CH 120

We Might be Fighting Head-on

「Will this be enough to run the Cardinal out of business?」

「Yes. The question now is will we get crushed or not. I’ll work something out. Although seeing as we’re up against Cardinal Georgis, the arrangements will take some time.」the Marquis said with firm conviction.

Now that’s reassuring.

「How long would it take?」

「Two… no, just give me a month and I’ll make sure our victory is certain.」

It went from two to one quickly. It felt like he hesitated for a bit and forcing things too much with the one-month deadline. Anyway, there’s a chance the Cardinal will resort to tough measures while we wait.

「Will we be all right in that one month?」

Sure, we have dirt on the Cardinal, but he’s still a powerful noble. He can do a lot of things in a month. At worst, he’ll use his excess wealth to bribe every single noble in the kingdom and cover up the evidence of his crimes.

Marquis Maiar should be aware of that as well.

「We can’t rule out the possibility of the Cardinal resorting to extreme measures.」 he said with an unpleasant look.

「Yeah, I agree.」

I don’t mean to criticize his lack of ability. Running a powerful noble down politically is simply difficult.

Which is why I prepared another route to victory. If I was a hundred percent sure that we can win with just the footage alone, I wouldn’t have wasted mana on Holy Breath.

「There’s something I want to discuss. Would you consider closing down the factory temporarily and finding shelter?」Marquis Maiar asked us.

So far, we’ve repelled every attack that came to us and remained safe. But if Georgis wanted to get really serious, the attacks will surely get worse. If that happens, I’m not sure we can still hold as well as we did. That’s why he wants us to hide until the time comes that we can corner Georgis.

I can understand his sentiment. But it feels like such a waste. The Cardinal’s power has been weakening because of the medicines we produced.

「Close the factory?」

「Yes. If the factory was attacked while you’re hiding, they might discover the manufacturing method, then everything would have been for naught.」

What the Marquis was saying made sense from a risk management standpoint. But it feels like such a weak stance to take. If Georgis goes all out, we’ll just face him head-on and send him packing.

As I was pondering over it, Count Meigis spoke.

「I’m sorry, but we can’t take refuge and hide.」he said in a decisive tone, as though he doesn’t intend to change his mind.

「May I ask why?」the Marquis asked.

「We might be safe, but what would happen to my subjects? I doubt the Cardinal will hold anything back just because we’re not around.」the Count replied.

「I see. I suppose sheltering you and the citizens is quite impossible.」The Marquis pondered over the matter once more, and nodded.「Very well. Just don’t die, all right?」

「Of course. But if somehow I don’t survive, please proceed with the plan.」

Sounds like everything’s settled. So we’re staying and meeting whatever the Cardinal throws at us head-on.

If I killed Georgis, we wouldn’t have this problem. But that would create a different issue on the political side of things. If I killed him back then, it would only be seen as “someone with an inferior job class assassinated the Cardinal”. That is not good for us.

Georgis isn’t our only enemy. One can even say that our real enemy is the organization backing him, the Garden of Despair. And to combat them, we have to carefully consider the political side too.

「So we have our plan.」I said.「A month, huh? If there’s anything we can do to help, just tell us.」

「Thank you. But this is politics. In other words, this is our job. Just leave the Cardinal to us, and you focus on protecting the territory.」

「You got it.」

Our roles are now clear. In one month, the Marquis will bring down the Cardinal. Our job is to hold out until then and keep on supplying healing medicine to the market, weakening Georgis’ power even more.

The question now is what move are they going to make. It is only a matter of time before we’re victorious. Until then, I want to limit the casualties as much as possible. So I guess the problem is what kind of drill should I teach the citizens.

「Is there any specific move that the Cardinal might take?」

「Let’s see… A war is very likely.」

「A war? Will the kingdom even allow that?」

If my knowledge is right, a normal country wouldn’t allow fighting within its borders. That’ll only weaken the nation and there’s a chance that foreign countries might attack.

「There’s a precedent of a civil war approved by the country.」

Is that so… So we have to stay sharp. Just when I thought we have our anti-assassination system down perfectly, now we have to come up with something in case of a war.

「Okay. If they attack us directly, that’ll be much easier.」

「Really? Normally, the thought of such a powerful noble declaring war against you would make you shudder in terror.」

「We can win easily if they’re that weak. It doesn’t matter how many they are.」

I had an idea of the enemy’s strength back when they infiltrated. They were quite skilled, but the tactics they employed were horrible. If I just train the citizens, I’m sure even they can handle a bunch like those.

「Win easily, huh? I find that hard to believe, but when you say it, it feels like it might just be possible.」Maiar said.

「Indeed. Just leave the potential war to us. Please focus on the political side.」the Count said.

「I understand.」

Now we have our strategy. We prepare for war, while Marquis Maiar will bring down Cardinal Georgis.

Still… A war, huh? If we have to engage in one, I’d rather we end it quickly. Letting it drag on for too long will only be a pain. Okay, then. Time to make arrangements so we beat them the very same day they declare war.