Book 2: Chapter 1


    <strong>Trantor Comments:</strong> Son-con readers, I know you have been eagerly waiting for this series, and it is back with regr releases. If you havent been following Martial Kings Retired Life, you wouldnt know that Ive now got ads disyed on the site. I would really appreciate it if you could whitelist my site for that reason. The ads arent supposed to be intrusive or diminish your reading experience. However, if they do, just let me know where and how, and Ill rectify it.


    In other news, thanks to changes in Patreon making management slightly easier for me, I can now offer ALL PATRONS early ess to chapters and exclusive artwork from the authors, yes, including those in the Peddler tier with $1 monthly donations. How many chapters ahead youll have ess to depends on your tier. Youll have immediate ess to the early chapters as soon as you join Patreon, there are no gimmicks. To find out more about this, see this post: /posts/yes-its-12099374


    We wish your majesty good health, and may your awe live on forever.


    You may all rise.


    This is the conference chamber for the empire of humanity.


    The chamber was like arge sports field. Wait, no. More like half a sports field. There were two rows of tables, one on each side and on another end was a semi-circr seating area. In the most prestigious ce, in other words, where the king is seated is a small room. The design of the small room is very logical. Speaking from inside the room produces a loudspeaker effect, while the voices of those below will be louder.


    The throne was much higher than the long tables below. A ck veil which kept the sun out was hung in front of the throne. Right at this moment, the empress was sitting on her throne with one leg over the other. The retainers below were only able to see the empress military uniform, boots and body. The empress has always been a swordsman, so even after ascending the throne, she continued to scoff at loose and pretty dresses. As such, shes always dressed in military gear. This also raised the prestige of the army to an all-time high.


    The empress is with us!


    That is what the soldiers believe.


    The function of the ck veil was to prevent the retainers below from seeing the empress face.


    Howe her personal lowly servants are allowed to see her appearance?


    Only those retainers close to the empress are allowed to see her face. Those who see her face without her allowing the veil to be lifted or otherwise just seeing her appearance were to be punished. If they were punished lightly, theyd be exiled, if they were to be punished severely, itd be the death penalty. The empress is considered the child of god, a representative of gods greatness, so mere mortals werent qualified to set their eyes on her. Only those whove received the love of god and the empress permission may see her appearance.


    The empress doesnt cover her face because its ugly. A painter sighed after he finished painting her and said that humanitys greatest loss was that humanitys most beautiful face was hidden away. Whats said about her appearance isnt groundless. Those who win her favour and are fortunate enough to see her face are all stunned by her beauty.


    However, the empress has never been proud of the fact that shes beautiful.


    The people by the two rows of tables heard her and sat behind the tables where they looked at the person sitting across from them. The conference chamber is separated into two different parties very distinctly. This was the ce for a decision to be made from the opinions of both sides. On one side were seated those in formal clothing, while seated on the other were those in military uniforms. Those in formal clothing all have a gold coloured pigeon pattern on their clothing, while those in military uniforms had a golden bear.


    You may begin your discussions. What opinions do you have on our neighbouring country, Castor?


    The empress shifted in her seat behind the ck veil as though she was really bored. She rested her right arm on her throne with which she used to support her head as she looked down at her retainers below. The two rows of retainers turned to each other to discuss the topic. Not long after, one of them from the formal clothing party stood up, looked at the throne, bowed respectfully and shakily said: I wish your majesty infinite happiness and eternal health. Edward greets your majesty.


    The empress nodded and said: Oh, Count Edward. Please speak.


    Yes, your majesty


    Count Edward wasnt old but he had lots of grey hairs and had bid goodbye to his youth. He held a sheet of paper in his hand. Numbers and letters were written neatly on it. He looked at the people across from him, softly cleared his throat and said: Dear colleagues, theres not much that needs to be said about our neighbouring country, Castor. They are an important business partner for us. Although our empire possesses a vast amount of territory, we dont have two harbours. The location of Castor makes for perfect harbours due to their natural terrain. Moreover, if we control Castor, its the equivalent of controlling all imports and exports by sea. In other words, well haveplete control over the wealthy business in the river delta. The taxes they pay Castor annually are equal to the ie of three of our cities. Further, if our businessmen want to do business across the sea, they must pass through Castor and therefore must pay taxes. As a result, our empires goods struggle topete outside of our country. The empire needs to expand not only itsnd but also on the business front. Just as firepower and spears are used as weapons for conquest, so is money. Wherever money circtes, that is our territory. We must show those outside barbarians our empress greatness, intellect and power. Before we get ourselves warships, money is our greatest weapon. In order to conquer the barbarians, we must first have Castor


    The empress seemed a little annoyed and said: Count, everybody seated here understands the importance of Castor, including myself. If you have nothing to say besides this, how about you sit down?


    Your majesty! Please hear me out for a little longer!!


    Edward was building up cold sweat on his forehead. He quivered as he wiped his sweat with his handkerchief. Those across from him let out cold muffledughs. Edward fumbled around for another sheet of paper and softly said: Weve tried to negotiate with Castor, but their king rejected our kind offer to offer them protection and insisted on being left alone. I believe that we must control their finances if we wish to conquer them. First, we must limit the cirction of their currency in our country, limit its use and raise the price on goods from them. We must also forbid other countries from doing business with them


    Moron!!


    A young general across from him stood up. The medals and ribbon on his chest swayed with the movements of its owner angrily. It seemed that the empress was shocked but she didnt say anything.


    Nier who was hidden in the dark sheathed her sword.


    Your majesty! Please stop this clowns pointless performance. Everything Count Edward has said is ludicrous. I dont think hes still even handling matters pertaining to business! The young man looked at Edward and angrily continued: Your majesty


    Young man, Ive never heard your voice before. Is this your first time here?


    The empress cut him off. She seemed to be slightly unhappy. The general next to the young man frowned at him, shook his head and let out a long sigh. The young man paused for a moment before nodding and replying: Yes, your majesty. My father is sick today


    Ah, poor Charlemagne. Hes getting on with age and is not very well. Send him my greetings when you return home. Hes a retainer who went through the ups-and-downs with me after all. I wont threaten his descendants. Young man, remember well that this is the conference chamber, not some ce for you to argue. Ive got a tingling sensation in my ears today so dont yell.


    Understood


    The young man lowered his head lifelessly. The people across from himughed out loud. They mercilesslyughed at a young man who hade for the first time without knowing the rules. If it werent on the ount of his father, his head would probably be rolling on the ground right now.


    Continue with what you wanted to say.


    The empress waited for theughter to end before changing her posture. Her boots made a sonorous sound on the marble floor.


    Yes, your majesty. I am of the opinion that what Count Edward said was all wrong, because we cannotpletely stop our business with Castor. Castor is close to the seas. Their salt and goods from the sea are warmly received by our people and their currency isparable to our own in our country. If we forcibly remove their currency, lots of people will face losses. This will cause unhappiness with the people. Further, they will also retaliate while we cannotpletely reject their goods and currency. As such, we will inevitably face losses ourselves.


    A person in formal clothing stood up and criticised the young man: Young man, theres no such thing as a win-win in business. We can rece Castors currency with our own and hand it to the people. Also, are you aware that were on the losing side right now in terms of business with Castor? Were essentially donating money to them!


    The young man showed no hints of weakness and replied: Since thats the case, we cant cut them off on the business front. We could conquer them with our strong army instead. Our army has never failed once. The might of our army can conquer anynd. As long as we can put together an army, Id stand our g up on Castors city walls in a single weeks time!


    How nave!


    Another person from the formal clothing party criticised the young man and sternly said: Is all thats in you fighters brains battle? War requires mary support. Do you know how much it costs to wage war for a week?


    Our empires treasury is infinite. Its only a weeks worth of warfare funds.


    What a joke. Did you think about how to rule the ce after we conquer it? We arentmitting a barbaric robbery. We have to rule the ce after we conquer it. If we were to defeat Castor and they used the scorched Earth tactic before fleeing on ships, wed be left with nothing but dirt and thin air. Their religions and culture are different to ours. We reside in the maind so we dont have artisans to make ships. Without their artisans, how do we make warships? Furthermore, after we upy the river delta, how many people will flee the mes of war? Do you know if the country will be able to flourish again like it is right now afterwards? When we rebuild Castor, fixing walls, ships, training troops and maintaining stability, we need money. Those things all require money! What aboutpensation for fallen soldiers and supplies for gear? Are you funding it?


    Edward looked at the young man who lookedpletely exasperated.


    Another from the military party stood up and thundered: Are you saying that her majestys concerns arent worth a pile of gold? Her majesty is grieved over the matter with Castor, but instead of thinking about how to help her, youre concerned with make more money? Your sense of loyalty is messed up. Thats why I always say that those who havent seen blood, those who didnt go through thick-and-thin with her majesty dont understand true glory! You people arent remotely loyal! Youre worried about your own pockets!


    What right do you have to be criticising us?! You keep calling us greedy but are you iming youve never done anything shady with the military funds?! Do you people actually want to help her majesty? Isnt it the case that you people just want a war to make a name for yourselves?


    Another from the formal clothing party stood up and loudly scolded: You never spared a thought for the thoughts of the soldiers. Soldiers have family, but you dont care about them dying on the battlefield, do you?


    The young man pointed his fingers at those across from him and swore loudly: At least we arent like you standing here pointing fingers. You people have said mouthfuls, but have you provided any practical ns that can actually be carried out?! When war breaks out, were at the front, not like you people standing at the back drinking, partying and counting your money! You people are the shame of our empire!! Youre all fucking bitches!! Fuck you all!


    Show some respect young man. All of us here are your seniors.


    The party in formal clothing didnt back down. They pointed back at the other party and went off: You people think youre hot-shots, do you? You people are nothing but brutes! You people just dont understand that its no longer an era where you go out and conquernds anymore! Were in an era of stability. Were in an era of growth and development! The army now only has to protect the country. You people dont understand the concept of development! The country wille to ruin under your control one day!!


    Ruin?! You bastards are the ones thatll be ruined! The empire was founded on our battles with her majesty! Well ensure its eternal prosperity! On the contrary, what have you people contributed?! What can you contribute?! We dont have any good ideas, but we have a sure-fire method for sess. You weak pigs dont have any rights to stand in the same category as us. Get the fuck out of thisnd for warriors!


    The young man lost it. He grabbed the cup of water before him and threw it at them. The young man from the formal clothing party didnt retreat and retaliated by throwing a cup back in their direction. The room immediately became chaotic with cups of water flying through the air and cussing over each other. Luckily, the empress remained unharmed.


    Cough


    An extremely faint cough could be heard as the fight reached its peak. Normally, no one wouldve heard the cough amidst all the fighting. In fact, the guards probably wouldnt have been able to pull them apart, but as soon as the faint cough was made, everyone froze in ce, and fearfully turned to look towards the throne.


    The empress stood up and threw a kick. Perhaps she was feeling ufortable after sitting for an extended period. Nier walked up close to the throne and slightly bowed,pletely ignoring the people below. She softly said: The prince has reached the outside of the walls. Let us be on our way, your majesty.


    Uhm


    The empress nodded, then turned to the people down below to say: Are you done fighting?


    We sincerely apologise, your majesty!


    Everybody in the room looked at the shattered pieces of porcin on the floor and quickly knelt down. The water that was slowly flowing around carried blood with it The empress looked and them and softly said: This is the conference chamber. Its a ce for national affairs to be discussed. You are my trusted retainers and this empires managers. Yet you dared to act violent and use foulnguage in such a sacred ce. You made me look bad. Further, I did say I had a tingling sensation in my ears today and yet you all were screaming and shouting, adding to my frustration. My son ising back today. I dont want him to see your corpses as soon as hes back. Hell criticise me for killing indiscriminately again, so punish yourselves. Dont make me personally have do it.


    She aggressively waved her hands to pull open the ck veil. Everyone present immediately lowered their heads. No one dared to raise his head. The empress beautiful face was in the open, her ck hair swayed, and she puffed up herrge breasts  by human standards  which looked like it wouldve burst through her military uniform. Her gaze was sharp as des. She waved her hand majestically and called: Let us be on our way! I want to go see my son!


    <strong>Trantor Note:</strong>Before I let you continue on to thements section, I want to give a gentle reminder to not pester me for chapters. Im not talking about the people asking genuine questions. I understand your enthusiasm for the series, but do not spam my inbox by posting on every chapter with: Whens son-con, do this, do that. There were two people who actually took the time to do that during the recent hiatus. I made and make my end of the deal very clear and Ive always made good on it. Battoth, Carlo, Daniel, yer Monk, Alexander, Simon, nightmares, Ming Xu, matosz, Chris P. Duck, Christian, Anarchy Smillo and the list goes on. Everybody here and everybody else who I didnt get to list  because there are a lot of you, all contributed towards improving my efforts, disyed genuine support and enthusiasm in some capacity. They arent making demands left and right, so you can take your demands to another gxy. Sitting there with your arms folded and legs on the table as you make demands of me doesnt help me trante more or release them any faster. There are issues I need your support with which in turn allow me fulfill those requests, and believe me, nobody ever lost a pound talking about it or thinking about it. Those are the people who made my craft better, make the existence of this website possible and help make it possible to try and release more by looking after me. Comment, show your enthusiasm, discuss and whatnot, and yell out if you find a mistake, but dont harass our eyes with your spam. Thank you again for reading and supporting me. See you in tomorrows chapter!