Re: Tales of the Rune-Tech Sage Chapter 945: The Old Man Named Ryan II

CH945 The Old Man Named Ryan II

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Old Man Ryan stomped his walking stick against the ground, resting both hands on it in front of his body.

"The operation is proceeding with few hiccups. Our mole in House Kellerman has proved quite useful," the old man said.

Alex shook his head.

"No, he is not a mole. He is an asset. When he is useful to us, he is an asset. When he outlives his usefulness and becomes a threat to us or our plans, he becomes a liability. Understood?" he emphasised.

"Also, when you are referring to him, refer to him as ’Trojan’."

Elder Ryan looked peculiarly at the young noble before him for a moment. Still, he nodded.

"Very well," he said begrudgingly. "Thanks to... Trojan, we have been able to insert other ’assets’ converted or sympathetic to our cause close to the centre of power in the Kellerman fiefdom.

"Due to the fortuitous decline of the Kellermans’ finances, Earl Kellerman has been scrambling to gather funds from wherever he can. His plan was to gather funds for the Interplanar Expedition, hoping to profit from it and turn his House’s fortunes around. This has led him to impose higher taxes on the people of his domain, thus growing public sentiment against his House."

"Idiot. The people of his domain already saw him in a bad light after he intentionally exposed the former citizens of our domain to the Wildkin raids," Alex commented.

"Although the Earl ordered that no one moved from our domain speak of it within Kellerman-held lands, with a little assistance from our Dark Water operatives, the news is now public knowledge throughout the domain. This, combined with the increased taxes, has gathered many sympathisers to our cause—many of whom, for now, simply believe they are against the Earl’s tyranny," Elder Ryan revealed.

"Good work on that," Alex said. He paused, then added, "People assume nobles or domain lords are untouchable. But that is only if the loyalty of the citizens of their domain remains in their hands."

He motioned for the old man to continue.

"Thanks to Lucas—no, Trojan, we have systematically inserted merchants belonging to us into important sectors of the fiefdom’s economy. Aside from the parts of the economy held directly in House Kellerman’s hands, our people essentially control the bulk of the rest, and that influence is growing," Elder Ryan said.

"I am guessing Crosscape helped a lot in that," Alex commented again.

Elder Ryan confirmed with a nod.

"Food has been the biggest problem in the domain. In order to keep his House’s backer, House Reichart, pleased and extend payments on his debts to them, Earl Kellerman shipped much of his domain’s food to the Reicharts.

"We simply created a chamber of commerce led by our merchants to ’negotiate’ with Vice-Lord Sophia for trade in food that was surplus in the Fury Lands. Thanks to this, we were able to secure a great deal of political capital for the merchant and Trojan."

"How high up is Trojan now?" Alex inquired.

"He is the closest aide to Earl Kellerman who is neither of Kellerman blood nor tied to the House by marriage," Elder Ryan said. "This is as far as Trojan will likely get, given his current circumstances."

"That’s not ideal." Alex frowned.

Being the closest non-related aide to Earl Kellerman wasn’t as glamorous as it sounded. That meant there were at least a handful of people ahead of him in the pecking order.

"It is not. But we almost never work with ideal circumstances," Elder Ryan stated, almost a bit chidingly. "The only way Trojan can rise higher is to marry into House Kellerman. However, that would be even further from ideal, as that would mean having a spy at his side while limiting his usefulness to us."

"I am surprised Earl Kellerman hasn’t forced him to marry a member of his Clan yet, given his proximity to his House’s power," Alex remarked.

"His ’family values’ persona saved him on this matter," Elder Ryan revealed.

"Really?" Alex was surprised.

"Trojan is one of the few aides of House Kellerman who still has the heart of the people. In the light, he has been the one diffusing the bad blood towards House Kellerman. And the reason why is his ’family values’ persona.

"Taking on another wife from House Kellerman now would destroy that. He would be seen as a man who gave up his values—his love and vow to his first wife—to marry into power. For Earl Kellerman, soothing the public right now matters more than putting a leash on Trojan, so the Earl maintains the status quo."

"For now," Alex interjected.

"For now," Elder Ryan concurred.

"Controlling the economy is vital, but I am much more interested in administration and politics. How well have you been able to leverage Trojan’s influence and information to put our people closer to the seats of power?" Alex asked.

"According to Alpha, as you instructed, we didn’t target the top-ranking positions. Instead, we targeted the overlooked positions that had lesser power but more interaction with the people.

"For example, within the Chamberlain’s Office, we targeted the vice-departments—as well as a few non-related department heads—who actually run the day-to-day operations of the departments.

"Those who could be converted were converted, while those who couldn’t were removed in various ways. And before you ask, they were done according to timelines that didn’t draw attention," Elder Ryan revealed.

"Similar methods were employed across the various organisations and arms of the fiefdom’s administration. We even have significant influence growing within the domain’s armed forces. The last defeat at the hands of your House Fury has incidentally purged some of the most important loyalists of House Kellerman from the domain’s army.

"In order to ensure the ’undesirables’ among what was left of the army didn’t take over key leadership positions, the Earl flouted the hierarchy and promoted junior loyalists over those more deserving of the posts.

"There’s also the matter of the House cutting corners on the quality of equipment offered to the troops, which has caused a number of avoidable deaths in various situations. The official explanation was the financial difficulties of the domain, and the soldiers were asked to bear with it. But we were able to acquire and discreetly spread evidence of the lavish lifestyle that even the most useless scion of House Kellerman continues to enjoy, even in these ’difficult’ times.

"These have bred a lot of discontent, which we have been able to weaponize."

"Good." Alex nodded once more.

Alex liked what he was hearing.

"On the political side, once again owing to the domain’s downtrodden financial and economic situation, Earl Kellerman devised a means of using wealth to exchange for power. He made it possible for someone to donate vast amounts of gold, magic stones, and other resources to gain a vassal noble rank.

"Of the remaining two of the three Counties within the Earldom, Earl Kellerman divided the domain’s Central County into five smaller Baronies. And each of these Baronies was essentially sold off to the highest bidder," Elder Ryan revealed.

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