"I see His Highness the King, the Light of Jantar."
When Alseid finally arrived at the palace, the King, who had been talking to his ministers, stood up without hesitation.
"Grand Duke, I thought you were losing your throat while waiting."
Alseid bowed his head respectfully, straightened his posture, and smiled.
"You look healthy. Your Highness."
"I don't want to be treated like an adult just because of one or two years. No, Sword Masters are slow to age, so I grow old alone?"
Even though they were always standing apart, they greeted each other like friends for a while.
Soon, Clement appeared.
"Your Excellency, the Grand Duke of Halias."
His arm was holding a thick ledger.
"It's been a while."
Alseid greeted him, and Clement stretched out one arm and asked for a seat.
"Would you like to sit down?"
Then, the other ministers and nobles all walked out of the throne room as if they had made a promise.
After the King sat at the table. Alseid sat next to him.
King Medad offered him tea.
"Grand Duke, a friend is a real friend in times of difficulty."
Alseid could tell what he was trying to say just by looking at his face, but Clement, who was sitting across from him, opened the ledger with a serious expression.
'Are you going to burn Meridy in the back and ask for aid in the future?'
It was a surprise to Alseid, but Clement wrinkled his reddish mustache and flipped through the ledger until he pointed to one of the pages.
"The matter is serious and urgent, and I want to show the seriousness of it transparently."
In the ledger, the budget required for the reconstruction of Meridy was recorded by item, and the corresponding donations were also recorded in the order of the initials of the names.
Among them, the one that recorded the most overwhelming amount was the Temple of Verbti.
"As you can see, I am keenly aware of the responsibility of the work in the Temple of Verbti. Therefore, we gave half of the profit of the temple last year, but it is still not enough to demolish and rebuild the burned castle."
Alseid spat out.
"Recently, the northern wall has been breached, and I don't know if the friendly southern neighbors even know about it."
The King interrupted in a panic.
"Grand Duke, what did you say now?"
"Your Majesty."
Alseid turned to the King.
"As I just said, the defensive wall of the north wall was broken recently, and we sent reconnaissance. We need to increase support for the north wall in the future."
"Oh my good..."
"In addition, since the issue of pirates infested by the Sea of Wind cannot be resolved, why don't you take the issue of diplomatic affairs with Jonanas seriously once again?"
When he deliberately brought up a sensitive topic, Clement gritted his teeth and interrupted.
"Is Halias so strong that he recommends diplomatic relations with the barbarian nation of Jonanas?"
Alseid laughed leisurely.
"Not yet, but you want me to take care of the North Wall, the Channel, and now Meridy, so it seems that the warehouse in Halias will soon be empty."
The King nodded in the gap between the two men.
Alseid squirmed like a threat.
"Your Majesty, I believe that there must be a good interest in Halias remaining a kingdom territory."
"Your Excellency!"
"The treasurer, don't get excited, just listen. You are faster than I, so you should know better. It will cost a little while to rebuild Meridy, but in the fall, we will reap several times the harvest of Jantar here in the fertile southern land."
"...If you want to attract manpower to rebuild the castle, the yield will inevitably decrease. The faithful but foolish people believe that Meridy is cursed and are migrating to de Haan across the Jonas River. de Haan says that they welcome migrants by lowering the tax rate at this time."
"...Good, then."
Alseid spoke up with conscientiousness.
"Half of the construction manpower."
"...Half of the workforce?"
Alseid, who had been uncooperative, readily suggested, and the treasurer asked in confusion.
"The mines of Thebes are about to go into hiatus, so I will send the miners there."
It was enough to know what the royal family was doing in Meridy.
Sending a few soldiers among the miners would be a piece of cake. And it was more profitable for Alseid than for money.
He thought the King would protest, but he was unexpectedly silent.
However, if Halias declared that it would become an independent country, it wouId be a great loss for the kingdom.
He doesn't want to see Halias, who doesn't pay taxes, bragging about the only diamond mine on the continent, but it's better than having him as an enemy.
Alseid had to rebuild Meridy for Liana's sake, and he was willing to take some loss.
"But we can't let the King use Halias as if he had caught a water fist."
It seemed that they had finally calculated the labor costs and other factors.
The treasurer shook up the papers.
"Perhaps... If you want anything in return, please tell me..."
Alseid laughed.
"There are two."
***
Alseid made two requests to the King in front of the treasurer.
One way to see the latest list of Sword Masters, and the other was to turn a blind eye to the fact that he had adopted his daughter.
"You told me to avoid adopting an aristocratic family! What good is a daughter to a Grand Duke who has three sons?"
King Medad lamented, but the Grand Duke did not ask for permission to adopt Liana.
"I think the adoption tax will be enough for the construction workers to be taken out of the mine, Your Majesty."
The kingdom did not welcome the growing number of nobles who would share land within its limited territory, and accordingly, strictly prohibited adoption.
However, when he did, he inherited a huge adoption tax, but of course, it wasn't a burden on Alseid.
But at this point, it is very difficult to pay taxes to the kingdom.
The king laughed.
"You look old, too. Suddenly, a daughter... Yesiel was pretty when he was younger."
Ah, Yesiel...
The King had a daughter with that name. It's been a long time since he couldn't see her because she was weak.
Alseid laughed.
"You will be surprised to see my daughter, Your Majesty."
Liana is prettier than Princess Yesiel, who was suffering from a chronic illness.
When she touches the flame with her short fingers, how lovely is her focused expression.
While Alseid was lost in thought for a moment, the King summoned the minister of state.
"Grand Duke Halias has requested access to the Sword Master Directory, so please do as you please."
Before Alseid left with the minister of state, the treasurer cleared it up.
"Can I put the discussion in writing and make an agreement?"
"I didn't call you to do that."
"Please do not forget that the royal family has put a lot of effort into encompassing the temples and maintaining friendship with Tudmur."
It would be too much if they collected all kinds of taxes from numerous castles and estates south of Halias and did not even do that much.
Alseid signed the document offered by the treasurer, but did not give up.
"If you have a chance, please resolve the issue with the neutral nation of Jonanas. They can't come to Tots Bay, how long will they not know?"
The King sighed and made a pact on behalf of the treasurer.
"Yes, I don't care. I have never forgotten the friendship of Halias."
It would be better to leave Liana like this until she grows.
If she regains Meridy, she will have to settle for a small piece of land inland again.
So Alseid bowed his head slightly.
"I'm honored to hear that."
***
Alseid accompanied the Secretary of State to the royal library to view the most recent list of Sword Masters.
Padiere de Haan's name at the bottom was frowned upon.
"After my son Theodore was promoted, there was another one."
"Yes, sir. I heard that he was the second son of the Marquis de Haan."
"...Did the Marquis have a second son?"
"...ues."
Minister of State Puglisi was more favorable to Halias than to Clement. Even though it's because hr personally has some debt.
He looked around for a moment, then lowered his voice.
"I don't think he's a legitimate successor..."
"He is not a legitimate successor."
"Actually, it was not even on the list of nobles."
"What?"
"However, after losing his firstborn son, he was so pensive that he had no choice but to put the second son of the Sword Master on the list. He brought him to His Majesty the King, and it looked very much like him."
"Have you seen him, minister?"
Puglisi nodded.
"That... It looked like it had been pulled out. de Haan's jet-black hair, bronzed skin, and piercing eyes."
Caliph had said that the man who came into the castle wearing a mask in Halias also had black hair.
Instead, he asked with a serious face.
"Are you looking for a new Sword Master?"
"Oh..."
As a minister, it was worth guessing.
Sword masters are that valuable.
If he were going to reach out to a royal master in Halias, you had to know it, even if you couldn't stop it.
Alseid shrugged nonchalantly.
"I told His Majesty, but the situation on the north wall is not good. But for now, I'm just thinking about it. If you don't mind, can I transcribe the list?"
"I'll have a scribe write a copy for you."
de Haan had an illegitimate child.
The de Haan family was so obsessed with lineage that they intermarried until a few generations ago.
It was surprising that the Marquis de Haan gave birth to an illegitimate child, but it was even more surprising that he personally greeted the King.
At that moment, Puglisi interrupted Alseid's contemplation with a casual remark.
"That... The principal repayment date of our castle is approaching..."
Alseid, seeing his expression, nodded.
"Don't worry about it. Should the person who does the work be overwhelmed?"
"Thank you, sir. I will definitely pay it back after the fall."
Alseid slowly pulled his lips.
"Well, you can do whatever you like."
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