Volume 9 Chapter 6 Shifa’s Decision
Edited by: Kanaa-senpai
Gilbert was grabbed by the guards by both arms and dragged out.
The bad Nobles who were brought to the throne room gasped when they saw him.
”Now then, next is his second wife, Marietta Browning, who was the go-between for the Nobles who participated in the coup and is suspected of asking Kent Blackdagger to join the coup.”
Next was Marietta, who was Gilbert’s second wife.
She was acting as a liaison between the Nobles who participated in the coup.
”Marietta, do you have any objections?”
”No, I have no doubt that I drew my bow against Your Majesty. I am prepared for the death penalty.”
Marietta seemed to have given up on everything, unlike her husband, and was waiting for my judgment in a solemn manner.
But, she is a woman for whom Kent has offered to save her.
She should be rewarded to Kent…
”I sentence Marietta. First, you are banished from the Kingdom. Furthermore, your family name of Browning will be stripped, and you will become a commoner and be ordered to become the personal slave of Kent Blackdagger. Serve under Kent for the rest of your life.”
”Yes, thank you for your generous judgment. Thank you very much.”
Marietta was crying.
It wasn’t clear whether her tears were tears of joy or tears of sadness, but she, who had survived, left the throne room while crying.
”Next is Lucy Blackberry. This person used the [Swindle] Skill to extort money from many Noble families and provided financial aid to the coup army.”
The woman called Lucy is brought out with a gag in her mouth.
While I was looking through the documents related to her, Lucy, who had the gag removed, began to shout and plead.
”Your Majesty!! I never intended to draw my bow against Your Majesty! This time, it was just that I was framed by the people on either side of me!”
For a moment, I thought that her words might be true, but that thought quickly vanished.
”Lucy… you used [Swindle] again, didn’t you? As long as I’m here, your [Swindle] won’t work!”
Kent, who was next to him, glared at Lucy.
It seems she had activated her [Swindle] Skill.
”Ugh! Kent Blackdagger! How dare you get in my way!”
Lucy, furious, let out a shrill cry.
”I hereby decree, Lucy Blackberry. The Blackberry family is to be cut off, and all their assets are to be confiscated. You are stripped of your title and shall live as a commoner. Furthermore, you shall serve as a monetary slave until you repay the debt to Kent Blackdagger, who covered the damages for the victims of the underground poker. If you resist, you will be sentenced to death.”
”Eeeek! No way… I, not a Noble anymore… I was supposed to become the Kingdom’s first female Chancellor… It’s a lie! Nooooo!”
She started to go wild just like Gilbert, so she was taken away by the guard using Geass.
”You Majesty… I will properly manage Lucy. Thank you for not killing her, she’s actually quite a Competent woman.”
Kent seemed satisfied with Lucy’s punishment.
Feeling guilty about the small reward for Kent, I was convinced that I had appeased Kent by giving him 2 women.
I feel bad for the women who were given, but I think Kent won’t treat them too badly, so I hope they endure it.
And so, the punishments for the participating Nobles were decided one after another, and most Noble families were ordered to pay a ransom, have their heads of household replaced, and be confined to their homes.
Only the 15 people at the center of the coup were sentenced to death in this coup, and the rest were only ordered to confine their heads of household and replace them.
And, the biggest problem was the disposal of the 6 families called the Kingdom army Nobles.
I knew that they had worked hard to make me a Demon Lord, but in this coup, they had been persuaded by Gilbert and plotted to overthrow the Kingdom.
I thought that if I left them alone, they might plot another coup, so I devised a plan.
That was about making the Six Families give up their military positions, including their relatives.
They wouldn’t punish the heads of the families, but making them give up their positions in the Kingdom army would weaken the Six Families’ influence.
They thought that if the heads of the families weren’t punished and just had to give up their positions, they would go along with it.
To make it easier for them to agree, they would also let them return to their military positions after a certain period of time, after they’d been disciplined.
That way, they were supposed to be able to buy back their military positions for a lot of money.
But there was a trap in this too; while the Six Families were being disciplined, they would reorganize the military positions and create a lot of honorary positions with no real power, and then they would sell those to the Six Families.
I’ve lost trust in the great Noble families because of this coup, and I’m putting my hopes in commoner Officers and lower Officers as replacements, and of course, I’m going to hire anyone from the Six Families who shows they have what it takes.
”Now, the last ones are the heads of the 6 families who supported the coup: the Boldue family, the Müller family, the Mirastra family, the Redwayne family, the Magenta family, and the Northalan family.”
When Arbalest read the documents, the heads of the Six Families, who were tied up, were brought before me.
”Your Majesty Shifa!! What is the meaning of this! What an insult that we should be tied up! It was thanks to our support that Your Majesty could become the Demon Lord!”
When the head of the Boldue family spoke, the other heads of the families started barking like mad dogs one after another. Their ugly faces were turning dark with anger.
”Shut up!! You’re in front of Your Majesty Shifa!”
Kent scolded the heads of the families with a [Loud Voice] that filled the room.
The heads of the families, who had been making a lot of noise, shut their mouths because of Kent’s strong presence.
”You all have worked well for me. Let me thank you from the bottom of my heart. It’s not hard to imagine that without your efforts, I would have remained a poor, title-only Noble. For that alone, I should show gratitude. But, I am now the Demon Lord of the True Demon Kingdom. Letting those who raise their bows against a Demon Lord go unpunished would be unforgivable to all the generations of the Demon Lords who came before me.”
”But-! We never intended to raise our bows against you! This whole matter must be a fabrication by Lord Arbalest!”
The head of the Redwayne family tried to step forward, cursing at Arbalest, but was immediately forced back down by the guards.
”…Unfortunately, with the evidence before us, I cannot declare you innocent… Here are documents listing the amounts you sent to Arbalest and Quenelra, which appear to be bribes. According to this, the Redwayne family also sent quite a large sum. What was this money for?”
At my question, the head of the Redwayne family’s face turned pale.
”Th-that was just a personal gift… Yes! A personal gift! We had long wanted to show our gratitude to Lord Arbalest, so we sent that money!”
”Hoh, is that so? According to what I heard directly from Quenelra, all this money was meant as payment for pleading to spare your lives. You claim you never intended to support the coup, correct? Then why would you need to beg Arbalest and Quenelra to spare you?”
At my words, the heads of the 6 families began to panic, their faces losing color.
”We have no need for pleas to spare our lives… We are allies of Your Majesty Shifa!”
”Then, you won’t mind if all the money you gave those 2 is now donated to the national treasury? They have already handed over every coin to the treasury officials. All that remains is your approval.”
”””No problem at all.”””
The family heads pressed their foreheads to the floor to show their agreement.
”Very well. In light of your large donation to the treasury, your punishment shall be reduced. However, all military positions held by relatives connected to your 6 families will be temporarily suspended. Of course, you yourselves will also be relieved of your active duties.”
”What the heck! Are you saying we should just die? Then, let’s fight again…”
When the head of the Müller family heard he would be stripped of his military position, he became furious.
For them, being expelled from their position was a matter of life and death.
”Calm down. I’m not a monster. I will do my best to help you return to your original positions after a period of reflection. However, I also want you to pay a redemption fee to regain your positions. Otherwise, the common people won’t be satisfied.”
”A redemption fee…? Are you saying that if we want to get our old jobs back, we have to buy them with money…?”
”That’s right. I still need your experience.”
The faces of the heads began to regain their color.
They were now desperately calculating how long it would take to make back what they had lost after returning.
They really are hopeless fools…
I focused on keeping a calm expression, trying not to show my disgust on my face.
If I do not have competent vassals, it is clear that my True Demon Kingdom will be swallowed up by other nations.
Therefore, I must ask the inept nobles to step aside and produce new talent.
”I understand. I will resign from my military position and enter a period of reflection. I will also tell my relatives to resign from their military positions.”
The head of the Mirastra family, representing the 6 houses, expressed acceptance of my conditions.
The other heads also acknowledged their acceptance and bowed their heads.
”Good. I won’t lose my competent vassals.”
”””Yes, thank you for your gracious decision.”””
Once they were untied by the guards, they hurried out of the throne room.
It seemed they were entering a period of reflection immediately to show their obedience to me.
With this, all the punishments were over, and only I, Kent, Chancellor Aldo, Arbalest, and Quenelra remained in the throne room.
”Still, Your Majesty, you handled that well. Who came up with the idea of making them pay for their positions? I never thought of something like that.”
Kent talked to me with a laugh.
”This was Quenelra’s idea. Even Aldo was surprised. Many nobles from the Kingdom’s military faction hoard wealth, and it’s said we must weaken their financial power or another coup could happen. I made my decision. Just between us, the positions they’ll buy back will be honorary roles with heavily restricted authority. They’ll probably be furious when they realize they have no power, but that’s not my problem. After this, I’ll keep a strict watch on them.”
”So you’re selling back their old powerless positions at high prices… That’s fraud.”
”Kent. These are the same people who defied Your Majesty. If they get scammed, that’s their problem. If this house arrest makes the 6 families’ relatives all quit their military posts, we can completely reorganize the Kingdom’s army. We’ll wipe out their influence for good.”
At first, Arbalest didn’t like Quenelra’s plan, but once he saw how determined I was, he came around.
The military reorganization is still ongoing, but with so many noble officers resigning after the coup, we’ll quickly promote Arbalest’s handpicked officers and commoner junior officers to push through bold reforms.
”I’ll keep close tabs on their movements. We underestimated them during this coup. From now on, I’ll watch them closely and send guards at the first sign of trouble.”
Aldo deeply regrets his mistake of getting captured despite having coup information, and promised to share all future intel with me.
With Velis gone and no informants nearby, I appreciated Aldo’s offer.
”I’m counting on you.”
”Yes. I hate useless nobles too, so I’ll crush any suspicious activity immediately.”
Aldo answers with gleaming eyes.
And so, the punishment for the nobles who joined the coup was decided, and my True Demon Kingdom took its next step forward.
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Edited by Kanaa-senpai.
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