The Custody Dispute: An Interlude

“Excellent. Well done.”

The labor union formed by the village workers would ultimately become a puppet incapable of escaping Ferda’s influence.

That was the situation Ferda wanted.

“Thank you. Oh, and we’ve also completed the change of Dandolo Trading Company’s name throughout the Empire.”

From now on, it would officially operate as Hestia Trading Company rather than Dandolo Trading Company.

The family crest emblazoned on the tent would now be replaced with Valdrova’s crest.

“You’re doing well. I’ll leave the rest to you.”

“Just leave it to me.”

The meeting with the temporary labor union ended like that.

“Since everything has been resolved amicably, I think you can return to your other duties now.”

Instead of rising from his seat, Ferda turned his attention to the documents Isabella had piled up.

“I heard there are a few more disputes.”

“That’s true, but I can settle them by proxy under my authority as administrator.”

“No, I might as well resolve them myself. Since I’ve come all this way down, wouldn’t it be better to settle them quickly? And……”

“And?”

“It’s refreshing to settle matters through conversation like this.”

“Hmm, I see.”

Could this really be considered a conversation?

Isabella had her doubts, but she did not complain.

Isabella moved, and a short while later, two men entered.

“These are the stonemasons requiring the mediation I mentioned last time.”

Ferda gave them a cursory glance.

A dark-complexioned man and a relatively fair-skinned man sat side by side.

Their appearances alone clearly marked them as being from the south and central regions.

Ferda questioned the darker man first.

“You’re from Halim?”

“Yes. I’ve spent twenty years doing nothing but building walls in Halim—.”

“And you’re from the Empire?”

“That’s right.”

“I’ve heard the general story. In short, your two construction methods are different, and you’re trying to reconcile them?”

The fair-skinned stonemason spoke.

“Yes. We’re discussing how to build the wall while taking the terrain and its characteristics into account, but this southern bastard just won’t understand…….”

The Imperial stonemason clicked his tongue.

The Halim stonemason snorted.

“A wall that has to take the terrain and its characteristics into account is ultimately an imperfect wall, isn’t it? The walls we build in Halim are renowned for never breaking, no matter what happens.”

“I suppose the winter wind reached your brain after you came from such a hot region. Since you people have never even suffered a single invasion, how could you have any real expertise after building walls out of sand?”

“If stuffing stones into empty holes counts as construction, then my three-year-old son is a master craftsman.”

“You bastard—!”

“Enough.”

Ferda stopped them before they could aim the hammers meant for striking walls at each other’s heads.

Ferda understood exactly what had happened.

It was a conflict born of the two craftsmen’s pride.

“I understand both your positions, so I can give you a definite answer.”

“You know which method to use?”

“Would I?”

No matter how intelligent Ferda was, he could not compare with people who had spent their entire lives working with walls.

But there was an obvious way to resolve this problem.

Ferda raised his index finger.

“One month.”

“……What?”

“Build a wall four meters long and four meters high within that time.”

The two men stared at him blankly.

“What do you mean?”

“Are you telling us to decide for ourselves whose method to use?”

“Yes. That’s your job.”

From the perspective of the men who had come for mediation, it was an absurd verdict.

Ferda did not stop there. He added,

“Within one month, you are to build a wall capable of fully withstanding my siege magic.”

“What?”

The two craftsmen looked at Ferda in confusion.

They wondered what kind of joke this was, but Ferda’s eyes were shining.

“If I talk about construction methods, you won’t understand any of it, so I’m presenting a solution in my own way.”

Ferda pointed at them.

“You know how to build sturdy walls.”

Then he pointed at himself.

“And I know how to destroy walls.”

Even the Empire’s walls, which had once boasted of their strength, had crumbled beneath his hand.

“So build the strongest wall you can within one month. I’ll slam a Magic Blast into its exact center. Understood?”

“What happens if the wall collapses?”

“It’s simple.”

He drew his thumb across his throat.

The two stonemasons went pale.

“Y-You’ll cut off our heads if a wall built in just one month collapses?”

“Since you built a flimsy wall, you’ll be charged with pretending to be experts and fraud. It may even be treated as a threat to national security.”

“That’s too much of a leap.”

“Is it a leap, Administrator?”

Isabella shook her head.

“For those who fail to guard the border, the death penalty would be getting off cheaply.”

“Apparently so.”

The craftsmen realized this was no time to stand on their pride.

The true enemy threatening their lives had appeared, making their past days of thinking of each other as enemies seem utterly meaningless.

As cold sweat trickled down their faces, Ferda asked,

“Are you thinking of running away?”

“Cough!”

“W-Why would we do that?”

Ferda had seen straight through them.

“You may run if you wish. Try it, if you can. But I’ll pursue you and drag you back here. Of course, by then, it won’t matter whether there’s a wall or not.”

Ferda let out a “Hmm……” before casually asking them,

“Have you ever suffered so much that you couldn’t tell whether you should beg to be spared or beg for death?”

“……”

“If you’re curious how, I’ll be happy to explain.”

“N-No, that won’t be necessary!”

“We have no intention of running away, so what would be the point of knowing that, haha……!”

The two men stood at rigid attention.

Ferda nodded.

“Then I can assume you understand everything I’ve said.”

“Of course! How could we not understand!?”

“Then go. You have twenty-nine days, twenty-three hours, and fifty-five minutes remaining. You’d better build the wall as quickly as possible.”

“Yes, sir!!”

As soon as Ferda gave the order, they fled as though running for their lives.

Once the murderous atmosphere had subsided, Ferda muttered,

“Conversation is a better tool than I expected.”

“If you call that a conversation.”

Though Isabella said that, she looked satisfied.

“At least they won’t be fighting pointlessly anymore.”

“If they still fight after this, I suppose we’ll have to give them credit for that. What’s the next dispute?”

“This dispute is…….”

Ferda continued resolving the disputes.

Since no one else was as stubbornly proud as the two stonemasons, he was able to settle them easily without threats.

“I think that’s all the work.”

By then, all the documents Isabella had set out had disappeared, so he was about to wrap things up.

That was when it happened.

“There’s still one case left.”

“One case?”

Isabella took a document from the file and handed it to him.

“After seeing how you judged today’s matters, I thought you would be suited to decide this one. This is a complaint I wrote myself.”

Ferda looked at the defendant named in the complaint she had written.

The moment he saw it, his breath caught in his throat.

He could already see the trouble that was about to unfold.

“……You’re filing a complaint against this person?”

“That’s right.”

Her blue eyes were utterly serious.

She drove the point home by saying,

“I accuse Echidna Philiages of dereliction of duty.”

“This fucking bitch.”

Echidna was the one who unleashed a string of curses the moment they faced each other.

It was the first thing she said after flying here as soon as Isabella’s telegram reached her.

‘This is new.’

Ferda had only ever seen her gloomy face and silly grin, so this was the first time he had seen her furious.

Now she finally seemed a little like a witch.

Isabella, who had been greeted with a string of curses the moment they met, remained unmoved.

She pushed up her glasses, which had slipped slightly, and said,

“Nice to meet you, Chief Researcher. Whether human or beast, people greet one another when they meet. It seems you’re neither one?”

Isabella was no pushover either.

Echidna looked as though her eyes might pop out.

“You picked a fight with me first, you knowww? You must be sick of living after shoving all those years up your ass, huhhh???”

“What exactly do you mean by saying I picked a fight? I merely stated a fact.”

“You’re saying I haven’t been doing my workkk? What do you know to say something like thattt??”

The battle of wills between the two proud women resembled a clash between two dragons.

And innocent bystanders were the ones caught in the crossfire.

“Um, Regent…….”

Stephan, who was caught in the crossfire, asked in a trembling voice,

“What is it?”

“The witch…… who is she?”

“She’s a witch we hired at our castle.”

“Why have you kept her hidden all this time? I’ve never heard that a witch lived there…….”

“There was no particular need to hide it, nor was there any need to mention it.”

That was true.

Stephan steadied his breathing and watched the two women carefully so his back would not be torn apart.

Isabella cleared her throat and spoke to Ferda in a clear voice.

“As I said, I am accusing Chief Researcher Echidna Philiages of dereliction of duty. Her research is less advanced than Marquis Burnell’s, even though he was recruited later, and she has never reported her progress even once. Recording whatever one does is a researcher’s duty. Abandoning that duty is no different from dereliction of duty.”

There was logic to Isabella’s argument.

Had Echidna been her usual self, she might have apologized and let the matter pass.

But there was one fundamental reason she could not accept it.

“So what you want is……”

Ferda swallowed, as though wondering whether he ought to read it, then said,

“……Mori’s custody.”

Custody?

He thought it was a ridiculously trivial reason.

Yet it was precisely that word, custody, that had brought things to this point.

It was the reason Isabella had accused Echidna,

and the reason Echidna had gone berserk.

“Look at this rationally. You mean to say this savage witch is supposed to look after a delicate child?”

“Mori-chan has been raised just fine in my care since before you ever arrived! Regent, you’re not going to take her away from me over something like that, are youuu?”

Echidna glared at her.

“I’m asking just in case, but if that’s your answer, will you kill me?”

“What? No! Even so, how could I possibly lay a hand on the Regent…….”

Echidna quickly relaxed her expression, realizing she had gone too far.

Still, it seemed she had not completely lost her reason.

The more excited they became, the more troubled Ferda was as well.

‘What am I supposed to do about this…….’

It was not a problem he could resolve easily.

For one thing, creating that golem had not been easy, and he was beginning to appreciate her value as a Rune Maker.

‘But Isabella has a point too.’

There had been no progress in creating the golem, while Mori’s clothes grew more elaborate by the day—a strange situation.

He could not deny that it looked like dereliction of duty.

‘Besides, the golem’s value is now expected to be significant.’

Since it had been presented as part of the eastern conquest, the golem had become a high priority.

He needed to spur her research forward.

‘The way to do that is custody.’

It was a dangerously precarious issue.

But the witch was the owner of a Red Circle.

As Philiages, they were frighteningly obsessive.

As dependents who operated their circuits through emotion, they had to be handled carefully.

After growling at each other for quite some time, Echidna made a proposal.

“If you’re going to take away my custody, then let’s hear Mori-chan’s opinion first!”

At that, Ferda turned his gaze toward Isabella.

“Fine.”

Isabella showed a surprising amount of interest in the matter.

As though the dereliction accusation were none of her concern.

In any case, to settle the matter, Ferda summoned Mori.

A young lady in neat clothing entered the room.

“Ah, what do I do…… she’s so cute……”

“Ahem……”

Echidna fussed over her delightedly, while Isabella made an overwhelmed sound after seeing her face.

“Are witches and dragonspawn all like this?”

“How would I know?”

He had no interest in it.

Regardless, Ferda decided to do what he had come to do.

“I’ll ask the questions. Mori, what do you think would be the best way to resolve this matter?”

Mori looked back and forth between Echidna and Isabella, then, as usual, wrote something.

In elegant handwriting, she answered,

-I think cutting someone in half is the clearest solution.

“……”

Ferda seriously considered what she had written.

He wondered whether it was a poetic metaphor.

“Do you mean we should see which of the two cares more for you?”

-Eliminating the source of the conflict is another option.

She really was asking him to kill them.

Ferda looked at Mori’s face again after hearing that.

Her eyes were ringed with heavy dark circles.

“……I’ll issue my ruling.”

Ferda opened his mouth.

“I will place Mori in my care for the next week.”

“Whaaat???”

“What!?”

Isabella and Echidna were startled.

They objected as though it were only natural.

“W-Where is there such an absurd law? You entrusted her to me.”

“That was only a temporary arrangement until a solution was found. Mori is property of the Grand Duchy, so I can choose who manages her. Therefore, I can manage her myself.”

Isabella fidgeted with her glasses, trying to hide her dismay.

“More importantly, Miss Mori is a petite girl. I don’t think it’s appropriate for a girl like that to be in a man’s care……”

Scratch, scratch, scratch!

“She seems to disagree.”

Mori diligently marked an X with her pen.

Apparently, she considered that ruling the answer to her problem.

“For this week, Luri and I will look after Mori. She doesn’t speak anyway, so working beside us shouldn’t cause much trouble.”

“What do you intend to do after that week?”

“I’ll decide based on the defendant’s results.”

Ferda’s blue eyes turned toward Echidna.

“Echidna.”

His lowered voice sent a shiver through Echidna.

“Y-Yes!”

“You came here to research your golem. Correct?”

“Y-Yes, thaaat’s right……”

“Burnell has shown results, but you have been silent all this time. I know you enjoy playing with dolls, but you still need to do your work.”

“Uu……”

Echidna lowered her head, unable to refute him.

“So I’ll give you six months’ grace. Until then, we’ll change the management arrangement every week.”

“Does that mean that once my week is over, I have to hand her over to this witch for a week?”

“Yes.”

Neither of them was satisfied.

It wasn’t enough for either of them to have Mori exclusively, yet he was telling them to switch off every week like taking turns.

“And.”

Ferda was not finished.

“Mori is to report her work efficiency to me. If her efficiency drops significantly, the replacement will take over the remaining period without warning. And if the replacement’s efficiency drops as well, I’ll place that person under my command for a month.”

If they were fighting over a toy, then naturally, the toy had to be taken away.

The instant the verdict was delivered, light returned to Mori’s eyes.

The words she wrote on her notepad were:

-I believe this is a judgment befitting a sage king.

“Good. Let’s conclude it this way.”

Echidna glared at Isabella.

Her eyes held the resentment of someone saying that all of this was Isabella’s fault.

Strangely, however, her circuit did not move.

That meant the emotions contributing to the formation of her circuit were far removed from anger and resentment.

Isabella returned her gaze without backing down.

When it came to force of character, the former chief secretary of the Magic Tower was no pushover either.

He could feel the rift between them deepening.

Quite apart from all that, Mori looked much more at ease.