In a lavish mansion on the outskirts of Parnam was a man pacing back and forth in his study. He was a rather tall man with human features, broad shoulders that indicated a decent level of physical activity, a blonde beard and mustache that traced around his upper lip accenting his hair, and dark brown eyes contrasting his look.
The past week for him have been a constant source of anxiety, and the news released by the castle the day before threatened to disrupt everything that he has been working towards in the past few years.
The man, Marquis Nolan Deleon, is one of the collaborators with Amidonia in an effort to increase their own power through money and what is now their new directive of getting rid of the new king and reinstating Albert back in place. They had no idea how the new king was going to address their less than savory ways of doing business, but at least under Albert, it was rarely scrutinized.
Normally, if one of their collaborators in what would be know as 'field work' dropped off the radar, it was generally assumed that something nasty happened they either had to return to Amidonia or kill themselves to prevent an information leak. While Nolan didn't trust Amidonia in the slightest, he, and many of the other nobles working with them understood that Amidonian soldiers were fiercely loyal to their own country, and if they ever talked about certain nobles' involvement in the scheme they were doing, it would give Elfrieden much more leverage against Amidonia.
The problem was that this was not one of those cases. Joran has always been like clockwork when it came to communications with Noland and the other conspirators. It was always every month, practically on the dot through secret meetings between both of their henchmen, and they would receive or exchange letters through dealings in a brothel that was owned by one of the corrupt nobles.
Normally, Nolan sets up meetings through signals to meet up at the brothel, and when he did it last week in the same way he has been doing it for over two years, he fully expected the ever-vigilant Joran to show up. When Joran didn't, he expected the worst, that being that he defected back to Amidonia. He was one of the people who was getting the best results, and while he knew of the bounty on his head thanks to an unfortunate incident in which an adventurer was able to see his face and get away, he was silently hoping that he just died with his secrets.
When the news came in that Joran and his men were captured, all hell broke loose for him. Instead of the calmness that was supposed to wash over him from their supposed death, there was now a very real chance that they might talk. After all, he knew that it would only be a matter of time, since even soldiers would talk under torture or threat thereof.
As he was continuing to pace in the room, he heard a knock on his door.
It's almost midnight! No one should be up this damn late!
"Who is it?"
"It's Livia, dear." A voice said from the door. "Is everything alright?"
"Come in, dear. Everything's fine."
The door opened to reveal a beautiful woman with chestnut brown hair and light brown eyes to match. Her face didn't scream beauty, but in the eyes of Nolan, he wouldn't have replaced her for anyone else. Her proportions were on the slimmer side, with small breasts with a medium sized butt to show for it. Her midsection, although slim, had a fair amount of loose skin because of the child she birthed for him. Almost all of this could be seen by the revealing nightgown she wore.
"Everything doesn't seem to be fine," she said as she put out her fire magic that she used as a light. "You've been staying up much too late this past week."
"It's… Joran got caught. I have absolutely no idea what the hell to do about it."
Her brow scrunched up at this. "Hmm… That is a problem… Are you sure that it isn't just a way to smoke us out?"
He chuckled. "If only. They shouldn't know anything about him other than the fact he is a bandit. I'm hoping that all they do is treat him as such."
"Well, I can't imagine they would keep him locked up longer than a week without announcing an execution date. I feel we should wait until then before making any hasty decisions."
That line of reasoning was solid to him. If the kingdom truly treated him as nothing more than a bandit, then him and his group should be promptly executed.
"I know, I know. It's just… I can't help but worry."
Livia cradles his face with her hands. "Yes, dear. But we both know nothing will be accomplished by you pacing around at this hour. Let's go to bed."
As she slid her hands off his face, one of them grabbed his hands, before she could completely turn around, he quickly tugged on her hand and kissed her.
"Mph!"
Parting their lips, she wiped the saliva off her face. As she looked into his eyes and saw the telltale signs of arousal, she quipped "I don't think now might be the best time."
"Now is always the best time." He retorted.
"But what of Aceline? I think she would be a bit grumpy about us having sex right now."Thinking of his other feline lover and the current situation they were in, he smiled. "You would be much more convincing without your hands undoing my belt."
She gave a coy smile and kissed him before they indulged in themselves for the better part of twenty minutes.
After finishing up, Nolan felt like much of his anxieties fade away, and he joined Livia into bed. He got up the next morning feeling mostly refreshed and was going to take her advice on how to proceed with the Joran situation until he got a piece of mail from one of his other conspirators to go to a meeting. While he would choose to resume his normal duties for the day, the people calling him wouldn't take too kindly to him missing a meeting, especially if it was what he thought it would be for. Kissing his wives and children goodbye, he headed off.
Going to a large room on the second floor of a building, he found four others already there. The leader of their hasty meeting asked him to take a seat while they wait for the final member of their entourage. As soon as the last person got there, they wasted no time in starting their discussion.
"Welcome. I'm glad you all could make it on such short notice. With that being said, let's skip all the formalities right now. I'm sure you're all aware of the events that transpired recently, and things took a turn for the worst."
When the leader of the group said such, everyone held their breath, but one person pointed out something. "If it is about Joran and his group, they should be treated as no more than bandits. Why were we called here about such a matter?"
"… I had one of my contacts in the adventurer guild verify that they were caught over a week ago. And yet, for the obvious crime of banditry, they have yet to be sentenced to death. Why do you think that is?"
Another replied, "And? You think they will sell us out just like that?"
Someone else chimed in. "If there's one thing we banked on when dealing with these idiots, it's that they're hatred for this country outweighs their desire to help it, even if it means saving their own skin. I see no reason to do anything."
Discussions and ideas flew left and right. It went from bribing a guard to poison their food, interrogating the initial adventurers who brought them in, and even sending an assassin to deal with them. Finally, the leader slammed the table.
"Enough! Listen! Regardless of their loyalty, the point is that they are captured, and it will only be a matter of time until they fold. Our options are currently to join the Three Dukes or to remain neutral."
Though there was clearly a third option of allying with the king, and on paper, that is what they were doing, with the way the new king was going about changing policies, there was a silent pressure that threatened to kill anyone who 'defected' to the king. After all, each of them carries more than enough evidence to indict all of them, and with the punishment of death carrying over three generations, no one wanted to risk any of that information getting out.
While the words were looming over him, Nolan was despairing over what currently got him into this situation. It wasn't always like this for him. In fact, his father ruled over their house and were fiercely loyal to the king until his untimely death by disease fifteen years prior. Noland took over the mantle, continuing his father's work and meeting his two wives and having three children.
The problems starting piling when the Demon Lord attacked, and refugees were pouring into their country. The food supply gradually got worse, and their economic situation was worsening by the second. He still continued to believe in the former king, but money was becoming tighter and tighter, and Albert was simply not showing any promise in fixing the current situation. His situation grew more and more desperate, and his repulsion for the royal family continued to grow.
At the end of the day, however, the one thing he cared about more than anything was family, and with money dwindling by the day, the only way they could stay afloat was to take more unsavory actions, which started out with small bribes and eventually grew to accepting generous funds from Amidonia in exchange for betraying their own country. After all, many of his comrades were doing it. Why should only he have to suffer?
Perhaps if he was more frugal, he could have done away with the excess living costs, but as this was a decision that he made with his two wives, this was a burden that they shared with each other.
As the meeting closed to an end, five out of the six decided to join the Three Dukes. They figured that, at the very least, even if Joran betrayed them, they would have some protection from the wrath of the king, as the relationship between the king and the Dukes was already strained. With multiple of their group members already having contacts with nobles who have joined the Duke faction, getting in was a simple matter.
Nolan was the only one who was still undecided. Like all of them, he understood the looming threat between the king, the Three Dukes, and Amidonia. There was talk about the Dukes planning to reinstate Albert to the throne, effectively turning against the new king. If they won, then great. Business as normal. If they lost, then it was almost guaranteed that anyone who was part of their faction would be executed for treason.
As he was riding back home in the carriage, he suddenly had a bright idea. While his wives were equal conspirators with him regarding Amidonia, only his name was ever on the letters and documents regarding that matter. This meant that, if he disowned his family, then even if the worst-case scenario were to happen and Joran were to talk, while Nolan would be executed, nothing could be done against his family.
As soon as he got home, he told his wives of the current situation. While Aceline had some doubts about it, Livia was growing more and more worried that the nobles were right, and also couldn't shake her feeling that this was the king's way of trying to force their hand. Currently, they were stuck between a rock and a hard place, and for the sake of everyone with them, especially their children, they needed to make a decisive move.
"Nolan, what the hell are you thinking?!" A woman yelled at him. She had a shapely figure with a tail from her backside that was a little over a meter long and was shaded white from the base and turned black midway. Standing half a head shorter than Nolan, she had light green eyes with dark gold pupils that seemed to resonate with beauty. Her lips and ears, a human pair on the sides and a cat pair on the top of her head, along with her natural face normally looked sublime. (A/n: catgirls have two sets of ears bitch don't me.)
However, this time, it was distorted with anger, and her pupils constricted like a snake.Aceline was understandably pissed by his revelation. At the very least, it was better than Livia, who slapped him across the face and locked herself in their room.
"It's for the best! For our kids!"
"For our kids?! Nolan, if you seriously go through with this, where will we go?! Where will we stay?! Do you seriously believe no one will think of anything if we stay in the same house?!"
"Well, what the hell do you want me to do?! Nothing?!"
"Why the fuck do you think it's only your decision to make?! We entered this as a family! We make decisions as a family! In case you forgot our vows, we promised to stay together until death! And now you want to fuck off and sacrifice yourself for us?!"
"At the very least, you'll be alive!"
"And without you!"
The stress from the past week was all exploding in a violent torrent of words, completely displacing the peaceful dynamic the three were known for. This continued for a few more minutes until the door to their room swung open in full force, revealing a teary-eyed Livia with a dress torn up in multiple places. With the anger in the atmosphere immediately dispelled, she took a deep breath walked up to Nolan to bring a hand up to his face, this time cupping it.
"Please, no more fighting. We have a problem. Let's work through it."
Though guilt was rising up within the other two, they comforted Livia with an emotional hug and stayed that way until an awkward rumble in one of their stomachs rudely interrupted the moment. Deciding to have lunch at the manor, they agreed to plan their next move properly, considering the pros and cons for each.
With the discussion closing in on an hour without a reasonable solution, Livia suggested something that seemed ridiculous.
"Please tell me you're joking."
"Aceline, all other options will undoubtedly scrutinize us in the king's eyes. Even if we get to live, what is the point if we lose the quality of our life? If you have a better option, please, I'm all ears."
The option she proposed was, on paper, the worst option of them all. This included confessing to the king and hoping to remain in his good standing. The absolute best that they would be hoping for would be their deaths, and the children living inside the castle. However, even though the king showed good nature in the recent broadcasts, they would have to be foolish to believe that it was his true nature. When it came to scheming nobles like themselves, they knew exactly how to put on a front in public, and while the usage of the Jewel was certainly unique, they also recognized it as an appeal to the masses.
While each of them easily thought up better options, the more they thought about them, the more they realized how damaged they would be in the long run.
Heading off to the Duke faction was risky at best. If nothing happened, then they were back to square one. If the Dukes won, then they were back to square one, as their initial transgressions regarding Amidonia wouldn't be solved. They might get some good standing, but certainly not enough to justify treason.
The option of remaining neutral also didn't guarantee their safety. Even if Joran and his men didn't talk and they burned every bit of evidence they had linking themselves to Amidonia, the other nobles still had them, and could incriminate them at any point in time. This was also assuming that Amidonia wasn't keeping detailed records of their actions and if they lost the upcoming war, their actions would quickly be brought to light.
This left the third option, which after careful deliberation, was, from an objective standpoint, certainly not great, but had the most amount of luck involved, and therefore could either make it the worst choice, or the best choice. That luck would be in regard to the king's grace and if he would give any to them.
"Still, even if we choose to do this, I highly doubt that the others will sit around and watch."
Nolan brought up the elephant in the room, which was the other nobles. Just like they had information to incriminate him, he had information that would incriminate them. In fact, everyone had information to incriminate everyone, and through this evidence, a shaky trust was developed. However, if anyone was given an option that was worth turning in themselves, there was no way they were going to rely on trust to prevent a leak of information condemning the rest of them.
In fact, he was quite certain their every action was going to be watched for quite a while. Each of them had their own personal guard detail, and while it was quite small, they were multi-talented. Sending a few to spy on the others was a cost they would be willing to pay for, even if it severely reduced their own detail. You could say it was another weird form of 'trust' to be spied on by another's guard detail.
In the end, they decided to go with option three. This left the issue of actually going to the castle. While it was a relatively short journey, a little under four hours by foot, there was no easy way to blend in. It was always quite obvious who was leaving and entering their manor, as was the case with almost all noble mansions, almost as a show of 'bettering' themselves against the common people, it came back to bite them in this instance.
What they eventually decided to go for was an escort in the form of guards dressed as adventurers. Nolan would take on the attire of a merchant, ditching the more formal clothes he was known to wear. This would both fit in with the normal crowd and allow the guards to have a fighting chance against any would be attackers thanks to the weapons they would be carrying.Now, all they had to do was to wait for a chance to move. A couple of days later, he grabbed all the documents he could carry without being too obvious and thus began the trek to the castle that may very well be the last time he ever saw his family. Taking the long way around so as to confuse any people following him, he spent most of the day simply admiring the different ways in which the people were now living. Instead of the gloomy atmosphere that should oppress the nation due to its current circumstances, the people were living their lives as if everything was normal. Nolan was just beginning to realize how nice the mundane aspects were.
If only I realized it back then…
Once the sun had started to set, he finally began to move towards the castle and, after a short hour walk, arrived and was granted entry upon being able to prove who he was. Knowing about proper etiquette in regard to the castle, as he had been there time and time again, he requested an audience. Expecting the whole run around from ministers before being able to meet the king, he was quite surprised when he saw the king, the new prime minister, the two vassals, and their bodyguards.
"Ah, my king, I am glad to see you in good health."
"Why thank you, Marquis Nolan. I can say much the same. As I'm sure you're aware, I'm a busy man, so let's skip the formalities. Why have you requested an audience with me?"
"… I would prefer to divulge this in a more isolated area."
While this would normally never happen, both Hakuya and Souma guessed the reason for this visit, and they couldn't exactly say they were happy with it. As they moved to another room, his guards stood outside the door, Noland began his explanation of events and provided the documents to prove it, and their suspicions were confirmed.
"This is… not what I was expecting."
Hakuya was currently lamenting over the situation as, of all the options the corrupt nobles involved could have chosen, this was the one that presented the most difficulties for them. Both Hakuya and Rimuru conspired together to publicly disclose the information about Joran's arrest well after he was brought in and leaked the information to one of the guild clerks in contact with the nobles the same day, knowing that they would pick up on it and hoping it would make them move.
"You understand what this means, correct?" His cold eyes were gazing at Nolan, who was struggling to maintain eye contact.
"Yes, Prime Minister Hakuya. I am well aware that my head will be taken. I can only hope that it will be enough."
While he had planned not to include his wives during his disclosure, due to the raw emotions he was feeling about the whole thing, they wound up leaking out. Worrying that Souma would demand their heads as well, he was fully prepared to start groveling at his boots. To his complete shock, he was told something outrageous from the man himself.
"Right now, we will not be taking any action."
He really had to make sure his ears were working, and perhaps the incredulous look on his face gave away his thoughts.
Souma elaborated. "What do you think would happen if we made this public, or even kept this private and killed you for this?"
"… Well, I don't see another…"
Widening his eyes again, he realized exactly what Souma was referring to. Moreover, he was surprised at how thorough he was. If they disclosed this knowledge, the remaining corrupt nobles would be far more careful with their next actions. While they weren't exactly sloppy, especially when it came to their documents, they were shortsighted with their options. If Souma forced their hand by executing Nolan, they might realize extra options outside of joining the Dukes or the king, such as fleeing the country or defecting and potentially continue to become thorns in their side. At the very least, they would be far shrewder than they are now.
What he imagined Souma wanted to do was to wipe them all out in one go, and any premature executions he did before any major events were bound to make the corrupt nobles go into hiding.
"Make no mistake, this doesn't make you off the hook, this just means that your punishment is delayed. As for your family, as long as you do not talk to anyone about this, I see no reason to go after them."
Feeling a heavy weight off his chest, he began to tear up and smiled at the king, getting rid of the cloudy setting. Though he did want to clear one thing up.
"By telling no one, you mean…?"
Souma raised his brown, but then explained, "Allow me to rephrase. I can't force you to not tell anyone, but keep in mind that if any word of this leeks out, regardless of where it's from, all this information will be disclosed, and we will pursue the full punishment possible. The only thing preventing you from experiencing an 'unfortunate accident' is me not imagining anything that would cause you to do such a thing."Nolan quickly nodded at this, but Souma raised his hand and continued to speak.
"Here is what I offer. From what you told me, your wives are literate. Once we get this whole matter settled and you fulfill your end, I will offer them jobs as a teacher in our daycare center. Your children are, of course, more than welcome to attend. As far as the matter of your house goes, it will be in control of the crown and maintained by the help. I assume these are acceptable terms for you?"
"Yes, yes, of course! Thank you for your mercy!" Nolan was elated at the prospect. However, he felt the need to confirm one last thing. "Your Highness. If I may be so bold to ask, may I see the prisoners?"
Though it no longer mattered, he wanted to know if they actually caught the right people or if it was all just one big setup. Though Souma didn't really see the point, he asked Rimuru to bring him to the cells.
"Follow me, please. Leave your guards where they are."
He was brought to an underground chamber with torches for light, and while it was dim, he could make out the people who were in the cells.
Joran was starting to wonder when they'd be done with him. Instead of the steadfast torture he thought he would be experiencing from dusk till dawn, not even a finger was laid on him. It had just been people asking him questions. While he initially thought the new king was just soft, he realized that they must have been using him to smoke some of the corruption out of the shadows. His fears were confirmed upon seeing a familiar figure come into light.
"So, you really did capture them, huh."
"Yup."
The two seemed to be making small talk, but it was obvious what had transpired before.
"Nolan, you traitorous dog! What the fuck did they offer you?!"
His screams were met with silence. This only infuriated Joran more, and he took on a more sinister tone. "How pathetic must you be to have fallen so low? You already betrayed your own country. Do you really think this redeems you?"
Noland simply stared at the man, adding more silence in the air. "I should have known not to do business with an Elfrieden cunt. Let me guess? The king spared those whores you call wives, right? Do you really think you can trust him? I'm sure he's just waiting to rape those stupid cunts."
Though Nolan knew that he should have been angry at his words, they just washed over him much like drizzle on an umbrella.
"I've seen what I need to see. Let's head back now."
"Yeah, agreed."
Ignoring the obscenities shouted at them from Joran and his men, they made their way back upstairs where Nolan, once again, gave his thanks. With Souma accepting, Nolan was dismissed far earlier than he expected. He was able to make his way back to his manor with the sun just beginning its descent on the horizon.
As he approached the mansion, he was preparing himself for the worst. After all, he had gone to the castle and betrayed his fellow conspirators. Each step he took made his heart jump more and more, but as he opened the door to his house, he was relieved to find his wives and kids jump out to him. Feeling his heart melt at the sight, he continued to let the feeling wash over him before his wives pulled him over to talk about what happened.
Explaining the situation to them in full, everyone was somewhat happy to hear about the terms laid out by the king. While the best option was that Nolan would get to live, no king in their right mind would allow that. In fact, while it wasn't unheard of that the family of the corrupt noble would get to live, hiring and taking care of the family was simply unheard of, at least without a slave collar.
The next few weeks continued to pass, and of their group, five out of the six nobles went to join the Duke faction. Though this was planned to look like a toppling effect, with one noble joining a week after their meeting, the second and third the week after, and so on and so forth, Hakuya and the summoned ones knew of the real reason.
With the main targets that Nolan pointed out moving to the Duke faction, that aligned with Hakuya's plan, which meant that there was no need to keep Joran and his men alive. Finally setting a date, they were sentenced to be publicly hanged.