Unwavering 2 (Overlord, Zanac!SI)

The 'Re-Estize National Defence Agency' or 'RENDA' was not an organization that I had created to suddenly hurdle at my foes.

Not when there was no basis for a proper espionage agency as I wanted. No, that needed time. Two months to get the basic steps wrapped up, then two more to get some 'practice' through smaller fishes to feign incompetence or misdirection through our targeting and, as the sixth month mark struck from the creation of the agency and I had willfully molded an organization that was loyal and patriotic to the country, I moved to strike at the Eight Fingers.

The work didn't go as swiftly as anyone would have wanted, but by the time I was 11, we had enough workload to legally fuck all of them. It was a matter of striking fast and capture them before they could realize how screwed they were. And such opportunity came through a rather innocuous event.

An invitation to a private business meeting regarding a 'political alliance' with the known major donors of the organization. I couldn't get all of them in that room without getting them suspicious, but I had a small list while the rest was being taken care by smaller squads meant to handle that sort of rapid sorties.

Wine and expensive meals were prepared, a small sacrifice to achieve the most realistic acting ever conjured as the fools all sat by the long table and didn't seem to mind that I was 'mildly-drunk'. There were ways to fake such an antic, but I admit to drinking a teensy bit of wine to have flushed cheeks. The rest of the silly behavior I showed by 'telling them rumors and secrets' was the fakeness itself behind my ruse.

None seemed to notice the peculiar masks worn by the guard, unaware that what I put on, a 'spooky mask' myself, was actually a gas mask that had been optimized to handle a special concoction known in the kingdom as 'Draught of the Sleeping Fool'. A gaseous potion that was used by healers to put difficult patient in a deep sleep. It was quite powerful, thus effective when used within the right occasions.

Such as when the room was suddenly flooded by the bluish substance, causing the nobles to appear panicky, but being unable to do much as the gas took away their capacity to fight back. I waited roughly ten minutes before nodding and nudging some of the guards to do their job, secure the traitorous nobles and even purge by fire the contaminated meal.

The furniture could be cleansed with proper care, but the food was easily coated and drenched with the potion, so it was best to not risk any 'surprising recycling' from the royal kitchens.

The king was notified three hours after the entire operation was over- just enough time to squeeze a few confessions through some of the weak links and secure info on their source of income. He was, surprisingly so, relieved that the conspiracy was handled this 'swiftly', but even more curious on the way this would then develop considering the high status of some of the traitors.

I had a few papers prepared for the occasion and, with some redactions from the king himself, a 'Grand Trial against High Traitors' was established.

The court was packed with nobles to present a 'status quo-esque' circumstance despite the unique nature of the event, but it was a slice of the trial that made me extremely nervous. I had picked myself as the 'prosecutor', but I hadn't expected the Eight Fingers to pull a nasty one to save their skin: they had my brother serve as their 'defense attorney'.

"These good people were falsely accused of crimes they are not truly source of. I can already swear this to you all."

In a normal situation where political intrigue was limited between two princes playing power-plays, this would be perfect. Barbro was making an utter fool of himself with those declarations, and one that paid dearly as I didn't hesitate to wreck his defense with enough factual documentation, so many admissions and even several receipts kept by his 'innocent nobles'.

The king ruled in my favor with ease, unwilling to just 'stand by pleas from someone with no legal standing', but this victory was pyrrhic for another reason. A major win to this glorious fix was the demotion of the Nobility Faction and the loss of some of their influence as to keep the loyal nobles up.

The 'Royalists' were content with the planned punishment for the traitors limiting to just those that were involved and pretty much sticking to prison's years with hefty monetary compensation, but Barbro's stunt created a new big problem that could worsen if not taken care in due time: the Royalists' inner factions, the 'Barbrists' and the 'Zanacists' were radicalizing.

I was familiar with the fact that some were cheering on me becoming king out of favoring someone as levelheaded like me than a warhawk as my brother was showing to be, but Barbro's display created a genuine concern in regard to the issue of corruption.

No one would say no to 'some corruption', but the one that Barbro had defended out of 'loyalty to his friends' created a rather wary group of people that saw this as a sign of a highly-corruptible king in the ensuing years if the crown prince was allowed to establish himself as the next sovereign.

Hence why I received a lot of 'supportive letters' to 'praise my good work against the traitors'. Some were genuine about their intent, but the entire bunch was a pledge of allegiance in disguise. It was trouble that would keep on brewing if not addressed correctly, but I wasted no time in directing the RENDA to start a years-long case on Barbro and to amass enough evidence to screw with his claim.

I didn't need for it to be too invasive since Barbro was no subtle man, and he was already making a mockery of himself through the easy witnesses that could be yielded by his frequent visits at the richest pubs to lament how 'his father couldn't truly see his potential and that he was the best prince in the kingdom'.

Admittedly, the king had been supportive of me too, but the official praise was limited if not outright 'restained on purpose'. The real plight for Barbro was less the open support, however, it was the 'implicit one' I received through the king's visits by the garden to spend time with Renner and I.

In truth, Barbro was invited to those too, but he saw those as 'unimportant and unfit for a princely man such as himself', and the king was actually more interested to speak with Renner than me. As the surviving daughter of King Ramposa, Renner was actually coddled by our father.

It was also restrained due to how much time the king could invest, but the effort to be in the girl's life was evident to her too. And she adored that sort of attention. Not outright to be too warm around him, but enough to smile and be open to our father's simple questions.

All in all, things were going as I had expected in most part... but that lasted until the Baharuth Empire declared war on the Re-Estize Kingdom. To many, this was a bit of a surprise, and one that just warranted a partial mobilitation, but I knew better what our country was up to: the Empire was going to coerce us to turn our border into a nest of the undead with the losses the battles at Katze Plains were going to lead to in these years. Plus, the constant warring was going to drag the peasants out of the fields and create a condition that could lead to a devastating famine in due time.

When the first border war happened, I didn't intervene in a direct manner. Rather, I pumped more funds in the R&D department of the RENDA to develop improved weaponry and also look into reliable officers for an initiative I was ready to implement at the end of that first war.

Barbro was happily sent to face his 'first blood', but by the time he made it here, the worst of that year-long war was over. He faced a few minor skirmishes, but his parade hardly deserved the praise it got from those supporting him. I didn't tell him as such, but that's because I was busy in getting a new commission.

"This is a curious request- you wish to truly become the governor of E-Rantel?"

I nodded, "RENDA has documents that confirm the true goal of the Empire through this first senseless war of many to trigger an economic recession in our kingdom. If we keep mobilizing and face them in limited battling, they will eventually cause our economy to struggle."

"And since they rely more on trade and they need less men on the fields... it could indeed be a problem," Ramposa agreed, slowly nodding at my reasoning. "Although, this doesn't exactly elaborate on what you intend to do through this mandate?"

"Create a resolute permanent defense force that can deal with the bottleneck," I answered truthfully. "I can't say just now the full-depth of details I have, but I have a few plans to expand what we can rely upon to prevent invasions and avoid senseless warring."

"...You know this means you will be away from Renner for a while, Zanac."

I bowed my head at that, knowing this was going to be the most bitter pill to swallow. "I know. But she is tougher than she looks. I just... father, can you grant me a request?"

He offered a tentative nod.

"I know you can't be too focused on either me or Barbro, but do pay attention to Renner and those she holds to her company- those of noble rank mostly as those will be the worst kind of threat to her and us."

The king nodded in agreement and... signed the document confirming me as the new governor of that region. I was going to dare fate by going there and fix things ASAP, but if I pulled this before the arrival of Nazarick, then I was going to have a way to delay some senseless violence and approach them with diplomacy.

But while that was the ultimate goal, I had yet to stabilize that front and prevent the Annual Wars. And those goals were already as tough as they sounded...

AN

Time to ruin pseudo-Gilgamesh's plans to be a pain in the butt.