Interlude 14
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Nodis Alfred von Arcana.
That is the full name of the man—the King of Arcana.
A king is the largest cog in a country’s machinery, the face of the nation. To put it more bluntly, he is the function of ‘King of Arcana’, nothing more and nothing less.
Therefore, those who address him simply as 『Nodis,』 treating him as an individual, are limited to family and close acquaintances. And one of those few close associates is none other than Chancellor Madison, the hero who supports the Arcana Kingdom.
Although no one openly speaks of it, the loyal retainers centered around the King of Arcana—the upper echelons of the country—are now on the verge of splitting into two factions.
Of course, this is happening behind the scenes, and for now, it hasn’t led to the country’s collapse or division. However, there’s no denying that distrust and dissatisfaction towards the King of Arcana are gradually, but surely, growing.
The factions that are whispered about among the nobility and said to exist quietly yet certainly are the king’s faction and the faction of the Chancellor, who is supposed to be the king’s loyal retainer and friend.
However, for now, the Chancellor is still serving to support the king, so many nobles are choosing to wait and see. But if the current situation continues, some high-ranking nobles are beginning to privately worry that the worst-case scenario for the country might occur.
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Once, when drunk, the Chancellor let slip an assessment of King Arcana’s qualities as a [King] in front of his family.
According to him, Nodis’s qualities as a [King] were neither particularly good nor bad.
However, adding his own slightly biased view, he estimated that Nodis might rank in the upper-middle range among the historical kings of the country.
But after saying this, the Chancellor snorted as if to hide his embarrassment and added briefly:
「An ordinary king—that’s not necessarily a bad thing. In fact, it’s highly suitable for the country’s current situation.」
It’s difficult to fully grasp his true feelings from these words. But, well, to put it simply, it can be explained as follows:
Many of those called wise kings were skilled at innovation, creating or adopting new systems or tools never seen or heard of before, and successfully implementing numerous initiatives.
In other words, fearless kings with foresight were called wise kings.
Many of the foolish kings, on the other hand, were those who acted as if they could be wise kings despite lacking the necessary abilities.
It’s clear as day what would happen if a person with poor judgment and no forethought were to introduce new systems or tools.
Every time a foolish king embarked on a new endeavor, the people suffered, the country’s history was destroyed, and the land became unusable—these were actual events from the past.
The current King of Arcana, who is neither of the aforementioned types, is a king who doesn’t act energetically until problems arise.
To begin with, the country is relatively wealthy, and the people are living comfortably.
The current King of Arcana believes that it’s better for the country if he doesn’t meddle unnecessarily, and that if problems do arise, they can be solved as they come. In Chancellor Madison’s view, this thinking is absolutely correct.
In fact, he thinks that for running a peaceful country, someone like King Nodis, who remains steady in calm waters, might be more suitable than a wise king who stirs up storms—in other words, Madison, despite being a overly strict man, somewhat appreciates Nodis as a king before being his friend.
However, there is one thing about the king that makes the Chancellor tilt his head in confusion.
He is too soft on his daughter—Princess Puffy.
Yes, the current King of Arcana dotes on her excessively.
His love for her is so intense that if Princess Puffy were to ask for a national treasure-class jewel on a whim, he wouldn’t hesitate to procure it for his daughter’s sake.
Fortunately, Princess Puffy possesses not only beauty but also the discretion to refrain from making such unreasonable requests since childhood. Now that she has grown up, she has become an intelligent young woman with indiscriminate kindness. Therefore, she never makes outrageous demands, and her father’s tendency to do anything for his daughter’s sake hasn’t been put to the test.
That’s why Chancellor Madison has refrained from criticizing the king’s doting on his daughter, limiting himself to mere exasperation.
And yet—
This recent incident came as a bolt from the blue for him. He never dreamed that the country would start to unravel from such a direction.
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To begin with, Chancellor Madison was against summoning heroes from another world.
He believed that the people of this world should handle their own problems.
So he sought supporters for his stance.
Chancellor Madison reached out to influential military nobles and the Minister of Military Affairs, who had significant influence over guilds and major clans. And lo and behold, there were quite a few who opposed the otherworld summoning and believed that the ‘Newly Constructed Most Challenging Dungeon’ should be conquered with their own power alone.
Although the ‘Newly Constructed Most Challenging Dungeon’ was deemed unconquerable, Chancellor Madison held meetings with these military nobles, working towards a joint effort to tackle the issue. He had just begun to feel relieved that they might finally have a foothold for success.
This is what happened during that time.
The Chancellor’s relief was short-lived.
Taking advantage of his absence from the royal capital while he was away finalizing discussions, the pro-summoning faction forcibly carried out the summoning ritual.
All their efforts had come to naught.
And this marked the beginning of Yamada Ichiro’s long ordeal.
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Although they were mere boys, their potential was unparalleled.
Therefore, Chancellor Madison felt it necessary to personally monitor the two boys to determine their nature and character.
Of course, such surveillance work isn’t typically something a person of his stature would do. Naturally, he could have delegated it to his subordinates.
However, he considered it his responsibility to monitor—no, to assess and watch over them. After all, he had failed to prevent their summoning to this world and their involvement in this turmoil, a world where not even animals had yet been summoned.
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One boy was to be under Chancellor Madison’s charge, while the other was to be looked after by a certain ducal family that had been working alongside the royal family to support the kingdom.
The boy the Chancellor chose to assess personally was a very spirited youth. Even at the summoning site, he had pleaded to return home for his family’s sake.
The Chancellor didn’t think of him as a fool who couldn’t read the room. He sensed patience, courage, and quick-wittedness in the boy.
And he wasn’t wrong.
Soon after, the boy’s training began.
The training was so brutal that the maids who peeked into the training hall out of curiosity screamed in horror.
Constantly beaten and pummeled, the boy quickly turned into a bruised and battered mess. Seeing this, several female healers timidly approached the boy who had collapsed. After being healed by them, the boy, despite the pain he must have been in, stood up, shouting to encourage himself.
The Chancellor almost covered his eyes.
He lowered his hand, stopping himself out of a sense of responsibility to witness the boy’s ordeal.
The knights overseeing the training were breathing heavily.
The female healers had to set up a rotation to manage their mana recovery.
His training lasted up to fifteen hours a day.
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The Chancellor still remembers those days.
He witnessed the boy’s hellish training day after day. After about a week, he realized his own arrogance in thinking he could assess the boy, and felt ashamed of himself.
The boy never complained and always got back up, no matter how many times he was knocked down.
Watching him made the Chancellor’s eyes well up with tears.
He saw in the boy what he himself had lost.
He felt ashamed of his own ignorance and negligence.
That day, he secretly decided to send some gifts to the boy—Ryūgūin.
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