Medieval Knight System: Building the Strongest Empire Ever!

Chapter 315: The Case Takes a Turn

I warned him in no uncertain terms that if he betrayed his promise to me and touched the books, I would make an example of him. I felt bad toward Viola, but establishing discipline required a certain ruthlessness.

"From this moment on, you are a man of the Streit family. If anyone approaches you, you are to report it to me without fail. Even if it’s your benefactor, the count palatine. Do you understand?"

"Yes! I will dedicate this body of mine to you, Baron!"

"Good. All you need to do is fulfill your duty."

Fulfill your duty. It seems this has become my creed and my motto. Fulfill your duty, and one day it returns as a blessing. Just as I, once a mere knight, became a lord and then a baron.

"Then shall I go meet the Hungarians?"

"No. Act as you normally would until I call for you again."

Ivan looked bewildered by the incomprehensible order. I summoned Anton, who had been waiting outside. Having served alongside me through countless battles, he’d grown quite dashing. Anton gave a crisp military salute.

"You called, Baron?"

"This is Ivan von Rijeka, the newest member of our house."

"Welcome to the Streit family, Sir Rijeka."

When Anton greeted him with a broad grin, Ivan looked dazed. As a proper noble, Ivan held higher status than the commoner Anton, yet he exchanged greetings with him politely. He’d get used to things in time.

"Mark my words, the count palatine will approach you without fail."

"Pardon? Th-the count palatine has no reason to bother with me..."

"No, I’m certain of it. Anton, keep watch over Ivan and protect him. If the count palatine, or anyone who approaches him deliberately, makes a move, report it to me."

"Understood. May I mobilize the knights?"

"I’ll assign you one squad. If that’s not enough, I’ll attach more."

"That will be plenty."

It was excessive force, but it was better to attach a squad from the start so that any resistance could be easily suppressed. If the count palatine was an opportunist, he would try to use Ivan, who had met with me, by any means necessary.

I’d already caught the scent of something suspicious, so I intended to protect Ivan while keeping him under watch. Ivan protested that the count palatine wasn’t that kind of man, but I couldn’t shake my suspicion.

"Ivan, if I take you to Rosenheim, the count palatine’s influence will follow. I’m trying to root this out from the very start, and you’re still taking his side?"

"M-my apologies. But I owe the count palatine a great debt."

"Whether that favor was granted out of genuine goodwill remains to be seen."

Naive. No wonder he got picked as the sacrificial lamb. In this cutthroat world of nobles, conspiracies and intrigues are as common as morning greetings. That man had clearly been scheming something, using Ivan and Viola.

I intended to take in the Rijeka family, and I couldn’t have someone like that tagging along. Ivan still wasn’t convinced, but he’d come to understand in time. After Ivan left, Viola spoke to me.

"I’m sorry, Master. I made such an outrageous request..."

"It’s fine. Thanks to that request, you learned things even you didn’t know, didn’t you?"

"I had no idea our family’s downfall started with my medicine."

"And you learned you’re from Rijeka, Croatia, on top of that."

For Viola, it must have felt like uncovering the secret of her birth. This innocent child had only asked me out of worry for her parents; she never could have guessed it would lead to something like this.

I was taking measures to keep the flies from swarming, but above all, I held legitimate authority to wield judicial power within the royal demesne. Having caught the scent of criminal activity, I couldn’t simply walk past it.

The grand duke is the sort of man who wants me working hard, you see.

My prediction hit the mark. That very night, one of the count palatine’s men made contact with Ivan. I received a detailed report through the knight Anton had assigned. It was faster than I’d expected.

I instructed Ivan to respond as he normally would. With things unfolding just as predicted, Ivan must have started feeling that something was off too. The timing was far too convenient, wasn’t it? The count palatine’s man reportedly asked about the situation in detail.

Ivan handled it smoothly and left out everything about my suspicions toward the count palatine. Well handled. That showed he had at least some measure of tact. Subordinates without tact are terribly frustrating to work with.

Hmm, but if things really are as I suspect, this is no small matter.

If the mastermind behind the ledger fraud case was a high-ranking noble like a count palatine, then the people involved would number far more than one or two. But I’d become too big a figure to go investigating in person.

A prince poking his nose into every corner wouldn’t look good either.

So I called in the subordinate nobles who exist precisely for times like this.

"Sir Beort, did the Military Department’s director (Michael) treat you well?"

"Yes. The workload was heavy and it was rough, but I managed to hold on."

"Good to hear. If you’d run away because the work was hard, I would have been very disappointed."

Beort and Ferke laughed as if the very idea were absurd, but Drek alone looked stung. That one has a bit of a slacker streak, and if Beort hadn’t kept him in check, he might have gone astray.

"Ahem. The director left a message for you, Baron."

"A message, out of nowhere? Let’s hear it."

"’How petty can you be, giving them to me and then taking them back?’ That is all!"

The content was so at odds with Beort’s serious expression that I let out a snort of laughter in spite of myself. What kind of nonsense has that man been spouting to my subordinates? Drek and Ferke nearly burst out laughing too.

"Well, fine. I have work for you three."

"As long as it’s not behind a desk, anything is fine!"

Drek seems to truly despise sitting still and doing paperwork. Fortunately, what I had in mind wasn’t desk work. I ordered them to secretly investigate Count Palatine Heinlein.

I also informed them that the count palatine was connected to the ledger fraud case from seven years ago involving Ivan. Beort worried that they lacked the connections to investigate a high-ranking court noble of Radensdorf.

They were court nobles of Breisburg with no connections whatsoever in Radensdorf, so the investigation would be full of difficulties. I knew it would be hard, but overcoming such obstacles is also a form of ability.

"I thought this would be a good opportunity to test your abilities, but if you don’t want to, then there’s nothing to be done."

"N-no, sir! We’ll get it done by any means necessary!"

"Good. Ivan will provide you with information. Use force if you have to."

"Um, if we use force, won’t the Radensdorf nobles push back..."

He seemed worried about making unnecessary enemies, so I signaled to the subordinate on standby, who unfurled the fine scroll he’d prepared and showed it to them.

"Within the royal demesne, I have been delegated judicial authority by His Highness the grand duke. Noble or not, it means I can take heads under that authority. Do you understand what that means?"

"Yes! We’ll keep it in mind!"

"In the meantime, I’ll be recruiting for the order at the parade ground. Those bastards will inevitably catch wind of things and try to keep watch on me. While all eyes are on me, make good use of the opening."

The grand duke had nagged me about why I hadn’t filled the Gale Knights’ ranks, so it didn’t seem like a bad idea to use this opportunity to select candidates from among the eastern cavalry, centered on Radensdorf.

Rather than borrowing the Military Department’s power, I asked Margareta to help with the recruitment. It was my own way of looking out for her, helping expand her influence. And it would build connections for later.

But then the case took a turn no one saw coming.