Ch.818Do My Work for Me.

According to Sean’s explanation, the Administrative Director… was his name Lambert Siegel?

That man was the only survivor of the Siegel barony, one of the collateral branches of Berengaria’s family, one of the Great’s Twelve Knights.

There used to be other collateral branches remaining, but they died off one by one due to conflicts between nobles or wars with the Ka’har, leaving only this one.

The Siegel barony had also fallen due to conflicts with other nobles, and by the time Lambert was born, they were practically commoners.

Ludwig, feeling sorry for him, took him in and cared for him…

Though sympathizing with his fallen status was merely an official pretext; the truth was that Ludwig simply wanted to keep him around as insurance because of his Berengaria bloodline.

So that after Ludwig’s death, someone of Berengaria’s lineage could continue to maintain the Wall of Berengaria and the territory of Landenburg in place of the discontinued Landenburg family.

In short, the plan was to bring in a distant, unknown relative, raise him, and if he showed promise, officially adopt him as an heir.

The problem was that years later, a new option personally crossed the wall to find him.

That would be me.

Unlike Lambert, who was competent in administration but unremarkable in military talent, I was a direct descendant of Median with overwhelming combat abilities that no one could match.

At first, Ludwig doubted my abilities… but after witnessing the brilliant achievements I built in just one year after defecting to the Empire, he decided to pass Landenburg to me instead of Lambert.

He thought that in these troubled times, a transcendent warrior was more suitable to be the lord of the territory than an excellent administrator.

But since it seemed wasteful to discard Lambert after raising him so well, he appointed him as my proxy rather than the territory’s master, to fill in where I was lacking.

And if I were to die without leaving descendants, Lambert, with Berengaria’s bloodline, would naturally inherit Landenburg.

“Hmm…”

After hearing the explanation, it wasn’t a bad plan.

Contrary to what Ludwig had expected, Landenburg became not just a margraviate but an entire kingdom, and Lambert, who found himself having to manage a kingdom, fled for fear that I would kill him.

—-

“If you can relay a message to this Lambert, tell him I know who he is, and it won’t be difficult to find him. If he doesn’t want to be dragged back kicking and screaming, he should return on his own.”

“…Is it really necessary to eliminate him? Since he chose to flee rather than confront Your Excellency, leaving him alone wouldn’t cause you any harm…”

Sean hesitated before answering.

Judging by his words, it seems he had quite a close relationship with this Lambert character. He kept his identity secret until I pressed him, and even now he’s making pointless objections out of concern that I might harm him.

“What are you talking about? I already swore not to harm him. I’m not going to kill or imprison him. Quite the opposite.”

“The opposite, you say…?”

“Ludwig raised him to be his successor, right? I can’t let such talent go to waste. I’ll check his abilities, and if he’s as competent as expected, I’ll put him to work in an important position.”

If he proves even more capable than expected, it wouldn’t be bad to hand over the governance of Landenburg to him later.

Since I have no intention of marrying a man and bearing children, the succession rights to the country of Hestella will be left hanging the moment I die of old age.

Whether Hestella will continue to exist as a single country afterward, or be divided into several territories and reabsorbed into the Empire, is unknown…

In any case, I thought it would be right to pass the Landenburg territory to Ludwig’s distant relative.

“Uh… is that so…?”

“Yes, so I’d like to meet him as soon as possible. If it takes too long, I might get a bit irritated.”

And as Frider once joked, my “irritation” is nothing short of a terrible natural disaster to others.

“…I understand.”

Sean nodded with a sour expression.

—-

After that, various work instructions followed.

The lord’s bedroom—that is, Ludwig’s bedroom—should be redecorated to my taste, while strictly preventing Frider from interfering.

The Rose Cross Knights, Median’s private military group, would be coming to Landenburg, so accommodations should be prepared for them.

And finally, to summon Hush, the half-black half-elf who was dealing with Perne’s drunken ramblings.

Sean bowed his head in acknowledgment and left the office, while I leaned back in my chair with my legs on the desk, rocking back and forth, waiting for Hush to arrive. All while filling the office with the scent of mint.

“H-Haschal, my master. You called for me?”

It was around my third cigarette when Hush, a black-skinned half-elf born from the impossible combination of a black slave and an elf, knocked on the office door.

“Yes, come in.”

“Yes!”

With a clunk, the wooden door opened on its own. Hush carefully entered the room and immediately knelt on the office floor, bowing her head in greeting.

Sweat beaded on the back of her exposed neck, clearly showing she had rushed over as soon as she heard my summons.

“Um, so what did you need…”

“I have a task for you. You’ve been resting and doing nothing for a while, so isn’t it about time you did some work?”

I straightened my posture and explained the job she needed to do to the trembling Hush.

“Monitor Lady Eleonora and her maid?”

“Yes. I took responsibility for their safety at Leopold’s request, but something feels suspicious. On the surface, they appear to be harmless women, but strangely, every time I see them, I feel an urge to hit them.”

“…Isn’t that just because your personalities don’t match?”

Hush tilted her head and asked. Judging by her expression, she seemed to misunderstand my desire to “hit them” as merely a slight feeling of discomfort.

For me, wanting to “hit someone” means wanting to blow away their entire upper body.

I should clear up this misunderstanding.

“Hush, imagine this. If I were to strike your chest with this hand right now, what would happen? What do you think would become of your body?”

I explained the exact meaning of the expression “wanting to hit someone” to Hush with a slight smile.

“Y-yes…?”

“You’d probably be scattered into pieces of meat, wouldn’t you? Torn into such tiny fragments that even if the Five Swords members came back alive, they wouldn’t recognize you. Don’t you think?”

By now she should understand what I meant—

“Hieek! P-please spare me, master! I’ll never talk back again!! This lowly sinner forgot her place! Please forgive me just this once!”

…So much for understanding.

Whether she took my explanation as a threat, Hush prostrated herself completely, bowing and trembling like a broken electric massager.

If I were to stand up from my seat, she looked like she might wet herself in fear.

“No, that’s not what I meant…”

I sighed deeply at the absurdity and pitifulness of the situation, and had to give Hush a more detailed explanation to prevent the smell of ammonia from seeping into the office floor.

All while deliberately ignoring the sour smell of urine that tickled my nose.

—-

After a lengthy explanation, Hush, who finally understood my orders perfectly, walked out wobbling with her thighs tightly pressed together.

I was relieved that the floor where she had been prostrating was at least dry, and opened the windows wide to let out the strange mixture of urine smell and mint fragrance.

“Haah…”

My head ached as if I had a hangover, though I hadn’t even been drinking.

[Surveillance… the judgment itself seems fine, but can you really trust that wench?]

‘Hush? I think she’ll be fine. She’s so good at hiding in dark places that even I have trouble finding her. We don’t need to worry about her being discovered.’

Whether it was a quality inherited from her father, Hush had a natural talent for stealth, thievery, and escape.

In a fair fight, she couldn’t even match a master, but her stealth abilities could deceive even hero-class knights like Millia, Percival, or Joshua.

Additionally, thanks to the elven traits inherited from her mother, she was extremely lightweight, making her movements very nimble. There could hardly be a better talent as a spy, assassin, or observer.

So there was no need to worry.

‘I’ll restrict their movements by assigning Nigel, Leonore, or the Rose Cross Knights as escorts under the pretext of protection, and send Hush to quietly observe them from behind… eventually they’ll reveal their true intentions.’

If they remain well-behaved until the end of the original story, I’ll consider my suspicions about them to be just my imagination.

—-

As the saying goes, strike while the iron is hot—once a decision is made, proceeding without delay is the wisest choice.

After sending Hush out of the office, I stubbed out my finished cigarette in the ashtray, got up, and went to Eleonora’s guest room to inform her that her duties had changed somewhat.

Rather than simply acting as an advisor, she would need to oversee all administrative affairs of Hestella until this Lambert person returned.

And I also informed her that since someone entrusted with such an important responsibility couldn’t be left without guards, I would assign reliable knights to protect her.

“Um… this is rather perplexing. Wouldn’t it be problematic if my identity were to be revealed?”

As expected, Eleonora tried to express her refusal, saying it would be difficult.

“You can cover your face, and there shouldn’t be a problem. I understand you’ve been living abroad for over ten years—how many people could recognize the princess just by her voice and demeanor?”

Of course, her refusal was rejected.

In the Imperial Palace, it might have been different, but here, my word was law.