MRE Ch 02 Meeting

Night passed and nothing major happened in the capital city of Arcania.

In the morning the sun stopped being lazy and got up. Protestors got back at their posts, to protest at palace gates.

A group of people led by Army Chief Charles entered the largest meeting room in the palace. The room is spacious enough to accommodate thousands of attendees and has a long? polished oval table with over a hundred seating spaces kept in the middle of the room .

All the members of Duke Wilkinson's faction took their seats. They all are related to each other and depend on Duke for trade and political issues.

Duke Wilkinson was different from them. His aura alone can beat people in submission. He can be said to be the most feared person in the kingdom, even more than Charles. He is a little arrogant and a bit egoist, fine for a lot of men like him who have seen everything in the world.

Jason was walking towards the meeting hall. He was informed that the rest of the people had arrived. But he can not help. He searched for some comfortable clothing in his closet but could not find any.

After bathing he had to run to his mother's room for clothes. She then randomly called some tailor who did the fittings. But still it wasn't fine, it still gave him problems.

Anyway how could a man leading a comfortable life on Earth 2044, feel comfort in these clothes.

Lines were visible on his forehead and he was mumbling something inaudible, maybe cursing the person who sent him here.

He entered the room , without looking at anyone , taking long strides reached the high chair designated for the king. Charles gestured to him to not sit now. Everyone got up from their seats, greeted him politely, he followed back and sat down. Others took their seats after him, Charles heaved a sigh of relief.

Jason's mood became normal seeing their polite faces, he said " Sorry to trouble you all." Jason paused , everyone gave it's okay look.

He continued " But this meeting is important, people are protesting in front of our gates. Which is not good for our reputation. Do any of you have any suggestions." Other people nodded.

Duke Wilkinson was first to put his views " We will not bend to their demands , this is our bottom line. Above this we will make sure to find the instigators and deal with them first. We all know that where these people are coming from"

listening to Duke all the people present agreed with him. Duke Wilkinson is known for his strictness, his devotion to work for development of the kingdom is second to none .

His only son, Jason's uncle, gave the ultimate sacrifice fighting against northern barbarians in the mountains.? That incident affected him badly, he became more distant and did not meet anyone if it's not something very important. He started to live an ascetic life.He was a rank 7 knight, he stopped training for breakthrough to rank 8 .? But had to come back after his son in laws' bad health started affecting the Kingdom's affairs.

Duke did not like his grandson, Jason , who always does stupid things. Once he signed a treat to give north mount to the Savage mountain barbarians.

Duke was pissed over this matter, he chased Jason in the whole palace , Jason had nowhere to escape. Lastly he ran into mother Kathy, who protected him from his ferocious grandpa.

Mother Kathy went to royal court , she negated the deal of transfer. Jason learnt his lesson " never ever do anything that relates grandpa". Since then he never came in front of Duke .

Geographically Arcania is quite blessed, it has protection of different natural features. It had north mount ranges in the North.

In the west of Arcania flows the mighty Tong river, which provides and animates the whole Western landmass. West is rich in farming resources, and a bit of fishing freshwater fishes.

Tong river that covers the west dumps it's water in the fin sea , it envelopes the southern coast of Arcania , this sea is connected to the larger Southern Ocean.

The forest cover of east is unbeatable, it has dense forests stretched over hundred of kilometers. It connects Arcania to the Porus Empire .

It makes any large scale invasion difficult and provides ample time to protect the kingdom.

"What Sir Duke said, we all agree with him, but what? should we do so that they can be restrained?" Questioned count Helmsford , Count Helmsford was an energetic middle aged man. He also leads the royal guards and is second in command of the military.

Unconsciously everyone's head turned to Jason, the head of the meeting, for a solution. Jason thought ' how the hell am I going to provide any inputs, I just cross over yesterday and your dumb prince doesn't have anything useful in his mind. god save this kingdom.'

He shifted his gaze at Charles and gestured to him to provide a solution. Charles knew that Jason would not be able to put in any useful words.

Jason was just a 2nd ranking knight. Ranking of knights were done in terms of power and defence. Level 1 and level 2 knights were just beginners if a person undergoes normal training he could easily reach up to peak level 2 by the age of 15. normal Nobles' sons of his age are preparing to reach 3rd levels. That's how hardworking Jason was ...

Now coming to knights ranking and how they are measured? Not too difficult just get a boulder or rock weighed and lift it with both hands and tally with requirements given below

Early levels or novice

Level 1 more than 20kg

Level 2 more than 40kg

Level 3 more than 70kg

levels with blood power awakening

Level 4 more than 120kg

Level 5 more than 180kg

Level 6 more than 300kg

Level 7 more than 450kg

Advanced levels

Level 8more than 600kg

Level 9 more than 800kg

Level 10 more than 1000kg

Above level 10 knights were present in ancient times but it had been a few thousand years without anyone reaching above 10.

" We should just detain all the leaders and related nobles, who are inciting people . Making them example by giving capital punishment will make anyone thinking of going against kingdom abandon his thought? " said sir Charles clenching his hands, who was also a early rank 8 knight .

But listening to Charles' straightforward advice all of them sighed. "It's not so easy to detain them, it may refuel the riots as people of their regions are dependent on them" one Noble spoke his mind.

They are also nobles so they didn't want of their kind to be subjected to such cruelty.

Jason was in deep thought as if he had been pondering over something. He had learnt about the deficiencies of the feudal system. It stops productivity and development of all but aristocrats.

Jason advised " Why don't we revoke their title. In Fact we should bring a little change in the kingdom's administration. "

Duke angrily retorted, his nose flared up " You cannot think of something good , how can we replace a system that has been here since the start of the kingdom." Duke thought it is one of the his excuses to do something dumb again.

After Duke retorted Jason thought ' I shouldn't be so straightforward, it needs to be step by step. Gramps is surely a fierce need to avoid much contact. '

Count Helmsford gave Jason a chance "? Prince Jason can you explain what you are going to do in detail . The changes you are talking about is not some small scale project . If even word of this goes out it will worsen the overall situation. What people fear the most is unknown and changes ".

'Hmm count is right, it even follows Newton's laws, no one wants to change their situation till forced by someone.'

Rest of participants redilly voiced their agreement as if even if they are a second late they would miss something valuable.

Jason had expected an even harsher retort . It was alright at least count Helmsford was pitching for him. Jason and others discussed several strategies before coming to the conclusion that they need armed men to control nobles.

Jason said " We need to gather the maximum number of? soldiers in the minimum time possible."

Charles said " I can gather around five thousand soldiers from reserves near the capital and need more time to gather some more. If I could go out of the city without these nobles knowing I can recruit some from villages and towns, if the situation is dire."

Jason then shifted his gaze at others.

Duke Wilkinson said " I will provide one mountain brigade." Duke turned his head to Charles and added " Charles take proper care of them".

Count Helmsford " I could gather a brigade of royal guards from border areas without compromising security of borders, but if the situation turns worse, I will call more brigades."

Jason replied " There is no need to compromise the security of the Kingdom . Do it safely. Let these nobles fly some more, then we will chip their wings."

Jason leaned forward , got up from his chair, everyone followed him. Jason left the room, followed by others. Everyone went their own ways.

Jason directly went to the kitchen to grab something to eat . The Royal kitchen had plenty of space and the oven's lid was just opened , the fragrance of sweet bread filled the whole room. This was a coal oven, the taste of something baked in it differs from electronic ones.

He got some sweet bread, kitchen maids were much cooperative and quickly brought some extras for him to enjoy . They were simply currying favor with the next to be king.

Royal palace is built in the North Western part of the royal capital . Capital city whose boundaries once stretched beyond 20km now had succumbed to only five km,? an area less than quarter of what it used to be.

Palace however remained the same in area and construction; not much change happened, it only lost its magnificence due to lack of management . From the top of the lookout tower of the palace everything is visible within and outside the city as far as you can see on a clear day.

Jason sat on top of the guard tower and was pondering something , he got to see eagles eye view of the whole city. Below the tower at some distance, people were protesting near gates for benefits they were promised, Jason knew these promises will never be fulfilled.

Residential area of the city is quiet, no movement can be seen, probably they had gone for work.

Trading centre in the South was bustling with people, where people could be seen walking to different shops and bargaining prices.

Nobles' district in the North was too calm as if something big was going to happen and everyone was sitting still in anticipation of what was about to come.

Beyond the city lies large green fields in every direction up to where Jason could see . Crops were not ripe yet for harvest.

_______________________________

Please SHARE and COMMENT

Thanks for support