“Please, go ahead. What is happening here?”
The reception room prepared by the Village Chief.
In this remote village, a relatively new wooden table is placed in the center, with me and Kyle facing each other.
Outside, knights are guarding to prevent anyone from eavesdropping, and there are soundproof curtains inside as well.
Kyle wipes the cold sweat from his forehead with a clean handkerchief and lets out a sigh.
“Ha… How far have you investigated?”
“Take a look for yourself.”
A stack of papers lies in front of Kyle.
As he looks at it, Kyle begins reading the content titled ‘Worm Monster’ on the very first page.
About five minutes later, Kyle lets out a deeper sigh and sets the paper down.
“…You’ve certainly done thorough research.”
“That’s one of my strengths. It’s a strength that my father also recognized.”
“A strength…”
……
“I’ll be honest. No, I will speak up.”
“Yes.”
“As you already know, the competition for succession within the royal family is intensifying.”
Although the records of Ertarn didn’t detail it, I was able to learn more about the truth of the world through my dreams.
Among the most crucial content was the condition of King Lyons.
King Lyons had been deteriorating due to age and illness over the past few years, and the succession issue was spreading throughout the kingdom.
‘Even the village chief from a remote village knows that the king is ill.’
Of course, it was partly because the chief frequently went to the capital due to the monster issue, but even considering that, the problem was serious.
“You’re well aware. So what’s the big deal?”
“The First Prince, the Second Prince, and the Fourth Prince are in a succession competition. And our Silver Lion Knight Order is supporting the Second Prince.”
“…”
Kyle speaks as if it’s natural to exclude me.
It might seem a bit arrogant in front of the king’s bloodline, but he’s not wrong.
‘In reality, I have no claim to the throne.’
Being an illegitimate child puts me in the 20th rank, at best.
Moreover, I’m the king’s neglected offspring, a princess and not a prince.
Even the First Princess can’t even step into the succession line right now, so it would be absurd for me, a princess in the 10th rank or so, to challenge it.
[Hmm]
[Lily being a queen would be funny though]
[That’s quite audacious, haha]
[So?]
“So what?”
“I know that Princess Lily is supporting the Third Prince. However, the Third Prince is in very poor health and has no chance for succession. It should be considered neutral…”
“What’s the conclusion? Why did you change the monster?”
“You’ve changed it, haven’t you?”
“…The First Prince’s influence is growing.”
Currently, the power structure has the First Prince and the Second Prince each holding 40%, with the Fourth Prince possessing 10%, and the remaining 10% scattered among other princes and princesses.
Among them, the largest influence is from the First Prince, but the Second Prince is closely trailing behind, leading to a tight competition.
However, an unexpected turn of events occurred.
“The First Princess is aligning herself with the First Prince.”
The First Princess, who held the most power among the remaining 10%, siding with the First Prince could not help but shake the already delicate power balance.
“Additionally, recent intelligence suggests that the Fourth Prince is also joining forces with the First Prince. At this rate, the Second Prince will inevitably face bloodshed.”
To the First Prince, the Second Prince is the most threatening enemy and obstacle.
If the First Prince receives enough support to ascend the throne, all those involved with the Second Prince would meet their demise.
“So, the Second Prince came to a conclusion four years ago.”
“……”
‘If there’s no way to gain power, then let’s take down the opposing forces.’
“Was that the worm monster you mentioned?”
“The First Prince’s strongest support base is the fertile farmlands of the Great Plains. Those lands belong to Marquis Jeniva.”
“Hmm…”
“By the way, the daughter of Marquis Jeniva is also the wife of the First Prince. Since they share a strong blood tie, swaying them over is not an option.”
Unlike the Second Prince’s support base which is evenly spread among several forces, the First Prince’s support is mostly derived from ‘Jeniva.’
Currently, out of the 40% support held by the First Prince, about 30% comes from Jeniva.
In other words, if ‘Jeniva’ were to collapse, the First Prince’s support base would instantly fall apart.
The Second Prince has long sought a way to bring down Jeniva, and he found the answer in the monster.
Kyle’s plan was simple.
Feed a beneficial monster that consumes rough earth and excretes fine soil… ‘humans.’
Originally, it would refuse since it eats soil, but using high-level mage magic, they would gradually change its appetite.
At first, it couldn’t consume even one human and spit them out, but through continuous looping, it eventually could eat multiple humans at once.
As time went on, the number of residents being eaten increased, and in the end, they were cornered to the edge of a cliff, having no choice but to pray.
‘If we had dragged this out longer, everyone would have been eaten.’
[Are there 10 kids?]
[Let’s just kill them, Lily.]
[;; This is a bit much.]
[That Second Prince is a bastard, haha.]
[This is crazy.]
[What are you bragging about?]
[Poor little worm ㅠㅠ]
[Can’t Lily just be the queen?]
Crack.
“…Why are we feeding people?”
“Please calm down and listen.”
“Are you out of your mind feeding people to a monster? I need to tell my father right away…!”
“Princess Lily Lyons.”
Her Royal Highness, the Eleventh Princess.
“I’m not just speaking from the perspective of the Commander of the Silver Lion Knight Order.”
“…”
“I speak as a loyal servant of His Highness the Second Prince, Kaios Lu Lyons. The Eleventh Princess will need a solid support base after the succession is complete, won’t she?”
To survive what comes after the ‘disposal,’ that is.
“If the First Prince ascends, he will dispose of anyone eligible for the throne. Even the First Princess or the Fourth Prince who helped him.”
“That can’t be true. No way he would eliminate those who helped him…”
“Even if he doesn’t kill them, he will definitely cripple them somehow. You know this well.”
The First Prince is that kind of person.
“…Is there any guarantee the Second Prince wouldn’t do the same?”
“The Second Prince definitely gives rewards fairly. If you don’t stand with the First Prince, he might overlook even someone as highly ranked as the ‘Third Prince.’”
“…”
“Please… I ask for your wise judgment.”
Third Prince.
The original ‘Jeruna Lyons’ would likely have accepted this here.
No matter if this is right or wrong, from the perspective of the Eleventh Princess supporting the ailing Third Prince, she couldn’t refuse Kai’s proposal.
Even if she refused and later asked the First Prince for protection, she would be up against nine knights and the commander.
In the body of merely the Eleventh Princess, there would be no way to escape the entire knight order.
Even if she pretended to cooperate, by that time, they would probably have the Third Prince or some false evidence ready to use as hostages.
“…Please continue.”
“Hehe… a good choice indeed.”
“Go on.”
“Yes. As you know, monsters eat dirt and excrete it. They’re very friendly, but if any ‘humans’ mix in, the dirt gets a bit ‘cloudy.’”
“…No way.”
“That’s right.”
Cough.
“That monster will head towards Marquis Jeniva’s territory. And it will slowly lurk underground, contaminating the land.”
The worm demon originally only acted underground.
While it recently showed up to eat people, it was a being that had been hard to find even to spot.
People didn’t mistakenly think Buabua was their kind mother just for fun.
‘Even without having seen it, it made the land fertile all on its own.’
But now, it was different.
It was different.
“Jeniva will be left clueless as the territory becomes tainted and she loses power. The monster itself can match a considerable knight order, so they can’t just deal with it carelessly. Even if they try, it’s just a monster, after all.”
There was only suspicion, no evidence.
The First Prince would press the Second Prince, but the Second Prince would feign ignorance, claiming not to be slandered.
But being too open about it would face the king’s disapproval, so the Second Prince would be in a position to gain without any risk.
[What a crazy guy]
[Let’s kill, kill, kill!]
[Wow, lol]
[So that’s why the Celestial Being was pissed]
“I was wondering why such a force came this far… turns out there was a reason.”
“Of course.”
There’s a reason why 11 knights affiliated with the royal family came here.
They worried that the monster might go berserk, so they required as much power as possible.
It wasn’t a coincidence that the knight order arrived at this time.
“Now that the experiments are over, I’m planning to lift the protection over the village. Don’t worry about the monster escaping. As long as there’s high-level magic involved, it won’t matter if it runs away. The ones primarily dealing with contamination are other ‘children’…”
“What happens when the protection is lifted?”
“Well, the fertile land will become rotten. There’s no need for you to intervene.”
“……”
“I’ll take care of everything so it can’t be leaked…”
KWA-BOOM!!!
The wall crumbled.
On the floor littered with fragments lay the Silver Lion knights, sprawled out carelessly, as some gigantic thing approached and grabbed Kyle by the neck.
“Uh-ahhh!”
CRUNCH…!
“You… are bad.”
This was the first time I’ve seen him this furious.
Malice that could make even the already ominous Ertarn feel dangerous.
Kyle hastily released his aura, but it couldn’t even create a hairline fracture in Ertarn’s body.
He looked back at me with desperate eyes.
“Pl-please, ugh! Save me…!”
“…Yena, whether now or then, it’s always the same.”
I lightly ignored his gaze.
And then.
CRACK.
Kyle’s neck broke.
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