Episode 141 Iberica – Confrontation of Shadows
Mittelburg, the capital of the Kingdom of Krafte.
“Hmm.”
Justin von Wittenfeld, Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Krafte, smiled brightly as he looked at the documents in his hand.
“You look happy, Prime Minister.”
After hearing his aide’s words, Wittenfeld responded with a laugh.
“Hahaha… It’s fun, not fun.”
He then added, waving the document in his hand.
“It seems like the Black Witch of Aquitaine is working very hard.”
“Did you do anything interesting?”
“Oh no. “It’s surprisingly not doing much.”
“yes?”
“According to reports, he seems to be preoccupied with attending council meetings, managing the top brass, and exchanging letters with the Marquis de Lafayette, who is away on the Iberica Peninsula.”
“Hehe, that’s romantic.”
At the assistant’s words, Wittenfeld also laughed, pushing up his glasses with his hand.
“They’re hot even though they’ve both known each other for quite some time. “You’re showing off to the point where you wonder why you’re not married yet.”
“Well, the Marquis de Lafayette is rarely in the capital. “If you live with your hands together all the time, the sweetness will quickly disappear and you will only see burns.”
“Oh, you too? So do I! How could that pretty wife be so obnoxious! Ah, if only I could meet my younger self, ‘Stop right now!’ “I would have said that.”
“Isn’t that what life is all about? ha ha ha!”
“Ha ha ha ha ha!”
Wittenfeld, who was smiling face to face with the assistant officer, stopped laughing as if he was flipping a switch and asked.
“Is it almost that time?”
The assistant officer immediately answered with a calm face, as if asking when he had laughed so hard.
“It’s time, Prime Minister.”
Wittenfeld stood up with a raised eyebrow, and his aide naturally followed him.
The two left the official residence, got into a carriage, and entered a mansion.
No one is bothered by the natural, flowing movements, and those who encounter them just bow their heads politely.
Wittenfeld entered the basement of the mansion, breathed in the damp and smelly air, and said one thing.
“It seems to have aged well.”
As if Bittenfeld’s words were a signal, the man who was tied up and sitting on a chair lifted his head with difficulty.
The sweat-covered clothes are already tattered, and the body exposed through the torn clothes is covered in blood scabs.
“Umm, I’ll tell you.”
The man opened his mouth with difficulty, as if seeking mercy, but Bittenfeld naturally extended his hand to the subordinate standing next to him and took the tongs.
“Say everything – ugh!”
The one remaining fingernail on the man’s hand was pulled out.
“Ahhhhhhhh-!”
While the man was screaming, Bittenfeld handed the tongs back to his subordinate, took off the gloves on his hands, and threw them on the floor.
The aide very casually took out a new glove and politely handed it to Bittenfeld, who accepted it and leisurely put it on his hand.
“You’re talking! “I’m talking about it!”
Wittenfeld opened his mouth as he looked at the man who was crying out with tears and snot almost in anger.
“I hope you don’t misunderstand.”
Wittenfeld’s relaxed voice was extremely kind.
“What are you talking about….”
“Talking doesn’t stop the pain. “You can suffer at any time and forever until you get ‘everything’ right.”
Bittenfeld grinned as he faced the trembling man.
“So, you can make as many false confessions as you want, or you can keep silent and give us false information to confuse us. For a plotter, watching this process itself is quite enjoyable. “We have a lot of time, so let’s take our time and enjoy it.”
The man trembled in fear, as if the slow, somewhat kind voice was the whisper of the Shinigami.
After a while.
The man desperately revealed everything he knew.
The Count of Aquitaine acts very quietly in the capital as if he is enjoying a long-distance relationship with his fiancé, but he is also steadily spreading spies to the army and major bases of the Kingdom of Krafte.
Wittenfeld was secretly impressed that even though he had already caught several people, he had not been able to get a clue as to the main manager who was managing them.
And at the same time, I felt that this was a limitation of someone who came from a background as a merchant obsessed with risk management.
Although managing this as a point organization increases stability by reducing information leaked when an agent is arrested, it also makes linking between organizations and efficient infiltration more difficult.
Above all, this does not mean that all information can be protected.
Bittenfeld is steadily cross-verifying the information extracted from each agent.
Information is collection and derivation.
Information extracted from one agent alone is nothing, but when information from several people is comprehensively analyzed, even small and disparate parts ultimately lead to a connected conclusion.
Bittenfeld secretly smiled as he watched the puzzle pieces being fitted together little by little.
Looking at what has been shown so far, it falls slightly short of expectations.
But in the end, that is just a visible phenomenon.
Now, is this really all there is to it?
Or…
* * *
Lumière, the capital of Francia.
Christine Daquiten was mechanically repeating the process of reviewing and processing the documents piled up on her desk.
Suddenly, I heard a bird chirping, so I glanced out the window and saw the unique summer greenery spreading out in the small garden of the mansion.
Christine looked at the scene for a moment, then lowered her gaze back to the documents.
It’s already the summer of turning 25.
Lewis, now 15 years old, seems to be on the rise, standing out quite well in the Magic Kingdom.
Although Christine had little knowledge of magic, the fact that her sister’s talents overlapped with what she wanted gave her satisfaction and relief.
Even if it’s some kind of shallow compensation mentality.
As Christine processed the documents, she smiled slightly when she saw the report on the victory on the Iberica Peninsula.
The engagement itself was decided when she was quite young, but her real relationship with Pierre actually began when she broke off the engagement at the age of 18.
Seven years have already passed since then. Both of them missed their wedding a long time ago, but the time left is much shorter than the time they have spent so far.
The moment I thought that, there was a knock on the door.
“This is Lina, Your Excellency.”
In order to meet that time, you need to properly handle what you are doing now.
Christine changed her cozy expression to a colorless one just by lightly closing and opening her eyes.
“Come in, Lina.”
Lina, a maid and servant, carefully opened the door and came in, presented her report in a polite manner, and then opened her mouth with a bit of hesitation.
“Two more Krafte agents have lost contact.”
“okay. “Please compensate my family properly.”
“…Your Excellency the Earl.”
Christine glanced at Lina’s expression and asked.
“How are the other employees reacting?”
“…Everyone is taking it as an example and taking care not to act rashly. … I think His Excellency the Count’s intentions have been properly conveyed.”
Christine smiled coldly.
Since joining hands with Pierre, the Aquitaine merchants and the organization she controls have been on a roll for quite a long time.
Not only did it expand economically amazingly, but it also secured enough influence that it was not impossible to control Francia if it wanted to.
And eventually, fat will become attached to the soul of such an organization.
No matter how much they are compensated for their contribution, they are not satisfied with what they are given and mistake the power of the organization for their own power, mistakenly believing that they can enjoy privileges that are not permitted.
Among them, those who went beyond the level of ignorance and blind eyes received the most dangerous missions and headed to Krafte, and thus communication was lost.
Those who are foolish enough to not know what fate they have faced within Christine’s organization would not be in a position to access such information in the first place.
Christine brought the cold, cold coffee to her lips after brewing it for quite some time, savored its bitterness, and then asked.
“Lina, what about you?”
“I… will keep that in mind too.”
Christine smiled lightly at the maid who had once followed her around, calling her friendly lady.
When Christine first entrusted her with an intelligence mission, the meticulous maid who considered it an honor and worked hard has suddenly become the face of someone in power.
Christine, who remembered the moment when her first maid, whom she had been with since she was very young, gave in to money and framed her, hoped that the second maid would fully understand her warning.
Christine doesn’t know what choice Lewis will make.
However, when Aquitaine falls into the hands of Louis, it will be difficult if those who have served Christine for a long time treat Louis like a scarecrow, mistakenly thinking that he is the owner.
So, we are working to attract Krafte’s attention and at the same time weed out the organization.
“But… Your Excellency the Count. It may be presumptuous, but if things continue like this, proper action against Krafte won’t be difficult…”
In response to Lina’s worried question, Christine nodded calmly.
“Yes, it is as you said. “It seems like he has the ability to confidently declare war.”
Although there was still time left until the war predicted by Krafte, their Prime Minister issued a very friendly declaration of war in advance.
So at this very moment, Francia is probably preparing their weapons one by one, and Christine is also capturing their agents in her own way, but I can’t think it will be perfect.
“Then what are you going to do…”
Christine smiled softly as she looked at Lina’s anxious face.
“I didn’t expect to be able to inflict a direct hit on Krafte’s army. “I’m preparing for the other side, so you just have to do the best you can.”
Lina looked a little proud, but soon bowed.
“I understand, Your Excellency Count.”
I feel sorry for Lina, but Christine doesn’t depend on one person for everything, even if she is her confidant.
In the end, I just left it to Lina to show them the one that was most effective but at the same time easy to be detected.
Christine looked down at the map spread out on the desk in her office and drew a circle around the Kingdom of Krafte with a pen.
Although the intention from the beginning was not to measure power, Lina’s attempt showed their capabilities.
As a plotter for military operations, Justin von Wittenfeld is probably one step above Christine.
Above all, Christine’s organization ultimately started at the top.
Their structure and operation method are somewhat disadvantageous when it comes to confronting an organization that was originally created to support war.
They understand the methods of agents who infiltrate the military or military bases better than anyone else, and they probably know how to infiltrate more efficiently than anyone else.
Moreover, he had time to research and prepare for her movements before Christine did.
Their prime minister must have judged Christine to be a schemer like him and thought he could win, so he challenged her.
However, one’s ability as a schemer does not determine the winner.
In the first place, Christine did not think of herself as a schemer.
Merchant merchant, politician, admiral, and plotter.
If we have to be honest, from Christine’s perspective, scheming is just one of the means.
Just as her fiancé Pierre de Lafayette was a winner in military affairs, although he could not surpass Raphael Balian.
There is no need to crawl into an area where the enemy is confident and fight head-on.
Everything for Pierre de Lafayette and for herself.
Christine said as she drew lines on the map to represent different countries.
“If you can’t win with tactics and plots, you have to fight with strategy and strategy.”
