Everything Varius had been taught, along with his instinctive sense of legal reasoning, resisted this entire line of argument.
In the classics he had studied, order was bestowed by those above, and authority rested on sacred sanction.
If power could be lent out and taken back, then law would lose its foundation, loyalty would become a transaction, and the whole world would be reduced to naked calculation.
This was fallacious reasoning. At least, it had been throughout his life.
Varius forced himself to calm down, suppressing his emotions as he would in an imperial courtroom.
He quickly sifted through familiar arguments in his mind, trying to find a flaw that could puncture this entire framework.
A few breaths later, his thoughts suddenly stopped.
Not because he fully agreed, but because he had finally found an opening for a rebuttal.
Only then did Varius raise his head, draw a deep breath, and speak again. "My lord, I have seen countless commoners in the Imperial Capital who never had enough to eat.
"They were slaughtered by knights, yet remained obedient. If the weak simply lack the strength to resist the strong,
"then why should the strong care about this contract?"
Louis smiled at his words.
The light outside the window traced a cold edge around his silhouette.
"You're right. In this world of supernatural power, commoners truly cannot kill an emperor. Even after a city is massacred, the strong still sit upon their thrones."
He returned to the map and pointed to the Imperial Capital.
"But drawing a sword is not the only form of resistance. In this world, when the contract breaks down, the weak truly cannot kill the strong.
"So they choose another path. They stop contributing anything to the nation beyond what they need to survive."
He raised his