Cthulhu Gonfalon

The problem mentioned by Marquis Yug stumped all who were present.

“Without the explorers, the grassroots will become scarce. But what can we do to attract them?” one of the earls spoke up in exasperation.

“Offer them a manor?” another earl suggested.

“No! It is easy to grant land but hard to gain it back. These explorers would only have about one or two generations, and the third generation onward will have lackluster performance. How can they be granted land so easily?”

“Yes, it would be permissible if they were high-level. However, the mid-level explorers are not worth wasting land on.”

“However, without the promise of a manor, we cannot really offer anything more than the merchants can. We can’t possibly promote all mid-level explorers to knighthood. As for low-level explorers, we would not even accept them into official bureaucracy… in comparison, the merchants could offer them the hope of a family legacy at the very least.”

“That would be an extremely ridiculous legacy! Without a manor, what kind of family would that be? How laughable!”

“The mid and lower level explorers would think otherwise, though. To them, having a stable career and having a family line would be enough.”

“Damn it! Can’t these fellows be a bit more ambitious?”

“The ambitious ones probably chose to go to the Republic…”

“That country is too terrible!”

Everyone chimed in at once, creating a mess of unconstructive noise with no real solution being presented. At the end of the day, the social hierarchy of the aristocrats really did not concern the explorers at all and was not much leverage.

While the explorers respected the power of the aristocrats, they were mostly free-spirited. If they were faced with conflict, they would just re-migrate, and the aristocrats could not possibly chase them down on others’ land to bring them back.

Although overall, the aristocrats had advantages over the explorers, however, there were still many cases of aristocrats being murdered by explorers who then disappeared and were unable to be captured. One only had to look at the Church of the God of Aristocracy and the Church of the God of Law list of wanted criminals to discover that this situation was extremely common. The explorers were brave in nature, and in the face of unfair treatment, they were prepared to raise their weapons and use their fists to gain revenge rather than accept injustice. In such cases, while explorers would possibly be at a disadvantage, it was not uncommon for it to be the other way around as well. In the last five years alone, there were about five to six barons who had died as well as a viscount. To add on to that, the knight death count was so high that it was partially uncountable.

In an actual conflict, if a high-level explorer were to fight with his life, he could definitely subdue an earl. As for those aristocrats who risked their lives, killing them would only require the skill level of amid-level explorer. So to use status to chase the explorers would not be a viable solution. Since threats could not work, the aristocrats could only use bribery to lure the explorers. However, most were also not willing to provide large enough benefits to the explorers.

It seemed like no solution was possible, and eventually, all could only admit defeat.

“Perhaps… war is really the only solution here.” After a long period of silence, one of the earls spoke up.

He was one of the local aristocrats and had always been in charge of liaising with other areas’ aristocrats as well as being the mediator between the two marquis and their earls. Unlike the central aristocrats, the local aristocrats did not want to battle the merchants as they knew that they would incur more losses than the other party. Furthermore, their territory was adjacent to the merchants’ territory. They would definitely damage their own property if there were to be a war. In this case, however, they did not have much of a choice.

“I think we can afford to wait and see. War is not a small matter; if we really want to fight one, we have to be confident of our victory. We must make sufficient preparations first to ensure it.” Marquis Gordon spoke up before Marquis Yug could.

“Facing those idiots who can only hire troops… losing would be unlikely. These hired troops cannot win the battle, they will retreat or lose morale very quickly,” one of the earls smiled and said.

“But we will still incur major losses either way…” Another earl stated worriedly.

“We cannot care about these losses now! If you all agree, I vote that we take action first!” Earl Hauss’ eyes glinted.

“What? Didn’t you previously engage in peace talks with them? It wouldn’t be wise to take action now, right?”

Earl Hauss laughed coldly and said, “Truthfully, I have been preparing for war, and I’m quite ready. If we fight, I have confidence in gaining the upper hand.”

The aristocrats glanced at each other in silence.

After a while, Marquis Gordon spoke up, “I think we should wait a bit more, for more people to be ready so we can take action together.

“Alright, you all better hurry up then. Time waits for no man, and if we don’t seize this opportunity soon, the merchants in the South may take action first. After all, they aren’t stupid and are probably thinking of this issue as well.”

Everyone nodded and started their own preparations after concluding the meeting.

After returning home, Yug immediately paid a visit to his deep underground secret chamber. His oldest son was still imprisoned here till today, unable to escape.

“Have you thought about it?” Yug did not enter but spoke from the doorway.

“I should be the one asking you that. Father, have you thought about it?” a weary yet firm voice replied.

“Even if the Noble Lady is able to win the Royal Crown, we will still have a share in this country’s future leadership. Why should we take on such a huge risk? If our family just possesses the earl title, then I would not prevent you from taking this risk. However, our family already belongs to the Commonwealth’s highest level, so what do we stand to gain?”

“Your Majesty! The right to the throne is the true end goal here!” his most talented son roared with ferocity.

“Becoming a king isn’t that easy, and we simply don’t have the capacity to overthrow others presently.”

“My god’s church can provide that power.”

“From being able to be a god to becoming a king, what’s the significance?” Yug laughed coldly and retorted.

“It is a fact that mortals are subordinate to gods. We all die. What we have after we die is much more important than the glory we have while living.”

“Unless it is a trade, I have never really considered following anyone. Before death, donating a large sum of money allows for me to enter a good number of God Kingdoms. Where we live after death is not an issue at all,” Yug replied coldly.

“You would not belong in a place that you don’t suit.”

“It’s my fault for letting you become a priest…” Yug sighed.

“No, I must thank you! If not for letting me discover my faith, I would still be lost in my life goals. Father, you have been lost for a long time. It is time for you to turn back.” His eldest son smiled.

Yug shook his head. “You can think about this further, I’ll be back to visit you tomorrow.”

He did not have the intention to continue this debate. Fighting between faith and interest was not going to lead to a proper conclusion.