A Famous Traitor and Treacherous Genius

90 – Behind the Scenes

Gibraltar Gorge, above the Third Gate.

“It’s been a really long time since I came up here like this.”

“Yes. I think this is the first time since White jumped here with Lord Gray in his arms.”

Naria climbed up the castle wall in her lift her with me, straightening her hair as it blew in the wind.

“Lord Grey.”

“Yes.”

“Can you guess what I want to say?”

“If Naria Geo Nostrum had a rational crush on Gray Gibraltar.”

Just in case.

“Naria, you probably asked me about the relationship between Astasia and me.”

“…”

“Wrong?”

“No, that’s accurate. But… “

“Under the assumption that if.”

The assumed causal relationship is correct, but that is not Naria’s true intention

“Princess Naria. You have no rational interest in me.”

“…”

“I’ve said this before, but they only judge me based on reason… Logic and political interests.”

“…”

Naria was silent, but that silence is the right answer.

“You have come to Gibraltar to protect your life from the threat of St. Geo Nostrum.”

“Yes, I did.”

“But if you had the power to protect yourself, you wouldn’t have come here.”

“…Yes.”

Naria nodded her head lightly.

“The experience here definitely benefited me a lot. I was able to learn about the actual situation of Gibraltar, the secret agreement with Morgania, and the connection with the Empire Aiferia Group.”

Through her life here, Naria learned various things that she could not know before her return.

“Naria. “I have a question for you.”

But one thing is clear.

“Do you remember ‘midnight on November 12th’?”

“…No.”

“That answer is enough.”

Naria has none of the knowledge or experience she had before her return.

It’s not like I’m lying or hiding my memories.

Because this ‘midnight of November 12th’ was an unforgettable and important time for her and me.

“I can only guess what Lord Gray’s intention was with my question, but it’s probably not what he wanted.”

Even Ria Chamana seems embarrassed to speak carelessly with her own mouth.

“But if my guess is correct, let me ask you one thing.”

Naria took a deep breath for a moment.

“Do you think I, Ria Geonostrum, can lead her kingdom on the right path, without the help of the current Gray Gibraltar?”

“No.”

“… Even if she struggles with all her might?”

“If it had been 100 years ago, it might have been different, but at this point, we have to struggle.”

I walked towards the canyon and lightly brushed my hand against the canyon wall.

“In the end, it’s just a handful.”

“…”

“No matter how hard Naria Geo Nostrum tries, in the end it will all be nothing more than a handful.”

There are no heroes.

Having returned to the past, I have no intention of becoming a hero, nor do I have any intention of finding heroes and bringing glory to Nostrum.

“No matter how much you struggle, right now you are just a helpless 13-year-old child.”

“Isn’t that the same for Lord Gray?”

“Yes. That’s right. Princess Naria and I are in the same position.”

I cut my own neck.

“A weakling who can’t resist his father’s drunken attempt to slit his throat, and can’t properly protect himself from threats from imperial assassins.”

“In 7 years-“

“It’s late.”

It’s too late to try to move after you become an adult.

“Princess Naria. You have been helping Queen Carmen with administrative duties for the past three years, right?”

“Yes.”

“Then did she entrust you with an important responsibility?”

Naria is a genius.

Carmen knows that too.

“Have you ever discussed with you Nostrum’s plan to build a national budget for one year, prepare a budget for expenditures and revenues, and reorganize the Knights Templar to increase military power?”

“…No.”

Naria clenched her fists.

“But Lord Gray-“

“Yes. Compared to Princess Lia, her range of motion is a little wider. She has been struggling to expand her range so far.”

Naria doesn’t know.

“As for the orphanage issue, at first my father did not believe in the function of the orphanage. I thought it was just a child trying to help poor orphans out of sympathy, so I pushed for it.”

She pretended to understand on the outside, but she must have been thinking that way on the inside.

“It was the same when she went down to Seirene’s estate.”

“It happened when the crown prince came.”

“I told Queen Carmen and the Duke of Winchester about the gambling den, but their reactions left me speechless.”

“…I would have pretended to understand in front of him, but dismissed it as child’s play behind my back.”

Naria and my interests coincide.

“Because I’m 13.”

“We are still young to be active in the adult world. That gaze remains. And that cannot be denied.”

Doesn’t our situation right now prove that?

“Naria. We are weak. To adults who have Compared vested interests, we don’t have much to offer.”

“Time is… “

“I know there is no particular order, but what do you think will happen the day Naria Gio Nostrum turns 20?”

Before her return, the empire waged war against the kingdom.

“When we turn 17, we will enter the academy. Even if we get top honors at the academy and make a name for ourselves, the ruling class in society will still see us as ‘smart students.'”

Without Naria having time to do anything, the continent will fall into chaos.

For us, 7 years later is the time when we become adults and exude youthful vitality, but for a middle-aged person who wants to conquer, it is the time when he is over 40 and is already looking at 50.

“So I decided to take advantage. When they saw me as a child, when they saw me as a child, and later as a student.”

If they see us as ‘weak’.

“While the enemy is caught off guard, he will sharpen his sword behind his back. As a result, the last one standing will be me, us.”

You have to use that gaze.

Even if you want to become an adult like them, time passes the same way for everyone.

“What do you plan on doing behind the scenes? If you were to call me an ‘adult’.”

“Of course, we have to develop our strength. In their way, or in a way that goes further than them.”

We must change.

“First of all, you have to become a master.”

One. I will become stronger myself.

“Even if they are not master level, you will have to have high-level knights as your left and right arm.”

Two. Recruit people who can be called ‘my people’, such as Robert or Mente.

“We will also have to have our own organization.”

Three. Like a shadow, I will organize a group of subordinates that I can fully handle.

“There.”

And.

“We need a way to raise overwhelming funds to build that foundation.”

All of those things must be based on ‘capital’.

“It’s too late to raise money the normal way, so I’m thinking of reaching out to the dark path, whether it’s a kingdom or an empire.”

“As the deviant eldest son who was robbed of his position as his successor.”

“We will create a ghost merchant to raise funds, steal the assets of those who want to sell the country to the empire, and collect tangible and intangible assets flowing in from the empire and accumulate them as Gibraltar’s resources.”

“…What is the result?”

“Secure enough funds to enable Gibraltar to survive against either the kingdom or the empire.”

Now, we need to raise capital equivalent to the national budget.

“…It sounds grand, but in the end, the plan is-“

“It sounds like childish nonsense, just like everyone else feels.”

I’ve thought about it several times.

“In the first place, you can’t raise all the money of the empire with something like a light dragon or something like that.”

“Did you say that on purpose even though you knew that?”

“If you want to deceive your enemies, you have to deceive your allies as well. Thanks to this, Morgania thinks of me as just a smart-ass kid.”

“…By deceiving your mother and the Archduke, what are you planning after that?”

“Hmm… A global act of treason?”

This is.

“If you tell me, you are approving of me, and if you go somewhere and tell others, you will become my enemy. Is that okay?”

Before returning, something no one could do.

“…Is it that much?”

“Yes. I kept it a secret, even from my father, and no one else should know the true nature of this plan.”

An act that even the Habsburg Emperor did not attempt after purging me.

From noble mtl dot come

“Would you like to listen? If you listen, you won’t be able to back down now.”

“…Either side with the empire or try to change the dynasty.”

Naria asked, placing her hand on her own chest.

“Am I the one your blade is aimed at?”

“No.”

“Then what am I to Lord Gray?”

“The next king. The person who will ascend to the throne of Nostrum after Saint Geo disappears.”

“…I’m glad.”

Princess Naria smiled slightly.

“I can rest assured that Lord Gray is not my enemy.”

“…”

“At least when I was in Gibraltar, next to Lord Gray, I never felt in danger of my life.”

Naria slowly approached me.

“After hearing Lord Gray’s plan, if I don’t betray him, will he not betray me?”

“Well, I don’t know.”

“Well?”

Naria frowned.

“I heard you’re a knight.”

“I will do my best and be loyal to you to make you king, but I am telling you in advance that I may betray you if I am not successful.”

“…Okay. It sounds very bad, but…”

Naria grinned.

“But if I can share that secret, I can become a ‘partner’ on equal footing with Lord Gray.”

“Where else have you heard that word?”

“The Imperial Newspaper’s crossword puzzle. That was really helpful in studying words.”

I admit that.

“Okay. Then, what I’m going to say from now on is really a secret?”

The ultimate plan that traitor Gray has not told anyone about for three years.

“I will sell the land.”

“…Land?”

“Yes, we will sell this Gibraltar Gorge.”

The ultimate act of treason.

“We will destroy this canyon so that Gibraltar will no longer be a slave to Nostrum.”

“That means… “

“Whether we step on the canyon that collapsed in the empire and advance to the kingdom or not, we will destroy this canyon.”

It creates an inflection point in history that has existed for 500 years, or even before.

“Because of this gorge, Gibraltar continued to call itself the guardian of the gorge and became a dog named Margrave.”

“…”

“It would have been enough if we had protected it for 500 years. Wouldn’t the future Gibraltar be able to live comfortably without being oppressed if the gorge is destroyed?”

“The authority of Gibraltar is…”

“A sword in the left hand. Gold in the right hand. The 500-year history of a b*stard guarding the house can be covered up with force and capital.”

The Master’s power will continue.

An overwhelming amount of capital was piled up in the count’s treasury.

“There are no more canyons in our future.”

I will destroy this canyon.

“Then how do we sell the canyon? It will require a huge budget.”

“The budget is…”

“Princess Naria. I help with administrative work next to Queen Carmen. Where is the largest budget exchanged?”

“…Land.”

Naria tapped her foot lightly on the floor.

“Civil engineering, architecture, construction.”

“Yes. You are playing with land. It is a land-related business that involves the exchange of ‘trillions’ of gold, not tens of billions.”

“It will take time to raise that kind of budget.”

“Yes. So, I can’t do it with my own money.”

“…?”

Are you crazy and digging a canyon with my own money?

Whether it’s a light dragon, gambling, or a photo book, that money is a slush fund for when we, Gibraltar, leave for a distant continent and settle down anew.

“Aren’t there people who are upset about the canyon over there?”

I turned Naria’s body and pointed to the west.

“Era of the Wild West. Canyon Development Company. East-Nostrum-Company. Collapse of the Gibraltar Wall.”

Trillions of capital will naturally flow into the County of Gibraltar.

We will not spend a single penny, and even if we do, we will have the empire directly collapse the canyon with only the minimum amount of capital.

“We will give this canyon to the imperialists. More precisely, we will sell the development rights to the canyon.”

“…I knew what was in the canyon.”

“Well, wouldn’t it be okay to just spread the rumor that ‘the rare of the Gold Dragon, the guardian dragon of the Kingdom of Nostrum, is buried in the canyon?'”

All you have to do is create a justification.

“What’s in the canyon? That doesn’t matter to the Imperials. What matters is that thanks to stupid Gray, we have the opportunity to take down the canyon and the gate.”

“For that… ?”

“Yes.”

Humans are wary and servile towards those who are smarter and stronger than them.

“What if I end up like the Crimson Margrave of Gibraltar? Even though I’m frustrated and angry, I have to act like St. Geo Nostrum.”

“…Not completely incompetent, but incompetent enough to be exploitable.”

“Yes.”

If they decide that you are stupider than them, they will immediately try to take advantage of you.

“I see Gray Gibraltar as either an imbecile who thinks I am smart, or a traitor who is serious about selling out the country. That is the key to destroying the gorge.”

“…”

“Tell them to ridicule as much as they want. Tell them to ignore them as much as they want.”

Even if the entire continent thinks I’m a fool, I can endure the shame if I fool just one Habsburg.

“In the end, once they dig up the ground in the canyon, they will rush in and start shoveling into the canyon.”

While I think I am weak, I will become stronger and stronger in the shadows.

They will dig and dig canyons again, without realizing that they are being used against them.

So.

If I could just get a chance to kill the Habsburgs, I would give up the canyon a hundred or a thousand times.

“Personally, I’m curious. What on earth is in this canyon?”

Even if it doesn’t happen that way, I will make it happen.

“Who knows? There might even be an ancient weapon capable of dominating the entire continent lying dormant.”

“…What if it is taken away by the empire?”

“That’s why we need to become stronger. It’s not like the canyon can be fully developed in three years.”

“Are you going to have them dig the ground and then take the by-products by force when they come out?”

“Yes.”

Even if you say you don’t want to do that.

“Due to lack of force, we were deprived of a peaceful life.”

It is the empire and the kingdom that imposes the logic of the fittest and the fittest.

“What is stolen will always be returned. No matter what sacrifices must be made in the process.”

“…”

“Even if the end result is killing someone.”

Even if everyone burns to death, a pile of ashes remains.

“I will remove St. Geo Nostrum from Princess Naria’s life.”

“…It’s still before 12 o’clock.”

Naria smiled broadly.

“Although it is a verbal contract, it is the perfect birthday present, Lord Gray.”

Naria stretched out her hand toward me.

“Let’s join.” For the day when a new wind will blow into this stagnant 500-year-old Kingdom of Nostrum.”

“For.”

Although we each have different pursuits and desired results, there is nothing that prevents us from walking together to the halfway point.

“Princess Naria. “I promise you this.”

It’s a trap.

“Even if the canyon collapses, you, me, and Gibraltar will survive.”

This life.

The Gibraltar Gorge will collapse and become the Habsburg tomb.