AWDC Chapter 91

Chapter 91: Homecoming

When I returned to the village, the lord welcomed me. Even though I had been in the center of the government, I still cared about Toriholi and returned at least once a year. However, I had never stayed for more than a week, so I finally felt like I had truly come home.

“I’m back.”

“Welcome back. I have a lot of things prepared for you to do in the village, so look forward to it.”

“Even when I was in the capital, I was thinking about what to do when I returned to Toriholi.”

After such greetings, a meeting of the core members was held. The members were mostly the same, but Roy was absent. It seems Roy had truly retired and was surrounded by his grandchildren. I had been in his care ever since I came to the village, so I felt a little sad about that.

In his place, John had become the village headman. George was in charge of the entire government office, and Jim had become the superintendent of Datar village. Thinking about it, the Roy family was full of overly capable siblings.

I explained the coup d’état and the situation in the capital, along with the documents.

“I don’t think the Royal Army can defy the orders of the government side, but with just over 4,000 soldiers, I don’t think they pose an immediate threat.”

The Toriholi army, combined with the soldiers I brought, numbered 4,000. Even if the Royal Army had the same number of soldiers, Toriholi, which possessed weapons such as gunpowder, had no reason to fear them recklessly.

“So, we can assume that the village will not be immediately affected?” John asked, confirming.

“The Royal Army is being guided by Gregg. Even if it’s an order from above, I think it would be psychologically difficult for them to oppose us, including Gregg. The government side will be too busy dealing with the security of the capital for the time being.”

“Then, is there nothing else to worry about?” Ricardo asked worriedly. My brother-in-law had also gotten married and had become much more cautious and calm.

“No, there is someone we should be wary of.” I told them about Hofer’s behind-the-scenes activities.

“That’s a troublesome guy,” the lord muttered involuntarily.

“We can’t go to the capital carelessly,” Eric said, looking disgusted. No one feels good about being brainwashed by others.

“Is there a countermeasure?” Even Jim looked worried.

“For the time being, the only thing we can do is not go to the capital unless we have to, and not be alone.”

“Is there a possibility that those coming from the capital have been brainwashed?” John’s point was valid.

“It’s not zero. But it’s the same as the possibility of assassins and spies infiltrating.”

“Then, shouldn’t we be more concerned about political threats?” the lord said bluntly.

“That’s right. They will brandish the authority of the King. But they won’t be able to come up with a reason to threaten the Robertson Marquis.”

The reason I could be so confident was the wheat that Toriholi possessed. The development of the Datar Plateau had progressed smoothly even when I was away, and it had reached the point where it was producing 50,000 bags. A large amount of wheat was being distributed domestically, and “white bread” had become available to commoners if they splurged. Attacking the Robertson family would make it difficult to obtain bread. This gave us an absolute advantage in the capital.

After that, we confirmed the preparations and state of mind, and the meeting ended.

About 10 days after that meeting, John brought a middle-aged woman. I could tell at a glance that she was a farmer, but I didn’t recognize her face.

“I came from César village. I heard that the Earl has become a great official in the capital. My son went to the capital with his friends last year and hasn’t returned. I was wondering if you could search for him?”

When I heard those words, I had a hunch. I asked her to wait a moment and spread out the documents I had brought back from the capital. César was in the Samarkand territory and was close to Toriholi.

“Is there anyone you recognize in here?” I said, showing her the wanted posters. They were caricatures of the people who had attacked me in the capital last year.

Gregg had made caricatures of the attackers and posted them on the bulletin boards in the capital. He thought that if the attackers’ families found them, they would definitely make inquiries. But no one had appeared.

It was thought that the attackers either had no family or were not residents of the capital.

“This is my son,” the woman cried. She said, holding up one of the wanted posters.

“There was a brawl in the capital last year, and many people died. This wanted poster is a caricature of those who died.”

When I said that, the woman burst into tears.

Her son was a soldier of the Samarkand Viscount. He was the son of a farmer, but he was large and was conscripted into the army.

During the reign of the previous king, Samarkand had rebelled and been defeated, losing a large amount of territory. Perhaps he resented me for taking that territory.

It would have been easy for Hofer to use that psychology to incite him to attack me.

“No one who saw the caricatures came forward. It was thought that they had no family in the capital.”

“Does he have any keepsakes?”

“There was nothing to identify him. He was buried as an unknown person.”

Hearing that, the woman collapsed in tears.

If they ordered soldiers who had no family or acquaintances in the capital, their identities would not be revealed. Isn’t that something Hofer would think of?

Samarkand should be engaged in patronage activities in the new government now. He wouldn’t be able to get a key position if the attack failed.

She had been receiving money from her son since he went to the capital six months ago, but for the past three months, she had received no news at all.

Samarkand had no consideration for his subordinates and had not provided any compensation to the families of the dead soldiers. She was having financial difficulties and had come to Toriholi to be hired as a cook at the flour mill.

I may have been the one who killed her son.

“John, can you take care of this woman?”

John knew about the attack in the capital from Roy, and he understood the meaning without me saying anything.

“I accompany His Majesty the King on hunts and sparring.”

This letter was sent by Sadar, who I had infiltrated as a page to His Majesty Taliim 10 years ago.

(Yeah, it seems fine.)

I had instructed Sadar to end with “I am accompanying him as usual” if there were no problems.

He was from Toriholi Village, had excellent grades in elementary school, and had a bright and sociable personality. Toma had pushed him to become a page to His Highness.

I had arranged for letters to be delivered regularly through a liaison.

Since we had left the capital, we had not been able to know the situation in the capital, let alone the state of the palace. Therefore, his information was valuable now.

The King was living his life as before. Even though he had lost the regent, he still wasn’t involved in any practical affairs.

Hofer was not hypnotizing the King.

It is said that it is difficult to hypnotize children. Perhaps it can be said that he was unable to hypnotize His Majesty, who was pure and childlike.

Then I turned my attention to another piece of news.

It listed the selling prices of goods in the capital.

It was a letter from Roda, with information about the products handled in his store.

“Hmm, salt has started to rise in price. Elliott has already gotten his hands on it.”

Flanders salt is almost entirely produced in the Gregg territory. The salt here is high in both quantity and quality, and is exported both domestically and internationally.

It was obvious that the selling price would rise just by Elliott slightly reducing the amount shipped.

He was angry about the coup d’état and was raising the price of salt to fluster the government side.

“Eventually, we will have to consider reducing the amount of wheat from Toriholi Village as well.”

Toriholi Village also has a near monopoly on paper. However, this was originally a luxury item, and simply reducing the supply a little would not cause prices to soar.

In addition, glass products such as lamps and steel products are also specialties of the village, but these are also made in Midland, so it is not easy to manipulate prices.

“After all, we should start with wheat. However, since the common people will be the ones who suffer the most, we can’t do anything drastic.”

I wrote letters to Sadar and Roda, instructing them not to approach Hofer or church officials. If they were to meet with church officials, they should not be alone.

(In any case, I need to coordinate with Elliott and Richter and plan this out.) Even though we had discussed future measures in the capital, now that I knew about Hofer’s eerie abilities, new measures were needed.

Waomou had taken control of the organization through religious secret meetings, sex, and drugs. He ordered his subordinates to cause disturbances and took advantage of the chaos to steal treasures from the royal palace and nobles. It can be said that Waomou was captured by his desire for money.

In contrast, Hofer was manipulating people with his hypnotic abilities. He did not appear on the surface himself, but went behind the scenes and worked in the shadows.

I thought that I could not recklessly start a fight in the current situation where I did not know Hofer’s purpose and the limits of his abilities.