Chapter 7

After Clara finished her breakfast, the four noblewomen moved under the main pavilion, where Lluluvien’s findings had been collected overnight. As they pored over the information, Wiluvien would periodically appear to add another folder to the table. At this point, the initial reports of the town had been fully completed and the Shadow Demons were now being sent to inspect the baronial manors, followed by the multitude of villages and hamlets laid throughout the county.

Ludmila was uncertain how long the rural investigation would take: the duchy’s primary industries revolved around agriculture and forestry, with the capital also being a major hub of trade. Though its industries seemed meagre compared to other inland territories, Fassett County still followed these same basic principles. As cities serviced duchies, towns serviced counties. Regardless of where one went in Re-Estize, roughly one in twenty lived in urban centres: meaning that Fassett Town, with its population of 2,000, serviced a county population of 40,000.

It was unknown how many of those people had escaped to Re-Estize as a result of the annexation by the Sorcerous Kingdom but, even if half had fled over the border, as the gathered claims seemed to imply, they were still looking at a population of 20,000 to survey. Realistically speaking, they could only rely on the information gained from manors and the homes of local administrators stationed throughout the territory; there was not enough time for a thorough sweep.

What they had collected, unfortunately, confirmed their feelings from the previous day. Worse yet, it was only what had been allowed to bubble to the surface of the mire they were now sorting through. There was a sniff across the table from her, and Ludmila looked up when a folder landed on the table and slid halfway across its surface. Florine was seated in her chair, hands covering her face.

“How could they do any of this?” She said between sobs, “Do they feel any guilt at all? This is all just selfish and cruel!”

Liane frowned down at the folder and reached out to pick it up, leafing through the contents.

“Looks about the same as the one I’m working on,” she said. “Gotta say, I set the bar low going into this, but this is stupid beyond belief. It’s like eating your own leg because you’re hungry. They put so much effort into managing this mess that they could just do something normal instead and do far better.”

Ludmila looked down at her own documents. They had divided the work between themselves: Fassett County contained six baronies, so they had each assigned themselves to one for the time being. The town was an ongoing investigation, and the remainder would be left until the end. What she saw already, however, was enough to make her wish she hadn’t eaten such a large breakfast.

Though much of what she read outlined strictly illegal activities, even legal ones were handled in such an absurd way that they may as well have been crimes. Slavery, narcotics, all manner of extortion and protection rackets that utilized local mercenary groups. Taxes and rent were so absurd and arbitrary that the tenants turned to crime to survive. Even the laws themselves were twisted in every way possible to the advantage of the local authorities.

House Fassett had even turned the collection of fines, penalties and contraband from illegal activities into an industry of its own. Rather than being severe enough to deter criminals, they were lenient to the extent that it just became another sort of tax.

Reading through the reports was like being presented with a dark reflection of what should be. A significant portion of the county’s economy was being fed by illegitimate industries and, as Ludmila sought to develop advanced industries in Warden’s Vale by establishing a framework of basic industries, House Fassett had created advanced industries out of a framework of basic illegal ones.

Ludmila looked across the table again.

“Liane,” she said, “it’s clear what’s happening here, but how does one even begin to tread this path? Adopting these practices that inevitably become this spiral of decay.”

“Could be any number of reasons,” Liane replied. “The vast majority of these records only go back a few seasons – they probably just burn what they don’t need any more since it’s an unneeded risk to keep around. It’s usually not as simple as waking up one day and deciding it’s a good idea to ruin your own fief. Hm…”

Liane looked to the centre of the table, where a map of the county was laid out. She took a sip from her glass and continued frowning down at it. After a few minutes, she set down her drink and pointed to the map.

“This duchy has been the demesne of House Vaiself ever since Re-Estize has been Re-Estize,” she said. “The nobles along the highways are either cadet branches from the interior or merchant stock like the three of us here. If I were to make up a believable story about how things happened, I would say that Fassett is a cadet branch that came to claim the lands here rather than a merchant house.”

Liane’s finger traced over the features of the map beyond the highway, where the primeval forests over the rugged hills met the developed lands along the roads.

“You can see here the extent of where they’ve grown in the past, so at some point they did make earnest efforts to cultivate their lands. I would guess that they underestimated how hard it is to tame this sort of terrain: most of Re-Estize’s heartlands are fertile plains and forested parklands. What was invested into them wasn’t enough, and they couldn’t find anyone that thought it was worth the cost…so they turned to illegal activities for the revenues to finance development. Could have been some outsider making some attractive offer, or they could have done it themselves.”

“So they did this for the short term gains,” Ludmila said, “in order to continue what they started. Why didn’t they stop when they had what they needed?”

“Because you can’t just stop,” Liane replied, “and with one thing comes others. Illegal practices and contraband goods are outlawed precisely because the authorities decide that they are harmful and unproductive in the long term. You’re always sacrificing something when doing it, and it’s only ‘profitable’ when someone else is doing the sacrificing for you. You’re also opening avenues for illegal activity from elsewhere to seep in simply by doing business with them – those types don’t just go away when asked.”

“Enforcing justice is a noble’s duty,” Ludmila frowned. “Nothing stops the lord from doing so.”

“Ah…well, I guess that’d be easy for a Frontier Noble to say,” Liane replied, “but most nobles don’t come from militant traditions like you have. Once a group like that becomes entrenched, militia just won’t cut it. Just like people can become strong by adventuring or protecting the borders, these criminal groups have those that become ridiculously strong by doing what they do. Imagine a couple of Mithril or even Orichalcum-ranked Adventurers becoming criminals in someone’s territory: you’ll lose hundreds of men just trying to oust them. They can just keep you quiet with threats and, if you still don’t behave, they’ll just kill you and your heirs until they find one that will.

“Which brings me to another point: you don’t even have to allow crime to flourish in your territory: if some powerful syndicate decides that your place is ideal to set up shop, they’ll just do it with or without your permission. The vast majority of nobles can’t do anything about that, no matter how upright they are: it’s something that requires Adamantite-rank Adventurers to deal with, or someone with equivalent power. These groups will focus on a few fiefs at a time, until they’ve become too weak to offer any further resistance, before moving onto new ones. That way, a whole bunch of nobles don’t just pool their resources to hire someone strong enough to exterminate them.”

“So you’re saying that this might not even be their fault?” Ludmila asked.

“Well, it’s just a story formed out of what I know about this sort of thing happening elsewhere,” Liane answered. “We’d have to dig really deep to find out how it actually started, but we don’t have to dig much to see if they’re being forced into unlawful activities. Considering what we’ve seen so far, though, I wouldn’t bet on it.”

Florine returned to stand beside Liane, and Ludmila looked around the table.

“Anyone else have any idea about this?” She sighed, “Not that it matters if everyone in this ridiculous place is willingly doing it, I suppose.”

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“I don't know how it started,” Clara replied, “nor did I hear anything about it from my father, but I can see how it can easily stay this way. I can especially see this looming crisis that they have over their heads due to their demesne incomes being substantially…subsidized by this illicit activity.”

Clara pulled several partially-filled parchments from around the table together in front of her.

“From what I’ve put together so far, out of the efforts that the Linum sisters have coordinated, it could be said that Fassett County has four primary sources of income. Believe it or not, the majority is from legitimate exports. Due to its proximity to the duchy border, however, most of their trade flowed west towards the larger markets of Re-Estize’s heartlands rather than east towards E-Rantel where they would need to compete directly with the much closer local territories over a smaller market. The county industries do not produce anything that is worth trading over vast distances, so there is no profit in directing their goods to the east beyond the regional markets.”

Clara picked up one of the sheets and held it up between her fingers: it was a compiled record of House Fassett’s incomes after E-Rantel’s annexation by the Sorcerous Kingdom.

“Regular trade with Re-Estize has been reduced to less than a trickle, but the new development in E-Rantel and the territories hungry for timber, charcoal and stone have compensated for this shortfall. To anyone outside of this county, it has the effect of making House Fassett appear to be just another normal territory – one of many contributing to the growth of the capital.

“This demand for materials will only last as long as the building continues, however,” she set the parchment back down. “Once things settle into a more normal pace, Fassett County’s exports will shrivel up into a fraction of what it was before the annexation.”

“Meaning that they will lean harder into everything else they have been doing,” Liane concluded.

“What else do they have?” Florine asked, “It can’t be that they’ve been doomed one way or the other due to the annexation.”

“Trade is the second part of Fassett County's legitimate incomes, but without Re-Estize, this territory goes from straddling a major artery of trade to effectively being the end of the road – the furthest point from our trading partners to the east through the Empire. Another of House Fassett's major incomes have always involved servicing trade, so one could say that yes, the annexation could be considered the main factor.

I will be perfectly honest and say the direct cause of their economic woes has little to do with their criminal connections and everything to do with the drastic shift in trade flows. What the illicit activity has done is hamstring their development over generations: if House Fassett had properly developed their holdings rather than bleed their population dry with these other exploitative and short-sighted practices, they should have been robust enough to cushion the blow. All of the western territories are in the same situation, but all aside from Fassett County have been able to weather the changes so far.”

“So this leaves House Fassett with a major crisis,” Liane concluded, “and they are trying to finance their succession dispute with the short term incomes from recent exports rather than set their differences aside to ensure there is even a demesne left standing after the dust has settled. Like I said – stupid beyond belief. They would rather rule over rubble than cooperate and turn their lands around.

“It’s ironic,” Clara said. “Count Völkchenheim’s offer is actually the true solution: allowing them the time to adopt our new systems and break out of the ever-shrinking cage that they’ve fashioned for themselves. We can’t even offer it to them because it’s clear that they also need to answer for their crimes, which they will never admit knowledge of. The sanctions that the House of Lords are resorting to in order to force them back into line would only severely damage House Fassett if they were actually practicing legitimate business, while other nations are perfectly willing to take what is basically left of what they have to offer.”

“That was the main problem with Princess Renner's legislation against slavery,” Liane sighed. “I suppose the problem wouldn’t just go away being in the Sorcerous Kingdom.”

“There was a problem with the outlawing of slavery?” Ludmila asked.

“Yes,” Liane said, “a huge problem. As far as her ideas went, it was probably one of her worst – yet somehow it was the biggest one that was passed into law. At face value it may have won her the favour of the people and a handful of empty-headed lords, but in reality it was extraordinarily narrow minded.”

“You support slavery?” Clara asked with a worried look.

“I abhor it,” Liane replied, “but my personal feelings mean little in the grand scheme of things. The fact of the matter is that slavery is legal nearly everywhere else, and Re-Estize never had the means to enforce this law in the first place. The only effect it really had was to drive up the price of slaves abroad and make exporting them out of Re-Estize far more profitable. Those that keep slaves in the country still have them under various guises, so in reality not much changes beyond giving criminal organizations an effective monopoly on slave exports. They were already experts at evading and circumventing the law, so it’s like they’re being rewarded for their investments in those areas.”

“The low cost of Undead labour would make exporting slaves instead of transitioning them to advanced industries an attractive prospect to any unscrupulous lord seeking short term profits like this,” Clara frowned after she finished speaking, as if belatedly realizing what she had come up with.

“After watching those Shadow Demons cover so much ground this morning,” Liane said, “I have a fair idea of how quickly they can investigate things. If they’re being effectively coordinated by authorities upholding proper justice, then anyone that runs afoul of the Sorcerous Kingdom’s laws will find themselves facing an Undead enforcer.”

Liane looked down at the map with a conflicted expression on her face.

“I’m still having trouble accepting this,” she said.

“Accepting what?” Ludmila looked up from the documents on the table.

Liane’s gaze met her own, but her icy stare wavered. She looked back down at the table and took a deep breath.

“This authority you have been granted sidesteps traditional due process and a lord’s right to exercise justice in their own demesne,” she said. “I can’t deny how expedient it is given the right circumstances but, at the same time, it’s not power that a regular person should wield. You seem to be every bit as austere as what I’ve seen of you so far suggests, but what about others? Surely you won’t be the only one of these...agents? Auditors? Harriers? If we accomplish what we’ve set out to achieve here, the Royal Court may decide to employ additional agents to deal with the workings of the nation that His Majesty’s servants are unable to.”

“From what I’ve seen of her, Lady Shalltear is a noble of the highest calibre," Clara said. "I may sound like a Bard when saying so, but some may consider her a noble of legendary acclaim. Perhaps she sensed that Ludmila was suited for this duty before bestowing it upon her.”

An uncertain silence fell over the table. Tales of legendary heroes were plentiful: their spectacular feats of might and magic were the staple of many a tale spun by poets and minstrels; enjoyed by all walks of life. The continued presence of such individuals in the present solidified the notions surrounding their existence.

Nobles, on the other hand, occupied a more mundane place in folklore. Depending on the audience, they could be the subject of a romantic story, little more than a name that sent heroes on daring quests, or abhorrent villains that opposed a righteous cause. Indeed, in many a common tale, nobles were more likely to be objects of derision and scorn to be vilified rather than any sort of realistic portrayal of reality. In the legends of old, important noble figures existed as well, but attributing the idea of them as heroes generally only happened if their feats were recognizable to the general audience. The Runesmith King of the Thirteen Heroes was of these rare examples…but what was sung of him had nothing to do with his qualities as a leader or administrator.

The stories of nobles generally boiled down into a handful of points which did not speak much of how they were accomplished. As often as a meagre administrator was lauded as a genius for reigning in a time of peace and prosperity, adept administrators that ensured the survival of their people through great adversity could be derided as a fool for achieving little by the same measure. Only the end results tended to be remembered in the songs and annals of history.

For all that they did, it seemed only nobles and scholars could discern the quality of those that came before them. Faithful portrayals of history were for the history books and not for entertainment, and even those did not record the minutiae that revolved around their administrative office. Only by laying out the events and circumstances that accompanied the results of each figure’s rule could one even begin to draw rough conclusions on whether they were to be acclaimed or derided.

The one man they knew of in their time that might actually qualify as such – Emperor Jircniv Rune Farlord El Nix – would undoubtedly only be commonly remembered centuries from now by his grim epitaph, and as the man who subjected his own Empire to a foreign power shortly after consolidating his own rule. Perhaps, if the Sorcerous Kingdom had never risen to power, Emperor Jircniv would have carved his name out in the annals of history and built a legend of his own. As things stood, however, even as his contemporaries they knew very little of what he was truly capable of: only a handful of the outcomes resulting from his reign.

“This discussion is a bit preemptive,” Ludmila said. “Liane has perfectly valid concerns, but at the same time it’s not an appointment we have any influence over. This is an official duty, so those burdened with it should act accordingly. In the end, the Royal Court will evaluate the results and whether it is an office to be expanded upon. I would hardly think that there would be absolutely no oversight, given the orderly nature of the Sorcerous Kingdom.”

“She’s right Liane,” Florine said from beside her. “We’re already up to our necks in work here, but you keep finding more things to worry about that we have no control over…that’s always been a bad habit of yours.”

“Yes, let’s focus on what we have in front of us now,” Clara agreed. “I, for one, still cannot even begin to imagine how to break this standoff between the Fassetts in any way aside from force.”

“Then perhaps we should just use force,” Ludmila said. “If exercised correctly, the right set of actions could dislodge them from their stubborn positions more than any amount of reasoning.”

An uneasy silence settled over the pavilion at her words. Ludmila cleared her throat and attempted to explain her rationale.

“There must be some basis for this bravado of theirs,” she said. “Something that gives them their confidence – that provides them with the feeling that they are untouchable.”

“Wouldn’t that be the law itself?” Florine said, “This has been the state of affairs for generations. They are nobles, and the law is in their hands to exercise as they see fit. Other laws prevent other nobles from interfering…so that should be the basis of this belief in their own infallibility, yes?”

“I do not think for one moment that those who would so readily twist the letter of law so far that it bends in on itself would put their faith in the law as an absolute defence,” Ludmila said. “It cannot simply be bravado, can it? There must be some fallback that they would rely on in the event that someone does not care for their behaviour or the law.”

“If you seek a way to undermine their confidence,” Clara said, “then what about weakening their ability to pursue this succession dispute? If they are driven to desperation, they will almost certainly turn to whatever other cards they have left to play. Just keep in mind that we can’t have a repeat of last year’s attempt at removing a giant nest of hornets with a fire arrow.”

Liane and Florine looked up from their work to stare at Ludmila curiously.

“That ‘attempt’ was decisively successful,” Ludmila stated.

“You ‘decisively’ burned down an entire copse of trees as well,” Clara shot back. “You won’t be able to replace the town like you did the lost timber.”

“It’s not as if the whole town will burn to the ground if I–”

Ludmila left her words hanging, and Liane and Florine’s faces turned ashen. Several figures entered the pavilion.

“My ladies,” Wiluvien lowered her head respectfully, “I have brought Liam with me. Saye has come as well.”