Ch.154Conspiracy (1)

Colland Barony, one of the three baronies under the Alzar Marquisate.

If Alzar is known for agriculture and livestock, and Ruhr for industry, then Colland Barony is undoubtedly a territory that specializes in livestock breeding and hunting as its main products.

With its small population and largely undeveloped plains, the environment is perfectly suited for livestock farming. It’s no wonder that stories circulate about how the number of livestock raised on these plains exceeds the barony’s human population.

From the quintessential sheep to dairy cows, beef cattle, draft horses, and riding horses—these animals, raised on the grass growing in the vast plains, form a significant pillar of Colland Barony’s economy.

However, the true specialty of this territory isn’t these livestock products—it’s the very fact that it’s a frontier territory.

This is a land in the process of being incorporated into human territory from what was once wilderness. In this still underdeveloped situation, they have made the pioneering itself their driving force for growth.

The byproducts from magical beasts that frequently appear due to the distance from human territories, various resources obtained through land cultivation and logging, and the developed land itself—all are valuable assets.

Except for the massive resources and capital consumed in the pioneering process, frontier development is ultimately a venture that creates enormous value….

In Colland Barony’s pioneering efforts, the Adventurers’ Guild is also deeply involved, thanks to old connections.

Originally, Colland Barony was simply a typical frontier territory that hadn’t existed for very long, created when a knight occupied unclaimed land in a border region.

However, this frontier territory couldn’t overcome the limitation that development was difficult without external support, and through this process, the ownership of the territory eventually fell to the nearby “Baron of Ruhr.”

However, the Baron of Ruhr at the time of Colland’s incorporation was a despicable lord who could only be described as trash.

He not only worked his subjects to the bone in his territory, bordering on abuse rather than mere harshness, but his reputation had hit rock bottom due to insane taxation and bizarre extravagant behaviors.

Literally burning through everything his ancestors had built up, to him, Colland Barony was like a chicken bone stuck in his throat—useless but difficult to discard.

Therefore, instead of developing this troublesome land himself, he ended up outsourcing the pioneering to the “Adventurers’ Guild” or the “Mercenary Guild.”

Of course, it’s common for lords in this world to subcontract to the Adventurers’ Guild or Mercenary Guild, but the Baron of Ruhr’s approach was truly abnormal beyond description.

It was called subcontracting, but it was really just irresponsibly dumping all the troublesome work on others. In this process, the Adventurers’ Guild eventually gained the authority to exercise full power.

As a result, the branch manager of the Adventurers’ Guild in Colland Barony, burning with desire for power, saw this as an opportunity and actively worked to take control of Colland Barony.

Thanks to this, he not only came to effectively control the territory’s largest city according to his will, but even formed a political faction called the “Independence Party” and was secretly proceeding with plans to gradually take the barony into his own hands….

Around this time, the Baron of Ruhr suddenly died, and both Ruhr Barony and Colland Barony were incorporated into the nearby Alzar Barony.

For the branch manager, who had been preparing for independence by effectively subduing and controlling the territory through his independence forces, this was nothing short of a bolt from the blue.

Especially since Baron Alzar was a different type of ruler from the irresponsible and lazy Baron of Ruhr, the independence plan that had been formulated assuming the rule of Baron Ruhr was essentially completely neutralized.

Just the change of lord alone caused an increase in bat-like people who immediately switched sides, and there was also a surge of internal discord within the organization related to this incident.

Moreover, Baron Alzar’s subsequent visit to the territory and expansion of influence through the administration and pioneer villages was devastating. To make matters worse, at this point, Baron Alzar even discovered that the Adventurers’ Guild branch manager was plotting for separation and independence.

It was truly a critical situation, but paradoxically, despite all this, the Adventurers’ Guild branch manager still couldn’t be eliminated.

This wasn’t because of the backing of the Adventurers’ Guild.

The Guild is a large organization that cares more about the safety of the international-scale collective than a single branch.

If someone within announced a crazy plan to claim someone else’s territory as their own, they would undoubtedly prove their loyalty by delivering the announcer tightly bound to that “someone.”

Therefore, the fundamental reason why Baron Alzar couldn’t touch the branch manager was… the very power base he had expanded on the premise of being discovered.

He had raised over a hundred private soldiers disguised as adventurers (though they did actually engage in adventuring activities) and had recruited local influential figures to create a political foundation.

In short, if provoked carelessly, there was a high possibility he would rebel with this foundation and military force, and it wasn’t easy for Baron Alzar, who hadn’t yet properly absorbed Ruhr Barony, to handle such a risk.

Although the size of the independence forces in Colland Barony had been reduced due to the presence of Baron Alzar, the legitimate highest authority, they still firmly maintained their identity as a “threat.”

Thus, they eventually reached an implicit agreement and backed down from the brink of conflict due to the problems each side faced, but that doesn’t mean both sides were in a position to back down first in the end.

For the so-called “independence forces” to continue having their internal leadership held by the Adventurers’ Guild branch manager, activity was essential.

They endlessly schemed and continued their independence activities, creating their own political weaknesses.

On the other hand, the lord’s side could never coexist with independence forces that coveted his land.

As it’s commonly said that one cannot negotiate with terrorists, they didn’t even consider them as negotiable entities from the beginning.

Thus, after reaching a kind of stalemate due to each other’s circumstances, both sides were naturally engaged in a power struggle while outwardly pretending to be nice and putting on facades.

The independence forces occasionally plotted schemes or conspiracies, or increased the interests held by the adventurer cartel in the city. Despite their relatively small size, they were actively working.

On the other hand, Baron Alzar’s side secured key infrastructure in the city and established “pioneer villages” throughout the territory, suppressing pro-independence areas with these villages disguised as pioneering projects but loyal to the lord.

Of course, the pioneering projects themselves were genuine.

And this type of power struggle is inevitably more advantageous to the lord’s side, which has a legitimate claim to operate openly.

While the independence forces try to gain political legitimacy by appealing that “I am acting for the greater good, not self-interest,” the lord’s side gains legitimacy simply because “it’s his land” without having to do anything.

In other words, the current situation is at a stalemate only because Baron Alzar doesn’t want to escalate matters unnecessarily. In fact, once he gathers enough troops to deal with them properly, he can simply put forward the justification of “suppressing rebels.”

Before the most rightful exercise of authority as a lord, it’s clear that any justification will lose its power, so naturally, the Adventurers’ Guild branch manager has been under considerable stress due to desperation recently.

Gradually diminishing influence, shrinking forces, departing sponsors, decreasing support base—

As these individually fatal blows hit one after another, wearing down his spirit, the independence forces of Colland Barony, which the branch manager had started for his own greed, also gradually diminished in size.

And interpreting this as “my power is decreasing,” this political lunatic, who once came close to occupying Colland Barony, finally played his hidden card to resolve this unfavorable political situation.

Since an insurmountable gap had formed, the best method was indeed to overturn the board, but the power needed to do so was by no means small.

Against the evil(?) Lord Hugues de Alzar, who was gradually pressuring him with justification, power, and means—all three elements—the branch manager surprisingly managed to successfully incite one of the pioneer villages where he had extended his tentacles.

Originally, the pioneer villages were started to reduce the proportion of independence forces in Colland Barony, but at the same time, they were genuinely built to cultivate and pioneer the barony.

Especially for safety, these pioneer villages usually dispatch a knight nearing retirement age, but sometimes they recruit mid-level adventurers instead, offering titles and estates as compensation.

The branch manager approached one of the latter cases among these pioneer villages. He amplified dissatisfaction with the territory that “acts arbitrarily without providing anything” and intensified the complaints of the retired mid-level adventurer who was responsible for the pioneer village.

Thanks to this, when he heard the news that an independence declaration had been made there, the branch manager’s lips curled up in a grin, feeling as if something that had been tightly blocked was now cleared….

And in his right eye, a sinister purple energy had seeped in.