnar?”

“As I said, I am rely a military officer.”

“I question whether you have the capability to preside over such an important gathering.”

Aron gave a faint smile at the Lord’s words.

He had not expected opposition to co so quickly.

‘The Northern Lords must be trying to secure positions that benefit them as much as possible. They can’t oppose the Ragnar Family ascending to the throne, but they’re probably scheming to fill the remaining positions with their own people.’

The civil war had been won under the Ragnar Family’s leadership.

All the Northern Lords had done was provide troops.

Of course, so Lords had directly participated in the civil war, but most had simply observed its course from their own territories.

“You questioned my capability—did you say that because you’re confident you can bear the consequences?”

“Are you trying to play word gas with

right now? As a Lord of the North, raising such doubts is only natural.”

“Is that so? How laughable. Isn’t it shaless to think you have the right to speak when all you did was provide troops?”

“……Have you finished speaking?!”

“No, I haven’t finished yet. Do you not understand that the reason my lord summoned the Northern Lords was to give them an opportunity, not to invite objections?”

Despite Aron’s forceful stance, Kyle rely remained silent and watched.

Instead, Pramo, who had been observing the situation, stepped forward.

“If you find the military officer’s involvent displeasing, you may return to the North.”

“……Family Head.”

“This is a gathering to plan the reconstruction of a broken national system, not a place for empty rhetoric. If you are here already intent on opposition, you will only be an obstacle.”

When Pramo issued his warning to the Lord, Ail, standing beside him, tightly gripped the spear in his hand.

“From now on, anyone who speaks nonsense will be cut down. If you cannot even grasp the current situation, your capability is obvious without even looking.”

“Grand General! Does this make any sense? Are you saying the Northern Lords did nothing? Did we not provide troops?!”

Even under Ail’s nacing pressure, so of the Northern Lords showed displeased expressions.

Duke Zaira, who had been quietly watching them, shook his head.

They still seed unafraid of Kyle.

‘It seems there won’t be many who survive here and settle in the capital.’

All they had to do was remain silent and agree, yet they went so far as to invoke Kyle himself—throwing away with their own hands the chance to enter the political sphere.

“You didn’t provide troops out of pure goodwill, did you?”

“…….”

“If that’s the case, I can open a route that allows Monsters to move into your territory.”

“What are you saying…….”

“Did you think I wouldn’t know that you supported troops out of fear that the Ragnar Family would let Monsters flow inland if you didn’t?”

“Grand General! Are you prepared to bear the consequences of those words? If the Kingdom’s citizens find out that the family deliberately let Monsters flow inland, they will view Ragnar negatively!”

The Northern Lords knew that Ragnar had deliberately created passages through which Monster hordes could flow into the Interior Lands.

And if they won the civil war, they even entertained the simplistic idea of using that as leverage for threats.

“Are you threatening

now?”

“You are the one making threats, Grand General!”

Kyle smiled at the sight of the Lord changing even his tone to apply pressure.

He had no intention of hiding anything anyway.

“What’s the problem? It’s true that the Ragnar Family led it, but it’s also clear that the Northern Lords were involved in bringing that plan to fruition. And I never intended to hide this matter from the start.”

“What are you saying…….”

“Did you think I was foolish enough to hide my own weakness?”

Kyle looked at the Lord who had raised the issue, then began to walk.

Creeeak—!

As he exerted strength, the doors of the Grand Hall swung wide open.

“The doors of the Grand Hall are always open. Leave.”