Pretty and Competent Administrator (6)
Zamas's face turned completely ashen. Trembling, he tried to edge farther away from me. Backed up against the wall of the audience chamber, with nowhere left to retreat, he looked on the verge of tears.
"Where do you think you're going?"
"Th-th-th-that's..."
"Back to the capital?"
"I... for now... y-yes... that's right..."
"You don't wanna stick around with me?"
Zamas couldn't muster a word and just cast his eyes downward. His already pudgy double chin jutted out even more, making him look like he was begging for a punch.
I was tempted to deck him right there, but I hadn't come here to intimidate the bastard. I had no intention of holding onto a greedy administrator like him, and kicking him out ASAP would benefit everyone in the long run.
Still, there was a reason I'd chased after him as he tried to slink away.
"You got assigned here by royal order—think you can just turn tail?"
"Well... mine's a special case..."
From what he explained, Zamas was facing disciplinary action and had to retire in a few years anyway. If he wanted, he could opt for early retirement. The capital would rather wash their hands of a headache like him sooner than keep paying his salary.
In short, the guy had planned to siphon off as much as he could from Rosens in his twilight years, but spotted me here and decided early retirement was the better play. Apparently, I rubbed him that wrong.
"So what happens to Hildeva Amer, the administrator you got shipped off to Apenzel?"
"Uh... well...? She'll go to Apenzel, won't she...?"
"And what about here?"
"Probably... some new administrator will come...?"
No matter who they sent, nobody knew this city better than Hildeva. There was no guarantee they'd send someone more capable, and given how nobody wanted the post, it'd likely be some clueless incompetent shoved into it.
Plus, I'd been working hard to pull her to my side. I grabbed the bastard by the collar.
"G-gack... Hero... can't breathe..."
"Come up with a way to get Hildeva reinstated. You've got five seconds."
"Guh... first off..."
"One, two, three, four."
"Eek...?!"
"Fi—"
"I'll write a recommendation letter!"
Threats like that always worked like a charm. According to Zamas, grade-5 officials and above could submit field advisory recommendations on appropriate personnel assignments. In this case, something like: Upon arriving in the city, it seems continuing with the grade-7 administrator Hildeva—who's handled the role admirably so far—would best serve Rosens. The capital would review it for validity and accept it if it made sense.
Zamas figured they'd go for it, since nobody would volunteer for the massive headache of reviving Rosens.
"Then who's going to Apenzel?"
"Someone... else..."
"That powerful, huh—a grade-5 recommendation?"
"It is... for a grade-5... and sure, I've taken bribes, but my competence is acknowledged..."
I kicked him out of the carriage and barked at him to write the damn letter right now. Under my watchful eye, Zamas drafted it at a desk in City Hall.
"There's a misspelling here."
"Ah, right, right..."
Once it was done, he sealed the envelope with melted wax and stamped his signet ring. I snatched it immediately.
"You might toss it on the way to screw me over. I'll send it."
"Of course, naturally..."
I mounted the horse blocking the carriage, and Zamas slunk up hesitantly.
"Can I go now...?"
"You made me ride all the way to Bue, so pay up for the fare."
His face twisted like he'd eaten shit as he fished a few gold coins from his pouch.
"You fucker? Buy a place in Bue? Aren't you coming back?"
His expression soured even more, and he just handed over the whole pouch.
"Bye. Don't let the gate hit you on the way out."
"Same to you."
I shot him one last glare before galloping toward Bue. Hildeva had left yesterday morning, and now it was night—about two days gone. Factoring in my trip to Bue, nearly three... but if I pushed hard, I could catch up.
The route to Apenzel was fixed; no chance of missing each other. Hell, she might still be lingering in Bue.
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I arrived in Bue late the next morning. The horse, ridden through the night, wheezed foam-flecked breaths, steam rising from its body. No way it could go farther, so I headed straight for the relay station.
Relay stations handled official personnel, goods, and documents traveling between direct territories. Hildeva must've taken a relay carriage from here.
I pushed open the station office door and went to the counter.
"This—send it express carriage to the Ministry of State."
The clerk took the envelope with Zamas's recommendation and logged it. Not being an official, I paid a fee and got a receipt.
"Any relay carriages to Apenzel the day before yesterday or yesterday?"
"Apenzel? Why?"
"My little sister's posted there. Just checking if she left okay."
"Ah, gotcha. One sec."
The clerk flipped through the ledger.
"Your sister's Hildeva Amer, right? Grade-7 central bureaucrat?"
"Yeah. Did she leave?"
"Yesterday morning. She'll switch at Lenditofte relay."
Apenzel lay northwest in the kingdom. From Bue, it wound west through Lenditofte, then north via Mesula, Anan, Ninai, and other direct territories—a convoluted path to skirt noble lands as much as possible.
Nobles weren't exactly friendly with the capital, so officials passing through their domains made them prickly. Officials, meanwhile, hated entering fiefs—barons and viscounts in small provincial holdings were little more than thugs.
The elegant nobles people imagined were the dukes and marquises. Sure, even they schemed cruelly behind closed doors, but they didn't strut around like common gangsters.
Eyeing the huge map on the relay wall, I traced the route. Following it, I'd never catch up without killing the horse. To intercept, I'd have to cut diagonally across fiefs.
As I drew an imaginary line on the map with my finger, the clerk chimed in.
"Steer clear of Baron Benson's territory if you can."
Benson barony was a small holding northwest from Bue.
"Benson's up here, huh... Still causing trouble?"
"Don't get me started. Prime degenerates, those knights."
Word was, Benson's knights—already street toughs—had started raiding merchants near the fief.
"Bandit blood itching for action, probably. If you're heading that way, sir, better take the long route."
The map showed I could bypass Benson above it and still meet Hildeva without issue. Head up extra, wait a day.
"Mind if I rent a horse? Mine's beat from riding all night."
"Sorry, only for official business."
Damn... Couldn't dawdle here, though. No choice—time for the trump card.
"Thing is, I'm this kinda guy..."
I slipped my ID from my pocket and slid it over casually. The bored clerk snatched it, screamed, and shot to his feet.
"My apologies! Horse ready now!"
I left my steed at the station and got a big, sturdy warhorse. My intercept spot was Anan city, a direct territory—two to three days away. I stocked up on rations and a blanket in town, strapped to the saddle.
The inn was in good hands with Della; I rode northwest unburdened.
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Late afternoon on the third day, I entered Anan city. At the relay, I returned the horse and asked:
"Relay to Apenzel from Bue—when's it due here?"
The clerk figured earliest tomorrow dawn, latest before lunch.
"When she arrives, tell her Bertrand from Rosens is here. Don't go anywhere—meet me."
I watched him note it down, then headed to the inn. Tiny town, one inn—no choice.
A simple meal at the dingy tavern, then up to the room. Exhausted from days of nonstop riding, I crashed the second my head hit the pillow.
Next morning, checked the station—no Hildeva. I'd asked them to send word to the inn, so I was stuck waiting all morning.
Noon at the station—still nothing.
"Shouldn't she be here by now?"
"Yeah, running late, I guess."
The clerk shrugged it off. Map confirmed: single road from Mesula to Anan.
Better to ride south and intercept midway. Borrowed a horse, galloped toward Mesula under the bright spring sun.
Not a single relay carriage or pedestrian. Something off. Even delayed, she should've left Mesula by now...
Sun dipping, Mesula visible ahead.
No way... still there?
Maybe she was dragging her feet, hating Apenzel. Hopeful yet worried, I entered Mesula.
First stop: relay station.
"Any record of Hildeva Amer passing through?"
"Hildeva? One moment."
I fidgeted as he sloooowly flipped pages, glaring at the ledger.
He stopped on a page, traced down with a finger.
"Hmm... Hildeva..."
Slow as molasses—I wanted to rip it away myself.
He paused, looked up.
"She left yesterday. Around eight."
"Yesterday? What time?"
"Uh... eight PM."
Even at slowest, should've hit Anan before dawn. But Anan said no show. Couldn't have bypassed it—relays stop at stations to switch.
Only one road between here and Anan. Other paths too narrow for carriages, longer too.
So... something happened that night en route.
Shit... I bolted to City Hall.
Having Hildeva stay on as administrator made things easiest for me!