It was a story from several months ago.
Zweit, one of the Empire’s Sword Saints who had personally gone to the Phoenix territory on an intelligence mission, had submitted a shocking report.
—Engagement occurred in the Phoenix County of the Kingdom of Vespia. Casualties incurred. Number of dead and wounded unconfirmed.
—While fleeing from the Phoenix County of the Kingdom of Vespia, a replica of the monster-summoning flute was used and discovered by one of the Kingdom’s Five Powers.
—A new weapon of the kingdom was discovered in the Phoenix County of the Kingdom of Vespia. Its level of completion is incomparable to existing chimeras.
—A detailed investigation and disposal of its creator, Aizen Arclight, is required.
The moment the report went up, Zweit was imprisoned.
Of course, that was something he had accepted without protest.
“Well, no matter how you look at it, confidential information got exposed, so it can’t be helped.”
“The law is the law, so there’s no choice, but they told you to rest since you’ll be reinstated soon enough.”
Under the Empire’s military law, those who leak confidential information are ordinarily punished severely.
Since Zweit had effectively leaked that information, he naturally had no choice but to be detained by law.
Of course, mitigating circumstances were also going to be taken into account.
After all, one of the Kingdom’s Five Powers—said to be equal to the Empire’s Sword Saints—had just happened to be at that location, and Zweit’s judgment that he had to bring back important information even if it meant exposing their secrets had not been wrong in the slightest.
“So what did the captain say, Drei?”
“He said he’d send you prison food, so tell him what you want.”
“Grilled sausages and beer. Tomorrow, cheese and wine.”
At Zweit’s calm answer, the man called Drei let out a small laugh.
Then, lightly tapping the sword at his waist, Drei asked a question.
“What’s your opinion? The creator of the Cyclops. His name was Aizen, right?”
“That Reina boasted the era would change. Reina, of all people—the thug who’s lived her whole life off a single sword and would be prouder of that than anyone.”
“Is it true she became more mature after becoming a professor? No, enough nonsense. I asked what you thought.”
At Drei’s urging, Zweit laughed.
Then he spoke quietly.
“Bring him in. Or kill him.”
“Which side are you on?”
“The side that says we should kill him.”
At Zweit’s chilly words, Drei nodded.
“It’s probably similar to the opinion I heard, but I’ll ask anyway. Your reason?”
“If you look at how that bastard grew up, he’s probably highly likely to be absolutely loyal to either Phoenix or Nexia.”
Both were places that made the Empire uncomfortable.
“The young ladies of those noble houses were listening to him and sitting there protecting the place. At that point, it’s possible he already belongs to one of those houses—or maybe the two houses are even competing over him. What’s certain is that Aizen is loyal to one of those two places, was able to receive support because of it, and that’s how he could make that Cyclops. That’s my opinion.”
“I thought he could be won over, rather. They say he’s being supported by the merchant company of the fifth saintess of the Saras Order, which has nothing to do with either house. If he’s moving according to a contract, then we just have to offer him a better contract, don’t we?”
“Can the Empire put forward an offer that bastard would be satisfied with?”
What immediately came to mind were things like a free production environment and the supply of materials.
But Drei shook his head and said,
“Our country isn’t in good shape either.”
“The front lines are too broad, and internally, we’re practically all over the place.”
The Empire had expanded its power and size by absorbing the surrounding nations.
Because of that, its internal cohesion was far from solid.
“Resistance groups are running rampant everywhere, and there are plenty of bastards who refuse to acknowledge Imperial rule.”
“On the other hand, the ones who joined the Empire are doing everything they can to climb even a little higher.”
There were many who did not acknowledge their subjugation, and many greedy fiends who, now that they were under Imperial rule, wanted better positions for themselves.
And the Empire had to hold even such people within it.
“There are more than one or two bastards who’d stab us in the back if we made them dissatisfied.”
“We’re in the center of the continent, so the front lines are already wide, and then rebellions in absorbed territories? We’d really have to learn clone techniques.”
At Zweit’s joke, Drei laughed heartily.
It was a joke, but honestly, it was not something they could simply laugh off.
As a nation that had grown through war, it had far too many enemies.
It was holding its interior together by force, but because of that, if it failed to appease them, they could rise up.
“If we told someone, ‘We’ll give you massive support, so come to the Empire,’ there’d be an uproar. ‘What’s so special about him that you support him? What about us?’ They might even start a rebellion.”
“Hey, I guarantee you, even you and I might draw swords on each other right now, arguing over who’s right. You know those greedy bastards who betrayed their own countries realize their path to survival lies in political maneuvering, so they’ll use every method imaginable.”
At Zweit’s words, Drei nodded.
“In a situation like this, what support can we possibly give him? …It’s funny to say this after claiming we should kill him, but if the situation were just a little better, I’d have been in the persuasion faction.”
“What a shame.”
The two Sword Saints sighed.
Then, as if something had occurred to him, Zweit asked carefully,
“Oh, right. What happened with the order we gave the Imperial Intelligence Department to investigate? Aizen Arclight’s origins, I mean.”
“They said he’s a dangerous man who appeared from who knows where.”
That was the conclusion the Empire had reached regarding Aizen’s upbringing.
Drei spoke quietly.
“A member of the rural noble Arclight family… the current family head’s younger brother, was it? They say that younger brother went adventuring here and there with a commoner from outside, died on the road, and one of their companions barely managed to bring the child to the family, explain what had happened, and then died after exhausting all his strength.”
“And the family head accepted him for the time being, so he grew up in the family, but since the successor had already been decided, he was treated coldly—until he suddenly produced results out of nowhere.”
After saying this, Zweit nodded and said,
“You’re telling me a guy who makes a monster like that comes from that kind of background? Ridiculous. It makes far more sense to say Phoenix or Nexia secretly had a talented member of their own family adopted into the Arclight family so he wouldn’t get marked by the Avatus family, then kept supporting him from behind the scenes. From what I hear, at Phoenix, he subdued three knights barehanded. At that level, doesn’t that mean he was professionally trained?”
“They say that on the day of the entrance ceremony, he was on the verge of breaking down the academy’s gate too. It’s questionable whether a guy like that really grew up in some rural territory. They say that when he’s asked to talk about his hometown or family, he answers a beat late, naming the Arclight territory and the people of that family. They’re supposed to be his blood relatives, yet he’s that indifferent to his own family? The correct answer is that they weren’t his family to begin with.”
“And now he’s even independent, but that main house of his has nothing? Then they had no connection in the first place.”
The two Sword Saints each spoke their thoughts.
Then Zweit asked cautiously,
“So, what have they decided to do with the spies?”
“Their basic objective is to attempt to seize the Cyclops, and as for Aizen Arclight, to win him over. But if that fails…”
Kill him without hesitation.
“His Imperial Majesty, who heard the contents through the captain, decided it personally.”
As he said that, Drei drew his hand across his throat.
****
One week after making Daniel my representative.
Just as I was getting a grasp on the management of the territory and deciding on the date of my return to the academy, the effect of appointing Daniel as my representative was already showing itself.
—“If you bring the red-haired lady into your home~.”
—“The golden lady like a peony, spent the whole night by his side~.”
“How did my territory end up hosting a singing contest?”
It had begun like this.
It turned out that the residents sent by the Phoenix family had a mission given to them by the Margrave.
That mission was to spread a song far and wide.
At a glance, that might not seem like much, but once a song passes from mouth to mouth, it becomes a battle of public opinion that cannot be ignored—and when it even has an addictive rhythm, its effect is anything but ordinary.
And because Daniel, who had tried to escape the appointment ceremony by throwing that song out there, ended up letting Noel’s side learn about it, a counter-song spread the very next day.
The people sent by Noel’s family must have been rather clever in their own right, because the contents were no less poetic, and it was easy to sing.
Since we had just decided on the crops as well, focusing mainly on wheat and potatoes, with flowers permitted only to farmers who achieved good results, everyone was preparing for farming—and with songs easy to sing at hand, everyone was choosing between the two and singing them.
And once the songs spread, Noel and Erika shut themselves in their rooms.
—“I-I must have been blind to commit such a grand act of idiocy…! I could have just laughed it off…!”
—“That’s what it meant? No, um, ugh!”
If there was any sign of someone outside the room, they went quiet in an instant, but since they were loud enough to be heard as long as you were nearby anyway, there was no point.
You might wonder if it was really that embarrassing, but honestly, even I would have been embarrassed.
Especially since I had found out what Erika’s side of the song meant.
“I’m pretty popular, huh.”
“Head. Conscience. Hurry up and confess which one is hurting.”
At Mina’s pathetic look, I couldn’t help but laugh.
“Honestly, it doesn’t feel real, so I’m actually taking it lightly. There’s still the difference in status.”
“To put it coldly, the Margrave probably hopes you’ll rise another rank or two. He may be magnanimous, but a difference in standing does exist.”
Mina spoke quietly.
“But if you think about it another way, it’s a chance to buy at the bottom.”
“Am I a commodity?”
“Rather than a commodity, an alliance. Marriage between nobles is more a kind of politics and alliance than affection.”
And since this country’s nobles were considerable magicians, each one could also be seen as a small-scale power in their own right.
“If they don’t want to care about Avatus’s opinion, or have decided not to, then Aizen is someone they must bring in as actively as possible.”
“That’s a seriously high evaluation.”
“It’s an undervaluation.”
Wondering what she meant, I looked at her.
Mina grinned.
“If they think of Aizen as nothing more than a countermeasure against Avatus, then it’s an undervaluation.”
“High praise. Thanks.”
“It should be.”
Mina hesitated for a moment, then spoke quietly.
“That way, the profit I make from having bought in at the true bottom will be maximized.”
“You’re so consistent it almost brings tears to my eyes.”
“If you cry, I can give you a saintess hug. For a fee.”
“When my territory gets rich, I’ll at least consider it.”
Now I had a source of income too.
I could probably afford to be confident. Probably.
Perhaps deciding that the petty back-and-forth jokes had gone on long enough, Mina spoke quietly.
“Because of that, be careful with your dealings from now on.”
Was there something she was worried about?
Unlike Mina, her attitude was cautious.
“It’s extremely rare for people to approach you purely out of goodwill, and there will be those who try to buy you off with far less than what you’re worth.”
And, she began for a moment.
“If things go wrong, there will be those who try to kill you.”
For all that she seemed the way she did, Mina was the owner of a fairly large merchant company and also one of the Order’s saintesses.
It was advice born from experience.
“I’ll be careful.”
“Good boy.”
Mina said, looking ahead.
Then she smiled and said,
“Stick with me whenever you can. I’ll keep you alive.”
As if she had belatedly remembered, Mina curled her hand into a circle and said,
“For a fee.”
She really was a sponsor of remarkable consistency.