Chapter 50 - 50 The Fate of Those Who Impersonate Others
Confirming that Ronagan and his men had infiltrated Valier's mansion, Steve immediately teleports to their location.
Ronagan showed surprise upon noticing Steve, but being a trained soldier, he did not let out a sound.
He immediately readied the knife he held.
The knife's blade was black, making it difficult to see as it blended with the evening darkness. It did not reflect the starlight, for it was coated in poison.
With a single thrust of Ronagan's knife, it perfectly caught Steve's throat, killing him in one blow. Steve, having perished from the knife wound, collapsed right there in the garden.
Though the three were surprised by the sudden appearance of an enemy, having disposed of the boy witness in silence, they proceeded to secure Valier without changing their plan. Furthermore, since the three did not know Steve's face, they did not realize the opponent they had defeated was the Dragon Wing Medal recipient.
Then, they moved to the back entrance they had confirmed during their scouting earlier that day.
This side was hidden from the street by the house itself. Thus, it was perfect for infiltration. Since the back door was made of wood, they smashed it open with a mallet and entered the house.
They headed straight for Valier's bedroom on the second floor. They had also scouted this information during the day.
Valier, who was sleeping in the second-floor bedroom, was gagged along with his wife by the intruders, and their limbs were bound with rope. The two men besides Ronagan each carried Valier and his wife. Then, they immediately retraced the path they had used to enter and escaped from the Valier mansion.
A horse-drawn wagon was waiting near the house; after rolling the two onto the cargo bed and covering them with a sheet, it began driving toward the place of confinement.
After seeing the wagon off, Ronagan confirmed once more that there were no witnesses in the vicinity before going to fetch Baron Thompson. Upon receiving Ronagan's report, Baron Thompson rejoiced at the success of the kidnapping and said he would also go to Valier's place of confinement.
"Ronagan, well done. I shall go to Valier's place now as well. If he does not listen to what I say, I shall have to make him suffer."
"Understood. Then, I shall guide you."
Though he answered thus, Ronagan inwardly wished Baron Thompson would not come. This was because there was a possibility that Valier, hearing Baron Thompson's voice later on, might recognize it. Furthermore, there was the possibility that someone might see the Baron entering or leaving the place of confinement. It only increased the risk without increasing the chance of success.
And, although Baron Thompson disguised himself with a mask, he insisted on traveling by carriage because he did not want to walk. Since it would be a hassle to sour his mood by offering an admonition, Ronagan simply prayed that they would not be seen by anyone.
Upon arriving at the place of confinement and entering the room, Baron Thompson, who had become high-spirited, grew loose-lipped.
"It might be good to use Valier well and have him leak that vixen's movements to us."
"However, our identities will be exposed if we do that."
"Nonsense, there should be no problem if we threaten him. Have we not always done it that way until now?"
At that moment, a woman's voice joined the conversation between Baron Thompson and Ronagan.
"I wonder who you mean by 'vixen'?"
"Who is there!?"
Ronagan hurriedly tried to draw his sword, but his arms were as heavy as iron and would not move. In reality, they were being restrained by iron.
Then, the scene the two were looking at changed all at once.
They were in a bright, large room, surrounded by many soldiers. At the center stood Aurora and Steve.
"What is this? Are you the boy I killed at the Valier mansion?"
Ronagan said this while looking at Steve. And Baron Thompson was equally surprised to see Steve.
"Dragon Wing!"
"Good evening, Baron."
"Why are you here!?"
"There were intruders at the Valier mansion, so I was identifying the client. I never imagined that Lord Thompson would be the client. How was your dreamlike state? I trust you saw a good dream."
Steve chuckled.
"From where was it a dream?"
Ronagan questioned Steve.
"From the moment you stabbed me. At that time, the three of you were already inside a dream. An illusion would be the more accurate way to put it, though. That is why I am not dead, and the back door of the Valier mansion was not broken."
"That's impossible!"
"There are convenient magics in this world, you see."
Ronagan looked like he still wanted to say something, but Baron Thompson stopped him.
"Stop, Ronagan. The one you are speaking to is His Excellency the Dragon Wing."
"Is that the truth?"
Ronagan stopped uttering any further words. Then, he intensely regretted his actions and words up until now.
When everyone had fallen silent, Aurora opened her mouth.
"Say, Lord Thompson. I wonder if you could tell me who you meant by 'vixen'?"
"Did I utter such a thing? Since it was a conversation within a dream, I do not recall it."
At Baron Thompson's excuse, Aurora's gaze grew sharp.
"You must think me quite a fool if you believe such an excuse will pass."
"No, that is by no means the case."
Baron Thompson hurriedly denied it, but Aurora's mood did not recover.
"That question just now was your last chance, yet it is a pity you could not make use of it. Though, I suppose you manipulated the stock prices using my name because you look down on me."
"I do not know what you are speaking of, but I have certainly never done such a thing as using Your Excellency's name without permission."
"Well then, for your last chance, shall we diagnose whether that is true or not with Lord Dragon Wing's magic? It is a magic where, if it is a lie, you will spend a week dying in agony as blood fountains from your entire body, but I assume you are prepared to undergo it."
Being told that, Baron Thompson fell silent.
Since there was magic that could show illusions, he thought the magic Aurora spoke of must surely exist as well. In reality, Steve could not use such a magic, and the Steve in question was desperate to stifle his laughter.
"If you will not undergo it, then so be it. Now then, since it is late at night, I shall hand down the judgment quickly: Baron Thompson shall step down from his position as head of the house. I will not permit retirement; he shall perform mine labor for the rest of his life. Those who intruded into the Valier mansion shall also engage in mine labor for ten years. Regarding Delaunay, who is not here, he shall receive the death penalty for impersonating a noble. Harry, I leave the rest to you."
"As you command."
To Aurora, who was about to leave after saying that much, Steve asked,
"Um, what about me?"
"It is time for children to sleep. Let us discuss things again once the sun rises."
"Understood. Good night, Your Excellency. May you have pleasant dreams."
"I feel as though I shall be able to sleep quite pleasantly today."
Saying so, Aurora left the room.
This was Aurora's castle, and her bedroom was close by. The remaining soldiers disarmed Ronagan and the others, had Steve release the restraints, and then bound them with ropes this time.
Having witnessed that, Steve asked Harry if he could go home.
"My job is finished with this, right? I'm going home."
"Yes. Your assistance to Her Excellency ends here. We shall handle the rest."
"It's hard for a child to stay up late, after all. Well then."
"Thank you very much."
As Harry bowed his head, Steve returned to his home with Teleportation magic. By the time Harry raised his head, Steve's figure was no longer there.
A subordinate spoke to Harry.
"Chief Aide, does His Excellency the Dragon Wing really think of himself as a child?"
"I wonder. However, no matter how much one's self-evaluation is that of a child, those around him will not evaluate him as such. This time was the same. Her Excellency's request was originally not supposed to seek results this far-reaching. At most, it would have been enough to inflict some damage regarding the unauthorized use of her name. Even for an adult, crushing a Baron's house is a difficult thing. If one did not know the truth behind this, they would think an exceedingly cunning veteran strategist had been at work."
"Indeed. It would be difficult even for an adult to do the same."
"However, seeing the speed of Milady's judgment, I believe she had predicted the outcome. I do not know since when, though. At the very least, around the time the invitation to Marquess Earhart's wedding arrived, she seemed happy every day, so she likely anticipated this conclusion even then."
"Both Excellencies are quite something."
"I only pray that the two do not come into conflict."
Harry patted his subordinate's shoulder and took the five bound men to the dungeon.
It became noon that day, and Steve woke up. Sitting up in bed, he complained to himself in a monologue to his still-sleepy body.
"Even if it's bolstered by magic, a child's body can't handle an all-nighter, huh. Pulling all-nighters was par for the course in my previous life, but I want to grow up quickly."
After letting out a sigh, he got out of bed and changed his clothes. For the heir of a Baron's house, changing clothes is a servant's job, but as a remnant of when they were poor, everyone in House Archibalt still changes their clothes themselves.
Even Christina started changing by herself after coming to House Archibalt. Regarding that, Steve asked if she wanted to let the servants do it, but Christina answered that she was fine with how things were now.
There was a sense of pride there in being a member of House Archibalt herself.
When Steve stepped out of the room, Bella was standing there.
"Good morning."
"Take me with you next time. I am Steve's guard, after all."
In response to Steve's greeting, Bella said so with an angry look.
Steve showed a momentary expression of trouble at Bella's demand, but he immediately granted that request.
"I understand. Let's go together next time."
"It's a promise."
"Yeah."
Bella would also soon be an adult by the standards of the Kingdom of Cascade. Steve reflected that if he treated her like a child forever, it would only hurt her self-esteem.
After that, he reported the events of the middle of the night to Brian.
"And so, Baron Thompson has been captured. I will be heading to Her Excellency's place now to receive the reward for this time."
"If the migration plan is smoothly approved, we must start on the construction of the second factory."
"That's right. I'll leave the selection of a location where friction with the residents who migrated ahead of time is unlikely to occur to you, Father."
"Even if you say that, I'm going to have Nick manage it concurrently, so the factories will be next to each other. The location is pretty much decided then."
"Well, I suppose it will be. Given the scale, we might have to station retainers to handle crimes."
"If the people increase, crimes will increase too, huh."
Brian sighed. Until now, the territory's public order had been relatively good; there were occasional quarrels, but no thefts or murders.
However, if the population increased due to territorial expansion, crime would inevitably increase as well. Thinking about how to handle that made the future seem bleak.
"There's no room for criminal guilds that run gambling or the sex industry to get in, but small thefts or violent incidents might occur."
"I'll have to increase the number of retainers. The work of patrolling the annexed territories is increasing too."
"Since everyone's territory has expanded, it's a scramble for talent. I hear that second and third sons of nobles from other regions are flocking here after hearing about the boom in the West; why don't we try putting out a recruitment call for our territory too?"
The West was currently in the midst of an unprecedented economic boom, and there were labor shortages everywhere. Consequently, children of the domestic nobility who had no prospect of inheriting territory were flocking to the West all at once.
The nobles whose territories had suddenly expanded were all desiring new vassals.
"True. However, if we are to hire people, we'll have to conduct interviews. I don't have the confidence to see through those who harbor ill ambitions."
"In that case, how about asking Chris's family, the house of Marquess (T/N: not in glossary — rendered as [Marquess]) Macintosh, to recommend some good people?"
"Umu. There was that option."
Brian slapped his knee at his son's words. Rather than putting out a wide recruitment call, the probability of drawing a dud was lower if they had Marquess Macintosh recommend someone.
Adopting Steve's opinion, he decided to send a letter to Marquess Macintosh.
"Well, that's also after I go to Her Excellency's place and the talk about the reward is finalized."
"It shouldn't change at this point."
"That's true. Well then, I'm off."
Saying so, Steve teleported to Sowell Land.
Aurora welcomed Steve in high spirits.
"Thanks to you, I was able to see a good dream. But, this wasn't your magic, was it?"
"It was reality, of course. It's not as if I want to taste the danger of casting magic on Your Excellency, after all."
"If that's your true feeling, I'm happy and relieved."
"It is indeed my true feeling."
As far as Steve was concerned, he had no intention of breaking his current good relationship with Aurora, nor did he intend to use illusion magic on her.
Aurora, for her part, had measures against magic not just for Steve, and she possessed multiple mechanisms to sense if any magic was used, so she knew that no magic was being used in the current state.
"Even so, you did well. To think it would result in a large positive balance even after paying the reward. Usually, when inflicting sanctions on an opponent like this, it ends up in the red."
"That wasn't my achievement alone. Your Excellency is also making profits from Lost-wax related stocks, aren't you?"
"I'm not so well-off that I would ignore money lying on the ground."
Aurora laughed glamorously. Steve felt a thump-thump (T/N: ドキドキ) at her charming figure. Although his age was that of a child, his inside was an adult, so he could feel more affection for someone of Aurora's age than Christina's.
As if seeing through Steve's heart, Aurora teased him.
"It's no use. I have a husband."
"I-It's not as if I'm thinking of having a romantic relationship with Your Excellency."
Though he denied it, Steve, who had become flustered, allowed Aurora to seize the initiative in the negotiations.
"Now then, since my work is piling up, I want to get this over with quickly, but do you have any demands for additional rewards? If you do, I'd like you to state the reason."
"I have none."
"I see. Then I'll issue instructions to pay the money as per the original promise. Regarding the migration, it looks like we can take people from Baron Thompson's place as well, so I shall fulfill it without issue."
"Thank you very much."
"Then, give me your signature here."
"Yes."
Steve signed the contract held out to him.
Seeing that, Aurora laughed mischievously.
"It's no use, you have to sign after properly confirming the contents. If I were a bad person, I might have written different contents."
"Ah."
Being pointed out, Steve realized his own immaturity.
He had been floating from the embarrassment regarding Aurora, and his confirmation had become lax.
"Be careful not to have the rug pulled out from under you by anyone other than me."
"I will carve it into my heart."
Steve confirmed the contract once more, and after confirming there were no problems, he left Aurora's presence.