178. Duty and Profit (3) (Map)
178. Duty and Profit (3) (Map)
- 1 -
The Black Iron Knight Order handled oversight of the other knight orders whenever it wasn't carrying out frontline raids or covert operations.
It was a group that performed the most brutal tasks during battle and, even in peacetime, the dirtiest work.
As such, it was inevitably the organization with the deepest loyalty to the Margrave, because no one could join this order if they didn't feel that way.
Therefore, this order was also in a position where it had no choice but to declare neutrality regarding the succession dispute.
"... Your Ladyship. No, General. We do not support any one of the successors."
Thus, the commander's words were entirely natural, and Elena smiled faintly at the expected response.
That smile, blending with the banshee's characteristic aura, gave a somewhat sorrowful and fleeting impression, but the emotion she actually felt was rather different.
'It was reasonable suspicion.'
And for good reason: Elena had been showing rapid changes recently.
Until recently, she had never shown any ambition for power.
But as her assessment changed recently, she had begun to openly display a will to participate in politics—such as taking command of the Margrave's military authority and heading to the battlefield.
Furthermore, Elena had recently been seen frequently contacting Adelaide, and she was even operating private soldiers not belonging to the Margrave.
From any angle, these were the moves of someone aiming for the successor's seat.
'In fact, that's not wrong.'
Elena thought so inwardly and pushed the sword toward the knight.
In her hand, the sword gave off a subtle sheen.
"It's fine. This is not a bribe. It's a gift of friendship to someone who will stand with me in the future."
"...'Stand with you in the future.' You mean that?"
"Right."
At Elena's words, a look of perplexity, wariness, and finally bewilderment passed over the knight's face.
Elena noticed his reaction, but didn't bother to point it out.
'Because if I'd heard something like that myself, I'd have reacted similarly.'
To him, what Elena had just said was no different from an expression of strong confidence that she or Adelaide would certainly become the Margrave.
Moreover, in the current situation where Adelaide's rival, Reinhardt, was considered to have the upper hand, it was inevitably a remark that sounded exceedingly arrogant.
Fully aware of this, the knight commander shook his head and pushed the sword away once more. It was a touch laced with firm resolve.
"Still, I cannot accept this."
A small smile flickered at the corner of Elena's lips as she watched him.
That smile held a faint sense of expectancy, as if waiting for something.
As if it truly was just a simple favor, Elena accepted it more easily than expected, with a touch of regret. The knight commander's gaze, meeting hers, briefly turned toward the sword.
It was an item any ordinary knight would covet.
At the same time, it was a gift that wasn't all that expensive.
But for someone responsible for oversight duties to receive something from a successor candidate was unthinkable.
"May I offer some personal advice?"
He shook his head, then rose from his seat and spoke.
Elena's performance on the battlefield had been so impressive that it was a shame to just let it go.
"Speak. Anything is fine."
"It would seem far more feasible for you to aim for the position of general or knight commander."
The martial prowess and tactical ability Elena had displayed on the battlefield were certainly outstanding. The private troops she mobilized to manage the occupied territories were also excellent, and so far had caused not a single disturbance.
Both her military capability and administrative ability were without deficiency.
But that was something Reinhardt had already demonstrated.
If they possessed the same abilities, the eldest son was bound to be more advantageous than the eighth son... no, the fifth daughter.
That was the providence of this world.
"Is that so. Thank you."
Elena replied calmly.
Her voice held a subtle loneliness, something that made the listener's heart sink.
But from her expression, no thought could be read.
The Black Knight, who had been looking down at her inscrutable appearance for a moment, bowed deeply, then turned and walked out.
And then -
"Ah, just a moment. Commander."
"...?"
As he walked toward the door of the lord's office, he turned at Elena's call, and suddenly realized someone was standing behind him.
In an instant, his entire body froze.
He didn't even notice that something had been taken from around his neck. Nor did he notice the touch that had slipped through his armor as if parting water.
'I couldn't even feel a presence...?!'
The knight instinctively stepped back and looked the intruder straight in the eyes.
The commander, who had grabbed the sword at his waist, immediately tried to draw it, but stopped.
Above the lips hidden by the feathered fan, a flame burned clearly in golden eyes, ensnaring him.
"You have a favorable impression of Elena. Isn't that right?"
At the question from the woman who slowly turned the necklace that had been around his neck with her fingers, he opened his mouth slowly, without realizing it.
Honestly. As if someone were speaking through his mouth.
"... That's right."
"Then what is the reason?"
"Outstanding talent. But a succession ranking that is pitiful..."
"If you were to help?"
In his fading consciousness, the knight commander desperately resisted.
His reason sounded an alarm.
This was clearly magic. Sorcery. He had to resist. But...
'Yes, that's right. With Lady Elena's talent...'
From deep within him, a small whisper came.
These were thoughts he had suppressed while watching her achievements, but they had certainly existed.
"Impossible...?"
The knight's brow furrowed as he realized the situation was strange.
He tried desperately to stop his consciousness from fading, but it was a futile effort, like trying to grip sand.
Inside him, a fierce battle was raging.
On one hand, his loyalty as a knight, and on the other, his belief in Elena, were trying to devour each other.
"For a mere knight, to have such a strong will. How fitting for a knight of the house Elena belongs to."
"Even though you praise me so, I'm not exactly pleased..."
"Fu fu."
Yuran's eyes deepened.
She watched the fight inside the knight commander as if enjoying it.
But only for a moment.
As her sorcery intensified, the commander's resistance began to crumble slowly.
When he spoke again, his voice carried no strength. As if speaking in a dream.
"One who bears the duties of oversight... must coldly... faithfully maintain neutrality toward all successors... that is loyalty to the family..."
"How fitting."
Yuran smiled a bewitching smile beneath her feathered fan.
The gold in her eyes deepened further.
Her voice resonated inside the knight's head, burrowing deeper.
"Now that the succession is uncertain, all the neighboring nobles and royalty are eyeing Ironfield's influence. Are you going to let the family split apart like this?"
Her words were not a lie.
In fact, the family was already showing signs of division.
Any knight of House Ironfield would have sensed the signs.
It was just that ordinarily, no one made an issue of it.
Because they thought it was a problem that would be resolved once the successor was decided.
But on the contrary, it also meant that it was still a living problem at the moment.
"How dare...!"
Sparks flew from the knight commander's eyes.
It was an outburst of violent emotion.
Normally, such intense emotion might have allowed him to break free from the sorcery's control.
But the one manipulating his emotions now was none other than a Heavenly Fox.
A fox with a beauty that could captivate a nation and sorcery.
Before her power, mere anger was of no use.
"Isn't helping the successor be decided quickly the truest loyalty?"
These words burrowed deep into the commander's heart.
The anxieties and worries he had so long suppressed rose to the surface. That's right. What the family needed now was stability.
And the one who could bring that stability...
"Who do you think is suited to be the successor?"
"The eldest legitimate son and... the eldest daughter..."
"If the eldest daughter and the current Elena were to join forces?"
"... Then Lady Adelaide would have the advantage..."
"Then what should you do?"
The final question.
In response, the knight commander's mouth slowly opened.
"Help Lady Adelaide..."
Behind the fan, a broad smile spread across the fox's lips.
"That's the correct answer. Human."
Yuran carefully folded a small talisman and tucked it into the pendant that the commander had been wearing around his neck, then placed it back around his neck.
Her touch was affectionate, as if tying a gift on a child.
"Now, when you wake up. Take the sword and leave. You received Lady Elena's gift. And in exchange, you swore loyalty to her."
"Why... to her?"
"Because helping Elena is the way to help Adelaide. And..."
Yuran paused for a moment.
The flame flickering in her golden eyes intensified.
"Because this is what you want. For the strong Elena to be recognized as a knight."
"..."
The knight commander slowly nodded.
On his face was an unwavering conviction that he was devoting his loyalty to the family.
It had now become his reality.
'So easily.'
Elena, who had been looking into his eyes, swallowed her somewhat complicated feelings.
It was the moment when knights, who held positions that had once been one of her childhood dreams, were so easily swayed, offering up the family that had been everything to them.
It was impossible for her feelings about it not to be complicated.
But that didn't mean she regretted it.
"Is it done now?"
"If it goes as you said, it'll be done four more times. Elena."
That day, two other knight commanders and particularly powerful knights visited Elena's office one by one.
They all left the office after receiving a weapon apiece.
- 2 -
Thus, after the 'display of friendship' toward the knights ended, Elena gazed out the window and let out a deep breath.
'Another foothold has been laid.'
Below the fortress, armies of humans and monsters were moving together as one.
The humans still didn't know that the ones working alongside them were monsters, but that was only a matter of time.
Those boundaries would gradually crumble.
'It's going smoothly.'
Military might and financial power.
The Master had prepared everything necessary for victory, and for the power beyond it.
Even a political partner had been easy to find.
Her elder sister. Adelaide.
"Hoo..."
Elena's eyes wavered for a moment.
Just thinking of her made a corner of her chest ache. A sister she had sympathized with ever since she was a man in the past.
And now...
'No. This isn't the time to dwell on that. More importantly...'
It didn't matter which of them became the Margrave. In the end, both would belong to her Master.
Just as the boundary between human and monster would collapse, everything would be unified into one.
'To achieve that... the rest is my share.'
Elena's lips hardened coldly.
Sarak.
A subtle sound came from behind her.
It was the sound of Yuran quietly disappearing into the shadows.
Her role wasn't over yet, but she would no longer show herself inside the Margraviate's fortress.
Now, quietly pulling the strings of this entire puppet show was her only task.
'How truly amusing.'
Yuran smiled inwardly.
Human desires and obsessions always drew her in, but this time even more so.
Because this was not simply a succession dispute within a single family, but the moment they took a larger step toward the world.
'Now... I only need to wait for my husband to arrive.'
At the thought of her beloved master, a captivating smile bloomed on Yuran's lips.
Step -
Elena stepped back from the window and gazed into the distance.
The sprawling new territory of Ironfield was stained red by the evening glow.
As she stared at that scene which looked as if dyed in blood, a subtle smile spread across her lips.
'Only a little remains now.'
It was a faint, sorrowful smile that anyone might say held sadness.
But what lay within was a hostility and bloodlust as sharp as a blade.
And that will was directed not outward, but inward.
'It's over there.'
Beyond her raised hand, what Elena was looking at was the Margrave of Ironfield's throne. Like the one in this Cheoks Fortress, a massive throne of steel, painted in dark ink.
Now, no one would be able to stop her.
Except for the single one who held her reins.
- 3 -
I raised my eyes and gazed at the fortress.
The fortress was exceedingly high and sturdy. So solid that it could never be brought down by ordinary means.
But that didn't matter. Because its interior was already mine.
'Cheoks Fortress.'
The highest fortress that had been keeping Hysen in check from the front line of the Zenota United Kingdom.
Now, at its peak, my subordinate's flag was flying.
This was practically the same as this castle being mine.
"How splendid."
A smile settled on my lips.
