A Famous Traitor and Treacherous Genius

19 – Gibraltar’s Invitation (3)

The existing political system of the Kingdom of Nostrum was a despotic monarchy centered on the king.

Until just 20 years ago, the king had omnipotent power to control everything in the kingdom.

However, the actions of the wise king, Saint Geo Nostrum, were the worst in many ways.

To put it mildly, the late king’s will said to a specific person, ‘If it seems that a saint is not enough, then he should lead this country.’

The ministers who valued royal authority rose up immediately.

Anyway, how can a subject become the king of Nostrum?

Although it is said that he inherited some of Nostrum’s blood, how could he hand over the throne when his legitimate son is still alive?

So the ministers crowned Saint Geonostrum as king.

He thought that no matter how incompetent the crown prince was, he would be fine as long as his subjects took good care of him.

-Seal? Do it yourself. I’m going out hunting.

It was about 3 weeks after he ascended the throne that his subjects realized that it was dangerous to continue like this.

– Let the ministers take care of it. Don’t bother bringing it to me. If you really want to work, you should consult with the people your father asked you to do before he passed away, right?

Although they were drunk, when the king sat on the throne gave an order, the ministers reorganized the administrative system around them.

Affairs within the royal palace were reorganized centered around Queen Carmen.

In matters related to the administration of the kingdom, the ‘Prime Minister’, who was entrusted with full authority over overall state affairs, placed all ministers under his command.

Then who is in charge of state affairs, and who can even mobilize military authority instead of the king if the circumstances arise?

Archduke Morgania.

He is the former king’s sworn brother and the teacher of the current king Saint Geo Nostrum, and at the same time, one of the kingdom’s masters.

He is also the father of Queen Carmen, and many people expressed concerns when the Archduke ascended to the throne as Prime Minister.

If this continues, won’t this country become Morgania instead of Nostrum?

They say that a country where maternal relatives gain power is basically a country in ruin.

Some self-proclaimed loyalists shouted.

Your Majesty. You shouldn’t do that.

Please protect the king’s health.

How can the Grand Duke and Queen wield their royal authority as they please?

They appealed to the king who was running on the hunting grounds with the intention of sacrificing their necks, but they only received one answer.

-Why? It’s so convenient and nice because I leave it to them.

In the end.

‘If we continue like this, the country will fail.’

With the implicit agreement, the ministers gathered under the archduke.

If everyone does not do their best in their respective positions, or if they leave their work to the king, the country will be shaken.

That’s how the ministers lasted 10 years.

Please, please, I hope you don’t have a headache today.

“An invitation came from Gibraltar.”

The ministers pulled out their hair.

* * *

Administrative office of the Nostrum capital.

In the past, it was the capital residence of the Grand Duchy of Morgania, but it became a government office where various ministers gathered to handle administrative affairs.

And in the center of this administrative office, there is a round table that can seat 13 people.

Until 10 years ago, this was a place where noble ladies had tea time.

Now it has become a political forum to discuss important issues of the nation, and 10 years have already passed.

Unless he was sick, this was always the place where 13 ministers, including the prime minister, would gather.

Currently.

Excluding the Prime Minister, the Grand Duke, there was only one person who participated.

“Minister of Foreign Affairs.”

“Yes, Your Excellency the Grand Duke.”

“Do you know what you and I have in common?”

The old man with gray hair and a long white beard took out an envelope.

“It means you didn’t get this. Everyone else got it.”

“…….”

“An invitation from Gibraltar. The last time we had a party was three years ago, right?”

“It was one year since my youngest son, Lettar, was born.”

The haggard-looking Minister of Foreign Affairs gently lifted the round glasses on his nose with his hand.

“After the Countess finished taking care of her body after giving birth, it must have been to show off her unchanging beauty even after giving birth.”

“And you and I have a very bad relationship with that countess.”

“Well… Isn’t it obvious? Morgania, we could have a sword master son-in-law in our family.”

The prime minister was the father of a princess at the time.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs was the princess’s cousin at the time.

“I really don’t like the Margrave who didn’t choose the Princess, but I still don’t like the Countess who took the Margrave away from her.”

“And the Margrave hates us so much. Because he insulted her when she was young.”

“You didn’t say anything wrong. Even back then, her head was like a flower garden.”

“That’s right. The Margrave still holds onto the resentment from that time.”

Although more than 10 years have already passed, there is a feeling of ill-will that does not easily subside even with time.

“But that kind of woman has just written this letter and sent it to the ministers.”

“Who sent it to you?”

“Minister of Oceans. Please read.”

The Minister of Foreign Affairs accepted the envelope with a frown on his face and opened the invitation inside.

“……You’ve changed a lot. Should I say you’ve grown?”

“That’s not the problem. Look there, from below.”

“…Daycare?”

“Yeah. That’s actually the point. In name only.”

The Archduke continued to run his hand through his beard, which reached down to his neck.

“Are you really inviting so many people because of the orphanage? That doesn’t make sense. But I can’t figure out any other purpose.”

“The spies planted in the count….”

“He’s dead. That’s why it’s a more sensitive situation…”

“Don’t worry.”

Kkiik.

The door to the round table conference room opened.

“I will handle this problem.”

The Grand Duke and the Minister of Foreign Affairs immediately stood up and showed respect to the black-haired woman, Queen Carmen, who opened the door.

“Queen. How did we get here?”

“Think of it as a daughter’s filial piety to prevent her father, who may be having complicated thoughts due to a lack of information, from growing more gray hair.”

Queen Carmen snatched the invitation from the Foreign Minister’s hand.

“It’s an orphanage. Ha. I can clearly see whose head it came from.”

“Do you think the Margrave did it?”

“Why is there a margrave?”

“…That’s right.”

The Archduke lowered his voice with a serious look on his face.

“When a noble family creates an orphanage, it is usually to gather talented boys and girls and train them to become knights.”

“…I guess that’s true too. Hmm, I guess they took that into consideration as well.”

“Queen. Do you guess something else?”

“I thought the goal was to receive donations in the name of building an orphanage and then enrich my pockets.”

“Gibraltar?”

“Yes. Gibraltar.”

“No, why? Why on earth are they?”

“Father.”

Just right.

Queen Carmen snapped her fingers, and the door to the conference room was immediately closed.

“Gibraltar has a different feeling.”

“…….”

“It’s not a joke.”

“Why?”

“Because your father’s son-in-law s*xually harassed the countess?”

“Hmm….”

The Grand Duke let out a deep sigh.

“The love of the Margrave is really difficult to understand from a common sense standpoint.”

“Yes, but thanks to you, things are better for me, so please accept the invitation.”

“I didn’t receive an invitation.”

“They couldn’t send an invitation over there. If you send it to me, you’re sending it to the royal family. If you’re sending it to your father? From Gibraltar to Morgania?”

Gibraltar showed the spirit of choosing people when sending invitations.

A subversive move to filter out the royal family and the Duke of Morgania.

Rather, it would be strange to send it.

“I understand that you couldn’t send it because you couldn’t, but it would be too much of a burden for us to attend the party when we didn’t receive an invitation.”

“There is a justification. The transportation unit just happened to be ready.”

“…Sending rebar as a gift for the celebration. That would be a great gift.”

Although he was an uninvited guest, he was there on official business, so how could he be met in Gibraltar?

“Yes. In that sense, why don’t you visit once?”

“Queen. The Prime Minister of Nostrum is a busy man whose administrative duties are paralyzed even if he leaves the capital for just a day.”

“Oh my. I feel embarrassed if you refuse so politely. Dad?”

“……No. Still not possible.”

“Tch. Then….”

Queen Carmen and the Grand Duke’s eyes automatically turned to the person standing in the middle.

“Brother Hex. Please come back. This is the king’s order.”

“This is the Prime Minister’s order. You must return.”

“…Wow.”

The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Hex, who was quietly listening, froze with his mouth wide open.

“Are you telling me to go to the Margrave’s house after seeing the person who slapped the Countess?”

“It’s the king’s name.”

“The queen and the grand duke discussing the king’s name. It’s treason.”

“So, you’re not going?”

“…….”

Minister of Foreign Affairs Hex bit his lower lip and his body trembled.

* * *

The County of Gibraltar is larger than you might think.

There is nothing between the canyon and the castle except the road, but there are many things from the castle to the royal road.

There are a lot of people living here, the roads are well-maintained, and there are quite large farmlands and pastures.

In other words.

They say that we can easily build at least one orphanage if we just decide on a location.

“Grey.”

My father, who was directly on the horse, opened the window of the carriage and called to me.

“This is the final candidate site.”

“Good.”

I got out of the carriage, stood with both feet on top of the carriage, and looked across the wasteland.

“I like it because it’s so desolate that there’s nothing around, and it’s not even a pasture.”

“Then tell me slowly. Why is it a daycare center?”

Currently, there is no one else.

My father brought me all the way here, even becoming a coachman himself, to ask me for the truth.

“Father, would you like to guess? The purpose I am aiming for.”

“It seems like the relationship between father and son has changed. Are you telling me to agree with you now?”

“Your father might tell you something I didn’t think of.”

“Okay. I’ll join you.”

My father stopped the carriage, grabbing the reins of his horse.

“When you set up an orphanage, from a political perspective, you can create an opportunity to meet other nobles in the name of visiting the orphanage in the future.”

“That’s right.”

Give other nobles an excuse to visit Gibraltar.

He said he would come check on the children at the orphanage and see if they were growing well, and after that, we could talk separately.

“Economically speaking, it will be a profitable business. We will receive more donations than the money spent on building a daycare center or feeding and clothing the children.”

“Yes. It’s okay to run a daycare center, but unless you’re feeding the kids steak and fresh fruit for every meal, it’s a waste of business. And….”

“And?”

“It’s not like I’m going into the human business, but if I raise the children at the orphanage well, I’ll sell them.”

It was a very explicit expression.

“Let me correct this. The orphanage will become a talent training center.”

“Isn’t it true that you are going to raise the children and sell them somewhere else?”

“If I were to speak a little profanely, yes. But father, wouldn’t what you say change depending on how you express it?”

Although some may criticize the fundamentals, it is no different from selling them out.

“I just send a talented child to a place where he can better demonstrate his talents. hahahaha.”

“If you receive a lot of money from the middleman, it’s no different from slave trading. You know that slaves are illegal in the kingdom, right?”

“Why not just accept money? If you receive money, it is human trafficking, but if you receive a gift as a thank you for introducing someone, it is not human trafficking.”

My father closed his eyes tightly, as if he was momentarily tired.

“If you had been born in the empire, you would have been a natural chancellor of the empire.”

“Thank you for the compliment. hahahaha.”

“It’s not a compliment.”

“You are saying that I am needed in traitor Gibraltar.”

“Okay. Huh. Let’s continue.”

My father lifted the sword at his waist in its sheath.

“Usually, when it comes to orphanages run by nobles, they have the aspect of a knight training center. I’m sure you have this in mind to some extent.”

“Yes. It’s common sense among the people of the kingdom.”

“But you are not the kind of person who will be satisfied with that. You are not trying to raise only knights. There are already enough knights to raise at Gibraltar Castle.”

My father aimed the tip of his sword at the ground.

“Are you planning on training soldiers? Private soldiers in the name of a nursery.”

“If you do something like that, you will be immediately accused of treason.”

“If you’re not a soldier, what’s the point of feeding and raising children for free?”

“Well, is it Lethar’s friend, or is it fun for a mother to raise another child?”

“Isn’t that just a secondary reason?”

Wow.

It looks like he doesn’t plan on turning a blind eye to me for tripping up my mother.

“I plan to do so many things. It hurts my mouth to explain them in words.”

“Keep trying.”

“A daycare center is a ‘facility.’ And there are so many things that can come before the word ‘facility.'”

Politics, diplomacy, science, religion, military, commerce, technology, culture, medicine, art, alchemy, magic.

The talented ‘Children of Gibraltar’ who have spread out in various fields will later join the rebellion and become our blades in their own fields.

“Father, I will make this orphanage a place like paradise.”

“Everyone wants to come here.”

“Yes. Let the rumor spread throughout the kingdom, and let the rumor spread through the wind, across the canyon, and all the way to the empire. Thus.”

“You are trying to steal the future of the empire.”

“Yes. It’s not just about empires. It’s the same with kingdoms.”

This is the base where I can immediately gain an advantage over the emperor.

“Let’s gather orphans from all over the continent. Who knows? Maybe children with the talent of a master will flow here. That’s ridiculous.”

This is sincere.

“If you catch just one future sword master, you will have a lot of business. hehehehe.”

If possible, go to Imperial Mountain.