Ch.816Situation Assessment

After a month of thoroughly trampling the eastern nobles, we finally arrived at our intended destination.

The edge of the Empire. Landenburg, the border region facing the great plains of Ka’har.

“Welcome, Your Excellency. Landenburg pledges to serve you as its new lord and promises unwavering loyalty.”

As I entered the lord’s castle amid the interest and attention of the territory’s people, the employees lined up neatly on both sides of the passage expressed their loyalty to me with respectful salutes.

From Joshua and the knights of Landenburg to administrators, attendants, servants, and maids.

Every one of them either bowed deeply or knelt on one knee with lowered heads, giving the impression not of subjects greeting a mere lord, but of vassals welcoming a king.

They must have already heard that Landenburg would be declaring independence from the Empire. They’re already treating me like royalty.

“Unwavering loyalty… Yes, I like that. Thank you for the warm welcome.”

I accepted their oath of loyalty with a smile. Though I did wonder why they were bothering with such formalities during what must be a busy time.

If they had enough leisure time to gather in the castle passage waiting for me, wouldn’t it be more efficient to spend that time working?

“Now then, everyone return to your duties. Sir Sean, please remain. I’d like a word with you.”

“Yes!”

The employees bowed once more before rising and dispersing throughout the castle. As I ordered, only Sean, Ludwig Wilhelm von Landenburg’s closest aide, remained.

—-

“It’s been a while, Your Excellency. You’ve changed quite a bit since I last saw you.”

Sean approached me and offered his greeting.

“Ah… you’ve changed a lot too. You must have been through a lot.”

I answered with a wry face and shrugged. He said I looked different, but from my perspective, Sean was the one who had changed so much that his former self was barely recognizable.

Hair turned completely white. Deeper wrinkles. An expanded forehead.

Perhaps the death of Ludwig, whom he had served with such devotion, had been a tremendous shock. His face, which had already looked quite aged, now resembled that of an elderly man.

He still carried a sword, so he probably wasn’t so frail that he needed to retire from knighthood, but judging by appearances alone, he looked like he should be sitting in a rocking chair watching his grandchildren play.

“Compared to what Your Excellency has accomplished, my hardships are nothing.”

Well, your hair follicles might disagree.

“Your fame has echoed even to this eastern edge. A crusade of order and justice… truly an interesting tale.”

“That’s quite the grand expression.”

I’m not sure if “crusade” is the right word. At first, I was just neatly slicing up nobles and their subordinates and roasting them like skewers, but later on, I was creating forests of spits draped with flesh and entrails.

Then again, war always brings cruelty, and since a crusade is also a form of war, it’s only natural that the results would be horrific to behold.

“Well, let’s set that aside for now. Could you guide me to the Margrave’s office? I have many questions for you.”

“Yes. Please follow me.”

I followed Sean as he turned and began walking toward the Margrave’s office.

It was quite impressive how everyone we passed showed such extreme deference.

When I first came here, I was met with nothing but hostile and bewildered glances. Now, such people were nowhere to be found.

—-

The Margrave’s office—that is, Ludwig’s office—remained exactly as it had been. Though the owner of the office was long dead, the windowsills without a speck of dust testified to the maids’ attentiveness.

*Creak.*

I pulled out Ludwig’s chair and sat down, then reached into my pocket for a cigarette and lit it, exhaling smoke.

Come to think of it, this was where I smoked my first cigarette after falling into this world.

Though not even two years had passed, trying to recall it now felt like remembering something from the distant past.

If someone had told me then, “You’ll be the queen ruling this place next year,” how would I have responded?

I probably would have asked what nonsense they were talking about. I couldn’t help but chuckle.

There’s a limit to how twisted a story can get, yet somehow this one had become completely distorted.

After experiencing so much, I could barely remember what the original story was like… but I didn’t miss it at all, as the current world had changed significantly from the original work.

…Well, it’s half my own doing.

“Why don’t you sit down?”

Was he lost in old memories? Sean had entered the office and was standing blankly with a face full of regret.

I gestured toward the sofa as I spoke to him.

Only then did Sean snap back to reality, saying “Excuse me,” as he settled into the sofa’s backrest.

Now, let’s get to the real conversation…

“How are things in Landenburg?”

“The situation in Landenburg… I apologize, but could you be more specific? Financial status, military strength, public sentiment, wall restoration progress, administrative organization, relations with other territories… There’s so much to explain that I’m not sure where to begin.”

Sean scratched his chin lightly as he asked, looking perplexed. Was my question too broad? It seemed I would need to ask about each matter in detail to get proper explanations.

“Well… I should hear about everything, but let me ask this first. Are there any who oppose my succession to the position of Margrave, or the fact that I’ll be crowned as queen rather than remaining a vassal of the Empire?”

The maids and attendants didn’t seem to show any particular resentment, but I couldn’t be sure about others.

In a way, an outsider was swallowing up the territory and arbitrarily establishing a country—wouldn’t it be strange if there were no complaints?

Unless they had about eight thousand lives, no one would dare show an unpleasant attitude to my face, but I couldn’t know what they might be thinking behind my back.

“You need not worry. Who would dare harbor hostility toward the knight who executed Orhan and vanquished the four dragons? Toward the noble who exterminated thirty families in just one month? That wouldn’t be courage or conviction—just recklessness.”

So there’s no opposition? That can’t be right.

“Even so, shouldn’t there be at least a few? Those who might accuse me of allowing the previous Margrave’s death to seize the position of head of house…”

“Hmm. Yes, indeed. There certainly were such individuals.”

See? Whenever five humans gather, there’s always one piece of trash mixed in. How could there be no one harboring discontent toward me?

“I thought so. So there are some. In that case, which do you think would be better—persuading them or banishing them?”

If they’re people whose absence wouldn’t cause any particular problems, I could simply expel them to other territories, but if they’re essential, I’d need to try to resolve their grievances.

Though I’m not sure how well that would work.

“Um… I think you’ve misunderstood me slightly. I meant not that such people exist, but that they ‘existed’ in the past.”

“Ah.”

So that’s what he meant.

It seems that Sean and the other administrators of Landenburg were more resolute and decisive than I had anticipated.

“Those whose life threads have been cut can neither be persuaded nor banished, so Your Excellency need not concern yourself with them.”

It seems they’ve already buried everyone who showed animosity toward me.

It reminded me of the soldier who froze to death hanging from the outer wall of Faelrun Castle as punishment for spreading malicious gossip about me.

“I… see. Then I suppose there’s no need to worry about it.”

I’m not sure if I should praise this as a job well done. I nodded slightly as I exhaled a sigh mixed with the minty smoke.

—-

Two hours passed.

Having recovered from my surprise with the help of a sip of black tea, I asked Sean various questions about the territory’s current state, and he answered to the best of his knowledge with utmost sincerity.

The territory’s financial situation wasn’t great, but with the recent expansion of land, there shouldn’t be much to worry about going forward.

The infantry and archers remained intact, but the decimation of the cavalry was a significant loss, and while the individual skills of the knights had improved, their numbers had decreased substantially.

Thanks to my various achievements and my image as a saint, the people of the territory welcomed me.

Restoring the damaged sections of the wall would require enormous costs and time, but fortunately, the Imperial House had agreed to cover more than half of the restoration expenses.

And then…

“The Chief Administrator resigned and fled? What does that mean?”

“It’s hard to believe, but it’s true. He said he could handle being the Margrave’s proxy well enough, but serving as the Queen’s representative was simply too much for him to bear.”

The proxy who was supposed to handle administrative duties on my behalf—the Chief Administrator that Ludwig had selected—had run away, claiming that acting on behalf of a queen was too burdensome.

I was so dumbfounded that my head was spinning.