Chapter 834: Emperor (Three in one)
Translator: Exodus Tales Editor: Exodus Tales
The prince did not have the vigor a prince of a kingdom was supposed to have. His face was pale. He had just killed his father, and all the ministers saw it.
He had been tortured by these thoughts all night, but he didn’t have the guts to stand up to Abel.
The knights from the duchy of Carmel were spread throughout Denan City and the royal palace. Steward Burbridge replaced even the royal steward. He was the steward of a duchy, so he was the most suitable candidate.
Under these circ.u.mstances, the prince couldn’t do anything. He had only killed his father to save his own life in the first place anyway.
The prince had never experienced any failure in his life. He could do the most unexpected things when his life was threatened.
As a n.o.ble, as the heir of a powerful kingdom, he should have held his sword high and led the knights to take back the throne.
But the reality is often different from stories. In the face of a crisis, the prince had killed his father and transfer the kingdom to Abel to survive.
The scepter in his hand was a luxury. It had thousands of years of history, and the prince has been yearning for it ever since he saw it.
But he didn’t expect it gone as soon as he got it. Everything suddenly felt like a dream.
“The prestigious Duke Abel, I, the Emperor of the kingdom of St Ellis, Emperor Derek am willing to give the throne to you. The Linate Wizard Union and the elite wizard of the kingdom of St Ellis will be the witness!” The prince felt the energy in his body fade after he said these words. His knees grew weak as he dropped to the ground.
No one would care about him from this day on. His glory days were over. He had become a normal n.o.ble without any political power.
“The great emperor Abel, please take your scepter!” Duke Earnest stepped beside the prince and s.n.a.t.c.hed the scepter from his hand.
Abel stood in front of the throne and played around with the scepter with a smile on his face. He lifted it high and said loudly to the n.o.bles below,
“I, Abel Harry, am now the new emperor of the kingdom of St Ellis. I pledge to resolve any problems the kingdom is going through. I will maintain peace and protect the rights of the n.o.bles. The kingdom will only get more powerful under my lead!”
“Long live the emperor!” The n.o.bles bowed.
Abel’s words were simple. He did not let the host, Duke Earnest, guide the ceremony. Although this was against the tradition, no one would question a powerful emperor.
“If all the n.o.bles promise their loyalty to me, I promise your rights and power will not change!” Abel added and sent calmness throughout the crowd once more.
Those n.o.bles expected a big change, but Abel’s words were like a joyous ray of suns.h.i.+ne.
The n.o.bles all had their own ideas before the ceremony, but they all decided to pledge loyalty to Abel.
Abel did not have a choice as well. He did not have enough talented people to run a kingdom, so he needed the n.o.bles.
This world was not like his past one. Not everyone could write a book. Knowledge was valuable, and only the ones who inherited knowledge could take care of business.
Big families would often keep their knowledge secret, and only the talented ones in the family would get that knowledge.
The ministers were also surprised. Abel’s intention was clear. Their status was guaranteed as long as they were loyal. Pleading loyalty to a new emperor was the tradition of the kingdom. Although Abel had gotten his throne through violence, the ministers weren’t concerned.
Most importantly, Abel had gotten his throne in the kingdom of St Ellis through an official transfer.
Abel waved his hand, and n.o.bles immediately quieted down again.
“Duke Earnest, you will become the head of your family from now on. I will officially invite you to take care of the business of the kingdom!”Abel said with a smile.
Duke Earnest was caught off guard a little. He thought Abel had maintained the n.o.bles’ status to maintain stability, but for him, the head of his family, it meant that his status was unchanged. The only difference was that his family was no longer the royal family but the family of a duke.
A drop in status was expected anyway. There could only be one royal family, and that was the Harry Family in Harvest city.
“Isn’t the Emperor worried I’ll turn on him?” A dark thought emerged from Duke Earnest, but he soon thought about those 5 Sky s.h.i.+ps, those tens of thousands of fully black armored knights, those 3 rank 17 wizards, and the force that killed a rank 18 wizard, and his mind was clear. No one would dare turn on Abel. His power was invincible.
“The great emperor Abel, I, Duke Earnest, and my family will forever remain loyal to you, to the Harry Family, and the Kingdom of St Ellis. Please accept my loyalty!” Duke Earnest dropped to one knee and said loudly.
“Duke Earnest. I, the kingdom of St Ellis Emperor Abel, accept your loyalty!” Abel took out a knight sword and gently tapped on Duke Earnest’s shoulders.
Abel was pleased looking at Duke Earnest. It meant that the original royal of the kingdom was now under his command. He was initially worried that some stubborn royals might revolt, but they could no longer do that on paper.
In regards to loyalty, Abel couldn’t worry less about his magic contracts. As he looked into the gaze of the n.o.bles, the result was clear. This kingdom would soon be his.
He stroked his hand on the throne and gently took a seat. Ever since emperor Ambrose was dethroned yesterday, no one had sat on it.
With Deanna City under his control, the Kingdom was officially Abel’s. Although there were many n.o.bles in the Kingdom, they all had connections with each other.
This was especially the case for big n.o.bles, and most of them were located in Denan City.
That was why Abel had pa.s.sed through all the other cities and arrived at Denan City’s capital.
But of course, he would not be able to do this without 3 elite wizards and Sky s.h.i.+ps. The defense of this City was no joke, even without knights and wizards as guards.
Abel did not feel extra powerful sitting on the throne. He gave a little smile and stood up again.
“Duke Earnest, help me organize some loyalty contracts for the n.o.bles. I’ll head to the dining room with the wizards first!” Abel said and turned to Wizard Dunn, Wizard Lorenzo, and wizard Allenby. He then gave a bow.
They disappeared in a flash of white light. Duke Earnest sighed. Maybe Abel was not lying. He really didn’t care much about the throne.
The kingdom had reached this point completely due to Emperor Ambrose’s mistakes. If he didn’t pick a fight with Abel. Their family would still be the royal family.
Abel and the 3 elite wizards reappeared in the dining hall.
Steward Burbridge had everything organized. The water spirit fruit juices were prepared, and he bowed as he saw Abel.
“Grandmaster Abel, I heard the old man of this kingdom is a rank 18 wizard.” Wizard Dunn said curiously.
“Yeah, rank 18 wizards are too hard to deal with. He gave me some trouble!” Abel lightly nodded.
His words made Wizard Dunn speechless once again. Being a rank 18 wizard himself, he knew how powerful a rank 18 wizard was.
A wizard suppression would grow dramatically once they reached rank 18. In the face of any lower rank wizard, he could almost fully suppress their spells.
“Grandmaster, Linate City will provide benefits to the kingdom. Me and wizard Allenby promise we will not give you one penny less!” Wizard Lorenzo added.
Linate City was a revenue stream for the Kingdom of St Ellis. They had credit points to exchange resources. This was why the duchy of Carmel struggled to even support 3 to 4 wizards while the kingdom could support 50 intermediate wizards as well as a rank 18 wizard.
This signified the importance of Linate City, and Abel knew this. His restaurants in Linate City provided him with endless amounts of credit points, which was how the duchy of Carmel could get so many resources for knights and wizards.
Of course, his knights and wizards’ progress was also due to the potions he made as a master alchemist as well.
For now, his knights and wizards were still very much dependent on him, but he couldn’t run a kingdom this way, and he would leave the Holy Continent one day. The kingdom would need to sustain itself, so he could not disregard the importance of Linate City.
“Wizard Lorenzo, the Kingdom will forever be the friend of you and wizard Allenby,” Abel laughed.
“Grandmaster, Linate City will always be your friend as well!” Wizard Lorenzo smiled back.
He respected Abel just by his Grandmaster Blacksmith status alone, but now that he realized he was a rank 15 wizard, he knew Abel would also become a powerful wizard one day.
He was already close to Abel due to his investment, which deepened his care even further.
“Grandmaster Abel, what happened to wizard Dyna and the other 2 elite wizards?” Wizard Dunn saw that they had a special relations.h.i.+p with Abel.
Not only Wizard Dunn, Wizard Lorenzo, and Wizard Allenby were very curious as well.
There were not many rank 18 wizards in the Holy Continent, so rank 17 wizards were already one of the elites. Every move they made would bring big changes to the landscape.
“They have pledged their loyalty to me. They are now the guardian wizards of the kingdom!” Abel smiled.
“Grandmaster, I hope you can treat them well. We can’t afford to lose any elite wizard in the human world!” Wizard Dunn lowered his voice.
40 intermediate wizards had died in this battle between the kingdom and duchy. Wizard Dunn felt hurt because of this since they were all members of the wizard union.
“Wizard Dunn, I have only kept them to preserve the elite fighting power of humans. They had committed a crime, and I wanted to punish them just like the old man!” Abel lowered his voice as well.
Wizard Dunn knew the meaning behind his words. He just wanted to say some good stuff about the elite wizards, but they were too proud of themselves, and those three had clearly done something wrong.
All Abel needed to see was that they had threaded his family. He was very generous in tolerating this behavior. As for how to treat those elite wizards, no one should question him.
Breaking the soul contract of those wizards was impossible, and Abel would not let them go easy. They should have expected this when they committed their crime.
“Grandmaster, I won’t talk about this anymore. I just hope you can treat them kindly. This way, you will get the respect of other elite wizards as well!” Wizard Dunn shook his head.
Wizard Dunn truly wanted Abel to be good. If another elite wizard had found out that Abel had taken the soul of 3 elite wizards, some buzz would be generated among elite wizards.
“Wizard Dunn, as long as they serve the kingdom, I will treat them with respect like any guardian wizards.
“That’s good, Wizard Dunn nodded.
“Grandmaster, are you planning to claim the throne just like that? Do you need a big ceremony to let everyone in the Holy Continent know?” Wizard Lorenzo saw the atmosphere was growing tense, so he suggested.
The 3 elite wizards got what they deserve for messing with Abel. Abel had already done more than he should for keeping them alive and let them continue to serve the human race. He wasn’t Wizard Dunn. he wouldn’t argue with Abel because of this.
Wizard Dunn was Abel’s teacher’s teacher. Wizard Lorenzo had no right to comment on Abel’s behavior, so he would much rather change the topic.
“The kingdom still needs some time to settle, so maybe I will have a ceremony in June. By that time, I will definitely invite you all!” Abel smiled and said, after a moment of hesitation.
“We will come even if you don’t invite us!” Wizard Dunn laughed loudly.
Gaining sovereignty of the kingdom was a lot easier than Abel expected. This was mostly the case because of those 20,000 knights he got. They were almost all the knights from big n.o.ble families. With them on Abel’s side, all the big cities had surrendered to Abel in just 10 days.
Abel kept himself busy during this time. Mostly accepting loyalty from big n.o.ble families. Although most of the time, the head or the most talented member would represent the entire family, it still kept Abel busy for 10 days.
After that, almost the entire kingdom was under Abel’s control. Those 20,000 knights also pledged loyalty to their new emperor. Now, Abel had more than 30,000 knights.
They would be the most powerful just by number alone, not to mention their skills.
The most powerful fighting force was still the Air Force of the kingdom. The 5 Sky s.h.i.+ps could carry 10,000 knights into any battlefield at any moment, and they were very powerful on their own as well.
The 200 griffin knights were also unaffected by the handover of the kingdom.
The most important ministers and n.o.bles had forcefully signed a magic contract. This secured their loyalty and sovereignty of the kingdom.
With this rate of progress, the ceremony could now happen in May instead of June.
Abel also wanted to get this over with, so he could fully concentrate on his training.
In the Kingdom of St Anwall, Emperor Aldous contemplated the gold-plated invitation letter in his hand.
All the ministers stood around him. Even prince Lansi, who had a special relations.h.i.+p with Abel, was there.
“Your Majesty. Our kingdom has always been very good to emperor Abel. Attending shouldn’t be a problem. The wizard union will send their representatives as well. It should be a good way to deepen our relations.h.i.+p!” A minister stepped up and bowed.
“Yeah, the duchy of Carmel didn’t even use much effort and completely swallowed the kingdom of St Ellis. Maybe he is planning to swallow us as well!” Another minister added.
All the ministers knew how powerful the kingdom of St Ellis was. The duchy of Carmel was already strong in the first place, and with the support of all n.o.bles from the kingdom. Abel’s status as an emperor was secured.
Those ministers were afraid, mostly because Abel had gotten an orc battle drum. The only thing that could counteract it in the human world was the dragon horn in Miracle City. Without it, no team of knights could attack Abel, no matter how large the army.
“Father, can I say something?” Prince Lansi bowed and said.
“Lansi, you are the closest to grandmaster Abel. Speak up!” Emperor Aldous nodded. His son was Abel’s friend, and he wanted to know if he had another idea.
“Father and my ministers, the grandmaster Abel I know is a training freak. He cares about wizard training the most, but he is not soft on his enemies. Back in the days, he stayed in the orc battlefield by himself, and no orcs messed with him!” Prince Lansi said as he recalled his days of fighting alongside Abel.
“You never saw him during the day. Other than doing missions, he would stay in his room and do wizard training. Do you think a wizard like this would get lost in political power? He had only become the king of the duchy of Carmel because he got so much war glory from his battle of the orc mission. The Wizard union had to grant him something!” The prince explained.
“I don’t believe a powerful wizard will care too much about political power, and I believe grandmaster Abel is not lying. Emperor Ambrose did place an a.s.sa.s.sin order on him and attacked the duchy of Carmel. Grandmaster Abel was just doing self-defense, and he had gotten the Kingdom of St Ellis as a result. I think we should keep a good relations.h.i.+p with Grandmaster Abel and the Kingdom of St Ellis. Don’t become their enemy. He is a wizard. killing enemies is in his nature!” The prince added.
“Well said. Abel is not a politician. He is not an emperor that inherited his throne. He is a powerful wizard. Killing off enemies is in nature. Emperor Ambrose had miscalculated this, and that was what cost his throne!” Emperor Aldous nodded and lowered his voice.
His respect for Prince Lansi had deepened. Out of all the princes in the palace, Prince Lansi never stood out. It was too bad he was a wizard. He could never inherit the throne.
If Abel’s grandmaster Blacksmith’s ident.i.ty weren’t so much higher than his wizard ident.i.ty, the Wizard Union would not let him become an emperor as well.
“Lansi, prepare your things. We will head to the kingdom of St Ellis for the ceremony in May!” Emperor Ambrose stood up and put away the invitation letter.
The Kingdom of St Pierrt’s emperor Manfred had also received the invitation letter, so he called over Duke Chesterton. An emperor like him did not have time to attend a ceremony like this. He would much rather have fun with his ladies.
“Duke Chesterton, you have congratulated Grandmaster Abel on my behalf, just say I’m sick and can’t attend!” Emperor Manfred shoved the invitation letter to Duke Chesterton and said.
Duke Chesterton did not tell his majesty that Abel sent him a personal invitation letter as well, so he just bowed and accepted.
“Your Majesty, I will represent you in the ceremony and maybe sign a new peace treaty with emperor Abel. Do you agree?” Duke Chesterton added.
“A peace treaty? They just settled. Do you think they will attack us?” Emperor Manfred really couldn’t care less, but everything duke Chesterton did would need to go through him.
Duke Chesterton felt a little irritated. Although most people in the kingdom knew he was the one making all the decisions, no one would replace him if he didn’t.
Forcing Emperor Manfred to care was impossible. He only cared about having fun, and their kingdom had to hide this because of dignity.
“The kingdom of St Ellis more powerful than us. They even have new elite wizards, so signing a peace treaty with them is best!” Duke Chesterton Explained patiently
“Whatever, just sign it then!” Emperor Manfred waved his hand and walked away. As his footsteps faded, he added, “Duke Chesterton, just do what you like as you go along!”
“Yes, Your majesty!” His eyes were filled with disappointment.
Other than the orc empire, the elves, the dwarfs, and all the big organizations had gotten their invitation letter as well.
The kingdom of St. Ellis Ceremony was getting closer. The 5 big duchies in the Kingdom of St Ellis had also sent out their representatives to recognize their new emperor.
Since Abel had his Sky s.h.i.+ps and Griffin knights patrolling the skies, the pirates sent out by those duchies almost disappeared overnight.
All the duchies and big n.o.bles did not want to mess with a kingdom with enough food, large amounts of knights, and an invincible Air Force.
Those 5 duchies needed a powerful sovereign anyway. If the kingdom did not recognize those duchies, they would have fallen already, considering how weak they were.
Abel did not reject those duchies, but he had made it clear on their contract that each duchy could only obtain a certain number of knights and the amounts of supply they would give to the kingdom each season.
Although those conditions were harsh, The duchies had no choice. They needed the protection of the kingdom.
The signing was quick. In just a few days, all 5 duchies returned to the kingdom of St Ellis again. Large numbers of knights began to make their way throughout the duchies and put up their guards.