Months had passed since a new punitive force was organized and departed for the north.
It seems I’ll need some new connections in the military after all.
The one I did have, Sedeurun, joined the punitive force and headed north.
Hessen was wrestling with gunpowder every single day.
Aside from those two, there was no one who could bring me news from the military.
The Crown Prince had permitted me to form a new faction.
So long as it was not for reward or profit, but solely for loyalty.
So long as they were people who would use their ability and talent for the empire, I could gather as many as I liked.
The problem was, finding such people was hardly easy.
People like that had already been swiftly snatched up by other families.
Even if any remained, each had some flaw that made me reluctant.
I needed to find new people. People with new potential.
It would be even better if they had ties to the south or west, which would become important turning points in the future.
“Has something bad happened?”
Arte, whose command of the imperial tongue had improved greatly over the past few months, asked me a question.
She sounded rather accustomed to it now. Much of her awkwardness had disappeared too.
As I recalled, even the Urut envoy who had accompanied her had not been at this level.
Considering she had to live here, it seemed she was putting in quite a bit of effort.
The sight of that stiff warrior of the grasslands learning a language.
Unexpectedly, she was diligent at it, and it suited her well, which pleased me.
“No, Arte. I just have a few things to think about.”
After my time as inspector, the work I was doing was no different from before.
First and foremost, receiving guests as the head of House Montebello.
After finishing several important duties, my recognition had risen considerably.
Compared to before, more people were coming to the family as guests.
Treating them well showed the family’s prestige.
In this regard, it was not so different from the distant grassland tribes.
Receiving guests and showing one’s strength and magnanimity.
The difference was that here, it cost quite a lot of money.
In the past, Father had once provided funds to the Founding Emperor.
That meant our household fortune was substantial, but even a wealthy family could collapse in an instant.
While not being negligent in receiving guests, I also had to cultivate our inner substance.
Surviving the storms of power was one thing; surviving the storms of money was another.
So, together with several like-minded people, I began a new venture.
“What happened to that mine you mentioned last time?”
“By now, they should have arrived at the western frontier. I hope it goes well.”
Gunpowder had only just begun to be used. It was still at the very earliest stage.
So the existing saltpeter mines could cover the demand for now.
But after a year passed, then two years, and time continued to go by?
Would the saltpeter we had discovered now still be enough then?
That was where the new saltpeter mine excavation project began.
Saltpeter would become an extremely important strategic resource.
Therefore, the imperial administration had to take the lead in all matters.
However, in the early days of the empire, there were far too many places that required money.
They said an enormous amount of tax revenue had gone into the punitive force that had departed for the north alone.
I could still vividly see my godfather tearing at his hair and screaming.
When he told me to come to the Ministry of Finance at once, I had promptly fled.
“How exactly does it work?”
“Some of the funds will be provided by noble houses with an interest in it, and if a new saltpeter mine is discovered, they will receive a small share. Of course, they won’t be able to interfere with the saltpeter itself. They’ll simply take a modest profit from it, along with the image of showing this much loyalty to the empire.”
What they gained materially was not great. But that was not everything.
At the end of an era of confusion, a storm would inevitably descend.
If I wanted to preserve myself through it, I needed a sturdy rope.
And that rope, in most cases, ultimately came down to loyalty toward the absolute ruler.
‘Right now, everything is in a transitional period. Especially politics.’
Even in Condor’s time, though it was called an empire, the emperor’s power was not overwhelming.
The emperor’s power reached only part of the center, centered on the capital.
The rest was under the strong influence of the various noble houses.
It was not that they denied the sovereign’s authority or legitimacy.
But neither did they swear loyalty so absolute that a single word would send them to their deaths.
Everything was for one’s own glory and honor, profit and rights.
If those were violated, the nobles would even band together and resist.
What about the empire now? It was doing everything differently from Condor.
The Founding Emperor swept away the foreign enemies in the south and north, gaining absolute public support.
Through that, he newly created an imperial family supported throughout the entire realm.
The power of the center grew stronger than that of the provinces. The power of the imperial family grew stronger than that of the nobles.
Many nobles had yet to adapt properly to this.
They ought to bow their heads, cast off the title of “noble who can throw their weight around,”
and show themselves to be “subjects who can do anything for the imperial family.”
“Arte, you said you would be returning in a few days, didn’t you?”
“I would like to stay longer, but I have been here for quite some time. I miss riding horses across the grasslands too.”
“When you return, please be sure to tell Beoilleo that I will visit him again before long.”
“I will trust that, when that time comes, you will truly welcome me grandly as your bride.”
“You’re quite assertive. Are you really all right with it? If you are joined to me, you’ll leave the grasslands for the empire. And as a second wife, at that. Others may look down on you for being from the grasslands.”
At that, Arte tilted her head, then opened her mouth.
“Ethan said this. That it was the will of the master of the empire that we Urut formed bonds of friendship with him.”
“That’s right.”
“To look down on me would mean intending to ruin that relationship, would it not? The master of the empire would never stand by and watch.”
It was a rather sharp point. She was not simply good at fighting.
She was right. Just as Arte said, no one would be able to openly look down on her.
The bond with the Urut tribe had been built and maintained since the time of the Founding Emperor.
Anyone who harmed that bond would, at the least, be guilty of looking down on the imperial family.
And if the situation grew serious, they could be accused of trying to ruin relations with the eastern grassland tribes.
In effect, it meant there would be nothing excessive about branding it as treasonous intent.
“Ethan is a wolf. A wolf of the grasslands, and a wolf of the empire. A wolf is a wolf. And deer always take wolves as mates. I discovered a wolf, and I am claiming him before anyone else can.”
In truth, excluding Polia, Arte’s position was quite remarkable.
She would be the second mistress of House Montebello. And the daughter of Urut’s Beoilleo.
That meant she would become a diplomatic channel that could reach the east at any time.
Furthermore, my children would carry the blood of the grassland tribes.
The grassland tribes valued brothers and friends greatly.
It meant that even if problems arose in the future, we could step forward and mediate.
“I do not mind at all. Polia is Polia. I am myself. Ethan knows it too. We cannot build love on emotions alone.”
“That’s true. It is a relationship formed for every mutual benefit each side has. Whether love can be found within it, or whether we end up enemies instead. That is where it divides.”
“I have no intention of becoming Ethan’s enemy.”
“I don’t dislike you either, Arte. You’re beautiful.”
“Is that an imperial joke?”
“No. I’m serious.”
Despite her exotic features, Arte was an extraordinary beauty.
There was not a man in the world who could dislike the prospect of a beauty becoming his wife.
“When you come to the grasslands, I trust you will have become an even greater wolf than you are now.”
“Of course. That is what will happen, so look forward to it.”
If I had intended to stop here in the first place, I would have simply lived quietly.
I would not have waved my hand in front of the Crown Prince, saying, “Please look at me.”
I had managed to cross a sheet of thin ice and step onto solid ground.
Beyond it waited a destination that anyone would covet.
Some might run toward it, but as always, I would advance carefully.
But I would not retreat. One step, then another. Firmly.
I would place everything I carried safely in that place.
*
“Hweeeh…”
“You worked hard, Polia. It seems today was difficult too.”
“No. It was fun. My head just hurts a little.”
While I had properly received the Urut tribal envoy and sent her back,
Polia had succeeded in achieving meaningful development at the Armaments Bureau.
By adjusting the ratio of the existing gunpowder, she had found a better composition.
And she had not stopped there; she had also created a decisive technique.
“I heard from Hessen. You processed the gunpowder and made it into grains?”
“The drawbacks of gunpowder were that it was too weak to moisture, didn’t store well, and we couldn’t accurately know how much was needed to produce the proper firepower, right? So I thought of it! If we made it into large and small grains, it would be easier to estimate the necessary amount, and it could be used immediately when needed.”
Wasn’t there a saying that once technology discovered something new, it developed at tremendous speed?
On top of that, since this gunpowder would eventually be used as a weapon, the fire under it had been properly lit.
Even now, they said the Armaments Bureau was staying up night and day, repeatedly improving it and making new weapons.
“So, Ethan. Is there anything else new?”
“You seem to keep misunderstanding, but I’m not a pouch that spits something out if you pester it.”
“Liar! The hwacha before, and this gunpowder improvement too. Everything Ethan casually let slip worked when we seriously tried it! Even now, the Armaments Bureau is waiting to see if Ethan will suggest something else!”
“I’m telling you, I’m really just rambling without knowing anything.”
Of course, I did have the absurd cheat key known as memories of my previous life.
“In that case, how about sending something larger and heavier flying instead of arrows?”
“Something heavier and larger?”
“To be honest, the current gunpowder weapons have difficulty inflicting decisive damage. Their accuracy is low, and their killing power falls short of expectations. Unless the enemies stand still in place and let themselves be hit.”
“Right?”
“But looking at things now, there is something that will stand still and take all the hits, isn’t there?”
Unfortunately, I did not even properly know the principles behind explosive shells and the like.
But simply launching heavy masses of iron would be threatening enough.
Thunder and flame had appeared, so now it was time for the “steel ball.”
“Mm. I think I understand what you mean. In truth, we were already keeping in mind the possibility of firing something.”
“Push forward with that. Whatever it is, you’ll find an answer.”
*
Several more months passed. At last, two pieces of news I had been waiting for arrived.
One was word from the west that they had discovered a saltpeter mine.
The other was a report of victory: the bases of the northern barbarians had been burned.