Well you're in time. Glad to see that Count Zeref is safe.
　When he heard the report brought from Tristron, a city in the western part of the Roselia Kingdom, with a deep sigh of relief, Ryoma placed the pen in his right hand on his desk.
''Yes. According to the news from Saara, it seems that Count Zeref's guards were killed in the first attack and it was quite dangerous, but Saara, Sakuya and the others managed to take care of the assassins, and afterwards they had a meeting with Elena-sama safely. The content of the meeting was just as Ryoma-sama had expected.......both of them agreed to give up on Queen Lupis. In addition, I have received a letter from Elena-sama that she would very much like to consult with Ryoma-sama regarding the future of this country.
　I'm sure you'll be able to find a lot more information on this topic.
　Even though Elena is a competent soldier, her qualifications as a politician are not high.
　I'm sure you'll be able to find some great deals on the web, but I'm sure you'll be able to find some great deals on the web.
　I'm not sure if it's a good idea for me to be a part of this, but I'm sure it's an expression of my desire to join Ryojin's family.
　As the smell of burning smell filled the room, Ryoma leaned back deeply in his chair and looked up at the ceiling. There was a somewhat joyful expression on his face.
''As I thought, Count Zeref moved as I thought, well, there's only a limited reason for that person to leave the royal capital to meet Elena-san at this time of year.
''Yes. To persuade the Count of Bergst to give up Queen Lupis and then move to work with Lady Elena... I never thought that Lady Zeref would have the ability to act like this.
　Laura cast another glance at the letter in her hand. Her face showed the inner workings of her mind that still tilted at the contents of this report.
　At least from her point of view, Count Zeref could only be regarded as a humble little fat middle-aged man in the shadow of his brother-in-law. I'm not sure how much talent was hidden in that foolish appearance, even though I understand in my head that people are not what they seem.
'Are you surprised?'
Yes I still can't believe it.
　In response to Ryouma's question, Laura nodded honestly with a hint of confusion on her beautiful face.
　Even though she had been told beforehand, Laura still couldn't believe that Zeref, who still had that mediocre appearance, had shown such a move.
　However, seeing Laura's attitude, Ryoma let out a high-pitched laugh.
''That's that old man's hand. That man is properly calculating the impact of his appearance on the surroundings.
You're going to do the math?
Yeah, it's calculated.
　Both brothers-in-law are renowned as capable politicians, but when one of them is a dandy middle-aged man with a refined, smart appearance and tall stature, and the other is a short, plain, small, fat middle-aged man, the reputation of those around them is naturally determined. If you compare the two, Count Zeref is inevitably only in the position of a henchman or a complement to the Earl of Bergston.
　That is the natural and natural result. So Zeref took advantage of it.
　By taking on the darker side of politics himself.
'The man was aware that his appearance was plain and unattractive. And he was usually a step or two away from his surroundings, in the shadow of the Earl of Bergston.
Do you mean... to avoid attracting attention?
Well, it's a bit like being an actor and a backstage person, isn't it?
It is the actors who shine on stage, receiving the applause of the audience, but in order for their presence to shine, it is essential to have someone behind the scenes to support them from the shadows. It is a modest and unappreciated job. However, that doesn't mean that the stage can't exist if the backstage crew isn't dedicated to the backstage.
　The relationship between Zeref and Bergston is similar to this.
　Zeref has been playing the dirty role of supporting Bergston's flamboyant activities from the shadows. They are one in the same boat.　
''Either way, this means we now have three more pawns in our hands.
Lady Elena, Count Zeref and Count Bergston.
'Oh, they're all pretty big pieces. Especially the one that brought in Count Zeref.
"Count Zeref?
　Laura can't help but nod her head at Ryouma's words.
　I don't disagree with the assessment that all three of them are powerful pawns. However, if we talk about the most influential person among the three, I naturally thought that Elena or Count Bergston's name would come up.
　I'm sure you'll be pleased to know that I'm not the only one who's been in this situation.
　But seeing Laura's expression, Ryoma shook his head slowly as if to chide her.
''That person's information network is able to obtain information that is difficult to obtain from the Igazaki people. It's the most important thing we can do to cut down Roselia in the future.
　As the bearers of intelligence and counter-intelligence, the Iganzakis are very important pawns for Ryoma, but that's not to say they can do these jobs perfectly on their own.
　There are about two hundred Iganzaaki-shu, including women and children. They teach the children they buy as slaves the art of shinobi, but only about a hundred of them are useful.
　Of course, the Igazakishu plan to expand their size in the future, but considering the territory that will increase in the future, they are inevitably short of hands.
　In particular, it was essential to have someone who was well versed in social circles to keep track of the movements of the nobles.
(Well, I don't want to leave too many nobles behind.......)
　The ideal country in Ryojin's mind. It's a country of meritocracy.
　Basically, Ryoushin doesn't like the existence of nobles.
　I'm sure you'll be pleased to know that the majority of aristocrats, with the exception of a few competent ones, are pests who take pleasure in exploiting the taxation of the common people.
　And Mikoshiba Ryoma is not so naive as to allow a pest called aristocracy to infest the garden that is his country.
　However, the ideal would be to attack and destroy all the nobles in Roselia and take all of the land under his or her direct control, but that would be too much work.
　If that's the case, there's only one option left.
　Even if it takes some time, we can separate the stones from the balls and further sort out the balls that have been separated.
　For this, we need the skill of Count Zeref.
　The power of a man who knows the inner workings of the aristocracy in Roselia.
　However, it's still a long way off in the future when Count Zeref will be able to show his true worth under Ryojin.
　It's only a matter of time before it's something that's not worth dreaming about in a small frontier lord's mind.
(For now, this is the first step in the immediate future, but.......what do you think? Can we do it?)
　As originally planned, civil war has broken out within Roselia, and the government bureaucrats from the king on down are too busy dealing with the situation to devote their energies to the frontier.
　If you're in this situation, you can push through a bit of recklessness by force. The Zeref attack is a clear example of this.
　Under normal circumstances, they would not be so blatant in their assault.
　There are many ways to deal with it, whether it's poisoning or intimidation, that are difficult to attract the attention of the public.
　In such a situation, they deliberately attacked the carriage. It's natural to assume that it contains a warning to the nobles who are dissatisfied with Lupis.
　At this time of year, there would be only one person willing to cross such a dangerous bridge for the sake of Lupis.

　Hearing the two names released from Ryoma's mouth, Laura instantly understood his intentions.
''Ryoma-sama.......then, finally.......''
Oh, I'll take over Ipyros.
Hearing those words, Laura left the room to call for the two men.
　Left alone in the room, Ryoma turned his attention to the Japanese sword propped up beside his office desk.
　It had been waiting for its wielder for hundreds of years, having been given to him by the Iganzaishu as a token of their family's will.
　A smile appeared on Ryoma's face as the evening sun shone through the window. If someone else had been in this room, it would surely have looked like the face of a blood-stained demon.

　Ryoma slowly cut the mouth of the carp and whispered in a gentle tone of voice to the rugged Japanese sword.
　At that moment, out of nowhere, Ryoma could hear the wind growl in his ears.
　A voice like the wailing of a demon....