Chapter : 144

“Greetings. It is an honor to meet Your Excellency, the famed Sacred Guardian.”

The envoy I saw for the first time spoke boldly, without a tremor, confident and at ease.

Judging by how he had no hesitation in meeting a high noble, it seemed Baron Pierre had a capable man as his hands and feet.

He was perfectly suited to carry out the heavy duty of being an envoy.

It seemed Baron Pierre, who carried the ambition of taking in the House of Viscount Bardi, had good fortune in people.

“You are bold. It is good to see.”

“You flatter me, Your Excellency.”

“Haha. So, what brings you here? Baron Pierre must be quite busy and probably would not have the leisure to pay attention to me…?”

“It is nothing else than this: Baron Pierre wishes for the honorable Margrave to visit him once, Your Excellency.”

“Oh…? A visit?”

Baron Pierre could not possibly be unaware that I was currently in a power struggle with the king.

Since it was a fight with the highest authority in the country, if I looked elsewhere, I would invite catastrophe.

Yet in this precious time, he wanted me to visit him?

And to leave my domain?

Baron Pierre was not that lacking in propriety. That meant there was surely something behind it….

“Hm.”

I narrowed my eyes and looked at the envoy. Then the envoy lowered his head again and carefully opened his mouth.

“As you are thinking, Baron Pierre is not so lacking in propriety, Your Excellency.”

“That remains to be seen. In any case…. If you are saying that, there must be something else behind it, yes? Something I do not know?”

“I merely happened to learn the news first.”

“Even that is a skill, is it not. Speak. Why does he want me to visit in this precious time?”

At his cautious excuse, I answered with a faint smile.

“Soon, the Holy See will send an envoy.”

“An envoy?”

Why would the Holy See, all of a sudden?

I was bewildered.

Had that not already been settled with the envoy I sent….? Had they changed their mind?

“Yes, Your Excellency. The Holy See intends to invite Your Excellency to the Holy See. From what I hear, officials within the Holy See are moving to resolve the matter.”

“That is a rather out-of-the-blue claim. The Holy See is inviting me in this situation. What absurd nonsense are you spouting?”

I frowned. The envoy read my mood and hurriedly continued.

“I have heard that the Holy See presented a mediation plan to the king of the Elang Kingdom, Your Excellency. It was a mediation plan that fully acknowledged Your Excellency’s justification and recognized the sacred duty of protecting the County of Bozen.”

“What? Is that true?”

“Yes, Your Excellency. They said the Holy See and the king of the Elang Kingdom will soon dispatch people regarding it. Do you not know? Although Baron Pierre left the king’s side, he once served as the closest attendant.”

“Hoh….”

It was hard to believe.

But the envoy spoke so certainly that it was difficult to dismiss outright.

Then it might be true….

It seemed the Holy See and the king of the Elang Kingdom had made a deal I did not know about.

And if that was the case….

‘Is this because of the internal strife in the Holy See Bishop Marco mentioned last time?’

It might have been.

Had our goat beastman Bishop Marco not said that in his two previous trips to the Holy See, Cardinal Adriano’s faction and the crusader knight order faction were locked in a power struggle over the next pope’s seat?

‘If I remember correctly, the crusader knight order was an order rooted in the Elang Kingdom. They have a lot of money and a lot of fiefs, so they are a thorn in the king’s side, too.’

If I looked at that context, then as a national-level judgment, the Holy See—no, Cardinal Adriano within it—and the king of the Elang Kingdom could indeed join hands.

And the price would be recognizing me, a pro-Holy See force within the kingdom.

‘Hm, well, I will learn the details when those envoys arrive.’

Thinking that, I asked the envoy again.

“Then what Baron Pierre wants is for me to meet him once when I stop by the Holy See?”

“Oh…! Your Excellency. Yes. He wishes for Your Excellency to visit the House of Viscount Bardi at that time.”

“To the House of Viscount Bardi? Not to Baron Pierre? Ah, so he is asking for an official visit.”

Having roughly grasped the story, I smiled faintly. Baron Pierre’s greatest weakness was his bloodline issue.

His bloodline as the bastard son of Viscount Bardi, who was on his last legs.

When legitimacy was flawed, something else was needed to correct it.

It seemed he wanted that role from me. There was no other great noble on the Apennine Peninsula right now who could exert influence as strongly as I did.

‘If he puts me forward to restore legitimacy, and if he gains my support, it will be quite a great strength in taking over the family.’

It was a fairly good method.

It was also a method befitting Baron Pierre. And at the same time, another thought arose.

‘It seems the struggle within the House of Viscount Bardi is not easy.’

Of course, I had expected it to some extent. If anything, it was better this way. If I helped this time, I might gain quite a lot from Baron Pierre.

The House of Viscount Bardi, which wielded strong influence over the free cities of the Apennine Peninsula, was a very attractive investment target.

“Good. If what you say is true, then when I visit the Holy See, I will stop by the House of Viscount Bardi.”

“Thank you, Your Excellency!”

“What is there to thank me for. Then I will see you then. Tell Baron Pierre to stay well.”

“We will prepare the finest welcoming banquet.”

After Baron Pierre’s envoy came and went, I was very busy for a while.

I reorganized the troop structure, personally led the Arhen Mountains development linked with the Canton Confederation, and used various irrigation expansions as bait to exert influence over each domain that had joined the customs union.

Reports poured in from all directions, and the newly organized administrative officials were still not used to things, so they brought all kinds of processing problems to me.

As a result, deep darkness settled under my eyes, just like Treasurer Palmer’s, but what could I do?

“Tsk tsk. I told you that you should have done things in moderation. It is all your own doing.”

Just as Magician Agpiel said, I had brought this suffering on myself. I kept thinking how nice it would be if I had ten bodies.

To the point where I almost wanted to ask Magician Agpiel if there was a magical mystery that could split my body.

“Stop teasing me and help me, Magician Agpiel. Are you really going to keep lounging around like that?”

“Hoh. I used the magical mystery our employer requested, so shouldn’t I rest? It is not something you can just use freely whenever you like.”

“Grr….”

It did seem like it was not something he could use easily, considering he was performing such miraculous feats….

But when I saw him lounging sideways in a chair, chewing fruit with a perfectly shameless face while groaning, ‘Oh, my back,’ it also felt like maybe that was not the whole story…?

Still, it was only suspicion.

I had no choice but to wrestle with the mountain of paperwork alone.

“If it is that hard, shouldn’t you just drag in one person who is truly loafing around?”

“Who do you mean?”

“You know, that rather cute troublemaker goat beastman.”

“Do you mean Bishop Marco?”

“Yes. He is a bishop in name, so he should be able to boss people around, read, and calculate, so he should be able to help. If it is hard to give him paperwork because he is scatterbrained, you can send him out for external work, at least.”

At Magician Agpiel’s words, I let out a deep sigh.

“I already tried that, of course, Magician Agpiel.”

“And?”

“I sent this goat beastman out to audit progress, and he got entertained by the people involved and got so excited that he is singing.”

“Oh dear….”

“On top of that, he keeps trying to sell indulgences and collect donations from the workers, and every time he feels like it, he holds testimony masses, so the complaints at the site are no joke.”

“…….”

At my words, Magician Agpiel made a very complicated expression.

A person’s luck with people was a double-edged sword, containing both good and bad.

Of course, that young noble’s troublemaking bishop was rather extreme.

“I should not have suggested it. I am sorry.”

“No, it is fine. He has his uses, in his own way, Magician Agpiel.”

I meant it.

Did they not say even dog dung could be used as medicine? Everything had its uses.

“Uses? What do you use that goat beastman for?”

Magician Agpiel asked, unable to hide his curiosity.

“To catch corruption, Magician Agpiel.”

“????”

“At first, I was angry because this goat beastman was being entertained so much and turning it into a party, but when I thought about it differently, if I use this, doesn’t it clearly separate the ones who work hard from the ones who skim money?”

Corruption and graft were deadly precisely because you did not know who was committing them.

If you investigated everyone, even those who worked hard, just to catch corrupt people, what would happen to morale? And the administrative manpower needed would be absurd.

But if I listed up corrupt administrators through our goat beastman Bishop Marco?

“So I am having Bishop Marco tour diligently. He is checking who entertains him and slips him money. Later, I plan to thoroughly investigate only those bastards. Heh heh heh.”

It was a very easy way to handle it.

The ones committing corruption probably thought Bishop Marco would take it and keep his mouth shut, but not at all.

-Meheheheh! My lordi. Look at this. It is shiny-! Mehr.

-Where did you get it?

-Meeeeee! I got it from the inspector supervising the irrigation facilities in the Bonte region. Mehr. Isn’t it beautiful, my lordi? Meheheh.

-…Yes, it is very beautiful. Keep working hard. Just like that.

-Meheheh. Just trust me, my lordi! Meeeee.

Bishop Marco the goat beastman boasted to me with complete confidence.

Because of that, it was far too easy for me to confirm. My drawer was already packed full of documents listing the corrupt officials. Along with various testimonies(?) and evidence.

Of course, Magician Agpiel’s expression when he heard this was….

“…….”

“What is it? And what is that face, Magician Agpiel.”

“You really are…. In many ways, you are consistent. Like lord, like subordinate.”

He was making a truly strange and complicated expression, mixed with exasperation and admiration.

In any case, while I was working so hard that I almost forgot about Baron Pierre’s envoy’s visit.

-My lord! An envoy from the Holy See has arrived! They are insisting you must attend the Holy See. What should we do?

-The king of the Elang Kingdom has issued an edict along with a statement. It acknowledges the legitimacy of Your Excellency’s punishment of Count Bozen and permits Count Bozen’s younger brother João to inherit the County of Bozen. At the same time, the envoy who brought the edict wishes to meet you in secret. He says it is regarding the Holy See…. Will you meet him?

The Holy See and the king of the Elang Kingdom had sent envoys.

Just as Baron Pierre’s envoy had said, it was certain those two had joined hands. For envoys to arrive so simultaneously, no less.

‘Hehehe. They were in a real hurry, huh. Thanks to that, things worked out beautifully.’

And this was.

Another opportunity for me.

An opportunity to broaden my influence even further.

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