Chapter 186 – Proposal

“You’re late.”

The Patriarch commented when he saw Calron arrive in front of the palace gate.

“I just finished the mission and came directly here as quick as I could.”

Calron replied while glancing at the guards nearby.

“You’re not going to ask how I did?”

“If you’re here, then it means that you were successful. If you had failed an easy mission like that, you would not have been chosen by the Divine Element.”

The old man winked at Calron and started to walk towards the large gate. The stationed guards smoothly opened the gate to let him pass as Calron followed behind him.

“I don’t get why I was summoned here? I have no relation to the politics at court.”

Calron mumbled, keeping in stride with the Patriarch.

“After your circus at the reward ceremony, you had already stepped into the world of politics… and not in a strong position.”

The old man glanced at his clan member with worry. Although the Raizel clan had the most powerful warriors in the city, their actual members were too few in number to contest against the rest of the tower clans. Hence, they could not blatantly oppose the Royal Family or the other nobles and had to accept the law.

The law of the King.

“Is it because of the slaves?”

Calron had a feeling that his summons to the palace was most likely related to the situation with the slaves. They were about to be free soon, and maybe the King did not feel comfortable with having that many slaves associated with the Raizel clan.

“Yes, I’ve gotten news that quite a number of the nobles are unhappy with the abolishment of slavery and are starting to force the King’s hand to remedy the situation. Since the King had publicly accepted your request to free the slaves, he cannot take back his promise but he’ll now be pressured to appease the nobles somehow.”

The Patriarch talked while the two of them calmly walked towards the throne room. They were almost there.

“Unhappy? I think they were a lot more than simply unhappy.”

Calron chuckled, knowing that the nobles would be infuriated at the loss of a colossal revenue that slave auctions provided.

“Your request was for a good cause, but as with all good things, there are consequences to face after achieving them. Try to stay quiet in the meeting and let me talk. You’re inexperienced in matters of politics and the hyenas at the court will devour you if you give them even a small opening.”

The Patriarch placed his hand on Calron’s chest to halt him from moving and look down at him to get this point across. From the serious look on the old man’s face, Calron could do nothing but nod in acceptance.

“Let’s go.”

The Patriarch smiled in response and opened the massive door in front of him.

It was the throne room.

………………………….

“My lady, you should be in your etiquette class now!”

An old maid ran after a teenage girl in the palace gardens, while the girl giggled and escaped from the old woman’s clutches.

“That’s a stupid class and you know it, Breta. I rather learn how to hold a sword than to pinch my dress and do a bow for the bratty young lords.”

Vivian shouted, slumping down on the grass and panting out of breath.

“Sword? What need does a young princess have with a sword? You’ll only damage your pretty skin as any warrior will be much stronger than you.”

Breta wiped the sweat away from her forehead and was similarly out of breath.

Vivian rolled her eyes at her maid’s statement but did not refute her point as it would get her nowhere with the stubborn old woman. There were plenty of young women who were strong as warriors and trained every day with weapons. Even some of her friends like Mirane and Linda cultivated as warriors and could beat most of the snobby young lords.

However, she was not allowed to train with a weapon or learn how to fight.

Vivian let out an exasperated sigh and stared up at the sky.

Who’s that?

From the corner of her eyes, she spotted a young teen and a Tower Lord enter her father’s throne room.

That guy was the one Linda was talking about!

Vivian quickly got up from the ground once she realized who he was, and rushed towards the throne room.

“Huh? Slow down, my lady!”

Breta muttered in confusion and resumed the chase.

…………………………..

“Your Majesty, there have been several complaints of late with the issue regarding the slaves.”

Resir stepped up in front and bowed in front of the King. Around half a dozen nobles were standing behind him, giving him their silent approval and displaying which faction they belonged to.

Once Calron and the Patriarch entered the throne room, Resir and the other nobles were already in discussion with the King about something but stopped once the duo arrived.

“Slavery was a major part of our economy and with your Majesty’s rash decision, it has effected the nobles’ lands and prosperity. We will have to increase the taxes on our citizens in order to maintain the troops, rations, houses, training, salary, etc. This has destabilized our economy and the people will suffer for it.”

Resir continued in a loud voice as the King patiently listened.

“You don’t need to increase the taxes to maintain the affairs of the city, just don’t gobble up most of the profits and you’ll have more than enough to pay for the troops and their salaries.”

The Patriarch snorted at Resir’s speech. If the nobles spent half as much as they earned on troops, rations and their salaries, then all of them would eventually be able to become elites. However, they only focused their investment on their bodyguards and clan members while giving paltry equipment to the rest of the troops.

“Raising taxes will cause havoc with the commoners, so we found another solution to fix this problem.”

Resir completely ignored the Patriarch’s interruption and continued on.

“And what is it?”

The King finally spoke, a tired expression on his face.

Calron could tell that the nobles and other powers of the city had been pressuring him to handle this situation before it escalated any further. If all the nobles turned on him, then he would no longer have any power as a King.

“We will equally divide the slaves amongst the six towers and the nobles whose previous businesses depended on slavery. The slaves will give us manpower for construction, labor and recruitment for the army.”

Resir smiled at the King, a confident look etched on his face.

“NO!”

Calron abruptly yelled, taken aback by what was said. Resir’s proposal would inevitably put the ex-slaves back into slavery and Calron would definitely not let that happen.

“Foolish brat… ”

The Patriarch sighed next to Calron, knowing what was about to come.

“Calron, you have something to say?”

Resir turned around with a sly grin.

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