Encounter
Encounter
After finishing his business, Eldmia left the office, and as he placed the documents he'd received on the desk, Duke Lesrom let out a deep sigh as he sat in his chair.
Unlike the relaxed demeanor he had shown in front of the boy just moments before, the expression etched with deep fatigue spoke to his true feelings.
He might have fumbled the very first step.
His instincts, honed over long years surviving in the viper's nest called politics, were telling him so. What Eldmia had revealed when he gave that ambiguous answer, neither affirmation nor denial with a sour look at the end, was purely the bare minimum of respect directed at him. On that point, it was no exaggeration to say that his initial goodwill toward the boy at their first meeting had been a masterstroke.
"Live long enough and you'll see it all... but I never imagined I'd experience something like this."
There was no fear of the royal family, no worry about the political infighting among nobles. The emotions he'd sensed from him throughout the conversation could be described as mere irritation and annoyance.
If he were just an immature boy being arrogant out of ignorance, it would be something to laugh off, but...
"The only thing he shares with an ordinary boy is being young."
He was only 15 now? Aside from a face that still held a hint of youth, there wasn't anything else about him that seemed typical of his age. He imagined one might feel something similar if they sat sipping tea with a wild beast right in front of them.
Forcibly brushing aside the thought that this was no way for a man his age to be spending his time, Duke Lesrom pulled out his communication crystal orb and injected Mana to establish the connection.
-It ended sooner than I thought. How did it go?-
As if he'd been waiting, the face of the man who had pushed him into this situation appeared in the crystal orb. And he had actually been waiting. He'd contacted him the moment he heard Eldmia was visiting, received instructions, and had even said he would report once things were sorted.
After offering a light courtesy to his liege beyond the crystal orb, Itisel VII, King of Itisel, Duke Lesrom began reporting the outcome.
"For now, I've bought us enough reprieve to watch how things unfold. But I must state unequivocally, you should not think this will all be settled by simply giving him some appropriate compensation."
That said, their relationship wasn't so distant that he would kneel before the crystal orb. It was simply unknown to the public, but the two were very close, close enough to call each other friends regardless of rank. That was why they had been able to combine their efforts and hold out for seven years to protect a kingdom on the verge of collapse from within and without.
Ironically, the adversities of those seven years had only strengthened their bond, but by now, that was irrelevant.
-Is he truly someone you must be so wary of?-
"There's a possibility the very beginning went wrong. His way of thinking is different from ordinary people."
-Different in what way?-
"Suppose someone... secretly manipulated things using my abilities and status, and I was swept up in it without knowing. In that case, I would naturally seek out the one behind it, grasp their purpose or intent, and determine whether they are foe or ally. But if the opponent who'd gained an advantage that way then gave me something far more than I'd expected as an apology, I would treat them favorably at first. If our goals aligned in the long term, we might even maintain a good relationship."
It was an entirely common-sense notion. Anyone weighing the pros and cons would do the same. But this 15-year-old boy, who had seemingly appeared out of nowhere, processed the issue in a completely different way.
"But the individual called Eldmia Ega doesn't think like that. If you caused him 10 harm and then gave him 20 profit, he doesn't remember you as the man who gave him 10 profit. He identifies you as an enemy who tried to use him at your whim, while noting the 10 harm and 20 profit."
He didn't care whether he profited from it or not. Because he considered any profit gained that way as nothing more than bait dangled by an enemy. Beneath it all, perhaps there was a domineering mindset that he would seize his own profits on his own terms anyway.
And so, he would thoroughly crush them so they would never dare try to use him again. It appeared purely emotional and reckless, but the absurd part—and the headache—was that it was the conclusion of his own calculations.
The only consolation, if it could be called that, was the expectation that there would be no lingering grudge, since he wasn't acting on emotion. It meant that if they could only maintain a friendly relationship after that single hemorrhage, they could have Eldmia Ega as an ally.
As long as they didn't pay with their lives for clumsily crossing him without knowing who he was.
"This conversation has given me some certainty. He will definitely hold us accountable at least once for trying to use Margrave of Levien to root out Count Bosha and his faction."
-Even if the target is a king?-
"He would do the same before the Emperor of the Empire."
-Then the reason he's quiet now...-
"I believe he is merely... sizing things up."
How far they had gone in acting as they pleased when they messed with him, and how much sincerity they intended to show afterward.
Was it a level he could accept, or a level that would mark them as enemies?
It was behavior that could comfortably be called reckless. How could one man stand against a nation?
Yet he acted as if asking how a nation could possibly catch one man going on a rampage with full intent.
The problem was, judging solely by the record of his deeds so far, that was actually true.
"Still, he's a boy with common sense and knowledge. As I mentioned before, while he operates on calculations that seem absurd from a normal perspective, in theory there are no flaws in his logic, and he's prone to small attachments. He's not the type to lash out with indiscriminate violence against others without reason."
-Attachment... The key that might control such an unpredictable figure is itself the most unpredictable emotional factor.-
Itisel VII let out a hollow laugh and stroked his beard, but the emotions Duke Lesrom felt were no different.
"The daughter of the Ogatorf family attacked him with violence at their very first meeting, yet they maintain a perfectly unproblematic relationship even now. I believe he reacts more ordinarily than one might think, as long as there's no malicious hostility or attempt to exploit him."
-And it's not because he tolerates it for the benefits the Ogatorf family provides?-
"If that were the case, he wouldn't have committed the eccentricity of working as a butler while refusing the very greatest benefits Ogatorf could give him."
Sir Ekaf was both a loyal subject and a pure knight with no mind for politics.
The reports coming in regularly never failed to mention Eldmia, a promising talent who had contributed more than anyone to presenting Ragnis as the tragic hero, the Margrave of Levien. They also included hopes that the royal family might bestow an official commendation upon Eldmia, who kept refusing the benefits Ekaf could grant at his discretion.
"If only we can approach him on a human level, I believe we can steer the future relationship in a positive direction."
Human. It was a word that had become so distant and unfamiliar to Duke Lesrom.
Though whether that would earn them full absolution remained unknown, it would certainly cost them less than someone ending up dead.
-Hearing you talk, I almost start thinking it might be better to just deal with him now.-
"You say what you don't mean."
-Ha ha ha, true. But it's a fact that he feels like a talent carrying such a monstrous potential that such an assessment suits him.-
If humanity had eliminated everything just for being too difficult to handle, they wouldn't even be able to use magic to this day. Such a posture always brought only regression. Both Itisel VII and Duke Lesrom knew that better than anyone.
"Who knows? Before this matter is concluded, we might even find out who the Demon King's Army commander he's targeting is. If we tell him that, I suspect our friend might simply overlook this incident."
-......If we capture a Demonfolk prisoner, I must relay an order to interrogate them about who fired the first shot of this war.-
It had been a lightly offered opinion, but Itisel VII's answer was sincere.
◈
As I left the Noble Council building, I prayed fervently to God that I wouldn't have to meet that old fox alone a third time.
I'd never thought of myself as particularly smart in my past life, and I felt the same here, but being constantly entangled with people like him made me feel exhausted just breathing out.
To clearly distinguish right from wrong and swing a sword ultimately only meant I could do neither if things weren't clear. The more people smarter than me got involved and the more events twisted, the less I could confidently solve things with just a single blade. I could pride myself on never neglecting to acquire knowledge, but politics was a different story.
Honestly, I'd also thought I would never really have much to do with it in my life.
But now, two out of the three women interested in me were standing in the middle of that political arena.
"How the hell did it come to this..."
Had I gone about twenty steps while feeling that something... something had gone wrong? As I moved away from the Noble Council and the crowd grew denser, Asilie appeared within it. She was as serene as when she had vanished, which set my mind at ease.
"The talk ended faster than I thought?"
"Ugh. I guess you could say our opinions aligned one way or another. We decided to help for now."
"For all that, your face says you've got a lot on your mind."
"That's because I actually do..."
Still, it wasn't something to discuss on the street, so I decided to explain once we returned to the manor. First, I needed to deal with the tail that had been on us.
"What happened with the tail?"
"It wasn't a tail. Yen Tie? It turned out to be that person."
"Huh? Why her?"
When a completely unexpected name popped up, I reflexively asked back, and Asilie removed her hood, tidied her hair, and answered.
"I guess you could say we thought alike? It was obvious Eldi would have a tail on him, so she meant to counter-track them and find out who was behind it. Instead, she spotted me and approached me first."
She'd said she would make herself worth the life she'd been spared, and apparently that hadn't been empty talk. Was this what a boss felt like watching a new hire voluntarily work overtime...?
Having never once been a boss myself, it felt deeply unsettling.
"She seems like a professional in her own right."
"Even in my eyes. Though I suppose none among Servants of the Dream are amateurs to begin with."
Unlike me, who'd found them unfamiliar, Asilie had reacted as though she'd already heard plenty about them. But what intrigued me this time wasn't so much that Mongsun was a professional as the fact that Asilie had seen right through that professional's tail.
It made me almost curious just what kind of bastards those elf hunters were who had captured Asilie, so capable even in a city, not a forest. But I didn't ask. Figuring I'd run into one sooner or later if I kept killing every slave hunter I came across in my life. And anyway, it wouldn't be a good memory for her.
In the end, it turned out to be needless worry, so we were able to return to the manor with much lighter hearts.