Chapter 304
Chapter 304
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 304
Chapter Title: War of the Puppets (1)
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Fernandez took a sip of the liquor Al Mukapa handed him and met the man's gaze. He was already thoroughly drunk, his face flushed. Yet he showed no sign of it, simply enjoying the banquet with relaxed ease.
Fireworks burst overhead, and dazzling dancers shook glittering ornaments with wild abandon. Al Mukapa's retainers whispered among themselves or guffawed heartily as they drank.
"Shall we step out for some air?"
"Indeed."
The attention focused on him as a noble guest from abroad had gradually faded as the banquet wore on. Thanks to Al Mukapa's casual treatment, the retainers and servants now saw Fernandez merely as the lord's friend.
Finally, when no one was paying Fernandez any mind, with the banquet reaching its rowdy end and the officers lost in drunken haze, Al Mukapa whispered to him.
The two rose quietly and strolled toward the balcony. Gazing down at the rain-swept city, Al Mukapa spoke softly.
"The man you requested to meet, and the one who wishes to meet you. Both seek an audience. Is that alright?"
"Someone who wishes to meet me?"
The one he'd requested was surely a Shaxisi. The current sultan distrusted his own subordinates, and there were Shaxisi infiltrators in every domain. Contacting them shouldn't be difficult, as he'd anticipated.
But for someone in this distant land to specifically seek him out? Fernandez couldn't help tilting his head.
"Come in."
With an enigmatic smile, Al Mukapa spoke, and two figures dropped down from the rooftop. Fernandez instinctively gripped the dagger hidden in his sleeve. But the pair simply bowed their heads in formal greeting.
"This one is a Shaxisi stationed in the city."
"Pleased to meet you, Lord Cerned."
"And this one traveled from the distant East upon hearing of you, gladly risking danger to do so."
As Fernandez regarded the man kneeling on one knee, the fellow raised his head slightly and smiled faintly.
"The Court Count commanded me to ensure you face no inconveniences in your service. Command me as you will."
"I owe the Count a great debt, then."
"A debt? The Court Count does not weigh acts of aiding a friend on any scale."
The man was perfectly disguised as a Kirzart native. Only the Iron Sides of this continent could manage such a feat—planting agents deep in enemy territory of a different race.
It demanded immense manpower and capital. Sacrificing an agent fully embedded in a region just to aid him personally. This operative could never infiltrate Kirzart again.
This was no mere favor. Someone like King Vicente of Dane might do it out of goodwill, but for Robert the Court Count of Tremule, it smacked of a transaction. The man never made a losing deal.
'He still sees me as the Emperor's envoy.'
-Not a bad turn for us.
The broken engagement with Renee Philippa was a secret never announced publicly. Even Robert might not have caught wind of their private exchanges.
That made everything fit. Once Renee Philippa fully seized the palace, Robert's position would shrink. Having ousted the devil-worshipping former emperor and rebuilt the imperial house, the new emperor would view House Tremule as a potential political liability down the line.
Robert needed a buffer between himself and the emperor. He'd positioned Fernandez for that role, promising in return to secure his safety and intelligence within Kirzart.
"Hmm. I hadn't realized you were acquainted with Court Count Tremule, Lord Cerned."
"It wasn't my place to disclose first."
"Then, accepting you as an imperial envoy aligns with that riddle you spoke of?"
What was this now?
Fernandez frowned at Al Mukapa. Reading his expression, the man chuckled good-naturedly.
"If you're curious about my reasoning... As expected, you're thorough, Lord Cerned. After the imperial court's recent figure defected to the elven dynasty and smuggled into our port city, then sought contact with the sultan's spies—what else could it be but obvious?"
"Conducting unofficial diplomacy that can't be requested openly?"
"What other reason would you have to set foot in our lands?"
Al Mukapa smiled slyly. Fernandez glanced at the Iron Side agent, who bowed as if in full agreement.
Let me sort this out. Fernandez thought quickly. The Iron Sides believed his smuggling was on imperial orders. Kirzart had arranged this secret meeting on that assumption.
Thus, his words here would be taken as the emperor's implicit request.
-Lucky break. This is an opportunity.
'A most... exquisite one.'
Leia surely hadn't planned this far when introducing him as a guest, but for Fernandez, it exceeded expectations.
"My assumptions were wrong, Al Mukapa. His Majesty dispatched me to the domain guarded by its most capable lord. Well done."
Fernandez smiled at him. In their brief exchange, it carried unmistakable implications no high noble could misread.
At last, Al Mukapa nodded eagerly, his expression almost boastful with conviction.
"It's fortunate my domain is the first you encountered here, Lord Cerned. For you, and for me."
"I feel the same. Now, with a Shaxisi present... we can assume this conversation reaches the sultan directly?"
"Of course. As always, the sultan observes our entire realm."
The Shaxisi smiled, tracing his ritual sign. Somehow, the mood had shifted to a clandestine summit of great empire nobles.
Feizashi flitted about, grinning like a mischievous imp.
-Idiots. Hahaha!
'Let's milk this for all it's worth.'
* * *
A stunning coincidence, born of exquisite information gaps. Fernandez suppressed a laugh, adopting a stern expression.
First, Robert still effectively controlled the Iron Sides. Renee Philippa would reclaim it eventually, but for now, he held the empire's premier intelligence network.
Yet wary of her scrutiny, the Iron Sides were blind to palace internals. Naturally so—no need for imperial spies to watch the palace.
Thus, they assumed Fernandez's Kirzart venture was the emperor's command. Who else had cause to send him?
Robert would aid him, seeking flexible political alignment with the emperor through this favor. As a listener here, he'd also gauge the emperor's true intent and future policies.
'Wise indeed. Even with incomplete intel, he drew the optimal conclusion.'
-This agent's judgment is sharp too. Risking exposure for House Tremule's position.
Now Al Mukapa. No ordinary man beneath that affable facade—dozens of sly foxes hid their fangs there.
Confident in his abilities, he'd boarded Leia's flagship as envoy. There, he deduced her unification of the elven dynasty and began countermeasures.
Astute, but anyone might manage that. What elevated Al Mukapa in Fernandez's eyes was what followed.
He noted Fernandez as an eastern human noble and Leia's guest. In his mind, Leia was allying with eastern kingdoms for naval pressure.
An easterner 'smuggling' into Kirzart, using Queen Leia for safe passage and attention? Only the empire could pull that off, signaling the emperor's desire for unofficial talks.
'With limited info, it's a logical inference.'
Fernandez inwardly chuckled at Al Mukapa's keen eyes. Requesting a first meeting with a 'Shaxisi' upon arrival must have reinforced it.
Who else would seek experts in sabotage, assassination, terror, and intel disruption—enemy agents no less? Only an imperial envoy craving sultan contact.
-Someday they'll surpass us in intel.
'Of course. They're no puppets.'
That he wasn't on imperial orders would eventually reach Iron Sides or Shaxisi through their embedded agents.
But Fernandez didn't care. He'd leave the country in at most ten days; exposure afterward changed nothing.
"His Majesty prepares for war."
A grave voice, each word heavy with weight. Fernandez watched Al Mukapa. He seemed impassive, listening intently, but his eyes flickered faintly.
Depending on interpretation, it could be a declaration of war.
"What do you mean...?"
"Don't misunderstand. War with your nation is ended; His Majesty proclaimed the wasteland's lawful ownership to the beastfolk alliance. But not all agree."
The Shaxisi flinched. The sultan still coveted the magic crystal veins buried beneath.
Even if the emperor granted it to the beastfolk and pantheon churches officially recognized it, Kirzart felt cheated.
The past fifty years of war inflicted massive military losses not just on the empire. Kirzart bore huge damages too, shaking the nation's foundations.
Thus, the sultan needed war. To quell internal dissent, local lords' distrust of the center, he had to prove imperial authority—like the late emperor crushing beastfolk rebellions and spectral lords.
"The sultan..."
"Your sultan thinks likewise, naturally! Our nations shed enough blood these fifty years. Haven't we?"
The Shaxisi sighed in relief. With talks veering to war risks between powers, no slip of tongue could reignite the fuse.
"Then what war does your emperor prepare for...?"
"To guard against the White Kingdom demon tribes' stirring."
"The White Kingdom demon tribes... you say?"
"Has anyone here heard rumors of suspicious activity among them?"
Neither Iron Side nor Shaxisi shook their heads. Even elite spies—this city was the rearmost, far from the demon tribes' plains.
Physically, their news hadn't reached yet. And who fretted over barbarians? They'd never scored meaningful victories—just nomads.
Rough and primitive, sure. But they herded pigs and sheep in their lands, self-culling via infighting when numbers swelled beyond the plains' capacity.
"What could those savage nomads possibly do...?"
"Rumors say a khagan has emerged among them. Uniting thousands, tens of thousands of gers across the plains, marching on fertile lands."
"!!"
The Shaxisi jolted. The tribes' plains lay south of the wasteland. Far from the empire, unappealing soil to them...
Kirzart, bordering them directly, was the target. Fernandez's words were unexpectedly a warning.
"But they lack proper arms or troops. Is His Majesty, burdened by early reign duties, perhaps overly anxious...?"
"I was en route to the plains to verify personally."
"Then your visit here wasn't solely for secret talks with us?"
"I said as much. Just passing through, Lord Al Mukapa. But His Majesty tasked me: if true, prepare for invasion; he pledges full support."
Fernandez continued calmly, face unchanging. Easy for a Demonica monk mastering every muscle, half-superhuman, versed in Heretica infiltration too.
Of course, all lies. The emperor knew nothing; Karadskar's rise was mere hunch.
But so what? They'd realize too late, when he was irrelevant.
'Can't let Karadskar reach the empire.'
Renee Philippa's empire needed stability. Kirzart had no sway over him, but his imperial influence was vast; if choosing, sacrifice Kirzart.
Simple elimination. To slay great demons within two years, he needed a controllable power base. No more wasting time on civilization.
Thus, Kirzart would be the bulwark against Karadskar. Unlike his past life, he'd delegate that role. By the time sultan and Shaxisi awoke, legions of the Ye Ke Tetai Ulus (Great Tetai Empire) would march before them.
'Use them while they last.'
Fernandez quietly smiled at the two puppets swallowing hard, rapt in his words.
A sacrifice of the few for the many? Better: necessary expenditure for the goal. Black mages and priests were kin in such ruthlessness; Fernandez was the first to bear both titles.