Chapter 82

TN: Since this chapter contains many names from various units of the Yuri Empire, here’s some mini-personal-fandom-ish that I created for myself. LINK HERE. Warning: May Contain Spoilers.

The ‘Small Conference Room’ on the first floor of the Yuritania Palace.

In that room, which is not very spacious, all twelve of the troops’ captains that the Yuri Empire boasts were gathered.

Today is the 20th of Autumn Moon.

No, it had just changed to ‘Akizuki 21’. (TN: Akizuki (秋) means Autumn. Source: Wiktionary).

In other words, the time had just passed midnight. There was a reason why they dared to have a secret meeting at this time when most of the people in the palace were resting in their beds.

“Thank you for gathering here so late at night today.”

Partita, the captain of the 72-member <Nadeshiko> maid squad, the largest in the Yuri Empire, announced this while bowing to everyone present.

“What is this all about, Partita? It’s fine to have a meeting, but why do you have to keep it a secret from the Princess?”

“You’re right, Hera-sama. If there is any information that needs to be made known to all the troops, it would be in the best interest of the vassals to hold a meeting with their master, Yuri.”

The first to raise their voices in protest at Partita’s attempt to take control of the situation was Hera, the captain of the <Shirayuri>, and Sera, the captain of the <Water Lily>.

If you dare to hold a meeting at this time of day when Yuri is in bed in her room with her favored child, you will be doing a lot of good. There was no doubt in mind that this was a secret meeting, even from Yuri.

The two, who share a similar name, are also very similar in that they both have the propensity for [Extreme Good]. They tend to value the [Order] that is formed with Yuri at the top, so they don’t want to hide things from her in the first place.

It was out of the question for them to have a secret meeting late at night when the risk of being exposed to Yuri was low.

“I am well aware of the fact that Hera-sama and Sera-sama do not like to keep secrets from their masters. However, we tend to act a bit too freely with each unit.

Considering the future, we have decided that it is necessary to share information beyond the boundaries of our units, so we have dared to set up a meeting that is secret even from the master.”

“We’re ‘acting too much on our own’? Even I can’t overlook that kind of thing.”

“I’m not saying that’s the case with the <Shirayuri>, and likewise not the case with the <Water Lily>. I’m talking about all the other units that are acting on their own.”

“All the troops? Don’t tell me that you guys are harboring a rebellious spirit against Yuri-sama?”

She said this in a cold voice and glared at everyone in the room.

With those words, a rough hostility filled the place.

“Hera-san~. If you’re serious about that, I’ll kill you~?”

“I can’t tolerate having my loyalty to my sister questioned, either.”

Hotaru, the captain of <Red Plum>, and Parfe, the captain of <Himeyuri>, both of whom usually keep a smile on their faces, revealed their hostility to each other with smiles on their faces.

“Mm…… Yes, I’m sorry. It was a miscommunication and I would like to retract it. I understand that everyone in this room is loyal to the Princess. We’ve known each other for more than 20 years now, so there’s no room for doubt there.”

“Well, I don’t know about you guys. I don’t know about you, but I don’t have any loyalties.”

In response to Sera’s words, Cassia, the captain of <Kuroyuri>, tried to say so. The fact that her words were untrue was also well known to all the captains of the other units who had known her for a long time.

Despite their words, all the members of <Kuroyuri> have a strong sense of loyalty to Yuri.

If Yuri ordered them to die, all of them would cut off their heads without a moment’s hesitation and with a smile.

“We are united in our pledge of allegiance Yuri-sama, but we are not united in our course of action since our inclinations vary from unit to unit.

For example, the members of the <Shirayuri> and <Water Lily> tend [Extreme Good], and therefore, they only like to act under their master’s will. Even if you come up with something that you think will benefit Yuri-sama, you must first consult with your master and get his permission before doing it, right?”

“Yes, I have no objection to that.”

“Yes, I think you’re right.”

Hera and Sera both nodded at Partita’s words.

This is why the importance of prior consultation is so important because any action that is not under the master’s wishes is strictly prohibited.

“But you’re not like that. The moment you think of something that will benefit Yuri-sama, there is no hesitation in taking action. ―――Isn’t that right?”

“…… Hmm. I don’t know.”

“Well, you’re right. If it’s for the good of Princess, there’s no hesitation.”

“Of course, you’ll regret it if you don’t act.”

“At any rate, if you slash anything troublesome, it will all be solved.”

In response to Partita’s words, Cassia, the captain of <Kuroyuri>, Primula, the captain of <Red Rose>, Misari, the captain of <Blue Rose>, and Sakura, the captain of <Sakuraka>, responded in turn.

All of these troops are made up of people with a propensity for [Extreme Evil].

Only Cassia, the captain of <Kuroyuri>, is swearing, but everyone in the room understands that this is the opposite of an affirmation.

“And those of you who are [Neutral] prefer to make decisions that are somewhere between [Extreme Good] and [Extreme Evil]. If the expectations are low, you will consult with the master first, and if the expectations are high, you will not hesitate to act on your own.

“That’s right. If it will be of great benefit sister, I will not hesitate.”

“I have no objection.”

“If the payback is great, I’ll do it even if I’m prepared to be scolded by Yuri-sama.”

“It’s all for Sister!”

“It’s only natural to weigh the risks and rewards.”

This time, the respondents were, in order, Parfe, captain of <Himeyuri>, Henruda, captain of <Yellow Rose>, Hotaru, captain of <Red Plum>, Meteora, captain of <Kikyou>, and Krone, captain of <Rindou>.

In addition to this, the six troops, including <Nadeshiko>, are all [Neutral] in their disposition, so as Partita said, they will consider the extent to which they will benefit Yuri.

―――Speaking, only the <Rindou> does not have the same tendencies as the rest of the unit, and it is composed of people with all the tendencies of [Extreme Good],  [Good], [Neutral], [Evil], and [Extreme Evil]. If you were to take the whole unit together, you could probably consider them to be [Neutral].

If they can only expect a small profit, they will refrain from acting selfishly to avoid the risk of being disliked by Yuri.

However, if they can expect great benefits, they are willing to take the initiative for Yuri, even at the risk of being disliked or losing her trust.

“I see. It is true that, as Partita said, our loyalties are the same, but our courses of action are different. I admit that this is true, but―――

Partita also said earlier that we need to share information. What information do we need to share?”

“I don’t mind explaining it in words at ……. No, instead of explaining it, I would like to ask one question to all of you here.

If any of your troops have at least once in the past acted to increase the Yuri Empire’s sphere of influence in secret from Yuri-sama or carried out an action to sabotage an enemy force in secret from Yuri-sama, please raise your hand.”

Partita asked this question to all the captains gathered in the hall.

Eventually, the hands of all ten captains, except for Sera and Hera, slowly rose.

Surprise, even the Partita herself raised her hand when she asked a question.

“…… what?”

“Oh, dear……”

When they saw the state of the place, Hera and Sera were speechless with surprise.

It was unimaginable to them that all of the troops, except for themselves, had experience in carrying out ‘covert actions’ against Yuri.

“I don’t know. Don’t you think we need to share information more closely?”

“…… Partita is right. I had no idea about that……”

“You can’t argue with that……”

Sera and Hera both slumped their shoulders as they showed themselves to be too ignorant.

However, they were not the only ones who were surprised. The others were also surprised because they hadn’t grasped the fact that someone other than their troops was acting so arbitrarily.

“I’m sure it’s still fresh in your mind that about a month ago, 60,000 troops from the Kingdom of Eldad invaded the border and entered the land of the Yuri Empire.

“That time when sister used [Ultimate Skill] to kill them all! That was exciting!”

“Yes, I agree with you. But did you know that in reality, the Kingdom was not only dominated by the ‘Pro-War Faction’, but there were also noblemen of the ‘Reconciliation Faction’ who opposed the deployment, and the kingdom’s deployment was scheduled to be delayed?

“Eh,…… Oh, really? I didn’t know that at all.”

In response to Partita’s words, Parfe revealed her surprise.

Even so, no one here doubts that if Partita, the captain of <Nadeshiko> who is skilled in espionage, says so, then it must be true.

Partita’s explanation was correct: there was a ‘Reconciliation Faction’ in the kingdom.

It would not be an exaggeration to say that all of the nobles in the kingdom, especially those who had a strong faith in the eight main gods, were ‘Reconciliationist’.

When Yuri became one of the main gods, this fact was notified to all the temple facilities in the world by Lydina’s oracle. Of course, at that time, the high priest who worked in the cathedral of the kingdom also knew about this fact.

Therefore, the faithful were informed of this fact through the High Priest’s preaching and understood the fact that Yuri, the Lord of the Yuri Empire, is ‘one of the main gods’.

So, of course, a devout believer would not be willing to turn their army against the ‘God’s Kingdom’.