So the Medieval Age Has a Split Inheritance System…
Translator: Tsukii
Editor: Ai
Read at Watashi wa Sugoi Desu!
Chapter 54 – Puppet
Behrens Klaus-kun, only a year old, still couldn’t make any claim or even speak yet. I could skew his words conveniently. But a one-year-old declaring war was pushing it.
Most importantly, he was the son of Wagner and the sixth imperial princess. Even though she was a low priority in the order of succession, she still possessed justification over the Carling Empire, and so Behrens-kun also had justification over the Carling Empire and Wagner’s territory. How convenient.
If we started brainwashing him now, he would be a very convenient pawn in the future. Above all, this child most likely inherited the Saint Lord characteristic from Wagner. With such an existence right there, of course I would kidnap him. In the future, I could use Behrens-kun’s justification to declare war → earn Behrens-kun’s territory → absorb his territory into mine.
Since I was already excommunicated by the church, I could just declare war without bothering with the justification, but doing so makes ruling smoother.
For example, if China took over Japan, rebellion would ensue, even if there was no justifiable reason. However, if the prime minister of China were half-Japanese, or even a quarter-Japanese, there would be less resistance. This would further decrease if they were related to Japan’s prime minister or if they were a distant relative of the Japanese Imperial family. What mattered was decent governance, but justification was that important.
At least, it would make things more convenient, even if it seemed so surface-level. By the way, I gave Wagner a price for the ransom, but it was rejected. I only asked for Behrens-kun’s weight in gold, about 10kg, but Wagner refused. I couldn’t help but pity Behrens-kun. I definitely have to imprint on him that Wagner was his enemy.
That said, I did take everything in his treasury when I burned his mansion down, so he probably had no way of paying it. He should have divided his riches into different places because, in the event that all of them were taken away, it would be hard to maintain his army. Destroying his mansion was the finishing blow to Wagner. He would have been better off if he hadn’t blown up his mountain.
Even so, he plundered other nations quite often. The fact he only had that much as a reserve meant that it was being used up from the famine. It wasn’t like our side had it easy, since the Carling Empire had a harsher food situation. Since the goddess politely told me about the number of people who died of starvation last time, it was about time the damage reached the emperor.
When I returned to the Deal county with that thought, I received news that His Majesty Paulus collapsed. He was already at the age of getting grandchildren, and the recent situation was rather stressful, so it was natural.
He didn’t die yet, but perhaps soon. After all, I planted a spy among the doctors who tended to him. In his weakened state, it was impossible for him to resist poison. More important was if the spy had a chance. He had been there for a few years already, so I guessed it was about time that he earned their trust?
Even seemingly safe food could become poisonous, so medicinal ingredients would also be tested before they were compounded. The doctor would also be monitored during the process, but most finished medicine wasn’t poison tested.
Medical care in the Middle Ages was rather low, so if someone tried to poison another by saying it was medicine, they could escape by the time the plot was discovered. I didn’t have much knowledge about prohibited ingredients, but I knew that consuming a large amount of caffeine all at once could kill someone, so I made use of that.
Since it was good for insomnia as well — small amounts of caffeine had fatigue recovery effects, so he could deceive others that way — I told my spy-doctor how to produce caffeine and make some concentrate. I also told him about slow-acting poisonous mushrooms obtained from the experiments in the territory. It should be about time that the spy used it.
Three days later, my prayer was heard. I received news that His Majesty Paulus had suddenly died. It was surely an unnatural death. It was possible that everything went well, but it was also possible that the spy-doctor got caught. It would be bad if he blabbed about me, but I guess it didn’t matter since I was already independent.
Just as I wondered if I could get more information on the emperor’s death, Duke Schult declared independence and started a war against the Carling Empire. It was the best possible timing, but the Carling Empire would have already expected it to happen.
The first prince was already dead, and the new emperor was the son of the late first prince, still 7 years old. Warring states were unavoidable. The brothers of the first prince, uncles of the new emperor, were all his enemies. There would be a faction that pushed the 6-year-old brother to be the emperor instead. And so, the Carling Empire would perish soon.
That meant the division of the Carling Empire by the surrounding nations would begin soon. I would like to take the delicious cut and expand the Deal Kingdom.
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