Honorable Fools

Partuti spoke in a firm voice.

"My lord. The shameless wretches of this city have not grasped even the smallest measure of the grace you have shown them. And after all the mercy you extended."

The orc was egging Johan on as if he had made up his mind about it, and in truth, he was quite certain of himself. From Johan's perspective, this city had to be infuriating!

Even after becoming the new lord of the Baek Kingdom, Johan wielded his power with extreme caution — a prudence so thorough that no one would have believed him a savage conqueror. And for all that consideration, what came back was this disloyalty. How could he not be resentful? It would hardly have been strange for the new count to burn with indignation and start swinging his sword.

"It does sting a little."

But Johan felt nothing much by it. His conception of honor, loyalty, and obedience was rather different.

Nobles believed themselves inherently honorable, expected others to respect that honor, and raged when it was slighted because they felt their very worth had been defaced. Johan, by contrast, reacted with thoughts like well, that happens or to be honest, I never expected much loyalty anyway. He had never anticipated genuine devotion from the Baek Kingdom's nobles in the first place.

"Call in the soldiers and have these shameless wretches arrested and put on trial. I will testify."

He must have a serious grudge built up.

There was a thick scent of blood in Partuti's words. He was evidently nursing deep grievances against the masters of the rival guilds. The resentment of a guild representative who had been denied proper treatment and treated with contempt did not fade easily. Partuti seemed ready to do anything at all if it meant taking his revenge and seizing real power in the city.

"The city has its own soldiers — if you do that, they won't take it lying down. I may be their lord, but I granted them autonomy, after all."

"Use the monsters as a pretext to summon additional troops. I have been bribing the mercenary officers all ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠this while. If you wish, I will set the city on fire, and in the chaos you can subdue the masters and—"

"......"

Johan was tempted for a moment. There was a reason Partuti liked to lord his cleverness over people. He had clearly spent every time the city folk slighted him mentally sketching out exactly how he would burn the city down.

Ah, no. I must not fall for that whisper.

He nearly gave in, but held himself back. Sweeping them all away by force would be satisfying, but the reckoning afterward would fall squarely on Johan's shoulders. Many people misunderstood, but Johan was no conqueror who simply bulldozed forward on raw strength alone. The most powerful of all his virtues was patience.

"That's rather extreme. I'd rather not see the blood of the innocent spilled as well."

Partuti pouted the moment Johan looked away. He had evidently wanted to see quite a lot of blood.

"Still, I should at least hear what happened, shouldn't I?"

"Of course, my lord!"

"Summon the guild representatives."

Partuti grinned. Watching the mercenaries dash off, he decided this was shaping up to be quite a fine day.

"I trusted you."

At Johan's words, the guild representatives exchanged puzzled glances. These were seasoned men, and they sensed something ominous in his tone.

"Even when the nobles grumbled about your disloyalty, I did not believe it. You had been granted autonomy — I believed there was no way you would prove treacherous."

"M-my lord. Have we committed some offense?"

Instead of answering, Johan brought his fist down savagely on the armrest. The chair, carved from solid rock, shattered outright.

In the blood-chilling silence that followed, the councilmen could barely breathe and hung their heads low.

Nothing is more ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠terrifying than a gentle man's anger.

Accustomed as they were to Johan's indulgent manner, they were terrified out of their wits, hearts nearly stopping.

...I didn't mean to break it.

Johan clicked his tongue inwardly. It hadn't been a cheap chair, either; the waste of it grated on him for no good reason.

"I wasn't even finished speaking."

"F-forgive ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠us!"

"I might forgive you for hearing rumors and blundering into a clumsy hunt, but secretly colluding with the Emperor's envoy is something I cannot possibly forgive."

"!"

Johan's words struck them like a hammer to the skull. They had never imagined this was why they had been summoned.

How?

Is there a spy among us?

Only a handful of people had known about it...

"No answer, I see."

"N-no, my lord! There has been a misunderstanding!"

"You do produce a remarkable number of misunderstandings. Shall we expect more of them going forward?"

So flustered were they that the representatives could not conjure even a pathetic excuse. They floundered in a full-blown panic. At last, Fahid of the house of Mulk, standing nearby, spoke up carefully.

"My lord. Surely they did not truly conspire with the Emperor in earnest? There must have been some misunderstanding. Grant them a chance to prove their loyalty."

"What chance are you talking about?"

"If they are men loyal to you, they will seize the Emperor's envoys and deliver them to you even now. Please command it so."

"No, wait—"

As one of the masters tried in alarm to stop Fahid, Johan's burning gaze bore down on him, and the man hastily bowed his head.

If you're going to mediate, do a proper job of it, you bloodsucker!

It had never occurred to him that Fahid might be colluding with Johan, so he could only grumble inwardly. If the city handed over the envoys in its own name, the consequences would later fall on the city alone. How would the viscount or the Emperor judge them then? No excuse would hold water.

"Ha. That they will never do. They cannot hand them over. What say you?"

"W-we will hand them over! Please wait just a moment, my lord!"

The problem at hand had to be solved first — that was simply how it worked. The representatives swallowed their tears and shouted their assent. Thinking of the losses this would cost them later in the Emperor's domains made their hearts ache already.

"What is the meaning of this outrage!"

"Our apologies. Do try to understand."

"There is no wickedness like this in all the world! Release us at once! How dare you treat a noble who came to aid your city in this manner!"

Sir Padobesi and Sir Zirto wagged their tails furiously as they vented their fury. It was only natural — they had come here unofficially for the express purpose of helping the city.

The imperial domain, now left alone at the southern tip of the peninsula, was in a truly precarious position. Johan had not struck yet, but no one knew when the attack might come.

In such circumstances, Gilsina — sitting right beside the sea — was one of the most promising candidates for an alliance. But paying out a fortune in gold crowns or forging a marriage pact was beyond their means. The monsters that had appeared in the city looked, conveniently, like an opportunity.

The viscount petitioned the Emperor to dispatch knights renowned for monster hunting and seasoned mages. Then he gave them a secret commission and sent them to the city.

If they succeed, it will help enormously!

...But when they arrived at the city, there were rumors the new count had come, and while they were trying to verify those rumors, the city folk suddenly threw a lavish feast in their honor, and...

When they came to their senses, they were trussed up hand and foot.

It was absurd beyond all measure. Any knight with half an eye could grasp the situation they were in now.

"So Count Yeats has truly come to this city! This is too much even for you — seizing a noble who came as your guest and handing him over like this? Do you have no honor at all?! I will never forgive this!"

"...Why aren't you making him shut up?!"

Even a man in the wrong grows angry when the other side keeps being so damnably right. The guild master roared at the mercenaries to silence the knight. They gagged him.

"Who was it that came here without any sense of the situation, anyway..."

"He's not wrong, you know. If only they understood how much trouble they've caused us."

Thus did the councilmen revile the knights, rationalizing to themselves. Had Johan witnessed it, he would have marveled: they're severing the relationship entirely of their own accord. Having betrayed the customs of hospitality, they could never talk their way out of it — and yet there they were, flaunting their shamelessness in broad daylight.

An attitude guaranteed to breed grudges where none had existed. And that attitude came back to them at once.

"Lord Count Yeats! I could understand your taking me prisoner. But grant me just one thing!"

What on earth did they do to bring him in, to make him rave like that?

Johan tilted his head. Naturally, anyone seized while serving as an envoy would be furious — but this knight genuinely looked as though he might die of the injustice.

"Let me duel those honorless wretches! They are shameless dogs who violated a sacred custom! Men deserving of curses in the name of God! Your children shall die in their mothers' wombs, and your neighbors shall—"

"Sh-should we silence him?"

The city guards asked in flustered confusion, but Johan shook his head. It wasn't his name being cursed; there was no reason to stop it.

The Emperor's knight had a genius for insult. Beginning with the city's ancestors and working his way through fathers and mothers, weaving each slander meticulously into the next — the sheer craftsmanship of it earned Johan's genuine admiration.

The councilmen's faces, of course, turned a total riot of red and purple. Wrong though they might have been, no man of their standing could sit quietly through such abuse before a crowd — and their position in this city was second to none.

"...You shall all wander a scorched wasteland, you spawn of demons!"

"Finished?"

"Er... y-yes. Yes, quite."

"The duel is denied. The Emperor's envoy coming in secret — the insolence is beyond bearing. Meddling to drive a wedge between city and crown, and he ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠demands a duel..."

The councilmen nodded along eagerly at Johan's words. The knights ground their teeth.

These bastards, truly!

"That is not so, my lord! We came only to help!"

"Help with what?"

"An evil monster was defiling the city, so we came with pure and honorable hearts... you are a fine knight yourself, my lord — surely you understand! By God, we came to slay the monster!"

Sir Zirto appealed to Johan's sense of honor.

Johan had become famous among the imperial faction's knights of late. His meteoric rise was one thing, but his deeds as a knight were simply too extraordinary — achievements that commanded respect even from his enemies. And so Sir Zirto believed in Johan, and in Johan's honor.

True, these greedy city dogs had captured them. But Johan was a knight who knew honor — surely he would respect them and set them free!

Does he not know I ordered this?

Johan felt a faint pang of guilt at Sir Zirto's guileless eyes. The dog beastfolk's innocence made it somehow worse.

"Is that so? You came to hunt a monster?"

"Yes!"

"Then I suppose you could help me hunt it."

"Yes! ...Yes?"

"You said you came to slay the monster, did you not? So long as the result is the same, what does it matter?"

"......"

The knights were dumbfounded. Unfortunately, they were not seasoned enough to improvise a graceful excuse on the spot.

If they hunted the monster under Johan's command, only Johan would profit. The viscount would be livid if he heard of it...

"Why no answer?"

"N-no, forgive me. Of course. We will help."

"Splendid. Once the monster is slain, your words will be proven true, and I shall release you. Until then, bear the discomfort a little longer."

Without waiting for their reply, Johan gestured. The mercenaries gagged the knights and dragged them away. The councilmen showered abuse on the knights' insolent manners.

"A mage serving under Kardirian?"

"Yes. But believe me, my lord. My loyalty is not sworn to His Majesty the Emperor alone. I am always faithful to those who pay a fair price, you see?"

The mage who introduced himself as Jannina had red hair. Seeing it, Johan mused to himself.

Does the Emperor have a thing for redheads?

Baron Ainbeck, who had lately been operating as the Emperor's vassal, had been redheaded too...

"You accompanied the monster hunt, so I take it you have some expertise in the field."

"It shames me to say, but I can control monsters to a degree."

Reputed to be a master of beasts and monstrosities alike, Jannina had towering mastery of that branch of magic. Something occurred to Johan, and he asked.

"Have you ever controlled a troll?"

"...No?"

It was an infinitesimally small thing, but Johan sensed something off in the answer. He himself was an accomplished warrior — and, at the same time, a mage.