Chapter 54
Two days after Kron invaded Klaus, Calix led the army out of Klaus as promised.
As promised, Calix took only the wheat he had contracted for and compensation equal to three times the down payment.
He committed no other acts of looting.
Rather than simply leave, he took the following steps according to Noah’s strategy.
”Give part of the compensation to the people of Klaus.“
Calix distributed part of the compensation among the people of Klaus.
It was presented as compensation for having made them tremble with fear.
Noah had three main reasons for suggesting that the compensation be given to the people of Klaus.
The first was to win the people’s support.
Noah believed that if the army they had regarded as invaders entered, gave them money, and they learned that it was Kron, public sentiment in Klaus would surely turn toward Kron.
The second was to prevent them from identifying the traitors.
There were many traitors in Klaus who had accepted money from Kron and cooperated with it.
If one or two people accepted money, it would be noticeable, but if hundreds or thousands accepted it, identifying the traitors would become practically impossible.
The final and most important reason was the cost of transporting the goods.
There were too few people to carry both the wheat and the money.
Noah thought that recruiting additional workers to transport everything would actually result in a loss, while distributing the money in Klaus would be more profitable.
“My word…”
“They’re giving us money…?”
The people of Klaus were utterly astonished that the enemy army they had thought was invading them had entered, done nothing, and even given them money before leaving.
They had also heard stories about Kron’s Silver Dragon.
But many of them had thought those stories were merely rumors.
Yet Klaus’s people could not help being moved by such generosity.
Calix was in an entirely different class from their own lord, who had even taken the wheat they were supposed to eat and locked it away in a warehouse.
”Lord of Kron! Long live!“
”The Silver Dragon of Kron! You’re the best!“
Roan and Lois were watching the scene from the mansion.
Roan could not hide his troubled expression.
”Kron’s name is resounding throughout our territory like that…“
”Father! We should pull out all of their tongues!“
A piercing glare-!
Roan glared at Lois in response to his nonsense.
Cowed by the murderous look in his father’s eyes, Lois took a step backward.
Roan sighed at the sight of his son.
”Lois, watch and learn. That is how you govern the people.“
Roan admired Calix’s skill at winning over an enemy’s people with compensation taken from that enemy.
It was possible that the strategy had come from someone other than Calix, but that was not what mattered.
What mattered was that Calix was a lord capable of suppressing his own greed and choosing that strategy.
Even the kindest lord would become greedy when money was placed right in front of him.
How could he cast aside his own greed so easily?
Roan grew curious about Calix in many ways.
After this incident, Roan believed that his family had effectively been demoted from Klaus Territory’s ruling lord to its acting lord.
If they wanted to survive now, they had to keep a close eye not only on Kron but also on public sentiment.
Roan knew better than anyone that once people tasted honey, they could never give up its sweetness.
When he thought about educating his son so that he could understand that and become a proper lord, Roan let out a sigh.
* * *
Meanwhile, news of what had happened in Klaus was also shared with the leaders of each faction.
『Klaus tried to attack Dreihart for provisions and was conquered in a single night. Kron then took only the food and returned.』
Every leader who heard the news fell into thought.
Princess Selenia was delighted by the news.
“As expected of Calix! Uncle should be quiet for a while now.”
Selenia was very pleased with the news.
The North possessed monsters found only there and rare resources, but it was relatively short on food.
Because of that, Selenia’s uncle, the Northern Grand Duke, had been gradually moving south into the food-rich East.
To Selenia, the Northern Grand Duke’s steady encroachment on eastern territories belonging to neither the prince’s nor the princess’s faction was like a thorn in her eye.
But Calix’s actions had put the brakes on that advance.
Now, if the Northern Grand Duke wanted to move south, Klaus was the only territory left that did not belong to any faction.
But Klaus had been partially occupied by Kron.
Kron had done nothing to Klaus, and Klaus had reportedly sent a letter to the Platinum Council stating that the incident had resulted from its own mistake—but who would believe that?
It would be more accurate to assume that Klaus had secured its position through some sort of deal with Kron.
That made it difficult for the Northern Grand Duke’s faction to attack Klaus.
If Kron had massacred the Klaus family, they could have invaded under that pretext.
But Kron had done nothing and simply returned.
If the Northern Grand Duke’s faction invaded now, it might instead do Kron a favor under the pretext of protecting the alliance.
In the end, Kron’s masterstroke brought the Northern Grand Duke’s pillaging of the undefended eastern territories to an end.
Now, to expand his power, the Northern Grand Duke would have to risk clashing with the prince, the princess, or Kron.
Selenia was very pleased that Calix had so effortlessly accomplished what she wanted.
“But Lady Selenia…Is it really all right to let Kron grow this powerful?”
“It’s fine! Calix is on our side.”
Selenia regarded Calix as effectively being on her side.
Not now, but if an opportunity arose someday, she planned to move forward with the marriage plan that had never reached a conclusion.
Naturally, it was a marriage between herself and Calix.
Once Calix became her husband, everything would fall into place.
Lumiel was a little worried, but remembering Calix’s devoted efforts to save Selenia, nodded.
The prince, who was looking at the map of the Empire, was thinking along much the same lines as the princess.
“With this, we should consider Uncle’s expansion into the East over.”
“What a relief, Your Highness.”
Looking at the map, the prince and Duran shared thoughts almost identical to Selenia’s.
After all, the man who led the strongest powers of the North was a formidable force even from the prince’s perspective.
It was not yet time for a direct confrontation, but he wanted to stop the man from expanding.
Kron had made that possible.
However, the prince could not view the situation as entirely positive.
“The problem is ultimately whose side Kron is on…”
“Indeed, Your Highness.”
The prince had learned that the princess had been in contact with Kron.
To conceal his awakening, he had manipulated information, so he did not know about the princess’s awakening or the Blood Kin’s large-scale attack, but he could roughly guess that something had happened.
“Even so, when we heard from Azel, she still said that Kron was neutral.”
Through Azel, the prince’s faction had been obtaining information about Kron.
However, since Azel was not cut out to be an informant and Kron kept begging her to take its information, they could not help doubting the truth of that information.
Kron might have been trying to create confusion by releasing false information.
“Duran, have you still not found out what Calix wants?”
“I’m sorry, Your Highness. Calix has not shown the slightest opening.”
After receiving the prince’s order, Duran thoroughly investigated Calix to discover what he wanted.
What he learned was the image of an ideal lord straight out of a fairy tale.
Calix Kron sought no luxuries, spent his own money for the sake of his people, and showed no interest in women.
Nor had he shown any desire for honor or power by trying to advance into the imperial capital.
Duran simply could not figure out what Calix wanted, and the prince said,
“It’s fine. If we’re having difficulty, that means the other factions are having difficulty as well. We only need to discover it before they do.”
“Yes, I understand, Your Highness.”
While the prince and princess were sorting through their respective thoughts, events were also unfolding in the snowy northern reaches of the Empire.
The cold castle in the North was perpetually rimed with frost, and even the office of the highest-ranking person was no exception.
At the center of that office stood a map of the Empire resembling an enormous chessboard, with each faction and territory represented by a chess piece.
And he continued to stare at that chessboard.
The deep furrows in his broad forehead and the sharp gaze beneath them perfectly conveyed the majesty he had displayed when he won the battle against the Blood Kin.
His sun-faded blond hair had taken on a whitish-silver sheen after weathering the northern blizzards, and
even his short, neatly trimmed beard was groomed to a sharp point, adding to his dignity.
A cloak made from the hide of a Northwind Bear—the sort only the greatest warrior in the North could wear—rested quietly on his shoulders and proclaimed his authority.
He was the emperor’s younger brother and the Northern Grand Duke 『Ark North Novarens』, also known as 『the Guardian of the North』.
“Grand Duke, you seem troubled.”
Pelagon, the grand duke’s right-hand man and commander of the Northern Garrison, spoke to Grand Duke Ark.
The grand duke answered with a smile.
“Worrying is for Sword and Lily.”
Grand Duke Ark thought of his nephew and niece, the prince and princess.
He lit a large cigarette rolled from tobacco leaves grown in the North.
“Pelagon, I’m enjoying this situation instead.”
Grand Duke Ark had lost the past ‘Game of Thrones’ to his older brother, the current emperor.
As a consequence, he had been placed in charge of the North at his brother’s command and had built up his strength while protecting it ever since.
To him, the Game of Thrones was a festival.
A festival where the strong could wield their power,
the moment when the world turned as it should, and in the past, Ark had enjoyed that festival more than anyone.
And now, that festival was about to begin again.
Lords running wild,
powerful men preparing for war,
and the awakening of hidden powers like Kron, which had now blocked his path,
all of it told him that the festival was about to begin.
And this time, he would be its victor.
The North’s icy wind was drawing near to the Empire.