Chapter 124 : Chapter 124
Chapter 124:
“I don’t understand.”
The Duke shook his head.
A smile was on his face, but his eyes were sharp.
“Are you saying you’ll believe what these little rats say instead of me, a member of the Eight Council?”
“You shouldn’t have done anything to arouse suspicion, Your Grace.”
“Ha! Are you in any position to say that to me?”
The Duke let out a loud snort.
Indeed, it was a rather funny thing for Valheit to say.
“You have a point, but this case is different. It’s a matter involving the Commander.”
“It’s true I was conducting various investigations related to the Commander. These things probably overheard that somewhere. That’s all there is to it.”
“Is that so?”
I turned my head to the curse-weaver who was trembling violently.
As all eyes turned to him, the curse-weaver became even more flustered and couldn't even speak.
He needed a little push.
“If that’s the case, then the Duke will decide the fate of these two….”
“N-n-no, it’s not! I heard it clearly from our commander! That someone named Anat was the target!”
“Someone?”
“He said a person named Anat was the target!! He said if we could just capture her, we’d hit it big!”
“That’s what he says, what do you think, Your Grace.”
The Duke, having the ball passed back to him, let out a sigh.
It was closer to an act of frustration than a genuine sigh.
“I’ll say it again, are you going to believe them? The words of these demons who live off eating dirt?”
“Now that it has been said, I can’t just let it go, can I.”
“Wasn’t it the Commander’s will that we should do whatever it takes for the purpose of the Eight Council. If we pick a fight over every little thing like this, how will we achieve our goal.”
The Duke looked down coldly at the curse-weaver and emphasized the word ‘purpose’.
He might not be speaking about the purpose openly because of the outsiders, but to my ears, it just felt like he was changing the subject.
It sounded plausible because he said ‘purpose’, but what in the world was the connection between stopping the world’s destruction and capturing Anat.
“Didn’t the Commander also say not to be picky about the means and methods? I merely followed her words.”
“You are absolutely right. For our purpose, all means and methods can be justified. However, there is still a line that must be drawn.”
“Are you saying that everything you’ve done until now has stayed within the lines? Even leaving thousands to die to secure the Emperor’s illegitimate child?”
“Of course. That’s a case of staying very well within the lines.”
Strictly speaking, it wasn’t something I did, but even Valheit hadn't crossed one particular line.
“Because I didn’t raise this kind of hell in someone else’s land.”
At the word ‘hell’, the Duke shot me a glare.
Ivan and Til also looked this way with surprised eyes.
“I couldn’t think of another appropriate word. Is there a more fitting term than ‘raising hell’ to describe acting as one pleases in a place that isn’t even one’s own jurisdiction.”
“I thought a man like you would surely understand, but it seems my thinking was a bit short-sighted.”
“If you truly thought that, then you’re not short-sighted, you’re just dim-witted.”
As I continued my scathing criticism, the mask the Duke was wearing began to crumble little by little.
In contrast to the Duke’s face, which was gradually contorting with anger, I smiled as broadly as possible.
“It might have been a different story if you hadn’t been caught, but you didn’t believe no one would find out after making such a huge mess, did you.”
“That’s strange. Didn’t we have an agreement between us?”
The Duke said, barely maintaining a smiling expression.
What on earth did that Valheit fellow go around promising.
I wasn't flustered.
Valheit was the kind of man who wouldn’t mind if a few people died within the Empire if it was necessary.
“That’s a very disappointing thing to say. I never ordered you to do this, did I?”
“…That’s true.”
Just as I thought. I nodded unknowingly as I watched the Duke’s face, which was now beginning to completely contort.
There was no way Valheit would have made a clear promise.
He would have surely left himself a loophole.
Seeing the Duke’s reaction, it seemed my guess was correct.
“Hmm, so this is a Valheit-style promise.”
“Isn’t it a very clear and easy-to-understand promise?”
“……”
The Duke’s words were cut off, as if he couldn’t think of anything to say at the moment.
There was no need to give him more time to think.
I had to push him hard right here.
“If you have nothing more to say, I will convene an Eight Council meeting to deal with this matter. It will be a sort of disciplinary committee.”
“Disciplinary? For me?”
“Trespassing on another’s jurisdiction and attempting to harm the Commander. Aren’t those sufficient grounds for disciplinary action.”
“I wasn’t aware the Eight Council had such a procedure.”
“It was just created. As the Acting Commander, there’s no reason I can’t create it, is there?”
As the Duke’s hand went to his waist, Til reacted first.
Til, who blocked the space between me and the Duke, pushed an awl against the Duke’s chin.
“Our Count here isn’t in good condition today. If you have a problem, I’ll deal with you.”
“Surely you don’t think I would. I simply wish to have my possessions returned to me.”
The Duke, taking a step back, pointed at Ivan.
The curse-weavers stealthily moved as far away as possible from where the Duke’s finger was pointing.
“Are you planning not to leave if I say I won’t give him to you?”
“Perhaps? Why are you now planning to steal other people’s things as well.”
“How could I. Please, take him as you wish.”
“That’s how it should be.”
The chains binding Ivan were easily cut.
Ivan, now a free man, didn’t look very happy.
“Can you move?”
“Yes.”
“Then let’s go. There’s no more business to see to.”
As the Duke started to leave, humming a tune, Ivan stood still, looking flustered.
I was a bit surprised too.
Given the attitude he showed last time, I thought he would naturally have his head chopped off.
Ivan seemed to have had the same thought, as he looked more uneasy about not having died.
“Are you not coming?”
“No, sir.”
Ivan cautiously followed the Duke outside.
It’s pretty much over.
With this, I’ve completely burned my bridges with the Duke of Leitche.
“Hey, Count.”
“?”
Suddenly, the Duke poked his head back in.
His face, which had been full of irritation, had somehow returned to his usual smug expression.
“You really won’t regret it?”
“Regret what.”
“Rejecting my proposal.”
When I answered with silence, the Duke clicked his tongue as if he was bored, shook his head, and then truly disappeared.
“Thanks to the uninvited guest, we had a more interesting interrogation session.”
“That disciplinary procedure thing, are you really going to do it? We don’t have anything like that.”
“I told you. I just created it with the authority of the Acting Commander.”
“Are you planning to gather the entire Eight Council?”
“For an incident of this magnitude, we should gather everyone, don’t you think?”
For a simple disciplinary action, there was no need to gather everyone, but I planned to use this opportunity to put a firm leash on the Duke.
If all members didn't agree, it would lack legitimacy.
“Should I help gather people?”
“Why are you asking? Of course you have to help. Make sure even the guys who always skip out come this time, no matter what.”
“You really have a way with words.”
As we were talking and grumbling, I felt like I had forgotten something.
I was sure I had brought someone else with me.
“Uh, um.”
Raphel stood hesitantly outside the door, scratching his head.
Ah… right, I did bring the doctor.
“I really didn’t hear anything, can I just go?”
“……”
Raphel, who was looking back and forth between Til’s and my faces, hung his head low with a half-resigned expression.
“I guess I can’t.”
***
The Duke was in a bad mood.
The instinct he had gained from serving this capricious master for many years was telling him so.
“Hey.”
“Yes.”
“Why do you think I brought you out of that shithole?”
His voice was endlessly cheerful, but the man could feel the anger coiled behind it.
Normally, he would have done his best to ensure that anger was not directed at him.
But now, he was practically a walking corpse.
It wouldn't be strange if the Duke decided to cut off his head at any moment.
So, words that he would never have said normally popped out.
“I have no idea. Wouldn’t it have been better to kill me and those demons back there.”
“Aren’t you treating your life a bit too much like straw?”
“Considering I messed up this job, isn’t the value of my life already less than a piece of straw.”
“I’m glad you know. I was worried you might delude yourself into thinking you survived because you’re incredibly valuable.”
A light laugh followed, but there was no falsehood in the Duke’s words.
He was saying it wouldn’t be strange if he died right now.
“Normally, I would have dealt with you that way. But maybe it’s because I’m getting older, my heart has grown weak.”
This was a lie.
It was a fact that anyone would know, not just a man who had worked under the Duke for over 10 years.
“Disciplinary action, of all things. After all I’ve done for him, to think I’d be discarded like this in the end. Valheit, that ungrateful bastard.”
In the Duke’s actions of beating his chest as if he was wronged, only exaggerated and fabricated emotions could be felt.
“What are you planning to do?”
“You ask because you don’t know? I have to repay this injustice.”
The Duke smiled slyly and turned his head.
Now we’re getting to the main point.
“Hmm… what was that alias you used this time.”
“It was Ivan.”
“Ah, right, it was. I remember saying what a tasteless name it was. Anyway, Ivan, do you remember the anti-Valheit plan we prepared a long time ago?”
Ivan searched his memory for a moment before nodding.
Not long after he joined the Eight Council, the Duke had ordered him to create a plan to eliminate Valheit.
It was shelved as the relationship between Valheit and the Duke progressed rapidly and there was no need for it, but the plan itself still remained.
“I think the time has come to use it.”
“The situation has changed a lot since then, hasn’t it? With the foolish emperor driven out, the internal politics of the Empire have also stabilized.”
“I love that kind of criticism. However, I hope it’s not a statement you’ve just blurted out without any alternative.”
The Duke nodded his head vigorously.
His tone was filled with anger, but Ivan didn’t pay it much mind.
If he had intended to vent his anger on him, his head would have already been cut off back in that cave.
The fact that he was still breathing meant he still had his uses.
“The initial draft of using the Dukes who dislike Count Valheit to isolate and eliminate the Count, then pinning it on the Dukes, cannot be executed now.”
“Have you thought of an alternative?”
“I’m sorry, but I can’t quite imagine one in my head. Isn’t this a time when the relationship between the Dukes and the Count, and the Dukes and the Emperor, is more peaceful than ever.”
“You’ve gotten a lot of nerve, haven’t you? Well, you’re not wrong, so I’ll let it slide.”
As expected, the Duke only grumbled instead of cutting off his head.
“Since my subordinate is so lacking in creativity, I have no choice but to step in myself.”
“Do you have a good plan?”
“I wouldn’t have brought it up if I didn’t! Listen well. No matter how good their relationship seems, the Emperor and the Dukes can never go together in harmony. They are firewood that will burn uncontrollably with just a single spark.”
The Duke, who was gesturing a blazing fire with his hands, grinned.
Ivan, on the other hand, grimaced.
“That’s true, but there is no spark, is there?”
“We can just make one. Go meet old man Geller. That greedy old head of his probably has something in it that we can give him.”
“So what do I get out of this?”
It was a question he would never have uttered just a few days ago, but now that he was in a situation as good as dead, it came out of his mouth easily.
“I’ll spare your family! Though all your relatives will die.”
“…That’s enough.”
“Good thinking. You have to save your wife and child, don’t you? Ah, before you go meet Geller, take care of one more thing.”
The Duke’s smiling expression twisted hideously.
“We’re done using the People’s Medical Center guys, so clean them up. Neatly. Got it?”
Ivan immediately nodded.