Chapter 15: Killing Traitors
Lucas POV:
It had been two months since the coronation, and Falcon's Reach had transformed into a bustling city. The streets were lively, and the marketplace had been inaugurated just last week. I had expected our progress to slow down without the system, but surprisingly, it hadn't. The latest gift from the system unlocked every building I could construct for my city, including facilities for creating troops like the [Garrison] or the [Priory]. The new weekly recruitment of troops looked like this:
[Praetorian 0/20]
[Crossbowmen 0/14]
[Sisters 0/16]
[Griffins 0/7]
[Radiant Glory 0/7]
The addition of an [Altar of Elrath] and a [Crossbowmen tower] was a godsend gift. The next advancement in construction would be a [Chapel of the Holy Sun] for [Sun Riders]. Although I had unlocked the ability to create [Seraphim], it remained grayed out and impossible to build for now.
The expansion of the city continued with the division of the city into districts, a decision made in collaboration with my council that I appointed just after my coronation:
Leader of the Army: Duke George
Minister of Economy: Albion
Royal Architect: Aldor
Archbishop: Jeanne
Minister of Education: Ellana
Voice of the People: Thom
Albion was one of the Merchants summoned during the summoning of the civilians, and Ellana is the Sister charged with writing all the books for the schools. These two are extremely competent, and Albion is the person charged with the creation of our currency and how it should be traded.
I ordered the creation of a salary for every person in the city. For now, the salary is roughly equivalent to ten Bronze Angels each month, which is more than enough to feed an entire family for a year.
The money system was modeled on the one in Ashan, with:
Bronze Angel
Silver Angel
Golden Angel
Royal Angel
Each piece is roughly equivalent to ten of the inferior ones, and, of course, the Royal Angel can only be given by me. The bronze and silver coins are cast from the minerals provided by our mines and allies. The Royal Angel is just a Golden Angel with a wisp of my magic on it to qualify it as a Royal Angel.
Our exploration team has made significant progress in these two months, with each passing week bringing a lot of Griffins and Radiant Glory, providing us with another team to explore the unknown. We discovered a river abundant with water, which could be an ideal location for another city roughly four hours away from Falcon's Reach.
The construction of small outposts has begun earnestly near the city. These outposts are designed to serve as checkpoints for anyone wanting to enter Falcon's Reach farmlands.
Mines and quarries operated at a blazing speed, making the kingdom exceptionally rich in minerals and ores.
I decided to train four individuals with a strong affinity for Earth Magic, empowering them to create golems and relieving me of the burden of golem creation. The lessons proved challenging for both me and my pupils. For me, conveying knowledge to others was difficult, as it had become instinctive for me, requiring me to articulate and explain concepts comprehensively. For them, magic was a daunting field to navigate.
It took nearly a month of daily training in the mines for them to begin creating golems of acceptable quality. In the meantime, I also formed three jewelers to, like the Earth Mages, alleviate me from the burden of creating mundane gems and gemstones.
During this month, I discovered a newfound passion for teaching others. I believe I became an adept pedagogue in these weeks, and it filled me with pride to witness my pupils' progress with each passing day.
I also heard that the Dark Elves flourished exponentially during these two months. Their advancements in combat and fighting tactics surpassed ours. Despite occasional attacks from beasts on our patrols, they were swiftly dispatched thanks to the strength of the war golems and guards.
The salary I provided to all individuals living in Falcon's Reach has pacified some discontented individuals, particularly those like Janette, who were former nobles. They were extremely unhappy with the loss of their previous status, reducing them to the same level as peasants—something they could never have imagined in their lives.
While my kingdom promotes equality, I recognize that I can only do my part. Upon my death, my descendants may inherit the crown and could potentially dismantle all that I have built for their own personal gains and this prospect scared me.
So I should teach my children everything that I know and the benefits of equality and compassion.
Perhaps the fact that I can become an Archangel after my death could mean that I could continue to rule.
The taxes were non-existent for the moment, I would implement them in the future but for now I would let the people go without it.
I could practically lay down and let everything rest for a while but I knew that some people started to get restless. For example Janette and her cronies started to annoy me to no end. I let some Radiant Glory monitor them and what they reported to me was worrying.
It seemed that they started to become a bit too interested with magic, as there were some people in their group, especially a young man named Albert that was extremely competent in Fire Magic. They thought that I didn't know what they were trying to do.
This woman Janette, when she learnt that Albert was extremely good with magic, seduced him to ensure his loyalty then with the help of some other ancient nobles that were knowledgeable about magic contrary to normal people, they trained him. Well even if the kid is good with magic he is just a dumb kid swayed by the beauty of a viper.
I shall deal with them myself.
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Albert POV:
Since awakening in this accursed kingdom, my sole focus has been on training myself to overthrow the tyrant of a king ruling over it. The irony that the first plot involving me, the hero, revolves around dethroning a tyrant is not lost on me. However, my plan is to seize his position, and the people will applaud me for my actions.
A tyrant like him doesn't deserve to sit on the throne. My friends have recounted tales of his monstrous behavior, describing him as a human skin-clad oppressor who exploits the kingdom's wealth for his twisted magical experiments.
Janette, the first member of my harem, tearfully shared her harrowing experience, recounting the horrible things he had done to her before casting her out of the Sister order. I vow to avenge her, and her smile will be my reward.
Being a hero has always been my dream, and today marks the day when the tyrant of Falcon's Reach will fall, and I shall rise to claim the throne as the rightful hero of the Falcon's Kingdom
As we moved stealthily around the mines, our intention was to confront the king. Today was the day when he conducted his twisted experiments with magic. I envisioned using my fire magic to burn him, picturing myself perched on his throne with the sisters tending to my every whim. The sweet taste of victory lingered in my imagination; after all, I was the protagonist. How could a minor antagonist defeat me?
We soon arrived in front of the door of his workshop in the mountains. How arrogant of him; he didn't even have guards guarding his workshop.
"Is everyone ready?" I turned to the group of ten. Today, we would throw our lives into the battle for the betterment of the kingdom and the demise of the tyrant. Everyone nodded in response. I generated a fireball and exploded the workshop door.
We rushed into the workshop, non-mages wielding swords, and me with another fireball conjured in hand. Then, I saw him—the tyrant, his head turning to look at us, his silver armor gleaming with the light of my fireball reflecting on it.
"Today marks the day of your end, Tyrant!" I cried out as I threw a fireball toward him. In an instant, he swiped his hand, and the fireball disappeared like it never existed.
"What?" I questioned as I saw the strange occurrence. It was not magic; it couldn't be. Magic without conjuring anything was something that even I, the protagonist, couldn't do.
I conjured three more fireballs, but even before they were fired, they extinguished themselves without any external action.
"What is this sorcery!?" I cried out to the king who didn't even move and returned to his work without acknowledging us.
Seeing this, I heard Janette snarl behind me, and all the other members of our group dashed, swords raised. I opted for creating a beam of fire toward the king, attempting to kill him. Suddenly, a flash of light occurred, and I saw all the other members of the group flying, their arms severed by beams of light that shot behind the king as he continued to tinker with his gems on the slab made of gold and other rich minerals.
I sensed that something was missing from my body. As I looked at where my right arm was just a second ago, I saw only the ground looking back at me—my arm absent. Then the pain came.
"AAAAARRGHGGG!" Pain, pain, pain. I was the hero, so why was I in pain? In an instant, I dashed toward Janette, determined to protect her despite my lack of a right arm. But as I approached her, she turned on her talon and started to run, tears streaming from her face. Why did you abandon me ? Why are you running away, w-
Total darkness clouded my vision.
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Lucas POV:
What a bunch of arrogant fools, I thought they had an elaborate plan to bring me down, considering my prowess with magic. But all they brought was a dumbfire cracker and eight goons with swords. I dispatched all of them easily. Good riddance. Just one medium-level spell was enough to eliminate the entire lot.
Janette started to run, but I had enough and killed her and her puppet with the same spell.
"Your Majesty," I heard the Radiant Glory positioned above the cave, ready to save me, but I didn't even need their assistance in my time of need.
"What a waste of time," I snarled as I stormed out of the workshop, heading back to the castle to supervise the continuity of our kingdom. I would let George address the population about the attempt on my life.
What I craved at the moment was to vent my frustrations by delving even more into the lore of Light. However, before that, I wanted to visit the marketplace to see what was being sold.
As I arrived, everyone looked at me with widened eyes. It was a rare sight to see me outside of the audiences that I held.
"Your Majesty!" some sellers with their stalls cried out, starting to kneel. But I used my Air Magic to stop them dead in their tracks.
"No need to kneel in my presence when I am not in the castle. Consider me a simple buyer," I said to the men and women who looked at me with widened eyes. I removed my helmet and placed it on a stall belonging to a cheese seller.
"Can you keep it for the time being?" I asked the young man, and he widened his eyes upon seeing my helmet.
"Of course, Your Majesty. You can count on me," he did an awkward military salute, bringing a smile to my face as I heard some people snicker in the background.
I strolled through the marketplace, purchasing trinkets made of wood crafted by my people. I had heard that a woodcarver guild had been created to help those not so talented in the art, providing them with tools and materials for training. I approved of providing them with free wood resources to carve upon. Wood was not a rare resource at all in this world; I could grow dozens of trees in a matter of an hour. I dared not imagine how many, for example, Malfurion could make grow. I knew that his Druidism was far different from my magic, but perhaps one day, I could compete against him.
So, I purchased a bunch of trinkets that I could take to my bedroom. I particularly liked the angel-shaped statue that depicted the vanquishing of a skeletal dragon. Despite the sellers encouraging me to take them for free, I paid no heed to their plea and paid them anyway. All works deserved compensation.
I promptly returned to the castle, decorated my bedroom then I headed toward the workshop to continue my research on the lore of Light
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I am not that happy with this chapter
See you soon
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