He was indeed fortunate. But the results didn’t really change for Ark. If he couldn’t secure the funds then Ark’s worst case situation would soon become a reality. Silvana would soon collapse without the recovery funds and he would owe the 60,000 allied forces a 300,000 debt. Of course, if he explained the circumstances to the lords then they would probably understand. But their good impression of him would be gone and Silvana would also disappear.
‘What did I spend 10 days barely sleeping for?’
He felt his anger explode.
‘Duke Sarkin…..!’
He grinded his teeth together. This was the first time he felt such fury against a NPC. Right now he was tempted to go visit Sarkin and just stab him. No, if Silvana was ruined then he really would cut off Sarkin’s neck. But now wasn’t the time to be thinking about something like that.
‘Is there another way?’
“If we find the communication officer that Duke Sarkin bribed then the situation would be simple to fix. Then it wouldn’t be a problem. That officer impersonated His Majesty and sent a false message to the battlefield. If that was revealed then even Duke Sarkin wouldn’t be safe. Do you understand?”
He understood. This was Duke Sarkin’s scheme. It was a scheme that he prepared carefully. Then wasn’t the key to this scheme the communication officer? Lipton said that the communications officer had been charged with bribery but he had probably been removed by Sarkin. The problem was that the communication officer had disappeared. While Ark had fallen into despair, he grasped Daltin’s hand and said.
“Will the Marquis help me?”
“What did you say? I can’t do anything unless you find the communications officer.”
“It is no use revealing Duke Sarkin’s scheme.”
“Then what can I do to help?”
“Needless to say, the promise of support money for Nagaran was all Duke Sarkin’s scheme. But no matter the scheme, doesn’t Nagaran’s allied forces deserve Schudenberg’s support? If Nagaran’s allied forces hadn’t stopped the 100,000 demons and the Hell River from flooding then the demons within the Sinius Principality would become even stronger. Didn’t Nagaran’s allied forces stop that? Can’t you remind His Majesty and suggest the possibility of some support funding?”
This was the final method that Ark came up with. Even if he wanted to now, assassinating Sarkin wouldn’t solve Ark’s problem. More than Sarkin’s neck, Ark needed to obtain 300,000 gold. It didn’t matter how he got it. Getting 300,000 gold from the kingdom was the most urgent problem.
“That is difficult.”
Daltin sighed and shook his head.
“Duke Sarkin wanted to hang you and Haverstein with this scheme. But you didn’t give into Lipton’s provocation so he missed the chance to get Haverstein. Can’t you be satisfied that you dealt some damage to Sarkin’s plot? Duke Sarkin is the one who arranged everything about this scheme. Of course you want to make a desperate stand against Duke Sarkin. Even if I try to oppose it, Duke Sarkin is the one who controls the kingdom’s finances so the King won’t easily agree.”
“But if you and Marquis Halben join together……”
It was the only thing he could believe in. Ark desperately entreated. However, Daltin’s reaction was still sceptical.
“…….It might be possible. But the timing right now isn’t really good.”
“The timing isn’t good?”
“You just came from Nagaran so you wouldn’t know about it yet.”
Daltin scratched his beard and murmured.
“Not long ago, the Bristania and Schudenberg expeditions managed to drive all the demons from the Sinius Principality. No, to be exact the demons felt a crisis after the expeditions advanced and retreated.”
Of course Ark knew that information. He had received it from the Dark Eden members who were delivering supplies to the Sinius Principality. In addition, the news about New World on the TV and internet were all concentrated on the Demonic War. The demons retreating from the Sinius Principality was a major event. However, the reason why the demons retreated was still unknown. The expedition armies had gained consecutive victories and managed to control the Silrinad area but there were still lots of demons left. Yet all the demons had suddenly retreated from the Sinius Principality like a flood. Therefore the users had many differing opinions about why the demons disappeared. It was the same for the NPCs.
“There are various theories but nothing is certain. But thanks to that, the Bristania-Schudenberg expeditions succeeded in regaining the Sinius Principality.”
…… And a new problem began from this.
“It isn’t an exaggeration to say that the Sinius Principality is impoverished and on the verge of collapse thanks to the demons. Furthermore, most of the royal family and nobles were killed. Only several royalty and local lords barely survived. So Bristania and Schudenberg has agreed to divide the Sinius Principality and govern it for the next 10 years.”
Daltin spoke while tapping his finger on the table. Ark immediately grasped the aims of Bristania and Schudenberg after hearing Daltin’s speech. Bristania and Schudenberg had sent military expeditions to regain the Sinius Principality from the demons. While it was to stop the demons, they had another reason for saving the Sinius Principality. It was the right to request a reward from the Sinius Principality. However, the Sinius Principality was devastated by the demons and couldn’t afford to give anything. Therefore Bristania and Schudenberg gained the right to split the Sinius Principality and govern it for the next 10 years. But that was just a pretext. The Sinius Principality had been completely destroyed by the demons. The atmosphere was polluted after being exposed to the black fog for a long time so there was no guarantee it would be properly restored in 10 years. Even if Bristania and Schudenberg governed for 10 years, there was no benefit in it for them. No, they actually had to invest a lot of money into the recovery work. Yet there was a simple reason why the two controls divided it up.
“This is a chance to swallow up the territory of the impoverished Sinius Principality.”
Daltin laughed as he laid both elbows on the table. That’s right. Bristania and the Schudenberg kingdoms intended to colonize the Sinius Principality. On the pretext of dividing the territories, the Governor of each estate intended to fully absorb it. From the moment they organized the military expedition, they hadn’t been thinking about profit. But it wasn’t as easy as it sounded.
“Didn’t you say that some of the royal family survived? If some royalty is still alive then wouldn’t the two kingdoms have no justification for absorbing the territories?”
“That is normally the case. But this is the Sinius Principality.”
Daltin smiled and explained. The land in a kingdom was basically the property of the king. While the reality is a little different but each Lord and general citizen is just borrowing the real estate from the King. That’s why no other country could claim the territory if the Lord died. But the Sinius Principality was different from other kingdoms.
“Sinius is not a kingdom. It is a principality where dozens of species combined together. The royal family of the Sinius Principality are nothing but representatives of the species. And the representatives of each species each have a territory. But after a long time, the various species mixed together.”
That’s why the Sinius Principality was engulfed in chaos. With the territories deprived of their representative, chaos and anarchy crept in and there were quite few cases of aggression against neighbouring territories. Therefore the Sinius Principality felt it was necessary to establish leadership for each territory.
“Those with the right tokens will gain ownership of the territory in the Sinius Principality.”
“Tokens?”
“Yes, look at this.”
Daltin opened a piece of silk fabric and showed a piece of jewellery. Inside was a ring with a glowing purple stone.
-Soul Ring (Legendary)
Item type: Ring
User Restriction: NPC aristocrats only
A ring inlaid with a brilliantly shining ore.
The residents who live in the northeast area of Morai on the continent believe that the soul of their ancestors reside in the ore. A long time ago, the King of the Sinius Principality was asked to pick a symbol to represent Morai and he picked this ore ring with no hesitation. When shown this ring then all Morai residents will pledge vows of loyalty. Those who own this ring will be given the right to govern Morai territory. However, this is impossible for foreigners as a large majority of residents in New World don’t respect them. Therefore it is only for NPCs. Only a noble NPC with a high status can use this ring to claim ownership of the territory.