Ch.153Neighboring Countries (5)

“…Lorenzo.”

“Do you know him?”

“Yes, I saw him frequently when I was actively working in the Vines Republic. At that time, he was certainly… in charge of a large merchant guild in the Duchy of Lombard.”

“How skilled is he?”

“He was quite capable back then. Now… since a person’s abilities change over time, I cannot give you a definite answer. But I believe he might be the person Your Majesty is looking for.”

The next morning, Luca—who rushed to me immediately after canceling all his lectures despite my insistence that it wasn’t necessary—quickly identified the culprit behind this situation after scanning through the list submitted by the Intelligence Bureau.

Since the Emperor has recently appointed so many new people, I couldn’t easily identify the culprit, but Luca, who came from the southern peninsula, recognized him right away.

“It reminds me of Your Majesty.”

“Hmm?”

“Looking through the Emperor’s appointment list you gave me, I feel the same way I did when I first saw Your Majesty in the Duchy of Burgundy.”

“…Is that so?”

Indeed, now that Luca mentions it, it does seem that way.

Reviewing all the individuals appointed by the Emperor, including this Lorenzo character, it feels as if the Emperor is deliberately trying to completely overturn the current Holy Empire.

The Emperor is selecting people based solely on ability without regard to social status, which is similar to what I did when I was restructuring the Duchy of Burgundy.

“Is the Emperor… imitating me?”

“That’s how it appears to my eyes.”

When the Intelligence Bureau reported on the Empire’s reform policies, I thought the Emperor was simply trying to reform an empire that had suffered greatly from civil war. But to think he’s actually following my methods from the start—this is unexpected.

“In both commerce and industry, this happens quite frequently. When someone creates something good and fails to maintain secrecy, that method quickly spreads among colleagues.”

“…You’re right.”

Selecting capable individuals regardless of social status, and if they can’t be found domestically, searching abroad…

Should I be pleased or saddened by this?

It should certainly feel good when someone admires and imitates me, but since that person is the ruler of a potential rival nation, it’s quite ambiguous.

“I’ll have to wait and see for now.”

If talented individuals weren’t accidentally noticed by the Emperor but were actively sought out both domestically and internationally, there’s no point in eliminating them through conspiracy. Someone else would quickly fill that position.

Moreover, it would be quite troublesome if completely unknown new figures appeared. It’s better to gather as much information as possible about these individuals from Luca and then formulate a response based on that.

……….

“…Could you repeat that?”

“We are asserting rights to the Duchy of Neustria.”

What is this bastard on about now?

This immediately ruins my resolution to wait and observe.

When an envoy suddenly arrived from the Empire, I wondered what was happening, but this envoy is sitting here mentioning all the nobles within the Empire who have blood ties to the Neustrian ducal family and claiming their rights on their behalf.

“Since the ruler of the Duchy of Neustria and his family have all perished, according to the duchy’s succession laws, the ducal title should pass to the closest blood relative of the Neustrian ducal family. Currently, there are three nobles in the Empire who are within three degrees of kinship to the Duke of Neustria, and countless more beyond the fourth degree. The Holy Empire is asserting the legitimate rights to the Neustrian ducal title that should be inherited by one of them.”

What is he saying?

Nobles are generally very few in number, and because they frequently intermarry with other noble families, it’s easy to find blood-related nobles even in foreign countries.

For ordinary nobles, it’s not uncommon to find a duke or king among even their third cousins, let alone distant relatives, and now the Empire is using these common blood ties to claim legitimacy over the Duchy of Neustria.

If I were to search through Lotharing and Caroling, I could find hundreds of nobles with claims to various titles belonging to the Holy Empire. But I don’t use that as a pretext to demand titles from the Empire… these unprincipled bastards.

“…Is the Empire in its right mind? Does the Emperor think poorly of me?”

Come to think of it, Albion also recently demanded that I hand over the Duchy of Neustria.

Why is everyone so desperate to pick a fight with me?

It’s not an incomprehensible action. The Duke of Neustria was beheaded, his successors were burned alive with their guards by firebombs, and in such a case, according to common sense and universal succession laws, the ducal title should pass to one of the closest blood relatives of the Duke.

All I had was a claim to the Kingdom of Caroling, so my complete annexation of the Duchy of Neustria might seem like an extremely shameless act to them.

But that doesn’t justify these actions.

It’s also a universal succession law that territories without heirs are inherited by the lord whom the territory’s ruler served. Although I wasn’t his lord when the Duke of Neustria died, the Duchy of Neustria belonged to the Kingdom of Caroling, and since I obtained the Carolingian throne, it’s not completely without legitimacy for me to have absorbed the Duchy of Neustria.

“His Imperial Majesty merely wished to inform you that such a perspective exists within the Empire.”

“…?”

But when I glare at him with a hint of anger, the envoy’s demeanor suddenly changes.

There’s no way he brought up this matter without anticipating my anger, but he’s shrinking back too much from just one display of anger.

What’s going on? Is he having some kind of identity crisis?

“As Your Majesty Claude knows, there are many different types of nobles in the Holy Empire. It is extremely embarrassing to reveal my lord’s shortcomings to a foreign king, but His Imperial Majesty is in no position to properly control them.”

“…”

The envoy’s subsequent response made me fully understand the Empire’s stance. The anger that had filled my heart until just now instantly subsided.

I misunderstood.

“Different types” is probably a roundabout way of saying there are radical nobles, and being unable to “properly control them” literally means there’s a possibility those individuals might act on their own.

“His Imperial Majesty desires nothing more than the stability and recovery of the Empire. Neither Lotharing nor the Empire can afford another war, can they?”

“…I understand.”

So the Emperor gathered their opinions into a single request to me before those nobles could cause problems individually, while implicitly asking me to reject his demand or cut off any basis for their claims.

This way, the Emperor can save face with his nobles since he made the request to me, and I can eliminate the risk of unnecessary problems arising.

He’s quite clever, isn’t he? I remember the Emperor wasn’t this sharp-minded before the Crusade, so he must have good people around him now.

“What do you want?”

“Please destroy all symbols of Neustria so that no further claims can be made.”

“Hmm…”

Is he referring to the Duke of Neustria’s ring and scepter?

Those are the embodiments of legitimate ownership and governance of the Duchy of Neustria; if they disappear, no one can claim the ducal title.

I’ve already destroyed the ducal title of Neustria, exterminated all the local powers, and distributed the empty land among my loyal subjects, so destroying the ring and scepter wouldn’t cause major problems for governance.

‘However, it’s somewhat concerning that this would completely sever relations with Albion.’

The current Albion royal family is a cadet branch of the Neustrian ducal family, which makes the Neustrian ring and scepter extremely important treasures to Albion. That’s why Albion recently made unreasonable demands for me to hand them over.

I wouldn’t give them to Albion no matter what they did, but not giving them and completely destroying them are different matters.

“Hmm… that might be difficult. No matter how annoying a neighbor Albion may be, I can’t completely sever relations with them, can I?”

“From Albion’s perspective, there’s no difference between not giving them and destroying them. Rather, by destroying the ring and scepter, you can completely eliminate the possibility of Albion and other nobles causing trouble.”

When I hear it put that way, it does make sense… damn, should I just get rid of them?

In feudal society, objects representing ownership and governance of a territory have a value that’s unimaginable to modern people. They exceed the value of house or land deeds.

Recently, as soon as I got my hands on the Carolingian crown, many minor nobles of Caroling who had remained neutral during the civil war immediately changed their attitude and pledged loyalty to me.

If I completely destroy the ring and scepter that represent ownership and governance of Neustria, no one will be able to claim the Neustrian ducal title in the future.

“I’ll melt them down and use them as decorations for the Lotharing crown.”

“…Everyone will praise Your Majesty’s decision.”

Yes, let’s get rid of them. Albion might be extremely angry, but judging by their behavior, there’s little chance of improving relations unless the current King of Albion dies or I hand over the ring and scepter.

Since this will also eliminate the possibility of other nobles causing trouble, I might as well melt them down and use them as decorations for my crown.