Soudouki Vol 2 Chapter 3 (Patreon)

Chapter 3 – Malicious Trap

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Part 1

Baldr had advanced to the second year together with his friends who  challenged the promotion exam together with him. Just the other day he  welcomed his thirteenth birthday.

He returned to Cornelius territory after so long to celebrate his  birthday. The party that was held there was grand. It was still fresh in  his memory how great nobles who never even attended until now were  coming to the party.

One of the ten great nobles, Marquis Randolph expressly came to a  countryside place like that. The effect from this was very big.

Cornelius House could not be called as an outcast anymore among the nobles, at least at the surface.

In the first place the house’s reputation was already high among the  military due to Ignis’s reputation as hero. Now that Cornelius House had  recovered their reputation among the capital nobles, it was possible  that they could join the group of the great nobles that were prominent  throughout the kingdom if they could just improve their financial  situation too.

Of course among the nobles who were sensitive to such atmosphere,  they were undoubtedly thinking of Baldr as an extremely attractive  prospect for political marriage offer.

In reality Maggot wouldn’t even lend an ear to such offer, but there  were already dozens of indirect marriage proposal coming to Cornelius  House.

(Come to think of it, that Teresa mentioned something didn’t she……)

His childhood friend Teresa who he met after so long had improved even more compared to the last time they fought.

Even so she lost against Baldr in the end. She looked really  frustrated by it that she hugged Seyruun for a while without letting go.

He felt guilty toward Seyruun who got groped all over her body.

(If I’m not mistaken she said that she will send me something interesting……)

Baldr arrived at the classroom while thinking of such whimsical matter. He called at Brooks and Silk who had already arrived.

「Good morning you two.」

「Good morning.」

「Good morning, Baldr.」

Lately Silk had drastically turned even prettier like a blooming flower bud. She smiled cheerfully at him.

Come to think of it, it seemed that she had a talk with Maggot at the  party the other day. It seemed that his mother was pleased with her for  some reason. Fortunately Silk herself didn’t seem like she hated the  attention.

「It seems there will be new first year student again. This year there are many new students coming huh.」

The quick-eared Brooks unveiled the information that he obtained just today.

Normally there would only be one transfer student at most per year.  In the first place receiving new student at the middle of the year like  this was extremely problematic to the order maintenance for a military  educational institution like the knight academy.

It wasn’t something that would be allowed unless the transfer student displayed exceptional capability.

That meant, there was no doubt the new student was an owner of considerable strength.

(I wonder why……I have a bad premonition.)

This was different from the grave sense of danger to his life like  when Maggot came. It was a strange feeling, like he was going to get  dragged into something troublesome.

And then that premonition became reality in less than a few hours later.

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「Cadet Baldr──sorry but, come with me right away.」

After Baldr had finished his horse-riding practice and returned from  the stable, the instructor Lombard was waiting for him at the corridor  with folded arms.

Lombard had a candid personality and usually he was mild-mannered and  gentlemanly, but it was rare for him to make a sour expression like  now.

「Instructor, did something happen?」

Even if there was actually some kind of problem, Baldr couldn’t think of anything that would need his help to solve.

Even if that was actually the case, Lombard wasn’t someone who would  consider borrowing his student’s strength to solve something that should  be the adult’s responsibility.

「It’s about the new students who came today. They suddenly asked to  be allowed to receive promotional exam. Originally there is no way this  kind of stupid demand would be accepted, but we also can’t refuse  because of an extraordinary circumstance. It’s fine even if you beat up  this new student, just make them know their place.」

「L-looks like it’ll be better if I don’t pry too much about the circumstance at work here……I understand.」

The new student was someone who Lombard had to obey even though it  made him this furious. It must be someone with really high status.

Even so there was a line that mustn’t be crossed in the knight academy because it was a military institution.

Even if this new student could make his demand to receive the exam be  heard, he couldn’t change the content of the exam that was completely  testing one’s strength. Even the king wasn’t allowed to interfere. That  was the unwritten law.

Even if Baldr whipped the ass of the cocky spoiled brat, there shouldn’t be anyone who could criticize him for that.

Well, depending on the situation there was also the possibility of  assassin sent after him behind the scene, but there wasn’t any worry  about that when it came to Baldr.

After all there was no assassin organization that would dare to turn Silver Light Maggot into enemy.

「Instructor Lombard! Can I come along too?」

「Me too! I won’t get in the way, so please allow me to come too!!」

Brooks and Silk were also competing to be allowed to come.

「Don’t worry, I was also going to ask you two to come too.」

(Now then, I wonder what kind of young master came here──I can’t wait.)

Baldr thought that if possible he wanted the new student to be someone strong.

He didn’t have any interest toward spoiled brat that was just a mere showoff.

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「──Heya, isn’t this Baldr? I came just as promised.」

「Wait, so it’s you Teresa!!」

His beautiful childhood friend was there. Her stunning red hair was cut evenly around her shoulders.

Or rather, what did she mean by as promised!?

「So what you meant by “interesting thing” before this is you yourself huh!」

「You’re surprised right?」

「I’m surprised by your train of thought!」

He was tired from making too many retorts!

「So the new student……is Teresa-san?」

「Ooo! Miss Silk, we haven’t met since the party. You’re beautiful like always!」

(She is still the same like usual. Didn’t you say that you’re devoted  to Silk or something at the party? Well, Seyruun will be happy instead  if her interest moves to Silk though……)

「……Then instructor, I just need to take on this stupid girlTeresa?」

Lombard was staring at the comedic act with an astonished gaze. He  returned to his senses when Baldr asked him and coughed once before he  shook his head with a bitter expression.

「I didn’t know that you’re acquainted with Miss Bradford, but I’ll  leave it to Brooks or Silk to be her opponent. The one I want Baldr to  face is the other new student.」

When Baldr looked at where Lombard was staring, he found a young man  laughing while holding his stomach. He was desperately stifling his  laughing voice and his shoulders were shaking from his chuckle.

This was Baldr’s first time meeting this person, but he immediately guessed who this person was.

Bright honey blond hair and reddish brown eyes. Tall body that looked  highly trained. His handsome face that he inherited from his father and  his natural inborn charisma.

He heard Silk’s gasp behind him. She must have met this person  several times due to her background as the daughter of a great noble.

Many people anticipated this person’s future due to his excellent  wisdom and courage, but Baldr also remembered the rumor that said how  this person was mischievous and liked to play pranks.

He liked to act eccentrically perhaps because of his relaxed attitude  as the youngest child or perhaps because of being too talented even  compared to his brothers. It was also said that this person once even  slipped out of the palace and played together with commoner in the mud  without caring of his status.

Now Baldr could see why the academy also found it difficult to refuse his demand.

「It’s a honor to be able to meet your highness. My name is Baldr  Cornelius, the son of Ignis Cornelius. It’s truly a great joy to be  appointed as your highness’s opponent in this exam──」

Baldr paused for a moment to take a breath and his lips twisted wickedly.

「Aren’t you being too capricious doing this, Prince William(ウィリアム)?」

「……I’m amazed you noticed even though this is our first time meeting each other.」

「It’s because I spent effort to gather information due to my position.」

Baldr’s manner of speaking could be considered arrogant, but William only smiled with curiosity.

「Ane-uebig sister and Haha-uemother became so beautiful I almost couldn’t recognize them. It made me wanted to meet you someday.」

「What is your highness talking about? That is the product of Savaran Company and Dowding Company.」

「It was you who thought up the product, isn’t that right?」

Although Baldr had stopped holding back recently, he should be still  relatively unknown. But as expected from the palace, they were aware of  the information about this matter.

Baldr strengthened his wariness toward the prince without showing it at all at the outside.

「I don’t know about the other nobles, but it’ll be better if you  don’t think that you can hide anything from the country you know? After  all I heard about this directly from Chichi-uefather. The famous gold works and confectionary at the market are also your work aren’t they?」

「How can that be? The best that the likes of me could do was only giving just a little advise to them.」

「Well, I’ll believe you for now.」

It seemed the information had already reached the king’s ear too.  King Welkin was a really capable ruler, but he also had bad personality  at the same time. The rumor about this was spreading not only within the  country but also at other countries.

It would be best if Baldr didn’t get dragged into any troublesome matter.

「It seems that if you feel like it, you can be appointed as a financial secretary instead of being a knight you know?」

「It’s an honor to hear that, but I will succeed after my father in the future.」

「If it’s about Ignis then he will still be able to continue working for fifty more years.」

Fifty years would be impossible even for that muscle brain no matter what.

No, he was just a muscle brain anyway, so he would just need to sit  and looking pretty while leaving all the works to his  subordinates……perhaps?

Baldr was thinking something rude that would make Ignis cry if he  heard it while shaking his head. Because he didn’t think that working in  the palace would suit him at all.

「Your highness isn’t coming here just for saying that aren’t you?」

「It’s true that I found it fun to play mischief, but I won’t do  anything unreasonable just to play around based on my whim. It’s only  natural for someone to demand for an environment that correspond to  their capability isn’t it?」

Was it the arrogance of someone who was born and raised as a royalty?

At the very least it looked like he had the caliber to accept being  evaluated based on his capability, but this world wasn’t so simple that  one’s position within the organization would be decided just based on  their armed might.

「Then in accordance of the tradition, I shall teach your highness your place as your senior.」

Although there were exceptions like Baldr and his friends, originally  the meaning of the mock battle was to show the first year students that  the second year students were a high wall to surpass that served as  example to follow.

Naturally that meaning hadn’t changed even after Baldr became a second year student.

Baldr’s words could be considered insolent with his status, but William accepted it with a belligerent smile.

「……Then let’s see what you got, senior.」

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William was born as the fourth son in Mauricia royal family.

He also had three elder sisters. He was the youngest son of seven  siblings. The third son had died young when he was little, so in reality  William was the third son.

The eldest son Richard(リチャード), 21 years old was appointed as the  crown prince without any problem. It had also come to light the other  day that his wife was pregnant. Because of that there was a possibility  for William and the second son Edward(エドワード) to be finally freed from  being their eldest brother’s spare.

There was no guarantee that their eldest brother’s child would be a  male, but if that happened, then Richard’s son would have higher right  for inheriting the throne.

In such case, the two’s choices would be to start a new duke house,  or got accepted as a son-in-law into the house of a great noble that  didn’t have any heir, or to search for a place of employment for  themselves.

Their father King Welkin was famous as a miser. The possibility of  him giving money annually to support a duke house that was a duke only  in name was zero. And yet they didn’t want to marry into other noble  house where they would have to live in shame.

In any case they would have to stop being a member of the royal  family, so William was holding hope that he could be successful in life  by relying on his martial art that he was good at.

Even so someone like William who was searching for an employment by  his own initiative was a special case. Normally someone in his position  would search for a nice noble house that they could marry into.

His elder brother Edward was already unofficially offered to be  adopted by Duke Edinburgh(エジンバラ) who was one of the ten great nobles.

For some reason William who was an oddball among the royal family was extremely doted on by his two elder sisters.

Perhaps his mischievousness was stimulating their maternal instinct,  or perhaps William was a natural lady-killer, either way he had the  tendency to attract woman’s interest without being aware of it himself.

Masaharu would undoubtedly yell 『Normie explode!』 if he was aware of it.

If the person himself wanted it, he would be able to attract a lot of  offer for adoption, but William had no intention for that right now. It  could be said that he had that much confidence on himself.

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William took a stance with his spear and waited calmly for Baldr to make his move.

Even though his opponent should be younger than him, he could feel a presence like he was facing an instructor.

William didn’t have anyone of the same generation who he could  consider as a rival. He wondered how far his martial art that made even  the instructor at the palace to ooh and aah in admiration could take  him. He couldn’t suppress the throbbing in his heart from this pure  excitement.

「Here I come.」

「Feel free anytime.」

William rushed forward with a force that could even blow away a tiger lightly and swung his spear.

It wasn’t just his body strengthening, it was also magnificent how he  used his whole body like a spring and how he used the force from  twisting his waist.

Baldr partially strengthened his arm and parried the spear without delay while revising his perception toward William.

At the very least this man wasn’t someone who was full of pride just because he was a royalty.

Lombard expressly called Baldr here because there wasn’t anyone among  the second year students who could become a decent opponent for  William.

Though it would be a different matter if the opponent was someone  like Brooks who could become really good or really bad depending on his  mood.

「I never even dreamed that I wouldn’t be able to force you even a step back though.」

William shrugged with a grimace because his pride was wounded.

He even used body strengthening. That attack just now should send the  opponent flying if it hit directly even if they were using a shield.

That attack was parried easily by Baldr without even taking a single  step. As expected even William couldn’t stay composed seeing that.

Even the palace instructor who was still a knight in active duty wasn’t able to block his attack like this.

「──I have fought opponent who could kill me instantly without me being able to do anything if I was careless after all.」

For some reason Brooks and Silk were nodding in agreement with serious expression.

「This world is really big huh.」

Only William who didn’t understand the circumstance tilted his head  in confusion, but for the time being he just thought of it as Baldr  having a strict teacher.

「Your highness possess wonderful speed and strength. Your control of  body strengthening is also really something. But you’re still relying on  body strengthening too much. You’re also lacking experience.」

This was the first time William got criticized like this in his life.  He instinctually understood that Baldr’s words were correct. However he  replied with an irritated tone without even hiding his bad mood.

「It looks like you really understand a lot about me huh, senior.」

「To understand is also a form of strength. You better remember that junior.」

The true worth of martial art from instinct and experience that were  imprinted into the body possessed the strength that could easily  overwhelm the difference in physical ability. William had never been  made to experience a martial art that had such depth.

Baldr quickly made a small thrust with minimum movement. William deflected it without difficulty.

「What? Is this the best──」

William couldn’t finish his words.

It was because he had to focus in order to handle the rapid consecutive attacks that came from Baldr.

It wasn’t that difficult to defend the attack individually, but the  number was too many that he had no leeway to switch into offense.

In addition the attacks came from different angel toward his stomach,  chest, and head. While he was blocking them, his balance was crumbling  without him noticing and it was starting to get difficult to even block  the attacks.

He had to do something here, but he didn’t have the skill or  experience to break the deadlock. His uneasiness was making William’s  defense to be more rigid.

「Your grip is weak.」

Baldr feigned a thrust while actually swinging his spear lightly.  With just that William’s spear flew to the air with a loud clang.

「There isn’t just a single technique. You have to constantly predict  three steps ahead while forming your defense. If you don’t, you will  fall into the enemy’s trap like this in the end.」

William was cornered too easily──he was made to move following  Baldr’s expectation from beginning to end. When he realized that,  William could only stand in a daze.

He didn’t have any memory of getting criticized like this even by a knight who was in the top ten of the knight order.

He was highly praised that he was a talent who only appeared once  every ten years. He believed that even though he couldn’t win against an  active duty knight, he was at least strong enough to give them a hard  time.

Could it be all this time I was just getting high by all the praises even though they were merely flattering me…….

「Let me tell your highness this so you don’t misunderstand, your  highness isn’t weak by any means. But if I’m allowed to be frank, you  have been neglecting your basic and your balance is also bad. If your  highness just trains those things, you can still become far better.」

「……I’ll believe you if you say that. It’s frustrating but, how did you become that strong?」

「I had to grow strong in order to survive.」

Brooks and Silk nodded in agreement once more. William smiled wryly in spite of himself.

「Is it really that hard to live in Cornelius?」

「……Please don’t ask.」

And then, seeing Baldr whose shoulders slumped even more than him  even though he was the loser, he felt his frustration from losing  clearing up.

William finally recognized his own inexperience. He surrendered himself to the impulse to laugh that welled up inside himself.

This might be his first time laughing from the bottom of his stomach like this.

「Match over! Baldr Cornelius win!」

William courteously bowed at Lombard’s proclamation.

「I shall recognize my defeat graciously today, senior.」

「There is no need to feel shame of your defeat. If you have the  courage to live walking forward, then you can hold up your head high,  junior.」

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Part 2

King Welkin received a report from the subordinate that he sent to  the knight academy. He looked toward his long time friend──the prime  minister Harold and smiled in a real delight.

「Hou……so there is a man who can take the rein of that William.」

「Yes. And it seems to be that aforementioned young man.」

「There is no way his capability is because of that muscle brainIgnis’s blood. But……I also don’t think he inherited it from his mother.」

If Ignis heard this cold word of his king then he would grieve tearfully.

It seemed he was known as a muscle brain even in the palace.

「What a frightening child. I thought for sure that they will be  hostile to each other, and yet he easily won him over. We’re talking  about that Prince William here.」

「Can you please not talk about my son like a difficult loner?」

「Is your majesty saying that even knowing of how many people are beyond recovery because of his highness?」

「──I’m really sorry.」

No matter the world, any parent would think of their youngest child to be the cutest despite how wild they were.

Welkin was reputed to be a miser with bad personality, but he was the same like any other parent in such respect.

「We should rejoice that Prince William has calmed down for the  moment. If his wisdom and courage are tempered in the knight academy, it  will be beneficial for the royal family whether we entrust him with a  knight order or putting him up for adoption in the future.」

「It’s just as you say. I want to poach Ignis’s son too while we’re at it though.」

「I believe that will be difficult for now.」

Harold spoke curtly at Welkin who looked like he was going to make another sinister design once again.

His skill as king was highly evaluated both inside and outside the  country, but he had a slight tendency of using any means available to  him, and he also often underestimated the practical difficulty of a  matter.

It was the prime minister Harold who got many hardships forced on him  in order to soften the impact of Welkin’s schemes. Perhaps the phrase  of wifely role existed solely for him.

At the Antrim War twelve years ago──it was also called with other  names like appendix war──the territory of Viscount Antrim was located at  northeast of Cornelius territory. That territory had a long and narrow  shape that was protruding into Haurelia Kingdom’s territory. The border  patrols of both countries accidentally clashed at the boundary line and  the incident caused a chain reaction that brought clashes in every  quarter.

Antrim territory was called as “Mauricia’s appendix” because of its  shape. The lord of the land and his whole family were annihilated at the  war. Presently that territory was put under the direct control of the  royal family.

At that time it hadn’t even been six months since Harold became the  prime minister. He failed both in admonishing Welkin who was too eager  for his first battle against other country and also in winning over the  conservative nobles.

As the result, the peace negotiation didn’t went well, he also  couldn’t stop the military from running wild, and the kingdom was only  barely saved due to Ignis’s victory that was practically like a miracle.

At that time a knight order was reorganized at the royal capital to  be sent as reinforcement, but even after they scraped up everything  available, the troops gathered didn’t even reach 70% of Haurelia’s  invading army.

If they headed to the decisive battle in such state, Mauricia might really fell into their destruction there.

So that they would never taste such despair for the second time,  Harold strictly imposed the principle of being a realism to himself so  that he could act as the balance to the king.

After that he displayed his skill in Mauricia Kingdom’s  revitalization and built a firm position in the palace as an aide as  well as the watcher of the king whose existence was absolutely  necessary.

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「Setting aside the military, the dissatisfaction of the feudal lords  at the border will soon enter a dangerous territory. We have ignored  this problem all this time in order to focus on the revitalization of  the economy within the country, but I believe we have to change the  policy of the ministry of finance soon.」

「──I see. Good timing, I’m also getting tired of their war phobia.」

After the devastation of the country’s territory and the reduction of  the population as the result of the war, rebuilding the economy was the  priority problem for Welkin and Harold. They judged that prioritizing  this problem would enable them to accumulate better military strength in  the long-term.

Fortunately their economic policy like reducing the tax rate and  maintaining the infrastructure demonstrated great result and Mauricia  Kingdom obtained a prosperity that surpassed the past in these several  years.

However the ministry of finance showed a fierce resistance when the  two wanted to distribute that excess money for military expense.

The ministry of finance feared that the expansion of military would  cause the military to run wild once again. They brought great nobles  whose interest would be threatened by the strengthening of military to  their side and stubbornly refused to increase the military budget.

They possessed great power with the budget they controlled. Even with  the king’s tyrannical authority and the prime minister’s strength, it  wasn’t easy to eliminate their opposition.

What would happen if they were being stingy in guarding the lamb that  kept getting fatter──it was foolish to expect any kindness from the  wolf, even a child understood this reasoning. However, it seemed that  even such reality became impossible to accept when money got involved.

Even so war was also definitely a nightmare for the ministry of finance too.

It would be a different matter if it was a war to destroy a waek  opponent and occupied their land to become the country’s colony, a war  between two equal countries would become a war of attrition. Such war  would only consume manpower and resources without producing anything or  bringing any profit. Not only that, the precious budget that they  managed would also get pressured while the military budget would keep  swelling up.

That was what happened at the Antrim War.

Human who was involved in financial affair tended to measure  everything with money. They didn’t even think that doing such thing  would lead to act that was no different from selling out one’s own  country.

For example if there was a conflict that fought over a deserted and  infertile territory, if by giving away such desolated place they could  avoid losing any budget and manpower, then it would be better to just  give away that territory. That was the way of thinking of such people.

However an infertile wasteland could easily be turned into a military  base, or perhaps there could be underground resource existing there, or  perhaps there was a geographical advantage that made it easier for  troops to pass such place in order to guarantee the people’s safety. But  the people in ministry of finance would deliberately ignored such  intangible factors and prioritized securing their own interests.

Bureaucrats that had became rotten like this was nothing more than a  snake in one’s bosom that was devouring the country from within.

Welkin let out a long sigh.

「Those fellows at finance aren’t happy with the prosperity of Cornelius.」

Development at the country side that happened without their involvement might shake the base of their profit structure.

The budget assignment of a central government was holding the life  and death of the provincial areas. Such centralized government system  was exactly the source of their authority.

A provincial area that was financially independent was nothing but business rival for them.

For example, there was already bureaucrat that was insisting the  sugar production method at Cornelius territory had to be publicized for  the sake of the national industry.

Welkin crushed this effort, but Savaran Company that had obtained a  new market through Dowding Company was expanding their product  distribution until other country too. There was no way those guys could  just watch this quietly.

They would surely try to sabotage by mobilizing the nobles who were their ally.

In the first place Ignis’s influence wasn’t as weak like in the  rumors that were making fun of him. Rather if Ignis felt like it, he had  a strong influence that he could use to agitate the military and  launched a coup.

A man who you could entrust your back to in the battlefield was even  more precious than any gems. Those bureaucratic bunches who had no  experience in real battle didn’t know that. Anyone who ever fought with  Ignis would naturally realize his worth and wished to form a friendly  relationship with him.

With everything said and done, a head-on clash between the ministry  of finance and the feudal lords of the borders would only be a disaster  for Mauricia Kingdom. Welkin and Harold’s thinking was in agreement  regarding this.

「──Let’s increase our surveillance on them.」

「Pay attention to that bratBaldr and his friends too. My instinct is telling me he will someday become our trump card.」

「By your will.」

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Part 3

「Yaa, Seyruun! You’re also lovely in that maid uniform!」

「Eeeeee! Why is Teresa-sama here……!?」

Silk and Teresa had a match after Baldr and William’s match. They were evenly matched against each other.

Although Silk won at the end, there were a lot of times where she almost became the loser throughout the fight.

If she hadn’t trained together with Baldr, it would be Teresa who  won. When she thought of that, Silk couldn’t be honestly happy of her  victory.

She thought that Teresa would be dejected because of her defeat, and yet she hugged Silk instead and praised her strength.

「What magnificent skill. Please allow me to receive your personal teaching by any means, Onee-sama!」

「──Onee-sama?」

A shiver running through Silk’s back and she felt a danger to her body. She hurriedly hid behind Baldr’s back.

「Fufufu……what a shy person you are, Onee-sama. I have even more fun to look forward tomorrow.」

「I don’t have that kind of interest, so please look for someone else-!」

「It’s troubling if you’re misunderstanding me. I simply love pretty girl!」

Teresa’s sexual disposition hadn’t changed. Baldr smiled wryly with a troubled expression.

「No no, she isn’t misunderstanding anything at all……」

He had been acquainted for long with Theresa, but, when did she became girl lover like this again?

He tried tracing back his memory, but he couldn’t find the answer. At  the very least he believed that she was already like this when the  three of them including Seyruun were playing together.

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Teresa headed to the cafeteria after the matches were finished. She  got reunited with Seyruun there and exchanged a passionate embrace with  her.

(Please save me! Young master Baldr!)

(Sorry, that’s impossible.)

Teresa got unusually high-tensioned and played with Seyruun’s body from above her maid uniform.

And then she felt the sensation of Seyruun’s chest that had been  growing remarkably lately. She grinned and suddenly her hand reached  toward that chest.

「You have become bigger again. The shape is nice and there is also  nothing to criticize about the softness! It’s magnificent Seyruun!」

「Yahn! Where are you touching……hyaahn!」

The soft and alluring lump of flesh changed shape bouncily within Teresa’s hand.

Seyruun was writhing with a sweet voice that sounded breathy. This sight was too stimulating to the healthy youths around them.

「Bufuーーーーーー!」

Brooks whose gaze was nailed at Seyruun’s chest with intense  concentration got blood spurting from his nose and he fell with the back  of his head hitting the floor.

Inside the cafeteria, male students other than Brooks who were  sinking into a sea of blood with expression of ecstasy were appearing  one after another.

Even Baldr who had been raised together with Seyruun like brother and  sister had never seen this sexy side of her.  He couldn’t hold back the  increase of blood flow to his lower body.

「……Impure.」

「Eeh? I’m the one who got blamed here?」

Silk was glaring at Baldr as though she was staring at raw garbage. Baldr shed tears by the unreasonableness.

「The sensitive Seyruun is also lovely.」

「I’m begging you please let go of me alreadyyyyy!」

Seyruun’s sorrowful scream echoed through the cafeteria that was turning into chaos.

.

Part 4

「Good grief, his majesty too is also impossible. Even though there  isn’t any need to worry about the right of those upstarts and savages……」

「If Dowding Company keep growing like this, we might lose the fair and competitive market!」

These people who were speaking their dissatisfaction were the  bureaucrats of ministry of finance and the nobles who were partaking in  their leftovers.

It would become difficult for them to sell favor if Dowding Company  kept growing bigger alone. Their chance to demand bribe would also  decrease.

Director Clan that acted as the mediator between Dowding Company and  the finance of ministry had also died in accident. Now Dowding Company  was gradually getting farther away from under their thumb. If the  company kept growing like this, it was possibly the company would become  an international company that didn’t need any help from the finance of  ministry. The situation would become out of their control then.

「The foundation of the kingdom might be shaken if the hicks at the  countryside grow stronger. We have to correct their path as soon as  possible.」

Just like the ministry of finance, the present situation also wasn’t  good for the great nobles who were acting as the mediator for the border  feudal lords until now.

The border feudal lords were fundamentally poor. Among them there  were also wealthy nobles who possessed fertile land, but most of them  were burdened with the cost to maintain their troops. On top of that  they were hindered if they wished to do business at the royal capital  which was an area with big expenditure.

If they wanted to sell their product there with good price, they  absolutely needed the mediation of a great noble and a connection with a  company in the capital.

In addition they would also need help if their second or third son  wished to move away from the inconvenient countryside to search for job  at the royal capital. Acting as mediator for these matters solidified  the influence of the great nobles.

If the business conditions of the countryside were invigorated and  local production could satisfy the local consumption, these great nobles  who had sucked up enormous profit until now using their conventional  authority would be ruined.

After all these people didn’t have the intention to live a modest life that corresponded to their base income from the start.

「Should we create a law that forbid Dowding Company’s monopoly?」

「However the products that Dowding Company handle are too many. We  might get caught up in the effect if we carelessly forbid monopoly you  know?」

No matter what it was impossible to impose tax only on Dowding Company’s products.

However for example if they really forbid the monopoly of sugar, it  was possible they might get pressured to liberate the market from other  forms of monopoly too. It would be putting the cart before the horse if  their interests got harmed as the result.

「We can also give loans with low interest rate though……」

「This problem isn’t something that can be resolved just by throwing  money into it. To put it simply, the problem is that their products  cannot be imitated.」

「That hair treatment is bad news. Many nobles have to be considerate to Dowding Company because of that product after all.」

It was self-evident how the position of the seller became really strong with how limited the hair treatment’s availability was.

The relation between demand and supply in this world was also no different from earth.

By making the wives of high class nobles unable to live without this  product, Dowding Company’s position was strengthened to an incomparable  degree compared to before.

Knowing that made the men in this discussion to look bitter.

「As I thought……the standard practice is to tear them down starting from their weak point.」

The enemy was too powerful to be faced head-on.

Right now Dowding Company even had the backing of Marquis Randolph.  If they tried to take the company down using a straightforward method,  they might get counterattacked and wounded if they were unlucky.

「What do you mean by weak point?」

「There is this tiny company working together with Dowding Company  right? Furthermore its president is just a little girl. It’s  convenient.」

They didn’t know the circumstance, but it was clear that Savaran  Company was in possession of some kind of information that allowed them  to be an equal partner with Dowding Company instead of being a mere  subordinate organization.

There were many methods that could be taken to simply cajole a single  girl──the men were having such thinking. There was no need to say that  the same end like Clan who was attempting the same thing was waiting for  them.

.

Part 5

「What is young master doing this time?」

「I’m thinking of a way that might be able to lighten Sey-nee’s workload.」

Baldr said that while fiddling with an ornament that looked like a  bronze hanging bell. He asked the craftsman who was in charge of  manufacturing gold plated works, Gothe to make this.

The water capital Cameron was a region where water would well up in  most places if someone just dug for several meter. It was common for  people to draw up the water by solely using manpower.

For female and children, pulling up heavy well bucket filled with water was a hard work.

Since Seyruun was working in the knight academy, she was pressed with  the need to draw water from the well since early in the morning. It was  a work that wasn’t assigned to her in Cornelius.

Baldr only noticed that fact a few days ago. It was really negligent of him.

Teresa who was sexually harassing Seyruun like usual noticed Seyruun’s palm that was blistering red.

Her hands that were white and graceful like white fish when she was  at Cornelius had been completely changed into this tragic state due to  the manual labor and kitchen work that she weren’t used to.

「Please don’t mind it……this is my work after all.」

This was a work that manservant or other maid would do when they were in the Cornelius mansion.

This kind of work wasn’t assigned to her because she was Baldr’s  exclusive maid, but here Seyruun naturally accepted this work because it  was within the responsibility of maid’s work.

But it was a completely different matter whether Baldr could accept it or not.

『Don’t look down on modern knowledge.』

There Baldr──or rather Masaharu prepared the hand pump that could rarely be seen sometimes at Japan’s village even now.

Hand pump wasn’t that structurally complicated.

This pump was using the principle of pumping up water by atmosphere  pressure. By moving the handle up and down, the inside of the pump would  be nearly in vacuum and water would rush up to fill the vacuum.

With this Seyruun would just need to move the handle up and down. She  wouldn’t need to work hard pulling up a heavy bucket with straw rope  anymore.

Furthermore Baldr also didn’t forget to prepare a wheelbarrow in order to transport the heavy water on ground.

Wheelbarrow was used even at modern Japan for building  construction──the history of this tool that was also popularly called  Neko in Japan was surprisingly short. It was improved to its current  shape and mass produced starting from the modern times.

The fact that it was still valued highly even at the present time  spoke how extremely convenient and suitable it was for carrying heavy  things.

.

Part 6

「Is this magic?」

William whispered in astonishment when he saw water spurting out rapidly from the faucet.

Water was something indispensable for human’s life, and yet it was  relatively heavy and transporting it was said to be the heaviest work  for low ranked servants.

William also knew that there were servants who spent their whole  morning carrying water and became totally exhausted at the end of it.

Even so Mauricia Kingdom was still fortunate with how each household  had their own well. In a country with meager water resources, many  villages only had a single well and transporting the water was a  constant source of problem.

「It’s just the mechanism of the tool so anyone can use it.」

「……I thought you would say that.」

(Does Baldr really understand the crux of the problem?)

Even William who was still nothing more than a young man realized that it was possible for this invention to change the world.

Until now the only way to transport a large amount of water was by  using human wave tactic. But this pump and wheelbarrow would liberate a  lot of people from their daily heavy labor. It would give them the  leeway to do other work.

In other words it would increase the available number of work force and the time they could work.

For the royal capital Cameron with its newly expanding production  demand, the enlargement of work force would undoubtedly bring a  desirable result.

Of course, it wasn’t difficult to imagine what kind of impression the  commoners would have after they were liberated from this heavy labor.

William who received education as a member of royal family understood such thing like the back of his own hand.

This wasn’t something that he could just ignore.

「Is it difficult to create this tool?」

「Its structure itself is simple……I think it’s possible to mass produce it right away.」

Baldr too naturally understood what William was thinking and what kind of conclusion he had reached.

He had neglected this idea until now simply because it didn’t feel  like that it would make that much money, but anyone who stood in the  position to see the larger picture politically and economically would  desire these tools desperately.

There was no concept of patent in this world, but if it was possible  to charge patent usage fee for these things, then they might become  strategic products at national level.

In fact if it was the shrew King Welkin, he would surely this as negotiation card before the information was leaking out.

In other words, Baldr was making use of William who was a royalty to  use this as a chance to sell a favor toward the royal family. Though of  course, his biggest reason was to lighten Seyruun’s workload.

「I’ll talk about this to Chichi-ue. In the meantime you make them as many as you can.」

At present, the power relationship between the royal family and the nobles in Mauricia Kingdom was in a delicate position.

After the war, there were the newly emerging house, the old noble  house, and the borderland noble houses that grew in strength. Along with  the bureaucrat nobles, all of them were in conflict of interest against  each other. The royal family’s role was to act as the balancer.

Welkin wasn’t so foolish to antagonize all the nobles. Doing such  thing would only result in the nobles rebelling and destroyed the  country like what happened with Trystovy Kingdom.

The basic of politic was to incite the nobles to be in conflict among  themselves while maneuvering so they wouldn’t point their blade toward  the royal family no matter what.

In addition, it was desirable to have the support from the population in order to firm the strength of the royal family.

It was possible for the pump to help with that.

Baldr couldn’t hide his fresh surprise that William was able to  correctly deduce until that far. He thought that William was just a wild  kid who boasted his strength, but this prince’s political sense also  couldn’t be underestimated.

「It’s not like I’m the one who made this, so I’ll ask the maker.」

Baldr didn’t have the technical capability although he had the  knowledge. It was solely Gothe who created this pump, while he also  relied on Selina to secure the material and also distributing the  product.

Recently the production base had been moved to Dowding Company’s  workshop, even so for Savaran Company that was also an independent  company, the existence of Gothe’s workshop at Cornelius was  indispensable.

As expected even Baldr couldn’t carelessly promise anything without first asking these two’s opinion.

「Someone who Baldr is taking into consideration huh. I hope you can also introduce me to them.」

William also knew about the relationship between Baldr and Savaran Company.

Was Selina just a puppet or was she a tough woman who could even take  Baldr’s rein? William believed that it was an important question that  he had to find the answer of.

「Your highness, it might not be my place to say this, but perhaps you should aim to be the prime minister instead of a knight?」

「Hmph, you’re the only one who I don’t want to hear that from.」

These two possessed both wisdom and courage despite their youth. They  smiled cynically at each other before departing to Savaran Company  accompanied by Silk and Brooks.

.

「Aah! Young master! Please! Don’t leave me behind!」

「Now now, let’s quickly bring the water! I don’t care of how much water I have to carry if it’s for the sake of your soft skin!」

Teresa tightly grasped Seyruun from behind when she was trying to cling on Baldr. She sported a fierce smile on her lips.

It was as though she was saying that she absolutely wouldn’t let her prey got away…….

.

Part 7

「Is President Selina here?」

Men with gaudy clothing who obviously looked out of place here visited Savaran Company.

The female receptionist who felt suspicious of their visit quickly  rang the secret bell to call for the guards that included Glymur.

「Can I ask you what might be your business here?」

「A mere staff like you shouldn’t be too nosy. Call the president here quickly!」

The young man with the most conspicuous outfit among the men hit the table rudely.

His looks weren’t bad, but his eyes were really looking down on  woman. It told the receptionist that this man was a residence of a  narcissistic fictional world.

「I can’t possibly inform the president without knowing what is dear guest’s business here. It’s the rule.」

「You rude woman! Do you know who I am!? I’m baron Paul Nevis!」

「My greatest apologies, but I ask you lord noble to please abide by our company’s rule too.」

This receptionist named Mabel had dealt with this kind of miscreant dozens of times, so she informed him without faltering.

One couldn’t become a first-class receptionist without at least that much guts.

「Don’t screw with me! How dare a mere commoner like you humiliate this me like this!」

It seemed he never even dreamed that he would be refused here. Paul was getting even more enraged.

It might be different case for low-ranked noble without any court  rank, but the house head of a baron house had high social position that  couldn’t be compared to such low-ranked nobles.

Furthermore Paul had his reason that he couldn’t just withdraw from here quietly.

.

Nevis House was a noble house that could be said as an ancient noble family with good pedigree in Mauricia Kingdom.

However its house head died in Antrim War, in addition Paul who  succeeded the position was incompetent in managing the territory, so  right now the house was deep in debts and it wouldn’t be strange even if  the house went bankrupt anytime.

It was at that timing that an idea about marriage with Selina was brought to Paul like a godsend.

His pride as noble would be wounded by marrying with mere commoner,  but Selina’s company assets were certainly alluring. If he disposed of  her after taking away all her fortunes, he could just welcome a new wife  from a good noble house later.

Paul immediately leaped at this offer from the great noble he was acquainted without thinking too long.

He was completely fed up with his livelihood that needed to worry  everyday about his food and clothing even though he was a noble.

And so he came here to take a commoner like Selina to be his wife  even though he was reluctant about it. If he was unable to even meet  with her, he wouldn’t have any face to meet with Duke Malory who tried  to save him.

.

「Bring that little girl Selina here right away. Consider your life forfeit if you keep refusing with your impertinence!」

Paul drew out the sword hanging on his waist and threatened by  showing off the blade. But then a huge mercenary appeared before him.

「Don’t show off something so dangerous in this kinda place……」

Originally Glymur wasn’t a man who would be contented with working as  bodyguard in this kind of place. He was a veteran warrior who was  feared as someone with the strength of ten men in battlefield.

He was currently hired by Selina because the only existing large  battle right now was at the outer edge of the continent. And the biggest  reason was because he got his interest attracted by the revolution that  Baldr and Selina were aiming at.

──By no means it was because he was scared of Maggot. This was  important so it should be said once more, he wasn’t here because he was  scared of Maggot!

「What! Do you think you can get away with threatening a high ranked noble like me!?」

The entrance of Glymur who was obviously a competent mercenary from a glance made Paul to back away with shaking voice.

Paul didn’t have any war experience in the first place. Not to  mention Glymur, it was suspicious whether he could even match a random  young man at the street. That was the reality of the situation.

Even the thugs that Paul was leading immediately realized Glymur’s strength and unable to act tough like usual.

They could act violently without any hesitation if they saw their  opponent was weaker, but they would be as useless as mere ornament when  facing someone stronger.

Glymur had seen that kind of thugs who could only hide behind other’s authority many times until now.

There was nothing to fear from them.

.

「What’s goin’ on, it’s dangerous drawin’ out sword like that here……」

Selina appeared with a dubious look exactly at that timing.

Paul recalled what he came here for and stared at Selina appraisingly.

Her golden hair reflected the sunlight and glittered. Her large  breasts protruded out and pushed up the fabric of her shirt. She had an  amiable look despite her face’s well-ordered features. She was really  worthy to be called a beauty.

Indeed, she was an alluring woman.

He couldn’t stomach how she was a beastman, but he guessed it wouldn’t be that bad to domesticate her as his dog.

And above all else it was nice how she was much prettier than any random noble daughter who could be found anywhere.

Paul got into a good mood after imagining himself raping this strong-willed girl to his heart content.

Her voluptuous breasts and her white skin that was like snow were also looking really fun for him to toy around with.

「You come with a nice timing. Selina, this Paul Nevis, a glorious baron of this kingdom has come to take you as his wife.」

「I refuse, now go home.」

Time needed for the answer, 0,02 second.

It was truly a rejection in the speed of sound. Paul’s movement stopped.

While Paul’s financial situation was in a completely dire state, he  was seriously believing that there was no greater honor for a commoner  to be able to marry a noble.

His pride as a noble was his last remaining foundation to stand on.  For that pride to be denied like this made Paul’s head turned blank.

What did this woman say?

Refuse?

Unforgivable…….

Unforgivable……!

A prestigious noble like him would never accept this kind of treatment!

「YOU BITCHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!」

It was absurd that a prostitute who would shake her tail to any  passing man would refuse a baron like him. This woman had to be judged.  Baron Nevis swore on his noble name that he would never forgive this  humiliation.

Paul slashed at Selina just as his instinct ordered him to.

「Oi oi, that’s really not funny yeah.」

There was no way Glymur would miss such impulsive attack of an amateur.

He casually struck away Paul’s sword with his bare hand and punched his face while holding back.

「Hebuh!」

Paul who got hit defenselessly rolled on the floor while bleeding from the nose. He was sent flying for around three meters.

As expected the thugs couldn’t just stay quiet after their employer  got punched. They moved to draw out their sword. However Cell and  Miranda swiftly neutralized them and it ended with a disastrous scene of  young men lying in heaps all around.

Actually this wasn’t the first time someone overreached and came to propose at Selina.

All of them were driven back by the quality and quantity of bodyguards that were a bit excessive just for a single company.

If they were seriously attempting to subdue Selina with brute force,  they would need a platoon of official knights of the kingdom.

.

「──What injustice is this? To commit such deed toward a noble of the kingdom, I hope you’re prepared for the consequence.」

A noble past middle-aged wearing the robe of a law enforcer arrived at that timing with a disgusting smirk.

「This is a legitimate self-defense. I haven’t done anythin’ to feel guilty about.」

The man’s white and green robe told that he was from the ministry of justice.

Selina realized that the baron just now was just the opening act for this.

Sure enough, the man started to criticize Selina with a triumphant look.

「That lord baron has expressly came here courteously to ask for your  hand in marriage, and yet you can’t even understand your place as a  commoner. Not only you dealt violence to him, you even shamed him so  badly like that. How outrageous. I’m putting you under arrest for lese  majeste in accordance to the kingdom’s law.」

The kingdom’s law guaranteed the commoner’s right so that the nobles  wouldn’t arbitrarily harmed the commoners, but noble’s social position  was protected by the tax system and all sorts of special right. Among  them there was the sixth article that forbid commoner to disgrace noble.

「Wait a second! I was almost killed by that guy just now!」

「What kind of nonsense you’re prattling now. I saw it myself how the lord baron was acting so respectfully and courteously.」

「Go sleep talkin’ when ya are actually asleep.」

「This is the testimony of me, a guardian of the law! Your words just  now can only be considered as a new violation of lese majeste!」

A judicial noble of the ministry of justice was given the right to make arrest based on their own testimony.

Seen in that light, what this man was trying to do was within the legality of the law.

「In accordance to the sixth article of this kingdom’s law, I put  Selina Savaran under arrest using the fourth article of the judicial  authority!」

The man proclaimed his victory.

As long as he could put Selina under arrest, it wouldn’t be difficult  to seize Savaran Company’s assets. After that it would be easy to use  plea bargaining or using investigation as pretext to expose the secret  of the products.

If he dragged someone into his own jurisdiction, then even if his  opponent was one of the ten great nobles he was confident he could  oppose them.

.

「──Judicial authority first article paragraph two, thou shall not  testify falsely. Based on this I raise objection to the court officer’s  testimony!」

What stopped the triumphant laugh of the man was Baldr Cornelius who sported a frown of contempt.

The man unconsciously backed away from the ghastly aura that drifted  off from Baldr’s whole body, but when he thought about the relationship  between Savaran Company and Cornelius House, then Baldr’s entrance was  still within expectation.

The man pulled himself together and roughened his voice to put on a bold front.

「You say that you’re objecting to my testimony!? Even you won’t get  away with it if you slander the testimony of a guardian of the law! It  doesn’t matter that you’re the heir of a count, don’t think that you  will receive any special treatment.」

「I can testify that Baron Nevis had unsheathed his sword and attacked  Selina. You should know that according to the tenth article of the  kingdom’s law, a noble’s testimony should be assumed to be the truth.」

「Hmph! It’s useless speaking to you. There is no need to even think  which testimony is the correct one, the testimony of a brat without even  any court rank like you or the testimony of an officer of the law like  me.」

「I’m not the only one who can give testimony. Do you know how many people has witnessed the matter?」

「It doesn’t matter how many witnesses there are, the testimony that I  give is the correct one! It’s impossible for a law officer’s judgment  to be mistaken.」

Even if Baldr ran crying to Ignis with his accusation, it was  impossible to overturn the trial’s judgment with the testimonies from  Baldr and commoners.

Even if the presiding judge harbored doubt toward his testimony, the  precedent of a judge believing a commoner’s testimony over an officer of  the law’s testimony would threaten the meaning of existence of the  ministry of justice.

The judge would support him no matter how reluctant they were in order to protect their organization.

There was also the powerful backer behind him. There was no way for him to lose even in the worst case.

「Judicial authority first article paragraph one, thou shall not  betray thy conscience. Mister law officer, don’t you feel any shame in  your conscience?」

Baldr’s words were nothing but the howl of a loser for the man.

Conscience? Such thing could just become a dog’s food. Money and authority meant everything in this world.

「Are you frustrated brat? It doesn’t matter how proud you are with  your strength or skill, if I say that this girl’s is guilty then she is  guilty. Something like truth cannot possibly save anyone. That’s right,  if you prostrate and beg forgiveness from me, then perhaps I’ll lighten  this girl’s punishment. It doesn’t matter what you say, after all I’m  the law of this country!」

Of course even if Baldr prostrated he didn’t have the slightest  intention of forgiving Selina, but the man laughed sadistically to his  heart’s content at Baldr who had been drastically harming the interests  of the ministry of finance.

To break and disgraced the heart of a brat who was ignorant of the  way of the world and still believed in something like justice was an  irreplaceable delight for the man.

「You’re the ignorant one. Sometimes truth can become a blade that is  sharper than anything. I don’t need to bow to an imbecile who believe  everything mistakenly with his shortsightedness.」

「What did you say! You bastard!」

The prey who he believed would submit after losing every means of  escape was suddenly baring his fang toward him. The man felt enraged and  also uncomfortable at the same time.

It was because Baldr didn’t look like he had accepted defeat. No,  rather it was like he was scorning a prey that was caught in his trap──.

.

「To think that an officer of the law would claim that he is the law  while disregarding the king who is the champion of the kingdom’s law.  The quality of the officer of the law really has gone down the drain.」

「……The worst.」

The man saw two small silhouettes appearing from behind Selina. The  entrance of the people who he had never even expected to see here made  him convulsed as though lightning had struck him.

The man’s throat felt painfully dry. It was pleading for the man to take in some water.

William and Silk’s presences were different from Baldr. The opponent was too dangerous to be ignored.

「──Truth cannot save anyone, is it? I’ll tell father every single  word you mentioned just now. Let’s ascertain whether your words are true  or not.」

「H-how can……why is his highness William here!?」

「Do you think that wicked father wouldn’t predict that there will be  an idiot like you who act recklessly? This company has been under the  watch of the prime minister’s men since a long time ago.」

「H-how can……!」

A man who introduced him as an informant of the prime minister  appeared in front of William and others who were heading to Savaran  Company. It was dozens of minutes ago.

They were protecting Savaran Company from the shadow. The nobles and  law officer who arrived here would be too much for them, so they came  asking for help from William.

If Prime Minister Harold took action directly, the possibility was  high that the opponent would raise their guard and shut themselves into  their burrow.

It was preferable to make use of William’s standing as a student that wasn’t conspicuous in order to reveal their faults.

「It’s annoying but, it can’t be helped if it’s for Baldr’s friend.」

「Thank you very much, your highness.」

The trap had been completed when Selina showed up at the receptionist when she heard the commotion.

It was really a show seeing the man making a grand speech with such smug face while not knowing what was actually happening.

「Let’s hear who is the mastermind of this from you and the stupid baron over there.」

The man finally realized that he had charged headlong toward a trap that was aiming for his backer’s downfall.

Everything was set up above the palm of that black-hearted king.

The man slumped in dejection. He and the unconscious Baron Paul were led away by the prime minister’s men.

.

The next day a notification was sent to Baldr and others. Duke Malory  that was still a distant relative of the royal family went into  retirement, while two or three baron and viscount houses were crushed.

It seemed that stupid Paul also blabbed about unnecessary things even though he wasn’t asked about it.

「Well, it’s a big help. But this makes me worry whether the kingdom’s government is really alright with this……」

「Don’t say that……」

Baldr and William could only feel exasperated.

.

Even a great noble who was counted amidst the ten great nobles got  investigated. It spoke more eloquently than anything of how harsh the  royal family’s response was.

Even if someone wanted to defend them, the confession of the arrested  Paul and William’s testimony made the situation too disadvantageous.

If anyone tried to protect them even then, there was a risk that they  would also lose their standing. There was no way anyone would brave  such risk to protect them.

Even so there were those who argue heatedly that they had to at least  protect their ministry’s interests, however most of them were people  whose crime would be immediately found out if they got seriously  investigated, so they immediately backed down.

The outline of the intrigue drama this time could be easily understood by anyone who was well-versed in politic to some degree.

This was an unsaid message from Welkin that said, 「I won’t be merciful to anyone who oppose the king’s structural reform」.

If Welkin felt like it, he could unearth the whole conspiracy and  decapitated the whole ministry of finance, and yet he only purged  several people. It was the proof that he was only making example.

If they were only doing illegal deeds in moderation and wouldn’t  openly oppose the king even if their interests were reduced to some  degree, the king would guarantee their comfortable position──few people  would persist with their anti-king stance even after being implicitly  told that.

There were also genuine idiots among them that seriously planned a  coup, but there wasn’t even any need to publicly punish such type of  people. There was a high possibility that those people would die in  accident or go missing without anyone noticing. Their friends who were  committing the same act could easily imagine that.

In the end, the strength of the anti-king faction that was centered  around the ministry of finance’s bureaucrats was greatly reduced. The  reformist faction was gaining prominence as the main faction.

More than half of their number were formerly from anti-king faction  who switched side, but what was important was that the leader of this  main faction was someone who had been earnestly confronting the problem  of national economy since the beginning.

Additional military budget had been approved to some degree. At the  ministry of military affair, people were having heated debate of how to  make use of the budget.

With how limited their budget was, it was absolutely necessary to  decide the priority of military projects that had been neglected until  now.

The shrewd Welkin didn’t stop there, he established a tax for drawing  water with the assumption that the hand pump that Baldr introduced  would spread throughout the kingdom.

In exchange of the tax, the kingdom would fully take care of the pump’s installation and maintenance.

At first the people were disapproving that their tax was increased,  but they changed their opinion as easily as turning their hand the  moment they saw the pump. Right now even villages that were located far  away from the capital sent a petition to install the pump quickly at  their place. Dowding Company and Savaran Company that became the source  of supply of the pump were swamped with a schedule so busy they could  die from it.

Naturally the establishment of new tax and increase of budget also expanded the ministry of finance’s influence and interests.

The bigger the budget became and the more complicated the  organization grew, the stronger the authority of an administrative body  would become.

Welkin and Harold were taming the ministry of finance by giving them  carrot like this too. The force that was still opposing the two of them  became extremely small with this.

A certain politician had a saying, 『An excellent politician would use  bureaucrats well, a foolish politician would get into confrontation  with bureaucrats』.

A completed bureaucratic organization wasn’t allowed to standstill.  In case the bureaucrats and politicians were hostile with each other, it  would interfere with the people’s livelihood.

In that light, Welkin could be classified as an excellent politician without any doubt.

「Guhahahahah! Hahahah! Just as planned!」

After that Welkin laughed too much and injured his throat. He got harshly scolded by the exasperated Harold.