Kind Friends

Vincent and Ciel ended up carrying out the infiltration of the noble houses belonging to the Third Assembly while instructing the former mobs.

“This time, we will impersonate servants working in the mansion.”

As he said that, Vincent took out masks colored like human skin.

He said that, because special magical fibers had been woven into them, by channeling magic into them and processing them, they could reproduce another person’s face.

“These were used by the Empire’s secret intelligence agency.”

Vincent skillfully processed the masks.

As expected of his outstanding commitment to roleplay, with every detail of the setting and worldbuilding thoroughly perfected.

Once he put on the adjusted mask, his face became that of a completely different man.

“We will use this magic interference device, a disturber, to partially disable the magical barriers.”

Spy gadgets with a level of reproduction that made them look completely real.

Vincent had become a different person.

Beside him, Ciel put on a mask with practiced ease and said,

“Now that I have juniors too, I need to show them a good example as their senior.”

And so, after infiltrating the mansion, Vincent and Ciel came back out with evidence of corruption and secret ledgers from inside the mansion in about an hour.

“A-amazing…”

The former mobs caught their breath.

I felt exactly the same way, but I desperately held it in because I did not want to show a reaction that was not villainess-like in front of everyone.

“It does not appear that Count Schönheite is involved in this slush fund. I apologize for failing to produce results.”

“No, this is excellent work. Look here. We can prove that Lord Maskis, who has close ties to Count Schönheite, is involved.”

I said that as I read through the documents.

“Let us use this first to bring Lord Maskis over.”

The following night, we promptly snuck into Lord Maskis’s mansion.

“Good evening. It is a fine night, Lord Maskis.”

“Where in the world did you come from…?”

At the sight of me appearing before him, Lord Maskis caught his breath.

“I thought I would like to have a little talk.”

Dressed in a villainess-like dress, I said that with a bewitching smile.

“First, about this illegal loan.”

“Illegal loan?”

“Please look at the documents on the table.”

Lord Maskis made a dubious face.

Remaining cautious, he lowered his gaze to the documents on the table.

His narrowed eyes widened.

“W-where did you get this…?”

“I possess excellent eyes that can see into every corner of the world.”

Lord Maskis stared at me with frightened eyes.

“Are you going to accuse me…?”

“I did consider that option. However, regarding this matter, I feel a little pained as well. Your father became obsessed with illegal gambling and ended up burdened with enormous debt, did he not? By the time you noticed, that debt had already reached an amount enough to ruin House Maskis.”

“You even know that much…”

“You are one of the rare nobles in this country who does not like corruption. However, you were driven into a corner and had no choice but to cooperate with the illegal loans. You have been suffering because of your father, have you not? I understand your feelings painfully well. If you will grant my wish, then I shall keep this illegal loan in my heart.”

“What do I have to do?”

“Cooperate with me.”

I said that with a smiling narrowing of my eyes.

“I want to become friends with the nobles of the Third Assembly. I want them to become kind friends who will listen to any request I make.”

And so the plan to seize control of the Third Assembly got off to a smooth start.

By bringing Lord Maskis, who had deep ties to House Schönheite and held an important post in the assembly, over to our side, we were able to seize the weaknesses of three lower-ranking nobles and make them our allies.

It was said that, in the Third Assembly, a summons had been planned for me in three weeks so that an inquest meeting could be held.

The current number of sitting members in the Third Assembly was twenty-nine in total.

If we kept advancing our operations at this pace, then by the day itself we should be able to win over enough nobles to fight properly.

“The problem is that we have not been able to break apart Count Schönheite and the nobles reinforcing his position. Their unity is stronger than we imagined. Security is also very tight, and although we have infiltrated several times, we still have not been able to identify where they are hiding the evidentiary documents.”

“Continue the investigation. Whether or not we have that in hand will change the outcome.”

“Understood. I will definitely find it before the deadline.”

Wondering whether there might be some kind of clue, I visited Edward Charlus’s mansion and asked for his opinion.

“Count Schönheite is a capable noble with one of the sharpest minds in the magical kingdom. However, that does not mean there is absolutely no opening to attack.”

“What will you do?”

“Capable people are often also highly skilled at sniffing out others who are equally capable. Just as I regard Count Schönheite highly, Count Schönheite likely regards me highly as well. I shall get close to him and, as a spy, pass the internal information to all of you.”

Edward promptly wrote a letter requesting a meeting with Count Schönheite.

The reply arrived several days later.

“This is the reply that came from Count Schönheite.”

“What did it say?”

“Do not be so hasty. I am opening it now.”

Edward broke the seal with composed movements.

He lowered his gaze to the letter.

With a smile full of confidence, he gave a fearless grin.

“I see. I understand his intentions.”

“What did it say?”

“He is wary of my excellence. As the possessor of an equally superior intellect, he likely judged that he could not overlook the possibility of being stabbed in the back by me.”

Edward said,

“Unfortunately, he is busy at present, so perhaps another time.”

“…………”

Useless.

Ignoring Edward’s posed expression, I left the Charlus family mansion behind.

Count Schönheite’s aim was probably to restrict my movements.

The reduction of taxes in Lineage had the potential to greatly increase dissatisfaction among the people in other territories.

From the perspective of the eastern nobles, who wanted to maintain taxes at the same high level as before, they probably wanted to pluck out a bad sprout while it was still small.

They were the sort who had used all kinds of excuses to raise taxes bit by bit over many long years so as not to provoke anyone.

They surely wanted to crush my existence, which disrupted the existing order, by any means necessary.

(How should I go about bringing him down?)

As the carriage rocked along, I considered possible strategies.

Schönheite County.

That day, the one visiting the mansion where Count Schönheite lived was a man wearing his hood low over his face.

A top-secret meeting that did not exist outwardly.

“So, in accordance with the will of the Council of Three Hundred, you wish to request that I eliminate Mythia Lumiore.”

At Count Schönheite’s words, the hooded man silently indicated his agreement.

“I do not mind. I was already planning to crush her. The arrangements for that are already in place.”

“That is not enough.”

The hooded man opened the bag he was carrying and said,

“Use this.”

It was packed full of heavy gold coins.

At the amount handed over as expenses, Count Schönheite furrowed his brow.

(This does not sit right. She is certainly acting against the ideology of the Council of Three Hundred. However, I do not think she has done anything serious enough for the organization to move this quickly.)

Count Schönheite thoughtfully placed a hand to his mouth.

(This is not a decision of the organization as a whole. It is more reasonable to think that one of the top executives strongly desires it.)

Just who was it that desired that?

For Count Schönheite, who had deep ties to the Council of Three Hundred and was thoroughly familiar with the internal affairs of the magical kingdom, it was not difficult to arrive at the answer.

(The one leading this is Count Lumiore, then. He wants to eliminate an inconvenient daughter quickly without dirtying his own hands.)

If Count Lumiore acted directly, there was a possibility of provoking backlash from Lineage and the other people of the territory.

The story was that Mythia, who did not discriminate against those without magical aptitude and lowered taxes, had gathered extremely high support in Lineage.

If her position as acting lord were stripped away, the target of that dissatisfaction would without question turn toward Count Lumiore.

From Count Lumiore’s perspective, a man with a strong hunger for honor who desired even higher status, he would surely want to avoid any avoidable risk.

However, that fact was favorable for Count Schönheite.

He had this much funding, and her own father, Count Lumiore, desired her elimination.

On top of that, he had the backing of the Council of Three Hundred.

If that was the case, then he could choose a method with a much higher certainty of success.

“You may leave it to me. By whatever means necessary, I will erase Mythia Lumiore.”

“A summons from the Third Assembly… why, when it was supposed to be scheduled for three weeks from now…”

That day, when she opened the letter that had arrived for me, Ciel caught her breath.

An unforeseen development.

Together with Vincent, she immediately moved to gather information.

“I confirmed it with Lord Maskis, but he says he had not been informed. Until yesterday, it truly was proceeding on the schedule of three weeks from now.”

Even Lord Maskis, who held an important office in the Third Assembly, had not been informed.

In that case, it was probably a decision forcibly pushed through by Count Schönheite and a small number of his closest aides.

(Why did they change their policy…? Did some great shadow begin to move?)

Perhaps some major power with the influence to make that possible was moving behind the scenes.

“I do not mind. Let us accept their invitation.”

“However, the preparations are still not perfect…”

“We can handle it if we revise the plan. If we set priorities and think only about fulfilling the conditions for victory, then it is entirely possible for us to win.”

I said that with my hair fluttering.

“Without fleeing, and proudly from the front. Let us make those corrupt nobles waiting for us cry uncle.”

A room in the Grand Palace located in the center of the royal capital of the magical kingdom.

That day, Kyle von Elmia, the Second Prince of the magical kingdom, dropped the pen he had been holding at his subordinate’s report.

“The Third Assembly has summoned Mythia Lumiore for an inquest…?”

His voice trembled.

He struck the desk and rebuked his subordinate.

“Why was this report delayed so badly? I instructed you to inform me if there was any movement at all…!”

“My apologies. It appears that the nobles belonging to the Third Assembly have also been acting with extreme caution.”

“That does not change the fact that the information came in far too late. The inquest meeting is this afternoon…!”

As he clenched his fists tightly, Kyle thought about why his subordinates had fallen behind.

No matter how cautiously the nobles of the Third Assembly had acted, it was clearly strange that his capable subordinates had been able to grasp nothing to this extent.

(Did the Council of Three Hundred move…?)

The supreme organization of shadows that ruled the magical kingdom.

They upheld absolute secrecy and were the most skilled at information warfare in this country.

More than anything, what agitated Kyle was a single possibility suggested by the circumstances.

(If the Council of Three Hundred is trying to eliminate Mythia Lumiore…)

It felt entirely possible.

Though only ten years old, a girl who, while living among noble society, did not discriminate against those without magical aptitude could very well be judged a destabilizing existence to the eugenic ideology and aristocratic principles upheld by the Council of Three Hundred.

(I absolutely must stop this… she is this country’s hope…)

Kyle drew his lips tight and said,

“Prepare a carriage. We leave for Lineage at once.”

“However, were you not scheduled to go bird hunting in the forest with Marquis Douque today?”

“That is a worthless engagement. Tell them the Second Prince has diarrhea at the highest level in human history and is enduring the agonies of hell.”

Kyle jumped into the carriage and headed for the inquest meeting concerning Mythia Lumiore.