CH 331

Chapter 331 – House of Travis

Guided by Ms. Zamir, we entered the headquarters of the Western Army of the Kingdom of Merinard. It seems that this facility is a barracks built in the days of the old Merinard Kingdom, and it is spacious enough for Shumel and the others to operate without any problems.

“This is a bit of an early job talk, but how’s the viceroy here?”

“Yes, well. For better or worse, he is the type that pursues the interests of both Meuseberg and the Travis family.”

“I see.”

Pursuing the interests of Meuseberg and Travis’s family, huh?

Although I have not yet met him face to face, the man who governs this Meuseberg as the viceroy is a man named Simon, who is the head of the Travis family. Apparently, his peerage in the Holy Kingdom was that of a viscount.

Even under the new Merinard Kingdom, the nobles who show reverence are allowed to claim the same nobility as they did under the Holy Kingdom. If they were suddenly stripped of their noble title or had their fiefdoms confiscated, it was inevitable that they would rebel and plunge into a civil war.

Naturally, there was a possibility that we would be ridiculed if we did nothing else, so we sent Sir Leonard and Ms. Zamir to crush those who did not respect us thoroughly. This was to show everyone that if they betrayed us, this would happen to them as well.

“The medicine seems to be working.”

“That’s right. At least for now, they have not shown any clear rebellion against us.”

By the way, I mean physically crush them thoroughly. The whole family is to be killed in order to end the evil. It may seem cruel, but this is the way of the world, so Sylphy did it thoroughly. Even if we show mercy half-heartedly, no one will be happy.

I basically stayed out of it, but I heard that they gave them up to three opportunities to change their minds. But those who still didn’t show their reverence were punished. The Sylphy side had no intention of negotiating either, so it was a bloodbath in its own way.

“But it’s still too early to tell, isn’t it?”

“We can’t say that, can we? We can’t keep looking away.”

I have not been involved in domestic politics until now, or rather, I have been able to stay out of it because of Sylphy and the others’ consideration. In other words, I was being taken care of.

In the management of a nation, there is always a dark side. The small is cut off in order to save the large, and the weak are picked off in order to eliminate the root of the problem. It is impossible to run a huge organization like a country without doing so. Beautiful things alone will not do, especially in this world.

“I think I’m prepared for this. Well, it will take some time to get used to it.”

“Your Excellency Kosuke is very kind.”

“I wonder if that’s so… Well, this is still a friendly area, so I’ll get used to it little by little.”

As far as I had heard beforehand, the Travis family, which governs this Meuseberg, had early on shown their reverence for the newborn Merinard kingdom. Whether the head of the family, Simon, was a good reader of the times or whether there were other factors at play, I do not know, but in the western part of the Merinard Kingdom, the Travis family surrendered to the new Merinard Kingdom earlier than any other family. Thanks to this, neighboring lords also fell one after another in the new Merinard Kingdom, and as a result, the amount of blood rain that fell in the western part of the new Merinard Kingdom was minimal.

Incidentally, it was in the eastern and northern parts of the newborn Merinard Kingdom that the blood rain fell in torrents. Since Ms. Zamir finished pacifying the west sooner than expected, she was to start pacifying the north soon thereafter.

Sir Leonard, you ask? I heard that the eastern part was full of gung-ho Holy Kingdom sympathizers, so I heard he went on a rampage against it with great glee. That old man’s grudge against the Holy Kingdom is serious. It can’t be helped. I think it’s a good thing that we made three recommendations to them to surrender.

“After this, are we going to the viceroy?”

“That’s right. May I come with you?”

“Of course.”

Ms. Zamir is very quick to respond.

This time, together with Ms. Zamir, we boarded the air board driven by Bella again and headed from the headquarters of the Western Army of the Kingdom of Merinard to the residence of the Travis family. While Ms. Zamir and I were talking, the Western Command sent out a warning, and we were promptly welcomed into the mansion.

The soldiers guarding the gate of the mansion were obviously wary of the unfamiliar air board, but they immediately let down their guard when they saw Ms. Zamir’s face. It seems that Ms. Zamir’s face is well known to them.

“There may be some mishap due to your sudden visit. If that happens, I will be reprimanded, so I ask for your forgiveness for the people in my house.”

“Forgiveness is a typical response from the prince consort, you know?”

Viscount Simon Travis, the Viceroy of Meuseberg, was a well-dressed middle-aged man. He was dressed in well-tailored clothes that were not too flashy yet still exuded a sense of luxury, and his physique was suitably toned and quite regal.

“I appreciate you putting it that way.”

Simon bowed reverently to me. He is about 30 years old, or maybe 40. He has a western type of face, so it’s hard to gauge his age in any way. Well, I guess it would be better to describe him as a mature man in the prime of his working life.

“I haven’t had much opportunity to learn the civility of this world, or rather, how to behave as royalty. I may behave in an inappropriate manner at times, but please let it slide. So I’m going to be direct with you.

“If Your Excellency insists, then by all means.”

Simon looked me straight in the eye. I don’t feel too bad about it. Is he hiding his true feelings well, or is he simply not having any second thoughts?

For now, let’s talk it over.