Re: Tales of the Rune-Tech Sage

Chapter 780: Alex’s Scheme III

CH780 Alex’s Scheme III

***

“Thanks to that, we obtained three invaluable lists: the five clans’ opponents, their supporters, and—through the garrison work logs—the identities of their most capable combatants,” Zora stated.

Milton sighed inwardly in admiration.

It turned out those seemingly simple requests had concealed remarkably profound intentions.

“With those three documents—particularly the latter two—we were able to narrow our investigation to a very specific group of people.

“By keeping watch on the right key individuals, especially those who were clearly strong enough to have been members of the garrison but, for one reason or another, weren’t, we eventually uncovered the true source of Castin Town’s wealth.”

Zora looked at Milton solemnly.

“As we suspected, the five clans jointly operated not only a smuggling ring, but also a bandit organisation.”

“What?!” Milton was stunned.

“The bandits preying upon travellers throughout the domain, as well as the smugglers diverting vital resources out of it, all belong to the five clans. Worse still, every smuggling route we uncovered ultimately leads towards the Frontier Stronghold,” Zora revealed.

“Of course, we have no concrete proof of that,” she quickly added. “But we don’t need proof. All we needed was reasonable suspicion.”

“Once we confirmed the five clans were indeed in league with the Stronghold, it became much easier to throw the blame onto Viscount Dunhill and Marquis Brandford while ensuring that they couldn’t—or rather, wouldn’t dare—retaliate immediately.

“At least, not until they first determined exactly how much we knew about their involvement with the five clans.”

“For that, genuine evidence wasn’t even necessary. Having it would certainly have been ideal, but what we already knew was enough to fabricate convincing evidence where needed. In the end, we used a combination of both.” Zora smiled.

“With these evidences, even if Marquis Brandford suspects we’re bluffing, he cannot help but hesitate. While he may ultimately be able to explain everything away, the stain of suspicion would remain nonetheless.”

She gently set her teacup down upon its saucer.

“But as I said before, none of that is the most important part.”

“The most important part is giving the people a believable narrative.”

She moistened her throat by gracefully taking a small sip of her green tea, prompting Milton to do the same.

She continued, “The biggest issue Alex has to deal with in the domain is the people’s lack of support. History has shown that nothing rallies people behind their leader more quickly than an external existential threat.

“With the massacre of Castin Town’s five powerful clans, we have created and escalated a major threat in the minds of the people. Then, by pointing them towards Viscount Dunhill and Marquis Brandford as the source of that threat—individuals they cannot hope to contend against—we have created a situation where the people have no choice but to turn to their domain lord and rally behind him.

“With that accomplished, the major and potentially contentious decisions we have already made—such as ceasing trade with the Stronghold, constructing a major settlement at the mouth of the valley leading into the domain, as well as the domain’s broader development plans—which should ordinarily have been met with scepticism, scrutiny, or even outright opposition, will instead commence with the overwhelming support of the people.

“As for retaliation from Viscount Dunhill and Marquis Brandford… considering the course we have already chosen, we were bound to become enemies sooner or later. Tearing away the façade a little earlier changes nothing.

“If anything, by establishing the narrative first, we have ensured that our greatest asset—or greatest liability—the people of the domain, cannot be turned against us by those two more deeply entrenched nobles.”

Milton took a moment to absorb everything Zora had explained. Then he let out a quiet sigh.

‘So, this is the difference between our world and the world of the nobility.’

Milton realised that while he had been focused only on the problem directly before him, Count Skywalker—a young ‘true noble’—had already been looking several moves ahead.

‘I suppose this is only to be expected of someone personally chosen by the Emperor to govern this domain… and not one of the failed nobles who ended up here through punishment or exile,’ Milton thought to himself.

“Thank you for enlightening me, Countess.” Milton bowed in gratitude. “Rest assured, while I cannot compare to the Count’s foresight, these old bones of mine are ready to slave away towards achieving the Count’s grand vision for our domain.”

“That is good news. I am sure Alex will be glad to hear that.” Zora said.

She placed the cup and saucer back on the table.

“Don’t concern yourself too much with the schemes of the nobility. That is our burden to bear. All you need to do is your work as a public servant representing the people of this domain.” She said.

“I will keep that in mind.” Milton responded.

Not long afterwards, after he and Zora had finished the tea in the kettle, Milton took his leave.

Zora returned to the sofa, where she remained seated for a little while longer.

As she reflected on the latter half of their conversation, she confirmed that the old man was now fully on board with Alex’s rule.

‘That’s one of the early goals accomplished.’ She thought to herself.

In truth, there were still a few more parts of Alex’s grand plan that she hadn’t revealed to Milton—not out of a lack of trust, but out of caution.

It was one of those situations where Milton would perform better if he didn’t know everything beforehand, and instead simply trusted his liege to hold up the sky should it ever fall.

Rising from the sofa, Zora returned to the desk and resumed working through another batch of documents.

If one looked closely, one would realise that these documents contained the frameworks for future projects throughout the domain.

Zora was particularly focused on drafting a document titled Employment Contracts, Pensions, and Insurance.

She recalled the unfamiliar general term Alex had coined the topics of this particular document;

Worker’s Welfare.

***