After that, Georg, who rejected my ultimatum, and Castor, who was prepared to martyr himself for his friendship with Georg, raised the flag of rebellion against me. This was what had caused this current war… Well, anyway, that was the scenario that not only my people, but also the Principality of Amidonia believed.
— However, this scenario only appeared that way on the surface. The true state of affairs was completely different.
First, people thought that Excel had sworn her loyalty to me when I issued the ultimatum, but, in fact, she had done so before that. Excel had sent her granddaughter Juna to be at my side in order to judge whether I had what it took to be king. When she received reports back from Juna saying that I did, she swore her loyalty to me and we used Juna as an intermediary between us.
However, in order to monitor Georg, who had been making some disquieting moves, as well as to attempt to persuade Castor, we concealed that fact, and she continued to work alongside the other two dukes for a time.
Next, the reason this conflict had broken out was also different.
The plan Hakuya and I had been working on was something entirely different, and we hadn’t been thinking about subjugating the three dukes at all.
When Liscia told me what sort of person Georg was, I thought he was the kind of guy who would listen to reason. Even with Castor, I knew he had a short temper, but if Excel and Georg both worked to persuade him, I had thought he would reluctantly comply.
However, because Georg sheltered the corrupt nobles, my plans were all thrown off course.
That said, neither Hakuya nor I had seen the corrupt nobles as being of any great consequence. They had already been driven from their positions. If we sealed the border and could just seize their assets, I didn’t care where they went after that. However, Georg kept those nobles close at hand, adding their forces to his own.
At first, when I’d seen he was acting so differently from what Liscia had told me about him, I had been indignant.
That was when Glaive Magna, who said he had left the Army, had appeared before me.
Technically, he had come to me in order to apologize for Hal’s rudeness in town, but even if not for that, I‘m sure he would have appeared before us. Glaive had been entrusted with a certain secret mission by Georg.
Once he finished apologizing for Hal’s impropriety, he began by saying, “Now then, sire. I realize this is incredibly rude, but I have come to tell you something.”
When I asked him what it was, he said, “Well… it is something best not heard by many people…” and he asked me to clear the room.
I had Liscia, Aisha, Hakuya, Hal, and Kaede remain, and dismissed everyone else. Once I did that, Glaive finally began to speak about Georg’s plan.
“Duke Carmine intends to gather all of the corrupt nobles in one place, launch a rebellion with them, then have Your Majesty put it down.”
This was to catch all of the corrupt nobles in one fell swoop, because they would be dangerous if left lurking around. Georg took a position of clear opposition to me, drawing these destabilizing elements to himself like moths to a flame.
Then he had Glaive and his people, the ones he trusted the most in the Army, break away due to “distrust over his having sheltered corrupt nobles.” They would join the Forbidden Army so that there would be people left who could reorganize the Army after the war. After that, he would reject an ultimatum from me, and once the destabilizing elements had gathered, he would take things onto the battlefield. His plan was to have the nobles captured along with him.
The Army were powerful enemies with 40,000 troops, but if the Forbidden Army, Air Force, and Navy all worked together, they could easily put them down.
In fact, even in this recent battle with the Army, all it took was destroying their anti-air repeating bolt throwers with a surprise attack by the Air Force to set the stage for a surrender. Then, at the same time as he surrendered, Georg’s retainers would detain the nobles and their personal armies, which included Zemish mercenaries.
That was Georg’s plan.
When I heard the plan from Glaive, I found myself shouting in anger without intending to. “What the hell?! Who ever asked him to do that?!”
“Your anger is understandable, but… this was Duke Carmine’s own idea.” Even as Glaive bowed his head, it seemed he had no intent of yielding.
“Why would he do that?! The corrupt nobles have already been dismissed. We’ve already seized their assets, too. Just let those cockroaches go!” I shouted.
“If you ask Duke Carmine, he feels that’s being naive.” Glaive raised his voice in anger, but then controlled himself. As a retainer, he couldn’t get into a shouting match with his king.
When I saw that, I cooled my head, too. “…What’s naive about it?”
“Sire, when grain rots, the rot spreads to nearby grain. The problem with nobles is their wide connections. In order to preserve their influence, they repeatedly marry off their daughters to create new relatives. Most likely, if you only put them on trial for something minor like corruption, other houses will intervene to prevent it. Furthermore, even if they lose their own houses, it’s possible they will all seek protection from another house where they have relatives. As such, it is necessary to knock them down all the way to being traitors against the state.”
I fell silent.
I understood what Glaive wanted to say.
In order to bring judgment upon those corrupt nobles with all their ties, I would have to make them commit a crime that would cause their families to be held accountable. Then, fearing that they might be caught up in it as well, the other nobles would cut ties with them of their own accord.
It sounded like it made sense. It sounded like it, but…
“…Do we really need to go that far?”
“Yes,” he said. “There is one more reason.”
“What, there’s still more…?”
“You say you’ve seized their assets, sire, but you’ve only taken what was visible,” he said. “These shady sorts have money and influence in places where people won’t notice. In fact, the nobles who’ve already come to the Carmine Duchy have been using that dark money to hire Zemish mercenaries. I believe this is proof you have yet to take everything from them.”
When he pointed that out, I pressed my palm to my forehead.
Of course. I had been staring at ledgers and deluding myself into thinking that I knew where the funds had gone from that alone. It had slipped my mind that it was possible to accumulate wealth in ways that wouldn’t show up on the books.
When I looked to Hakuya, he had a similar expression on his face.
For me, who never had anything to do with nobles before this, and for Hakuya, who had been a recluse until just recently, we hadn’t fully appreciated how scheming nobles could be.
At times like this, I was reminded that I still lacked enough capable people.
“Does Georg intend to make the nobles use up that dark money?” I asked. “Even if he does, the money will just go to Zem for sending the mercenaries…”
That was when I realized the way to shake down Zem and reclaim the funds that flowed into their coffers.
“Ransom money!”
“Yes,” Glaive said. “At the same time as we capture the corrupt nobles, we will also capture all the Zemish mercenaries they hire.”
Like in Japan during the Sengoku Period, there was a system in place for soldiers who were taken prisoner to be released in exchange for a ransom. Ransoms went up depending on a person’s status, and if no one would pay the ransom, that captive would be sold as a slave. In most cases, those of low status would be released in large groups when their country paid a lump sum, but those of greater status would have their ransoms paid by the members of their house. There had been many instances where a house with limited ability to pay fell to ruin as a result.