Apologies for the slight delay in the release of this chapter. There was a lot of political talk, which is always a pain to translate cause of the lack of context……if there any questions with the translation or suggestions, please feel free to comment. Some of the terminology was a bit confusing, so I am not entirely sure the meaning was conveyed well.
CSWH Chapter 123: The Prime Minister’s Anguish
“……Wiel’s daughter?”
“Yes……when Rui-sama investigated the Army uniform ordering forms, the trail ultimately led to her.”
“Now that you mention it, Wiel did have a single daughter…..”
At Alf’s response, I murmured, searching through my memories.
“Yes. She is older than Rui-sama……this year, she is 22 years old. Her name is Salome. Salome Bella Anderson. As her father Wiel is under surveillance, being under an indefinite house confinement, she has been living on her own in a separate mansion.”
“On her own? What of her other family members?”
“Wiel’s wife divorced him and left the mansion. Additionally, Salome has still yet to marry.”
“I see. I had been certain that the perpetrator of the Army uniform incident was one of the subordinates of Wiel’s retainers but……for it to be his daughter. How unexpected.”
“Why were you suspicious of his subordinates?”
“Even if he is under indefinite confinement, Wiel likely hasn’t completely cut off his link with Nord. But on the other hand, it would likely be difficult for someone from Nord’s side to infiltrate a mansion where the flow of people is naturally being limited……that being the case, there should probably be some middleman between Nord and Wiel. It would be more natural for that middleman to be Wiel’s subordinate rather than his daughter……is what I thought. So, Alf. In reality, which is it?”
I questioned Alf.
I asked him as though I did not have a single doubt that the answer was already in his hands.
……and that should’ve been the case.
By my order, Alf had already enacted our plan to interfere with the communication between Nord and Wiel……naturally, we had also placed a spy by Wiel’s side so as to grasp how they were working together.
“As you said, there are still connections between Wiel and Nord. We managed to confirm this when their communications were intercepted but……normally the mediator with Nord is a subordinate of one of Wiel’s retainers, a man named Armos.”
“I see……”
“……one thing that I felt was a bit unnatural when investigating was that compared to the cover-ups of their other plans, the cover-up for the misappropriation of Army uniforms was far too sloppy. It was easy to arrive at the fact that Salome had ordered the uniforms based on the ordering form. On the other hand, if they had prepared this plan only after he had been captured, could he not have already prepared the uniforms beforehand?”
“No……he probably could not have done that.”
The one who answered in the negative to Alf’s question was Rui.
“The important persons of Rinmel Principality came to Tasmeria Kingdom this time as a result of Father’s negotiations. Since this was a recent development, neither Nord, or perhaps Cordis, could have prepared for it that much in advance if they were thinking of making use of the opportunity.”
“I see……when you think about it that way, they certainly would not have been able to make much preparations in advance.”
“That’s right……..as for this time’s matter, it could either be Salome’s one-sided recklessness after finding out about Wiel’s connection to Nord, or possibly because she had some contact with Nord……I believe either is possible. Although like Alf said, the cover-up for the plan was rather sloppy, so the chances of it being Salome’s own recklessness seem higher. Leaving that aside, how is the splitting up of their communications going?”
“They do not exchange letters very often, so we have only done it a few times……but the maneuvering is going well. We have custody of all of their exchanges prior to implementing the maneuvering, so please take a look at it later.”
“I see.”
“I believe that you will be able to confirm it for yourself later, but according to a single sentence among their previous exchanges, we can confirm that Gazelle-sama is not involved with them…….additionally, I have reports from all my undercover agents that General Gazelle has not participated in their schemes.”
“……then what of the whereabouts of the iron?”
“We have received confirmation of where it was sent. A portion of it seems to have been circulated to Duke Sligar’s territory in Rinmel Principality but……”
“I was already prepared to hear that……even if it is unfortunate to hear that, what’s done is done. So, on Nord and Cordis’ side, what is the situation on the collection of evidence suggesting Wiel’s involvement?”
“It has already begun. It would be difficult to take all of the evidence out at once, so we are doing the removal in stages…….Bern is there handling the situation personally, so please do not worry.”
“If Bern and Alf are the ones working together to do this, then there is no combination that I would feel more reassured to leaving this task to. Continue the communication interference and evidence retrieval. If Wiel’s side starts to move aggressively……then make it so that no evidence of it remains. Additionally, ensure that no reinforcements come from Nord/Cordis’ side. The most frightening situation would be if they were to cooperate. It would be terrible if when Wiel makes a movement, the Sligar Ducal House led by Cordis were to instigate the Rinmel Principality to go on the offensive.”
“Understood.”
“With that assumption, we can share the information with Gazelle…….and with regards to the aforementioned iron, have the Anderson Guard Corps that is under the direct supervision of Gazelle clean it up.”
“Are you not going to dispatch the Army?”
Hearing my command, Alf tilted his head while asking thus.
In response to that question, my brow faintly furrowed.
“If we were to dispatch the Army, then this matter will be revealed to the public, won’t it? Though to be fair, I cannot say I am very knowledgeable regarding military affairs but……if the Guard Corps were to be unable to handle this with their level of skill, then I cannot possibly believe that the Army would be more capable of handling the matter…….honestly speaking, I would like for this to be taken care of using only the Guard Corps.”
“Indeed……how shall we handle matters on Cordis’ end?”
“We should leave matters of the Rinmel Principality to the Rinmel Principality……though I am honestly at a bit of a loss…….while we could cooperate with them to handle this matter, no cooperation is perfect. And when you take into account the distance from here to there, it will take some time for information to be transmitted as well……in a situation where events are happening by the hour, it would likely be difficult to move when the cooperation isn’t perfect. In the unlikely event that we would have to handle everything on our side, it would be best if we had the authority to do so, but we also lack that.”
“In other words, the main issue is who should take the lead in this? The cooperators from Rinmel Principality would only include those who move for Rinmel’s sake alone. Naturally, what we need to protect is different from them, and as such, there is no way they would give us the right to take command. If we establish a cooperation under such time restrictions, our cooperation would also be erratic. In the midst of that, if something unexpected were to occur, the one taking the lead would be unable to forcibly advance matters……and in the worst case, they may make a move, leading to everything falling to ruin.”
“Yeah, precisely.”
“If that is the case, then there isn’t really a need to force ourselves to cooperate, is there? We want to avoid the situation from growing into a larger matter from each move we make after all. That being said, if we were to make a move without giving them any notice at all, I believe it would negatively affect our relationship with them, so while sharing information with the Rinmel Principality’s Duke Grindal, we can take the initiative to make a move……how does that sound?”
“Indeed, that seems to be the best option…….however, what shall we do with Cordis? It’ll be difficult to force them to accept our decisions on what to do with him.”
“That……certainly is true.”
For a moment, a curtain of silence descended on the area.
Suddenly, I looked towards my son Rui.
Underneath his eyes were unconcealable shadows.
……although I was also in a similar state.
“……as expected, this is all we can do.”
I wonder how much time passed in silence.
What broke the silence was my quiet comment.
Though it was only supposed to be a tiny murmur, it resounded within the silent room more than expected.
“Alf. Can you contact Bern?”
“Yes, of course.”
My gaze turned to Alf.
That glance was not only serious……but it somehow appeared to contain a sense of resolve.
“Then tell him this. The next Duke Sligar should be Miles, so Kurtis and Cordis should be eliminated. All of the responsibility for this will be taken by the Prime Minister of Tasmeria Kingdom, Romel Jib Armelia…….if needed, I will also draw up a letter of command.”
Alf steadily looked at me with an inquiring gaze.
In a rare instance, he did not give an immediate reply to my order.
As I did not show a single hint of discomfort at his testing gaze, he simply accepted the order quietly.
“……in all likelihood, Kurtis has guards at the same level as Romel-sama’s guards. It will be quite difficult to assassinate both Kurtis and Cordis with them around……if it is Romel-sama, then I’m sure you can imagine how difficult even if you do not understand their level of strength.”
“Yeah. If you make that comparison…….at this point in the game, the only people whose ability I trust and can depend on are Alf and Bern. Naturally, if you need any personnel, money, or goods, I will fulfill all of those needs. Additionally, I will shoulder all of the consequences brought about by this order…….no matter what happens as a result, or what happens on the way…….is there anything else that you want to confirm?”
“When Romel-sama says ‘all of them’, do you truly mean all of them?”
Alf gently smiled.
That good-natured smile conferred a sense of tranquility to the hearts of those who saw it.
“Yeah.”
However, in the next instant, his expression once again grew stern at my affirmation.
“……if that is the case, then I will go with Bern. Of course, we will continue the communication interference on-site, and I shall leave a trusted subordinate here in my place.”
“Got it…….remember to be careful and take care.”
“Thank you very much. With regards to the required goods, I will procure them myself……and if an issue arises in the procurement, I will contact you then.”
“Alright then…….Rui.”
“Yes, of course. I will use all my power to support him.”
“Thank you very much, Rui-sama.”
And then, Alf set off on his journey.
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