‘Well, even without something like this, I could still make demands… but judging from how they once demanded 10,000 gold, it looked like they’d never hand anything over even if it killed them.’
If something like this didn’t happen, it might have been practically impossible to receive anything, so there was no choice.
This was something that even if both Kim and Jang from that law firm supposedly run by the Kim Family and the Jang Family came out, they would struggle with.
Realistically, it was something that would never have happened if House Gloria had handled matters properly.
Now that she thought about it, the aide named Hedmilton had been quite wise.
‘That person told us from the start, when he made the proposal, not to go above the Eastern region.’
It must have been a proposal to prepare for any unforeseen accident.
It was truly strange.
Not a single one of the aides who came afterward had been able to point out that part.
While waiting for a reply, Liselotte called for a maid so she could enjoy some tea.
Right around the time the maid rolled over the trolley with the tea.
Pii, pii. A hawk arrived from the east.
Leaving the maid who was placing the tea on the table, Liselotte opened the window and received the letter.
Even without reading it, she felt she could already guess the general content.
Without fail, something like: they were sending the knights now, so please stay as far away from the border region as possible, or at best, please do your utmost to stop them from crossing the territory…
“…What?”
Opening the letter, Liselotte doubted her own eyes.
[Greetings, this is Mirkena.
Thank you for informing us of the news from the border region.
What do you think the scale of the subjugation force should be?
We would appreciate a response within the hour.]
“…If the magic stone mine exploded, then why would an entire subjugation force even be necessary?”
Even Liselotte, who didn’t know the first thing about subjugations, could tell that Mirkena was clueless about this matter.
It was to the point that her position as an aide felt meaningless.
“I knew she smelled like a newbie, but isn’t this too much?!”
She had even asked Diana to replace her with someone more experienced.
Either way, the later they arrived, the larger the compensation amount would become.
Separate from her own profits, the fact that there was simply no proper answer here was unavoidable.
Liselotte’s hand holding the letter quivered slightly.
She twisted her body this way and that, struggling to suppress her anger.
After a long while of finally steadying herself, she suddenly shouted:
“Even if a knight commander left the House, isn’t this too much?! What on earth is Duke Gloria doing?!”
Her insides burning, she downed the tea the maid had poured for her in one gulp.
Beside her, the maid carefully spoke up.
“Um, Princess Liselotte.”
“Hm?”
Only then did the maid’s face come into view.
She was the maid from the East who had been summoned earlier.
As Liselotte looked at her, waiting for her next words, the maid hesitated and spoke.
“I did ask my friend about the Eastern region.”
“Oh? Did you hear anything?”
“My friend worked for House Gloria. She recently quit, but she said there’s no one left inside who can lead a subjugation force.”
“I see, that does seem to be the situation.”
Liselotte nodded while glancing sideways at the letter.
At Liselotte’s encouragement, the maid, who seemed to have heard quite a few rumors, began to speak as if it were her own business.
“And I heard that the most capable aide has taken a vacation right now. According to my friend, someone who doesn’t know a single thing about subjugations is pulling the strings inside, and it’s chaos…”
The moment she heard those words, one person instinctively came to mind.
Diana Gloria.
The very woman who had directly sent a reminder just because the reply was late, even insisting she would handle it herself.
In the Gloria estate, the only person who could ignore Hedmilton and wield authority like that was her.
Realizing it, goosebumps ran down her arms.
Liselotte rubbed her arm lightly for no reason, grimacing.
She hadn’t officially protested, so wasn’t it possible that the job would have simply continued to fall to Diana?
Above all, from the moment Diana, who had no experience as an aide nor with organizing a subjugation, said she would take the role, it was impossible not to feel her status and influence in House Gloria.
‘She’s the Young Lady of House Gloria. What power would the aides possibly have against that?’
At this point, Mirkena even started to seem pitiful.
It couldn’t be helped.
If they rejected even spoon-fed help, then financial pressure was the only thing that would work.
***
The subjugation team in the border region proceeded steadily.
Most of the northern knights had stayed far away from the explosion site thanks to Liselotte’s letter, so there wasn’t a single injured person.
Because of the coordinated operation that had been agreed upon, they were free to cross regions, and they had accumulated plenty of experience in the meantime, so the subjugation was progressing smoothly and cleanly.
But the problem was within their own ranks.
“Hey, you back there! Why weren’t you pushing them forward? We could have finished quickly, and this is all you’re capable of?!”
Masid threw off his cloak, stained with the dark purple fluids of a monster, and shouted at the subjugation team.
The subjugation team was visibly displeased, but they lowered their heads reluctantly.
“We’re sorry.”
“What, are you trying to raise your subjugation results or something?”
“No.”
“Don’t lie. Anyone can see you’re trying hard so you can earn a knight title from this later. Do you really think acting like this will get you one?”
At his contempt, the subjugation members’ lips twitched.
Most of the people responsible for driving the monsters were apprentice subjugation members.
They had only recently joined the ranks, but within the North they were considered quite skilled.
And ever since what had happened at the training grounds, they were the ones who had been shooting Masid the coldest looks.
As their dissatisfaction started to show openly on their faces, Masid’s sneer grew sharper.
“Ah, right. I heard the Princess has been stirring up the entire House these days. Since you lot are now under the name of Keilos, maybe you thought you could just secure a comfortable position as one of her escort knights, huh?”
“…We have never thought such a thing.”
“Since you’re too stupid to know where to place your loyalties, let me tell you: even when the Princess was staying in the Imperial Palace, she never had a single Imperial guard assigned to escort her. You know what that means, right?”
The Imperial Guard was composed of knights that mainly protected the Imperial Family.
Most members of the Imperial Family would have at least one Imperial guard assigned as their escort.
Even after marriage, the escort remained by their side.
Because they served as a kind of warning not to forget their identity as a member of the Imperial Family, many people found their presence uncomfortable.
But Liselotte had no one at her side.
Not even a nanny that noble daughters usually brought with them after marriage.
‘It means even the Imperial Family abandoned her.’
Just how insignificant must the North have seemed to the Central region for them to push forward such an absurd marriage?
And watching Liselotte, who had recently been wielding power however she pleased within the House, Masid could not possibly speak kindly.
They were apprentices, so mistakes were natural.
Normally, Masid would have just clicked his tongue and moved on.
Anyone could see this rebuke was filled with personal resentment.
In the end, Ferento could not hold back and stepped in.
“Sir Masid, you are being far too harsh! The magic stone mine wasn’t even within the pre-agreed cooperation zone, so they had no choice but to judge on their own. It was the right course of action!”
“Heh heh, Sir Ferento. Are you lecturing me right now? Don’t forget that you also bear responsibility for what happened.”
“Oh? Then let’s hear exactly what my responsibility is!”
Ferento, who was usually good-natured, a little sloppy, and well-liked by the knights for his friendly demeanor, wore a hardened expression.
He had never gotten angry like this before.
Even when someone made a big mistake, he was the type to say, “It happens, do better next time,” and let it go.
Under Eren’s strict command, the person who served as the cushion was none other than the Second Knight Commander, Ferento.
Even faced with his anger, Masid smirked.
“If you had negotiated with the East about the damage restoration beforehand, we wouldn’t have had to handle their cleanup for them, now would we?”
“Cleanup? We stopped the damage from growing worse!”
“Right, and that’s why the East showed up after the work was already finished, to go deal with the magic stone mine, right?”
He pointed with his finger toward the distant sky, where faint smoke was rising.
It was smoke from the debris after the magic stone mine explosion.
The eastern subjugation force had come out only long after everything was over.
By then, the North had already finished cleaning up.
It was no exaggeration to say House Keilos had taken on the entire burden alone.
Masid was about to open his mouth to press the point when—
Kiiiiii-.
A piercing, ear-splitting ringing stabbed into his ears.
