124-Episode 124: Exploring the Prime Minister

Ah, that's right, the gates to King's Landing in Dragonia are open!

I received word from the golems I sent to King's Landing in Dragonia that the marker for the transfer gate had been installed, so I quickly opened the gate and came to King's Landing.

The gate has been set up in an inconspicuous place on the outskirts of the capital as ordered and there is no one in the vicinity.

''Well then, let's ask the masterminds to leave.

The main reason for sending the golem to the King's Capital wasn't to install a gate.

This is only to make the movement between the two towns smoother.

In this incident, the anti-Long Emperor faction revolted against the Dragon Emperor.

If that's all, they would leave it alone as a domestic quarrel between the nobles, but it's hard to overlook the fact that they're trying to hold their own people hostage for that purpose.

If we let it go unchecked, there's a high possibility that many more people will be killed.

That's why I've come to restrain them to prevent the Anti-Long Emperor Faction from misbehaving until the Dragon Princess ceremony is safely over and Ryune-san reveals her true identity.

If they're golems with no substance, they don't have to worry about endangering anyone if they're caught.

Besides, Bakin-san has already confirmed who the members of the Dragon Emperor Faction are, so there's no need to worry about the golems inadvertently capturing a nobleman on their side.

Well, there's a possibility of fighting the knights guarding the royal capital, so I've also told the golems not to fight back except for the minimum.

This is a countermeasure to avoid incurring the resentment of the knights when Ryune-san is restored to power as a royalty later on.

I thought the golems were pretty much out of action because of such instructions, but it seems that they're surprisingly not broken.

I wonder if the knights guarding the royal capital have sensed that there is no hostility in the actions of the golems?

When you think about it, the knights might actually be the Dragon Emperor faction that didn't think well of the Viziers' control of the state.

In such a way, the control of the castle by the golems was successfully completed, and they had succeeded in capturing the main anti-Long Emperor faction's nobles.

Only one person was left behind, the Prime Minister, who seemed to be the main culprit.

''So, have you found out where the Prime Minister is?

....

But the golems shook their heads that they hadn't been found yet, and they bowed their heads to say they were sorry.

"We took control of the castle, but the Prime Minister is gone. So that means they've already fled.

Neither the family and servants at the Prime Minister's mansion seemed to know where the Prime Minister was, and his whereabouts were completely lost.

Hmm, I should have put a probe function on the golem as well.

It's a pity that we only gathered a number of materials that were available, but now we're here.

It's a terrible person to abandon your family and run away.

The Prime Minister is very quick to judge when he senses our attack and runs away immediately.

It was the same in the past life, but these swift-footed scoundrels would do something troublesome later on.

If possible, I'd like to catch them as soon as possible.

"They must have prepared a hidden passage or transference device in the mansion.

While letting the golem find an escape route, I'll use exploration magic to investigate the reactions in the vicinity.

If there is a reaction to leave the capital at this time of attack, there is a high probability that it is the Anti-Long-Emperor group.

If it was a speeding carriage, it's almost certain.

''Huh?　It's not responding.

But unfortunately, I didn't detect a reaction to fleeing King's Landing.

'Hmmm, what a shame.'

I wonder if this was a transference device that escaped.

If that's the case, I'll have to find out where the transference device is hidden in order to track it down.

"If he's abandoning the royal capital and his friends and escaping so easily, he may have a large base of operations somewhere.

I thought he was just a rogue nobleman, but he might be more troublesome than I expected.

In the past life, among the powerful there were many leaders of pagan groups and magic researchers who found ancient treasures and plotted to rule the world, and I wonder if the Prime Minister was one of those people.

Come to think of it, I don't think I've seen a villain obsessed with that kind of desire for domination since I was reincarnated in this era.

Maybe the world is gradually getting better over a long period of time.

Yeah, when you think about it, maybe it wasn't a waste of time for me to have fought for myself in my previous life and previous lives!

And that's when it happened.

The exploration magic indicated that someone was coming to where I was.

'Hmm? This reaction.....

I immediately put on Tyran's equipment to hide my identity and concentrate on detecting the reaction.

But strangely enough, that reaction doesn't approach from the road.

Is he coming through the house?

Yes, the reaction was pushing straight through the residential area.

If I proceeded as the reaction, I would have hit a house on the way.

''Could this be........''

As I search for what lies ahead of my reaction with the golem in tow, I find a house that looks like a house.

It's an oddly large, yet halfway old house for being on the outskirts of the royal capital.

''Yeah, it's a typical getaway house.''

I've seen them in previous lives and in previous lives.

These houses have a hidden escape route exit for escape that the powers that be built in their mansions.

And the descendants of the then powerful man's minions, pretending to be civilians, live there as caretakers.

So, if the powers-that-be come through the hidden passages when the time comes, I'll help them escape.

As I enter the grounds of the mansion while checking the reaction of the exploration magic, I ignore the house where the inhabitants are reacting and head to the barn on the side.

''This is it.''

The reaction of the exploration magic is towards the barn over here, not the house.

And when I examined the inside of the barn, I found, as expected, a staircase down to the basement in one corner of the floor.

Down the stairs was a small warehouse that didn't look like it had been used.

'Is it around here?'

Examining the walls of the basement, I knew there was a hidden door.

And when I opened the door, there was a passageway extending into it, and I could feel someone coming from the back.

''Could it be the Prime Minister?''

The approaching responses are multiple, and it seems likely that the other person is the Prime Minister.

I hid and waited for them to approach me.

Hahaha, we've managed to escape. The only thing left to do is to prepare a carriage and have a garrison of knights to guard it, and then we can escape from the capital.

The person who appeared was a dignified old man dressed in a luxurious outfit and a few men who seemed to be his guards.

From their clearly recognizable appearance as aristocrats, there is no doubt that this old man is a high-ranking aristocrat.

This is most likely to be the Prime Minister.

Alright, let's catch him then.

Paralize.net!

As soon as I appeared, I immediately unleashed a paralysis spell at the guards.

''Goooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo...''

I tried to chase after them immediately, but the guards easily fell down.

"What?

What is it?　The guards seem oddly weak?

What?

The old man wolfs down as I move out of magical range to check.

I take the old man's arm and polarize the joint and push him to the ground to secure myself.

''Guh!''

But oh dear. I think we've got a problem.

You You You have mistaken me for the Vizier of Dragonia, Lugameno Mazanu İsemen, and you've gone rogue!

The old man claims he's the Prime Minister, but it's too late now.

"Don't lie to me.

What...?

This self-proclaimed vizier's bodyguard is too weak, no matter how much.

In order to avoid accidentally getting the Prime Minister involved and killing him, a weak paralyzing magic was cast as a check, but it's inconceivable from a common sense standpoint that everyone would be stuck with it.

So the only thing we can think of is that this Prime Minister is an imposter.

Yeah, he's a decoy.

He was killed, and the real Prime Minister would have escaped while he was still alive.

Hey, hey!　I'm the real Prime Minister!　It's real!　I'm not lying!

Oh dear, no matter how much it's a decoy, it's still impossible to claim it's the real thing in this situation.

And there's no way the real one would say it was the real one when it was caught.

Or maybe this decoy didn't think that his guards were this weak.

That's probably why he's desperately pretending to be a vizier in order to buy his employer time to escape.

You have a surprisingly loyal subordinate with you.

Well, he's an old man, so let's get him to tell us as much information as possible to avoid getting him hurt.

He wasn't good at torture or interrogation, so he has experience in making that kind of medicine in his previous life.

◆.

An incredibly horrible tasting liquid is forcibly poured into my mouth.

''Where is the Prime Minister?''

Then the man in black armor in front of me asks a question, and his mouth moves on its own.

''Goooooooo!　Wow! I am the real Prime Minister!　I'm here...

Perhaps it was a special effect potion.

I had been forced to answer the bandit's question honestly.

........and yet!

'I'm surprised you can't just take these pills and not talk about it.

For some reason, the bandits don't believe me!

I was forced to take different medicines one after another and asked the same questions over and over again.

Moreover, they were all different and tasted horrible, so I couldn't get used to them, nor could I tolerate them.

In fact, it was you who made me take them! You don't believe in the efficacy of your own medicine!

Once I was caught, I changed my policy.

It's because they judged that since they targeted me, the Prime Minister, they could negotiate with me.

If it's an example for a declaration of war, you can target the city where the commoners live without me being in the capital.

But they dared to attack the capital without hesitation and targeted me, the de facto supreme power in this country, which is the most difficult to capture.

I'm sure he had a purpose in mind.

If that's the case, there's a good chance that he will not lose his life if he is negotiated with.

And if he had killed the prime minister, my country would do its best to find the identity of the culprit and retaliate against him.

A decent person in power would not take such unnecessary risks.

That is why I tried to sit down at the bargaining table to tell him who I am, but this man refuses to believe that I am the Prime Minister!

What the hell do you think you're doing?

Next time, you will take this potion.

Stop it....

"Come on, you're going to get it out of you this time. Where is the Prime Minister?

'That's why I'm the Prime Minister!

Hey, somebody help me!

Escort! Escort! Get up and help me!

I desperately seek help from my guards.

"" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "

But the guards were silently meditating, as if to say that they didn't hear me.

'Don't pretend to be asleep! You guys are definitely awake! Your eyebrows are twitching!

"Okay, now let's get you to take these pills.

'No!