During these fun yet calm days Epis looked towards his father and questioned.
"Father can I help in managing our territories ? It might help me to get the overall picture also it might help me understand the market and sell more of my works more discreetly all the while making some more funds for the empire." Looking towards Edwin Zash finally asked if he had proved his worth.
"Cough* spilling out the contents he ate earlier Edwin didn't know what to think this son of his was already earning so much from a personal standpoint his earnings from just a few days can match an Royal Marquis's Yearly sallery yet this Good son of his wanted to expand and earn more !? Havier too had a keen eye as more earnings meant more income both the student and Teacher can spend on Medical Fields hiring and Making a personal team of assistances or might even have funds to raise children's in due time the future looked bright in her eyes.
Estr just couldn't take the situation believable yet diagressed from saying or doing anything for he was already improving Monstrously from Just being besides his Little brother's presence thinking that there might be some logic towards people calling him a Apostel or something.
All eyes in the room darted towards Edwin then wanting to hear his reply.
"Ah yes but what's the hurry anyways ? Take it slow don't worry we don't have anything to worry about in our Empire." As he said this he was brimming with confidence.
"Father so can you explain the news you've been getting from the guards and clear messages taken away or slipped from brother's quarters ? I do notice these things along the while I've also been snooping around hearing the news of Demons Invading us. Please be honest with me so I can figure out a strategy to help, if I don't know the full situation I can only do so much.
"Wha-" looking mindbuzzed Hausa was sure he was only seen once taking the papers and important documents from Estr's Room which he got delivered by a trusted route and personalized soldiers. Only for Zash to get a hold of nevertheless even he didn't notice he was caught red-handed making him imagine how much knowledge he had over the entire palace.
Edwin too didn't say anything as Estr was similarly shocked by this revelation as was Havier.
"I-i won't allow Estr to return to the battlefield. Neither can you go ! I can't imagine leaving Our children to act as sacrifice and rat away in a battlefield !" Trembling a bit he returned to his normal posture with tears welling up in his eyss.
"In the end I too am quite selfish I only realised it at the time we were together, being constantly depressed due to you mother is the reason for my selflessness I simply didn't cared enough about anything only wanting to protect the things she has left behind but only after spending more time did I realize that you both are the only important things after your mother and the Empire which doesn't wants me ! I finally realised this ! It's not our problems ! They can go to Hell for all I care ! All is good as it is so don't worry son, have some Fait in your Father as well." Giving off a smirk not knowing to whom whether towards his enemies or himself with a tear dripping by his cheek he stunned all the people present for this was the first instance of him showing such selfishness which warmed one's heart up.
"Father it's not that I want to go on the battlefield. Can I put my reasoning to back up my interest ?" Questioning the somewhat unstable father of his he continued sternly.
"Hah you- you seriously Don't act your age at all. Very well tell me your piece of mind." Agreeing to this he sighed and let him speak while all the important staff butler's, guards, Havier and Estr seemed to get an imposing vibe from the atmosphere as this was the most heated things had gotten ever in this Room in their Lifetimes.
"Thank you, now as I was saying there's a certain number of problems with barricading ourselves in our Empire while there are advantages the disadvantages are 10 times as greater I speculate at least from the information I have from scramble pieces of news." Talking professionally Havier was proud of what had become of her student already taking on an argument with a King being less than 3 months old. The thaught alone was horrifying !
Explaining the advantages one might Face like momentary lapse in technology or techniques that might improve or regress progress or how things might lead to the downfall of the entire world Edwin and all the people were stunned by how discreptive his explanation got from Plagues or diseases that might spread to even crazy people hellbent on taking others with them almost as if an all knowing God was preaching what the horrors future might contain as everyone was forced to take in the picture.
"So as I was saying from the reports I read it seems brother is being Targeted by many nations all those Backstabbing Ba**** seem to desire over our fertile lands or so as I've also read some disputes over territories starting as such staying out of trouble is our of questions indeed that might help us in the short while as it might get us into trouble later on Ultimately ending all of us as there might not even be people left to call it an Empire at that stage. As I can almost envision it all right before my eyes while we are Fighting within ourselves what do you think the Demons might do ? Of course they're bound to use that time to prepare and expanded unlike the fools who claim themselves as kings doing nothing but torturing whoever catches their erch, keeping them in dungeons, exploiting poor people, foolish nobles ignoring their duties getting bribes and always turning a blind eye to malpractices, only thinking about profit. It's a SH*TSTORM of Mess waiting to happen. I need to get all the information as these things can be avoided in our territories and of course there's a possibility that things might just be a little bit less hazardous as I still have much speculations to do and so on." Looking towards everyone Genuinely he said again.
"Overall I too am quite selfish satjer I can't watch Brother and Teacher and common innocent people getting hurt, we are in our positions ultimately because we are chosen to Guide them, that is the way I see things, we are not ruling them but to guide them towards a better future for we are in this position that is my genuine reasoning behind my curiosity to know about the overall situation." After saying his piece the Dining Hall was silent deadthly silence surprise was a word which seemed too light to describe this scenario as Edwin just nodded with a slight smile and said.
"Very well you are to do as you please ! Benedrict ! Hausa ! Relay him everything you do and the situation of our territories also help him assign good trusted individuals to sell his artworks to proper distributories ! I trust my Son's above all Treat Estr and Epis as Kings if my presence is necessary for making important decisions ! I'll be resting. Hahahaha I'll be taking a short leave you can do anything you both want in the king's quarters also remember to treat Miss Havier as a Royal, that goes without sayin." Waving his hand Edwin left the room much to everyone's surprised as if he was an completely different person.
Estr and Epis too were shocked by this behaviour to which Benedrict seeing their surprise said.
"The King wasn't always like he is portrays himself around these times Prince Estr was too young to remember it anyways as for more than10 years he's lost his love, since the moment Princess Diana went into eternal Slumber along with the Yong Prince he's had half his life taken from him the only reason he is living till now is just holding up the Empire for his Wife's sake and hoping that she'd wake up one day like Prince Epis has sigh*" sighing a bit Hausa and Benedrict let them finish their food and awaited them to follow behind them as both the Prince's were about to be fully made aware of the situation this Empire has been facing along with all its troubles.
"So. You're telling me father's being hiding crucial news from me ?" Estr butted in the conversation quite annoyed with this revelation.
"I'm very sorry my Prince but we had to !" Bowing down they didn't uttered a word while Estr was helplessly sighing.
"Brother please don't blame them your safety is more important above all ! We need to act seeing the situation overall, anyways please brief me over the problems our Empire is currently facing.
"As you order my Liege Firstly we were suffering from income shortages which are now quite stable due to the changes made by Miss Havier along with your own significant contributions towards expanding our wealth, Secondly we are facing a many bribery cases from Nobles on all sides of social and political standings, protests are happening around constantly as taxes are increased by them constantly under disguise and as such public anger against King Edwin is acting up as he's become a common source of hate for the Empire but as of yet people are still quite understanding but the nobles unfavouring to our sides have been making plans..." Explaining everything in detail Estr and Epis Facepalmed hard thinking about how their father even dealth with these issues ! They're Literally getting F***** Quite in the Literal sense of both outside and inside while the other kingdoms too eyes Their properties and such, one can easily imagine the troublesome plans made against them ahead of time if something the Demon Invasion is only the nail in the coffin Zash was sweating at this point thinking.
'Holy Sh*t Thank F*** I woke up and held this idiot of a brother back if something I'd let him fool around with Teacher a bit more talk about a Major Bullet avoided phew~'.
"Ahem* Big Brother you're not to go in the battlefield at all if I am correct for the time Being I hope you won't foolishly rush into the battlefield to die a pointless death right ?"
Hearing this Estr just gave a stern frustrated nod understanding the situation more clearly as more he taught about the situation.
"Next please Call Teacher I want to make a few preparations for now at least as of currently we cannot be harmed by any external factors for the time being. I want to make a few plans ahead of time, they might come in handy against Humans as for Demons I don't know much, maybe teacher can help us as she's more clear about places as she's more of a wandering person." Saying so Zash told Estr how his absence can cause a headache for their enemies and as such might lead to Major clashes in between them as such they or external forces can use that opportunity to take advantages over them.
"It's alright little brother please I understand I'm not an fool alright ?" Estr couldn't bear to say it out loud.
"Yes I know. If I didn't I'd never lend a helping hand in pushing you and teacher's relationship forward. You better treat her nicely in the future !" Saying so Zash sorted out the contents above the table while making room for the map to be placed in clear vision while Estr stared wide eyed looking towards this little brother of his unable to utter a word for a while until Havier came into the room.
"Teacher do you know about the territories around is which might seem suitable for setting up ambushes ? Or can you please describe how the environment of certain places are ? I want to be prepared in case of future invasions from both Demons and humans side."
"I don't know how much I can help but I'll try my best to lend you a hand this place is a ride you see there are areas which are too steep which are perfect for ambushes and holding off enemies as for this place soil is infertile and as such much harsher environment and loose soil which causes landslides often, as for this marked location on the north east there's a marsh there I think it's highly unlikely anyone who has a brain will try to cross it as it's much more humid there also a lot of poisonous insects and snakes inhabit this place....." Going on and on Estr and the guards were surprised beyond belief how detailed these information was almost to the level of knowledge a local possessed.
"What are you all looking so stunned for I've went to almost every corner of this mainland, dealth with my share of dangers in all fields of course I ask about these things to the locals as well one cannot be guaranteed to be more prepared the more you know the better it is." People nodded on all sides like chickens hearing Havier's comment.
"Also while we are on that topic can you please tell me where they appeared from and some details destruction they had caused maybe that'll make their powers more clearer, does anybody has any information ?" Rubbing his chin Zash asked to which Benedrict replied.
"Here's a Detailed report we received from the Northwestern Nation adjacent to our neighbouring side there are detailed accounts of confrontations from these kingdoms". Passing in a report sheet Zash opened it and started reading.
About 20-30 seconds in Zash looked quite annoyed while after a minute Zash was silent and quite angry. Everyone was silent as this was the first time they had seen such an expression on their Young Prince's face even Havier and Estr were quite tensed seeing this expression.
"Little brother what's wrong ? " Estr asked to which Zash half calmly replied.
"Let me read it out the contents of this letter so that you can try to get what I'm feeling.
""Day 9th of The lunar Eclipse Everything was peaceful and quite while suddenly two kids of unknown origins came to the fudal lord's mansion wanting to ask something but noticing their Horns petrified guards wasted no second and Captured the Demon while badly wounding one teen demon while the other one managed to overpower him and escape wile being badly wounded. An expedition was launched to track that demon and to exterminate it as it was claimed by many Nobles that they were deemed responsible for being manipulated by the Demons, the crimes committed by the nobles in that specific areas, all the high arching echelons of the society were released and joined hands and finally killed the other teen Demon while the Expedition squad was returning they met up with a Group of 300 or so Demons who seeing their bretherin tried to trick the squad leader Saying "Tell us who amongst you is responsible for his death and we'll let the others go " the Knights obviously refused with their demands and henceforth a fight started the confident knight captain fought toe to toe till the bitter end but the full squadron of more than a thousand people was wiped out except for a few escapes who spread the news and henceforth since then their numbers kept increasing and soon they conquered a ruins of an ancient neighbouring Country making it their Den !
They even had the gall to call for the release of their teen Devil wishing to come to an agreement but we stedied on Showing the POWER IF MANKIND TO-" tearing down the report Zash exclaimed at the top of his lungs his voice no longer childish fitting his age as he emendateds a strong pressure which caused palpation a to those around him.
[Side Quest Discovered -
Object - Solve the dispute between Demons and The Crystal Heart Empire ]
"Like ***********F********** HELL you Do Stupid C*N** !?! Stupid Sons of B*tches ! What The F**k? Even going as far as to getting the rest of the Humaity and even our Empire involved in this F***Fest ?!" Cursing nonstop the palace lit up with swearing left to right everyone to recognise Zash's voice were stunned speechless not knowing how to react at the given situation.
At this point Zashin Epis's body was Literally fuming thinking about the fools and curing these idiots in any way shape or form he even cracked the floor while stomping in annoyance.
"Li- little brother what's wrong with that ? They're Demons they should be exterminated as soon as possible I too agree with that. They're a threat to us and every single race in existence."
"Thanks right Epis why are you so annoyed ?"
"Fools !!!" Saying this Zash stunned them both as if they were seeing Epis for the first time in their life who just so happened to insult them for the first time ever.
"You are asking me what's wrong ? I ask you myself what do you do when two kids come in our kingdoms Normal kids or Kids like Havier or Dwarves of kinds should they be killed or imprisoned ?! And what's up with the Demons demanding their kin back !? What more humans are the one's to do harm towards them first ! Tell me if it happened to anyone's else's kin be they Human or Your king Teacher how would you react ? Are you too normalised by the common norms so much that you cannot even destination between falsehood to such an greater extent ? I guess it makes sense in a society where every child born Surrounded in Shitty Thinking and ideologies is bound to catch a foul smell and a certain tolerance to make it ignorable hahaha." Havier and Estr hearing this were far from Pleased to say the least yet they were coming close to understanding what Epis meant all they needed was a final push.
"Say teacher you are not a perfect race I say aren't you close to demons ? On that note I'm a Magus right ? While brother is also overly talented for his age right ? Aren't we perfect examples of outclass individuals ourselves ? Think about it is everything perfect ? They're nothing but a race who grows horns in my eyes other than that didn't the report say they can converse ? Can monsters converse ? They're clearly a Sentiern beings like us by wishing to exterminate we are showing our agression towards a cornered species."
"Teacher think about it if your species too had grown horns how would you be treated ? Would you like that ? Your species's destruction being caused due to minor differences in body properties? How the F*** does this kind of thinking even makes sense in any way or form ?" Saying so Zash in Epis's body was nearly breathless and sat down wishing he could get drunk on some quality wine sighing and Sighing from time and time again.
The entire room was silent by this confrontations from a species's point of view what they were doing is much obviously more severe than they thaught.
'if Havi turned out to be a Demon would I still love her ? Of course I Would !' clearing his conscious Estr's view was more clearer than ever, as he looked towards his little brother he asked in a timely manner
"So little brother how can we make up for our mistakes ?"
"First off we have to make up for the damage we caused at the same time I reckon we might be called heretics by the religious communities as such I'll go full on Wild with my way of things. I'll be painting and smithing nonstop also call your troops back and 'ONLY' your MOST trusted individuals and test them in terms of loyalty too, once they've gathered I'll make personalized equipments for them and deal a major blow to our enemies this time, also I'll be visiting the Demon Capital in the near future to negotiate and explain and ask for some understanding in this matter. As for now we need to increase in Every aspect to an extent. Let's go brother I want to train the more the better, also I'll be awake for a tonight and diverse a strategy for finance related issues as such I might need a guy good with taking notes and good at understanding the overall situation and is genuinely the kind of person who will stay loyal and helpful those are the qualities we are looking for mostly no matter how much of a Geniuses we recruit if they're not genuine and are bas**** Wolf's hiding in a heeps clothing even a lion might be killed by them." Hearing Zashs words Estr just nodded and prepared for the Brewing S**T-STORM
As Epis went out of the room still frustrated Benedrict breathed out in relief feeling the pressure looming over them being lifted a few guards stumbled and came back to reality.
"I have to say our Prince is so knowledgeable if only he wasn't so overboard with cursing he could have had been even better ! Saying so they turned to Havier who was known for cursing time to time.
"Don't go looking at me like that ! I Swear I didn't teach him any of those words !" No matter how much she protested the guards and Estr too gave her genuine looks of understanding.
'We understand that you're Bulls***ing us but we won't say it for your sake' many of the Knights would soon turn old and needed to go to the doctors to check up, who knew what she might do to get her revenge upon them when it was their time
"Hmph!~ at least you believe me right ?"looking towards Estr pleasingly she didn't mind being misunderstood by others but things were different for Estr's case as for Estr himself, he was not at all in a position to say shit about his lover's attitude and nodded his head like a grain pecking chicken'
For the time Zash just made paintings on the sidelines and even made a personal small smeltery adjacent to his room where he put metals to heat up for certain amount of time and put his focus on other tasks, multy-tasking so much so that no one could claim to even coming close to catching up to him while Zash was getting the hang of it as time passed, he too improved.
Havier and Estr sometimes walking past his room would even question themselves if they were seeing things right, as a moment ago Epis would write or engrave poems, carve writings on marbles, draw unique artworks while lifting weights on the other free hand whenever he got the chance, after a while, and smelt things like small blades, chains and poles, Armours for various kinds, at this point it was not even a room fitting of a Prince anymore various things piled up and down many things were taken for being sold but the thing is no matter how much is taken in an hour or so more will be made eventually Earnings a Significant Amount of Income which might affect an Empire's Financial problems for a a few months, at this point the Guards, staff and Epis's family including his teacher gave up thinking as that might cause them to have permanent brain damage, letting him do anything he wanted.
And so Zash came up with various plans while waiting for his brother to select a few trustworthy troops so that he could train them himself.
"Hmm sales on this particular Part is lacking what's the problems ?"looking towards the particular parts which were meant to sell certain types Paintings and poetries meant to milk out every noblemen's pockets in the auction hall Zash noticed a fair decline in revenue and couldn't help but ask.
"Ummm your majesty it's the Local country advisor who steals things from time to time I've read reports where he sometimes had control over putting certain things on auction and gets to have priority above things and has to pay only a slight portion as such he gets to keep some... Benefits and services..." The sales advisor selected by Zash Who was in his Mid 30-34s said not knowing how to respond.
"That's Unacceptable !" Without going too deep he just said this as he was still checking up on things as his other hand was busy painting on an canvas.
"You send him a letter stating that he's not allowed to do that, in fact no noble is allowed to do that Royalties included ! Even if it's me or My Brother, Teacher, Father, You, Our Future Descendant or anybody else in these areas don't use such means, using Money to buy things for them or use it as a relationship chip."
"Money should be kept different from relationships if you give money to a friend for instance don't expect to pay him back if something goes wrong you'll lose both loved ones alongside the money you might need, is his alligence towards his Empire only this much that, he is very much welcomed to quit also write this 'Return everything you've Taken by such background means of course things win by him will be kept by him while things he's taken by underpaying for them must be returned, henceforth he'll received 95% of his spendings worth returned upon them also depending on their conditions" speaking like a true businessman the Sales advisor quiveringly wrote things down not knowing what to make out of this situation a kid barely 10 is instructing him more intelligently then he may never be in his lifetime as such he began questioning his hardworking and understandings looking towards Epis's with eyes or reverence he taught
'I thaught all the Rulers were similarly greedy people but looking at this freak before me I understand These people are Meant To Rule over us while people like me are meant to do their biddings for the betterment of the overall picture but still isn't this Too Much !?' While writing and lost in his mind he who was praised for multitasking looked at this God at multitasking feeling ashamed for even boasting at being ' Better's how the Fu** was he supposed to compared to this monster ?! He asked himself but in the end continued to write sighing thinking about how certain people are bound to be better and not to let depression get the better of him.
"Also in this week, I'll be attending this Auction myself it seems a Noble is causing troubles I'll give him a chance, he better appreciate it or I'll make him vomiting out everything he's eaten since his birth'' saying things so casually the people who were there to pick stuff up for sale and the Sales Advisor stopped and looked at eachother awkwardly and prayed for the greedy basturd who had caught this Demon's eyes.