A Dragon’s Curiosity

 

 

The crowd broke into murmurs at that accusation, disrespect of His Majesty was a major crime and not to be taken lightly, even as an accusation.

Despite the weighty accusation, Baron Bellridge allowed him a small smile, the uproar was exactly what he aimed for.

No matter whether it was proven true or false, the stain on his opponent‘s reputation would not be easy to clear anyway.

Nisha found it interesting, as her point of view was pretty much distorted due to not growing up within the kingdom.

As the daughter of a Duke, it was her first time coming into contact with the conflicts between nobles.

Since she was already very much behind, it was no shame to ask for help from someone experienced.

Turning towards the boy next to her, the elf expressed her concerns.

“What grievances do they have with each other? It sounds over the top to accuse someone of treason over a disagreement.“

Because the unrest was too big, the guards needed some time to restore order and let the court proceed, so Henry took the time to explain the intricacies of the situation to the girl.

“Without evidence, it‘s useless to accuse others of treason, it‘s just a small trick to appeal to the King‘s emotion.

Yet it‘s not without merit either, as long as a shadow of doubt is left behind, it will make things more troublesome in the future.

As for the conflict between House Bellridge and House Summerguard, I‘m not entirely sure either, at most I heard some rumours.“

Face was a very important thing for nobles and merchants alike.

It took reputation, trustworthiness, renown and many other factors into account and decided the public appearance of an individual or an organisation.

For example, the [Seven Stars Church] often held the last rites for elders before they departed for the other world, provided emergency medical care and other services that brought them into close contact with many closely kept secrets that were sometimes leaked during a confession on the death bed or spoken accidentally in delirium during a debilitating injury.

Nevertheless, everyone gave the church face and still asked for their help, as the clergy never spread those secrets or took advantage of them.

 

“From the bits and pieces I snapped up, it should be Baron Summerguard that came up with a novel idea and arranged his guards and soldiers along with one of his knights to go on an expedition to bring back resources and train his forces at the same time.

But instead of going to the next area of Wilderness near his own territory, the Baron sent them in the direction of one of his rivals, Baron Bellridge.

Normally, that wouldn‘t really matter, because fighting monsters is pretty much the same in the Wilderness, yet the expedition played dirty.“

Although the entire saga surely involved more twists and turns, the young Duke heir boiled the point of contention down into a few sentences.

Openly showing his dislike for the slick Baron Summerguard, he subtly assigned the blame to him and somewhat influenced Nisha‘s view on the court session.

Ultimately, he also admitted that he was not sure of the entire truth, so the dragon was still able to face the situation with an open mind.

“Expeditions to train soldiers and knights are not rare, knight orders, the Royal Academy and nobles often arrange them, it‘s similar to a group of adventurers going into the Wilderness to bring back profit.

It‘s the focus on the end results that mainly set them apart, adventurers go where rare materials and valuable ingredients are spotted, whereas other forces are mostly bound to their respective regions, it does not really make sense for a baron or viscount to send their subordinates across half of the kingdom when their own territory would benefit from cleaning up the threats around them.“

Henry shrugged his shoulders and spread his hands to show his helplessness, this was a matter of convenience most of the time and the Dharnas estate did the same for their own guards.

By being proactive and periodically clearing out the borders of a noble territory, it was far more unlikely that a strong presence was overlooked and inflicted damage on the area.

To some degree, it was a compulsory act, although most noble houses and organisations also managed to gain some profit from bringing back the spoils of the defeated monsters and other resources unearthed during the trip.

 

“Naturally, the Summerguard troops won‘t be so kind as to clear up someone else‘s territory for free.“

Despite being a new arrival in the political scene, Nisha had been the ruler of a territory before.

Since it was not a blessing, it could only be a disaster when something unusual was afoot.

Nodding at her interjection, Henry picked up on her thoughts.

“Indeed, the standard procedure for an expedition is a complete cleanup for bigger monster hordes and a rough cleanup for individual stragglers, then the usable resources can be extracted and brought back to base.

There‘s variations, of course, yet different approaches will come down to this.

One of the main reasons for this method is that it prevents monster overflow and unrest in the Wilderness, which can lead to a chain reaction in nearby areas.“

By now, the elf already has a guess how the story would end, it was scary how callous the instigator treated human life if it was really the case.

During their short conversation, the guards restored order and quietness returned to the spacious hall, allowing the debate at the front to go on.

The King looked on passively, not allowing anyone to guess his thoughts.

Whether he considered the treason accusation as feasible or not, Baron Summerguard was as placid as a calm lake.

Seeing that his opponent did not treat him seriously, Baron Bellrdige wanted to add more charges, but before he had the chance to go on, he was refuted.

“How ridiculous. My knights led the soldiers of the Summerguard estate to carry out the duties of a noble house, to exterminate the wicked monsters and secure the peace of the human race.

As decried in the Common Law, every noble has the duty to protect the vulnerable and stand as the strongest shield against humanity‘s enemy.

If we follow your words, won‘t it be long before the kingdom‘s lands are run over by rampant monsters and become the lairs of vicious beasts?

Can you face the masses and endure their rage when you want to reduce them to monster feed?“

Not weaker in momentum at all, the well built Baron Summerguard returned accusation for accusation and painted his opponent in the coat of a sinner against mankind.

 

The Common Law was one of the oldest books on law, not only the Leandar Kingdom, but nearly all of the states on the continent used it as a basis for governing.

Some subtle differences were based on the distinct culture in different regions, such as slaves being allowed in the Terus Empire, whereas Leandar forbid holding ownership over other humans, but the general direction was the same.

Nobles enjoyed benefits such as taxes and obedience from the population and in return took up the duty to protect their charges against the assault from the monsters and beasts lurking in the Great Wilderness.

It was difficult to enforce most of the time, but it was also a serious crime if it was placed on a noble's head.

Quite a few houses lost a rank in their noble title because it was proven that they did not manage to fulfil their duty towards the kingdom‘s citizens and got their territory reduced and rank adjusted as a result.

In a sense, he managed to return a sword slash in return for the dagger that his opponent stabbed him with.

Though the crowd still reacted and some outrage shone in their eyes here and there, the guards warned them once already, so quiet, hushed exchanges were the most that happened.

Nisha tilted her head and looked at Henry, expecting the conclusion of his story.

The boy‘s eye twitched, he was clearly taken as a convenient tool, but he could also not refuse to explain, so he was rather helpless.

“Naturally, the Summerguard expedition did not do bothersome tasks such as hunting down the stragglers and cleaning up the bigger part of the defeated monster lairs, so they went out of control and caused unrest in the area.

They swoop in, snatch as many resources as possible and then move on, while the places left behind fall into chaos.

Since they acted close to Baron Bellridge‘s domain, the monsters eventually rampaged in his place and damaged fields and killed livestock and farmers.

It was not the first time either, it took several times until a scout party managed to find traces of the expedition and track them until they returned to the Summerguard estate.

Unwilling to take the loss and endure similar events in the future, Baron Bellridge raised a complaint in the royal court, and now here we are.“

 

The debate between the barons heated up as each side brought up laws and agreements that supported their claim, from the Common Law and the duty of nobles, to the more lesser known articles restricting nobility from interfering with the governance of their territories.

As the court session was likely the last before a judgement was made on their dispute, the accusations levelled against the other side grew sparser and the final arguments were expected soon.

Nisha used the time to analyse the situation and consider what she would do, one time as the ruler of the estate that suffered and another scenario where she had carried out the attack.

Out of consideration, Henry no longer spoke and followed the exchange between the stocky Baron Bellridge and the tall Baron Summerguard.

All of a sudden, an unexpected voice tore the two youths out of their thoughts.

“What would you do if you had to resolve the dispute?“

Neither of them saw how Grand Marshal Dharnas spoke, his gaze was still on the crowd and the barons, but his voice reached them with great clarity.

Given his considerable cultivation that Nisha had difficulty gauging even with her [Spirit Sight] it was a given that the powerful Duke had means unknown to them.

Perhaps this was a test of their abilities, so neither of them rushed to answer.

Eventually, it was Henry that tried to solve the conundrum first.

“It‘s clear that the attacks are the fault of Baron Summerguard, and there‘s evidence too.

In my opinion, Baron Bellridge needs a strong supporter, so he can negotiate with Baron Summerguard to stop him from damaging his territory.

It‘s cheaper in the long run to give a small benefit in exchange for support instead of struggling alone against unprovoked monster waves.“

For a moment, Nisha wondered what the brown haired youth meant with support, but it was her turn to answer now, so she swallowed her question.

Since Luthais Dharnas had yet to respond, he was waiting for her answer.

“I don‘t know how many troops and knights each side has, but in my opinion Duke Bellridge should go on the offensive and strike back.

Defend the territory with the least amount of soldiers and send everyone else near Baron Summerguard‘s estate to stir up monster waves too.

That way, he can go from suffering a setback to evening the score, and perhaps the increased burden can cause a shortage of manpower for Baron Summerguard, so he has to recall his troops.“