Chapter 28: Fire Ring

The following day.

　I was summoned to the Study of the Royal Palace, and as I stood at the entrance, I heard the voice of His Majesty inside.

"Lucas?　You're injured, so no need to bow."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

　Even so, I gave a slight bow and entered the library.

　His Majesty was, as usual, conducting his affairs surrounded by a large collection of books that looked like a library.

"Welcome, Lucas. How is your injury?"

"It's nothing to be concerned about, Your Majesty."

"Good. But to injure a man as strong as Lucas, were those assassins that strong?"

　His Majesty stared straight at me and asked.

　I knew this was coming.

　Well, I didn't think I would be able to cover it up to his Majesty, even though I had further silenced the assassin with my excuses yesterday.

　I know from my past experiences that His Majesty's ears are very attentive.

　So I'm pretty sure that he's also going to report me for cutting up my own stomach.

　That's why I said the script I had spent all night yesterday thinking about.

"About the strength…"

"Hmm?"

"I believe that strength is not just the skill with a sword. That no matter how skilled you are, you can still be baffled by the mental side."

　His Majesty stared at me for a moment.

"I see."

　He nodded.

　Although he had been looking at me with probing eyes just before, now he looked impressed.

"I have a good son, a son that I would not be ashamed to show anywhere."

　He said such.

　He seemed to have understood that I was honest about my self-injury.

"If everyone was like you, it would be a great help to me. You know what, Lucas?"

"I wonder what"

"Nine out of ten so-called Virtuous Emperors have had their reputations ruined."

"..."

　I could feel my eyebrows twitching.

　The word about reputation ruined—It should be about the Crown Prince's treason.

　It's not flattery or anything like that, but His Majesty has ruled the empire well.

　It can be said that he led the empire to a golden age never seen before in its history.

　In the histories of future generations, he will undoubtedly be described as a great ruler.

　But what if the rebellion had succeeded?

　What if the crown prince had forced him to abdicate, and he had been raised to the position of the supreme emperor?

　In his later years, he would be written about as a man who was unable to control even his own son and made him commit a righteous act.

　It would be a disgrace to his legacy.

　The fact that His Majesty had said it so "straightforwardly" made me understand one more thing.

　His Majesty no longer trusts the Crown Prince.

　The reason why he doesn't do anything about it right now is that disinheriting the crown prince would also "Ruin his Legacy" to some extent.

　But there was no proof yet, so I continued with the script I had thought of last night.

"Your Majesty, I'm afraid I have a request to make."

"Hmm?　Do state your request."

"Me, Brother Henry, and Brother Oscar. Your Majesty has appointed all three of us as Ministers, but this is the first time for all of us to be involved in something like this, and I'm afraid we may make some mistakes."

"Hmm?"

"So I think we need someone to organize them."

"Someone, to organize? You want me to assign you the First Vizier?"

"No, I suggest we establish Prime Minster with a Prince, like my Minister of Justice."

"Prime Minster.....the Prince as Minister"

　His Majesty rolled the words around on his tongue.

"Yes, Prime Minister, that is to say, the one who will be in charge of 'all'. He will be responsible for organizing the Ministry formed around Princes. I want His Imperial Highness the Crown Prince to take that role."

...

　His Majesty looked at me with suspicious eyes.

　The eyes were wary, wondering what I was saying out of the blue.

　It's a natural reaction at this stage.

　And I continued.

　Here's what about Prime Minister I have in mind.

　By making him the coordinator of all of us in the various ministries, he can make the crown prince imitate the emperor and suppress any thoughts of rebellion.

　After forty-five years as crown prince, he will be waiting for the day when he will become emperor, so this is his way of venting.

　And the final decision remains with the Emperor. We'll report back to him after we've discussed the matter with him, so he won't have to bear any additional burden, just one more hassle on our side.

"But what if the Prime Minister rejects it and doesn't want to submit it to us?"

　His Majesty raised the obvious question.

　And because it's obvious, my pre-planned script has an answer.

"In order to prevent this from happening, I would like each of the princes to have the right of direct appeal. If it's something they feel they must do, they can appeal directly to His Majesty without going through the Prime Minister."

"......... Amazing."

　After staring at me for a while, His Majesty commented.

　He seemed to understand my intentions.

　The essence of this proposal is that the crown prince will be elevated to a position of authority, and while he will be allowed to do something like that, he will not be given any real authority.

　He would be our boss, but His Majesty would have the final say, and if we disagreed with him, we could skip over him and talk to His Majesty directly.

　In other words, the position of Prime Minister and the Ministry is just a name, a position that does not matter whether it exists or not.

"That is right... it would be for the best..."

　He muttered in a low voice.

　I knew that His Majesty knew what was going on and understood the purpose of my proposal.

　After all, he is a great ruler who should be called as such too.

　I'm convinced the best way for not tarnishing His Majesty's reputation is for the people to live in peace.

"Fumu. You have advised me well. Let us heed your advice."

"Thank you for the opportunity."

"I will discuss the details with the First Vizier later."

　His Majesty said this and slowly walked towards me from across the desk in his study.

　He came right in front of me and put his hand on my head.

"I really ... wish you had been born earlier. ..."

"..."

　I didn't answer. And I didn't even try to make a response.

　I pretended that I hadn't heard it, because I thought it was for the best.

　I guess His Majesty thought it was a bit much, so he took his hand away from my head, cleared his throat, and stepped away.

"Now, I must reward Lucas. For a proposition as good as this, money would be boring – Cruz."

"Yes!"

　As usual, the trusted eunuch appeared without a sound.

"To the treasury."

"As you wish, sir."

　With that, Cruz walked out of the study.

　And, His Majesty turned towards me.

"I believe the ring was found by Lucas through your own judgment."

"Yes."

　The ring he was referring to was the one on my thumb.

　Although it's usually in a ring form, when activated, it becomes armor.

　And now I've linked it to Leviathan, and it's become an armor that can automatically move in and out to protect me.

"Let's go to the castle treasury, I want to see your judgment."

"In the treasury, sir?"

"Yes. Pick one of anything you like."

"Understood."

I look forward to what to choose.

　Also, from the look in His Majesty's eyes, I could see that he was looking forward to it as well.

　I followed him into the palace treasury.

　The treasure room alone was bigger than my mansion.

　Naturally, there was a vast array of treasures in the treasury to match its size.

"Now then, you may choose."

　His Majesty said to me excitedly.

　I thought for a moment and then ordered Leviathan.

　The range was the entire treasury, avoiding his majesty and the eunuch Cruz, who was waiting beside him.

　In the huge treasure room, there was only one response.

　I walked in a straight line in the direction of the reaction.

　And when I came to a certain shelf, I took a jewel box that was placed there.

　I opened it and found a ring with a flaming gem inside.

"This one."

"Ooh!　I'm impressed that you chose this one without any hesitation at all, Lucas."

　His Majesty complimented me with an even more excited and overjoyed look.

　I had let Leviathan use intimidation in order to find a being with the same personality or soul as Leviathan.

　The ring was a response to that.

"Your judgment in choosing the 'Luthiya' was impressive. Excellent work, Lucas."

"Thank you for your kind words, Your Majesty."

　With His Majesty's permission, I put the ring, Luthiya, on the thumb opposite the armor ring.

　Then, my status, which has always been visible to me, changes.

.

――――――――――――

Name: Lucas Ararat

Title: Minister of Justice

Gender: Male

Level: 1 / ∞

HP: F+F

MP: F+F

Strength: F+E

Stamina: F+F

Intelligence: F+E

Spirit: F+F

Speed: F+F

Dexterity: F+F

Luck: F+F

Fire: F+C

Water: E+S

Wind: F

Earth: F

Light: F

Darkness: F

―――――――――――

　It may be because it was already low from the start.

　But \the "+" in Fire went up to "C" at once.

"Umu, you have a great eye."

　It seems that the ring was so amazing that His Majesty was complimenting it.