Chapter 221: War for Korin, their Son-in-Law (3)
fSYob1gOne might think that taxes were the only source of income for the royal family, but that was a misconception.k8XftI9
KH4D4wIn fact, only a small amount of taxes were allocated to the royal family for them to maintain their standard of appearance, and it wasn’t their main source of income.dS4qua
D7w59CTheir main income came from the generations of private property and merchants.OT2
OFg7fUThe silk road to the east and the trade routes to the southern archipelago as well as trades with other continents thanks to monster carriers all in the name of the royal family was what supported them.OewZ
LcY8ZVApart from that, there were also the real estate investments and banking businesses, which were based on the absolute credit behind their title.4JXX
bAsJt55This past decade, even the New Faith was included in their business after the 1st Princess became the saintess of the order.bLraB1
pnhkeEzEverything was going smoothly, maybe except for some uneasy elements like the potential strife between the 1st Princess and the 2nd Princess’s faction for the throne. At the very least, however, it was highly unlikely that the royal family’s business would collapse in a single generation during King David’s reign.vl4QG
OmTThat was widely considered to be an unarguable analysis of the current economic situation by many scholars but—Hz2
xsu“Your Majesty! The fleets of the Magdalla Merchants are being stalled at the bay! The port is saying there are problems with the administration, and astronomical amounts of money are being spent each day to keep the products in condition!”euy
ucEzu“The suppliers of food into the capital city are being interrupted! It’s the Dunareff Merchants, Your Majesty! They have arbitrarily stopped the supply of food!”rAm8HLi
EZEfaNE“Merchant head Yohanne has betrayed us, Your Majesty! He suddenly filed for bankruptcy and has put all the products and items on auction!”jP0
7dDU“The Legislation Department has disagreed with the plan to build a new city! It is said to be suspended indefinitely!”wLL
Dftf“…”YLFGwQ
wGcpKing David frowned at the constant flood of bad news that was coming day by day.ul12404
gATxbIt was very explicit.yRdbzB6
YyUjBoth explicit and greatly hostile.lQXgJw
5FZwdThe economic backlash from the Dunareff was like a sudden onslaught of missiles out of the blue.ULJg
ENW“These accursed potato addicts…”cb7jRN
6NQIt was obvious what the reason behind their economic attack was – it was most certainly because of the royal marriage proposal to Korin Lork.IJT
zCxnDThe king wasn’t expecting this much counter-attack, for he had heard beforehand that Duke Marde wasn’t very positive about receiving Korin Lork as a son-in-law.k74
KOZReY“Your Majesty… Duke Marde has asked for an audience!”CW8c
2g7rilv“…Tell him to come in!”TTC4or
AYs5gkDaring to show his face after attacking first, huh?0lL
93RoKLet’s see what you’ve got to say!GY9HtQ
CoiThinking that, King David accepted the audience.qFvVyO
jsFwSbeSoon, a middle-aged man with water-colored hair walked in through the large gates of the audience chamber with wide and confident strides.3LrRDSI
p6BehkGlancing at the articulate design of the palace made by the greatest engineers of the capital, the duke clicked his tongue.iMo
byKRAD“Tch tch. Both the design and the format are too extravagant. You might need some repairs, Your Majesty. We can send some of our engineers from the south.”Drqn0L
q1btc6O“It’s fine. We don’t need the old-fashioned approach of the south, nor the old engineers that can’t follow the trend.”5k2gT
5ocxq“That is what we call, ‘classic’, Your Majesty.”Xpxj4W
4dHB3“We call that ‘old-fashioned’ here, Duke.”Gi1Mo
Cfi3Bz““…””qr9h
6aBvThe two men sitting at the loftiest positions within the continent looked at each other with empty smiles.NER
4ai1ta“More importantly,” the king said. “You must have used quite a bit of money for this ordeal. How much have you spent?”3Ui6J
bOXk“Around 500 million gold. Not even half the budget.”BGo
cBr“…”bbKJy4K
eyX4wKing David glared at the duke with an unprecedentedly ferocious gaze.yBXDa
wq5dThe royal family and the Dunareff were cooperators and partners.ypTR
TS4Lg7The Dunareff supported the pillars of the royal family, while the royal family refrained from interfering with the affairs of the south.anr
BFaIt was a secret deal they had forged even before the El Rath Kingdom rose to be the central power of the continent.NZBssIe
igrEc“You have attacked the royal family. Do you really want to escalate this?”AQtsl
YhU9“Your Majesty. You were the one who picked at a beehive.”MsEpx
UeLELN“What have I done!”Yfbf
hN0KF“I am sure you are aware of what you have done regarding Korin Lork.”T8z
813bGq“Weren’t you… against it though?”Wb6nYc
IL97w“I am still against it, but…!”V1gvY
JymztfDuke Marde stated while looking straight into the king’s eyes.z5KRmn4
b2Tp“It should have been after our Mari booted that guy out of the family. Never will Marie be the second in line.”25A
kHPg“Hah! So you mean my daughters should do whatever they please after your daughter is done with what she wants to do?”eAkyWEo
lf8Ybc8“If that is how you perceived it, Your Majesty.”YbPoCy
VmonGAm“Duke… You’re testing my patience.”DKFJ
btfakX0The two men… the two fathers glared at each other with an intense blaze in their eyes. Meanwhile, the officials on the side gulped in nervousness.qgmUZ
saANv‘Uhh so… this is all because His Majesty simply proposed a marriage, right?’0xGedZ
yxDoh6The 1,000 year long history of the El Rath Kingdom and their firm alliance was about to be broken because of one man.WI7Tf
aO6“My first daughter is the saintess! And my second daughter is the leader of a faction of nobles!”eWnY
ULeJmQd“Our Marie is a Unique Grade mage!”AQfxEjL
lQ4ojY“Probably thanks to lobbying the Association!”8qW
FGQBS“Still wouldn’t have been possible without her ability!”xNgKo8V
GNg7“Are you really picking a fight, Duke?”jrktN0
xo5kD“Will you even be an opponent?”Xac
7CLqYo5“You! How dare you!”8lPCH
wOM5jaf“Go ahead, Your Majesty! Kill me if you wish!”1jSBp
6KXd“You are clearly crossing the line right now!”H456
UOtThe two of them were becoming more and more immature with their choice of words. It was right when the official was starting to get tired.nTq
TcDE“How can you talk about Korin Lork without this old man?”tnW6
cRcjAn old man, who seemed to have suddenly appeared out of thin air, walked forward from a corner of the audience chamber. He was wearing tattered clothes and looked like someone who wouldn’t even be allowed to enter the palace, but both King David and Duke Marde were aware of the old man’s identity.x3F
w5sWIi“Sword Emperor…”rHYD
vfe“Garrand Arden.”Z7U
af2cP“Been a while. It may be a sudden visit from this old man, but I believe a cup of tea should still be served. Your Majesty. Duke.”E4I9
GOFf7fIt was an incredibly presumptuous attitude, but it was okay for the Sword Emperor to do it as the pinnacle of the generation.Ts8Ka
opQf03t“I heard you saying something about my grandson-in-law,” said the Sword Emperor.BhPC4B9
oVCl1v“And why would Knight Korin be your grandson-in-law?”5w1
xuzlIn response to the king’s question, the Sword Emperor replied like it was the most natural thing in the world.38esQ
6hS5“Because I’ve decided so.”8lW
t6AD“…”ki6
yM0The king of the El Rath Kingdom was not an empty title by any means. He was at the top of the strongest nation in the continent in a world with centralization of politics.5Np
6FpGNP2However, in this country, the Sword Emperor and the Dunareff were both untouchables in a different meaning of the word.X4x
3kYrpSword Emperor Garrand Arden.UqVnpQ
cnE3QwA superhuman and the strongest knight in history. He was a living legend and a mythology himself, whose influence was still absolute despite his retirement.OqPj
dagIzOne word from him and all the martial houses on the east would immediately pick up their swords.aRlQK
jpqrh6p“Duke. My kids are complaining that the dojo and their warhorse business isn’t returning any money. Do you know anything?”ZoY
sl4“No idea. I don’t keep track of small amounts of money.”mnCCl
UheD“That pathetic little kid. That’s what he gets for chasing money all the time. He doesn’t understand that having more to protect is just having more weaknesses.”aXdsb
hvnoThe Sword Emperor didn’t seem to care even though all the businesses run by his son were about to go bankrupt.Xmmj
59UpHowever, that was just who he was. He wasn’t interested in the fall and rise of his household; he had always been interested in nothing but the birth of a great warrior.sItEXJ
PhxVK“But I can’t sit still and do nothing after being hit first.”3SOG
zgLQ4“And what if you can’t sit still?”PJl
jeZqrQp“I have to take my revenge, do I not?”Z2F2
BGPThe officials in the room gulped in response.CrJg2cF
JQ5zArden Household.0Ol4
ly5The powerhouse of the east and the protector of the eastern battlefront.3xKB
aAfAlthough they lived in the harsh lands of the east, that constituted the strength of their military. All the byproducts they gained by hunting demons and fighting against the constant invasion of the barbarians meant they had the strongest militaries of the kingdom.MdJ
XHAZA military action from them would immediately cause a rift in the kingdom. Actually… had a rift been created already?eR4C
BzAACenter of the kingdom, El Rath royal family.8CY
D3vd6RWDunareff Dukedom with overwhelming wealth.Mg3RTMJ
ix4lqS5Arden Household with the greatest military of the kingdom.mTfGcdw
esPQVNThe three factions were about to collide which would send a massive earthquake of change down the kingdom.yr4F
BdY895But why? Why were they fighting each other?0XK
BmgEk‘I, is this really all because of a single guy?”mWcIi
g2BQKGThe official felt his soul escaping his body.VzC
XTJ****Lgh13
VHMLhJ[Dunareff. Standing against the royal merchant group! The kingdom’s economy at risk!]kvkj8
kYYrW5l[Arden Household stations a line of troops on the border to the royal capital and the south! The biggest feudal war in the history of the kingdom is about to begin!]q3xEwiQ
ZM4[The royal treasury hands out a confiscation warrant to the Dunareff! A tax investigation begins! 100 million gold laundered?]qeEVB
RFmYW, wut in the world…2bT
IFyqeJWhat? How did this all happen?Oi2okgT
RDFAfter becoming the president of an Association branch, I had to spend a lot of time at a hotel inside the capital city.WF68yi
Nubu1RgBut like… what was going on right now?QFc
Op1Like, why is the Dunareff restricting the economic flow of the royal family and the Arden?ReZ
3DUL0BkWhy is the Arden stationing their military towards the inside?7R07Dt
lf08lAnd why is the royal family suddenly starting a large-scale tax investigation?yabd7
82BReading the end of the newspaper, my lips began to tremble.fwxpk
2QXeh[All this to fight for Korin Lork to be their son-in-law! Korin Lork! Is he a hero, or a beast of doom?]s0tz
j5B“M, me? This is because of me? This? Why? What, what did I do?”NU01ws
htFYI had a gut feeling that something would go wrong when King David’s offer immediately landed on the newspaper.gZk
0VGweBut little did I know that Duke Marde would suddenly oppose the royal family and Arden, only to result in a three-way war between the royal family, Arden and the Dunareff!rh8
TlJsThe kingdom was about to be split up.SHLAvI
wyt“Come on! What the hell are they doing when we need to join forces?! Why the hell is this happening!?”Zbr4Ky
X8uFUzAI swear it’s not my fault! I didn’t do anything!qgzCwb
PYsWe had to prepare ourselves for the upcoming disaster, and we certainly couldn’t watch our kingdom split itself up. Having that happen because of me was even worse off!eoJ
Et4P“No, we can’t let this happen… Never! Not at all!”RY5TM
knJI had to do something about this.Gfj
K1Epef****sLr
hWsUAnd here, I was in the middle of the most awkward situation in the world.do95WHF
3eZbzPx“…”dBiE8P
ZyOYUL“…”KaiiB
2yRSat“…”QjYx
E0yG8hIn the depths of the royal palace, in front of me were the three most powerful men in this kingdom.pxGFd
Z9RCQKing David.T1xkS1O
kHeTzDuke Marde.4L2lKy
h5NE85ZSword Emperor Garrand.ibhB
pycXThe kingdom was in the middle of breaking apart, and I somehow begged everyone to gather up in the midst of it.0cvehaw
fCAIBecause I was the person in question, and because I was an official Unique Grade Knight and a president of the Association, I was able to somehow have everyone gather to one table.KQm
35H4x“Umm… fathers*?”Rpv
jsU“What’s with that distant title? Call me father-in-law.”3nWJl
7KJj“I am not your father.”Sr0J3A
mO1gP“You can call me grandfather.”RGXTI
jsqg9dI said one sentence and yet all three of them each said something very different. It was hard to treat any of them with even the slightest of disrespect, which made it even more difficult.P3eO3i
b3NZ“The reason I had all of your esteemed selves gather is simple…”bmkLh
JL9BXTIt was still so surreal that I couldn’t really speak properly. Like, really? Was this really happening just because of me?cHGQS
bFzv5“Regarding the recent matters surrounding the kingdom… Please calm yourselves down and…”QWxL
D3q4“Korin, my son-in-law.”BsdaGi
qwu6N“Ah, yes! Your Majesty.”gOgDzKp
61VeSL“We don’t need a long conversation about this. All you have to do is make your decision here.”me221fw
2QIH“…Me?”D0g
RTttXFThe king continued after a nod.TxuPo7L
vLNAU“As long as you make yourself clear, no-one here will be disgraceful enough to disrespect it.”tAc3r
Jzaxyif“But, Your Majesty…”XdpCm
r1RTu“It’s simple,” The king said. “Take my oldest daughter, Estelle Hadassa El Rath, and my second daughter, Miruam Elizabeth El Rath, as your wives and become the king and queens of this country to be above everyone else.”rJYtGAs
aKA“Who cares about the worldly titles and the throne? Warriors like us just need to crave to reach higher and higher above. Korin Lork. Take the chastities of my grand-daughters and leave a stronger bloodline behind.”wL2Zi
ArQ6i“Tch… Authority and power? You can buy all of that with money. Besides, with the Tower of Mages gone, we, the Dunareff, are at the center of magic engineering. Just listen to what Marie says and you’ll get a potato in your sleep.”c2LLV8Q
u7C9yThe three fathers all talked about the benefit of marrying their family.qiN
gNdCSucAuthority of the royal family,cfSYQ
7QQ9CPower of the Arden Household,Og3bC
ZwZWealth of the Dunareff Family.aLWzh8r
vj65mThe fruit would be extremely sweet no matter which one I picked. Even the real player wouldn’t be able to acquire any of those but…amoFsB
f3tfc“I won’t.”bAIT
V4AWhat was certain was that I wouldn’t marry anyone.UMWmWR
nFqSo“Hmm?”JLehl
xtr8srL“Why is that?”zx7
UluyQZ“…”MTfB
fFUAll three of them showed a different reaction in response to my curt reply.Ylnc
lUJfeV“Why? Even though you can marry two princesses and become the next king?”yhWF
pfE“You are an innate warrior. My grand-daughters will be great compliments for you. Together, you guys can reach higher realms and give birth to a stronger child, so why?”jkXaUH5
sUf“Although she’s my daughter, Marie is the perfect partner for a marriage. The wealth of the Dunareff far exceeds what you can imagine.”ScfVX
PF8dUYes.4nz
0e7TfLThey were all correct.32xdV
65qEstelle, Miruam, Alicia, Lunia and Marie… I wasn’t a fool who didn’t know how great of an opportunity it was to accept them as wives.2iYlhPV
v3oabNot only were they beautiful, they also had wealth, authority and power behind them.SbrU6x
8Gj8f“I’m not interested in money or authority. Same with power.”XFBbZS
jIY5“Hmph…!” The duke scoffed. “Don’t you dare lie in front of me. There is no-one in the world who isn’t interested in them.”8NS4gp
a6GKNU5“Because there is something even more valuable.”Xlss
7TQkW7“…Something more valuable?”jFMO
mCUC5SThey turned to me with curiosity.NerV3
2rM04“Saving the world.”tAktz
AOwPZyUAll three of them turned quiet after hearing that. They still didn’t know about the future ahead of us.Nni5
tiU“The world will be put in great predicament. A lot of people could die, and we might lose everything.65g
sSrW“I can’t build a house when a storm is coming the next day.x9bVpSp
gumUTRo“Marie, Alicia, Lunia, Miruam and Estelle. They’re all attractive and lovely individuals. But… worse comes to worst, I don’t want to hurt the people that will be left behind.”v5ewEXt
kBuIHFzWhat if I died?Yo5M
bkvQEOr what if I had to die alongside Tates Valtazar?N8P
GPKI might become hesitant. I might even stop unknowingly out of fear.quQHYqD
S9JdNo matter who I picked, there would be people left behind.jsdXeFb
EOnI couldn’t be irresponsible and get married to someone. It was a terrible experience, which I had experienced enough of, 3 years ago, before the regression.Yv3nWQ
Qhr1“Please, sirs. Now… isn’t the time. We can’t fight each other. We must join our forces and prepare ourselves.”hr4Xx
XdqNI“What is this thing that we have to prepare for…?”H8XZoZ
wQmy“Your Majesty, King David. There was something you had promised me – that you would listen to anything I wish for even apart from the Legal Immunity.”Chy
Tx01y3q“…Yes. I did.”PrE
OIyGj“Please fulfill your words as the head of the country. Please cancel the marriage and stop the strife.”P1XiUD
Tyw3RWithout waiting for his reply, I turned to the duke.yiaSxe
Q5YT“Your Highness, Duke Dunareff. The Dunareff has a non-repayable debt to me. Your successor, the life of your beloved daughter was indebted to me.”4z7N
9pc“…I admit it. You are a benefactor of the Dunareff.”SG8jbZS
ijve“Please repay that debt right now, by canceling every action of economic attack done to the royal family and the Arden Household, and return everything to normal.”Pu4T
U3wZMW“…”uAO
ZAoI“And Sword Emperor, Garrand Arden.”8qce8bI
R5E“I have nothing indebted to you though?” he said.YU3a44
QQhVha“You seek a fight against the strong, right? A life or death battle against people that could threaten your life.”uYaGPME
wag0LZe“You seem to be the only one in this generation though.”5UkJ
5w56“There are greater monsters out there. Just stay holed up in the east starting from today. You’ll see something worth the wait.”6uMUOd
2Y1fuDL“Hmm…”JUR
K4LusNcThis was everything I could do to persuade them.UN1Su
V6GMxKAll I could hope for now, was that they would make a rational judgment out of the situation.v0H9es
T7kCIf only they had been rational the whole time, we wouldn’t have had a problem like this showing up because of my marriage!8KuZvN
op9cnJ“Please, I beg of you, everyone. Let’s talk about this after we’re done saving the world.”toIfco7
boYAfterwards, I began to reveal everything that would happen henceforth.AWnz
EG5WQqZAll the things that would happen to us; what we had to prepare for, and what my requests were. I used the achievements I had built thus far to persuade the powerhouses of the kingdom.8uwPCK
f3BXPOThe persuasion and conference lasted for the next several days.Zv0ez
ApdA****5jOm
kJdOLpI“Hua…”rd5r
p8rM2Due to an unexpected turn of events, I had to persuade the top powerhouses of the kingdom and have a deep conversation about the upcoming threats and future plans.gbz
QiDAfter spending a few days having meals, drinking and smoking in the conference room.VDq
onW“It worked out somehow…”yRb6eaT
mbXThe Dunareff canceled their economic attacks; the Arden Household retreated their military and the royal family canceled the tax investigation.Ym2Jy
13QI was somehow able to stitch it all back up. But of course, this was still just a temporary measure and it was hard to tell how long these would last…PX1D
mFbIn any case, after somehow fixing everything for the time being, I was on the way back to my hotel room.kg49e7n
JxFA“Is it the 25th already…”Wxar
n33Din3December 25th.KJZrmd
h1zd9It was pretty much my last day off, but I had to spend it doing some weird stuff.AQhKEcV
snjYVnXHua Ran and Marie were due to return tomorrow, and Lunia and Alicia should be done with their preparations as well.iCPnM7g
QP82A8Starting soon will be the final phase. The Frost Giant and the Old Faith will strike back, marking the start of the final war.ub7
XaHynJcUntil then, my goal was to observe the situation while training harder.u45Y
Zo5tnc4– Click!ohm3Jt
hHn“Let’s just sleep for today…”r4iu485
ppjZI at least deserved a good night’s sleep for today. The mental and physical fatigue the whole thing built up was incredible—sxY
Cgz—————KcTQNX
NwIzxJ“Uht…?!”55iKx
DGRH1A sweet scent and a deep fog surrounded me the moment I walked into the hotel room. It was an excessive and evident amount of enchanting incense.2QObTT
A2n“You’re here.”bJK
h3IUSuddenly, a lady grabbed my hand and pulled me closer. As soon as I saw who it was, I let my body be dragged away until I was flat on the bed.5PzQ01
mo5eWAfter placing herself on my body, she gazed down at me with her captivating red eyes.kQzfuL
zQiGa“Been a while, Knight Korin.”bcOcroz
AVS5“It certainly has, Your Highness…”qiOvwr
g6eu82nd Princess Miruam. Her crimson eyes looked straight into mine.v3Oa
85yA7c“I thought… you knew drugs don’t work on me.”FDmkwP
fJeGcJ“I know. But… I needed a little bit of drugs and atmosphere. Do you know what day it is today?”VoT4
7JHt“…”AJl
doVtOf course I did.OTPai
IX0jK2In the last iteration, after the fall of the Academy and after cleansing Nazrea, I was soothing the hole in my heart when… she approached me.fwP4Ktd
zv3[Knight Korin. You look lonely. Let me… comfort you.]8mT
Z5W0December 25th.t3lGK
SRd6x3 years ago.hQ9CU
q79Last iteration.gr4
OuObqIt was the day she assaulted me.FoWws
RtDsThe day she conceived our baby.pUBuT
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HaydenZeMan
VIP Qi RefinementThis whole scenario is so outlandish it had me lmao the entire time