Chapter 10: My Friend Taught Me
What do people consider most important when witnessing an event?
Some say a moving lesson, others say the truth. And a team member from the marketing department I encountered at my company said this:
“Just having a story isn’t enough. The storytelling that connects each event and element, the subtle appeal in the dramatic presentation – that can stimulate customers’ needs.”
He failed to appeal to the executives during salary negotiations, but he certainly left a deep impression on me. His words still vividly come to mind. It was like finally grasping something I had only half-listened to in university lectures.
If events are simply scattered separately, it’s just a mere listing. Only when disparate events are connected into one does it become a ‘story’. How you connect separated events is precisely ‘storytelling’.
There was a hint in this storytelling technique. Sometimes, human imagination can instill greater conviction than lengthy explanations presenting truth and numerous evidence. My frenemy, the pastor’s son, used to scoff at this phenomenon.
“Truth is refuted by another truth, but belief may be opposed but not refuted.”
“What?”
“That’s why staunch faith is so powerful.”
“Cut the crap and add more MSG to the celebratory noodles. Why is it so bland?”
He was explaining in his pastor’s son way that you can persuade a follower of truth, but not a believer of faith. Of course, at the time, I just guzzled down the celebratory noodles from the church and dismissed it as that guy spouting off again.
But now I understand. He was a well-prepared pastor-to-be.
Thinking about the church he would one day inherit from his father, he had armed himself with thorough reason and logic while awakening to the art of appealing to emotion. If I had known I would become a king or noble, I would have paid more attention to these golden nuggets of wisdom.
And now, in this uncivilized and barbaric medieval-esque world, I have awakened to the saying “preaching to the masses.”
True mystique can be applied anywhere, regardless of field. Even if originating from the soft modern era, it can be integrated with this harsh medieval-esque world to such a degree.
When I said this was why I had planted gold coins in the servants’ luggage, a voice of protest immediately returned.
“No! What nonsensical drivel is this!!!”
The one who couldn’t accept it was the man tied to the chair with leather straps, thrashing about. The servant who recently wanted to purchase a hair growth tonic from the alchemist due to his balding. He was lodging a complaint that my explanation was extremely unsatisfactory.
His appearance reminded me of copying answer sheets instead of solving math problems, so I felt an odd sense of kinship and was about to further explain. But before I could, Captain Overth the intelligence officer, who had been silently listening, spoke up first.
“…The first is Lady Miriam Orn yubas, who is to become Young Master’s wife. She wishes to reveal to the world the dubious circumstances surrounding the child she gave birth to upon returning. Even if she cannot publicly debate the rumors surrounding the birth from her position, the mere emergence of suspicious circumstances can provide considerable hints to those who can think.”
Lecturer Overth of Stratagem Studies gently explained while fiddling with his seaweed-like bangs covering his forehead. Of course, it was impossible for the illiterate servant to fully understand all that.
This unfortunate servant came to his own realization by recalling the vague rumors circulating within the castle walls. Yet his grievance did not seem entirely gone, as he began shedding tears while looking back and forth between Overth and me.
“But do you have to pin a false crime on me?! I was really scared!!!”
Then he bawled loudly, shedding a river of tears. If this was an act, I would never be able to trust people again for the rest of my life. Overth seemed to have a similar thought, staring intently at me.
“…This man’s shallow thinking and feebleness make him unsuitable as a spy. He may be easily swayed, but he would also quickly confess, so even if approached, he would not reveal important information. Further interrogation is pointless.”
“Indeed. If he could think, he wouldn’t have demanded an explanation.”
He seems a bit slow on the uptake, but has good instincts instead. As soon as he heard the conversation between Overth and me, the servant stopped crying and lifted his head. His bloodshot eyes rolled around under his quivering eyelids.
“Wh-What do you mean by that?”
Once again, Overth explained matter-of-factly without the slightest hint of annoyance, accommodating the servant’s demand for explanation whether he understood or not. He did let out a sigh, but it wasn’t because of the servant.
It was because no matter how much he fiddled with his bangs, they just wouldn’t stay in place, so he brushed them aside. Like seaweed soaked in water, his drooping bangs stubbornly refused to cooperate no matter how much he fussed with them.
Just as explaining everything to the servant would be pointless.
“…The second is that it’s not a false crime. While it’s clear there is a spy within the castle, in a situation where it’s difficult to not only reveal their outline but also stop them, there was a need to warn the enemy.”
It wasn’t the servant in front of me who sensed the situation, but others. The atmosphere of the soldiers who had accompanied me as escorts and Edwina gradually stiffened. Some of the soldiers tightly shut their eyes, and Edwina had somehow plastered herself to my back, trembling all over.
“…The third is.”
Just as Overth was about to give the final point.
“Enough.”
I raised my hand, cutting off Overth’s remarks. It wasn’t to insult Overth. Rather, it was a measure to spare that unfortunate servant, the innocent soldiers, and the intensely loyal Edwina.
The only one who failed to catch on was the unfortunate servant. He knew a crisis was approaching, but not what kind of crisis. I didn’t know whether to call it specialization or obliviousness.
Giving Overth, whose piercing gaze was fixed on me, a wry smile, I maintained utmost courtesy.
“Captain Overth, is it not proper to endure such an act once? I was in awe of your thoroughness in seeking confirmation despite judging further interrogation unnecessary.”
“Young Master.”
“I am deeply grateful once again for Captain Overth’s passion and determination to thoroughly sort this out. However, the matter of concern is understood, but time is short. Please reconsider.”
A brief exchange of glances ended with Overth’s concession. Fidgeting unnecessarily with the buckle of his cloak, he took a step back, his voice slightly deflated.
“…Indeed. Fixated on what was before my eyes, I nearly overlooked the crucial part. Thank you for your guidance, Young Master.”
“What importance could this matter have? It is simply a difference of whether there is a deadline, for they were all weighty matters.”
“You honor me with those words.”
Our passionate intelligence officer Overth and I exchanged warm conversations, easing the atmosphere considerably. While the soldiers and Edwina carefully let out sighs of relief, the unfortunate servant was still looking around with a questioning expression.
“Huh? Huh?”
For the first time, an expression appeared on Overth’s cold face. It seemed that the unfortunate servant did not please him much, as he furrowed his brows. He even growled like a fierce beast raising its vigor when prey is in sight.
“…You should be grateful to the Young Master. If the Young Master had not stopped me just now.”
“That’s enough, Captain Overth.”
The atmosphere that had finally relaxed was about to become tense again. While stopping Captain Overth, I smiled at the servant. As they say, ignorance is a blessing.
“Instead of trying to understand anything, just faithfully live with the task given to you, and you won’t have any problems.”
“Uh… thank you?”
“In that sense, you pass.”
“Pardon?”
“What is your name?”
“Oh, John of Riverside. Please call me John!”
The reason the cruel intelligence officer Overth listed off reasons to that servant was:
From the moment he entered the torture chamber, his probability of survival converged to zero. Captain Overth’s listing of reasons earlier was a long-winded way of saying that he would brutally torture him until he gave the answer Captain Overth wanted.
Even for someone already suffering from a scalped head, saying they might as well scalp the remaining skin too is an excessive measure. But even if we let him go, would he be able to properly look for a job?
There is a theory called the labeling theory. It states that once someone has been to prison, whether they know it or not, they have to endure people’s biased views. It’s a truly dreadful thing.
I wanted this innocent and blameless man, John of Riverside, to be able to live a healthy life. So I decided to make him a generous offer he couldn’t refuse.
“John of Riverside.”
“Yes, sir!”
“You will come with me to the monastery.”
I would have liked to take Edwina too, but… unfortunately, the monastery is a male-only area, just as a convent is a female-only area. So I had been wondering how I could procure a trustworthy talent.
Then, as if heaven had blessed me, the servant John of Riverside, who would faithfully assist me all the way to the monastery, fell right into my lap. Although I don’t have any particular faith, I could be sure of one thing:
This is fate.
“…Pardon, I must have misheard.”
And at times, fate is met with resistance from the individual.
At this moment, John resisted fate with the most brilliant heroic will of his life. The only pitiful part was that this place was a workshop of medieval experts who turned heroes into mush.
Before I could even admire John’s heroic spirit, a guard who had been quietly waiting while leaning against a bloodstained wall picked up a pair of pliers and hummed a little tune.
“Let’s see. How many rotten teeth does he have~”
With a demeanor as if he would break even healthy teeth and then pull them out claiming they were damaged.
As soon as John saw the guard licking his dry lips while humming as he held the pliers, he hurriedly turned his head towards me.
“Young Master! I will comfortably serve you all the way to the monastery!!!”
***
Duke Aselton’s aide and intelligence officer Overth and I had quite a compatible relationship.
However, no matter how compatible, there is bound to be a clash at some point. As soon as we left the torture chamber, Captain Overth turned his gaze in the opposite direction and spoke.
“…If you had devised a scheme, you should have given a cruelly justifiable reason. If others learn the truth, they will call the young master insane.”
I clearly understood what Captain Overth was saying. In an era where it is more important to uncover one criminal than to save one innocent person, even if it means allowing nine innocents to die in order to catch one culprit, so be it.
It’s such a primitive and barbaric idea… I was the one who said to burn down a thatched hut to catch a louse. It was only natural for me to feel uncomfortable with those words, especially since my life was at stake.
If I had been a romantic idealist appealing only to emotion, I would have meekly consoled Captain Overth expressing his dissatisfaction and shared my thoughts to appease him.
“Unexpected things raise questions, and those questions stimulate imagination. This is a measure to show yubas.”
The storytelling and implication techniques I mentioned earlier. This was a deadly method for Stratagem lovers who love to twist their thoughts. Think about it – in a situation where being tortured to a pulp is expected, it didn’t happen.
If it were simply that, one could dismiss it thinking, “I guess they didn’t get caught.” But…
“After a simple interrogation with no particular torture, we move. While we have already reached our conclusion and act accordingly regardless of the truth, to them who have to filter out information from the many events that occurred in such a short time, it will appear differently.”
“…You don’t mean.”
In the end, a spy’s existence is maintained by a relationship of trust. A spy functions on the premise that there are certain reasons to trust them. In other words, if we nudge at this premise, we can make the enemy falter.
“The easiest way to defeat an enemy.”
What’s important in devising a conspiracy is swiftness. The reason is simple – if you take time to think it over carefully, you may find some inconsistency somewhere.
It’s similar to how con artists mix all sorts of bizarre terms to hinder understanding. Since deceiving people is a common factor, the schemes here were not much different either.
“There may be other things, but if we only discuss ease, wouldn’t it be making them put down their own weapons themselves?”
Without giving them time to judge by truth and evidence, guide them to become convinced by imagination. That’s the key. …I may have rambled too much off-topic. Fortunately, instead of showing displeasure, Captain Overth nodded his head.
“I have deeply engraved the Young Master’s insight.”
He praises me too much as the son of the lord he serves. Such flattery is not bad, but I feel embarrassed, and my face turns red. I waved my hand and accepted Captain Overth’s praise.
“You honor me too much, making me feel needlessly bashful. For the next part, I must leave it to you, Captain Overth.”
“Of course. …I will do my utmost to not interfere with the Young Master’s scheme.”
“Hahaha! Then shall we go collect it?”
Praise does make even a whale dance, and I was exactly that. Unable to hide my bright smile, I strode out of the prison and continued:
“I mean, let’s go find the real gold coins given as a bribe.”
