Chapter 222: Marquis Fertio's Betrayal? 

Apollo lifted his finger from the map and turned his face toward me, clearly at a loss for how he should respond. I let out a little puff of a laugh, pointed at the capital of the Shelvia Confederation, and began to speak.

“It feels like the Kingdom of Yelenetta and the Shelvia Confederation have teamed up and are trying to wage war against the Kingdom of Scuderia, right? And if things were normal, information should be flowing to us from the Fertio Marquisate, but we haven’t received anything at all… that’s what we were just talking about.”

I answered without explicitly mentioning betrayal. Till gave a vague, noncommittal response while looking down at the map again.

“I see… Oh, I baked some cookies for a snack. They’re delicious while they’re still warm.”

Till had been nodding seriously up until that point, but apparently, she wasn’t very interested, because she immediately shifted the topic to sweets.

This made Apollo, Arte, and Khamsin, who had all been tense, break into laughter. I smiled, thinking that such an abrupt easing of the atmosphere was so typical of Till, and then I turned my attention back to Apollo.

“Well, what’s your take on it, Apollo? Did my father, Marquis Jalpa, betray us? Or is it a different noble belonging to his faction who is the traitor, causing us to be at such a great disadvantage in this information war?”

I casually asked Apollo what he thought, keeping the tone light, almost like we were just chatting. Apollo let out a long breath that was almost a sigh and shook his head from side to side.

“…I apologize, but I can’t say for certain. If information is being stopped in the Fertio Marquisate as you suspect, then probably nothing less than the influence of the head of the Fertio family could completely suppress such vital information. However, Marquis Fertio participated until the very end in the previous defense of the City of Scudet, despite suffering considerable damage and losses. And you successfully recaptured Scudet and captured the Kingdom of Yelenetta’s royalty as a prisoner, correct? I don’t believe he would have participated in the battle and failed to attempt some form of sabotage if he were siding with the Kingdom of Yelenetta.”

“So, you’re saying that while an information blackout would take someone as powerful as the head of the Fertio family, Marquis Jalpa himself has acted in a way that suggests he isn’t the traitor. Well, I think that much is certain. I actually saw him completely neutralize the Kingdom of Yelenetta’s new weapon. Besides, Prince Unimog, the royal we captured before, gave up information incredibly easily, so we had a general idea of Yelenetta’s strategy during the Scudet invasion. Therefore, I figure their decision to cooperate with the Shelvia Confederation must have been made quite recently, and even if the information has been leaked, not much time has passed.”

When I conveyed my thoughts, vaguely touching on the parts that were difficult to predict, Apollo nodded and said, “I see.” However, unlike Apollo, Khamsin was staring at the map with an extremely troubled expression, so I decided to explain my conclusion in simple terms.

First, I pointed at the Kingdom of Yelenetta and opened my mouth.

“This is only a speculation, but to organize the current situation… The Kingdom of Yelenetta, which acquired black spheres and cannons, initially moved to occupy the Kingdom of Scuderia alone, but since things didn’t go as planned, they were forced to urgently change their strategy. As a result, they made a near-coercive request for cooperation from the Shelvia Confederation to ensure the complete defeat of the Kingdom of Scuderia. The Eastern side of the Confederation, which was originally pro-Yelenetta, immediately agreed. Since the current representative of the Shelvia Confederation was elected from the Eastern side, the country’s policy is now decided on cooperating with the Kingdom of Yelenetta.”

As I spoke, I slid my pointing finger sideways across the map, passing through the Shelvia Confederation and stopping at the Fertio Marquisate.

“On the other hand, the Western side, which was originally pro-Scuderia, is resisting and has chosen to secretly communicate with Marquis Fertio, taking into account the possibility of the Kingdom of Scuderia winning. Of course, they can’t directly oppose the national policy and attack Yelenetta alongside Scuderia, so they are probably just leaking information about how the Kingdom of Yelenetta is moving. This is where I start to worry about the fact that Marquis Fertio hasn’t reported that information to His Majesty the King.”

I looked around after saying that, and everyone was listening to me with serious faces. I wasn’t sure if they fully understood, but even Till was drinking tea with a serious expression. Though, the fact that she was drinking tea made me think she was only half-listening, but for Till, she was definitely projecting an atmosphere that said, “I’m being serious.”

It’s just speculation, you know, just speculation. This is only my grasp of the situation, utilizing my imagination.

Thinking that, I opened my mouth to continue.

“From here on, it’s an even more uncertain prediction and imagination, but considering the personality of my father, Jalpa Bul Ati Fertio, I suspect he believes that he has put himself in a precarious position due to the numerous battles, from the fall and recapture of Scudet to the invasion of the Kingdom of Yelenetta. Marquis Jalpa, who has been steadily increasing his power, might feel that he has made a major blunder. If that’s the case, what action would Marquis Jalpa take?”

I paused there and pointed toward the vicinity of Seatoh Village.

“By the way, the group that showed up this time, leading what looked like the Fertio Marquisate’s knight corps, were my brothers, Jard and Sesto. In other words, for this critical battle, neither Marquis Jalpa nor the main force of the Fertio family knights has come to Seatoh Village.”

When I disclosed this, Arte let out a small, “Ah.”

“Did you think of something?”

I prompted Arte to share what was on her mind. She answered, though she was slightly flustered.

“W-well, that… I might feel this way because Lord Ferdinatto’s County was in a similar state last time, but could it be that Lord Jalpa is trying to suppress the Shelvia Confederation using the power of the Fertio Marquisate…?”

At her words, Apollo was astonished and his eyes widened.

“…I always believed Lord Van possessed an understanding beyond his years, but Madam Arte is also much more brilliant than I imagined.”

“A-ah, w-well, I’m not… not a ‘Madam’ yet…”

Arte’s face turned bright red as she waved her hands back and forth at Apollo’s comment. Till looked amused and put a cookie into her mouth.

“As for me, I already treat Lady Arte as the Madam of the house, you know?”

“N-no, please, not you too, Till!”

I laughed as I listened to the two of them, and then I spoke to Apollo.

“Well, back to our discussion. Either way, if the Shelvia Confederation were to act, it would involve the Fertio Marquisate, and we should probably do something about it. For better or worse, even though this area is technically on the Yelenetta side, we’re right on the edge of the Fertio Marquisate, and our destination is close. We’d better go and check things out before trouble starts.”

I stood up, saying this half-heartedly.

“Khamsin, could you call Esparda? I’m going to be gone for about two or three months.”