Infinite Reincarnation – Arthur Hurt - Chapter 196



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Infinite Reincarnation – Arthur Hurt Chapter 196

34-Republicanism

“The second war was foreseen from the moment we stopped thinking about destroying the kingdom of Jatra or weakening its national power to the point where it would never think of war again. And since we didn’t prepare for it, we were bound to lose.”

Just one branch?

Although the Trava Basin had abundant underground resources, it was difficult for it to inflict a serious blow to the Kingdom of Jatra. In other words, the Trava Basin War was not about the fate of the nation, but rather the achievements of King Rai. So the strategic goal was wrong from the start… Arthur judged.

Umel was taken aback by the harsh criticism.

“Weren’t you a royalist?”

“That’s true.”

Politically, it certainly was.

Because he helped the king’s reign and gained personal benefits from it. That was the general structure of the loyalty system of the royalists, and that was also the reason why the king could not kick Arthur out even though he made many ‘mistakes’. There was no subject with a better output to input ratio than Arthur Hurt.

If you just let them work hard while nurturing and supporting them, things like music boxes, Ignacuani, and the North-South railway project will come out, so why bother kicking them out? I’m not a greedy person who puts a high price on my loyalty.

Arthur continued.

“But I don’t think I can remain loyal to the king forever.”

“Why?”

“Because people grow old and die someday.”

“ah!!”

Umel, who had been nodding his head as if trying to add a hint, belatedly understood Arthur’s meaning and opened his eyes and mouth wide in surprise.

It was only then that I remembered the incident of the Crown Prince’s assault, which had been forgotten by the world.

“I understand that it was a misunderstanding and that they have reconciled?”

Arthur smiled crookedly.

“Whether I misunderstood or not, and whether we reconciled or not, is not an important issue for those in power. Isn’t that right?”

Umel nodded with a stiff expression and his mouth shut.

The important thing was two facts: that the crown prince had attempted to rape the singer Arthur cherished like a sister, and that the Count had beaten the crown prince to death.

As long as the crown prince was the crown prince and the baron was the baron, any reconciliation or misunderstanding was just a facade. To others, it seemed like things had been resolved, but to Arthur personally, it was not over yet.

Umel first offered words of comfort.

“First of all, I am sorry for what happened to someone who was like family to me.”

“Thank you for your words.”

“So where is that singer now… … .”

“I was sent abroad to study in a hurry.”

“… … It will be difficult to return home easily.”

Umel understood what Arthur was trying to say.

So Arthur’s future is uncertain. What will happen if the horny crown prince still holds a grudge against Arthur when he becomes king? It will be ruin.

Of course, by then Arthur could have become an untouchable giant, but that would only be possible if Arthur was the successor to a long-standing noble family. Since the nobles themselves would not want another Ttian to appear, it was much more likely than not that they would throw Arthur out as bait to keep him quiet while they preyed on him rather than protecting him from the king’s clutches.

So, before that, we had to do something, like support republicanism.

And Arthur thought that Umel Barbara was very close to republicanism, even though she pretended not to be. That was why he had asked her to meet him at this pub, asking him the unspoken question, “Are you a republican?” This pub was a den of republicans.

So Umel asked this question:

“How did you know?”

Umel had been well-disguised to avoid being labelled a republican. It was an effort to please the professor in charge, a loyalist scholar, so Arthur would not have been suspicious if he took a bunch of his papers and read them.

Arthur answered.

“It was a series of coincidences.”

I originally tried to contact him through Osarin Conte, but when I heard that he had gotten a job at Minhoe, I decided that it would be difficult to contact him.

Even though the Minhoe may seem like a place of privilege to nobles and kings, it was a place that attracted attention and interest because it was a place that dealt with political issues.

And although Arthur had told Count Stan that he would pursue republicanism, republicanism was important not only to the nobility but also to the commoners, so it was also important to establish ties with the commoners.

While he was pondering over such matters, Rel came into contact with Umel, and through that, Arthur connected Umel with Ossarin Conte. The question that came to mind at that time was whether Ossarin Conte was a sociable person who could overcome ideological barriers and get along with people.

Arthur didn’t think so. Birds of a feather flock together, and similar people usually hang out together.

So, if Osarin had made a difficult request to a graduate student, such as asking for entrance exam tutoring, and if he had a relationship with her that would make her happy to do so, there was a high probability that he was of a similar type to Osarin.

However, because of Umel’s disguise, it was difficult to be certain of this just by looking at the paper, but it was possible to guess through Ga-ga-el, a fellow student brought by Rel and a senior and junior of Umel in the Academy Club.

Arthur did not mention confirmation through Gargael while speaking, because it could have caused harm to Gargael for no reason.

But Umel expressed pure admiration for Arthur’s logic and intuition in guessing that he was a republican from other explanations.

There was no fear that Arthur might reveal that he was a republican. This was because Arthur had previously confessed with sufficient evidence that he might not be a royalist in the future. And Umel did not make any further effort to respond to such a confession.

“I agree that a republican system is the most reasonable way to ensure the safety of Lord Hurt and his family. Humans are naturally fickle creatures, and the whims of those in power can be dangerous.”

Umel studied many monarchs to write his thesis. The more he studied, the more his belief in republicanism became firmer. The achievements of great kings who held absolute power? What do you mean?

In the long history, such monarchs have been few and far between, and most of them either displayed paranoid madness in order not to lose absolute power, or failed to grasp the subject and set out to accomplish great things, only to shed the blood of the people, squander national strength, and weaken the country, just like the current King Rai.

But even King Rai’s blunders were not as harmful as the caprices of a powerful monarch who acts for his own benefit and pleasure.

Umel continued speaking.

“I wonder to what extent your Majesty understands republicanism.”

“I understand the basic framework to be the separation of powers.”

The king, the nobility, and the commoners. These three pillars support and check each other to create a structure, but isn’t the problem always in the details?

Arthur continued.

“I understand that there are some differences of opinion as to how state power should be distributed.”

“You know a lot.”

Any group eventually becomes vested. Even within the same republic, the aristocratic group and the commoners’ goals may differ slightly, or even greatly.

There was a sharp difference of interest in common regarding the extent to which the king’s power should be limited and the extent to which the rights of the common people should be expanded.

Arthur said.

“I don’t want to get involved in such a difficult matter. All I want is to limit the power of the crown prince, who will become king, or to tie him up with the rule of law so that he cannot harm innocent people.”

“You are wise.”

Umel nodded in admiration. Even if Arthur were to convert to republicanism, if the author suddenly appeared and started lecturing him on what he should do, he could be treated as a spy trying to incite conflict. And if he sowed the seeds of division in this way, he could actually move away from Arthur’s desired goal of ‘checking the monarch’s power.’

Arthur continued.

“So, my question is, how do you limit the power of the monarch?”

“well.”

Umel laughed bitterly.

In a world where caste systems and monarchies were taken for granted, limiting the power of a king who had no particular reason to be disqualified was like putting a bell around a cat’s neck. The moment someone stepped forward and took up arms, they would be dealt a crushing blow from the king’s absolute power.

And at that moment, when the example is set, the seed of republicanism will be buried in dry ground, waiting for rain that may or may not come… … .

Umel thought for a moment and then said.

“If we only limit the power of the monarch, we will have to give power to the nobles.”

“Are you saying that power grows while the monarch and nobles are in conflict?”

“Yes, I think that is the most realistic option.”

In any case, the mainstream of this era was monarchy. In other words, it was a de jure system, and its antithesis was not republicanism but the aristocracy’s resistance to absolute power.

Whether the republicanism that emerged from this conflict could ultimately be seen as the antithesis of these two was a matter of sharp debate in academic circles. If that were true, then for scholars, republicanism was the system that would lead the next era.

“Hmm… … .”

Arthur stroked his chin. Umel’s strategy was realistic enough. No, it was the only way. Only in the gap between monarch and nobles could republicanism be saved from being trampled.

But Arthur read a strange nuance in Umel’s words.

“I guess that’s not what the Republican aristocrats want.”

If that were the case, the expression ‘I think’ would not have come out.

Umel laughed bitterly at Arthur’s words. He was right.

The republicanism of this country today was not an ideology led by the common people. It started when the king introduced the People’s Assembly as a means to restrain the nobles, and now the common people’s power was simply joined by conservative moderate nobles who wanted to moderately resolve the realistic problem that oppressing the common people too much would cause problems and wanted the stability of the country and society.

This behavior of the republican aristocrats could clearly be called noblesse oblige, an extension of their duty as nobles to protect their people. It was an honorable and grateful act. However, in Umel’s view, it was hypocrisy.

Because of their moderate course, republicanism was not able to advance beyond the popular assembly. The popular assembly needed more powers to function normally, but paradoxically, this was impossible because of the moderate attitude of these moderate nobles.

In order for the popular assembly to secure more power, a more intense tension between the king and the nobles was needed, and it was obvious that the conservative and moderate nobles of the republic would mediate concessions between the monarch and the nobles rather than instigate conflict and clashes between them.

After all, they were also nobles, so even if they tolerated some degree of expansion of the rights of the commoners, they would clearly be disgusted by the commoners trying to wield the same power as they did.

He could be sure of it. All the so-called republican aristocrats he had met had that sense of being chosen people. The rift in the class system was much deeper than he had thought.

Arthur was not in a good mood listening to Umel’s story. As with all things in the world, in order for any change to occur, a certain amount of energy had to be accumulated. This is because everything has inertia, and such inertia soon acts as resistance to change.

However, there was not enough energy accumulated for the event of reducing the monarch’s power that Arthur wanted to happen. Although the current King of Rye made a few mistakes, it did not create enough repercussions to warrant the rise of republicanism.