6/16 Addendum
As I wrote in my activity report, in Chapter 4-10, "The Apothecary's Apprentice," Merlin has the following line of dialogue:
"Indeed, I've grasped the general picture. Let me start with the conclusion — I cannot fully cure you."
A reader pointed out that the "kishiran" at the end should be "kishiren."
After looking into it, I found that this is a dialect used in Fukuoka and other areas.
Since I'm originally from Fukuoka Prefecture and have used it since childhood, I never noticed, but since the meaning is the same, I'll keep it as is.
Going forward, aside from deliberately using dialect in the story, I'll try to use words closer to standard Japanese, so I appreciate your understanding.
"You've got no right to treat a baron this way, even if you are my uncle — hii!"
Henkel staggered to his feet and tried to shout at Grandpa, but the killing intent that struck him drew out a small shriek.
"I don't recall ever having a nephew like you!"
Grandpa's single bellow sent Henkel into a fit of trembling. When Baron Mustang and the Neutral Faction nobles saw Henkel's state, laughter escaped their lips.
Henkel glared at them in response, but Baron Mustang's own glare made him shrink back. Henkel and Baron Mustang were nobles of the same rank, but in every possible way, their caliber as human beings was entirely different.
What's more, the nobles standing behind Baron Mustang were all of rank viscount or below, and many of them were younger than Henkel — yet even compared to them, he seemed lesser.
"Oh! You must be Tenma — I'm your..."
Henkel spotted me and tried to crawl over, but I silently drew my blade. On top of that, I released a light pulse of killing intent, and — quite amusingly — Henkel's complexion changed once again.
"Grandpa, Baron Mustang. If a stranger on a battlefield claims to be family and presses in on you, there's nothing wrong with cutting them down, right?"
This was a location where Podro might have staged his coup, and Jin and the others were still in the middle of cleanup operations — so this was still a battlefield, and it wouldn't be wrong to say the fighting wasn't entirely over.
With enemies or allies who couldn't be identified lurking about, I was well within my rights to cut someone down for the sake of safety. I made sure to confirm this with Grandpa and the others while simultaneously threatening Henkel.
Grandpa and Baron Mustang, catching on to what I was doing, put on serious expressions and nodded.
"There's nothing wrong with that. It's a common enough tale — someone pretending to be on your side while carrying out sabotage from within, and it really does happen that such infiltration causes major damage to one's own people."
"Indeed. Besides, that man tried to push aside Lord Merlin, who serves as deputy commander on this battlefield, and force his way into the chain of command himself. It's far too suspicious... Above all, His Majesty's office notified us that Lord Tenma's only family member currently present is Lord Merlin, with no one else. That means this man is either a fraud or harboring ill intentions."
There was no way the royal decree hadn't reached Henkel, of all people — the one most likely to try to exploit me. So was this man an imposter? That was my initial thought, but Appraisal confirmed he was the real Henkel.
"He probably figured he could leech off the situation by claiming some connection to Celia... Has he forgotten what he and the others did to Celia and Ricardo!"
Grandpa's anger reignited.
"In the first place, didn't Lady Celia and the others petition the former King to sever ties, and wasn't it granted? At that point, wouldn't Henkel be nothing more than a stranger to them?" Baron Mustang was stoking the flames of Grandpa's rage.
"Hey, Tenma! Sorry, but lend me a hand! There are a few still alive, and we need to confirm the count and all!"
Jin called out to me without reading the room. Grandpa flinched at the sound of his voice, and perhaps with some breathing room to survey his surroundings, he calmed down a little.
"If that's the case, we'll send some of our people along. If you're going to verify things, it's more convenient to have a noble present."
With that, Baron Mustang gave a sidelong glance to the Neutral Faction members behind him and sent several of them over to Jin's group.
Just then, I spotted Albert and the others approaching from the back of the mansion.
True to form, Jeanne and Aura had dismissed their scorpion-type Golem and were riding on Shiromaru's back.
Leading the way was Albert, followed by Shiromaru (with Jeanne and Aura), Tanikaze (with Slarin), and Podro's group loaded onto a cart. Flanking both rear diagonally were Lion and Cain, with Solomon hovering above them all.
"Well now, that's quite the extravagant escort,"
Baron Mustang
stroked his chin whiskers,
looking thoroughly amused.
Indeed — a future duke, a marquis, and a border count serving as escorts, plus Shiromaru and Solomon who'd made a name for themselves at the tournament, all with metal horse-type Golems hauling the prisoners. You'd never see such a sight under normal circumstances.
Just as Jeanne and the others reached me, Jin's side seemed to have finished their verification as well, and they dragged over six survivors.
"Well then, shall we head back to the castle?"
Just as everyone nodded at my words and was about to set off, Albert began looking around.
"Hey, Tenma. Where did Namitaro go? We had him guiding us all the way here..."
Hearing those words, I finally remembered Namitaro.
Knowing him, he was probably wandering around nearby somewhere, but when I tried to search for him just to be safe, the few remaining parts of the mansion collapsed.
Everyone was startled by the sudden event and readied their weapons, but what emerged from the collapsed mansion was none other than Namitaro.
"Tenma~ There was all sorts of treasure underground~"
Namitaro slid up to where I was standing and began pulling out portions of the treasure he'd mentioned.
What Namitaro produced was roughly a hundred weapons and pieces of armor respectively, several dozen kilograms of preserved food like hardtack and dried meat, and a few pots stuffed with gold and silver coins.
On top of that, it seemed he still had about ten times that amount stored in his bag, which meant the possibility of a coup d'état was growing ever stronger.
"This pretty much confirms there were other conspirators involved."
"That would seem to be the case."
Baron Mustang and the old man seemed to share the same opinion. I certainly thought so too. After all, there was no way Podro would attempt a coup d'état on his own — I didn't think he had the nerve for it.
"If that's the case, then maybe we should stay here until we call the knights from the castle and finish the handover?"
"Aye. Who knows — after we leave, they might try to retake this place, recover other evidence, or destroy what's left."
It was a bit late to worry about destruction, but since there might be other important items hidden somewhere, we needed to stay put.
"In that case, let's send a messenger to the castle from our side. And the rest can stay here to guard the place."
Baron Mustang seemed well-accustomed to handling this kind of situation. He immediately dispatched a Neutral Faction noble to the castle and began issuing instructions to the remaining nobles.
"Lord Tenma, does this arrangement work for you?"
After finishing his instructions, Baron Mustang for some reason sought my approval.
Of all the nobles present, Baron Mustang held the highest rank, and based on experience, he should have been the natural representative. But when I probed him about it, Baron Mustang —
"Lord Tenma was the first to arrive here, wasn't he? And he was the one who annihilated them. It wouldn't be right to snatch that achievement. Besides, we arrived as reinforcements. In that case, it would be better to have the leader of the group that was here first. Fortunately, Lord Tenma is also in His Majesty's good graces. There should be no problem with him being the leader."
And just like that, I ended up having the leadership thrust upon me. To make matters worse, no one questioned the matter at all, which was the final nail in the coffin—though it was merely a figurehead position, Baron Mustang and his group were now temporarily placed under my command.
"For now, let's take turns guarding the perimeter of the estate grounds. Reinforcements from the castle should be arriving soon, but let's not let our guard down."
Baron Mustang's instructions were precise and on point. I was truly just a figurehead.
All I had to do was ask Shiromaru to guard the outer perimeter, and take an "aerial patrol" with Solomon that was essentially just an aerial stroll.
Though I couldn't give any real orders, I managed to provide some food and supplies from my bag, which pleased everyone and helped me maintain a shred of my dignity as leader... or so I'd like to think.
Roughly thirty minutes after Namitaro's confiscated goods were discovered, knights began arriving from the castle, and after about an hour, we finally managed to hand over the site and leave the estate.
However, from here, myself, Old Man, Jeanne, Aura, Namitaro, and Albert's trio had to head to the Royal Capital along with Baron Mustang to explain the detailed situation to the King.
As for the third wave led by Jin and the remaining neutral nobles, they returned directly to their own estates and lodgings.
Upon our arrival at the Royal Capital, we were immediately escorted to the audience chamber.
Incidentally, Podro and his men were apparently taken away by other knights along the way and led down to the dungeons.
In the audience chamber we were shown to, the King, Caesar-sama, the Prime Minister, various ministers, and the leading nobles were already gathered.
Looking closely at the nobles, they were divided into three groups.
The largest group was standing behind Caesar-sama and the others, so they were likely the Royalist Faction.
The remaining two groups were next to each other, so it was hard to be certain which was which, but one group was glaring at the other, which gave a pretty good idea.
"You have worked late. According to the report, it states 'a potential coup d'état by Vice-Baron Podro il Kuroido.' Provide a detailed report."
At the King's words, Baron Mustang, who held the highest noble rank among us, stepped forward and began his report.
His account largely confirmed what the King had said, but he added that 'there may be other accomplices,' which threw the audience chamber into an uproar.
"Silence!"
At the single command from the person introduced as the Prime Minister, the nobles gradually quieted down.
With the chamber having quieted down, the King spoke.
"Documentation to corroborate Baron Mustang's report has already been submitted, and the military is conducting its investigation. Minister of Military Affairs."
"Yes, sir! The items discovered by Baron Mustang and his party consist of large quantities of armaments, foodstuffs, and funds. The amount found is sufficient to conclude it was intended for a coup d'état. Given the scale, we assess there is a high probability of other collaborators or accomplices involved, and we are currently proceeding with the investigation."
Lyle's statement caused the audience chamber to buzz with noise once more.
Simultaneously, the atmosphere in the audience chamber grew tense.
The cause was Lyle's earlier statement.
Given that the mastermind of this incident was Podro of the Reformist Faction, the nobles of the Royalist and Neutral Factions were already looking at the Reformist nobles with accusatory glances.
When the nobles of the Royalist and Neutral Factions heard Lyle's statement, those accusatory gazes intensified, causing the Reformist nobles to glare back in response, which rapidly worsened the atmosphere.
"Does the military suspect that we were complicit in Podro's crime, Minister of Military Affairs?"
The speaker was the corpulent, bald, pervert old man who ranked number one for unpopularity within the castle (according to Luna's survey) – Duke Kaisen von Daraam.
He looked exactly as Luna had described; even without knowing his face, I recognized him immediately.
However, as expected of a national minister, the intensity with which he glared at Lyle was considerable.
It seemed like invisible sparks were flying between Lyle and Duke Daraam.
"One might be forgiven for thinking so, wouldn't you agree?"
Unexpectedly, the one who joined the fray was
Zyne.
The usually calm and composed Zyne was glaring at Duke Daraam.
"You previously incited Prince Tida and Princess Luna to go outside and kill cattle, placing both of them in danger, if I'm not mistaken."
"That's a bit inaccurate, Minister of Finance. I merely taught the Prince and Princess about the importance of gaining practical experience and informed them about cattle that breed during this season. The ones who snuck out of the castle and approached the herd were the Prince and Princess themselves, were they not? I would appreciate it if you would stop making baseless accusations."
The three-way staring contest soon morphed into a glare-down between the Royalist and Reformist factions.
Both factions grew increasingly heated. The Neutral Faction gradually distanced itself from the increasingly tense atmosphere emanating from the other two camps.
"My lord, please calm yourselves first. There may be retaliatory remarks, but this is disrespectful in His Majesty's presence."
Clapping his hands together, the man at the head of a different group from Duke Dahlam intervened.
Since he was with a group separate from Duke Dahlam, he must be a high-ranking member of the Neutral Faction, but I didn't know his name.
"Lord Tenma. That man is one of the central figures of the Neutral Faction, Count Alan von Cromfeld, the Minister of Foreign Affairs."
Baron Mustang, who had moved next to me, quietly informed me.
Count Cromfeld wasn't the stern, strict figure I had imagined. He gave the impression of being a gentle, easygoing person—hardly someone who seemed suited to be Minister of Foreign Affairs.
After confirming that the surrounding noise had died down, Count Cromfeld spoke:
"Minister of Finance, Minister of Military Affairs, it is not appropriate to inject personal feelings into a report. Minister of Internal Affairs, I understand you are displeased at being suspected, but this was a blunder caused by members of your faction. I ask that you refrain from making provocative remarks, forgetting this fact."
Despite his polite tone, the Count's words were sharp. Though he was smiling, it was clear from his speech that he did not think well of Duke Dahlam.
"Your Majesty, how shall we proceed with the punishment of Viscount Podro and the others?"
The Prime Minister asked the King about Podro's punishment, undeterred by the hostile atmosphere. The King pretended to consider for a moment.
"Viscount Podro il Cloride is to be stripped of his title and imprisoned. His final disposition will be decided based on the detailed findings. As for the others apprehended at the scene, first-time offenders and those with a history of minor crimes are to be sold into slavery and sent to the mines or frontier settlements. Those with a history of serious crimes are to be executed. This matter is also to be made known to the people. This is a royal decree."
The moment the word 'execution' left the King's lips, the audience hall grew noisy. After all, for the past several decades, even when disputes arose among the nobility, executions had not been carried out in the Royal Capital.
On the surface,
this was because no such grave crimes had been committed.
While it was true that few had committed offenses warranting it, past Kings had also been reluctant to let the people know that executions were being carried out.
In a world where human life was considered cheap, there was still a segment of the educated populace that opposed capital punishment, and it was avoided to prevent openly sowing the seeds of discord. Moreover, some nobles were among those opposed, making the issue problematic.
However, this incident was far too serious to overlook, and the announcement was made with the confidence that it would silence any objections from those against the death penalty. Baron Mustang said that Podro would almost certainly be sentenced to death.
"For the Reformist Faction as well, executing Podro would be more convenient, I suppose."
"Well, executing him would be a welcome bonus in proving we had nothing to do with the coup, and Podro isn't exactly an influential noble—he's a replaceable nobody."
From the Reformist Faction's perspective, Podro had originally betrayed House Almeria—their own liege house—to join them, so they'd likely write him off as someone who was never truly one of them. In other words, he made the perfect sacrificial pawn.
While Baron Mustang and I had been talking, the staring contest between the Royalist Faction and the Reformist Faction had apparently reached its end. All that remained was to hash out the minor details and dismiss.
"Tenma, Baron Mustang—you may withdraw. I'll have some light refreshments prepared in a separate room. Why don't you rest there for a while?"
The King had told us to leave ahead of the others, but this was really just a polite way of saying "wait in the other room."
We bowed and stepped out of the audience hall, where Kurif and Aina were already waiting to guide us.
The room we were led to contained Tida, Luna, and Lady Isabella. And for some reason, Amour and Branca were there as well.
The moment Amour noticed me entering the room, she came bounding over to throw her arms around me, but I planted a hand on top of her head to stop her.
When I looked to Kurif, he immediately explained why the two of them were here.
Apparently, the two had grown worried after parting ways with us and had come all the way to the royal castle, only to be turned away at the gate by the guards. After a bit of commotion, Branca had dropped Aina's name, and Aina had been summoned. She'd gotten permission from Lady Isabella and had them escorted to this room.
"You came all this way because you were worried about Tenma!"
Even with my hand still pushing down on her head, Amour was desperately trying to throw her arms around me. All the while, I could feel two icy gazes boring into my back from behind, but I pretended not to notice and ignored them.
After all that, I sat across from Lady Isabella and the others, making casual conversation.
Amour, who had been desperately trying to hug me, had been scolded by Branca and was now sitting in seiza a short distance away. Nearby, Jeanne and Aura were likewise sitting in seiza.
Before the two, suffering from pins and needles in their legs, stood Aina with her arms planted firmly on her hips.
The Nio King incarnate.
After being forced to explain why they'd caused such a commotion, the pair were then glared down by this fearsome figure and marched straight into a lecture session.
Incidentally, to briefly explain how the two ended up being snatched by Podro's group: after Grandpa and I had gone out, they'd been cleaning the kitchen when they noticed the food stores were running low. They headed out to restock and were abducted in a sparsely populated area.
If that were the whole story, they'd probably have been freed from Aina's lecture pretty quickly. However, there were a few things that Aina took particular issue with.
The first was—
I
—that they took it upon themselves to act while I was away.
But since I had given them a certain degree of freedom, this was treated as an extension of that, and Aina reluctantly kept her admonishment light.
The second was not asking Namitarou to serve as their escort.
It was obvious that they would attract attention—
in every sense of the word—
and because they hadn't brought Namitarou, who was technically considered one of my Familiars, it led to this whole mess. If Namitarou had been there, they never would have been snatched in the first place. Aina pointed out that the problem was in not even waking him because he was sleeping. I shared this opinion completely.
The third issue was—and in a way the biggest cause of Aina's anger—that neither of them had brought weapons, and they had forgotten about the existence of the scorpion-type Golem.
Both of them had figured they were only going a short distance so weapons wouldn't be necessary, and the Golem had completely slipped their minds until it was almost too late.
Despite having been drilled on weapon use and combat by me and Aina, not carrying even a basic self-defense weapon was utterly spineless, and Aina said that this kind of carelessness was the primary cause of the whole ordeal. I—
only
half agreed.
The reason I only half agreed with Aina was that I felt, even if carelessness was the root cause, there was an understandable element to being targeted by people who made a living from crime. But my opinion was not accepted. According to Aina, "Since you are, even if only nominally,
attendants of the person of the hour,
you can never be too cautious."
On top of that, Aina continued to pile on small critique after small critique, and the lecture drifted into matters that had nothing to do with the current incident.
As a result, it turned into an extended lecture session with no end in sight.
With Aina's lecturing as a backdrop, our conversation flowed surprisingly well, and we enjoyed tea while snacking on the new sweets that came up in conversation—sweet potato yokan.
It was over an hour after we started talking that the King and the others finally arrived.
The moment the King entered the room, he let out a heavy sigh, walked over to me, and snatched a piece of sweet potato yokan from just past my shoulder, popping it straight into his mouth.
When the King entered the room, Albert and the others immediately rose to their feet and bowed, preparing to step back, but the King simply had them remain seated.
The King settled into the seat directly across from me—the very spot where Lady Isabella had been sitting—with Lady Maria at his side. Caesar-sama and the others took their seats a little further off, while Lady Isabella, Tida, and Luna shifted to the opposite side from Caesar-sama's group. Aina even finally put a stop to her—
lecturing.
"Tired... ugh!"
The moment the King sat across from me and tried to slump into a lazy posture, Lady Maria drove her elbow into his side, forcing him to straighten up.
"I know, I know. *Ahem!* Tenma, Lord Merlin—I want to thank you both for preventing the coup before it could even begin. Albert von Sanga, Lion von Haust, Cain von Samons—you all acted swiftly and contributed to suppressing the coup, and I am well pleased. As for rewards, I'll make the announcements once the sentences of those captured have been handed down."
The King's uncharacteristic tone nearly made me burst out laughing, but Albert and the others hurriedly dropped to their knees and bowed their heads.
"Well, that's enough of the stiff formalities. But Tenma, you truly did well. This should keep the Reformist Faction in line for a while. Even if it's only temporary."
Apparently, this incident would also be made public. The official framing was that it constituted an especially grave crime in the kingdom's history, but from any angle you looked at it, the real purpose was to weaken the Reformist Faction's power.
Along with that, my grandfather, Albert and the others, and Baron Mustang's group would also be publicized for their contributions, which meant more headaches for me—but I was told to just bear with it.
I agreed to that after considering the implications for the future, but deep down I was secretly hoping they might leave my name—
just my name—
out of it. But of course, there was no way that was going to happen...
After that, as I was reviewing the contents of the upcoming announcement, Lord Zain called out to me.
"Tenma, would you be willing to sell me a few combat Golems?"
The sudden request made everyone in the room freeze.