Sorry for the delayed release of this chapter! Hope you enjoy it!

The Baskar Ducal House.

……their domain was in the southern region of Rinmel Princ.i.p.ality, and it was located in between the Sligar Ducal House and the Crow Ducal House.

The head of the house was Dennis Baskar.

He had been divorced from his wife for over ten years, and they had one son between the two of them.

"As I have already reported, the true state of affairs of Duke Baskar"s House is in extreme poverty. Therefore, it seems they were forced into dirtying their hands with the slave trade through the cajolery of the merchant moneylenders. At first they were only supplying those from within the Baskar Ducal House"s territory, but lately they have been involved in abductions all across the country……well, those under the protection of the five Archduke Houses can"t be investigated readily, so they probably made use of that. That was discovered by the Sligar Ducal House, and thus they were dragged into the diehard faction……as proof of that, only the Sligar Ducal House has, for some reason, been left out from having slaves procured from their territory."

"……about that. Have neither Duke Grindal nor Duke Ferring not realized that people had been unnaturally disappearing from their own territories? From how they were when I met them today, neither of them seems to have realized it……"

"That is likely related to the capability of the merchants that the Baskar Ducal House has employed……if there are no relatives to make a ruckus, then it is unlikely for the matter to reach them."

"I see…….well, if it"s that, then it"s possible."

"Yes. We have been investigating possible reasons, but……in reality, without a proper answer, the investigation has been facing difficulties."

"Hmm……for you to go so far as to say that, they"re quite capable…….is there any additional information?"

"Actually, that moneylender hid it quite skillfully…….but there is a possibility that they have connections to Duke Sligar behind the scenes."

Hearing Alf"s words, I involuntarily raised my voice and laughed.

"Hahaha……in other words, it"s like that. Duke Sligar is the one pulling the strings behind everything. If it"s like that, of course they"d notice what the Baskar Ducal House was doing. That being the case, then it"s possible that the reason why they fell into such extreme poverty to begin with has to do with Duke Sligar."

"I thought you"d say that, and have investigated it."

"Hou……incidentally, what led to the discovery of their connection with Duke Sligar?"

"We thoroughly investigated that merchant…….his real name is Derek. He was born in the capital, and it seems that his father was also a merchant. However, his business failed when Derek was young, leaving behind a debt. After that, they moved from place to place, and he started to work as an errand boy for an organization that was involved in underground trade, so to speak. He distinguished himself there……and apparently around that time, he had some dealings with Duke Sligar. But, he was betrayed by a confidant in the organization and tragically lost his standing. At that point he changed his name, and currently calls himself Nort. Then, he started to eke out a living by managing a business dealing in illegal medicines and the like in the capital, but……in recent years the business has expanded. Based on his past experiences, there is plenty of possibility that Duke Sligar is the one behind the sudden expansion. We will continue investigating this lead. It is just that it has taken longer than expected to arrive there……so I deeply apologize for the belated report."

"No, it"s fine. Rather, you"ve investigated it well……how about the investigation regarding the financial affairs of the Baskar Ducal House?"

"To begin with, the Baskar Ducal House was never terribly prosperous, but……the wasteful habits of the son between Dennis Baskar and his ex-wife are definitely the root cause of this. In the previous investigation we could not find any suspicious points, and thus we had stopped the investigation there, but……right now we are following the lead that it may have been due to Duke Sligar"s handiwork. There were no particular connections found between the ex-wife"s house and Duke Sligar, so presently we are looking at their acquaintances from that time."

"Is that so? ……tell me when you find out. Nevertheless, had they been planning on invading Tasmeria Kingdom since that time? Or were they just making moves as part of an internal national power struggle……"

"Taking into consideration when they started moving, I believe the chances of it being the latter are high."

"Hmm……I see. Well, the invasion into our country is also just a part of their power struggle. It"s perfect for differentiating between enemies and allies. If, on top of that, they manage to grasp a proper reason to invade our country then……"

Hearing my words trail off, Alf tilted his head.

"……what seems to be the matter?"

"Ahh……I was just lamenting my own incompetence. The lord of our country that"s connected to Duke Baskar……do you still have someone in the Talbot Earl House?"

Alf soon noticed my complete change in atmosphere, and tension spread across his face.

"Y-Yes."

"Well then, the funds that we intend to seize from Earl Talbot as one of his punishments will be handed over to you. Have your undercover agent take a portion of the money equivalent to the market price of pa.s.sage fees and rewrite it in the account books as a [Deposit from the Baskar Ducal House]. I"ll send a note to Rui to tell him to use that as a reason to call off the seizure by the country. You will arrange for Earl Talbot to return those funds to the Baskar Ducal House."

"Yes. Then, we will return it when……"

"No, do it now. Rather, it may even be too slow by now. My defenses are fine, so go to start that immediately."

"Understood…….however, before I move, may I ask why?"

"…..it is likely that Duke Sligar is thinking of using the invasion into Tasmeria Kingdom as a part of his plan in the domestic power struggles. If he uses a legitimate reason to invade, then that will become [justice]. Duke Sligar who will have found that "justice", will be able to increase his position within the country. In contrast, the more they oppose it, the weaker Duke Grindal and Duke Ferring"s position will become, as they will be seen as being connected to our country. That is what I have foreseen from the situation."

"Don"t tell me, that legitimate reason is……"

"Precisely. Tasmeria Kingdom conspired with the Baskar Ducal House to kidnap the citizens of Rinmel Princ.i.p.ality……that would probably be the general outline. In other words, well……from the start, Duke Baskar was a p.a.w.n to be cast aside."

"I see. Then before Duke Sligar moves we should have everything prepared."

"Yeah. To the very end, we are a third party with good intentions. We did not know anything, and just gave approval for a request to enter our country……if we"re taking that stance, then wouldn"t receiving money be going against that? In order to continue with the idea that we"re unknowing and unaware……well, in truth, Earl Talbot really didn"t know anything but……Earl Talbot needs to return the money. Since the Baskar Ducal House is still in extreme poverty, they"ll probably immediately accept the money. Do you understand? The money must be sent back within five days from now. If you rush to Earl Talbot"s home, which is the closest to Rinmel Princ.i.p.ality, from here, it should take 2 days. Just going to Earl Talbot"s territory and back without pa.s.sing by the Capital would be four days……it should be possible to return the funds to the Baskar Ducal House within 5 days."

"Yes. If I travel without sleeping, then it is possible to get there in a day and a half. As Earl Talbot is under house arrest as the original perpetrator of this matter, and the next generation Earl"s experience is still shallow, if I borrow Romel-sama"s name then we should be able to move immediately……regarding this case, could you leave things to my discretion?"

Alf"s eyes glinted suspiciously.

Seeing Alf"s change, the corners of my lips rose faintly.

"Ha……very well. If it"s you, then you"ll be able to use the feeling of [fear] well, right? ……at the very least, put a collar on the new Earl Talbot-sama so that something like this never happens again. While you"re at it, I"ll write a letter to Rui, so have one of your people send it to him."

"Understood…….incidentally, why must it be within five days?"

"It is desirable that this manoeuvering is finished before I go to meet the other Ducal houses of the Rinmel Princ.i.p.ality. In particular, before I meet the Sligar Ducal House. That being said, if the delivery of those funds is done slowly and I am made to temporarily go back to our country due to that, it is not unlikely that I will be accused of colluding with Duke Grindal and Duke Ferring. That is why I have to visit Duke Sligar and the rest during this visit but……that is also a bad move until the money is returned. That is why, starting tomorrow I will say that I"ve become ill and cancel my visits to the Crow and Baskar Ducal Houses to buy a bit of time. And, the amount of time I can stay despite my poor health before it seems unnatural would be about seven days."

"……I will internally pa.s.s on the word to my subordinates that the negotiations are suspended not because of your health, but the necessity of the completion of their tasks. In addition, I will tell Rui-sama of your request to adjust the schedule, as well as the new date of discussion with Duke Sligar."

"Sure."