Incompetence and Ignorance

Summer, with its scorching heat beating down.

Seasons flowed on heedlessly with the passage of time, but Hestia’s prosperity remained unchanged.

Word of Hestia began to spread quietly from the mouths of the Empire’s lower classes.

“Have you heard of a place called Hestia Village?”

“Isn’t that the land ruled by the Red Dragon?”

“A place ruled by a terrifying tyrant? Can humans really live somewhere like that?”

“Amazingly, they say people live quite well there. An acquaintance of mine settled there, and he says it’s much better than living in the Empire!”

“Better than the Empire?”

“Do you believe such ridiculous nonsense?”

The image Imperial citizens had of villages beyond the walls was much the same.

Once one left the Imperial capital, people lived in such a backward state that they had to collect rainwater to drink and pray they would not die from a mere cold because there were no healers.

Since most places really were like that, the prejudice was not without reason.

“They say clean water comes out in every district.”

“There’s plenty of water in the Empire too. What else could be different?”

“And do you think they’re digging up the ground and doing business just to pump up that water? The better the land, the more taxes you pay. If you move to a place like that, you’ll end up tied down for life, worrying about nothing but your next meal.”

“Apparently not! I hear the water bill is less than a quarter of what it is in the Empire, so they can even save money!”

“They save money?”

To the lower classes, saving money was an impossibility.

“Still, isn’t it dangerous land? It’s right next to a place teeming with monsters…….”

“It’s actually safer because the Red Dragon protects it. Besides, they say that if you enlist, they’ll even let you use magic.”

“You keep spouting the most absurd nonsense!”

“How are they supposed to use magic?”

“What was it called…… magic ointment, was it? Apparently, there are wands made with it.”

“You mean magitech?”

“Yeah, that! They say you can even handle one if you undergo reserve forces training.”

“Doesn’t that mean you have to join the army?”

“I hear they only use them when monsters invade. And joining the army is actually a good thing! There are wagonloads of people in the Empire desperate to enlist, aren’t there? I was one of them myself.”

“Hmm…… Is it a good place……?”

“Anyway, I’m planning to clear out of here within a week and pack up everything. I’m thinking of settling down in the East too.”

“That sounds like a foolish idea…….”

“I’ll send you a letter. If you ever get the idea, come join me. I’d rather cross over even if it means paying the exit tax than keep being treated like a stranger here.”

The Empire’s population was flowing out.

They were crossing the wall that people said no one ever came back out of once they entered, seeking to settle in a new land.

It was not only ordinary members of the lower classes who felt that way.

“The adventurers say they’re trying to strike it rich around the Demon Lands these days.”

“And I hear people who work with iron are being given preferential treatment too. There must be plenty of iron to hammer, right?”

Craftsmen whose positions within the Empire were uncertain were also eyeing this new land of opportunity.

In the end, the Imperial capital had no choice but to discuss the matter as a problem.

“The number of people entering the country, according to the latest report, is about the same as last winter.”

The newly appointed Acting Emperor, Ureas Arken, asked from his seat.

“Is that a problem?”

“Normally, you can consider the number of people moving in summer to be one-third the winter figure. Based on this, we estimate that more than three times as many people will enter this winter.”

“So?”

“The important point is that a considerable portion of this population is currently coming from the Imperial capital.”

“It doesn’t look like much if you only consider the numbers…….”

“The most important problem is that we’re losing population.”

“If this kind of exodus continues, it will damage the nation’s credibility.”

Ureas reached the following conclusion about the situation.

“Then behead those trying to cross the wall and make an example of them. That should do it, right?”

“That is not possible. This matter is separate from military law.”

“A reign of terror will only intensify the citizens’ opposition. Right now, we need to earn the trust of the citizens that the Crown Prince failed to win.”

“Then raise the exit tax threefold to stop them from escaping?”

“That would create problems even for merchants entering and leaving the country. The people funding the nobles’ coffers will object, and then it will once again come from the Crown Prince’s side—.”

“If this can’t be done and that can’t be done, then why the hell are you asking me!? Are you trying to see just how incompetent I am!?”

Ureas lost his temper.

As Valdemar had predicted, Ureas Arken was a novice when it came to Imperial politics.

His method of cutting through unsolvable knots with a single slash was impossible in Imperial politics.

Even simply waiting would make Alexander look relatively competent.

Even so, there were those who wanted to prevent Alexander’s reinstatement.

They were the new forces seeking to drive out the old ruling class,

“Brother.”

And Olivia Arken.

She sat beside Ureas and gently clasped his hand.

“Please don’t be so angry. They’re only trying to help you make a wise decision, Brother, aren’t they?”

“Olivia, what would you do in this situation?”

“For now, leave it alone.”

“Leave it alone?”

“Hestia is a new village. Just as a stork takes one step while a sparrow has to take at least ten more to catch up, it’s only a matter of time before they destroy themselves trying to imitate the Empire.”

“Is that so?”

“Of course. Why not take this opportunity to send out the vagrants you’ve been treating as parasites on the Empire?”

“Hmm…… So it would be a cleanup operation. That’s quite a good idea.”

“That would be a grave mistake!”

Unable to bear watching Ureas nod, a man offered his counsel.

“You need to look much farther ahead on this matter. It’s something where a small flutter of wings could come back as a huge backlash.”

“Why?”

“According to our investigation into the living conditions of the people who have left, 90% are living better lives than before. If you drive out the vagrants from the slums and raise their living standards as well, you’ll only give Hestia Village a reputation as a land of opportunity. That would accelerate the population exodus. We must keep Hestia Village in check as much as possible.”

Olivia objected when she heard that.

“You’re imagining things that are far too unnecessary. Hestia Village is a pride of our Empire, and the land that gives us a justification for remaining an empire on this continent of Cerdas. Are you trying to give it justification to declare independence by keeping Hestia Village in check?”

“It won’t be able to declare independence yet. Hestia Village still belongs to the Empire, and without the Empire, it won’t be able to establish a proper foundation. They know they still need the Empire.”

A tense war of nerves.

Olivia turned to Ureas and spoke.

“Brother. Didn’t you see with your own eyes what happened to Brother Alexander when he tried to keep Hestia in check?”

“…….”

“This war alone won’t be enough to gain the upper hand in the succession struggle. That’s why we must help Regent Ferda and eliminate Alexander.”

“Princess! I don’t know what you’re whispering about, but step away at once! You witch!”

The man finally lost his temper and shouted.

Olivia asked with a shocked expression.

“What…… did you just say?”

“I’m telling you not to let a woman meddle in politics! I’ve held my tongue as long as I could, but I have to say this! Do you know there are rumors going around that you’ve colluded with Regent Ferda?”

Olivia’s face hardened.

She placed a hand on her chest and swallowed.

“Are you saying…… that I’m committing treason? Why would you say something like—!”

“Drop the act! If you want to play the saint, then play the saint, but how dare you—!!”

The words went no further.

Ureas’s sword was pointed at the man’s throat.

“How dare you…….”

Ureas’s face twisted viciously.

“How dare you insult my little sister to my face?”

“Second Prince, General…….”

There was a hint of betrayal in the man’s eyes.

He spoke calmly.

“General, I am on your side. Do you know how many battlefields we’ve fought across together? Don’t you know my loyalty lies with you?”

“I know. That’s why your head is still attached, isn’t it?”

Ureas’s hand began to tremble.

“I want to cut your head off right now.”

His face was gradually losing its self-control.

His hand looked ready to strike the man’s neck at any moment.

“Brother…….”

Olivia grabbed Ureas by the forearm.

When Ureas lowered his gaze, he saw her tear-filled face.

“Please…… at least stop the killing.”

She begged, trembling like a small animal.

Ureas lowered the sword pointed at the man’s throat.

“Guards! Take him away. Strip him of his status and expel him from this Empire!”

“P-Prince!”

The man looked unable to believe it.

A comrade he had fought alongside for more than ten years had been cast aside merely for insulting Ureas’s little sister.

Even the words he had thrown out as a final gesture of mercy were cold.

“If you come to my attention again, you’ll be a corpse.”

The guards dragged him outside.

Ureas, unable to cool his anger, pointed the sword he had drawn toward the table.

“I know better than anyone that I don’t know anything. It’s only natural, since all I do is swing a sword and command soldiers! But if you say another word about my sister, this time……!”

Slash!

He cleaved straight through the board bearing the map.

“This is what will happen to all of you. Understood?”

“Y-yes, yes!”

“We’ll take your words to heart.”

Ureas sheathed his sword again.

“That concludes this meeting. Prepare to discuss the war with the Kingdom of Heinkel.”

The meeting of Ureas’s close advisers came to an end.

Olivia rose, wiping her tears with a handkerchief.

When she wiped her moist eyes, they dried as though they had never been wet.

‘The people on Ureas’s side aren’t pushovers either.’

It was no easy matter to notice either that she had colluded with Regent Ferda or that she intended to inflate Hestia Village.

‘Still, they don’t know Ureas very well.’

There was one thing they had overlooked.

No matter how close a comrade who had fought back to back with him was, he was nothing before his little sister, Olivia.

Olivia had made Ureas into that kind of person.

With Alexander, she felt as though she were facing an adversary; with Ureas, she had a close sibling relationship.

They were united by the common sorrow of being pushed down the succession order.

Whenever Ureas faced hardship, he leaned on Olivia, who had taken the place of their mother.

That was why blood was bound to be thicker than water.

‘Alexander is incompetent.’

That incompetence would one day trip him up, and when it did, it would naturally lead to a succession struggle between Ureas and him.

‘Ureas is ignorant.’

Incompetence and ignorance were worlds apart.

An incompetent person knows there is a problem, but an ignorant person does not know what the problem is.

If you don’t know what the problem is, you’re easy to manipulate.

In the end, Ureas was no different from a shoe to be used and thrown away.

‘Increasing Hestia Village’s population also seems to be only a matter of time…….’

Black Bandana was being reorganized under Valdrova as a covert organization while continuing to control information.

It was also becoming a new rallying point for the warriors sent by the Northern Alliance under the pretext of conquering the Demon Lands.

For now, it was merely a branch that could be snapped at any time.

But by the time they looked back again, it would have grown too large to cut down.

If that happened, she would surely be delighted.

“Ah…….”

An uncontrollable exclamation escaped her.

Olivia clasped her hands reverently before the shrine set at the corner of the corridor.

Her eyes were undoubtedly directed at Alte’s emblem, but what she saw was something else.

A man with gray hair and blue eyes rose hazily before her.

Even though it was nothing more than imagination, Olivia felt enraptured.

‘Lord Ferda…….’

She offered up a prayer to God.

‘I will definitely make you happy.’

* * *

“……Even with this happening, it doesn’t seem likely to cause any major problems for the expansion work.”

“The princess is helping wholeheartedly.”

They should have received interference from the capital long ago, but the combination of Ureas’s assumption of power and the trouble with the Kingdom of Heinkel had left them free to act.

Ferda could only hope that the war they were preparing would not end anticlimactically.

“Any other noteworthy matters?”

“If there is one unusual matter, it is that the armored knight has disappeared.”

“Disappeared?”

“Yes. They spoke with the head of the Eri Adventurer Branch, formally withdrew, and went off to find their own path.”

“Hmm…….”

The armored knight.

The mysterious man who had arrived before the name Hestia Village had even been given.

He had accepted a great deal from them, and they had suspected and misunderstood him in equal measure.

‘The greatest misunderstanding happened recently…….’

Because of his own lack of mental fortitude, Ferda had mistaken him for Valdrova several times.

He had caused the knight plenty of trouble, even acting rudely and eventually collapsing from exhaustion and being carried on the knight’s back.

‘If only we could have talked, at least.’

He was quite an extraordinary person, to leave Ferda troubled even after he was gone.

On a whim, Ferda asked Isabella,

“Did you try tracking them down?”

“…….”

It was the first time Isabella’s words, which normally flowed like water, had caught in her throat.

Did he ask whether she had tried tracking them down?

Of course she had.

The armored knight had been one of their most important assets.

That had certainly been true until she learned the knight’s identity.

‘Who would have thought that person was Valdrova…….’

The source of the information had been Erika.

She had said she had mentioned it as an old friend who had shared both good and bad times with her, simply to warn Isabella to be careful.

‘Careful, my foot…….’

Isabella knew Erika well.

This had unquestionably come from a desire for them to suffer together.

Because the fact that she had made Valdrova work for her was currently hitting Isabella hard in the solar plexus.

“Administrator?”

“Yes.”

“How did the tracking go?”

“It seems tracking them will be difficult. They were never an easy person to detect in the first place.”

“Is that so?”

“I’m sorry to disappoint you.”

“Not at all.”

What was there to be disappointed about?

Isabella always did her utmost in everything.

“You may return now. Please continue just as you have been.”

“Understood.”

Isabella bowed politely and left.

Ferda looked down at the documents spread across his office desk.

No, he looked at them.

No, he looked up at them.

‘These damn tasks just keep piling up every time.’

Of course, more than 70% of the documents were things he could have skimmed over, but Ferda did not truly trust people.

He checked everything meticulously, since he could not afford to be robbed right under his nose.

His personality was what made him weary.

Ferda opened the first document, prepared to work through the night.

Knock, knock—.

Someone knocked.

“Come in.”

The door opened cautiously.

That was all.

‘Echidna?’

It was always that woman who opened the door without revealing herself.

But today was different.

The glimpse he caught was not a wide-brimmed hat and gloomy, disheveled hair.

Two pairs of protruding horns and glossy red hair.

She was peeking inside while standing half behind the door.

Her behavior was like a rabbit in a burrow.

To Ferda’s eyes, those threateningly raised horns were enough to be mistaken for black ears.

“Mr. Ferda……. Are you perhaps busy?”

Valdrova asked.

“I’m free.”

He closed the documents and pushed them aside.