Chapter 3 – Negotiating for the purpose of rearmament –
Former Governor Zelbeck came to greet me on my return to Karulus Fortress from Miredo.
However, I arrested and detained him on the spot along with the official from the royal capital I had met in Miredo.
The arrested governor shouted this was not what we had agreed, but I paid him no mind.
Ultimately, there was never any trust between us to begin with. I had threatened Zelbeck and Zelbeck wanted revenge against me someday.
In our relationship, the only outcome was one side’s betrayal.
Of course, Governor Zelbeck would also expect my betrayal and be on guard. He would gather the soldiers housed in the fortress to protect himself. But he miscalculated one thing.
That I had taken command of twenty soldiers and captured their hearts.
Former Governor Zelbeck probably thought I couldn’t do such things as a woman.
But the experience of the encounter with the Demon Army and overcoming death’s door had strengthened the unity between me and the soldiers.
The soldiers following me seized the off-guard former Governor Zelbeck and tied him up.
The fortress soldiers tried to rescue former Governor Zelbeck, but after the life-or-death battles with formidable enemies, Al, Ray and the others were no longer green recruits. Their unwavering formation kept the governor’s soldiers at bay.
After that, together with the official from the capital, the former governor’s misconduct was exposed, stabilizing the situation.
The series of dramatic arrests unfolded swiftly. The governor arrested in the morning was already escorted to the capital by noon. Things proceeded according to the plan I had decided on beforehand, greatly delighting me.
But I could only smile only until this point.
“Ugh, never ending…”
I complained at the mountainous piles of documents.
Waiting for me after ousting the governor was a mountain-high stack of documents.
No matter how I worked through the files piled on the desk, they showed no signs of decreasing whatsoever.
“Lady Romelia, why not take a short break?”
In the middle of organizing documents, Grandma Cairo brought me a cup of tea.
“Thank you. Where’s Grandpa?”
Accepting the cup, I took a sip. The warm drink felt nice. The included berry tart was pleasantly sour and delicious.
“He’s out fishing again. Says he’ll catch a big one today. Though it’s best not to expect much. Oh right, Miss, the village nearby gave me berries this morning. I used those to make this tart, so we really must give them return gifts next time.”
Grandpa Katan seemed to enjoy country life, fishing and taking walks every day. Though Grandma complained at first, she looked to be having fun now too.
“But Lady Romelia came here to recuperate. So why are you always working?”
Seeing the mountain of documents, Grandma was stunned.
“Sorry Grandma, but I can’t give this up. Please understand.”
“Oh no, it’s alright Lady Romelia. Do as you please. I know you want to help people.”
Grandma Cairo understood me well.
“But I am a bit worried. This work has its limits for one person, doesn’t it?”
Grandma glanced at the piled documents. With it phrased that way, I couldn’t refute her.
While it was good ousting Governor Zelbeck, if I did nothing afterwards, a replacement would surely be foisted on me. Then he would make sure not to leave any weaknesses I could exploit. I was certain to be imprisoned like a storybook princess shut away in a tower.
I had no choice but to appoint grandfather who had come here with me from my hometown as the new governor.
As procedure, we pretended grandfather had come here with me for the post, discovered the misconduct of the former governor, and temporarily remained as governor in order to rectify matters. I wrote up official documents and sent them to my father.
Though I had cleverly glossed things over, our ruse would be exposed someday. I had to make preparations before that happened.
“While Katan and I may want to help somehow, I’m afraid we can be of no use to you, Miss.”
“Please, don’t worry. This is just me being selfish and wanting to do it.”
Due to my scheme, grandma assumed the absurd position of governor, but he had come to the countryside planning to spend his twilight years leisurely. I could hardly demand he devote himself to governing the territory. Naturally, that left me to handle things.
“Miss was always bad at relying on others ever since you were little. Do you remember when that baron’s daughter bullied you?”
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Grandma brought up a story from my childhood. Back then, garden parties with children of other nobles were frequently held. For some reason, the daughter of a baron from somewhere had singled me out for bullying.
“Even though you should have just told us, you went and confronted her alone.”
Though the old Grandma laughed cheerfully, hearing her bring up my past embarrassing moments had me blushing.
I was a naughty child. No, there’s probably not much different now.
But what exactly was that girl trying to do?
She came saying I was the villain’s daughter and I was destined to become that way, stubbornly picking fights with me. She probably read too many plays or something. What an odd child.
“In the end, you even got her lackeys involved and it became a huge ruckus.”
Grandma laughed. Now that I thought about it, something like that did happen.
Shouting to defeat my own enemies myself, I had thrashed them so badly that even I thought I had gone overboard.
“Grandma, enough about that. I reflected a little on the matter too. We were just children.”
Violence should not be used nilly willy. It should be the final option.
Now, I would say the most important things are using schemes and strategy to completely resolve disputes without fighting if possible.
“And there’s more. When you were…”
Grandma seemed about to continue so I hurriedly stopped her. I couldn’t bear to hear any more embarrassing memories.
“That’s enough. I’ve finished my tea, time to get back to work.”
I forcibly ended the conversation and the Grandma smilingly left the room. Since she had been with me since I was small, once she started on those mortifying tales, it would never end.
“Alright, time to buck up. Work, work.”
Pep talking myself, I started on the tasks. First I had to find the former Governor Zelbeck’s secret ledgers and carefully audit them before submitting the correct books.
Of course, if I just handed over the secret books as-is, it would be simple, but we were at war. And wars required funds.
It was a windfall that my predecessor had done the legwork. Just fudging some numbers when reporting would increase our budget. Even if not, the military was a bottomless money pit. The more discretionary funds the better.
That said, I couldn’t repeat my predecessor’s mistakes. So the corruption had to be kept within deniably ambiguous ranges. I would obscure the writing and use easy-to-misread numerals when filling out the forms.
On that note, official documents had set formats for text and numbers. Though laws stated text must not be vague or obscured, few actually followed every rule.
At most you would just be fined for it. And even that could be avoided by bribing the inspector. Of course, the actual income would be far less, but that was the extreme limit of misconduct. I couldn’t overdo it.
But even claiming emergency measures for funds obtained by improper means, it was still insufficient. Owing to the former governor’s weapon resales, our equipment levels were lacking. We were also short on food and I hoped to increase the warhorses.
I wanted many things but had no money anywhere.
Complaining about financial difficulties while shifting my upper body, a pain ran through my chest and I clasped it with my hand. Enduring a little, the pain subsided.
The wound on my chest still hadn’t healed. That healer from Miredo was as bad as I thought.
I could bear my injury, but the soldiers shouldn’t have to endure. The fortress truly needed a healer. However, even requesting the church dispatch one, no highly skilled person would come to such a remote location.
As I agonized over this, a sound came from outside the window.
Amidst drum beats, trumpet calls rang out, accompanied by the shouts of charging soldiers, their roars and marching footsteps.
Looking outside, soldiers on the hillside were conducting drills.
After ousting the former governor, I could make use of all the fortress soldiers, increasing the forces at my disposal to one hundred men.
The hundred soldiers were split into two sides mutually charging at each other.
Since they all wore the same equipment, I couldn’t distinguish them from afar. But one unit moved in unison even amidst the melee, not allowing the other side to approach.
One soldier stood at the vanguard, crushing the opposing troops. Even from a distance I could tell it was Al.
He had also been treated but not fully recovered either. Despite one arm not moving freely yet, he vigorously dashed about, smashing through the enemy’s front line.
Then the minority force promptly burst through the gap Al had created, breaking their formation. The one leading the strike force was Ray. He led the twins Gran and Ragan, piercing through like the wind.
The strong Otto and nimble Cale wedged the opened breach wide, splitting the enemy into two.
As the opposing side tried to reassemble, they were suppressed by Al, Otto, and Cale on one side while the twins Gran and Ragan hemmed them in on the other. Then Ray led the rest to encircle and annihilate the remaining half.
In the blink of an eye, over half had been defeated and the battle’s outcome was determined.
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