I Became an Adjutant in Another World Volume 4 Chapter 14 (Patreon)

Chapter 14 – Eavesdropping on the Sisters

I managed to mediate the dispute between Lucy and Krone and prevented the morale in the unit from collapsing.

However, that doesn’t mean that our problems are already solved.

Milena and Lacy’s sabotage is still ongoing.

Not only did they take away our war results under the guise of coincidence, but we noticed that they also used the power of the Marquis in the background to stall the supplies of our troops.

Krone, who manages the support units, reported that supplies are running low, so we went to talk to a merchant with knowledge of logistics about the situation.

He was not wholesaling supplies to the military, but he did have a sizable warehouse complex in Krasland. Some of these warehouses are leased to the military and used to store military supplies.

According to the merchant, there are still a fair number of military supplies left in the warehouses, and it seems that there are no instances that the delivery of supplies is not being delayed. In other words, someone’s intentions are involved.

Only Marquis Krall could make both the merchants and the military do what he says without telling them.

Most likely, the Marquis approved of the strategy the sisters devised and lent his power to it.

And because the newly-promoted Viscount House of Lucy is still without enough funds to cover the increase of troops, we had no choice but to recruit additional sponsors to solve this crisis.

Including the troops that came in with Krone, there are over 400 soldiers alone, which doesn’t yet include the support personnel such as logistics. Even though they aren’t involved in combat, they must also be given a certain amount of consideration.

Even if we are to cover the costs, the amount of food consumed on a daily basis alone will be enormous. It was simple but very painful sabotage.

“If food quality alone suddenly deteriorates, the soldiers will accumulate resentment, which will then grow up and make them turn toward their superiors. They sure really like to think about disturbing things.”

In actuality, however, the food problem is on the verge of being solved.

That’s because I was introduced to a food vendor by a merchant who had been doing business with me for a long time.

Using that connection, I was brought into a series of connections with other food vendors, and just like that, the food problem was no more.

After all, the military only deals with certain merchants, so from the perspective of small-time businessmen like them, being able to sign a contract with us is already a tasty deal.

In addition, as we are buying by-the-bulk as we are dealing in foodstuffs for several hundred people every day, we were able to obtain a variety of foodstuffs at an astronomically lower price.

It was a win-win situation for the both of us.

The sisters have also tried to sabotage us in various other ways, but each time they did, it would only make us even stronger, making their interference less effective each time.

As such, it wasn’t long before they exhausted most of their methods, leaving only a direct interference as the last resort.

“Surely, they won’t go that far, right? After all, if they want to keep themselves intact, they won’t do it in a way that’s too obvious.”

But just in case, all the executive-level members of the unit now have an escort. That includes me, of course.

Even if he’s the Marquis, he won’t dare to kill a hero openly in his own city, would he?

“In the end, neither of us could lead the other into their trap. If possible, I’d like to make the first move….”

I said this and pulled out a palm-sized crystal from my desk.

The crystal has a distinctly out-of-the-ordinary atmosphere and emits a mysterious light.

Actually, this is an item that is enchanted to allow the user to hear voices from a pre-designated location.

 Moreover, this excellent product has an output that allows conversations to appear on the surface in written form, reducing the risk of eavesdropping.

As for where I got this, it is a magical tool made by Anastasia. It does not work unless she puts mana into it, so its operation time is short.

It also has several drawbacks, such as the high cost of the catalyst crystal, but I still insisted because I am sure it will be of great use in this case.

“Now then, what are you sisters conversing about?”

I put the crystal on the desk, and there I heard the voices of the sisters sabotaging us.

Having had our trusted people check them out, we are now almost certain that the two are responsible for the interference so far. Nevertheless, I haven’t heard from their mouths personally of their reason.

That is where this tool will come in handy.

[Sis, our work is getting worse and worse these days.]

The younger Lacy spoke in a bored tone.

In response, her sister Milena rebukes her.

[Don’t say that, Lacy. It may not be honest work, but it’s equally important. Plus, we cannot complain either, or the Marquis won’t be able to provide us our father’s medicine.]

[I know that. But…]

The tone of their conversation seems to have dropped a little.

I heard from Krone that their father is sickly, but is he really in such a dire state that they would need the Marquis’ help for his medicine? If so, this is quite a weakness for the sisters.

I tried to gather information on Count Zaintert’s family before this, but to my surprise, they are so well-guarded that I couldn’t even get useful intel.

I may have to be reckless with this one and take it from them personally.

[Things were going well in the beginning, but recently they have been taking measures so extreme it gets harder and harder to find an opening. If this continues, any further interference with Viscount Finlay would cause us severe consequences as well.]

Damn right you are. After all, it isn’t just me, but Krone and all the trusted vassals of Lucy are cooperating against you.

As they say, two heads are better than one. Or should I say several are better than two?

However, we couldn’t find out why they were aiming at us like this.

If only they could just talk about this right now…

[I can’t think of a better way to do it anymore, what about you, sis?]

[Me too. I’ve tried almost everything possible. Any further than this and direct confrontation between both sides would be the next…]

That’s right. They are now put in a situation where they have no routes other than confronting us directly.

However, if they do that, everything they have been doing in secret would also be exposed.

It’s still safe even if we find out. But it would be a different story if the regular soldiers learned about this matter.

It’s because the conflict between Viscount Finlay and Marquis Krall would become clear.

“[With the threat of the monsters, it is not a good idea to start a civil war and split the city into two. We had to hide this confrontation, no matter what.].”

Milena and I muttered the same thing.

[You see, I’ve been getting close to the troops here and learned something surprising. It seems that Viscount Finlay has also been expanding her forces in more directions than I expected.]

[She’s already done that much?]

[Yes. Lately, she’s been getting quite friendly with the commanders of the other units, especially those who are against the ideals of Marquis Krall. Not only that, but it seems she’s also deepening her connections with the merchants.]

From there, Milena spoke a series of names as if she were reading them in some document.

Certainly, those were the names of the merchants I have been doing business with lately.

“Looks like you have done your research well.”

I was impressed, and at the same time, felt relieved.

With this, it means that we have no leaks yet in the critical areas.

Lucy was ostensibly in charge of communication with the commanders of the other units, but behind the scenes, I was the central figure, acting as a liaison for the black market in weapons and other matters.

Other units also do that, but as far as I know, only I have tried to get good quality weapons cheaply to them by purchasing them in bulk and passing them on to each unit.

Thanks to this, the equipment situation of the units I am in close contact with has recently been on the rise.

“Hmph. Even if you say that the Marquis is doing well, there will always be those that would be dissatisfied with his leadership, especially those commanders who fight for the city. All we need is to poke our noses around those areas, and those comrades will be coming to us in no time.”

Similarly, the dissatisfied folks that we have fished are those soldiers and refugees of different ethnicities and origins, and all of them have a grudge against Marquis Krall, in one way or the other.

Either their families are assigned to poorly maintained districts if they are nobles, and if they are refugees, they live in slums.

Just by taking advantage of the fame of Lucy as a hero, we were able to easily gather those who are against Marquis Krall.

[The person in charge of the relationship around here is Sanada, the Viscount’s adjutant. If I can keep him under control, things will go well, but…]

[Shall I do it? He looks weak, and even if he has an escort, we can still capture him.]

[No. We don’t have conclusive evidence yet. Plus, if we do that, it will be them who will be holding a card against us.]

Apparently, the younger sister was getting impatient, but the older sister remained calm.

If that is the case, we can still lie low for a while.

[We will still go by the plan, and that is to continue to prevent the Viscount from achieving results and buy time for the Marquis. When his preparations are finished, even Sanada too will…]

Milena’s words were suddenly cut in the middle, an indication that the magic tool’s supply of magic power had run out.

As the operating time is quite short, I wasn’t able to eavesdrop on the whole story. But that was enough.

“What will happen when the Marquis finishes his preparations? Either way, it is now known that it will be fatal to me. If it’s the Marquis, he would never let my punishment be lenient with only imprisonment or banishment. Or rather, he would surely choose to make me disappear as cleanly as possible, if he wants to keep Lucy under his influence.”

The wiretapping this time showed that the situation was definitely progressing. I don’t have time to take things slow.

“First of all, we have to stop Milena and Lacy’s movements. The key to that is their father.”

Their earlier conversation sounded as if they were very fond of their father, Count Zaintert.

Let’s find out about him first.

So, I put away my tools and headed for Krone, who is well versed in social circles.

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