Chapter 400: Bek's whereabouts (1)
Allen had rescued Prostia's empress, her children, and those ministers and nobles that were still loyal to her.
He also kept an eye on the palace, which was starting to get noisy.
Shea had opened a hole on the palace's wall with her Skill, the sound of which had been heard throughout the entire palace, and even reached downtown.
(Hmm, the knights are watching us like always.)
"They don't seem to be suspecting us, Alec."
Shea had planned that escape together with Allen, and said that watching the knights marching outside the garden.
Their attitude was the same as always, meaning they did not suspect a thing.
"You're right. I guess we'll be safe for a while."
"Mhm."
Allen looked out the window, seeing the knights protecting the magic device like usual.
It was safe to assume they were all loyal to Ignomas.
Ignomas was sitting on the throne now, but considering what he had just done, he felt like the rebellion had not fully accomplished its goals yet.
"Are you feeling any better yet, empress?"
The empress had freshened herself up and had changed into a new set of clothes. Allen approached her with his head lowered, speaking with a gentle voice.
He had rescued the entire imperial family, the empress' children sitting nearby.
The children seemed confused about everything, looking around anxiously.
Duke Drescalay was sitting next to her as well.
As a duke, it was very likely he also had some imperial blood.
"Y-yes, thank you very much. Your name is Alec, right? I promise Prostia will repay this favor."
Saying that, the empress instructed the servants that had been released with her to take her children to another room.
Seeing Allen's face was enough to know he did not simply save her out of kindness.
"Try to calm down first. We'll deal with everything."
She had not agreed or refused to answer his question.
(Well, I guess I'll have to do something about this rebellion. I've gotten embroiled with yet another country's politics. But it's all for my goal, so no way around it. At least I'm glad I rescued those children.)
Allen had been born as a serf in Latash.
There were very clearly divided social ranks there, with serfs, and royals.
His parents were the serfs Rodan and Theresia, and while poor, he felt he had a fun life as a serf.
While in his past life essentially everyone was born on the same playing field, he understood that just his memories were not enough to change the culture of this world.
And his birth did not change the fact that he leveled up as a Summoner, met strong friends, gathered an army of 5000, and now even started affecting the politics of various countries.
All of those countries had a long history, emperors or kings with authority, and their own populations.
He still had no interest in politics.
But it was something he needed to do to defeat the Demon King's Army.
Just like how making Shea the next Beast King would increase the party's power.
The only other reason that would push him to politics would be to repay favors for friends, or for children like those that just left the room.
It was common to split the army's power equally to fight back in such situations.
"Do you know anything that happened after that?"
They had been thrown in jail after that, so it was harder to stay updated there.
"I heard Ignomas asked the First and Second Armies to surrender."
(So he basically took the throne, since there was no emperor to fill it anymore.)
According to Drescalay, Ignomas and his knights remained in the palace, and convinced the other armies to treat him like the new emperor.
Ignomas had been rather reasonable with them, telling them there was no need for more bloodshed.
The two armies realized it was hard to reverse the death of the emperor and incarceration of nobles, so their stalemate was quickly resolved and they surrendered to Ignomas.
Thanks to that, both armies were under Ignomas' control now.
Now the remaining soldiers in other territories were slowly pledging their allegiances.
(So the empire fell with minimal bloodshed. Does that really work so easily?)
Allen started feeling something was off while listening, though he was grateful to learn so much.
"You seem rather knowledgeable about things that happened after you were captured, do you have an informant in the palace?"
Drescalay seemed to know too much.
"Of course, there's many ministers who served Prostia for years there."
Apparently they had a lot of insiders, which is how he learned so many details.
Allen nodded hearing that, it made sense.
Many of those who resisted Ignomas had been thrown in jail, but many others still worked freely.
And not just ministers or nobles, but also knights, officials, and even servants.
Thanks to them, Drescalay learned what was happening even while inside his cell.
Many people had served Prostia for generations.
Their loyalty still burned strong, even though Ignomas had seized control and killed the emperor.
Duke Drescalay was still in his twenties, his father had been killed during the rebellion.
Ignomas had little mercy for those with bloodlines tied to the imperial family.
"I see, so there's a chance the palace's situation might get overturned?"
Shea had revealed her identity as Albahar's princess, and unlike Allen, spoke much more directly with Drescalay.
The empress and Duke Drescalay who had been essentially held hostage were free.
That would surely rile up many knights.
Shea asked if they thought the palace would get even more noisy than it already had gotten.
"No, most of them are on Ignomas' side. Our men won't do anything unless we tell them to."
Apparently most were supporting Ignomas already.
That was why there told to not do anything strange unless asked to, though it was hard to say whether they would remain still now that Drescalay and the empress had escaped.
Maybe they would turn on Ignomas hearing that the empress was gone.
Most of the strong Imperial Knights supported Ignomas.
Those opposing him were mainly ministers and nobles, so it was hard to think they would try something.
"I see, I understand the situation with the rebellion now. Also, we're actually trying to find Bek."
Allen asked Duke Drescalay about Bek.