Chapter 55: Portrait of Linus Oubeniel (4)

"Then it might be possible that she possesses the ability to land deep, yet non-lethal cuts?"

"In addition, judging from the way the Viscount is behaving today, he didn’t seem to have any lasting physical disabilities. He was stabbed by an assassin who was trying to kill him and barely lived. That allowed him to succeed in escaping from the stronghold of his political rival while there seems to be no long-lasting injuries affecting him. Come on now, how blessed can he be?"

"You're right, big sis, it smells fishy."

The other captains agreed deeply with Elisha's words. They were often away from the capital to promote their military prowess to the lords, but they were originally guards with the purpose of protecting the city. They have dealt with threats of assassination to the point of being disgusted by it, and they knew how people were like after being victims in assasinations. In light of their knowledge, the assassination of Tullius seemed suspicious.

"Regrettably, there is not a single piece of evidence."

"Why don't you call the former Count Cartan, Lady Josephine, and the witnesses from the trial? There's no evidence of the assassination, but the trial—"

"I'm sure that old man had already tried that. But it's no use. No matter how much we try to undo the brainwashing, the High Court has already issued a ruling. If they try to overturn it now, it will be too late to produce the proof. People might think the losing side is just making a fuss…… the moment that becomes the widely accepted opinion, it is over."

"But brainwashing a noble is a huge crime. If it's true, then the High Court has no time to be care about honour and what not—"

As the deputy commander said, brainwashing the nobility was as serious a crime as assassination. Twisting and arbitrarily manipulating the will of another person, if used with evil intentions, could cause more chaos in society than assassinations. There was no way it could be overlooked.

However, Elisha waved her hand, dismissing his argument.

"I told you it is too late to present any proof. Tullius Oubeniel is now protected by a faction that includes even Margrave Doldran. If we poke them, they'll protest furiously. "This is fabrication." "They are false accusations." Or "it must be a conspiracy by Lavallee." If these mindsets take root, more people will hate the centralists and join forces with the decentralists. Both sides would then have the same common enemy, the old man. If we aren’t careful, they will use force and start a civil war. In order to prevent that from happening, we need to target the faction members."

"—As I recall, neither the anti-brainwashing treatments nor magic have shown any effect on the moderates, have they?"

The nobles in the new moderate faction were unlikely to associate with a man who was abhorred as the ‘man-eating snake’. The best explanation they could theorise was that they had been brainwashed. But when they took them into custody, they did not respond to any of the anti-brainwashing treatments. If they did, Tullius would have been sent to the executioner's a long time ago.

So why did they team up with Tullius Shernan Oubeniel? She couldn’t even begin to guess at the reason. When she queried the nobles, she did not get anything sensible. They would beat around the bush, throw some herrings here and there, or simply say they absolutely could not speak about it.

"What an indiscernible man, isn't he? That viscount."

"Why did you accept such a man's welcome?"

Alfred said, holding his temples and trying to hold in his headache.

It was Elisha's words that ruined their chance to get rid of Tullius. If it hadn't been for that, they would have been able to drive that monster away to Marlan. She knew the dangers, so why did she overlook it?

"It's obvious, isn't it? It's to learn about him, Al."

Elisha said simply.

"The reason why the old man, the most underhanded person in the kingdom, was so spectacularly defeated last year was because he was ignorant of that young chap’s methods and did not understand his purpose. We have to find out what his methods are and get at least a part of his secret. If we don't do that, the situation can only get worse. The kingdom may end up being eaten by the ‘man-eating snake’ from within. In order to prevent that from happening, we have no choice but to head straight into danger, even if the risk is a bit high. Well, it's like force reconnaissance."

"So we, the second strongest Imperial Guard in the kingdom, are scouting out the snake noble? That's a very manly story, just like big sis."

"Absolutely! Hahahaha!"

The captains laughed at their commander's resolve. As knights and warriors who considered it honourable to die fighting on the battlefield, the bravery of their commander could be commended. However, as a deputy commander with responsibilities, Alfred couldn’t do that.

"Not only us, but the Count and Countess as well, right?"

"Yeah, with them along for the ride too."

Elisha's reply sounded rather cold.

"Originally, it’s a problem within the Oubeniels. It is the fault of the head of the family and his brother, Count Linus, that he became a problem for the entire kingdom. If you think about it, they should be equally prepared to be sacrificed too, don't you think?"

It is true that if Linus had not made Tullius a viscount, this would not have happened too. It was said that he was hoping he would commit blunders and use them as pretexts for his execution, but the plan was too optimistic. In view of the current situation, it would have been better if he had dealt with the situation as soon as possible, even if he had to bear the disgrace of killing his family member.

"......The Countess is a hell of a mess, isn't she? She's in this kind of danger because of her husband's negligence."

"That's why I don't want to marry a bad man. The woman will be at a disadvantage without it being her fault. It's just too much to bear."

That's what the woman who flat out rejected her engagement by becoming a knight said.

Then she released her hair from fingers.

"However, I can't be so ungrateful as to leave him to die. Count Linus Oubeniel has some potential in his own right. Protect him as best you guys can."

"Well, I suppose it would be a disservice to the name of the Imperial Guards to fail to protect them without any resistance."

"I'll leave that to you guys. The best of our troops will be by the Count's side—"

And when one of the captains said that, the magic equipment on his chest made a sharp sound. It was communication magic.

"—Excuse me. It's me, what's going on? ......I see. Keep going. Let me know if there's any change, okay? Bye."

"From the Count's escort?"

"Yes. It seems the couple's quarrel has made the Count uncomfortable. He went out for a walk to take his mind off things."

A blanket of air drifted into the room.

The man who had been so vocal about the threat of Tullius was now going out unprotected. From the point of view of the guards, it was unacceptable.

"Of course, one of my man is following him while hiding himself."

"You are too lax. A single shadow guard can't protect him sufficiently. Hurry up and send more. If you don't have enough men, send yourself there too. I'll take care of the countess in the mansion."

"Yes!"

At Elisha's immediate decision, the captain accepted the order with a salute without any delays. A satisfied smile appeared on his face. He was old enough to be the commander’s father and yet, he had no qualms in receiving his orders from her. In fact, you could see the pride he had in his commander.

The loyalty of the Second Order to their leader was well known. The knights of the First Order claimed that "those who call themselves knights in the Second Order are not subjects of His Majesty King Charles, but servants of Queen Balbastre." Ignoring the first half of the statement, the second half was no exaggeration.

After all, strength was the raison d'etre of this order. Young or old, male or female, no questions were asked. Their creed was that the strongest knights are to be followed. With that in mind, what could possibly go wrong with having her, the youngest and only female leader of the order, at their helm?

The queen smiled strongly as the men responded to her.

"Come on, hurry up. We can't leave the target of our escort unprotected for even a second."

"Sure thing, big sis!"

"Hey, I already said. Not big sis, but commander… ah, whatever."