NOVEL NEXT Chapter 218: King Edric meets with Earl Rosewood
On Alexius’s birthday, Ayden came over to the Imperial Palace in the morning to have breakfast with him (and the rest of the close family). Ayden also gave him a fire-and-lightning sword. So cool!
While Rian’s birthday was a lot of boring sitting around, Alexius organised games. There were flying competitions, and table-top duelling, and even board games. Alexius had a great day full of fun and no study.
A few days later was the grand final of the duelling tournament.
At this point, the tournament had been running for several months, with duels during the weekend.
Ayden and Rian didn’t compete in the weekly tournaments—they were the “final bosses” (Ayden’s words).
Alexius and his team once again won the final duel in their power bracket. As such he once again duelled Ayden and Rian—but this time, without Prince Pollux and Baron Baltasar Cordovan.
Unfortunately, Alexius and his team lost against Rian and Ayden again.
Alexius: QAQ
Alexius used the strategies that he collected, combining them in smart and unexpected ways. But Rian was just so fast at reacting (it felt as though he could predict what they would do next!) and Ayden was just so powerful!
Could anyone defeat Rian and Ayden???? Not even King Augustus could defeat them!
“There are people who could defeat them,” Tierri told Alexius.
Alexius perked up. “Who?”
“His Majesty and Her Majesty together…maybe with Duke Storm,” Tierri said. “But they wouldn’t duel.”
Alexius had just been about to run over to his Imperial Parents and ask if they would please please please duel Ayden and Rian and show Rian that he wasn’t unbeatable. “Are you sure?”
“I’m sure you can’t convince them.” Tierri patted Alexius on the shoulder, while Alexius slumped once more.
“The more Rian wins, the more insufferable he becomes,” Alexius grumbled.
“What did you say about me winning?” Rian’s voice came from behind them. He placed a heavy hand on Alexius’s other shoulder.
“Without Ayden, you would be no better than me,” Alexius huffed, shaking his brother’s hand off.
Ayden walked over. “Don’t tease your little brother.”
“Yeah, don’t tease me,” Alexius stuck out his tongue at Rian.
Ayden continued, “Alexius, that was a good duel. You’re making amazing improvement every year, keep up the good work.”
Alexius beamed. “Okay.” He inserted himself next to Ayden, separating Rian. “Ayden, let’s go back to the Palace together.”
“Alright,” Ayden said.
Alexius happily ignored (and basked in) Rian’s look of disgruntlement.
Rumours had the habit of suiting their spreader’s agenda and views.
An innocent joking sentence of, “Who could defeat Ayden and Rian”, could turn into “No one could defeat Ayden and Rian,” to “Ayden and Rian think they can defeat any mage.”
Nobles who didn’t like Earl Rosewood and Prince Rian had their feathers ruffled, and as they talked among each other, they became even more ruffled. A few went to King Edric to complain that Earl Rosewood and Prince Rian were being overly arrogant, claiming that Earl Rosewood and Prince Rian had said that even His Majesty couldn’t defeat them!
And while those nobles were there having an audience with King Edric, they complained about other things too, like how Earl Rosewood was maliciously enticing people to leave their fief. They pleaded His Majesty to deal with Earl Rosewood.
King Edric’s ears were becoming callused from hearing all the nobles complain Earl Rosewood and Prince Rian. There was a limited amount that he could deflect until he wanted to confront Earl Rosewood himself.
Ren Xiyang received an official summons from King Edric.
Rian accompanied him to King Edric’s office, giving him a concerned look. Are you sure you don’t want me to come with you?
I’ll be fine, Ren Xiyang thought back. Don’t worry, I won’t let him say anything mean about you.
The Royal Guards at the door glanced at them, and one knocked on the door. “Your Majesty, Crown Prince Rian and Earl Rosewood are here.”
“Allow Earl Rosewood in alone,” came King Edric’s order.
Ren Xiyang patted Rian and entered the office.
King Edric’s office was quite larger than Queen Mira’s office. He had an impressive desk and numerous bookshelves and displays.
Ren Xiyang bowed. “Greetings, Your Majesty.”
“Take a seat.”
Ren Xiyang took a seat.
King Edric finalised some papers and moved them aside. “Earl Rosewood, do you know why I’ve called you here today?”
“No, Your Majesty.”
“I’ve received various reports about your actions.” King Edric’s gaze was sharp.
“Yes, Your Majesty?”
King Edric pulled out a file. “Reports against you include disruption to society, inciting uprising among the commoners, swindling commoners, anti-competitive trading, human trafficking, suppression of other nobles, implied treason, stealing of magic-technological intellectual property…”
King Edric listed off several crimes, and then looked at him. “How do you defend yourself?”
“If these are serious allegations, please send them in writing to my lawyers and we’ll respond promptly,” Ren Xiyang said.
“Consider this an opportunity to address these issues before a formal investigation is laid against you and your name is stained in the history books.”
“In that case, I assume that many complaints are due to the increased movement of people from other fiefs into the Rosewood fief. For their safety, and to regulate it better, the Rosewood Group set up a transporting business for people. All those who buy tickets do so on their own free will, and once arriving at the Rosewood fief, my team and I ensure that they are appropriately housed and given jobs.”
The Rosewood fief had increasing trade with many other fiefs, which meant that a lot of Rosewood traders travelling between fiefs. Some enterprising people from other fiefs asked those traders whether they could travel with them back to the Rosewood fief. The Rosewood traders agreed.
Over the months, this led to more and more people asking if they could come along; some families and groups simply followed without asking at all.
These travellers were typically either merchants or in business, capturing this opportunity to sell more of their wares, or they were poor farmers working on a noble’s land and wanted better for their family. Farmers who had their own land, and townspeople with their own houses and livelihoods usually didn’t want to leave their homes.
Looking after extra travellers wasn’t in the purview of the Rosewood traders.
Seeing that this was happening, Ren Xiyang asked the Rosewood Group to formalise the matter of human travel, setting up a specific branch to oversee it. This branch produced maps to sell and formed fleets of carriages and carts with guards, cooks, and other staff. They had tickets at various price points, accompanying travellers between the Rosewood fief and other fiefs.
This made it easier for people to travel to the Rosewood fief and back, which helped spread the news about what it was really like in the Rosewood fief and how hard (or not so hard) the journey was.
The easier it was to travel, the more people travelled, accelerating the population growth in the Rosewood fief, while causing depopulation in other fiefs. The rise in population wouldn’t really be considered prolific in modern times, but for the current times, it was a lot. Sometimes, Ren Xiyang had to help magically construct new housing and amenities. Finding jobs for everyone was both difficult and rewarding (and was a major cause in making the Rosewood fief the 3rd highest tax paying fief).
“In fact, I want to thank Your Majesty from fixing the kingdom’s roads,” Ren Xiyang said. “It has made it easier for the common people to travel on the renovated official roads and helped facilitate trade.”
King Edric stiffened.
“My Rosewood Group helped make travel safer. There’s nothing wrong with that, unless you want to argue that only the rich and powerful should travel,” Ren Xiyang said coolly. “And we can’t blame people for wanting to move somewhere else to have a better life. Those who complain should reflect upon themselves. With power comes responsibility, and if they can’t handle the responsibility, they shouldn’t have the power. A good leader leads their people to prosperity, a bad leader drains their people for their own selfish benefits.”
Unconsciously, Ren Xiyang’s tone became harsh, as he remembered all the bad leaders from his previous life.
“It’s a waste of the kingdom’s resource to make wealthy wastes wealthier. There are many more uses of gold. If a noble can’t appreciate the farmers putting food on their table, those nobles can starve until they learn to grow their own crops.”
King Edric inwardly bristled. This was exactly why and how Earl Rosewood had insulted so many nobles, including King Edric himself.
“Are you implying treason, Earl Rosewood?” he said coldly.
“As a ruler, you’re far from King Augustus. Sedaveria is peaceful. When we discovered the issues with the Coral, Dravite and Lavender fiefs, Queen Mira acted without overly favouring the nobles and helped protect the commoners. Not to mention, Prince Rian is my fiancé. So, no, I don’t plan to commit treason,” Earl Rosewood said.
King Edric: “…” Did you have to be so honest?!
“I’m not in charge of the nobles of other fiefs, so it’s not my responsibility to consider their feelings,” Earl Rosewood continued. “However, I know that Prince Rian worries. So, if these other nobles are concerned about the depopulation in their fief, Prince Rian and I can conduct workshops to teach these nobles about agriculture, healthcare, industry, innovation and responsibility.”
King Edric: “…”
“There are many things I still want to do before I retire and—”
King Edric snorted. “You’re not even 18 and you want to retire?”
“I never expected to become the Earl of the Rosewood fief,” Earl Rosewood said. “I would like to eventually retire from my role as the earl of the Rosewood fief.”
“Oh, so you want to make one of the commoners the Earl instead?” King Edric said sarcastically.
Earl Rosewood inclined his head. “That’s a good idea, Your Majesty. I could set up a regular election to appoint the next Earl.”
King Edric: “…” Speaking with Earl Rosewood was as frustrating and infuriating as he expected.
But thinking about all those nobles who accused Earl Rosewood of having a hidden agenda—what hidden agenda? If you asked Earl Rosewood, he’d tell you everything honestly! The only ‘hidden’ matter was his relationship with Rian, and that won’t remain hidden for long.
“But returning to the matter of transporting, there is something bigger that I have planned,” Earl Rosewood said. “In the future, I envision having vehicles that go regularly between the Capital and Redmond in one hour, and between the Capital and the border in less than a day. However, building the infrastructure would require the cooperation of many fiefs and Imperial regulation.”
An hour? A day?! King Edric keenly understood the benefits of fast travel. But also, secretly, King Edric liked the floating carriages and how fast they could go. Yet now Earl Rosewood had something in mind that could go even faster?
“And how do you plan to do that?”
“I want to develop ‘maglev trains’—magic levitation trains.” Earl Rosewood pulled out a notebook, took out some papers from that notebook, and unfolded them, revealing various drawings and diagrams. “Their technology would be adapted from the floating carriages, but there would be many strung together, longer, and big enough that you can walk around inside with ease. With fixed tracks, we will achieve much faster speeds while using less energy than the equivalent floating carriages. There can also be special trains for transporting goods, which would be helpful where there are no water routes.”
The designs were sleek, evoking speed. There were annotations and floor plan sketches, showing possible seating and window arrangements. There was also a map, with preliminary routes, spreading out like a spider’s web from the Capital, and largely running parallel to the current official roads.
From these drawings and diagrams, King Edric could envision a future where not only messages, but people and goods could be transferred in a day or less across the span of the kingdom. Nobles from faraway fiefs would have no excuse to avoid going to the Capital for engagements. Precious materials from the mines around the kingdom could be easily transported to the Capital for processing and use. His agents could travel between fiefs and the Capital, delivering news and items. These trains could also be commandeered for logistics and army support, should a war break out…
“I’m thinking that they would be like this,” Earl Rosewood added. He held out his hands. Ice condensed in the air above his hands, forming a three-dimensional miniature model of the ‘train’, with multiple carriages. He offered it to King Edric.
King Edric took it, a tingle of excitement in his chest.
Ren Xiyang: Oh, some nobles are complaining about me?
Nobles: …Why do I suddenly feel cold…
Rian: Wait a minute…!
King Edric is a person who loves trains—one of the first train lovers in this world! (I don’t blame him)
Well, Nitsuga wanted some immigration politics! And Mndless reminded me of freight trains 😆 et voilà~
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