Ch.820Passed It All off to Someone Else.

That’s how about fifteen days passed.

Just as the previously scattered policy plans were starting to take shape, and I was beginning to think it might be time to declare independence from the Empire and hold a coronation ceremony…

“Lady Astika. We have captured the blasphemer who impiously refused the Saint’s invitation and attempted to flee.”

Landenburg’s fugitive Administrative Director, Lambert Siegel, had finally been caught.

Just as I had warned him that coming voluntarily would have been a hundred, no, a thousand times better, he now bore charges that would make one’s hair stand on end just hearing them.

—-

“…Please spare me. I beg for mercy…”

Lambert Siegel was a man who bore no resemblance whatsoever to Ludwig.

It was only natural that they shared no similarities, given that they were as distantly related as Hersella was from the concept of refinement.

“There’s no need to be so afraid. If I had wanted you dead, I wouldn’t have brought you here in the first place.”

He appeared to be in his mid-twenties. He seemed rather young for someone raised to be Ludwig’s successor. Though I’m hardly one to talk.

Sitting cross-legged on the temporary throne, I exhaled a long stream of cigarette smoke as I looked down at Lambert kneeling at my feet.

He looked like he’d been through quite an ordeal, probably due to being treated as a prisoner while being brought here.

His dull brown hair, which would normally have been neatly groomed, was disheveled and messy, and his clothes were covered in dirt and dust.

Thanks to my orders not to harm him, his limbs and facial features were still intact, but the dark circles under his eyes suggested he hadn’t been able to sleep properly during his journey here.

[Looking at him, he’s clearly a bookish gentleman who’s never held a sword in his life.]

Hersella offered her brief assessment.

As she said, Lambert Siegel had an appearance that anyone would recognize as far removed from that of a knight or soldier.

Gentle eyes and a soft jawline. Even a monocle on his left eye. Overall, he gave off a docile and harmless impression. So unthreatening that he didn’t evoke even the slightest sense of danger.

Of course, no matter how harmless someone might appear, I couldn’t let my guard down completely.

In my experience, among those who looked harmless, there were plenty who would suddenly snap and go on shooting sprees, or who would stab unsuspecting people in the back and betray them while spouting nonsense about ascending to heaven.

However, this Lambert character gave a somewhat different impression from such people.

Rather than seeming harmless in a way that put one at ease, it was more like… how should I put it? He had the kind of face that made you want to toss him a few coins and order him to buy five loaves of bread and drinks, then bring back 10 gold in change.

He had the kind of face that made you want to poke him repeatedly with your finger like a bullet and ask him whose finger hurt the most.

“Were you not planning to bury me…? If so, why did you order my capture…?”

“Why? Isn’t that obvious?”

I lightly tapped the armrest of the throne with my finger and pulled up the corner of my mouth in a mocking smile.

“To return to you the duty you cast aside. The duty to dedicate your abilities to me.”

How dare you try to escape through death. You’ll be serving as a lifetime administrator. The only death permitted to you is natural death from old age.

“I’ve already found someone to take charge of this country’s administration in place of the pathetic person who ran away… but when it comes to talent, the more the better, right? So, work diligently under that person, supporting them with every fiber of your being. As the chancellor of my kingdom.”

Originally, I had planned to return Eleonora to her advisory role and use Lambert as my proxy.

However, Leonore said that restoring a man who had fled and been captured to his original position as if nothing had happened would undermine my authority, so I should impose some kind of punishment.

So I decided to keep Eleonora as the chief administrator and demote Lambert to Eleonora’s assistant.

The workload would remain almost the same, but his position would be one rank lower.

“Chancellor, you say…?”

“Yes. I’ve become curious about your abilities. Go ahead and prove it. Show me whether you were worth the twenty days I spent on you.”

It wasn’t me who spent twenty days, but rather the Church’s pursuers led by Adamante… but anyway, since he had consumed my subordinates’ time, broadly speaking, it was no different from consuming my time.

Therefore, Lambert had an obligation to prove that those twenty days hadn’t been a waste.

“Do your best. If you show satisfactory results, I might consider granting you or your children the castle of Landenburg. For you, there could be no greater honor, right?”

That should be sufficient motivation.

For the Siegel family, a cadet branch of Berengaria’s line, to be recognized as part of the main line would literally be the glory of their house.

“However, if you betray me or try to run away again, or if you prove yourself to be a useless, incompetent person… well, I would probably be terribly disappointed. I might be so disheartened that I’d have to call for Adamante the Judge for consolation. You understand what I mean, right?”

I smiled at him as I extinguished my finished cigarette with the Hagalaz rune.

Having offered both an appealing carrot and a terrifying stick, I expected he would work his hardest from now on.

Lambert looked at me with eyes as if seeing something indescribable, then bowed his head deeply and answered.

“…Yes. I am grateful for Lady Astika’s mercy.”

“I’m glad you understand quickly.”

Of course you should be grateful. If someone other than me were in my position, would they have kept Lambert alive? They would have quietly disposed of him and buried him in some obscure place.

So, Lambert owed me his life simply by being alive.

—-

Lambert was competent.

Specifically, he was so competent that even after I abandoned my paperwork, Eleonora’s workload was reduced by half. I really made the right decision having him captured.

Thanks to him, I was able to escape from the tedious desk work and focus on my real job.

What do I mean by that?

“Grooooar!”

Obviously, it meant it was time for me to return to being Haschal the warrior, not Haschal the queen-to-be.

“Joshua, take the front! Heinrich, restrict its movements! The rest of you, maintain the encirclement and keep it in check! Yan and Leonore, Frider, go for its legs! Nigel, aim for its eyes with your javelin!”

“Understood!”

“Why don’t you fight too!”

I ignored Frider’s grumbling. I had already reached my Karma limit, so there was no point in me joining the fight directly.

To prepare for the future, it was time to focus on developing others rather than myself.

“We need to cut off the snake head on the tail side! Jahan! Go around back and slice it off!”

“Yes!”

Jahan, who answered loudly, pulled his reins and curved around toward the rear of the monster. His red demon-slaying sword trembled with the power of Karma.

As expected of a Ka’har, it was quite impressive to see him fighting fearlessly even against a large monster.

—-

After escaping the paperwork hell thanks to Lambert’s competence, I devoted myself to leading our elite forces in eliminating monsters appearing in the eastern region. Not as a mere swordswoman, but as their commander.

In other words, I had become a backseat strategist, watching from behind and calling out appropriate tactics.

With Joshua and Heinrich together, monster subjugation itself wouldn’t be a problem even if I just silently observed… but knowing versus not knowing about the enemy makes a tremendous difference in efficiency.

Even to prepare for my absence, I needed to teach them knowledge about monsters and effective countermeasures while I had the time.

Additionally, there was the advantage that my presence could prevent unfortunate casualties.

While directly attacking monsters would interfere with my allies’ Karma accumulation, there was no problem with rescuing knights who had made mistakes in defense or evasion and fallen into danger.

Eleonora had asked me to help with paperwork if I had time, but I considered my duty fulfilled by finding and appointing Lambert, so I rejected her request without any guilt.

Although Eleonora was competent, being a bookish person who had never held a sword, she didn’t seem to understand what was more important.

What use would it be to create a utopian country blooming with smiles if our forces were decimated by monster attacks?

The most important thing in governing a country is developing powerful military forces.

Building the economic foundation to maintain such forces comes second, and the third most important thing is establishing diplomatic relations to reduce enemies and increase allies.

A weak country is merely prey.

Therefore, what I was doing now was the most important work for this country.