Surviving The Fourth Calamity

Chapter 1495: Chapter 73: The Greedy King of Danboro

Sure enough, his judgment was correct. Even if it wasn’t said, what was meant to happen still happened?

Hill was exceedingly pleased in the Cloud Realm, though he also noticed the increasingly dismal faces of the locals who were also scattered around listening to the discussion.

Especially when it came to why the nobility and Royal Family, who usually coexisted ’peacefully’ within the rules, suddenly ended up where they are today. It’s estimated to be similar to the expression of the Great Sage Ismael when he hears this unfortunate news after leaving the tower... In the words of the Moon Clan, the leader, or perhaps the planner, seemed a bit foolish.

Although they spoke in fragments, anyone who listened carefully could piece together the cause and effect of the matter.

Initially, King of Danboro, who was dissatisfied with the goods received from merchants, merely revealed a list of families who also bred Silk Spiders in secluded estates... Of course, these were not the long-standing Great Nobility but mostly vassals of vassals. He tasked these Moon Clan members to check whether these families had completely exterminated valuable Silk Spiders or if there were any hidden artifacts from the Elf Forest.

Faced with the generally Level 5 Moon Clan, the nobles were exceedingly discontent, but... they couldn’t even muster the thought of resistance!

With the reasoning being sound, they had no choice but to comply.

However, after a few families caught with incriminating evidence had their assets seized and were banished from the Capital, watching the assets being reclaimed by the Royal Family and Moon Clan being sent off with a pittance of gold coins, the ambition of the King of Danboro quickly ignited. His gaze covertly shifted to those established nobility who were on the decline but still possessed assets.

But he also understood that Ismael was merely in seclusion for a few days, not dead, and could reappear at any time to stop him... He needed to consider carefully how to maximize the benefits... he’d better eliminate a few more families before the Great Sage Ismael emerged.

Clearing political opponents was indeed of utmost importance, but wouldn’t it be great if he could earn some additional wealth in the process?

However, his hesitant dithering and careful selection among a few families resulted in the entire Royal Capital’s Great Nobility knowing exactly what he was up to even before he acted!

In these times, news from the noble castles always traveled fast, but with caution, the core information could still be preserved, unlike the Royal Palace... which basically meant there were no secrets to speak of.

Especially considering the numerous mistresses the Danboro Royal Palace had seen over the years.

Although the palace’s servants had always been prideful, they had no choice but to adapt to the winds... Otherwise, while the outside Great Nobility couldn’t do much to them, the Queen could easily deal with any insolent servant she wanted.

The Nobles, upon knowing whom the King had finally decided upon, immediately organized their family’s guards to stand sentinel.

They did not prevent the Moon Clan from inspecting their estates, even opening their warehouses to them... but they would not allow them to take a single step further.

After all, everyone knew that the Moon Clan was invited by the Great Sage Ismael to deal with the Silk Spiders, and they had a detector personally crafted by the Great Sage and integrated into their Elemental Bodies, which could detect Silk Spiders and spider eggs within ten meters... while it might occasionally give false alarms, it was almost difficult for anything to be missed.

Even though it wasn’t clear if it was Ismael’s own invention, the fact that he could discuss it meant he had obtained Aesces’s endorsement.

Otherwise, how else would the Nobles tolerate such a reckless and uninhibited race, who would scream and shout, take off their shirts and wave them around, with women acting just as wildly, appearing next to their homes?

However, how could the Moon Clan possibly concern themselves with the expressions of NPCs in a game?

Completing the task was important, but in the absence of penalties for failure, it didn’t matter to attempt it again!

Originally, the allure of that Golden Light was already tempting... though capturing virtual resources was of little consequence, the King was paying per piece!

The most foolish thing Great Sage Ismael did was give the King of Danboro the power to dispense money.

As a result, with one side tense and the other subconsciously driven into action, a battle naturally broke out.

Both sides began fighting while rallying allies... Soon, most of the Royal Capital was drawn into the conflict.

Though the Moon Clan was numerous, the difference in Levels gave the Noble Coalition confidence.

The speed at which events escalated to military confrontation was astonishing... Though it might have been instigated by certain individuals behind the scenes, considering that the Royal Capital’s entertainment industry was much more prosperous than Basia, a small border town.

Those people with spiders inside them could only avoid the Moon Clan and necessarily find a way to resolve this disadvantageous situation for them.

Nonetheless, the change came somewhat faster than expected... It only showed that the traditional Nobles had actually wanted to beat the King and Ismael for a long time.

But they couldn’t lay hands on Ismael.

At least taking this opportunity to teach the King a lesson was worth it.

Moreover, many people probably wanted to test whether Aesces had unconditional trust in Ismael or if he would punish him when mistakes were made.

The strong ones in this world had been waiting for his departure for so long that they were going insane, only to discover that Aesces still chose to use him!

How could life go on like this!

Of course, although this situation left the King somewhat bewildered, the Moon Clan was quite delighted, as these people were discussing whether to return to the Royal Capital to join the fray, after all, there was money to be made there.

It sounds like Ismael hasn’t been able to stop the Moon Clan from siding with the King and opposing the Nobles.

Ismael is indeed at a loss; he tries his best to advise both sides to stop the turmoil, but... the King, who was already at his wits’ end, refused to be the first to concede.

He felt that these Nobles were trying to seize the opportunity to strip away royal authority.

If even in the Capital, his royal dignity couldn’t be preserved, then in the future, the lords of Danboro might not even pay taxes to the Royal Family!

Ismael can’t deny the words of the King of Danboro, so he tried to persuade the Noble Coalition to compromise.

However, the Nobles also refused... they couldn’t tolerate a King so greedy that he could break boundaries at any time.

Not directly assassinating the King was already their greatest forbearance... Though everyone knew, it wasn’t that they didn’t want to, but rather didn’t dare, as no one could ensure they wouldn’t be exposed under Ismael’s investigation.

The Nobles angrily and firmly questioned Great Sage Ismael—can he guarantee that this King of Danboro won’t make trouble again?

Ismael couldn’t guarantee it, and he even had no plans to deprive the King of the authority to issue missions to the Moon Clan.

No choice, the missions issued by the King were all within his authority, just secretly hinting to the Moon Clan that it would be best to perform exceptionally.

To revoke the power that had already been granted at this time, he could only apply to Aesces, but Aesces ignored it.

Aesces was actually hesitating—saying the Moon Clan was doing wrong, but indeed they stirred up the trouble under the instructions of the King of Danboro.

And the King’s actions were within his range of authority... Therefore, the key was not to strip this power but to find out how to prevent the misuse of this power.

He must find a safer way to establish a logical line that could be written into the Law.

No way, in order to block Triton, Aesces also imposed many constraints on himself... All Gods cannot interfere with mortals’ will, so openly, he naturally couldn’t as well.

Otherwise, Aesces wouldn’t have valued Ismael so much, who had helped him a great deal.

Even though everyone knew Ismael represented his will, the fact that things had reached such an extent was wholly due to Ismael’s own efforts.

Aesces only slightly influenced Ismael’s Fate or guided the Great Sage’s advancing direction.

Even the appearance of the Moon Clan this time, the completion of the summoning Array was created by Ismael himself, eager to solve the Silk Spider problem... but he just dreamed a little too much.

Aesces’s hesitation caused the situation to rapidly deteriorate... Although still at a stalemate stage, even cities near the Royal Capital began to take sides.

Whether or not it was because the Moon Clan had been too arrogant during this time... most cities first proclaimed themselves always part of the Nobles, never losing Nobility pride due to royal authority, and then announced they did not welcome the Moon Clan into their cities.

Of course, these cities were the first batch to host the Moon Clan... The crisis of Silk Spiders had basically been dealt with mostly by the Moon Clan.

Hill looked puzzled at those Moon Clan members below cursing loudly at the Nobles for being ungrateful, taking advantage without paying, and suddenly had a feeling... no one seemed good, perhaps it wouldn’t be a loss if either side were wiped out.

Then, would Aesces still come looking for him?

This guy seems to hope for his world to lean towards modern society; otherwise, there wouldn’t be an Ismael to directly push the world into the mechanical age.

Hill pondered deeply: If Aesces doesn’t care how many mortals survive, as long as the spiders are cleaned out, then he probably won’t care if the Moon Clan and Nobles fight fiercely.

As long as the world is clean... it would be perfect for Ismael to guide Danboro into attempting a world without a King and see if it can survive.

However, if he were really that insane, Hill thought he might end up trapped by his own schemes.

After all, aside from the covetous Triton, there was also the wandering God of Portals who had already sent his claws into Aesces.

If she really played some wrath-inducing experiment at this time... how many would die if it turned into a real fight?

The Moon Clan wouldn’t die, then all the blood shed would be from the aborigines!

If the God of Portals seized the chance to harvest a wave of faith, Aesces surely would suffer... Eosca definitely wouldn’t mind splitting the ocean for Triton.

To the God of Portals, all he needs is a foothold, to amass strength for the future.

Hill couldn’t help but laugh... Sooner or later, Aesces would inevitably come to him.