Sorting Through the Information, Planning the Next Move

Dusk.

A guest room in the Burzak estate.

Marquis Crocell wore a look of quiet satisfaction.

“The fool has come here to die.”

“What do you intend to do with Rigen Librata?”

The one asking was a man in armor — human, going by his appearance.

His name was Philon. Almost certainly an alias.

His prior history was something even Marquis Crocell didn’t know.

But he was a comrade, and his skill as a knight was beyond question.

“Kill him, of course.”

“But he has money coming from Marquis Burzak, and he’s set up Heinkel the dark elf as his notary.”

“Oh, no need to worry about that. I’ve already had a word with Burzak. He’ll hand over a bank draft tonight, right away.”

“……You’re going to pay him, and then kill him immediately after? Will Heinkel simply stand by and watch?”

Crocell gave a thin smile.

“You do like to pick things apart, don’t you? Dark elves act only in the interest of their own kind. From what I hear, Dominic went off and did what he did entirely on his own. And would that dark elf really fight for Rigen’s sake?”

“There’s always the one-in-ten-thousand chance.”

“And it’s still just one. Besides, even if it comes to that and the dark elf takes Rigen’s side, you’re more than capable of handling it.”

The conventional wisdom was that human knights fell short of warriors from other races in individual combat. The gap in accumulated training time was simply unavoidable.

Human knights had spent centuries compensating for that with every method at their disposal.

And in Crocell’s estimation, Philon’s ability was more than sufficient.

Philon himself, however, wore a grim expression.

“A fight is never settled until it’s over. And if we kill Heinkel, won’t things spiral out of control? If the dark elf side catches so much as a whiff of it……”

“You’re worried word will reach the Queen of Assassins? There’s absolutely nothing to fear.”

Crocell smiled.

“By tonight, everything will be ash.”

“Tonight, you’re moving tonight?”

“The preparations are already in place, aren’t they? We simply move the timeline up.”

“……”

Philon’s expression stayed hard, and Crocell’s brow creased with mild irritation.

They were on the verge of carrying out the plan, and this capable knight of his was getting cold feet for some reason he couldn’t fathom.

“What is it with you?”

“The young master of House Librata who’s staying here, he has no magic at all, correct?”

“That’s right. The man’s famously useless, chasing after women without a drop of magic to his name. A pathetic, incompetent wretch.”

“Then how did he beat Dominic?”

Philon said it bluntly.

“I’ve seen the state Dominic’s in. He was thoroughly beaten. It was entirely one-sided. Meanwhile, the Librata young master didn’t appear to have a scratch on him.”

“What do you make of it?”

“……I have no proof.”

Philon spoke quietly.

“But he wrote a contract in advance and placed a dark elf as notary. Dominic has a short temper, and Marquis Crocell had already given him an incentive to finish things quickly.”

“That’s right. I told him flatten Rigen and come back, and I’d give him Alicia. The look on his face when I said it, eyes wide, tripping over himself to get out the door. Quite amusing.”

Crocell laughed — with the contempt and disgust of watching a rat run furiously inside a wheel.

Philon shook his head.

“That was the problem, I suspect. Dominic probably burned through his magic from the very first exchange. Rigen kept retreating, and once Dominic had worn himself out, he counterattacked.”

“Is that so. Well, there you have it.”

Marquis Crocell couldn’t bring himself to care much.

He was a noble himself, and he had magic — the power he had inherited from his predecessors as head of House Crocell. He was confident against any opponent.

But to Crocell, the success of his carefully laid plan mattered infinitely more than some children’s brawl.

Philon shook his head again.

“……Something still doesn’t sit right with me.”

“Enough of that. I respect your skill, but you’re being overly cautious. We’re about to take a great stride forward for our cause, why shrink from it now?”

“My apologies. I think I’m just on edge.”

Philon gave a brief bow.

Crocell shook his head with a smile — and unlike the face he wore with Burzak or Rigen, this one held not a trace of pretense. Philon was a true comrade in their shared purpose.

“Rigen came to us rather than the other way around — that wasn’t in the plan — but nothing changes. He’s having dinner with Alicia right now. He’s probably desperate to get her into bed. That’s fine by us — makes everything cleaner.”

“Yes. I’ve been overthinking it.”

“Are the materials ready?”

“Yes. The performance is guaranteed.”

“Good. Tonight, then, or rather, around two in the morning tomorrow. We deal with it then.”

“Understood. Though……”

Philon hesitated before speaking.

“What are your intentions regarding Miss Alicia?”

“……”

The smile vanished from the marquis’s face.

A long pause.

Then the marquis spoke in a voice gone flat and rough.

“She was never really my daughter to begin with.”

“Pardon?”

“No, never mind. If she dies, that’s just her fate. And even if she survives……”

Marquis Crocell shook his head.

“Forget it. Stop thinking about it and go prepare.”

Early evening.

The dining room of the Burzak estate.

Alicia and I sat across from each other, eating.

Just the two of us — or three, counting the one standing behind me.

Garul stood at my back with a rigid expression.

“Hey. Aren’t your legs getting tired?”

“I’m fine, Young Master. We’re in enemy territory. I’ll guard your life around the clock. Please don’t worry about me and focus on your meal.”

“It’s awkward eating alone. Pull up a chair and join us.”

“……H, how could I possibly sit at the same table? Please don’t mind me, enjoy your conversation with Miss Alicia!”

“What are you, a matchmaker? Shoving me toward the lady like that?”

Clunk.

Alicia, the half-elf sitting across from me, set down her utensils.

“Neither of you has the slightest tension about you.”

“Neither do you. You’d think you’d be too busy explaining things to be sitting there eating so calmly.”

“Marquis Crocell already has eyes and ears planted among the staff here. We have to be careful what we say and where we say it.”

I responded without much inflection.

“Strictly speaking, Marquis Crocell wasn’t dead set on killing me from the start. All he needed was for one of us, me or Dominic, to come out badly hurt. A noble’s duel doesn’t have to end in death.”

There was always the option of a representative’s duel too.

Plenty of variables.

“What mattered was getting the Librata and Burzak sons to fight each other. And as bait, you’re a half-elf, half elf blood. Any human man would find himself drawn to you, so naturally Dominic and I would tear into each other without any further pushing.”

Alicia listened to this description of herself without any particular reaction.

“One of them taking a serious injury was the baseline. Death would’ve been better. Both dying, ideal. That was Marquis Crocell’s thinking.”

“What comes after that?”

“Marquis Burzak is small-minded, but he clearly dotes on his son. If Dominic had died, he’d have gone blind with rage.”

As it was, he had very nearly ordered his soldiers forward without stopping to think.

“And the reverse, if I had been the one to die……”

The count would never have let it stand.

For the sake of House Librata’s standing among the twelve, he would have been compelled to act.

“The bottom line is, Crocell’s objective is a violent clash between Burzak and Librata. And you must have been cooperating with him to serve as that bait. So give me a reason to trust you.”

Alicia’s cooperation was genuine enough on its surface.

But she was Crocell’s daughter — trusting her outright was out of the question.

“I had no choice. I couldn’t stop this alone. I needed to play along and wait for a chance to catch Marquis Crocell making a mistake.”

“Obviously I still can’t trust that.”

“Believe me or not, just listen to what I have to say. I’ve been quietly gathering information from inside Marquis Crocell’s household.”

This half-elf didn’t hold back.

The boldness was interesting.

“You’re right about everything. Marquis Crocell was trying to start a war between House Librata, one of the twelve, and House Burzak.”

“What does Crocell stand to gain from that? That’s what I can’t work out.”

I listened carefully — the way I used to listen to a capable administrator’s briefing in my days as emperor.

“Marquis Crocell intends to use the bloodshed as a foundation to restructure the balance of power within the Millennial Empire. Why did he target House Librata in the north, near the Alakas range specifically? Yes, Librata is the weakest of the twelve, but more importantly, this region is governed by the elves.”

“The elves don’t govern actively. Even if something significant happened here, they’d leave it to the humans to sort out themselves.”

“Exactly. The ideal conditions.”

Alicia spoke quickly.

“Do you know the current political factions within the empire? The empire has……”

“The Noble Assembly, the other races, the imperial military, the civil administration. And then the Railway Military Police on top of all that. A complete jumble, nothing coordinated. The Noble Assembly and the twelve houses are one thing and two things at once. The empresses are from the other races, but each of them has her own delicate position.”

“When did you develop political instincts like that? I’m genuinely surprised.”

Alicia looked at me as if seeing something new.

A moment ago she had been sharp and calculating. Now she looked more like a girl caught off guard.

She collected herself and continued in a measured tone.

“After the sudden death of the first emperor, Sirik Karakas, the empire spent a hundred years drifting. The world stopped advancing. What power existed fragmented into vague, floating pieces.”

“They should have chosen the next emperor……”

The words slipped out without thinking.

In the end, the empire had managed nothing more than stagnation after my death.

“Everyone thinks so, but it was never possible. The twelve houses deliberated for a hundred years and never reached a single conclusion. Another hundred years, another two hundred, and it will be the same.”

“……”

“And even in the one-in-a-million case where the twelve somehow reached a decision, would the other races accept it? Seven races, each with their own beliefs and values?”

“You’re speaking about the other races, and half of your blood is from one of them.”

“……You keep bringing up my bloodline.”

“Naturally. You’re Crocell’s daughter.”

“I’m speaking now not as someone’s daughter, but as a citizen of this empire, I’m trying to stop this. If things continue as they are, a great tide of blood will sweep through what little stability the empire still holds. The people calling for change will tear apart everything the first emperor built.”

Alicia said it with force.

I pulled it together.

“Marquis Crocell stirs up a major incident in this region, then pins the blame on House Librata. That changes the roster of the twelve, and from there he overturns the balance of power across the entire empire.”

“Yes. A great war under the name of reform.”

I sat with it for a moment.

Alicia asked directly.

“Well, do you believe me? Or not? Is it me you doubt, or what I’m telling you?”

“No, actually, it’s plausible. A hundred years is……”

Short for the other races.

But an unbearably long time for a human.

A hundred years with the throne empty.

If you started to think that another hundred years — three hundred — might pass the same way, with no emperor ever coming……

“Can’t they just live without an emperor?”

“……That’s a remarkably irresponsible thing to say out of nowhere. There has to be an emperor.”

Alicia said it with conviction.

“It was Sirik Karakas’s valor in battle that freed us from the Seven Sin God and brought us into an age of extraordinary progress. Do you actually know what he accomplished as emperor? He wasn’t simply a war emperor. Ending the war against the Seven Sin God alone makes him a founding hero of civilization, but his true legacy began after the war was over. The first thing he did was ensure no more children died of starvation.”

“Hey.”

“He solved the food crisis in the face of an exploding population and raised the standard of medical care. He invented the steam engine, laid down railways, and made the transport of goods flow freely. He dramatically improved education and spread literacy across the empire. And that’s not all. He reformed the chaos of the existing currency and established the Imperial Bank, which……”

“Hey, slow down. Why are you suddenly talking so fast?”

“This is the important part. The Imperial Bank’s single greatest achievement was securing lasting trust in the currency itself, and…..”

“All right, I get it, stop there. Are you a fan?”

The moment the subject of the first emperor came up, she had gone completely serious and started pouring her heart out.

I stared at her, and Alicia declared without a hint of embarrassment,

“Yes! I admire him. No, I revere him. Not just me, anyone in the empire who lived through that era, and even many who were born long after, carry hope in their hearts and place their faith in the emperor.”

“……”

“There has to be an emperor. One who can gather the empire’s scattered pieces and lead us forward again!”

Well.

……She was a fan of mine.

A devoted one, at that.

……Was this just how things were now? Had this become the norm?

Not sure what to think, I glanced back at Garul.

Nod. Nod.

He was nodding along with moved sincerity.

“……Go on and clap. You look like you’re dying to.”

“Pardon? Oh, yes.”

Clap. Clap. Clap.

Garul actually clapped.

Alicia flushed, apparently embarrassed by the applause.

I pressed a hand to my forehead and exhaled slowly.

“……This is a lot to take in. Really.”

I think this might be exactly why I had wanted to retire.

Alicia cleared her throat.

“Regardless, the emperor needs to return. And there are those who intend to bring that about through deeply violent and corrupt means. Marquis Crocell is one of them.”

“Those people?”

“Yes. Obviously he couldn’t orchestrate a conspiracy this large alone. He’s just the vanguard.”

“……”

The more I heard, the further away everything seemed.

So a hundred years without an emperor had driven certain people to the breaking point, and now they were finally moving — and Crocell was one of them?

I pressed my fingers to my temple and asked,

“So what is Marquis Crocell preparing next?”

“……He’ll likely kill Marquis Burzak and frame you for it. Then he’ll stir up the people of House Burzak — telling them you murdered the marquis.”

“I’d have no motive to……”

“You do, actually. You crushed Dominic and came here to collect money. From Marquis Burzak’s perspective, that’s a deep humiliation, more than enough to make him furious.”

Alicia said it firmly.

“Even a thin motive doesn’t matter. Marquis Crocell has already been quietly spreading money in the right places. When the moment comes, his version of events will carry weight.”

“And then?”

“He’s had some of the soldiers from both sides bribed, as far as I know. Once a conflict starts, he’ll force it to escalate.”

“So there’s no time to waste.”

From the moment Marquis Crocell sent Dominic to me — or before that even — this plan had been in motion.

Alicia asked,

“So, can you trust me now?”

“Trust you, no. But……”

I clicked my tongue.

“That you’re a die-hard fan of the emperor, though, that much is unmistakable. It gave me chills, actually. Enough that I can’t help but believe that part.”

“How could anyone not admire him? Frankly, I don’t understand you.”

Alicia looked genuinely puzzled.

Under normal circumstances I’d still be scrutinizing her motives — but the reverence for me was real.

This woman was the genuine article.

I thought for a moment, then said,

“What if I move against Marquis Crocell first? Even if I succeed, I’ll end up as the man who murdered an innocent marquis.”

“……”

“If Roderic comes back with Librata’s soldiers, that’s checkmate for Crocell. He has to finish everything before dawn. Which means he moves tonight. And when he does, I counterattack. I catch him in the act and get my hands on proof of the organization he’s working for.”

Alicia nodded.

“For proof, I have things I’ve observed. But not here, not immediately. It’ll take some time.”

“Then bring it as soon as this is over.”

“……How do we get through tonight? It’s just you and your knight. Two people. Crocell’s bought guards are already watching every exit. We can’t run.”

“There are four of us. Or two, but functionally four. Heinkel’s on my side conditionally, and I can’t fully trust you, but I need to use what I have.”

Alicia said nothing to that.

She knew perfectly well how difficult her position made trust.

……If she weren’t such a devoted fan, she’d be a remarkably sensible person.

“In the end, the key is Marquis Burzak.”

“Pardon?”

“Crocell is going to kill Burzak and pin it on me. But here’s what’s funny about that——”

I said it with a smile.

“Right now, the most powerful person here isn’t me or Marquis Crocell. It’s Burzak. This is Burzak’s estate, his own house. Even a stray dog fights hardest on its home ground.”

And I was going to use that.

“Heinkel went to collect the money from Marquis Burzak, didn’t he? Have him bring back the bank draft, and tell Burzak I’d like to see him.”

Director Crocell cast me in his production without asking and is even preparing to give me an award.

I should invite him up onto the stage before I give my acceptance speech.