Loyal Retainers Make Secret Maneuvers
Ganudos Port Country was a small nation with a city as its capital and a few small fishing villages. It had what could be called a royal family, but there was no noble class. In its place, there were many guilds, and the heads of these guilds made up the parliament and senate.
Some of the biggest and closest to the House of Greenmoon were the shipping and shipwright guilds. So, Ludwig avoided them and instead chose to talk to senators from other guilds.
However…
“You put me in a difficult position, Mr. Ludwig. These things should first be talked over with the Duke of Greenmoon.”
The results he got were not very good. They didn’t turn him away at the door, but no one was interested in what he had to say.
Well, I sure didn’t do a good job as a diplomat…
He made a sour face. Something kept making him think about it.
Then again, did I fail — or was I forced to?
Vanos asked Ludwig, as he came out of the master’s room, “So, how did it go?”
As they walked down the hall of the manor toward the front door, he replied with a wry shrug, “Like talking to a stone wall.”
He knew how powerful the Greenmoons were and made sure to only talk to people who had little to do with the Duke. He should have had a lot of room to negotiate with these people, but he couldn’t even start a conversation with most of them, let alone talk business.
“Isn’t it going well? “Guess the Duke of Greenmoon has a lot of power around here,” Vanos muttered before his brow furrowed.
“I have to say, though, that something smells fishy about this whole thing.”
“Does it now?” Ludwig stopped, put up his glasses, and looked Vanos in the eye. “Good. So it’s not just me who thinks that. We have every reason to think something is wrong, since Her Highness sent us here. Maybe we aren’t here on official business, but that doesn’t change the fact that we are known to speak for her. They might be able to get away with not talking to a low-ranking noble, but to do so to an envoy of the Princess of Tearmoon is a royal insult. It’s interesting, to say the least, that they’re willing to try this method.”
As one of the four pillars of the empire, the House of Greenmoon was so powerful with both coin and sword that any small country would think twice before going against them. But Mia could definitely be said to be the same.
As the daughter of the Emperor, she had a lot of power. Even if they secretly didn’t like her, it made sense for them to at least act like they did. They didn’t see the point of that logic right now, which Ludwig thought was a strange thing.
“…Interesting, but not impossible,” he said.
“Oh yeah? Why?”
He shrugged and said, “Conservative politicians. Those who make money from the way things are, don’t want to change them. If dealing with the Duke of Greenmoon is good for them, it’s not surprising that they’d like to keep things the same. Then we came along and tried to shake things up. They would probably not want to talk to us out of fear of making the Duke mad. That being said…”
“Yeah?”
“It’s strange how much they don’t want to do it. I thought there would be some pushback, but not this much. Everyone can’t be this dumb. Some of them must know the dangers of relying on the Greenmoons as their only link to the empire.”
At the moment, Ganudos’s ties to Tearmoon depended on the Greenmoons, who could, in theory, cut them at any time. From a diplomatic point of view, this was a bad deal for Ganudos because it was unstable.
The Greenmoons could easily force them into one-sided deals, and Ludwig had no doubt that they had done this many times before.
“Considering how important the empire is to Ganudos as a trading partner and how much they depend on Greenmoon’s whims, I thought they would be more eager to open new lines of communication… It’s most peculiar.”
He shut his eyes and put his thumb against his chin.
“So…this isn’t about trade, is it? The way things are now…and the money they bring in… Maybe that isn’t what they care about? Why should they let the Greenmoons handle all their business?”
He spoke incoherently for a while. He shook his head in the end.
“This isn’t going to work. I need…a new point of view. Some kind of change in the way I think.”
He began walking again.
Vanos looked at him with interest and walked a few steps behind him.
“Well, where are we going? Back to the inn to get ready for the next day?”
“No. If we try the same thing, tomorrow will be just like today. Rather… Hm… Well, whatever the case, I think it’s time to do a little asking around. It’s always good to know more. Where are the other Princess Guard members?”
Including Vanos, Mia went to the port country with thirty men of the Princess Guard.
Two people went on the cruise with her, which left 28 people in town.
“I’ve made sure that they all stay at the inn. But don’t worry. You’ve got me. If you need to go somewhere, I’ll be there every step of the way to protect you.”
The large man beat his chest. Ludwig didn’t want to smile but did.
“I’m glad to have your company. Sorry to make you do this. You have every right to be enjoying with the others. We are, after all, in the capital. I don’t think anything bad will happen here.”
“But didn’t Her Majesty tell Dion to come here, too?”
Vanos rubbed the beard on his chin.
“Sounds to me like we oughta keep our eyes open. You’re an important person. Her Highness needs you, and there aren’t many of you to go around.”
“Perhaps… But I think the same is true for you too. And Sir Dion. Every single one of her guards. Her Majesty probably thinks you are all just as important and irreplaceable as each other.” Ludwig took a look at Vanos and smiled. “Even though I think you already know this.”
“It’s now? Hah! I suppose so! I swear, our princess is a very strange person.” Vanos said with a rolling laugh, “She has a way of making you feel good about working for her.”
