21 Chapter 21 - The King is Dead! Long Live The King!
I stared at the kneeling advisors as I processed what he'd just said. He couldn't possibly mean that I was king now, could he? I looked over at the headless corpse of the princess and then at the two corpses of the princes and realized that there was no one left in line for the throne. Unless there was some cousin or some noble I didn't know about.
I turned back to the advisor. "What do you mean, your majesty?"
He looked up at me, and I quickly examined him from head to toe. He was an older man with greying black hair and a permanent frown.
"The right of conquest stands," He said in a confused tone, as though he was telling me something I should already know. "We are part of the Tyrofell empire and we follow the edicts stated by the emperor. The royal family is dead, and by right of conquest you, their slayer, are now our monarch."
I was about to correct him and tell him that I had only killed Adarra but stopped myself.
"Right of conquest," I mused. "So I'm king now?" the entire thing sounded far too easy, and honestly quite odd, but if it was true then I wasn't going to complain though I'd never run a kingdom before and I didn't even know if I wanted to run this one. After all it was just a minor kingdom.
Though I could stabilize it then put a regent in, I thought. Almost as if in response to my thought a system notification popped up and i couldn't help but grin.
[Quest Received: Long Live Larra: Stabilize the kingdom of Larra and assure that it does not fall into anarchy: Reward: 1 Skill, 1 Unique Token]
The System was nothing if not receptive.
As I accepted the quest I felt a wave of worry wash over me. Was I fit enough to manage an entire kingdom? I was just a teenager after all, a powerful teenager but a teenager nonetheless. If I took the position then the lives and deaths of hundreds of thousands would be on me.
I felt a sudden squeeze on my shoulder and turned to see Leone smiling at me and given me a reassuring look. I felt the doubt wash away replaced with determination. If I left then it was guaranteed that the kingdom was fall or at least enter a period of conflict worse than even the civil war between the three heirs. The nobles would see an empty throne and the people would eventually grow tired and rebel which would lead to slaughter on both sides, but mostly the peasantry.
I couldn't allow that. I wouldn't allow that. I had to take charge. I suddenly remembered a quote my mother had once told me.
'The first step is always the hardest to take, but you must take it if you want to progress.'
I took in a deep breath and stepped forward, feeling a sense of renewal and purpose. I had chosen king and as such, I would be a king.
"The two highest-ranked advisors stand and step forward, The rest of you remain kneeling," I said, no I commanded. My voice was filled with something I didn't recognize at first then I realized what it was. Commanding aura was affecting my speech, helping me.
The older man who had first spoke stepped forwards as did an attractive middle-aged blonde. Both bowed at the waist.
"Names?"
"Richard Pith," The older man said.
"Susana Lyward," The woman said.
"Ok you two will retain your positions for now," I said. "And it will remain that way only if you prove yourselves capable. I will not rule as any of the heirs that now remain dead did. I want capable people, understand."
They both nodded and I could see a hint of respect in both their eyes which was definitely a good thing. Building up respect, fear, and adoration in equal measure would be a big part of this.
"First things first, I want you to contact each army and explain what happened. Let them know about the right of conquest and inform them that all who choose to stay and pledge loyalty to me will receive higher pay and benefits for their families. Those who leave will by my decree no longer be soldiers."
"My king that-"
I raised a hand to stop his protest and continued. "I also want the generals, nobility and any person of influence contacted. I want a meeting set up, an announcement, so that I may address them all."
They both nodded but Richard looked quite worried.
"Your majesty, the soldier will surely turn to banditry if we relieve of their duty in such a way," stated Richard.
I nodded at that, glad that it seemed that he knew what he was doing. If most were like him then things wouldn't be too difficult.
"I'm aware," I said, "which is why you will have scouts from the royal forces, I'm assuming there are royal forces not beholden to any heir, track groups of soldiers leaving and bring back information of positions and what we will have to worry about. If banditry does start up then we can deal with it easily."
They both looked surprised at that but then slowly nodded and I saw their view of me rapidly change with just that alone. It was clear they hadn't known what to think of me and had properly only knelt due to the physical power I'd displayed. Well, I'd just shown them I wasn't all brawn and system power. Watching all those anime and reading all those light novels was about to pay off.
"Well?" I looked from one to the other. "Get it done and have someone escort me and my summons to the king's chambers and have a bath ready and hot meals prepared for after."
It was blessedly simple after that. Both Richard and Susana took off after that taking charge of the rest of the advisors. My summons and I were quickly led out of the bloody room and then up and up to the king's suite which was by far the rich and most extravagant part of the palace. Gold embroidery decorated everything and it was absolutely spotless. There was also the fact that it was covered in magic or so it seemed from the perfect temperature to the clean air and fragrance in the air that seemed to clear my nose and freshen up the rooms.
After a quick look, I immediately headed to the bath which was being prepared by a group of maids, who looked quite nervous. I asked my summons if they wanted to come along but to my surprise non did, not even Leone, which was odd until she told me that it was best I relax and get prepared for the meeting later. I don't care what anyone says about Leone, she is a lot smarter than people give her credit for.
I stripped and enter the large bath which essentially took up most of the large room and could hold dozens of people. Petals of different colors floated in the water and bubbles slowly rose to the surface before popping with a gentle melody. It was calming and relaxing, taking away both physical and mental fatigue. The warmth suffused my bones and I leaned back letting my mind go blank for a while.
I dozed off for a few minutes before I awoke and began to think over everything that had happened. The entire day seemed so surreal. I had not expected things to go the way they did, but it wasn't unwelcome. In fact, things had wrapped up nicely in the end. Adara had killed her brothers then I had killed Adarra.
I snorted at the thought. How cold I was becoming. I sighed and remembered the scene. The blood, the fighting, the gore, but most of all, the fact that it had gotten easier to watch. The first time id' seen someone die I'd wanted to throw up and had felt some form of pity but this time I hadn't. I had viewed it as an obstacle, and nothing more. Was that a bad thing? It wasn't like that's how I saw all people, just enemies and those who would think to stand in my way.
I thought about it for a while before I finally deiced to give up on the topic. I wasn't some teen in my bed listening to depressing music and thinking about how fucked up my life was. I had a purpose and a great life. I was lucky in a sense.
I relaxed in the water for a bit longer before I opened my status to view everything and see where I was
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[Status]
[Name: Nathan Storm/????????]
[Title: Unexpected Helper]
[Level: 5]
[Skills/Abilities: Commanding Aura]
[Summoner Skills: Defense Force, Mental Command, Attack Force]
[Summons: 7]
[Tokens: 4C, 1S] (C=Common S=Situation U=Unique SR= Special Request)
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[Summoning] 1 Token = 1 Summon
[Summon Storage]
[Summons: Darkwraith Lilah(Dark Souls).Lv3 Leone(Akame ga kill).Lv3 Gible(Pokemon).Lv3 Neena Thurman/Domino.Lv3 (Earth-616) (Marvel) Zombieman.Lv2(One-Punch Man) Rathalos(Monster Hunter).Lv1 Winged Kuriboh(Yu Gi Oh).Lv1]
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[Quests]
[Current Quests: 1]
[Long Live Larra: Stabilize the kingdom of Larra and assure that it does not fall into anarchy: Reward: 1 Skill, 1 Unique Token.]
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I smiled as I looked at the number of summoning tokens I had. The possibility of what I could get ran through my mind and after a quick look around to make sure there were no maids I used one of them. I had planned to wait until after the meeting so if it went wrong I could at least end the day in a good way, but I couldn't help it.
[1 Common Token Used]
[Summoning Entity]
The brief flash of white light came and went.
[Summoning Complete: Migi(Parasyte)]
