The Strategist's Submission
The academy’s secluded noble lounge, tucked away in a quiet corner, was rarely visited. I had returned to classes after my shoulder recovered, though I had only been granted twenty-five days of recognized attendance. My status was truly at risk now.
"Thank you for your help."
"?"
"Ah. We haven't been formally introduced, have we? My name is Cleora Beatrix. With my father stepping down, I have succeeded to the marquisate. I have come to offer my gratitude to you, Young Duke Carix Valentia, for saving my house from crisis."
"Ah, um. Yes..."
What? My brain briefly short-circuited. After Leng, Bierson, and the Princess, she was the fourth person to bring my thoughts to a grinding halt. I had judged the "alley boss" young lady I’d encountered to be no fool. I didn't think her intelligence was so abysmal that she wouldn't realize I hadn't saved her family, but rather pressured, exploited, and cornered them.
"Seeing that expression, I can tell you're thinking, 'What on earth is this woman saying? Has she lost her mind?'"
"Hmm. A pleasure to meet you. I am Carix Valentia, Young Duke of the Valentia Duchy."
"Heh. You wear your expressions more openly than I anticipated. I suppose you're thinking of just exchanging pleasantries and wrapping this up, aren't you? Am I wrong?"
Well, well. Reading other people's thoughts was my specialty—was she trying to get the jump on me? I was so taken aback that a dry laugh escaped my lips.
"I came to offer my sincere gratitude. So, please, lower your hostility."
"Is there any reason for me to receive gratitude from a Marquis?"
"Yes. To a neutral Duchy like yours, my family and I were mere strangers. It wouldn't have mattered if you had let us be destroyed. But by giving us a chance until the very end, we were able to preserve the lineage of our house. My family and I have been completely defeated by the Duchy, but I judged it best to assure you that no lingering threats remain."
It was a calculation more precise than I’d expected. As expected of the alley boss who once ruled the East; her mind worked quite well.
"So, if I may be so bold, would you mind if I shared my assessment of your character, Young Duke, based on this experience?"
"Usually, if someone asks that, I tell them I already know and speak first, but this is the first time I've felt like hearing the proposal."
"Then I shall take that as permission. You are thorough and merciless toward your enemies, sparing no one. You have no moral calculations, and you show no restraint regarding the severity of their crimes. Above all, if you face an opponent who could pose a future threat, you trample them until not a single trace remains as long as they still draw breath."
"And while the Marquis family has lost its hegemony in the East and its power, we still draw breath, and we still have hands capable of wielding a dagger. I assumed you intended to erase us from this world and the noble registry the moment you saw any sign of foolish movement. That is how I saw you, Young Duke. How is that?"
"Leng. Bury your head."
"Yes, sir."
After punishing the knight of loyalty, conviction, and unbeaten records for spouting nonsense behind me, I covered my mouth and chuckled. What is this? She really has a sharp mind. Was she not just an alley boss, but a top-of-the-class prodigy?
"If I tell you that you're correct, will the next thing you say be a vow of submission? Or a declaration of revenge? Personally, I hope it's revenge. You're the first person I've felt might actually become a nuisance later if I don't crush them right now."
I was being sincere.
"To be the Young Duke's 'first person' is an undeserved honor. And unfortunately, it is a complete submission. I am prepared to take off my dress and crawl on the floor right here if you command it."
And the alley boss... no, the Marquis's daughter was sincere as well.
"Haa. That's a shame. Oh, of course, I'm a man, and since you're a charming person, I'd like to see you acting cute. But unfortunately, I am a gentleman who has been baptized by the Kingdom's Church, am I not? I cannot heap humiliation upon a woman who submits to me."
"A... gentleman?"
"Leng. One more word."
"......"
"Heh. Just the fact that you didn't say you don't want to see it because I lack charm as a woman is enough to be grateful for."
She looked elegant when she smiled, a woman truly attractive enough to stir one's reason. To be honest, the Princess's face was more to my taste. But I had never once thought I would meet someone with whom I could have such a rational conversation, and for many reasons, my heart was pounding.
"However, I cannot trust you easily. Words are cheap. I know you're sharper than I expected and that you lost easily because you didn't know what kind of person I was, but that's exactly why I want to keep you at a distance."
But that was that, and this was this. My reason told me to keep the Marchioness of Beatrix at arm's length. She was poison. A poison more dangerous and sticky than the Princess, who only stalked me to satisfy her own dopamine. She would be useful because she was smart, but she was a double-edged sword that would cut my hand if I showed even the slightest opening. Of course, it wouldn't be a fatal wound, but it would be 100 percent annoying. That was why my reason and calculations spoke:
"She's a hindrance to your revenge. Get rid of her."
"Heh. It seems you think lightly of my resolve in coming to submit before the Young Duke who trampled my family and me. Naturally, I don't offer a vow of loyalty with words alone. Nor do I intend to shove a contract or ledger that would have no meaning after killing the opponent."
"?"
The Marchioness smiled with her eyes, looking as if she found this amusing. So, I smashed the head of the calculator that had already reached a conclusion. What is this? Is there something I don't know? She pulled a scroll that looked like it would be warm from her rich pocket... why pull it out from there?
"It is a slave contract. It is, of course, mana-responsive. It is a treaty stating that I can never harm the master who imbues it with their mana. If you read the contents, you will see that even harboring such an intent will lead to my death..."
"Wait, wait. A slave contract? You are a noble, aren't you?"
"A noble must live to be a noble. As you said, I have a sharp mind, so if there is even a vague possibility, I would surely sharpen my blade. But when I recall the moment you offered me a proposal through the Princess at the end of this incident, my legs still go weak. Honestly... I never want to experience that again. Truly... I think of it now and I could cry."
I knew. I knew how much she was bluffing and trying to keep her composure in front of me. She was trying to appeal to her own usefulness while terrified that my mood would sour and ruin this meeting. I had known from the start that she was clenching her right hand, which she had tucked behind her back, so hard that her nails were digging into her palm.
"So... I beg of you. Own me, so that I cannot harbor foolish thoughts. If not, I fear I will not be able to live in peace."
"May I see the contract first?"
"Of course."
The contents of the contract were wretched. She had written down, in detail and as if to show me, things that abandoned her dignity not just as a woman, but as a human being. There was even a clause stating that if a life were conceived between us, she would perfectly obey an order to make it as if it never existed, which showed just how cornered she was. Her only final resistance was a single line: 'The owner of this document shall never destroy the Beatrix Marquis family.' And there were spots stained with moisture throughout the contract. She must have been in considerable pain while writing it.
'But. Seeing how her mind works, the possibility that even this is a ploy to garner sympathy crosses my mind.'
That was why I wanted this woman even more. Not in a romantic sense, but in a rational one. Leng was a good subordinate who followed my orders well, but frankly, he wasn't the type to have a great brain. Recently, he’d started doing three things when told to do one, but I still had to explain seven more things to him myself. But the Marchioness was someone who, if I told her one thing, would understand nine, and if I told her one more, would apply it to do eleven the next time.
Moreover, our family was only doing well in the West; in the capital, the East, or the South, we were treated as just one of many old noble families. But a former hegemon of the East, even if ruined? If that became my hands and feet...
"Hmm... I do want this."
"Ah! Then!!"
"But. Unfortunately, I cannot accept it."
"Eh?"
The Marchioness's pupils shook as if shocked by my answer, and tears began to well up. She began to ramble, "What do I do... if this happens... what other means do I have... where should I entrust myself... then as a slave to the royal family..." It seemed her mental state had truly crumbled into dust. Hmm. It's fun to tease Leng, but it's not fun when a smart person breaks down in an instant.
"I cannot use mana."
"......?"
"You said it was mana-responsive. But I cannot use mana yet. So I cannot accept this contract. Ah. I do want to erase the parts about abandoning human dignity that I, as a gentleman, cannot even speak of, so I'm glad it didn't work out immediately."
"Huh?"
The Marchioness, who began to tremble even more than before upon learning the truth, started to mutter as if she couldn't believe it, then suddenly snapped her head up.
"Th-then!!"
"Hmm?"
"How about I help you use mana as proof that I will become your loyal subordinate!"
"Oh?"
"I am a 5th-grade mage, even if I have fallen this far! And if I study for a few more years, I can break the wall of the 4th grade! I possess enough talent that even professors have recognized me as a talent that appears once every fifty years!! S-so, if I teach you mana resonance..."
"Then, of course, I'll sign immediately. Though I'll have to remove some parts."
"G-great! Then I will come to your quarters at this time tomorrow!"
"Ah. This time tomorrow won't work. I have class..."
"Then after class!!"
"Yes. I'll be waiting."
The Marchioness walked away, staggering after our promise. She was so flustered by my words that her arms and legs were moving in sync. Hmm. She's an interesting person. It seems I've acquired a toy... a card of a different caliber than Leng.
*****
Cleora was flustered. 'He can't use mana? What on earth does that mean?' The current Valentia family hadn't even been on her or the Marquis family's list of potential rivals. The current Duke of Valentia was a mediocre man who hadn't broken the 4th-grade wall despite being past his fiftieth year. And the late Young Duke, whom she had crossed paths with a few times in their third year, was at most a 7th-grade knight.
But in this incident, she had realized in just two meetings that the Princess was literally a puppet, and she knew Carix was no ordinary person.
'It's strange. Then... what on earth was that conversation?'
The dungeon subjugation. Not at all fortunately, the dungeon that had suddenly appeared in the Marquis's mine had gone berserk before a day had passed. Fortunately, most of the academy students had only sustained minor injuries. It was a miracle from the heavens that some had ended up with serious injuries that wouldn't leave them disabled.
'Clearly, those three had said it...!!'
And the 300 private soldiers he had sent were like a prepared monster subjugation unit. 300 soldiers who could handle the mana of monster subjugation and had experience in it, as if they had been gathered days in advance. It was said that even using the Marquis family's wealth, gathering that many people would take at least three days, yet the Young Duke had prepared them in advance.
- "Kyahhh! Y-Young Duke!! I will never forgive you!!!"
- "Augh, damn it!! You didn't say there would be something like this, Young Master...!?"
- "My wish is to really punch the Young Duke once. If there's a monster like this, he should come himself...!"
Finally, Count Leng Dust. And Royal Knight Jena Frix. When they were hunting the Night Wolf, they had clearly said that. It was as if they were saying that if the Young Duke had come instead of them, he could have caught it much more easily and quickly than the five of them, including the two 3rd-grade knights of our Marquis family and me, a mage. But he can't use mana? Does that make sense?
'He is... absolutely not a mage.'
Even mages must first study mana cultivation. They concentrate mana through cultivation, convert it into magical power, and then turn that into magic. That was why it was known that even at the same grade, mages bloomed larger on the battlefield than knights. If he were a mage, there was no reason she, a 5th-grade, wouldn't have sensed his magical power.
'What on earth... what happened? Could it be... was my choice wrong again?'
She had misinterpreted their words. That was the only conclusion she could reach. No matter how smart one is, if one doesn't have the martial strength to back it up, it's only a matter of time before one is weeded out of the Valkart Kingdom's noble society. Of course, the skill of the Duchy's knight order and the aide Leng Dust was worth noting. But for the Young Duke, who was the brain of the family, to be a mediocre man who couldn't even handle mana—it wasn't just a case of pearls before swine.
'What do I do... seriously, what do I do...'
The Marquis family had only avoided a fatal direct hit, but they were already reeling significantly. With her father's demotion, their standing in the East was shattered, and noble factions were banding together to turn their backs on their family and form new factions. Surely, before long, a strong faction would be formed by the hands of another influential noble. That was why she had approached him, prepared to crawl between the legs of the Young Duke—who was a powerhouse of the West and had crushed the Marquis family—and bark like a dog, even though he had nothing to do with the East. But for him to be a mediocre man who couldn't even handle mana!! This, this was truly too much!!!
'Father... what on earth should I do...'
Cleora Beatrix. Having become the current Marchioness as her predecessor was demoted and exiled to a corner of the territory, she was facing the greatest crisis of her life, one that never ceased.
- BAM!!!
- "Kugh━!!!"
The next day. In front of her, a giant man flew through the air, slammed into the ground, and began foaming at the mouth.
"Ah, right. You were supposed to come after class today. I was surprised someone was behind me, so I failed to control my strength. Leng. You didn't die, did you?"
"Y-Young... M-Master... save me..."
"I apologize. I've shown you an unsightly scene. Just a moment."
- Crack.
"Kuaaak!?"
"Stay still. If you move needlessly, your arm will be crippled. It's a dislocation, not a fracture, so if I set it properly, it won't become habitual. ...There. Huh? Hey, a knight fainting from this."
The greatest... crisis of her life? That Count Leng Dust, who hadn't even sustained a scratch against a Night Wolf, had charged at Young Duke Carix with his sword, only to have his right arm dislocated and faint. Crisis...? What crisis??
"Th-that... you said you... couldn't use mana...?"
"Yes. I can't."
"Ah, um...? Yes! I see! Young Duke. Then shall we start mana resonance practice right away~!"
"Yes. Let's clear him away and start immediately."
She thought, 'This... it's not just crawling between his legs, I could even happily climb into his bed if he called me.' A Young Duke who couldn't use mana but subdued a 4th-grade knight—nearly a 3rd-grade—with one hand? ...Even after antagonizing such a human, the Beatrix family had survived. No matter how she thought about it, it was clear that the heavens had not abandoned her. Cleora Beatrix. She saw the possibility of seizing an opportunity that would come only a few times in her life. She was not a fool who would miss a visible opportunity twice.