CHAPTER THREE

Col did not think Eve was the sort of person to use jokes and exaggeration when she was talking about trade.

That was why he could barely grasp the truth behind her words.

“Pardon, what did you say?”

And of course, he was not the only one; Hyland was the same.

“I was thinking about monopolizing the Winfiel Kingdom’s trade with foreign countries.”

With a delicate smile, Eve repeated herself word for word.

It was not a joke after all.

Col exchanged glances with Hyland from across the long table and then looked back to Eve.

“Miss…Eve? I don’t think you are the sort of person to make jokes about this. But…”

“It’s simple, Twilight Cardinal. You’re scratching your head over the long-distance merchants’ plot, are you not?”

There was no one there to scold her for using crude language in front of royalty. There instead was the odd reliability of someone who had opened her heart, which suited Eve’s character very well.

And it was even doubly so, since what she said was, in reality, right on the mark.

“You seem to have a more detailed grasp on the situation, Lady Bolan.”

Hyland also seemed to have gotten used to Eve by now, as she answered quietly but without fear.

“I’m confident that I do. And because of that, I knew I could possibly hit on a big deal, and I just could not contain myself, so I came here. I think I know what you were thinking. Those chumps from the Church somehow ended up in cahoots with foreign traders and are trying to cut off supplies coming to this country. At this rate, you would either have to compromise in your conflict with the Church or end up entangled in war at a disadvantage. If you don’t do something, then they’ll catch you by the nose and take you for a spin.”

Hyland wore a tense expression as she listened to what Eve had to say, and beside her, Myuri’s eyes widened at the way she told her story. She was not repulsed by Eve’s lack of civility in her choice of words, of course, but the opposite.

Myuri loved violent tales of mercenaries and pirates, and Col would not argue if anyone called Eve the boss of either.

Conflicting feelings of curiosity and hostility appeared on her face in a strange expression.

“And you have good ideas regarding that?”

The way Hyland spoke was much like how one would speak to a peddler who appeared at one’s doorstep.

But there was no way she was as disinterested as she seemed. That was because while both she and Col knew the subtleties of the world of faith, they were entirely clueless when it came to the world of trade.

And then Eve appeared, who was like a great serpent that slithered around in the merchant world, which was already full of evil spirits; they should have welcomed her heartily and borrowed her knowledge.

The problem was that while they could trust Eve herself, she was still cunning.

“I do. And it’s a way to make a lot of money, too.”

What she followed up with after her assertion was unbelievable.

“The Church might want to pull the merchants out of this country in order to give themselves the advantage in war, but in their stead, my company will supply all sorts of goods from the south of the Kingdom.”

It was only the left corner of her mouth that curled upward.

She was like an evil fox from a fairy tale.

“I’ll provide great amounts of wheat, endless cured meats, and enough wine and oil to create a lake. Of course, I’ll also bring in steel weapons, shined to perfection; carefully woven woolen goods; tanned hide; and all the raw materials and tools the craftsmen need to work. Naturally, ships that come in filled with cargo will also leave filled with cargo. I can even take on the market for wool, peat, and the specially made burning alcohol produced by the Kingdom and then bring gold to the people who live here.”

She would literally take all the trade into her own hands.

That was what she meant.

“…Lady Eve.” Hyland, however, spoke coolly in response to her preposterous story. “Do you believe you can turn that into a reality?”

“Of course I do.”

Eve did not seem to hesitate, not even for a second. She had been leaning over the long table, but she now confidently leaned back into her chair. Col might even believe her if she said she could split the sea.

Hyland was truly vexed and closed her eyes, as though enduring a headache, before speaking slowly and clearly.

“You are a merchant from the south. What you speak of would be nothing more than betrayal to the Church, which yet prides itself on its great power. On top of that, despite how the other merchants are working with the Church to stop trade, why would only your ships be allowed to continue to come for business?”

It was an extremely reasonable question, and it was unthinkable that Eve did not have an answer already ready. Everyone there turned to look at her; she made the face of a magician about to reveal her secrets, and her manner of speech turned to one more deliberate.

“I was once a noble in this land, Lord Hyland. That is why I will tell the Church that this Kingdom, which is so desperate for goods that hands are coming out of everyone’s mouths, trusts in my company and will come to me for help.”

“You’ll tell the Church…?”

“Yes. This is actually what I told them.”

Eve crossed her legs and changed the tone of her voice.

“Eve Bolan is a fallen noble who sold herself and her house to a merchant, but that merchant also lost everything after becoming bankrupt in the economic crisis created by the king’s misgovernment. While she managed to recover far, far to the south, it is her ultimate wish to restore her house, so she certainly hopes that she’ll be reinstated in her position as a noble by helping in this time of crisis. If she expresses such brave words to the king, he will surely and readily agree to this deal. But what all started this was misgovernment by the king, which led her to suffer plenty of hardship. Then, that would make this the perfect chance for retaliation. By doing trade with the Kingdom, she could extract all sorts of information to hand over to the Church, and on the dawn of battle, she would unilaterally halt all trade and plunge the Kingdom into chaos.”

Beneath her smile was either a lie, a joke, or her true feelings, hidden under countless layers.

As Hyland held her breath, Eve shrugged slightly.

“I think it’s quite convincing.”

This was not the place to cut in with a laugh, of course. While Hyland found herself overwhelmed, she somehow managed to compose herself.

“I see. And now that you’ve done that, you will be making a promise to us on the other side of the mirror.”

“Absolutely. I’ll give you all the information on the Church, and since I have a good grasp on trade in the south, I’ll catch wind of war preparations and strategies. I’ll even tell you what they’re having for dinner. After the war starts, it technically wouldn’t be difficult to smuggle in goods behind the Church’s back. The only problem would be how the massive amounts of goods would be taken into port. If we treat them like stolen goods from start to finish, then there would only be so much we could handle. That’s what would trip us up without the recognition of the local authorities.” Eve tilted her head slightly. “How about it? I won’t be gaining anyone’s trust without the support of the Twilight Cardinal.”

The whole thing sounded made up, as though she was saying them she could only tell lies.

“The point is, I am happy with anything as long as I trade and make myself some coin. I do feel a faint homesickness for the Kingdom, but I no longer hate it or feel any single-minded devotion for it. So much the better now, since it goes without saying that I have no reason to support the Church. That’s because…” She turned to look at Col. “I’m a slave to gold.”

That was not self-deprecation; that was the source of Eve’s confidence.

It established the guiding principles of her actions and pushed her right in that direction.

People would call that faith.

“I understand what you have to say.” Hyland spoke gravely, staring fixedly at Eve. “But I don’t trust you enough.”

This insolent woman suddenly appeared with this outrageous story; perhaps someone drawing a sword on them would be preferable.

It seemed like Eve thought the same, and her cool smile remained on her face.

“And it’s people like you. You knew I was going to say that, and there’s still more, isn’t there?”

Lawrence had once told Col that a merchant’s basic principle was to never show one’s whole hand.

Eve folded her hands on her knees and smiled, satisfied.

“I was wondering who this nobody conning my cute little Col was, but it seems you do have some qualities worth noting.”

If Hans was here, he would surely foam at the mouth and faint over how rude Eve was.

But Hyland herself simply widened her eyes for a brief moment, then immediately smiled wryly.

“I won’t deny I’m a nobody, but if I stay this way, then I might no longer receive permission from his supervisor to approach the Twilight Cardinal,” Hyland said, then turned to look at Myuri beside her. “Isn’t that right?”

“Come here, Brother.”

Col had been sitting by Eve, on the opposite side of the long table from Hyland and Myuri.

Eve’s eyes narrowed in delight, and she shrugged.

“Go. A knight stays by his princess’s side.”

No other person could be more aptly described as a lone wolf than Eve.

He was sure the beautiful girl holding the umbrella behind Eve and the two guards standing watch outside the doors to the room recognized her as a master who deserved the most earnest of service, but he had a feeling that Eve herself looked at them with cold gazes from somewhere within her own heart.

So when she said that, he could not disobey. She surely knew more than anyone the value of trusting someone from the bottom of one’s heart.

And so when he arrived at Myuri’s side, she clung to his clothes and pulled him closer.

Perhaps it would have been easier if it was instead a passionate hug from a jealous girl.

“If you’re going to con my brother, then you have to go through me.”

It seemed that Col was the one to be protected.

“Heh. How cute. You’re just like her.”

Eve smiled and signaled to the girl holding the umbrella over her shoulder. The girl then took the white ermine coat hanging on the wall. Something like that was said to require a thousand white ermines to make a single coat—it was representative of the highest-quality goods.

“At any rate, I thought there would be no way for you to stand up against the Church if you readily accepted my proposal, no matter how desperate you may be…but there seems to be a bud of hope. This is a bit paradoxical, but I’m hoping to continue to sell my idea to you,” Eve said, standing from her chair and placing her coat on her shoulders. “I know you’re skeptical of my idea, Lord Hyland. But I came all this way because I have solved this problem.”

“Then, what about the rest of your hand?” Hyland asked, and Eve gave a warm smile from beneath her coat.

“You’ll see. And of course, it won’t just be on a couple of sheets of parchment.”

“When?”

Hyland’s short question was packed with the nuance that there was no time to play politics.

“We should hurry, shouldn’t we? The conflict between tax collectors and traders is getting heated, isn’t it? The Church will doubtlessly use it as the spark to light the beacon for war.”

People needed reasons to fight, and the conflict between Sharon and the traders was a wonderful reason.

“That’s why tomorrow…Yes, why don’t we meet tomorrow at the Golden Fern? There’s a room out of sight from the eyes of others.”

Since it was a shop Hyland knew, there were likely special seats especially for nobility.

“But you will stand out way too much if you’re around, Lord Hyland.”

In that case, it was obvious who she would be calling on.

When Hyland looked at Col, he tucked his chin and responded.

“I adore Miss Eve, but I also know she can be ruthless.”

And then Eve continued.

“Since it seems like Col’s vision clouds simply because he’s familiar with someone, then that means my eye for other people has been clouded to begin with. And if this little girl here finds out that Col was forcibly pigeonholed, then she’ll go after my life. That’s the only thing I want to avoid.”

The way she said it almost made it sound like she was joking, but judging by Myuri’s expression, Hyland seemed to understand.

“Very well. I’ll leave the verification of whether or not you can be trusted to the Twilight Cardinal.”

“And me.”

“Of course.”

When Hyland added that, Eve began to walk off, as though signaling the end of the conversation. It was hard to tell who was of the highest standing in the room, but it was clearly Eve who was controlling the space.

Just as her guards opened the door, she turned around.

“Tomorrow at noon, is it? I’ll have a carriage ready for you. All right?”

“I don’t mind. But I’ll provide the driver. I’ll also contact the Golden Fern.”

It was certainly not a precaution against kidnapping or poisoning, but Eve simply smiled and did not answer.

And finally, Eve looked at Col.

“We won’t be alone tomorrow but in due time.”

He responded with a bitter smile, and Eve narrowed her eyes and left the room.

The door clicked shut, and it immediately felt as though the room had gotten bigger.

Col was amused, thinking about how Eve was the same as she always was, but he noticed there were two sharp gazes on him.

“Are you going to explain this to us?”

That was Hyland.

“Brother, you cheater.”

And that was what Myuri said in the end.

They asked about every detail of Col’s relationship with Eve, but no matter how suspicious they were, he could not turn down her request. There was no one else who could be such a reassuring ally in the plot by the Church and the merchants.

“She’s a strange one—I both want her to be in my country and, at the same time, I don’t. I recognize that she is a great woman, though…”

“It does not give you much peace of mind, does it?”

And she had really and surely brought to the table a plan that would prevent them from having a good night’s sleep. Eve’s plan was on a scale big enough that something like it could even be found in an adventure tale, but the world was cruelly large and complicated, one that was not so kind as to let people concentrate on one thing at a time.

There were other things they wanted Hyland to hear.

“So, Heir Hyland, I know we must earnestly examine Miss Eve’s story, but there’s also something else we wish to tell you.”

“What is it? Now that you mention it, you both came back rather early…Have you gotten a lead on something already?”

“Yes. And I believe it’s related to what Miss Eve brought to the table.”

Hyland tensed, not sure what she was going to hear next, but she nodded at him as a signal to continue.

“It’s the true motivations of Miss Sharon—I mean, the tax collectors.”

He then told Hyland what Sharon had told him, and her expression tensed in a different way from when they had been talking to Eve.

“This…is more personal now.”

There seemed to be a lot of overlapping circumstances for her as an illegitimate child, even though she was royalty.

“I think this erases the possibility they are Heir Klevend’s vanguard.”

“You’re right…”

Hyland pressed her fist to her mouth, thinking.

“Is something the matter?”

“Hmm? Oh, uh…,” Hyland responded, then sighed. “I’m deeply shaken.”

Shaken? Col was surprised, but Hyland gave him a rather troubled look. It was almost as though she was still deciding if she should say what she was thinking.

“It’s not unusual for me to see those from those bloodlines around me, you see, but…it’s still different from the world I know, so I’m perplexed.”

Hyland laid her hand over her forehead, took a deep breath to compose herself, and spoke.

“It would not be a lie if I said I wasn’t aware the Church was that rotten. From what I know, I thought the children created by priests were treated as their extended family and given lives that weren’t all that terrible.”

“You—”

“Just listen. It’s not unusual for nobles and the rich to build private chapels and monasteries in their own territories. There, instead of praying for specific things like successful military exploits or one’s family’s health, they foster the little lambs of God. Understanding supporters often even take in people who are on journeys of theological wanderings, don’t they?”

Books were luxuries, pens and ink cost money, and one needed a calm environment in order to think. It was not unusual for the houses of lords or the rich who had a love of learning, intellectual curiosity, or even feverous faith to become little gathering places for study.

“There are also plenty of those who build private chapels and monasteries for reasons other than pious ones, especially affluent merchants. They do it to make others pray for the success of their business and also to earn money directly. I’m sure you’ve heard that running places of worship makes a surprising amount of money.”

For example, by placing a magical holy relic in a small gazebo, people will come just in search of miracles. When people come, they spend money, and shops aiming to get their money pop up, and after a certain amount of donations, the gazebo becomes a shrine and then a large temple, and the whole place gets livelier and livelier.

What was it that brought profits to a purchased wasteland when it grew into a town?

Even if it did not go that well, it was not unusual to hear that there was still a good degree of trade to be conducted just by building inns that also acted as chapels along the highway for the wasteland in the empty expanse.

“And the priests of those private chapels and monasteries are often these ‘nephews.’ One would require approval from the nearest church for the guarantee of permit to construct these establishments, but since they’re private, they have no relationship to the Church, and the Church has no power of appointment over them, so the builder is generally free to choose who to hire. Therefore, it’s quite common to see the second and third sons of nobles who aren’t able to inherit the land, or second and third daughters who are unable to prepare a dowry and thus unable to marry, and these ‘nieces’ and ‘nephews’ who have nowhere to go hanging around these monasteries and giving sermons. These places are often crowned with the name of a noble or a rich person, so mostly all of them are splendid and made to draw attention, and, well, most of them live fun lives. I have several friends like that.”

Col had also heard of something like that, but he was curious to see how that would overlap with Sharon’s story. As he wondered, Hyland carefully, step-by-step, continued speaking.

“I thought these ‘nieces’ and ‘nephews’ were leading normal lives. They occasionally receive an education, and there are even some who end up as priests in higher positions than their ‘uncles.’ That’s because they already have a powerful ‘uncle,’ which gives them an advantage at getting ahead in life.”

She then took a slow, deep breath, perhaps to cool her anger.

“But after hearing Sharon’s story, it sounds like they’re in the minority. In the end…I’m just a noble, and I only ever saw the thinnest, topmost layer. They alter the baptism and funeral records to turn them into someone else’s widow and kick them out, right? If…if that’s an established practice, then I can’t imagine how many people have been made victims of these awful habits.”

There were quite a number of children at the orphanage where Sharon and Clark were. It was hard to think that they came from all over the Kingdom, but it was likely that all of them came from just the neighboring diocese. The dark underbelly was more widespread than even a noble like Hyland, who understood the city life, could imagine.

Among them, it sounded like there were some who were welcomed as blood relatives, given a free life, and who made their way up in the world. But in contrast, that also meant there were plenty of selfish individuals out there who could not be bothered to care for them.

“I…was thinking that if it came down to it, I would stop the tax collectors. There was the chance that they might be Heir Klevend’s vanguard, and they were probably collecting the tax just for money anyway. Like what Eve said, I thought that whatever goals they might have would be inconsequential if they were going to be the spark to start the war.”

Hyland’s sigh was in response to the cruelty of the world and how narrow her insight was.

“…How am I supposed to stop them after hearing that story?”

While there were quite a number of nobles who insisted that the lowly people must not stand up to those in authority, Hyland’s anger was reassuring.

“I agree. However, as someone who loves peace, I would prefer to avoid war.”

Hyland, of course, nodded heartily.

“Emotionally, I am on their side. But to be honest, I think it will be difficult to stop them. Which means we’ll have to do something about the relationship between the merchants and the Church…And if we can’t do anything about that, then we will need a plan to make their intentions ineffective.”

And at this point, the whole train of thought was directly connected to what Eve talked about.

“What Eve brought to the table is a godsend. It will truly be our safety net,” Hyland said with a groan and then fell into thought, her fist still on her mouth.

What Eve talked about was a way to outwit the Church’s plans, but it was that much more questionable because of it.

It was not easy to simply reach out to a sudden ray of hope in the midst of hardship.

“Honestly, in reality, I would have you meeting the king and the first heir right about now, but we’ll have to put that aside for the moment…”

Hyland exhaled the breath she was holding, then spoke, leaning back in her chair.

“This is not something I can make a decision on by myself. I will have to report to the people above me, but then I’m sure this will just fill their heads and they’ll have no room to think of anything else. Not only that”—Hyland looked to Col—“the king is anxious about dealing with the Church, so it’s very likely he will use this idea. We can warn him of the dangers, but it’s much too convenient, and the profits are unbelievably huge.”

That meant Eve had come up with the perfect plan for the perfect situation.

“It’d be nice if it went well, but when considering what would happen if it didn’t, you should be distancing yourself from this incident. That’s because it’s only after everything goes well that we can sell our business as much as we want. The only time we can show ourselves to the king and those of authority is when they’re smiling.”

She said it almost like a joke, but Col had to admire how deep Hyland’s consideration was.

That was because, just as she said, there was no way she could make a decision on her own, since this whole affair dealt with the fate of the Kingdom. She would have to report to the first heir and also relay it to the king; if they decided to accept, then she would have to take on that responsibility.

Not only was the plot itself unbelievable, Eve was also a factor for worry, so none of them could say it was a favorable gamble even if their lives depended on it.

And yet, Hyland was trying to take on all the responsibility herself so that the king and the first heir would not have a bad impression of her.

“Also, I can see that you trust that Eve,” Hyland, turning the conversation back to Eve, said to Col. “Do you have a more concrete basis for it besides the fact that you’ve known her for so long?”

It was a given that Hyland would wonder about that, and Myuri beside him looked at him with jealousy for different reasons.

It might not be as concrete as Hyland was hoping for, but Col gave the reason why he was so positively captivated by her.

“I think we can trust in her…only when it comes to trade.”

“Which means?”

Col ruminated on everything Eve had said, then responded.

“If there’s no other possibility for her to make even more money than what she told us about, then that means we can trust her.”

She would pretend to act as a spy for both the Church and the Kingdom and then single-handedly take over trade when it stopped. It was an entirely foolhardy way to walk the tightrope, but the profits were unimaginably large if she managed to make it across.

If Eve was going to betray them, then that would be when riches even beyond the scope of her unimaginably large profits appeared.

“…I can barely picture that in my head.”

“Neither can I, of course. But…”

“But?”

Hyland looked at him, and he knew there was no way he could stay silent.

“I can’t imagine that Miss Eve is trying to trick us.”

Perhaps he had that feeling only because she was an old friend. Hyland seemed to hesitate on whether she should point that out to him or not, but it was Myuri who interjected.

“…I kind of get what my brother’s trying to say,” she grumbled. “I feel like she’s an evil fox…But that’s exactly why we can trust her.”

She was right.

There was an animallike quality to Eve, and she gave others an impression that was beyond logic. Though everything that came out of her mouth was an icy calculation, there was a firestorm of whirling passion underneath that charmed everyone. It almost seemed like she had not even thought about such an obvious betrayal.

“But all the same, I just can’t see how she can be honest. We don’t even know what sort of trap she’s set for us tomorrow.”

“It is true that she is treacherous. I know you’re nervous, Heir Hyland, but—” He continued. “Miss Eve planned to come into contact with us because she likely estimated that there was value in using us. Then, that would mean there should be some room for us to negotiate as well. If she’s planning something bad, then…we might be able to act as a seawall in that case.”

She would probably say, Are you stopping me?

But there was a reason why he had made up his mind.

“I do not want the Kingdom to negotiate with the Church in their conflict, for Miss Sharon’s sake as well.”

Myuri’s eyes widened, and Hyland nodded slowly.

“A legendary merchant who helped the Debau Company seize hegemony in the northern region runs the bathhouse Spice and Wolf. I hear that an elite and renowned mercenary company comes and goes from there and that a notorious slave trader on the mainland has admitted the bathhouse’s superiority. And you are their dear child. Just as she said—she must understand what sort of retaliation is coming for her if she lets you get hurt.”

While Lawrence, their support, was someone to mind, the one who Eve was really worried about was Holo.

Truly angering Holo the wisewolf was the same as setting free a legendary beast trapped inside thick parchment. An army of tens of thousands would still be eaten alive.

And of course, it seemed Eve had realized that Myuri had her own fangs.

“I don’t trust the evidence that the plan this woman is preparing will go well.” Hyland looked straight at Col. “I trust you, and I’m letting you handle it.”

He thought he saw Hyland exactly for the noble she was for a brief moment.

When Hyland found out that Col and Myuri had not eaten at the Golden Fern, she treated them to a feast that night in order to energize for their meeting with Eve the next day.

They were amazed by the quail seasoned with saffron and other similar dishes, but perhaps the second-biggest city in the Kingdom was just the place for rare meats and spices, things that could easily be collected with the right amount of money.

If the merchants stopped all trade and war broke out, people would no longer be able to have regular meals, much less fancy meals like this.

Col was not so softhearted as to think that Eve had brought up her plan from such a humane perspective. But at the same time, he could scarcely imagine that she was deliberately trying to trick them.

If there was anything they needed to fear, it was that if they were at the level of disappointing Eve, then she would surely and relentlessly try to deceive them.

He wanted her to praise him because he knew she was such a terrifying individual.

Only Eve could draw out those conflicting feelings inside him.

That was why it was rather different from what Myuri was suspecting him of.

“Do you like bad older women like that, Brother?”

Hyland’s hospitality restored their energy, and it was when Col was cutting the wick for the candle as he thought about the coming day. Myuri looked at him like a traitor, asking him a demanding question for the umpteenth time.

“No.”

He snipped the wick with the scissors and responded clearly. He did not admire Eve as a woman.

“But you liked Mother a long time ago, right? That just means you like the tricky ones.”

“…”

When Holo had told Myuri about the past, she occasionally told her stories like that.

It felt like she was prodding a healing scab, because he could not entirely deny it.

“Ms. Holo and Miss Eve are completely different. To me, Ms. Holo was like…a dependable older sister.”

“Mother always tells Father that you might overtake him someday.”

It was nothing but the usual loving quip Holo said to her dear husband, but Myuri took it seriously for some reason.

But at the moment, Myuri might have just been strung up from seeing the great woman who was Eve in person. At their princely meal not too long prior, she did not seem to be enamored by the delicious food as she usually was but seemed more like she was stuffing herself to get ready for the fight tomorrow.

Of course, it was not as though Col was thinking lightly of tomorrow’s affairs, either. They could find out if Eve’s plan was trustworthy enough, and then if it went well, they could turn the Church’s plans into wasted effort, and then the Kingdom could stand up strongly to the Church as they always did. Futhermore, even if they could not clear up the hatred that Sharon and the tax collectors had, it would still give them a reason to continue fighting against the Church.

In short, their meeting tomorrow could turn out to be a big turning point in the conflict between the Kingdom and the Church.

So while Myuri worried that her unreliable brother’s eyes would be clouded by infatuation, he could not say she was going overboard with doubt.

“Myuri.”

He called her name and looked straight at his traveling companion, who sat on the corner of the bed, her tail nervously twitching.

“I think your worries are ridiculous.”

“Y—!”

“However—” He pushed Myuri back down as she suddenly tried to stand, emphasizing the ever. “What happens tomorrow will affect not only us but a whole multitude of other people. Miss Sharon and the others especially.”

“…”

“That is why you should be keeping a close eye out to see if my vision is clouded or not. I am sometimes surprised by how sharp you are.”

Myuri slowly sat down from her half-standing position at the same speed that her puffed tail shrank down again. He did not have ulterior motives to divert Myuri’s odd doubt.

He would freeze if someone told him to stand up to Eve alone, but as long as Myuri was with him, even though she might not be as mighty as Holo the wisewolf, it was more reassuring than anyone else.

“You look at me just as much as God in heaven does. You notice when I’m acting strange, don’t you?”

“I’m looking at you more than anyone else is!” said Myuri, puffing up her cheeks.

Her face looked like she was telling a joke, but when he saw the pools of tears gathering at the corners of her eyes, he was perplexed.

“Myuri?”

Realizing Col had changed demeanor, Myuri immediately composed herself and rubbed at her eyes.

She then guiltily looked away, raising her shoulders.

“I—I can’t help it. When I saw you in front of that fox, you…you didn’t look like yourself…”

When Myuri expressed why she doubted his relationship with Eve so strongly, Col’s face went blank.

Myuri must have thought it was his way of showing exasperation, so she pursed her lips and twitched her animal ears, but it was not.

That was because he himself had experienced reeling from seeing a facet of someone he thought he knew everything about just in front of the chapel.

“To be honest, I felt the same way when you were talking about Miss Ilenia.”

“…Hmm? Ilenia…?”

“Yes.”

When he told her about when he found out that Ilenia had given her advice that only another nonhuman could give, something that Col could never do, Myuri was clearly exasperated.

“What the heck…You’re so dumb!”

“…”

He could tell her that a father and older brother always wished for a young girl to stay young…but she probably would not understand, and Col knew he was dumb anyway.

“But okay, yeah, I get it.”

Myuri immediately gave a smug smile and leaped off the bed, taking wide strides to approach Col.

“If you don’t want what’s in your arms to get away, then you need to hold on tighter.”

She then whirled around, grasped his arms, then leaned against him and wrapped his arms around her. Her red eyes that looked back at him over her shoulder were narrowed in happiness, and her ears and tail flicked about.

“I’m not going to leave your arms, and you won’t leave my side. Isn’t that right?”

That would be the conclusion of their conversation, but he sensed something leading in Myuri’s words, and his intellect leaped to action.

“…Well, it depends, but yes.”

“Why won’t you just say yeah there?!”

She tugged on his arms and dug her nails into them.

“If I did, you would follow up with, Then, you should make me your bride, right?”

“Well, obviously!”

As Col sighed in relief, narrowly escaping danger, Myuri’s tail started thumping up against his leg.

But even though he was typically annoyed by Myuri’s cunning schemes, there were times—like now—that he had fun with them.

“That sharpness of yours will be a big help tomorrow.”

Myuri typically never listened to any of his lectures, but she froze when he said that quietly. She then started trembling out of excitement.

“I got it.”

She turned around with a dauntless smile.

If there was anything he could put more faith in than his prayers to God, this would be it.

“I’ll protect you, Brother.”

He did not find that audacious.

“Thank you.”

“Yep.”

Myuri nodded with a smile, and he returned the smile.

He placed the freshly cut candle right next to another candle stump.

If the light was about to disappear, then all they needed to do was add more and more.

The important thing was not to give up.

“Then, let us get ready for tomorrow and sleep.”

Not only that, but they had been spending their nights on hard boards as they traveled over the sea.

“Can we sleep together?”

It was either Hyland’s consideration or because this was a room that people high in status stayed in, but there were two large beds.

“If I say no, you’ll just come in anyway.”

“Heh-heh.”

Myuri smiled happily and threw herself onto the bed first. Meanwhile, Col closed the shutters and windows, capped the candles, and put out the light. Just as he started to make his way to the bed to sleep, he found that Myuri had already fallen asleep during that short wait.

He had a feeling she would not notice if he went to the other bed, but they were going to fight together tomorrow.

He hesitated a moment, then lay down next to Myuri and pulled the blanket up to his shoulders.

He felt like Myuri was smiling in the darkness, but before he could check, his consciousness sank into the depths of sleep.

The next day, they once again donned the clothes that Hyland had lent them, boarded the lacquered carriage that Eve had allowed them to use with the driver who Hyland had prepared, and Hyland, who stood there to see them off, said, “I don’t think anything will happen, but on the slim chance you find yourselves in danger, I’ve stationed people nearby.”

It was probably a common occurrence in the noble world of intrigue.

“Thank you. I will do my absolute best to be of use.”

Then Hans closed the door, and there came the sound of the driver whipping the horses.

Myuri had slept well the night before and had stuffed herself full of the food meant to gently break the fast of the nighttime.

They were plenty ready for battle.

“I’m excited to see what kind of shop it is, Brother.”

But he was not sure she said that because she was still relaxed or what. He was about to tell her that they were not going there for fun but opted not to. It was more of a relief for him if Myuri stayed the way she always was.

The carriage exited onto a crowded street, as the streets always were, parting the sea of people to move forward. The city looked entirely different from within the carriage, and Myuri was glued to the window, watching the scenery go by.

It finally seemed like they had come to a street that was less crowded, because they had turned onto a wide avenue.

As though it was some sort of indication, Col noticed the stream of people had suddenly cut off, and he was then surprised to see their field of view suddenly open up before them.

“Wooow!”

It was apt that Myuri unwittingly cried out. The grand plaza was literally a grand plaza, and it was almost as though the sky had suddenly fallen down.

“This is amazing!”

This was the first time they had seen an endless stretch of flagstone pavement. The others standing still in awe in the plaza were likely travelers just like they were.

The fate of the Kingdom felt like something that could be manipulated with one hand, but in reality, the Kingdom included this plaza, the streets around the plaza, the residential areas, and the tens and hundreds of towns and villages that existed elsewhere. To shoulder the responsibility of the future of all that, and how that felt, was something Col did not want to imagine.

But this meeting they were heading to would bring about one change or another in the Kingdom’s fate.

As he sat holding his breath, Myuri, who should have been getting worked up about the scenery, reached over to grasp his hand, her gaze still trained outside.

He inhaled—he had to do everything he could—and that was when he noticed.

“Doesn’t something smell good?”

“Yeah. The whole plaza smells like sheep.”

Before long, the air filled with the delicious smell of grilling meat, strong enough that his own nose could tell. At the same time, the sparse crowd started to gather again, and he could hear the sounds of merrymaking that belonged only to taverns.

They finally arrived at the Golden Fern, and it was less like a tavern and more like a giant studio.

“…In—” —credible was what Myuri wanted to say, but she swallowed the rest of that word, too.

They were first surprised by how lively it was under the eaves at the front of the shop when they alighted from the carriage. There were several simple stoves set up outside, and massive amounts of mutton were being cooked on them. Craftsmen, merchants, and travelers sat at the rows of long tables in the corner of the plaza, looking at the thick, delicious-smelling smoke billowing upward with gluttonous gazes.

They were not roasting pig but lamb, and shirtless, muscular men put on a show of turning the skewer on the spit in time with the performance of the minstrels, who were there for tips. Even Myuri, who would leap forward in joy at the sight of meat, was so overwhelmed that she stood still.

“…Is there a festival today?”

It was so lively that Col understood how she felt when she said that, but this was very likely a daily occurrence.

The carriage driver also doubled as a guide, so as they were about to be led into the shop, Col tugged on Myuri’s hand and they went inside, avoiding the drunks as they went.

And the inside was just as busy as the outside.

“Is this a store…? Is this really a store?”

This was different from all the other ways Col knew taverns could look. The ceiling in the atrium was unbelievably high—about five or six stories—and it reminded him of a metal refinery.

And half the first floor had rows of firepits like there were on the outside, which made it the kitchen, and the flames and smoke shot out with the vigor of a shriek. The rest of the floor was stuffed with long tables, the guests sitting at them, squeezed among one another, shoulder to shoulder, all making a great ruckus.

When Col lifted his gaze slightly, he could see the second floor. There were rows of round tables, and the people sitting at those tables seemed comparatively well-off. He also spotted the stairs that went up to the even higher floors, which probably housed private rooms that cost a seat fee. Eve was likely in one of them.

Their guide called out to a staff member, and as they were greeted graciously, the massive banner hanging above them in the enormous atrium shuddered. Embroidered on it was the image of a sheep, many times bigger than any human.

This was a booming restaurant in a great big city.

He could not help but feel a divine dignity in response to its energy.

“Come this way, you two.”

They were complete yokels, straight from the countryside, but they returned to reality once their guide spoke.

This made him worry about what was coming next.

They went up the stairs and could see across the entire first floor. He could stay here watching the scene for hours, but they continued upward. He was not imagining the feeling of stares from the other patrons; they were looking at them, wondering who it was who was headed for the special seats.

If Hyland had come here, then people would surely suspect right away that something was happening. In that sense, it was rational that it was Col who ended up being the one to be summoned, but there was no way that Eve did not have some kind of trick up her sleeve.

The moment their guide knocked on the door to the private room, which was being guarded by the two they’d seen at Hyland’s manor, and the door opened, he knew his guess was right.

“You’re here.”

There was a large table set before the friendly Eve, and an immense hunk of mutton, freshly cooked, the juices still flying off it, sat enshrined in the middle.

And lined on either side of the table were shady-looking men, well-dressed but with a sense of ruin about them.

“And who are they?”

Numbers were a decisive strength, no matter the battle.

The reason he asked that before sitting down was because it was the least he could do to protect himself.

“Hmm? Ah, don’t worry about them. I didn’t ask them to come here to force you to do anything,” Eve said, smiling. “They are the very proof that my plan will go well.”

All of them immediately wore affable smiles and made the gesture of removing their hats.

That was a merchant’s gesture.

They were probably merchants of the greatest caliber, but an impossible idea flashed into his mind.

“Miss Eve, don’t tell me that…they are…”

Eve’s smile turned into that of a fox, and once she bared her teeth in a delightful grin, he was convinced. The merchants here were the city traders, conspiring with the Church to put the Kingdom in a bind. The mystery of why the traders were not betraying anyone and why they were working together with the Church was solved in that brief moment.

Hyland had found it strange how cohesive the merchants seemed, since they typically would not hesitate for a moment to undercut their peers if it meant turning a profit.

But if they were all betraying the Church, then that was a different story.

“Now, take a seat. The lamb here is exquisite.”

How could he say that he would not end up becoming part of the meal?

Yet, the reason he managed to take a step forward was likely because Myuri was beside him, but also, even if he wanted to pull out, the door was closed.

More importantly, there would be no point in having come here if he did not see through their plot.

“…I am Tote Col, Heir Hyland’s representative.”

Everyone besides Eve stood, exchanging handshakes with him over the table.

The moment he sat, his glass was filled with wine.

“First, a toast.”

Following Eve’s lead, everyone raised their cups.

What sat at the center of the table was a whole roasted sheep.

It had been lathered with layers of oil extracted from tree nuts, roasted slowly over a long period of time, and then finally seasoned with black pepper. That combined with the scent from the lamb itself was so good, it practically paralyzed Col’s sense of smell. Even for someone who avoided eating meat as much as possible, his mouth watered.

“Eat. This table is my hospitality.”

As she said that, a towering man who stood behind her pulled out a knife. He acted as both a bodyguard and a butler, and he so deftly and elegantly cut the meat from the ribs. The fatty meat was placed onto a piece of hard bread, which served as a plate and was placed in front of them. Despite how much breakfast she had eaten, Myuri’s eyes glittered, and when Col was given an even larger piece of meat, he spoke up, flustered.

“I—”

“What, are you eager to hear the sermon of the hermit in his hermitage?” There was a slight mischievous smile on Eve’s face as she sipped her wine.

Suddenly, Col felt as though he had returned to being the child he was over ten years ago.

He knew the story of the hermit, of course. It was a staple story told at times like this.

“…The hermit said, there is no meaning in asceticism for asceticism’s sake. God’s teachings of asceticism do not say to disregard one’s neighbor’s kindness…”

“Exactly.” Eve nodded, satisfied. “And it seems our princess knows her banquet manners.”

When she said that, Col looked to Myuri, and despite how they had just been given their portions, she had already put the last big piece of meat into her mouth.

“You want seconds?” Eve asked, seemingly enjoying herself, and Myuri swallowed the piece, then defiantly responded.

“Yeah!”

He would typically reprimand her for being rude there, but perhaps he should be more impressed that she was not being timid. The towering man gave Myuri an even bigger piece of meat, and she seemed delighted.

“Now, in regular meetings, I would offer drink until the other’s faculties for thinking were weakened before bringing up the topic at hand, but…unfortunately for me, I don’t think that’ll work on someone whose principles include asceticism and moderation like you.”

“Are we briefing already, Lady Eve?” the portly merchant on the left asked.

“Yes. I’ve been talking about my plan, but I’m stumbling over getting the Kingdom’s trust. My recommendation to Lord Hyland hinges on whether or not I can persuade the Twilight Cardinal here or not. If we can get past this, then think of it as the Kingdom accepting our plan.”

Eve flashed Col a meaningful smile that said, Isn’t that right?

“I see.”

The merchant wiped his mouth on the soft-looking linen cloth he had on hand, signaling to the other merchants with just a look.

There was a unique air about them that was different from the priests and the mercenaries.

“In that case.” As though the merchants had come to some sort of conclusion, the portly merchant who had first spoken to Eve straightened himself in his seat. “My name is Pedro Arugo. I am the representative of the Arugo Company’s trading house here in the Winfiel Kingdom. We mostly deal in fabrics.”

Then the scrawny merchant with a goatee beside him continued.

“I am the Rausbourne manager of the Matteo Company, Stan Matteo. We take care of foodstuffs from the south.”

Next was the merchant on the other side of the table, sitting opposite the previous two on the other side of Eve, who had a mustache and seemed rather well proportioned for his age.

“I’m Guillain Aurelius. I deal with goldwork, silverwork, and other metals.”

Once everyone had introduced themselves, Col shook their hands again. Their palms were not as hard as those of craftsmen, but the odd space between their index and middle fingers meant they held quills too much.

“These three here are on top of this city’s traders’ association. If you also count the other companies that have pledged their cooperation, this accounts for about eighty percent of trade.”

These people were not the sort one could typically just call up and see. Col almost flinched, but when he remembered how brazen Myuri had been to eat mutton so heartily like she did, he persevered.

“I thank you so much for the honor of being able to sit with the great Twilight Cardinal at his zenith. I was certainly surprised to learn that Lady Eve was acquainted with the Twilight Cardinal,” Arugo said first.

“His Eminence and I are old friends, you see. He even saved my life way back when. It was when he was still a young, cherubic boy.”

“Oh-ho. Does that mean His Eminence was under God’s protection even back then?”

Merchants always talked in exaggerations.

“This is most certainly God’s will, though. There is no questioning that us being able to meet you today is what God intended,” Matteo said, and all the merchants turned to look at Col.

He had made up his mind, and excessive bargaining was exactly their field of expertise. He decided to get straight to the point.

“I am also honored to be able to meet you. I do certainly want to hear what you have to say, so…why are you here? Are you not allied with the Church?”

He thought they might flinch, but they received his question with a smile.

They were veteran merchants, so of course Col was not surprised.

“We are allies of the Church. But things are a little complicated,” Arugo said, then lifted his sleeve and rolled it up, then placed both his hands on the table.

This was an action that gamblers used to demonstrate to another that they would not cheat, and Col knew well that it meant he had the disposition of someone who was in charge of a large company’s banner in a land far away from their home.

Even though they were supposed to be cooperating with the cathedral and working on their side, they sat next to Eve as if it was no big deal. He had been skeptical if Eve alone could monopolize the smuggling trade between the Kingdom and the mainland like she had said, but if she had plenty of coconspirators in the enemy camp, then her possibilities were endless.

And then, Col finally understood why Eve could not tell this directly to Hyland.

Who on earth would believe her if she told them this plan?

“You’re allies…? If you’re working with Miss Eve, then does that not mean you’re betraying the Church?”

Then that might possibly mean the merchants would be allied with Col and company, but since they were betraying the Church, it was entirely possible they would double-cross the Kingdom as well.

He had to be very careful about what they were planning.

“You could say that depending on perspective, but we have no intentions of betraying anybody.”

“It means they’re allied with both the Kingdom and the Church, Col. Our only enemy is the tax collectors.”

When he heard Eve say that, he felt like he was being made a fool of.

Beside him, Myuri looked on with a suspicious glint in her eyes, her fangs visible as she ripped into the mutton.

“What are you all trying to do?”

He could not expect them to answer his question honestly, but he knew what sort of lies they would tell. Hyland probably did not think he would be able to discern their truth right away, either. He had to return with the information of what Eve and the others said to him and how it felt to be in that room.

And then Eve spoke.

“To keep the scales in balance.”

“The scales?”

“Yes, Your Eminence. In order to keep the scales in balance, you will need to place things of the same weight on either side, and that is why we need to be on the side of both the Kingdom and the Church.” Mysterious words poured from Eve’s lips, wet with wine. “We want them to fight on equal terms. Forever, preferably.”

As Col found himself bewildered by the devilish mood, Myuri beside him swallowed her food and then spoke.

“Because fighting uses lots of things, Brother. And when people use a lot of things, these people’ll get rich.”

She loved hero tales, and she would never leave mercenary Captain Luward’s knee whenever he came to the bathhouse, so she knew things that would put merchants to shame.

“My, what an intelligent girl.”

“If you’re thinking about hiring her, I have dibs,” Eve said pleasantly, then placed her cup on the table. “If you understand that war is the chance to make money, then you understand half of it. We have another reason.”

Arugo continued for her.

“We hope to avoid a situation in which one side wins. You are appealing to the Church for a reform, Your Eminence, is that correct? In that case, think of what would happen if the Church won over the Kingdom.”

The Church would brush aside this chance to reform and claim victory.

If that happened, the forces that defied the Church would likely stay in hiding for a while.

Now, long after the war with the heretics ended, there would be no more enemies of the Church.

“Can’t you imagine what would happen to their tyranny?”

He was right, and before Col could say anything in response, Matteo spoke.

“You must think, in that case, we should offer our services to ensure the Kingdom wins.”

These were merchants, the best at seeing through others’ thoughts.

While Col gritted his teeth at the feeling of being led around by the nose, him losing his cool was just what they were hoping for.

“I…hope the Church will reform. The Kingdom must win in this war in order for that to happen.”

“Your Eminence.” Aurelius shook his head, a sad expression spreading across his face. “We cannot have that, either. That is because not even we can begin to imagine what would happen if the Kingdom was to win against the Church.”

“Huh?” Col responded with a furrowed brow, and Eve spoke.

“Col. The Church’s tyranny drives us crazy sometimes, too. Especially when they leave their debts unpaid. I don’t know how many of my fellow merchants have gone under because of that. But in the end, even though they denounce the money we worked so hard to make as dirty, they live in luxury. We hope they’ll start being a little more honest, too, just like you.”

It did not feel like she was simply flattering him; that was true anger.

Eve, however, sighed slowly.

“But on the other hand, that tyranny saves us sometimes, too. More correctly, it’s not the tyranny itself but the source of power that tyranny creates.”

“Your Eminence, the Church’s wealth and power that are talked about in town are not completely evil. The world needs them.”

As Col found himself in such shock he could not even voice his disbelief, Eve continued.

“It’s like a knife. You can’t travel without one, but it can also kill people. The key is how one uses it—just because there are people out there who don’t use it in good ways, that doesn’t mean we need to rid the world of knives, no? Of course, I’m not saying we should ignore their evils because they’re useful. But talk of leaving only the harm and taking only the benefits is much too unreasonable.”

He was used to unreasonable quarrels with Myuri.

He should not talk back but ask.

“What are those benefits?”

Those benefits allowed the Church to build up wealth and abuse their power. It brought about miserable souls like Sharon and the others, yet there was no way there could be justice in simply staying calm.

While he might not know anything about trade, he knew what justice was.

“Listen for a moment, Your Eminence.” Arugo leaned forward slightly, took his cup in his hands, and lightly swirled around the wine inside. “Have you ever imagined how this wine might have come to sit on this table?”

Even though Col knew that merchants never took talk that was inconvenient for them head-on, he still found his face growing hot with the anger bubbling inside him as this man avoided his question with a straight face.

“That is not what I am talking about.”

“I am not trying to confuse you,” Arugo said with a sincere expression, and without waiting for a response from Col, he continued. “It’s the process this wine takes in order to come sit on this table. We could even talk about this wheat bread here—all these products came from far away, passed through the hands of many, carried all the way here to the Kingdom without interruption. The Kingdom—no, all the countries of the world function along these lines.”

Col was already well aware of that. That was the real value in the traders threatening to pull out of the Kingdom.

And how was that related to the justification of the Church’s wealth?

Almost as though he had heard him groaning internally, Arugo nodded silently.

“The problem is that trade comes with conflict.”

Col’s irritation only grew because nothing he talked about was relevant to anything else.

He was starting to think that perhaps it was time to kick back his chair and leave.

“Do you understand, Your Eminence? Let’s say a company from the south goes to purchase furs in the northlands. And then, let’s say once there, the company gets into quarrels with the local vendors over whether or not they paid, or the quality of the goods being fraudulently terrible, or there’s not enough, and so on and so forth. In times like these, the company that has come from far away is in the weaker position. No one is there to protect them, and the local authority sometimes even comes to dupe them out of ill will.”

Arugo spoke fluidly and without hesitation in a calm, mercantile manner.

He then struck his index finger onto the table.

Matteo took over.

“And then, it is the Church that helps them. The Church exists all over the world, and many will prostrate themselves before their might. Even in the farthest of lands, with no one to rely on, if the local powers cause you unfair problems, then the Church is there to help.”

What Col suddenly recalled when he heard him say that was the church in the northern islands. The Black-Mother faith, deemed heretical by the Church, was strong in that region, and not only that but their surroundings were shut off by a frigid sea—it was the sort of place one would never come home from without help from the locals. Even an idiot would know that it was pointless to be aggressive with locals in a place like that.

Outsider merchants still came together to build a church, even in a place like that. There, they understood one another’s language, and everyone followed one another’s common sense. If war came, it would surely give them shelter.

The Church acted as binding nodes.

Strength that could turn into violence could also protect others.

“The Church acts as a mediator when merchants get into quarrels, and many merchants follow the Church’s decisions. That is because if one defied the Church’s authority, that would mean making an enemy of the Church organization throughout the world. That would mean losing the Church’s backing, and we would no longer be able to engage in long-distance trade. And then…”

Aurelius continued after that.

“Plenty of money is required in order to build churches all over the world and secure authority. And people will not bow their heads to the shabbily dressed. Obvious power, like enormous cathedrals and gold and silver ornaments, is a necessary armor, as well as a weapon.”

“Of course, the war with the heretical faiths and the pagans was necessary for the Church to maintain its authority, and that also cost money. Their wealth is absolutely not useless. As a result of that, however, it is true that people think they are indulging in unreasonable pleasures, and there are people among them desperate for additional profits.”

“However, while that is an unavoidable and evil, as it were, cost, it is a mistake to mind only that cost but denounce the whole. The Church’s vast wealth allows them to keep their authority, and the trade of us merchants is protected by their continued wealth, and the trade of the merchants supports the lives of many people. Everything is connected, Your Eminence.”

What they were talking about was the makeup of the real world, which was not written about in the scripture.

“If the Kingdom was to subdue the Church at this rate and the Church was to lose their authority, please try and imagine again what might happen.”

What would happen if the Kingdom won in the conflict with the Church? What would happen if the Church’s power was dampened, if they lost their overwhelming authority and cohesive power and were also forced to give up their economic muscle?

They would have to live a clean existence. The world would be a better place…

Matteo’s bright-green eyes, typical of someone from the south, turned to Col.

“I’m sure you’re thinking that you would fix the conduct of the Church while their pride is hurt, Your Eminence, but I doubt it will go that easily.”

“Once someone who used to throw their weight around grows weak, those trying to supplant them will start popping up. Conflict like that would happen all over the world.”

“It would be blind, rampant chaos. That’s exactly why…”

And then, once all three of the merchants had spoken, Eve took over.

“People would regret it and almost wish they could go back to the time when the Kingdom and Church were just staring each other down.”

Col could barely tell where the truth stopped and where the lies began. Their relation of the topic seemed incredibly logical but also just off in general.

How was he supposed to believe being told that the Church’s tyrannical power needed to stay as it was for the stability of the world?

But the merchants continued on the offensive.

“If the Church lost their authority, where should us traders ask for support and mediation in such a faraway land, without any acquaintances nearby? Or maybe we should just give up on trade and go home? Plenty of people would be in hot water if that happened. No one can find all the things they need to live from one single land. Trade is necessary.”

“For example, if we got wrapped up in a trade conflict in a distant land that we had never heard of, would the Kingdom of Winfiel come help us?”

“Not only that, should the Church’s strength diminish, the heretics and pagans would gain strength again. The world would only return to a time of war like it was in decades ago.”

Col could barely get a word in, but Eve simply began talking slowly.

“Col, the world doesn’t work on logic. Power is necessary in order to preserve order. The one at that apex is the organization of the Church. They may seem evil, but they are an absolutely necessary entity.”

The merchants lived in a realistic world. And they were fighting in order to preserve their realistic world. The reason he had nothing to say was absolutely because of what Sharon said.

The weak had no choice in the end but to rely on the Church, and it was only the Church that could help them. It was certainly an idealistic thought to tell them to preserve their functions as protectors with diminished power.

Not only that, but a weakening Church was not only a problem of faith but would also affect trade, which supported the lives of the people. On the contrary, the order preserved by the Church’s authority would suddenly collapse, and the world would return to an era of war.

The table fell to silence.

The four merchants looked at Col.

“Well, it is true that the way high-ranking clergy act is egregious,” Eve said, concerned. “Like the ones who use these special rooms the most are quite clearly the people from the cathedral. They come to such a grand establishment, eat such good meat and drink such delicious booze. If they just had brown bread and cheap ale, then they could share whatever they had left over with the poor. That is the truth, but the important people from the Church would never do such a thing,” she said quietly. “That’s why we can’t have them get any more stuck-up than they already are. But on the other hand, we’ve racked our brains to figure out what we should do about the situation now, since we can’t have them lose to the Kingdom, either.” Eve paused there to sigh deeply. “Though it’ll bring us riches, we don’t actually want to cross this dangerous bridge in the first place. But the scales are being tipped too far in one direction, and they’re teetering back and forth. The parties concerned with the Kingdom and the Church are lost. That’s because the weights on the scales themselves don’t have the power to stop them from teetering. They’re too busy keeping themselves from falling off the scales, at least until they go completely to one side. That’s why us merchants have to stop them from leaning. Even if they call us bats, even if they view us as traitors, we’re the only ones helping both camps; this is the only way to preserve order in the world.”

Their gazes on Col were clearly pressuring him.

There was no way he did not know what they meant.

That was because—

“The one who disrupted the balance of the scales was none other than you, Your Eminence.”

There was nothing he could say to argue against Arugo. Hyland had also pointed out the same. The Kingdom and Church had been at a standstill these past few years, so while one could lament it as a stagnation of the reform, one could also call it a stable condition.

Col had thought reforming the Church would be an unconditionally wonderful thing. But what if what he was doing was ignorant and naive, and all he was doing instead was planting the seeds of chaos throughout the world?

“Well, this is a bit hard to say, but…”

“You are responsible for giving this unstable situation stability.”

That was an adult scolding him.

Regret that felt a lot like embarrassment gnawed at his heart.

Sharon and the others had a compelling reason to fight against the Church. Even the merchants, who were partaking in dubious affairs, had one.

Then, what about Col himself? Did justice really exist on his path of ideals that he sang about? Were his ideals only because he simply knew nothing of the real world?

Just as it felt as though his legs would give way underneath him, Aurelius smiled.

“But luckily, the name of the Twilight Cardinal holds great power right now.”

“What?”

“With your help, I believe that keeping the balance of the scales of the Church and the Kingdom and restoring stability would not be as difficult as it seems.”

“You think so?”

Col unconsciously felt saved by the man’s kind expression.

“Why do you think I came to you, Col?”

Eve gave a troubled smile.

Ever since he was little, she had always been kind to him.

“When I heard that several people trying to disrupt the balance between the Kingdom and the Church appeared, I was surprised to learn it was you…But I get it: If you weren’t aware of what you were doing, then I understand.” Eve’s kind, wry smile was the one he’d seen when he was a child. “Now that I know you’re not scheming, and you’re pulling outrageous acts out of sincerity, I’m relieved, and I also understand. But that sincerity of yours will backfire on you. Well, what am I to do? There’s no universal tool, and that applies to both the Church’s good and bad,” she said, leaning forward over the table. “Col. If the Church attacked now, the Kingdom would be at a disadvantage. But if we can work together, it is entirely possible that we can get the situation under control. We’ll support the foundation of the Kingdom with goods and information, people will come together here because of your presence, and then we can cooperate with our allies on the mainland. Then the Church will likely see that they won’t have a chance at winning the war. Well, due to the difference in supply, it would be impossible for the Kingdom to win just like that, and we don’t want that, either. But when both sides realize that neither has a winning move, the war scare will quickly calm down, and we can complete our goal of preserving order. And of course”—Eve smiled a big, playful smile—“we’ll make plenty of money. We’re merchants, after all.”

“And then everything will come to a nice conclusion.”

“We were astonished, too, when Lady Eve brought this up to us.”

“And it feels good for us knowing that we can outwit the Church. They have let us down quite a lot until now.”

“We have been conducting trade in this country for many years, and it now feels like our market has widened. How could we just throw that away overnight?”

All the merchants on either side of her spoke in turn.

Were they greedy merchants, trying to confuse him with a dubious plot in order to make money?

No.

They were simply thinking of the world in their own way, and they still sought out the road that would bring them the most money. He could not blame them for that.

“How about it, Col? I’d like you to convince Lord Hyland and report to the king yourself. And then we will be able to bring in all our specialty goods to this country straightaway. And while we’re at it, we’ll also be able to cover for you in your weaknesses.”

Arugo, Aurelius, and Matteo all gave confident smiles along with Eve.

They would be able to calm the chaos Col was bringing about.

“Then, here’s proof of our promise.”

Eve then extended her hand. Merchants were creatures of trust, and he had seen how important handshakes were on his travels with Lawrence. Eve and the merchants were serious.

Trust had to be returned with trust. He had come to learn very well how weak he was, and if she and the others were going to help him with that, that would surely be reliable.

He looked at her extended hand, then raised his gaze. Eve was smiling gently at him.

He had no choice but to wipe the sweat off his palm and extend his own hand.

It happened just as he was about to do that.

“Ah!”

There came the sound of porcelain shattering, along with a cry.

He looked to his side, and there was a huge puddle of spilled juice, which was quickly approaching the pure-white robe Myuri wore.

“Ah, oh no, Brother!”

Myuri grew agitated at the sudden event; she wore bright, blindingly white clothes borrowed from Hyland, which were terribly expensive. In a flurry, he reached for his linen on the table to try and wipe it, but grape stains did not easily come out.

“Wh-what should I do, Brother? These aren’t mine…”

Myuri was on the verge of tears, and Col almost wanted to tell her that this was not like her at such an important time as this. He felt bad for asking it of Eve, but he lifted his head to see if they could at least call someone for stain removal, but he noticed Eve’s gaze on Myuri.

He reflexively looked back to Myuri, and she was glaring with such intensity at Eve he thought she might even reveal her fangs, despite how she had just been on the verge of crying only a few seconds ago.

What made him think it was a daydream was that when he looked back and forth between them in surprise, their expressions had returned to normal.

But his eyes had not tricked him.

The two beasts had been exchanging looks.

“Sniff…Brother, we need to wash these clothes quickly…,” the little silver wolf said, deflated.

His brain could barely catch up, and his mouth hardly worked.

“Er, uh…”

He glanced over at Eve again, and she had retracted her hand and was now leaning back in her chair, somewhat in a huff.

“Instead of getting a stain remover here, you should go back to the manor. Call the carriage,” Eve said to the towering man who was both her butler and bodyguard, and with elegant movements that hardly matched his massive stature, he made his way to the door. And as Eve sipped her wine, Arugo and the other merchants turned to look at her, as though confirming her decision.

When he thought about that in conjunction with how she glared at Myuri, then perhaps they had laid a trap for him and were trying to catch him.

He did not know the truth, but that was the conclusion that Myuri had come to, at the very least, and had intentionally spilled her juice.

“I’ve come to retrieve you.”

The driver appeared in the doorway, his eyes widening when he saw how Myuri looked.

As Col helped up Myuri, who was worried about her clothes, and started getting ready to go as though they were fleeing, Eve spoke.

“Col. Without our help, the Kingdom will be unable to escape from a remarkably disadvantageous situation. And our goal is to preserve order. Don’t you love peace?”

Unsure of how to respond, Col simply nodded vaguely, bowed his head briefly, and they left the room.

As they went down the stairs, other patrons saw how outrageously dirty Myuri’s clothes were and were surprised, and some laughed, but Col was in no state of mind to care. After a distance that felt four times longer than when they’d come, they finally reached the outside of the shop, and they climbed into the carriage. The door shut, the whip cracked, and just as the wheels started to clatter along the flagstone, blood finally started circulating above his shoulders.

When Col exhaled the breath he had been holding in his throat, Myuri, who sat next to him, kicked at his feet.

“Brother, you idiot.”

The girl’s clothes were covered in grape juice stains, but it went without saying who the biggest idiot was.

“I’m sorry…But do you mean that Miss Eve and the others were trying to trick us?”

He did not think that Eve was lying at all. It was also true that at the rate things were progressing, the Kingdom would be at a disadvantage. He had no idea if there were any burst seams in the story at all.

And then, surprisingly, Myuri shook her head.

“Uh-uh. I don’t know if they were trying to trick you, and I don’t know if that fox was lying at all. Mother might’ve been able to tell, but…I think we’ll have to ask Blondie and do some checks on that. I think it was all true, though.”

“Then…why?”

Myuri pinched her robe, perhaps because it was sticky, and started flapping it like a bored little girl as she spoke.

“The second they recognized they’d tripped you up and unsettled you, they started coaxing you and acting really nice to you. I had to stop it when they started using those stereotypical tricks.”

“Stereo…typical?”

Col was shocked, but Myuri just shrugged.

“Mother always uses tricks like that on Father, so I could tell right away. They deal a punch to put you in a flurry, but then they suddenly act all nice and catch you.”

When she said that, he thought over the conversation he’d just had.

When he found himself reeling from how correct what Eve and the others pointed out was, he was not pressured for failing but instead was honestly relieved when they showed him there was a way to recuperate. He felt as though they were on his side.

“It was so obvious that last handshake was going to just tie you up, Brother. You’re too honest, and you’d do anything you could to keep any promises you make, right?”

He saw it easily. Had he taken Eve’s hand, he surely would have tried to influence Hyland on Eve’s behalf, and if that did not go as intended, then he would have felt a pang of conscience for Eve and the others. The reason why he’d thought he should take her hand in the first place was because he believed she trusted him and that he should live up to her trust.

But if that was just a part of the calculation…

“You realized right away, didn’t you?”

This girl had inherited the blood of Holo the wisewolf and the astute merchant Lawrence. On the one hand, he admired her keen insight, but he also winced at how pitiful he was. And it was also true that he had brought instability between the Kingdom and the Church, and it was certain he had been totally unaware of it.

He wanted to bury his face in his hands, but his hand was suddenly grasped by Myuri’s.

“Do you even have time to be worried about stuff, Brother?”

“I—”

“Were you even listening to what they were saying?”

“What did they say?” he asked in return, and Myuri gave a deep sigh and pouted.

“They said, you are super-popular in the Kingdom, and that if they made progress while ignoring you, they could still probably easily turn it around afterward, so please be their friend.”

“…”

He stared at Myuri in surprise, and she stared back hard at him. Her serious gaze overpowered him, and he had to think on his conversation with Eve and the merchants.

“…”

They had certainly said it would not be hard to calm the teetering scales with his name. If he interpreted that in the most convenient way, as there was no need for flattery on their part after coming all this way, then he felt like Myuri was right.

And if his existence was that inconsequential, then it was certainly odd.

Why had Eve brought this plan to them and not directly to the king?

“If they were going to trick you and use you, then there has to be more to it. They probably have a weakness where they can’t make you too mad. One even bigger than not making Mother angry.”

Even Myuri, who was the most selfish girl in all of Nyohhira, only ever obeyed her mother, Holo.

“They came up with this plan to make bank, but it can’t go any further, so I think they’re trying to make up for it with you. That fox is a famous merchant, right? Then she could’ve just gone straight to the king in the first place. Why’d she come to you?”

His thoughts lined up with hers.

There had to be something there.

“Well, the fox’s only miscalculation is that you have a wolf at your side. And what just happened felt less like a trick and more like a test for me.”

Myuri hummed, as though proud of properly making a mess of the whole thing, but then frowned when she noticed how dull his responses were.

“Are you still upset? You do like that fox, don’t you?”

Myuri pushed closer, but that, at least, he could deny.

“N-not at all. But…I was just so cleanly won over, I…”

Myuri then sighed deeply and sat back.

“True, but you’re you. You’re not Uncle Luward. What else are you gonna do?”

Luward was the valiant captain of a mercenary company. Col could give it his all and still never be like him.

“Uncle Luward would’ve sniffed out the fox’s motives right away, improvised, changed his behavior, and argued back, sure. Or maybe he would’ve drawn his sword to slice the table in half.”

Myuri pretended to swing a sword with both her hands, looking entirely like a tomboy enamored with hero stories, but Col really could imagine Luward getting in a scuffle.

“But if I try to imagine you doing that, Brother, it doesn’t feel right.”

She suddenly dropped her hands, and her small shoulders shrugged in a grown-up manner.

And then she immediately looked at him with a sincere expression.

“If that’s who you were, I feel like I wouldn’t have been able to believe the promise you made to me.”

“What?”

“The promise that you would be my only friend.”

Col had vowed to Myuri that even if the world shunned her for being nonhuman, he would still be her only friend.

“Uncle Luward might make a promise like that, but…he looks exactly like the kind of person to do that. But you always get so worked up about all the little things and nothing you do is ever clear-cut, and you still honestly made the promise. That totally changes the meaning of it.”

Despite what she said being a little too harsh, Myuri’s expression was gentle and happy.

“What was it you called that? Stubborn? Earnest? You know, the one that makes you sound stupid…”

“…Simple.”

When he said that, Myuri blinked several times and then grinned.

“That one. It really suits you.”

There was both a positive and negative meaning to that word, and she was talking about both.

“And I love you the way you are, Brother.”

Without a hint of embarrassment, she expressed her affection clearly to him.

“I guess I do kind of want you to learn a little from Uncle Luward, but…you’re still you at the end of the day. So even when it seems like foxes like that might corner you in an argument, you don’t have to get upset over every little thing.” Her beautifully shaped red eyes shone dauntlessly. “It’s my job to fight things like that. That means you absolutely need me.”

Myuri was not a weak little girl who always needed Col to protect her.

She was a wolf with the blood of a wisewolf.

“Then, what’s my job?” Col asked, and Myuri planted her face right on his shoulder.

“You’re supposed to hug me.”

“…”

While her ears and tail were not out, her body language was telling him to do it quickly. It was partially a joke, but it was also demonstrating the truth.

Eve had cornered him and was abusing the name of the Twilight Cardinal, who looked like he was not truly thinking about the consequences of his actions and was likely walking around alone. But that meant Myuri noticed it, because being an idiot was not necessarily always a bad thing.

There were things he could do and things people would believe in him for because he was simple.

Eve had also called him sincere.

If God brought everyone into this world with a role in mind, then he had to fully do his part. And if he was to believe that his role was reforming the Church, then he certainly did not have any time to be upset.

Eve’s plan might have a huge effect on the future relationship between the Kingdom and the Church, and the relationship between the Kingdom and the Church would affect the order of the world. That order would pass throughout the world, and people like Sharon, who had been caught up in the Church’s evil practices, could also use it. He was the gear that sat in the key point of the mechanism.

But most important of all, the girl named Myuri was looking straight at him as she always had.

How could he walk the path of a man of the cloth without living up to her expectations?

“Very well. Myuri?”

“Yeah?”

She stretched her neck, her face nearing his.

“We will have to investigate Miss Eve’s plan as thoroughly as possible, and since I had no idea of it, I will have to reconsider how this will affect the world.”

“Oh, uh, huh?”

“But where should we start first…? I think we need to talk to Miss Sharon and then send letters to Mister Hilde and Mister Lawrence…”

As Col thought as hard as he could, Myuri stuck her face in front of his and headbutted him.

“?!”

“Brother, you idiot!”

She huffed and looked away.

He was lost for a moment and then finally remembered that she had asked him to hug her. She had seen through Eve’s psychological warfare to save him and she’d cheered him up when he was down, so he had to thank her. He could at least do that now—so he reached out to put his arms around her, and even though Myuri still pouted, she leaned into him with an affected sigh.

But then he suddenly stopped.

“Oh, I would only dirty these clothes, wouldn’t I?”

The whole front of Myuri’s outfit was a beautiful grape purple. Col was also wearing clothes borrowed from Hyland, so he could not let them get dirty. He had unconsciously frozen because of that, but he noticed Myuri’s cheeks were puffed as she glared at him.

“Oh…”

“Whatever!”

She completely blew up.

It was around then that the carriage arrived at Hyland’s manor, and Hyland, eagerly waiting for them, hurriedly rushed over to greet them in a way that did not suit a noble.

“That was quick. How did things end up—?”

Just as she started to speak, she saw how the two looked when they alighted the carriage, and her eyes bulged.

“I thought it was strange that none of them was thinking about betraying the Church, but to think that all of them already were!”

While Myuri had gone to change her clothes, Col gave a rough outline of what had happened and Hyland shook her head in amazement.

“If it’s true, then their plan does seem a little more realistic, but…you still find something suspicious about it, do you?”

“Myuri pointed this out as well, but it sounds like there is a reason that Miss Eve has to have us on her side. Myuri noticed that if she had confidence in her plan, it would have been easier to go straight to the king himself.”

“You’re right…Perhaps she was afraid of it being too preposterous, just like she said…”

After a moment of dropping her head as though in deep thought, Hyland continued.

“If there’s a possibility for it, then maybe insurance. They are betraying the Church, so they have to have thought of what would happen if they were exposed. So perhaps you could say getting you on their side would be the very least they could do to be ready. With you on their side, that means the people of the Kingdom are on their side, at least. Or…” Hyland paused and mischievously curled her right hand like an animal’s claw. “They get a good grip on you to use you when the time calls for it.”

Col did not have to think very hard to imagine how they would use him.

“…They would hand me over to the Church in order to make up for the crime of betraying them.”

They knew they were about to cross a very dangerous bridge, and Myuri had said that there was a reason Eve and the others could not continue any further with their plan.

If that reason was the guarantee of a lifeline, then that was more than a good enough reason to try and pull in the Twilight Cardinal to their side.

“It might not be like the exchanging of heads from the wars of old, but if you were to surrender to the Church, then it might be easier for them to gather the distant feelings of the general public. It’s not a terrible value to use you for that. Oh yes…That’s very possible. You want to be a priest, don’t you?”

“…So you mean I would not be forcibly sold over to the Church but that I also have advantages, correct?”

“And also, what would happen if my own person was ensured?”

Hyland’s? Col thought, and when he considered what sort of position Hyland might be in at that time, a bitter taste spread through his mouth.

“I would be made to work in exchange for your life, wouldn’t I?” he asked.

Just as Hyland chuckled, as though something about it was funny, the door opened and Myuri came in. She was wearing her normal clothes that she had been wearing from Nyohhira.

“Even these clothes feel super stiff after wearing such a nice outfit like that…,” Myuri grumbled and sat in the chair beside Col. “Were you guys talking about fun stuff?”

“Not at all.”

“We were talking about a situation in which I was captured and your brother had to come and save me.”

“Oh yeah, that’s no fun.”

“Myuri!”

Hyland’s shoulders shook as she laughed, and Myuri only looked away when Col scolded her. She still seemed to be angry about what happened in the carriage.

After a good laugh, Hyland tapped the table with her finger.

“But position-wise, we are at a disadvantage here. Especially if war was to break out.”

“And…it’s likely that will happen, isn’t it?”

He had felt like Eve was confident it would.

Hyland sighed weakly.

“Typically, the excuse of an outbreak of war is a defensive one. For us, we don’t want to have a war, but we don’t have a choice. In that respect, the aggression of the riled tax collectors is a good enough reason for it.”

And when war broke out, they had to wholly accept Eve’s plan in order to procure supplies. There were only so many options they could take.

“If we don’t like the thought of getting on board with Eve and company’s intentions, then we need to also consider suppressing the actions of the tax collectors. But I’m unsure if we can persuade them with words to stop.”

Sharon’s hate was real.

And Myuri, who had been looking away in a huff, turned to Col with surprise.

It was almost as though she was asking if he was planning on getting in Sharon’s way.

“Eve and the merchants are talking on the presupposition that war will start because the Church is likely showing indications that it will. In that case, if we don’t accept what they say, then that means we will have to conduct war with the Church without any of the traders. We stand absolutely no chance of winning. We would need to change our direction to removing the spark that would lead to war.”

“But I’m not sure if we can convince…”

Hyland also apparently seemed to know of Sharon’s personality, so she nodded and responded.

“If the time calls for it, then I will suggest to the king that he cancel the tax-collecting permits themselves.”

Drifters like Sharon could publicly attack the cathedral because they had tax-collecting rights based in royal authority.

Of course, there were times they were used in a bad way.

The king could cancel the collection rights at his own discretion, and then Sharon and the others would immediately lose their grounds to fight against the Church.

“You can’t!” Myuri cried, standing with such vigor that her chair fell over. “That would just mean withdrawing against the Church, right?! You can’t do that!”

Col was surprised to see how determined she was.

As he wondered if she really empathized that much with Sharon’s story, Hyland, who had spent all her time doting on Myuri, turned to her with a sharp gaze.

“We cannot expose the entirety of the country to danger due to our own personal sentiment.”

That was not the friendly Hyland speaking but a young lord of the Hyland house.

As Myuri stood there gnashing her teeth, unable to continue, Col held out his hand.

“Myuri, calm down.”

“But, Brother!”

“Then, do you think we should go along with Eve’s plan?”

He interpreted that as a teasing question as well, but it was likely because that was how much Hyland recognized Myuri as an equal.

“…”

Unable to answer, Myuri weakly plopped back into her chair.

Hyland watched Myuri with a sad expression. She, too, was pained by Sharon’s story. Hyland’s morals would never allow her to compromise with an organization practicing deeds that could only be called cruel.

However, it was unclear if they could trust Eve, and even if they could, they had to consider the mystery element that was Heir Klevend once war broke out.

From the position of Hyland and the king and all the heirs above her, pouring all their energy into avoiding war would keep an overwhelming number of things safer. That meant that even the most humiliating of compromises would be much preferable to losing the war and their chances of recovery.

Hyland sighed, then spoke.

“The tax collectors would probably get stubborn; they don’t want to lose their foundation, either. It’s likely they’ll accept a temporary pullout. If we ask them to retreat for a brief moment, then it’s possible that tensions with the Church would ease. In that case, they could keep their rights to collect taxes.”

Hyland was creating a road by placing one stone at a time. It was realistic, sensible, and reasonable.

But when Col saw how smooth her reasoning was, he suddenly felt something off that he just could not push away.

That was how calm Eve and the others were at the Golden Fern, and how Hyland acted when she cleanly laid out the next steps without a moment’s hesitation did not match up.

“Heir Hyland, may I?”

“What is it?”

He mentally held the odd feeling in his hands again. He checked its form and its size and converted it into words.

“I wonder if Miss Eve and the others were entirely confident they would have us on board with their explanation at the Golden Fern.”

Hyland blinked. Myuri, beside him, also made a quizzical face.

“…They weren’t?”

After she said that, Hyland turned her gaze to Myuri because she was roughly explaining what they talked about at the meeting.

“…But didn’t they actually win you over, Brother?”

There was no doubt that Col would have completely fallen for the trap without Myuri. It would have been only a few moments later that the door would have closed behind him and a collar placed around his neck. He had no excuse for that.

But that was why something felt so off to him.

“Someone as great as Miss Eve let her prey escape from a trap right before her eyes. I feel like she would be more persistent, yet we came back here like it was nothing.”

And Hyland immediately came up with a countermeasure accepting that would happen.

It was much too simple and much too logical.

“Don’t you think…it’s because they knew that I’d stationed people in the area? And if you ended up in a trap, we would have to think about retaliation as well.”

That might have been true, but he had a feeling they were misunderstanding Eve on a more fundamental level. There had to be something that would explain exactly why Eve and the others were not too bothered about convincing him right then and there and why they did not mind at all that they managed to escape.

Perhaps they had absolute confidence in their own plan, for example.

Perhaps they were convinced that the result would be the same, even if they escaped, for example.

For example.

For example…

“No way.”

When he realized the possibility, Col was shocked.

“Col?”

Col lifted his head when he heard Hyland’s anxious tone. He knew very well how capable she was. She was just as virtuous. He then looked to Myuri beside him. The rambunctious Myuri had been teaching him a terrible lesson of how easily the most honest people were controlled.

So perhaps Eve easily saw through them because of how logical Hyland’s idea was?

Eve and the others had a way to make their plans a certainty.

“What would you do if we couldn’t douse the spark of war at this point?”

“What do you…” …mean? was the rest of Hyland’s question, but she could not finish, and the blood drained from her face.

The thing that was worrying her in the first place was why the merchants, who would never hesitate to betray all those around them for a fat profit, were coming together for the Church.

Merchants would do anything they could to get money.

In that case, they should be looking at it like this:

“Miss Eve and the others are probably thinking that instead of making plans on the premise of a war that may or may not happen, all they needed to do was make that uncertain war into a certainty. Perhaps they decided they needed to mix themselves in with the tax collectors’ underlings.”

Because if war did break out, then the desperate Kingdom would have no choice but to rely on Eve, even without having to convince Hyland.

And since they would be without any other options, Eve and the others would hold the initiative for negotiations.

This could be the only reason why they were not angry when Myuri snatched up her prey out of nowhere just before the maw of the trap in the Golden Fern closed. They were confident their escaped prey would just come right back to them.

That was exactly who Eve Bolan was.

“…Starting a war for money, huh?” Hyland said, astonished.

“When I first met her, she completely obstructed a river so no other ships could carry in furs, with the aim of monopolizing the fur trade. I heard she would have been hung if she was found out.”

As intelligent as she was, Hyland was a noble and, to put it simply, had a good upbringing.

Her face tensed when she heard of Eve’s past, which could be called nothing but savage.

“I wonder if the chicken knows she’s got bugs in her camp.”

When Myuri said that, Col swallowed hard.

“Miss Sharon and the others’ goal is to drag the priests out from the cathedral. It might be possible they’ve realized they have intruders on the inside, but…”

“They might think of it as a perfect opportunity.”

He did not want to think that Sharon’s ideology was that nihilistic, but it was not impossible.

“Then, they won’t delay any longer, will they?”

Col had never heard Hyland’s voice quaver like that before.

“Actually, now that they’ve disclosed what they have in their hand, I doubt they’ll leave it for later. Of course…that is if my thoughts are correct, however…”

He had proposed the idea, but it was just a supposition, and he had no proof for it. When he voiced his reservations, Myuri gave him a cool look, and Hyland gawked at him.

“Brother.”

“Y-yes?”

“Sit up straight. Arch your shoulders.”

“What?”

He was bewildered by Myuri’s words, and Hyland stiffened, smiling slightly at him.

“You’re a strange one. You’re daring but delicate.”

He felt as though Eve had said the same thing, but he was sure she had not been complimenting him.

“Either way, I cannot push your theory aside like nonsense. Instead, from how things are developing, I think you might be right.”

“Yeah,” Myuri said, standing. “Then, what are we gonna do? I hate the Church. I sympathize with the chicken…her. I don’t want to get in her way. But really don’t wanna get on board the bad fox’s plan.”

Myuri was talking about the whole thing entirely as though it was about her preferences, but even thinking about it logically, the conclusion was mostly the same.

“If there are merchant puppets scattered throughout the association, then doing something about the tax collection permits would not change anything. And how would we fish out those working for the traders? It can’t just be one person, and it’s not very realistic to capture all of them before someone does something to enrage the Church and push them over the edge to decide to start a war.”

Sharon and the others were not the villains in this story, no. They had a good reason to be angry and were acting on it. Treating them like criminals would not be right.

Think, Col desperately told himself. The worst-possible scenario had not happened yet, and they still had the possibility to do something about it.

And speaking of possibilities, there was one way.

“This might just be a theory, but…”

“I don’t care. Let me hear it.”

Col licked his lips, formed his question, then spoke.

“Why don’t we just have the tax collectors and the city cathedral come to a reconciliation?”

“…What?”

Hyland looked at him in astonishment.

But he was not afraid.

“With the way things are now, I think no matter how many tax collectors we end up catching, it would be a waste of time. Even if we threw them all in jail, they could equip someone else who sympathizes with them and attack the cathedral as much as they like. From the outside, the Kingdom’s misconduct seems like a good enough reason for the Church to start a war with them.”

“I…”

“But it’s a different story if we can get them to reconcile with the cathedral. Rausbourne is a huge city with a large diocese, and I imagine they have quite the influence. The relationship between the Rausbourne cathedral and the Kingdom will set an example for the future. If that happens, then the tax collectors might officially lay down their arms, and if the cathedral is happy with that, then any other rabble-rousers who might try and attack the cathedral in the future would be harder to use to justify a war with, is that correct? And with an official reconciliation, then the Kingdom would take initiative to protect the cathedral.”

Hyland slowly thought over his words, then nodded, as though swallowing them.

“You’re right, but there’s a problem. The tax collectors reconciling with the cathedral is just a development of the reform, isn’t it? Would that not just instead cause the papal office on the mainland to stiffen their attitude? It feels like your plan is just the image of a snake eating its own tail…”

Col shook his head, cringing at how bad his own explanation was.

“Er, not exactly. There would be reconciliation, but on the surface, we would have the tax collectors step down.”

“Step down? The tax collectors? But that’s—”

Impossible should have been the next word to follow, but Col stared hard at Hyland.

“Miss Sharon and the others might be tax collectors, but their goal is not money.”

In that case, there was only one possibility left.

“If we could unofficially achieve reconciliation with the priests, then I think that perhaps Miss Sharon and the others won’t mind so much about how it looks on the surface.”

“Oh right!” Myuri said, clapping her hands together. “That’s why that nasty fox was trying to get you on her side!”

“I see! We certainly should remember what the Twilight Cardinal has done. You actually did open the doors of the cathedral in Desarev!”

Eve was plotting to get rich on a war she was counting as a given, so what she was most cautious about was an easing of tension between the Kingdom and the Church.

The one who could act as a mediator between the two would only get in the way of her plans, which would give her a reason to be wary of him.

Of course, since Col knew the facts, he saw this as a completely different situation to the one in Desarev, and frankly, he was not confident that he could bring about a reconciliation that would satisfy Sharon and the tax collectors.

But that was the only thing he could do, and if that was their course for solving this, then they had no choice but to do it.

And not only that, but this theory cleanly explained Eve’s actions as well.

To put it simply, one could also say that Eve thought reconciliation was possible.

“Then, um?”

There, Myuri made a clueless noise.

“Right. I don’t see our next step. The cathedral is literally unapproachable. It would be hard to get in contact with them in the first place, so what will you do? You forcing your way over to knock on their door could be enough to light the fire on its own.”

Col could see what the next step was.

“There is someone who sympathizes with Miss Sharon but who also supports the cathedral’s side.”

And that person even looked upon Col favorably.

It was Clark.

“Heir Hyland.” Col looked straight at Hyland and spoke. “I believe we might be able to avoid war without relying on Miss Eve’s intentions.”

Next, he turned to Myuri.

“And without getting in Miss Sharon’s way.”

Myuri’s face immediately lit up, and she nodded.