Transmigrated as a Ghost

Chapter 357 - 357 Marcus’ New Title

With Alexandra walking in with Wade in toe she moved right up the stage where the king was and gave him a quick nod before looking towards the crowd of nobles.

"You all said you wanted proof, correct? I myself was also present as well as Wade Ophiria here, when Marcus gave us the evidence, we needed to dispose of those pests known as Permafrost." 

Alexandra then pulled out a familiar looking crystal and Marcus quickly recognized it as a recording crystal.

"I am sure that many of you know what this is. On this recording crystal is the meeting that I, Grand Archmage Aria, Knight Commander Darius, and Wade Ophiria had with Marcus Ferrous."

After saying that Alexandra placed the crystal on the pedestal that projected images onto the screens set up in the hall and began playing the recording sealed within.

Of course, what was played was actually a manipulated product where instead of appearing as Irene, it had been manipulated to look like himself.

However, other than that the recording of the meeting was exactly what happened, and it showed concrete proof of Marcus handing over materials pertaining to permafrost.

Still, just seeing this did not put many people at ease, and plenty of nobles actually hated Marcus more, since while they had not had deep relations with Permafrost, they had still been receiving services from them, and were not happy to see them gone.

"This still does not prove that he and more importantly his beast are not threats to the kingdom. Anyway, do you really expect us to believe that one man collected all of that evidence by himself without getting caught? That is simply preposterous." Duke Fealltoir said not willing to give up.

Truthfully, he could have cared less about Marcus and his beast companion, and he did believe the king that it was under control. Except this was his chance to undermine the king and try to bring more nobles to his side, and in the best case push the current king out and have his son Reigen who he was supporting take the throne.

"Yes, normally it would seem impossible. Even I am not confident I could have accomplished something like this. Nevertheless, he did, owing to his powerful unique skill."

Gesturing towards Marcus, Alexandra was telling him it was his go and nodding his head he held up his arm and made it vanish into the ground.

"As you can see, he has a unique skill called ethereal form that allows him to move about unseen and phase through solid objects." Alexandra said hammering her point home. 

"This man has only helped the kingdom. And simply for having the luck to find and bond with a mythic grade magical beast he is suddenly a menace. What if any of you had found such an egg, or if it had been you children. Would you be demanding the same right now? Is there any reason to be afraid of the future? Maybe we should go out and cull ever single beast in the kingdom less one day they make it to the mythic grade and destroy the kingdom."

Finishing her piece, Alexandra looked out at the crowd and could see that they were waning. Of course, there was little room to argue with her logic, since if any of these nobles got their hands on such a beast, they would do whatever they could to nurture it into an unstoppable force.

"Yes, I believe that we should give this young man and his beast the benefit of the doubt. So far, he has done nothing to harm the kingdom. In fact, he has helped it in an even greater capacity than many of us have."

With a new person standing up for Marcus, everyone's attention was drawn towards them, and when Duke Fealltoir saw who it was he could only click his tongue.

'Duchess Ophiria.' Duke Fealltoir thought angrily.

He knew now that any way to use this situation to undermine the king was gone. With the support of another one of the ducal houses, those in the opposition with him would quickly wane leaving him in the minority.

Internally sighing Duke Fealltoir said, "It is as Lady Ophiria says. I have now seen enough evidence and after listening to Investigator Alexandra I see that I may have been too rash. If this person and his beast companion truly are a boon for the kingdom, then there is nothing to worry about.

Sitting back down Duke Fealltoir did his best to save whatever face he could, and with their leader having dissented, the other nobles trying to jump on the bandwagon quickly fell off.

"Now then, since everyone's worries have been dealt with, I will be taking my leave. Good luck with the rest of your meeting." Alexandra said before leaving the room.

Seeing her go many people let out a sigh of relief, since for any noble that was not perfectly straitlaced, she was basically the buggy man.

'The last remaining member of the first king's party. Truly whenever she gets involved everything turns out exactly how she wants it.' Duchess Ophiria thought remembering how Alexandra had approached her for her support, already having expected this scenario.

With everything having worked itself out, the king went on with the plan, and looked towards Marcus and said, "For your service to the kingdom it is only right that you be given a fitting title as a reward. From this day forth you shall hold the rank of prince and be an honorary member of the royal family."

The king then did a few strokes on his tablet that gave him his power within the kingdom and gave Marcus the title of prince.

Of course, many nobles gasped when they saw this and went wide eyed, as handing out the title of prince was no joke. 

It pretty much put Marcus on the same standing as the royal family, and for many it was more surprising than if the title of even Marquis were to be awarded.

But of course, the king had many reasons to give this title to Marcus.

For one, it was not a title that would come with any real sort of responsibility, and it would deter most nobles would be looking to bring Marcus into their fold. It was pretty much the king marking Marcus as the royal family's territory.

Second it would give Marcus a sizeable stats boost as the title of prince would increase all of his stats by three percent, rather than the one percent he got from baronetess. The king wanted Marcus to be as strong as possible, since he would be making use of his talents for the kingdom's sake.

And the third reason was to give Marcus a status worthy of Mrazivý, that way if the two ever did get married there would be no problem in that regard.

'Gwyneira said that it is likely that in the future Marcus and his beast companion will become stronger than even her. All I need to do now is make sure that he will want to protect this kingdom, and we will obtain two more powerful eternal guardians. And if having Mrazivý marrying him is what it takes, she will have proved far more valuable than simply strengthening the royal family's influence in Loursend.' The king thought with a smile.

His first goal would always be the safety of the kingdom. And Marcus' strength was already high, but his potential could one day make him an unstoppable force.

After receiving this new title Marcus bowed towards the king and said, "thank you your majesty, it is an honor to receive this title and your praise. I will make sure to meet your expectations and live up to your standards."

Raising his head, Marcus looked out towards the crowd, of nobles seeing, that most of them still had confused expressions. Though some had greed in their eyes, seeing Marcus as a possible means for political gain, while others were already plotting his death for being the key player in taking down Permafrost.

For them he had ruined their businesses, or they were no longer able to enjoy certain products that were deemed illegal, now that their suppliers were gone.

Of course, some just wanted revenge since either friends or family had been arrested for being members of Permafrost.

However, both the king and Marcus knew this would happen already and it was a calculated move on the kingdom's part.

Now those that were disgruntled over Permafrost's fall, and the subsequent sweeping arrest, would have a face to point their anger at instead of the kingdom itself.

Yet, it mattered little, since Marcus could simply exist in another form for the majority of the time he was in the kingdom, and just make the occasional public appearance to make sure people did not forget about him.

'Well at least now I am not wanted and can go about in my original form.. Even if some of these nobles are gunning for me, at this point I am pretty difficult to kill.'