It"s been 4 days since the protection ordinance promulgated, and you could already see some of the spearhead representative soldiers guiding the [Artless] cleaners around to the different places in the commoner district. Although the first day had some difficulty due to the many onlookers, from then on it was smooth sailing as there was less confusion, thus changing the city"s landscape to a better scenery.
After finishing the report of today"s patrol, Yuusuke arrived back at his room and opened the door.
"Yoz"(Reifold)
"What Yoz!"(Yuusuke)
Why is Reifold in my room, isn"t this the palace? Yuusuke was looking at him with a surprised and amazed expression. Up until now his actions have all seem to pointed at him being a spy of Blue Garden, but Yuusuke felt that he was not an enemy, thus closing the door behind him before asking, "What"s your purpose today?"
"Ah? Isn"t it not good to discover an intruder and not call on the knights?"(Reifold)
"You"re standing in front of one though. So, what"s your reason for coming here?"(Yuusuke)
Responding to what Yuusuke did, Reifold said something amusing,"So someone have grown up." Next, Reifold took out a letter from nowhere and pa.s.sed it to him. The sender"s name was Zeshald.
"This is?"(Yuusuke)
"As you can see, this is Zeshald"s letter to you, buddy."(Reifold)
Although Yuusuke had many questions, he wanted to ask him, first he opened the seal and read the letter.
"By the way the contents of the letter was a request for manufacturing of tools and the news of the current situation."(Reifold)
"Shouldn"t that be a secret!"(Yuusuke)
In Zeshald"s letter, the current situation of Blue Garden was written down, it also contained information about the rumors that were spreading around about the Hero of Gearhawk. Due to these events, there are some confusion within the military reorganization in Paula, using this opportunity they will strike with different kind of actions.
Zeshald met with the queen as he plans to weaken the Blue Garden leadership of the Supreme Leader Officer Izapnar, in order to do this he has to recruit talented people who are still loyal to the queen into the [Queen"s Faction].
In the meantime, he is creating the impression of the Queen being the true monarch of Blue Garden, by promoting the Queen as the symbol of the nation, thus becoming a visible tool of authority.
Zeshald"s plan is to return to Paula as the Queen"s entourage, along with a tool, created by Yuusuke, advertising it as a sacred treasure bestowed by the Queen. His aim was to target all the bureaucrats with authority who were loyal to the former Blue Garden King, and to expand the influence of the original queen faction, the G.o.d militia groups.
As a member of the former king’s bureaucracy faction, Izapnar, in order to avoid criticism, he entrusted the Queen with policy and decision making authority. Up until now, due to the her being suppressed within the central region, the Queen did not really have any power to recruit allies, thus having to no choice but to accept all the pet.i.tions unconditionally.
However, by increasing the Queen"s faction forces he will cause a decline in Izapnar"s political power by pressure. More than authority and decision making, if the Queen is said to be "useless", and if they could not be forced to follow. The worst case, would be that it develops into a civil war, and if by some chance it happens, Fonclanc will side with the Queen"s faction.
By building a good relationship with Queen, Fonclanc and Blue Garden will be able to transit into a more peaceful relationship when she obtains absolute power in Blue Garden.
"Hmm....if things were to happened like that, it wouldn"t hurt or itch Fonclanc’s side."(Yuusuke)
"Well, it"s a fire that"s happening on the opposite sh.o.r.e. And we are the one"s fanning the flames."(Reifold)
".....huh? "we"....?"(Yuusuke)
"Huh? I thought you had already noticed it. I am a very important double spy, you know."(Reifold)
One could say that his current position in Blue Garden was a spy sent by Blue Garden to Fonclanc, and also a spy by Fonclanc that was sent to Blue Garden. Since, Yuusuke had the vague feeling that it was something along those lines, after hearing him disclose his secret, Yuusuke replied,"Of course."
Seeing that it was a recommendation by Zeshald, Yuusuke let out a sigh as he came to an agreement.
"Alright I understand the situation, I’ll make some kind of fake sacred treasures."(Yuusuke)
"Best Regards, I"ll have to head over and report to King Es...o...b..s. Oh, keep this a secret between us."(Reifold)
"Seeya later," Reifold left his room while waving his hand. Looking at him normally walking away, it was a weird yet a strangely fresh feeling to Yuusuke.
"But that means... Reifold must have learnt about my ability from teacher."(Yuusuke)
In order to counter the supreme influence from the midst of the enemy, one has to build up his/her forces. Yuusuke understood that this is a role that is in fact very dangerous. Holding the position and t.i.tle of the Queen"s entourage, just by hearing about the situation on the other side, he knows that Zeshald would need the best type of protection.
As Zeshald will be diving deep into such a dangerous job, there would be a risk of a.s.sa.s.sination once the ball starts rolling. Until the Queen"s allies have expanded to a sizable force, it would be a lone struggle within the fortress city.
"If it was like this, the only means I could support him with, are by making these false sacred treasures."(Yuusuke)
As this is a very serious responsibility, Yuusuke begin kneading on the concepts of the Sacred Treasures.
~Council Room, HQ, Central Facility, Fortress City Paula~
In the room, Supreme Leader Izapnar was speaking to his right hand man regarding the incident that had happened recently. It was about Head Instructor Zeshald"s lone audience with the Queen Risha.
"By any chance, if we were fully caught off guard by their explanation of us plotting an a.s.sa.s.sination on the queen..."(Izapnar)
"Perhaps, the majesty might even launch an attack force against us."(Izapnar right hand man interrupts)
Unable to determine what"s Zeshald"s real intention is, Izapnar had to judge and discuss on with his male subordinate about what choices he had.
"Just as I thought, that incident in the fortress was such a huge blow on us, it will take some time to get over it."(Izapnar)
"Although Zeshald"s leadership ability is great, it is such a pity he didn’t work for us."(Izapnar’s right hand man).
Originally, if Zeshald had an audience with Queen Risha on an earlier date, we could have planned an accompanist a.s.sa.s.sin to go together with him to a.s.sa.s.sinate Risha and announce the scenario as a conspiracy of Fonclanc, "Zeshald"s Secret Mission was to a.s.sa.s.sinate the Queen".
Although it is a very cliche way of inciting the public anger towards Fonclanc, he himself knew that by doing that, it would increase the momentum towards war, using the queen"s death as the fuel for the war, "The War of Vengeance". This would cause the people to fight bravely til the last man standing.
After reducing the number of the Queen"s faction left within the country, he gradually reduced the authority which the royal family held. As Zeshald has recently been recruited from Fonclanc, he came looking unprepared to build up the Blue Garden"s royal dynasty, as though he stumbled upon this trip.
"Poison seems to have seeped into our midst....the Queen"s faction is slowly increasing. At this rate it will directly lead into a civil war"(Izapnar)
"If that was the case, I believe Fonclanc would support the queen"s faction."(Izapnar right hand man)
"!.....That son of a b****! So that was his aim."(Izapnar)
"He might have already set his plan in motion, and started recruiting people to his side."(Izapnar right hand man)
The Queen"s popularity amongst the citizens was very high. The different elite groups and the central bureaucracy have a faction which follows the status and lineage, while the militia and central figures follows the old king faction. Thus, the bureaucracy was waiting for the Queen to make her move and side with her faction.
"If only we had something at hand to be of use...."(Izapnar)
"Let"s put a collar on someone who is a talented person close to Zeshald. The sooner the better."(Izapnar right hand man)
"Alright, I approve of it, go ahead with it."(Izapnar)
"Then, could you prepare the doc.u.ments for one of the water members of the Water Troupe."(Izapnar right hand man)
After receiving the doc.u.ments prepared by Izapnar, his subordinate bowed to the supreme commander as he(subordinate) left the office.
"Ng~~"
It"s already late into the night. Yuusuke was in his room, sighing. The sacred treasures that were requested by Zeshald, their abilities weren"t up to the desired performance yet. The items that he had created up til now the "status" on them were not strong enough for the items to be considered as a "Sacred Treasure", thus it could not protect Zeshald.
If he were to equip the different parts of the available corps clothing that Yuusuke wore, each and every one of them would stack on the enhancements and achieve the desirable result. But ~~
"If it was just clothes, it would lack the impact.....something else, one equipment which could encompa.s.s all the effects, something resembling....."(Yuusuke)
As he was speaking to himself, while murmuring and groaning, a knock echoed from his door. ‘Must be Violet coming to beg for a seasoning for her rara fruits again’, thinking that Yuusuke moved his body up from his bed. Because Violet sometimes come in the middle of the night asking to change the taste of candies while bringing tea to enjoy along with it.
~ Come to think of it, it"s been awhile since I made those sweet fruits for Sun.~
Although it is possible for Yuusuke to customize the fruits to the desired sweetness, however it is impossible to recreate them without the customization ability, and the fruits that he had stocked up in Zeshald"s house should have all been consumed already. Now may not be the time for a trip back to Rufk Village, I should request someone to make a delivery.
"This time I"ll write a letter, to her....."(Yuuske)
"Yoz, good evening"(Reifold)
When he opened the door, Reifold was standing there.
"Seems like you"re not making any progress"(Reifold)
"Yea, I need some new materials"(Yuusuke)
Reifold could see that Yuusuke have hit his current limit of his customize create ability as there were a number of sacred treasure candidates, scattered all across the table and on the floor. Although the shape and appearance was up to one"s discretion, the type of materials used, on the other hand, had a huge difference in the enhancement effects.
Scattered across the room were many failed sacred treasure candidates and many prototype jewel material, although he had the image of the item in mind, he seem to be unable to create it, thus. .h.i.tting his limit.
"I have to make this a specialized water arts item, and I expected a considerable amount of effects on the item, but i can only do it to a certain extend."(Yuusuke)
If the sacred treasure was stolen, it would become a ridiculously powerful item for our enemies. Therefore, I wanted to avoid several options, and prioritize Zeshald"s safety more than anything else. And on top of it all, to embody the authority of the Queen on it.
Lost in his thoughts, Yuusuke was spinning a jeweled bracelet atop his finger, while Reifold started grinning as he took out a package from his pocket.
"Hey Buddy, this is a present entrusted to you by King Esvobus."(Reifold)
"From the king? What the h.e.l.l is this....it"s heavy"(Yuusuke)
As he opened the package, lumps of metallic objects fell out. Silver colored heavy metals. He looked into the customization menu, and realized it was a metallic material very similar to the large sword that Shinha wield. At any rate, this seemed like an ancient treasure that had been stored for a very long time within the vaults of the royal treasury.
"Eh~, with this I should certainly be able to create what I wanted."(Yuusuke)
"Okay, I will come by again tomorrow night."(Reifold)
"Hey, wait a sec, I have a request for you."(Yuusuke)
Yuusuke picked up a sacred treasure candidate, a jeweled ring and changed it into the "Ring of wind arts". He pa.s.sed it to Reifold as a reward for delivering a letter and a bag of rara fruits to the Rufk Village. Reifold was shocked by an unexpected request from Yuusuke and had a unusual surprised look on his face.
That night, on the highway from San Adiet to Rufk Village, a figure of a man running at speeds exceeding that of a normal troop carriage could be seen. Entrusted with a letter while carrying a bag of rara fruits on his back, he was running while ascertaining the effects of the "Ring of Winds Arts" which he had gotten as a reward.
Reifold, who was extremely blessed by the gifts of Wind Arts, could run at a rate in parallel with a normal horse drawn soldier carriage, but with the increased effect of the ring, his speed exceeded his expectations and this was his first time having a sense of fear from running too fast.
Even though he felt like that, he still continued running without sacrificing any speed, wondering how much faster he could go as his curiosity had won over his fears.
~ For a ring that he created in his spare time, the effect is...... outrageous, the existence of Yuusuke is...~
Demonstrating the flexibility of letting his underling lead during chaotic situation. Using his wits to cleanly control the situation within the fortress, thus appealing to his underlings through the depth of his magnanimity. Having built a good relationship with the princess and her entourage, and even having a close friendship with the renowned Volce family"s eldest son, who is also a princess fiance candidate...
"So I see, that was what he meant by moving the world....."(Reifold)
On the whole, different from the value of appearance, in the depth of this world"s society and methods, there is always a common misunderstanding of that kind.
~The following morning~
Sun woke up and as usual she was about to head towards Aunt Bahana house, right at the entrance of the door was a bag of rara fruits accompanied by a letter. After she read the letter, Sun took up and hugged the bag while being full of smiles.
"Mr. Yuusuke is..... quite an attentive person!"(Sun)
Sun"s favorability rating went up.