Chapter 139 - Episode 1: For Now, It's Shakedowns
Greetings! It is I, Violia Nico Fortesia!
I am currently at the Cathedral.
Why? ...Because the royal family has shoved some incomprehensible proposal into the Cathedral!
"...I see. To ensure that innocent people are not caught up in the flames of war, they are requesting cooperation from the Cathedral."
After being allowed to read the letter that arrived for Carol, I've roughly grasped the royal family's aim. In short, they have no other moves left, so they want to pull in the Cathedral for now to secure the military power of the Holy Knights and the support of the masses that would gather around the Cathedral. Yes.
"Even so, what a condescending letter. It's as if they're saying they'll overlook the matter of the werewolves, so we should cooperate."
"That's right. Even at this stage, they're being high-handed, so to speak, bringing up the werewolves... and on top of that, I feel like they're hiding some other demand behind this, so I'm not sure what to do..."
My, my. They can think whatever they want in their hearts, but if they let the other party sense it, they're third-rate.
"How about just rejecting it, saying you don't like the third-rate civil servant who brought that letter?"
I think it might be a bit of a problem if the Cathedral did that, but it's a common tactic to reject a request based on the claim that the messenger was rude, so wouldn't it be fine?
...Or so I thought.
"The thing is, it's not that simple..."
Oh, Carol's expression is clouded...
"The one who brought this letter was the seventh prince himself."
...Oh my...
The seventh prince... that would be Dactor-sama. That scoundrel, to bring the letter directly to Carol, he's quite humble. Though his attitude was apparently the exact opposite of humble.
Even so, for Dactor-sama to go out of his way to come in person. I certainly suspect there's something behind it.
"How was he?"
"Well, he brought up the werewolves and talked about your misdeeds, Violia-sama, and so on... but for the time being, I could feel his intent to pull the Cathedral in no matter what. He showed concern for me and acted as if he understood the Cathedral's activities, so..."
I see. He came to blatantly flatter her.
And yet he talked condescendingly about the werewolves and tried to disparage me, his enemy; he's naive, isn't he? I suppose it can't be helped since he's royalty.
"I don't want to take the path of antagonizing Violia-sama, and in the first place, if we think of the people, it would be better for them if we just overthrew the royal family. Besides, Violia-sama has no intention of involving the people anyway."
"Well, my intentions are something they could never understand."
I don't pointlessly harm the masses. A dairy farmer doesn't kill their livestock for no reason. It's the same thing.
But for the royal family, they would probably be happier if I were fully intent on harming the masses, and they're likely acting on that assumption... Truly, they are a bunch who cannot see things from the people's perspective.
"Actually, a dinner party including the seventh prince is scheduled for a few days from now..."
"And you're to give your answer then?"
"No. No deadline was set for the response. But... to go out of the way for a dinner party with a prince, they're clearly pressing for an answer, aren't they?"
That's right...
Which means for the Cathedral, they can only delay the response until a few days from now.
Carol would likely want to decline without making waves. Well, for now, 'the Cathedral will remain neutral' seems like the correct answer, but it would be troublesome if the Cathedral were attacked because of a poor move...
...In that case, it would be appropriate to use a mistake on the royal family's side as a reason to decline.
Then it's decided!
"I understand. Then I shall go and do some shakedowns in appropriate villages or the back alleys of the Royal Capital!"
"Eh?"
"You lot! We're going to do some appropriate shakedowns or robberies!"
"What are you talking about?"
And so, having returned to the hideout, I gather the men!
"It's a simple story. We'll start bad rumors about the royal family's side to give Carol the material she needs to hesitate in cooperating with them!"
I immediately share the information in the hideout.
However...
"Eh? Eh? Why does Violia-sama doing shakedowns lower the royal family's reputation?"
Only Lital is unable to keep up...
Well, I suppose it can't be helped. He's a noble to the core... no, I think he could have been a bit more stained by the secular world during his nearly a year of warrior training...
"First, the ones we'll be shaking down are nobles. We'll snatch the wealth from the nobles who are hoarding it."
"I see! If we do that, we can gain the support of the masses who hold a grudge against the nobles!"
"No, no. That alone wouldn't be enough of a reason to lower the royal family's reputation. Use your head a bit more."
Just as Lital jumped to a conclusion, Giovan tapped him on the head, and the conversation resumed.
"Then, we'll scatter the wealth we got from the nobles to the masses."
"In short, we'll act as chivalrous thieves?"
Well, that's true, but... that's not the most important part!
"When that happens, naturally, the royal family will have no choice but to dispatch troops, right?"
"...Eh?"
"If a noble's property is stolen, it's only natural to go and get it back, right?"
"...Ah."
It seems Lital finally understood!
"Yes! This is a plan to make the royal family's soldiers attack the masses! If a soldier accidentally strikes a commoner, we just have to shout loudly that 'the royal family's soldiers laid a hand on the people'! It's a very simple matter to create a reason for the Cathedral to refuse the royal family's request for cooperation! Ohohohoho!"
"And so, it's been a while since we've done some stealing. How exciting. I wouldn't mind burning down the mansion while we're at it, but we mustn't kill the noble who will report the damage to the royal family... so I suppose arson is out?"
"In the first place, you shouldn't set robbery and arson as a set, young lady."
I'd really like to make them a set, though... Happiness from robbery, happiness from arson. A happy set where you can enjoy two flavors in one! That's what I say!
"It would be better to stick to simple robbery and extortion this time. Rather than making it look like the Revolutionary Army's executives are moving, it's better to make them misidentify it as the work of the Revolutionary Army's lower ranks. A large-scale operation would feel out of place. The only one who should be seen moving is, at most, me."
Oh. Doran immediately volunteered. That is very pleasing, but...
"...Are you alright to move?"
"There's no particular problem... is something wrong?"
"No, you've seemed a bit unwell lately."
He seems to be trying to act as usual, but he can't deceive my eyes. I've seen him making sure to bask in the moonlight every night since he was deeply wounded at the Martial Arts Tournament, and I occasionally see him looking somewhat sluggish. Doesn't that mean he's unwell?
"No... there's no particular problem. I'm fine."
"Is that so? ...Aren't you hiding something?"
"Nothing in particular."
...I'm absolutely sure he's hiding something. However, it's likely something that won't cause me any harm.
I'm curious... I'm very curious...
"Well, it's fine, isn't it, young lady? So, shakedowns and robbery? It's decided that Doran will be used, but who else? I think Chesta looks the most like a hoodlum, though."
"I think so too."
"Is that an insult to me? Hey."
Giovan immediately recommended Chesta. Yes. Among us, Chesta does look the most like a hoodlum. Or rather, he actually is a hoodlum.
"Well, fine. Yeah. So, me, Doran, and Violia? I think three is enough, but should we include Contraus?"
"Hmm. It sounds like a truly delightful event, but I shall decline. I must soon begin transporting the cannons. I shall head over there."
Oh, Onii-sama is not participating.
...Well, that's fine. Me, Chesta, and Doran. Come to think of it, it was these three who did the first robbery-murder-arson, wasn't it... How nostalgic!
"A-also! Violia-sama! I will accompany you too!"
"Ah. You are rejected."
Lital bravely volunteered, but as expected, I won't take this boy along. Yes.
"After all, you are a noble yourself. Besides, you don't look like someone suited for shakedowns at all."
"Th-that is..."
"Besides, it's easy to leave a trail when a mage is used in this kind of situation. Stay home quietly this time."
Lital looks dejected, but even if he's dejected, I'm not taking him! No matter how you think about it, this boy isn't suited for crime!
...Even during Chris's 'debut,' I didn't do anything too terrible because Lital looked like he was about to cry. If it weren't for that, I would have made him a laughingstock in the plaza, completely naked, and made him eat what he produced himself! Well, it also served as proof that the Revolutionary Army doesn't do inhumane things, so I suppose that was the correct choice. Yes.
...As for Lital, I think he'll be useful for the cleanup after the revolution is over. Until then, he'll have to stay home, but I hope he can endure it. Yes.
Now then, we immediately began to eye the nobles we would target!
We thoroughly searched for good nobles who seemed to have a fair amount of money, had a strong sense of victimhood, and would likely report to the royal family immediately.
Oh, Lital was useful here. He's the only one who knows the latest social circle affairs. Yes.
And so, we decided on tonight's target and finally arrived at the Royal Capital!
And we head for the noble district! We immediately found a noble brat who seemed to have eaten out at a high-class restaurant!
Thinking this was lucky, we went to surround him!
"Greetings. It is a fine night. By the way, have you seen any gold coins around here? I seem to have dropped mine."
To me, who suddenly called out to him, the noble brat first made a look of sheer annoyance. There's no doubt he was thinking of ways to drive me away quickly or just ignore me.
...However, when a sturdy, powerful man and a man who looked like a hoodlum appeared following me, he finally seemed to understand the situation he was in.
"Now, I shall ask you once more. Have you seen my gold coins?"
"N-no... I don't kno—"
"My, don't play dumb with me."
I thrust the heel of my shoe into the wall next to the noble brat. The plaster wall cracked just from that, and pieces of plaster fell off with a dry sound. It's quite a good stage prop.
"You have it, don't you? Money."
"Th-this is different. It's not something I picked up..."
Now then. Here, the noble brat realizes. He's weighing one gold coin against his own life in this current situation!
...And so, the noble brat quietly left the gold coin and ran away! Ohohohohoho!
After that, we surrounded several people in the same manner, had a gentle 'talk' with them, and had them leave an amount of money suitable for their respective financial situations.
Just by shaking down a few nobles, we easily got an amount equivalent to a commoner's annual income, so it's truly a lucrative business...
By the way, rather than me going to 'talk' first, it was quicker for Chesta to say, 'By the way, I'm short on cash, mind sharing some? It's fine, right?' while flashing the knife hidden in his prosthetic arm, and even quicker for Doran to just go and say 'Give me your money' without even holding a weapon. I feel like I'm losing my confidence.
We escaped the Royal Capital before dawn, got on the dragon we had parked on the outskirts of the Royal Capital, and returned to the mountain.
Tomorrow, it's time to go out during the day and distribute today's earnings to the poor! How exciting!
"Welcome back. How was it?"
"It was a gold mine."
Showing Keeb the bag filled with platinum coins, gold coins, and even jewelry like rings and brooches, I reported our victory!
"I think I'll leave it to you and Lital to go and distribute the money to the poor tomorrow. It'll give a better impression if the ones doing it look good."
"Not just me, but him too? ...Well, fine."
It seems Keeb still finds Lital a bit disagreeable, but well, in terms of facial features, these two are by far the most beautiful boys. I'll have the two of them do it.
"Please leave it to me! I shall prove myself useful!"
"Well, don't be too eager. The royal family's soldiers will just come to take back what you've distributed anyway."
Lital had a broad smile after being given a job, but hearing my words... his expression suddenly clouded.
...Then, Lital said:
"...Um, Violia-sama. If the royal family chooses to overlook this chivalrous thief's work... that is, if they don't go to take back the distributed wealth, won't the plan fail?"
"Oh, it's alright."
I answered him with a bright smile.
"In that case, we just have to wear the soldiers' armor and attack the people ourselves."