Ryan was also surprised by the effect the spread of information had brought.
His gaze turned to Count Elias, and he said, "The gentlemen counts are planning to head to Monarch City?"
Count Elias froze when he heard that. Hesitation showed on his face, and then he shook his head and said, "I should wait a little longer. No one knows what Imperial Princess Hildegard will do. She possesses the monarch's Holy Relic. Right now, killing anyone would not draw opposition."
Every noble had a different degree of loyalty toward the monarch. Count Elias was too far from Monarch City, and that loyalty was not enough to stir him into immediately rushing there.
"What can hollow loyalty bring you, Count?"
Ryan asked. This left Count Elias somewhat confused.
From ancient times to the present, loyalty to the monarch seemed to be something innate. It had already become an instinct of the bloodline, and no one had ever thought to consider the question of why.
Perhaps thinking was also a very exhausting thing, so people simply followed ancient tradition.
Using "inertia" to uphold a ruler's position was common in every world. Because of that, when Ryan asked the question, Elias instead felt that Ryan's question was inappropriate.
"Every loyalty has weight. Measuring the value of loyalty is often very simple. It is benefit."
"You believe loyalty has existed since ancient times. However, to your ancestor, his loyalty had a price."
"The monarch bestowed extraordinary power upon him, giving him the strength to fight the Rune Jinn. He paid loyalty in exchange, your surname became noble, your family was passed down to this day, and you came to possess tens of thousands of subjects and a fiefdom in the form of a Count Elias City."
"To your ancestor, he paid enough loyalty