<"People are scheming behind your back without you knowing? You're doing well. It means they fear even what you know. If everyone fears you, at that moment you become a god. Ah, of course, you can't, but I might be able to.">-700 years ago, La
-Vander, Son of God, Kon
-Rad☆ ☆ ☆Sian was slowly forgetting the gloom of the past incident and devoting himself to daily life.
The incident he had caused at the mansion had been buried for some reason he did not know.
He had kept his mouth shut because there was no reason to go around blabbing about it deliberately, but it felt a bit uncomfortable to see it end like this without knowing the inside story of the incident at all.
But he thought it fortunate that the matter hadn't grown bigger, because he was 99 percent sure that the ones who had attacked him in the first place weren't exactly upright fellows either.
As the Blue Fireworks incident had also quieted down to some extent (though it still occurred sporadically), a document flew before Sian, who had been passing peaceful days.
"Hmm... What is this... Kingdom Regular Inspection Team?"
Having realized, since last time, that documents arriving suddenly rarely contained kind intentions, Sian read the document extremely carefully and posed a question to the administrative employee before him.
Inwardly, he was dying from annoyance, but the employee, having decided to treat him kindly because he had heard this man before him was Count Rian's younger brother (and had also heard Count Sellin call him petty, so there was no need to get on his bad side for no reason), answered with a smile.
"It is one of the main duties of the Garantia. Once every 2 months, we form teams of two to inspect regional nobles and administrative institutions.
It varies by location, but it usually takes about one to two weeks, and upon arrival, you tour the area and take on the role of inspecting whether various administrative matters are being carried out well."
Fortunately, it wasn't a special mission given only to him.
The mission itself wasn't particularly unusual, but there was one more thing he needed to check.
"Hmm... Is that so? By any chance, has it been internally decided who I will go with?"
"Ah, of course. The one going with you this time is Lord Kariman. He is a veteran who has volunteered for inspection duties many times."
‘Huh?’ It was Lady Sellin, unexpectedly. He had thought she would stick to him again this time.
Since neither of the two matters he had worried about applied, Sian felt relieved for now. Hearing that it was a regular mission anyway and seemed impossible to refuse, Sian decided to think of it as going on a trip and agreed to go.
☆ ☆ ☆"…Who picked Sian?"
Count Kereubel fell into deep thought in his office.
Sian didn't know, but it was he who had attached Sellin to Sian.
Sellin's mission had been to control information so that Sian's martial strength wouldn't stand out.
If it were discovered that Sian was the one suppressing El-
Rua Street, Count Narasya would immediately assign Sian to some other frontier region.
Because he didn't have enough power to stop Count Narasya, he had to hide this fact.
Though they had been neutral, Sellin, too, who was worried about the excessive damage inflicted on the surroundings by Count Narasya's drastic measures, agreed with Count Kereubel's opinion and helped Sian, participating in controlling El-
Rua Street and its surroundings.
Sellin had excellently carried out that mission, deliberately forming a two-person team to control Sian's movements and drive away surrounding pedestrians to hide any witnesses who might see the sight of the suppression.
Of course, the parties involved had been hit on the back of the head and knocked unconscious, so they hadn't seen anything either.
They couldn't hide it forever, but at least he didn't think they had been found out yet. In fact, there were still many people within the Garantia who treated Sian as a third-rate nobody.
The royal family and Count Narasya's faction were keeping an eye on Sian, but they still wouldn't think that Sian was the one controlling all of El-
Rua Street. After all, the child was only seventeen (in fact, if not for Kirateu, he wouldn't have been found out. Lucky for Count Narasya, and unlucky for Kirateu and Count Kereubel).
But to be chosen for inspection duty? It was written that they went out once every 2 months as a regular mission, but conventionally, it was often Garantia members with more than a year of experience who went out.
He wished it were a coincidence, but the timing was too poor for a coincidence. It was obvious what would happen if Sian, who had kept El-
Rua Street quiet thanks to his presence, left for three whole weeks. The 3rd Knight Order's forces alone would have difficulty stopping the maniacs of the Guard Order (Sian would have felt more at ease if he had put them out of commission for about 12 weeks, but unfortunately, they had all been hospitalized and discharged after only 4 weeks).
It would become a mess.
Since the orders had already been issued, it was difficult to do anything about it immediately. If he acted excessively, he would only expose his weaknesses.
Count Kereubel began devising ways to stabilize the capital until then, wishing for Sian's speedy return.☆ ☆ ☆Upon hearing the news that Sian had left for inspection with Lord Kariman, Count Narasya felt emptiness and relief simultaneously. ‘…This easily?’ The urgent problem that had cost them eleven allies had been resolved all too easily.
The plan itself was simple.
1. Remove Sian from the capital.
2. Send him on an inspection to the neutral noble faction, where a fierce battle between the noble faction and the royal faction wouldn't occur.
3. Finish everything within that time.
4. Do not touch the Count Roman household.
He had considered issuing orders to send him straight to the frontier, but had not carried it out because he had heard Sian cherished his family and was afraid he would refuse if sent far away.
Therefore, he had steered toward sending him on an inspection. This was a regular duty of the Garantia, so there was little chance of arousing suspicion, and a month or two would cause little reluctance.
Fearing he might get entangled in incidents on the noble faction or royal faction side while there, he deliberately sent him to the neutral territory.
And if he departed first... and if Kariman could just buy a month or two of time... the situation would already be over by then.
The gap in strength between the two sides had already grown that wide. He would be able to receive the transfer of royal power smoothly. It was only because El-
Rua Street, the core district, had been blocked by Sian that things hadn't progressed.
When he returned, everything would be finished, and Sian, who had little interest in politics, wouldn't pay attention to anything outside of Garantia duties.
On the contrary, if that monster were trying to remain human, he had the will to support him as much as possible.
Historically, the Roman household was neutral, so there was no need to touch them, but just in case, he had told all his subordinates not to harm Rian.
Count Roman... who would dare touch Count Roman? Not if they didn't want to become a bloody pulp. He might be dignified now, but in his youth, Count Roman's nickname had been the Mad Brown Bear.
‘.......’ Witnessing Count Narasya's relieved expression, Viscount Tallin thought the Count was worrying too much about Sian von Roman.
Because the plan above clearly showed fear toward Sian.
Of course, that man's martial strength would be formidable.
But the pattern of behavior toward Sian was already predicted. The precautions were too simple.
Even so, the Count was so relieved at having taken one step safely.
"Hoo... this is..."
Having noticed what the Viscount was thinking from his expression, the Count let out a small sigh.
This was why he himself checked things meticulously at the final stage when making plans.
Because they knew of that terror only with their heads, the staff officers might make complacent plans regarding armed forces attempting to transcend human limits.
In fact, up to Master, their thinking wasn't wrong either. But from Grand-
Vander, it was different. Even La-
Vander, at that.
La-
Vander were said to have existed only twelve in a thousand years of history, including the Imperial Era. Even after a thousand years, their names and achievements had been passed down, yet almost no information was known about them.
That was precisely what it meant to be an object of terror, an inviolable existence beyond prediction. The plan they had established targeted such beings.
Therefore, the Count himself could not let his guard down until the very end. The staff officers wouldn't feel this in their bones.
But just this once, he had to pray that their opinions were correct.
For now, the first button had been fastened well. Only execution remained.
"Viscount, let us begin. At the latest, within two months... I will end everything."
"Yes, understood."
When it ends... a different world will be open.☆ ☆ ☆"Oh! Does it take about two months?"
"That is correct. Haha. The Rogadiseu frontier we are heading to now is quite large if you include the number of small villages."
Quite a bit of time had passed since leaving the capital, and before they knew it, they were nearing the Rogadiseu borderlands.
Riding in a carriage along the main road heading to the Rogadiseu region, the destination of this inspection, Lord Kariman and Sian were conversing.
Lord Kariman looked at Sian, who had become quite friendly by now, and recalled the words Viscount Tallin had earnestly admonished before departure.
‘Never let him say he wants to return to the capital. By whatever means necessary, he must stay away from the capital for two months.’
‘And... never make him feel bad.’
There had been a few other warnings, but the two above were the most important.
He hadn't heard the details, but every time he heard warnings treating Sian beside him like the plague, Kariman harbored doubts.
There was no reason to send just one seventeen-year-old Garantia member out like this.
But information was too scarce, so judging that worrying further was meaningless, Kariman made Sian aware of the precautions regarding the upcoming work.
"The provinces have a different atmosphere from the capital. You said you've lived only in the capital until now, correct?"
"Yes, that is correct."
"The Tian Kingdom is rather well-maintained in terms of public order, but manpower is always lacking.
That is to say, the farther you go toward the provinces, the more unstable the security and the more bandits there are."
"Aha!"
"The Rogadiseu region we're going to this time is on the safer side but... it's been a while since I've been there, so I don't know how things will be.
You might doubt whether it's the same country, so look forward to it. Haha."
Kariman said this with a laugh to scare him, but inwardly he was worried.
Having performed inspection duties for a long time, he had often taken new recruits with him.
The recruits had shown various reactions. If he were to pick the most tiresome types:
1. Those who would go and try to receive lavish hospitality under the guise of inspection duty.
2. Those who would abandon their inspection duty to jump in and solve matters with bandits or a pitiful village's situation along the way.
3. Those who would go and cause a commotion, swearing to root out corruption if they found any.
There were roughly these three types.
It happened because they deluded themselves into thinking they had become some kind of knights of justice or figures of power.
The duty of inspection is, after all, merely to monitor administration and report to the higher-ups. Resolution is handled separately by the higher-ups.
One must work with a clear understanding that the goal is inspection, not the realization of justice.
And there was no need to overdo it or do it too shoddily, but the recruits never knew that boundary and always wandered astray.
‘I hope nothing unusual happens along the way.......’
Having been firmly warned by Viscount Tallin this time, Kariman was worried about how he would control this fellow beside him if he ran rampant doing as he pleased.
It was a misunderstanding born from Kariman not yet knowing Sian's personality well.
It was then.
Clang! Clang! Crack! Aargh!
The faint sound of swords clashing was heard from afar. It was a sound coming from outside the main road far in the distance.☆ ☆ ☆<"Is one who helps the side that looks pitiful in a fight a hero? Then what becomes of the one who was desperately fighting to win?">- Excerpt from a certain memoir☆ ☆ ☆‘Damn... a fight?’
It was a common occurrence. Merchant companies or people passing along the provincial main roads often became targets for bandits (and it was often not a fight between bandits).
If caught while pillaging, they would all be executed... but it was often the very fellows who would be executed if caught who committed the pillaging.
Therefore, they committed their crimes thinking they just had to not get caught, and indeed, such cases were numerous.
Originally, intervening in such fights was not part of inspection duty.
There were separate security officials in charge, and if they were to handle public security as well, they wouldn't move in teams of two.
One should fight if they can save anyone, but if they can avoid it, avoiding it as much as possible was correct.
It was actually extremely dangerous, so the higher-ups did not punish flight in emergencies.
Garan
-tia...
Garan-Tia’s own martial strength was by no means weak, but ordinary bandits were no pushovers either, and since they would be executed if caught, they fought with extreme desperation.
Even so, of the hundred new recruits he had seen so far, no exaggeration, about eighty-five had gripped their swords and charged in. (There had even been cases where the bandits themselves found Garan-Tia troublesome to cross and were about to let a merchant caravan pass, only for a recruit to try to stick a blade into them.)
Kariman glanced uneasily at Sian beside him. If this fellow was a young lord of House Roman, his hands would surely be itching to test his martial prowess.
‘Hm?’
But Sian beside him did not move a muscle.
Rather, he opened his eyes and looked at Kariman’s face, as if asking why Kariman was staring at him so intently.
‘Could it be he didn’t hear the sound of blades……?’
That could not be. The sounds of steel were drawing closer and closer, to the point that even an ordinary person could hear them now if they pricked up their ears.
“What is it?”
Unable to contain his curiosity, Kariman spoke.
“Mm… you can hear that sound over there, can’t you?”
“What are you talking about? It’s not as if I’m deaf. Haha!”
Seeing Sian say it with a laugh, Kariman became even more puzzled.
Seeing his expression, Sian spoke with a look of disbelief.
“…
Don’t tell me going to rescue the people fighting over there is included in our duties?”
At Sian’s unexpected answer, Kariman felt dumbfounded.
“Mm… no, no. That’s not what I meant. I simply wondered if you were curious.”
“Haha. I merely asked again because I wondered if that was part of our work. We’re inspectors, after all, so a fight like that surely isn’t our job.”
It was exactly the exemplary answer he had hoped for, yet Kariman was momentarily taken aback. It was not the sort of answer one expected from someone in the hot-blooded years of youth.
‘Mm… an unusual fellow.’
Still, it was not as though there had never been cases like this, so he decided to let it pass.
He had only been startled because his prejudice against House Roman had affected him; there were indeed new recruits who placed such importance on rules.
“I’m glad you understand it correctly. Unless there is some circumstance that cannot be avoided, one does not interfere in such matters. It could be dangerous. Of course, if it is morally possible, we may help, but there is no need to deliberately get entangled……”
Before he could finish speaking, an unidentified figure burst out of the brush. Then he shouted urgently.
“Run! Kuh.”
“…….”
“Senior, how do we usually handle situations like this?”
Sian asked his senior as he looked at the figure who had suddenly burst toward them, only to be struck in the leg by a dagger and tumble to the ground.
Seeing the situation, Kariman sighed and clutched his head with one hand.
☆ ☆ ☆
The Logadis region was a frontier land surrounded by the Kon-Tian Mountains, located far to the west of the kingdom’s capital, shortly before one reached the border with the Taran Kingdom.
The Logadis region boasted a considerable area, but since it was encircled by mountains, it had no specialties aside from medicinal herbs and tea produced in the mountains. Its location was also wholly unsuitable for military use, so it was excluded from any list of strategic strongholds, and neither the Three Great Martial Houses nor the Seven Great Martial Forces were stationed there.
In other words, it was a backward region with nothing to offer. The reason this place was neutral was because neither the noble faction nor the royalist faction would include it.
It was an area the central government did not care much about either, so although the tyranny of its lords and nobles did not cross the line, it hovered just below it.
That was why public order was even worse and people’s hearts were harsh. It was common to encounter bandits while walking along the road, and many travelers were robbed in their sleep.
Naturally, as such incidents continued, outsiders and merchants visited less and less, creating a vicious cycle in which the region became increasingly isolated.
The Kulan Barony where Crane lived had also been one of those typical noble territories of the Logadis region. Until four years ago.
But his territory began to change. It began after Pareon, the eldest young lord of the Kulan Barony, disappeared and then returned.
Pareon, who had fallen from a cliff, gone missing for five days, and then returned, suddenly set about reforming the territory with tremendous confidence.
Armed with powerful leadership and knowledge no one had ever heard of before, Pareon began rapidly increasing the power of the Kulan Barony, which had been among the weaker powers in the Logadis region. (In truth, it had been on the verge of collapse.)
He trained talented people, worked to invigorate distribution by drawing in outside merchant companies… and even modified the Vander-Roa passed down in House Kulan. (It had been such a disastrous level of Vander-Roa that it was unusable without modification.)
Then he taught it to commoners who seemed to have talent. He also applied unfamiliar techniques throughout every corner of the territory.
Thanks to Grand Young Lord Pareon—no, to Lord Pareon, who had now become the lord—who truly cared for the commoners and opened a path for them to survive, the Kulan Barony grew rapidly. Now, most of the people of the Kulan Barony believed in and followed Grand Young Lord Pareon.
Crane himself was one of them. His talent had been recognized by Pareon, allowing him to join the barony’s escort security force, and he had soon risen to the position of captain.
But as the Kulan Barony developed at a rapid pace, the surrounding territories, wary of it, began to keep it in check. The friction grew fiercer and fiercer.
It had been all right while Tian as a whole was stable, but as the balance between the noble faction and the royalist faction collapsed and all of Tian turned its attention toward civil war, control over remote frontier regions like Logadis weakened. After that, the attacks from the neighboring noble territories grew even more severe.
Their methods were incredibly vile as well. They attacked merchant caravans, carried out localized provocations, drove wild beasts toward the territory, spread poison on farmlands… and since they left no evidence, there was nothing to accuse them of. They did everything imaginable to gnaw away at the barony’s strength bit by bit.
Yet even so, as the barony’s power continued to grow steadily, they had openly attacked a merchant caravan today to keep it in check.
Though Crane and the others had grown stronger by training in the Vander-Roa, they were still only a little better than ordinary people, and it had been barely over three years since they had begun training. This might be the frontier, but once the Vanders of the Tern Viscounty, a noble house, attacked in earnest, they were driven into inferiority in an instant and had no choice but to flee.
As they scattered and fled, wasn’t there a carriage far off on the main road?
In that instant, Crane came up with a clever idea.
The pursuers did not want it to be discovered that this incident was their doing. Of course, there was plenty of circumstantial evidence, but without physical proof, they could somehow talk their way out of it.
If he passed by that carriage, the pursuers’ attention would be divided toward them.
They too would run away once they saw armed men, and the Vanders of the Tern Viscounty, who could not leave behind witnesses, would have no choice but to split up their pursuers. Then Crane’s chances of survival would rise.
He felt sorry for them, but he had to return alive to the grand young lord no matter what and inform him of the attack.
Having thought that far, Crane turned toward the carriage and began to run.
“You bastard, running won’t save you. Haha!”
‘Ugh… damn it…….’
As he watched the Vander burst from the bushes while spouting the lines of a stereotypical villain, Crane, who had collapsed after being struck by the dagger, let out a despairing groan inwardly.
Now he had no choice but to pray that the people nearby would save him.
“Please! Save me! I am a guard of the Kulan Barony! Those men attacked us!”
Seeing Crane howl toward the carriage, the men seemed to notice the carriage only then and looked at it with wary expressions.
To be precise, in order to cut the throat of the fugitive lying beneath the carriage, they would have to pass by the two people in the carriage who were looking at them, and that was what made them wary.
“Good day to you. I have business with the fellow down there. Might I take him with me?”
Seeing the rather well-made carriage and the emblem engraved on it—though he did not know what it was—Nareuan, a knight of the Tern Viscounty, asked with caution, realizing they did not seem to be ordinary people.
“We are administrative inspectors dispatched from Garan-Tia. If this is a matter between noble houses, we will not interfere.”
Although Garan-Tia was responsible for maintaining public order in the capital, such responsibility could not be upheld by meager force in the first place. Kariman, a mid-level Expert, was not at a level where he would be intimidated by a single Vander from a backward frontier viscounty.
But using strength whenever one had it was no different from being a monkey.
At a glance, it was certain that the fellow over there belonged to a noble territory, and Kariman had been about to help because there would have been justification if the man on this side was a commoner, but the man had said he was affiliated with a noble territory.
If it was a conflict between noble houses, they had neither justification nor reason to interfere.
Hearing Kariman’s words, Nareuan’s expression brightened.
As expected, it had been wise not to attack blindly. Attacking Garan-Tia would complicate matters afterward, and in any case, everything would be resolved if he just took that man away.
They had been discovered, but as long as no one knew which territory he belonged to, it would be fine. The administrative officials he knew were one of two types.
They would not go so far as to do something troublesome like investigate their identities.
Nareuan bowed and strode toward Crane. If he tried to cut his throat here, even they could not simply watch with their eyes open. He would have to take him away and dispose of him in secret.
Seeing how the situation was unfolding, Crane cried out in anguish.
“This is absurd! If you are Garan-Tia, are you not the guards said to protect the capital? And yet officials who have come on public duty will abandon a man who is dying! How foolish I was to worry that you might get caught up in this!”
Seeing this, Sian said as if amused,
“That man is saying something quite funny. He deliberately led them this way.”
“…
What do you mean, Sir Sian?”
“That man saw the carriage earlier, then changed direction and ran this way. There’s no way he knew who we were, and yet he came dragging a string of Vanders behind him. What was he going to do if we were frail civilians?”
Hearing those words, Sir Kariman looked at Crane before him with cold eyes, and Crane shouted in panic.
“Th-that’s a lie! You say I changed direction to come here? I was only fleeing in a frenzy! How could you know such a thing in the first place?”
“Well… if you don’t want to believe it, don’t. In any case, we do not participate in battles between noble houses. It isn’t our duty.”
Thinking Sian would have no reason to tell such a pointless lie, Kariman’s remaining sympathy vanished entirely.
“Take this man away at once. We will not be involved in this matter.”
“…
Understood.”
Nareuan looked at Sian and Kariman with a fed-up expression. They must have had some idea what would happen if that man was dragged away, and yet they cut him off as cleanly as a blade.
‘In any case, this works out well for me.’
Nareuan struck Crane with his scabbard, knocking him unconscious, then hoisted him up and returned to the forest to rejoin his companions.
“It seems the problem has been resolved… so let’s continue on our way, Senior.”
“…
Let’s do that.”
Kariman, who had been looking at Sian with a strange expression, remembered that they had a long way to go and quickly climbed into the carriage.
☆ ☆ ☆
“Mm… Senior, didn’t you say you came here once eight years ago?”
“I did. I came here once then too. But back then… I don’t think it was like this…….”
After patrolling the surrounding noble territories, the two looked intrigued upon seeing the Kulan Barony, the third territory they visited.
The noble territories of the Logadis region were famous for being desolate. They had no distinctive goods to attract outside interest, and public order was dreadful, so most of the territories were poor.
But the territory before their eyes was different. Unlike the previous two noble territories, even the walls alone had been built splendidly.
In addition, a small defensive magic formation made by mixing in powder from Talic Stone was drawn near the castle gate. It might be only powder, but considering the price of Talic Stone, this was something one would expect only in a county.
The people’s expressions were different too. The guards standing at the main gate had faces full of pride, and the residents passing through the gate were lively. At this level, it was similar to areas near the capital.
It was a world apart from the residents of other regions, whose eyes were as lifeless as dead fish.
“Halt! State your identity!”
“I am Administrative Auditor Kariman of Garan-Tia. This is Sian. Would you guide us to the lord?”
When he showed his identification plaque and spoke to the guard before him, the guard examined it and then sent word inside.
“Someone will be out shortly to guide you.”
“Much obliged. Thank you for your trouble.”
The guide who emerged soon after was, to their surprise, a beautiful woman.
“Hello. I am Roina, in charge of administration and reception for the Barony of Kulan. I will escort you to the lord.”
As they walked from the castle wall toward the inner keep, Sian and Kariman were able to see many things.
There were children running about full of life, and they could see a bustling marketplace as well. And as they neared the inner keep, they also saw warriors training diligently in the training ground.
What they all had in common was that every face was filled with passion.
The difference from what it had been like when he had come eight years ago was so great that Kariman even wondered if he had come to the wrong place.
At that time, the Barony of Kulan had been in even worse shape than the two places they had just passed through. The lord and the eldest young master had been struggling desperately to do something for the territory, but they had been too weak and had so little to work with that the land had been suffering… To think it had changed this much in just a few years. ‘What on earth happened here in the meantime…….’ His questions would only be answered once he met the lord who had inherited the title from his father. Ordinarily, a small territory like this could never develop so much unless its lord was extraordinary.
Having thought that far, Kariman quickened his steps out of curiosity.