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29 – The Beloved Ally

29 – The Beloved Ally

In the city of 『Schniffel』, located at the western end of the Empire, a rebellion broke out when Dreyhart revolted.

Schniffel was not a city with as many slaves as Dreyhart.

However, the people were virtually enslaved and exploited by the lord.

The culprit was 『Usury』.

The lord of Schniffel did not outwardly violate the laws of the Empire.

However, he artistically utilized taxes such as tolls, customs duties, and water fees to pressure the people, ultimately forcing them to borrow money from usurers he supported.

Backed by the lord, the usurers exploited the people with an exorbitant annual interest rate of 240%.

Even if the people sued the usurers, the lawsuits were dismissed due to the lord’s influence, and the people disappeared or became slaves.

Then, around the same time as the rebellion in Dreyhart, the usurer was assassinated.

Evidence that he had colluded with the lord to oppress the people was spread throughout the territory, and the people’s anger exploded.

They united around Noland, known as the Robin Hood of Schniffel, and rebelled, killing the lords and nobles and seizing the territory.

With the support of Blood Clan Magicians, they prepared defenses far more robust than Dreyhart, and with internal farming and groundwater, suppression seemed difficult.

The problem was that this area was a gathering place for lords who supported the Prince.

The Prince could not tolerate a rebellion occurring in an area where his supporters were gathered, let alone the rebels repelling the suppression forces.

Therefore, the Prince personally led the Golden Knights Order to suppress them.

The result was overwhelming.

The rebel army of Schniffel was several times larger than that of Dreyhart in terms of numbers alone.

Moreover, the Robin Hood Noland was a strategist with extensive experience fighting various knight orders, and he also received help from Blood Clan Magicians.

The rebel army of Schniffel, several times stronger than that of Dreyhart, fell to the Prince and the Golden Knights Order in less than a day.

The burning forest of Schniffel was littered with the bodies of numerous rebels.

The Robin Hood Noland, covered in blood and with one arm severed, knelt before the Prince and begged for his life.

“Save me! I surrender!”

The battle lasted for half a day.

The forest was burning, and the surroundings were covered in blood, but the Prince was not soiled at all and shone with golden light.

He pointed his golden sword at Noland and said.

“Are you the leader of the rebels?”

“Y-Yes!”

The Prince looked at Noland.

There was no anger in his eyes.

Rather, he felt pity and compassion.

“I investigated while coming here. I know well why you rebelled. From now on, there will be no more people suffering from usury in Schniffel.”

“T-Thank you!!!”

Noland felt hope in the Prince’s merciful words.

Hope to live, hope for a better tomorrow, hope that he could live.

“But rebellion is rebellion, you violated the Imperial law and killed a noble with the right to succession, even if he was a low-ranking one.”

The Prince felt pity and compassion for Noland, but as a Prince and a guardian of the law, he drew his sword.

He declared to the rebel Noland.

“Therefore, I, Kylos Sword Novalence, the First Prince of the Empire, sentence you to death.”

“S-Save me!! I was wrong!! Save me!!”

Noland begged for his life with one arm.

There was no Robin Hood or leader of the rebels. There was just a human being who wanted to live.

The Prince swung his sword as a punisher towards that one human being.

“May you be born with a Blessing in your next life.”

Swoosh-!

The golden sword passed through Noland’s neck as fast as light, and Noland died without even realizing he was dead.

That was the last mercy the Prince could give him.

* * *

The Prince, who had personally suppressed the rebellion in one day, ordered follow-up measures and quickly returned to the capital.

Duran, the Prince’s secretary, a young man with brown hair, who had been waiting in the carriage for the Prince to return to the capital, bowed his head to greet his master when the Prince arrived.

“You have worked hard, Your Highness.”

“It is nothing compared to the suffering of the Imperial citizens.”

The Prince got into the carriage and immediately headed for the capital.

While handling the numerous pending tasks in the carriage, the news caught the Prince’s eye.

“The rebellion in Dreyhart in the east has been suppressed?”

“Yes, the Crones Family has succeeded in suppressing it single-handedly.”

Another rebellion that occurred around the same time as Schniffel, Dreyhart.

The Prince had negotiated with the Princess to raise the Lion Family and give the ruling rights of Dreyhart to the family that suppressed the rebellion in Dreyhart.

However, the Prince could not hide his surprise that the Crones Family, a third family neither from the Prince’s Lion Family nor the Princess’s Shilla Family, had single-handedly suppressed the rebellion in Dreyhart.

After slowly reading the report, the Prince understood how the suppression of the rebellion in Dreyhart had occurred.

From the failure of the joint suppression operation, the start of the siege, the execution of the suppression operation solely by the Crones Family, to the success of the suppression and the subsequent handling, the Prince was impressed by the clean work he had seen in a long time.

“The Lion Family should have suppressed it… I am sorry for failing the plan.”

“No. A beast deserves a battlefield suitable for a beast. It was my mistake not to place the right person in the right place.”

“I am sorry, Your Highness.”

Duran, who had been in charge of the Prince’s work while the Prince was suppressing the rebellion, felt truly sorry to the Prince because it seemed that the Lion Family had not been able to suppress the rebellion due to his incompetence.

But the Prince did not care.

Although Dreyhart was regrettable, it was only a small city in the east after all, and looking at the overall picture, the person who designed this situation was not ordinary.

The Prince felt that there was a very capable person in charge of overall strategy, whether it was the lord of the Crones Family or his vassal, and he became curious about the Crones Family.

“The Crones Family… I have been hearing a lot about them lately.”

“Yes, the people and bards are cheering for his unconventional policies and actions.”

Duran had been watching the Crones Family since the Red Mage Sharen joined and the conflict with the Lion Family.

The actions of the Crones Family, which had suddenly begun to grow, greatly shook the balance of power in the south.

It would be good if he became an ally, but Duran was constantly watching the Crones Family because it would be troublesome if he sided with the Princess or other forces.

The Prince, having checked all the information about the Crones Family, put down the report and said.

“My sister won’t stay still.”

“Yes, she has already sent a ‘gift’.”

“That’s fast. As expected of Lily.”

The Prince had known about his sister’s scheme from before.

And he admitted that his sister’s strategy using reason was undignified but effective.

In fact, Zeras’s Shilla Family had almost become a pro-Prince family, but they became a Princess Faction because of that gift.

“What should we do? Your Highness.”

“…It wouldn’t be bad to indulge in my sister’s prank once in a while. Let’s send one of us as well.”

The Prince decided to indulge in his sister’s prank this time.

At the Prince’s words, Duran asked.

“I understand. Then who should we send?”

After thinking about it, a knight came to the Prince’s mind.

The Prince was sure that he would do what he wanted well, so he said to Duran.

“Let’s send that child, if he shares our intentions, it will be helpful to him, and if not, that child will take care of it himself.”

“Indeed… I understand. I will send that child.”

The Prince, having finished all the work, organized his thoughts.

The Game of Thrones was approaching, and the Blood Clans were beginning to operate overtly.

In order to unite the chaotic Empire, he needed strong power and many strong allies.

There were many heroes in the Empire.

Not all of them were his allies, but not all of them were his enemies either.

In a situation where one ally was precious, Calix, who was receiving the cheers of the people as the King of Liberation, Silver Dragon of Crone, seemed like an attractive force that the Prince wanted to bring in as an ally.

“Calix Crone… I want to meet him once.”

Hoping that he would be a righteous lord like in the report, the Prince looked forward to meeting Calix in the carriage.

* * *

After solving the problem in Dreyhart, I returned to Crone after a long time.

There were still many problems to solve, but it was not good for me, the lord, to leave the territory for too long, and the major problems that I had to decide had been resolved.

After comfortably recovering from the fatigue in my bedroom in Crone after a long time, I calmly thought while having a cup of tea in my office.

Have I… already come too far to become incompetent?

I was trying to be a moderately loved and incompetent lord, but frankly, it seemed like I had come too far to do that already.

The Crone territory is growing day by day through reclamation, and with the addition of Dreyhart, there are even soldiers with rich combat experience represented by Jarha.

If my memory is correct, my title in the World Archive was likely to have been upgraded from lord to grand lord.

Thinking about what to do with this while calmly drinking tea for the first time in a while, I made a decision.

It was too late to become incompetent now, and my vassals were too capable.

Then the position I had to take was not a loved and incompetent lord.

From now on, I will become a 『loved ally』 to all forces.

One word from the author (Author’s Afterword)

??? : Society has agreed to express such things as a bat.