Interlude: Pandora’s Box
The morning after Rio stabbed through Erica’s heart, in the capital of the Holy Democratic Republic of Erica, Ericaburg...
A unanimous vote had just been passed.
“Our nation will now invade the Galarc Kingdom,” Erica announced.
A declaration of war.
“Oooooh!”
The congress hall was immediately filled with enthusiasm.
“Saint Erica!”
“Saint Erica!”
“Saint Erica!”
“Saint Erica!”
“Saint Erica!”
Voices worshipping Saint Erica reverberated around the room. They were rejoicing, or they were angered by the vile Liselotte the Witch, who spouted convenient words pandering to the people while refusing to give up her own noble privileges.
By the underling of the Galarc Kingdom, Rio, who had marched into their capital city to take Liselotte back.
They were filled with more rage than they could endure.
They were seething to the point of their blood boiling.
It was an anger that wouldn’t settle without retaliation.
That was why they rejoiced in the decision to invade the Galarc Kingdom. This would give them an opportunity to exact revenge.
It was the Galarc Kingdom that had started the fight with the Holy Democratic Republic of Erica. And the monarchy was an absolute evil that had to be eradicated from this world anyway.
That was their justification. There was no room for rebuttal. That’s what they believed without a single doubt.
“Do not forgive Liselotte the Witch!”
“We must demonstrate our wrath to the despicable royal monarchy!”
“Execute the evil kingdom that oppresses the weak!”
“God will have vengeance! Saint Erica will give them divine punishment!”
The members of the congress yelled passionately.
“Please quieten down, everyone.” Erica raised her right hand with a thin smile and called out to the noisy group. The congress members immediately fell silent.
“The congress vote has passed. We will now proceed down the path of confrontation with the Galarc Kingdom. Does anyone have any questions or comments?” Erica asked, looking around at the members.
“Saint Erica.” Andrei, the prime minister and chairman of the meeting, sought permission to speak.
“Yes, Andrei?”
“Will we be announcing this decision to the people right away? The commotion yesterday has caused rumors to spread across the nation, and everyone is feeling anxious and enraged. Knowing that we’re planning a counterattack may raise their morale.”
Other members of the congress voiced their agreement one after another. They all wanted to spread the news to raise the fighting spirit of the nation. If they could appear reliable to the people, they would be able to gather support.
“It is exactly as you say, Andrei. As a concerned party of the nation, the people have the right to know. However, the problem lies with the Galarc Kingdom’s Liselotte the Witch, who escaped.” Erica acknowledged Andrei’s opinion, then sighed dramatically.
“The problem...” Andrei’s face twisted at the mention of Liselotte. He had been in charge of looking after her during her house arrest, so his feelings towards her were especially conflicted.
“As I previously explained, the young man who rescued Liselotte the Witch was severely wounded in the battle with the beast of the land I summoned. That was when he used the cowardly method of taking hostage Natalia and the others who came to my assistance.”
That was the reason why Natalia and the others had died—or so Erica had explained when Andrei and the reinforcements came running after the battle ended. But they had no reason to doubt her. There was no way for them to know that their comrades had actually been killed by the beast of the land’s attack.
“The young man fled after releasing an attack that enveloped all of us. He must believe that he killed me with that attack. However, he may possibly return to check on the situation after healing his wounds.”
“And if he learns of our plan to invade Galarc, he’d be able to make the first move against us. Is that right?”
“Exactly.” Erica smiled as though she were praising an excellent student.
When it came to war, information was key. Knowing the enemy movements was an advantage, while having the enemy know yours was the exact opposite.
“In that case, we must ensure that no one here makes any careless mention of the war,” said Andrei. The conversation just now had made him more aware of the importance of protecting the nation’s information.
“Indeed. Although we managed to catch on partway, he was skilled enough to retrieve Liselotte the Witch from a highly secure location. As we have no idea when he might send someone to spy on us, it would be best to enforce a gag order on all the congress members. The time and location of discussions must be strictly controlled, and code words should be used to prevent anyone from overhearing the plan to invade Galarc.”
“I see...”
Erica stared into space to think for a moment, then suggested a name for the plan. “The name of the plan can be... Hmm. How about the Pandora Plan?”
“Pandora?” Andrei tilted his head at the unfamiliar word. The other members of congress showed similar reactions.
“It’s from an ancient legend of a sacred treasure called Pandora’s box. I took the name from there.”
“Oh, a sacred treasure? That sounds wonderful.”
Andrei and the other congress members were all born and raised in Strahl, where the people had a strong faith in the Six Wise Gods. Whether it was because it was a god’s namesake or because it was Erica’s suggestion, they were unconditionally in favor of the idea.
“It was a box of hope that a god bestowed upon mankind to bring them salvation. Pandora was the name of the woman entrusted with that box. Opening the box would bring salvation to the world.”
The Pandora’s box that Erica spoke of came from Greek mythology on Earth, but there appeared to be some errors in her retelling.
“That’s exactly like you, Saint Erica!”
“Oh, my, do you really think so?”
“Yes. Saint Erica is both a saint and a hero. A true representative of the Six Wise Gods. There is no one more fitting to be Pandora,” Andrei stated proudly.
“Is that so,” Erica said with a saintlike smile.
“In that case, shall we go and retrieve the key to Pandora’s box first?” she suggested.
“Where would that be...?” Andrei asked.
“The Galarc Kingdom, obviously. I also know of a potential site to begin hostilities.”
“Oh, my. When did you have the time to find that?”
Liselotte had only been rescued yesterday afternoon. Although they had officially voted to retaliate as a nation overnight, they had practically no plan at all. That was the case for everyone other than Erica, at least.
“I gathered all the information I needed of every country’s political state, geography, and climate while I was traveling.”
She had abducted Liselotte in the process of doing so, but that hadn’t been her main objective while traveling. Of course, it was only normal for nations to scout this much out before weighing whether they should go to war or not.
“We can always count on you, Saint Erica,” Andrei said.
“From this moment on, it’s a race against time. I will retrieve the key to Pandora’s box and present it to everyone.”
“Are you going to Galarc alone...?”
“There are numerous minor countries from here to the Galarc Kingdom. If we march an army through their lands, we’ll end up in combat with them instead. It would be unwise to go against a major power in a battle of resources. That’s why I intend on taking only a small force with me by griffin. I will achieve victory with that alone.”
Erica’s combat strength had been proven already. That track record made her statement all the more persuasive.
“I see...”
“And so, I will be departing for the Galarc Kingdom today.”
“T-Today?”
Andrei and the congress members stirred noisily at the sudden news. They were in high spirits from the decision to retaliate, but even they hadn’t expected to suddenly put the plan into action.
“I said it was a race against time, didn’t I? You shouldn’t place too much trust in your ability to prevent information leaks. We may be able to fake my death in the meantime, but if the other side discovers my survival, they’ll become warier. We must make the first move before then.”
“I understand. In that case, should we go about hiding the fact you’re alive right this moment? We’ve already spread the news that you won yesterday’s battle across the capital...”
“There’s nothing wrong with spreading news of our victory—that affects the morale of the people. What we must avoid is giving the other side conviction that I’m alive. The worst case would be for me to stay in the capital and get discovered by a spy. We must avoid letting them find my whereabouts.”
If they didn’t know that Erica was alive and moving about, they wouldn’t prepare any countermeasures against her in advance.
“I see. And that’s why you’ll leave today.”
“Exactly. That’s why I’d like you to leave the beginning of hostilities to me. In order to reduce the risk of our plans being overheard by a spy, I wish to depart without openly explaining the invasion details. Is that agreeable to everyone?” Erica asked the congress members.
Her proposal was as good as asking for carte blanche, but—
“We have no objections!”
Only agreement came back from around the room.
“Thank you very much. I estimate I will return successfully in a month’s time. Please look forward to it.”
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