The Baronet of Feram's Gambit
With the priests slumped unconscious across the horses, we made our way to the lord’s manor in Feram.
“What kind of person is the Lord of Feram?”
I had heard from Everett that he was quite resourceful. Still, the fact that he had let the temple in his own fief fall into this state of neglect suddenly made me question his character.
“He seems like the type who pursues practical gains. He’s one of the rare moderates in the West,” Everett said after a moment’s thought.
They didn’t appear to be personally acquainted, so there was no mention of his personality, but the assessment wasn’t entirely unfavorable.
“A moderate, though? That’s surprising.”
The Feram fief lay close to Count Harkan’s territory. Minor lords usually aligned themselves with the nearest major power.
Everett gave a crooked smile and added, “It’s only recently that he began calling himself a moderate. He still attends every gathering of the western nobles without fail.”
So he’s the type who makes sure he’s on the winning side.
Even now, he was keeping one foot in Count Harkan’s camp so he wouldn’t burn that bridge completely.
Then why would someone so cunning leave the temple to rot?
The temple’s presence in Feram didn’t automatically place it under the lord’s jurisdiction. In the West especially, the temple’s influence was so strong that lords often had to tiptoe around its priests. Turning a blind eye had simply become custom.
But when the corruption ran this deep, the equation changed.
The orphanage children are residents of Feram, too.
If a lord failed to protect his own people, he deserved to pay the price.
For now we were only here to borrow the underground prison and the messenger pigeons, but if the situation called for it, I had every intention of turning the entire Feram fief inside out.
One scandal or two, they’ll lump it together anyway.
With that resolve firmly in place, we reached the manor. The guards immediately blocked our path, eyes wary.
“State your purpose and your names.”
They clearly found us suspicious, yet they still observed the minimum courtesy in case we were invited guests.
“We’re from the imperial palace. May we see the lord?”
I held out the palace access pass. The guard’s eyes nearly bulged out of his head once he read the issuing department.
“I’ll deliver the message inside. Please wait here.”
His tone was far more polite than before. He bowed slightly and hurried off.
I watched his rapidly shrinking back and tilted my head.
They’re surprisingly disciplined.
For a backwater fief, the guards showed excellent order. Usually rotten superiors produced even more rotten subordinates.
Maybe the lord is actually decent?
As if on cue, the lord himself came striding toward us like he had been alerted.
I’ll judge for myself once I meet him.
“Guests from the imperial palace, you said? I am Gilleman Orso, Baronet and lord of this fief.”
He had a narrow chin that gave him a somewhat delicate look, yet he was still a handsome middle-aged man who must have been quite popular in his younger days.
“Carolina Diaz of the Inspectorate.”
Since I had already shown the palace pass, I used my real name.
“I see.”
He must have realized from my introduction that I was a low-ranking noble who held neither high title nor vast lands, yet Baronet Orso’s attitude remained largely unchanged.
“Please, come inside first.”
He ushered us in with the natural ease of a host greeting long-awaited visitors. And from that moment on, he remained perfectly cooperative.
He had the unconscious priests locked in the empty cells and immediately provided messenger pigeons bound for the imperial palace. I scribbled a short report, tied it to one of the birds’ legs, and sent it flying. Afterward, Everett, Baronet Orso, and I settled into the manor’s reception room.
“I never imagined you would come in person.”
Baronet Orso set teacups before us himself, his words laced with meaning.
Everett and I were supposed to be on a secret mission. Inspecting the temple had been pure coincidence.
“You knew we were coming?” Everett’s voice sharpened, clearly suspecting a leak.
“Ah, I should have mentioned it sooner.” Baronet Orso waved his hands in hasty denial. “I was the one who reported the corruption in the western temple.”
“Oh, so that was you!”
The moment he said it, the pieces clicked. It must have been those documents I reviewed during the tax-evasion case. The ones Nadan had handed me when I was restless from having nothing to do.
My reaction seemed to ease Everett’s suspicion. “So you used someone else’s hand to clean up the filth in your own backyard.”
His tone was still prickly.
“It was far too large a pile for my limited power to handle. The stench had grown unbearable,” Baronet Orso replied with a good-natured laugh. Yet his voice remained grave. “The temple in my fief falls under the parish overseen by Priest Harkan.”
Count Harkan’s worthless son had used his family’s wealth to secure himself a position in the temple. With that single sentence, Baronet Orso had explained exactly why he had been forced to call in the imperial Inspectorate.
Everett’s brows drew together. “You intend to cut ties with Count Harkan.”
“If you will have me.”
It seemed the baron had been planning this move from the moment he filed his report.
Everett smiled the way one might upon discovering an intriguing new toy. He looked thoroughly entertained by the baron’s audacity in daring to weigh him on a scale.
“I’ll give you a chance. Show me what you can do. I have no use for men who are all talk.”
The words were arrogant coming from a mere knight, yet they didn’t sound awkward at all.
“I will do my utmost.” Baronet Orso bowed deeply to Everett—perfectly respectful, like a loyal subject receiving an imperial command.
They’re both baronets, but since Everett’s title is single-generation, Baronet Orso technically outranks him. Is he trying to curry favor with the Emperor through Everett?
When the baron lifted his head again, however, he looked slightly dazed. Perhaps Everett’s aura had momentarily overwhelmed him.
Their eyes met in the air between them. The moment Everett saw the baron’s bewildered expression, he turned toward me—and flinched.
The heavy pressure that had filled the room vanished instantly.
“Ahem. There were children left alone in the orphanage,” Everett announced, shooting to his feet as if the thought had only just occurred to him. “We can’t leave them there. I’ll go bring them back.”
It was so unlike him to rush that both Baronet Orso and I stood up as well.
“There is an empty annex. The children may stay there,” the baron offered.
“Only until we find them a permanent place. Many of them are still very young—would it be possible to borrow a carriage?”
“Of course.”
As we discussed the details, the faint tension that had lingered between us finally dissolved.
We returned to the orphanage to collect the children.
“Uh, it’s that… that person from before…”
“It’s the sponsor, dummy.”
The children playing in the yard spotted us and called out in recognition. They had been laughing and running around without the slightest idea of what had happened in the building right next door.
“Hello.” I waved back with a smile, then spoke as gently as I could. “Could you please call Nancy, Robin, and the other children for me?”
No matter how young they were, I wanted to explain the situation properly so they could understand.
“Nancy and Robin!”
“And the others too?”
The children exchanged glances, then dashed back into the orphanage.
“Everyone, come ouuuuut!”
At the top of their lungs they shouted, and in less than a few minutes every child had gathered in the yard.
Twenty-one in total.
Aside from Nancy, they all looked around six or seven years old. Just to be sure no one had been left behind, I asked, “Are there exactly twenty-one children living in the orphanage?”
They only tilted their heads or looked around without answering. I wondered if, like Robin, none of them could count, but then Nancy stepped forward.
“There’s one more.”
As if they all knew exactly who she meant, the children shouted at once.
“That’s right!”
“Big sister!”
“There’s one more! Our big sister too!”
More than twenty children all calling for their “big sister” at the same time made my head throb.
“Children! Shh!” I put my index finger to my lips. They immediately copied me.
“Shh.”
Only then did the yard grow quiet. Hoping they would stay silent for just three more minutes, I turned to Robin.
“Robin, wasn’t the big sister you mentioned Nancy?”
Robin’s eyes rolled around in thought.
“Robin doesn’t have to shush right now.”
He lowered his finger from his lips and answered, “Nancy is Nancy, but…”
It seemed the children had a separate guardian after all.