"May I ask… the position you spoke of…?"
Even knowing he might have no real choice, he still wanted to hear it stated plainly.
"Viscount Crott, what is your opinion of the Empire as it stands now?"
Eblana did not answer immediately, but instead posed a question of her own.
Yet that question alone was enough to convey her dissatisfaction with the Empire.
Crott's mouth twitched, and he answered honestly, "Beset by troubles within and threats from without."
"Precisely. Even an Empire that has endured for a millennium will inevitably decay. Its excessively long lifespan has allowed the nobility to accumulate wealth, connections, and a sense of untouchable security they never should have possessed."
Eblana's smile sent a chill down Crott's spine. He wanted to avert his gaze but feared it would make him appear too cowardly.
But deep down, he knew his own reaction was utterly insignificant.
"Wealth breeds greed. Connections rob the nobility of the will to check and rival one another. That sense of security makes them complacent, content to merely live off everything passed down to them."
Crott dared not reply, nor did he know how. Because he knew Eblana was right.
"Viscount Crott, stationed on the Empire's frontier, far from the center of power, you should understand the changes these past years better than most."
Unlike the slow boil of living in the capital, by the time many policies reached the borderlands, they had already been 'adjusted' and 'optimized' several times over. Each iteration brought significant shifts.
"Admit it. The Empire is dead. It may appear to exist, but it has lost the right to rule this land. A decrepit lion cannot stand against a dragon in its prime."
"You mean the Revolutionary Army?"
Crott took Eblana for a traitor who had thrown her lot in with the revolutionaries.
"The Revolutionary Army?"
Eblana actually laughed.
"The Revolutionary Army has never amounted to much, never possessed the qualifications to challenge the Empire. Their growing strength isn't proof of their own power, but further evidence that the Empire is already dead."
"Fresh blood is rejected by the ancient, clogged arteries. Its heart has long been on the verge of stopping."
Eblana lightly raised her forearm. "And the Revolutionary Army? They are merely flies seeking to feed on the corpse of a giant."
Then, who was the dragon in its prime, capable of subduing the lion, in Eblana's words?
From those calm, unruffled green eyes, Crott found his answer.
"...You believe you can shake both the Empire and the Revolutionary Army?"
What makes you think you're the dragon you speak of, and not just another fly like the revolutionaries?
"Simply overthrowing the Empire is easy. The difficult part is what comes after."
Eblana answered Crott's question airily, as if the possibility of failure had never even crossed her mind.
This attitude left Crott speechless. He didn't want to board this ship, but it seemed he had no other choice.
"This is treason… sedition…"
He couldn't get past that hurdle in his heart.
"The Empire is dead, Viscount."
Eblana reminded him once more.
Seeing Crott's face still ashen, Eblana rose to her feet. Though her smile remained, the coldness in it deepened.
"Viscount, you need do nothing. Simply present yourself to the world as a coerced party. I give you my word that when the new world arrives, you will retain everything you currently possess."
Crott understood her meaning.
Whether he joined or not, his territory would be claimed as her spoils of war.
Would the soldiers listen to her? One only needed to look at the non-humans now manning the city walls.
Difficulties from bureaucrats during the transfer of power? There were plenty of opportunists to be found. This was the power that came with sheer strength, requiring no legitimacy.
Furthermore, after Eblana succeeded, while he might keep what he had, he would gain nothing more.
He would also be branded 'unfit for important use' by this potential new Emperor—a label that would extend not just to him, but to his future children as well.
"..."
Crott's breath hitched. With great difficulty, he spoke, "W… wait."
Eblana, who had been about to leave the room, paused and turned back to look at him with interest.
Crott untied the cord from around his neck, then walked up to her and extended the pendant that had hung on his chest.
"This is the token of Meca City. It also serves as a command seal. Wherever you go, no one will bar your way as long as you have it."
"This is of great use to me, Viscount Crott."
Eblana took the palm-sized insignia, but her words weren't about the token—they were about Crott himself.
That very night, a Revolutionary Army informant clad in black slipped out of the city. Eblana watched him depart, making no move to stop him.
In just one night, Eblana had assessed the state of Meca City. Compared to Eastridge City, Meca was undoubtedly smaller, yet its reserves of materials and grain far surpassed Eastridge's.
The reason was simple: in the Empire's eyes, Crott was a willing blade to be wielded. Thus, they were willing to grant him more support to attack the non-human tribes.
This influx of supplies gave Eblana more funds to pay her troops.
Moreover, this operation had swelled her forces from one thousand to four thousand five hundred. Issuing a conscription order within the city could add another thousand soldiers.
But that wasn't what Eblana needed. To her, an army wasn't a force for war, but a tool to build her momentum. In terms of tangible utility, she'd rather have all the soldiers working the fields.
It wasn't that there wasn't enough food. In fact, they had always been self-sufficient, even with a surplus.
People starved entirely because of taxes. Harvest a hundred pounds, hand over ninety—it'd be a miracle if folks didn't starve.
Eblana wasn't stockpiling that grain to eat. She intended to sell it to the Revolutionary Army, using it to buy their goodwill.
She needed the Revolutionary Army's connections to help her screen for a list of suitable... tools.
As for whether the non-human tribes would ignore the Revolutionary Army's stance and seek revenge on Eastridge City… there was no need to worry.
Precisely because she was concerned for Eastridge's safety, she had brought only a thousand soldiers and left the Three Beasts behind.
With those three, along with the five thousand soldiers—who, while not the most seasoned, could still hold the city—she would have ample time to return if an attack came.
Still, this situation left Eblana somewhat vexed.
While she wasn't at the point of micromanaging everything, the lack of top-tier combat power was a real issue. The Three Beasts weren't weak, but they couldn't be considered peak experts either.
It was unavoidable. The early stages of any venture always came with shortages of talent and resources. But there was no need for excessive worry.
Once she took the next city and established her line with the Revolutionary Army, everything would start falling into place.
After ordering the servants, transformed by Deadfire, to return to their respective territories and bring whatever meager supplies they had, Eblana finally had time to simply… lie down.
Now, all that was left was to wait.
--+--
T/N: I have a Patreon! Webnovel will get 3 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
It may not seem worth it now, but maybe in the future. Who knows!
[email protected]/AspenTL
If you guys wanna check it out.