CH 71

—It has been several hours since the attack by Lento and the other three men.

“Report the damage to me! Also call out the guards on leave, double the number of guards guarding the gates, and use the rest to conduct a thorough search of the castle! There may be other assassins, so be careful!”

I was in command of the guards in the throne room. Morgan-san had been ”Grand Heeled” by Spera and the external injuries had healed, but he’s in the medical room now, taking care of a serious matter.

Anyway, now we must do the best we can for the safety of the king and the princess.

“Gustav!”

It was Nina who came running up to me.

“I’ve thoroughly checked the floor of His Majesty’s room and the floor of our room – especially the area around Leia’s room. There’s nothing out of the ordinary. It’s safe.”

Thank you, that’s very helpful.

“I must say, I’m still impressed by the surprise attack. If we had been there, we could have taken them out on the spot!”

Nina and Spera arrived some time after the battle. It can’t be helped that it couldn’t have been immediately. Besides their SS work, Niña was now often on field missions to improve the standard of living in the slums, and Spera was often at a magic laboratory a short distance away from the royal castle.

“Maybe they had looked into it over there, too…”

“…I think you said that Agranis’ name came up?”

“Yeah.”

“So Agranis gave information about us? But how…”

“No, apparently it means that there might be spies inside the Royal Castle.”

“?”

Nina scurried around and then moved closer to me and whispered.

“Could it be that they are still in the Royal Castle…?”

“I don’t know that. But we need to be vigilant. But right now it’s more about… the Empire.”

“Declaration of war, right? What about His Majesty, Leia and the others?”

“Right now, in the back room of the throne room, they’re discussing how to deal with the situation with the Prime Minister and the others.”

As he was pointing and talking like this, the door to that room opened. Then the kings come out from inside with a very grim atmosphere.

“Leia!”

“Ah! Nina-san, you’ve come!”

Princess Leia walked out of the room to Nina, who raised her voice.

“Were you safe? You’re not hurt, are you?”

“Yes, I was with Gustav-Sama, so I’m fine.”

“I’m glad to hear that.”

I also walked up to the princess.

“So, Princess, so… what are your plans for the future?”

“…Yes, that’s right. I think it would be best if you asked Gustav and the others.”

The Princess takes a breath and begins to speak.

“Anyway, we have come to the conclusion that we will do what we can and prepare for what we can in order to avoid war. First of all, we are planning to immediately select emissaries for the peace process.”

“Will the Empire really accept this?”

“I don’t know. But the word ‘declaration of war’ was only mentioned in the words of the messenger who called himself Lent Nanjou. I would like to think that it is different from the Empire’s thoughts, but…”

The princess exhales a sigh. Her expression is somewhat grave.

“However, looking at the Empire’s movements over the past few years, it wouldn’t be surprising if we were to go to war at this point.”

“…Hey, Leia. What kind of country is the Empire in the first place? Normal countries wouldn’t try something like this, would they?”

Nina asks. …That’s what I’ve been wanting to ask too. It was a complete mystery why they were trying to get the hero Ark released, but I don’t know what they were thinking, sending a belligerent messenger to negotiate for that.

“Well, if the empire were to be described in one word……it could be called an [invasion nation].”

“Invasion nation…?”

When I asked back, Princess Leia nodded cryptically and continued with her previous words.

“During the reign of the previous emperor, there was nothing like that, and we had good relations with the kingdom, but… a few years ago, the previous emperor collapsed and his legitimate son became his successor, and the politics of the empire became strange.”

“Went strange, you say?”

“Yes. The first thing he did was to invade a neighbouring country that was supposed to be his ally.”

“What?”

“The current emperor Zeke was a man of excessive [imperial supremacy]. He said that all other countries should serve the Empire. I often hear such bad rumours about his politics that all the land and all the people are for the Empire.”

“That’s terrible…”

But I see, if a country is headed by such a man, no wonder they take such violent diplomatic measures today.

“So you’re saying that it’s not strange to think that the Empire might have sent a violent messenger on purpose because they assumed they were going to start a war?”

“Yes. If we were to accept the demands of the Lent-Nanjou, they would be willing to use more aggressive diplomacy, and if not, they would be willing to invade us. The borders of the Kingdom and the Empire meet in the northern part of the country, so the Empire’s fangs must have finally turned on the Kingdom.”

The princess sighed as she said this.

“─ ─ How can a country change with just one emperor, the world of people really is changing fast, isn’t it?”

Behind us, Spera walks up, probably having finished treating the wounded.

“Good work, Spera-san.”

“No, not much has been done. Thank you, Gustav, for your hard work in leading the guards. Nevertheless, I’ve heard a bit about what you just said.”

Spera turned to Princess Leia.

“From what I’ve heard about the empire ruled by the current emperor, it seems to me that sending out peace envoys from here will end in vain. If the empire only has the intention to invade, they will attack us without question. Wouldn’t it rather result in them finding our feet?”

“That may be so.”

The Princess nodded in agreement, and then.

“But just because they are barbarians, we must not become barbarians too. We have no choice but to fight in a situation where there is no other way, but if there is even the slightest way to avoid it, then it should be the state’s natural state to respond rationally.”

“…I understand the logic, but I think it would result in a backward step. The Empire has already declared war. Isn’t it possible that they could invade at any time?”

“It’s certainly a matter of logic, and it’s a beautiful thing [to be a nation]. But the rumor mill likes clean things.”

The Princess continues.

“The continent we live on is not exclusively an empire or a kingdom. In some cases, there may be countries that want to join an empire or a kingdom. In such cases, the better the rumour, the easier it is to attract allies. It only makes sense to take formal steps and make it publicly known that we are not at fault and have no intention of starting a war. This is also one of the first diplomatic steps.”

“I see, so you are treating the act of peace itself as a form of propaganda.”

“That’s what I mean.”

What? I didn’t quite understand what ‘I see’ or ‘that’s what it is’. I had heard of [propaganda] in some classes, but I memorize it on the spot for tests, and forget it completely when the test is over…

It’s hard.

“And, of course, we don’t only take steps by diplomatic means only. In parallel, we’ve asked the northern city [Kainis], which borders directly with the Empire, to start preparing for an interception.”

“I see, so you had a measure no matter how it turned out. I am sorry that I have made you question your judgement, Your Highness.”

“No, it is necessary for everyone in the SS to know what the Kingdom’s aims are in the future. I am rather glad that we had the opportunity to talk about it just in time.”

The conversation between the princess and Spera seems to have ended. Next to her, Nina nods her head.

“It’s so complicated and bothersome, isn’t it? Why do things get more complicated when the subject matter gets bigger?”

“…Did you understand everything I just said, Nina?”

“Of course I understand, you explained it to me. The point is: ‘The kingdom doesn’t want to go to war. We have tried to make peace. But the Empire invaded us’, and at the same time we are preparing for war. Even Gustav understood that, didn’t he?”

“Eh? Ah… yes.”

I see. Yeah, I didn’t understand! Thanks Nina, I do understand a bit now! But as expected of Nina and Spera, they’re very smart…

How did the princess misunderstand that when I was giving her a drawn-out smile?

“Rest assured, Gustav-Sama. It’s true that it was sudden, but the war shouldn’t start immediately the day after tomorrow. In the meantime, we will make the appropriate preparations.”

“Ah… yes!”

Did they think I was worried about going to war? I’m sorry that the princess is concerned about me. It’s okay, I just couldn’t get my head around it for a minute.

I just have to do the best I can with what I can do. I don’t think I can use my head to play an active role… I’ll do whatever I can to be useful to the princesses with this spear.

Once I’ve decided that, I’ll have to start working on raising my status right away!

─ – And so it was the morning after I had made up my mind.

“Oh, my God! Someone claiming to be yesterday’s imperial messenger has appeared at the castle gate!”

“Heh?”

“I’ve come to see the most powerful guy in this castle! And he’s occupying the front gate!”

“Yes…?”

The news that came into the Throne Room was the successive attacks of the Imperial Guard yesterday and today. His Majesty, Princess Leia and I, who had gathered in the throne room, looked at each other with wide-eyed amazement.