Among the five dukes of the empire, Duke Hans Deneve possessed the weakest independent power, but he was a knight who had reached the Meister realm, known as the “Flash Sword” or the “Sword Saint of Flash.”
There was a man passing through the gates of Duke Deneve’s castle, heading toward the central grand mansion.
The figure, fluttering a green cloak and entering the grand mansion’s garden alone without any attendants, was Count Naias Beck, Duke Deneve’s direct disciple who had reached the initial stage of the Meister realm.
“Count Beck. This way, please. The lord is waiting for you.”
At the end of the garden, a middle-aged servant who had been waiting bowed politely and offered to guide him, and Count Beck accepted.
Following the servant’s lead, they arrived in front of Duke Deneve’s personal study.
True to the fact that the owner himself was a swordsman called the “Sword Saint,” the Duke Deneve residence had fewer knights guarding the corridors and stairs than one might expect for a lord’s mansion.
For Duke Deneve, a Meister-level knight, having several weaker guards attached to him wouldn’t be of much help.
Knock, knock, knock.
“My lord. Count Beck has arrived.”
“Come in.”
Once permission was granted from inside, the middle-aged servant nodded slightly and vigorously opened the door.
“Count Beck. Please enter.”
“Yeah.”
Count Beck replied curtly, briefly shook off the dust from his green cloak—symbolizing his loyalty to Duke Deneve—and crossed the threshold into the study.
“You’re here?”
Then, Duke Deneve, who had been sitting on a sofa by the window basking in the sunlight, lifted his head to greet his direct disciple.
The space was excessively large for a study. Even though it was the Sword Saint’s mansion, a study was still a study, so bookshelves lined the walls without a gap, filled with books. However, true to the man who had stubbornly walked only the path of the sword and was particularly unfriendly toward “reading” among such swordsmen, most of the books on the shelves were close to new, with hardly any trace of ever being opened.
“How’s the situation in the capital?”
Asking about the situation in the capital Granada—that was the reason Duke Deneve had summoned his disciple, who had received a title and become independent long ago, after such a long time.
Count Naias Beck’s territory was north of Duke Deneve’s domain, closer to the capital Granada, making it convenient for monitoring the movements of the imperial loyalist nobles.
“It seems the situation is worse than expected, Master.”
“Tell me in more detail.”
“The emperor has mobilized the imperial army and the capital legions to issue a large-scale subjugation order against all bandit groups around the capital Granada. Up until just a few days after the subjugation order was implemented, the number of executed bandits will exceed two thousand.”
“Two thousand means all the bandits around the capital have been annihilated.”
At the news brought by Count Beck, Duke Deneve’s expression hardened stiffly.
Among the bandits operating near the capital Granada, quite a few were personnel that Duke Deneve had personally planted to worsen the security in the empire’s central region, thereby weakening the imperial authority and the people’s support for the emperor.
The reason bandit hordes had suddenly started rampaging around the capital Granada at some point was because the low-quality ones—closer to criminals who favored plunder and kidnapping—among the mercenaries he had planted there had been particularly aggressive in their activities.
However, among those annihilated were a few knights who had sworn loyalty to Duke Deneve.
Having been swayed by Duke Tiberian’s cunning whispers and sent a large number of subordinates north at the time, Duke Deneve could only feel belated regret upon hearing that they had been massacred.
“And starting with Count Theseus Haren, the nobles who have recently returned to the loyalists are showing movements to muster their territorial armies.”
Originally, most of the powerful figures in the five dukes’ faction, like Duke Deneve and Count Beck, were located in the north, so not only the nobles close to the capital Granada but also the lords with territories near the five dukes had mostly declared neutrality and preserved their domains and titles pathetically by cutting ties with the loyalist nobles.
However, even though he was known as a wastrel origin, Cain—who had ascended to the throne as an awakener of the stigmata proving descent from the constellations—began showing the appearance of a dignified monarch, leading to a situation where the nobles who had declared neutrality were returning en masse to the loyalists.
“Haren Count… I heard he recently returned to the loyalists, but he seems to have more guts than I thought.”
The Haren County was not only almost adjacent to Beck County but also close to Duke Deneve’s domain. Despite that, with such an abrupt and aggressive subjugation-like movement, Duke Deneve was so dumbfounded that he couldn’t even laugh.
“What do you think? Beck, is it more than you can handle?”
Hans Deneve Duke threw a sharp question at his direct disciple, who had become independent with the title of count.
Those who had declared “neutrality” due to being close to the five dukes’ forces but returned under the emperor’s shadow after Cain’s ascension, like Count Theseus Haren and Count Tailid Penber.
Even if they mustered their territorial armies right away, they weren’t at a threatening level to Count Beck.
However, if he left alone the flow of them defecting one by one from the five dukes’ forces to swear loyalty to the emperor again, there was a risk that the emperor’s power would grow uncontrollably at some point.
“They’re toothless beasts anyway. Beasts that are only large in size with no fangs can be beheaded and subjugated in one stroke.”
However.
Those who had declared neutrality to maintain a false peace, reduced the scale of their territorial armies, and even paid protection fees to the lords of the five dukes’ faction were precisely the “neutral” lords originating from the “loyalists,” led by Count Haren and others.
Having paid considerable protection fees while being checked by the five dukes’ nobles and reducing their existing armies, even if they mustered territorial armies again now, it would take a lot of time to regain their peak strength from the past.
Moreover, compared to such toothless beasts, what about Count Beck’s territorial army?
He himself was Duke Hans Deneve’s direct disciple, having reached the Meister realm in middle age and called the “Storm Sword.” Under him were countless elite knights, ready for combat and muster at any time.
Most of them were top elite knights personally trained by Count Beck, not only rich in practical experience but also skilled in combat, incomparable to ordinary territorial army knights.
“If you command it, I will make an example right away.”
Count Beck showed strong resolve. He was a noble with the title of count ruling an independent domain, but before that, he served his master, Duke Hans Deneve—who had taken him in as a child and taught him swordsmanship—like a liege lord.
“No, it’s not yet time to make an example. First, calm your mind and gather strength. However, prepare for war step by step, mustering the territorial army so that you can take military action immediately if I instruct it.”
“Yes, understood.”
Just moments ago, he had been furious at the news that the lords who had returned to the emperor’s loyalists were gathering forces, seeming ready to make an example right then, but with one word from his sky-like master, Count Beck regained his composure.
“Is there no other news?”
“There’s one more… urgent news to report.”
“Urgent news… information that requires more caution than the ragtag bunch who declared neutrality and dreamed of prolonging their lives suddenly mustering knight armies?”
Duke Deneve tossed the words lightly, like a joke.
“Yes. In my opinion, it’s more important than that.”
However, to such a question from the duke, Count Beck replied with a stiffly hardened face.
“It seems the wastrel-turned-emperor has brought in foreign forces to subjugate us.”
“Are you referring to the priest of Ellington?”
The fact that the Beheading Priest Podric and his subordinate Executors had set foot on the Felberg Empire’s territory was no longer a secret.
“Yes, that’s right.”
“Hmm.”
He had briefly heard about the Inquisitor who had arrived in the capital, called the “Beheading Priest.”
“He’s a man serious about hunting heretics. If he judges someone a heretic, he’s a mad dog who would move to personally execute them even if it’s a nation’s monarch. He probably plans to borrow the power of the Holy Alliance to wipe us out.”
“It’s just a show for appearance. We’re not heretics, and the Beheading Priest doesn’t seem like someone to be deceived by fabricated evidence, so I don’t understand how he means to borrow the Holy Alliance’s power to execute us.”
Duke Hans Deneve had a confident attitude. But that was because he was unaware of some facts about the current affairs.
Among the various insidious means and methods that Imperial Count Lucif Blaine had mobilized to cause the founding festival catastrophe, the fact that “heretics” called black magicians were involved was something he had no way of knowing.
While some among the other dukes might know, Duke Deneve—with his inflexible, simple personality close to that of a typical warrior—knew far less about the detailed inner workings.
This was also a misunderstanding arising because the shadow magic used by Imperial Count Lucif Blaine narrowly escaped the category of black magic.
Officially, shadow magic wasn’t black magic, but among black magic schools, there were those who summoned abyssal shadows to bestow curses and confront enemies in combat.
However, Duke Deneve, who had stubbornly walked only the path of the sword so far, had no way of knowing such detailed circumstances.
“It’s not just about framing with fabricated evidence; the movements of the Ellington Holy Alliance are unusual. According to the information I’ve heard, it seems they’re mustering the holy war army, but the distance is too far to be certain of the authenticity.”
At Count Beck’s explanation, Duke Deneve ground his teeth. He realized the difficulty for a noble of the Felberg Empire to handle information from the Holy Alliance side precisely.
“I’ll keep it in mind.”
Duke Deneve sent Count Beck away and waited for the night to grow later.
As he stood by the study’s window without moving for a long time… soon, he could see the figure of Imperial Count Lucif Blaine slowly walking out from the shadows in a corner.
The noble with an eerie atmosphere, purple hair, and a monocle over his left eye—Imperial Count Lucif Blaine. Facing Duke Deneve, who wore an expression as if greatly angered, he raised one corner of his mouth in a cold smile.
“It seems there’s someone waiting? Duke Deneve.”
“Were you aware… of the ominous movements of the Ellington Holy Alliance?”
“Of course I was aware. My colleagues are already monitoring the sanctuary.”
“Then, why didn’t you pass the information to me? Aren’t we in a cooperative relationship? It’s troublesome if you act like this.”
To the sharply speaking Duke Deneve, Imperial Count Blaine conveyed a single remark with a leisurely expression.
“There’s no need to worry greatly, so I didn’t inform you first. The stubborn priests of Ellington won’t be a major threat for the time being. Because I’ll make it so.”
With countermeasures already prepared, Imperial Count Blaine simply smiled insidious.