Chapter 271: Stealing the Show (2/2)
After once again waiting for the crowd to quiet down, he continued. ”As Sir Erasmus has done more for this country than anyone in recent memory, we felt it only reasonable that his rewards were equally unprecedented. As such, we have chosen to bestow upon him the rank of Sebastos, the highest noble title we have the authority to grant.”
The crowd descended into confused muttering. Most probably had no idea what the title actually meant, and were unsure if it constituted a good reward. For his part, the Prince glanced over apologetically, and whispered out of the corner of his mouth. ”Sorry, but since you didn't tell us anything, we went ahead with our initial plans. Hope you don't mind.”
Mike shrugged, unable to really say anything. It had been his fault for forgetting about his promise in the first place. Besides, he wasn't exactly opposed to the title itself, since it didn't carry any overt responsibility. Judging from the look of abject shock on Sera's face though, he was likely in for an earful in the near future.
”Additionally, he is to be awarded the sum of five million golden wrens and any three items of his choice from the Royal Treasury.” The Prince concluded almost nonchalantly, earning a brief moment of stunned silence from the crowd, before they erupted into cheering once more.
[Hm? Five million? That's a lot, right? Is it really alright to be giving out that much?] The amount concerned Mike a little, since it might make him and his friends a target. That said, he did enjoy watching Sera's response to the number, and had to suppress a chuckle as an almost dizzying array of expressions passed across her face, before finally settling into the blank and staring appearance of someone who'd achieved a long time goal and didn't know what else to do with their lives.
After another round of thanks, he was invited to return to his seat and allow the next awardee to take his place. The remaining rewards were generous, although never anywhere close to Mike's in terms of value. Several of the participants were raised to noble ranks and given territory in the annexed regions of Tenundi. Even Emmanuel was granted the rank of Viscount and given control of the territory that once belonged to Viscount Wendel.
[Hmm, that reminds me. I really should try to track him down at some point. That orb of his would be definitely worth acquiring.]
Near the end of the ceremony, Tal was also called up. Johnathan even managed to pronounce most of her full name correctly. For her efforts in staving off the assault of the Furies, she was to be given fifty thousand gold and some kind of elven artifact called the Eye of Ashae.
After close to three hours, the ceremony thankfully came to a close with another round of applause and a general dismissal. The awardees themselves were invited to join the royal procession heading back to the palace and actually receive their rewards. Dozens of carriages had been set aside for that exact purpose, so Mike, Tal, and Sera had one to themselves.
As soon as the door closed, the Oracle began speaking. ”Alright, this changes things. We need to discuss ramifications.”
”Are you talking about the title or the reward money?” Mike asked while glancing out the window at the crowd lining the streets. They were getting quite raucous, and he suspected that another night full of celebrations were in the offing.
”The money does make our situation a bit unusual, since five million gold is more than the annual budget of most noble territories…” She trailed off as a slightly idiotic grin spread across her face. After a few moments, she shook her head. ”However, the title is the real issue here.”
”Well, it's not like it carries any actual responsibilities, right? Shouldn't it be fine to simply ignore it?”
She gave him a dark look. ”I take it that they explained it to you at some point? Did they tell you where it originated from?”
”More or less. Apparently, it was used by the old Pyrathien Emperors to acknowledge rebellious rulers during their decline rather than try and fight them.”
”Haa…,” Sera sighed while rubbing her temples. ”That's not exactly wrong, since they did make use of it that way, but there's a problem with giving it to you. It was originally created for the Imperial Family as a means of distinguishing relatives outside of the usual line of succession. Calling yourself a Sebastos is essentially saying that you are part of the Imperial Family, even though it's mostly symbolic.”
”Have authority?” Tal asked, obviously pointing out that Prince Johnathan may not actually have the ability to grant an old imperial title.
”As I recall correctly the current royal line of Almir is actually distantly related to the Pyrathien Emperors through marriage. It's not the strongest link, but they can certainly make the argument that they have the authority to name a Sebastos and there really wouldn't be anyone who could challenge them on it.”
”Oh, how so?” Mike asked.
”The only recognized descendants of the last Emperor used to make up a significant portion of the upper class of Bergel, the City of Coins. However, they were almost completely wiped out in the merchant revolution that took place about eighty years ago. As it stands now, there are only a small handful of people who can verifiably claim to be part of the Imperial Family. None of them, however, is a Tier 4, which itself presents another problem.”
”I'm assuming you are going to elaborate.”
Sera paused and fixed her gaze on him. ”You have to remember that the Sebastos title was around for a long time, and more than a few bearers managed to inherit or seize the position of emperor for themselves.”
”Does that matter?The empire doesn't even exist anymore.”
”True, but how do you think the world is going to look at it when they learn that the youngest Tier 4 in recorded history now has a claim to the ancient throne of Pyrathia? Especially one who is believed to have ties with the Dragonknights, the closest thing this region has had to a unifying force since the fall of the Empire. Will they dismiss it as an honorary title? Or, will they see it as the first step towards the rise of the Third Pyrathien Empire?”
”...Hmmm...that could be troubling.”