AWDC Chapter 76

Even so, we have to somehow restore order to the country until a new king is decided.

The Midland family, the Gregg family, and the Robertson family decided to join forces to restore security to the capital.

I traveled back and forth between the capital and Toriholi Village, or between the Midland and Gregg families, and finally managed to launch a provisional government.

Midland and Gregg both wanted to restore security to the capital as soon as possible, so there were no problems with the launch.

Even so, the cabinet members came only from the three families of Midland, Gregg, and Robertson.

Other nobles did not join the provisional government, wary of being assigned new burdens if they were to carelessly put out a cabinet member.

And while Elliot and Richter only sent their retainers to the cabinet, I was the only one from my family to enter.

Moreover, I ended up becoming the prime minister of the provisional government.

“You know everything about administrative affairs, all the details.”

“There is no one else who can take responsibility other than you.”

Richter and Elliot, with matter-of-fact expressions, pushed the position of prime minister of the provisional government onto me.

Naturally, I protested vehemently to the two of them, but they almost forcibly entangled me.

“I can rest assured if you’re the one doing it.”

“Toma can handle things with his own judgment.”

Around this time, my relationship with Elliot and Richter was like that of three brothers.

Elliot, the eldest son, was a bit headstrong, but he was also skilled at reading people’s true intentions and was sensitive to the nuances of human emotion.

Richter, the second son, was thoughtful and cautious, but never a coward.

And I, the third son, wanted to read the situation and act while watching the expressions of the two of them.

I never thought of taking the initiative or devising plans myself.

Those two pushed the most important role onto me.

They were also lords of their respective duchies. Once the country’s security was restored to some extent, they would have to turn their attention to their territories.

On the other hand, Toriholi Village had its lord, and Roy was still alive and well.

Certainly, it was a natural course of events for me to handle the provisional government. But there was another reason.

More than anything, both of them were concerned that if either of the country’s most powerful nobles became prime minister, the one who didn’t would lose significant power, disrupting the balance of power.

Compared to that, they thought that if I, the weakest of the three, became prime minister, they could always keep me in check, and if they didn’t like it, they could replace me at any time.

(Yes, yes, I’ll do as my older brothers say.) That’s all I could do but grumble.

After becoming prime minister, I was incredibly busy.

Due to the tyranny of the Sapomero teachings/religion, the officials in charge of the capital’s security and administration were almost completely wiped out. This was almost entirely compensated for by personnel from the two Dukes’ families. Because they were all competent and worked diligently, the security of the capital was restored in less than two weeks.

Also, it was a big help that the food shortage was almost resolved thanks to the wheat delivered from Toriholi Village.

Well, thanks to my experience in establishing the Toriholi Village office, I knew how to handle personnel matters, so it can be said that I didn’t have to worry too much.

However, even so, there were so many things to do that I was truly overwhelmed.

The people sent in by Midland and Gregg were all excellent and impeccable. But they were people who couldn’t take responsibility.

In the end, I had to make the decisions.

Apparently, Richter and Elliot had been saying, “If there’s anything troublesome, just push it onto Toma.”

Seriously, those two were dumping too much on me.

If I wasn’t supposed to be the interim prime minister until the capital regained its peace, I would have quit long ago.

I really wanted to pull someone from the village to be my assistant.

George and Eric, for example, are used to bureaucratic work, so they would be perfect for the provisional government. However, Toriholi Village was still experiencing a continuous influx of population, and the office was unable to keep up with the paperwork.

Even without that, I was hardly in the village. I couldn’t even consider pulling people out of the village.

In any case, I was determined to work hard for at least a few months until the security of the capital was quickly restored and the common people could return to their daily lives.

Hoffer, the bishop, contacted me frequently. He was desperately trying to overcome this chaos and rebuild the church. By this time, he had been promoted to bishop and was in a position that could be called the de facto number six.

“I have come to ask for the repair of the churches in the capital.”

“I would like to meet those expectations, but the provisional government does not have much authority. It is only a stopgap until the next king is enthroned. All I can do is maintain security and distribute necessary goods and food.”

“I understand that. However, the churches have been destroyed by the heretics. We want to secure a place of refuge for the common people as soon as possible.”

“Thank you for understanding the provisional government’s predicament. The provisional government can only spend money on the things I just mentioned, but the Robertson family is prepared to make some donations. Of course, Duke Midland, Duke Gregg, and the other nobles will not hesitate to make large donations to the church. Bishop, I apologize for the inconvenience, but why don’t you ask the influential families?”

The meeting was conducted with smiles on the surface, but underneath, there was a simmering hatred.

(A place of refuge for the common people. How well you put it. More than 20 churches were burned down in this incident. If they were thought of as places of refuge, they wouldn’t have been burned down.)

That was my honest feeling.

(Not giving money from the provisional government means that we shouldn’t expect any more aid from the government in the future. How dare you tell us to beg from the nobles. Well, since the Robertson family said they would donate, we’ll take our fair share.)

This was the bishop Hoffer’s inner thought.

In any case, we were able to end the meeting amicably on the surface.

And the biggest job of the provisional government was deciding who would be king.

As soon as I became prime minister, I met with Prince Taleem, the legitimate son of the late King Michael.

He was large for his age of 10 and seemed healthy. However, my first impression was that his intelligence was a little uncertain.

Honestly, I couldn’t say that there would be no problem in recommending him as king.

And the reason I didn’t want to recommend Prince Taleem as king was the existence of his mother.

Queen Margaret, the wife of the late King Michael, was also present at this meeting.

“Why is the enthronement of Prince Taleem delayed?”

She was convinced that it was only natural for the prince to become king.

“The security situation in the capital is not good. It is thought that it would be dangerous for the prince to return to the palace at this time.”

“What do you mean the security hasn’t been restored yet?”

“The evils of the Sapomero teachings/religion still remain, and the common people are harboring discontent.”

“In any case, I want to return to the capital as soon as possible. I hear that the sacred sword has not yet been found. Find it quickly.”

“Yes, I understand.”

What a difficult request. The capital is in chaos, so everyone is doing everything they can to restore security. If it was something that could be done easily, we would have finished it long ago.

This queen had decided that our negligence was the reason why she couldn’t return to the capital.

The sacred sword and crown were symbols of the king’s authority and were required for the king’s enthronement ceremony. Waomou had broken into the palace and taken them, and they were now missing.

If they were so important, she should have taken them with her when Prince Taleem fled the palace. We wouldn’t be having such a hard time now.

In other words, it was like I was being made to clean up the queen’s mess.

I couldn’t possibly voice such dissatisfaction, so I had no choice but to vow to do everything in my power to capture Waomou and retrieve the sacred sword and crown.

(If that person is the prince Taleem’s guardian, politics will be greatly distorted.)

I felt disheartened.