CH extra 7

“Haa.”

Today was the scheduled once-in-a-month council meeting.

I stifle the involuntary sigh I was letting out, and deal with the meeting.

Armilicia kindly agreed to marry into the Lunan Forseed house.

Forcing her out of schooling and sending her to the Lunan Forseed household was an agonizing decision I had to make.

The knights who followed Armilicia, sent letters of protest almost every day, so there was no doubt about her bad treatment.

Recently, relations with Count Lunan Forseed, or was it Duke now.

Relations with Duke Lunan Forseed seemed to have improved, judging from the fact that 50% of the letters from there were in protest, and 50% in petition.

The content of the petitions were in the interest of the house of Lunan Forseed.

They weren’t making outrageous requests either, so I was entertaining them as much as I could.

The part of the budget allocated for the King’s personal use, had further been reduced.

I couldn’t rest without having a good drink, but as of late I was forced to make do with the cheap garbage that even commoners wouldn’t touch.

But, well, it’s safe to say that relationships with the Lunan Forseed house were seamless, other than that.

My hardships did not end there though.

Armilicia was loved by everyone.

So much so, that some of the knights of the order even quit their positions in order to follow her.

Truthfully, any reduction in knights right now was painful.

With the knights corps. in a state of destruction, only the guards around the king, who were left undamaged due to their position, could be called knights.

That’s why the presence of each personnel had a big impact.

On top of that, my wife and daughter had all but turned their ears away from me.

Things weren’t as bad with my son, but we were not as close as we were once before.

The royal capital right now, was like a carpet of needles to me.

“Very well. Then let us begin with this month’s meeting.”

“Hm.”

The meeting started as always.

By placing the army away from the Demon Forest, it seems that the damage to the army has been reduced, and things had managed to settle down by allocating a budget equal to that in peacetime.

Our profits from selling magic stones obtained from the forest had disappeared, but it should be fine as long as we didn’t spend on luxury.

The number of military recreational centers and inns where aristocrats stayed for free had also gone down considerably, but that couldn’t be helped.

The wasted budget allocated on the knight corps. had been cut-down tremendously, so that was also big.

A reorganization was overdue, but I don’t believe there’s a need to revert the overused parts.

“…That will be all.”

“Hm. The reorganization of the knight corps. must be hastened.”

“Yes. Whether it’s fortunate or not, the graduates of the First Royal Academy have been left with nowhere to go, so I planned on hiring those graduates. They have already been enrolled in the army’s recruit training program.”

“…I see.”

The First Royal Academy is also where I graduated from.

It was also where Armilicia went off path as well.

In regards to this incident, there were large changes implemented to the school’s rules.

The interaction between boys and girls was minimized, and all aristocratic groups, including the student council, which boasted great power before, were to be dissolved.

The biggest problem was that many school teachers and alumni were involved in this matter.

They did a lot of things they shouldn’t have done, to ensure that Armilicia’s engagement was successfully canceled.

Otherwise, it was impossible for the Count to have not known what was happening till the very last day.

Perhaps they believed that they wouldn’t be punished had they succeeded, but the result was a big failure.

Many people and organizations had been punished.

Moreover, most of the ones who were punished were people and organizations that had a close relationship with the school.

Of course, they were properly dealt with, but that raised rumors that you would get purged if you were related to the school.

As a result, people of all positions started resenting their connection to the school.

Once having various job openings via its connections, all of it disappeared at once.

Those who were still in their youth, could start from scratch again at the Second or Third Royal Academies, but that wasn’t possible for this year’s graduates.

Among the graduates, those that weren’t from land-holding aristocrats or family-businesses, were left with nowhere to go.

“They are of good stock, and have all undergone magic training, so I’m sure they can all use beginner magic.”

“…It is unavoidable. Go ahead.”

“Understood.”

The Defense Minister replied happily.

With this, the knights shall be placed under military organization.

It seems that he couldn’t contain himself, seeing how the knights who always looked down at his organization were placed under him.

“Then, with that–“

“P-, pardon my intrusion!”

As the meeting was about progress, an out-of-breath soldier rushed inside.

Apparently, bad news has made its way here yet again.

I had come to get used to such news these days.

I question the soldier while squeezing out a tired voice.

“…What news do you bring?”

“Yes my lord. It has been reported that the heir of Duke Disroll Grandheit, forced his way into Duke Lunan Forseed’s residence, and executed him!”

“WHAT!?”

At the unexpected dreadfulness of the news, I knocked down my chair and stood up.

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Author’s note:

The Duke’s son has done it.

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TL note:

Yeah, no kidding.

With this banger, we draw the curtains on this arc. Thanks to everyone who supported me so far!

I hope you enjoyed the series till now, and if so, please rate it 5 stars on novel updates, so more people can read it.

See you in the next one!