Mazel and the others are planning to meet up with Rugenz and the others on their way to the next location. They’d like to head to Vargau and pursue Mubrial right away, but they might not be able to do so if they go back to the Labyrinth dungeon.
In the game, you had to finish the request from the king first. The game was an old school errand game where you had to complete the request before you could get permission to go to the labyrinth.
“Werner, do you know anything about that?”
“Oh, yeah.”
I don’t want them to get into danger by rushing too much, but going this way and that way is also a big loss. Of course it’s a matter of days, but the reality is that you’ll get tired just by moving around.
I don’t know if it’s a good idea to consider this event in terms of the order of priority in the game, but knowing the situation in our world, I can understand it a little.
“There’s a demon that haunts the area near a town called Leutok, not King’s Landing, and I think the king is having trouble with it. Maybe we should kill it first.”
“Okay, I will.”
I remember my father once told me that Leutok was Queen Valgau’s family estate and I was strangely convinced. I think she’s on the prowl for him. I don’t know if she’s a loving wife or a slut.
The nobles are so powerful in Vargau that they have to maintain a balance of power like the shoguns in the Muromachi period in Japan’s previous life. It would make sense if he asked Mazel to give priority to domestic issues.
I don’t know if that’s a good thing for a king… but it’s not the king’s fault that the noble families are so powerful.
Are we gonna be okay here?
I don’t know.
I’m having a hard time answering Mazel’s question. I have no idea what happens after we survive the attack on King’s Landing. I’d only thought about getting through it in the first place. But in reality time moves on after that… it would be too easy to think that nothing will happen.
But that’s the thing.
I’ll figure something out.
“That’s very Werner of you.”
Mazel’s laughing at me. I’m more worried about you fighting Mubreal the Fourth of the Winds.
I gave Mazel a message from me to say hello to Feri and the others and then Mazel and Laura were talking with Lily about something and I was starting to feel the power of sleep coming on strong. All three of them were talking to me, but I don’t remember what they were saying.
I remember leaving Mazel and the others and going back to my office. I told Neurath and Schunzel and the others who were waiting for me that I was going to take a short nap and then I lay down on the couch. I don’t have my watch with me, so I don’t know exactly, but I must have slept for about two or three hours.
And now I’ve just walked into General Seyffert’s office. I’ve had a cup of strong tea brewed to make me sleepy, but the long walk down the corridor has done more to wake me up than that. I knew the size of the castle would be troublesome, but I hadn’t realized it would have such an effect on me.
There is a broken window in the corridor, which might have let some air in. The number of broken pieces can be huge, and some of them will have to stay broken for a while, so let’s hope it doesn’t rain.
You look tired.
I’m sorry.
You don’t have a choice.
but he’s smiling. It’s true that sleeping soundly in his office might have been a little problematic.
About the future.
“Yes.”
He offered me a chair, so I sat down.
“The victory ceremony this afternoon will be brief.”
“It’s all about pragmatism.”
That’s not what I meant.
If you increase or decrease the number of territories yesterday, you will be in trouble when you need to rebalance the game later. Today, it is limited to tactical evaluation, such as monetary rewards and honor.
By the way, the castle was in a state of festivity all through the night because they drove back the enemy. It seems the reconstruction work finally started this morning. I was completely asleep.
There was also a nobleman who came to Count Zehrfeldt’s house in the middle of the night to see the face of the Distinguished Service Order last night. Some of them might’ve wanted to sell their faces… or maybe they were just asking for a favor in the dead of night. Or to placate those who laughed at me and called me a waste of money. My mother turned them all away, but that’s beside the point. I remember Norbert putting a good face on the guest list.
“There are some things that need to be worked out. The big ceremony will come a little later.”
Is it that much?
“Some noble families have been destroyed in recent days, others died in battle yesterday.”
So there’s a procedure for cleaning out the house. Some of the houses might have had something to do with the coffin Sarg. So there could be double-digit aristocratic family procedures.
Actually, too many noble families is a problem, but not too few. They are, as it were, local lords. If there are no nobles in a noble family’s territory, there will be no one to do administrative things like building infrastructure, maintaining public order, and collecting taxes. If there are bandits, there’ll be no one to order the attack, and that’s a big problem for people’s lives.
It’s not always easy to understand this part of the story, but you can think of it as if the prefectural governor and the national government offices had all become unmanned in the previous life. It’s like you can’t go to Tokyo just to renew your driver’s license from Kyushu, and you start driving without a license because there’s no police, and eventually everything starts to fall apart.
Taking into account the successes so far in the war, it’s probably necessary to make adjustments so as not to create such a political vacuum by having some of the noble houses promoted to knighthood.
And if we destroy one noble house, everyone in it will be fired and out of a job. There’s a danger of a whole generation of people like Clara.” You can’t just say, “We’re going to take down the noble families because you did something wrong.” because you’ve done wrong. It’s no wonder it’s taking so long to decide whether we should just punish them or destroy them.
And there’s still a big one left.
“… Is this a matter for the Marquis de Cortolezis?”
“It’s a big territory.”
I didn’t deny it. And the way he said it… he’s expecting a major reduction in territory. The eldest son was with High Priestess Lepe and the demon priestesses from the Demon Army. Speaking of which…
“How is the Earl of Yering doing?”
I’m recovering from an injury.
The general presented the file to me, so I’ll have a look at it. Count Yeering has prepared a large supply of weapons at the Count’s estate… Hmm?
We will read the rest of the book. It seems that there was a frequent exchange of envoys with the Marquisate of Cortlezis. Meanwhile they’re trying to form a faction in King’s Landing. Hmm… this…
“So you’re saying you were working on both sides of the arrangement?”
“Though wise…”
He may not have anticipated the attack on King’s Landing, but he must have had some other purpose in making the connection with High Priest Reppe. But it seems that High Priest Reppe was trying to cause chaos in the capital and chose Count Yering to help him.
As a result, Count Yering was planning for both the eventuality of the attack on King’s Landing and the eventuality of it not happening.
If King’s Landing had suffered catastrophic damage, you could have brought in a huge supply of aid and earned your people’s trust. If you’d been preparing, you’d have the best part all to yourself. He might even have thought of evacuating the survivors to his own lands.
If King’s Landing is safe, we can once again choose what to do with the large amount of supplies. Or they could be used to aid the Marquis de Cortolezis in his plot to rebel. It seems more likely that they were planning to use it for that purpose.
But the fact that you’ve been forming factions, like the one that tried to hold me back in King’s Landing…
“It seems to me that he was planning to betray the Marquise of Cortolezis as well in the end.”
You saw it, too, sir.
“I’m going to stab the Marquis de Cortolezis in the back on the battlefield as he rises up against us with supplies. If I can get the general’s head there, that would be a great success.”
“If it is said that he turned to the kingdom at the invitation of a powerful noble, the kingdom will have no choice but to recognize his achievements as they cannot afford to destroy the face of a powerful noble.”
Is he aiming for the same position as Kobayakawa Hideaki in Sekigahara? What makes him different from Kobayakawa Hideaki is that he seems to have been trying to create it by his own will and actions.
So you were trying to establish a relationship with the Dauphin’s reputed favorites. I’m sure he wanted to show me the benefits of turning the entire Count Yering’s army against the rebellious Marquise of Cortolezis.
On the other hand, if I’m not on good terms with the Counts of Zehrfeldt, I can sell my position of merit to a house that is not on good terms with the Counts of Zehrfeldt. Perhaps he would have sold the coffin Sargent and High Priest Reppe as well if I had agreed to be Count Yering’s subordinate. I suppose you could say I’m a man of great ambition.
“But I don’t think Reppe fully trusted him, either.”
I think so, too.
If High Priest Reppe and Count Yering had a close connection, he would’ve captured Neurath and Schünzel and the others without telling them. In other words, Count Jöhring didn’t know about the imminent attack on King’s Landing at that point.
Perhaps Count Yering’s practical desires were too strong for him to accept the apocalypse and he could not admit that High Priestess Lepe was using the coffin Sarg. However, he could not deny the value of the coffin and did not appeal to the crown to cut it down.
High Priest Reppe, on the other hand, had no intention of leaving such ambitious and aristocratic people to Laura’s children in the first place. I think he was planning to get rid of Count Yering too. That’s why he didn’t explain the heart of his plan. They were both just trying to take advantage of the other. If they’d really worked together on the plan, it might have been more trouble than it was worth.
“The end of ambitious people.”
Well, that’s what I thought.
But there’s no reason for me to see this… So the food comes from Farlitz in the southeast of the Kingdom of Vine. A friend of Derridsdom who’s caused so much trouble. But I don’t think Count Yering had anything to do with the Fallits. Oh, I see.
“Is it Farlitz who is helping the Marquise of Kortolezis behind the scenes in earnest?”
That’s what I’m saying. We can’t just leave it like that when we’ve got other countries involved.
I’ve been so busy I forgot that when I was attacked on the way back from dinner with Mazel and the others… the attackers used weapons from another country. Is that how it happened?
“So it could be said that Annette-san prevented a major uprising before it happened.”
“There will be no punishment, but it won’t be harsh.”
That’s the best.
Hmm. But with the way things are going…
“Wouldn’t the Marquise of Koltoretsis be tempted to stage a lone, desperate rebellion? I’m sure the Kingdom of Vine is aware of their relationship with Farlitz.”
But if they surrender quietly and only in an attempt, the name of the family will remain. But looking at the Marquise of Cortolezis so far, I don’t think that’s likely to happen.
Or they’ll turn on the Farlitz with their territories or they’ll turn against them while cooperating with the Farlitz behind our backs to make us look independent. The Farlitz would be happy to have the Margraves of Koltoretsis on their side as it would give them more territory.
“In that case, you’ll be joining me in the suppression forces…”
Me too?
“It’s becoming more and more important whether or not there’s a Lord in that army.”
The siege of King’s Landing naturally gave a great deal of information to diplomats from other countries. I’m sure Farlitz felt the same way. That’s why I had to make a last-ditch effort not to use my laser pointer, but I’ll leave that to my whining.
But I see… other countries will naturally look into the existence of the mysterious white powder… and it’ll probably come down to my idea. I don’t think the Royal Army will lose to the Marquise of Cortelezis… would I get a reputation for having a bad relationship with the general?
“Until then, you will return to serve as your father’s aide.”
I understand.
I’m afraid it can’t be helped now. I’m sure the Minister of Liturgy’s father is busy with all the procedures for getting knighted or deprived as a result of his noble family’s merits.
The General is smiling at me.
“‘Wait until after you’ve done your job,’ you say.”
I almost fell on my face. It’s true I’ve made a lot of mistakes as a nobleman. I can understand why my father would scold me as the head of a count’s family… but could it be that helping me with my hard work is part of the punishment?
I’d rather be lectured from the start.
You look terrible. Wash your face before the victory ceremony this afternoon.
I’m sorry to have to warn you…
Can I cry?
