Chapter 379: Chapter 374: You think I was discussing with you? Chapter 379: Chapter 374: You think I was discussing with you? “Your Excellency, the Regent! Is this really appropriate?” A noble objected as soon as Muria finished speaking.

“What’s inappropriate?” Muria, sitting on the throne, remained calm. It was within his expectations to face opposition.

“The legislative rights of nobles were established by the founding king and have never been changed since the founding of the kingdom…” This middle-aged nobleman, whose hair had hints of gray, started recounting where the noble’s rights originated, endlessly rattling off reason after reason.

“Who else has objections?” After patiently listening to the noble’s remarks, maintaining a calm demeanor and not showing any signs of irritation, Muria calmly continued, “Step forward, let me see.”

It’s a natural instinct to protect one’s own interests. Although the nobles whose power was being curtailed by Muria were the real power holders, the intricate relationships between nobles meant that many of those present in the Council Hall had ties to these powerful nobles. Considering their entangled interests, many began voicing their objections.

“Every commoner living under the rule of each Lord is able to cultivate the fields in the city in peace, free from the harassment of monsters because of the noble lords’ existence, which is why they have the right to collect taxes…”

“Your Excellency, you can’t do this. Once this order of yours is issued, those powerful nobles will be dissatisfied, bear resentment against you, and this could hamper your rule…”

Muria quietly listened to these human aristocrats voicing their objections, who were basically finding various reasons to oppose his orders. Not a single person supported his order, which was quite expected.

After the group of aristocrats finished their clamorous objections, Muria inexplicably began to speak:

“What’s the point of telling me all this? Do you think I’m here to negotiate with you? I called you here to discuss how to better execute these orders, not to invite you to oppose me.”

Upon hearing Muria’s words, the entire Council Hall fell silent. All human aristocrats stared, dumbfounded, at the young Duke sitting atop the throne, somewhat confused.

The newly appointed Duke turned out to be so domineering. He didn’t seem to have any intention of communicating or negotiating with them. He summoned them just to ensure his orders were carried out.

So all their efforts to dissuade him and to persuade him to revoke his orders were in vain. The Golden Dragon Archduke had completely ignored all their pleas.

“I believe not only do the laws and levies privately established by the nobles need to be abolished, but even some laws set by the kings over the generations need amending. As the times continue to progress, some things have become outdated.”

Muria’s more shocking statement showed that he planned to carry out sweeping reforms in the Lockman Kingdom. Such a backward system of rights was simply intolerable to him.

Just as Belradin said, with ten ancient dragons backing him, he had nothing to fear. With enough power, everything could follow his plan.

Muria’s words left the human aristocrats present in the Council Hall stunned. They had never expected the Regent to make such a decision.

“Golden Dragon, Belradin only just abdicated and entrusted you with the administration of the country. You are already acting arbitrarily, planning to abolish the ancient laws, diminish the rights of many nobles, and stir resentment towards the kingdom…”

Immediately, a noble with an air of righteousness stepped forward and berated Muria, harshly reprimanding him as if Muria had committed an unspeakable error.

“Duke Muria, His Majesty Belradin trusts you so much, and you want to weaken and divide the kingdom. The way you act, is truly…”

“Hmph!” Seeing a succession of people jumping out to oppose him, even rebuking him openly, a hint of mockery crossed Muria’s face: “The reputation of the Golden Dragon is too good, to the point that even a human dares to point at me and speak.”

As soon as Muria spoke, the cacophony in the Council Hall was immediately silenced. Sensing Muria’s anger, the Cloud Giant Leaders on both sides turned around, and laid their gaze upon the somewhat ignorant nobles.

“You don’t think I’ll kill you at will? So, you dare to be so impudent?”, sneered Muria.”I summoned the Legend Dukes, and they were deeply respectful to me. What makes you feel so bold in my presence?”

The complexions of the nobles who had just criticized and rebuked him instantly changed. This Golden Dragon was not what they had imagined, but now that the words were already spoken, they couldn’t retract them.

“Belradin appointed me as the regent. Do you have a problem with that?” Muria’s right elbow rested on the armrest of the throne, and his body leaned slightly to one side, his right hand propped against his face. He quietly said, “If you have a problem, it’s simple. You can resign right now, pack up and leave. Then you don’t have to see me and you won’t have any objections.”

“…” A moment of silence followed and even the vocal nobles kept their mouths shut. Initially, when Muria allowed them to freely express their views, some had been emboldened. But now, when Muria showed a hint of anger, they all turned into cowards.

“You few who rebuked me, quite bold aren’t you?”, said Muria nonchalantly as he stood up. “No worries. I won’t kill you for that.”

He extended his mental power to gently touch the ring on his finger, and a man dressed in black light armor with an obscured face slowly appeared and kneeled at Muria’s feet.

“Shadow Guard!” When this figure appeared, the faces of the many nobles present in the Council Hall turned uglier.

From their point of view, it was hard to feel positive about an organization that exclusively served the royal family, investigated their secrets, and occasionally acted as assassins.

Of course, any slightly informed noble knew about the existence of the Shadow Guards. It was an open secret. But even though they knew about it, nobody wanted to see this organization that lurked in the shadows in person. If someone actually interacted with a Shadow Guard, it generally meant they didn’t have long to live.

“Your Excellency, what is your command?”

“Introduce the background of these few briefly,” Muria pointed to the nobles who had just rebuked him, “and emphasize on the incidents where they have violated the laws of the kingdom.”

Upon hearing Muria’s command, the Shadow Guard, who had memorized the data of countless noble officers, immediately went on to detail all the dirty histories of the pointed nobles, reciting them like an open book.

After that, Muria simply had those nobles dragged out and beheaded, according to the law of the Lockman Kingdom. It is indeed too easy for the ruler to find faults with his human subjects, as humans are beings of desire and prone to making errors.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by Aunomay Read