Chapter 25: Of Inflations and Influencers

“What magic is this?”

Tucked away in a corner of the Golden Moon Ministry building was Ludwig’s office, where he currently sat reading a report sent him by Mia.

“She...won over Duke Redmoon’s daughter?”

Ludwig leaned back in his chair after perusing its contents and let out a long breath in astonishment.

“Her charisma truly knows no bounds...” he murmured, gazing up at the ceiling. “Yes, yes... It all makes sense. If Ruby becomes our ally, we’ll have a much easier time pushing reforms through the military. And... Ah, of course. She’s also eyeing the possibility of bolstering the Princess Guard. I do wonder how she managed to get the young Redmoon on board. I should ask her about it...”

The thought of gaining some insight into the hidden engine of Mia’s intellect—to see her genius methods in action—made him grin like a daydreaming schoolboy. As someone with a constant thirst for knowledge, his fantasies often involved situations that would quench it. Clearly, the inflation rate of the MG (Mia’s Greatness) Index was steady and positive. In other words, all was well on planet Ludwig. Furthermore...

“I know! Once I ask her about it, I’ll enlighten Balthazar the next time we get a drink. No, not just Balthazar. I’ll get the master to come too. In fact, I might as well round up the whole crew. No self-respecting disciple of Galvanus can resist hearing about something like this. Then, they’ll go and spread this knowledge to even more people...”

...He immediately began thinking of ways to increase his outreach like a true influencer. The more people he could pull into his camp (read: down his rabbit hole), the better. Ludwig was truly ahead of his time.

“Well well well, someone’s enjoying themselves.”

A chuckling voice sounded from the door. He looked up to find Dion Alaia leaning against the frame.

“Wanna share that with the men too? The Guard’s always dying for more stories about the princess.”

As was becoming a daily norm, Dion strolled into Ludwig’s office for “official military business.” Which, of course, was Dion-speak for “slacking off.” After being relieved of his post as hundred-man squad captain, he was now working at the Ebony Moon Ministry as a class three military official. In other words, a bureaucrat.

Broadly speaking, the Tearmoon military was composed of two organizations. One was the imperial army, the boots-on-the-ground people, essentially. The other oversaw the planning, logistics, staffing, and all other relevant affairs involved in putting the right boots on the right pieces of ground. That was the Ebony Moon Ministry. Dion used to belong to the former. Currently, he was employed by the latter. His transfer away from the front lines into a desk job was an established practice within the Tearmoon military.

In the past, there had been knights whose prowess on the battlefield had earned them promotions into commanding positions. As generals, they then issued foolish orders that resulted in the army suffering massive losses. Competence as a soldier did not guarantee competence as a commander. Learning from these costly lessons, the Tearmoon Empire decided to implement prerequisite administrative experience for higher-ranking commanding positions. Thousand-man squadron generals—a step above hundred-man squad captains—could not be promoted further until they’d spent some time in the Ebony Moon Ministry learning about army operation, supply line logistics, and strategic planning. After they’d acquired the ability to look at the bigger picture of warfare, they could then return to the front lines to shoulder the responsibilities of high command.

Dion, for his part, had deemed ministry work “murderously boring” and had entertained no plans to climb the chain of command any further, but at Mia’s (Ludwig-conceived and Ludwig-voiced) behest, he’d reluctantly agreed to the reassignment. By all measures, he was getting ahead in life, but you wouldn’t know it from his constant grumbling.

“She always keeps you guessing, doesn’t she?” Dion quipped with a shrug. “Life has a tendency to take unexpected turns when the princess is around. Who’d have thought I’d one day dirty the floors of the Ebony Moon Ministry?” he said with a sardonic snort.

“True...” Ludwig nodded deeply. “This does mean, however, that we might be able to send you back to the front lines.”

Dion had two possible paths ahead of him. He could either return to the imperial army as a general to lead larger units of troops, or remain here as a military official and have a voice in the organizational affairs of the army as a whole. What Ludwig had wanted was a reliable channel to the Ebony Moon Ministry, that is, a friendly high-ranking military official. If the House of Redmoon’s backing could serve the same purpose, however, the role required of Dion would change. Once they had reliable clout within the ministry, the influence of his physical presence on troops in the field would be far more important.

“Yeah, I guess I would appreciate that,” said Dion, his tone still wry, but Ludwig’s next comment made his brows quirk.

“Also, I believe we might need to change your priorities a tad. Promotions, I think...can wait.”

“...All right, I’m listening.”

“There’s something else that needs to be done right now, and I suspect it’s best if you handle it...”

“‘Something else,’ huh?” Dion leaned against the wall and crossed his arms. His expression sobered a little. “The Yellowmoons,” he said, sure enough of his guess to not even bother glancing at Ludwig’s nod. “Any movement from them? Been a while since the summer.”

“I have people looking into it, but, so far, nothing. They’re staying put. They’re staying so put that it’s honestly a little suspicious.”

“Gotta expect Ganudos to have sent them word already. Unless they’re feeling up for an open rebellion, I guess their hands are tied at the moment.”

“Indeed, and their increased caution means we’ll need to dig deeper for information. Fortunately, it’s possible to leave the academy city project to my master and have Balthazar handle financial reform. In other words, it just so happens that I can free up my schedule right now.”

Dion snorted in friendly derision.

“‘It just so happens’? You’re not exactly a ‘just so happens’ guy. You sure you’re not confusing causation with correlation?”

“I see you’ve been doing some reading.” A hint of a smile touched the corners of Ludwig’s lips before he shrugged casually. “Indeed, a common source of uncertainty in academia, and one we’ll simply have to live with.”

Dion snorted again.

“Sure, whatever you say.”

“In any case, while we know that the Yellowmoons are likely in bed with the Chaos Serpents, it appears that Her Highness is averse to officially denouncing the entire house. Presumably she wishes to avoid harming those who are not directly involved. To that end, she has entrusted us with the task of carrying out this investigation. You and I, Sir Dion, must live up to that trust and deliver to Her Highness the information she seeks.” Ludwig propped up the bridge of his glasses and looked straight at Dion. “Will I have your full cooperation in this matter?”

“The House of Yellowmoon...the oldest of all the noble lines...” Dion humphed. “Maybe they’ll manage to send some assassins worth my time.” He smiled wolfishly.

The pages of Tearmoon’s secret history were soon to be laid bare.