The Royal Capital.
As the night deepened, the lights in the windows of the noble estates flickered out one by one.
The magnificent chandeliers lost their glow.
The sound of the garden fountains faded into a murmur.
Only the low echo of patrolmen's footsteps rang out on the capital's main thoroughfares.
Yet, on the outskirts of the capital...
Light still remained in the basement of an old stone mansion.
Thick curtains obscured the windows.
Private soldiers hired by the Reformist nobles stood guard before the doors.
In the alleys surrounding the mansion, surveillance teams disguised as ordinary carriages were strategically placed.
On the surface, it was a night where nothing was happening.
But in the basement, a small spark was burning—one that would soon shake the future of the Kingdom.
The basement meeting room.
Gathered there were Terriuss Assis, the Reformist nobles, and Gracchus, a Commissioner of the Thousand Kingdom.
Gracchus possessed an appearance nearly identical to a human's.
However, there was almost no trace of human hesitation in his eyes.
A Level 22 Automaton Commissioner.
By the standards of the Kingdom's nobility, he was a sufficiently threatening existence.
Yet, by the standards of the Thousand Kingdom, he was merely a low-ranking administrative official.
Gracchus stood quietly in the center of the meeting room.
Terriuss Assis sat beside him.
A man who had once been a mere Baronet.
A man who had harbored resentment over his low rank and had waited a long time at the threshold of capital politics.
But now, bearing the title of Acting Commissioner, he was ascending into the very heart of the capital's political sphere.
The Reformist nobles were visibly agitated.
Their faces were a mixture of anger, inferiority, expectation, and ambition.
One tapped his fingers incessantly against the table.
Another gripped his glass with white-knuckled intensity.
Another had already repeated the same words several times over.
Their grievances were old.
And when old grievances find the right language, they become politics.
A young noble was the first to speak.
"How much longer must we be pushed aside?"
His voice carried a weight of suppressed rage.
"The key positions in the capital are all divided between the Noble Faction and the Royal Faction. The Minister of Finance, the Minister of Military Affairs, the Tax Commissioner, the Court Secretary... they are all occupied by their children and relatives."
Another Reformist noble slammed his glass down.
"Exactly! We studied for the Kingdom, we took up the sword for the Kingdom, and we paid our taxes. And what do we get in return?"
He gnashed his teeth.
"Low wages. Insignificant posts. And nothing but the word 'wait'."
Another spoke up harshly.
"Wait? How long are we supposed to wait when they have no intention of giving up their seats?"
His voice grew louder.
"The Noble Faction speaks of bloodlines, and the Royal Faction speaks of loyalty, but in the end, isn't it just them hoarding everything for themselves?"
"He's right!"
"Exactly!"
"They give us nothing!"
Their complaints grew increasingly coarse.
"They squeeze eighty percent in taxes from the commoners. The peasants are starving to death while the High Nobles are busy throwing balls!"
"The Royal Faction is no different. They preach the order of the Kingdom, but they just fill the palace posts with their own people!"
"Discrimination based on status remains the same. One's birth family comes before one's ability. How can a country like this survive?"
As the Reformist nobles continued, the air in the room grew heated.
Anger fed on anger. Grievances tangled together.
Private feelings of inferiority were suddenly being articulated as the structural contradictions of the Kingdom.
And in truth...
Some of what they said was not wrong.
The Re-Estize Kingdom was rotting.
The High Nobles held their fiefs and squeezed the commoners dry.
The Royal Faction spoke of royal authority but was incompetent.
The Noble Faction spoke of tradition but only protected their privileges.
Bloodline preceded ability, and family name carried more weight than skill.
The problem was...
Whether those speaking of these problems were truly angry on behalf of the people.
Suddenly, one noble jumped to his feet.
His face was flushed with excitement.
"In the coastal territory of Naiua, unidentified demi-humans have appeared and are devouring the people, yet the nobles are only preoccupied with their political infighting!"
The room stirred at his words.
He continued to shout.
"Furthermore, some of the Royal Faction are selling information to the Baharuth Empire! Rumors are circulating that military deployments, supply routes, and even the contents of noble council meetings are being leaked!"
"I've heard that as well!"
"Are those who sell the country to the Baharuth bastards pretending to be the Kingdom's loyal subjects?!"
The noble raised his voice even higher.
"The Noble Faction deliberately prevented Lord Gazef from being properly armed before sending him out, just so they could have him killed!"
At those words, the Reformist nobles reacted in unison.
"That's true!"
"Who would have profited if Lord Gazef had died?"
"The Noble Faction, obviously!"
"To drive the Kingdom's Strongest Warrior to such an end... can they really say they care for the Kingdom?"
"The Royal Faction is incompetent too! They knew and couldn't stop it!"
"In the end, both sides are rotten!"
The anger of the Reformist faction was converging in a single direction.
Against the Noble Faction.
Against the Royal Faction.
Against the old order of the Kingdom.
Commissioner Gracchus watched the scene in silence.
Terriuss Assis also lifted his glass without a word.
His gaze was cold.
While the Reformist nobles cheered and raged, he was calculating their emotions.
Who was the most impulsive?
Who was the most willing to see blood?
Who wanted a cause, and who only wanted a position?
Who was likely to betray, and who would believe they were righteous until the very end?
Terriuss categorized them one by one.
Anger is a weapon.
But there is a separate person who wields the weapon.
At that moment...
Gracchus slowly raised his hand.
The room fell silent.
Gracchus spoke in a soft but clear voice.
"I understand your grievances."
He looked at each of the Reformist nobles in turn.
"In fact, Caesar has also heard of your dissatisfaction."
The air in the room shifted at the mention of that name.
Caesar.
The being who descended upon the capital and defeated the demon.
The ruler of the Thousand Kingdom.
The transcendent monarch who had personally signed a treaty with Ramposa III.
The eyes of the Reformist nobles changed.
Awe mixed with their anger.
Expectation mixed with their grievances.
The illusion spread that their private grudges were becoming part of a much larger order.
Gracchus continued.
"Caesar was deeply saddened by the current situation where humanity is devoured and dominated by monsters."
His voice was calm.
It held almost no emotion.
Yet, for that very reason, it sounded more like an oracle.
"Humans must live as humans. Humans must not be prey for demi-humans, heteromorphs, and magical beasts. Human society must possess the strength to protect itself."
Gracchus paused for a beat.
"This is the will of Caesar."
Several nobles gasped.
Gracchus took a step forward.
"Caesar desires for humanity to become self-reliant."
He paused briefly.
Then, he spoke in an even lower voice.
"However..."
Every noble in the room watched him intently.
"The current Re-Estize Kingdom is far too corrupt."
Those words set the room's grievances ablaze.
"Exactly!"
"That's it!"
"The Kingdom is rotten!"
Gracchus raised his hand again to quiet the commotion.
Then, he spoke as if making a declaration.
"The Re-Estize Kingdom must undergo a Civilization Enlightenment."
Civilization Enlightenment.
The term rippled through the meeting room.
One Reformist noble heard 'reform' in those words.
Another heard 'advancement'.
Another heard a justification to drive out the Noble and Royal factions.
Another heard the halo of the massive power that was the Thousand Kingdom.
Civilization Enlightenment.
It was a beautiful term.
It sounded like progress.
It sounded like salvation.
It sounded like the dawn that would end the old order.
However, one must be careful of beautiful words.
For they can be words that save people...
Or they can be the scabbard for a sword that pushes people away.
Gracchus said,
"The fact that we have raised an army was also, in truth, for the Civilization Enlightenment of Re-Estize."
The eyes of the Reformist nobles sparkled.
"You are not those who have been pushed aside by an old order."
Gracchus's voice grew increasingly persuasive.
"You are the people who will open a new era."
The nobles in the room looked at one another.
Those were the words they had most wanted to hear.
You are not failures.
You are not the marginalized.
It is not that you were not chosen.
You simply met the wrong era.
Now, when the new era comes, you will be at its center.
Gracchus pierced exactly that point.
"The Noble Faction seeks to protect the past. The Royal Faction clings to an incompetent authority. But you are different."
Gracchus glanced at Terriuss Assis.
Terriuss gave a small, silent nod.
Gracchus spoke again.
"You must step forward."
The meeting room became completely silent.
Now, their grievances were waiting.
Waiting for someone to hand down the next sentence.
Gracchus said,
"We can help you."
The moment those words fell...
The Reformist nobles erupted in cheers.
"For the New Kingdom!"
"For the Civilization Enlightenment!"
"Let us set the Kingdom right under the protection of Caesar!"
"We must end the rotten order of the Noble and Royal factions!"
They raised their glasses.
Some had tears in their eyes.
Some gripped the hilts of their swords.
A certain young noble seemed to believe he was standing at a historic moment.
One thought of the revival of his family.
Another thought of a high-ranking position in the palace.
Another thought of the faces of the High Nobles who had ignored him.
Each had a different desire.
But the slogan they shouted was the same.
Civilization Enlightenment.
A New Kingdom.
The Protection of Caesar.
The language of reform bound their desires into one.
However, Gracchus and Terriuss Assis did not smile.
The two of them watched the cheering with cold detachment.
There was no emotion in Gracchus's eyes.
Terriuss Assis brought his glass to his lips but did not drink.
The Reformist nobles believed they would become the protagonists of a new era.
But their anger...
Their grievances...
Their desire for reform...
Their ambition for advancement...
All of it was already placed upon the Thousand Kingdom's game board.
Terriuss slowly set his glass down.
Then, he spoke quietly.
"Everyone."
The cheering subsided slightly.
Terriuss did not stand from his seat.
Yet everyone looked at him.
"Anger alone cannot change the Kingdom."
His voice was low and cold.
"Anger is only the beginning. What is needed is organization. Military force. Funds. A cause. And the patience to wait for the right time."
The Reformist nobles held their breath.
Terriuss looked at each person individually.
"From this moment on, you are not merely young nobles voicing your dissatisfaction."
His eyes glinted coldly.
"You are those preparing for a new order."
At those words, the expressions of several nobles hardened.
They felt the fact that they were no longer simple complainers.
That they were standing before a door from which there was no return.
Terriuss continued.
"Each family must expand their private armies under the pretext of strengthening security. Weapons and provisions will be procured indirectly through the merchant guilds. Retired adventurers and mercenaries should be hired individually to keep them dispersed. Gathering them in one place will invite suspicion."
Gracchus listened in silence.
Terriuss's voice dropped even lower.
"I will coordinate the movements of the palace and the Noble Faction. Do not leave official records of your contact with the Commissioner's office. What we need is not impulse, but structure."
The Reformist nobles nodded.
To them, the conspiracy no longer felt like a conspiracy.
It felt like preparation for reform.
Expanding private armies was not rebellion, but strengthening security.
Procuring weapons was not preparing for a coup, but securing the right to self-defense.
Colluding with an external power was not subjugation, but support for Civilization Enlightenment.
As the language changed, their guilt faded.
That was the first technique of power.
To call one's own desires by the language of a great cause.
Gracchus spoke one last time.
"The Thousand Kingdom respects your choice."
Those words were not a lie.
They truly would choose.
It was just that the choices had already been arranged.
The lamps in the basement meeting room flickered.
The Reformist nobles raised their glasses once more.
"For the Civilization Enlightenment!"
"For the New Kingdom!"
"The protection of Caesar!"
Their voices echoed low against the basement walls.
The night in the capital was deepening.
On the surface, the lights of the noble mansions were going out.
But in the basement, a different fire was being lit.
A fire called reform.
Feeding on the oil of anger.
Burning the firewood of inferiority.
A fire whose direction was being quietly guided by the hand of the Thousand Kingdom.
No one yet called it a rebellion.
No one yet called it a coup.
They called it Civilization Enlightenment.
And because of that very name...
The fire was becoming all the more dangerous.
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