Volume 8 Chapter 1 Part 7

Repart said with dissatisfaction.

「We won’t take any action publicly, because we don’t want to give Waldrind any reason to interfere. But behind the scenes, there are always evil people manipulating everything, so we have to manipulate them instead. If we don’t do that, the chaos will never end. The people of this land will suffer for a long time. 」

「And how do we manipulate the bad people? 」

「By dealing with them, threatening, killing them and all sorts of other things. Fortunately, I’m good at that kind of work. 」

Juzel laughed at his own words, while Repart cowered in fear.

「Lord Juzel, don’t you have any intention of becoming the Lord of this region yourself? 」

「The people who get to decide that are the local Lords and the people. However, according to the peerage system, the Lord needs to obtain a Crest for themselves if they want to possess any kind of binding authority. And I have been entrusted with the Viscount’s Subordinate Crest from Lord Theo. Do you even know how valuable something like that and his name are in these lands? 」

「I think I understand… 」

Repart’s voice trembled. After all, the people of Stark rose up in rebellion against their Norse oppressors in the name of none other than Theo Cornero, who has started to be universally regarded as a hero after he liberated Sistina from the tyranny of the Rossini family.

「Do we have any other opinions available to us right now? 」

「We don’t. At least not yet. 」

After shaking his head, Repart lowered his face into his own lap and remained motionless for a while.

「That’s fine. If you notice anything else, feel free to tell me your opinion. Unless you want to end up being nothing more but a liaison. 」

* * *

At roughly the same time as when Juzel Rossini and Repart Aias were sitting in a cave at the coast of Stark, Jeremiah Howl has arrived at Dartania in order to act as a liaison for Ender Selik Kuches.

Just like Repart Arias, he was a fresh graduate form the Magic University who started serving in Theo Cornero’s Magic Division, and now, in the in a luxurious room in a golden palace in the capital Tarokka, he was standing in front of Ender Selik, who was looking through documents at an elaborately designed desk. The papers in front of him were filled with all sorts of numbers, and next to him was a large abacus. Ender played it himself, and occasionally put red ink on his papers.

「Public order in the capital has almost been restored. Merchants who had fled to the continent are returning one after another. Trade has already resumed, and the port is thriving… 」

With notebook and brush in hand, Jeremy reported in an enthusiastic voice.
「… however, there are many tribes inland that do not wish to obey you, Lord Ender. Would it be possible for you to allow me to come up with a subjugation plan for them? 」

Jeremy made a suggestion. His notebook was already filled with various strategies for that very purpose.

「Subjugation? That would be a terrible thing to do. 」

Ender looked up at Jeremy with suspicion.

「We’re in the middle of a war, so of course there’s going to be a lot of trouble associated with it. That being said, I can understand why you’d be skeptical about it and why you’d feel agony at the prospect of subjugating your own people with force, Lord Ender. But in our current situation, we might have no other choice but to fight. 」

Jeremy was nodding his head over and over again, as if he was fascinated by his own words.

「I don’t want any of Dartania’s people to suffer anymore As far as Dartania is concerned, the war is as good as over. 」

Ender looked down at the documents before him again.

「However, they are members of the Milza faction who’re definitely going to plan to rebel against you, the new Viceroy. 」

「If they attack this city, then by all means, please defend it from them. You have my full permission to command the troops if something like that happens. 」
「Please leave it to me… so then, how is the governing of the post-Milza Dartania going? 」

Jeremy tilts his head. For some reason, he felt like he and Ender were not quite on the same page here.

「Of course, everything is going to proceed how I planned it. Right now, we need to collect as much produce from the entire country as we can and gather it at the port here in the city. 」

「I see. 」

As a Lord, it is of course important for Selik to make the country as rich and powerful as possible.

「Would you like me to help you with the calculations? 」

Jeremy offered, but the answer that he received was disappointing for him.

「No, this is something that can only be done by me. 」

Ender said so while playing with the abacus.

「What kind of document is this? 」

Jeremy asked fearfully. He had a somehow unpleasant feeling about it.

「Oh, this one? This is a document that records all of the costs of building a new inner palace.」

「The inner… palace? 」

「Don’t you know about it? This is a place where all the wives of the Viceroy live. 」

「No, of course I’ve heard about it. 」

According to various rumors, all of the Viceroys of Dartania had as many as a hundred wives living together in the inner palace in the capital.

「Right now I am calculating how many new buildings we can build and how many queens we can support with our current finances. It’s quite difficult to strike a balance with it, that’s for sure. 」

「Um… Lord Ender? 」

「Yes? What is it? 」

「Shouldn’t you be thinking of doing something like that only after the Great War is finally going to be over? 」

Jeremy could swear that he heard the sound of his spirit being drained away.

「What are you talking about? This Inner Palace is going to be the one that will unite all of Dartania. 」

「Huh? 」

Jeremy couldn’t help but make a strange noise. A part of him began to suspect that he was no longer in Dartania, but that he was somehow transported to some strange, alien world.

「The more queens you have, the more relatives you can have with the chief families of the tribes, and if the tribes are going to send their women to become my queens, then that’s the same as them swearing allegiance to me, right? 」

「I understand what you’re trying to say, but… 」

「The reason why the inland tribes supported Milza was because the purchase price of trade goods was low because he didn’t care about it too much. My father Sayid was also a bit greedy and always wanted to have as much money from the trade for himself, so from now on, we will let the inland tribes monopolize the land trade. I think this is a change in the fact that up until now, merchants in this city had been conducting trade both by sea and land. By doing something like that, the wealth will spread not only to the rich like usual, but also to those who didn’t have access to it until now, and if the trading goes especially well, then any rebellions against me should naturally subside on their own if given enough time. 」

「Yes, that seems about right. 」

Jeremy could only nod his head at what Ender said.

Civil war is always a draining thing, but even though Dartania just got out of it, trade was already going back to being productive. Ender won’t have any other choice but to subdue the tribes that’re going to try to rebel against him, but the way he himself sees it, it’s something that he can take care of at the same time as he reestablishes trading relations with other countries and expands the inner palace for all his wives.

That was when Jeremy realized that the rule of Ender Selik is essentially the rule of a merchant.

(It’s a shame that the strategy I’ve worked so hard to create is going to go to waste…)

Jeremy put away her notebook and sighed. However, she is not bad at business administration either, so while she should didn’t necessarily had what it takes to be a proper tactician, she should be able to play the role of a secretary well enough.

「Anyway, feel free to ask me anything. I’ll do my best to help you. 」