Rose Empire

Chapter 42 - Position and Test Results

The excited reactions of the citizen representatives made one thing clear to Antanas: the owner of the impounded cargo ship was likely one of them, or at the very least, they had a vested interest in its cargo.

In truth, the well-established aristocratic families of Ambratu generally avoided the perilous Sasin coastal route for trade. It was typically the middle and lower classes who, in pursuit of fortune, were willing to brave the risks of the Sarin coastal route, hoping for a stroke of luck.

Of course, even these citizens weren't acting without reason. Such risky behavior strongly suggested a growing impatience among the common populace with the ongoing blockade of the Lanwan Isthmus.

Consequently, Antanas, who had previously been adamant about refusing negotiations with the Lanwan Viscountcy, cast a vote in favor of them.

Those who didn't know Antanas well might have been surprised that this imposing, bearded man with a military background could be so adaptable.

However, others in the Senate were far from astonished. They understood that while Antanas cultivated a public image of unwavering toughness and hawkishness, he was in reality a shrewd operator, exceptionally skilled at reading the political landscape. Once he sensed that maintaining his rigid stance risked alienating the middle and lower classes, a shift in his position was inevitable.

With Antanas, the leader of the oligarchic faction, voting in favor, the other oligarchic senators naturally followed suit.

The next point of order was the selection of a negotiator to send to the Lanwan Viscountcy. After Olivier Capino brought up the question, Martin Kramer, who had been uncharacteristically silent all day, raised his hand to volunteer.

"I've spent time in the Orlan Empire and have some understanding of the Mellerfeld family," Martin Kramer explained. "Furthermore, I've recently become acquainted with Mr. Harvey Sherwin, an illegitimate son of the Koxin royal family and a blood relative of Rosie Mellerfeld. This makes him a cousin of the current Lanwan Viscount, Charlotte Mellerfeld. If we can enlist his help as an intermediary in our negotiations with the Lanwan Viscountcy, the talks should proceed much more smoothly."

Everyone had heard of Mr. Harvey Sherwin, known throughout Ambratu for his extravagant lifestyle and love of pleasure. Some senators had even met him personally.

"Do you think Mr. Sherwin would be willing to assist us?" Olivier inquired.

"Certainly," Martin Kramer replied confidently. "I've met with Mr. Sherwin on several occasions and can assure you he holds our city-state in high esteem."

With these assurances, the senators agreed to appoint Martin Kramer as their negotiation representative.

Immediately after the meeting, Martin Kramer set out to find Harvey Sherwin in the city. As it turned out, Harvey Sherwin readily agreed to act as an intermediary, facilitating discussions between Ambratu and the Lanwan Viscountcy.

Having been handsomely treated by Martin in the past, it was only natural for Harvey to reciprocate with such a minor favor.

Indeed, in Harvey Sherwin's estimation, this was a trifling matter. He was, after all, a trusted agent of Rosie Mellerfeld, and Charlotte was Rosie's own daughter. Surely, Charlotte wouldn't deny him such a small courtesy?

Meanwhile, Antanas was walking home, his mind preoccupied with the unfolding situation. The democrats had seized the initiative in these negotiations, a development that was undoubtedly unfavorable for him.

"Senator Antanas!"

Suddenly, a figure darted from a nearby doorway, blocking Antanas's path.

"Senator Antanas, have you agreed to pay this so-called tariff compensation to the Lanwan Viscountcy?"

Antanas assessed the person before him: a young boy, perhaps five feet tall, with a youthful, gaunt face that spoke of hardship. Yet, his boldness in confronting a senator indicated he was certainly a citizen.

It seemed the Senate's decision, thanks to the large citizen presence at the hearing, had spread through the city with remarkable speed.

"No," Antanas countered defensively, shaking his head. "I only agreed that the city-state would appoint a representative to negotiate with the Lanwan Viscountcy."

But the boy was uninterested in Antanas's explanation. He challenged angrily, "Why did you agree to hand over the city-state's public funds to that Lanwan Viscount! Where is this money coming from? Didn't you claim the city-state's treasury was empty?"

Antanas was momentarily taken aback. Fortunately, John Rice, another oligarchic senator who seemed to recognize the boy, stepped forward to intercede. "This boy's father was gravely injured fighting the Delmo Alliance and has been confined to bed for nearly a year."

Antanas fell silent. Since the previous year, Ambratu had suspended allowances to citizens who answered the Aye Alliance's call to arms. The exorbitant war taxes demanded by Feidi had simply forced Ambratu to divert funds meant for its fighting citizens. Antanas hadn't supported this measure, but neither had he opposed it.

"Pand, go home and look after your father. The Senate is considering the city-state's broader interests," John Rice said, attempting to persuade the boy to leave.

However, the boy, Pand, erupted in anguish.

"I no longer have a father to look after!"

Tears welled in the boy's eyes.

"Father took his own life rather than remain a burden to my mother and me! You people keep saying there's no money to treat my father's wounds, no money for his allowance, so why do you suddenly have money to bribe this Lanwan Viscount? Senator Antanas, is this how you represent our interests?"

Antanas frowned, then after a long silence, stated, "I offer my deepest condolences for your loss."

With that, he moved around Pand and hurried away.

This boy represented another segment of the city's population – those who, despite holding citizen status, lived in abject poverty, belonging to the very lowest class. While these individuals were also part of Antanas's support base and voter demographic, they differed from the middle and lower classes who still possessed the resources to pool together and invest in ships and trade caravans.

If Antanas failed to appease those middle and lower-class citizens, they might shift their allegiance to the democrats. However, the poorest citizens, even if Antanas did nothing for them, were unlikely to vote democrat.

After all, it was the democratic senators who had decided to cut off the citizen-soldiers' allowances in the first place! Antanas had merely remained silent on the issue.

Therefore, confronted with Pand's accusations, Antanas offered only a perfunctory word of sympathy and nothing more.

"Senator Antanas!"

Pand continued to shout in grief and anger at Antanas's retreating back.

Beside him, an old, shabbily dressed citizen with a missing eye, chewing tobacco, chuckled derisively. "Kid, stop yelling. Some people, once they become senators, are no longer like us. Shouting won't change anything."

In the Lanwan Viscountcy, Charlotte continued to methodically oversee the development of her territory.

Cecilia's efforts to reorganize the seven villages initially met with resistance. Some villagers banded together to oppose the changes. Gritting her teeth, Cecilia, following Charlotte's advice, had the ringleaders of the three most defiant villages hanged.

Cecilia was loath to resort to such extreme measures, but she recognized the wisdom in Charlotte's counsel. Her and the overseers' previous leniency had significantly undermined their authority in the villagers' eyes. Drastic action was now necessary to reassert her unquestionable command.

Indeed, after the execution of the resistance leaders, the village reorganization proceeded without further impediment.

Subsequently, Cecilia introduced a new policy. She established daily work quotas, and any villager who completed their assigned task would receive a special tally from the overseers. Accumulating ten tallies would earn them the right to exchange them for a desirable plot of land east of Elm Village.

With these two measures successfully implemented, the conscripted villagers displayed an unprecedented enthusiasm for work. The once-desolate Elm Village began to transform at a remarkable pace.

With the market construction progressing smoothly, Charlotte turned her attention to her next initiative: conducting comprehensive supernatural aptitude tests on the children of her territory.

The church's holy ointment, when freshly prepared, is a milky white. When applied to a person's forehead or wrist and allowed to sit for approximately ten minutes, it turns blue. The greater the subject's supernatural aptitude, the deeper the shade of blue.

Charlotte recognized this property's similarity to pH test strips, and so she created a set of color comparison cards, categorizing test results into nine levels, from one to nine. Level nine represented the highest aptitude, level one the lowest.

This round of testing involved roughly nine hundred children of the appropriate age, and the results were disheartening for Charlotte. She had initially intended to train only children with aptitude scores above level five, but there were no children above level seven, only one boy at level six, and a single girl at level five.

Two individuals were simply insufficient...

Charlotte was forced to lower her standards, including even level four children, which ultimately yielded a total of two boys and three girls.

The church's aptitude classification system was less granular than Charlotte's, generally dividing individuals into those with aptitude and those without. They also recognized a category for "exceptionally gifted aptitude," but this was rarely applied and generally disregarded.

The boundary between possessing aptitude and lacking it roughly corresponded to the division between level four and level three on Charlotte's color comparison cards, meaning she couldn't realistically lower her standards any further.

Children below level four could still be trained. For instance, Monica Mellerfeld, whose supernatural aptitude was likely below level four, had still achieved awakening through an astonishing twelve initiation ceremonies. However, for Charlotte, the expense of training such individuals was prohibitive, and even if she managed to train a few more, it would be largely pointless.

"I feel so discouraged, Renee..."

Deeply disheartened, Charlotte buried her face in her maid's chest, seeking solace.

Among the noble children Charlotte had encountered, at least a fifth claimed to meet the church's "having aptitude" threshold. Even if half of those claims were exaggerated, that still left at least a tenth. Yet, within her own territory, not even one percent of the children met the "having aptitude" standard!

"The likelihood of commoners possessing supernatural abilities has always been low; you should have anticipated this," Renee said softly, patting Charlotte's back in comfort.

"I had hoped it was simply because commoners couldn't afford the initiation ceremonies," Charlotte mumbled into Renee's front of garment. "Necromantic research suggests that human supernatural aptitude isn't significantly determined by lineage."

"Perhaps those necromancers were mistaken?" Renee said, skeptical of the necromancers' findings. In her maid's opinion, noble bloodlines were inherently superior to commoners', and her lady's own exceptional intellect was ample proof of that.

"Never mind, we can explore this issue more thoroughly later."

Charlotte rubbed her temples, attempting to rally her spirits. She too harbored doubts about the necromantic research. Given their constant persecution and suppression, the sample sizes they could study were likely quite limited, making errors understandable.

"It seems I'll need to engage with those slave traders more frequently in the future, and ask them to help me find more children with strong aptitude."

"So, how should we proceed with these five children?" Cecilia, also sounding somewhat deflated, raised another crucial question.

"The two boys should initially be placed under Jack Moore's care. Have Jack teach them literacy, martial arts, and proper manners," Charlotte considered the boys' slight builds and added, "Allocate some additional funds to old Jack to ensure the boys are fed plenty of meat. I don't want to end up with two undersized knights in a few years."

"Understood," Cecilia noted, then asked, "And what about the three girls?"

After a moment's contemplation, Charlotte decided, "The girls will begin by learning literacy with you, and with Celine..."

Charlotte paused, glancing around, and asked with curiosity, "Where is Celine? Why is she always absent when I need her?"

"Miss Celine has joined the territory guards. Today is her patrol duty; I saw her out on the road earlier," Cecilia explained.

"She's my personal guard; why would she join the territory guards? Is she avoiding me?" Charlotte said with a hint of annoyance.

Cecilia couldn't help but roll her eyes inwardly. Isn't it obvious whether she's avoiding you or not?

Celine's ordeal was something Cecilia had heard about in hushed tones.

Seven whole days!

What inexperienced girl could possibly endure seven days of that?

"Send someone to inform Celine that from now on, her duty station is within the castle, and she will also be responsible for teaching martial arts to the three girls," Charlotte instructed.

"Understood," Cecilia nodded.

"One more thing," Charlotte added. "Tomorrow, Anna Doran will undergo her initiation ceremony. You should participate as well."

"Me?" Cecilia asked, pointing at herself in surprise.

"Yes," Charlotte affirmed.

"I think I'll have to decline," Cecilia quickly demurred, forcing a wry smile. "My supernatural aptitude is notoriously poor..."

"I said you will, so you will," Charlotte stated firmly, brooking no argument.

Cecilia bit her lip slightly and said nothing further.