Two days before Jack returned to Thereath, the age of his human age increased to sixteen months. His human race's passive skill, Limitless Potential, increased to rank 10. At this rank, his HP was +2600, his stamina and MP +280, and all his attributes except for luck +10.
Jack went directly to the throne room after returning to the palace. John was not there but said he would be arriving soon. So, Jack waited for him while doing the mass pay function using the monarch system. His kingdom coffer was reduced again.
He also went to Foreign Overview and clicked the option to build an embassy in Palgrost. The action cost 100,000 gold coins. Luckily, this was also the day he received 100,000 gold coins from the Boundless Cache. So, that covered the embassy's cost.
He then used 10 RP to increase Thereath's population. The city was past 9 million population now. It should not be long before it became a megalopolis.
Jack also checked in with Viral Cora and Life Runner whom he sent to Verremor to negotiate with Four Winds about the mithril. Thereath had magicite ore mines for special resources. These mines produced magicite ores regularly.
Jack gave the two players some of these ores to exchange with Four Winds' mithril ores. Magicite ores were of a higher grade. No reason for Four Winds to reject them. But of course, Jack told them to exchange one magicite ore for ten mithril ores. Exchanging one for one would be a loss on their part.
If the negotiation became tough, Jack permitted them to lower it to one magicite ore for five mithril ores, at least for the first one thousand mithril ores. They needed that quantity for the arcane forge that was still being researched.
John came in an hour after Jack started sitting on the throne. He was accompanied by Duchess Isabelle, Thaergood, and Lord Commander Armstrong.
Jack was wondering why Armstrong also came. The commander rarely came to the court.
Thaergood went and activated something that made a round platform appeared from the ground in front of the throne. It was the same one that Jack saw in the past when they were here discussing the strategy to face the orc invasion.
John came beside the platform and interacted with it. A 3D map of Themisphere appeared above the platform.
"What is it? Don't tell me we have another invasion coming?" Jack asked.
"Not an invasion," John said. "It's more like an inside thing."
The map on the platform zoomed into a region. A city was displayed at the center, Themelot. This settlement was not yet a metropolis and thus not a main city.
"Inside...? Are you talking about a rebellion?" Jack asked.
John nodded.
"How do we know? I didn't hear any notification. If that city segregates itself from us, shouldn't the world system or at least the monarch system informed us?"
Jack was asking as he opened the monarch system and went to the city overview to check on that city. He could still give commands to that city, so it was still part of the kingdom. But then he noticed something odd.
"Hey! Why does this city have such low stats on security and happiness compared to other settlements?"
Ever since John took over managing the settlements, Jack didn't bother checking on the details of every settlement. He only checked the eleven main cities from time to time and saw that their stats were improving, so he left it at that.
"That's because it is intentional," John answered nonchalantly.
"The f*ck do you mean by that? If you intentionally lower them, then it is no wonder if a rebellion happens there."
"That is exactly the purpose," John said, still wearing his indifferent expression.
Jack knew the guy was annoying, but the stability of a kingdom was not a plaything.
"You have better properly explained," Jack said with a serious face.
"Of course, Your Majesty," John replied with an exaggerated bow. "Now, we all know that there will always be some discontent from the natives for an outworlder sitting on the throne. Our kingdom can be said as the most stable among the three countries with such monarchs. From the reports, Liguritudum and Aurebor lost more than half of their officials. They were forced to fill up those country posts with outworlders. We are much better than them because most of the previous officials stayed in their posts. But it was also because of that, we have a problem that they don't."
"What problem?" Jack asked.
"Every native that is discontent with Master and Mistress' rules, they left. They were no longer part of the officials that held power in the government or the military. The ones who remained are those who are afraid of losing their power or simply don't care who has the reign of the country. We, on the other hand, have almost everyone staying. Even if said officials are discontent about your rule. They are hiding their feelings. This hidden discontent is dangerous if we let it fester. We need to fish them out and flush them as early as possible before it turns into a real problem."
"So, this is your solution? By inciting them?"
"It's better to have their seed of rebellion grow on our terms than letting it grow where we can't see it."
"Why this city?" Jack asked as he left his throne and come near the platform to have a better look at the map.
"I checked the positions of the officials with the lowest loyalty, thirty percent of them were stationed in this city. I don't find it strange considering the one person who lives in this city."
"Who?"
"Arther Pendrake, the Lord Marshal who joined Therribus' army during the siege of fort Garadhor. If there is anyone who has the power and reputation to lead the resistance against your rule, he is the most ideal candidate."
"Arther Pendrake...," Jack contemplated. There was still an empty portrait among the three portraits reserved for Lord Marshall's position. He had thought about finding Arther and persuading this past country hero to rejoin the kingdom, but one thing hindered his intention. The guy shared the same dislike for outworlder as Prince Therribus. It was most likely a fool's errand to try persuading the man.
"So, what happens that warrants your emergency? Did they show their fangs already?" Jack asked.
"They are about to," John answered. "It is easier to monitor when you know where to look. I have sent many of our guild members to that town to gather intelligence."
"So are my spies," Duchess Isabelle added.
"After our coaxing by increasing the discontent of the public in this city, this public support emboldens them to accelerate whatever plans they have. As expected, they have been in secret talks with other discontented officials. Several days ago, we had caught sight of several officials from out of town arriving for a meeting inside Arther's mansion. Then yesterday, we received news that the private armies of these officials were marching to this very city."
After hearing those explanations, Jack received a kingdom faction quest from the system, Deal with the Rebellion.
