Even though I had put on a grand fishing show and played the prophet, the collapse of Crawford’s privileged class had been inevitable from the start.
If some clueless nobody had shown up as chancellor, the story might have been different.
But I was on an entirely different level from those types.
An absurdly high status.
Transcendent influence and wealth through the Dapan Group.
Plus personal combat ability—I was a monster among monsters.
On top of that, I could make crows listen to daytime words and bats listen to nighttime ones.
—Struggle! Struggle! Solidarity! Struggle!
—We cannot live like this anymore! Guarantee our rights!
But what the hell was this bizarre situation?
Shugl, with a red band tied around his head, and Feltron were waving their right hands wildly.
It looked exactly like a modern labor movement.
No, where on earth did they get that idea?
These guys had never even watched TV.
Because of that, rather than feeling dumbfounded, I felt more amazed.
“Duke, Your Highness, it is so noisy I cannot concentrate at all.” Vargas made a disgusted face while looking at the two half-demons.
The solidarity struggle had already been going on for several hours.
It did not bother me since I was used to their chatter, but it was different for him.
He was in the middle of researching samples collected from the Crawford Principality.
“I need to find a material usable as fuel, so this will not do. I will handle it quickly.”
“Thank you.”
I stood in front of the two half-demons who were making a huge ruckus.
They were competitively firing off telepathy at each other.
Then, sensing the heavy atmosphere, they blinked stupidly and looked up at me.
—So-solidarity!
—Struuggle……
Just from me staring at them quietly, their voices shrank.
Subduing these guys by force was not difficult.
But that way I could not obtain perfect obedience.
I had to crush them with logic too so they would not pull this kind of useless stunt again.
“What is the problem?”
—The workload is too much! Monitoring the nobles is already overwhelming, and now you are making us review documents too.
—I feel the same! I have to go around here and there to find the fuel the human duke wants!
Everything else was an excuse; in the end, they just hated wrestling with letters.
That was understandable.
Almost all work at the National Hall was now going through the chancellor’s office.
Moreover, I was not using any bureaucrats separately.
I cannot trust them.
Law Officer Benny Mitchell was the only unusual case.
Most bureaucrats in the Crawford Principality were on the Senate’s side.
The simple reason they had secretly turned their backs on the royal family for so long was that the Soltri marquis house’s influence had grown that much.
Prince Peilly III had become a backroom old man, and the only successor was Princess Eustia.
On top of that, her husband was also from the Soltri family.
So the royal family’s power weakened, and things reached this point.
“No. Right now there is no one I can trust. The only ones who can do this work are you two.”
I naturally activated gaslighting.
I planned to emphasize that they were special beings and make them continue working.
But the half-demons’ intelligence was much higher than I had thought.
—Boss, there was no sincerity in that lie.
—Do you think we would not know that much? This is originally the human duke’s job anyway!
Actually, Shugl’s words were one hundred percent correct.
I had made all the final decisions on important matters myself.
“But this is ridiculous. Hey, does that mean I am not working?”
In reality, the two half-demons were only performing auxiliary roles.
Their work ability amounted to nothing but tireless stamina and high concentration.
Since they had no practical experience at all, they could only handle simple tasks.
Things like sorting and rough review.
—No, even so, this is too much for a person.
—Each of us has to read a thousand sheets of documents. And they are all parchment!
Correction.
Honestly, the workload was excessive.
A thousand sheets of parchment was practically exploitation.
Still, I could not do without Shugl and Feltron’s help.
Without them, the work would not move at all.
“Think about it carefully, friends.”
—What?
“Have you ever received highly concentrated vital energy in the Crawford Principality?”
—That is right! You should have given us at least that before making us work! There is no business ethics!
“Do you think I did not want to give it? It is just that I am not respected as much here as in the empire.”
—Ah, is that so?
“To be recognized at the National Hall, outstanding work ability is the basics. So we have to do it this way.”
—Is there no other way? You have a lot of money. Just throw it around to the poor people.
“That would only make them see me as a sucker. Instead of giving them fish, I need to teach them how to catch fish. For that, I have to start with the National Hall’s work first.”
……
Still not understanding, the two half-demons let out groans.
It was a natural reaction.
Even I did not know what I was saying.
I had just spouted whatever came to mind.
Surprisingly, however, Shugl and Feltron quickly accepted it.
—Fine. Then stabilize the National Hall as quickly as possible. Bring in human workers.
—Yeah. Boss, you are good at making others do the work.
What the hell was Feltron saying?
What was I good at?
I got angry and was about to smack him on the head when a thought suddenly occurred to me.
I am doing exactly that right now?
I had used smooth talk to trick the half-demons into accepting excessive work.
Since it sounded so right, my anger quickly subsided.
I cleared my throat awkwardly and stood up.
“For now, sort them and set aside only the really strange ones.”
—Where are you going?
“I have work to do as chancellor.”
—Got it. You have a lot of work.
I stepped out onto the street with Vargas.
We had collected enough samples.
That could be examined anytime.
Instead of leaving the caught fish alone, I decided to collect the floating rumors.
Useful things often slipped into rumors unexpectedly.
“It is definitely a remote countryside. There are almost no wheat fields. Can people even make a living like this?”
Vargas’s honest evaluation after looking around the city.
In fact, I did not have a very different opinion.
The Crawford Principality was a country with only one gem mine.
It was no exaggeration to say the nation’s lifespan depended on the mining output.
“What should we build here so people can make a living?”
“I have no idea at all. Besides the ridiculously vast forest, there seem to be no advantages.”
“Sigh! This is really hopeless.”
Of course, advancing the Dapan Group here could solve everything.
But that would not be the right decision from a business perspective.
It would obviously become a money-eating hippo—why invest capital then?
If there were abundant human resources like in Delriat, it might be different, but here the population was small.
Still, I cannot ask for the one and only gem mine.
I could develop it much better than now.
Even if Prince Peilly III allowed it, the backlash would be enormous.
They would call it treason for handing over the mine that was practically the foundation of the country.
“Let us gather information first.”
“Yes.”
Feltron’s crows and bats were all assigned to monitoring the nobles.
So I had to find out the rumors circulating among the common people myself.
We dressed as ordinarily as possible and walked the streets.
There were many mercenaries in the Crawford Principality who had come for monster hunting.
Because of the vast mountainous terrain, rare creatures were often sighted.
“I heard a Specter is roaming behind Verkal Mountain?”
“Those ghosts? Even if you catch them they do not drop good items, and they are a pain.”
“Besides, we cannot fight them with the weapons we have. The best is to just go around.”
“Damn. All sorts of weird things are getting in the way.”
“That is because so many people died in that area. The grudges met with mana and turned into monsters.”
“Ugh! Well, the Crawford Principality is dangerous by nature.”
Listening to the mercenaries’ conversation, there was quite an interesting part.
I subtly poked Vargas in the side.
“How about that one?”
“Specters are weak to light, so they purify themselves if left alone. Even if you deal with them, no useful samples come out.”
“Really? Tsk! Too bad.”
“Still, it might be worth checking once?”
“Did you not just say it was nothing?”
“Specter outbreaks in large numbers are rare in the first place. There must be some special cause.”
“Oh?”
Why would ghosts wander around anyway?
It was probably because a lot of people had died in the vicinity.
I nodded largely but set the Specter story aside for now.
If there was a better rumor, I planned to go there first.
But even after listening in at the tavern to nearby tables, nothing useful came up.
“Let us go to the Specter sighting area.”
“Sounds good. It worked out well. I have not been to the area behind Verkal Mountain yet.”
Recently Vargas had become fully immersed in his research.
It was because he had found decent samples in the Crawford Principality.
Of course, it meant nothing to me.
They were related to potions, so they only affected the sorcerer’s realm.
Still, it was not bad.
If this friend’s skill improved, good things might happen.
“By the way, we came all the way to the Crawford Principality but I have not met the princess even once.”
Vargas smacked his lips as if disappointed.
It seemed he had some other scheme in mind.
“You are not asking the princess for potion combinations, are you?”
“Eh? No, well, that could happen. Your draw luck is good after all.”
“You said it was impossible at first?”
“Come on! You proved it yourself. Do you not know show and prove?”
“I do not, you idiot.”
We bickered as we left the city.
The guards who recognized me sent worried looks, but I waved my hand telling them not to worry.
With the northern berserker and the sorcerer of Nermeia together, what was there to fear?
I was confident I could beat any monster that appeared.
“But is this right? They said Specters were roaming around.”
“Yeah. Not even an ant is visible. Who the hell spread that rumor……”
“I memorized all those mercenaries’ faces earlier. When we get back I am going to mess them all up.”
It seemed it had been nothing but false rumors; there was nothing behind Verkal Mountain.
Not only wild animals, but not even a single monster.
“But this makes it even stranger.”
“What?”
“It is too empty. Normally you should at least see birds or rabbits, right?”
“Huh?”
Vargas seemed to realize something too and tilted his head while looking around.
That was exactly when it happened.
—Kiiiiiiii!
A screech like nails scratching a chalkboard filled my head.
I clutched my forehead and twisted my face.
The mental damage was unexpectedly large.
“Ugh! Th-this is not an ordinary Specter. It is a much more monstrous one!”
“I know. But I cannot tell where it is at all.”
I could definitely feel an enormous presence, but I could not pinpoint the location at all.
Even after activating Beast’s Heart.
—Kiihihihihi!
The screech rang out again.
The intensity hammering my brain had increased dramatically.
This kind of mental attack is a first.
Vargas was already half out of his mind.
The shock to his head seemed to have exceeded the limit.
If this continued, even I might break.
No. I cannot die in a place like this!
It was a crisis, but there was a way to overcome it.
I just had to solve this with my body.
Quickly get out of the Specter’s range of influence.
If it wanted to follow us, it would have no choice but to reveal its true form.
That would be the moment to attack.
Specters are weak to light, so Destructive Retribution should work.
As I thought that and grabbed Vargas’s shoulder—
Gwaaaaaah! Charge! Charge!
Booooooong!
A sudden battle cry rang out, and something like a dragonfly flashed past in front of my eyes.
“What the hell is this again?”