of
the tournament
was finally suppressed with a proper explanation of the fierce riot. The past few days were a series of calm days without any incident, just like the eve of a storm.
“You know what?”
‘…killing?’
answer what you ask. Jamel’s eyes twinkled as he touched the card in his hand, as if he could hear his mother’s words.
“What do you think is the most important thing in a card game?”
‘killing!’
The answer is that you are playing the game with cool reason and firm judgment just like me.
“no!”
As expected, I wouldn’t have heard that answer either, but Jamel denied it and looked at it. Having said that, she put her hand on the stack of cards and smiled.
“The most important thing about playing card games is the bond with the cards! Card games are essentially a duel of souls to see who has the stronger bond! I would bet everything on this card!!!”
Jamel, who drew a card in an instant, put it on the floor without looking at it and pushed all the cookies in front of him.
“The time has come to put an end to this tedious skirmish! I’m all in!!!”
‘Hat killed?!’
trembling pupils. Her mother, who won a big win at first and barely recovered her money by winning the last two hours, could not easily accept Jamel’s bold bet.
‘Kill and kill.’
The mother’s eyes narrowed. Turning over her card, the mother jumped like a butterfly on the table and jumped over to Jamel’s seat. He even held out his own hands.
‘killing!’
Declaration to do a body search. In the card game between mother and Jamel, where obvious tricks are rampant, low-level hand games were played right away as soon as they were caught off guard.
“Do whatever you want! I wasn’t kidding at all this time.”
Jamel, whose face is immediately marked when he is caught playing a joke, was more confident than anyone else this time, as if he hadn’t really done anything.
‘killing…?’
After the most diligent search did not yield any evidence of deception, the mother went beyond bewilderment and into a panic. Jamel grinned and pointed to the seat where his mother was sitting.
“So, nothing came out? Then it’s time to get back to your seat and place your bets! Come on!”
‘I’m dying…’
My mother looked at me, not knowing what to do at Jamel’s self-confidence, but I didn’t know where the source of Jamel’s tremendous confidence suddenly jumped out of me.
I smiled bitterly and shrugged my shoulders, and my mother moved reluctantly to her seat again. Jamel smiled as he tapped the card he had turned over without looking at it.
“So are you all-in? Or will you die? Well, whichever one you choose is fine!”
Looking at it, the long title of an unfamiliar book that was lying in the corner suddenly caught my eye.
‘Pungka’s standard-trick is confidence. The legendary gambler ranked #1 on the casino blacklist in the Northern Empire…’
Only then did I realize where Jamel’s confidence came from.
“Come on, go to bed!”
‘Four kill!’
Cry out that even if you don’t rush, you’ll decide on your own.
My mother’s hands were trembling when I heard someone on the deck calling me.
“Priest Marnak! The guests are here!”
At the sound of Dakia’s call, I left behind the hopeless sweets gambling table and went up to the deck of the Wet Swallow.
Scales glistening golden as bright sunlight scattered dazzlingly. As I climbed onto the deck, a familiar tail greeted me with a light swatter.
Dragon Princess Rusona Draco waved at me.
“Long time no see.”
“Are you here?”
‘Murder, love, love!!!’
I bowed my head and bowed politely. I won aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!” sound with the mother’s desperate scream.
It seemed that the match of a lifetime, in which the fate of the sweets was staked, ended with Jamel’s victory.
Rusona glanced over my shoulder and smiled softly.
“It always seems so nice and peaceful here. I’m a little envious.”
A metaphorical word that means that he is not.
“Is anything going on?”
“It doesn’t always happen. Because my location is location. Hmm. Where can I sit…”
I quickly took two chairs from the deck and put one next to RSona. When Rusona saw that, she smiled.
“Thank you, I will sit down.”
As Rusona sat down, I placed the chair across from her and pressed my hips together. Then, Rusona began lamenting her life in earnest.
“The thing you helped me with last time is also work, and the ‘great conference’ of the empire is tomorrow right now, isn’t it? Besides, the agenda of this conference is, as everyone knows, a very heavy topic.”
The agenda of the conference? To be honest, I’ve heard the story of the great meeting every time, but there was no one who could tell me the details of the situation.
As I blinked my eyes without any reaction, Rusona widened her golden eyes in surprise.
“…do you not know what the agenda of the grand meeting is?”
“yes.”
“I misunderstood this a little. Somehow, since you are a man who gives off an air of knowing this and that, I took it for granted that you knew a lot about the Great Council.”
“ha ha ha. I will take it as a compliment.”
The golden scaly tail rustled. Rusona chose her words for a moment and then began to explain the great conference to me.
“I mean the Great Council of the Empire. They are usually convened for four reasons. Either the emperor of the empire directly convenes a great conference, or the nobles request the emperor, or the time has come to hold a great conference regularly over time.”
“Then aren’t there three?”
“Of course there is one more.”
Rusona chuckled.
“The last reason is to hold a great meeting to discuss countermeasures when something major happens to the empire. And this great conference corresponds to the direct convening of a great conference by the emperor of the empire.”
“Then, Rusona-sama will also attend the great meeting tomorrow.”
At my words, Rusona shook her head.
“no. i can’t get in The right to attend the Great Council of the Northern Empire is only granted to the nobles and citizens of the Northern Empire. Of course, I wrote my hand in advance, so as soon as the great meeting is over, I will be able to hear what was said at the great meeting through the string I left.”
As she talked about the Great Council, Rusona’s expression became heavy.
“Are you having any problems?”
“As I said before, the agenda of the tournament that the emperor will bring up is the problem. ha.”
Rusona let out a deep sigh and touched her chin.
“It was not publicly announced by the emperor, but if the emperor, who is the main proponent of the war, suddenly summoned all the nobility of the empire, there is only one agenda, isn’t it? The general opinion is that not only me, but also the nobles of the empire called the Great Council to cause a war.”
War.
Honestly, it can be seen as a problem that has nothing to do with me directly, but in a way, it was also greatly related to me. If a war broke out for no reason and travel between countries was restricted, there might be setbacks in the process of collecting mother’s holy relics.
Personally, I wish the war never happened.
“But if it’s a war, then what about the Southern Empire?”
Rusona nodded.
“exactly. Ambition to ‘unify’ an empire divided into north and south. People in the world curse the old emperor for going mad to carve a line of achievements at the end of his reign.”
“What is your position, Rusona-sama?”
“You mean me?”
She responded with a few taps on the floor with her golden tail.
“If it’s my position as a princess, it’s my position that it doesn’t matter whether a war breaks out or not. In the first place, our dragon kingdom is not a country that is particularly active in exchanges with the outside world, so there is no problem, and if a war breaks out between other countries, wouldn’t it be possible to take advantage of this or that in the middle? In addition, considering the national strength of the two countries, even if a war breaks out, the chances of true unification are very slim.”
Is this because it’s someone else’s job anyway? It was not wrong.
“I guess so.”
“Of course, that is my position as a princess. In Rusona’s personal opinion, it’s best to avoid war if possible. At a time when the libertio is rampaging wildly, it should never happen to wage a war that creates a gap in security. In addition, it is all the more so when you think of the people of the empire who will die for the cause of unification. I think it should be the last resort for a ruler to use in war and always when he is really driven to a dead end.”
Seeing Rusona expressing her own opinion, I suddenly had a question. You look very busy at first glance, but did you split the time and visit me? That meant I had a clear business.
“you’re right. War is a law that must be avoided. However, given that no war has occurred yet, wouldn’t it be possible that this time again, there will be no war due to the strong opposition of the anti-war aristocrats?”
“That is it.”
Golden eyes flashed.
“That the emperor himself comes out of his solemn palace and heads for the conference hall. Doesn’t this single word paint a very dangerous picture?”
I put out the dangerous picture that came to my mind.
“Could it be… that someone is trying to murder His Majesty the Emperor?”
“It’s a really what-if story.”
Rusona lowered her voice even more.
“Due to the absurd longevity of the current emperor of the Northern Empire, his reign has become very long, and the Crown Prince of the Northern Empire has already passed the 40th line since more than 20 years have passed since he ascended to the position of crown prince. In addition, he shows signs of supporting the anti-war faction implicitly. In the meantime, what if the old emperor gets hurt?”
If the old emperor is severely injured, the crown prince will probably succeed, so unless the culprit is a member of the southern empire, war will not break out, but even if the emperor attending the great conference is not seriously injured, the culprit is the southern empire If it turns out to be a side character…
“Are you saying that the Emperor of the Northern Empire might stage a self-made play to start a war?”
Rusona nodded.
“In addition, it’s not only the case of the self-made play that is the problem. According to what I secretly found out, it seems that the anti-emperor faction is preparing something on the day of the tournament.”
Whether it’s the emperor, the crown prince, the nobles, the anti-emperor, or whatever, it’s a story that everyone is hiding their ulterior motives. The moment when the secrets of the scheme are entangled with each other is the great meeting tomorrow.
“So…”
Rusona grabbed my hand and pushed her face right in front of me. Huge golden eyes glittered with anticipation.
“It’s a situation where you need at least one hand in case of an unexpected situation. If you stay with me tomorrow, I think I’ll feel like I’ve won thousands of horses. Of course, I will give you enough examples!”
I replied with a big smile at that warm suggestion.
“sorry. Princess, you already have a prior appointment tomorrow.”
***
As Rusona left with her tail hanging down, Pearly, who had been flirting with Dacia in the corner of the deck, suddenly approached.
“The Lizard Princess must have been expecting a lot! pitifully! I already preoccupied Marnak! Hi-Hi!”
“Anyway, you’re a little nervous.”
“What is there to be nervous about! Just do it as usual! not! Anyway, they didn’t even dream that we were going to invade!”
I put my hand on the despair that was on my waist.
Yes, it was a very long wait, but Pearly’s plan was proceeding perfectly in the big picture.
Coincidentally, according to her, on the day when the great meeting is convened tomorrow, Liberatio’s ‘God’s Vessel’ will finally be completed.
When everyone’s attention is focused on the great meeting taking place on the ground, we stop the Liberatorio and steal Mother’s holy relics and dishes.
As a bonus, I also rescued the people of the empire living in the capital of the Northern Empire from the beasts of the Liberatorio.
Pearly poked her head under my chin, which I had been holding on to. Soft hair tickled my chin.
“Hi-Hi! Tomorrow when I get a brand new body, I’ll be the first to kiss you warmly before your lips wear out! Even your tongue is doing this and that!”
“I say it again and again, there is absolutely no need for that. I’ll tell you in advance that if you do, you’ll get angry.”
“It’s nice and bouncy! Gig-kick!”
