＊＊＊
After the tower incident, I had made a request of Daniel de Piers.
“We say this not as a criticism of you, but another transmigrator once attempted to assassinate us. We would like you to deliver them a message.”
Once, during one of my tours, I’d been attacked by a man dressed in butler’s garb. Later on, after drawing a number of conclusions with the information I had access to, I became convinced that he had a connection to Ein’s Storytellers.
Daniel de Piers was silent for a few moments before replying, “May I inquire as to the nature of that message?”
“Tell him to participate in the battle at Chelán Hill. Otherwise, they will not be able to distinguish themselves above the other nobility.”
After my fight with the other transmigrator, we’d made a number of verbal agreements. I’d made some concrete promises to ensure the continuance of his liege’s house and name, and to overlook a number of their actions. Put bluntly, I hadn’t offered anything more than a maintaining of the status quo. I’d told him that if he and his liege wanted land and laurels, they’d have to win it on the merit of their own achievements.
That said, it wasn’t every day I met another transmigrator, and luckily, he’d been the reasonable type who seemed willing to hear what I had to say. He’d also been firmly devoted to his liege, which told me she was someone I could have high hopes for.
Given my notable dearth of vassals I could confidently put my trust in, handing out promotions to capable and decent-seeming nobility was one of the items that had firmly earned its place on my to-do list. Having said that, as the emperor, I could not break the general meritocratic principles of just punishment and reward. If I wanted to reward the nobility, they’d have to earn it—and do so in a way that was obvious to all.
“I shall ensure he receives the message, Your Majesty.”
“See that he does.”
✦ ✦ ✦
＊＊＊
So, it turned out that the other transmigrator was closer to me than I’d thought.
When I’d made my request to Daniel de Piers, I had considered any assistance the butler’s liege could provide to be something of a fallback to a fallback—welcome, certainly, but something we should be able to win without. However, it seemed my past decision was paying dividends. Given Deflotte’s express mention of “male and female offspring,” the transmigrator’s liege had to be Count Nunmeidt’s daughter. It seemed we’d added another arrow to our quiver of advantages.
Well, doing away with the metaphors for the moment, the emperor’s faction was at a clear advantage. The County of Nunmeidt was the southern neighbor of the Marquessate of Arndal and western neighbor of the County of Vadpauvre. It also bordered the County of Pildee, which was where the imperial capital was situated.
In other words, if the County of Nunmeidt became emperor’s faction territory, the geographical line it formed with the emperor’s direct holdings and the Marquessate of Arndal would split the Raul territories in half down the middle. Wait a second—so that was why the Raul faction was so frantic in its current invasion efforts into the Marquessate of Arndal. This was a revelation and a half. Maybe it was even the express reason the Raul army was acting like someone had lit a fire under its behind.
It also meant that we would no longer have any hostile powers in the vicinity of the imperial capital, which would make it easier for Duke Warren to move. The County of Nunmeidt’s position was so convenient for my purposes, in fact, that I was tempted to call it miracu— Oh, hang on. No, it was the other way around. The transmigrator in butler’s garb had attacked me when he had because he was from the County of Nunmeidt.
Back when I’d had a reputation as a fool, much of the nobility had seen me as convenient. After all, so long as none of my idiocy caused them any harm, I was their exploitable puppet and someone else’s problem. However, to the people of the County of Nunmeidt, which bordered the emperor’s direct holdings, it would’ve felt like living next to a bomb that could’ve gone off at any moment. No wonder some of them had wanted to dispose of me as quickly as possible.
What was more, Count Nunmeidt was the former Minister of Domestic Affairs, a role concerned with the Empire’s internal issues and general domestic administration. I had no doubt he would’ve been one of the people involved in planning my tours. The transmigrator, being a servant of his daughter, could have easily snuck a peek at the plans and proceeded to stake out the mansion I’d be staying at. And since Count Nunmeidt hadn’t been in charge of security, no fingers would have been pointed at him—but more importantly, not at his daughter—in the event the transmigrator failed, so long as he didn’t confess his loyalties.
It was all coming together. All the hints had been there, just waiting for me to connect the dots. Thought-provoking stuff.
Anyway, the question was whether they’d come to Chelán Hill or not. I’d dangled the prospect of greater postwar rewards in front of them, but it was difficult to tell. Was it worth sending another message, but making it a demand, this time? No, but there was the whole thing with the Marquessate of Arndal. If the marquess fell, the enemy forces besieging him could head south into the County of Nunmeidt. In light of that, I couldn’t command the young Lady Nunmeidt to weaken her territory’s defenses. In the end, I supposed it all hinged on her judgment of the situation.
“Does that conclude your report?” I asked.
“It does, Your Majesty,” Deflotte confirmed.
With the debriefing on the state of the war finished, we called an end to the war council for the day. As matters stood, despite a few issues, things seemed to be going well.
Well, that was my read on it, anyway.