Nathan

The council room nowadays had far more people than it did when the Countess first took her throne. And it seemed determined to keep expanding. The Princess, the Adept from Senesor, the Village Headman, and the full gaggle of ministers were waiting for him as he stepped into the room.

A smile stretched across his face, so fake that he couldn't even fool himself.

"Are we ready to begin?" he asked.

"Of course, sir." the Village Headman said, the smile on his face seeming very genuine. Nathan couldn't help but be surprised by that. At least someone was happy with what he did. The rest of them did not seem very happy, though.

"I must ask that we discuss-" the Minister of Defense pointedly looked at the Village Headman- "certain topics."

Nathan sighed. "There will be time for that later. Now we must debate Lord Senesor's candidacy for the Dean position."

To be honest, he understood the Defense minister's condition. The man had built his family's future through his wealthy 'neighbors' that dropped by every few years. Now the same people were calling in the favors he owed them. The Diery county was considered a safe place to store money. A last measure of sorts.

After all, Deadre was not too expensive, but its government was remarkably stable. The Solerian Citadel and Zerolian capital were the only two that could claim similar stability, but they were ridiculously expensive.

In a world where monsters could attack and take your property any time, who didn't want to live in the two best defended cities in the Empire? The late Countess had even run a scheme to attract investors.

An entire premium district where they could spend their vacations. The poor might have trouble moving from one village to another, but the rich and powerful loved taking a break once in a while.

"What candidate are you speaking of, sir?" the Village Headman asked.

Nathan gestured in Moruvier's direction. "I would like to introduce Moruvier Senesor, a- General, was it? Of the Senesor Army."

The smile on Moruvier's face thinned. "A General in the Solerian Army, actually. I have long retired from active duty. There shall be no conflict between it and my duty as a reserve General and that of a Dean here."

The Solerian Army. That was surprising. The Solerian Army was the largest army of the Empire, and the one under the royal family's command, but it was known to be the least exclusive. Getting any decent benefits was known to be hard. The Zerolian army was the elite one.

"Why are you offering your candidacy, my lord?" the Minister of justice asked. "I would expect someone in your position to have much better options than our little academy."

"Oh? What could be better than helping the next Grandmaster of Humanity train her army?" the smile on Moruvier's face did not flinch.

Nathan's frown deepened. The General was avoiding the subject. The Minister's ask was clear. The other Adept of the Senesor Duchy was near-death. After he died, Moruvier would have control of one of the members of the royal council. Even if the Senesor duchy's position was more than tenuous with the Bern march seeking to supplant their position on the council and the Diery county having already declared independence, it was still sizable.

"Pulsie, any idea what is going on?"he asked, sure the plant had a few ideas.

"The only thing I know now is that Moruvier famously does not get along with the current Duke of Senesor. But be careful what you do here, the Senesor duchy might perceive us as trying to swallow them. The vote on removing them from the royal council is likely to happen in the coming meeting. I will try to get more information, but both the Emperor and Empress are unavailable at the moment."

"Try the Marshal. The General served in the Solerian Army, he might be able to help." Nathan said.

Of course. The royal family might have the power to appoint people to the royal council, but the council could still remove members from it by majority vote. The Empress had warned the Countess about that when she had been made a guardian of the Empire. Now that the county had nine Adepts and all, their position was secure, but the Senesor duchy was on the chopping block. The duchy no longer had the strength, land or money to keep their status.

"General Senesor." Nathan looked into the General's eyes, trying to replicate the intense stare the Countess had. The one that made you feel like she was seeing right through you. "I am sure it is clear to you why we are reticent about your application. Now, if you could clarify for us?"

"I am not sure what there is to clarify? I received an offer, and wish to accept it. That is, unless you wish to withdraw that offer?" the General said.

Nathan took a deep breath. Did the General actually not understand what he was saying? Or was he being obtuse?

"I think the council wishes to discuss the matter privately." the Village headman, said. "I hope you will please give us some time, your lordship."

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The Minister of Defense glared at the Village Headman as the General left.

"I do not know how you do things in your rural backlands, but it is not your place to-" the Minister began, practically spitting vitriol as he began to shout.

"Minister, please." Nathan said, turning to the Village headman.

"In meetings like this, it is usually tradition for the highest ranking person to speak." he said. "To do otherwise is taken as a sign of discontent or internal dysfunction."

"I must protest the involvement of these-"the Minister began again.

Nathan cut that short before he began. "The decision is made by the Minister. The villages are owed more than a single representative on this council. Now, if we can move forward to the matter at hand?"

"If I may, sir." the Village headman said, gulping. The poor man looked much more nervous than he had just a few seconds ago. The Minister's outburst must have frightened. To break protocol and make the county look bad within minutes of joining was bound to be more than jarring. Nathan should have ensured that he got a run-through on protocols, tradition and every other noble idiocy the Empire had cooked up before he held this meeting.

"Of course, please, you are here to speak for the villages, are you not?" Nathan said, and immediately regretted it. That was one of the worst things to say to a nervous man. That his words would represent his entire group.

"Why are we not accepting the General's candidacy? This- pardon my ignorance-this is Meruvior Senesor sir. is there even a chance we could get a better candidate?"

Nathan raised an eyebrow. The Minister cast a disgusted glance at the headman, but thankfully didn't comment. If there was one thing he did notice, it was that this headman spoke the noble dialect better than him. The words and phrases he used, 'pardon my ignorance', 'if I may', these were not things a normal villager used. At least, not in any village he'd been in.

"There's no need for apologies, Headman. I fear you know more about Lord Senesor than I, something we shall no doubt find useful. I have had Pulsie check with the Marshal for more information, but we are running a bit blind here.

The problem is that Lord Senesor is a member of the Senesor family, one of their very important members. The position of Dean here is thoroughly unattractive to such a person, making it suspicious that he is applying for it."

The headman nodded. "I understand sir. I fear I don't know much about the General either, I only saw him once, from afar, during my time in the duchy. " The headman hesitated, gulping as he visibly considered something. The Minister wrinkled his nose at the visible display of emotion. Nathan quite liked it. Now, there was one person in this room that wasn't a skilled politician.

"If I may ask, who is this Marshal you speak of? I am aware there have been changes in the army, but I was not aware of anyone being given the title of Marshal."

Now he had Nathan's full attention.

"So you spent time in the Senesor duchy? I fear I know little about you. What can you tell us about the political situation there? As for Marshal, no there are no Marshals in the Diery county. There is simply no justification to give someone such a grandiose title. The Marshal I was speaking of is the Marshal Keron of the Solerian Army. As the General's superior, he should be familiar with him."

The headman paused. "I fear I-I don't really know about the situation in the Senesor duchy, sir. I mean I could tell you some things, but I am not sure any of them are things that you want to know. The college I attended was largely for commoners, and I uhm, " the headman looked at the Minister, his cheeks reddening, "avoided the nobles."

"Of course." the Minister muttered under his breath, but Nathan caught him anyway. The hearing of a Master stage was not to be underestimated, after all.

Nathan looked at the Minister of Justice, wondering why he hadn't said anything yet. The Countess had told him to rely on this Minister, and he was being awfully silent.

"What do you think, Minister?" he asked.

The Minister of Justice sighed. "I don't really have an opinion either way. I know enough to say that this is something I have little experience in. The schemes of other nobles was something the Countess handled, we lack both the information and the expertise to do anything."

"Well, it seems that none of us have any experience in the matter." Nathan said. "So I will take any guesses. The Countess places great trust in you. Tell me, what is your analysis of the situation if you won't tell me your opinion?"

The Minister of Justice sighed. "I would say that we need to measure the consequences of our decisions. How much do we lose if we take the General up on his offer? What will be the consequence of not taking him up? Will the General act against us? Can we bear it if he does?"

Nathan nodded. That was a fair judgment.

"What do you think of his threat to the county?" he asked, turning to the Princess, who had been sitting there like an elegant statue.

"I cannot make an accurate measurement without more information, but I would put his threat as minor. The man has barely reached the ranks of Adept, he is not my match." the Princess said in a dry tone.

The village headman, who was sitting beside her, startled at her declaration.

"I- Do you mean to say that you are an Adept, miss-" the Headman said.

Nathan intervened before this sparked a comment from someone else.

"Yes, she is one of the nine Adepts of the Diery county and is here to ensure the county's safety in Steward Ven's absence." he said.

The Headman turned so quickly that Nathan could hear something crack in his neck. "Nine Adepts sir? I- the people of Diery were not informed of this development. Are they a-"

"The half-Elves joining us is old news. This is why we don't allow villagers into the council, they're so ill-informed that they do not contribute anything and just go on to trouble us instead of communicating anything." the Minister of Defense scoffed.

The Princess scoffed right alongside him, earning the Minister’s ire. Nathan wanted to step in and sort out what could easily become a fight between the two, but was stopped by Pulsie contacting him.

"The Marshal came through, though not very well. The General is actually older than him, but the Solerian family does have a file on the General's situation."

"What does it say?"

"I don't know, the Marshal didn't give it to me."

Nathan groaned. "Did he give you anything-"

"What he did say was that the General really cares about his family, and that he joined the Solerian Army

for the manual. The Senesor family apparently refused to share theirs with non-talented branch members."

"Wait, non-talented-"

"The General is also noted to be something of a late bloomer. Didn't reach the Master stage till his seventies, but somehow managed to reach the Adept stage in ten more years. The royal family thinks that the General had mastered himself long before, making it easy to pass the stage. The foundation of his Mastery is also speculated to be something related to his family."