At any rate, there must be something going on that I couldn’t deduce yet. As I waited for Grand Duke Seyfart to speak, he looked down at the parchment in his hand and then started speaking.
“First of all, to put it simply, there are people who have a grudge against you for profit and financial problems.”
“Huh?”
I was wondering if I had done something wrong when I was interrupted from an unexpected direction.
“The weapons and armors that you have arranged to be delivered through the Commerce Guild are excellent. That’s why the items that used to be manufactured and sold in the royal capital are no longer being sold. We have received multiple complaints.”
“I seem to recall that the Blacksmith’s Guild was ordered for something else to cover for that.”
“It was the merchants who supplied the goods, not the Blacksmith’s Guild. The commission alone for delivering suitable weapons and stuff to the Knights is huge after all.”
“Ah…”
The Commerce Guild was not a monolithic group. So, not everyone could enjoy the benefits as purveyors of equipment to the Commerce Guild, and those who have been neglected might have been thinking that I have been unreasonable in doing those transactions.
I had thought that there might be a conflict within the guild centering on Mr. Biersted, but I didn’t realize that the stray arrows were flying my way as well.“Next is the issue of being a potential fiancée of Her Highness Laura, huh?”
“Can’t you do something about this misunderstanding?”
“You are highly esteemed by the Duke Grunding after all. You are also outstanding for your accomplishments among men of your age.”
I didn’t really aim to gain credit. I mean, it was the Duke who asked me to accomplish something when we were in Finoi. I hope the Duke could clear up the misunderstanding since he knew about the matter.
“There’s also another factor that you are with the younger sister of the hero.”
“What about Lily?”
“Having both a pretty commoner’s daughter in one hand and a beautiful noble flower in another.”
“Give me a break!”
I thought Count Yerring was just trying to provoke me, but Grand Duke said that like it was some kind of actual problem.
“Jokes aside, there are many who would like to win the heart of Her Highness Laura, and your wish to be married to Lily is rather the exception to the trend.”
“I understand, but Lily is more important to me. Besides, Her Highness is too superior for me.”
“Since you have such an attitude, the standards required of Her Highness’ husband have been raised even higher.”
To be fair, Mazell and Laura were a perfect match if one looked at them from the sidelines, so I had no desire to intrude into that.
I mean, my achievement would be insignificant if Mazell and Laura were to finally defeat the Demon King, but at this stage, however, it was not hard to see that they had not yet reached that point.
“To begin with, what do His Majesty and His Royal Highness the Crown Prince think about the Second Princess Laura?”
“They are in the position that they could only treat her as a noble (not like a family member), even if other nobles may treat her in the worst way (cannon fodder to fight against the demon army).”
“Worst way, sir?”
“You seem to have no doubt that Mazell will defeat the Demon Lord, but some of us don’t necessarily believe that.”
I felt a chill. That was true. I believe that Mazell would do it based on the game’s scenario, but even that scenario might end up being wrong since the Crown Prince ended up being alive after all, which was already leaning away from the right route.
And from the point of view of someone who did not even know the scenario of the game, it was not unreasonable to doubt whether Mazell would win.
“At this stage, each country had their own circumstances and left the defeat of the Demon King to Mazell-kun, but even if Mazell-kun were to die, he would still be considered a hero. At that stage, each country’s Knights will have to unite and challenge the Demon Army to an all-out battle. Diplomatically, the terms and conditions for such a situation are being discussed behind the scenes.”
Even though I believe in Mazell, I understood why Bain Kingdom was making such preparations, although I was very uncomfortable with the assumption that Mazell would be defeated.
So that was what he meant.
“Is that why Lily has been kept in the royal capital all this time?”
“Because if we were to lose the hero and the saint, a new symbol is essential to unite the allied forces and rally the citizens. Don’t look so obviously displeased.”
“It is impossible not to be displeased.”
I finally understood why Grand Duke Seyfart was in charge of the Hearthing family, not only to prevent Mazell from escaping the country, but also because they wanted Lily to be a banner for the country to carry in case Mazell the hero failed.
The reason why Lily was brought out into the open during that duel trial was also with the intention of spreading the word about her being the sister of a hero. In the event that Mazell failed, she was still available.
“You are right to be angry, Sir. It is also true that we are hoping that Mazell-kun will defeat the Demon King.”
“I can understand this as a national opinion, but as an individual, I am offended.”
“That’s fine Sir. We have no choice but to treat Mazell and Lily politically because of our position. We need someone like you to treat them as human beings.”
Grand Duke exhaled heavily. I knew that he meant what he said. It could not be helped for the Crown Prince or Grand Duke to act and treat others including Princess Laura like this, but at least they were not people who would use and discard their allies.
Given the fact that he answered my concerns about Lily directly, I guess it wasn’t a lie that such an intention was there only as a last resort. As for me, I would only do what I could to prevent such a situation from arising.
“…I understand that matter for the time being. Thank you for responding to my question.”
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