Reader’S Regeneration Life [EN]: Chapter 433

433―――――

Again, it’s Zion Clausel.

No one dared to speak until Zion rose from his seat.

The nobles who had fought alongside him on the battlefield rejoiced as if they had received a title they never imagined. Even those who were quite favorably disposed towards Zion, such as Marquis Estia Oner and Count Bremen Isik, let out silent gasps.

Marquis Bereklik Guchen, who had recently taken over as the head of the Guchen Marquisate, glanced around at them, his eyes darting about as if already calculating gains and losses. The nobles who had been trying to maintain their vested interests wore expressions of concern, unsure whether to be happy or not.

‘Did Nana and Vanessa just thoughtlessly assume that handing over the best position is all it takes?’

As I’ve said repeatedly, if you push too hard, they’ll unite, and if you pressure them with great force, they’ll react with even greater force.

Dealing with those who have and those who had is a difficult and long battle.

I might carry out a purge later, but not now. Now, I have to pretend not to know while knowing everything, and suppress the noise as much as possible.

That’s why Zion, Vanessa, gave them a mix of despair and hope.

They settled the matter, which was connected to the Taiga Barony and possibly even the Guchen Marquisate, by merely dealing with one baronial family.

That was Vanessa’s warning, and conversely, it gave the nobles, who were shrinking back at the promise of a dukedom to Zion, a glimmer of hope.

Zion Clausel may seem like an eternal loyalist now, but who knows how he might change once he becomes a duke.

If he had been aiming for that position from the start, now that he has achieved it, his true colors might come out.

So, perhaps the nobles won’t all collapse or melt away under the pressure of the imperial family. That’s what she made them think.

‘When they’re desperate, they always see only what they want to see and think only in a way that benefits them.’

Zion Clausel, the ‘Duke,’ who is still unclear whether he is an enemy or an ally, could be a breakwater that the nobles can at least rely on.

If the imperial family grows too large and indiscriminately cuts down the nobles, they will surely run to the dukedom and say that the imperial family is oppressing the nobles and that if they remove them all, they will turn their swords and spears against Clausel.

Even if it doesn’t happen now, such a thing could happen in the distant future, so they are taking out insurance.

“I will certainly follow His Majesty’s will!

I congratulate the birth of the loyal Clausel Dukedom of the Empire!”

For that reason, the nobles gave up all opposition to Vanessa.

Her power is greater now than ever before, and they thought it would be better to lie low and wait for the current storm to subside than to foolishly confront her at such a time.

“Ah, and.”

Vanessa, who had foreseen all of this, smiled inwardly as she realized that the nobles couldn’t dare to utter a single word against her opinion, and parted her lips.

Perhaps if she had mentioned this without such prior measures, she would have faced opposition completely different from Zion’s.

“Besides the territory granted to the Clausel Dukedom, there is still land remaining in the south.

I will build a new territory there, and I have already designated the person who will be in charge of it in the future.

Chief Secretary?”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

The Chief Secretary, bowing his head, cleared his throat.

And in a low voice, he called out a man’s name.

“Sir Kim Yu-hyun!

Sir Kim Yu-hyun, please come forward!”

···Huh?

Kim Yu-hyun’s reaction was exactly that.

The reason he, who was not a noble, could come to this grand conference hall inside the royal palace was because he had displayed unbelievably great feats of arms in this war.

In particular, he single-handedly saved the Hispanian army from crisis, and he swept away the highest-ranking celestials, who were the greatest threat in the allied forces’ battle, all at once. He displayed such power that it seemed as if a god had temporarily descended, so it wasn’t really that unusual.

But, in any case, he is not from Hispania.

Also, although he is being called ‘Sir,’ he has not received formal knight training from the royal family or other territories, so he could not even be called a quasi-noble.

Nevertheless, he received a knighthood for his achievements, but that is different from the current matter.

Giving a title and a vast territory to a foreigner would have originally caused the nobles to make a fuss, saying that it didn’t seem right and that other rewards should be given.

Titles and territories are their exclusive privileges.

The most decisive reason why the vested interests collapse is when those privileges are returned to others, and the ‘boundary’ between them and themselves gradually disappears, so it was not strange for the nobles to show such a reaction.

“···.”

“···.”

But the nobles who should have opposed were completely silent.

Rather, Ludwig and some nobles who had directly participated in the war and made contributions applauded, and they watched others before following suit and applauding as well.

‘Their change of course is certainly fast.

Anyway, this is what nobles should be like.’

It’s annoying, but they are not so wrong that I hate them or want to wipe them all out.

Those kinds of guys are the celestials, radical fairies, and fanatics that Zion swept away with Kim Yu-hyun.

These people are just doing their job to survive, so Zion is not so confident that he can say anything about it.

Of course, if it goes too far, it can’t be helped if they are purged as a reaction to it.

“Sir Kim Yu-hyun, please come forward!”

At the Chief Secretary’s repeated call, Kim Yu-hyun scratched his cheek and moved forward.

It was written all over his face that he had no intention of this happening and wondered why things were going so strangely.

As Kim Yu-hyun approached, Zion, who had risen from his seat, gave a slight nod.

It meant to kneel in his place and receive the Emperor’s will, just as he had done.

In name, he is the strongest in the world, so he could call it off and overturn it, but with the conviction that he would never do that, Zion stared at him intently.

‘Because I wanted to live quietly and normally.

But since I have the power and showed it to others, I can’t live very quietly or very normally.

Kim Yu-hyun will understand this much.’

If he couldn’t even understand that, if he hadn’t even thought about that, he wouldn’t have followed him.

Zion thought so and hoped that Kim Yu-hyun would settle down and live properly, and waited for his reaction.

“···.”

After blinking his eyes for a moment, Kim Yu-hyun soon gave a gentle smile and slowly knelt down.

His appearance was even more sophisticated and elegant than Zion’s.

As expected, the protagonist buff shines even more at times like this.

“He is the one who has made tremendous contributions to saving this country with Zion Clausel several times.

He judged the enemies who dared not resist, and he saved the soldiers in crisis, so what else could he be if not a savior.

It is said that he is coincidentally close friends with Zion Clausel, which is even more enjoyable and good news for Hispania.

Therefore, I bestow upon him the title of Count and grant him territory.

And I sincerely hope that he will stay there with Clausel and protect this country forever.”

Vanessa, like Zion, brought the scepter to Kim Yu-hyun’s shoulders.

At that moment, Kim Yu-hyun’s face, unlike his usual expressionless face, seemed to be lost in thought.

After a long and arduous wandering life, instead of being thoroughly used and abandoned by someone, he was able to gain trust and faith from someone and stand by their side.

“I hope that you will end your long wandering in Hispania, settle down, put your difficult past behind you for a while, and be faithful to the present.”

At the deeply meaningful words, Kim Yu-hyun reflexively looked at Vanessa.

Then she gave a gentle smile, took the scepter off Kim Yu-hyun’s shoulder, and turned to look at the nobles.

“Today is not a day to give rewards to everyone who has made contributions in this place.

However, I have made such a great contribution that I felt like I would die of frustration if I didn’t convey Hispania’s gratitude as soon as possible.

I will give more grand and greater rewards to everyone, so I hope that today everyone will be satisfied with celebrating for each other.”

Vanessa announced that she would declare to the world that Hispania would be reborn as an empire after all the urgent tasks were completed.

And on the very day that the last king of the Kingdom of Hispania disappeared and the first emperor of the Hispania Empire took power, it was decided to reward all those who contributed to leading Hispania to the empire.

In the meantime, the Kettleitz Barony will be quietly dealt with, and other nobles will be given subtle warnings.

All the nobles who have made great and small contributions, and no noble gathered in the auspicious place where the kingdom is transformed into an empire wanted to refuse the emperor’s idea that he did not want to make things bigger.

“Congratulations, Duke Zion Clausel.”

“I haven’t even received the title of Duke yet, let alone the head of Clausel, Marquis Ludwig Redenen.

Until then, I’m just Zion Clausel.”

“Hispania will soon become an empire, and Clausel will become a duchy from a barony.

I don’t know why you’re making such a fuss about just a few days.

Zion Clausel.”

“Marquis Estina Oner, please stop there too.

I haven’t even received the position of head of the family yet.”

After Vanessa stepped forward in the conference hall, the nobles were making dazed expressions in a place where a storm had passed, and then gathered in groups of three or five and left the place.

And Zion was caught by Ludwig and Estia.

“Now that Nudia won’t be invading, the Margrave of Lichten will have some time to spare.

If he comes up to the royal palace, I think he will hand over the position of head of Clausel right away.”

“Of course he will.

I talked to him briefly last time and he said something like that.”

Estia and Ludwig smiled at each other and exchanged words.

With the exception of Vanessa, the two marquises who will become the most powerful axis of the Hispania Empire in the future and the future duke are together, so the nobles can’t help but pay attention to it.

‘Hmm.’

In the meantime, Zion noticed that a man’s gaze was pouring towards them.

His identity was Bereklik Guchen, the man who inherited the title of Marquis from his father, Hoakin Guchen, the former Marquis of Guchen, at the end of the war.

“Marquis Bereklik Guchen.

Would you like to have a chat with us?”

He has not yet formally received the title of Duke, but Zion is already in a state no different from a Duke.

However, because he deliberately showed respect, Bereklik, who is said to be the most calculating of the three marquises, had no choice but to move his steps and approach without avoiding the seat in order to understand Zion’s intentions.

“···Zion Clausel.”

It goes without saying that Zion and Bereklik are not strangers.

He came to the royal palace and faced Zion when Zion first defeated Nudia’s army.

‘Originally, he was a person who secretly treated those who used force as lowly.

He’s calculating and quite annoying, so I was thinking of just turning him into an enemy and getting rid of him.’

Still, he is one of the three marquises, a noble among nobles whose aftermath would be beyond imagination if one were to be struck down.

If he caused social chaos unnecessarily, the disciples of light who might still be left could secretly approach, so Zion was thinking of slowly cooking him when everything was settled.

“It’s been a while, yo.”

Ludwig, Estia, Bereklik, and Zion.

The three marquises and the successors of Clausel were about the same age, so they were likely to inherit their respective families and officially work as great nobles at about the same time.

And as expected, all the people of the previous era were not in this place, but only their children were replacing their positions and facing each other like this.

“···.”

To tell the truth, Bereklik was confident that the Clausel Frontier Territory would not last long until a few years ago.

Zion Clausel was the one who lacked so much, unlike the Margrave of Lichten.

He was disappointed after seeing him directly as a child, and how much he looked down on him. He thought that nobles who rose up with swords and spears only knew how to wield swords and spears, so they would eventually fall behind.

So, when Zion, who had become an adult, broke Nudia’s army and came to the royal palace, he subtly expressed hostility and did not openly guard against him.

‘I made a mistake.

I didn’t know he would become such a big figure.’

But in just two years, Zion Clausel became a tremendous figure that even the Guchen Marquisate, which had the most solid wealth among the three marquises, could not easily handle.

It was not because he wielded the sword and spear that Bereklik looked down on, but because he wisely managed those who wielded the sword and spear and accomplished difficult things that no one in the world could have imagined.

It’s absurd, it’s amazing, it’s something I don’t want to believe.

But because that happened, it is now a reality that I have no choice but to accept.

Bereklik was regretting his past words and deeds a little, and was trying to figure out the best way to proceed if Zion were to antagonize him.

“You must not be feeling well.

To think that the Guchen Marquisate could suffer a disgraceful thing because of one barony.”

Zion is directly stabbing the sore spot.

The Kettleitz Barony, which harmed allies during the war, the Taiga Barony, which was quite close to that family, and the Guchen Marquisate, which was connected to the Taiga Barony.

Such a thing was by no means welcome to Bereklik, who was in a high position that could not help but be shaken even by a slight breeze.

As soon as Vanessa mentioned the punishment for the Kettleitz Barony, the nobles reflexively showed a reaction of wondering what would happen to the Taiga Barony and the Guchen Marquisate.

If the queen, now the emperor, Vanessa, wanted, the Taiga Barony, as well as the Guchen Marquisate, might have to receive the sharp knife of the imperial family’s suspicion.

“Just in case, I’m telling you, Clausel does not suspect the Guchen Marquisate.”

“Yes?”

“What kind of place is the Guchen Marquisate?

It is a historic family that revived Hispania’s commerce.

How many people are enjoying a prosperous life thanks to the Guchen Marquisate, and Hispania is shining even more because of them, so would they have been involved with such dirty people?

That’s absurd.”

At Zion’s words, Ludwig and Estia nodded in agreement.

In any case, they are also nobles, and moreover, they are members of the three marquises, so they didn’t want to see Bereklik, who is the same noble and marquis as them, suffering from one barony.

“I was just about to have tea with the two marquises and talk about things I haven’t been able to talk about, would you like to join us, Marquis Bereklik?”

Zion, who was ignored by Bereklik in the past, is reaching out first.

Unlike before, Zion is now in a thoroughly superior position.

Thanks to this, Bereklik was wondering what this scary man wanted again, and stared at Zion intently.

But accepting Zion’s invitation in this place would be more beneficial than rejecting it.

Moreover, it would be one-on-one personal meeting, but Ludwig and Estia are also attending.

If he is left out of the meeting where the core forces that will lead the future of the empire gather, it would be tantamount to admitting the weakness of the Guchen Marquisate, so in the end, Bereklik had no choice but to nod and accept.

―――――――Afterword―――――――

Finishing, finishing···.