Chapter 17
With the loss of the ringleader, the Almeria rebellion was quickly put down by Brother Henry.
The cheers of the ministers echoed in the audience room of the royal palace where the news was delivered.
The messenger who brought back the news knelt before His Majesty and continued.
"Most of those who plotted the rebellion have been captured. We wish to seek Your Majesty's approval."
"Mm."
His Majesty nodded quietly.
The expression on his face is calm – it's not that he's unconcerned.
Rather, he was furious, as if he was about to blow fire from his eyes.
"Tell Henry to bring every single one of them to the capital."
"Yes!"
"How do you intend to do this?"
After the messenger had left, the First Vizier stepped out of the ministerial line and asked His Majesty about his intentions.
"It' s clear, I will not allow any rebellion in Noah' s territory. Prepare the oxen and horses, they will dismember the whole clan."
Understanding from His Majesty's tone that his anger was genuine, the ministers agreed with him verbatim.
"Your Majesty,"
I left the queue and got down on one knee next to the First Vizier.
"Wait for me, Noah. I'll get them —-"
"With all due respect, Your Majesty. This is not allowed."
"– ripped to pieces at ... what?"
His Majesty was surprised, and the other ministers were buzzing at the same time.
An act of outright disagreement with the enraged emperor.
Several ministers, famous for their weaknesses, were already pale in the face.
"What do you mean, Noah?"
The tone of His Majesty's voice lowered as well.
Though the words were directed at me, several ministers shuddered in a jolt.
Their reactions were like indirect proof of the emperor's authority.
I raised my face without hesitation and looked at His Majesty.
"Punishment should only be in accordance with the law."
After confronting the basic premise first.
"Under Imperial Law, the ringleader of the rebellion is punished by beheading, the third degree and any co-conspirators are punished up to and including hanging, and the rest of them, based on the degree of their involvement. Although beheading is a conventional way to punish, no such punishment exists under Imperial law."
"But they have smeared dirt on Noah's face."
His Majesty raised his eyebrows and insisted on that, but I passed it off.
"If the emperor takes the initiative to break the law, it will cause disorder in the land. Please reconsider."
"..."
His Majesty was silent.
The ministers watched the course of events holding their breaths.
A heavy silence passed between audiences.
"... Fuu. Noah's reasoning is correct."
After a moment, His Majesty murmured.
I could clearly hear someone – or several people – exhale in obvious relief.
"Well done, Noah. For admonishing me for my mistakes."
"No."
"But that would not satisfy me. The punishment should be the heaviest within the limits of the law and should not be reduced in any way. So be it."
"No problem at all, sir."
I bowed my head once and then continued further.
"In past rebellions, there were many cases where even the third degree of the ringleader was overlooked because of the pity of the children or babies. If His Majesty is of that opinion, I think that is something we should pay special attention to."
A child of a nobleman is not just a child.
There are countless examples of fallen or ruined houses being revived or avenged by surviving children.
Especially in the case of rebellion.
In the aristocracy, the conspirators can be overlooked, but the ringleader's children must be eradicated.
So I advised him to do so, and His Majesty nodded, "You have made me well aware of this."
"Third Vizier,"
"Yes!"
The Third Vizier, Jean-Brad Reydouk, called by His Majesty, bowed quietly from the line.
"You've heard the story. I leave this matter to you."
"As you wish."
That almost decided the treatment of those who had planned the rebellion.
At the same time, as if to dispel the heavy atmosphere that had been created earlier, a different kind of voice was raised.
"As expected of His Imperial Highness the Thirteenth. I didn't expect him to be so direct."
"And yet he never looked back, never blinked, just spoke his mind to His Majesty."
"A genius gifted by the gods, a child prodigy."
The ministers said this to each other.
Hearing that, His Majesty's anger from earlier was nowhere to be found, and his mood became better.
"Noah!"
"Yes, sir."
"If I make a mistake, you have to correct it."
"As you wish."
" Today it' s ... hmmm, the only reason I didn't leave a bad name in history is because of Noah. There should be some kind of reward for that."
His Majesty put a hand to his chin and thought about it.
Unlike the silence of earlier, this time everyone is at ease with the idea of what the reward for me will be.
"Umu, it's been decided. Let's give you a title."
A moment later, there was a stir.
In the past, only a select few princes could be the imperial prince.
Nowadays, under imperial law, a prince had the status of imperial prince from birth.
In terms of rank, above the imperial prince was the Emperor, which meant that the imperial prince would never rise to the top, so to speak.
The idea was to give the title to the prince because there was no other reward for his achievements.
"Noah's admonition was well done. My son can only remonstrate against me, but what makes it right is its irreplaceable quality. To make his wisdom known throughout the world, I will give him the title of 'wise'."
After His Majesty said that, there was another stir.
"Long live Master Noah, long live the Wise Prince!"
A cheer arose.
Name: Noah Ararat
Wise Prince
Gender: Male
Level: 1 / ∞
HP F MP F Strength F+F Stamina F+F Intelligence F+F Spirit F+F Speed F Dexterity F+F Luck F+F Fire F Water E+S Wind F Earth F Light F Darkness F
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And then my status changed, and I got a new title.
"I am grateful and happy."
I kept my head down.
His Majesty got up from his throne, got off the red carpet, and came over to me.
I was on one knee and he came in front of me.
"If only you'd been born a little sooner."
Three times, the stirring turned to a different quality.
It had been a few weeks since I became the wise prince.
On this day, I was in the Imperial City's Horse Street Plaza – the largest plaza in the city.
A stage is set up in the middle of the plaza, with tables and chairs on it.
I was sitting in the chair, and there is a tea set on the table.
Knight selection.
We were holding that preliminary round.
It went exactly the way I proposed to His Majesty before, and I just relaxed and let the people I was selecting attack me as they pleased.
I didn't do anything myself, instead the ring-linked Leviathan was blocking every attack.
One by one, they came up to the stage and attacked me – completely blocked and left the stage in disappointment.
"Damn, that's impressive, considering it prevents all that magic."
"For such a small guy, he's extraordinary."
"You're being impolite. That man is the 13th Prince, no, the Wise Prince."
Since it was being held in the biggest plaza in the city, the crowd of onlookers came in torrents.
I didn't specify the criteria for passing, but it's clear to everyone that all the challengers so far have failed.
They've all attacked me, and they've all been perfectly defended by the Leviathan.
In front of a large number of people, if you can't even penetrate the defense of a relaxed child, the person doing it has to back down honestly.
It's already been half a day since I've been doing that.
I was looking up at the western sky to see if the sun was about to set.
"Heyaaaaaaaaaaah!"
An attack was lobbed at me along with the energy of a cleaver.
It was a girl in white armor.
The girl thrust her sword out horizontally and rushed forward with a front hinge, as if to put her weight on it.
Leviathan reacted to it, transforming the linked ring and using it as a shield to prevent it.
So far, it's just like that.
Exactly the same as what we have selected hundreds of people for today alone.
"This ... thing, then!"
The sound of the girl's teeth clenching was heard with a grind.
Right after that, the girl rushed even more forward, and at the same time, the shield cracked.
This girl rushed further through a shield that no one was able to break through for a whole day.
The cutting edge pierced my right shoulder.
"–e!"
The person who did it was most surprised.
She unconsciously pulled her hand away from her sword and backed away.
"You!"
"What the hell do you do!"
A group of soldiers who had been guarding the stage came over and seized the girl on the spot.
The people are buzzing below the stage.
I looked at the shoulder that had been pierced.
"Hmm."
I nodded.
"Let her go."
"Eh? No, b-but. She's guilty of hurting your highness–"
"I said, Let her go."
"—-!"
The soldier who had seized the girl freaked out and moved away from her.
The girl, stunned, raised her upper body only from the seized position and looked at me with eyes that said she didn't know what had happened.
I pulled out the sword, blood spurted out.
"Master!"
The maid who had been serving me all day – Zoe – rushed over to me, ripped off her own maid's clothes and tended to my shoulder.
"I-I'm really sorry!"
The girl came to herself and got down on her knees to me.
"Hmm? And also why are you on your knees?"
"F ... for hurting His Highness."
"Well, I never mentioned about a passing grade, but judging by what you just did, by all appearances, that was a passing grade, don't you agree?"
"..."
The girl paused.
" So that was enough to pass"
"And she' s been accepted."
"To someone who has pierced his shoulder, ... such a big caliber of a person ..."
As the onlookers buzzed around, the girl was still in a state of shock and didn't come back.
Chapter end