ARCHDEUS

NATIONAL EMERGENCY(4)

Alex never forgot the very stuffy robes of the temple priests.

White robes with various symbols of hexatheism are used by many people here.

Alex was quite curious as to why the temple should be in the prime minister's office.

Alex's curiosity was finally answered when they reached the door of the meeting room.

The senior staff who led Alex knocked on the door and informed him of Alex's arrival.

Alex was welcome and what he saw in the meeting room was quite a surprise.

The first and second princes .. the count and even the pontifex, thought Alex.

The meeting room was attended by the first prince, Prince William Frederic Charteris Augustus; the second prince, Prince Henry Francois Gregory Augustus; Pontifex of St. Castelius Pontheum, Eliarius Xavier Augustus; Duke of Sandwealth, and the count of the Sandwealth-Norchaster political coalition were all present.

Even the Countess of Otilia too, thought Alex.

After a quick look at the people present, Alex then gave his noble greetings.

Surely since all were grand nobles and princes whose positions were higher than Alex, he had to bow down respectfully to those people. Although actually Alex was reluctant and hated it very much but in the end he did it.

Alex also saw a group of high echelon officials from both civilian and military circles. However what made him doubtful was that he realized that there were no noble family heads with the title of viscount down here.

Except for a few family heads from low-ranking nobles who concurrently become deputies in a ministry or concurrently military officials, no low-ranking noble would purely represent his dynasty, Alex thought.

This confused Alex. But Alex's confusion must come to a halt as the prime minister immediately welcomes him.

"My Right Honourable Lord of Alexandreia, you've finally come. Please sit down, my lord."

"Thank you My Highness."

Alex sat down where he had been provided. It was adjacent to Regis and the Countess of Otilia.

Alex was quite surprised due to the presence of the Countess of Otilia instead of the Count of Otilia.

This was the first formal meeting of the countess after the fief war. His presence could be a sign that Otilia has stabilized or perhaps a political move to maintain the countess' legitimacy as a suo jure ruler of Otilia[1].

As Alex sat down, he was immediately greeted cheerfully by Regis and the Countess of Otilia. But not far from them, Harol looked at Alex with a worried look.

He did not expect the name of his son to be mentioned by the count. The first to name his son was the Count of Yorksall, who was approved by Regis and the Otilians. Not only that, it seems the prime minister also knows his son.

What's he been doing? thought Harol.

"My master Alexandreia, first I personally apologize for suddenly asking to meet with you" the prime minister said politely.

Alex replied while giving a friendly smile. But of course behind that smile, he actually berated the prime minister for disrupting his activities.

"My lord Alexandreia, the reason we asked to see you was the March of Canadia. As you know, Canadia is currently overwritten by a plague disaster that is still unknown. Today, all of its neighbors, mainly Yorksall, Otilia and Hildalion, are concerned that the outbreak is spreading to their areas. In addition, I as prime minister was also worried about the outbreak. That's why we called you to be able to help us deal with that matter."

"My lord, I don't really understand how my participation can help my master's wisdom. But if indeed I can help, then I and my region will gladly do it for the sake of religion, nation, and country."

Alex's low self-esteem and patriotism turned out to be liked by everyone especially Pontifex and the princes. They were satisfied with Alex's response.

When the prime minister was about to tell Alex what to do, the first prince asked to tell him personally.

"Mr prime minister, may I tell Mr Alexandreia this?" ask Prince William.

"Of course My Highness" the prime minister replied.

"Mr Alexandreia, I want you to lead an army from the kingdom to block all access in and out of Canadia. We the kingdom, the temple, and the nobles agreed to send an army that if not as many as 54 thousand people. We want you to lead the whole army."

To be honest, Alex was actually quite surprised by that amount. If he remembered, even when the fief war took place in Otilia, the most number of troops was 30 thousand to 40 thousand people who included the partisans. Moreover, that much amount would be personally led by him.

"Sorry My Highness, I am still a young man who only has a territory of less than a thousand people. I don't have that much experience leading an army. If my Master can re-examine my master's assessment of me."

Prince William did not immediately argue or persuade Alex. He was silent and only looked at Alex with an interested expression. Throughout his experience, whenever a noble received the mandate to lead an army from the kingdom, they would be full of joy and full of confidence. It was nothing but to increase the value of the nobility itself in front of royalty and other nobles. So this was the first time he had seen a young noble who was extremely cautious and inferior like a war veteran elder with a myriad of experiences.

"My Master seems like you're under-assessing yourself. You are the eldest son of a great noble who possesses sword abilities that the entire kingdom recognizes. You are also a person who has great influence in reconciling the fief war between Otilia and Canadia and won Yorksall and Otilia in parliament. You also have a good image before all the nobles and their main heirs Morhust, Otilia, and Yorksall. In addition, compared to all other areas around Canadia, your area has the fastest development progress. So that none of the nobles in the southern region of the kingdom have capabilities equivalent to yours," explained Prince William.

For a moment Alex was pleased with such a compliment. As an archdeus, he was indeed very happy to be adored and praised. But suddenly Alex realized something.

They've been observing my area?!

It seems like everyone in this room is already aware of the development of the Barony of Alexandreia. Alex seems to take the intelligence capabilities of the country too lightly so he does not realize that he and his territory are already being monitored.

But apart from that, it was the fact that in the southern regions only Alex had the capability to lead such an army. The first reason was that all the nobles of both Otilia and its allies and Yorksall and their allies were at their worst. In addition, the county was undergoing a complex crisis. Especially Otilia who had just executed the lowly nobles who betrayed them during the fief war were mostly the barons who bordered directly with Canadia. Plus, although Hildalion and his allies bordered Canadia but there were no nobles who stood out from Hildalion's side so it was very difficult to find a lowly noble who had the capability to lead such a large army.

The second reason, Alex had been directly head to head with Canadian soldiers so with concern if Canadia resisted and deployed troops to oppose isolation against the area, alex's experience is expected to help the royal army win.

The third reason, because what happened in Canadia was related to a strange and mysterious illness as well as infectious, the great nobles and princes were afraid to lead their armies directly. In addition, the state also does not want to take risks if there are great nobles or princes who died due to disease.

So for all those reasons, they expect Alex's participation in this policy. Of course Alex could not resist considering everyone in this room had a higher hierarchical than him. Even Harol seemed to be cautious about taking action. Although he was worried about Alex's health if he had to go to a place full of plague, but saw all of his political affiliation supporting Alex's leadership even the priests seemed to agree to it, he said, Harol is in a dilemma between worry and pride.

If the Orion adventurers saw Alex's current condition of being 'forced' to carry out a mission, they would definitely laugh with great satisfaction.

Note:

suo jure[1]: the phrase used in English means "in itself". It is usually encountered in the context of a noble or monarchical title in power because in its own name it is not due to its companion.