Chapter 2: Defeating the Demon King’s Army, Only to Face a New Challenge
In the office of King Henry of the Lionel Kingdom, about ten retainers were gathered around the Hero King, carrying out official duties.
The room was filled with tension, like a tightly strung wire. The civil and military officials were sweating profusely, while all eyes were fixed on Henry, who was trembling with anger as he read the report handed to him by a subordinate.
“What is this report?!”
Henry hurled the report at the officials with a furious shout.
Every report he received was filled with bad news.
“I ordered financial reconstruction, yet there hasn’t been any improvement!”
Henry glared at the civil officials.
The kingdom’s finances were in dire straits. Tax revenue was decreasing, and the treasury was nearly empty.
However, part of the blame lay with Henry himself. When he first ascended to the throne, he indulged in numerous garden parties and banquets, wasting money. After realizing the financial crisis, he cut back on these expenditures and initiated fiscal reforms, but they hadn’t succeeded.
“The newly developed gold mine isn’t producing as much gold as expected…”
“We’ll have to raise taxes if we want to make any improvements…”
Two civil officials explained the reasons for the failure and proposed solutions.
“I’ve told you before, we can’t do that. Raising taxes might be the quickest way to fix our finances, but we need to address the root cause of our problems first. The Church of Salvation is taking too much in donations.”
Henry rejected the tax increase and pointed out the national church’s issue.
The church had been constantly renovating and expanding the cathedral, costing enormous amounts of money. These costs were covered by donations, and the kingdom made substantial contributions.
“Renovating the cathedral is fine, but every year? And the use of donation funds is opaque. Has the church agreed to add auditors sent by the kingdom to their accounts?”
Henry questioned the official responsible for negotiating with the church.
The church’s use of donation funds was not disclosed, and rumors of embezzlement by clergy were widespread. Some believed that certain church members were enriching themselves through the annual renovations and expansions, and the kingdom needed to address this to rebuild its finances.
However, the retainer in charge of negotiations with the church averted his eyes and broke into a cold sweat.
“They said that the House of God is sacred and inviolable…”
“They’re using the royal family’s money! How dare they say such a thing!”
Henry pounded his desk in fury.
“This is why they’re being criticized for being money-grubbers!”
Henry shouted, recounting the criticism from the people.
Since the defeat of the Demon King, the Church of Salvation had grown more powerful than ever.
Saint Elisabeth, a member of the church, had defeated the Demon King alongside Henry and then married him to become the queen, enhancing the church’s authority. As a result, the church had gained many new followers, but some of them had started to criticize the church’s corruption.
The royal family did not want to antagonize the powerful church. However, to rebuild the finances and quell the public’s criticism, they wanted to reform the church, but the church had no intention of cooperating.
“Cardinal Fermine !”
Henry thought of Cardinal Fermine , the de facto leader of the church and known as the epitome of greed, but there was nothing he could do about him at the moment.
“Enough of this. What about the demon army cleanup?”
Henry asked the military officer in charge of the demon army cleanup.
Three years ago, Henry had defeated General Gale, who had invaded the kingdom, and routed the demon army at the Dakan Plain. However, the losses were significant, and many demons escaped as they couldn’t be pursued.
When Henry ascended the throne, he promised the people he would immediately eradicate the remaining demon army. However, this promise had yet to be fulfilled.
“Where is the cleanup army now? How many demon army remnants have they defeated?”
Henry asked about the status of the cleanup army.
The cleanup army was a unit formed by gathering knights from various knight orders to eradicate the demon army remnants.
“Currently, the cleanup army is stationed in the north, in Peshar.”
“Wait, Peshar? They were there thirty days ago. The cleanup of Peshar should be finished by now.”
Henry stopped the officer. The officer looked nervous.
“The knight orders are not following their commander’s orders and are rebelling…”
“What? How can knights sworn to the kingdom not follow the king’s orders!”
Henry raised his voice in anger.
The cleanup army was not functioning properly because the knights were not obeying the orders of the commander appointed by Henry, causing delays.
“It’s General Zaria’s doing again!”
Henry cursed angrily.
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During the battle at the Dakan Plain, Henry had clashed with General Zaria, and their conflict continued. Zaria, a long-serving general, had strong influence over the knight orders. The dysfunction of the cleanup army was due to Zaria’s interference.
“Damn that old man! Even after banishing him to the Gate of Ghazal, he’s still causing trouble.”
Henry pounded his desk again.
To weaken Zaria’s influence, Henry had banished him and his Black Hawk Knight Order to the Gate of Ghazal, the northern border facing the demon-controlled territory. But from afar, Zaria was still obstructing the cleanup army’s actions.
“Wait, wasn’t Polvic asking for aid? I ordered reinforcements to be sent thirty days ago… Surely, they haven’t failed to respond?”
Henry realized something alarming.
It took ten days to travel from Peshar to Polvic. If they had left when ordered, they would have arrived in time. But the cleanup army was still in Peshar. This meant…
“No, they haven’t gone to aid them.”
“What! Does that mean Polvic has fallen?”
Henry was stunned.
Polvic had strong walls but couldn’t hold out alone. Despite Zaria’s interference, the failure to act was ultimately Henry’s responsibility as king.
“Your Majesty, Polvic is safe. Reinforcements arrived in time, and it did not fall.”
One of the civil officials stepped forward to report the city’s safety.
“Really? That’s good news. Why didn’t you tell me sooner? Which knight order saved them? Or was it the nearby garrison?”
Henry asked, and the official averted his gaze.
“Was it that person? Was it that person again?!”
Henry deduced the answer from the official’s behavior, but he didn’t want to say the name.
With the kingdom under threat from the demon army, there were few resources available to send reinforcements. Only one exception existed.
“Yes, the Romelia Knight Order, led by Lady Romelia, saved Polvic.”
At the mention of the name, Henry’s anger reached its peak.
“Curse her! Romelia! Romelia! Romelia again!”
Henry was furious.
With the church demanding donations and the knight orders disobeying commands, everything was infuriating, but Romelia’s existence was the most aggravating of all.
After Henry’s hard-fought victory against the demon army, Romelia had suddenly appeared and started hunting down the demon army remnants. Now, she was being called a saint.
“Damn her! Once again, she’s stolen the glory of victory from me!”
Henry raged, pounding the desk a third time.
“But Your Majesty, Polvic has been saved. We should be pleased with this result.”
“Fool! It should be the kingdom saving the people, not that woman! To let her take all the credit! And the people, why do they worship her as a saint?!”
Henry couldn’t understand the people’s minds.
He had defeated Demon King Zelgius, killed General Gale, and routed the demon army. Yet, the people only praised Romelia and complained about high taxes.
“Damn it, can’t any of you solve a single problem?! This is why Romelia keeps stealing our glory!”
Henry looked at the assembled civil and military officials, but the kingdom’s top retainers only looked down and sweated in silence.
Henry was about to speak again to his silent subordinate when the office door opened, and a woman entered.
The woman, dressed in a white gown with a silver tiara on her head, was his wife and queen, Elisabeth.
“What is this commotion? I could hear the noise from outside.”
“What are you doing here, Elisabeth? I am in the middle of my duties!”
Henry’s words became even sharper as Elisabeth sighed upon entering.
Seeing his beloved wife did not bring peace to Henry’s heart.
Since their marriage, his relationship with Elisabeth had only worsened. They had started clashing frequently, and their conversations had dwindled.
“Have you forgotten? You have a meeting with the ambassador from the Kingdom of Hurion today.”
Henry recalled her reminder. It wasn’t good to keep the ambassador from the powerful Kingdom of Hurion waiting. But there was still time before the meeting.
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