The entire hall turned silent. After Noel's victory, it was obvious that Noel's side was currently winning in this debate.
However, the king simply looked at Kevin as if he had expected this kind of reaction. He was angry because the Supreme Devil Organization couldn't do anything, but he had discussed this matter prior to the meeting.
Kevin remained silent while contemplating the reasons why Duke Raymond was here. Normally, the duke never appeared even if it was an emergency situation. It seemed that the royal family panicked this time and even brought the duke, the current king's teacher, to help them.
'What is the duke planning to do? The Demon Banner Army is unstoppable, so they will definitely make their move to the Supreme Devil Organization. And if we get to join them, we can crush the Supreme Devil Organization. Wait a minute…' Kevin noticed something off. 'Is Duke Raymond the only one brought back by the king?'
The king suddenly stood up and said, "For the subject, we are ready to prepare to fight the Supreme Devil Organization…"
'Don't tell me…' Kevin finally realized why Duke Raymond showed himself here.
"I order Duke Raymond and my arbiters to crush the Supreme Devil Organization," The king declared out loud.
"!!!" Kevin gritted his teeth. That was right. The Arbiters were supposed to be the ones handling the Supreme Devil Organization.
As the third ranked arbiter among the twelve, Kevin should be a perfect candidate to go. However, the royal family brought the second ranked arbiter to suppress him. If he suggested himself as the leader of this operation, which allowed him to really destroy the organization, he would be overstepping his bounds. The king would definitely use it to counter all his words.
However, with the two arbiters clashing with each other, there was a need for a person to keep them in check. That person was Raymond. Obviously, Kevin had to move according to his orders.
Duke Raymond obviously understood the task. There was no way he would order Kevin to hunt those bastards from the organization. And the other arbiter wouldn't be killing them due to his affiliation with the royal family.
In other words, this was the king's way of not killing the people in the organization. But on the surface, it looked like he was doing something.
"What's wrong, Marquis? As a loyal subject, you should have seen that I'm giving an explanation to my subjects, right? Don't tell me, are you unsatisfied with it, Marquis?"
"…" Kevin's eyebrows twitched. He calmed himself down and smiled at the king. "I believe that the marshall is a better commander in this operation. He has both the strength and knowledge to do it. With his achievement, he is able to inspire our soldiers."
The king's expression turned cold. "Kevin. You should know that we shouldn't reveal our trump card so early. Don't you think that's the one that makes us look weak?"
Kevin realized that the advantage he got was gone with that one move. And he had to measure which noble families had been siding with the royal family or even recalled back to the court in order to deal with this situation.
"I apologize; your subject has overstepped his bounds. Thank you for enlightening your subject, Your Majesty." Kevin lowered his head.
The king could take this opportunity to punish it, but the reputation of the royal family would crumble if he did it. So he waved his hand, treating it as nothing big. "You are a good subject. You merely express your concern about our country."
"Thank you for your forgiveness, Your Majesty." Kevin was annoyed. He thought he had prepared enough.
"While we're at it, what do you think about the war itself, Marquis Stargaze? Should we reward Earl Ardagan or punish him for bringing foreign power?"
"…" Kevin bit his lips. If he was still winning, he would definitely choose the former. Now that the advantage was gone, he only had one choice.
"Of course, Earl Ardagan is also in the wrong by bringing a foreign power. However, the Muivell Kingdom is blessed with good subjects. With the help of the Demon Relief Squad's Captain, Demon Barrier Squad's Captain, Demon Adjudicator Squad's Captain, the Water Lord, the Gem Lord, as well as Saintess Layla and Paladin Aurelia, we have shown the prowess of our kingdom.
"As the saying goes, the object of rewards is to encourage; the object of punishments is to prevent. If we solely punish Earl Ardagan for doing everything in his power to stop the Supreme Devil Organization, the subjects would be afraid and choose to run away in the face of disasters.
"At the same time, if we only reward Earl Ardagan, the people will be encouraged to bring foreign power.
"The most appropriate reward for this victory is to elevate the rank of Earl Ardagan to Marquis. However, bringing the foreign force would definitely be condemned by our subjects. I propose to lower the reward to 50,000 gold, 10,000 demon crystals, as well as a few treasures."
Kevin stopped. Originally, he wanted to have Noel be in the same position as him, but because it was impossible, he aimed for the second thing. After all, this was what Noel needed the most.
Money.
'Kevin is too shameless… Does he not know how much money those runes generated?'
'We should have taxed him.'
'Hush. No one is talking about it because a new noble is exempted from taxes for the first three years so that they can build their territories.'
'But the potential money we can get from those three years…'
The nobles were whispering to each other.
The king smiled. He certainly had to follow Kevin's suggestion this time, but there was one thing he could change.
"Your Majesty. I believe we can't do that." Duke Raymond stopped him. "While it was true that this victory had been claimed by Earl Ardagan, it didn't change the fact that various help had been brought to Lounstein.
"If we only rewarded the Ardagan family, the other parties would be enraged, thinking that we were looking down on The king had been waiting for this. "So, do you have any suggestions?"
Kevin shuddered. Once again, Duke Raymond stepped over him. At first, it looked like they were going to reward the people individually, and he was sure that a few of them wouldn't mind sharing the reward with Noel.
But Raymond suggested another way. "I believe we should reward the Demon Banner Army, the Tower Association and the Moon Temple respectively. A good ruler will reward his subordinates. However, this is also the case for their respective influences.
"We should split the reward evenly. I believe the Tower Association will be delighted about the rewards as they sent two of their elders to help solve the crisis. I believe the Demon Banner Army has performed its duties. With this reward, the Demon Banner Army could fight the demons and the Supreme Devil Organization even more fiercely. And the Moon Temple could help a lot more people.
"I believe this is how Your Majesty should reward your subordinates. Everything is for the sake of people."
Kevin's expression darkened. As expected of the teacher of the current king, he was an extremely formidable opponent in politics.
By giving it to the organizations to which they belonged, it was impossible for the individuals to share it.
'I have done my best, but I have performed below expectations.' Kevin thought. It wasn't that his performance was low, his opponent this time was simply that strong.
In the end, he was an Arbiter while his opponent was a true politician. In this battle of politics, it would be hard for him to win.
In fact, the only person who could obliterate Duke Raymond was probably Luke Ardagan, Noel's father.
He simply hoped that Noel had a backup plan for this. After all, he needed to secure more funds if he wanted to complete his city.
There were still a few things he could use, like the fact that Felicia could defeat a Superior Demon with runes. However, Kevin had to abandon all the plans due to Duke Raymond.
'The nobles on our side are chickening. Some of them can hold on, but they won't dare to speak out. On the other side, the nobles don't look like they are expecting this. It seems that the secret meeting has left them out in case they have become double agents.
'In that case, I am afraid I have to reassess the situation. Then again, the king is sending me to the fake subjugation in order to stop me from entering the royal hearing. And they can use that time to bully the nobles on our side and probably force them to switch sides.'
Kevin closed his eyes for a moment, recalling the good times in the past where Luke Ardagan kept talking one thing after another and no one dared to interrupt him.
"Do you have anything else to say, Marquis?" The king asked.
Kevin politely bowed his head. "No, Your Majesty. Thank you for addressing our country's problems. I believe that the Muivell Kingdom will be prosperous for thousands of years."
Before returning to his original position, Kevin looked at Duke Raymond.
"Do you want to say something to me, Marquis?" Duke Raymond asked in the same style as the king.
Kevin smiled. "Not at all. I have long heard about Duke Raymond's achievements. It seems that Duke Raymond is a much bigger man than the rumors suggest. I can't help but respect you."
Duke Raymond harrumphed, thinking that this wasn't a fight. Kevin thought that the reason why Duke Raymond agreed to return to the royal court was probably because of the grudge against the Ardagan family. He never won against Luke, so he aimed for his son.
Still, Kevin believed that Noel had surpassed his father or at least been equal to him, in politics. Although he couldn't help much, he would definitely poke them from time to time and would savor the sight of them losing to Noel.
The king declared, "Summon the four representatives to the capital city to receive their reward."
Once again, the king wanted Noel to go to the capital so that he wouldn't have time to take care of his territory for some time. It would also stop him from doing anything for the Supreme Devil Organization.
What they didn't know was that Noel had expected this, especially regarding the funds. He was already sitting down with all his pillars to discuss the development of the city.
"Alright, everyone. It's time to discuss the next development plan. In a sense, we don't have money and won't be getting a lot of money. We can sell some Demon Crystals, but it won't be enough. Hence, I have a plan…" Noel smirked while raising one finger. "What do you think about making this family once again the wealthiest family in the kingdom? Balott?"
Balott couldn't help but smile as if he had already known about this topic. "The wealthiest family in the kingdom? I think you are setting the bar too low, my lord. Don't you think we should become the wealthiest family in the world?"
