Chapter 13 — The Mastermind (3)
A few days later.
The administrator of Ronalp Territory arrived at his office for work.
But for some reason, there was a familiar-looking man waiting for him.
“Administrator! Please save me!”
“Who... were you again?”
“Oh, come now. How can you pretend not to know this humble servant?”
The administrator searched his memories, trying to remember where he had seen the man before, but nothing came to mind.
“No, no. I really don't remember you.”
“I’m Henri Bron. I was the acting administrator serving as lord’s representative in Marcel.”
Only then did he remember.
They had probably last met nearly ten years ago.
Of course he wouldn’t recognize him right away.
“Ah! It’s been a long time. But what brings you here?”
“The new lord threw me out.”
Already? Eric Marcel is incredibly quick to act. Impressive!
The administrator of Ronalp was genuinely surprised.
A purge immediately after arriving in Marcel?
He must have already reorganized the administration and dealt with the knight order too.
Just as the spies planted in Westphalen had reported, the new Lord of Marcel, Eric, was apparently a very capable man.
“Anyway, why did you come here? Do you still have some business with me?”
Henri clung to him with an extremely wronged expression.
“All my property was taken away, and I was thrown out. My family is about to end up on the streets, so please help me. There was a promise, wasn’t there?”
“What promise? With me?”
“The previous administrator promised me. He said that if I carried out my work properly, he would give me a position.”
The administrator’s face twisted.
The previous administrator had already been dead for three years.
“The previous administrator passed away a long time ago! Did you not even attend his funeral?”
“How could I attend when nobody told me?”
A sigh escaped the administrator.
Whatever the case, he had to give Henri some kind of position.
Even if it had been promised by his predecessor, it was still a promise made in the name of a noble family.
Henri had also carried out his assignment reasonably well.
If they simply abandoned him now, rumors would spread that an official who had devoted himself to House Ronalp had been thrown into the streets.
In noble society, where appearances mattered greatly, that would be a terrible humiliation.
Should I just ask the knights to get rid of him and his whole family? No. If the knights found out, they’d happily use it as an excuse to tear apart the administration and me. Damn it! I have no way out!
His head beginning to ache, the administrator asked Henri,
“Is there a particular position you want?”
“I’m not asking for anything too grand. The previous administrator promised me a position as a liaison officer in another territory.”
“The only liaison position left is in the Palatinate Territory of the Germania Empire.”
“Please send me there.”
If he became a liaison officer in a huge territory like Palatinate, his main duty would basically be attending every party in the area and enjoying himself.
Normally, there simply wasn’t much work to do.
Official letters were delivered by mail or through diplomatic delegations, while most intelligence was gathered by spies and reported through separate channels.
Naturally, liaison officer was a comfortable post where someone could spend plenty of tax money while barely working.
Usually, the lord’s children were the ones given such positions.
This piece of shit! He’s saying he wants to live comfortably doing nothing! Why did Eric Marcel leave this piece of garbage alive? Don’t tell me... he predicted even this situation? What a terrifying man!
The administrator trembled, his fists shaking in disbelief.
In his eyes, Eric Marcel was beginning to look like a once-in-a-generation strategist.
“All right. I’ll appoint you as liaison officer to Palatinate.”
“Oh, thank you very much!”
The Ronalp administrator sighed again before continuing.
“You must have been overwhelmed by everything that happened, but did you hear any useful information while you were there?”
Henri thought back for a moment before suddenly clapping his hands.
“I did! I heard House Westphalen has decided to give Marquis Marcel their full support.”
“Now? Why?”
Why would they suddenly support him now?
The former Count Ronalp had only started making moves against Marcel after House Westphalen abandoned the territory.
That was also when they began coveting Marcel’s port.
“I didn’t hear all the details because Marquis Marcel said it while drunk, but he said they were preparing something big. He called it some kind of military secret.”
“While drunk?”
“Yes. He was completely wasted when he said it.”
“Military secret... Don’t tell me...”
A thought suddenly struck the administrator.
He immediately realized that a lord’s council needed to be called.
A short while later.
A lord’s council was held inside the manor of Ronalp Territory.
Several officials who had gathered there began criticizing House Westphalen.
“Appointing a marquis only now? Haven’t they ignored every single request we’ve made until now?”
“They even made an illegitimate son a marquis. Hah~ How ridiculous. The dignity of the nobility has truly fallen.”
One man complained about noble dignity despite not even being a noble himself.
“Forget dignity! Let’s just declare war and invade!”
“Pfft! You need a justification before invading. Do you think the Franche royal family will just sit there and watch?”
Some shouted angrily.
Others mocked them.
“We can just create a justification!”
“And what exactly will you call it? The crime of hurting our feelings?”
“What?! You bastard!”
Eventually, a fight broke out.
Two officials grabbed each other by the hair and rolled around on the floor.
Count Ronalp drew his sword.
Clang!
“All of you, shut up!”
The meeting room instantly became silent.
“If you’re going to fight, draw your swords and fight properly! Stop pulling each other’s hair like little girls!”
“...”
“If you’re not going to fight, sit down!”
Count Ronalp was officially the only Sword Master in the southeastern region of the Kingdom of Franche.
When a man like him shouted, no one dared disobey.
Watching the two officials quietly return to their seats, the count clicked his tongue and looked toward the administrator.
“Hey. Why did you ask for a lord’s council? Did you gather us here just to watch those idiots fight?”
The administrator took out the notes and reports he had prepared in advance.
“No, my lord. I believe House Westphalen is plotting something.”
“What are they plotting?”
The administrator first handed over a report from his spies.
“Yes. According to the spies I planted in Westphalen Territory, Eric Marcel’s appointment as marquis was handled in complete secrecy. Apparently, even Marquis Marcel himself didn’t know about it.”
“What kind of secret?”
Count Ronalp answered without even looking at the report.
The administrator continued.
“They ignored our offer to purchase Marcel Territory and instead installed Marquis Marcel as lord. That means there must be another reason. They must be convinced they can gain something more valuable than simply selling the territory.”
“What kind of profit?”
The administrator handed him a note from the treasurer.
Once again, the count didn’t even bother reading it.
That behavior was starting to seriously irritate the administrator.
“...I suspect they intend to use Marcel Territory as a base for some secret operation.”
“What operation?”
The administrator felt his anger rising.
This ignorant Count Ronalp was strong, but his head was empty.
If he was truly the lord of a territory, then after hearing this much, shouldn’t he at least be able to make a rough guess?
The administrator suddenly found himself missing the previous Count Ronalp.
“Ahem. According to the information I received, House Westphalen is planning something major in Marcel Territory. On top of that, they apparently called it a military secret.”
“What major thing?”
The administrator’s blood pressure shot up.
He simply closed his mouth.
“...”
“Why did you stop talking?”
Seeing the administrator’s face turning red, Countess Karin stepped in.
Karin Ronalp was the count’s newly married wife.
She sometimes attended the lord’s council specifically to help the count understand what everyone else was talking about.
“My lord, what the administrator is saying is that House Westphalen might be planning to attack Ronalp Territory.”
“How? They’re far away.”
Count Ronalp still didn’t understand.
They had been talking about Marcel Territory this entire time.
“So... Marcel has a port, remember? And it borders our territory.”
“They’re going to sail upstream and invade us by ship? They can’t. The mudflats will stop them.”
Countess Karin felt her temper rising too, but she managed to hold it back.
“...Not by ship. They would come by land.”
“No way. Marcel Territory is incredibly poor. They’d need hundreds, maybe thousands of ships just to maintain their supplies.”
At last, the count had offered something resembling a reasonable opinion.
The administrator regained his composure and quickly joined in.
“According to my spies, Eric Marcel is capable enough to pull money straight out of bare ground.”
“A mage?”
You idiot! It was a metaphor!
The administrator swallowed the scream inside his heart and continued.
“No... I’m saying that’s how capable he is. Anyway, he’ll quickly restore Marcel Territory and turn it into a prosperous land.”
“A mage, then. Swords work well against mages.”
“...”
Once again, the administrator lost his will to speak.
Countess Karin spoke in his place.
“Anyway, if we leave Marcel Territory alone like this, our own territory could be in danger.”
This was the pile of shit Eric had thrown at Ronalp.
Because of Eric, both the administrator and the countess had fallen into a completely absurd misunderstanding.
In truth, House Westphalen had no intention of going to war.
They weren’t even interested in Ronalp.
The misunderstanding had been caused entirely by Ronalp’s own way of thinking.
They had secretly been working to seize Marcel’s port.
Because they had guilty consciences about what they had been doing, they reacted sensitively to even the smallest sign of danger.
“We just have to win the war, don’t we?”
“Even if we win, Ronalp Territory will be devastated during the war. Most of our people depend on wheat farming and livestock.”
“Then what should we do? Should we burn down Marcel Port right now?”
Burn the port?
This entire mess had started because they wanted Marcel’s port and facilities.
And now he wanted to burn it down?
Just like the administrator, Countess Karin’s face turned red.
“No... If we do that, we won’t be able to use the port either, and the Franche royal family will take notice. There’s a much easier and more convenient method.”
“What is it?”
“Let’s marry our daughter, Anna, into Marcel Territory. We should form a marriage alliance first.”
Even though Anna was actually her stepdaughter and the same age as her, the countess called her our daughter.
“No. Anna is a knight. That bastard won’t like her. And what happens if they break the marriage alliance and invade us anyway?”
“Do personal preferences really matter in a marriage alliance? And the marriage alliance would only be the beginning. After that, we’ll strengthen the relationship between Ronalp and Marcel until House Westphalen can’t even send a single ship into Marcel Port.”
In Countess Karin’s view, Ronalp Territory and Westphalen Territory had similar military strength.
If Marcel Territory could be pulled over to Ronalp’s side, she believed Westphalen would no longer dare make an easy move against them.
“Hmmm... I suppose a nearby in-law is better than distant family.”
Count Ronalp quoted a strangely altered proverb before crossing his arms and closing his eyes.
For almost ten years, they had been carrying out the Operation to Weaken Marcel that the previous count had started.
This wouldn’t completely overturn that strategy.
Even so, there was no denying that their relationship with Marcel would dramatically change.
I really don’t like this. An alliance now...? Why should we be friendly with weaklings?
Even the ignorant Count Ronalp felt that something about it was uncomfortable.
Ironically, out of everyone in the room, Count Ronalp was actually the closest to the correct answer.
But he had already decided to follow his wife’s opinion.
After all, he had never failed after listening to her advice.
Ah, whatever! Karin is smarter than me, so I’ll just listen to her.
Having finished thinking, the count lowered his voice and spoke.
“I will accept my wife’s proposal.”
The officials’ expressions immediately relaxed.
At the very least, they had reached a conclusion quickly.
Just remembering what the council meetings had been like before Countess Karin arrived was enough to make them shudder.
