Ellie, Mary, Henry (4)
Excellent.
It meant something worthy of praise—outstanding and remarkable.
An excellent doctor. That referred to a person who had saved many lives with superior skill.
An excellent warrior. That referred to a person who had killed many people with superior skill.
An excellent chest. That meant a large, beautifully shaped bosom.
Now then, one more.
What exactly was an excellent Vargas?
Ordinarily, it meant someone who had tried each of the essential elements of being a Vargas at least once.
The essentials of a Vargas were assault, murder, kidnapping, confinement, threats, and property destruction.
Once you had done them all, you were recognized as an excellent Vargas—in other words, a proper pirate bastard.
From that perspective, Henry von Vargas was an excellent Vargas no matter where you put him.
The current Duke of Vargas, Antonio von Vargas, received a report.
"So you're telling me that when I ordered him to call off the proposal and come back, he went and sealed the engagement instead?"
"...Yes, Your Grace."
Unable to contain his rage, the Duke smashed a table to splinters with a thunderous crash.
So. He had gone and caused another incident after all.
He was his own son, but what a deranged little bastard he was.
The disasters he had caused were hardly few, yet the worst by far had been during his Academy days.
There was an Academy every Imperial noble was expected to attend, and the first son, who had gone ahead of him, had said this:
"They do discriminate against us for being Vargas, so prepare yourself not to get hurt."
The first son had meant for him to steel his heart.
Henry, however, understood it differently.
Ah. So I'm supposed to establish discipline.
And so Henry prepared something else entirely.
"Ugh, filthy pirate trash. And they call that a noble? Letting him walk into the Academy?"
"Heh. Probably here hunting for a bride, of all things. How undignified."
The Academy also served as a social circle, after all.
One person in particular had bullied him mercilessly; her name had been something like Vivian.
"If you're a pirate, act like one. Instead of dining at a table like the rest of us, you should eat off the floor the way you would on a ship."
Lady Vivian laughed as she shoved the meal tray from the table onto the floor.
Watching this, Henry put what he had prepared into action.
And what had he prepared? Ships.
He had readied a great many ships.
"What? We can't leave? Why not?"
"Well... milady. The pirates..."
Henry led his men and blockaded the Academy from the sea.
The Academy sat on an island adjacent to the continent so that it could be reached easily from every corner of the Empire—so that the sea routes could be used without difficulty.
He surrounded it with thirty warships.
According to the reports, he even opened up with the cannons.
He had begun practicing one of the virtues of an excellent Vargas: property destruction.
He never aimed directly at people, yet countless buildings of the Academy were destroyed that day.
"N-no! The statue of the First Emperor!"
Truly, a great many buildings.
"...I'll go myself."
Upon receiving the report, Duke Antonio personally led a fleet to the Academy and confronted Henry face-to-face.
And there the boy sat, after causing a disaster of that scale, holding a tea party.
"Vivian. Water."
"Yes. Here you are."
"Chair."
"Yes."
Antonio could no longer hold back his fury and struck Henry across the back of the head.
Henry tumbled off his classmate.
"Which bastard—ah, Father?"
"Drag him off and throw him in the confinement room."
"Yes, Your Grace."
Thus the Academy Blockade Incident—unprecedented in the history of the Empire—came to an end.
Antonio placed Henry under house arrest for the time being.
Originally the matter would never have ended there, but an urgent development had arisen, so he postponed the punishment a little longer.
Using the Academy Blockade as a pretext, another maritime power of the Empire—the Southern Admiral's fleet—declared war.
They now had a cause, and they intended to settle the question of naval supremacy once and for all.
Antonio led the entire fleet out to sea.
And in that opening, a rebellion broke out.
Because of that rebellion, they regrettably never managed to execute Henry.
"Don't worry, Finance Minister. Don't you trust me?"
"Not at all. I trust you completely, young master."
"There, there. We Vargas never negotiate with rebels. We're only trying to buy a little time."
It was the fourth month of my house arrest.
Sir Garn, the defense commander of our duchy, had raised a revolt.
The reason was none other than the Finance Minister.
The Finance Minister had failed to pay wages for four full months.
Four entire months.
And so the rebels were now shouting:
"Hand over the Finance Minister at once! Surrender the bastard and pay the back wages, and there will be no bloodshed!"
Honestly, if it had been up to me I would have simply tossed the Finance Minister out to them, but I couldn't.
I was partly to blame, after all.
I had blockaded the Academy, and paying the compensation for the damage had drained the duchy's coffers dry.
On top of that, we were at war right now.
So the Finance Minister had been scrambling to make up the shortfall somehow.
Still, he shouldn't have touched the wages.
And of all things, the defense force's wages.
He could have just doubled the taxes on the commoners instead.
Anyway, to suppress the rebels I had to hold out until Father returned, and that was why I was heading to the negotiation table to stall for time.
"Absolutely, absolutely do not allow yourself to be swayed by those rebels' words!"
"Yes, yes, I heard you. I'll just buy time and come back."
With my brother and father away at war, I was the highest-ranking person left.
Therefore I went out to the negotiation site as our representative.
I waited a short while at the table before Sir Garn entered.
A massive build with a greatsword strapped to his back—he was a knight who boasted tremendous strength.
"It's been a while, Sir Garn."
"It has been a while, young master. I regret that we must meet under these circumstances."
He set the greatsword from his back onto the floor with a heavy thud and took his seat.
"Not at all. So—you want the Finance Minister?"
"Yes, young master. I won't rest until I've torn that bastard apart."
"Couldn't you... reconsider just once? As you know, the Finance Minister has served our house for a long time."
"Young master. Do you think we would have raised a rebellion if it weren't serious? Think carefully."
Sir Garn stroked the hilt of the greatsword he had set down, as if making a threat.
"Which is more precious—your life, or the Finance Minister's? If you do not hand him over, we will launch a full assault at once."
I pictured the Finance Minister.
The face of a man who had devoted himself to the family for so many years.
"Obviously my life. I'll hand over the Finance Minister as soon as I return."
Finance Minister.
My apologies.
"Haha. Quick answer—I like that. As expected of you, young master."
"Of course. I'll prepare the money as well. Good deal."
We shook hands and parted ways.
I returned to the castle and had the Finance Minister bound.
"Young master! Young master! This is not what we agreed! You said the Vargas never negotiate!"
"Of course not. The Vargas never negotiate."
"Then why me?!"
"This wasn't a negotiation. It was a deal."
"Y-you insane little—"
And so I handed over the Finance Minister, and the Finance Minister was executed.
It was a pity, after he had devoted so many years to our house.
I took the dead Finance Minister's assets and returned to the negotiation table.
"The back wages. Disperse now."
Sir Garn counted the gold coins and answered.
"It's exact. But that won't do."
"What?"
"Just taking the wages doesn't balance the books. We need compensation for damages as well."
Sir Garn wore a vile little smile.
"Give us three times the original wages on top, or it's war. Choose."
"...Haa. Fine. I'll prepare it."
"Thank you, young master."
I returned to the castle once more.
And I spoke to the remaining troops.
"Find the families of the rebels outside—especially Sir Garn's. Then bring them up onto the walls one by one."
Three times? What kind of nonsense was that.
Where was that kind of money supposed to come from.
Peaceful negotiation was over.
It was time to begin a Vargas-style Negotiation.
I shouted down from the walls.
"Garn! If you don't disband your forces at once, I'll push your family members off one by one! You have two hours. Decide by then!"
Garn watched the scene from afar, his face twisting, then disappeared into his tent.
Apparently for a meeting.
Two hours passed.
Garn emerged from the tent and bellowed.
"A wife can be kidnapped again, and kids can be made again! This is war!"
Damn it.
Garn, too, was an excellent Vargas.
Therefore he was immune to Vargas-style Negotiation.
With a roar, the rebels charged like a pack of dogs.
"Push all the families off, and open the gates."
"What? Young master? The gates? Why in the world would we—"
"I said open them. It's more convenient if they come through one place."
I stood in the middle of the opened gateway.
Then I watched the onrushing rebels and drew my sword.
I smashed, I sliced, I stabbed, I cut.
Blood sprayed and soaked my head completely.
The sneering looks that at first seemed to ask what one man thought he was doing slowly turned into pure terror.
Exactly like Sir Garn, whose heart had been pierced by my blade.
He coughed, blood bubbling from his lips.
"W-what in the world is this..."
Clutching the broken greatsword in one hand, Garn touched the blade buried in his own heart with the other.
He stared at me with eyes that simply could not understand.
"You should have known when to stop, Garn."
You should have disbanded when I gave you the chance.
That day I killed two hundred eighty-seven of the two thousand rebels; Father, returning from the war, captured and executed the rest.
Afterward Father never held me accountable for the Academy incident.
And I was appointed a knight at that time.