The Kingdom of Cerroa is the largest country in the Lesser Antilles. The population is about 200,000.

The Kingdom of Cerroa has a population of approximately 200,000. It has been a kingdom of magic engineering since its annexation of the southern kingdom of Korin 200 years ago and the eastern kingdom of Rebus 100 years ago. It is a country with advanced magical engineering.

The capital is Esair with a population of 18,000. The city is located on the site of the former capital of the Kingdom of Dinar, and the people take pride in the fact that their country has a long history.

However, pride is sometimes replaced by conceit and pride.

Most of the nobles were high in rank, but in reality, they were of little ability.

Guillaume Boulogne de Cerlois, the grandfather of the present king (two generations before him), can be considered the founder of the new dynasty.

He changed the government from a noble-centered one to a royal-centered one, established various laws, and promoted magical technology.

It was Guillaume who favored engineers and encouraged technological development. He decided to rank the engineers and to give them the ranks of Alpha, Beta, Gamma ...... in order from the first to the last.

Thanks to this, a culture centered on magical technology flourished, and the kingdom was firmly established as the number one in the Lesser Antilles in the field of automata and golems.

It was Guillaume who subjugated the neighboring kingdom of Franz by force of arms, making it a half vassal state.

The people praised his reign through tense but reasonably friendly diplomatic relations with other neighboring states.

The present King of Cerroa, Richard Valois de Cerroa, is the grandson of Guillaume.

Unlike his father, Cibel Valois de Cerlois, who succeeded to Guillaume's policies without any problems, he had his own policies.

"First Secretary of the Interior Lambreaux, I report to you today.

First Secretary of Foreign Affairs Beaujolie, reporting today.

In order to prevent the usurpation of the throne, all blood relatives were removed from the nobility who were involved in politics at the royal court.

Instead, local politics was left to the blood relatives, i.e., the royal family, who ruled each region as dukes or grand dukes.

The order of succession to the throne was clearly defined to prevent family turmoil as much as possible.

However, the imbalance between the meritocracy in the national government and the family-oriented system in the provinces caused various conflicts.

It was this kind of hotbed of defections among the great local nobles that allowed the rise of the Unification Party (the Unifilers).

Now, all such nobles have been purged, and on the surface, the government appears to be governed only by those who are loyal to the kingdom.

However, behind the scenes, there have been constant struggles for power and for the succession to the throne.

The lord of the northwestern part of the Kingdom of Cerroa, including the regional city of Gore, is Duke Hubert Bertin de Marchand. He is the king's cousin and the brother of the present queen, the ninth in line to the throne. 40 years old and in the prime of his career. He is 40 years old and in the prime of his life.

He is 40 years old and very active. He is eager to rule the kingdom in a different way from his grandfather Guillaume.

The different way is not by <> but by <>.

It sounds good to say that <> rule the city instead of <>, which is sometimes ruthless in its judgment, but it has created <> and <>.

The towns in the fiefs were ruled by blood relatives, such as the brother of the duke, who thought only of their own interests.

Some people did not like such rule and left the towns, but other towns were no better and did not accept strangers, so they ended up coming back.

Since fleeing the country was severely punished, most of the people lived their daily lives with a half-hearted resignation.

It is also true that as long as one is quiet and fulfills one's obligations such as paying taxes, one's life can go by without much trouble.

The government appeared to be peaceful and tranquil.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

"d*mn those people!

Albert, the eldest son of the Duke of Hubert, came home that day. His sister Beatrix was with him.

"Brother, let's send some troops to that woman's house!"

"Yes. And there is also the matter of the demon tribe. We'll report to father first.

Gore is the home of the Duke of Hubert, who rules the northwestern part of the country. Their father, the duke, was at home that day.

"Father, I have to speak to you."

"Yes, Al?"

Al is the nickname by which the Duke, their father, called Albert.

"I want to talk to you about the insolent Magi craftsmen in your lands... and about those who seem to be demons."

"What?"

The Duke, who had been relaxing, leaned forward a little, and the sturdy easy chair he was sitting in creaked under the pressure of his huge body, 6'4", 148 kilograms. The sturdy easy chair he was sitting on creaked.

"There was the dagger I presented to you the other day, wasn't there?"

"Yes. You said you bought it for 100,000 Tol, but that dagger is worth more than ten times that. Did you know the author by any chance?"

They were looking for a craftsman to make a dagger for the Princess who will turn 15 this year.

"Yes, no, we found a commoner with a knife that we thought was made by the same craftsman and we tried to talk to him, but he was insubordinate."

"Hmm. But what about the automaton escort unit I put on you?"

I'm sorry, there were ...... several of them, but they were destroyed by the monster automaton they brought with them.

What?

And that follower of Beato's, Andro, was a demon!

What?

Father, it's true. He called himself Androgyous the Mad.

"Mmmm... ......"

The duke leans back deeply against the backrest. Again the chair creaked.

...... so?"

"Yes, Beato and I defeated the demons.

"I see. That's my boys!

That's one way to put it. If Reiko hadn't knocked them out, even a hundred of them wouldn't be able to defeat Androgyas.

And who is this insolent magecraftsman?

Yes, a woman named Stair something and some friends of hers.

The duke thought for a moment and then opened his mouth as if he had just had an idea.

"Stare ...... Stearina Beta?"

"Yes, that's the name, isn't it?"

"That's a good woman,......, what about her?"

What about her? "The monster automaton she was carrying with her destroyed the escorting automaton squadron.

"Ummm... ...... is he a magecraftsman too?"

"Perhaps."

"Okay. I'll make the arrangements. Talk to the Prime Minister about the details.

I understand. Thank you, sir.

With that, Albert and Beatrix left their father's presence.

At this moment, however, Capella 10, one of the fifth column (quinta), which had been instructed by the old man, deployed its and was close by.

"......That's all, end of report."

I reported the whole situation to the old man, and he immediately replied with instructions. After a short delay, the gold is transferred to Capella 10.

says the old man. He knew from the conversation that the dagger had been purchased for 100,000 dollars. Now Jin, or rather the financial situation of Hourai Island, can pay 100,000 Tol for it.

The dagger in the back of the Duke's study is retrieved, and a gold coin worth 100,000 Tolls is placed in its place. The old man was secretly smiling, wondering what kind of face he would make when he found out that the sword was converted into gold coins.

The next target is the selfish siblings.

The old man gives instructions to the 5th Quinta, Regulus 11 and Deneb 25, who are in charge of Essiah, the capital of the Kingdom of Selroa.

The old man just made a document containing the facts as they are. In other words,

<

The old man knew by the fifth column (quinta) that this kind of blunder is the one that the present king hates the most.

When this fact became known to the king, Albert and Beatrix were reprimanded and each of them was reduced 10 ranks in the line of succession to the throne.

Albert dropped from 13th to 23rd and Beatrix from 21st to 31st. Beatrix dropped from 21st to 31st.

Their father, the Duke of Hubert, was also dropped by 5 ranks. He was said to be in a bad mood for several days because of the drop from 9th to 14th place.

* * * *

The brain of Horai Island, the old man, never forgives anyone who disrespects his master Jin and his family.