Polymath Redux

Chapter 20//The Shadow of Xagontetia

There were two facets to Xagontetia’s ruling cabinet; due to the war against the larger neighbouring Empire, the Royal Family had delegated some of its power to the Ministry of War to direct the war effort more efficiently. As a result, said Ministry had become bloated to the degree it had to employ several minister-level officials who also vainly held the dual title of ‘General’. These ‘ministers’- number in six- were all recruited from the same rotten pool of greed-ridden nobles under the leadership of the head honcho, Duke ‘Paran Alei Norman’.

With his direction they had ‘peacefully repossessed’ several territories around the country under the pretext of ‘improving the war effort’. These attempts were furiously opposed at first by their respective feudal lords, but few could refute the power of the crown which the Ministry of War now held. From the previous thirty territories of Xagontetia, there were now only six, all own by these nefarious Ministers.

“Heh, hehehe... has things ever been this easy in all of Xagontetia’s history?” asked one minister while greedily slopping his lips as though he were about to dine on a delectable beef steak, his rotund body resembling a beach-ball more than an actual human shape.

To celebrate their newfound wealth and power, the ministers had all gathered around Paran’s obnoxiously opulent mansion for an early ‘summer BBQ’ event. Hearty and malignant laughs echoed throughout his backyard for several days straight as they were happily partying amid a historical war that could end their country. However, none of them showed any signs of fear, worry or even remorse. This was because they were all in on the joke- the joke known as ‘the end of Xagontetia’.

“Right, that idiotic Prince is rather pitiful in a way. He’s desperately trying to keep this country afloat when it will obviously crumble,” commented another minister as he took a large mouthful of a well-grilled hamburger steak. They were all fully aware that this country would collapse soon and thus took certain ‘contingencies’. “Though honestly, I kind of wish he’d just give up soon and accept his fate. Our friends in the Empire are all getting a little anxious. Isn’t that right? Mister Nicholai Ilyich?” the minister turned to a tall man who had been standing around in the corner observing them through his rounded spectacles.

He wore a smart grey suit that outlined his slender yet muscular features. His facial features were sharp and clean, exuding an intimidating aura that could silence even the most boisterous of children. His hair hid a few greys in between, but instead of making him seem aged it merely accentuated his character- making him seem more like an experienced, older gentleman. The man let out a deep puff of his cigarette and nodded wordlessly to that minister’s mindless rambling.

This man was not a citizen of Xagontetia but an illegal foreign envoy that had been smuggled into the country by Duke Paran to conduct negotiations. He had been staying as a guest at the Duke’s mansion for the past few months and had gotten a roughly accurate understanding of his host’s rotten personality. Watching these parasites stuffing their faces all day and easing their lusts with innocent young girls at night, some part of him wanted to knock their lights out. ‘Disgusting,’ thought Nicholai as he continued to smoke his cigarette. They had ordered him to stay here until the war was over, but his patience had been taking a massive toll.

In exchange for sabotaging their own country, the Ministry of War had been promised a title of nobility and a generous amount of land from the Empire once they took over Xagontetia. Like moths to a flame they all bought into it and immediately started work on destroying the very country that created them. Of course, eventually those moths would burn; likewise Nicholai knew the Empire had no intention of fulfilling their promise. In fact, anyone with half a mind would’ve realized this already, but these fat parasites thought otherwise. ‘Would they do anything to increase their wealth and cholesterol?’ wondered Nicholai as he continued to observe with a wince.

“Hmm, but don’t you think that stupid Prince already knows we’ve betrayed him?” asked one minister in between eating.

“Even if he figured it out, what can he do? Since we control the majority of the territory, it would be a terrible idea for him if all of us were removed. It’d be like suddenly removing the queen from a hive, without us the system would come crashing down, and he can’t afford any of that during the most important war in this country’s history,” Paran answered as he let out a horrendously ghastly laugh. He then eyed some maid servants that were coming and going to deliver food and licked his lips. His eyes shined ominously with the lust of a wolf before a crippled prey.

‘Does he even have a heart? Or did all that fat clog it?’ thought Nicholai.

“Lord Paran,” Nicholai called out to him. There was no chance that he did so because he wanted a conversation partner, he merely thought that as long as he was here he might as well do some good in the world. “I’ve heard you also pick up ‘goods’ from the streets.”

TO put it bluntly: illegal slaves. Most of them were orphans or those with no family so they wouldn’t be tracked or noticed. Young girls and some boys were kept in cages down in his basement as though fellow Humans were mere animals and pets to be kept. He even had some ‘special slaves’ which were of more exotic races, rarest being the Elves.

“Ah, are you interested, Mister Nicholai? We’ve gotten quite the haul in the past few weeks. Some of my men even caught an Elf though it took a bit more effort and thus would cost you more. Heh... hehehe,” the man’s fat lips continued to move as it let out a foul odour. At that moment Nicholai wanted nothing more than for this unsightly man to drop dead from heart failure.

Nicholai extinguished his cigarette by stomping it against the dirt and stood up. “Please let me see them.”

“O- of course, of course!” the pudgy man jumped up with glee and the prospect of money and led him down to the basement.

*

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It was dark and a foul stench was in the air. It was like a zoo, but all the animals were in pain. A suffering moan came from within the cages, and as Nicholai peered inside, he could see malnourished children being kept with collars around their necks. They stared up at him with blank eyes, some of them expressing anger or fear, but nothing positive.

Nicholai grimaced as he somehow suppressed his urge to smash the pudgy duke’s head against the wall and free all these children. He had to keep in his disgust because his country demanded he interacts with these horrible people to end the war just a bit quicker and with lesser deaths. That said, it went against not just his morals but every instinct in his body to do such dirty work.

“Heh heh, what do you think, Mister Nicholai? See any you like?”

“Didn’t you say you had an Elf too?” he asked.

“Ah, this way please,” the man guided him like a storekeeper revealing his most prized and expensive stock.

He was guided into the far back where a single cage had been kept hidden behind a thick, black tarp. Removing the cover revealed a horrible malnourished Elven girl with fair white hair and reddish eyes. Her long ears were ragged and torn, and her complexion was horribly pale. She was naked, but rather than lust, the only emotion that could be felt from any normal Human being was pity. She had been so starved that her ribcages could be seen from the outside, and her arms were as thin and twigs. They gave her a dog bowl with murky porridge dumped onto it.

The girl immediately shrieked back as she tried to hide her face with her arms and balled into a foetal position. She whimpered horribly as she shook.

“Hey! What are you doing?! Show your face immediately!” shouted Paran.

“It’s fine,” Nicholai stopped him and took a deep breath to sigh. “I’ll take all of them,” he told him.

“Eh?” Paran was stunned but his eyes grew wide. “A- all of them?”

“All, and anymore you find, I’ll buy them up immediately,” he replied. Nicholai was not one for lacking money. His father was a Margrave overseeing a border territory that was in direct conflict with Xagontetia. He himself had been a military man for as long as he could remember and had always learnt to be moral. He simply couldn’t ignore these children who were obviously suffering like this.

“Th- then, should I have my servants arrange a transport back to your homeland?” Paran asked.

“No!” Nicholai shouted, then realizing himself he calmed down and continued, “no, that’s quite fine. I’ll have one of my servants take care of it. Thank you.”

“Of course. Pleasure doing business with you.”