The banquet was brought to a hasty close.
That was how grave the incident Viscount Karon had caused was.
Rainer ordered Viscount Karon to return to his quarters and reflect on his conduct.
In effect, it was house arrest.
Surrounded by Kazan’s knights, Viscount Karon left the banquet hall without a word.
No sooner had the banquet ended than Rainer summoned his trusted retainers and close aides to his office.
Within the office, where a heavy atmosphere hung in the air, there was one outsider present.
“Explain. Lady Elena.”
Rainer’s voice was thick with suppressed anger and irritation.
Elena, attending as a witness, opened her mouth.
“Sir Danil regained consciousness around dawn. He had woken after two weeks and was extremely hungry. So I guided him to the late-night diner in operation. That was where we met Viscount Karon.”
Elena continued her explanation.
The closer the story came to its end, the stiffer everyone’s expressions became.
“A meal promise?!”
“Yes.”
“Damn it!”
Rainer bit his lip and pounded the desk.
Now that he saw it, the problem was more serious than he had thought.
“Of all things, a meal oath.”
The North’s winters are long, and grain is scarce.
Naturally, the value and weight placed upon food cannot be compared to any other region.
In the North, food is a symbol of life, and a meal is understood as an act of sharing life.
Because of this culture, a promise of a meal in the North came to hold a meaning unimaginable in other regions.
[I’ll buy you a meal.]
In other words, it was taken to mean:
[I am willing to do anything for you.]
That was the extent of it.
For that reason, Northerners do not make meal promises lightly.
A meal promise is the same as an oath, and it is nothing less than a vow that must be kept.
Only now learning that Danil had made such a vow, the people present were struck speechless.
‘This isn’t a problem that ends with expelling Viscount Karon!’
The cause and effect had been reversed.
It was not that Danil had permitted the rudeness committed by the viscount.
It was because Danil had given permission that the viscount had committed that rudeness.
That changed the story completely.
“Cyril. Is there no way?”
At Rainer’s call, Cyril could not answer.
No matter how much he thought and agonized, he could see no answer to this problem.
“I apologize.”
“I see. Damn it.”
Rainer’s face twisted.
The fact that the one who had caused the incident was Viscount Karon was also a problem.
He was the de facto head of the neutral faction.
If they sent Danil as he demanded?
“Why is the young grand duke helping the neutral faction first? Are they more important than those of us who offered our loyalty?”
The future, in which the unity of his own faction cracked and wavered, flickered before his eyes.
And if he did not dispatch him?
‘That’s an even bigger problem. Danil is now a knight of Karta!’
Danil, having received his knighthood, was a knight of the Northern Grand Ducal House.
Such a man had made a meal oath, and the person with whom he had shared that oath had requested help.
To refuse that?
Danil would be pointed at by Northerners as a shameless man who had abandoned his honor, not as a knight of Karta.
That would, in turn, lead to damage to the grand ducal house’s honor.
If he chose one side, managing his faction would become difficult.
But if he chose the other, his position as heir to the Northern Grand Duke could be shaken.
‘Damn it!’
It was the worst possible dilemma, in which he would inevitably lose one of the two.
Rainer bit his nail, his expression crumpled.
Elena quietly watched him.
‘A pity there is no wine.’
The eyes of a hunter watching prey caught in the trap she had laid gleamed wickedly.
*
The air in the conference room showed no sign of becoming lighter.
The silence made the atmosphere heavier still.
Everyone present wanted to say something.
But they could not.
No matter how hard they racked their brains, they could not think of the right words to bring up here.
In the end, it was Rainer who spoke first.
“What if we say he has not fully recovered?”
It was a remark that strongly carried the sense of a hope to postpone the choice somehow, a political delaying tactic.
“That is impossible.”
“......!”
Before his aides could answer, Elena cut in.
“Lady Elena. You were called here strictly as a witness, and you do not have the qualifications to participate in this meeting—”
“I am aware of that as well. However, since the young grand duke is losing his composure, I had no choice but to be so bold as to interject.”
“Losing my composure? Me?”
Rainer glared.
“Right now, I am as composed as can be. Do you mean to insult me?”
“Of course not. I am merely informing you of the truth.”
“You still say such things...”
“Young grand duke. Have you forgotten the announcement His Grace made?”
“What? What are you talking ab—?!?!”
“You have remembered.”
Elena continued in an utterly calm tone.
“Our Magic Tower provided Blue Zeiser to aid in the recovery of the hero Danil. And His Grace announced this on a grand scale. It has already been a week.”
“.......”
The air in the office turned cold.
The North was a land of clear rewards and punishments.
Therefore, Danil, who had rendered merit, needed to be rewarded, and the Grand Duke informed everyone what reward he had bestowed upon him.
The people of Kazan had rejoiced, one and all, saying it was a reward perfectly suited to a hero, and Rainer had felt the same.
He had never dreamed that it would now become a trap that caught him by the ankle.
“If, as the young grand duke says, you announce that Sir Danil has not recovered, two scandals will arise.”
Her voice grew louder and louder.
Everyone’s gaze focused on her.
“First. The suspicion that the hero called the Dragonslayer for shooting down twelve wyverns is, in truth, an ordinary man who cannot even properly digest the energy of an elixir.”
“……!”
“Second. That the Magic Tower lied.”
Elena paused for a moment and looked Rainer straight in the eye.
“Or the suspicion that His Grace lied.”
“Gasp!”
“…!?!?”
The conference room froze.
The sound of someone swallowing was clearly audible.
An utterly irreverent statement!
Even so, Rainer could say nothing.
Because he, too, had thought the same thing.
“Though I am ignorant of war, I do know this. Doubt and distrust among allies are a deadly poison. Am I wrong?”
No one could refute her.
Every word was correct.
“… You are right. I lost my composure.”
In the end, Rainer spoke an apology.
His apology was mixed with anger, self-reproach, and shame.
‘My desire for Danil clouded my sight. To think I had forgotten even something so basic.’
Elena smiled inwardly.
That Rainer had admitted a mistake.
Politicians, by nature, do not admit mistakes even when they make them.
Yet her opponent had admitted his mistake. It was proof that he had weakened.
For someone in a position to deal with him, that was very good news.
“… Is there no other alternative?”
There was no strength in Rainer’s voice.
She instinctively knew now was the time to drive in the wedge.
“There is none. Young grand duke. If I may be so bold, there is no method other than dispatching Sir Danil.”
At words that sounded less like a proposal and more like an order, Rainer could give no reply.
“Haa.”
Rainer pressed a hand to his forehead.
Now he had no choice but to admit it.
This problem had never been something that could be solved to begin with.
The answer had been decided from the start.
He had merely been denying it.
Now he had to make a decision.
If he sent Danil, his own faction would be damaged.
But if he did not send him, the honor of the grand ducal house would be damaged, and he himself would be ruined.
In the end, there was only one answer Rainer could choose.
“I...”
*
“You must not, young grand duke!”
For the first time, a voice of opposition rang out, cutting off Rainer’s words.
“If Sir Danil leaves, there will be a gap in Kazan’s defenses! Are you not the lord of Kazan? You must consider the best means to protect Kazan. Please reconsider!”
“Sir Rud.”
Everyone looked at Rud.
It was a statement only a soldier, unrelated to politics, could make.
When Rud raised his voice, Rainer was placed in a difficult position.
If he considered his political life, there was no option other than dispatching Danil.
But if he forced it through like this, it would amount to ignoring Rud’s opinion.
Rud was the head of Kazan’s army and a commander respected and trusted by its knights and officers.
With his faction already certain to be shaken, Rainer wanted to avoid creating discord with him as much as possible.
“There is no need to worry on that point.”
Elena cut in again.
“What do you mean?”
“Have you forgotten? Sir Danil is not the only mage of the Magic Tower.”
“……!”
“The void left by Mage Danil can be filled by myself and the four mages under my command.”
At Elena’s assertion, Rud frowned.
“… I do not think you are people capable of replacing Sir Danil.”
At Rud’s words,
“I fully understand that you do not trust us. We also do not believe we can perform to the extent Sir Danil did.”
Elena struck back without hesitation.
“But what if we help you with something Sir Danil cannot do?”
“Hm?”
It was not the sort of “whip” counter she had used until now.
For the first time, she brought out a “carrot” counter and smiled with her eyes.
“You say strange things.”
Rud crossed his arms.
“You yourselves admitted you fall short of Sir Danil, yet you claim you will do something Sir Danil cannot? I am not fond of wordplay.”
“Do not worry. Neither am I.”
Elena said.
“Those I brought with me are all 4th-Circle Masters. As officially recognized black mages, they can summon imps.”
Rud gave a cold smile.
“Surely you are not about to say they can handle imps as freely as Sir Danil?”
“Of course not. How common could mages like Sir Danil possibly be?”
“Then what exactly...”
“But we can help with practical implementation.”
“… Practical implementation?”
“Yes.”
Rud furrowed his brow.
What on earth did that mean?
Elena’s unwavering gaze looked straight at Rud.
“Reconnaissance through imps, shooting down wyverns through imps. The tactical practical implementation of these. Do you not need it?”
“What?!”
“……!!!”
Rud sprang up from his seat.
Everyone in the office looked at Elena with bated breath.
She smiled brightly.
“Sometimes, rather than one outstanding individual, you need many ordinary people. For instance, to analyze something only that outstanding individual can do, and then find a way to imitate it.”
“…….”
“Fufu.”
No one could open their mouth.
Danil’s feats had certainly been legendary.
However, most people believed they were possible only for Danil.
Elena refuted that. Denied it.
She was claiming she would turn the miracle he had performed into something anyone could imitate.
“A tactic to intercept the Steelscale tribe on every battlefield.”
She whispered in a gentle voice.
“Do you not desire it?”
Rud’s eyes trembled faintly.
“For a single tactical manual to be completed, a vast amount of data is needed. Conveniently, we have as many as four people who can provide that data. We will provide them to you. Is that not enough?”
“T-that is...”
Rud could not answer.
Elena turned her eyes to the next target of her counter.
“Moreover, this will be of great help to the young grand duke, both in the short term and the long term.”
“… What does that mean?”
Rainer’s trembling gaze fixed on Elena.
“What if these materials are provided first to the young grand duke’s faction?”
“……!”
Her gaze was sharp as she looked at Rainer gripping the armrest of his chair tightly.
“Would that not minimize the complaints that arise from Sir Danil’s dispatch?”
“…….”
“In the long term— the North will no longer need to fear the Steelscale tribe’s dive bombing. And as for how much help that would be to the young grand duke... Fufu. Saying it aloud would lack elegance, so I shall leave it at that.”
When her explanation ended, silence fell.
‘It has finally changed.’
The atmosphere was changing in a different sense from before.
Elena noticed it.
The people’s thoughts had changed.
What Elena had presented was not simple logical persuasion.
It was a complete plan that incurred short-term loss but brought long-term gain, a realistic alternative.
The perception that “Danil’s dispatch is a loss” had been overturned into “Danil’s dispatch is a gain.”
Rainer had no card with which to reverse it.
In the end, there was only one answer that could come.
“There is no other way.”
Rainer let out a sigh.
“We will... dispatch Sir Danil.”
“Thank you for accepting my opinion, young grand duke.”
Elena bowed her head and smiled.
It was the smile of a victor.
*
At this time, no one knew.
What upheaval this choice would one day bring to the North.