Chapter 212
Translator: Vine
Chapter: 212
Chapter Title: King of Maren
“Sir Eugene’s doing alright, isn’t he?”
“In a battle of fifty against eight hundred, he came out victorious. And has Sir Eugene ever lost a single time before this?”
“Hmm. True enough.”
At Trevik’s firm declaration, the worry finally lifted from the mayor of Maren’s face.
Truth be told, it wasn’t that he didn’t trust Eugene. But occupying a kingdom’s capital was an entirely different matter.
It would be stranger not to feel any anxiety in the face of such a pivotal event that might even change the king.
“The arrow has already left the bowstring. All we can do now is wait for the results. It’ll work out somehow.”
“Hmm. That’s exactly what I wanted to talk about... There’s no law saying we have to just sit here and wait, is there?”
“Pardon?”
As Trevik tilted his head, the mayor leaned forward in the office—empty save for the two of them—as if wary of eavesdroppers, whispering conspiratorially.
“This is something only the guildmaster and I have discussed so far.”
“Yes?”
What on earth is he getting at?
More than curiosity, Trevik unconsciously leaned in too, mirroring the mayor’s cautious tension.
“Assuming Sir Eugene seizes the royal castle. The current king would be dethroned without fail, and a new one crowned.”
“Well, that goes without saying.”
“But no matter how I think about it, the chances of our man getting the throne are zero.”
The current king could be deposed, but replacing the royal family itself was impossible. That would be outright treason.
In the end, from the nobility’s perspective—which prized honor and legitimacy above all—it was obvious they’d elevate a suitable member of the current royal line as the new king.
“Hmm...”
Trevik smacked his lips, out of his depth in such intimate political matters, and the mayor spoke with evident frustration.
“What I’m saying is, whoever we back, the nobles won’t just accept it. Nine times out of ten, the coalition led by Earl Winslon will push their own candidate onto the throne.”
“I see. But why does that...?”
“No matter who it is, the new king won’t look kindly on Sir Eugene or us in Maren. After all, aren’t we the decisive reason the current king is being toppled? They’ll definitely want to distance themselves from us. The noble coalition will drill into him that he needs to watch us closely.”
“Hmm. Got it.”
“Yeah. At best, we’ll get some scraps—tax breaks, maybe some administrative, legislative, and judicial authority. Of course, that’s not bad. Not bad at all, but...”
Trevik’s eyes widened as enlightenment dawned, and the mayor lowered his voice even further.
“We’d have to pull the same stunt all over again against this new royalist faction.”
“...I agree.”
Once the new king ascended, his supporting noble coalition would become the new royalists.
And from the start, an independent port city like Maren could never get along with the hereditary nobility.
Right now, they rode the same boat due to the current king and the cardinal, but in a reorganized order, they’d eye each other warily for sure.
“So what do you plan to do? Ask Sir Eugene outright to pick the new king? Even the nobles wouldn’t swallow a demand that outrageous.”
“Of course not. Besides, Sir Eugene only cares about pulling down the current king and cardinal—the aftermath doesn’t concern him. No way he’d listen even if we begged.”
“Then...”
The mayor’s eyes gleamed as he spoke.
“We should crown Sir Eugene as king of Maren.”
“...!!!“
It was the biggest shock Trevik had felt since meeting the mayor.
“W-Wait, Mayor? What are you saying? Sure, I get it for me, but would the other guilds and citizens accept that? Maren’s a free city. A monarchy?”
“Don’t misunderstand. Not the kind of monarchy you’re imagining. Sir Eugene would be, well, a figurehead. He’d have virtually no real power.”
“A f-figurehead?”
“Exactly. Eugene would be king in name, but real authority would lie with us—the guilds, centered in a council. The king and royal family would only earn the citizens’ respect. Of course, we’d cover all costs to maintain his dignity and the household.”
“Wait, what? Money aside, would Sir Eugene even accept such a position?”
“He will. Probably.”
“...?”
Trevik stared in disbelief, and the mayor shrugged.
“I thought it was nonsense at first too. But after reviewing what Sir Eugene did in Brantia in detail, I saw the potential.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“All the nobles and knights in Brantia respect and fear one figure above their king: Duke Bartla—that is, Sir Eugene.”
“...!”
“And it’s not just them. Orcs, elves, vampires... regardless of race, they fear him more than their king. The current Brantian king only sits the throne because he was Sir Eugene’s squire. The knights who returned from there all testify to it, so it must be true.”
“Whoa!”
“Here’s the key point... Would Sir Eugene really be unaware of this?”
“Of course he knows.”
Trevik nodded immediately. The Eugene he knew was a knight of historically rare prowess, but also frighteningly quick-witted.
“Exactly. He knew and did it anyway. He could’ve taken the throne himself but handed it to his squire. That’s where the guildmaster and I became convinced of one thing.”
“W-What’s that?”
Gazing at Trevik’s stunned face, the mayor flashed a sly smile.
“Sir Eugene has little interest in power. And as long as no one messes with him and they repay him properly, he’ll turn a blind eye to being used to some extent.”
“...!”
Trevik’s eyes went wide.
People without ambition for power actually existed?
But thinking it over, it rang true.
At the very least, based on everything Knight Yan Eugene had shown since arriving in Maren, he truly seemed to have no desire for power.
And whenever it benefited him, just as the mayor said, he’d been incredibly cooperative.
“And here’s the best part if Sir Eugene becomes our king in Maren. The decisive reason we must make him so.”
“I think I know.”
“Oh? Do tell.”
“Yes. Combining his martial prowess with our forces means no new king or noble coalition would dare touch our city—no, our kingdom.”
“Hahaha! You truly are Maren’s finest recruiting officer.”
The mayor beamed at Trevik’s response.
“Then I take it you agree with my thinking, Trevik.”
“Yes.”
There was no downside to pushing forward, so Trevik nodded briskly.
“Alright, then. Time to get to work. First off...”
And so began the plan to make Eugene ‘king’ of Maren.
* * *
“Gaaah! Monster!”
“It’s a d-dragon!”
Oblivious to the developments brewing in Maren, Eugene rampaged freely in the capital of Kaylor Kingdom.
To the capital dwellers, who rarely saw mid-to-large monsters, he looked no different from a legendary evil dragon.
Of course, slaughter wasn’t his goal, so he spared the common folk.
But even just roaring deafeningly and smashing buildings sent the people scattering in terror.
The first to charge in were, predictably, the capital guards.
“Urgh!”
“K-Knight! Call the knights, quick!”
But with the elite forces all away fighting the noble coalition, the guards couldn’t even approach the drake-transformed Eugene.
Having never seen real combat, let alone demon beast subjugations, their legs turned to jelly at the sight of such an overwhelming top-tier monster.
‘Is that it?’
Meanwhile, Eugene lightly demolished a few more buildings and spotted the capital’s tallest structure—the royal castle—and bounded toward it.
“Gasp! The dragon’s heading for the castle!”
“Chase it!”
The guards pursued in a panic.
And the news of a drake appearing in the heart of the capital reached the castle immediately.
Impossible to miss from the capital’s highest vantage: a three-meter-tall, ten-meter-long behemoth causing havoc.
“W-What in the world is that!?”
A royal guard gaped at the drake leaping from rooftop to rooftop, smashing spires indiscriminately.
“A monster! A dragon! A dragon’s appeared!”
“No! How the hell did a monster like that get into the capital!?”
One of the royal guards protecting the king bellowed, but no one could answer.
“Dragon! The dragon’s coming this way!”
“Huh? Not this way? That direction is... Gasp!?”
The guard’s face drained of color.
The forest the monster—questionable even if dozens of knights could fell it—was charging toward was the royal hunting grounds.
* * *
Word of a top-tier monster invading the capital and wreaking frenzied destruction spread quickly to the cardinal and the king’s mage.
Their reactions couldn’t have been more opposite.
“W-What!?”
The cardinal reeled at the report of a massive, dragon-like monster suddenly appearing in the capital’s center, killing people and demolishing buildings indiscriminately.
But he quickly composed himself into a pious, solemn expression befitting a man of the cloth.
“I understand. For such an evil beast defying God’s will to appear in this great city under His grace... Leave this to me. Attend to His Majesty.”
Drawing the holy sign over the golden relic at his chest, the cardinal embodied courage and devotion, utterly saintly.
“Ooh! Your Eminence!”
The royal guard who brought the news was deeply moved by the kingdom’s highest cleric—personally commissioned by the Holy Empire’s pope himself—in such a holy display.
But once the guard departed for the castle...
“Brothers, assemble all holy knights at the grand cathedral.”
“Pardon? Not the castle?”
The cardinal barked at the surprised clerics, still stern as ever.
“Hey now! Brothers, are we not servants of God, upholding His will? In this crisis, we must defend the house of our Lord—where else?”
Fine words, but it boiled down to fleeing to the cathedral under the holy knights’ protection.
“Ah...”
The clerics instantly grasped his true intent.
Yet they were all men of the cloth, and his words held no doctrinal flaw.
Moreover.
“Brothers! Make haste!”
“Yes! We must safeguard His house with faith and prayer!”
The castle clerics had long pledged loyalty to the cardinal. And being human, they too yearned to escape danger first.
Thus, as the cardinal and clerics ignobly fled the castle for the cathedral...
“A dragon? Certain?”
“Y-Yes, Duke Dolgwen! A black dragon as big as a mage tower!”
“Hmm. A true dragon would breathe fire and fly. Besides, I’d have sensed it...”
“How should I know! Anyway, you must step in!”
At the knight’s plea, the mage—who still wore his drab robe indoors—slowly raised his head.
He always kept his hood up, his face indistinguishable, perhaps due to magic.
But the knight swallowed dryly at the single exposed red eye.
He was a knight.
At this range, slicing the shabby mage’s throat should be trivial—but oddly, he felt he mustn’t.
That inexplicable pressure and mystery might explain the king’s favor.
“That’s no true dragon. Likely a drake.”
“A drake?”
“A half-formed dragon monster. Still top-tier, so subduing it would take at least twenty knights—and only in a confined demon beast lair. In an open space like the castle, driving it off is the best you can hope for.”
“S-Such a beast...”
“But there’s a way.”
“Truly?”
“I swear on the name of magic. Leave it to me.”
His face remained hidden, but the knight somehow sensed the creepy mage smirking.
(To be continued next time)