“That I can also understand. Carlest’s children failed tremendously during the Academy Festival, so he was looking for a sacrifice to secure his ballots during the guild representative elections, and had someone attack the company the Kendalls were endorsing. It would become a silent form of pressure on the other companies. The Weinders are nothing more than a copper, so nothing major would come of it.”
“Indeed, that’s why he played his usual hand. However, it just goes to show that someone might always be watching. At that time, Duke Grinicius was actually on the central street, and thus witnessed the fleeing Carlest carriage and the guards acting suspiciously to cover for it. Now then, the prime minister is the one responsible for pushing for the disarmament of the military. He’s the key figure behind the transition of excess soldiers to an organization of guards to ensure the public safety of the capital. Even though it’s been quite some time since he enacted this policy, given the matter is of such personal interest to him, how exactly do you think he would have perceived the misappropriation of the guards by the Carlests?”
“I see, so the Carlests went too far. However, the guilds are the sponsors for the guards of the upper-class district. They’ll have an influence over them to a certain extent, no matter what. That by itself isn’t enough to...”
“That’s where the distribution of the other guild representatives comes in. The Archduke of the East holds a major influence, due to many of the guilds being in his pocket. The upper-class district serves as a boundary between the nobles and the masses; it’s a shopping district which stations many of the guards. You could even say it’s the very center of the capital.”
I drew a simple diagram of the capital’s districts, and pointed towards the upper-class district.
“So, Archduke Kurtheight could basically form a private army in the center of the capital on a scale that can’t possibly be ignored. Is that what you mean? And that was a line that the prime minister couldn’t possibly allow him to cross.”
“I don’t actually know if the Carriage, Carpentry, or Blacksmith Guild showed similar movements or not, but there’s almost no need for us to investigate it. That’s why the danger of such a future could be so clearly seen by him, I suppose. The over-eagerness of the Carlests during this incident simply led them to their own self-destruction. You lucked out,” I said as I shrugged my shoulders.
No matter how powerful a group looked, there was always a gap within them. All I did was poke that gap ever so slightly with a tiny needle.
Silence fell over the room. Dargan and Plura had completely frozen up. Even Ruston was wide-eyed in shock. And Lilka was gently stroking Shirley’s back, who was clinging to her the whole time.
“...I see. The Academy certainly is a microcosm of the Kingdom itself. Especially when it comes to the relationships between major merchants and nobles. So you’re saying you used the Academy Festival to influence the political decisions of the entire Kingdom?” Jean asked in a somewhat angry tone.
“I’m telling you that it was fundamentally just the Carlests self-destructing. The prime minister supports the second prince, just as he did before. The Archduke of the East didn’t want to take the risk of making it a confrontation between the east and west. Suspicions of being the mastermind behind the misappropriation of the guards isn’t something to be laughed at, after all. Everything will work out one way or another once the second prince succeeds the throne, so that was far more important to the both of them. Even the Kendalls are desperately hoping it’ll come to that, right?”
So, isn’t that enough of this topic? My explanation came to an end.
“Understood. I’ll be sure that we don’t make an enemy of the Weinders even after we become the representative.”
After Jean came to that conclusion, he handed over my reward, and I passed it over to Mia.
“Actually, I guess even without that, I wouldn’t have you as my enemy. Considering these new circumstances, that is.”
Just as Mia and I began confirming the numbers, Jean said something strange.
“What do you mean?”
“Are you not aware of your current position?” Jean held out his hand to Lilka and the others. “Listen. We certainly did manage to avoid provoking a conflict between the east and the west while securing the seat of guild representative. However, this fact is definitely not amusing for Archduke Kurtheight, and Duke Aleberg’s position is too weak to oppose him. Having said that, if we were to publicly seek the patronage of Archduchess Berthold, the prime minister would become our enemy as well. Everything is just as your analysis said.”
“Right? I’m sure it will be difficult for the Kendalls to act in that situation, but if you just follow—”
Just as I was about to suggest that they should do their best to follow in Dreyfan’s example, Jean stopped me by pointing his finger at me.
“However, there’s still the matter of you. Not only do you have a strong connection to the Archduchess of the West, she’s even investing in the Weinder Company. And at the same time, you’re connected to three silver companies under the Kendall umbrella. Do you get what I’m saying?”
Jean went over to the diagram I so proudly used to unravel the influential forces of the Kingdom and wrote the name of a small company alongside the names of archdukes, dukes, and guild representatives.
Oh, yup. Now I can see a picture I really didn’t want to know about.
“In short, a connection has been tied behind closed doors between the Culinary Guild’s representative and Archduchess Berthold. A so-called mastermind behind the Culinary Guild, if you will. And that’s you, Ricardo Weinder.”
Are you crazy? Like I could possibly put up with such a complicated position. Leave politics to the politicians. You’re the new guild representative, so maintain the balance between the east and west on your own. And just as I was about to begin rambling, Mia silently showed me the results of her calculations.
“...So it’s even more than we expected...”
A chill ran down my spine from seeing those numbers. To the Kingdom, they were results worth celebrating over. However, I couldn’t possibly be happy about it.
Due to the growth of economics as a whole throughout the Kingdom, they would gain even more power just by squatting on it. Thinking of it from that perspective, I had no other choice but to take a step forward, just in case.
“I’d rather not be made out for some sort of mastermind, but I look forward to working with you, Mr. Representative of the Culinary Guild.”
“Of course. Um... What shall we call this gathering?”
“The meeting was given birth due to a gathering in the courtyard, so how about the Central Garden?” Maria suggested.
I tried to say I hated it, since it sounded too much like the name of some secret organization, but Lilka and Shirley agreed with her idea. Dargan and Plura both strained a smile, but neither of them were against it. Ruston, of course, was simply silent.
“Then once more, Weinder, best regards from here on out, Mr. Representative of the Central Garden.”
“...Let’s have the representative of the Central Garden cycle out every month.”
There was still one mystery that hadn’t been solved.
The Carlests colluded with the guards to do all manner of overbearing things. There was no mistaking that. They tended towards such behavior by nature. But even so...
What reason did they have to go so far when they already knew they would win without doing so...?