A Game's Opportunity Becomes Reality Episode 109
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A Game's Opportunity Becomes Reality Episode 109
28. A New Wind (1)
[The Second Prince's Faction, Having Lost Its Head and Body, Surrenders!]
[A Long Standoff, But the Second Prince's Rebellion Ends All Too Simply!]
[Those Who Suppressed the Rebellion Are the Figures of Turmoil, Marquis Adrian Lawrence and Count Arcia Klein!]
[Due to Old Age, Duke Anahaim, Who Did Not Personally Participate in the War, Faces a Two-Title Demotion! Other Nobles Who Supported the Second Prince Also Faced Demotions or Had Their Titles Stripped...]
[The Fall of the Once-Powerful Second Prince's Faction! A Large-Scale Appointment of the Crown Prince's Faction Is Expected!]
[Death Sentences Handed Down to the Lords Who Served as the Core Leadership of the Second Prince's Faction.]
[Duke Adrian Lawrence and Marquis Arcia Klein? The Title Promotions of the Heroes Who Ended the Civil War Early Are Only Natural? They Are Merely 20 Years Old.]
-Man, ever since Brother Adrian and Sister Arcia appeared, there hasn't been a single peaceful day in the kingdom.
└Honestly, they could just make a separate news section just for Adrian Lawrence.
└I heard they caused quite a stir in the Prius Republic not long ago too.
└Are you dissing my oppa and unnie right now?
└Still, thanks to those two, a full-scale war was avoided.
└That's right. It's an achievement worthy of being called heroes.
-But isn't the punishment a bit light for a rebellion? Normally, a failed rebellion ends with the whole family being wiped out, right?
└Guilt-by-association is hard to see these days, isn't it?
└Wasn't it because the succession struggle between the Crown Prince and the Second Prince was openly carried out with the King's tacit approval in the first place?
└Still, the main culprits all got the death sentence.
└No, Marquis Vincent and Margrave Igris were spared.
└Come on, it'd be a waste to kill an Aura Master anyway. Better to let them rot away in the border forces on the Croisen front for the rest of their lives.
-But seriously, he's a self-made duke at 20?
└That's a story from a completely different world.
└I worry this might be the emergence of a faction threatening the Crown Prince, following the Second Prince.
└Those two are on the same side, you're worried over nothing.
└You must have forgotten Ibril Barnet, who is being sponsored by Marquis Lawrence, is also the closest figure to becoming the Saintess. If Marquis Lawrence produces a Saintess as well? Who knows what comes next.
└Still, it really is impressive. To think someone like this lived quietly in a frontier noble family.
└At least Sir Adrian is one of the few nobles who communicates with commoners. Shouldn't we be glad when someone like that gains power?
Today as well, the online world is as peaceful as can be.
My articles are always flooded with comments, so they're fun to read.
"My Lord, are you listening?"
But I had to close the news window on my terminal due to a man who thrust his face toward me.
That man is Harris Walker, a mere baron by title.
He is the deputy lord of our domain whom I discovered during my appearance before the Noble Audit Office in the past a brilliant administrative talent I actively recruited and brought over.
There is no such position as deputy lord in the hereditary feudal kingdom of Rhinehearts, but since he is the one who will practically run our domain in my place as I have too much to do, I kept feeling awkward calling him 'acting lord,' so I created a new position and granted it to him.
He is a diligent man who gives his all to his assigned duties an administrator like a mage who takes the big picture I draw and adjusts it to make it applicable in reality.
"Ah, sorry. You said you came for something, right?"
In response to my question, Baron Walker spread a precious paper map across the table.
"I came to make a proposal regarding your promotion in title, My Lord."
It hasn't been directly mentioned by the royal family yet, but since most of the credit for this civil war went to Arcia and me, the promotion is almost certain.
In the first place, the Crown Prince isn't the kind of person to pull tricks with something like this, and there's no one left in noble society bold enough to pick a fight with me, who is infamous as it is.
So there was no need to accuse him of getting ahead of himself for acting as if preparing for the promotion.
"Go on."
Then he drew a circle on the map with a magic pen.
Writing done with a magic pen can be erased easily, so his actions were without hesitation.
[Viscounty of Lawrence]
[Marquisate of Hamington]
[County of Klein]
[County of Trinity]
[Viscounty of Lawrence]
And when he stopped drawing circles on the map, one massive, connected piece of land was formed.
"If Lord Marquis Lawrence becomes a Duke this time, have him receive the Marquisate of Hamington rather than the Dukedom of Ennheim. And if Lord Count Klein becomes a Marquis, have him receive the County of Trinity rather than another Marquisate."
I could easily grasp the intent behind what he was saying.
"Gather together all the lands that could be considered my faction?"
"Yes. The advantage of this approach is that you only need to expand the administrative region around existing domains, so there's no need to go through a difficult period of adaptation. In addition, it can prevent unnecessary Domain Wars that might break out later, and since the northeast and northwest of the kingdom would be divided around those factions, it becomes the center of northern trade."
It was also for easy administration from an administrator's perspective, but if the domains could truly be connected this way, the benefits were enormous.
As a bonus, the closed-off Dukedom of Ennheim could be split apart, so it's not a bad deal for the Crown Prince who will soon ascend the throne either.
"That's certainly a good opinion. Later, if we make Father a Margrave of the north, we could even connect the capital Lionel to the Jordy Kingdom directly."
"If that's possible, it would be the best-case scenario."
At first I hadn't given it much weight, but now I found myself growing interested in Baron Walker's proposal.
"And if Arcia becomes a Duke, where would be best for her to expand?"
He was the one who brought it up, but as I started adding too much flesh to it, Baron Walker broke into a cold sweat and pointed to the northeast.
"It would be best to receive both the County of Magnus and the County of Gerard together. That way, it connects directly to the Gricia Kingdom in the northeast as well."
"Oh, so then a massive faction connecting both northern kingdoms to the capital would be born?"
He expressed doubt at my behavior.
"You make it sound as if Lord Count Klein becoming a Duke and Viscount Lawrence becoming a Margrave is right around the corner. Is there something going on?"
"There is. A blessing that brings immeasurable fortune to this country."
A way to make Arcia a Duke and Father a Margrave?
Very simple.
All that needs to happen is for Arcia and me to advance to the next level.
'It's not long now.'
Once I become an 8th Circle Mage and Arcia becomes a Grand Master, the kingdom will have no choice but to offer rewards befitting that.
Otherwise, they won't be able to hold onto us.
An 8th Circle Mage and a Grand Master are positions where any country would offer a Dukedom.
But since I already hold the title of Duke, I will request that the position of Margrave be granted to Father instead.
Surely the royal family will not be able to refuse.
Baron Walker leaned in with interest, wanting to hear more details, but I said it was a secret and didn't reveal the truth.
He looked extremely curious, but the fact that he didn't press further than necessary was professional of him.
"I won't pry. Instead, please let me know in advance so I can respond quickly when something happens."
"Yes, I will."
Baron Walker didn't leave my office right away.
He signaled to the young administrator who had followed him.
"What is this?"
Then the young administrator, with a thoroughly tense expression, placed a shopping bag on my desk.
Inside, it was filled with cute little envelopes.
"They're from the children of the Lawrence Orphanage. They're letters of thanks to you, my Lord."
"Didn't the director make the children write these to get on my good side? He could have just sent them by mail..."
"There might be a bit of that intention, but looking over the contents, they were honest and amusing. They're not just blind praise, so I'd recommend reading them when you have time."
I dumped the contents of the shopping bag onto my desk.
All sorts of crooked, wobbly handwriting.
I let out a snicker and nodded.
The orphanage director probably did it to look good to me, but honestly, it didn't feel bad.
"Right now, the domain residents are worried that you might become a Duke and leave for another region. Everyone hopes you'll stay here."
"Good to hear I'm not hated by the residents."
"How many Lords are this warm toward commoners? On top of that, taxes are the lowest in the Kingdom of Rhinehearts, there are various welfare policies, and the economy is developing quickly so there are plenty of jobs the residents like you more than you think, Lord Count."
"It's all thanks to Baron Walker."
"Not at all. No matter how capable the administration is, nothing changes without the Lord's will."
"That's a bit cringeworthy."
"Well, that's how it is."
Realizing what he wanted, I let out a snicker and spoke.
"You want me to post something on my online diary (SNS) so the domain residents can feel at ease, right?"
"Yes, exactly."
I immediately wrote a post on SNS, and after reading it, he nodded with satisfaction.
"Thank you. I'll take my leave now."
Is it because his efforts are embedded in every corner?
You could feel his affection for the domain it was good to see.
* * *
As Virtual Reality technology advanced under the Hollywood system, much of the world changed.
Even nobles who looked down on Virtual Reality were expanding their businesses into virtual worlds to drain commoners' money, and changes came not only economically but also culturally.
Among them, the most noticeable cultural shift was the rise of "virtual influencers."
Virtual characters post on SNS, release albums, and film videos just like real people, amassing huge fanbases.
The money they earned rivaled real celebrities, and since they were beings made of data, they never complained about hard work and never aged so if marketed well, their value could last forever.
However, being virtual also brought risks namely, the possibility of data corruption from hacking or virus attacks.
The Hollywood system was like a kind of internet network, so while its own security was high, the services operating within it were a different story.
Of course, even that was far safer than Earth, but every program faced hacking and virus threats, so a self-contained security system was necessary.
[1st-generation virtual influencer "Airi" data completely wiped. Even the cloud backup vanished without a trace.]
[Recently popular virtual influencer "Teresa" data wiped.]
[Adult virtual influencer "Michael" data wiped.]
[Fourth incident in one month. Who is attacking virtual influencers, and for what purpose?]
[Sighting report: the lost 1st-gen virtual influencer "Airi" was seen inside a game.]
To those uninterested, these were incidents easy to ignore.
But in the virtual world built on the Hollywood system, incidents centering on virtual influencers were steadily increasing.