“Silence! Silence, I say!”
With that shout from the King of Belbur, who was sitting on the throne a few steps elevated from the long table in the conference room, the hall fell quiet.
However, unlike the heavy silence moments ago, it was an uneasy silence, as though complaints could erupt at any moment. The sound of armor clinking, clothes rustling, deep breaths, and quiet muttering created a chaotic stillness.
“Crown Princess Sylvia. I will allow you to speak. If you made such a statement, you must have your reasons. Could you please explain it clearly so that everyone here can understand?”
Well, I’m not sure I can explain it that well.
But then again, the king probably isn’t expecting me to. After all, in a nobility meeting like this, someone is bound to oppose just for the sake of opposing. The only times genuine dissent arises are when it’s a situation where ‘there’s a high chance of dying if you oppose.’
“The Papal State—”
I paused deliberately, hoping to come off as ‘arrogant’ in the eyes of those present.
“The Emperor is highly likely to be in the Papal State. We must immediately form a special forces unit to investigate what is happening there.”
“But isn’t that an issue for the Empire?”
One of the nobles from the Kingdom interjected, as if waiting for the chance.
“We cannot know what His Majesty is doing there, but regardless of what happens to him, that is a matter for the Empire to resolve directly. We are under no obligation to assist. Please remember what you did here last year, Crown Princess.”
In other words, since you hindered our alliance, we have no need to assist you militarily.
“I’m sorry, but we’ve never wanted the Kingdom’s military assistance. The special forces will only add a few members to the team that conducted operations in Lutetia last night.”
“And one of those who went with the Crown Princess yesterday was Charlotte.”
Charlotte was nowhere to be seen. The fact that Alice was present but Charlotte was not likely meant she had been intentionally excluded from this gathering.
This was just my assumption, but if it were Charlotte, she would definitely participate in that special forces unit without a second thought. She might wear a complicated expression like yesterday, showing immense discomfort, but knowing Charlotte’s straightforward character, she would judge that ‘it’s the right thing to do.’ After all, she was trusting me.
In that sense, the one I probably owe the biggest apology to right now is Charlotte.
However, regardless of what Charlotte was thinking, it would be hard to justify that to my father, the king.
Last night, didn’t a gryphon pop out when he trusted me and sent his daughter away? Moreover, while the king didn’t see it firsthand, Charlotte got injured by that gryphon’s claws. Thankfully, it has healed now and left no trace.
However, that doesn’t mean the clothes torn last night are all patched up, so one could only guess what kind of battle occurred then.
“…If there are personnel who must withdraw, it would still be acceptable.”
As I said that, I saw the Sword Saint stepping forward beside me.
He clearly had a look of wanting to participate badly.
After spending quite a long time in boredom, the Sword Saint came down from the mountain after realizing there was someone he could fight.
He must be thrilled at the very possibility of a battlefield where he might have to risk his life. Besides, the knights of the Papal State were already quite known as formidable fighters.
And there were others who might step up to replace the students who would drop out, such as Jennifer and Carolyn, both of whom were exceptionally skilled. Although they were often guest characters in the game, they could certainly be useful in the final battle.
“If only we could get the permission to head to the border region of the Papal State.”
“Are you suggesting we open the Kingdom’s opposing borders to the Empire?”
This time, it was another noble.
This is bothersome.
“The Kingdom and the Papal State have had a close relationship since the past. However, we cannot predict how the Papal State will react if the Empire steps in to assist against them.”
Instead of responding to that noble, I quietly gazed at the Cardinal who was missing an arm.
The Cardinal’s face had turned pale.
“I would like to say that you should ask the Cardinal for details, but then the magic around his neck would cause him to die, so I will explain instead.”
I turned my attention back to the noble and said, “The Papal State has been plotting beneath the Royal City Lutetia. Even in secret from the Kingdom. If the Kingdom does not hold the Papal State accountable for this fact, then who else will? Even if the relationship between the Kingdom and the Papal State is strong, there are still lines that shouldn’t be crossed, right? I don’t know your name, but—oh, you don’t need to bother sharing it. This will likely be our last conversation.”
At my words, that noble opened his mouth, so I quickly raised a hand to interrupt.
“Anyway, are you saying you can accept a situation where friendly neighbors have a bunch of serpents digging a pit right under your house?”
“That is—”
“So, we are offering to help solve it. If the Kingdom’s military doesn’t have to move and a special forces team without any Kingdom personnel can act to assess and resolve the situation, then how do you plan to resolve it otherwise if you do not accept this?”
“…….”
The silence wasn’t because my logic was flawless, but rather because my reaction was more intense than expected.
Even Alice was looking at me with a worried expression.
“And, let me add one more thing.”
I straightened my posture confidently, chest and waist held high.
“Although His Majesty the Emperor may seem unyielding, he has been quite generous towards neighboring countries. While he has strengthened the military, he hasn’t stationed this immense military along the Kingdom’s borders.”
“But wasn’t there shelling at the borders of the autonomous nation?”
That was another noble speaking again.
“That was in response to a request from the autonomous nation.”
The one who responded was Jennifer Winterfield.
“The autonomous nation has been suffering due to the uncontrolled rise of illegal militias for some time. However, as you pointed out, the Empire is wary of its military encroaching too much on the autonomous nation’s side, so the Empire’s assistance was limited in various ways. Therefore, the Empire proposed shelling support—attacking only the enemy positions from a distance without deploying its own troops.”
It was an incredibly shameless explanation, but it was, nonetheless, the truth.
“And after the shelling, the fleet withdrew back to safety. They’re currently near the Imperial Capital, so tomorrow, there won’t be any shelling coming to Lutetia.”
“…….”
I might be just a Crown Princess, but Winterfield is a military family. One with a reputation that is well-known even to neighboring countries.
One can’t easily dismiss the credibility of her statement.
“The Kingdom must have planted spies in the Empire, right?”
I decided to ask outright.
“If so, did any of those spies come back with even a single piece of evidence stating that ‘the Empire is preparing for war’?”
The Emperor had directly told me.
That he intended to take over the world through means other than war.
…It’s hard to believe that completely. But given his meticulous nature, he likely went to great lengths to appear truthful in the eyes of others.
In fact, even I haven’t found any evidence of warfare.
Having scoured all the resources from deep within the Empire, if I couldn’t find anything, it wouldn’t be shocking if the spies planted by the Kingdom couldn’t find anything either.
“The Emperor’s power is formidable. We cannot know for what reason he has vacated the throne, and whether he will indeed be in the Papal State, but if His Majesty’s power were to be left vacant, the Empire would fall into chaos for a while.”
I, along with Alice, still remain here. As a last resort, there’s also Claire, who has the Emperor’s blood running through her.
However, the three of us lack the political weight to truly substitute for the Emperor’s rays of authority. Unless we truly demonstrate significant power, local lords wouldn’t pay us any mind.
…And if that’s the case.
“If a part of the military were to ‘turn into warlords’ amid the chaos of the Empire, could the Kingdom fend them off?”
“…….”
Exactly.
This is why we’re in such a hurry.
If even a portion of the Imperial army becomes warlords or is absorbed by local nobility, and if those local nobility decide to take a different course of action…
That would no longer simply be a band of random terrorists.
They would have all the advanced weaponry of the Imperial army at their disposal once turned into warlords.
Admittedly extreme, but it would be akin to a ‘terrorist organization armed with ballistic missiles, including those who specialize in deploying such weapons’—a spine-chilling existence just hearing about it.
The Empire wouldn’t collapse in an instant. After all, they have established systems and, although it’s flawed, a legislature that can somewhat run the country instead of the Emperor.
However, can we truly guarantee that the possibility of that collapse is ‘zero’?
Neither I nor anyone here could provide a proper answer.
Ah, of course, the Emperor surely isn’t considering that and is just off somewhere.
Still, if I want to bait them, I need to throw out this kind of nonsense first.
You may also like Mesugaki Tank Enters The Academy
