Chapter 81. A Coup Out of Nowhere
After the attempted assassination against me became public knowledge, letters and gifts arrived from all over.
Most of them contained words of sympathy, and it seemed handing out Royal Marcel had paid off.
Chloe gathered all the gifts, made a detailed list, and reported them one by one.
“...And the Germania Imperial Family and Chancellor Count Leopold sent large amounts of goods along with long letters expressing their ‘regret.’ As compensation, they say they will confiscate the former Count of Westfalen’s personal assets and send them to us.”
“So they dumped everything on the former Count and let Noah slip away.”
“The former Count probably took the blame voluntarily.”
The former Count, who had been the restraint keeping Lorian and Noah in check, was now gone.
This was not what I had intended.
Janis Dijon must be thrilled.
It would be troublesome if Westfalen collapsed under Dijon’s influence right now.
And considering nobody had mentioned Dijon at all, it seemed Westfalen had brushed aside my warning that Noah was the target of a curse.
If Noah dies, Michael is next. Then I’m next after him. I need to stop this somehow.
My hatred for them was irrelevant.
The fact remained that the Westfalen family served as a breakwater protecting Marcel.
If possible, it would be better to keep both Noah and Count Michael alive.
However, although many people in Westfalen had been friendly with me, there was nobody I could truly call my ally.
Being close to someone did not mean they would take risks for me.
I had no choice but to find a way through Pascal’s father, the Heraldry Officer.
“Palatinate also sent a letter and gifts wishing for Your Lordship’s health and safety.”
Palatinate was the territory I had once screwed over during the black mage incident.
They must have enjoyed watching the Westfalen family receive an even bigger beating from me.
It felt like they had sent gifts under the principle that the enemy of my enemy was my friend.
“Send Count Palatinate one of the new Royal Marcel products in return. Tell him I look forward to continued friendship between us.”
Just in case, I should reconcile with Palatinate.
They might become useful later.
“Distribute the gifts we received from the various territories among the knights who fought this time, including Sir Orian.”
“Yes, my lord.”
Then I urgently summoned Pascal.
Pascal hurried into my office after the sudden summons.
“My lord, is something urgent?”
“Yeah. Can you contact your father?”
“Yes. He wrote recently that he got fired. He’s the ‘former’ Heraldry Officer now. Hahaha!”
Why are you laughing when your own father got fired?
Was Pascal really planning to move his entire family here?
“I’ll officially give you leave. Secretly visit Westfalen.”
“W, Westfalen?”
“Why are you scared?”
“Because... I might die.”
I laughed.
Unless Noah had gone insane, why would he touch Pascal?
Ah.
Maybe he really had gone insane.
“Can you go quietly and come back? I’ll attach a knight to you.”
“Can I go with Sir Martin? I think the other knights would be discovered quickly.”
Both Pascal and Martin were known faces in Westfalen.
If they were going secretly anyway, it was better to send people who knew the geography and military deployment well.
“Good idea. Hand over your work properly before you leave.”
“There’s not much to hand over... Ah, we finally found a Mage Tower that researches evil energy.”
During the lighthouse pyramid excavation, Pascal had guessed that evil energy was the reason most of the documents were damaged.
At the time, I had ordered him to find a mage who could explain whether evil energy truly existed.
“Where?”
“Basra Mage Tower.”
I immediately frowned.
Basra Mage Tower was even farther away than the Fatima Dynasty.
The closest related person was Amar Mustafa Hussein, the master of Vincent, the heir of the Duke of Veneto.
We had made a terrible first impression on each other.
Actually, I had insulted him.
Even writing him a letter felt uncomfortable.
“Leave the matter of evil energy to me now. Just make sure you return safely from Westfalen.”
“Am I delivering a letter to my father?”
“There is no letter. Tell him verbally.”
Pascal swallowed.
Apparently, he realized this was no ordinary errand.
Maybe this was what a spy felt like before infiltrating enemy territory.
* * *
Pascal and Martin boarded the lord’s ship, the Benedikta, and quickly traveled to the lowlands west of Westfalen.
From there, they boarded a regular river vessel and traveled upstream.
Their original plan had been to infiltrate from neighboring Palatinate or Saxony.
However, security was surprisingly loose.
So they moved directly into Westfalen.
Because they took the shortest route, they arrived much faster than expected.
As they stepped off at the Westfalen dock, both looked confused.
“Martin, doesn’t something feel strange? There’s no inspection at the harbor.”
“Yeah. Forget the soldiers, I don’t even see any knights.”
If they had encountered a knight they knew, they would have fled.
But right now, even their forged identity cards were completely unnecessary.
“Could it be because of that incident?”
“I can’t say no. All of Knight Commander Cain’s closest men died, and they were high-ranking knights too. The atmosphere inside the knight order must be a complete mess.”
Their guess was correct.
The Westfalen Knight Order was in chaos because it had to select a new Deputy Commander and replace the missing knights.
Even territorial patrols were barely functioning.
“That works in our favor. Let’s go to my house first.”
It happened to be market day.
The sun was also beginning to set in the west.
The two moved without attracting much attention.
Pascal’s father, now the former Heraldry Officer, was shocked by his son’s sudden appearance.
“What are you doing here without warning? Sir Martin came with you too?”
“Father, we’re here on a secret mission. Lock the doors and make sure the maids don’t spread anything.”
“A secret? Understood. Go upstairs to your room first.”
Fortunately, the maids in the house had all served for many years and were trustworthy.
A short while later, the former Heraldry Officer personally brought food to Pascal’s room.
“I brought something to eat. Sir Martin, please have some too.”
The two devoured bread and stew.
They had traveled so quickly that they had missed proper meals.
“But what do you mean by secret mission? Did Viscount Marcel send you?”
“Yes, Father. His Lordship told us to save Young Lord Noah.”
“The Young Lord? How did he know enough to send you? The Young Lord has been unconscious since yesterday. Nobody has found a way to save him, and they say he may die any day now.”
Pascal and Martin could not understand.
“That’s strange. His Lordship should have warned everyone that it was a black mage’s curse.”
“That is not it. Curse detection magic items found nothing.”
