"That man... he placed a transparent collar of servitude on me."
"Assemble the soldiers right now!"
The Marquess bellowed at the top of his lungs.
The sudden shout made my ears ring with pain.
"My lord! What in the world has come over you to raise your voice so!"
Hearing the Marquess's roar, the steward rushed in next.
"That man—Regas! I'll have him destroyed! Prepare for mobilization at once!"
"My lord, please calm yourself. Lord Regas is the True King's eldest son. And is he not also Lady Katarina's husband? What could possibly have—"
"Father, calm down. It's already been taken care of by Alan."
The fact that it was being handled now didn't exactly make everything fine, but after being lectured by his daughter and the steward, the Marquess recovered some measure of composure.
"......Steward, withdraw from the room. That is all."
"Yes, my lord."
◇◇◇
The marriage had been a failure, hadn't it?
As nobles, there were bound to be unwanted matches.
A couple growing cold after having children was unfortunate but common enough.
The Marquess had probably sent his daughter off with that kind of resolve.
But even so, he surely hadn't condoned her being treated like a slave.
"Alan, was it? He's no mere agent. To see through a collar of servitude and remove it..."
Well, I'm not actually an agent.
There had been a note in the supplementary column of the list Harold gave me, saying the Marquess Round's eldest daughter had married the True King's eldest son, so I'd half-resignedly taken a look.
And lo and behold, there was a transparent collar of servitude on the beautiful lady—which surprised even me.
A collar of servitude on a marriage partner, of all things. That was practically picking a fight with the entire family.
Was it out of fear of divorce?
I don't know what Regas's intentions were, but for various reasons I quickly removed Katarina's collar and brought her and the children here.
That should be more than enough material for defection, wouldn't you say?
"Alan, let me once again express my gratitude. I thought I would live out a hellish existence with that invisible collar, unable to tell anyone, forever."
Lady Katarina bestowed her words of gratitude upon me.
"It was just a coincidence, but you're welcome."
It had started with peeking in and sneaking around, so it wasn't exactly praiseworthy—but better left unsaid.
"I'm leaving the True King's faction. Why don't I join the Yalut faction instead? The nobles under my protection will do the same—I'll personally convince every one of them. Can this repay my debt?"
"Yes."
"That said, it would be wise to keep up the pretense of belonging to the True King's faction for a while. Should I dispatch a search party for Katarina as a decoy?"
◇◇◇
That was the only part that went smoothly.
The other nobles on Harold's list were, the further down I went, all people whose talks made less and less sense.
"The current True King's regime won't last. Shouldn't you flee too?"
"What the hell are you talking about?! We're part of the True King's faction, so our tribute payments are lower than the other factions! They even turn a blind eye to our bribes—do you think I'd let go of these privileges?! Get lost, you fool!"
Yeah, that was roughly how it went.
When that happened, I'd fire off sparkly spiraling rays with Tele-mesmerism and hypnotize them.
"Keep your distance from the True King."
"...Yes, I understand."
"Good nobles give up bribing too, okay?"
"...Yes, I understand."
"And cherish everyone, including your subjects, and live for their sake, okay?"
"...Yes, I understand."
I didn't tell them to join the Yalut faction.
They'd probably just be a nuisance if they did.
Also, I vaguely remembered Harold telling me not to kill anyone, so I put them under hypnosis instead.
◇◇◇◇◇◇
Skills: [Reverse] [Divine Eye] [Sword God] [Fist God] [Spear God] [Scorching Magic] [Freezing Ice Magic] [Clear Storm Magic] [Rock-Iron Magic] [Holy Magic] [Dark Magic] [Space-Time Magic] [Thunder God Sword] [Phantom Thief Gentleman] [Ninja Master] [Seeker of Truth] [Supernatural Force] [Vendata] [Pain Mitigation] [Complete Status Ailment Resistance] [Dark Spirit's Protection] [Super Intuition] [Heaven's Gate] [Contractor of the Abyss] [Magic Hand] [Treasure Search] [Seduction] [Incitement] [Tele-mesmerism] [Eloquence] [Strong Luck] [Tenfold Growth Speed] [Growth Limit Breakthrough]
Rank: Orichalcum