by Ryota Hori
Hearing Princess Lupis’s rebuke, Meltina sheathed her sword, however bitterly.
“All things considered, I do understand why Meltina would be upset,” Princess Lupis said, anger in her voice. “Are you saying that you would be able to bring the neutral faction to our side, even while she couldn’t?”
While she showed royal magnanimity, she did not swallow Ryoma’s words without any proof, and was visibly quite annoyed herself.
“I’m about 80% sure I can.” Ryoma answered her gaze with a bitter smile. “But before that, there’s something I’d like to ask Meltina to do. Would you mind?”
Meltina and Princess Lupis exchanged gazes at Ryoma’s question, and then nodded silently.
“You certainly took quite a while. Did it go well?” asked Sara.
The sun had sunk below the horizon several hours ago, and the curtain of night draped across the heavens. It was long past dinnertime, and most of the castle’s inhabitants were already in their beds. Despite that, the Malfist sisters greeted Ryoma with a smile.
“Yeah. I’m surprised to see you two are still awake at this hour, though.”
“Naturally. We could never sleep without knowing our master has returned!” Laura said, and Sara nodded in agreement.
“Ain’t like yer the only ones still awake, though...”
He turned his gaze into the room, where Lione was reclining with her legs propped up on the table, holding a bottle of alcohol in one hand and sending a dissatisfied glare his way.
“What are you doing here, Lione?”
“Oh, spare me that shit, ya berk! I’ve been on pins an’ needles this whole time over yer little chat with the princess.” Lione grumbled, draining the remaining contents of the bottle in one swig.
“Doesn’t seem that way from where I’m standing, to be honest.”
The sight of the empty wine bottles littering the table didn’t make her claim any more convincing, either. He didn’t know when she’d started drinking, but there were more than a dozen bottles rattling around.
“Sis here believes in you, lad.” Boltz, who had likely been drinking together with Lione, chuckled teasingly with his face flushed red.
“Stop running yer mouth, Boltz!” Lione shouted at him, before the smile disappeared from her lips and she turned to Ryoma. “So, how’d it go? All according to plan?”
She’d apparently sobered up for a moment, which apparently meant she was drinking with some responsibility after all. Boltz’s expression was one of utmost seriousness as well. Years of mercenary work had likely instilled survival instincts in them deeply enough that those instincts remained lucid no matter how much alcohol they consumed.
“Yeah. I figured I’d give you the details tomorrow, but all the better if you’re here now. Sara, Laura, sit down over here.”
“Erm... What about dinner?”
The sisters had grown accustomed to overseeing all of Ryoma’s business. The palace’s dining hall was closed by now, but they stood ready to prepare something if their master said he was hungry.
“Ah, that can wait for later. I’ll make do with these for now.”
Ryoma stuffed his cheeks with the beef jerky Lione snacked on while she drank, and signaled for them to take a seat.
“As you wish.””
After confirming everyone was seated, Ryoma began to explain what he’d learned from his audience with the princess.
“What?! The princess’s position was that inferior?!” Lione couldn’t help but raise her voice at Ryoma’s report.
Boltz and the Malfist sisters remained silent, but their expressions were filled with sadness.
“Yep... Well, what’re you gonna do.” Ryoma shrugged with a bitter smile.
“But the knights’ faction being drawn into a factional feud between those with loyalty to the princess and those loyal to the general... that certainly complicates things.” Boltz, with his array of life experience, could easily see the problem.
“Well, that’s just how the people on top are, innit?” Lione responded to Boltz’s words with a far-sighted comment.
Be it Ryoma’s Earth or this one, commoners seemed to view those in power the same way.
“But in this situation, they can help us, right?”
Boltz’s question hit the nail on the head. They could get on their hands and knees and beg as much as they wanted, but Lupis wouldn’t help them without any recompense. With her own back up against the wall, she didn’t have the leisure to help someone she’d never met before without anything to gain from it.
“Well, not with the current circumstances being what they are. Whatever the case, if the princess’s faction can’t crush General Albrecht after they deal with the nobles’ faction, she’s done for. But even if the princess understands this, it doesn’t look like she’s capable of increasing her political standing.”
“So what do we do? Shoulder General Albrecht instead?”
“No. I saw the general himself in the audience chamber this afternoon, and he looks like he has his own issues. I don’t think throwing in our lot with him would yield anything.”
Honestly speaking, until he’d seen things play out in the audience chamber, Ryoma wasn’t considering the idea of helping Princess Lupis at all costs. If it was possible to take the side of General Albrecht, he wouldn’t have insisted on helping the weaker side needlessly.
But seeing General Albrecht during the audience— the way he spoke, the way he eyed Ryoma and his group— Ryoma could easily imagine him scoffing at their request and ignoring them. At worst, he’d even send soldiers to kill them, to prevent them from possibly getting in the way.
True, Albrecht was the stronger one here, but since he wouldn’t help them, he was essentially worthless to Ryoma. During Ryoma’s life in Japan, he’d seen plenty of people who looked at others the way Albrecht looked at them; egotistical monsters who cared only for feasting on their own gain and profit. Any promise Albrecht might make would be meaningless, since he’d never fulfill it.
“So our only choice is to have Princess Lupis build up her strength, huh...”
Boltz assessed the situation with the cold-hearted prowess of a mercenary; all the more evidence of how his words were lacking in optimism.
“It’s not all bad, though. At the very least, if we support the princess’s faction, we can count on them to support us.”
Pacts and promises made in times of inferiority, where the odds of victory were slim, had strong binding power. And in addition, Ryoma realized from their brief meeting together that Princess Lupis wasn’t the sort of person who’d renege on a promise.
“But can we really split the neutral faction?”
“Yeah. I asked Meltina earlier about exactly how she handled the negotiations last time. If I go, I’ll be able to win them over for sure.”
Everyone looked at Ryoma with amazement as he answered Lione’s smile with a confident smile of his own. They had no idea what made him so certain of that.
“I’ll explain once I actually succeed with the negotiations, but for now, I’ve arranged to have Lione’s group integrated into the princess’s direct chain of command. You’ll mostly be handling bodyguard and training duties, but...”
Ryoma cut off his words there and turned a worried glance in Lione’s direction.
“What... Is there a problem?”
“No, but... Lione, just how many people are in the Crimson Lion group?”
“If you mean guys who can fight, twenty-two, including us,” Boltz cut into the conversation. “One got hit by an arrow during the raid, so once he recovers you can make that twenty-three.”
“That won’t be enough... Lione, think can you round up 70 or 80 more mercenaries without going through the guild?”
“Well... There’s a few groups we’re friendly with, so I could round up those numbers...” Ryoma’s words likely came as a surprise, because Lione’s reply was a somewhat evasive one. “But since we won’t be doing it through the guild, we’ll be paying more than the usual marke
t price. D’ya have the money for that?”
“How much are we talking?”
“Well, it depends on how long we hire them for... If you want 70 to 80 people on the same level as us, it’ll be... At least three hundred... No, five hundred golds.”
“All right. I’ll get Laura to withdraw that amount tomorrow, so go and gather those mercenaries for us.”
“Uhh... Right. If ya got the money, then it should be fine. Leave it to me.” Even while she was taken aback by Ryoma agreeing to that sum so easily, she bumped her fist against her chest in a reassuring gesture.
“Right, so starting tomorrow, it’s the real deal. Everything’s riding on what we do from here on out!”
Everyone in the room nodded deeply at Ryoma’s words; they understood how they couldn’t afford to lose in the turmoil to come, if they were to weather this situation.
“My apologies for coming at such a busy time. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for your patience, Count Bergstone.” Ryoma said, bowing his head deeply to the man sitting before him. “I am Ryoma Mikoshiba, an emissary sent by Her Highness, Princess Lupis. Pleased to make your acquaintance.”
They were in a plot of land some two days by carriage away, to the north of the capital, Pireas, in a manor belonging to one of the neutral faction’s nobles. The sun was right at its zenith, and ordinarily this would be the perfect time for lunch; in other words, not the most appropriate time to visit a noble’s estate.
“Oh, no, I could not treat Her Majesty’s emissaries too crudely, could I? All the more when you have Her Majesty’s sworn aide, Lady Meltina, with you.”
Count Bergstone concluded his words with a haughty laugh that echoed through the room, and composedly motioned for them to sit.
Count Alan Bergstone turned 43 this year. While possessing a wealth and territory worthy of his title, he was considered a middle-class noble among the Rhoadserian aristocracy.
“So? To what do I owe this visit from Her Majesty’s emissaries?”
Needless to say, this wasn’t an honest question. Emissaries from the princess’s faction were visiting Count Bergstone, a neutral faction noble, in the midst of a very fragile political climate in the kingdom of Rhoadseria. Anyone with an ounce of their wits about them would pick up on the reason behind this visit.
“Right. Let us start with the completion of our mission, then.”
Ryoma’s words made Count Bergstone furrow his brow. The fact of the matter was, Meltina had already asked for his assistance a month ago, and his answer at the time was evidently a “no.” Seeing the princess had sent emissaries his way again made him actually quite exasperated, as he expected this conversation to be a repeat of the last one.
But Ryoma’s unexpected words took Bergstone by surprise.
“A mission, you say?”
What is the meaning of this... And just who is this man? I don’t recall anyone like him being in either of the factions...
Bergstone was puzzled, as he was sure Meltina would be leading the talks. Why would she entrust the crucial matter of asking for official cooperation to some unfamiliar man with no name for himself? Having been forced to lead an unfortunate reclusive lifestyle for many years, Bergstone had prided himself on having as keen a sense for the political map in the palace as a tuned antenna. As such, him not knowing the name or face of this emissary ought to have been impossible.
But Count Alan Bergstone stifled those doubts, prompting Ryoma to continue with a gentle smile.
“Yes. It is with heavy heart that I must inform you Her Majesty the Princess is greatly saddened.”
“Oh? Whatever weighs on her kind heart?” Bergstone’s expression showed no hint of wavering at Ryoma’s words.
“Why, at seeing the fate approaching the long running Rhoadserian noble house of Bergstone, of course.”
Bergstone had to desperately swallow the profanity that had surged all the way up to his throat at the sound of Ryoma’s almost insolent words. He’d naturally expected to hear, just as he did when Meltina tried to bring him to their side, of the factional struggle between the nobles’ faction and the knights’ faction. But for some reason, the topic had changed to the fate of his house, and since the princess’s sorrow was brought up as the preface of the matter, it must have been a grim affair indeed for his family.
Since he’d treated him as he would anyone else asking for help, it was only natural Count Bergstone would be overcome with the desire to shout vilification now. Was the princess’s faction, weakened as it was, in any position to worry for others’ wellbeing?
Despite this, Count Bergstone’s many years as a noble granted him the tolerance to smile as if nothing was wrong.
“Oh? The fate of my house, you say? Why, how very honorable... Her Majesty worries over the fate of such a minor noble house as ours, even when beset by as many troubles as she is. It is the height of honor. Could you relay to Her Majesty my deepest gratitude for her kindness?”
His reply was just about perfect. It maintained his aristocratic dignity, and while being grateful to the princess on the surface, mocked her between the lines. It held the implied meaning of, ‘are you truly in any position to worry about us?’
Hmm, so far everything’s going according to the information I got.
Ryoma was relieved to hear the sarcastic sting in Count Bergstone’s reply, because he thought that what Princess Lupis needed right now was someone capable of spinning plots who would serve as the brains of her faction. She wasn’t lacking in military might alone. Politics, economics, diplomacy, culture; all of those were matters she was lacking in.
Well, I suppose that’s because all of Princess Lupis’s aides are from the knight class... It only makes sense they’re nothing but a bunch of meatheads.
And indeed, what was sought out of a knight was martial prowess and loyalty for the crown, to serve as the shield defending the kingdom and the royal house. Ryoma understood full well that a militaristic nature had its uses.
The problem was, they persisted so much in that nature that they had a tendency to act recklessly or look down on pragmatic assessments of the situation. Their loyalty was firm and absolute, not unlike the disappearing but still present idea of selfless devotion in modern Japan.
Of course, that line of thinking wasn’t flawed in itself; knights had to have honor and pride. But from an organizational perspective, having a group made up of only those kinds of people may have made for an organization that was terribly easy to control, but also made for one that was extremely incomplete and flawed.
It was for this reason that, of all the candidates to bring over to the princess’s faction, Count Bergstone was the first to catch Ryoma’s eye. This middle-aged man, who once held significant political power, but earned the ire of both Duke Gelhart and the late King Pharst the Second with hypocritical courtesy and haughtiness; who was ostracized from the palace once his main backer, his stepfather, passed away, and forced into a reclusive life...
“You’re too modest, Count Bergstone. You have great territory, which boasts an impressive population. From what I gather, you’re capable of conscripting a thousand men? That doesn’t sound like a minor noble house to me.”
Compared to Duke Gelhart, who ranked highest among the nobles, the military might the Count held was certainly insignificant. But there weren’t many nobles in Rhoadseria capable of conscripting a thousand men, and if Count Bergstone was considered a minor noble, some eighty percent of the nobles in all of Rhoadseria would fall under the same category.
“Oh, you hold my house in higher regard than it demands, sir emissary. Perhaps your quarrel with the nobles’ faction has rendered you incapable of sound judgment? Ahaha.”
His words were steeped with mocking. They may have been spoken with a calm voice and feigned friendliness, but were close to an outright insult.
“No, not at all. My judgment is quite sound, I believe. As proof, from what I hear, Duke Gelhart has shown great interest in you already. Or maybe you’re
already a part of the nobles’ faction by now?”
Suddenly, Ryoma’s serene expression inverted in an instant, taking Count Bergstone by surprise.
“What...? My, this is... quite the bother. I would have to ask you refrain from dignifying such a groundless rumor.”
Deftly hiding the surprise that came over his face, Count Bergstone smiled amicably again.
“Oh, is that a fact?! Well! Then I’m sure Her Highness would be quite relieved to hear that. She was, after all, quite saddened to hear that a noble of your caliber might be taken advantage of by the nobles’ faction until they’re of no use, and earn nothing for it.”
“What!” Ryoma’s words made Count Bergstone go pale. “What is the meaning of this?!”
At this point, nothing remained of the calm, collected gentleman he’d played the part of just a moment ago. Ryoma’s implication that he might be used by the nobles’ faction until they had no more need for him was one thing he could not ignore.
“Goodness, why so temperamental? I thought this was only a groundless rumor.”
Hearing Ryoma’s mocking words, the Count sank back into his chair and heaved a deep breath, shaking his head.
“Hmph... Enough, there’s no point to us prodding at each other’s motives any longer...” Count Bergstone spoke with a somewhat resigned tone. “You already know I’m part of the nobles’ faction by now, correct?”
“Yes.”
Ryoma spoke as if he knew it the whole time, but Meltina, who was listening in beside him, was struggling to hide just how shocked she was.
Impossible! What is going on? Count Bergstone turned to the nobles’ faction?! Since when...? Did the nobles already make their move by the time I visited? No, more importantly, how long did this man know about this? Did he already know by the time he was granted an audience with Her Highness...? Blast, this is no good... I must stay loyal to my duty for now. Saying anything needless now would only complicate matters for him...
Countless thoughts were swirling around in Meltina’s mind, but she desperately stifled her doubts, concluding that watching over the conversation stoically would be the wisest decision.