Chapter 83
Chapter 83
There was weight behind Werner’s words.
In terms of power and authority alike, I overwhelmingly held the upper hand.
In such a situation, when he asked what business I had with him, I let out a small sigh and spoke.
“If I were going to crush you just by virtue of being an imperial prince, I wouldn’t have gone about things like this from the start.”
When I shrugged my shoulders as if to say it was disappointing that he hadn’t recognized that, he let out a snort of laughter.
“I trust my friend Ostia, but Leios, the Third Imperial Prince of the Empire, is famous for having a bad reputation. Isn’t it the virtue of one who stands above others to also consider the position of the one who can’t trust so easily?”
“Even so, I’m being quite generous right now.”
If the person standing before me hadn’t been Werner but someone from another kingdom, I would have first beaten them into silence before proceeding with the conversation.
“First, let me ask. Are you part of the Anti-Imperial Faction?”
Since the conversation was dragging on, I threw out a blunt question.
“…….”
At that, Werner shut his mouth.
He seemed to be trying to gauge the intent behind my question as he examined my face, but I responded to his gaze with a light smile.
“The Anti-Imperial Faction, huh.”
He lightly furrowed his brow, rubbed his chin, and spoke in a low voice.
“And if I were?”
“No matter what, there’s our past friendship, so I wouldn’t kill you.
Still, you’d suffer right up until the brink of death.”
“That’s a brutal thing to say.”
Werner was not part of the Anti-Imperial Faction.
That was something I already knew, but I wanted to hear his thoughts.
“It’s true that the Anti-Imperial Faction exists within the kingdom. But I have nothing to do with them.”
He soon stated his position firmly.
If one were to be precise, it was a truth mixed with a slight lie.
Werner, one way or another, hoped that the kingdom would escape the Empire’s grasp and achieve complete independence.
Their methods differed, but their intent aligned.
However, it was realistically impossible for the Kingdom of Demedrio to gain independence from the Empire.
Along its borders were not only the Empire but numerous great powers that surpassed this place in strength.
The reason the Kingdom of Demedrio had been able to maintain itself until now was because it had thoroughly fulfilled its role as a buffer zone between the Empire and those powers.
As such, if war were to break out, it would be reduced to ashes before anywhere else.
‘War, war, huh.’
A good idea suddenly came to mind.
Werner must also have known the situation his country was in.
I thought it might be good to make use of that fact.
It felt a bit like poking at a friend’s weakness, so a corner of my heart stung slightly, but in the end, it was something that would benefit both of us.
“The Anti-Imperial Faction is planning a terrorist attack during the Academic Festival.”
At my sudden words, his face flinched for a moment, but he soon regained his composure and replied.
“…I know that too. The kingdom has already taken action and strengthened security. They may have the grand name of the Anti-Imperial Faction, but in the end they’re just terrorists. They can’t exert their power within the capital.”
Seeing him speak with confidence, it seemed Werner also didn’t know who the leader of the Anti-Imperial Faction was.
I shook my head and shot back at his words.
“Is that really so? According to the leader of the Anti-Imperial Faction I met recently, it seemed like they’d made thorough preparations.”
“…What?”
For the first time, a crack appeared in Werner’s face, which until now had been relaxed as he dealt with me.
He demanded a detailed explanation, and I calmly told him what had happened so far.
When we stopped by the artifact shop ‘Ganyeorin Orc’, the Anti-Imperial Faction’s group that attacked us—and their leader—had first revealed himself before me then.
“When I met him again recently and talked with him, he said their goal was to launch an attack on the final day of the Academic Festival, kill or capture the First and Second Imperial Princes, and force the Empire to the negotiating table.”
“…….”
I even told him the concrete plan, that it seemed they had already secured means to neutralize the mages’ barriers and the knights’ security.
Gaining a certain degree of credibility, Werner clenched his fist tightly with a serious expression.
“…So then, who is the leader of the Anti-Imperial Faction?”
“For free?”
“Come on, that’s a bit much between friends.”
Werner smiled at me.
As he lightly prodded me, asking what friends were for, I smiled back and said,
“Help me out later.”
“You’re an imperial prince, and you want help from a mere prince like me?”
“It’s because I’m an imperial prince that I say this. Unfortunately, there are nothing but wolves around me, always looking for a chance to tear out my throat.”
Only then did Werner seem to realize my position, his face showing a belated ‘ah’.
He then nodded obediently and promised to do so.
‘Still young.’
Seeing that, I clicked my tongue inwardly.
Given the circumstances, it was understandable, but promises of this sort weren’t something to be made lightly.
There were dozens of ways to prove later that he had promised to help me.
Of course, coming from the one who had led him into this situation, I didn’t really have the right to say that.
“Sword Marshal General Isaac.”
“…What?”
“He is the leader of the Anti-Imperial Faction.”
“That’s nonsense!”
At my words, Werner slammed the desk and sprang to his feet.
His face was twisted as if he had suffered a grave insult.
“The name Sword Marshal General is not something trivial! It’s practically a symbol of this country! No matter who you are, I cannot forgive you for sullying it.”
Such was the extent of his pride and trust that the whites of Werner’s eyes were even shot with blood.
‘If Werner is reacting like this, then truly no one must have suspected it.’
Now I was instead wondering why this terrorist attack failed in the original story.
On the outside, a group of Majin that surpassed most powerful individuals launched the assault, and on the inside, the pillar of the kingdom—the Sword Marshal General—stood as the ringleader of the Anti-Imperial Faction.
Unless some hero-class monster appeared, it seemed like a force difficult to stop, yet in the original story the terror attack had clearly ended in failure.
“This isn’t something I’m telling you as the Third Imperial Prince Leios, but as your friend Ostia. Even if their plot succeeds and they force the Empire to the negotiating table—does the Empire really look that easy to you? My father is someone who would immediately raise the army and trample a kingdom like Demedrio in half a day.”
When I said that in a cold voice, Werner finally seemed to grasp reality and shut his mouth with a dazed expression.
“They told me they’d make me Emperor. It’s not completely unrealistic. If the First and Second Imperial Princes die here, then among the direct bloodline, I’d be the only one left, so I’d naturally inherit the throne.”
“…What.”
Werner looked at me with an incredulous expression.
As his face suggested, matters of succession weren’t actually that simple.
Even if Carius or Darius truly died, an extremely arduous path would await me before I could ascend the throne.
“But they showed the resolve to assure me of it.”
So what can you do?
As I looked at him with that meaning, Werner barely opened his mouth and spoke.
“…If the terror attack is successfully stopped, my standing within the kingdom will rise further. Then, in the long run……”
“Is that more attractive than giving you the imperial throne?”
On the surface, it didn’t matter to me whether the terror attack succeeded or failed.
If it succeeded, it would be good because my rank in the line of succession would rise, and even if it failed, it would cause me no harm.
‘In truth, it absolutely must not succeed.’
But that was something others didn’t know.
That was why I could use it as a card to pressure Werner.
“You already owe me a debt just from hearing about Sword Marshal General Isaac. In that situation, what can you do for me?”
“…….”
In the end, Werner couldn’t answer and let out a long sigh.
It must have been frustrating.
The most he could do was run to his father, the king, and report what he had heard from me.
That his younger brother was the leader of the Anti-Imperial Faction threatening the throne.
Would the current king really accept that story? If he were in league with his brother, he’d dismiss it without hesitation, and even if he weren’t, it would be difficult to move rashly.
In the end, it meant drawing in an external power, but the authority to decide that far exceeded the power Werner possessed.
At the very least, it would take someone of crown prince level to even begin discussing it.
“Well, don’t make such a gloomy face. I’m not planning to just sit on my hands.”
“…I can’t really do anything for you, though?”
“It’s fine if you just pass this story on to your father, the king.
I’ll handle the rest on my end.”
No matter the country, facing the Sword Marshal General head-on would be an enormous burden.
Winning was far from guaranteed, and to even fight on equal footing I would have had to force an awakening, abandoning the power I was meant to gain in the future.
But I had no intention of going that far.
When we were attacked at Ganyeorin Orc, it had truly been sudden, and there had been no way to break through the situation, so I’d had no choice but to resort to such a trick.
But if I had even a little time to prepare, I had the great backing of the Empire at my back.
‘It seems the primary objective has been achieved, at least.’
When Werner bowed his head deeply, saying he would never forget this favor, I waved my hand and said it was fine.
The top priority was to stop the Anti-Imperial Faction’s terror attack, but in the long run, winning Werner’s trust was more important.
He was a character with enough weight to become part of the protagonist’s party.
I didn’t want merely a relationship of friends who had attended the same academy; I wanted the kind of relationship where he would fight for me when I was in danger.
‘Alright, then.’
My conversation with Werner was more or less finished.
That meant it was time to apply pressure to the other side.
“…….”
After finishing my meeting with Werner, I sent word to Carius and Darius.
I invited them to a luxurious reception room rather than an empty classroom like before, and the two reluctantly accepted the invitation, responding to the business I had presented.
“I’ll give you ten seconds. If you don’t state your business within that time, I’m leaving.”
Darius frowned, looking irritated just by being in the same space as me, and issued a threat.
Carius wore a gentle expression, but seeing him narrow his eyes slightly, he seemed to think the same.
In response, I drank the black tea a servant had poured and replied in a calm voice.
“One more person hasn’t arrived yet.”
“…What?”
Knock knock-.
Just as Darius was about to ask again, someone knocked on the door of the reception room.
When I told them to come in, an elderly noble in refined attire bowed deeply and entered.
“I greet the three Your Highnesses. I am the Marquess of Darmstadt, tasked by the Empire with overseeing the response to the Academic Festival.”
At his appearance, Darius, who had been about to leap up from his seat, quietly sat back down.
Carius also narrowed his eyes and alternated his gaze between me and the marquess, as if suspecting some sort of connection.
“Please, have a seat, Marquess. This won’t be a short discussion.”
“Then, I will excuse myself.”
True to a high-ranking imperial noble, he sat down without hesitation.
No matter how much an imperial prince stood above all others, high-ranking nobles were still a burden.
Darmstadt in particular was a renowned family that oversaw diplomacy.
Even for an imperial prince, he wasn’t someone to be taken lightly.
“I came here after hearing that Your Highness Leios had information regarding the Anti-Imperial Faction.”
The Marquess of Darmstadt drew a clear line first, perhaps worried that another prince might suspect a relationship between him and me.
Carius nodded lightly at that, while Darius snorted as if to say, ‘I figured as much.’
“So then, Leios, what is this information you speak of?”
Carius spoke to me in a gentle tone.
His manner was mild, but it carried the air that if I spoke nonsense, I would be held responsible for wasting his time.
Seeing that their attitudes hadn’t changed despite the passage of time, I let out a snort of laughter and said,
“The leader of the Anti-Imperial Faction is Sword Marshal General Isaac. On the final day of the Academic Festival, he will attack the venue together with the Anti-Imperial Faction’s forces and personally take the heads of my two elder brothers.”