A Guest With Thousands of Blades
"Are you going to execute them?"
Partuti asked, his voice quivering with excitement. Even reuniting with one's first love couldn't have stirred that much anticipation.
Johan shook his head.
"I'll give them a fitting punishment and let them go."
If he'd wanted blood, he would have spilled it already. Wasn't that the whole reason he'd gone around the long way to get here? There was no sense in suddenly demanding blood at this stage.
Executing the council members wholesale would have been satisfying, sure — but the chaos afterward would have landed squarely on Johan's shoulders. Far better to show mercy and win their hearts instead.
"Yes, my lord..."
"Don't worry. Your seat on the council is guaranteed. You worked hard — you deserve your reward."
"Thank you!"
Partuti bowed with immaculate courtesy. Johan intended to elevate not just Partuti but the several others in the city who had shown loyalty, granting them greater authority within the council and seats as administrators.
He had won the people's support, yes — but support was only support. To turn it into power by force would require a delicate touch. And Johan knew exactly how to act in moments like these.
The council members had assumed that, given his youth, Johan was nothing more than an exceptional knight. That assumption was a mistake.
"You there! Drag that one lying on the ground over too!"
"Gahk — gahk... Wha — what? What is it? What's happening?"
Despite having been bitten by the sea-clawed dragon, Aricu had somehow survived. And he looked remarkably unscathed, at that.
Of course, that didn't mean he could talk his way out of this situation. Aricu was seized by both arms and dragged away. He didn't understand what was happening to him — not until his hands and feet were bound.
The prisoners were terrified out of their wits, but Johan didn't hang them. He had them marched around the square still bound, then let them off with nothing more than fines.
That meant enduring a downpour of jeers and filth from the citizens while it happened, of course. But then, they had nearly ruined the hunt and unleashed a monster into the city — it was only fitting.
"I'm sorry! It will never happen again!"
"Give us a chance to serve the city!"
'Boooo' — the jeers rang out and mud went flying. The wet splats it made were almost cheerful.
Johan watched with satisfaction. There was a special pleasure in watching people you disliked get exactly what they deserved.
"That's enough. They've reflected on their crimes, I'm sure. Have them pay their golden tribute to the city. That will be their forgiveness."
When Johan stepped in to mediate, the citizens sang his praises for his mercy. Johinana, caked head to toe in mud, was cursing him silently.
He could have stepped in at any time — anyone could see that. He had clearly waited on purpose, timing his intervention for maximum effect.
'You rotten bastard!'
Had he stopped things from the start, Johan would have gained nothing. But by holding back and intervening only after the fact, he'd earned the council members' and the decurions' gratitude, and the citizens' adoration. To any observer, he looked every inch the benevolent ruler.
When she'd first heard the rumors, she'd taken him for a devout, upright knight — but this? This was a schemer more cunning than a serpent. Watching him wave and smile, she felt a chill crawl up her spine.
"Thank you, thank you!"
One by one, the freed prisoners thanked the citizens — and thanked Johan for his mercy as well.
Even if inwardly they were thinking, you bastards, throwing filth at me — I'll never forgive this, now was hardly the time to say so.
Misbehave, and they'd be trussed up again and marched around a few more times. They had to kneel and play nice.
"Thank y—"
"Kill the mage! Kill the mage!"
"!?"
Johinana, who had stepped forward for her turn without thinking, nearly had a heart attack at the violent reaction. Come to think of it, she was the only outsider to the city here.
"W-wait a moment! I wasn't the only one who made a mistake..."
It wasn't her fault the dragon had appeared dead, was it? All those experts had agreed it was dead...
But the council members who'd been released before her were already wiping the filth off themselves with rags, pointedly pretending not to know her.
'Bastards, every one of them!'
"Will you just leave her to die?"
The vampires asked slyly, their expressions betraying exactly what they were hoping for.
"No. I intend to release her."
"Then shall we stop them?"
"No. Let's watch a little longer."
Watching the filth fly, Johan laughed openly and cheerfully. This world was short on entertainment; when something like this came along, you had to savor it properly.
"Agh! Ack!"
"Truly, you have all toiled without rest. Were it not for the contributions of everyone gathered here, how could we ever have brought down that wicked sea-clawed dragon?"
"Not at all, my lord. The hunt was entirely your achievement."
Sir Padobesi's words carried genuine sincerity beneath the courtly formality. In practice, Johan had indeed made the greatest contribution to the victory.
Frankly, even without the knights assembled here, Johan could have taken the sea-clawed dragon on his own.
"I see. Then I shall count it as my achievement."
"......"
"......"
Sir Padobesi and Sir Zirto found themselves at a loss for words. Without waiting for a reply, Johan moved straight on.
"It was with your help that I took the dragon, so I shall honor what I promised."
The knights' faces brightened. As it stood, they were being held hostage in Johan's custody — the city folk had handed them over, after all.
Ordinarily they would have had to pay a ransom to walk free, but they were poor knights without much coin to spare. From that position, Johan's promise to release them once the dragon was slain sounded almost too good to be true.
"By the way — where are you two from?"
"Pardon?"
"You didn't come from your own estates, did you? Do you hold land?"
"Ah. No, my lord."
Sir Padobesi shook his head. Had they held estates, they wouldn't have agonized over a ransom in the first place. They were landless knights in service of a court.
"We came from the court of Viscount Ginolene."
It was already known that they served the Emperor, so there was little point in hiding it. Viscount Ginolene was the viceroy and counselor who governed the southern peninsula holdings held by the Emperor in his stead.
But the Emperor had spent the better part of his life in the Empire, and considered himself an imperial man through and through. He had scarcely ever set foot on the peninsula.
Where there is no lion, the fox plays king in its stead — and Viscount Ginolene was no exception. He was a high noble of considerable authority in the region, and the knights felt no reluctance whatsoever about naming him as their master.
"I see. And what manner of man is this viscount?"
"His lordship is wise and rich in experience. He has governed the territory in His Majesty's stead for many long years."
Emperor Cardirian was old, but Viscount Ginolene was nearly as aged. He had ruled for that long, in other words. Long enough that even as a mere proxy, the serfs regarded him as their true lord.
Johan kept up a stream of questions, working hard to pry out information about Viscount Ginolene.
The republic had provided intelligence, but information was always better gathered from many sources. And what came from imperial-faction nobles had its own particular flavor...
"Though I must ask — why do you inquire about His Lordship? Do you perhaps intend to pay him a visit?"
Sir Padobesi said it half in jest. The fact that they could joke while held as hostages spoke to the respect and goodwill Johan had earned. Having witnessed a hunt like that, how could any knight help but feel something?
"I will. Once I've released you, I plan to visit."
"?!"
But the answer that came back was nothing they had anticipated. Sir Padobesi doubted his own ears.
"A v-visit... you mean it?"
"Of course. The viscount cares enough about me to send his own knights like this — staying quiet in return would be poor manners."
"No, my lord, he wasn't worried about you, it was more about the amity between the city and his house—"
"...It wasn't that either."
"All the same, I will visit."
"Ah... yes, my lord."
The knights couldn't begin to fathom what Johan was playing at. Nobles visiting one another and playing host was common enough, of course — it was custom, and an honorable duty besides.
But that applied only to houses on genuinely friendly terms, and Johan was in no position to be calling on the viscount's territory. Weren't they politically at one another's throats at this very moment?
'He's just going to ignore all that and visit anyway? For honor's sake?'
'However noble his reasons, this is too much... isn't it dangerous?'
He meant to walk into what was effectively enemy territory. Granted, the viscount wouldn't attack a guest who came under proper forms — but that didn't make it any less reckless.
However they turned it over, it looked like sheer folly.
"Then we shall carry word ahead of you."
"Do that, and I'll count on you. I'll be visiting the viscount's territory alongside you two, after all — I expect a proper escort."
"The honor will be ours."
Once the knights withdrew, Johan gave his orders to the mercenaries.
"Seize the servants the knights sent ahead and lock them up. And send men to Zhildrid Castle — assemble every mercenary we have."
"Yes, sir!"
The point of jailing the servants sent ahead was to keep the viscount from catching wind of what Johan was about and preparing for it.
Once he saw what was coming, the man would surely turn pale as a ghost and scramble to defend himself!
To be sure, Johan did intend to visit the Emperor's territory — as a guest. His retinue, however, differed slightly from what the knights had imagined.
Johan would arrive as a guest at the head of several thousand mercenaries.
'Only a madman walks into enemy ground alone on the strength of the host's good faith.'
"Hmm. I've been thinking it over."
"Do tell."
"Isn't this all for the sake of knightly honor?"
"You thought so too? As did I."
"...?"
Johinana, listening nearby, tilted her head. The knights' conversation simply didn't add up.
Something... something was off here.
"He said the Count is visiting as a guest?"
"That's right."
"Doesn't that strike you as strange?"
"That's what I was saying. It's about knightly honor."
"But that's—"
Just as she was about to press further, Johinana felt a prickle crawl up her skin. The servants and slaves attending them nearby were all studying her with pointed, deliberate glances.
The knights hadn't noticed a thing, but Johinana was exquisitely sensitive to exactly this sort of thing.
'Surveillance!'
They were watching the conversation on the Count's orders — it was beyond doubt. If she blundered clumsily here and put the Count in a foul mood...
What waited for her might be several times more vicious than being bound and pelted with filth. Johinana's face went white.
"...You're right. Of course that's what a knight must do."
"A mage speaking of knightly honor! Haha!"
"Now there's a marvel."
The knights burst out laughing at her words. It wasn't that they disliked her — in truth, Johinana had won their goodwill. They were knights serving the Emperor, so winning them over hadn't been difficult.
But goodwill didn't dissolve what they thought of mages. They liked her well enough — yet she was, at the end of the day, a mage. A creature far removed from the honorable.
'Lucky you, being such simple fools.'
Johinana heaved a deep sigh. She wanted nothing more than to be out of this city and standing on the peninsula's soil.
The scenery was beautiful, the food and wine were excellent — but it was exhausting beyond measure on the spirit.
She'd rather sit through the Emperor's drivel than this...
The moment her work was done, she'd flee to the imperial court without so much as a backward glance.
"Mage. His lordship summons you. Come out."
Johinana knocked over the cup she was holding. The oblivious knights only made it worse.
"Oh, Lady Johinana. I confess I'm envious. It stings a little, seeing His Lordship call for the mage before his knights."
"No doubt he wants counsel, or a divination. That's hardly something we could offer him, is it?"
Johinana caught herself mid-curse, swallowed it, and rose. She muttered under her breath.
"Damn it all..."
"What was that just now?"
"Nothing at all."
"It appears... they have been taken captive."
"......"
A pall of gloom hung over the viscount's court. If the intelligence arriving from the city was true, the knights they had sent out with such hopes were being held, beyond all doubt.
Of all the timing — arriving almost precisely when the Count descended upon the city.
"We must lodge a protest with the city! Let us seize the assets of their merchants trading within our territory and—"
"Enough. It would accomplish nothing."
Grabbing the merchants now would only invite retaliation, and any shrinkage of trade revenue would hurt the viscount as well. Raising a pointless commotion was out of the question.
"What are we to do, then?"
"What we can. Hire more mercenaries and extend the territory's patrols. The new Count is fond of lightning strikes — regret it after the blow lands, and it will be too late."
How Count Yeats had moved like a whirlwind across the south was already burned into their memories. It had been the kind of performance that left onlookers gaping.
"The standing mercenaries are demanding payment of their back wages, my lord..."
"Go to the temple and secure their cooperation."
The temples held a wealth of silver plate — a well one could draw from when money was urgently needed. The trouble was settling the account afterward...
'Nothing for it.'