Ch.219219. Gifts and Answers (3)

‘All lords governing the territories of the Frankish Kingdom must be formally knighted knights who have awakened their Aura and received knighthood from another lord.’

This law, established by Charlemagne de Frank to prevent the indiscriminate increase in the number of nobles as a privileged class, is still in effect today with some modifications, known as the “Knight Succession Law.”

The scope of succession has expanded beyond knights to include all mid-tier individuals, and in cases where no blood relative is mid-tier, succession can be postponed by appointing a mid-tier representative. Nevertheless, nobles of the Frankish Kingdom must still be mid-tier.

Considering that nobility originated as protectors of humanity against external threats, this is a reasonable rule. Indeed, the mid-tier individuals (nobles) of this world still serve as guardians protecting humanity.

Although their influence has somewhat diminished with the invention of gunpowder and the development of firearms, the principle that mid-tier can only be matched by mid-tier remains valid.

Thanks to this, the lords of this world protect their territories based on mid-tier power, and this law allowing only mid-tier individuals to inherit noble titles serves as a minimum filtering mechanism.

While it’s not impossible for someone to suddenly awaken their Aura without effort based on talent alone, the vast majority of Aura awakeners achieve it through consistent effort as a form of accomplishment.

In essence, it serves as a substitute for evaluating virtues like perseverance or patience—qualities that are difficult to judge without clear standards.

However, this is also a double-edged sword.

While a strong ruler gains political legitimacy through their power alone, thus increasing stability, there have been surprisingly frequent cases where none of the successor candidates could reach mid-tier, causing bloodlines to end.

Additionally, one common problem is that by prioritizing mid-tier power over other qualities, many rulers lack the necessary governing abilities.

They delegate administration to subordinate officials or temples while they go hunting, or commit insane acts like outsourcing tax collection to tax farmers.

In reality, the vast majority of lords are actually just monster hunters with swords, and it’s quite common for territories to be effectively governed by temples or bureaucrats.

What’s worse, if the lord is the only mid-tier in the territory, how could anyone possibly stop them from interfering?

A lord who isn’t exactly stupid but has no governing ability, and bureaucrats who are fundamentally just working for money—thanks to this combination of human types, most territories show different faces, but…

Among them, there are several types of territories considered particularly problematic.

For example, territories where the ruling lord is incompetent, lacking political or administrative ability yet stubbornly insistent on their own way, or vassals who exploit such incompetence for their own gain.

Since such types of people will never disappear as long as humans exist as humans, these character types appear in territories here and there just when you think they’re gone…

A typical territory in the central part of the kingdom, the Barony of Amiens, was an extreme example of the former case.

The Barony of Amiens was a truly ordinary and unremarkable barony except for the copper mine within its territory. Its agriculture was about average, and it was quite wealthy thanks to the copper mine.

Moreover, the previous Baron of Amiens was a rare man who possessed the abilities a ruler should have—the type who, while not achieving great success, also avoided failure—a leader who could be considered exactly average.

But the current Baron of Amiens was different.

Specifically, he developed an unfounded confidence from experiencing success by awakening his Aura at a very young age (15), believing he could accomplish anything.

And as anyone with social experience would know, this type of person is the most irritating and hopeless type of boss.

They worship “their experience of success” as if it were an actual deity, making them stubbornly obstinate, while actually lacking the ability to achieve that success—that’s what makes them so frustrating.

In particular, the Baron of Amiens, this man who failed to understand his own limitations, finally caused a major incident.

Upon hearing that the high-tier Druid Gregory Aleinos, who had recently subjugated El-Temur, was unmarried, he pushed forward a marriage proposal without considering any other conditions.

Of course, in his mind, after hearing the credible inference that Gregory’s territory consisted of just one small manor, he formulated a plan to use his own territory as bait to bring Gregory in as his son-in-law—a plan that seemed grand but was actually crude and pathetic.

“Ha, hahaha! What do you think of my plan!”

‘…It seems doomed to fail.’

What’s worse, since no one could stop him, the baron ignored all the circumstances that would drive anyone insane and pushed forward a marriage proposal for his daughter, who had just turned 11.

This was a completely unilateral action without even consulting the administrative officer who had been serving since his father’s time, and naturally, after this news spread, the territory’s atmosphere became like that of a funeral home.

From any perspective, there was absolutely no reason for Gregory Aleinos to accept—unless he was a vicious pedophile, he would never accept, and furthermore, if he became angry and attacked after hearing this, there would be nothing they could say in defense.

“Hahaha! Why are you all so worried! Everything will work out fine!”

Despite the situation, the lord was spouting such nonsense that the officials and vassals were seriously considering fleeing, but…

Fortunately or unfortunately, they no longer needed to worry about this.

Because…

””’…!!””’

Not long after the unilateral marriage proposal was delivered, a terrifying presence appeared in the sky above the lord’s castle in the Barony of Amiens.

※ ※ ※

—RUMBLE!!!

As pure white lightning struck the ground with thunder echoing, that being revealed itself to this world, surrounded by mysterious mist and storms.

The majestic and mystical atmosphere made the people of the castle stare in awe, but for those with some ability to sense magical power, it was a different story.

“What… is that?”

“H-how can such a being…!”

To put it metaphorically, it was a transcendent being with a physical body descended to earth.

The magical power she possessed after becoming high-tier had increased dramatically, far exceeding three times the normal amount, and it naturally radiated from her, enhancing her presence.

Her appearance, as if she had stepped out of mythology, naturally made their minds go blank, but the beautiful voice that reached their ears brought their consciousness back to reality.

[I, Sophia, companion and lover of Druid Gregory Aleinos, declare to the lord of this place. I have come to punish your insult and vile provocation.]

This was essentially a death sentence. The atmosphere rapidly cooled at these words from someone who anyone could sense was high-tier, and naturally, all eyes turned to the lord who was the source of all this trouble.

Of course, his stubbornness was too firm to be broken by just this, and furthermore, his mental state, already bordering on obsession, couldn’t be corrected by any ordinary shock.

“How dare a mere mistress!”

Therefore, the word he impulsively blurted out could only be described as a fatal mistake.

In the common language of the Western Continent, the words for “lover” and “mistress” are exactly the same, and because of this, he who was trying to interpret the situation in his favor grabbed this bait and threw out a provocation.

Considering that he clearly recognized the being before him as high-tier, his foolish behavior could be described as a kind of escapism.

“…So it’s you.”

And moreover, the lord’s behavior was enough to make Sophia see him as the culprit stepping forward on his own…

—FLASH!

—RUMBLE!!

With a flash of light, she took his life all too easily with a bolt of white lightning, then briefly looked at his charred corpse before moving to continue her fight.

‘Now there are five left…’

For her, there was still the matter of sweeping away all those who dared to covet her man.