Dream Life

Having been consulted by Baron Ferdinand Oldham, the belly of Raswell Border Uncle, on the handling of the Fourth Battalion rebellion, I headed to the office of Border Uncle with my father, Masaias, and brother, Rodrick.

Upon entering the office, Uncle Borderline was staring at a point with his cheek cane on his desk.

"Dear Hall. I have brought Sir Masaias and Sir Zacharias in my presence."

Uncle Borderline replied carelessly, "Uhm," he said, "I'm sorry. I kept my mind on it," he lowered his head gently. After all, he seems pretty worried about what he's going to do with this situation.

Uncle Borderline gave us a slightly bitter look, then stood up and bowed his head to us.

"Sir Masaias, Sir Zacharias. Let me start by thanking you again..."

After thanking us, I would also like to express my sincere gratitude to my brother, Rodrick, for his work.

We panicked and bowed our heads, and my father spoke for us and said, "Until we did what was normal. No thanks," he said.

Thereafter, there is a slight gap between them, and silence dominates the office. I got ready and asked Uncle Borderline for his thoughts.

"With all due respect, Your Excellency, what do you think of this situation?

In response to my straightforward question, I said, "Uhm," and then I started talking.

"At least Luke's involvement has to be made public. The same would apply to the involvement of Constance - my real brother Viscount Constance Tiesburn - but I can't read to what extent the impact would be in that case."

As expected, he seems to be thinking of publishing only the facts on a line of no difficulty.

I decided to tell you what I had in mind by the time I got to this room. Still, it's hard to say I'm well-crafted, but a skilled politician, Borderline Uncle, might come up with a better idea from my words.

"I'm an outsider, can you hear my thoughts?"

Uncle Borderline said, "You can't call me an outsider. Sir would also be the victim," he laughs powerlessly.

"Now let me tell you what I think. I refuse to be the first to say this, but it's not a comfortable story for my ears."

Uncle Borderline snorts small at my words.

"It would naturally be a thorough rebellion against Luke. It is clear that the Oulett Chamber of Commerce was at Luke's disposal. But rebelling Luke won't solve it."

"Right," murmurs Uncle Borderline.

"Luke has no pain or itch, such as a pickpocket from an enemy nation, the Empire. But what if it comes from a place that directly affects their interests, other than the enemy countries…"

I cut words there and ask for the look on Uncle Borderline's face. He still remained a distressed look.

"… in other words, they attack indirectly, not from us, but from third parties"

Uncle Borderline said, "Indirectly?" and say the question.

"Yes. Indirectly (...). organization with which Luke has dealings, to this party (...)"

Borderline uncle mutters, "Is it Aurelia?"

"Yes, it's a commercial guild for Aurelia"

Uncle Borderline shakes his head "Kaori" small.

"But Aurelia is not a party to this one. Well, it's about them. I know you don't know anything about it... but can you keep going?"

I nod small and keep talking.

"This time, it is true that Auraf Oulett, the merchant of Aurella (...), is a direct party. And the important thing is that the Oulett Chamber of Commerce still has its place in the commercial guild. In other words, no one suspects that a commercial guild, or Aurelia, is involved..."

I cut the words again and saw Uncle Borderline's expression. Unlike the harsh look on his face earlier, he stopped expressing his expression in any way like a ruthless politician.

"... manufactured drugs here in the northern part of the country in order to disrupt the Empire by the Holy King's Palace of Aurelia and Luke. And Your Excellency found out about it (...) and tried to stop it. So, they (...) manipulated (...) Gateskell with medication to make His Excellency a deceased, causing rebellion..."

Here's my scenario.

Luke's Holy King's Palace, Aurelia's Commercial Guild, and both of them have a common desire to eliminate the Raswell Border Uncle.

Needless to say, Luke's Holy King's Palace can cause direct disruption to the enemy Kaelm Empire.

Meanwhile, Aurella can improve its relative power relations on Aurella Street - the main northern street connecting Aurella in the west and Periclitle in the east - if the northern governor's office weakens its power. Especially if we make Low Cliff independent and draw him into the Union of Urban States, there will be no empire strongholds on the north side of the Fatas River - the great river flowing from the Kingdom of Kaum. This will make it possible to obtain freedom of movement on the highly restricted streets of Aurelia.

In this way both have sufficient motives and are just convincing enough to convince the public.

And those two forces secretly joined hands.

Here's why they tie hands.

Luke's Holy King's Palace needed the "blood of the Light God (Lucidus)” they wanted in order to take in the militants, the Holy Knights inside the Church, with the aim of advancing the power struggle within the Holy King in their favor.

And Aurelia's commercial guild made a profit from the production of "the blood of the Light God (Lucidus)," as well as choosing to join hands with the profitable administration, or the Holy King's Palace, rather than the fanatical priests who have been trampled down and sipped boiling water many times.

They contemplated producing Lucidus' blood outside the country, not within Lukes. Furthermore, the Holy King's Palace believed that the production of Lucidus' blood could cause confusion to the Empire.

It was the Raswell Border House that was chosen as its target.

The Holy King's Palace and Aurelia focused on the only weakness of the Raswell peripheral uncle, the question of his successor.

First, let Lucidus' blood be produced in Viscount Tiesburn territory. If successful, Viscount Tiesburn's power increases, creating certainty between him and Uncle Borderline. If it fails, Viscount Tiesburn's wrongdoing can be held responsible by Borderline Uncle.

I decided to take in Viscount Tiesburn's belly, Associate Baron Gateskel, to carry it out. But Gateskell turned down their offer. So the enemy used the suspicious drugs of phototheism and made Gateskell his puppet "Kutsuku".

The important thing here is that you won't be questioned about the story of Gateskell being manipulated by Lukes.

Gateskell is rumored to be an ambitious man, and it's not surprising that he tied hands with Lukes. In fact, you were right, so we need a more credible story to deny it.

But when we say “light theism” is involved, that alone can make it credible. That's all the priests of the Light Divinity do, and within the Empire, they intentionally circulate negative rumors for the uplifting of the war against Lukes.

And there is the fact that phototheism is an extreme secrecy that forbids suspicion of God's miracles, the fact that it uses an overwhelming battle-powered Beastman slave unit. From this, if you say you manipulated people's minds, most people should believe it. Even the followers of Phototheism will believe.

Returning to the story, Aurelia began to move to create confusion for the Raswell family and the Empire using Viscount Tiesburn, who is heavily using Gateskel.

The thoughts of the Holy King's Palace and Aurelia were becoming successful. But as an exchanger, the competent border uncle perceived their plot as soon as possible and quickly began to strike his hand.

Aurella was in a hurry for Uncle Borderline to respond quickly.

He said if Uncle Borderline found out about their involvement, he would be sure to retaliate.

Then you can get rid of the borderline uncle before then. Fortunately, the imperial government doesn't know about us. Let's rebel on Gateskell right now and kill Uncle Borderline's life. I thought that if I failed, even at worst, my political life would be endless.

"... that this time the mastermind is the Holy King's Palace of Lukes and the commercial guild of Aurelia through with them. And Baron Gateskel, the executioner who caused the Fourth Battalion to rebel, is the unfortunate victim of drug manipulation by them."

Uncle Borderline is listening in silence. I'll keep talking.

"Luke was the mastermind, and besides, Aurelia, the worshipper, lent a hand. What would happen if I published it that way? Anti-Luke as well as anti-Aurelia opportunities will increase here in the North..."

"Then I can't suppress the theory of marching to Aurelia."

"So this is what you tell senior commercial guild officials inside.“ If Aurelia doesn't show her sincerity, sanctions will be imposed ”. Yes, you intimidate them. And they're told," If you want to prove your innocence, make a statement denouncing Luke and impose more economic sanctions. "

Uncle Borderline didn't say anything. I'll keep talking.

"Aurelia, whose obedient abdominal back is common, will not yield to that degree of intimidation. Because we know that over time your Excellency will be in a painful position. If we buy time and in the meantime carry out our work on the Imperial Capital, we should assume that sanctions and other sanctions cannot be imposed. We'll use the country there."

"A country?

"It's the western island nation, the kingdom of Periplus..."

The Kingdom of Peripulus is an island nation west of Luke, a country that is heavily contending with Aurelia for hegemony at sea. Generally referred to as a pirate state, this is just because of Aurelia's propaganda strategy, and in fact a state-approved pirate ship called the Privata is attacking each other's merchant ships.

"... you just have to tell Aurelia this.“ There is also a harbour on the peripheral uncle's territory. The ship is not just for Aurelia either ”. Perhaps with these words Aurelia should think His Excellency is thinking of joining hands with Periplus. Aurelia's source of wealth is an exclusive deal using sea routes. You just have to make them think they're going to tie hands with Periples, who could be their rival."

Uncle Borderline stares at me quietly.

"Everything I've ever talked about is what I thought. There is no evidence. But there should also be no material to deny. First I said, it was never a praised way..."

Borderline uncle mutters as he squeezes out, "... that's something to think about horrible." And stare me straight in the eye.

"... Surely Aurelia will have to move. No, wouldn't Sir consider this, too?“ If you don't listen, we'll seal off Aurelia Street. "

I didn't affirm or deny it with an ambiguous look.

What Border Uncle wants to say is that he threatens to seal off Low Cliff, or snipe up Aurelia merchants to raise tariffs and paralyse the functioning of Aulera Street.

I did think about that too, but I didn't dare say it. I don't have to tell you, if you're a borderline uncle, you should come up with that extent, and even more so, because I thought this hand might work too well and Aurelia might overreact.

Aurelia is now the only one who has monopolized and flourished the deal, but has only poked the gap in the Empire's change of strategy in the North. The fact that the Empire is temporarily shelving the invasion of the North to accommodate the Lukes of the West encouraged the development of Aurelia. In other words, if the policy of the Empire changes, Aurelia's prosperity could disappear overnight.

Even if we do not go as far as an overhaul of the Northern strategy, the possibility of casting a shadow on Aurelia's prosperity cannot be denied, just because part of the policy becomes a change. Unlike the northern kingdoms of Lax in the north and Kaum in the east, the northern realm of the Empire is stretched with meadow areas, and paths exist that connect villages even if they cannot be described as streets.

With that path in place, the second Aurelia Street can be built without so much effort. And there are a number of Imperial fishing villages on the western side of Aurelia. If we open one of these fishing villages to Periplus, we will soon expand the harbour and build the city.

Of course, Aurelia, who has extremed her glory in a year or two, does not decline, and it is hard to believe that the emperors and nobles of the imperial capital will remain silent. But this twitchy measure should be able to moderately hunt down Aurelia. The point is, it's important to show your ability and willingness. That alone will surely make Aurelia succumb.

On the other hand, the blockade of Aurelia Street can do immediate damage to commercial guilds. I mean, it resembles an instant drama drug.

No matter how cautious the merchants are, they don't know what they'll do if they get cornered. If you do poorly, you could eat a painful cliche.

That's why I didn't dare mention the blockade of Aurelia Street.

"Aurelia will have to impose sanctions on Luke. On top of that, this is what we report to the Imperial City.“ The measures to weaken Luke and the Union of Urban States at the same time have been successful ”…"

Uncle Borderline says "Let's get better" and gets up.

"Go with Sir Zacharias's measures. Tell the nobles of the Imperial capital that the" Gap Gauge ”was a success. Make them think it's a measure that takes into account the national interests of the Empire. If this happens, there will be no war in vain. Well, it's inevitable to send troops to Luke."

I put it out myself, but it has a very bad aftertaste. Of course, Aurelia's commercial guild may be involved just because there is no evidence. No, it won't mean you're not involved at all.

Still, it does not feel good to intimidate without proof and to push ourselves into a situation where we have to cooperate.

Subsequently, a policy was decided on Associate Baron Gateskel. He would release Luke as the victim of the drug, but in view of the seriousness of the matter, he was to plead guilty to self-harm.

Uncle Borderline showed some pity about the gate skeleton.

"That guy had no luck. If he had served Non, not Constance... his genius is above Non. It would be comparable to Ferdinand here..."

Uncle Borderline affirmed that Gateskel's service to his own real brother, Viscount Constance Tiesburn, was the beginning of his misfortune. And I started talking about buying Gateskell talent high. His belly, Baron Ferdinand Oldham, was regarded as comparable.

"... he had talent. But experience is overwhelmingly lacking. If he had served Non, he would have been one or another in ten years. I should have gotten a chance to know that there are things that talent alone can't fill..."

There were some things I honestly couldn't agree to. Because he's the one who's been directly attacking the Lockhart family.

But on the other hand, if it weren't for us, it's likely that things would have gone exactly as Gateskell thought. He admitted that there were parts of him that deserved recognition, such as the audacity of setting a trap on the Knights by himself and his loyalty to Viscount Tiesburn.

"That man's lack of luck would have been hostile to Sir"

"It's in the purchasing clothes," he replied, and more than that, he mumbled to avoid touching on the topic.

There was another one to punish. Viscount Tiesburn hits Gateskell's boss. He couldn't stop the Gateskell rampage and couldn't stop the leap between the enemy Lukes.

But disposing of him would break the logic (logic) that Gateskell was the victim.

In the end, we were forced to hide because we were poorly supervised about Viscount Tiesburn. Even younger sons were given the trusted minister of Uncle Borderline as an eyewitness, so as not to give them any more clearance to enter from the outside.

It's a sweet procedure in your body, but if you give a harsh punishment here that would crush the Viscount Tysburn family, you could be told that Tysburn was dominant on the contrary. As a result, it would leave the hindsight worried, but it would be a sweet punishment.

Speaking of internal affairs, the marriage of my brother to Rosalind, the daughter of Uncle Borderline, came to the fore.

In this situation, which resulted in many deaths, it would be careless to have a glorious wedding, which was to be postponed for the moment.

As for how long we will postpone it, we will look at the status of the negotiations with Aurelia and the reaction of the citizens, and the Borderline uncle will decide.

And about the Knights, but I had an idea.

"It's about the Fourth Battalion..."

Borderline uncle also shines his eyes on whether he was worried about the treatment of the Knights or whether he has a "good idea".

I nodded small and started talking.

"With regard to the Fourth Battalion, I propose that it be the SS or Guardian under the direct authority of His Excellency the Governor"

"SS? Although the First Knights are directly under Nong in the first place?

Uncle Borderline seems to be grasping at my intentions.

"Your Excellency will take the initiative to show confidence in the rebellious Fourth Battalion…"

Here's what I think.

The Fourth Battalion was tailored to the rebels by Luke's conspiracy. But the Governor did not question their loyalty and made them “SS" who would keep their own lives. This would frustrate Luke's thoughts and buy more popular sympathy.

Uncle Borderline reticed for a while and nodded loudly.

"That's fine. I don't doubt their loyalty. It's just a question of whether Glenfel will do it..."

Furthermore, I suggested to the victims that they be treated in the same line as the death of honor on the battlefield.

"This disturbance was caused by Luke's fanatics. The knights are its victims. By thoroughly condemning Luke, the people will have sympathy for the First Knights"

Originally, the relationship between the knights and the people was very good even in the Raswell Frontier Berg Territory, especially here in Wellburn. That's a good example of how my brother was enthusiastically welcomed when we entered the city.

"... um. Thoroughly make Luke the bad guy...... not bad. No, this is all I have. Their thoughts must have sown suspicious seeds in our territory. So it's important to treat the Fourth Battalion so they can blow a bubble."

"We shall take a decision on this matter after we have opened it up to the Chivalry Chiefs," declared Borderline uncle. But that face is obviously going to ride my suggestion.

Speaking of the aftermath, another important thing remains.