“We’re gonna see a lot more trees from here on out,” Abel said to Ryo after they left Acray.
“That means this is where the real journey begins,” Ryo replied with a serious nod, a look of grim determination on his face.
“I wouldn’t go that far. I’d say things won’t get ‘real’ until we pass Bardon Blaine tonight.”
“Sheesh, then why didn’t you just tell me all of this tomorrow?” Ryo sighed and shook his head in exasperation.
“I mean, it’s not like the trip has been a walk in the park so far,” Abel retorted.
Their banter was business as usual for the two of them. That said, things had changed a bit. Yesterday, the carriage had been a veritable mobile study room; today, the number of documents cluttering the desk had been cut in half. Why? Well, two reasons: One, they were no longer on the Third Highway, which was completely secure, and two, Phelps’s warning.
“I’ve been thinking about what Phelps told me about him and his people catching and questioning Sect operatives in Acray...”
“Yeah, he’s good at that sort of thing.” Abel nodded.
“Well, if they were captured so easily, then they must not pose much of a real threat.”
“I’d have to...disagree with you on that.”
“Why?” Ryo pressed.
“Because Acray—the whole marquessate of Heinlein itself, in fact—has some of the best counterintelligence capabilities in the Kingdom.”
“Since Phelps is ‘good at that sort of thing,’ as you put it?”
“That’s part of it, but his dad is a bigger part. He taught Phelps everything he knows,” Abel answered, recalling what he knew of the current marquess of Heinlein.
“Oh, right. Isn’t he the former commander of the Royal Knights?”
“The commander before the last one, actually.”
The most recent knight commander, Baccala Tow, had died during the Capital Mayhem.
“During his time leading the knights, folks called Alexis a demon. But he understood the importance of intelligence.”
“‘Demon’ isn’t the first word I think of when I imagine a knight commander...”
“On that, we agree. Still, thanks to him, Knightley won the Great War ten years ago. Alexis himself said we owed it to the power of information.”
“‘If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles,’” Ryo muttered, reciting the famous Sun Tzu quote.
“Say what now?” Abel asked.
“Just something people say back where I come from that describes the importance of information in war.”
“Glad to see you get it too, then.”
Ryo had been a fan of strategy games since he was a child.
“It’s common knowledge there.”
“Yeah? You don’t say.”
✦ ✦ ✦
In his office, Alexis, the current marquess of Heinlein, did his daily paperwork. Despite turning fifty this year, he looked years younger, his body well toned and devoid of any excess fat.
A man entered the room.
“Father, the delegation has left the city,” said the man, his eldest son and a B-rank adventurer named Phelps.
“Good work. I must say, I was a mite surprised to see Dontan leading the knights as company commander. To think that the little rascal I remember is all grown up... Really makes me feel the march of time. At any rate, about your visit to the inn yesterday...”
“Of course you noticed. I went to warn them. Abel was half drunk, so I told Ryo instead.”
“That water magician?” Alexis exhaled.
“Father, you still can’t trust him?”
It wasn’t a demand or an accusation, but simply a question from a son to his worried father.
“No, I trust him, since he’s earned not only Abel’s trust but yours as well. I don’t doubt he’s an impressive fellow. It’s just the sheer power he possesses that concerns me...”
“Ah, you’re thinking about that village.”
The village in question was the headquarters of the Sect of Assassins, which Ryo had frozen using his Permafrost spell. It went without saying that this information wasn’t public knowledge. Even the Kingdom’s nobles were largely unaware. House Heinlein, however, was an exception. Thanks to their extensive information-gathering capabilities, they had a fairly accurate grasp of what had happened and who was involved.
“I’m still surprised he knew where it was before we did, but I’m even more shocked that he was able to destroy it all on his own. All we can do is hope that he never directs his power at the Kingdom.”
Alexis’s expression, filled with equal parts worry and apprehension, made it hard to believe that he used to be called a demon on the battlefield. But his son, Phelps, knew better. This was the real Alexis Heinlein. He attacked his enemies with a demon’s ruthless abandon, using every means possible to annihilate them, but at heart, he was extremely sensitive and cautious. That was exactly why he excelled at intelligence work.
“By the way, our theories about Twilightland turned out to be true. I just received this.” Alexis handed him a piece of paper.
Phelps read it and frowned slightly. “The possibility of civil war...” he muttered. “The government has the support of Count Contreras, while Marquis Espier leads the opposing faction... Yet the government itself has no idea what the rebels are doing? What does that mean?”
“I honestly have no idea. A question for the ages, eh?”
The Heinlein family had the most powerful intelligence network in the Central Provinces, which meant it also had the best analytical capabilities at its disposal. Even so, Marquess Alexis Heinlein didn’t know what was unfolding in Twilightland.
“Contreras and Espier are both prominent aristocrats in the country. Nobles like them don’t hold government positions. They travel between their territories and the capital. That said, they each hold enormous economic and military power—far more than Twilight’s central government wields. Both are key figures, and we haven’t received any reports of conflicts involving their domains. A civil war under these circumstances makes no sense. Not to mention the government’s lack of awareness regarding these developments...”
“Could this be related to the delegation the Kingdom recently dispatched?”
“It’s possible, but—”
A knock sounded on the door, and one of his subordinates entered bearing new information. Alexis read it over, then immediately handed the document to Phelps.
“I’d say more than possible now.”
“Count Contreras was the one who strongly supported Knightley’s decision to send a delegation...”
Key figures in another country had driven the Kingdom to make that decision.
“The delegation may find itself thrust into the middle of a civil war,” Alexis muttered with a dejected shake of his head.
After a moment, he spoke again.
“Considering what happened in Inverey and the chaos in the eastern part of our Kingdom, the situation in the Central Provinces is unsettling, to say the least.”
The eastern part of Knightley had been in a state of unrest since the collapse of the Lowe Bridge, and the influx of refugees from the Principality of Inverey had exacerbated the deterioration of public order. Local lords who should have been trying to quell the chaos were instead losing their lives in rebellions, sudden monster attacks, or mysterious fires at their estates, further spreading the chaos. Duke Conrad Shrewsbury’s death—a so-called fatal “accident” Abel and the rest of the Crimson Sword had the misfortune to encounter while on a job—had been the spark that lit the fire.
“We still don’t know who the mastermind behind Conrad’s death is,” Alexis muttered.
Phelps nodded. They had their theories, of course. Unfortunately, no physical evidence had been found yet.
“Father, are we certain that Lord Aubrey isn’t behind all these troubles in the east?”
“He most likely isn’t. The man himself told McGlass that with Inverey now under their control, the Federation would be in trouble if chaos erupted in neighboring Knightley. Whether or not we believe him is another matter entirely, naturally. Before, they might have needed to resort to sabotage to prevent the Kingdom from intervening... But now, it would do more harm than good. The tumult continues even as we speak. In fact, it’s getting worse with each passing day, which makes me suspect another major power is pulling the strings...”
“The Empire?”
Alexis and Phelps both frowned. It was almost certainly the Empire, but it was hard to determine a motive. The eastern part of Knightley didn’t even share a border with Debuhi because the massive northern region lay between them. So no matter how much they undermined the east, it would be difficult to take control. Why target that region at all, then?
“There must be information we don’t yet have in the north...”
“He is in the north, Father.”
“Yes, Duke Flitwick... His Highness Raymond.”
The Heinleins also had an accurate grasp of the Black Dust incident involving Abel and Hilarion. They knew it involved Flitwick, the powerful duke who ruled over Carlyle, the second largest city in the north. The same man who just so happened to be the younger brother of the current king, Stafford IV.
Alexis focused on his son.
“We need to send talented people to Carlyle and get them to kick the hornet’s nest there.”
“To gauge how they react, hm?”
As part of their normal operations, they had already planted numerous intelligence agents in the city for years now. But that hadn’t been enough, so they decided to send an inconspicuous but powerful force to probe the enemy’s response... A common method for finding weaknesses—an extremely risky one as well. So whoever they mobilized needed to be extremely skilled.
“I’ll have the best of the White Brigade handle it, Father.”
“I knew I could count on you,” Alexis replied with a nod. He said nothing more.