"He who curses the blade during peace, do not deserve its edge to save him during war."
- Shogun Harekaze Hagoromo, Empire of Tenka
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It has been two weeks since the Five Week War between the East Serafina Demesne association, led by the now dissolved Penne Earldom, and House Bougainvillea has officially ended and all of provisions of the peace treaty was set.
With the dissolution of over twenty noble houses, the amount of territory that is now held by the Taiga Marquisdom and they must now manage, expanded greatly.
While some of these lands were given by the Marquisdom to their subordinate noble families whose members contributed to the quelling of the belligerent remnants of the Demesne's allied army, most of it ended up being handled by the Marquisdom's magistrates and turned into lands officially recognized as their own territories.
However, the lands of House Lavento and Belgram was not subjected to these changes as even if their peerage and status as a noble remained intact, all the control over their lands was taken by none other than the new Baron from the Bougainvillea family, Baron Jonathan Bougainvillea.
"My liege, we have received the report from Gunther regarding the establishment of mining operations in the ceded territories of House Lavento and Belgram. While the railway system to our facilities in Stella village is yet to be finished, we will be transporting the recovered magisteel ore and crude Ambrosia through carts pulled by direwolves." Spoke a woman dressed in a maid uniform to a young man who began to lay down on his bed.
"Got it. Keep me updated, Spica. You're dismissed for tonight."
"Yes, my liege… Good night and have a comfortable sleep." After politely responding, she gently placed a blanket over her master and quietly left his bedroom.
"Hmm. Tomorrow's the big day. I wonder if things would just be as how they used to be before all of this happened."
While before, Jonathan was only attending the basic curriculum of the Imperial Academy of Ostadonia, as he is neither an heir to a peerage or a ruling lord, his achievements prior to his return to the academy made it compulsory for him to attend the advanced curriculum for his second semester.
Initially, the war between the Demesne association and his family would've stayed as a private matter if not for the fact that an anonymous package containing all the necessary evidence that implicated the Penne Earldom for aiding foreign spies and committing treasonous actions reached the Marquisdom.
Because of this, Jonathan's victory against the Demesne association was seen as a heroic achievement worthy of being given a noble peerage and thus, from being the mere second son of House Bougainvillea, he is now the head of the first branch family of House Bougainvillea, and along with it came the title of Baron.
While such a position of power would've been desirable for many, it also came with a very heavy responsibility. From here on out, what awaits him is either an arduously dangerous rise… or a fall to the unforgiving abyss of noble politics and infighting.
"My liege. It's time for you to depart for your morning classes." The next morning, Spica spoke to her master who was tying his white necktie. Meanwhile, she was carrying his bag and sheathed saber.
"Mm. Keep things well here until I come back, Spica… Just as a reminder, what are you guys supposed to do if someone enters the house without prior notice?"
"If they belong to the empire's authorities and can produce a valid search warrant, we are to follow them around to every room they would enter to make sure that they would remain in line of the provisions in the warrant." One of the maids responded.
"And if they're strangers or authorities operating without a warrant?"
"We are free to fight them off as long as they will suffer the least number of injuries and we won't kill them." A man dressed as a gardener spoke with a confident smile.
"Excellent… Remember, this house was only lent to us by the Marquisdom. Take care of it to the best of your abilities."
"""Understood, dear Baron."""
After leaving the house where he and his small entourage stays, Jonathan walked towards the main road of the town where just in time, a tram car slowed down just enough for some of its passengers to disembark and be replaced by new passengers like him. Inside the cab, he found an empty seat and sat down, placing his bag atop his lap and keeping his saber between his legs to avoid inconveniencing the other passengers.
Moments later, he was approached by an old man who greeted him with a lazy tone and asked him where he was going while holding a stack of green-colored cards and a small card puncher.
"Good morning, son. Where to?"
"Imperial Academy. Main campus first gate."
"Alright, got it… Here. Prepare the amount by the time I get back." The old ticketer apathetically spoke after handing him his ticket and moving to the seated passenger across him.
Unlike the vapid boonies of the Feudal Domains where nobles reign under the Ostadonian feudal system, the place where Jonathan is right now belongs to the Five Great Ostadonian States, and to be more specific, the capital of the Empire of Ostadonia, Tenki city.
Here, technology and knowledge that may seem otherworldly for those who was born, lived and never left the Feudal Domains, exists as if they are the most normal things to have around.
From tram cars powered by electric magic orbs, trains that run on steam heated by fire magic stones and even airships that transport both people and cargo as a means of normal mass transport, it is very different from the far-away feudal lands that still depend on work done by manpower or beasts-of-burden such as horses and oxen, and rudimentary magic tools that run using magic spells or manastones.
"Is that him?"
"Must be. No one can mistake that stench coming from destitute nobles like him."
Because of these differences that run beyond skin-deep reasons, the discrimination that he expected to receive as soon as he entered the main campus of the Imperial Academy came without a pause.
"Hey, hey! I know you brats would have some choice words about this, but I won't tolerate badmouthing your classmate unfairly like that while I'm your class adviser, so shut your traps!"
"""Yes, sensei…"""
"Hmph! Now, young man. You may introduce yourself." the students seated inside the classroom lazily responded to their teacher before he turned to Jonathan to make him do his introductions.
"My name is Jonathan Hakuryuu H. Bougainvillea. I belong to House Bougainvillea of East Serafina under its Fenris branch family. It's a pleasure to be here." Jonathan spoke before giving a slight bow.
"Huh? That's it? Hey, boy!" from behind the classroom, a rough-looking guy with a booming voice shouted towards him a brash question. "Aren't you forgetting something? What generation are you in that family and what's your noble peerage?!"
"Hey, Khalil! You better not—" their teacher wanted to interject but Jonathan spoke up to answer the question which shocked many of the students.
"Apologies for that mistake. To be more specific, I belong to the first-generation Barony of the Fenris Bougainvillea branch family. That is to say, I am Baron Jonathan Bougainvillea of East Serafina."
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While Jonathan's morning classes were ongoing in the Imperial Academy, a meeting was being held in the Imperial Senate building where in front of the 24 senators stood Acting Marquis Kazuto.
"Marquis Regalia-Taiga… I believe it's only proper for us to demand these answers from you directly given the sheer weight of the events that caused this issue."
"I understand fully, your honor." Kazuto responded before awaiting the questions that will be thrown to him by the senate members.
"In the report that you gave regarding this war between the East Serafina Demesne association and the Baronetcy of House Bougainvillea, you stated that imperial magistrate Lao Dai has colluded with the late Earl Kaltka Penne to fabricate a story that House Bougainvillea has committed treason and are fostering a spy network for our foreign adversaries, is this right?"
"It is, your honor. As you can see from—"
"Hold on now, Marquis. We'll get to those later. I just want to have the entire story laid out for everyone here, okay?"
"Y-Yes. I apologize, your honor. Let's continue then."
For the next few minutes, the senator overseeing the meeting went back and forth with Kazuto, laying out the origins of the conflict that happened in east Serafina and confirming if this was the truth from him. Once he agreed on its ending where House Bougainvillea became victorious, the tone of the meeting changed to one that exuded pressure towards Kazuto.
"Alright! First and most important question, Marquis. Why did you break protocol and took this matter into your own hands instead of reporting it to the imperial inquisition or the Numbers?"
"…If I may state the truth and nothing else but the truth, it was because I judged that the Bougainvillea Baronetcy would collapse as soon as the battles started, and the inhabitants of the territory would be subject to much loss and pain." Kazuto spoke meekly and was met with an apathetic tone from another senator.
"A very considerate decision for your subjects, Marquis. But hardly enough to allow you to take over the responsibility of the organizations who has the authority to intervene in such a thing."
"Senator Pascual is correct, Marquis. While it's true that as the one assigned to oversee East Serafina, the Taiga Marquisdom has total authority over its local issues, cases of high treason fall under the authority of the Imperial inquisition or if they get to it sooner, an agent who belongs to the Numbers."
"Except for what you have already said, is there other reasons why you decided to mobilize your own army to directly intervene in this local war?"
Kazuto looked around and saw that the other senators seated around was either apathetic about the matter or still carry an expression that is puzzled with his decision. Once he has mustered enough courage, he answered the question that was thrown to him.
"I knew that something is happening behind the scenes regarding the timing of the events that happened in my domain."
"Oho? Do elaborate, Marquis Kazuto-dono." After the senator responded, Kazuto stood up and motioned for his butler to come close along with a big rolled-up sheet of paper that he unwound to illustrate his points.
"First of all, there was this strange change of the taxation method amongst the members of the Demesne association. For rural territories whose main industry is agriculture and animal keeping, the Earldom has changed it from a percentage-based rate of 30% of their total revenue to a fixed rate of 5 tons of grain or 50 Albion ounces of gold twice a year."
"That's hardly anything worth to fuss about, Marquis. What are you getting at by—" the senator interjected but Kazuto didn't give him a chance.
"However! There is an issue with this change. While on paper, it has been stated that every territory that belongs to the association must comply with this change, it was only applied to one specific territory while all the others not only lagged on their tax payments, but some even outright disregarded it."
Once Kazuto stated that, every other senator who wasn't interested with the topic leaned forward to see what all of this fuss is about.
"For the past five years, every member of the Demesne association has either paid less than the demanded taxes set by the imperial government, and some didn't pay at all and pocketed every revenue that they received. All of them, except the Bougainvillea Baronetcy who three years ago, was saddled with making up for the lacking sum caused by the other members. From the stated 5 tons of grain, it ballooned out to 7 tons until just this year, they demanded for 10 tons of grain or 200 Albion ounces of gold. A ludicrous sum that cannot be expected from a mere baronetcy."
"We see your point in this, but you are yet to give us an answer, Marquis."
"Patience, your honor. That would be my next point… Does anyone in this chamber know what else happened in east Serafina's Demesne association five years ago?" Kazuto asked and after a moment, an old scruffy voice spoke out from the senators' seats.
"I believe that would be the change in the leadership of the association following the dissolution of the noble house of Count Graves, as well as the assigning of new imperial magistrates across the Feudal domains. Is that right?"
"Exactly, Senator Rejas. From Count Graves whose noble house was dissolved due to their crimes, the leadership of the association went to Earl Penne and at the same year, magistrate Lao Dai was sent to east Serafina by the imperial government. That is to say, this change and its consequent violations that can only be possible through the collusion of two people with authorities happened at the same time as the beginning of the unfair treatment given to House Bougainvillea."
Kazuto's well-put argument made the senators to be at the edges of their seat in anticipation for its climax.
"That is not all, there are strong evidence that at that same time frame, information leaks that can be traced from east Serafina to the United Kingdoms and the Militant Confederation, happened without anyone noticing. Normally, the imperial magistrate would quickly detect and put a stop to it, but it remained active until the fall of the Penne Earldom… I believe I don't have to spell it out to our honorable senators anymore."
From the information that Kazuto laid out, it was crystal clear. He decided to act when the war between the association and House Bougainvillea began because if he waited for the authorities, it would be too late to save the Baronetcy as well as any hope of ever uncovering this act of treason by both the earldom and the imperial magistrate.
"That is an excellent point, Marquis. But I find it difficult to accept that you decided to do this because "time is of essence" and "there is a high risk of a cover-up" when as I can presume, you were only interested in saving the Bougainvillea Baronetcy from their inevitable doom." The Senator spoke and sternly stared him down, but Kazuto was far from letting himself to just be intimidated.
"…And what if I am, your honor? Is it a crime to look out for the safety of one's subordinate noble houses?"
"It is not, but it would be improper for a noble house tasked with overseeing the feudal domains and all of its territories to pick favorites among the many others who are under them… I just want to remind you of that, Marquis." The senator spoke before showing him a smug smile.
However, it didn't take long before Kazuto threw back a retort that made that senator's face to scrunch up into an annoyed grimace.
"I accept your reminder and wish that you would do the same, Senator Zheng. After all, just as it is for my noble house, it would also be improper for an important and powerful official of the empire to pick their favorites. Should I also elaborate about the unnaturally quick intervention of your office in the reclaiming of Yibang territory by the Kingdom of Qima?"
"YOU—!"
"I believe that's enough, Marquis Regalia-Taiga. We have settled all of the questions that should be answered. Any excess would not be needed." Senator Zheng would've had an outburst if not for the senate president's interjection. With that, Kazuto let his butler to step back and was also tidying up his belongings when a female voice spoke up with a question.
"I have a question before we officially end this meeting, Marquis."
"Of course. Feel free to ask and I will answer to the best of my abilities, Senator Aydin Zeynep." Kazuto responded and turned his attention to the female senator from the United Turkman Tribes.
"While some of the other officials who read your statement and the imperial observers' reports have simply dismissed its contents as inaccurate and exaggerated embellishments, the tribal chiefs of my country wishes to ask if it's true that the damage incurred by the Demesne association's allied army was done by the Baronetcy alone, and if so, does the same apply to the actions they did against the territories of the noble families that attacked them?"
"That…"
Faced with that question from the senator, Kazuto was stumped for a moment before he found an acceptable answer.
"My statement and the reports given by the deployed observers are true, your honor. It is true that House Bougainvillea's forces defeated the two halves of the allied army and would even have their forces operate outside of their territories for the sake of retaliatory strikes. However, my knowledge about it is limited to what I have been told by my men and what the Baronetcy has placed in their sworn affidavit prior to the signing of the peace treaty."
Kazuto paused for a moment before saying something that caught the senators' attention. "If you wish to know the details more specifically, the one responsible for it is currently staying here in the capital as a first-year student in the Imperial Academy's advanced curriculum campus."
"…What is his name, Marquis?"
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"Baron Jonathan Hakuryuu Bougainvillea…"
"…Please stop already, Chiori-senpai. It's actually getting annoying now."
At lunch break, while many of the students with little budget to spare dined at the campus cafeteria, and those who can afford it ate out at the many restaurants outside the campus premises, two students shared their packed lunches inside one of the less used libraries in the basic curriculum campus.
"My, my… I thought they were just kidding when they said that someone had to be transferred to the "white ties" in the middle of the school term. Turns out it was lil' Johnny who got himself into some trouble during the winter vacation." A young woman with light-brown hair cut just above her shoulders spoke with a smug grin while poking Jonathan's face to annoy him.
This young woman is Chiori Hiiragi. Jonathan's upperclassman and the president of the academy's general literature club… although to be exact, said club only has her, Jonathan and another member who only joined in name and never appeared again ever since they signed up to join. Because of that, the small library that acts as their clubroom has belonged only to her and Jonathan where they usually hang out during their free time.
While Jonathan is a first-year student who was transferred to the advanced curriculum campus, Chiori is a second-year student who belongs to the basic curriculum campus as she's only a 4th daughter in her family… although based on recent rumors, that is bound to change soon.
"Why are you saying that as if you're not on the trajectory to become one too by next year?"
"Ah. So, you heard about it too, huh?"
"Word travels fast… especially when its someone like you who belongs to a family in the inner— O-Owww! Shtop!" After Jonathan said those words, the smug grin at the face of the young woman was replaced by a slightly annoyed pout as she pinched his cheek.
"Hmph! You guys really are just a bunch of losers. You say that you don't care about girls until you hear which noble family she comes from and that her parents are considering marrying her off."
"Oh please. Are you even hearing yourself, senpai? You're a "Hiiragi". Little to no men who knows what that name carries in the empire would pass up the chance to win you over alongside the good graces of your family."
While Jonathan was munching on his sandwich, he looked at Chiori's expression that has lost its prior smug and playful expression and turned to the true feelings that she has been hiding from the eyes of other people for the past few days.
"…Honestly, I don't even want to go home these days. It's always "It's time for you to grow up" and "You need to do this for the sake of our legacy and the family's longevity" that I keep on hearing from my mother, aunts and elder sisters. It's honestly grinding my gears." Chiori spoke with a defeated tone before taking a nibble from her rice ball.
"…I assume they're saying it not because they really believe in it but because they were forced into it too?"
"Damn right they are. The hags are being adamant about it because of "tradition and being a proper woman" while my elder sisters are in denial about falling for it too and want to pull me down into their hellhole. Honestly, good grief!"
After Jonathan understood her side, he felt like he lost his appetite for a moment while placing himself on Chiori's situation.
Damn… she really has it rough. Forget about being constantly harassed by the guys here who is only interested with her familial connections and peerage. She's not even getting any tranquility at home where she's supposed to feel safe and sound.
Jonathan was about to ponder about it more until Chiori spoke up again and broke his train of thought.
"Hey Jonathan, I heard you had a bad time during the winter break. They said that uncle Joseph died and your brother got sent to the battlefield in Irma island."
"Yeah… Dad succumbed to his condition and the bastards in the Demesne association colluded to have my brother sent to war. He barely had any time to grieve and bury our father."
"You have my condolences, Jonathan… and I'll pray for your brother's safety too." Chiori patted him on the back and gave those words, giving Jonathan some sense of comfort about everything that happened. As a sign of appreciation, he dug out something from his lunch bag and handed it to Chiori.
"Hm? What's this?"
"Your favorite strawberry yogurt drink. I found out that they were selling it at the advanced curriculum campus cafeteria, so I got you one."
"EHH?! No way! I can't remember when I last had one of these! Are you sure about just giving this to me? I'm sure it isn't cheap!" Chiori exclaimed in joy but after remembering that it isn't a cheap drink, pulled out her wallet but was stopped by Jonathan.
"No, no. No need to worry about that. I've got some money to spare, y'know. And besides, this is just my sign of appreciation for always looking out for me and letting me stay here so I can avoid those annoying brats who were always after me."
"Jonathan…" After hearing all of that, Chiori accepted his answer and stabbed the straw that came with the bottle into its tinfoil cover and began to sip on it.
"…Is it good?"
"Mm! Very! Still as good as it used to be when I was a kid!"
"Hehe! Glad to hear that." Jonathan replied happily to her answer before returning to eating his sandwich. Silence returned for a few moments until Chiori said something with a pout.
"Hey… Just so we're clear, you're not getting any points from me just because of this, okay? I'm not gonna date you just because you spoil me with these."
While Chiori said this both with seriousness and for jest, Jonathan's blunt reply annoyed her instantly.
"Urgh! Are you listening to yourself? Why would I want to date you? Do you know unattractive you are when you're not actively pretending to be an ojou-sa— I-ITAAAAAA—!!!"
"IDIOT!!! You didn't have to say all of that!!!"
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Later that evening, Jonathan and Kazuto sat across each other at the tea table of the mansion's study room. This mansion is in the center of the same estate compound where the house which Jonathan and his personal servants are staying at are located, and to be exact, was just a walking distance away.
"What… happened to your face?" Kazuto worriedly mused after noticing that Jonathan's cheeks were slightly swollen.
"A "wild animal" attack. It apparently got annoyed, and it bit me."
"Ahh… that, huh?" Understanding the idiom that Jonathan spoke, Kazuto sighed with both exasperation and relief that Jonathan at least has friends in the academy. With that, he turned to serious business mode. "Since I called you here, I guess you already have a clue about the reason why."
"I do since Spica told me all about it after I got home." As soon as he spoke as such, Jonathan's ambiance and tone shifted to one that made even Kazuto uneasy. "So, the Imperial Diet wasn't really happy about the outcome of that war, huh?"
"Y-Yeah… Well, to be more exact, they're pissed that they can't use the intervention of the Imperial army to its resolution to boost their chances of re-election into the senate. In particular, there was Senator Zheng Haoran who promised to safeguard the independence of the Yilong Confederacy and because of the fall of the Yibang Barony back to the Kingdom of Qima, was blamed by the other confederacy members for it."
"What a f****** pansy. Is he saying that their political interests and ambitions are more important than the lives that would be lost if we let those rotten nobles to rampage as they wish?"
"That's basically it. The wishes of the empire's "loyal executives" supersedes the lives of its lowly subjects."
After that topic was finished, Jonathan mentioned something that caught Kazuto's attention.
"My new territory has been found to contain large reserves of magisteel and ambrosia. For now, we have to transfer it back to the Stella settlement, but I'm considering the construction of refineries in both Belgram and Lavento."
"I get the need of refineries for magisteel, but I don't understand why you mentioned ambrosia too. If I remember right, isn't ambrosia just a junk liquid from ancient mana pools, the byproduct of refining mana quartz and the fluid that surrounds unrefined magic stones?" Kazuto spoke and asked why he included such a useless thing as something of interest.
"I'll leave the more specific details for another time, but for now, let's just say that my men have found a way to turn ambrosia into a fuel that can possibly turn the world on its head."
"That much? Aren't you kind of overselling this?"
"Not at all. Besides, do you think that I would tell you this when I'm not sure of how much it would make us rise up the peerage ladder?" Jonathan spoke and looked at Kazuto straight at the eyes. "I mean, I've only displayed one revolutionary technology and they're already trying to pry it out of my hands, aren't they?"
After Jonathan spoke those words, Kazuto's neck tightened, and he began to shed cold sweat. The sheer pressure that Jonathan's eyes exuded made it obvious to him that Jonathan wasn't planning to lay back after his victory in the Five Week War and somehow, he's been getting information that someone of his rank and power shouldn't have the means to get.
"I guess you already heard about Senator Aydin requesting your presence in their next hearing, huh?"
"Rumors spread fast, Marquis. That's all that I'm going to say."
"What do you plan to do then?"
"Ignore it, of course."
"I see… wait, what?"
Jonathan's reply made Kazuto to stand up in utter shock, rattling the tea set on the table.
"The imperial senate hasn't lodged any complaints or saddled a crime upon me. As far as protocol goes, I'm under no obligation to reply to or obey the request of someone outside the Feudal Magna Carta."
"T-That's too reckless, Jonathan! This isn't a mere demesne association! These are imperial senators who hold power and authority beyond even my own means!"
"And as I said, let them go through the same protocol that they wanted us to follow. If they can force us to go through it for the sake of their own convenience, then let's repay their favor the same way."
Just in time, a knock on the study room's door sounded before it was opened by Kazuto's butler who has a message for his master.
"Young master, we have a letter from Lord Elmor. It was marked as urgent."
"L-Let me have it then." Kazuto took the letter and opened its wax seal before reading it. Moments later, his brows raised in shock. "T-This is—!"
"If I may, what does the letter say, Marquis?"
Kazuto's next words spelled the beginning of another chapter in this story bathed in bloodshed.
"We're losing the war in Irma Island… only a quarter of the entire army is still alive."