The Plan To Seize Control Of The Third Assembly

With Edward Charlus turned into a puppet, the Brilliant Villainess (Albertine) Plan had moved into its next stage.

We would have him work on the neighboring regional lords and make them serve as a breakwater to suppress backlash against the territorial reforms in Lineage.

In addition, by converting the gold bars he had hoarded into funds, we were able to provide support to the poor in the surrounding regions.

We hired large numbers of people who were struggling because they had no work, and built a system that would allow us to continue distributing aid on an ongoing basis.

We purchased the necessary food from the surrounding regions and distributed it efficiently to improve the nutritional condition of the people living on the streets.

On top of that, we hired even more people who were struggling because they had neither jobs nor skills, and had them work in the newly reclaimed fields while learning the knowledge and techniques they needed.

Thanks to this support for the poor, the number of crimes decreased, and public safety in the region improved.

The people’s approval of me rose, and when I was out swinging a hoe in the fields, all sorts of people would call out to me, “Thank you for giving us work, Mythia-sama!”

However, on the other hand, it seemed that nobles were beginning to appear who did not think well of my policies, which ran counter to the common sense of noble society.

“It seems that criticism of the measures Mythia-sama is carrying out is being raised against her in the Third Assembly of the magical kingdom.”

The Third Assembly of the magical kingdom was the regional assembly that governed the eastern territories.

The decisions made in this assembly, where the influential nobles of the eastern lands gathered, carried great weight, and no one living in the east, not even those connected to the royal family, could ever afford to ignore them.

“I am making efforts as well, but if the leading statesmen of the Third Assembly are involved, it is difficult to make a move…”

Edward Charlus said, drawing his lips tight.

“I have been gathering information, but as things stand, I still cannot see at all who is leading it.”

“No, as for that, we have already obtained a fair amount of information.”

At my words, Vincent nodded and placed a stack of papers on the table.

Edward lowered his gaze and caught his breath.

“How did you get this…?”

He fell silent with a serious look in his eyes, then murmured after finishing the documents.

“So the one at the center of it is Count Schönheite…”

“What kind of person is he?”

“He is one of the most influential figures in the Third Assembly. His fame and voice are among the strongest in the eastern region. He is on a completely different level from frontier nobles like us.”

“I see. He sounds like quite an important figure.”

“To think Count Schönheite himself would come into this…”

Edward murmured in a daze.

If even someone known for his competence said that much, then this had to be an enormously powerful noble indeed.

And if he held that much power, then he was surely doing plenty of bad things that could not be brought into the open.

For someone aiming to become the ultimate villainess, he was an opponent worth defeating like a dream come true.

“I’ve decided. Our next targets are Count Schönheite and the Third Assembly. Vincent, gather information.”

“Understood.”

And so, our next operation began.

Several days later.

The mobs gathered at their usual meeting place and were going through their daily training.

Grueling training piled on under the assumption that agents of the nobles might launch an attack on Lineage.

To protect Mythia-sama, who had saved them, and the people of Lineage.

Training alongside their work on the farms was harsh in terms of time as well.

Even so, the mobs continued to place strain on their bodies.

They wanted to believe that there was something they too could do.

That even they, who had done nothing but cause trouble, surely had something they could do to help someone.

Just as the child lord, only ten years old, had saved them that day.

In addition, they worked diligently at farm labor and helping with the distributions.

The townspeople received their transformed quite kindly.

The sense of fulfillment that came from the words of gratitude they were given felt better than they had imagined.

And yet, even so, they still could not reach what they truly wanted to do.

“We’re not being called on, are we?”

That mutter expressed what all of them were feeling.

They kept up their desperate efforts.

And yet they still could not become a strength to the child lord they most wanted to help.

“What if we ask Mythia-sama directly—”

“No. That person would surely give us work out of kindness. That would only increase Mythia-sama’s burden. It means nothing unless we can truly become her strength.”

“But we have no education and no special skills. Maybe Mythia-sama doesn’t need our strength at all.”

“Then we just keep working until we become people she does need. Was that all your resolve amounted to?”

Time passed indifferently.

No matter how harshly they drove themselves in training, nothing around them changed.

Days without any sense that they were moving forward.

Maybe this is meaningless no matter how much we do it.

It was one night, when they were on the verge of being crushed by that voice in their hearts.

“I understand that you are serious.”

The one who appeared from the evening darkness was the butler who walked without making a sound—Vincent.

“I will give you the clothes I used to wear. Please change into them.”

“Clothes? Why?”

To the mobs, who spoke with puzzled faces, Vincent said,

“You are going to work under Mythia-sama. Appropriate equipment is necessary, is it not?”

“I have decided to have them participate in this operation as well.”

At the sight of the people Vincent had brought with him, I involuntarily caught my breath.

Agents in black suits.

Hair slicked back with pomade.

Their stylish appearance looked as though they had stepped straight out of a spy novel.

(Amazing… it’s a perfect recreation…!)

As expected of Vincent, an ardent fan of spy novels.

His commitment showed in every detail, right down to the tips of their nails.

As I watched in admiration, I suddenly noticed one strange sense of familiarity in their faces.

(Huh? I feel like I’ve seen these faces somewhere before.)

After thinking for a few seconds, what came back to me was the day I arrived in Lineage.

“Hyahha! We’re gonna mash those trash nobles into a pulp!”

“Ah! The guy who said ‘Hyahha.’”

“That’s right. So you remembered me.”

The young man nodded, narrowing his eyes.

His bizarre hairstyle had been transformed into a sharp short cut set with hair oil.

He had changed so completely that he looked like an entirely different person.

And it wasn’t just him.

Looking more closely, the people there were the mobs who had surrounded us on the first day.

(W-why are the mob people playing at being agents…?)

I could not imagine they had that kind of hobby.

If that was the case, then this large-scale agent roleplay had to be taking place under Vincent’s direction.

“They are still lacking in strength, but with Ciel’s help as well, I intend to rapidly give them the training they need.”

Vincent said this with perfectly clear eyes.

The moment I understood his objective, I was left speechless.

(N-no way, Vincent… is he trying to build a real intelligence organization from scratch…?)

What passion for roleplaying.

Not content with merely imitating the work and the skills, he was even trying to build the organization itself from the ground up.

(Vincent is incredible, going this far even though he’s just a fan…)

As someone who shared the same hobby, I felt nothing but admiration.

(I need to do my best with my villainess act too so I don’t lose!)

“Thank you for cooperating. I have certainly received your resolve and your will. I expect you to show me good work.”

I turned my back, then looked back over my shoulder as I swept back my hair with graceful elegance.

“Now then, let us begin our scheming.”