CH ss - 55

[Vigo: Groundwork]

• Vigo’s POV

I came to meet Gile who had returned to his private room after bootlicking King Frederick.

“Gile-sama, I have captured the people in charge of carrying out Linus’s ‘Superhuman Project’ and ascertained that they truly had created artificial human beings.” (Vigo)

“Well done! With this, I will be able to depose Linus.” (Gile)

Gile makes a delighted expression, radiating with joy.

Surely, he thinks that he would be free from the fear of being discarded by his father if he could depose Linus, who is close to King Frederick.

That sort of naïve thought is what makes him unable to tell that he is only a pawn of his father’s ambition, however.

That being said, from Boris’s perspective, I’m also merely one of his pawns, huh.

While feeling sympathy for Gile, my fellow pawn, I straighten my posture.

“I heard that thanks to Gile-sama’s great efforts, Linus’s position in the court has been declining.” (Vigo)

“Ahh, I gave money and status to the nobles close to Linus, pulling them apart. With only low-ranking nobles supporting him now, he’s already cornered to the point of close to losing all his possessions.” (Gile)

Although he is the kind of man who is soft on himself, only in his ability to butter up to people is he superior than even his father,huh.

It seems that he has successfully tided over King Frederick’s allegations against him.

“If Linus has been cornered to that point, then to get the best result, I think you should label him as a rebel who is planning to overthrow the kingdom by making use of the ‘Superhuman Project’, and with your authority as the commander of the Royal Guard Knight Order who protects the security of the royal capital, seize his foundation, that is the Magic Research Institute. What do you say?” (Vigo)

“Very well. Having that annoying old man makes his exit as a rebel would also gain me King Frederick’s trust anyway.” (Gile)

“And, in order to be on the safe side, I think you should put the royal capital under martial law and have city gates closed to restrict the entry and exit of people. When that’s done, you can leave us to handle Linus, so please rest assured. Gile-sama can just wait for the good news by the side of King Frederick.” (Vigo)

If Gile, the commander of the Royal Guard Knight Order, were to send out the order, the gates of the royal capital will be closed immediately, that should stall Frick and Alfine, who would definitely come chasing me, for a while.

In the meantime, we must obtain all the documents and magical equipment related to the ‘Superhuman Project’ from the seized Magic Research Institute, and complete the technology to produce mana antibodies.

This is a race against time, huh.

Along with the development of the mana antibody, we must prepare for the opening of the dimensional gate again.

The situation that has been stagnant begins to move in an instant.

In the last twenty years, the living sphere of my compatriots in this world has narrowed further, thus their number continue to dwindle.

I won’t let this opportunity to slip out of my hand.

“Would you accept my proposal?” (Vigo)

“If you tell my father that I was the one who set everything up, I’ll accept your suggestion. You’re okay with that, right?” (Gile)

Gile offers me a deal in order to redeem the blunders he made because of his personal interest in Alfine.

I have no problem with that if my compatriots can be saved.

Besides, as long as I can achieve my long-cherished desire, whatever happens to Gile is not my business.

“As you wish, I will convey it to Boris-sama in that way.” (Vigo)

“Very well. Then, I will urgently report Linus’s treason to King Frederick and put martial law on the royal capital. I will leave the arrangement of the force to seize the Magic Research Institute to you, so don’t fail me.” (Gile)

“Understood. I will bring results that meet Gile-sama’s expectation. Also——” (Vigo)

“What? You still have something to report?” (Gile)

Gile, who is about to run back to the royal castle seemingly wanting to get rid of Linus as soon as possible, stops in his tracks.

“I received a report that Alfine-dono is returning to the royal capital, aiming for Gile-sama’s life, in order to take revenge for the humiliations you did to her.” (Vigo)

It is a false information that is different from the truth, but I decide to use fear so that Gile, who displays unexpectedly timid side at important situations, doesn’t change his mind.

“Wha—!? What did you say!? Alfine is? Why didn’t you capture her immediately!” (Gile)

Having heard that Alfine is coming to take revenge, Gile visibly quivers, perhaps remembering the feel of the sword pressed against his throat.

“It seems that Alfine-dono has regained her strength as a Sword Master, compared to her of that time, she’s like a completely different person, even several Abyss Walkers won’t be enough to take her down.” (Vigo)

“That’s a lie, right…” (Gile)

“That is why I think it is better to strictly put martial law in place to restrict the entry and exit of people, and to use guards and Royal Guard Knight Order to catch anyone who goes out without permission.” (Vigo)

“Let’s do so. I have no regrets about Alfine anymore. Kill her, you can use any means necessary.” (Gile)

Gile is pale, holding the scar on the base of his throat.

“Then, I will assign a new guard around your person so that you will be safe even if Alfine-dono were to come attacking you. Please look out the window.” (Vigo)

After I sent the signal, the Genocider who has been waiting in the courtyard unravels its optical camouflage and shows its figure.

“Huge… Is that the new guard?” (Gile)

“Yes, it’s a weapon called Genocider. It has dozens of times higher combat power than an enhanced Abyss Walker. It should be able to contend with even Alfine-dono.” (Vigo)

I see Gile’s complexion recovers seeing the giant monster in cloak that appears in the courtyard.

“Seems like I can rest easy with that around. Alright, I’ll go to the royal castle, but I’ll be borrowing that as an escort.” (Gile)

“As you wish, it will conceal its figure when it’s by your side, so please rest assured.” (Vigo)

With the new escort, Gile triumphantly leaves his private room and run back to the royal castle.

With this, even in the unlikely event, the royal capital will be thrown into chaos, which would buy us time for research and activation of the dimensional gate.

Additionally, if we can secure Frick or Alfine, the artificial human beings, we will be able to shorten the analysis time, but if we were to force ourselves and fail, everything would come to nothing.

If we could get a piece of their flesh, that would be good enough.

I leave the private room, before immediately proceeding with preparations for seizing the Magic Research Institute.

Afterward, Gile reported to King Frederick that the ‘Superhuman Project’ had been repurposed into a project to overthrow the kingdom, and, in order to capture Linus, the mastermind of the rebellion, used his authority as the commander of the Royal Guard Knight Order to lay strict martial law on the royal capital and order the seizure of the Magic Research Institute.

Linus’s side seemed to be taken by a great surprise, after a brief resistance, we succeeded in capturing the man and the people involved and put the Magic Research Institute under control.

And due to the martial law, the gates of the royal capital was closed, and it was subject to strict prohibition on going out; even in daytime, only few people could be seen on the streets.

On the other hand, the outside of the city gates was full of people who were trying to enter the royal capital and do business.