Chapter 84: CH 81

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In a space region about 280 million kilometers from the Capital planet Diros, a huge spaceport was being built linked to the orbit of the planet.

It looks like a huge cast-iron net, and the rope part serves as a collection point for supplies. And the part corresponding to the knot of the net was the control station.

The supplies are carried to the spaceport via Israfels with large containers and Salamanders with medium-sized containers. They came from the MacLir System through the transition gate, 20 million kilometers from the spaceport.

Each container enters a designated circle and transfers the cargo to the collection point, then the crafts turn around and it returns quickly. The containers accumulated in the spaceport were transported to depots and factories throughout the system by unmanned vessels sent from Capital planet.

The idea for the spaceport to receive these goods came from the inhabitants of the Athena System, where the transition gate was connected.

They were now able to make a profit just by sending vast amounts of resources from the new star system at 30% of the fair price and then passing them without further ado to the rear star systems.

“If we can reduce the role and restraint time of the fighter crafts, they should be able to focus on the round trips to and from the transition gate.”

The only time that a fighter craft is indispensable in the distribution route is when the magic engine is operated to protect the hull and the container with a shield when passing through the transition gate, which is a high-dimensional space.

If other tasks are supplemented elsewhere, the amount of transport will be doubled even with the same number of crafts. Specifically, by building a spaceport near the transition gate or introducing unmanned vessels to replace what the fighter crafts were doing.

However, the policies of the new system are decided by the Monarchy government, the fighter crafts are operated by the Royal Army, and the transition gate is managed by the Marquis of Amakawa.

The people of the Athena System, who faced a high hurdle in changing their operations, petitioned Prince Bernard, acting Duke of Strani, who manages the Athena system, to improve the efficiency with the construction of the spaceport.

As expected, Bernard okayed the petition.

“Very well. the construction proposal would be a contribution to both Athena and Diete.”

Bernard is a candidate for Sovereign and must consider the interests of the entire Monarchy.

After collecting the petition, Bernard presented it to Queen Yuna, who also served as the Duke of Strani, and had a large-scale spaceport built in both the Athena and Deite Star Systems.

The plan submitted by Bernard was easy to implement and in the best interest of the Monarchy.

The proposed spaceport could be installed immediately to the control station, which is the knot of the net, using old-generation large ships, large civilian vessels, and ships of the Lords that were scheduled to be decommissioned, by moving and connecting to them.

The construction of a spaceport would increase the amount of resources flowing from the new star system, and it was easy to get the cooperation of the Lords because it would contribute to the interests of the entire Monarchy, including the territories of the Lords.

In addition, the safety standards that could become a problem when operating the older generation vessels were cleared by operating unmanned ships and androids outside the inhabited planets.

Thus, the spaceport was adopted, and the entire Monarchy expanded its economic activities.

Bernard, who had coordinated the petition, gained a domestic achievement of accelerating economic development by proposing a large-scale spaceport, following his military achievements in the Battle of Athena.

Bernard’s domestic success was very troubling to the aristocracy.

“I thought Prince Josslan, with the support of the Duke of Takrham, would have the advantage, but it’s becoming difficult to tell.”

Both Princes’ military decorations are lined up, with the elder brother Bernard having a track record in domestic affairs, and younger Brother Josslan, who is enrolled in the Military Academy, is expected to excel in military affairs.

Between a student of the Academy of Magic and a military cadet, Josslan, the cadet, had the advantage. Given the origins of the Monarchy of Diete and the current state of war, it is better to have the ability to lead the people with an understanding of the military.

However, Bernard, who had contributed to the nation in domestic politics, was no longer a mere student at the Academy of Magic. He is clearly superior to a mere cadet.

The more Bernard achieves, the more of a threat he is to Josslan’s camp, and the backing Duke of Takrham could not afford it.

“We can’t afford to be seen as hostile to the Duke of Takrham, but we can’t carelessly follow them.”

The aristocracy became cautious because if Josslan becomes the next Sovereign, in addition to the next Sovereign and the Duke of Takrham, Yuna and Hart, who will choose the next Sovereign, will be in a position to support the new Sovereign, and most aristocrats will also be in the new Royal faction. The disadvantages to the non-mainstream factions who supported Bernard would be immeasurable.

The opposite is also true. If Bernard becomes the next Sovereign, most aristocrats will follow the new Sovereign in order for Yuna and Hart to support the new Sovereign, and the Duke of Takrham and the Duke of Strani, who become non-mainstream, will be the disadvantaged minorities.

The aristocracy’s preferential treatment of their own factions, and the settling of their debts, is inevitable in order to maintain the magic of their own households. As long as one cannot bequeath offspring alone, one has no choice but to favor one’s allies for the sake of one’s offspring, even if it is Hart and his family.

Such is the case with Hart and Yuna, who manage two new systems and the transition gates.

The power of the new mainstream faction, centered around the next Sovereign, is enormous, and the aristocrats do not want to become the non-mainstream faction. The Duke of Takrham, who had made his position clear before the new star systems were connected by the transition gate, probably did not expect things to reach this point.

As the aristocrats were struggling, the construction of the spaceport progressed steadily, and its operation started in parallel.

The spaceport will continue to expand, but a ceremony was held to commemorate the opening of the large-scale spaceport in order to mark the end of the project once it began operations.

Bernard, who organized the large-scale spaceport, was the host of the large-scale ceremony that brought together the Lords, territorial governments, senior officials of the relevant ministries and agencies, executives of companies involved in transactions, leading figures in the business world, and various media.

The ceremony, organized by Bernhardt, proceeded without a hitch, and the event moved to a glamorous celebration. Bernard, who organized and realized the petition and held ceremonies and celebrations, was evaluated as a candidate for the next Sovereign, and achieved successful results in terms of his ability.

It was very significant that Bernard was able to show that he could handle everything, including military affairs, domestic affairs, and ceremonies, and that he could serve as acting Sovereign when Yuna was unable to continue as Queen.

At the venue where the celebration was held, the Lords and Ladies gathered under Bernard, who showed his ability and potential to become Sovereign.

The first aristocrats to arrive were regarded as the spearhead of the Bernard faction. If they made it clear that they were with Bernard, they would be in trouble when Josslan ascends the throne.

As a result, not a single aristocrat was the first to rush to Bernard’s side, causing the aristocrats to look around them.

At the celebration, young aristocratic children who could not bear the silence were whispering to each other.

“Leon, you have returned to the Marquis of Sharett in the Athena System, will you not go to greet them? His Highness Bernard will have a close relationship with the Athena system.”

“My parents are petty, so a second isolation is inevitable. Why don’t you go?”

“Unfortunately, we are a Viscount household that can easily be blown away by the winds. The first greeting should be given by the head of a senior aristocratic household… carrying their own fate.”

“Then don’t suggest it to me, I’m not the head of the family.”

Not only aristocratic children, but also the family heads who understood the situation did not move.

A woman walked from the center of the ceremony hall toward Bernard, while the eyes of the audience watched with bated breath.

Who was that… there is no aristocratic child asking such a question.

Her face and name, as the head of a Count Household, with the insignia of the General of the Royal Army and the Order of the 2nd Class, are known not only to aristocratic children but even to small children in the Monarchy.

As a public figure, she is the Royal Army Deputy Commander-in-Chief, in private, a close friend of the Queen, and as an honorary, one of the Operation Assistants of Fortress Kerviel. Fortress Kerviel protected the Capital planet and the Athena System, destroyed the Coalition of Humanity in an instant, and repelled the Tenka Federation.

One of the greatest treasures of the Monarchy, she walked majestically up to Bernard, overwhelming the surroundings by her presence.

Eventually, when she reached Bernard, she lightly plucked the hem of her pink dress, bowed with her long, wavy, pale gold and green, waist-length hair, and expressed congratulations in a light voice.

“Greetings, Your Royal Highness Bernard, I am Colette, the Count of Listner. I am pleased to see the opening of the large-scale spaceport conceived by Your Highness, which will greatly contribute to the development of the Monarchy. I, a slightly older head of a Senior Aristocratic Household, commend Your Highness for your devotion to the Monarchy.”

Smiling softly, Colette added in a whisper.

“You’re doing a good job. I have raised my opinion of you.”

It was something added to relieve Bernard’s nervousness.

The reason Colette was able to speak so openly and intimately in front of the crowd was that she was an undisputed member of the Queen’s faction, and it was clear that she supported the prince whom the Queen would nominate. Even if she took the initiative in greeting Bernard, she was not considered to be the spearhead of the Bernard faction.

Colette’s actions will not cause Bernard’s admiration, but she will not incur any displeasure from Josslan either. It is generally understood, correctly, that the aristocrats were trying to create a flow of people to talk to Bernard.

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Bernard, who was approached, understood Colette’s position and intentions.

“I would like to thank you for being the first to congratulate me. I was wondering who would be the first to arrive, but as the Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Royal Army approached, you were indeed very prompt.”

“Oh, if you are testing the Lords, I hope I have not disrupted you.”

“No, we’ve already established that no one is taking the initiative. No need to go any further.”

Colette also agreed with Bernard’s conclusion.

In the first place, the position of Colette who can move freely is special, and the reaction of the aristocrats is normal.

The Count of Listner, who has been elevated to the rank of Count, has been given a territory next to the Marquis of Amakawa, which also serves as the Royal Capital. The same officials as Marquis Amakawa’s Estate collectively manage the Count of Listner Estate, the system is the same, with the Count of Listner being treated as a suburb of the Royal Capital.

Immediately after the promotion, the Monarchy provided administrative and financial support, they could commence stable trade with the territories of her close friends Yuna and Hart… two new systems, via the transition gate.

For the preservation of magical power, a top priority for the aristocracy, Hart has attached a promise to donate his genes, which will assure that their children will have high magic power value. With two children, they can send one of them to another family and receive a spouse in return for the debt, and the third generation and beyond will be secure.

There are only a handful of aristocrats in a position like Colette’s, such as the Marquis of Carneus with Philine and the Marquis of Ornelas, the grandfather of both princes.

“Even if it was Prince Josslan, I think that the aristocrats of the Duke of Takrham would have taken the lead in the flow of greetings. It is natural that the head, who is responsible for protecting the household, is unable to move around carelessly, so please don’t be too concerned.”

However, this does not mean that loopholes do not exist.

The most effective of the several options is to make Mirabell, the sister of both princes, a fiancée.

Mirabell, who is two years younger than Second Prince Josslan, is currently in the second year of middle school and has an estimated magic power value of 21,530, which can make her the first wife of a Marquis family. Not only is she the biological sister of both princes, but also the half-sister of Queen Yuna, and Hart’s prospective sister-in-law.

With Mirabell as a wife, an aristocrat can easily overcome most of the problems that arise in the aristocracy encounters through the “Requests to Siblings,” which she will perform. On the contrary, the problems themselves hardly occur because the elder siblings and the people around them take care of them on their own.

The former Sovereign, Valfrete, declared in his will that his children may “choose their betrothed freely”, so Yuna and former first Queen Cassandra also respect the wishes of the former Sovereign. Therefore, Mirabell can choose her own fiancé.

In the presence of Mirabell at the opening ceremony, many of the children of the aristocracy, who had not rushed to Bernard, gathered around her and tried their best to please her and her parents’ family.

Even the neutral Colette frowned a little at the sight of older men swarming around a second-year middle-school girl without restraint.

“I wonder if Her Highness Mirabell attended with the resolution to be mobbed.”

“She’s in a position to choose her own partner. Ah, I see, she’s earnestly gauging the distance with the people around her.”

“Oh, that’s surprising.”

Colette was surprised, if anything Bernard had a rather deep sense of discernment.

Colette is convinced that the next Sovereign would have been confirmed when Josslan failed at the Lord’s Conference if Bernard had showed such intellect from the beginning, gotten engaged to an aristocratic lady who was not unpopular with the royal people, and did not have a rebellious attitude toward his leader, Philine, in a joint defense exercise.

Yuna and Colette’s aversion to the Duke of Takrham was so strong that they changed schools from the Highschool of the Magic Academy to the Military Academy.

His defiance of Philine earned Bernard a great negative rating, and the failure of Josslan, who was engaged to the Young Lady of the Duke of Takrham, was not decisive.

As a result, both princes received a fair evaluation of their abilities and achievements. Bernard’s actions in realizing a large-scale spaceport would be given due recognition. Colette never mentioned it, though.

“If Her Highness Mirabell is present with such determination, should we stop meddling? She seems to have friends who will protect her.”

“As her brother, I’ll thank you for the concern.”

“You’re welcome.”

Mirabell was accompanied by a middle school classmate. Her friend is no less famous in social circles than Mirabell.

Daisy Brown. Although she is enrolled in the middle school of the Academy of Magic, she is neither an aristocrat nor a quasi-aristocrat, nor even a Royal Citizen.

She is the daughter of the Ambassador of the Republic of Frodi, the only country with which the Monarchy of Diete, which has incorporated Fukashiro, has established diplomatic relations at this point in time.

Her father, Ambassador Grayson Brown, divorced his wife and took in his daughter.

“Why did the Republic of Frodi choose a man who divorced his wife as a diplomat?”

Some raised their eyebrows, but Daisy, who was small at the time of the divorce, defended her father, criticized her mother’s domestic hysteria and violence, and expressed her willingness to follow her father.

Grayson was not dismissed as a result of the judgment that the problem was with the mother, as it was considered reasonable for a young child to choose her father over her mother.

Grayson, who was thus sent to the Monarchy, rose from the ministerial envoy to the present as a result of the death of his predecessor in the first Battle of Diete.

The Monarchy, which had been liable for the death of a foreign ambassador, gave some consideration to the surviving diplomats of the Republic of Frodi and their families.

One of them was that Daisy, the daughter of the ambassador who suffered a casualty in the war, was offered a seat at the school of her choice, and Daisy wanted to attend the Academy of Magic.

The Republic of Frodi has devoted its high magic individuals as ambassadors and envoys who frequently interact with the Monarchy’s high magic power holders. His daughter Daisy’s magic power value was 16,132, enough to serve as the head of a Count’s family in the Monarchy, so she was admitted to the Middle School of the Academy of Magic as she wished.

This is the first foreigner to enroll in the Academy of Magic, and he became a classmate of Mirabell’s and deepened their friendship.

Daisy, the daughter of the ambassador of the Republic of Frodi, who accompanied Mirabell, functions most effectively as a barrier to prevent the children of aristocrats who flock to the school from saying anything indiscreet from the standpoint of confidentiality.

The aristocratic children, who have no choice but to act as gentlemen, chose a roundabout way to increase their likeability by identifying topics of interest and chatting with Mirabell, to have her remember their faces and names.

Daisy’s father, Ambassador Grayson Brown, walked up to Bernard and his party, as they watched them from a distance.

“Your Royal Highness Bernard, congratulations on the opening of this large spaceport.”

Grayson, who spoke in a formal tone, is a tall, slender man with a neatly coiffed all-back and a nervous look on his face.

In his mid-fifties, with an average lifespan of 200 years, he is considered young by his home country to be the ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary to the superpower that is the Monarchy of Diete.

Grayson, however, has played his role as a diplomat sent by the Republic without flaw. In the earliest days when Hart and Dr. Kerman sold spirit crystals, he obtained spirit crystals before restrictions were placed on their sale to other nations.

His background is also perfect, except that he divorced his wife, his grandfather held two vice minister positions, and his grandmother being the daughter of a former cabinet minister. His father is a university professor and his mother is a famous musician. After graduating from the most difficult graduate school in the Republic of Frodi, he studied abroad at the Royal University, the most difficult university in the Monarchy, before joining the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic.

When he was a high school student, he won a prize in the high school division of the Republic’s piano competition, makes paintings, presents priceless but good ceramic works of his own creation to the Monarchy’s officials, and appreciates operas, so he had a lot of influential cards when dealing with the Royal Aristocracy.

With the tricky ambassador as his opponent, Bernard returned the greeting with a renewed expression on his face.

“Ambassador Brown, thank you for taking the trouble to attend. We were just talking about my sister and your daughter, so you must have picked the right moment.”

“It is easier to talk about my daughter if she is the topic of conversation.”

Grayson affirmed, pointing out that the influx of cheap raw materials from the MacLir System would have various effects on trade with the Republic, and that overall, it would be a good thing for the Republic’s economy to improve.

It was a roundabout conversation that traced a canned phrase that did not offend one of the princes fighting for succession to the throne, but as Colette, who was listening next to him, summed it up, “Best wishes for the future”.

Grayson also told Colette, who was also present, about the convenience of the transition gate, and inquired whether opening one in the Republic of Frodi would make it easier to get to and from the Monarchy. Colette, with a smile, received it lightly.

Bernard asked Grayson, who had finished the purpose of greeting both the host and the influential people present.

“About your daughter, a friend of Mirabel’s, do you wonder what to do after she graduates from high school? I’m also a senior high school student, and I’ve heard a lot about the paths people around me are taking, but a position such as your daughter’s is unprecedented.”

When asked about his only daughter’s career path, Brown did not answer immediately, but rather made a gesture as if he were thinking about it, and then answered in a matter-of-fact manner.

“Let my daughter choose her career path and marriage partner freely, following the example of His Majesty the former Sovereign. If my daughter is to marry internationally and live in the Monarchy, it is not bad to reside in the Monarchy after my retirement. I’ve made more friends here, and my daughter won’t have to worry about me.”

“If you want to live in the Monarchy, I am always willing to help you. Your daughter is Mirabell’s close friend, and for us royalty, close friends are hard to come by.”

Bernard glanced at his sister’s best friend, Colette, and then glanced at Mirabell and Daisy.

In the distance, Mirabell and Daisy justly reproach the aristocratic children who tried to restrain Daisy in accordance with the proverb, “If you want to shoot the general, shoot the horse first”.

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