◈ 152. [Side Story] Who is it?
“And of course, the emperor is me.”
From the declaration of treason to the declaration of title.
For an instant, the parlor was covered with silence.
Before my madness, about half of the party members were dazed and bewildered, and the other half immediately jumped out of their seats and tried to say something.
“No questions asked!”
I shouted, darting forward with my hand.
“You have only one decision to make now. Will you be with me or not?”
I smiled faintly.
“Can you die with me? That is all.”
Because the way out is in death.
Do you have the confidence to walk with me through the future Sura-do? I was asking that.
“… .”
“… .”
“… .”
I said with a stern face to the party members who looked at me with bewildered eyes.
“I will give you an hour. Let each think freely for an hour. Will you join me or leave?”
After making eye contact with all the party members, I nodded.
“I’ll see you all here in an hour.”
And I walked out of the living room without looking back.
***
The party members were scattered all over the mansion and lost in thought.
Most of them sat in the drawing room and continued heated discussions about my remarks, while a few wandered through the gardens and lost their thoughts.
And some left the mansion.
“… .”
The lord’s office on the second floor of the mansion.
Standing by the window here, watching the backs of the party members leaving the mansion. A knock was heard at the door.
“come in.” It was
Lucas
who opened the door and came in.
“Lord.”
“Lucas.”
“I came here because I wanted to ask you something.”
Lucas came in after closing the door, and before I could say anything, he spat out.
“Is this treason a desperate measure to request reinforcements from the imperial family?”
I grinned at Lucas’ sharp point. Lucas continued.
“Your lord is the heir to the imperial family by direct inheritance of His Majesty’s blood. If such a lord declares treason, the imperial family will never stand by.”
“… .”
“We will send troops to suppress the rebellion. Isn’t that your plan to use that force to subdue the monsters?”
“It’s pretty Lucas. You read me all the way there.”
I nodded.
“It’s pretty good. I haven’t told the party members yet, but the next monster invasion will be in a week.”
“… .”
“Currently, there is no way to stop it. That’s why I put on such a ridiculous show.”
Lucas looked me in the eye and spoke cautiously.
“Intentions… I understand, sir. However, there are two problems with your plan.”
“Two problems?”
“The first is the distance between the ecliptic and the southern front here. Even if Pabal rode and ran, it would take a week.”
Lucas quietly pointed out the error in my plan.
“It takes one week for the news of the treason to reach the ecliptic, and even if the troops are organized and departed right away from the ecliptic, another week. No matter how little you catch, it takes two weeks. Realistically, it will take longer than that.”
“… .”
“According to your lord’s word, the next defense is due in a week, but I can’t come before that starts.”
I just listened with a smile. Lucas continued.
“Second, there is no way to prove that this treason was false.”
“Hoo.”
“Even if you explain that it was a desperate measure to call in reinforcements, there is no way the imperial family would believe it. You’ll be cornered into a weightlifter and arrested. Since you are from the imperial family, even if summary execution is impossible, you will be sent to the imperial capital.”
Certainly.
I nod my head and try to accept Lucas’s words, but
suddenly – bang!
“Uncle Lucas is right a hundred times!”
A platinum-haired girl knight stormed in from outside the office door.
It was Evangeline. I widened my eyes.
“Where have you been listening to our conversation?”
“Of course from the beginning! No, this is not important! I know it’s because of the support group. No matter what, treason, senior?!”
Almost rolling over, Evangeline, who had come in front of me, shouted urgently.
“Think again! It’s really the last of the last of the last of the last no! It’s a method that shouldn’t be used even then!”
“… .”
“His Majesty the Emperor does not condone weightlifting! You know better! Even if it is her own son, she will surely kill it!”
Evangeline had a pale complexion.
“Is that all? If you are involved in treason, destroy the 3 tribes! This whole Crossroads and everyone here will be hanged!”
The reason why Evangeline is stopping it like this is probably because this guy is the heir to the Margrave Earl.
Crossroads is Evangeline’s hometown and the land she will inherit and rule in the future.
But to declare treason here?
I will turn your hometown and your territory into a sea of fire- I was no different from saying that.
“Look at the war with the Principality of Bringer right next door, senior!”
Evangeline spat out in a trembling voice as I continued to be silent.
“You’re even trampling on the principality you’ve been loyal to for hundreds of years just because you’re not getting along just a little bit! Even more so, it is obvious that they will burn such a small territory on the outskirts without leaving a trace!”
“… .”
“Please, senior! There must be another way! Not just treason!”
Without answering, I looked outside the open office door.
“Two there. Don’t hide, come in here.”
“oh… .”
“Kuhm.”
Then, Damien and Junior, who were outside the door, came into the office, embarrassed.
I smiled at them both.
“Would you like to hear the opinions of the two of you?”
Damien and Junior glanced at each other. Damian was the first to open his mouth.
“That I… It’s the prince’s trigger. I have nowhere else to go anyway. I will stand by the prince’s side until the end… … .”
“I’ll keep it?”
“Treason is a bit… Could it be dangerous… … ?”
Damian rolled his round eyes and glanced at me, and his shoulders trembled as I quietly smiled.
“Of course, if the prince asks me to, I will shoot anything the opponent does! Just leave it to me!”
“Yes, yes. Thanks Damian.”
After giving Damian another smile, I turned my gaze to the wizard next to him.
“What is your opinion, Junior?”
“It is suicidal.”
Junior said in a clear voice.
“I heard that there are dozens of magicians of that level in the imperial family’s magic corps. If you put aside all other troops and compare only the magician, this is enough.”
“… .”
“You said you were rebelling in order to bring in reinforcements to stop the monster, but it was nonsense in the first place. Troops dispatched from the ecliptic don’t even care about monsters? They said that magic bombing might turn this side to ashes and return.”
Junior spoke once more strongly.
“I think declaring treason in order to call in reinforcements is literally setting fire to thatch to catch bed bugs.”
“indeed… .”
I nodded.
“I heard good comments.”
I looked around the main party members who were standing around the table in my office.
“All of you were valid and reasonable opinions. But I did not make this declaration of treason just to call in reinforcements.”
“… ?”
“I’ll tell you the ‘real reason’ later when everyone gathers in the drawing room. So, for now, calm down, cool your head, and wait for me.”
I pointed toward the door of the office and waved my hand.
“Now then, get out!”
***
The main party came to the office.
When the rest of the members looked at something, the three shadow troops were standing in the garden and talking to each other.
With 30 minutes left until reunion time, I went down to the garden.
“God Hand. Burnout. body bag.”
As I approached while calling out my code name, the members of the shadow unit all bowed down to me.
“majesty.”
“how is it. Have you made up your mind?”
When I asked with a smile, the three exchanged glances and knelt down in front of me without asking anyone first.
“Don’t you know, Your Highness? We have already been sentenced to death in the capital.”
God Hand lowered his head and quietly uttered.
“Your Highness took us away and gave us new names. Your Highness has already taken our lives.”
“… .”
“The only person we can give our allegiance to is Your Highness. Even if the path Your Highness wants to take is treason, I will gladly follow it.”
I looked down at the three elves who knelt down and bowed their heads at me and said,
“Your loyalty, this Ashe has definitely received it.”
I smiled.
“thanks. See you in 30 minutes.”
I turned around and left the garden.
Until I disappeared, the three members of the Shadow Corps hung their heads motionless.
***
Two party members escaped the mansion.
It was Marherita and Lily.
Among them, Marherita returned 10 minutes before the reunion time.
Standing at the entrance of the mansion, waiting for the two of them, I smiled and asked Marherita who returned first.
“Where have you been, saint?”
“It’s a temple. I have prayed to the goddess.”
Marherita let out a long sigh as she clasped her hands in front of her chest.
“I asked him which way I should go.”
“is it so? Did you give me a good answer?”
“… .”
“Have you made up your mind?”
Marherita, who had been silent, sighed again.
“… My heart has been set since I first came to this city.”
Clasping her trembling hands tightly, Marherita lifted her head and met my eyes.
“My luck is with the Crossroads.”
“Are you saying you want to join me in my rebellion?”
“If that’s the way the crossroads go.”
“thank you.”
I gestured towards the inside of the mansion.
“You are in the drawing room. If Lily comes, I’ll take her in.”
Marherita walked straight, unmoved, toward the inside of the mansion.
***
The last party member, Lily, showed up 10 minutes after the reunion announcement time.
I thought I could see him wriggling and dragging his wheelchair from afar, but I also saw other luggage hanging from the wheelchair.
From a bag filled with clothes to a bag of magic materials containing various magic tools and alchemy reagents.
“Lily? What is all this burden?”
When I asked Lily, who arrived at the mansion door panting, Lily squealed.
“Of course, that’s what I brought with me to leave this city!”
“… .”
“I lost the use of both legs while serving in this city, but I was fine. I’ve been through the risk of dying a few times, but I’ve been able to endure it. but!”
Lily shook her head vigorously.
“But not treason! really… Really, this has gone too far, Your Highness!”
“… .”
“At one point, I was prepared to bury my bones on the wire here, but being accused of treason is out of my control. I want to leave.”
Lily’s eyes trembled, perhaps weakening at the sight of the other party members through the parlor window.
But before long, you mate your own cheeks! He hit me and waved his hand at me.
“I came only to say my final goodbyes with the moral intentions of being together. I want to run away like this. So goodbye! Good luck with treason! And if you fail, don’t tell me my name!”
“indeed… .”
I nodded.
“Be wise, Lily.”
“yes?”
“But you can’t run away like this.”
I went behind Lily, grabbed the handle of her wheelchair, and forcibly dragged her into the mansion.
“Listen to my last words. After that, whether you run away or not, do as you please.”
“Ouch! Let go of this! You traitor! My mother-in-law is moving! Your Majesty the Heavenly Emperor! I am really innocent!”
***
“It was a joke.”
A place where all party members gather again.
To the party members who looked at me with nervous faces, I spat out.
“Treason was a blatant lie. I have no intention of causing that.”
“… yes?”
I smiled leisurely at the party members who were flustered.
“Of course, if you rebel, you can bring troops from the imperial family at any cost. But as you pointed out. I may be able to use it to stop the monsters once, but all the roads behind it will burn.”
I will be caught and put to death.
The crossroads will burn without a trace.
Really rebelling was a ridiculous option from the start. never considered
“Then you may wonder why I made this unfunny declaration of treason against you.”
Big!
refine your voice
I spit out.
“There is a spy in this city. There is an imperial dog reporting our every move to the imperial capital.”
“… !”
“It was a show to catch that spy. And he took my bait as if to show off.”
It was.
It was to find out the spy from the beginning that the super strong rice cake of treason was thrown.
The party members began to hum. Lucas asked urgently.
“Where is the spy?”
“here.”
I stretched out my hand and took a quick look at the party members gathered in the drawing room.
“I am sitting here in the parlor among you with a calm face.”
“… ?!”
Flagship party members looked at each other.
“Ego… .”
I asked quietly with a kind smile on my face.
“Do you know who it is?”
