Chapter 426: Deal Behind the Deal

The reason the Count of Basel had approached the Judicial Minister was simple.

He wanted to gauge my ties to central politics. There was a time when I had stood on the same side as the Judicial Department while keeping the Finance and Administrative Departments in check, but now we were political enemies. The direction of politics shifts with power.

The current balance of central politics had left the Military and Judicial Departments ruling the field. The Administrative Department was catching its breath, and the Finance Department had effectively been reduced to trailing along behind the Military Department. All of it had come about because of the Finance Minister’s greed.

It was unfair to Adelbert, who had never once gotten to wield that power himself, but politics turns those obsessed with power into monsters. The Count of Basel seemed intent on using this monster called politics.

"Sir Archibald. Personally, I like nobles who know how to make a deal."

"I’m glad the information our family gathered has been of use to you, my lord."

"That’s why I’m asking. Could you keep watching the man the Count of Basel sent?"

"Are you proposing a deal?"

"Yes. A deal."

The look in Archibald’s eyes changed, though it was a change so slight that even he wasn’t aware of it. I was carefully observing his mindset through the scouter. Archibald seemed to have been waiting for me to propose a deal.

In the end, saving his brother was nothing more than a pretext for contacting me.

Come to think of it, for a court noble family, negotiating with a prince to save a third son who had committed a crime and been punished was a considerable burden in itself. Was the third son that valuable to them? Surely not.

Archibald’s disposition was ambitious (neutral).

The hidden answer was right there.

I poured him a glass of the finest Rosenheim wine.

Archibald, who had been staring at it blankly, asked a question.

"If I accept this deal, what will you give our family, my lord?"

"My guess is that you’re not after money."

"Our family wants something more precious than money."

"Then it must be power. You want to take the Neunil family’s place?"

I tossed it out casually, but it sent out enormous ripples.

Archibald flinched and struggled to keep his composure, but his mindset was shaking uncontrollably. Nothing is quite as unsettling as having your true intentions exposed. I sipped my wine and spoke.

"You’re rattled. You must have planned to use me, but I’m not such an easy mark."

"..."

A heavy silence settled over us.

After a long while, Archibald opened his mouth.

"...I’m reminded of Lady Mühe’s advice."

"Oh? What did she advise you?"

"She said never to approach Sir Streit while hiding my true intentions."

It seemed the information broker Mühe had an accurate read on me. All I did was read the other person’s mindset through the Manager Scouter and see straight through them, but to outsiders it must have looked like a miraculous ability.

So lies didn’t work in front of me. Those who dealt in information had probably classified me as a dangerous figure. That was why Mühe had noticed Archibald’s intentions and subtly warned him off.

But my method of reading mindsets wasn’t perfect either. With people skilled at hiding their true feelings, like those with a conspiracy disposition, even I couldn’t pinpoint exactly what their mindset was pointing to.

Vermeer had asked for help restoring relations with the crown prince, but Mühe, whose true intentions I couldn’t read, had remained quiet so far. What would that woman, who nursed dozens of snakes in her bosom, eventually demand of me?

By comparison, the young Archibald wasn’t skilled at hiding his true intentions.

That, too, must have been a difference in experience. Archibald readily confessed his purpose in coming to see me.

"The Neunil family can never recover now. I’d like your help, my lord, so that our Archibald family can take their place."

"You want the backing of the Military and Finance Departments?"

"Yes. If those two political forces support the Archibald family, we have a good chance."

With the Military and Finance Departments behind them, they could rise to the heart of court politics in a single stroke. With the Neunil viscount family fallen, countless noble families were vying to claim that position.

Archibald had used his brother to create a pretext for approaching me and had engineered a negotiation out of it. And he’d dangled information on the Count of Basel that was sure to interest me, so he was certainly a skilled negotiator.

"Even with the backing of the two ministers’ families, pushing out the Neunil viscount family depends on your own capabilities, so if you fail, that’s not my responsibility. Understood?"

"Of course. Our family will handle the rest."

A secret information-trading agreement was concluded between Archibald and Streit.

For the Military Department, it was no losing proposition. If anything, they welcomed a situation where Neunil and Archibald slugged it out and court politics grew even more chaotic, since then no one would be able to put the brakes on military action.

Finance Minister Adelbert was in no position to refuse my request, and since he held a grudge against Neunil for their connection to Mort, he’d probably be eager to help stir up the conflict between the two families.

And since I could use the information on the Count of Basel to prepare for the count’s provocations, it was a fair deal. With the interests of every faction involved aligned, Archibald would soon rise as a central figure in the political world.

The next day, his brother was released. Since Archibald’s public reason for contacting me was to save him, the release had to be announced. The brother was, of course, handed back to the supervising priest.

The supervising priest, citing the young monk’s need for discipline of mind and body, reportedly dragged him off to the Bishopric of Lanseh and locked him in a training cell. From what I heard, the boy would have been better off serving at the saltpeter farm.

Archibald showed no further interest in his brother after that.

In the end, a noble’s third son was nothing more than a pretext.

I sent Archibald off with two letters of recommendation. One was for Adelbert, and the other for my father-in-law in the east. Incidentally, the crown prince and my younger brother-in-law Ulrich had returned to Breisburg.

Not long ago I’d even received a letter asking for permission to see Lily.

Not a chance until the grand duke returns, you brat!

I also sent word to August in Hissen that Basel’s movements were suspicious and that he should prepare thoroughly. Before spring came, during Lent, they would surely attempt a provocation at least once.

"What do you think, my lord? Behold my masterpiece!"

"Hmm, it was certainly worth leaving this to an expert."

Leonardo made a great fuss as he announced that the foundational work on the harbor was complete.

Vintenheim’s harbor had changed beyond recognition in a short time. Cranes and half-finished skeletal structures still stood here and there, but the merchant ships that had once crowded into the little cove were now moored in reasonably orderly rows.

Breisach was said to be still debating its reconstruction plan. Unlike me, who could pour in money all at once, they had far too many procedures to work through. So there was a considerable difference in momentum.

We had begun with the warehouse district, the most urgent need, to store the goods the merchant ships unloaded. Attention had also been paid to details, like installing platforms matched to the height of the transport wagons.

Beyond that, new roads had been laid, water and sewage systems installed to carry off waste, and districts expanded to ease transport. With the city’s functions systematically expanded, the basic foundation was in place.

"I hear the Main River sometimes floods. Have you prepared countermeasures?"

"I thoroughly studied the records the administrator provided, built embankments, and set the ground level high enough that the warehouses won’t flood. But it’s impossible for human strength to hold back the wrath of God."

"We’ll have to be satisfied with minimizing the damage."

Even in the modern world natural disasters couldn’t be tamed, and in a medieval era like this there was nothing to do but pray to God. As the prince governing Rosenheim, preparing for natural disasters that could inflict enormous damage on the territory was only natural.

With the basic design finished, the harbor could safely be left to the supervisors. Leonardo immediately started on the expansion plan for Vintenheim. Vintenheim was simply too small.

It felt like looking at a tiny rural village next to a massive industrial complex.

Most of the laborers were living like beggars in the temporary lodgings set up at the harbor. Vintenheim needed proper accommodations along with basic infrastructure if prospective settlers were to put down roots.