I explained all this to Neurath, who pondered it for a moment before responding. “So that’s why the adventurers will disappear in Marquess Cortolezis’s fiefdom.”
“Probably. I’m predicting this based on the fact that during the refugee escort mission, he didn’t warn us of impending danger.”
He had kept us in the dark on purpose, but back then, I wasn’t enough of a big shot to be directly targeted by a marquess. Even now as a viscount, I was basically just part of the masses in the eyes of a marquess. That was how big the difference between the two ranks were, even if they were both nobles. Given the muscle-headed nature of this world, he might just be looking down on me for coming from a rank full of nothing but civil officials.
“Back then, I think Duke Seyfert was his real target.”
Marquess Cortolezis and his faction had probably been thinking, “Why has a great military family like ours been thrown aside for an old geezer who’s supposed to be retired?”
Although creating a mob of monsters was outside of his means, he could still ignore a neighboring domain’s request for aid or any victims from lands outside those he ruled. Thus, if refugees from the growing Demon threat in Triot were to suffer great losses under the duke’s command, that would ruin the duke’s reputation. He may have even perished in the battle.
Even if they weren’t expecting that much to come of it, a crack in Duke Seyfert’s reputation might have had people considering elevating more martial houses back into the limelight, possibly replacing the duke. I was pretty certain that was why Marquess Cortolezis had left us in the dark back then.
“Marquess Cortolezis and Marquess Kneipp are both parts of the martial faction after all.”
Still, even if they were in the same faction, they could still be competing for power among each other. With Marquess Kneipp out of the running, it was only natural that they would each want to increase the scope of their influence. Conversely, the royal family would want to avoid the rise of a new powerhouse. I thought it was very possible that the king had chosen Duke Seyfert for the refugee escort mission with that in mind.
“But I hear that Marquess Cortolezis is ill.”
“Both his first and second sons are older than me.” I casually dismissed Schünzel’s statement, but then I realized that might just make him more dangerous. Both his sons were of a suitable age to marry Laura.
This could be especially problematic if the second son planned to oust his brother and become the next marquess. That might spur him to take some, shall we say, assertive actions, if not run amok entirely. Still, I lacked the intel to judge any of this.
“But why would they move against you, Lord Werner?”
“Hm… To summarize, the king and a small group of nobles are vying for power.”
The Kingdom of Wein had no absolute monarchy, no autocrat. While this may sound sarcastic, in a world that had been teeming with monsters even before the Demon Lord’s return, networks of communications just hadn’t been able to keep up with the kingdom’s size. If you didn’t grant nobles a certain degree of authority, they’d be unable to solve problems that would eventually destroy the whole country.
While I didn’t even have the slightest wish to marry Laura, I was still an eligible option, and one who enjoyed close ties with a duke on the prince’s faction. While I was mostly just a puppet on their strings, other would see me as one of their favorites. Considering my father was also a minister, people likely assumed I was in the same faction as the king.
“Plus, if my reputation sours, that’ll be a roundabout way of proving that the people who praise me are poor judges of character.” Having to think so far ahead was one of the pains of noble society. I forced down a sigh as Neurath began to speak.
“In that case, why are you purposefully spreading bad rumors about yourself?”
“Well, I do feel sorry for my father for doing this.” My mother too. I didn’t think most parents would be too happy about their son’s wanton appetites becoming talk of the kingdom. As for what the rest of the country thought, well, it didn’t really matter to me. I’m sure they can manage. They can forgive me for that much.
“Will it not become more difficult to return to the capital with such rumors flying about?”
“It shouldn’t be.”
I had the words and actions of the crown prince and duke backing me. The only reason I was here was to fight the Demon Commander. If I succeeded in defending Anheim, I was pretty certain that even those in the capital could be convinced that I had spread those rumors myself. I was sure it wouldn’t be everyone, but those people would never work with me anyway. I was just distancing myself from them in advance.
On the other hand, if I failed, they’d decide that I couldn’t be trusted with lands neighboring those occupied by the Demon army, and I would be called back to the capital anyway. If things turned out that way, I hoped they’d give me something easy to do. Then I’d have all the time in the world to research the questions gnawing at my mind.
Still, my loss would mean great casualties. I could never forget the tragedy in Valeritz, and at the very least, I had no intentions of letting something like that happen where I had anything to say about it.
Thus, I planned to do everything I could, but I didn’t want anyone sabotaging me. It would suck if someone blocked the shipments of goods we could only get from the capital. If people thought I was just a hedonist racking up debt to fulfill my whims, it was unlikely people would bother interfering.
“I’m sure the kingdom will take care of the rest.”
Honestly, I didn’t have the time to worry about what came next. The Demon Commander was a boss-level foe, and it was taking every ounce of my power to come up with strategies to resist his onslaught. The rest was just the rest. I deliberately stopped myself from thinking about anything that came beyond spreading those rumors and focused entirely on the issue now before me.