373 - Leonardo's Perspective - West-Facing Adorutoru Crest 2
"The one you requested was the kidnapper William, was it not?"
"Yes. He should not have been returned to the Saenard Kingdom yet. William, who caused the kidnapping incident in Lagarette, should have been under Jemian-dono's jurisdiction..."
It was nearly four years ago that William kidnapped Tina. The responsibility for Tina's kidnapping incident led to war, but it was also strange that William was still being detained within the country. Normally, relatives would pay bail and take him back quickly, or at the time of declaring war, they would cut off his head and send it back with the declaration. Neither of those happened because of William's own testimony that his actions were done on his own authority. His relatives insisted, "Someone who goes to another country, causes a kidnapping incident, and gets captured is no relative of ours," avoiding the spread of responsibility. As for why his head was not cut off at the start of the war... it was because Tina, the victim, asked us to go easy on him. Incidentally, the current King Christoph does not favor barbaric acts like cutting off prisoners' heads. Things being what they were, Jemian must have been at a loss for how to handle William as well.
"I hear the Saenard Kingdom side told him, 'Earn your bail money yourself,'" she said.
It seemed that decision had been reached in the exchanges between Jemian and Conrad Prince, William's master. As far as the Saenard Kingdom was concerned, they wanted to disown someone who would cross the border without permission and cause a kidnapping disturbance there, declaring him unrelated to their country. However, since those actions were taken out of loyalty to his deposed master, one could only say his methods were wrong. Apparently, Conrad Prince himself hesitated to abandon him. As a result, the Saenard Kingdom would pay neither compensation nor bail, but a notification was apparently issued from Conrad Prince to William: no matter how many years it took, earn the money yourself, pay the bail, and return. By all accounts, William was now working up a sweat in the mines, following the directive from the Conrad Prince he revered.
"For him to say, 'Reap what you have sown and you may return,' Conrad Prince seems to be quite a rarity among the Saenard Kingdom's royalty."
"Well, yes. He's royalty who is beloved by the people, which is rare in that country."
That was precisely why the other princes and princesses resented him.
When I looked into the state of the territories directly governed by Conrad Prince, it seemed highly likely that he was a reincarnator. His method of governance was completely different from the Saenard Kingdom's traditional ways. In the Saenard Kingdom, which was a mass of elitist consciousness where the class you were born into was everything, he was born into royalty, the highest rank, yet he did not oppress commoners and valued capable people regardless of status. None of the other princes or princesses seemed to possess the same qualities, so it must be Conrad Prince's own nature that was heterodox. His way of thinking was close to that of the Ivizia Kingdom's royalty.
"Simply put, I also suspect he simply does not want to further reduce the nation's strength."
From the war last year, the internal affairs of the Saenard Kingdom must be in shambles. I crushed all the major knights and generals who rushed forward ahead of the others, eager for glory, so the reorganization of the military would likely take years. Their western border faced the warlike Zugari Empire, but fortunately, the Erath Mountain Range made it difficult to attack from the west. The northern border faced the Divine King's territory of Quebia, and given Quebia's nature, it was hard to imagine they would attack just because a neighboring country was weakened. The problem was the southern border facing the Ivizia Kingdom, but those two countries had been on bad terms since the Saenard Kingdom's founding. Now that it was clear the Saenard military was in tatters, it would be the perfect opportunity to attack and destroy them, but Christoph would not do such a thing. In other countries, the throne was apparently something blood relatives killed each other to claim, but in our country, it was passed around within the Royal Peerage, and the most suitable person took the throne. Whether one wanted it or not, they were made to sit in that seat because they had the ability and could be entrusted with the people's livelihood. We were fully occupied protecting the lives of the people we already had, and had no desire to expand our territory or increase our population.
...Well, the troublesome princes and princesses had died in battle or been assassinated anyway, so Conrad Prince should have an easier time moving forward now.
If Conrad Prince ascended to the throne, I believed the Saenard Kingdom could recover, even if it took time. Conversely, if they could not recover now, they would truly collapse. Conrad Prince would likely be able to rebuild the country together with the people, but other royalty would only be able to kill the people rather than make use of them.
There was no need for us to do anything more regarding the Saenard Kingdom.
When the carriage carrying us passed through the castle gate, we were guided to a room used as the gatekeepers' station. Since our destination was what it was, gate guard soldiers flanked us on both sides as we moved within the castle walls. The soldier led us with a "This way" to a prison built underground. William, who was said to be working in the mines to earn his own bail money, was waiting in his cell with shackles on both hands.
...Had he put on a bit of muscle?
I had only met him once four years ago, so my impression was inevitably from four years ago. He had looked very much like a nobleman's son back then, with a slender impression even while wearing a sword, but perhaps thanks to working in the mines, he seemed to have gained a bit of muscle. The flesh on his shoulders and legs was no longer that of a princely gentleman from before.
"What business do you have? I must earn my bail money quickly and return to Conrad Prince's side. I have no time to waste on the likes of you."
Normally, he worked in a mine far from Lagarette, but since I had requested a meeting today, he had been called to Lagarette city. For William, who wanted to return to Conrad Prince's side as soon as possible, this must have been quite an inconvenience.
...Well, I did not think I needed to be considerate toward someone who kidnapped Tina.
Thinking of him as the criminal who kidnapped Tina, I wanted to beat him to death, but we had also recovered Tina after she was taken by William. Considering the lives of the townspeople that were lost, the punishment seemed too light, but he was at least engaged in the labor of earning his own bail money. How to handle William was not something for me to interfere with.
"I take you for a Saenard noble. There is something I would like you to see."
"Something you would like me to see?"
"This crest. The Adorutoru crest is common in the Saenard Kingdom, is it not? Do you know which house it belongs to?"
I showed William the gold ring bearing the crest through the bars of his cell. Since William's hands were bound with shackles, he could not take the ring, so I held it as clearly as possible, and William moved his head around to observe the ring's crest from various angles.
"...Indeed, the Adorutoru is a common crest in my country. Many houses adopt the crest, hoping to share in its strength, drawn to the fierce nature of the Adorutoru."
But a west-facing one is rare, William said, and his head stopped moving. He stared intently at the ring's crest from the front, and there was a brief silence as if searching his memory.
"...No good. I cannot tell after all. Could it be from a new house that has performed some meritorious deeds? I could investigate back in my homeland, but it is not in my memory."
William explained that as a third son who was eventually expected to leave the family, he had received almost no education as an heir. The eldest daughter as heir, and even the second daughter treated as a substitute, were educated to memorize all the crests of noble houses, but as a third son, he was not required to have that level of education, so he did not know all the crests.
"Any documents of my country in the Ivizia Kingdom would be old ones, mainly from before the countries split. If you want new documents, you should inquire with the home country."
William began saying that if our business was done, to quickly send him back to the mine, so I offered him my thanks. It had been a wasted trip, but I had obtained testimony from a Saenard Kingdom subject. As I thought, I would likely need to go to the Saenard Kingdom itself.
"I am sorry I could not be of help," Basilia said.
Once we climbed the stairs and emerged above ground, Basilia spoke after waiting for the underground door to close. She seemed to have thoughts about my not obtaining the information I sought. Since none of this was Basilia's fault, I denied it. The fact that William knew nothing about the Adorutoru crest was not Basilia's responsibility.
"Thanks to Basilia-san bringing William here in advance, the business was finished quickly. Your efficiency helped a lot."
When I thanked her, Basilia's cheeks flushed slightly, then she turned away with a "hmph." She said in a somewhat distant voice that she was glad to have been of use, but that was probably her hiding her embarrassment. Tina had said Basilia was a tsundere and cute. Indeed, she put on a cool and aloof front, but at her core, she was an honest and kind girl. I thought she was looking away to hide her embarrassment, but she immediately turned back to me and offered to investigate the crest herself as well.
"My father might like elaborate designs," she said.
Basilia asked me to show her the crest as well, so I handed her the ring with the crest. Basilia looked at the ring in her hand with curiosity, then tilted her head.
"A west-facing Adorutoru crest is quite rare."
"William said the same... but Basilia-san, you do not know it either?"
"All the Adorutoru crests I remember from the Saenard Kingdom face east. Since it is a rare thing, I feel like it should be easy to identify, but..."
Saying she would investigate once she returned to the main house, Basilia stared intently at the ring to memorize the crest. Watching her, my thoughts began to stray, noticing she was slightly taller than Tina, and I shook my head gently. Because Tina was not here, I was unconsciously searching for her. It was one thing to search for her whereabouts, but starting to look for traces of Tina in girls of a similar age was, by any measure, a bad sign.
"...That is."
"What is it?"
I shook off my own thoughts trying to find traces of Tina in Basilia, and deliberately looked around to distract myself. In my slowly sweeping field of vision, I spotted a carriage with a canopy stopped just before the castle wall. It was unusual even for me to notice a traveling merchant's carriage, but as I searched my memory, the reason came quickly. The carriage undergoing inspection at the city gate was one I recognized.
"Oh, hello. It has been a while, Leonardo-sama."
"About a year. Long time no see, Cody."
Cody, who was having his cargo inspected by the gate guards, noticed me and bowed his head. Since the inspection was in progress, he could not yet enter the castle gate, but Cody seemed bored while the gate soldiers searched his cargo. He greeted me with a friendly smile.
"...What route is your business taking this time?"
"My route, you say?"
Looking slightly puzzled as to why I would ask such a thing, Cody nevertheless answered my question honestly. He must have remembered that while Lagarette was not my territory, I controlled the border. The topic did not seem to be anything he needed to hide, as he showed me his purchasing ledger while telling me his route.
"...So you came from Lugmilama Fortress to Lagarette, Cody."
"Yes. Last year, because of Christina-sama's orders, there were towns and villages I could not stop by, so getting back their trust this year has been difficult..."
"That is... how should I put it... my apologies."
We had compensated for the lost sales through the Sedovara Church, but for a businessman, trust was everything. If he had passed by the towns and villages he usually visited every year to prioritize Tina's requests, Cody's customers from last year would have been confused, and they might have already bought goods from other merchants, seeing no reason to wait for Cody's carriage that might pass them by again this year. The goods Tina ordered were delivered properly, but fully compensating Cody might take years.
...Compensation, huh.
Cody was a straight-laced person. He would not accept if I simply offered him money. In that case, I wanted him to be of some use.
"From Lugmilama Fortress... no, even within the Saenard Kingdom is fine. Did you happen to pass any suspicious carriages along the way?"
"Suspicious carriages? What kind of carriages specifically?"
"Carriages where the driver did not greet you when passing, or that moved to avoid being seen... basically, even small anomalies, any carriage that felt off?"
I tried giving examples I could think of, but nothing seemed to stand out in Cody's memory. Cody looked apologetic and answered that he had not passed any carriages that felt strange.
"Were those carriages the reason checkpoints were set up in various places?"
The major roads and key routes that carriages took from Lugmilama Fortress to Lagarette city, and even the narrow roads so small that carriages could barely pass, were all said to have Black Knight checkpoints, creating a forbidding atmosphere. Apparently, he thought something was strange, but assumed the inspections were strict because he was from the Saenard Kingdom, the country we had fought last year. However, upon arriving in Lagarette city, he realized that assumption was wrong. He noticed that the interrogations were stricter for travelers heading toward the Saenard Kingdom than for those coming from it.
"...You said this year's business has been tough, did you not?"
"Yes. But Christina-sama saved my nephew's life, and I have gained new customers, so... it might be a little hard until next year or so, but I will earn back their trust soon."
"Then, for this year that you expect to be tough, let me hire you a little. As a traveling merchant, you go outside the Ivizia Kingdom as well. I want that information."
I proposed that while continuing his business and traveling around various regions, he bring back information for me. Cody was a subject of the Saenard Kingdom. It was difficult for me to go to the Saenard Kingdom, but Cody could enter it simply by going home.
"I would like to discuss the details in Grenore. After you finish your business in Lagarette, could you come to Grenore city while carefully observing your surroundings?"
"...Understood. If I can be of use, I will head to Grenore."
I showed Cody the ring's crest as we parted, but he had no knowledge of it either. It was a crest that even William, a Saenard noble, did not know. It was no surprise that Cody, who was merely a merchant, would not know it either.
[Author's Note]
It turned out Cody was a surname, not a first name.
It apparently means "cooperator" or something.
He is such a good person that I had to write a side story defending him, saying "This kid is not a bad kid," after he was called "suspicious" repeatedly the moment he appeared.
Belatedly, thank you for 2500 bookmarks.