CH 43

“Leon! Were you okay after that incident?”

“Ah, yeah… Y-Your Highness the prince… for this incident, I’m really in your debt…”

After the four of us had talked, I had lunch and decided to join Tillois and Leon at the table where they had said they would discuss the matter. Prepared and neatly dressed, Leon looks like a nice young man in his mid-twenties. Seeing Leon’s completely shrunken appearance, a complete change from when I met him at the mine, I gave a small sigh, thinking that it was inevitable.

In addition to that, Leon, who was the leader of the miners, will now be handed a great responsibility.

I remembered what Tillois had told me before lunch, and what I had talked to Mika about afterward.

***

“The mayor ran away?”

“Yes. In any case, he escaped from the room where he was locked up. This is only my guess, but I do not think he is still alive now.”

Informed of this before lunch, Tillois quickly left the place. Left behind, Mika and I looked at each other. Then Mika put his hand to his chin and made a thinking gesture.

The fact that the mayor escaped, and that Tillois said he is probably no longer alive, makes it reasonable to assume that someone helped him escape and then disposed of him.

The mayor was most likely instigated by someone, but was too frightened to speak of their presence. Or perhaps he was under a contractual spell unique to Rubrum, as Tillois had said this morning.

In addition to the five elements of magic, the Rubrum Empire is said to have something called ancient contract magic. One legend says that it caused the wrath of the god, and their country was turned into a land of sand.

There is no proof that this is true, though. Besides…

(They are very careful… Other than that, they have the ability to keep everything in the dark so that it can never be traced back to them.)

They have thorough control, with death to the traitors.

It means that at the moment of failure, they were in this town and even have the personnel to stop their existence from being revealed. I wonder if they are still here as residents of the town or if they have already left.

“Rashed Rubrum… It must be only two or three years since he acceded to the throne. Ackerson’s territory is so far to the southwest among all of Pluvia, and yet he could reach this far out.”

“Nagi, you must think Rubrum is also behind this, right?”

Mika whispered to me in a low voice.

After all, just think of it from the enemy’s point of view. It’s just a speculation, but it’s what I would do if I were to try to tear this country down from the inside out.

For the Rubrum Empire, which has been suffering in the desert for a long time, a decade of planning is only a moment in history.

Surely there is nothing strange about the accession of an emperor who wants to do that no matter how many years it would take, and who would come up with a way to do more than just attack the country, if that is what he wanted.

If he wants to destroy Pluvia, the first thing he can use is the confrontation between the first and second princes.

Then there are the four dukes with a lot of influence, which are quite tricky.

Three of them are at odds with each other. The Dukes of Uniac on the first prince faction, then the Dukes of Tyndall and Ackerson on the second prince faction.

And… The witnesses to history.

The Duke of Silence— Marcotte.

But let’s put aside Duke Marcotte for now. Anyway, this domestic dispute is a good opportunity for Rubrum to take advantage of it.

By forcing Baroness Tessier to intervene, Ackerson’s heart is turned away from the royal family, then they also manipulate Tyndall at will.

In terms of the nature of the Dukes, Ackerson is hard-headed. Tyndall is an aristocratic supremacist and proud. Uniac is big-hearted. That’s the image I have of them.

I’m sure that Rubrum would have thought that it would be easier to take advantage if Brother Vincent, the son of the second queen who is an aristocratic supremacist and proud, took the throne than if Brother Seth, the son of Her Majesty the Queen who has fair values, took the throne.

While supporting the second prince to take the throne, they are reducing the power of the dukes. And then, they weaken the first prince faction.

They’re going to do that over the years. It seemed to me that the Taurus mine incident, the incidents that were about to happen in other places, and Vivienne’s execution were all connected.

“If you think Baroness Tessier is also in Rubrum’s hands, she might be aiming for Ackerson as well. For me, everything is-…”

“As they say, a truly calculating person looks a hundred years into the future. I guess even his accession to the emperor was only a part of the process. He must have prepared for it long before that.”

“I wonder how long the Tessier family has been involved. No, I still don’t know that yet.”

“Yeah, there are a lot of things we don’t know yet, so we’ll have to look into them one at a time.”

And then I thought. What can I do in the face of the Rubrum Empire, which has spent decades trying to dismantle the Kingdom of Pluvia? I think I should do things one step at a time and accumulate small things just like the Rubrum, who is making steady progress from a long-term perspective.

Leon, who was summoned to the reception room, remained shrunken and curled up on the couch.

Tillois said to Leon.

“We will dispatch our trusted personnel from the royal capital. However, I want you to bring the miners together and act as an intermediary to communicate any grievances to the Ackersons.”

“Eh, y-you want me to do that!?”

“Yes. If there is another injustice, I can only visit here a few times a year. You are a valued citizen of our Ackerson territory. Also, the order of the Taurus mine must be preserved.”

I saw Leon’s hat that he was holding in his hand crumple into a mess. A tremendous amount of sweat visibly came out of Leon’s forehead.

He would have never thought that he would be given such a big role the day after he inadvertently kidnapped the prince.

Then Tillois continued.

“I will only tell you this. The former mayor was most likely in contact with Ackerson’s enemies. There may be those who come to you with their sweet talks as well. I understand very well that this will be a danger to the mine, and I am committed to the duty of…”

“Y-you’re so stiff, Tillois.”

“What is it? Your Highness Nagi. Do you have any complaints?”

“Nagi is saying you’re too stiff that he doesn’t understand it.”

Tillois said, “What?!” as he keeps glaring angrily at Mika, and then he sits down beside Leon, who has completely frozen in place. Then I said to Leon, who had a look of surprise on his face.

“Well, how do I explain this? Tillois didn’t know that you, Leon, and the others were living like this, and he’s surprised.”

“Huh?”

“This mine is very important to the Dukes of Ackerson. The people there are particularly important to Tillois. He was just surprised that they were having such an awful life. I think he knew that mining is a dangerous and arduous business. That’s why he thinks it’s the duke’s duty to pay a decent salary to the people.”

Even for just a moment, I think the Dukes of Ackerson are not bad nobles by any means. Of course, they would also be looking out for the interests of their own territory. But he wouldn’t have wanted to be in a position to mistreat the people of his territory.

“From the point of view of you and the others, the royalty and nobles may be people whom you could never reach, but we are human beings as well. We can understand your words, what you need is the means to tell them.”

“……About the kidnapping, I’m really sor-… I mean, my deepest apologies.”

“Yeah, that’s why. You can tell Tillois if anything happens from now on. Half of this territory is controlled by Tillois. The vast Kingdom of Pluvia is divided, and each noble is responsible for it. We royalty can only watch those nobles, but that doesn’t mean the message doesn’t reach us. And so, Tillois is saying if there’s something important, you can tell him about it, Leon. Besides working conditions and wages, is there anything else?”

“……Ah, and our house. It’s dilapidated and we’re fixing it up ourselves. But there’s a lot of patching going on because we didn’t get paid a salary.”

I glanced at Tillois and said, “That’s what he said,” and then Tillois told Leon, “Rest assured, I will take a look at it later.” Leon was surprised by Tillois’ reaction, but then he decided to tell us what was going on as if thinking this is a perfect time.

He told Tillois his requests, such as whether a fence could be built to keep the children away from the mine, or whether a treatment center should be built near the mine in case a miner was injured. Tillois listened attentively, though with a scowl on his face.

(Tillois seems like he’s going to be a good lord…)

The Duke of Ackerson’s family mostly has a serious and stiff disposition. Duke Ackerson, the father of Tillois and Vivienne, was also a serious and hard-headed man, which is why everyone was surprised when rumors circulated that Tillois was the child of a prostitute.

Perhaps he feels desperate after Vivienne’s mother passed away. That was what I heard, but I don’t know the truth.

I must also talk with Duke Ackerson at least once.

And, as usual, my stomach churned and I gritted my back teeth. That was the right amount of stress for me.

While I was thinking about this, it seemed that Tillois and Leon’s discussion was over.

Seeing Leon looking refreshed after telling us what he wanted to say, and Tillois, with a deep wrinkle between his eyebrows in contrast, I said to Leon with a wry smile.

“You can contact me too.”

“What? To the royal family!?”

“Right. I also have one favor to ask of you, Leon.”

As Leon was looking at me with a doubtful expression, I told him “You’ll be paid as well,” and his brown eyes shone brightly.

Mika then said, “One by one.” And then, in order to react quickly to Rubrum’s influence that is spreading through the country, I also decided to place the necessary pieces one at a time. I told Leon.

“I want you to be my ears.”