Heinrich Tristan Von Esper

A man with many titles, but the most renowned was the man who never lost a battle. Because of the peacetime there was no war waged between anyone inside or outside, so he got no chance to show off his skills. But when he was young, he outperformed every general in the entire empire with his tactics & leadership skill.

Thus, he proved himself as a true Esper, who always were at the top in military & power. No matter how many generations passed, the trait of being bold & confident never weathered. The previous emperor had tasked him to teach his son Adalbert about his tactics & fighting skills, which he did.

He taught him how to wield a sword, how to plan a war, how to use enemies disadvantage as your advantage & many things for him to be successful ruler. Adalbert learned as much as he could, but he could never become someone like Heinrich, who easily excelled at stuff related to war or war plans. He was just on another level.

And now the current emperor would challenge him, whom he taught how to play the game of wars. It was like a bizarre thought for anyone to have & even if he tried, Heinrich with his massive army, could crush him within days. The outcome was already set in stone from the very beginning.

Everyone knew how a fight or challenge would end with the Espers, so he was never been challenged once in his life. Thus, the unshakable confidence.

...

"Adalbert knows I can outplay him at any moment & won't try to wage a war unless he wants to die & give the crown to me." said the man with blonde hair & blue eyes with a sinister smile as if showing off his unshakable confidence.

"Yes, Lord, but there is still an issue." said the man with grey hair.

"And that is."

"How are we going to pay the salary to the soldiers who wanted to become peasants? Also, if we only gave it to them, the few people who are doing farming for generations will feel left out, so we have to give it to everyone who is farming. And if we do all that then, it will put a massive load on the duchy for money."

"You are right."

"Then how are we..."

"How do you think?" asked the Duke with the same cold tone as before, cutting the man's words.

"We have to increase the taxes on commoners. That is the only plausible solution I have."

"Do you think it will help the already escalating issue?"

"No... but..." The man with grey hair tied to say something, but no words came out as the duke was right & it surely could worsen the already dire situation.

With another long sigh, Heinrich once gain spoke up.

"We will not increase the taxes & yes we will play every farmer an incentive which will put load on the duchy cause we are gaining very fewer profits & more debts thanks to people like you sitting in this room. For the love of God, why can't you people figure out a simple fact?" said the duke with an irritated face.

"The how are we going to do it, Lord?" asked Harold as it was getting beyond his brain to keep up with the planning. He had spent most of his life just maintaining the existing system, but now the man before him was plotting to change everything drastically. It definitely wouldn't end well.

"Pretty simple fact, I am going to collect taxes from the noble families living in our region who are enjoying people's hard working money doing nothing."

Hearing the words, everyone's eyes widened with shock, as it was a new thing to do. Nobles were collecting taxes from the people & submitted that to the duchy, cutting of a considerable amount for their own development. And now this man was talking about taking it. Surely the noble society won't be pleased with it.

"But... But they won't..."

"I know what you are trying to say. They won't be happy with it & will complain to the emperor. Then let them. Do I look like I am afraid of the consequences?"

"No." replied the group in unison, with faces full of fear.

"And even if they tried to attack, I will gladly take that offer. They will never win & I will be pleased to wipe them off the face of this land." said the duke with a sinister smile, as before, which sent a shiver down everyone's spine.

The situation was getting out of hand with each passing day & Heinrich was not going to sit idly doing nothing. He was the ruler of this land, responsible for the lives of hundreds of thousands of people. An enormous responsibility to carry & he was going to see it to the end no matter the cost.

"Very well then. That's it for now. Please enjoy the stay here at my humble abode & we will discuss other things tomorrow."

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"Y-es Lord."

With that, the group left one by one, bowing one last time to the duke & his son.

As the room got empty Heinrich got up from his seat & went towards the large window overlooking the vast & beautiful garden which always helped his distressed mind to calm down. He spoke confidentially in front of those people, but in reality, he was also scared a little. He was the ruler with enormous hope & expectations to fulfill & if he failed, it would not end well for anyone.

"Leon, your leg does it hurt? You have been standing the whole time."

"Kind of, but it's bearable." replied James with a little smile.

"Sit down, then."

"Yeah." James proceeded to sit on the seat which was previously occupied by one of the advisor but his steps halted when he heard the duke say something.

"I didn't tell you to sit there."

"Where should I sit then?"

"On the throne, which is rightfully yours."

"There..." said James in a confused tone, pointing towards the seat where Heinrich was sitting before. It was the ruler's seat who held the absolute authority over the land.

Heinrich nodded, saying nothing, as it was a test on his part to know the changes in Leon. His son, whom he had known before, would always try to sit on the throne, telling everyone that it belonged to him as he was the future ruler, boasting about his overly grown ego.

"NO, I shouldn't. It's for the one who carries the responsibility of all & I am not that capable enough." Said Leon with a smile.

The philosophy he followed was a person must capable enough to hold his title. Like how he become the youngest technical advisor by proving that he could do something that none could do. He earned that name through hard work & dedication, which others couldn't.

He declined sitting on the throne because he was not worthy enough to sit on it. He hadn't proved himself that he was capable enough to carry that title. In the end, it was just an order which only he followed.

"Why?" asked the Duke with a questioning gaze.

"How should I put it? I think I am not worthy enough to sit there. I need to prove myself, right?"

"Yes." replied the man with blonde hair with a smile. And now he was sure that something had changed inside his son. His suspicions were on mark. Leon was not the Leon he once knew. He was someone else.

"But tell me one thing? How did you anticipate all of their questions?"

"Honestly, I didn't. It was just luck. I just thought about it & it just happened."

"If you say so. But thanks to you, I believe we are going to walk on a path towards the change."

"We have to. Otherwise this duchy will collapse under its own influence." said James with a sigh.

"Yes, yes, we have to. We don't have a choice anymore." Replied the duke, looking towards the beautiful garden where beautiful flowers were blooming.

"May I leave now?"

"Sure."

Leonhart bowed & left the room, leaving duke alone to his own thoughts.

***

Inside a spacious room, a youth with black hair was lying on the massive bed covering his eyes with his hand, trying to sleep. But sleep was not n the mood to come. James' brain was working at its full capacity to solve the incoming crisis, thus he was getting bombarded with ideas on how to solve things in modern ways.

One example was just a moment ago he had an idea about how this state could cultivate more food by using 4 field system of crop rotation. Currently, this country was using traditional 3 field system which was beneficial in its own way but not as helpful as 4 field system.

They could farm more in the same amount of time & if implemented in all regions at the same time, then within six months it could solve the major issue of food shortages. It wouldn't take long for other states to realise & use that point to their advantage, but it was not something to hide, so.... The point was, James could use that to fix the entire food problem.

With all these ideas exploding inside his head, he couldn't sleep & lack of sleep could make anyone irritated. This was one of the side effect of being a smartass.

James got up from his bed & drank some water to cool his brain or in this situation he could have used a bottle of Sprite but couldn't. And he was not some food genius who could invent that, nor he was ever interested in finding out the secret behind it.

***

Inside a fairly dim room, illuminated only by torches, sat two individuals talking with each other. One with amber-colored eyes with greyish white hair was calmly answering every question of another one with hair which resembled the colour of snow and deep violet eyes was shouting like a wild boar.

"I did whatever you told me to, but..."

"But that didn't end well."

"Exactly."

"So."

"What so? You saw how he disrespected the Emperor, still you are doing nothing."

"What do you want me to do?"

"Just do something, anything."

"Do I look like someone who cares about that?" said the man with greyish white hair in a voice devoid of any emotion.

"Still, if we..."

"Tell me, Theo, what do you want?"

"I want…"

“You want the princess? Right?”

“Yes still…”

“You are useless, like always.”

“What did you say?” roared the man with violet eyes, getting up from his seat & grabbing the collar of the other one.

“Your extraordinary fixation on her is slowing you down.”

“What?”

The youth with amber-colored eyes threw a direct punch at Theo’s face, followed by a roundhouse kick to his abdomen, which pushed him to the far end of the room with a groan.

“Don’t you ever touch me again, unless you want to die.” said the man fixing his collar. “Now get up. We have a lot to do.”

"You are going to regret this." replied Theo coldly, getting up from where he was lying.

"Oh yeah. Like how? You are gonna hit me? Huh? I was there you know when he just thrashed you with his words & you just stood there like a moron."

"You son of a bitch" once again roared the man with white hair & charged at the man opposite to him like a bison.

To this display of idiocracy, the man with greyish-white hair quietly sighed and swiftly moved in the opposite direction to avoid the incoming charge, but with extending his right leg as to counter his opponent's movements. And it did its intended job as Theo stumbled on to the floor, losing his balance with his face smacking down first.

"Told you."

"Fuck... That really hurts." groaned the man still lying down.

"Now stop being a moron & get up!"

Theo got up from the floor saying nothing & sat down on to the chair where he was sitting before.

"Now what?"

"Have you cancelled the dealings with them?"

"Yeah, the east region deal is cancelled as there is noting to gain."

"Good."

"How about you? You gus havn't done anything."

"We will do, when the right time comes."

"Yeah, perks of being a smartass."

"Just do whatever I say & they will crumble soon enough. Then we can divide that land upon ourselves."

"But it's not about the land, is it?"

To this question, the man with amber eyes didn't reply, just looked at Theo with a cold, lifeless gaze & soon his mouth opened.

"It's a game he started & he will pay for it."

"Keep playing, but don't involve us or the royal family."

"..."