Chapter 334
(Kyle Calendar Year 514: Age 21)
Those Who Deceive Each Other
Translator : PolterGlast
In the southernmost city of the Istoria Imperial Kingdom,
Tria, the Istoria Orthodox Theocracy, which had established its
base here, was proceeding with expansion works throughout the entire city. The
most prominent among these was the center of the church, a place called the
cathedral.
At first glance, it had an appearance closer to the throne
room of royalty and nobility rather than a church. It was no exaggeration to
call it a stage for Castro, who had now become the Pope, to show off the
majesty of the church as he granted audiences and preached to his believers.
After dismissing the merchants to whom he had just granted
an audience, Castro fell silent for a while, seeming to be deep in
thought.
「Your Holiness the Pope... excuse
me...」
Perhaps unable to endure the silence, or perhaps resolved
that he must advise him, one of his close aides called out as if wanting to say
something.
「Hahaha, do not mind it. You need not
say it! I know that merchants cannot be trusted. Because if they stand to
profit, they would even sell off their own motherland.」
「Then why?」
「I will eventually hand down God's
judgment upon those who commit sins. However, for the sake of the great cause,
I merely granted a reprieve. Once they receive payment for a delivery, they
will surely come eagerly from next time onwards as well. However, tell them
that from next time on, they have been told 『payment will be made after all deliveries are completed』. You understand?」
「I see, so you feed them bait first,
and then have them make it all an offering to God at the end?」
「That is right. If they are treated
lavishly the first time, they will expect it the next time too. And from their
next delivery onwards, they will probably make desperate efforts to deliver
everything in order to receive the payment. That will serve as atonement for
their sins, and the delivered swords will become offerings to beg for God's
forgiveness.」
「Yes, I am relieved to hear that.」
「And keep an eye on him so he doesn't
catch on! Whether they are merely shrewd scoundrels, or perhaps...」
「Yes, if we judge that they pose a
harm to us, we will execute them immediately.」
Castro was also
by no means a foolish man. In the first place, the ones currently having a
massive surplus of swords as spoils of war are the brat who arrogantly claims
the title of Archduke and whom one cannot hate enough, or the demons' pawn, the
Frontier Duke of the Kyle Kingdom.
Besides the arrogant King, Castro had suffered immense
damage directly or indirectly from three others: Frontier Duke Hamish on
the eastern battlefield, Frontier Duke Model on the northern
battlefield, and Darek, the Frontier Duke of Hastburg, in the
final phase. To these four, he had prayed to God and sworn revenge; they were
sworn enemies with whom he could not share the same sky. He couldn't shake off
the suspicion that, as their pawns, they might be some kind of spies. That is
why he had been agonizing, considering whether to obliterate them or let them swim
and use them.
「If there are any suspicious
movements or contact with suspicious individuals before they cross the border,
capture them immediately! I don't mind if you kill them.」
「Yes! As you command. The city where
we are stationed is full of devout believers. It is no exaggeration to say that
all the residents of the city are informants.」
「Umu, then I leave the subsequent
handling to you.」
Saying so, Castro promptly left his seat and exited
the cathedral. Because he was extremely busy equipping the military of his
newly founded nation, distributing food to impoverished regions, and attempting
to undermine the domestic front by denouncing the Imperial King's faction.
※
That night, there was a minor commotion in the bar district
of the city of Tria. Because those who had apparently succeeded in a big
business deal had rented out an entire tavern and started treating all the
customers to alcohol.
It is not uncommon for those who have succeeded in business
and want to make a name for themselves, or those who want to form friendships
with the locals, to occasionally treat lavishly. Because all the drunken
customers could drink their fill for free simply for the price of flattering
the successful ones, the tavern was in a great uproar. And after cups praising
the successful ones were raised several times with cheers, a new customer
drifted in.
「Hey brother, you're doing it quite
flashily, huh? I'll join in too.」 (Captain,
flashy as always. I've come to report.)
「Yeah brother, you're welcome. Well,
sit here and drink. Because it's my nature not to be stingy and spend it when
money comes in. You get it?」 (Hmm,
Reim, is it? Good work, I'll hear your report here. Just... you get it?)
Saying so, Raphael moved only his eyes left and right
so that only the man who spoke to him would understand.
『Be alert to your surroundings, don't
let your guard down.』
Sensing the intention behind that, the man also responded
silently with just his gaze.
「I don't need any unrefined
greetings, so just drink as much as you like without saying anything
unnecessary.」
(Choose your words, and don't say
anything careless.)
「Yeah, I think I know the ways of the
tavern. I've wandered from place to place too, you know. I'm glad there's a man
who understands things in this city. Since it's full of depressing talk
everywhere you go, I feel like I'm about to start complaining.」 (Yes,
understood. The investigation of the planned areas is complete, but it's not
looking good anywhere.)
「Is that so? I don't care about the
economy in other cities, but for now, empty this drink. Instead of paying for
the alcohol, I'd like to hear a lot about the alcohol and women in other
regions.」
(I see, then let's hear the report
while drinking, as a conversation between drunks. How are the movements in the
investigated regions?)
「What, you can handle your liquor
too, brother? I came all the way from the south (Royal Capital), but
well... it's not good. From the center to the north, that area is rough, and
you can't have the luxury of drinking alcohol in broad daylight, you see.」 (The
Royal Capital of the Imperial Kingdom hasn't been able to respond
properly to this matter and is no good. The entire area from the center, where
the Royal Capital is, to the north is impoverished, and the situation can only
be described as terrible.)
「Is that so? Even in the same Imperial
Kingdom, this place seems lively, though... I thought I could drink in
peace since the war ended. I hit the jackpot here, and I was thinking of
enjoying local alcohol and women in various places while doing sugar business
in the north from here on out.」
「You should probably reconsider. Outside of these areas—the
four southern frontier counties that have received the Pope's blessing—things
are in a terrible state. If you’re caught carrying something like sugar, it’ll
be confiscated as an "offering to God" before you know it.」 (The
areas other than the four counties in the southern frontier are still within
the Imperial King's sphere of influence. It seems there are difficulties in
venturing out as a merchant caravan.)
「Is that so! Hearing that, I can't
honestly be happy. I was looking forward to this country's famous alcohol
(power situation) and women (military force) for this business too, though...」
「Hahaha, no need to be down. First
off, regarding the booze—you can enjoy plenty of it within the four southern
counties. Since it's all gathered here in this city,
you could say this place has everything you need. After all,
in other places, even the grains that serve as raw materials for alcohol have
been confiscated. There’s no decent liquor to be found, so you'd just end up
wandering around aimlessly.」 (To
put it bluntly, the Imperial Kingdom's side is falling apart. They don't
even have proper food supplies, so they're just running around in circles
without a plan.)
「That's terrible.」
「Yeah, thanks to the Pope, we can
keep ourselves fed... no, we can even come to taverns like this. We can't thank
him enough. In the winter to spring when food eventually runs out, the guys on
the other side will probably follow the 'correct teachings' too.」 (Currently,
it's only the four southern counties, but the power map is expected to change
all at once from winter to spring.)
「I see, and what about the women?
Originally, I heard the Imperial Kingdom has many beauties. I came all
the way here for this business mostly looking forward to that, you see.」 (What's
the situation with military forces?)
「Hahaha, you're quite the fan too,
brother? Right now in this country, there are many girls who lost their providers
in the previous war damage, and women who became widows, you know. From
villages and towns in this entire area, up to a 10-day distance, they are
flowing into this city (brothels) looking for work. Actually, I too... came
expecting that, though.」
『I see... so currently it's the
military force of four counties in addition to the border guards... In that
case, in addition to the 2,000 border guards, each county has 1,000; does that
mean it has swelled to around 6,000?
If they conscript the territory residents who revere that Pope there...
it'll become an army exceeding ten thousand.』
Calculating so in his head, Raphael smiled
fearlessly. Because the information obtained during the audience with the Pope
had been somewhat corroborated. The 5,000 swords he desired probably anticipate
the territory residents conscripted as soldiers from the four counties. Since
he anticipates that to increase further from spring onwards... Therefore, if
possible, even double that; that's what it means.
「What the, you're exactly the same as
me! Seems we'll get along well. Drink some more.」
「Fufufu, we're two of a kind, I'll
join you to my heart's content.」
Saying so and throwing their arms around each other's
shoulders, the two spending the day boisterously discussing booze and women
without a care about public scrutiny. It was silly banter
no matter who listened, but occasionally the two shot sharp glares. However,
since both of them originally had the appearance of roughians, in the eyes of
the surroundings, it only looked like their eyes were glaring as a result of
getting excited over talk about women.
「Hey, brothers. You're having quite a
fun-sounding talk. Let me join in too.」
「Brothers, is it true you're heading
out to the brothels after this? I'd like to join you, though.」
「Yo! Big spender. I'll call you that.」
It is said there was no end to the men gathering at their
table, raising their cups with such words. And when the night grew late, taking
along them, Handler, and the fellows they partied with at the tavern,
they disappeared into the brothels of the city of Tria. The group led by
the big spender is said to have made a huge ruckus and fully enjoyed the city
at night until the time the darkness of night began to fade.
※
A few days after they continued their extravagant spending
in the city of Tria, Castro, having received the investigation
report he had ordered his subordinates to conduct, frowned for a moment and
then laughed amusedly.
Because Raul and Handler, rejoicing over
earning a large sum of money in a big business deal, made a huge ruckus at the
tavern day after day, and then went to brothels for three days and three
nights, continuing an uproarious spree. If hypothetically they were acting
under someone's orders, there's no way they could take such actions. Normally,
after successfully completing a mission, they should make a beeline for the
border. Because at this point, their behavior was so appalling that a
percentage of the payment they received had disappeared into the nightlife.
「What shall we do? Such filthy,
god-fearing deeds, I believe we should hand down punishment... I hear they are
leaving Tria tomorrow or so and heading to the Empire, shall we capture
them at the border?」
「No, no, it's fine. The vulgar
behavior of lowly ones will eventually be corrected by God. Even so, from the
perspective of us who believe in God, it is truly outrageous behavior, though.
It probably means they too were ultimately just small fry with an eye for
profit. Let them strive at their business as much as possible.」
「Then as arranged, from the next
delivery...」
「Yes, I leave the subsequent handling
to you. Because for the great cause, there are far too many things I must do.」
Thus, Castro pushed them, who were 『small fry buoyant over business
success』, to the
corner of his memory. Thinking it would be sufficient to leave matters from
here on to his subordinates. To push forward his great ambitions from here on,
he concentrated on fulfilling the grand strategy drawn up in advance.
As the new year approaches, the impoverished people unable to survive the winter will abandon the Pope's side, which still holds the right to rule, and avalanche into their camp all at once. And that information, too, would eventually be brought to Takuhir via the merchant Raul, aka Raphael, who sells the siphoned goods.
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