A Treacherous Courtier Manages the Empire Well

30 – The Collapse of the Vinyard Party

Things progressed swiftly.

“Just as you said, the secret passage opened immediately. The Crystal Sphere was inside.”

“Did you bring it?

“It’s right here.”

Seoric easily retrieved the Crystal Sphere, and as soon as he secured it, he flew to the capital like a bullet.

“These audacious fools! How dare they! These bastards!”

I went straight to the Emperor and handed him the Crystal Sphere, explaining the situation. Enraged, the Emperor immediately summoned Prince Adran.

“Listen to what’s inside this Sphere!”

Adran listened to the contents of the Crystal Sphere in front of the Emperor.

Hmm.

It was a content that Adran and I had both expected.

[Randor, the traitor, and that boring prince. They plan to exploit the princess, who has nothing but knowledge and a pretty face, and seize the throne. Where else can you find people as suitable for the throne as us? Huh?]

[hahahaha! Don’t worry about it! We are the direct descendants of the previous Emperor’s closest confidants. The royal family has been feasting for too long. It would be great if everything goes according to plan! hahahahaha!]

After hearing all the contents of the Sphere, Adran stiffened his back and looked at the Emperor.

“Your Majesty, what shall I do?”

“Administer justice for the crime of treason!!”

Upon hearing these words, Prince Adran bowed quietly.

“I will carry out your orders.”

“I will do the same, Your Majesty.”

Without saying anything more, Adran and I just nodded and took our leave from the Emperor’s presence.

We both went our separate ways without exchange any further words.

And then, following the preparations we had made in advance, things started progressing steadily.

Prince Adran mobilized the courts and immediately issued arrest warrants for the seven nobles involved in the conspiracy at Vinyard Party. He also requested Celeine and Matap to refuse the teleportation coordinates within the territory of Vinyard Party.

In the meantime.

I teleported straight back to the Porto Commercial District and rushed to Karia’s place.

“Yo, rebellion?”

“Yes. Can you suppress it?”

Karia stood up, filled with anger at those words.

“With three million people, we can easily wage war against their entire territory. Let’s wipe them out.”

“Please do so. Your Highness. I beg you.”

The work progressed at the speed of eating stir-fried beans.

Seoric brought the crystal ball in the morning, and by evening, everything from the preparations for the Bloody Legion’s expedition to the execution warrant for the rebellion was ready.

“He is a criminal who wants to overthrow the royal family and seize power for himself!! Show no mercy! Expedition!”

The 30,000 troops left for the territory of the Vinyard Party that very day, and I quietly watched from behind.

“What?! Suddenly, a rebellion? What is going on?”

Carl Hansen was flustered and shouting.

I patted his shoulder.

“We have nothing more to do now, Carl. Just watch and eat up their land.”

If they wanted my life, they should’ve put their life and territory on the line as well, right?

The Duke of Pellings and five nobles from the Vinyard Party concealed their trembling hands as they connected remote communication through the crystal ball.

Soon, Adran appears on the other side of the communication.

Duke Pellings hurriedly stepped forward at the sight of Prince Adran.

“Your Highness, how have you been?”

“What’s the matter, Duke Pellings?”

“This morning, a messenger came to the palace by teleportation. Teleportation doesn’t work on our side, but it works on the opposite side.”

“That’s right. I blocked the coordinates. You probably heard it through the messenger, right?”

“A rebellion… I heard it’s a crime.”

“That’s right.”

“Do you have any evidence? It’s a serious matter to decide without a trial…”

“We shouldn’t decide without a trial, but unless there is very clear evidence.”

“I hear that there is evidence.”

“There was very solid evidence. Would you like to hear it?”

When Duke Pellings looked at Adran with a expression as if his soul had left his body, Adran silently took out the crystal ball and played the recorded voice inside.

The conversation that should never leak out between the party members, played vividly, is swirling and playing calmly.

The Duke of Pellings’ expression turns pale as if drained of color.

“Wh-where on earth did that come from…”

The Duke of Pellings stops abruptly and looks around, speechless.

Six members.

Excluding himself, there are five.

One member.

“Viscountess Lenea.”

There was no one.

“Where could Viscountess Lenea be?”

After hearing the verdict of treason from the messenger who personally came down from the palace, everyone had lost their minds and had forgotten the presence of someone who should have been with them so naturally.

“I don’t think I need to point out where this crystal ball came from. Duke of Pellings. No, there’s no reason to call you Duke anymore. As of now, all your titles have been seized.”

“Th-th…”

“You can choose to lead your territories and resist, but I must inform you that a fierce legion of 30,000 of Portu’s mercenary city is heading towards your territories. This magical communication will remain open. If you abandon all resistance and announce your willingness to be punished by coming to the capital, you won’t face a harsh situation.”

The communication ends.

The six nobles stood dumbfounded.

And after a while.

What they felt when they regained consciousness was a burning and fierce anger.

“Lenea… that damn Viscount!”

Duke of Pellings burst in anger and slammed the door as he went out.

He immediately went to Viscount Lenea’s residence with his knights and soldiers.

However, what he encountered there was Viscount Lenea’s mansion that had been abandoned long ago.

He ordered his knights to rampage and destroy the mansion in frustration, but even so, the predetermined fate did not spare him.

He quickly gathered the remaining six members of the empty yard party and started a meeting.

But it didn’t take long for them to reach a very desperate conclusion.

“Escaping to the Karamba Empire is impossible. To go eastwards, we need to pass through the capital. To head towards the western overland trade route, we need to break through Randor’s territory.”

“All teleportation is blocked, and there are no coordinates to teleport to.”

“Even if we attempt to escape to the wilderness, we’ll likely be caught quickly.”

The only options they had were to surrender quietly and be captured and executed in the capital.

Or to make a last desperate attempt by raising an army, but that would only result in their inevitable death.

The Duke of Fellings stuck out his tongue.

Rinea.

If it weren’t for this damn bastard, it wouldn’t have come to this.

But even if he got angry, would anything change?

The deed has already been done, and he had to somehow resolve it.

“Let’s wage war.”

“Against the Butcher Legion in the north?”

“Mobilize the domain army, break through the enemy’s encirclement, and quickly head to Lord Elonnd on the Elond Continent. We’ll break through the forces guarding the place and escape to the Karamba Continent along the trade route. That’s…. the only way.”

Logically, it was an impossible task.

It was unthinkable to break through the encirclement of the elite soldiers of the Butcher Legion, and even if they did, it was impossible to know how many troops would remain to go to the trade route. Even if they miraculously arrived at the trade route, they had no way to escape the pursuit of the Dragon Knights.

However, unfortunately, that was the only method that had some semblance of possibility.

No one among them wanted to be captured and have their heads cut off for treason. It was the thoughts of all of them that they would rather risk their lives in this ridiculous plan than quietly submit and have their throats cut.

“…I’ll gather all the troops.”

“I’ll do the same.”

“In any way possible. We have to somehow survive, don’t we?”

After reaching this conclusion, the aristocrats of the Vineyard Party returned to their own territories with a determined resolve.

However, their plan, to be frank, never even had a chance to be executed.

“What the hell are you doing? What the hell is this?!”

“Shut up, you f*cking bastard. You’re not even a noble anymore, right? You can’t even pay your salary properly, and now you want to fight against that Butcher Legion to save your own lives? Are we crazy to do such a thing?”

Their own domain armies, who had to be somehow brought to the trade route at the risk of their lives, unfortunately had no intention of sacrificing their lives for them.

They were soldiers who were good at plundering peasants but had no determination to fight against powerful enemies at the risk of their lives.

That was the domain armies they had nurtured all this time.

Their reputation had been falling, their influence crumbling, and their finances in arrears for the past few months. It was clear that they would defect at any moment. The imperial envoy who had come to openly announce their crime of treason was the final blow.

They were beings who could not be found to have any loyalty towards the nobles.

“After a good beating, let’s capture them and send them to the capital. Then our past actions will be somewhat considered.”

The domain armies, who had been at the forefront of plundering peasants all this time, knew that the right answer was to make an effort to lessen their sins now that everything had gone wrong.

And so, the domain armies, after giving a good beating to their superiors who had withheld their salaries and tying up their families, made the choice to surrender to the Butcher Legion, who were advancing towards them.

“We, we surrender. hahahahaha. Please show mercy.”

End of the expedition.

Karia laughed out loud as she tossed aside the weapons and everything else in the storage room and came running, waving only a white flag, to the commanders of the territories who were begging and groveling with a subservient tone.

“No need to stain the sword with blood.”

She arrested all the commanders of the territories and their subordinates with a mocking tone full of laughter and escorted them to the capital.

All of this happened in just three days.

It was a pathetic and hopeless end to the territories that had been ignored and plundered by the peasants who had left.

It was a close call.

As soon as she confirmed that the teleportation was blocked, Countess Linaea wasted no time and gathered the minimum amount of belongings, money, and her family, and rode in a carriage to escape to the west. Thanks to that, they were able to pass through, barely avoiding the encirclement of the Ironblood Legion before heading to the west.

And with quick actions and good luck, they were able to arrive safely at Lord Elond’s trading route.

The carriage they were in was designed to move with only minimal baggage, with the family on board and their family emblem erased, so it was still fortunate that their identity had not been revealed.

But this was a critical moment.

The trading route.

To pass through here, only those who had proof of being members of the Merchant Guild or merchants from the western continent with clear status and purpose were allowed to pass.

Under normal circumstances, he would never have been able to pass, but he had some trust in a certain place.

The market area of Lord Elond.

A place where merchants from the western and eastern continents gather, boasting a huge crowd. Countess Linaea naturally mixed in and drove the carriage, carefully waiting, having already attached a red flag to the carriage in the designated spot they had agreed upon.

During lunchtime.

Someone cautiously knocked on the door when it was the busiest time for people.

“Is this Countess Linaea?”

A merchant from the western continent with dark skin entered the carriage and asked in fluent Ailam Empire language. Countess Linaea nodded.

“Are you the one who will take us to the western continent?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“How will we cross?”

“We will use magic to cross. People from the eastern continent are not yet familiar with magic from the west. After completely changing the appearance and body of all of you to look like citizens of the Caramba Empire, we will cross the trading route.”

“And what about the documents?”

“I have prepared them perfectly. So please don’t worry.”

Countess Linaea let out a long sigh at those words and nodded.

“Thank goodness.”

“Did you bring the goods?”

In response to that question, Countess Linaea silently took out a thick book from the bag she had placed next to her and handed it to the merchant.

The merchant carefully checked the book and nodded in satisfaction.

“Sure. Alright, let’s go now.”

The merchant said so, raising his hand to the faces of Count Lenea, his wife, and son. After the strange incantation, the appearance of the three people completely changed from before, becoming like inhabitants of the Western Continent with different skin colors, eye colors, and hair colors.

“Perfect! Come on! Get off the carriage now. If you follow me, you can cross over to the Western Continent.”

“T-Thank you.”

Count Lenea opened the carriage door, beaming with a bright smile, following the merchant.

But his cheerful face crumpled as soon as he opened the carriage door.

“Count Lenea. It seems that you have changed quite a bit in no time from the Portu commercial city, didn’t you?”

Dozens of Southern hunters silently aimed their guns at the carriage. The clamoring crowd had long scattered and avoided the carriage.

“Do you think Lord Randor didn’t expect this?”

Standing at the forefront, Seoric murmured quietly, asking so.

Hearing his words, Count Lenea couldn’t help but tremble in his hands.

“Why did that person!!!!”

He was undoubtedly the one who Duke Pellings secretly sent to assassinate Randor.

How on earth did that guy end up on Randor’s side?

He was an unexpected and very deadly variable in his escape.