Chapter 113: 15-year-old Inglis and Hyrule Menaces' Escorting Directive (21)
「What do you mean? What are you trying to say?」
It appeared that Redas had the capacity to listen to a mere Squire student like Inglis. Taking up the offer, Inglis continued.
「It is also the will of Special Envoy Theodore to have Miss Ripple stay at the Knight Academy. In other words, it is the will of the Highland. The fact that the Royal Decree is contradicting that, means that the Decree is under the influence of an opposing faction…… in short, the Church’s Union.」
The Church’s Union, officially known as the Church Founder’s Union. Opposing them was the Duke’s Party, officially known as the Three Archdukes Party. Those were the two major political factions of the Highland. Special Envoy Theodore belonged to the latter.
Traditionally, this kingdom had been receiving Special Envoys from the Church’s Union and the Duke’s Party alternatively as the two factions’ influence was balanced. That was why the bestowed Hyrule Menaces, Eris and Ripple, were affiliated with the Duke’s Party and the Church’s Union respectively.
「Yes—Precisely as you say.」 「The disaster that happens to Miss Ripple’s body right now is a sanction from the Church’s Union, isn’t it? This means it’s safe to assume that they are enraged. They cannot tolerate the attempt of the power balance shifting towards the favor of the Duke’s Party.」1 「……We do not recognize any such agenda. It must be nothing more than an anomaly that happens in the body of Lady Ripple.」 「Yes, I see. That’s a different take from what Special Envoy Theodore has in mind.」 「Lord Theodore belongs to the Duke’s Party. Being in the opposing faction, he’s bound to possess a biased view.」 「Have we received any assurances from the Highland regarding the replacement of the Hyrule Menace?」 「No… I have heard that it’s still in negotiation.」 「If so, keeping in mind that the negotiation may or may not be lengthened for some period of time, I believe it is best to make a thorough preparation before Miss Ripple is removed from the Academy’s grounds. So far, there hasn’t been any major problem that involved the students, the environment, or the city and its residents. If by any chance a major incident happened after she was transferred to the Imperial Guard Order’s care, critics would say that the Imperial Guard was inferior to mere students.」 「You can’t say there aren’t any problems. A problem did happen. A student as excellent as Silva was injured.」
As expected of the doting-parent, or rather, doting-brother Redas, he wouldn’t agree to let Ripple stay. This was within her expectation. Inglis would in turn take advantage of it.
「Exactly. Even someone as strong as Senior Silva was injured. That is why I said we mustn’t be negligent with the preparation.」 「Mu…… What preparation did you speak of?」 「Special Envoy Theodore has arranged for us a new type of Artifacts. The reason our damages is kept at minimum is because of those Artifacts.」
While that wasn’t strictly the truth, that was still the case to some level. For now, Inglis only needed to make Redas think that those Artifacts had such a high value in order to postpone the transfer of the baton to an even later date.