Volume 3 Chapter 5 Part6 (1/2)
TN: Apologies for going missing for a month. I had three projects thrust at me all of a sudden, and they all wanted deliverables by Christmas. THEN I had to help my dad move house, which happened to be somewhere with bad 3G reception. As for the licensing, I’m taking down the first volume and continuing translations for now.
Right behind the beheaded n.o.bles, ten-odd dark figured men stood. Their faces were wrapped in black cloth, and they were wearing s.h.i.+n.o.bi-like black garmints. In their hands they held bloodied swords, obviously being the ones who did away with the n.o.bles’ heads. The sudden entry of the men and their equally sudden violence took everyone’s breath away. Only Hakuya and I still had the same expressions.
“Huh!? Soma!”
“Your Highness! Get behind me!”
Liscia and Aisha tried to cover me and stood in front of me with their swords drawn, but I gently laid my hand on their shoulders.
“It’s all right, they’re my ‘underlings'”
“Underlings … eh …?”
As Liscia became confused, one of the men stepped up close. Unlike the other men who were wearing impersonal s.h.i.+n.o.bi clothes, this one was wearing an impressive set of metallic black armor. He was nearly two meters tall and had a muscled physique that can even be seen through his armor. Looking from the neck down he looked exactly like “The Dark Knight”, but his face was covered by a black tiger mask. Black Tiger Mask knelt before me and bowed his head.
“Mission accomplished, Milord”
Black Tiger Mask reported in a heavy voice matching his appearance.
“Huh!? That voice … hnng”
Liscia was about to say something, but I gripped her shoulder tight with my hand. She looked towards me but she seems to have noticed something. She silently sheathed her sword. Looking at Excel, she had her eyes wide open, but I’m sure she gets what was going on. She then closed her eyes. Then I patted the shoulder of Aisha, who was still on high alert.
“Aisha, you put your sword down, too”
“B, but …”
“His name is Kagetora. Leader of the intelligence force under my direct comand, the Black Cats”
As I said that, the Black Cats members raised their swords in front of themselves in synchrony. Having been made a fool of by Imperial intelligence at the Amidonian capital Vannes, I recently organized this unit to specialize in intelligence work directly under me to counter them. To be more accurate, I took the few intelligence operatives Hakuya had, increased their numbers, made an elite troop out of them, put Kagetora who had excellent command capability as leader in charge, and reformed them to be a unit under my direct supervision.
They are a unit with many secrets. n.o.body knew who their members really were, and it’s a mystery how they were able to work in harmony, even though they were only inst.i.tuted the other day. Particularly puzzling is the true ident.i.ty of Kagetora. Seeing how he handles this mysterious unit like his own hands and feet, he gave the impression of a long-serving general, but did a person like this even exist in Elfrieden? Who is it? n.o.body knew who he really was.
“… Say, Soma. Is Kagetora …”
“n.o.body knows who he really is. Capisce?”
“Ah, okay …”
Liscia vigorously nodded with an expression that says “I can’t say anything.” Immediately, I then ordered Kagetora and the rest of the Black Cats.
“After you’ve done tidying up the n.o.bles’ bodies, contact the soldiers stationed near their residences. Have them break in and seize the evidence. Suppress any resistance.”
“As you will”
The Black Cats took off right after they put the n.o.bles’ bodies away. Kagetora was the last to leave the plaza after giving Liscia one last look. Having seen them off, Liscia sent a harsh look at me and said
“… You are going to explain what this is all about, right”
“Yes, but … where should I start?”
“First … Tell me why did you kill the n.o.bles”
“Yes, I suppose I should start there …”
I unhurriedly explained the reason for the killings.
“About the reason why I killed those twelve houses, that’s because they had connections with Amidonia as well. It had been investigated and confirmed by Hakuya and Georg.”
“You mean they’re colluding with Amidonia?”
“That’s not quite right. I said ‘as well’. They had connections with Amidonia, as well as the corrupt n.o.bles, and also with our side ‘as well’.”
“Eh? What’s that supposed to mean …”
“It means they’re fence-sitters. Going with the one who seems to be winning.”
Those n.o.bles had always shown that they intend to stick with the winning side and avoid trouble. If they’re just that, I can’t tell them apart from the n.o.bles who were just waiting and seeing during the war with the Three Dukes, but it’s a different matter once they have connections with foreign powers. When the Kingdom was lethargic they toadied up to Amidonia, when the Three Dukes declared war they went to Georg, and now they came to me.
“Then once they ensured their own safety, they would rile up dissent behind the shadows. The way it works is that people with insecurities make easy p.a.w.ns for them. They’d gain profit by providing goods and people to the rebel side, and if the rebels weakened they’d crush them themselves to gain merit. If suspicious eyes trained in on them they’d instigate malcontents somewhere else to turn those eyes away from them. … They’ve been doing that again and again during your father’s reign.”
“No way …”
“And what’s more dangerous about them is that they don’t do it directly by themselves and act like loyal retainers when we’re strong, making them hard to convict. They do their job properly when we’re on the rise, after all. Rulers who believe in their political power, who are gentle and trusting toward their retainers are the ones who’d fall for their tricks, thinking ‘I’ll be fine if I just established a stable administration. There’s no need to antagonize our own allies'”
“But … you killed them all, didn’t you?”
“… I am under no illusion that my rule will be a stable one. In fact, I believe I’ll be standing at the crossroads of fate someday. At that time, fence-sitters like those are going to be harmful, I’m sure. If they hurt people I care about, like you, Aisha, or Juna, it’ll be too late to say ‘I should’ve killed them when I had the chance’. If that happens, I’ll probably go crazy. Which is why I chose to nip it in the bud now.”
Machiavelly said that the affairs of the world are governed by fortune that men with their wisdom cannot direct them and that no one can help them, but nevertheless, that fortune is the arbiter of one half of our actions, leaving us to direct the other half, perhaps a little less 1. A person’s fortunes depend on whether or not their actions fit the period, but that can only be seen only once it’s over. However, by preparing for a sudden turn of events beforehand, one can avert the flow into something more manageable.
The important thing is to not be optimistic about the situation and be decisive in striking everything there is to strike when one can strike (in the words of Machiavelli, “fortune is a woman, and if you wish to keep her under it is necessary to beat and ill-use her”. A feminist would fly into a rage hearing this). That was why, even though I hesitated, I resolved to strike at the heads of the twelve n.o.ble houses.
After hearing me talk, Liscia finally nodded.
“I understand what you’re thinking. What are you going to do with the Lords Saracen and Javana who were made to leave their seats?”
“About that, please allow me to explain”
Then Hakuya stepped forward.
“The previous Lords Saracen and Javana used to work with the other twelve houses, but with their deaths those relations were cut off. The current heads, Lord Piltory is a good young man who excels at the pen and the sword, and Lord Owen is a sober and honest hot-blooded man. They will serve His highness without any double-dealing. I thought we can see that by how they acted when they were dragged away from the plaza”
“… so you’re carefully picking who to execute”
“It is as you say. The people executed were those who are not without fault. We should be breaking into their residences gathering evidence as we speak. It’s not commendable of us to subvert the order of evidence and execution, but I hope you’ll understand.”
Having said that, Hakuya bowed. That was probably his way of following up on me just now. He was taking care to not let my relations.h.i.+p with Liscia and the others become strange by conveying that I didn’t execute the twelve n.o.bles out of mere suspicion. Liscia seemed to understand as well and did not ask any further. Really … such a reliable retainer and (future) wife.
“I understand about the twelve, but what if the other two Lords also tried to curry favor with you?”
“In that case, I had plans to provoke those two to anger. Well, if they did try that to His Highness, we can’t really trust them afterwards, though”
“You even thought that far, huh …”
Liscia looked at me with an appalled look 2. Well, uh, all that about reading people’s hearts are Hakuya’s area of responsibility you know. I’m not that kind of an evil character … maybe. Seeing me look away, Liscia breathed a sigh.
“… So, what are you going to do with Carla and her father?”
“… I was getting to that part”