Chapter 55: Erin -5-

The audience chamber in Munster's royal castle, where my talks with King Anguishaus continued, was adorned with antique Celtic patterns and splendid tapestries.

But the governing structure of Ireland as King Anguishaus explained it was, to my eyes, an inefficient tribal confederation so bad it made me sigh.

"So, to summarize, there are tuaths, the smallest units governing each region, and each of those is ruled by a rí túaithe, a petty king. Above them are the ruirí, higher kings who oversee several tuaths, and then you rule all of Munster. Is that correct?"

"That is so. I wield authority as rí ruirech, the overking, and as Ard Rí, but in truth I am closer to a mediator who balances the interests of each tribe."

From King Anguishaus's explanation, Ireland's administrative system was a slightly more complicated hierarchical tribal union than Britain's.

A tuath, ruling over a population of one to six thousand, was similar to a modern county-level district, but the problem was that these were not direct officials under the king. They were, in effect, independent tribal communities.

The tuath was the basic administrative unit, made up of three to six thousand people, governed by a rí túaithe, a petty king. Above that stood a ruirí, a higher king who reigned over several tuaths like a feudal lord, and over all of Munster ruled King Anguishaus...

What a cumbersome system.

In the end, Britain and this place were exactly the same.

Not centralized rule, but fragmented tribal cohesion. With a structure like this, there was no way to efficiently levy the resources of the whole nation, nor to establish systematic education and administration.

"Are the other regions the same? Ulster, Leinster, and Connacht as well?"

"They are. However, the Kingdom of Eden is a separate, closed system protected by Mystery, and Dál Riata is somewhat different, being a state specialized in maritime trade. But the most troublesome place is the Kingdom of Mide, the heart of Ireland and the land of the Hill of Tara. It is originally the place that should be ruled by the legitimate line of the Ard Rí, but after King Gilla Maire, who submitted to Vortigern, was driven out, Lugaid mac Loegairi declared himself Ard Rí and now fights over legitimacy."

There were two high kings on one island.

Anguishaus, who had opened a new age by usurping the throne from a tyrant, and Lugaid, a member of that tyrant's bloodline. Tradition would favor Lugaid, perhaps, but in history, when a new age begins, the old dynasty is meant to disappear with it.

I let out a dry laugh.

"Legitimacy matters. But more than that, an incompetent king must not be allowed to exist. A foolish ruler with nothing to boast of except tradition is no more than a scrap of paper before the tip of my sword."

Then the next words from the king's mouth made me frown.

"Ah, and Your Highness. Lately, a clergyman from abroad called Saint Patrick—Saint Patricio—has been traveling about spreading Christianity, and his influence is no ordinary thing."

"What? Patrick?"

At that name alone, I showed open hostility.

"Drive that heathen bastard out at once. Those irreverent wretches who deny our Celtic faith and seek to dye this land in the colors of their one god will not be allowed to set foot in my country."

"W-well... Your Highness, he has proclaimed that he will teach Latin and establish monasteries as archives to help organize the administrative system..."

"And what have they ever done for us? They are nothing but irreverent, arrogant vermin who tell us to worship their god while branding our brilliant Celtic faith and culture as heresy and trying to erase them. Do you mean to kill the Celtic gods for the sake of their god? A god cannot exist without faith to sustain it. They came here to exterminate the Celtic gods."

It wasn't as if I didn't know that Saint Patrick was a figure who had contributed to civilization by introducing Latin, administrative systems, and monasteries.

But to me, he was the vanguard of the destruction of Britain's identity, a man who branded the deep Mystery and culture of the Celts as heresy and sought to annihilate them.

Once that damned Christianity came in, the Arthurian legends were turned into a complete mess. It all became, "Anyway, the Holy Grail is amazing, anyway, Jesus is amazing," and King Arthur got turned into an idiot and a pathetic cuck who got NTR'd.

Faith was frightening by nature.

The Dioscuri were proof enough. They had originally been twin gods on the level of Zeus himself, but once their worship was stolen by Olympus, they were reborn as Zeus's children, and Castor became human.

And I knew this as well.

That when Christianity entered, the Celtic faith perished, and the lineage of the druids was severed.

Christianity? God? And what exactly happened to King Arthur and Britain because of it?

I worked like a dog and my life got fucked to hell, so why the hell would I follow or believe in any of that?

And then Christianity went on to ruin medieval Europe. Maybe the beginning was good. At the start, they were probably all upright and admirable people.

But in the end, once later generations brought out indulgences and started meddling in politics, Christianity was finished.

If Jesus himself saw medieval Christianity, or those bishops who burned Joan of Arc at the stake, he'd probably weep tears of blood and reach for a whip.

In Fate's truth, Rome fell because it embraced Christianity.

On the day the sacred tree that symbolized Rome was wounded, Rome split into East and West.

One emperor of the Western Roman Empire accepted Christianity and extinguished Vesta's flame, which had burned continuously since Rome's founding, while branding the Roman gods as heresy.

After that, on the day the sacred tree that had protected Rome died, the Western Roman Empire fell to Altera.

The moment they denied the existence of their founder, even though their founding king had become a Roman god, it was over.

And so the Celts and Britain, too, would lose their identity by accepting Christianity.

"The Christian faith that man spreads will be thoroughly excluded from my kingdom. King Anguishaus, you as well should understand that if I see even a trace of that sort of faith within my territory, I will show no mercy."

"I will bear it in mind, Your Highness."

If they wanted to accept Christianity, they could do it after I left Britain. At the very least, in my generation, I refused to watch those church bastards strut around.

They were the kind of fools who would call Magecraft heresy too. I would not tolerate those old zealots running wild in Britain and Ireland.

I needed neither the Holy Grail nor the Holy Lance. As a Pendragon who inherited Britain's Mystery, and as the younger brother of Morgan, the master of Britain, I would protect our legitimacy.

The moment I brought in Christianity, the religion recognized as the state faith of Rome, Boudica might start looking at me coldly from the Throne of Heroes.

Actually, she'd probably start glaring the moment I spread Latin, the language of Rome.

Then, after hearing about the Kingdom of Connacht, I let out another hollow laugh.

"Connacht became a male-dominated country? A Connacht without a queen... if Queen Medb knew, her blood pressure would shoot through the roof and she'd clutch the back of her neck. To think the prestige of Connacht, which once lorded over all Ireland, has fallen this far. What a strange feeling."

So the Connacht that once gathered armies on the scale of all Ireland to torment Cu Chulainn was gone now.

After all those political discussions were finally over, I returned to the royal guest chamber where I could rest for a while.

"Arthur. You worked hard again today, didn't you?"

Morgan smiled seductively as she loosened the ties of her dress.

"Tonight, we're going to fill you up with plenty of energy for your new kingdom, Arthur."

Merlin laughed playfully and cast a soundproof barrier with secret Magecraft, while Ushiwakamaru pressed her body close against mine.

Barghest carefully took off her clothes as well, and Medea wrapped her arms around me from behind.

The emperor of Britain, and of Erin.

My night, meant to remake me into a man worthy of that seat, was long and intense.

And some time later, I had an unexpected, fateful meeting.

"I heard... the rumors. That Britain's Pendragon had come to the Kingdom of Munster. It is a pleasure to meet you, King Arthur."

"And you are?"

"I am a knight who serves Queen Gloriana of the fairies. My name is Britomart. King Arthur... would you please lend me your strength?"

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