Ch.217Great Chief (3)

When I hastily accepted, Chinoa opened her eyes wide and asked if I was crazy. It’s a bit absurd to see this reaction from Chinoa of all people.

Earlier she was going on about how it would be fine if she became the Grand Chief, but now that I’ve thoughtlessly accepted, she seems quite flustered.

Was her original intention just to provoke Baltic and Leona? Judging by her wide-eyed expression, she didn’t predict this situation.

Seeing her reaction, I asked back as if I was the one who found it absurd.

“What? Just a moment ago, you were saying you’d become the Grand Chief?”

“I was just saying that. Even I know that if someone like me became Grand Chief, the country would be ruined.”

“… …”

I was left speechless by her remarkably self-aware statement, then glanced to the side.

Baltic was wearing an expression of bewilderment at Chinoa’s dramatic change in attitude. Leona seemed the same, her eyes wide open.

I stared intently at Chinoa, who suddenly seemed desperate, then nodded. She truly doesn’t seem to have any intention of becoming Grand Chief.

Above all, I haven’t known Chinoa for long. I can’t read faces either…

‘…Come to think of it, being a beastkin, there’s no such thing as face reading.’

Let’s move past this. Anyway, it’s a bit strange to tell someone to become Grand Chief when we’ve only met a few minutes ago.

“It was more like a casual suggestion. Chinoa and I haven’t known each other long, so it’s odd to suddenly bring this up, isn’t it?”

“Right? You scared me.”

“But thinking about it carefully, Chinoa becoming Grand Chief doesn’t seem like a bad choice.”

“Are you crazy?”

Just as Chinoa was about to feel relieved, I affirmed it again, causing her to panic once more. But this time, I’m half serious.

However, it would be good to learn more about her one by one. From what I’ve heard, she seems suitable to be a ‘king,’ but I don’t know the details.

Besides, Leona warned me to be careful of Chinoa’s tongue. This could also be a sophisticated psychological game.

For now, I need to carefully probe and understand Chinoa’s true intentions.

“Chinoa. What did you say was your reason for starting the opposition faction?”

“To change those damn traditions and customs. Because of the guy who overthrew his father and took over, all of Animus was starving. Does it make sense to take 50% in taxes just to fill his own belly? What’s worse, a year later someone challenged him to a Holmgang but lost. In the end, we suffered for two years.”

“Ahem.”

As Chinoa grumbled with a voice full of complaints, Baltic cleared his throat as if he had nothing to say. It seems the person who challenged the tyrant was a lion beastkin.

Once a Holmgang is held, no one can request or accept another for a year. Since the tyrant won again, they had to suffer for two years without being able to do anything.

When a tyrant commits tyranny, the people bear the full brunt of it. Two years is a short time, but when the scale increases to a national level, the suffering multiplies.

“Thanks to that, our tribe ran out of food and people starved to death. So I thought, ah, because of these damn traditions, we might all starve to death. We need to change the traditions. With that thought.”

“That’s revolution.”

“Is that what you humans call it? Revolution? Well, fortunately these guys also knew there was a problem with the traditions, otherwise things would have gotten much worse. The sage did a great job.”

Just listening, it sounds like she started a revolution with good intentions. But what we need to focus on is the ‘faction.’

Animus is a country founded by Hick, the national father and founding king, who established it based on traditions. Naturally, many beastkin would follow those traditions, and many wouldn’t agree with Chinoa’s ideology.

Moreover, she’s a hyena beastkin with negative preconceptions. If she managed to build a faction herself, it means her political skills are excellent.

“As a hyena beastkin, it must have been difficult to build a faction. How did you do it?”

“I put forward a different face. Our tribe wasn’t the only one with starvation deaths. I sweet-talked a tiger chief and put him forward as the representative. Well, over time it was revealed that I was the real leader.”

“So things went well until then?”

“Yes. But he got uncomfortable and revealed everything. It was a bit surprising, but I had anticipated this level of betrayal, so we got through it without much trouble. Of course, he was removed from his position.”

This is a classic example of a ‘treacherous minister.’ A person who respects the authority of the number one while gradually coveting power from the number two position.

However, from her perspective, it wasn’t a choice but a necessity. Few people would follow a hyena beastkin with a bad reputation, so she absolutely had to put someone else forward as the representative.

Beastkin who don’t view Chinoa favorably might disparage her as vile, calling her race underhanded, but at least from my perspective, that’s not the case. She just has excellent political skills.

“Well, now I have many followers and I’m living quite well. But the need to change those traditions remains unchanged.”

“Hmm… Is that so? What do you think, Baltic?”

“Can’t trust a cunning woman.”

“Leona, what about you?”

“Same. Aside from her being a hyena beastkin, I can’t trust someone whose true intentions are completely unknown.”

Despite their continued distrust, Chinoa just shrugged her shoulders, showing she didn’t care. She certainly has shown many aspects of a treacherous minister, making it difficult to trust her.

Then what about her actual abilities? Her political skills have been somewhat proven, but we need to look elsewhere.

First, how she grew her faction. Not related to politics, but literal growth.

No matter how deeply committed someone is, if they lack basic resources, their will falters. Historically, abundant resources lead to better results.

The opposition faction in Animus is the same. If people joined the opposition to prevent the country from collapsing but received no support there?

Then numbers would decrease and the faction would naturally weaken. A faction large enough to directly oppose traditions would surely be large in scale, requiring massive funding.

“So, Chinoa. How did you grow and maintain the opposition faction? It must have required a lot of resources.”

“Oh, that? I just sweet-talked the guys at the top and got support. By the way, I also squeezed some out of these guys.”

Chinoa pointed at Baltic with her finger, wearing her characteristic grinning smile. Baltic made a displeased expression at her gesture.

When I shifted my gaze to Baltic, he exhaled deeply and explained the facts in a calm voice.

“…Not us, but the tribal chiefs. Chinoa bribed the chiefs for information, and used that to turn a profit.”

“Information? What kind of information?”

“Simple. She bought land that only the chiefs knew about and resold it. Or she bought up all the imported goods and sold them at high prices. Now she’s making a tidy profit from the Biography of Xenon. It’s selling like hotcakes since it contains stories about beastkin.”

“… …”

What Chinoa mentioned is cornering the market and hoarding. Especially for the Biography of Xenon, the Empire of Minerva has designated laws against hoarding.

But given the era, I’m not sure if the concept of international law is established enough to apply in Animus. Even setting that aside, Chinoa’s actions are close to illegal or corrupt.

The reason she can admit it so openly is probably because proper laws don’t exist yet. Animus was founded only 300 years ago, so there must be vulnerabilities here and there.

Chinoa cleverly exploited that. She’s remarkably talented in many ways.

“Ah. But I didn’t stuff the bribes into my own pocket, okay? I’m also a person who lives on a salary.”

“It sounds strange hearing the word ‘salary’ from your mouth.”

“Does it? Anyway, this is how I built connections, secured resources, and grew the opposition faction. No one else stepped up, but anyone could have done it.”

Hearing that, I immediately replied.

“Just become the Grand Chief yourself.”

“Are you insane? I said I won’t be Grand Chief! How many times do I have to say it for you to understand?”

“From what I can see, you seem to be the most suitable person for Grand Chief.”

Chinoa is the epitome of a treacherous minister. And an extremely capable one at that.

She bribes high officials like tribal chiefs to build connections, and even goes further to generate resources on her own.

She says anyone else could do it, but I disagree. It’s probably because she has the guts to boldly commit such corruption.

Above all, she’s knowledgeable about politics and has excellent insight. Even the best information is meaningless if the user’s mind is foolish.

In that sense, Chinoa is more than qualified to be the current Grand Chief of Animus. Rather, for development, her cunning should be utilized as wisdom.

“Even if you say that, the lions, including Baltic, won’t accept it, right? Having a hyena above them.”

“Of course they’d be scared. One wrong move and their necks could be on the line.”

“Right?”

“That’s exactly why you should become Grand Chief. You wouldn’t commit tyranny when your neck could be on the line. And now that the Holmgang has changed.”

“Hmm.”

Hearing my words, Baltic showed signs of contemplation, as if there had been a change in his thinking. Seeing this, Chinoa became anxious and spoke urgently.

“Hey, hey. You’re not seriously considering this, are you? You know that’s nonsense.”

“Well… Honestly, there’s no better position than Grand Chief to keep an eye on you. But my brothers and the people would oppose it.”

“Right? See? As the sage said, if I become Grand Chief, there would be too much talk. Another rebel faction might rise up.”

When Baltic mentioned the practical issue, Chinoa waved her hand in relief.

As she said, even if she’s capable, if Chinoa becomes Grand Chief, there would be a lot of talk internally in Animus.

Given the poor reputation of hyena beastkin and her history of corruption. However, Leona landed a blow on Chinoa here.

“You said earlier you bribed the chiefs? We can use those people.”

“Huh?”

“What?”

At Leona’s words, both Baltic and even Chinoa opened their eyes wide. Come to think of it, we could use that.

Meanwhile, Leona steadily endured the gazes directed at her, then looked straight at Chinoa and shared her thoughts.

“You said earlier you bribed the chiefs for information? Do the same thing again. Just like before, sweet-talk them saying if I become Grand Chief, I’ll show favor to your tribe.”

“Those guys would also try to stop me from becoming Grand Chief. They have disgustingly strong pride.”

“Why would they stop you? If we support you, the other chiefs would have no choice but to follow. Right?”

Leona sought Baltic’s agreement. Having organized his thoughts, Baltic also nodded and affirmed her words.

“Leona is right. The tiger tribe is already under your influence, and the bear tribe doesn’t get involved in such matters.”

“No…”

While Chinoa was still disoriented from the siblings’ joint attack, I added one more point.

“And it doesn’t matter if Chinoa becomes Grand Chief because her political skills have already been proven by growing her faction, and she’s even built up connections. If Chinoa becomes Grand Chief, would the other chiefs dare think about committing corruption? With Chinoa as Grand Chief?”

“…The chiefs’ methods are too simple. They don’t even notice when I secretly divert funds.”

“See? Honestly, Chinoa, you do have some desire to become Grand Chief, don’t you?”

Seeing her mind gradually leaning toward becoming Grand Chief, I encouraged her with a gentle, coaxing voice.

In response, Chinoa made a contemplative expression, then sighed and answered in a small voice.

“…A little bit.”

“Right?”

“But! I won’t become Grand Chief. I plan to stick close to the Grand Chief and gradually siphon off resources. Humans call that a ‘treacherous minister,’ right?”

Chinoa is openly volunteering to be a treacherous minister. She must have felt a sense of crisis, thinking she might end up becoming Grand Chief at this rate.

In a way, it’s a statement that could completely destroy trust. After hearing her words, I silently stared at Chinoa, then turned to Baltic and asked.

“That’s what she says. Are you going to keep her by your side?”

“I think it would be better to put her above me so she can’t do anything. If she becomes Grand Chief, there won’t be anything to siphon off. Unless something is taken from her.”

“I have a similar thought. It’s better to make it so there’s nothing to siphon off. The kingdom becomes her property, so what would she siphon off?”

“If she were to siphon anything, it would be the people’s food. But we can prevent that.”

“I’ll trust only my brothers.”

It had no effect. Chinoa watched the scene with a dumbfounded expression, then covered her face with one hand.

“Shit. This isn’t right.”

“Congratulations. You’re going to be the Grand Chief you’ve always dreamed of.”

“You shut up.”

It looks like things will be resolved well.