Internal Consolidation
The looks directed at me were a complex tangle of emotions.
Disappointment, expectation, hope, patience, and greed.
The conflicting emotions of countless nobles swirled together, all focused entirely on me.
"Let me make one thing clear from the start. My meeting with you today is strictly confidential. I trust you are all intelligent enough to understand what that implies."
The nobles gathered here were not those who had previously occupied the inner circle of power.
They were second sons, adopted heirs, and younger daughters—individuals whose abilities were somewhat recognized, yet who had never been entrusted with significant responsibilities.
"M-My Lord! Irene—that vulgar concubine's child—has plundered our family's assets!"
One of the nobles stepped forward, his voice tight with desperation.
"Yes, I see. You may excuse yourself."
"M-My Lord? My Lord! That wench brought the army—"
"Do not waste my time. Guards? Drag him out."
The atmosphere in the room instantly turned icy. The other nobles, who had looked ready to echo the man's complaints just a moment ago, quickly bowed their heads and remained silent.
"I have no intention of condoning crime," I said coldly. "Your family amassed wealth through illicit means, and you are simply paying the price for it."
What these nobles truly wanted from me was the restoration of their confiscated wealth.
But even if Irene was the one who seized it, those assets did not belong to her. They belonged to Arcteria.
And since Arcteria's wealth was essentially my wealth, I had absolutely no intention of giving it back.
"But at this rate, Irene will seize control of the entire fiefdom. Surely you do not wish for..."
"That is precisely why I summoned you."
I did not hold a high opinion of the people gathered in this room. However, completely burying the old vassal faction was not a wise move either.
I needed to provide them with a legitimate path to reintegrate into the power structure.
Instead of driving them to despair, forcing them to pool their remaining resources for a rebellion or flee into exile, I had to give them a reason to think, Still, isn't it better to stay in Arcteria?
"Does that mean... you will employ us, My Lord?"
"Do not get ahead of yourselves. I have no intention of defying my father's final wishes."
"We must launch a reinvestigation! If we torture the maid and the butler who were by Count Wilhelm's side when he passed, they will surely confess that the will was forged!"
The man shouting now was someone I would be better off not using.
Moderately clever people were a nuisance. In a situation like this, it was far easier to employ someone who was smart enough to keep their mouth shut, or someone so utterly foolish that they had no idea the will had been forged in the first place.
"I will repeat myself one last time: do not waste my time. I will not go against my father's wishes, nor do I have any intention of reinstating those complicit in crimes."
"Then..."
"You will be assigned to assist the officials currently handling the administration."
Under normal circumstances, this would be an incredibly foolish move. A recipe for disaster.
Forcing hostile factions to work together in the same department was sheer madness. As they bickered and sabotaged one another, administrative efficiency would plummet exponentially.
No matter how brilliant a political genius or administrative wizard might be, they could never display their true potential if they were surrounded by enemies.
They would constantly worry about their work being scrutinized for faults, and they would shirk responsibility, claiming, I tried my best, but I couldn't do anything because of those saboteurs.
But I had a maxed-out Charm stat.
And in this game—in this world—the Charm stat was a force that compelled subordinates to perform at their absolute peak.
"I know it will be difficult," I said. "But consider the alternative. If you refuse this work, you will lose not only your family's honor, but your very livelihood. You have no other source of income."
Irene had already thoroughly exposed the crimes of the old vassals. In the process, anyone who had held even a shred of authority was permanently barred from public office.
"Work for Arcteria. Make your families depend on you. As long as you serve Arcteria faithfully, no one will be able to criticize or slander you."
While the Charm stat could not conjure talent out of thin air, it allowed me to extract the absolute maximum efficiency from the talent I did possess.
"Follow me. I will not force you, so if you harbor any resentment, you are free to leave this room right now."
The remaining nobles kept their mouths shut and silently nodded.
"Serve me. Work hard enough to overshadow my father's decree, and diligently enough to make the realm forget the crimes of your families."
They would now pledge their loyalty to me. Even if they pooled their strength, they could never form a meaningful faction of their own, especially since the rest of Arcteria's high administration was filled with Irene's loyalists, who despised them.
Even if their families chose to leave the fiefdom, the illegitimate children and second daughters gathered here would not follow.
Rather than clinging to an uncertain future and accepting their low status within their families, they would realize it was far wiser to remain in Arcteria.
They were now my people.
"I-Is it true? This level of support for our magic tower..."
"Even greater support will be provided to the magic towers that arrive in the future. Do not take it personally."
"T-Take it personally? Not at all! The support we have received is already astronomical! We will do everything in our power to assist the newcomers!"
When rumors first spread that I was bringing new mages into the territory, the resident mages had been trembling in fear, already looking for new employment.
It was only natural. In this day and age, bringing in a mage who consumed as many resources as Roselyn was a massive, risky investment.
It was hard for the existing mages to believe that a major restructuring wouldn't take place in the process.
"I would appreciate that. And if possible, I would be grateful if you could recruit more mages from other regions to relocate to our territory."
"R-Really? We will do our absolute best! There are so many unemployed mages wandering around these days. If you give the word, I have colleagues who will run here in a heartbeat!"
"Excellent."
A mage's value would never truly plummet. They were fundamentally scarce, and with the winds of war beginning to blow, they were bound to become an even more critical resource.
After all, breaking through the tight, disciplined shield walls of heavy infantry required the devastating spells of trained mages.
However, the value of mages who had no intention of fighting was bound to plummet.
Most lords preferred to spend their gold on raising armies and forging high-quality steel rather than investing in speculative magical research to strengthen their domains.
As a result, research-oriented mages specializing in domestic utility or commercial magic were wandering the empire, completely starved of funding.
"Then, what will our duties be moving forward...?"
"Essentially, you will be assisting Lady Roselyn's research—well, 'assisting' might not be the right word. Your job will be to translate her findings into practical, applicable technology."
This was the method players had discovered after countless trials on how to properly utilize Roselyn.
You could not afford to worry about efficiency. Nor could you force Roselyn and her team to work on specific, pre-determined projects.
Forcing them into fields they found boring was catastrophically inefficient. If you were going to do that, you were better off not hiring them at all.
Players who tried to optimize Roselyn initially focused on how to minimize the staggering amount of resources she consumed.
They would play as the lord of her starting territory, or deliberately drive her home region into ruin to break her spirit, forcing her to settle for a manageable budget.
While some succeeded with this method, it was far from optimal.
A broken Roselyn had her boundless potential severely capped, producing research that ordinary mages could have achieved with enough effort and funding.
Granted, because her innate talent was so monstrous, even her "ordinary" results were impressive. But compared to the sheer effort of plotting behind the scenes, cornering her, and keeping the conspiracy hidden, the payoff was underwhelming.
"In that case..."
"Yes. Roselyn will continue her research exactly as she has always done. She will pursue wildly extravagant projects that seem to have absolutely no practical application in the real world."
And the domain where her genius shone brightest was none other than pure, unadulterated research.
To truly utilize her, you couldn't restrict her. You had to double down. You had to raise the stakes of the gamble.
Instead of trying to commercialize her primary research directly, you had to write off the direct costs and focus on extracting value from the accidental byproducts of her experiments.
"That is why your role is so critical."
"I-I will obey your command! I swear I will produce results worthy of your expectations for Arcteria!"
The resident mage looked practically bursting with motivation.
This was the beauty of a high Charm stat. It allowed me to recruit and manage subordinates far above my own weight class, and extract the absolute maximum potential even from ordinary followers.
Having employees treat the company's business as their own, or having subordinates guard their lord's command with their lives, was the ultimate dream of every ruler. Yet, almost everyone who sought this failed.
It was only natural. Unlike the boss who held all the authority, bore all the responsibility, and monopolized the rewards, the subordinates had no real reason to treat their leader's goals as their own.
But those who followed me were different.
Driven by their absolute devotion to me, they would never allow personal greed to sway them into inefficient behavior.
They would become the foundation of my power.