Chapter 87
Chapter 87
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 87
Chapter Title: The Finance Minister's Audience
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After Salushin Oga departed for exile, many of the ministers inside Orazan Palace were watching their words carefully.
Finance Minister Nirgak was one of them.
In his view, Salushin had demonstrated excellent political savvy up until now.
Salushin had been confident and highly competent.
It couldn't simply be chalked up to a lack of astronomical knowledge.
'It's true that not only the ministers but even the high officials looked down on foreign scholarship.'
Kail Rak Orazan had long known about the trend among the scholars frequenting the palace of scorning foreign learning.
He might have known even before ascending to the throne.
Yet he had never spoken of it openly, only breaking his silence on the very day of the solar eclipse ritual.
'That must have been because His Majesty wanted to bring down Salushin. He knew exactly how Salushin would act, so he stayed silent until then.'
He was a wise king who knew how to endure patiently when necessary, for as long as it took.
That was what terrified the ministers.
Nirgak especially felt that fear.
With Kail now demonstrating his capabilities, it was only natural for everyone to keep their mouths shut, but the problem lay in the words they had already let slip in the past.
'Damn it.'
Before Kail became king—more precisely, back when Basen was crown prince—the ministers had been divided into two factions.
The Basen faction and the Kail faction.
It had been a struggle over which of the two princes would ascend the throne.
Of course, it had fizzled out after Basen showed he had no interest in the position and King Anpyeong leaned toward Kail, but a king who had endured for years just to topple Salushin would surely remember events from several years ago.
At that time, Nirgak had been a staunch Basen supporter.
It wasn't out of personal dislike for Kail.
Nirgak was deeply conservative and believed that, barring any major flaws, the eldest prince should be crown prince as a matter of course.
Otherwise, the second or third prince—or even some other branch of the royal bloodline—might one day shake up the palace by claiming the throne.
Rules had to be followed—that was Nirgak's conviction.
But rules could sometimes be applied differently.
In the end, Kail had become king.
'How was I supposed to know things would turn out like this?'
Salushin was just the beginning.
Recently, several ministers and officials had faced Kail directly, their past misdeeds exposed, and received punishment.
By comparison, Salushin's treatment had been mild.
Those who had abused their positions to dip into the national treasury or oppress the people had even lost their heads.
It wasn't a full-blown purge.
Kail already knew the sins of the hundred officials and had gathered irrefutable evidence.
Often, punishments were carried out before the other ministers could even speak up.
And now, this quiet storm had reached Nirgak.
"Minister Nirgak."
"Oh, it's Yuchung. What brings you?"
It was Yuchung, the halfkin serving as a left attendant.
He was around Kail's age and had been a playmate in the palace, so despite his low rank, he was one of Kail's favored attendants.
That made him one of the left attendants the ministers feared most these days.
Yuchung said,
"His Majesty wishes to see you."
Nirgak swallowed hard.
'So it has come.'
Nirgak visited Kail in the early evening.
"Finance Minister Nirgak pays his respects to Your Majesty."
"Sit."
The floor was warm from the ondol heating, yet it felt ice-cold to Nirgak.
"Have you eaten?"
"Pardon? Ah, no, not yet."
"Then have some refreshments."
No sooner had he spoken than Yuchung entered with a tray of sweets.
Kail pointed to the sugar candies and said,
"Aren't they pretty?"
"Yes. They look like they were carved by an artisan."
"A gift from Jatong. They say these sugar candies come from far-off Geum-an. The artisans there are highly esteemed, but in hot weather, they just melt into lumps of sugar. Not bad, but the shapes are nicer, don't you think?"
"Indeed."
"Go on, eat."
Seeing Kail's boyish demeanor, Nirgak smiled fondly, thinking of his own grandchildren, then snapped back to reality.
'No. The one before me is not a child, but His Majesty.'
Nirgak said,
"By the way, Your Majesty, what did you summon me for...?"
Kail took a sip from his teacup and said,
"Ah, yes, Finance Minister."
"Yes."
"I happened to look into your past record..."
Nirgak's heart sank.
He didn't think he had done anything truly wrong.
Nirgak was a diligent and responsible official.
The Ministry of Finance managed the national treasury, and King Anpyeong had placed him there precisely because he valued that sense of responsibility.
'But that also makes it easy to find faults.'
The position of Finance Minister was a dangerous one.
Even if Kail didn't act against him, the other ministers might try to trap him.
And even unrelated to his duties, his past as a hardline Basen supporter could trip him up.
Nirgak focused every nerve, hanging on Kail's next words.
Kail said,
"You're from Yanpai, right?"
"Ah, yes. How does Your Majesty know such a backwater place..."
"I looked into it because there are ministers without family names."
"Yes. Unfortunately, our family is unremarkable, with no famous ancestors."
Nirgak bowed his head slightly as he spoke.
A name without a surname meant low-born status.
"Are you ashamed of having no family name?"
"To be honest, yes."
"Why?"
"Our ancestors contributed nothing when Heukrin was founded, so how could we not be ashamed?"
Kail waved his hand dismissively.
"But while other nobles ride on their parents' fame to become officials, didn't you rise to this position through your own efforts? Isn't that proof of your talent?"
Those words stirred deep emotion within Nirgak.
He had his insecurities as a low-born, but also pride in competing with noble officials on his own merits.
Yet he could never show that pride in the palace.
To enter their world, he had to act and think like them, always scrambling to keep up.
But today, the king had acknowledged his abilities.
In a voice thick with emotion, Nirgak said,
"If Your Majesty thinks so, I am deeply moved."
Kail nodded.
"That's why I hope you'll get along well with the Hunting Minister."
"Pardon?"
"He's not from nobility either, is he? You two have productive debates sometimes, but I worry when emotions take over."
Nirgak's barbs toward Hunting Minister Deanin stemmed from that same insecurity.
Deanin always looked down on noble officials, so Nirgak had attacked him to fit in with the nobles.
But that was the past.
Nirgak said sincerely,
"Yes, of course. As Your Majesty wishes."
Kail smiled faintly.
"That's all I wanted to say."
"Pardon?"
Nirgak blinked in surprise.
"Ah, not quite the end. I heard you saw your grandchild again recently..."
The conversation shifted to family matters.
By now, Nirgak's tension had fully eased; he even exchanged light jokes. When he left Kail's chambers, Yuchung handed him an armful of sugar candies on the king's orders.
'Is His Majesty embracing even ministers who opposed his ascension? Heukrin is truly blessed to have such a king. All thanks to the grace of the heavens.'
Nirgak returned home in high spirits.
Meanwhile, right after Nirgak left, the left sliding door of Kail's chambers opened.
Without turning toward the open door, Kail said,
"Do you also see the Finance Minister as a dangerous man?"
"...No."
"Then we're done. Come, you try some too."
The one who replied hesitated before rising and sitting before Kail.
It was Deanin, the lizardman with pale scales and red eyes.
"The Finance Minister is diligent. I don't think we need to push him just because your relationship isn't great..."
"You don't really think that, do you, Your Majesty?"
In Deanin's mind, Nirgak was potentially dangerous.
Of course, "potentially" meant not an immediate threat.
The truly dangerous ministers had already been dealt with one way or another, solidifying Kail's position.
But in Deanin's view, once the dangerous ones were gone, it was time for the potentially dangerous.
Kail seemed to think differently.
"As I told the Finance Minister, I hope you two get along."
"But..."
"But?"
Kail narrowed his eyes at Deanin.
"Are you unaware that you enjoy dancing on the edge of a blade?"
Deanin stiffened at the words.
After deciding to help Kail become king, Deanin had devoted himself to that cause.
And after Kail ascended, to strengthening the throne.
The Hunting Minister still held a low seat in the grand council hall, but no one truly believed that.
Using drake management as an excuse, he had secured personnel and funds steadily deployed to uncover the ministers' scandals and weaknesses.
Deanin believed it was all for the king—for Kail.
'But wasn't it all for myself?'
In truth, what Kail had said to Nirgak applied equally to Deanin.
Nirgak's insecurity had driven him to join the nobles; Deanin's had driven him to best them.
Deanin had a late realization.
'This seat was made not just for Nirgak, but for me as well.'
Kail was no mere clever king.
He possessed a wisdom like that of an ancient sage, beyond mere precociousness.
'Perhaps even this loyalty was instilled by His Majesty. Then this blade must serve his will.'
Deanin poured tea into the cup Nirgak had used and drank it down.
"Your Majesty is right. I'll make an effort to get along with the Finance Minister."
"Good thinking. You'll be busier from now on, so you can't keep focusing solely on internal palace squabbles."
"I will keep that in mind."
Kail nodded, touching the teapot.
"The tea's gone cold."
"Yes. It's been a while."
"Why didn't you say so earlier? ...Yuchung, the tea's cold."
Yuchung soon bustled in with a fresh teapot.
As Yuchung left, Kail refilled Deanin's cup and said,
"By the way, what happened to that furious alchemist?"
"You mean Hwi Rabina Muel?"
Kail nodded.
Deanin wet his lips with the hot tea and said,
"He should have arrived at the palace by now."