Chapter 11

Chapter 11 — The Mastermind (1)

I was still standing on the ship, unable to disembark, with my glowing hand raised in the air.

That was when an official appeared with a group of soldiers.

“Move aside! Make way for Lord Henri Bron, the acting administrator!”

The soldiers shouted loudly as they pushed through the crowd and opened a path.

A man referred to as the administrator appeared through the gap.

That must be the administrator Captain Adrien had mentioned.

“What is all this commotion?! And what is that light?!”

The dazzling light could be seen from far away.

He had probably been inside the administrative building when he saw it and hurried here by carriage.

“My lord, it is a blessing. Annapurna has bestowed a blessing upon us.”

“What kind of bullshit is that?! Who do you think you're trying to scam?!”

After angrily snapping at one of the residents, the administrator looked up at me, still standing there with my glowing hand raised.

Then he pointed at me and shouted.

“You there! Stop this fraud and confess your crimes right now, before I have your head cut off!”

I'd heard of people pretending to receive divine blessings before.

Apparently, those fraudsters used magic tools to create light and deceive people.

But there was no way a scammer would openly try something like this in front of such a huge crowd.

Thousands of people had already gathered at the harbor to pray, and even more were arriving by the moment.

Even a fraudster would panic and run away in a situation like this.

I sighed, looked down at the administrator, and asked,

“What's your name?”

“What's with that tone?! I am Henri Bron, acting administrator of this territory! Who the hell are you?!”

“I am Eric Marcel, the lord of Marcel. Count Michael Westphalen granted me the title of Viscount.”

Henri looked completely shocked.

“Th-That's impossible! Men! Arrest that fraud!”

But even after Henri gave the order, the soldiers who had come with him hesitated.

My hand was still shining brightly.

And the enormous crowd gathered at the harbor was glaring at the soldiers.

“What are you doing?! Arrest that fraud immediately!”

When Henri shouted again, Captain Adrien and the people who remembered me began speaking up.

“That really is Lord Eric, the Count's son! I'll stake my life on it!”

“That's right. Look at that shining platinum-blond hair. Doesn't he look exactly like Lady Maria?”

“He looks just like Lady Maria. What do you mean he's a fraud?”

Henri was overwhelmed by the murmuring crowd.

His confidence disappeared almost immediately.

“I-In that case, show us proof!”

I had the letter Count Michael had given me.

For a moment, I considered taking it out and showing him.

Then I thought of another method.

Something no one in Marcel could imitate.

I turned toward Mother, who was standing behind me.

“Mother, would you like to walk down a flower path?”

Mother understood what I meant.

She smiled faintly and headed toward the stairs, with Sir Pierre following behind her.

As Mother slowly descended the gangway and stepped onto the harbor, the people who remembered her began shouting in excitement.

“Ohhh! Lady Maria has returned home!”

“Lady Maria looked at me!”

“Lady Maria, take me!”

The idol of Marcel, Maria, had made her appearance.

Even before her marriage, Mother had been famous for her kindness and good deeds.

After marrying, she had cared for the poor and sick throughout the territory, earning the love of its people.

More than ten years had passed since she left this place.

Yet there were still many people who remembered her and were overwhelmed with emotion upon seeing her again.

Mother stepped forward.

The crowd, which had just been roaring with excitement, immediately moved aside to the left and right like the Red Sea parting.

Their respect for Mother was so great that their bodies reacted before they even needed to be told.

Mother slowly walked through the path they had created and extended her hand toward Henri.

“Do you still need more proof? And please show me the proper respect, Administrator Henri.”

“Kugh...!”

Henri trembled, unable to do anything.

Perhaps it was because he was furious.

Mother simply watched him with a relaxed smile.

However, Sir Pierre, who had followed behind Mother, did not look relaxed at all.

He was glaring fiercely at the disrespectful Henri.

Oh, no. If I leave him alone, he's going to cut Henri's head off.

Sir Pierre had once been the commander of the Marcel Knights.

There was no way he would tolerate Henri's disrespect.

Sure enough, Sir Pierre placed his hand on the hilt of his longsword.

“Sir Pierre! Wait!”

I quickly called out and stopped him.

If Henri's head rolled onto the ground now, it would become much harder to discover who was behind him.

I hurried down from the ship and walked directly toward the administrator.

“I am Eric Marcel, lord of this land. Your time acting in my place is over.”

“L-Lorian... Does Countess Lorian know about this?”

That single sentence told me exactly what kind of person Henri was.

He had clearly received his position as acting administrator through Countess Lorian's influence.

The people behind him had probably arranged it.

“Of course Countess Lorian knows. The former Count Westphalen also supported me. And from now on, neither of them will interfere with this territory. Marcel's vassal relationship with Westphalen has also been dissolved.”

“My God... Ughhh!”

Henri collapsed to the ground and cried out.

I couldn't exactly announce in front of this huge crowd that both Henri and the territory had been abandoned.

Whether it was completely true or not, I simply told him the version that would work best.

Perfect. I'll use this as an excuse to lock him up and continue with the plan.

There was another reason I wanted to arrest Henri immediately.

I needed to prevent him from regaining his composure and gathering private soldiers or supporters.

I had no intention of starting a massive fight in the middle of town on my very first day back home.

“Many people here witnessed you insulting me. You dared to disrespect your lord and a noble. Soldiers, throw this man into prison immediately!”

The soldiers weren't idiots.

It was obvious whose side they should choose.

“Yes, my lord!”

Henri had arrived escorted by soldiers.

Now those same soldiers were dragging him away.

“Let go of me! This territory can't function without me! My lord! If I'm gone, this territory will collapse! My lord, listen to me!”

What kind of nonsense is he shouting?

Across both my previous life and this one, I had never seen an organization collapse just because a single person disappeared.

Things usually continued perfectly well without them.

And Henri wasn't even a capable administrator.

How could someone who embezzled the territory's taxes possibly be considered competent?

Since I had already disembarked, I started moving toward the lord's manor with the rest of my group.

There were so many people gathered around us that we couldn't even take a carriage.

We had to walk all the way to the manor.

And during the entire journey, I had to keep waving my glowing hand at the crowd following us.

“Mother, my arm is starting to hurt quite a lot.”

Mother chuckled.

“Hehe. We're almost there. Endure it a little longer.”

She smiled as she comforted me.

“I'm truly happy that you received a blessing from the gods. Now the people of the territory will naturally support you, and your position as lord will become much more secure.”

Mother was even giving me political advice, which wasn't like her.

She must have been in an exceptionally good mood.

The light of the blessing finally disappeared around the time we reached the lord's manor.

Someone must have informed them of our arrival because the knights and administrative officials were already waiting at the entrance.

A knight stepped forward.

“My lord, I am Axel, commander of the Marcel Knights.”

Since the acting administrator had been arrested, the knight commander was now the next-highest-ranking person here, so he greeted me first.

Starting with Axel, the others introduced themselves one by one.

Judging from my first impressions, they all looked reasonably capable.

But appearances weren't enough.

I would have to examine them properly.

“Today, I'll interview the administrative officials. Starting tomorrow morning, I'll interview the knights and senior soldiers. Keep that in mind.”

“Yes, my lord.”

I looked around.

“By the way, who's the tax officer?”

The officials glanced at one another.

Eventually, one of them stepped forward.

“The tax officer suddenly left for somewhere a short while ago.”

So he'd already smelled trouble and run away.

Fast bastard.

Still, if the tax officer also had someone backing him, there was a chance he would appear again.

I needed to prepare bait he couldn't resist.

“Sir Axel, come here.”

The knight commander approached, and I whispered into his ear.

“Withdraw every guard from the prison where Administrator Henri is being held.”

Axel looked puzzled.

“May I ask the reason?”

“I'm going to use him as bait.”

“...I don't fully understand your intention, but I will carry out your order.”

I liked how quickly he followed instructions without unnecessary complaints.

I gave him a thumbs-up.

I went upstairs to my office inside the lord's manor and looked out the window.

The view of the blue sea was beautiful.

The white plaster walls of the low buildings shone beneath the sunlight, while far beyond the walls of the lord's city stretched a vast green forest.

With the wide-open view and the cool breeze blowing through the window, even my mood became refreshed.

I could see the harbor in front of the sea.

Between the harbor and the lord's manor was a dense commercial district.

The wide main roads and neatly divided residential areas were also impressive.

My great-grandfather—the lord of Marcel three generations before me—had designed this city.

Because it had been built according to a proper plan, the city was fairly efficient.

Even when I lived here as a child, I had always admired its layout.

How did someone manage to ruin a territory this well built? That's almost impressive.

I cursed Count Michael in my head.

What kind of glory and luxury had he been chasing when he abandoned such a beautiful territory?

I understood why he had done it.

But I could never agree with his decision.

Trying to climb the social ladder through marriage? As both a man and a ruler, he's pathetic.

After thoroughly insulting him in my mind, I began preparing to interview the officials.

But before I could start, Knight Commander Axel suddenly rushed into the office with urgent news.

“My lord, the tax officer mobilized his private soldiers and broke Administrator Henri out of prison.”

“No one was injured, right?”

“No. Only the prison door was damaged.”

“Find their location and assemble the knights immediately.”

“Yes, my lord.”

Just as I expected.

It wasn't only Administrator Henri.

The tax officer also had someone behind him.

He probably hadn't been able to flee immediately because he needed to erase traces of his involvement first.

Who should I send to capture them?

I thought about it briefly.

But it didn't take long to decide.

This was the perfect opportunity for a practical test.

I chose the wolf beastman Raul to lead the vanguard of the suppression force.

Administrator Henri's house.

Crash!

“Uaargh!”

Henri screamed as he rolled across the ground.

“T-Tax Officer! Why are you doing this to me? What did I ever do wrong?”

The tax officer looked completely different from his usual self.

It was hard to believe this was the same man who used to embezzle money alongside Henri and visit entertainment establishments with him.

In truth, saying that the tax officer had helped Henri escape from prison wasn't quite accurate.

It would be more correct to say that he had captured Henri and brought him here.

Henri decided not to think too deeply about that.

Either way, if they stayed here, the lord would eventually find them and kill them all.

“Listen. Our opponent is the lord of this territory. Acting tough with only a few private soldiers won't accomplish anything. We'll be defeated immediately. Let's return to the lord's manor and beg for forgiveness. He might spare our lives if we apologize sincerely. Come on, let's go.”

The tax officer smirked at Henri's words.

“You really treasure your life, don't you?”

“You can't do anything if you're dead, can you?”

The tax officer's face twisted after hearing Henri's answer.

His expression was almost one of disgust.

“You don't know why I brought you here, do you?”

Henri blinked.

“Brought me here? Didn't you bring me here so we could escape together?”

“Idiot. Just stay ignorant and die.”

At that moment, the tax officer's subordinates dragged another man inside.

“We found someone who looks as similar as possible.”

“Good work. Strip off his clothes.”

The tax officer removed his own official uniform and dressed the unconscious man in it.

Then he placed his identity plaque around the man's neck.

After that, he picked up a hammer and began smashing the man's face.

Bam! Bam! Bam!

Henri's hands and feet trembled at the gruesome sight.

The tax officer held out the blood-covered hammer to Henri.

“Hold this.”

Henri stared at him.

“You're planning to fake your death... and then kill me to keep me quiet, aren't you?”

“Exactly. I absolutely cannot be captured, and you know far too much.”

“...Then you should've just killed me in prison.”

The tax officer pointed toward a large safe sitting nearby.

“And who would open that safe for me?”

Only Henri knew the combination.