Dream Life Vol 3 Chapter 20.1: “The Beginning and End: Part Two”

　I was consulted by Baron Ferdinand Oldham, Frontier Count Rosswell’s confidant, regarding the handling of the 4th Battalion’s rebellion, and I headed to the Frontier Count’s office with my father Mathias and older brother Rodrick.

　When I entered the office, I found the Frontier Count staring at a point on his desk with his cheekbones on.

“He was staring at a point on his desk. I have brought Sir Mathias and Master Zacharias here on my own initiative.” (Oldham)

　The Frontier Count replied curtly, “Yes,” and then said, “I’m sorry, I was thinking.” He seemed to be having a hard time deciding what to do about the situation.

　The Frontier Count showed a slight wry smile on his face, then stood up and bowed to us.

“Sir Mathias, Master Zacharias. First of all, let me thank you again…” (Hubert)

　After thanking us, he also thanked his subordinate, my brother Rodrick, with a sincere expression on his face.

　We hurriedly bowed our heads, and my father, on behalf of all of us, said, “We did what we were supposed to do. You don’t have to thank us.”

　There was a slight pause, and silence reigned in the office. I was determined to ask the frontier count what he thought.

“Excuse me, Your Excellency, what do you think of this situation?” (Zack)

　In response to my straightforward question, he mumbled, “Well,” and then began to speak.

“At the very least, Lux’s involvement will have to be made public. The same goes for Constance’s involvement, my younger brother, Viscount Constance Tysburn–but I wonder how big the impact will be in that case. I don’t know what the impact would be.” (Hubert)

　As expected, he seems to be thinking of taking the safe route and just publishing the facts.

　I decided to tell him what I had thought about before I came to this room. It was not yet well thought out, but the old statesman, the Frontier Count, might be able to come up with an even better idea from what I had in mind.

“Although I am an outsider, could you please hear my thoughts?” (Zack)

　The Frontier Count laughs helplessly and says, “I can’t say you’re an outsider. You’re a victim too.”

“Well then, let me tell you what I think. First of all, I would like to disclaim that this is not something that will be pleasant to hear.” (Zack)

　The Frontier Count nodded his head at my words.

“It is only natural that you should denounce Lux thoroughly. It is clear that the Ouellette Trading Company has been a pawn of Lukes. But denouncing Lux will not solve the problem.” (Zack)

　The Frontier Count mutters, “I agree.”

“Lux will not be hurt by denunciations from the enemy empire. But what if it comes from somewhere other than the enemy, and more importantly, from somewhere that directly affects their interests…” (Zack)

　I cut off my speech there and looked at the expression on the Frontier Count’s face. He still looked distressed.

“…In other words, not from us, but indirectly from a third party.” (Zack)

　The Frontier Count asks, “Indirectly?”

“Yes, indirectly… It is an organization that does business with Lux, and they are another party in this.” (Zack)

　The Frontier Count mutters, “Aurella?”

“Yes. Aurella’s Merchant Guild.” (Zack)

　The frontier count gave a small shake of his head.

“However, Aurella isn’t a party to this. Well, it’s them. I’m sure they’re not completely unaware of this… but please continue on.” (Hubert)

　I give a small nod and continue talking.

“It is true that Aurella’s merchant… Olaf Ouellette, is directly involved in this case. And it is important to note that the Ouellette Trading Company is still a member of the Merchant Guild. In other words, no one doubts that the Merchant Guild, or Aurella, is involved…” (Zack)

　I paused again and looked at the Frontier Count’s expression. Unlike his irritated expression from earlier, he no longer showed any facial expressions, like a cold-hearted politician.

“…Aurella and the Holy Kingdom of Lux and Aurella have been manufacturing drugs here in the northern areas to create chaos in the empire… And His Excellency found out and tried to stop them. So they drugged Gateskell… and had him revolt, in order to make His Excellency a pariah….” (Zack)

　Here’s the scenario I came up with.

　The Holy King’s Office of Lux and the Merchant Guild of Aurella both have a common desire to get rid of the Count Roswell.

　Not to mention the Holy King’s Office of Lux can bring direct disruption to the enemy Caelum Empire.

　On the other hand, Aurella could improve the relative power relations on the Aurella Road, the main road in the north that connects Aurella in the west and Pericritor in the east, if the Northern Governor’s power weakens. In particular, if Rawcliffe were made independent and brought into the City-States Union, there would be no base of the Empire on the north side of the Farthus River–the great river that flows from the Kingdom of Caum. With this, they will be able to gain freedom of movement on the Aurella Road, which has many restrictions.

　Thus, both have sufficient motives and enough persuasive power to convince the public.

　And the two forces have joined hands in secret.

　The reason for their joining hands is this.

　Lux Holy Kingdom needed the “Blood of Lucidus,” which they wanted, in order to win over the martial faction within the Church and the Holy Knights, for the purpose of advancing the power struggle within the Holy Kingdom.

　The commercial guilds of Aurella chose to make a profit from the production of the “Blood of Lucidus,” and to join hands with the Holy King’s Office, which was a pragmatic administrative body, rather than the fanatical clergy who had been repeatedly overthrown and boiled over within the Church.

　They considered producing the Blood of Lucidus outside of Lux’s territory, not within it. Furthermore, the Holy King’s Office believed that it could disrupt the empire by producing the Blood of Lucidus.

　The chosen target was the Frontier Count Roswell.

　The Holy King’s Office and Aurella focused on Frontier Count Roswell’s only weakness, the issue of a successor.

　First, they would have the Blood of Lucidus produced in Viscount Tysburn’s territory. If he succeeded, Viscount Tysburn’s power would increase, and a feud with the Frontier Count would ensue. If he fails, they can blame the Frontier Count for Viscount Tysburn’s misdeeds.

　In order to do so, they decided to bring in Viscount Tysburn’s confidant, Baronet Gateskell. But Gateskell refused their offer. So, the enemy used a dubious drug of the Light God religion to make a puppet out of Gateskell.

　It is important here not to cast doubt on the story that Gateskell was manipulated by Lux.

　Gateskell is rumored to be an ambitious man, and it would not be surprising if he were in league with Lux. In fact, that was true, so it would take an even more credible story to disprove it.

　However, saying that “Light God Church” was involved would be enough to lend credibility to the story. That is all the more reason to believe that the clergy of the Light God Church is involved, and they are also intentionally spreading negative rumors within the empire to raise the spirit of war against Lux.

　Then there is the fact that Light God Church is extremely secretive, forbidding people to doubt the miracles of God, and that they use beastfolk slave troops with overwhelming combat power. Because of this, if you say that they manipulated people’s minds, most people would believe you. Even the followers of Light God Church would believe it.

　To return to the conversation, Aurella has begun to use Viscount Tysburn, who is a patron of Gateskell, to bring chaos to the House of Roswell and the empire.

　The Holy King’s Office and Aurella’s scheming were succeeding. However, the Frontier Count, a capable politician, was quick to see through their scheming and quickly took action.

　Aurella became impatient with the quick response of the Frontier Count.

　If the Frontier Count knew of their involvement, he would surely retaliate.

　If that was the case, they should eliminate the Frontier Count before that happened. Fortunately, the imperial government does not know about us. Let Gateskell rebel and end the life of the Frontier Count while they still can. If they failed, at the very least, they could end his political life.

“…the ringleaders this time are the Holy King’s Office of Lux and the Merchant Guild of Aurella, which is in communication with them. And the executor of the rebellion of the Fourth Battalion, Associate Baron Gateskell, would be the unfortunate victim of their drug manipulation.” (Zack)

　The Frontier Count listened silently. I continue talking further.

“Lux was the ringleader, and Aurella, a wealth-worshipper, had a hand in it. What will happen if we make it public? Here in the north, the anti-Lux and anti-Aurella momentum will grow…” (Zack)

“That won’t stop them from going to Aurella.” (Hubert)

“Therefore, there is the need to inform the top officials of the Merchant Guild privately that if Aurella does not show good faith, sanctions will be imposed. Yes, that’s right, we will scare them. And then order them, ‘If you want to prove your innocence, issue a statement denouncing Lux and impose further economic sanctions.’” (Zack)

　The frontier count said nothing. I continued.

“Aurella, who is always submissive, will not give in to such intimidation.They know that as time passes, His Excellency will be in a difficult position. If they buy time and carry out operations in the imperial capital during that time, they would think that there is no need to could impose sanctions, so we would take advantage of a certain country.” (Zack)

“A certain country?” (Hubert)

“The Kingdom of Periplus, an island nation in the west…”