Chapter 49
#49. Servant Cedric (15) - Three Problems, Three Answers
“The Marquis wishes to see you.”
It was, quite literally, a summons as sudden as a bolt from the blue.
There were many vassals in the various territories ruled directly and indirectly by House Redbell, but only a handful could stand before the marquis and converse with him.
And that included not only those in other territories, but even the retainers working in the main house where the marquis lived.
If even the retainers from vassal houses, most of whom were nobles by birth, were like that, then it went without saying for the servants, who were usually commoners.
So why on earth was that marquis summoning a mere servant hired by the youngest daughter of some other territory's house?
The retainers and servants who had come with Claudia were all stunned, and so were those who had come with the other children.
“Understood. Please lead the way.”
Yet whatever the others’ reactions were, Cedric urged the guide on with complete composure.
His attitude showed not a trace of tension, and faint surprise bloomed on the faces of the main house's retainers, who had kept their expressions as blank as ice.
Unlike retainers elsewhere, the main house's retainers were used to hiding their emotions, but that did not mean they did not feel them.
They had already found it strange that Marquis Redbell would take interest in a mere servant from the frontier, but seeing Cedric's attitude—so brazen it was as if he had left his guts outside—they had no choice but to admit there must be a reason.
A moment later.
“You're a bit different from what I expected.”
Deep in the manor garden.
The moment he laid eyes on Cedric, the marquis blurted that out before Cedric could even greet him.
The servant who guided Cedric inward pitied him inwardly, thinking he would be at a loss, but Cedric merely smiled and asked back,
“Is that so? I'm curious what sort of appearance you had in mind.”
“Aren't you the one who stole my daughter's heart? I thought you must be a peerless beauty handsome enough to make her fall head over heels. But thinking about it, that face of yours is dangerous in its own way. It's soft and rounded—the kind of face that makes people drop their guard.”
“You flatter me.”
“Does that sound like a compliment?”
“Wasn't I supposed to take it as one?”
The light back-and-forth left the surrounding retainers visibly shaken.
Even the resident managers of huge merchant houses, or lords who ruled their own domains like kings, would grow tense before the marquis and carefully choose each word—so what on earth was that servant's utterly nonchalant attitude?
They wondered whether they should point out the servant's rudeness, but the marquis himself only looked intrigued and showed no sign of anger.
Among nobles of high birth, there are the rare few who act without airs and treat commoners as equals, but Marquis Redbell was not that type to begin with.
Therefore, the fact that he showed no anger even at a mere servant's brazen behavior made this situation highly exceptional.
“Take it as a compliment, huh. You're quick on the uptake. But you're cocky too.”
“It seems I still have many shortcomings. My apologies.”
“Trying to get an apology from someone who doesn't think he's wrong even a speck is like bowing to get a bow in return.”
“Surely not.”
“Hmm.”
The Redbell Marquis stroked his beard.
He stared at Cedric as if trying to see through his thoughts, but Cedric took it all in with unruffled composure.
“So, what is your purpose?”
“My abilities are insufficient, so I couldn't understand what you said, Marquis. Would you kindly explain it in a little more detail?”
“I asked what purpose you had in latching onto my daughter. Do you want money? Her body? Or perhaps...”
At the marquis's feet, a giant beast emerged in a gush of blood.
-■■■■■……!!
A lion's head at the front, a goat's head jutting from the middle of its body, and a snake for a tail.
Marquis Redbell, who had endured countless crises while rebuilding the marquisate from the brink of ruin in his youth.
A blood beast with a presence and momentum so overwhelming it couldn't even be compared to what Claudia had shown, as if to prove it had crossed the line between life and death together with that marquis.
When the blood beast, House Redbell's strongest trump card and a peak fifth-grade power, let out a growl as if it might pounce at any moment, the retainers who heard it all went pale at once.
Even knowing that the blood beast's attention was not aimed at them, they still felt instinctive fear as living beings.
“…Do you want to get your hands on this family's power, then?”
The moment he gave a nonsense answer, it would tear him apart on the spot.
The marquis thought as much, and in fact judged it possible.
That wasn't the marquis's own ability, but the result of the blood beast linked to him reading the situation with a beast's instinct. And it was correct.
Unlike Bern, who was basically fourth-grade and could, with a bit of strain, temporarily fight a fifth-grade opponent or even bring one down, Cedric's raw combat power was only around third-grade.
If he accepted the side effects and pushed beyond his limits, he could produce power at the fourth-grade level, but even so it was impossible to draw out enough strength to defeat this blood beast.
A situation where he could not defend himself with brute force alone.
And yet Cedric's answer was clear, as if he felt no fear at all.
“─My purpose is simple. It is for Young Lady Claudia to become an excellent ruler.”
“An excellent ruler? You mean more power?”
“Power is only a means.”
Cedric looked the marquis straight in the eye and said,
“Marquis Redbell. To be blunt, the people in power in this country are the worst.”
A strangled gasp sounded from all around.
The marquis also frowned for a moment, but he did not order the blood beast to forcibly silence Cedric.
“They let dangerous monsters roam the country unchecked and do nothing about it, while the people suffer and they spend each day in laziness and indulgence. Frankly, there are quite a few nobles whose actions make me suspect they have a problem with intelligence.”
“And you're going to take that up with me, the one sitting at the very top of those nobles?”
“If you ask whether I've ever had such thoughts, yes, I have. But not right now.”
“Why not?”
“Because, Marquis, while your guiding principle is not ‘good,’ you at least understand that protecting your subjects and stabilizing their lives is beneficial to a ruler in the long run, and you act on that understanding.”
Compared with the nobles Bern had seen as an adventurer—so incompetent and lazy one could wonder what their very purpose was—the lords and deputies dispatched by House Redbell at least did not abandon the minimum duties and roles a lord should fulfill.
Few of them took the initiative to improve their territories or the people's lives, but at the very least they did their jobs when it came to things that had to be handled at the territorial level, like bandit raids or monster attacks.
“This kingdom is full of people who can't even manage that bare minimum. Thanks to them, cancerous growths that could one day drag the nation itself to death are steadily growing all over the place. I believe the young lady is the kind of talent who can solve such problems. That is why I am helping her.”
“I hear you come from the Aizern Empire. What does it have to do with you how the people of the Virka Kingdom fare?”
“Let me ask you in return, Marquis. If the house next door were blazing with fire, would you just leave it alone, saying, 'My house isn't the one burning, so it's none of my business'?”
“...I see. I don't sympathize, but I understand.”
The marquis seemed to ponder for a moment, then opened his mouth again.
“There are three problems.”
“Please go on.”
“Purging corruption isn't as easy as it sounds. The world is full of fools who are satisfied as long as their own bodies are comfortable and things feel familiar, no matter whether the country goes to ruin. The more Claudia expands her influence, the more fiercely they'll resist. What will you do about that?”
“That problem is already solved.”
“Hmm? Why is that?”
“Because the Claudia I know would never hesitate to throw those bastards to the dogs.”
Claudia's personality could hardly be called good, even in the most charitable sense.
Impulsive, violent, and rash.
And precisely because of that, she had the drive to carry out things others would avoid, if only because they feared the aftermath.
“So the troublesome ones will be swept away instead of coaxed or bargained with? Ho ho, you're a dangerously interesting fellow.”
The marquis's eyes gleamed.
“Then the second problem. The public security improvement system Claudia is running now is ultimately structured around the power of the blood beast she possesses. That might work for one or two small- to medium-sized territories, but there's no way to change an entire kingdom the same way. How will you handle that?”
“That too is already solved.”
“Spit it out.”
“Because we succeeded in modifying blood beasts so they can reproduce with ordinary animals.”
“...?”
For a moment, the marquis's face went blank.
And then he blurted out,
“Have you lost your mind?”
“I'm perfectly sane.”
Cedric's gaze turned to the giant blood beast guarding the marquis's side.
“The Redbell family's secret art is truly excellent. Loyal, always available, and able to be pushed hard—there are few bodyguards as useful as them. However, the fact that they're made from their master's blood and mana from head to toe is a little disappointing. That makes it hard to increase their numbers greatly.”
The marquis wanted to say that it had never been a secret art meant to be split up and used in such numbers, but he decided to hold his tongue for now.
Because he was curious what fresh nonsense the servant in front of him would spout next.
“The new blood beasts won't be created by directly manifesting them from head to toe. Instead, part of an existing blood beast's body will be implanted into a stray dog, cat, or the like. They'll lose all of their original regenerative power, ability to shrink, and overwhelming combat strength, but they'll retain a vague loyalty to their master and enough communication ability to understand orders. More than anything, blood beasts in this state can reproduce normally like ordinary animals.”
“So the children born that way inherit the blood beast's traits as well?”
“We confirmed that the bloodline deteriorates the more generations pass, but by calculation it should still be enough to cover at least an entire country.”
“No matter how I think about it, it sounds like bragging, but if it's possible, the utility would be beyond measure. If it really exists, I'd even want to learn it myself.”
“That seems impossible. It was customized exclusively for Young Lady Claudia.”
“Ha! So if I want to use it, I shouldn't sell it off somewhere weird and should just hold onto it tight? You've brought me quite the loyal retainer.”
The marquis snorted in displeasure.
But his eyes were gleaming with an unusual heat, as if he had found a path to even higher authority and power.
“My final question. Claudia has a marriage arrangement in place right now. On paper, the royal family said they would broker it, but in truth it's a scheme by that son of mine to keep her rapid rise in check. The board has already been set, and even I would have to accept a considerable loss to reverse it now. And I'm no romantic willing to take a loss just because of the grand boasts of some servant whose identity I don't even know. How do you plan to solve this? Is this already a solved problem too?”
Cedric answered.
“I will have it resolved soon. Ah, and if you don't mind, may I say a word to you as well, Marquis?”
“Since we've already decided to indulge each other, let's hear it to the end. What is it?”
“It may be somewhat unpleasant to hear, but are you truly sure that's all right?”
The marquis audibly clicked his tongue.
“I said I was fine, so stop beating around the bush and just say it. What on earth is it?”
Cedric opened his mouth and declared,
“Can't you even tell what you should and shouldn't say to a child? If you're going to be lonely in old age, just think of it as karma.”
…….
The great demon lurking in the shadows thought.
What kind of servant is that, you crazy bastard.