Chapter 26 ─ Principality

A new day arrived.

We all went down for breakfast.

The sun high in the sky showed what a beautiful day it would be.

The only one who wasn't acting this cheerful was Rei.

He kept looking blank as he spooned his soup in circles.

The opposite was the case in front of him.

There were Eli and Rose chatting.

"Oh~, this thing what is it?"

"It's a golden spoon. Unlike the wooden or copper spoons used by commoners or meal settlements, the royal family uses silver cutlery for elegance."

"But gold cutlery is better because it doesn't rust easily. For that reason, no matter when you wash it, it doesn't rust."

Eli's eyes sparkled with intensity because of those words.

"I never thought gold was good for more than just ornaments, it's so gratifying to know that! I'll tell my mother when I get home."

That wasn't all they were talking about, other girl stuff they were asking about too.

Then Eli shouted.

"It's true!"

"Rose, is there a church in the territory?"

"Of course there is, but I don't know the situation between us and the cardinal since the church of the god of light is run by selected representatives."

Eli clasped her hands together as if she were praying.

"That is good. You see, I would like to baptize you."

Yesterday at dinner, the girls talked about different things, among them that Rose was not baptized in human terms, only elven.

"Prince, would you like to come with us?"

Eli asked cheerfully, but the depressed Rei refused.

"No. You girls go on your own."

"... Are you sure?"

"Yes."

"... Understood."

The girls looked sad after hearing that.

◇◇◇

After breakfast, the girls in the company of Oriana as an escort.

They went into town to the territory church.

Due to the beliefs of the god of light, or also called the spirit of light, the people of Brune must be baptized in order to receive its blessing.

In the game this was just an excuse to get a nun as a member of the harem.

Which unfortunately was a vital ally in the game, but after having avoided the pandemic a few years ago, they prevented her from losing her parents and ending up in the church orphanage.

The girls walked through the streets of the territory.

Eli was surprised to see the differences between the duchy and the capital.

Starting with the ground which is not solid stone, but cement.

The houses are not brick but cement.

The tall buildings instead of looking like 16th century buildings, are 20th century buildings due to Kurono who enjoyed those buildings their design instead of the current ones that were just windows all around.

Even the clothes of the people were improved to that of others.

Eli's outfit instead of being a long dress was a sleeveless blouse and a short skirt, Rose was wearing a thigh-length dress.

Rose was wearing shorts and a sweatshirt.

Despite being an odd outfit, they quickly got used to it.

Arriving at the church, Rose knocked on the door, a priest opened it.

"Yes? What can I do for you?"

"Good morning, we would like to speak to the priest in charge."

"I'm afraid we don't have a priest here, but a cardinal. He is busy, do you have an appointment?"

"We don't. But do we need one to come to church?"

Rose thought that seemed odd, and even more so being a weekday, so it should be open since they weren't cleaning or having any important meetings.

The priest in charge was repeating the same thing, Eli had to chime in on it.

"Tell the cardinal that Princess Elicia came for a baptism request."

Hearing the princess's name, the priest let the three girls in.

After entering, he closed the door and asked them to wait here.

Instead of taking them to a room, he told the princess and her escorts to wait in the middle of the red carpet.

Rose commented as she saw the place decorated with valuable vases, golden chandeliers and portraits of important figures with diamonds on them.

"Isn't this place, fancy?"

"I understand that churches should be decorated and should be pleasing to the eye."

"But this is over the top. It looks more like someone's house."

Elicia defended the church.

"I heard that many members live in churches, so I don't consider it a trivial thing to fix up your home."

Eli was only telling her so as not to make it look like the priest in charge of that church, or the cardinal in this case, was a man who embezzled funds from donations from the town.

After a while of waiting, next to the priest came a man.

He was a tall, extremely obese man wearing traditional 16th century church clothes on which the game was based.

His face was that of an old man, with a long beard, the top of his head was shaved and his eyes were a deep dark gray.

In his right hand he held a homemade hamburger, in the other hand he held a napkin.

He quickly ate his burger and introduced himself.

"Good morning, Her Highness Princess Elicia. It is a pleasure to meet you, I am the sacred officer in charge of this temple of prayer."

"Cardinal Ronandt Hampson at your command."

The plump man prostrated himself before Eli, just as he lifted his gaze to stand, he looked at the three girls, especially from their feet to their breasts.

Only Oriana noticed this due to her instincts.

After introducing himself, Eli said again what she said just a short while ago.

"Good morning. As I told the priest behind you, I would like to request a baptism."

Cardinal Ronandt clapped his hands, showing his teeth full of food scraps.

"Fabulous. There's nothing better than being blessed by our god."

"But before that princess, the donation is needed."

Eli froze.

"Donation?"

Rose gave the cardinal a dirty look.

The man clasped his hands together in a most contemptuous manner.

"That's right. Our congregants must eat, too, you know."

"It is natural for the person requesting a baptism to donate some of their money for such a sacred act."

Rose gritted her teeth without showing her displeased expression.

(This guy is demanding money for something that according to the church laws I read years ago, does not require any kind of compensation other than buying what is needed for the baptism.)

(Actually the church will provide its own separate water for these cases, since the holy water is filtered from a well and purified by magicians, hence no cost is required.)

(But it is as he says, they must eat, therefore, I will say nothing.)

Eli understood his words after a while passed.

"I understand. how much is the price of the donation?"

The cardinal said.

"Yes. It would be exactly 50 silver coins as deposit. Plus, another 50 as payment final donation."

Rose could not contain her discomfort.

"One hundred silver coins?!"

"That's the equivalent of one gold coin. Besides, most of the country's inhabitants are commoners, they can't access that amount because of their jobs."

"You are exaggerating with the value."

Commoners earned an estimated 200 silver coins a year.

One silver coin is worth 10 copper.

Knights earned 400 silver coins and if they were captains they earned double that.

But due to taxes that have to be paid for rising prices on food or transportation of goods, these values can vary.

Therefore, this man is asking for half the basic salary for something that would be more affordable for them to pay up to 30 silver coins.

Ronandt sent a nasty look at Rose as did his lips.

"Shut your mouth, elf, can't you see your master is talking to me?"

"Princess, you should teach your maid that she should learn to stay out of conversations..."

A large blue vein marked itself on Eli's forehead as he heard what the cardinal called Rose.

"Of humans like us."

"That's why I dislike demi-humans. They're so wild."

*Sigh*

"Back to the subject, Her Highness the Royal Princess, when do you wish the baptism to take place, how many guests will there be?"

"Will you be performing any special toasts? We will also see to it that you are provided with the best wine you can drink."

Eli with a beaming smile said.

"No thank you."

"I remembered there is a very important matter I must attend to, the baptism request will be another time."

She took Rose's hands as well as Oriana's and turned away.

She approached the door which Rose opened, before exiting, without turning to look she said to the cardinal.

"Oops, I forgot."

"You see, the baptism wasn't for me or any family member."

"It was for this girl."

Pointing to Rose.

The cardinal's eyes widened like saucers.

Just after she set foot outside, she heard him say.

"About that. I'm sorry, but we only baptize..."

"HUMANS."

With a cheek-to-cheek smile.

The girls left and Oriana closed the door.

The cardinal went back to his wanderings.

◇◇◇

After leaving, Eli went behind a house that stood nearby and began tapping lightly on the wall.

"That old paunch is nasty!"

Because she had never struck a blow in her entire life, she didn't know how to apply force.

"Look who dares to speak ill of Rose. My new friend and life partner next to my prince."

"I swear when I get home I'll tell my father to send a ticket to him to slim him down in an instant."

"You... you old belly!"

Eli was awkwardly punching the wall, Oriana backed her up and started punching the wall as well, only her fists were effective.

Rose took her hands and stopped her.

"It's okay princess. I'm glad you got angry to stand up for me, that's a very generous gesture on your part."

"But the church is its own state and the royal palace cannot intervene in them. More so that it is the religion practiced throughout the continent, we would look like heathens if we offended him."

Eli showed a pout as if it were a little girl.

"But Rose is my friend, I don't like it when my friends are spoken ill of."

"As I told you, I appreciate that. You show me that truly being your friend is something irreplaceable, so I ask you not to get angry over trifles."

"How can you say it's petty things!"

"It's disrespectful to you─"

Rose grabbed Eli's hands begging her not to go on anymore, in response Eli calmed down.

"It's okay. I won't say anything."

"Thank you, princess."

"Eli is."

"E─L─I."

"...Eli."

"Good!"

Oriana also wanted to join in.

"What about me, what am I?"

"Umm... a pet?"

"Nya!"

The girls giggled and then they all went for a walk together.

◇◇◇

In the royal capital, there is an important meeting held once a month.

The meeting of the royal knights is a mandatory meeting of the king so that each captain can give his report of what has happened in the month on his tours, his subordinates and even any suspicious activity on the borders or citizens.

A man in brown armor about 40 years old walked down that long corridor.

His hair was combed facing forward and was yellow in color, his lock beard was black in color and his eyes were brown.

The man's name was Bret Elliott and he was one of the 9 captains of the order of the royal knights.

His family was an old family of knights who served the current royal family.

It was only because of this that he managed to become a captain.

It is true that in his youth he was strong, but because he is a lazy man, with vices such as alcohol and gambling.

He was demoted to the last cavalry squad.

No one expected anything from him other than to protect the streets of the capital during the day or to be support for some other squad.

But that changed a few months ago.

Bret, was part of a lie by Rei that went wrong.

Bret was framed for stealing money from the bank and after he was arrested the knights' headquarters was attacked.

Upon entering the place, the knights saw Bret holding his sword, looking shocked by what had happened.

To everyone, Bret had annihilated all the enemies present.

Even when the matter of the stolen money was settled which was Rei, someone said this.

"Come to think of it. Didn't the man who stole the money call himself Bret?"

"That means... Captain Elliott was aware of this and secretly collaborated to the point of dirtying his name to catch the real criminals!"

From that day on, Bret was on everyone's lips.

When he walked down this hallway people always made fun of him.

He didn't mind, but now it was different.

He walked with his head down and his stomach hurt.

"Guh, why is this happening now?"

He didn't understand why people were looking at him with pride and respect.

Some fellows came up behind him.

They were other captains.

"Hey Bret, how are you?"

"You look bad, are you sick?"

These men were the captains of the third squad, Augus Flemingway and the seventh squad, Kent Simmons.

Both of whom from the beginning always made fun of him.

But they were the first to walk in and see the scene where Bret was supposedly responsible for killing all the intruders.

They were more afraid of him than respectful of him thinking the same thing would happen to them if they did it again.

Bret clutched his belly as he responded.

"N-Nothin' to it. Just a little tired, luckily these meetings last an hour."

"That's true."

After reaching the room designated for meetings, Bret's stomach lightened a bit.

(That's nice. I just have to sit down and give my report, listen to what the commander has to say.)

After entering, he sat down in his respective seat.

There were a few people missing.

Bret lightened his stomach as he let out some flatulence.

The door again opened and this time a very famous captain entered.

He was a man with red armor, tanned skin, slicked back black hair, a look of few friends and brown eyes.

The captain of the second squad, Rogue Eisenberg made his entrance.

Rogue walked to his seat.

Then, Bret looked up and noticed Rogue looking at him.

Bret was startled.

"... How can I help you?"

Rogue said.

"You're in my seat."

"Excuse me?"

A booger wanted to run down his nose.

Bret realized that according to the hands of the clock was everyone's seat.

He being the one who was supposed to sit on the upper left side.

He began to sweat.

"Y-Yes. You're right."

He was about to get up when he remembered what he did just now.

(It's true!)

He threw up some flatulence.

The seat must have been hot. Not to mention the foul stench of what he ate.

Bret didn't want to insult his partner, so he couldn't tell him it was stinky where he was going to sit.

The part he had lifted from his body he returned it to his seat.

"Sorry, I'll sit here for today."

"... Excuse me?"

Rogue's husky voice froze the entire room.

Bret avoided direct contact with him.

(Oh god! Oh god! Oh god! Oh god!)

(This is bad, very bad. He's watching me.)

(His eyes are scary.)

(But if I tell him "The seat sucks" or "If you sit down after I get up" he will certainly kill me or make fun of me.)

(Please God, make it go smoothly!)

The assembled knights were perplexed by Bret's guts in not giving up the position.

"I-I can't believe it."

"Bret is challenging Rogue."

"The Demonic Spear is being challenged. That guy must have guts of steel to be able to challenge the second strongest man in the Kingdom."

Bret refuted what his companions said inside.

(It's nothing like that!)

(I'm scared. I want to pee.)

(Ah. My stomach is growling, a new flatulence will come out!)

Bret showed an expression of indignation as he pressed his intestines to keep from releasing that gas. That expression made his companions see that he didn't care who Rogue was.

Rogue himself showed his indignation.

"I see. Elliott, you seem to have gotten your fame up and forget that you're the captain of the ninth squad."

"Very well, let's go outside to settle this. With a formal duel."

At the word "duel" Bret's heart began to race.

The other knights were startled.

"I-Incredible. Bret is incredible."

"That man has earned all my respect."

"I will never doubt him again. If he's capable of picking a fight with Rogue, he's capable of doing anything to prove he's the strongest of the knights."

But Bret thought differently.

(What the hell are they talking about?)

(Your Majesty please save me! I will be killed!)

At that moment, as if from a guardian angel, two men entered.

One of them was the captain of the eighth squad, wearing his usual green armor like his hair and tanned beard, Markus Bennett arrived next to the most important man of all present.

Named as the only margrave of the Kingdom, the strongest man in the country despite being a man of 60 years old.

Wearing a golden armor with a long cloak, of great stature, long gray-haired knight tied with a bow tie, his face was like a stone, serious and inexpressive.

His beard and sideburns were joined together and his blue eyes showed a ferocity equal to that of a tiger.

The captain of the first squad of royal knights as well as the commander of all, Sieghart Hogan.

After entering, Sieghart saw Rogue looking menacingly at Bret.

"What's going on here?"

One of the captains stood up and said.

"You see... this happened."

After telling him the situation, Sieghart said.

"Rogue. do you really want to fight for a seat?"

Rogue immediately looked at Sieghart.

"With all due respect commander. This man knows that's my seat."

But the commander shot back.

"Seats are seats. You are the ones who consider a place to sit to be special."

The knights panicked when they heard that.

"B-But commander. You are centered in the middle of everyone."

"That's because it's the only free seat."

"Stop fighting over nonsense and let's start the meeting."

"There are more important things to discuss, sit down and don't argue over nonsense."

Calming the situation, Rogue went to sit in Bret's seat.

Sieghart held up some documents before starting the meeting.

"I want you to read all of these. It's the last we got on the principality."

The next thing he said, he astounded them.

"Their forces have withdrawn from our border."

◇◇◇

Frazier Principality.

One the antagonistic nations in the game.

Many years ago, the original royal family of the current Brune Kingdom was exiled by the new royal family.

Why did this happen?

The Frazier royal family were scum.

They used their power to seize the property of other nobles, merchants and commoners.

They executed anyone who was against them.

There are more things that it is impossible to say because of how obscene it is.

But one thing is for sure, they deserve the execution of every member of the family.

But the last king was a smart man.

He fled the country with his wives and children and proclaimed a government in exile.

Thanks to his blue blood, he was able to turn the land of a nobleman he stole into his own, he named it as a principality.

Since then they have forcibly seized other people's fiefdoms and made them their own.

Blaming the Brune Kingdom for their actions.

The current head of the family is a name claiming to be king, as he claims to be the first king after the rebuilding of his kingdom.

That man was in his office, his beautiful red armor shining even without the candles lighting him.

His short hair was slicked back and red as fire.

His eyes were blue and fierce, his beard had the appearance of a dragon's claw from the way it was shaved.

That man is named Calvin von Frazier, one of the final bosses of the game.

He is even the main head of the faction that seeks to destroy the Brune Kingdom from within.

The Calvinists.

Someone knocked on the door.

"Come in."

Calvin told him to enter in a hoarse but loud voice.

A man with black clothes, a shaven head and brown eyes entered.

"Reporting at your call. The chief mage of His Majesty Calvin-sama's court, Diethard Rodman presents himself to you."

"Well done on coming quick, Rodman."

"I'll be brief, I have a mission for you."

Diethard nodded instantly.

"Carrying out His Majesty Calvin-sama's orders is my job."

Calvin pulled some documents from his desk and offered them to Diethard.

He went over to receive them and glanced over them quickly.

"Rodman, as you may know. We withdrew our forces due to generating intrigue in Brune."

"It is natural for them to be alert."

"But that's the plan, being alert of hundreds of enemies coming, they won't realize that only one enemy is the only danger to them."

"I sent for you since you are the only one suitable for this job."

"I want you to find out everything about this guy."

Calvin pointed to a person pictured in the document.

"Currently this person is a threat to the principality. I want you to investigate everything about this person."

"I am sure that the death of Harrisburg is this person's fault."

"We must act as soon as possible! Every second that passes are losing the chance to return home and sit on my throne."

"You may go, I'll be waiting for your report so we can prepare our troops."

Calvin smiled wickedly.

"I have a feeling that, if we attack this year, my plans will be complete."

"You are excused."

"Aye, aye!"

Diethard left the room.

Calvin muttered to himself.

"You're going to pay for this Brune. I'll kill your whole family for stealing what's rightfully mine."

◇◇◇

After leaving the room, Diethard's serious face vanished.

He made a clicking sound with his tongue.

"Tch. How pathetic it is to see a man who craves power, but is unaware that if he cannot keep his army happy, sooner or later he will be killed."

Diethard had a secret that no one knew.

He walked down the long corridor and encountered a subordinate.

After walking past him, the subordinate said.

"Feivellet, how did it go?"

Feivellet or Diethard, replied.

"Perfect. It's just as Bishop Bloodman planned."

"I will infiltrate Brune and get information from the one who has done us so much harm."

Diethard was a member of the cult of the goddess of death, he was part of the faction known as the Codes.

Codes are inferior members who multiply like rats.

They are people who are willing to do anything to gain power.

Diethard sold his soul a long time ago. Betraying his master was nothing compared to gaining power and riches.

"I'll be along shortly, let the others know to be waiting for the right time."

He smiled sinisterly.

"Soon the only king of this place will be me. That's only why I licked your feet all these years, you foolish idiot man."

Diethard and the minion continued on their way, planning the next shady move they would make.

_____________

Let's go with fan service of the volume's villain: https://chan.sankakucomplex.com/es/post/show/22834954