The Extra Strategist’s Royal Road Chapter 231
The merit-based rewards proceed with people freely forming groups.
People looked around cautiously for a moment.
Ash raised his hand slightly, taking the lead.
“When you say merit, do you mean merit from the recent royal succession battle?”
“We’ll look at it broadly, not just limited to that. For example, Senior Meissen set up a tea shop in the city helping with livelihoods, and gathered various information and rumors from the city. I plan to evaluate all of those things too.”
Everyone stirred again. This would change the ranking of merits.
Ash continues, wanting to make things clear.
“One more thing, are you included in these merit rewards?”
“I’m excluded. I’ve already received separate rewards from Queen Rosa.”
I was given a luxurious mansion located in Baien.
Many mansions lost their owners when numerous nobles were executed, and I was given one of them.
“I’ll talk about that later too. For now, just think of me as excluded.”
“Hmm, so that means you’ll be handling these merit rewards entirely on your own. The Queen just provided the rewards, right?”
“Well, yes.”
At this, several people’s expressions changed.
People from other affiliations like Lucretia and Sophia showed signs of discomfort.
It goes against the spirit of chivalry to receive merit rewards from someone who isn’t their lord.
However, this varied by person – others like Ash, Gunther, and Elliot from different affiliations didn’t seem to mind.
In contrast, my vassals seemed somewhat excited.
Erina and Estelle, participating in merit rewards for the first time, were like this too, and Eonia’s eyes were practically burning with enthusiasm.
Their motivation increased dramatically upon confirming it was under my direction rather than Queen Rosa’s.
“Please discuss freely among yourselves.”
People began chatting to form teams.
Mother noticed this was the social gathering I had planned and brought out alcohol from the storehouse to set up in the living room.
Gaspar exclaims as if he’d been waiting for this.
“Khaha! Of course we need alcohol. Gunther, Ash! Let’s have a proper round!”
“Mr. Gaspar, we must maintain dignity in this setting. I’ll join you after the merit rewards are done, so please restrain yourself for now.
“Tch, then we better finish the merit rewards quickly.”
Meaningful glances were being directed at Gaspar.
Objectively speaking, he was certain to be ranked first in merit.
He had rescued mother by attacking slave traders, accompanied us to the Forest of Laments, participated in the Uland underground market raid and the royal succession battle, establishing achievements in major events.
Knowing his merits were the highest, he casually speaks to Yumir.
“Ahem! Hey Yumir, if nothing else is decided, stick with me. You’ll get good rewards that way.”
“…”
Yumir remains silent with a strange expression.
Then something interesting happened.
Ryuna, who was being held by Yumir, stared at Gaspar intently before reaching out her tiny palm and pulling at his fur.
“Ah! Y-you little…!”
As Gaspar panics, not knowing what to do, Yumir speaks to him.
“Would you like to hold her?”
“W-what!? No, I don’t really…”
Despite his words, when Yumir handed Ryuna over, he held her carefully with both hands as if handling a treasure.
Ryuna settled quietly in his arms.
People’s eyes widened as Ryuna, who usually causes a fuss when held by anyone other than her parents, stayed calm.
“Huh?”
“How…?”
Ash sidles up to me and whispers.
“Hey, didn’t you say beast-kin babies only take to their parents?”
“I don’t know, maybe grandparents are included too.”
“What? What do you mean? N-no way…”
Ash finally seems to understand and laughs in disbelief.
Yumir, having handed over Ryuna, bowed slightly.
“Mr. Gaspar, could you watch the child for a moment? I need to go prepare food.”
“Uh, sure, why not.”
Yumir heads to the kitchen. Gaspar just stands there frozen, holding Ryuna.
Those who didn’t know the situation were surprised by the unexpected scene, while those who understood watched warmly.
***
When Gaspar made his first move, a subtle battle of wits began among the people.
While the rule of freely forming teams could guarantee first place if the top-ranked people colluded, no one particularly wanted to do that.
They knew I had made these rules to distribute rewards evenly.
However, perhaps because of this, it had become an implicit rule for those with high merit to make proposals first, like Gaspar just did.
The top contributors were five people: Gaspar, Rinoa, Lucretia, Erina, and Elena.
They were each carefully considering who to invite.
First was Rinoa.
Whether by chance or fate, she had formed a connection with me and provided great help with housing and funding.
She made major contributions to searching for missing persons, exploring the Forest of Laments, and the royal succession battle.
“Heh, it feels good to have everyone looking at me with such expectation.”
“My lady, please make a decision soon. We haven’t received rewards from Her Majesty the Queen anyway.”
“What are you saying, Anduha? How often do we get chances to be in the spotlight like this? I’m not deciding right away.”
“I understand how you feel, but there are others waiting their turn.”
“Oh, fine.”
Rinoa passed by Eonia, who was staring at her desperately, and beckoned to Meissen.
“Sister Meissen.”
“Ah, yes! Thank you, Rinoa.”
Rinoa chose Meissen, with whom she was closest. Meissen smiled apologetically and stood beside Rinoa.
Next was Lucretia.
Her merits were also considerable. She had fought in three major events: the Forest of Laments exploration, the war with Article, and the royal succession battle.
“Then I’ll team up with Claire. That way Erina won’t feel burdened.”
“Ah…! Thank you, Lucretia.”
Erina breathed a huge sigh of relief. As Luc said, my mother would have been her top choice.
‘Erina’s always too conscious of others.’
Thanks to Luc taking my mother, Erina could choose freely.
Her merits were undeniable. She had participated in every event except the Uland underground market raid.
“I…”
Erina deliberately ignored Eonia’s intense stare and beckoned to Estelle.
“Estelle, come here!”
“Of course you’d choose your friend!”
The two smiled at each other and began discussing who to recruit next.
Finally, there was Elena. She had performed brilliantly in the war with Article, the Uland underground market raid, and the royal succession battle.
“This is… Troublesome.”
She had wanted to bring Bisketa, but it seemed difficult to ignore Eonia’s almost tearful eyes.
“Eo, why are you so obsessed with merit?”
“W-well, since it’s Lord Ars’ merit evaluation… Though I shouldn’t say this, I’ve never been ranked below second place in Lord Ars’ merit evaluations!”
“Oh my… Alright. Let’s try for first place this time. You can choose the next person.”
Perhaps due to Eonia’s influence, teams were formed in a snake pattern after that, with selected people choosing the next person.
The final teams were:
[Gaspar→Yumir→Ilya→Gunther]
[Rinoa→Meissen→Anduha→Manor servants]
[Lucretia→Claire→Bisketa→Elliot]
[Erina→Estelle→Dorofei→Sophia]
[Elena→Eonia→Ash→Ryuna]
There was one puzzling aspect here.
“Hey Ash, why did you pick Ryuna?”
“Just because. She’s cute, isn’t she?”
Though he said that, he probably regulated himself knowing that choosing Sophia or Elliot would have guaranteed first place.
Eonia had picked Ash aiming for first place, but Ash had essentially kicked away that first place position.
Even so, they weren’t without competitiveness.
Although Ash joined late and wasn’t among the top contributors, he was top-tier among those below the highest ranks.
With Elena and Ash alone, they could aim for first place.
“Hmm… Before officially announcing the rankings, I’ll explain the rewards.”
I read out the list of rewards received from Rosa. Being royal gifts, the list was dazzling.
Gold and silver treasures, expensive ancient books, and even land and house deeds.
In terms of rewards, this was unprecedented among all previous merit evaluations.
“First, fifth place goes to Rinoa’s team.”
Rinoa’s expression showed she had expected this. She seemed to have no attachment to the rewards, having already received something from Rosa.
“Tell me if there’s anything specific you want.”
“I don’t mind, just give it to Meissen. And if you could add some bonuses for the servants who helped with the mansion work, that would be fine.”
Next was fourth place. Since Rinoa’s situation was essentially like a filler, this was where things really began.
‘But why is the balance so good?’
It was hard to determine superiority among them. Reluctant to give fourth place to any one of them, I decided to compromise.
“This might not be exciting, but it’s a tie for third place. Gaspar and Lucretia.”
These two teams weren’t particularly concerned about the merit evaluation to begin with, so they didn’t show any dissatisfaction.
Now only Erina’s team and Elena’s team remained.
Since both were secretly aiming for first place, even I hesitated to announce it.
There was no choice but to be strictly objective.
“First place goes to Erina.”
“Ah! Aah…!”
Erina was overcome with emotion and hugged Estelle in joy.
Meanwhile, Eo, who took second place, stuck out her lower lip. However, knowing well that she didn’t have enough merit to complain, she didn’t express any further dissatisfaction.
“It’s an honor, Sir Ars! I’ll do my best to continue being helpful!”
“I wasn’t looking for such a differential response. Think of it casually.”
Everyone agreed to share the goods.
Sophia took an interesting old book. Estelle and Erina took magic books. Bisketa took the land deed for the mansion being built. The others took gold and treasures.
That’s how the pleasant day passed.
That’s why we couldn’t know.
While we were laughing and talking, a terrible plot was being executed behind our backs.
It was three days later in the morning when we found out what that plot was.
* * *
In this world, a disaster called ‘Turbulence’ occurs periodically.
It’s when the flow of unstable magic in the atmosphere reaches its peak, and this period when unstable magic turns into magic stones and generates dungeons is called the period of Turbulence.
This Turbulence occurs in cycles of 6 months to 1 year, and when the time comes, there are signs that allow for preparation.
Recently, Turbulence occurred after the war with Article.
Dungeons appeared in various places, and reports came in from citizens in those areas.
It wasn’t too severe. That’s because numerous magic stones were already sealed in the palace’s magic stone storage.
The dungeons currently appearing in the territory are kind of like leftovers.
The truly dangerous dungeons have already been subjugated and are sleeping in the magic stone storage, or can only be found in lost lands.
That’s why what Rinoa’s father tried to do was truly horrific.
Rinoa’s father tried to raid that magic stone storage and release all the sealed magic stones.
Then, during the next Turbulence, countless devastating dungeons would appear and the kingdom would lose control.
The resulting casualties would be unimaginable. That’s why Rinoa poisoned her parents with tears in her eyes.
“The situation is clear.”
Lucretia said with a grim expression.
Around us were only Princess Rosa, the core members of the Royal Guard, Sophia, and myself.
“Just last midnight. The remnants of the Prince’s faction raided our palace’s magic stone storage. Due to that raid, the magic stones of dangerous dungeons, including those designated as special class, have all vanished.”
“Ah, aah…!”
Rosa turned pale and couldn’t say anything.
A catastrophe occurring just one day before the coronation ceremony.
“Th-this is all my fault! Because security was loose due to my coronation…!”
“No, this isn’t that kind of problem.”
“Wade…?”
“Security wasn’t loose at all. Right, Sophia?”
Sophia agreed with my words.
“That’s right, security personnel had actually increased ahead of the coronation ceremony. Elena and Lucretia were also in the palace. Thanks to Wade’s help, external personnel like Ilya and Gaspar were also assigned to palace security. Yet that security network was easily fooled. This means there must have been an informant who was familiar with the palace’s internal affairs.”
As she said this, Sophia glared at the Royal Guard executives.
The Royal Guard executives turned pale at her gaze.
“A-are you suspecting us!”
“This is outrageous! Lady Sophia!”
Sophia smiled coldly.
“Better safe than sorry, right? Don’t worry, if you’re innocent you won’t be punished.”
Of course, there were people who were dissatisfied with Rosa’s ascension.
The Prince’s faction remnants were like that, and there were also people who simply didn’t like the idea of a woman becoming king.
‘This is probably…’
The former possibility was more likely.
The Three Princes’ Factions. They would have considered the possibility of losing the power struggle and another prince occupying the audience chamber and taking the throne.
This magic stone storage raid was their contingency plan for that scenario.
Because releasing the magic stones could severely damage whoever takes the throne.
Being such a last resort insurance, there would have been few visible signs.
That’s why Rosa and I didn’t notice.
‘I was careless.’
Knowing that it was the princes who plotted the rebellion, I didn’t think they would use such an insane method.
This was the worst possible move that could potentially destroy the kingdom itself.
‘To think the princes would seriously attempt this…. The Alliance’s influence must have been strong.’
If that’s the case, it might have been the work of Prince Paris’s faction, which had the closest ties to the Alliancs.
Whatever the case, what’s done was done.
I immediately asked Lucretia.
“When will the next Turbulence occur?”
“The recent one was about two months ago, so it will be in four months at the earliest.”
“I’m afraid to ask this, but… What exactly will happen when the next Turbulence occurs?”
Lucretia explained assuming the worst case scenario.
After hearing that horrific story, Rosa fainted on the spot.
Hi guys, please check out the new novel I picked “I killed the Demon King. It was a mistake.”
TL NOTE:
Schedule: Everyday
Hope you enjoyed the chapter! If you would like to support me or read up to 30 chapters ahead, you can do so via patreon.com/ChibiGiant. OR by unlocking chapters.
You can also Rate this series in your free time @NovelUpdate.
