Reincarnated as the fourth son of a noble and tamed an SS-rank dragon-Chapter 54: Comvocation

Solsticea, is the country with the largest number of wizards on the continent. The country was in the north and northwest of the continent. In terms of territory, it was the second smallest country, with only seven cities. Each city was given a similar name, such as First Petal, Second Petal, and so on. The Capital, called the Floral Disc, was in the center.

This was the most well-designed country, since its foundation it was planned that the cities would surround the Capital, with the city of Disco Floral being the largest Capital in the entire continent.

The country was considered neutral in all international relations and never got involved in any military conflict. The country always preferred to focus on its internal development; it was small but very rich. So it was a bit difficult to keep relations always in harmony.

Now the Kingdom is threatened by the forces of the Demon Lord, its military force is incapable of defending itself, adding up the armies of all the nobles with the Royal Army, it wouldn’t reach 30,000 soldiers. Unlike Velmont, which totals over 100,000.

But they are far from the Empire, which adds up to at least 500,000, which is why all countries have always preferred to have a good relationship with the Empire, since it would be able to annihilate any country.

In Solsticea there is an oracle, which is a crystal that emanates light from time to time and when someone places their hand on it they receive a revelation. This floating orb was found in a dungeon and bought by a king three generations ago.

How it worked was still a mystery and only a few people knew of its existence.

A few weeks ago the Queen put her hand on the orb and discovered that the country was going to be attacked, so she ordered the military forces to go to the south of the country, as well as the locals, as it would be easier to defend, so they planned to save just two cities.

But the rulers had also asked Velmont for asylum, so they were already accepting the worst.

It would be difficult to defend everyone, as the force that would be sent would be around 30,000 demons and it is estimated that it takes ten people for every demon, so they were at an extreme disadvantage.

Even though they asked for help from other countries, they knew that none would send help, at least not at the moment, because they still didn’t know who they were dealing with or whether they were really as strong as they believed, or whether they were much stronger.

So they should wait and hope for help in the future. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝕨𝕖𝗯𝚗𝚘𝕧𝕖𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝕞

To reduce the inequality of strength, they laid traps in the evacuated cities and in regions of the forest and elsewhere. As they were the best at magic, these traps would only activate when the demons passed through, so they could avoid accidents and future problems by having the whole territory as a minefield.

In any case, this wouldn’t be seen as a way of running away from the problems; the rulers were expected to stay in a safe place, so they didn’t suffer any retaliation.

The big problem would be how to help these people who remained in the Kingdom, so they ordered all the potions and food they could find, as they had discovered a cheap source, they bought as much as they could, but they still felt they should buy more.

Back to Darius.

He was standing in front of a giant door, it was the door to the Royal Hall, or the Throne Room, there he would be received by the King.

When the door was opened he saw Kael sitting on the throne, there were other chairs, but they were below, they were the rulers of Solsticea.

They had the appearance of any monarch, a crown, fancy clothes and a cape, which in their case was purple.

Darius and the others approached and stopped when they heard the request of an old man, this man was holding a piece of A3 paper, on which something was written. It was their names and what they did.

After the presentation, Kael asked them to stand up, as they were kneeling; this was the procedure that showed respect.

"You’ve been summoned for a few reasons, the first is about your company. In this case, we can’t call it that because it’s not registered. Why isn’t the factory registered?" The old man asked.

Darius thought of several answers, but some were offensive.

"The Adventurers’ Guild is the factory’s only client, we’re just suppliers to an institution that has its own commercial criteria and we’re hired as adventurers, so we don’t need any registration. Besides, we have a document that gives us the freedom to create and manage any company, that’s another reason," Kaly replied.

The Queen of Solstice was trying not to laugh, as she found the minister’s expression funny, he really didn’t know that they didn’t need any company for this.

"The second reason is the prices you charge, how do you manage to make such a low price?"

"The Lestor family owns land where the plants we use in potions are grown, we don’t need to go out to harvest in the forest or pay adventurers to do it, that’s why we get these prices. And this isn’t unfair competition, as you plan to accuse us of, we just manage to grow the plants and that’s why we sell them at a price below what the market charges," Darius replied, and at one point he was almost interrupted by the minister, but he continued speaking.

"You sell highly healing potions, sage root is a difficult plant to find and is hardly ever cultivated, how did you manage to get it?" The Queen asked.

"My family has its own methods and it’s a secret of the Drakonia Empire," Kaly replied. "But I don’t think that answer would please you, but this is under imperial secrecy, so I can’t give you any more details," she lied.

"A human protected by Drakonia?"

"Yes, the Empire is very broad and there’s no racial discrimination, the Duchies are free to give out titles of nobility, so it’s relatively easier for a human to become a noble than it seems."

"Now the third subject, the trade crisis you caused, what do you have to say for your defense?"

"Before I answer, Nyme isn’t selling any food. But to answer the question, I don’t see any problem if I’ve hunted and prepared it, I can sell it for any price. Controlling the price of a product would be a big mistake, as it would prevent competition or even some sellers from selling cheaper to help poorer people. At no point did we point a sword and force anyone to buy, anyone could choose to buy or simply pass by and buy from another seller," Darius replied.

The minister looked like he wanted to say something, but they didn’t want to let that happen.

"Besides, we buy food from the other vendors and now sell it at the Adventurers’ Guild," Kaly added.

"Will you give the same answer for paper production?"

Nyme was feeling out of place, the only subject related to her was potions, which had already been clarified.

"There is no law against making paper, you yourself are holding a piece of paper that I produced. I produce it and decide how much I want to receive in return. The old supplier didn’t make the same paper as me, so our products are different and shouldn’t even be classified as the same product. He was just absorbed by the market itself, which preferred my product to his," Darius was quick to reply.

The minister was at a loss, he planned to humiliate them and then make them nervous and beg for forgiveness. But they did well with their answers. The minister had no counter-argument, he was using the paper from the store he had just accused, a bit hypocritical of him.

"That’s all. I apologize for putting you through that, that’s just the way he is. I just wanted to see your reaction, that’s why I called in the worst minister we have," Kael said as the minister became more embarrassed, but he couldn’t say anything against the King. "Now I want to tell you the real reason we have you here."

The rulers of Solsticea stood up, they took the King’s side. The Queen stood on the right and the King stood on the left.

In Solsticea, the Queen was a descendant of the former King, so the throne belongs to her and she rules, while the King serves more as second-in-command, which is why they stand in that order.

The Kingdom had no distinction between the genders, the first descendant inherited the title. As with the nobles, it was less common for them to be desperate to marry off their daughters.

In Velmont it was the men who had the preference, but it was a relatively balanced society in these matters.

The Queen went forward and looked at the three of them, she observed carefully.

"Do you want to help me defend Solsticea?"

The three of them looked at each other. They knew the answer they had to give.