A week had passed in the blink of an eye since Cesar had become the new King of Cerroa, and it was now March.

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Most of the representatives of each country had moved to the capital, Esia.

They were unable to return to their home countries because of their role as Cesar's assistants and attendants, and the political instability in the country.

The same was true for Jin and Elsa.

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"......It's been an intense week, hasn't it?"

"......n."

Jin and Erza were relaxing in a guest room in the royal palace in Essaia.

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"......There's been a lot going on. ......"

"......n......"

Both of them look tired.

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What has been done during the week?

The establishment of a new organization

Changing the pecking order of succession to the throne

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Punishment of criminals

Thanking and apologizing to the countries

Revision of the tax system

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Famine measures

Review of golem, airships, large ships

Archel (?) Treatment of

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The mysterious basement

etc.

The new organization is ......, or as they say in modern Japan, <.

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"What I didn't expect is that the organization will be the same as before.

"Yeah, I guess that can't be helped, Jin."

Not only Jin and Erza, but also Reinhardt were in the same room. They seemed to have come to play, or rather to talk.

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"It was a sudden accession. Normally, I would have put some of my own people in important positions, but I would not have had time to prepare for it. In other words, His Majesty Cesar, who had no foundation, had to make the difficult decision to use the existing organization as it was.

"Well, I can understand that. ......

"For the time being, of course."

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"But my way of doing things is different from that of King Father. But my way of doing things is different from my father's. As a ruler, my priority is to protect the lives of the people. He said, "You must understand that," and that was admirable.

Back in Esair, the new King Cesar, who formally assumed the throne, made several of his own policy statements in his coronation speech, including the declaration that Elsa had made.

All of them were based on the idea of guaranteeing a minimum standard of living for the who form the foundation of the country.

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"Her Imperial Majesty is a good judge of people after all. ......"

In the past, it was said that she had a magic eye to see the right and wrong of others, but recently, it was rumored that she had a magic eye or the ability to <> of others.

Jin thinks that it may be an extraordinary insight rather than a special ability, but the truth is unknown.

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"However, it is just the beginning. His Majesty the new king knows this, and that is why he did not say anything concrete, but only in abstract terms.

Rapid change causes friction. Cesar, who has just become king and has a fragile foundation, seems to have decided to proceed steadily, step by step.

"What is the basis for deciding the succession to the throne?"

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Jin's question is, in a sense, natural. When I was in modern Japan, I was not interested in such things.

"Well, I guess you could say that it is based on blood, blood density, age, and some achievements.

This means that the pecking order of the heirs to the throne, which had been based on the blood relation from the previous king Richard, is to be revised.

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Cesar, who had been ranked first, is now king, so he is basically moved up one rank, but Alain Demainu, who had tried to become king by trickery, is stripped of his right of succession.

Cesar has no children at the moment, but if he has a child, his ranking will change again.

"I see, that < also have the right of succession. ......"

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I am referring to the brother and sister, Albert and Beatrix, whom I met in the provincial city of Gore.

"It's no wonder that blood is so important. But it would be nice if more emphasis was placed on ability and popularity.

This may be one of the reforms Cesar is aiming for in the future.

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"Speaking of succession, what happened to the royal brother?"

Jin asked Reinhardt who was drinking tea.

"Ah, Jin has been watching golems and airships for a long time, so it's not surprising that he doesn't know.

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After such a preamble, Reinhardt began to explain.

"Permanent revocation of the succession. This is just as well. And he's been locked up in a palace somewhere."

"I see. ......"

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It could have been worse, since he tried to usurp the rightful king's position, but Alan still had a sister who pleaded for his life.

"If you are too hard on him, you can't be sure that others won't turn against you this time. And if you are too lenient, they will take advantage of you. It's a difficult thing to do."

That's completely out of my field of expertise. ......

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"Brother Rai, Your Highness, ...... what happened to the man named Scaife who was escorting His Majesty?"

Elsa had been treating the wounded all this time and was out of touch with the situation.

"Yeah, I heard that he had his family taken hostage and was forced to leave the country. But whatever the reason, he fired the Wind Cutter in front of the entire cabinet. He is a felon, no doubt. ...... They say he escaped death, but they cut the muscles in his arms so he can't use a sword, and he'll be imprisoned for the rest of his life."

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"He didn't get the maximum punishment?"

"Yes. Some say that King Cesar was lenient, but it doesn't sound good to say that he was executed as soon as he ascended to the throne.

Usually, when there is an auspicious event such as the accession of a new king, there is a pardon, a grand amnesty, or a commutation of a criminal's sentence.

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This time, combined with that, they settled on a life sentence, Reinhardt analyzed.

"Yes, yes. The magic also seems to have been sealed by the collar."

< collar refers to the magic-blocking collar that Erza and Reinhard had been fitted with when they were captured by the Unifilers in the past.

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Erza frowned a little when she heard this.

"It seems that the biggest problem was the gratuities and reparations to the various countries!"

Reinhardt was well-informed and knew these things well.

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"Oh, I see."

Even though Richard the First did what he did in a state of drug addiction, there were several events that could have resulted in war if he had made a mistake.

"I don't know the exact amount, but it seems that reparations were paid to each country. Also, we should give thanks to those who cooperated with us during the chaos.

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Reinhardt looked at Jin and Erza.

"They both got quite a lot, didn't they?"

"Well, yeah."

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"Yeah."

Jin and Erza each received 50 million dollars worth of materials as a reward.

Jin was thanked for repairing the golem, evacuating dignitaries, and providing technical guidance, and Erza, of course, was thanked for treating Richard the First and other wounded people.

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It was Jin's wish and Elsa's concern that he should receive the money in the form of a substantial amount of material rather than in cash.

"Speaking of which, Jin has been giving technical guidance all this time, hasn't he?"

"Yes. Yeah. It was a lot of work. The airship could have caught fire from the hydrogen at any time, and the ship was not strong enough, and would have snapped in half if the waves had been too strong.

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In the case of the Hindenburg, it seems that flammable paint was used in the air sacs, which combined with the flammable paint caused a catastrophe, but no such paint was used on this airship, so the worst that could have happened was a crash, but it would still have been a disaster.

At any rate, it was Jin who drained all the hydrogen from the ship.

"I helped with the ship, so I know most of what happened. That was a lot of work too.

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Reinhardt said sincerely.

More than half of the internal armament had to be removed and reinforcements put in to replace the dragon bones. Although the ship was now sturdier, the payload was halved and the speed was reduced to two-thirds of what it had been before the modifications were made.

"But we're lucky we didn't have an accident.

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Erza nodded at Jin's words.

"Yes. Human life comes first."

Elsa is once again treating Richard, the former king, as his doctor.

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"Richard-sama is likely to have brain damage. More like the left side of his brain.

It seems that the wine had the effect of making him lose control of his emotions, of paralyzing his thinking, Erza said.

"Ah, so that's why he was so intuitive."

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Jin nodded his head in understanding.

"Erza has really grown up, hasn't she?"

Reinhardt looked at his cousin and said in a serious tone.

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The topic then turned to homunculus.

"The homunculus that looks just like <>, right? What are you going to do with it?

"Oh. His Majesty Cesar, who has become king, can't take care of it so well, so I'm secretly looking for someone to take it in.

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The "secretly" part is the problem. The point is that they cannot make it public so as not to cause a scandal that the child might be Cesar's illegitimate child, etc., and also the issue of the person who will take care of the child.

The other is that there is no concern that the royal family will be threatened in the future using this as an excuse.

Taking all these factors into consideration, it seems that it is difficult to find a suitable person.

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"So, what am I going to do about it?

As a homunculus, Jin thinks it would be a bad idea to leave it among humans.

"I'd like to show it to <<700672>> once, if possible."

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"I agree with that.

Elsa adds.

"Yes. But it's going to be difficult to get it to that point.

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That's the point.

It has only been a week since the new king took the throne, so it will take some time before the problem is resolved.

"Besides, I'm worried about the whereabouts of Prince Oranje.

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Jin said in a low voice.

So far, it was almost confirmed by the statement of Alain, the king's younger brother, that the mastermind was the Duke of Orange.

Even if he returned to the Franz kingdom, he would be regarded as an exile who had endangered the existence of the country, and there would be no place for him.

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"After that, the new Secret Service (SP) that had come over here followed us to Lake Athol, where they found a medium-sized ship hidden there. It was an ocean-going ship similar to Reinhardt's <>.

The << Scarlet Trail> itself is used proudly at Lake Tosmo, and its structure is not difficult to imitate, if one has the skill.

However, the average magecraftsman would be averse to such a <.

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"I took that ocean-going ship to the other side of the river, so I decided to leave the rest to the fifth column (quinta) I sent to Franz's kingdom, according to the old man's instructions. ......"

"What happened?"

"What's going on?" "They haven't reached the other side of the river yet."

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What?

The whole ship seems to have disappeared. It hasn't even returned to its home territory in the Kingdom of Franz.

They've also disappeared from a newly completed surveillance satellite.

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"I underestimated them a bit, thinking they were pussies. ......"

Jin is frustrated.

Even the mysterious basement is still untouched.

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And so the time goes by, leaving some mysteries unanswered.