ARCHDEUS

VOGUE(1)

The five news stories occupy the top news positions in the County of Fertiphile at this time. Every day the scholars who work as news readers will loudly preach all the hottest events to the community. Usually they will be in the city square, a luxurious restaurant, or a place that has many people. News readers are usually young scholars who work as interns before finally becoming a reliable journalist.

In the office, Count Harol read through the entire stack of reports on his desk. It has been a month since he was very busy due to the current national and international political heat.

[Great Yizantin Theocracy States declares holy war against Iscaria Empire]

[Preparation of Holy War against the Demon]

[Warming relationship of Artchania Kingdom and Ibeltia Kingdom]

[Battle of Cephareae Kingdom against Archantolia Kingdom and Artchania Kingdom that has been running for 3 years]

[Fief War between Marquess of Canadia and Count of Yorksall]

[Fief War between Duke of Sandwealth and Count of Hildalion-Count of Great Manest]

[Fief war between Duke of Norchaster and Marquess of Whitesburg]

[Warming relationship of Duke of Norchaster and Duke of Sandwealth]

"Huh .. exhausting."

Harol felt frustrated that he felt as a victim of the current political instability. Thanks to the participation of his sectarian members in the fief war, Harol had to reach into his pocket to help pay the war fees and send his troops. Especially the Duke of Sandwealth who even to the point of asking 20% of the harvest was sent to his duchy as a favor of this feudal war.

"Damn! Shit!"

The County of Fertiphile is currently experiencing a decline in agricultural production due to crop failures on some land and pest attacks.

Harol has been very pessimistic about the ability of the House of Parliament and Royalty to deal with this problem. He could no longer expect the king whose kingdom was slowly castrated to stop this feudal war between nobles. As for the House of Sprituals (Temple), they closed their eyes.

Currently in the Kingdom of Artchania has 3 main powers namely noble, royalty, and temple.

Royalty supported by witches and scholars.

The noble continued to grow thanks to the cooperation of the lords and the economic support and security of the merchants and the military.

Then the Temple that always get love from the people and protection from the Pontificia Institution.

For years they have reached stability. But lately the hegemony of the lords is getting stronger and followed by a weakening of the power of the king. The hegemony of the temple looks stagnant.

The battle between nobles was obviously eagerly awaited by the temple. They were so eager for the lords to destroy each other that in the end they were the ones who would later have the greatest power in the country.

In this political circle, royalty needed nobility to suppress temple dominance, while temples needed royalty to spread religious dogma, the relationship between temples and lords is equally anti-thesis to prevent the birth of a tyran king or dictator.

Well, actually fief war also provides benefits that are no less small for the County of Fertiphile. As a county that relied on agricultural production and military weapons as their main product, the County of Fertiphile received a lot of money from the sale of weapons such as magic armor, magic sword, and magic cannon.

Even thanks to this cooperation, the relationship between the County of Fertiphile and the Duchy of Norchaster became quite close. Unfortunately it is known by the Duke of Sandwealth who is the leader of a coalition of Count Harol. As a result the relationship between the County of Fertiphile and the Duchy of Sandwealth was at a difficult time. If not for the County of Morhust taking a stand by supporting the County of Fertiphile, it was highly likely that the Duke of Sandwealth declared a fief war to the County of Fertiphile.

Harol cannot deny the lack of ties between the County of Fertiphile and the County of Morhust occurred because of the friendship between Alex and Regis.

Conscious or not, Alex is the conductor who connects these two great counties. The County of Fertiphile was famous for its agricultural and military wealth, while the County of Morhust with its production of mana stone and adult entertainment had them. It's a pretty good combination.

"Master Count."

The butler of the House of Fertiphile named Alen, an old man with gray hair that filled his head as well as the wrinkles that adorned his face. He had been accompanying Harol all day. Alen used to be the count's personal servant before and when Harol became a successful count, he was appointed the butler.

"Master Count, His Majesty the King asked my Master to prepare. He felt that the conflict between the Kingdom of Artchania and the Kingdom of Ibeltia would end in bloodshed."

"Did Your Majesty send a letter for the next House of Parliament meeting?" ask Harol.

"No, my Lord, His Majesty the King has not yet opened the plenary session. Right now the conflict between nobles does not allow His Majesty the King to gather them in the same place."

Punch down!

Harol hit his desk upset with the selfishness of the lords.

"Did they still dare to fight? Did they not see any real threat before their eyes?!" shout Harol.

"Don't the Demon country! The human kingdom is also currently threatening each other! Cephareae Kingdom, Gredonia Empire, Artemice Empire, Iscaria Empire, and now Ibeltia Kingdom. Do they still continue to fight and not realize the giants have surrounded them?"

Harol's nervousness, anger, and disappointment were not without reason. Not only to the lords, but including royalty and temples. He may still be able to understand the temple institution that is not too patriotic because it is an extension of the Byzantine Theocratic State in the Kingdom of Artchania. Yet royalty? Currently the palace is busy with the preparation of succession due to the age of the current king, King Theodore II will soon abdicate. King Theodore II had three princes who were both potential heirs, Prince William, Prince Henri, and Prince Albert.

Count Harol was in the Prince William coalition led by the Duke of Sandwealth. Prince Henri is backed by the Duke of Norchaster. Prince Albert is backed by a triple-marquess (Three Marquesses). The emergence of three coalition forces between nobles in the House of Parliament caused the position of King Theodore II to have difficulty in acting and declaring his heir. If it were not for the House of Spritual which contained temple people declaring not to side with anyone, it was very likely that the fief war would have ended in civil war between the three princes.

"My lord, is it possible that we should get out of the coalition?" ask Alen.

Alen was already irritated by the Duke of Sandwealth who kept suppressing Count Harol. It was as if the count was his lowly subordinate. To Alen, the duke's actions were extremely insulting to his master.

Harol shook his head.

"No, we still can't do that. It's very risky if we get out of the coalition right now."

Precisely Harol felt that his position would go awry if he expressed opposition to the Duke of Sandwealth. It is likely that the engagement between his second son, Jared and the daughter of the Duke of Sandwealth was annulled. Moreover, the County of Fertiphile had yet to have a strong ally as the Duchy of Sandwealth. He had yet to forge such a close cooperation with the triple-marquess, so the chance of joining was too small. As for the Duchy of Norchaster, it was too far away from the county.

"Huh ... What do you think Alen?"

"My lord, I also don't recommend being in opposition with the current Duke of Sandwealth. Its dominance in the Southeast is too strong for us to have. All the great nobles in the southeast east were already on his side. If we fight, we'll be attacked by all our neighbors."

Not only the County of Fertiphile, but the County of Otilia and the County of Morhust which were all three located in the southeast east of the kingdom had become allies of the Duke of Sandwealth.

"My lord, it's good that we strengthen cooperation with all the nobles who are under your leadership" Alan said.

As with the County of Morhust which had the Morhust Alliance at the regional level, the County of Fertiphile also had a similar alliance. The Fertiphile Alliance led by the Count

of Fertiphile had 15 other members consisting of 4 viscounts and 11 barons, some of which were famous among them were Viscount of Levensille, Viscount of Catenburg, Viscount of Alchera, Viscount of Chanstel, among others, Viscount of Rayself, Baron of Garnitia, Baron of Tivrial, Baron of Lanyard, Baron of Estrianople, Baron of Faihacea, Baron of Milchera, Baron of Adenburg, etc.

"My master, it will soon be the anniversary of the Fertiphile Alliance. This is a great opportunity to strengthen your leadership among all nobles" Alen continued.

"I feel so too. Ah... right, speaking of that, is all the preparation done?"

Every year in commemoration of the formation of the Fertiphile Alliance, it was a custom for nobles to hunt in the forest.

"Yes my Lord. We have bought a healthy Red Urours ready to be released in the forest, said Alen.

Red Urours is a magic beast that has a shape resembling a bear and is usually located in highlands such as the Duke of Norchaster. They had fire crystals growing on their bodies. In addition, their thick fur can also harden and be very sharp like a hedgehog. This was a very dangerous type of magical beast but it was very challenging for warriors like Harol. For its category, Red Urours are categorized as High Class magic beasts.

Of course Harol smiled with their prey this time. Better forget for a moment all this chaos and trouble. Let's hunt to win souls.

Ah .. right, it's much better to take Alex.

Harol recalls that whenever he asked Alex to hunt, the boy would lock the door to his room and pretend to be asleep. Now he must not give the boy a chance to refuse.

"Where is Alex at the moment?"

"From the reports given, after Young Master Alex finished performing the Initiation ceremony to Young Miss Merry, they were invited by Young Master Regis to the County of Morhust."

"Ah ... Is that so? Yeah, those two guys are friends. Not bad, but give them a letter to return to the county before the Dies Natalies Fertiphile Alliance begins."

"Okay, my lord."

Of course Harol won't tell Alex that he should join the hunt. Harol could not wait to think about how this lazy boy of his escaped from her this time.