Supreme Magus novel Chapter 4441

Chapter 4441: Many Eggs in one Basket (Part 1)

"But Keyla did notice that something was wrong with Ghishal when the reports started flooding in." Lith said. "Why didn’t she ask Brinja for help then?"

"For the reasons Keyla explained to you when you visited the Lark Estate and that Kamila just mentioned. Rivalries." Jirni said. "All the local lords compete not only with their neighbors, but also with the other nobles of comparable influence in their fief.

"Keyla and the other struggling nobles didn’t want to admit how badly they were doing, so they played into the hands of the bandits by minimizing their issues and using their personal funds to compensate the victims of the raids and hire more guards.

"Brinja didn’t notice what was happening because those she trusted to act as her eyes and ears in the various counties played dumb to save their faces."

"This gives us a better picture of the problem, but offers us no solution." Lith replied. "What do you think we are dealing with?"

"It could be anything, but if I had to guess, I’d say someone is staging several coups inside the Distar region." Jirni said. "It’s the only explanation that covers all the facts. An inexplicable small issue that snowballs into a failure big enough to cost the local lords their fiefs.

"If I’m right, we’re dealing with a bloodless takeover that is making lots of people rich and will increase their noble status without having to move a finger. The rival nobles leak the information to the bandits, probably in exchange for a share of the loot.

"The bandits succeed, the local lord changes tactics, the rival nobles leak it again, making it ineffective. Rinse and repeat until people like Keyla are removed from office despite their noble sacrifices and valiant efforts."

"What about the nobles who are successful in dealing with the bandits?" Lith’s jaw clenched in outrage.

"They are relatively successful, Lith." Kamila replied. "Half the caravans still get hit, but compared to Barla and Keyla they look good. Also, remember what I’ve said about rivalries.

"Were everyone equally unsuccessful, the local lords would have shared their problems and reported them to Brinja. They didn’t do it because a few of them had no such problem, and no one wanted to admit defeat first.

"The bandits failing on purpose to keep the nobles from working together is the best-case scenario, though. Worst case scenario, the successful rulers are in cahoots with the bandits.

"As I told you, most of the ’successful nobles’ were deemed incompetent by the Royal Court. According to my research, they were about to be replaced."

"But now that they have proven their valor, they will keep their seats." Lith nodded in understanding.

"It’s a nice theory, but if we present it to Brinja without any evidence, it won’t change anything." Jirni said. "She must judge the performance of her retainers based on facts and numbers, not coincidences and speculations.

"She will of course launch an investigation, but it will find nothing more than what we already did. To make matters worse, predicting the bandits’ targets will become much harder once spring arrives.

"There will be so many merchant caravans going around that it will be impossible to find the bandits that helped the nobles stage the coups among all the common criminals that know nothing about this."

"In other words, unless we do something now, Keyla is going to lose Ghishal County." Lith nodded.

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