Let’s summarize the key points from the conversation with Young Master Teron.
First.
Lumpen Hound is pursuing the enemy of the Empire, and it seems that enemy is in the Squaret Duchy.
But this is different from the information Lumpen Hound gave us.
He said he came because Squaret Duchy requested mercenaries.
Which means, either Young Master Teron or Lumpen Hound is lying.
We’ll have to look into it further to figure out who, but… for now, let’s just keep that in mind.
Second.
It seemed the knights followed Young Master Teron with considerable loyalty.
Apparently, Teron managed to resolve the complaints the knights had, but to learn the details, I’ll have to visit the Order of Knights myself.
And the third.
The knightly orders are apparently in conflict with Lady Titania.
But the source of this conflict—it might not actually be the Lady herself.
Perhaps it’s not the Lady, but the Strategic Planning Office she works in that’s stirring up the trouble.
For now, let’s go find the young lady and hear her thoughts.
I began making my way to the Strategic Planning Office under Mary’s guidance.
What greeted me there was a familiar sight.
“Chief of Staff?”
“Lady Titania. So you’re working here.”
Lady Titania, Captain Brunello, and even Lumpen Hound Moere.
Two knights stood at attention at her sides, and Lady Titania was immersed in paperwork.
Just like the work I used to do in the Helpion Domain.
The only difference being—
“These are documents on the deployment patterns of the domain wars between Desemal Territory and Hesedia Territory.”
“These are records of how the previous Duke handled the iron ore dispute. You can see here that when it came to determining distribution ratios, decisions were based on each territory’s contributions rather than land area.”
“Eighty years ago, two counts in the kingdom’s west fought a domain war over farmland near the river. At the Capital, they distributed the land and farmland based on arithmetic divisions along the border.”
“So the two cases are different. Leave the report over here for now, and look into whether there are any other similar cases.”
The sheer scale of personnel supporting the Lady was astounding.
Squaret Duchy’s Strategic Planning Office was as large as a classroom at the Academy.
At least forty clerks, each manning their own small desk, were busily handling various tasks.
Impressive.
Just a glance showed the strong bonds among them.
There was a clear system for reporting, and people rarely stepped outside the bounds of their responsibilities—it was all extremely neat.
Is this the strength of the House of Squaret?
“I’m sorry. As you can see, I’m a bit busy right now.”
“Not at all. I hope I’m not disturbing you.”
“So, what brings you here?”
“As I was investigating, it seemed there might be a conflict between the Order of Knights and the Strategic Planning Office here in the duchy—”
Lady Titania’s eyes widened a little at my words, but she quickly composed herself.
“Is that connected to the current situation?”
So, Lady Titania also knows something about the tension between the two sides.
“I can’t say for certain, but it seems so.”
“Hmm… Alright. If there’s any way I can help, I’ll do it. Samuel, Gerik.”
At Lady Titania’s call, two middle-aged men rose from their seats.
They were the same two people who had just handed her documents, and they looked to be in charge of those around them.
“These two handle everything in the Strategic Planning Office from A to Z. If they don’t know something, nobody does.”
“Thank you. If I could trouble you both for just a bit of your time?”
As I moved over for a meeting with the two, my eyes met Lumpen Hound’s.
He smiled at me.
There was nothing but curiosity in his gaze—I couldn’t read a trace of any other emotion.
Is he really here by coincidence, as Young Master Teron said?
With Moere’s presence in this affair, it’s impossible not to get caught up in speculation.
If only there were just one more solid piece of information…
While I was thinking that, the man called Samuel entered.
Samuel looked just like the graduate students I often saw at the Academy.
A voluminous robe, glasses, wild hair, a stretched shirt, and a face so gaunt he looked more like a zombie than a man.
Back in the day, if you asked such a senior anything, they’d launch into a long-winded explanation, eager to show off their knowledge.
And sure enough—
All I’d done was ask why the conflict between Teron and Lady Titania had begun.
Samuel’s glasses seemed to flash with a dazzling light.
“You’re talking about the Lady’s marriage and the conflict with the Order of Knights, yes? To discuss that, you’ll first need to understand the structure of the family, which has continued for some twenty years.”
And thus, the old man’s rambling began.
“Twenty years… Is it necessary to go that far back? I’m a bit pressed for time.”
“Well, at the very least you’ll need to know about the events of thirteen years ago—no, wait, fifteen years. Let’s start there, when Duke Squaret became Chancellor of the Delphi Academy History Department.”
“Ah, uh, sure.”
“Oh, by the way, are you familiar with how the Delphi Academy History Department operates? If not, it may be difficult to follow the story.”
“Sorry, but I really am short on time, so please be brief.”
“Ah, yes. I’ve gone off again. Hmm…”
Will I really get to hear the whole story today?
He’s my senior, so I can’t exactly cut him off.
“Duke Squaret actively supported promising juniors, bringing them into the duchy if there were no job opportunities. At the time, any student who was considered a genius at the Academy, who received scholarships, or even just had good grades and diligence—all could basically expect employment in Squaret Duchy.”
Pride glimmered in Samuel’s weary eyes.
Isn’t he basically bragging about how great he is?
“But the problem was the scale of the family’s economy. If you studied history, you’d have learned political economy as well. Even as a duchy, Squaret could not support an ever-increasing number of historians, writers, and administrative scholars. No matter how well they ran the Strategic Planning Office… that was the limit.”
“So, the other side’s funding started to dry up.”
“Exactly. Treatment of the knights started to worsen.”
Is that possible?
Even if Duke Squaret was renowned as a scholar, the size and strength of the knight orders are what define a noble’s status in society.
Especially fifteen years ago, when Duke Squaret was respected for his scholarship alone.
He only began his work as Iron-blooded Chancellor after stepping down as Chancellor.
“In truth, the Duke himself was innocent. The real issue… was with the bureaucrats who feared losing their influence.”
True, the Duke was not the sort to persecute one side just because the other was growing.
More likely, he would cut both sides down or come up with a plan to include everyone.
“They began secretly altering documents and tightening the purse strings. It started by reducing supplies allotted to the Order of Knights, buying fewer weapons and training materials, and cutting bonuses and stipends.”
“That’s…”
A groan slipped out on its own.
Samuel’s face was stiff as he continued the story.
“When the Duke realized what was happening, everything had already gone awry. Only the most loyal, long-serving knights remained in the duchy, and there was no way to train younger ones. The corrupt bureaucrats were busy lining their own pockets.”
“When clever people pull clever tricks, it’s hard to catch them.”
“The Duke was furious. He wanted to nurture talent, to care for people, and out of pure love for arts and the humanities, he supported them… but that only led to the corruption of the duchy and its retainers.”
Samuel’s voice grew choked with emotion.
“The Duke resigned as Chancellor of Delphi Academy. And he became so strict he earned the nickname ‘Iron-blooded Chancellor.’”
Samuel paused, steadying himself as if to suppress rising emotions.
His eyes were now red, and a dew formed at their corners.
“I know what people in the streets say about the Duke. That he’s heartless, that you could squeeze money out of him like blood… But that’s not his true nature. He chose this path of hardship for the students’ sake.”
He truly respected the Duke.
“He personally created jobs in Delphi’s Capital for brilliant students who couldn’t even find work, and fearing a repeat of the duchy’s failure, he now lives with unyielding discipline.”
It’s a bit much, but the respect is real.
“It’s not just about caring for students. Maybe the Duke still feels guilt for what happened fifteen years ago…”
Unexpectedly, I had to console a middle-aged man on the verge of tears.
Luckily, Samuel quickly composed himself.
“You’ve put a lot of thought into this.”
“I was a research assistant when the Chancellor left the Academy. I saw the Duke’s anguish and pain with my own eyes… yet all I thought about was my own future and followed him here to take a position.”
“Alright. That’s enough.”
“Ahem, ahem. Sorry.”
Touching story about the Duke—let’s chalk that up as background for making friends here.
But why is that coming up now?
This is why it’s impossible to stop academic types from rambling.
And I’m one of them, too.
“Let’s get back to the main point.”
“Ah, yes, the main point. So, the knights’ grievances grew. For five years, they weren’t able to train a single new knight.”
Normally, an Order of Knights trains new recruits each year.
That keeps the order’s size and quality up, which is good for job creation and brings positive effects to the local economy and daily life.
“Five years… that’s serious.”
“So, the knights kept passing their resentment down to the junior knights, who, not even knowing why, came to hate the bureaucrats in turn. The standoff just kept getting worse.”
“And it all blew up now?”
“When the Lady received a letter from Helpion Duchy and jumped not just to Sword Runner, but all the way to Sword Expert in a flash. It was definitely a joyous occasion, but the timing was bad.”
“The timing?”
“You’re from Helpion Duchy, so you probably know better than me. Normally, it takes ten years of training for an ordinary person to become a knight.”
Uh, I wouldn’t know.
All I did was write letters and suddenly got strong.
“But there was almost a five-year gap between generations, and it took another two years just to recover. That’s a total gap of nearly seven years. Senior knights kept retiring, and junior knights struggled to build up their skills. The ones left now are those who endured that period. How do you think they turned out?”
“I imagine they’re pretty tough.”
“They hate bureaucrats, are fiercely loyal, and beat their juniors within an inch of their lives. Only those kinds of people are left in the Order. They think that since they suffered, their juniors must suffer too. That’s the mentality they’re full of.”
And so, just as this powder keg was about to blow, along came the spark.
“Then all of a sudden, a few letters, and she gains enlightenment…”
“Right. Now, all the young knights and trainees are tempted to flock to Helpion Duchy with the Lady.”
At last, the whole picture came together.
A deep sigh welled up from inside me.
This isn’t a problem you can fix in a day or two.
And there’s no easy way to say, ‘Helpion Duchy isn’t going to take you. The Duke never takes on disciples.’
Even if that’s true or not, it would only give these young men hope, only to snatch it away.
If there’s no revolt, I’ll consider myself lucky.
“It won’t be easy.”
“Exactly. And on top of that…”
“That’s enough. I’ve heard all I wanted to know.”
I cut Samuel off.
I’d learned everything I needed, and had no desire to humor his rambling any longer.
Samuel smacked his lips with regret, then sighed and glanced toward the back of the Strategic Planning Office.
“Well, from here on out, it’ll be better to hear from Gerik.”
“What can he tell me?”
“Gerik was just a clerk doing odd jobs back when those document-tampering bureaucrats were still in the family. He’ll have the clearest picture of the relationship between the knights and the bureaucrats.”
“Knights always say this: They risk their lives hunting monsters and expanding the duchy, and then the bureaucrats come in like cockroaches, slap taxes on everything, make money off each other, and toast to their own success.”
Gerik said this while nervously stroking his mustache.
“Muscle-brained knights, with nothing but brawn and scars for brains—only they’d say something so foolish, wouldn’t you agree?”
Sir, please stop hating on the knights.
Bring back the touching story Samuel just gave me.
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