It was April 5, twenty days since we’d captured the royal capital. Ashen gray clouds covered the sky, creating an atmosphere that was far from cheerful.
I was drinking tea with Myalo in a conference room in the royal castle. Tillet was standing in the corner.
“Let’s just read it, Yuri. There’s no reason not to.” Myalo was looking at an envelope resting on the table. Its wax seal was unbroken.
“No. I want to be honest and open about everything. Even if we resealed the envelope afterward, our feelings would give it away.”
As we were talking, the door opened, and Kien and Liao Rube entered.
I stood up to greet them. “Long time no see, Sir Kien.”
“Indeed... And a lot’s happened since.” It was difficult to describe Kien’s expression. It was as if he didn’t know how to feel toward me or whether it was appropriate to vent his frustrations.
Liao, on the other hand, looked completely uncaring. He only glanced at Myalo briefly, but it didn’t escape my notice.
“Somehow, I’ve lived through it all.” I extended my hand to Kien.
He accepted it and shook it. His hands were dry like an old man’s, lacking any sweat or grease.
Next, I repeated the gesture with Liao.
“You handled things well, Yuri,” he said.
“No, it’s been one failure after another.”
After I’d shaken hands with both of them, I sat back down.
Liao gave me a puzzled look, like he couldn’t see how I could call everything I’d done a mistake.
“Please, take your seats,” I urged them. “Over here, where it’s easiest to talk.”
Kien and Liao sat side by side. Myalo remained in the same position to my left, which meant we couldn’t properly arrange ourselves with the higher-ranking people by the top of the table.
“I already explained some of the details in my letter.”
I’d recently written to Kien, warning about a likely crusade and calling him here. Liao was just along for the ride.
“This is the contract that the witches made with the Papal State. There are already copies on display throughout the city, but this is the original.”
I placed the document I’d found in Vivila’s house down on the table. The content was as follows.
Contract
As the Crusade Force’s leading authority, the Papal State asks that the Shiyalta Kingdom’s Witch Collective meet the following Requirements.
1. Cause a shift in power through the elimination of the Shiyalta Kingdom’s royal family or the installation of a puppet under the Witch Collective’s control.
2. Maintain the power shift until the Crusade Force arrives and continue to thwart efforts to build defenses against the Crusade Force during that time.
3. Support the Crusade Force’s invasion of the Shiyalta Kingdom by opening ports of the royal capital Sibiak and allowing our fleet access at our request.
4. Secure as many blonde Shanti as possible, including Tellur Toni Shaltl. Requirement (1) may be prioritized over this Requirement when the two are in direct conflict.
5. Capture the heretic Ether Catholica Wichita, and hold her ready to be handed over to the Papal State.
If Requirements (1) to (5) above are met, the Papal State will abide by the following Promises in return.
1. Up to five thousand members of the Witch Collective will be given rights equivalent to those of Kulati people.
2. The title of Duke will be awarded to seven members of the Witch Collective.
3. The Witch Collective will maintain rights over its assets.
4. The Witch Collective will maintain ownership of its land in perpetuity.
The above Requirements and Promises constitute a contract between the Crusade Force and the Shiyalta Kingdom’s Witch Collective.
Signed
Epitaph Palazzo, representative of the Crusade Force
Six representatives of the Witch Collective
“So that’s how it was,” Kien said.
“They really were scum,” Liao added.
The pair looked utterly disgusted, as if the document was a gruesome sight.
“Sir Kien, I’d like us to discuss this as equals.”
“Hm? Well, you are the Ho family’s leader now... I’m fine with that.”
Up to this point, I’d been showing him respect, but I needed to be frank throughout the conversation we were about to have.
“Do you think a crusade’s coming, Sir Kien?”
“I don’t know. Perhaps not, since their plan failed, or maybe they’ll want to take advantage of all the disruption. The reality is the royal capital has been in disarray since the queen’s death.”
That wasn’t quite the reality. The queen had set me up as a national hero, and I’d distributed my flyers before anyone could damage my reputation among the city’s people. Even though Carol’s absence had given the population some cause for suspicion, they’d mostly welcomed the Ho family as their new rulers regardless. I worried whenever I thought about all the taxes we’d lose this year while our bureaucratic systems were in tatters, but at least the restoration of public order had been swift.
“This letter should hold the answer.” I placed my palm on the envelope that lay on the desk, its seal unbroken.
“What’s this...?”
“The day after the assassination, I asked employees heading for the Albio Republic to learn what they could about the crusaders.”
The response had finally reached me.
“It normally takes twenty days for a ship to make the trip there and back, but this time it took just fourteen days owing to favorable winds. I called you here after the letter arrived yesterday.”
Weather patterns at this time of year meant that only one in five ships would be fortunate enough to make it to Albio and back so quickly. We’d been lucky.
“That doesn’t add up,” Kien replied. “You took the capital just a little over ten days ago.”
“Even before then, I’d guessed that the witches were in contact with the crusaders based on our overall situation.”
“Yuri, while everything may have been clear to you, it was far from obvious to the rest of us. Please allow me to explain, lest we create any misunderstandings here,” Myalo said before summarizing the evidence and reasoning that had led me to my initial conclusion. “So, you see, that was enough for Yuri to guess that the witches had a deal with the crusaders.”
“Mhm,” Kien replied.
“And now we have the response,” I said. “As you can see, it’s sealed. We haven’t tried to read it.”
“Why call us here without opening it?” Liao asked. “If the letter’s addressed to you, there’s no reason to wait.”
“Whatever the case, I’ll need the Rube family’s help in dealing with the crusaders, or there’s no hope for us,” I explained. “I didn’t want to draw any conclusions before our discussion. We’ll open the letter together because we’re going to consider the implications together.”
“I see,” Kien said.