Ch.217217. Gifts and Answers (1)

The political landscape of the Frankish Kingdom had recently plunged into a cauldron of chaos due to a series of events.

The most fundamental cause and beginning of this turmoil was the sudden news that Kagan El-Temur had been subjugated by an expeditionary force that had gone out to defend against a major invasion.

What’s more, the heroes who defeated El-Temur were none other than Louis VII and two senior druids. Even though one of the druids was an “Aleinos,” this fact was inevitably overshadowed by the presence of the current king of the Frankish Kingdom.

“This is dangerous…”

And such actions by the king could hardly be viewed favorably by the lords of the anti-royalist faction, known as the Noble Faction.

In a situation where tensions were already escalating due to issues of reduced autonomy and increased taxation, Louis VII’s military achievement of defeating El-Temur was sufficient political capital to suppress the current political climate.

In a situation where the Royalist Faction was already subtly overpowering the Noble Faction, it was obvious what would happen if such a military achievement were added to the mix. Naturally, the kingdom’s Noble Faction united in opinion.

They agreed that they must check his power somehow.

However, there was one fatal flaw in their common opinion:

How exactly were they supposed to check Louis VII, who had now become a hero by subjugating Kagan El-Temur?

If they launched a clumsy political offensive, they would be labeled traitors and public opinion would worsen. Yet if they left him alone, they would fail to achieve their reason for uniting—checking royal power and defending their autonomy.

In short, it was like mice gathering to devise a way to put a bell around a cat’s neck. The question of how to solve this became a very serious issue.

And then…

“…What about this?”

The proposal put forth by the Marquis of Bordeaux, the leader and second-in-command of the Noble Faction, was extremely bold, but at the same time, there seemed to be no other option.

The plan was to highlight the other two heroes who defeated El-Temur, minimizing Louis VII’s importance as much as possible, and then somehow using these two heroes to deal with Louis VII.

While this was extremely radical and bold, there truly was no other option in the situation. However, the lack of a specific concrete plan and the enormous risk involved made it difficult for other nobles of the faction to readily support it.

“…Are you in your right mind?”

“How can you think of using that Aleinos!? This is suicidal!”

Especially the older families with deep roots strongly opposed the plan the moment they recognized the name “Aleinos” used by one of the heroes.

This was partly due to the notorious reputation of the Aleinos family, recorded in legendary incidents such as the “Duke Fertilizer Incident” or the “Red Dragon Reversal,” and partly because even a little investigation would reveal that this Aleinos was actually an adopted son of the first Aleinos.

The infamy of Dalia Aleinos, who was said to have decimated more than half of the noble houses of her time, was so great that it made people hesitate to even consider taking such a risk.

At this point, it might seem strange that anyone would still try to scheme against someone known to be an Aleinos, but these people had their reasons.

First, due to the frequent changes in noble families, more than half of the noble houses from that time had not survived to the present, meaning there were now more families who were unaware of the Aleinos infamy.

Also, due to the characteristics of the era, stories passed down through old oral traditions were easily dismissed as fairy tales unless one had a special interest, and the seemingly unrealistic nature of these accounts made them easy to deny.

To those who didn’t know better, being concerned about the Aleinos reputation seemed like fearing something out of a fairy tale.

Additionally, the fact that the existence of druids was not widely known to the public couldn’t be ignored. In this world, where people were incredibly ignorant about magic, most couldn’t even properly distinguish between different types of magic users.

Furthermore, there existed a significant number of people who either greatly overestimated or underestimated the power of magic—both types being equally likely to get themselves killed.

And thanks to this ignorance and foolishness, the Marquis of Bordeaux not only boldly proposed such a plan but actually put it into action…

And as everyone now knows, the result was the shocking end of the Marquis’s death.

※ ※ ※

The unprecedented situation of a marquisate collapsing overnight was enough to put the nobles on high alert.

“…What? Dead?”

“He… died?”

Even nobles who would normally dismiss such incidents couldn’t ignore or overlook this situation.

It wasn’t just anyone, but the mighty Marquis of Bordeaux, an enormous political figure, who had met a futile death overnight without any warning signs.

Considering the era, which was just transitioning from what might be called medieval to modern, it was clearly abnormal. The Marquis had maintained a standing army of thousands—something only those with abundant population and money could afford.

He had imported large quantities of gunpowder weapons, which were not used in kingdoms due to cost issues but only in empires, and had even established military schools and artillery departments within his domain, hiring veteran mercenaries as instructors to train personnel to operate these weapons.

Despite using his overflowing wealth to keep more than a hundred knights under his command, and even hiring the 7th Lord Astolfo, a high-ranking knight and the only one who could be hired with money…

The story of Gregory Aleinos, who broke through all these forces single-handedly, invaded the lord’s castle, and hunted down the man who had insulted his lover and disrespected his honor, was enjoying immense popularity.

Of course, the reality was closer to an infiltration action than the invincible action drama depicted in social circles, but the social circles that regarded this rumor as merely a fresh issue had no reason to know this, and even if they did, they wouldn’t speak of it.

In any case, despite having such powerful military forces under his command, the Marquis lost his life to a single magic user, and as a result, all that remained in this world was a single magic user who had single-handedly disposed of a political giant.

And the public’s reaction to his actions was…

“Bravo! That’s a real man! He knows what he’s doing!”

“A new Aleinos! Oh! The melodies are flooding my mind! Ah, sing! Sing!”

“…Huh? R-really?”

“Today, ladies and gentlemen, I will tell you the story of the returned legend of Aleinos!”

Needless to say, proving why they were regarded as maniacs obsessed with romance, adultery, and love by the Holy Empire’s social circles, an Aleinos fever belatedly swept through society.

Among the nobles in social circles, musical pieces praising the achievements of Aleinos and his predecessor became popular, and minstrels, who could be considered the influencers of this world, endlessly sang these, amplifying the Aleinos fever.

Countless anecdotes—or more accurately, horror stories about Dalia Aleinos—that had been unintentionally buried among knights or hidden by the ancestors of nobles to prevent humiliation, began to be unearthed.

Additionally, his heroic actions in subjugating Kagan El-Temur sparked an unexpected druid fever, which reached its peak when it was discovered that druid magical tools could slow aging.

Although in reality, these effects were likely minimal and almost meaningless, various druid-related products were sold by swindlers.

…Most of these swindlers met terrible and miserable deaths at the hands of the Druid Assembly, which had begun cracking down on such activities.

Meanwhile, the reaction from the political world was more primal and simple.

“Chamberlain!”

“Yes! Did you call for me?”

“Yes, I did! Prepare gifts, gifts to send to Aleinos right away!”

After minor nobles who had survived the complex political scene by their wits sent gifts to the manor known to be ruled by Aleinos, nobles and lords of the Frankish Kingdom began sending gifts as if competing with each other.

Of course, this phenomenon was merely a bizarre frenzy born out of fear, but it was far from enough to suppress the fervor of nobles trying desperately not to be marked.

Thanks to this, Gregory Aleinos was able to enjoy a very pleasant time due to the unexpected shower of gifts, but…

“Hehehehe… Good, that’s right.”

“Did they say Gregory Aleinos is unmarried? If only I could somehow push my daughter in…”

“Let’s see. Now my niece is…”

Humans are beasts of folly. There are always madmen who fail to maintain boundaries and inevitably try to ignite fires wherever they go.