Chapter 24
Count Vladimir Savinkov was loyal to the Rus Kingdom.
Not only was he related to the king by marriage, but he loved the kingdom where he was born and raised.
Economy, resources, population.
It was Vladimir who had led the kingdom until now, where nothing was intact, and who had somehow united the nobles who fought each other at every opportunity.
In the end, he failed to control the nobles and ended up contributing to sending Viktor to the empire, but…
"Hah..."
In the late dawn when many were asleep.
Even now, he was alone in the empty conference room, pondering countermeasures.
To think of an appropriate response and then call the nobles again to hold a meeting.
"It's difficult."
However, even Vladimir, who had solved numerous problems, couldn't quickly find an answer in a situation where misfortunes were piled upon misfortunes like now.
The army had been on the verge of exploding ever since Viktor was sent away.
They couldn't reduce its size either because they had to fight the empire again in a year.
Especially with the 1st Corps, there was a high possibility of a big backlash as soon as they tried to touch it.
As the corps that had fought the longest in the war, its elite status and organizational power were incomparable to other corps.
With even Viktor, who controlled them, gone, it wouldn't be strange if they turned their swords towards the nobles at any opportunity.
Because of this, Vladimir deliberately didn't touch Anna, who was arbitrarily appointed as successor by Viktor.
For now, he only watched to ensure they didn't cause problems, and after some time when their dissatisfaction had subsided a little.
Appointing an appropriate corps commander through proper procedures to control them seemed the best option in his mind.
After all, in a year, all corps would have to unite against the empire, whether they liked it or not.
Vladimir's plan was to drag out time until then without exploding.
He wasn't sure if the Rus Kingdom could hold out against the empire without Viktor and with lost territory, but he judged it was better than the kingdom collapsing right away.
"Of all times, Viktor had to return. Of all times."
The situation went awry with Viktor's sudden return.
Although Vladimir had originally been pushed by the nobles to send Viktor to the empire.
Regardless of the reason, from the moment they sold out Viktor, Vladimir just hoped Viktor wouldn't return.
The moment they incurred his resentment, Viktor became a bomb that could bring the Rus Kingdom to collapse at any time.
Yet, with one whim of the Empress, Viktor set foot in Zabinsk again.
"...Is this the Empress’ scheme?"
Even the timing of his return was so exquisite that Vladimir suspected all this might be the Empress’ scheme.
After the notification arrived that Viktor would head to Zabinsk, he stormed into Zabinsk before two days had passed.
Because no one expected Viktor to enter the city just two days later, the nobles, thinking they still had time, split and argued according to their own opinions as usual.
To force someone with strong influence like Viktor as much as possible according to procedure, one needs to have the support of most nobles at least.
Viktor perfectly exploited the short gap that occurred before gathering those nobles and unifying their opinions.
Vladimir had confidence that if given just 7 days.
No, even 5 days for a threat as big as Viktor, he could bind the nobles again, but before he could prepare a response, Viktor had already joined with the 1st Corps.
Now that Viktor had regained power, an incident could occur at any time.
"Mikhail, Andrei, Nikolai..."
He was worried about the nobles who had rushed out of the conference room.
If they moved clumsily and provoked the 1st Corps, there was no reason Viktor wouldn't move his troops, having gained justification.
Vladimir had given hints to the Royal Guard and the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th Corps in case of emergency, but given that the opponent was Viktor, who had overwhelming support from the army, he wasn't expecting help from them.
"Please, just stay quiet..."
Because the moment Viktor moved, the Rus Kingdom would end one way or another.
Vladimir desperately prayed that nothing would happen at least until he could open the next meeting, while checking documents containing the kingdom's current status.
That's when.
"Count Savinkov! The 1st Corps is marching towards the royal palace!"
His servant rushed into the conference room urgently.
"...Tell me in detail."
"The acting 1st Corps commander, Anna, has raised troops saying they need to root out traitors!"
Vladimir clutched his head, feeling dizzy.
Rooting out traitors?
He couldn't even dare to guess how such vicious words came to be uttered.
"Treason?"
"Yes! They say the Royal Guard was deceived by a forged order and attacked them, so they're going to find those who forged the order!"
"Where is the Royal Guard Captain, Andrei?"
"They don't know! Even the Royal Guard members say they haven't seen him since he left the palace a few hours ago..."
"D-damn it!"
-Thwack!
Vladimir rose from his seat, throwing the paper he was holding irritably.
He didn't even ask about the scale of the troops.
Once they moved saying they would catch traitors, it was right to assume all 8,000 were coming.
There was no time to wake the king and get approval.
He took out several blank orders he had prepared in advance in the king's name, quickly filled in the contents, and handed them to his servant.
"Deliver these to the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th Corps commanders as fast as possible. Tell them the 1st Corps has rebelled, so move quickly to stop them!"
"Such...! Understood!"
He immediately gave up on justification.
The fact that Anna, who had shown no movement at all until now, immediately moved the army meant that there must be evidence supporting her claim in some form.
Using the strong expression of rebellion despite not fully grasping the situation was also to gain as much support as possible from other corps.
Since they had to face Viktor, who had the support of the entire army, at least an accusation of rebellion was needed to easily gain some cooperation.
It's not too late to worry about proof after dealing with the situation first.
Since evidence is an area easily fabricated by the victor, they just need to frame Viktor for attempting rebellion after capturing him first.
After the servant left the conference room, Vladimir quickly judged.
The moment they moved troops on a large scale, the 1st Corps' target could only be the royal palace anyway.
Because they need the king to secure even a little legitimacy.
If he joins with the 2nd or 3rd Corps first and then declares the 1st Corps as traitors in the king's name, he can bring justification to move the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th Corps.
They must know this fact too, so they'll be approaching at a fast pace.
In the palace, there's only the Royal Guard without their captain.
It's impossible for them to stop the 1st Corps, so the best option is to leave the palace with the king before the 1st Corps storms in.
As Vladimir was about to move to fetch the king,
-Bang!
"Count Savinkov, Your Excellency! Please save us!"
Nikolai's group rushing into the conference room came first.
With their bodies drenched in sweat, some even still wearing sacks on their heads in their haste, they knelt before Vladimir.
"What is it?"
"1st Corps soldiers suddenly chased us, we barely escaped!"
"...Ha."
Vladimir guessed their situation seeing their appearance.
They probably just ran away because they were too scared.
They must have had their reasons for choosing the palace too.
"Do you know what the situation is?"
"We don't know!"
"...I suppose not."
Vladimir gave up on escaping.
With such suspicious-looking people hiding in the palace, the 1st Corps would march towards the palace with certainty.
The fact that they were chased here means those soldiers have approached quite close.
As long as it's difficult to ascertain whether it's definitely the 1st Corps and how far they've come.
There was no guarantee he could join with other corps even if he left the palace.
"Go stay in any available guest rooms."
"Thank you!"
"Haah..."
Vladimir sighed.
At this point, there's no meaning in chasing them out.
In the end, the 1st Corps will try to 'search' the interior using those nobles as an excuse, and even if we hand over all of them, they'll deploy troops using all sorts of excuses.
After sending those nobles away, Vladimir prepared an order and went to find the Royal Guard station inside the palace.
Since he couldn't escape, the only remaining support was the Royal Guard.
Although Vladimir didn't trust their skills, there were no other options left.
And even that support,
"The Royal Guard will not move."
"...What?"
Immediately crumbled.
"Are you refusing His Majesty's order now!"
"Without Captain Andrei, we cannot move."
"Ha."
Vladimir pressured them by waving the order, but the Royal Guard vice-captain chose to give up as soon as he heard the opponent was the 1st Corps.
"The Royal Guard won't move when the palace is in crisis!"
"..."
"How, how! Aren't you ashamed of the emblem on your chest!"
Vladimir looked around at those gathered while spewing his anger.
After confirming that other Royal Guard members and nobles including Mikhail, who likely instigated all this, were just averting their gazes with frightened looks.
Vladimir didn't push them any further.
"Take this thing I won't even use."
"...Understood."
Instead, he tucked a sword into his clothes and left the Royal Guard station.
Vladimir, walking unsteadily, sat down in an empty palace corridor.
As if seeing the palace being occupied and the 1st Corps purging the nobles before his eyes, he regretted his past choices.
"...For the sake of such people, I..."
The nobles who should have united to lead the country all scattered for their own interests, and even the Royal Guard chose to preserve their own lives instead of protecting the palace.
"Viktor, if it had been him..."
If he had chosen Viktor, who showed an exemplary appearance that could be daringly called perfect, instead of these nobles.
If he had supported him instead of checking him out of fear of that perfection.
If it were a Rus Kingdom led by him.
"Ah..."
Vladimir, imagining the appearance of a Rus Kingdom with Viktor, pondered until the end what choice would be for the kingdom's sake.
After sitting for several minutes in deep thought,
"If it's really the end of the kingdom..."
He stood up with determined eyes and headed towards the bedroom where the king would be sleeping.
---
I think the most important thing for a comfortable and clean betrayal is justification, first, second, and third.
If the justification is certain, the power and opportunity to betray will come naturally, and it's much easier to endure the aftermath.
It's the same now.
Thanks to Andrei barging in so nicely, a very solid justification has been created.
Forging the king's order and a night raid.
Given such excellent ingredients, just cooking them properly creates a justification that can deal with even the nobles.
Especially, the key is that they forged the king's order.
Whether they didn't even have the sincerity to forge it properly or were in a hurry, the hastily scribbled content, with the king's signature and seal that looked like they were roughly copied from something placed beside it.
It's a forged order at a level where it would be strange to be deceived by it, but once the order is in our hands, the quality of the forgery doesn't matter at all.
If there had been no order, we couldn't have moved so confidently.
What I need to deal with is not the Royal Guard but the nobles behind them.
This means that moving the 1st Corps should be after securing justification to deal with the nobles.
Just an attack is not enough.
The implicated nobles would have already prepared to cut their tails, and Baron Oleg Rikov, the only one not belonging to the Royal Guard, didn't open his mouth at all.
If the nobles who sent them start insisting it was the Royal Guard acting independently, it becomes difficult to touch them too.
Of course, Andrei is timid enough not to move without instigation, but that circumstantial evidence isn't enough to charge the nobles.
In the end, it would end with just those who attacked being punished.
I would have stopped at preparing and deploying soldiers so they could move at any time, saying I would strengthen security.
While waiting for justification to sweep away the nobles at once.
However, with the Royal Guard attacking with a fake order, the situation changes.
The Royal Guard previously entered the heart of the 1st Corps and arrested the commander-in-chief just believing in one order.
Given that the Royal Guard follows royal orders so blindly, we can argue that if they were deceived by a fake order, it's not impossible for them to commit such a tremendous act as attacking the 1st Corps commander.
At this point, even the fact that Oleg was with them can support that the nobles' intentions were mixed in.
The fact that a noble who isn't even a Royal Guard member participated in the attack can be interpreted to mean this attack wasn't planned solely by the Royal Guard.
In the end, we reach the conclusion that there's a mastermind behind this attack.
A group or individual who can send a forged order to the Royal Guard and plan an attack on the 1st Corps together.
Since all Royal Guard members are stationed within the palace, the mastermind narrows down to those who can enter and leave the palace.
The only ones who satisfy all this are the nobles.
Empowered by this conclusion, we can march towards the palace with the goal of protecting the king and rooting out and punishing the nobles who plotted the conspiracy.
Having secured some legitimacy, we don't need to see too much blood unless the situation becomes too extreme.
Since I intend to return to the empire as per the contract, I need to think beyond that point.
Although the 1st Corps especially trusts and follows me, the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th Corps' support for me isn't weak either.
If we quickly deal with the nobles using justification according to the current plan, they won't resist me.
Even if they do resist, it will end at a level that's not too dangerous.
Depending on how things flow from now on, they could become my strength, but if we move with insufficient justification, the probability of unnecessary friction with them rises too much.
There's nothing as inefficient as cutting one's own flesh, so it's right to avoid it if possible.
And, it's also because of my personal reputation.
Although I'm not the subject leading the troops, not everyone will be unaware that this is a case of "out of sight, out of mind".
Probably with high probability, the label of a general who staged a coup will follow me and hinder me.
To properly defend against that then, I need to prepare from now.
The less damage and the more certain the justification, the more there is to say.
If things flow according to the best scenario, we might even be able to frame the nobles as traitors instead of me.
"Let's drive out the traitors!"
"Let's protect His Majesty the King!"
The 1st Corps soldiers already perceive this march as a suppression of traitors.
They chase all resisting or fleeing nobles as suspicious, even trying to tear down the doors of houses where nobles live.
This is what an army is originally like.
Once it gains momentum, it doesn't stop easily.
Now, I just need to slightly guide the direction.
Since a nobles' meeting was held just yesterday, most prominent nobles should be within Zabinsk.
First, capture and tie up those nobles as we see them, secure the king under the pretext of safety.
Then all that's left is to charge the nobles and purge them.
"Since it's not certain yet who's involved, make sure not to endanger their lives."
"Understood. Absolutely do not kill the nobles! Capture them alive without fail!"
"Yes!"
I didn't forget to keep reminding Anna to prevent bloodshed.
When I talked with the soldiers earlier, their resentment towards the nobles was more severe than I expected.
To prevent backtalk later, we need to be careful of the process, so I kept adjusting the soldiers by blowing appropriate suggestions into Anna's ear.
"Huh? Where is this..."
Meanwhile, Andrei, whom we were dragging along in case we needed to deal with the Royal Guard, opened his eyes,
-Thwack!
"..."
Before he could utter a few words, Anna's scabbard swung.
"Anna."
"I didn't kill him."
"...I see."
After looking at her for a moment as she immediately made an excuse, I turned my gaze to the footsteps heard from the front.
"Lady Anna!"
A soldier was running urgently towards us.
"A suspicious group wearing strange clothes on their heads entered the palace! Part of the search team is waiting for instructions in front of the palace!"
He reported to Anna as he approached.
A suspicious group?
I don't know who they are, but there's no reason not to use this.
"His Majesty might be in danger."
"...Increase the speed! We must protect His Majesty the King!"
"Yes!"
When I whispered to Anna, she immediately understood and gave the order I wanted.
When I checked the mini-map, there didn't seem to be anyone who could block the way to the palace.
Even the occasional Royal Guard members we encountered just ran away in surprise at seeing the soldiers.
We continued advancing towards the palace without stopping.
Gradually, it seemed like the end of the Rus Kingdom was in sight.