Chapter 7: Their Respective Intentions
“How dare they...!”
Duke Gregory’s anger echoed in a council room within the castle.
“Calm yourself, Clement.”
Seated in the throne room of the Galarc Castle, Francois sighed. Furthermore, they weren’t the only ones in the room. Duke Cretia and the other leading nobles of the kingdom were in attendance, seated within the room.
In addition, Rio, Liselotte, and Satsuki were also present. The three of them stood behind Francois.
“How do you expect me to be calm?!” Duke Gregory replied, baring his emotions at King Francois. “My land—my territory was taken! Because of those two!”
He pointed at Rio and Liselotte and glared.
“Why do you blame Haruto and Liselotte?”
“The Cretia daughter is the one who started the conflict with that ridiculous Saint!”
“And?”
“Wh...”
Francois encouraged him to continue with indifference. That reaction was unexpected to Duke Gregory, whose face twitched.
“And it was Sir Amakawa who invaded that Saint’s country and worsened the situation! Oh, but he did such a wonderful job rescuing Cretia’s daughter, was it? No, he did a half-cocked job—and now my territory has been invaded! It’s all because of all of this imbecile!” This time, he criticized Rio harshly.
“Firstly, you claim that Liselotte caused the conflict with the Saint, but that is incorrect. The Saint intended on disputing with our kingdom from the very beginning. Any city ruled by a person of great importance would have been fine with her. She just so happened to target Amande.”
Francois calmly dismissed Duke Gregory’s claims.
“Guh... Well, what about Amakawa, then? You said so yourself, Your Majesty—that the Saint had most likely died by Amakawa’s hand. What do you have to say to that now? She’s very clearly alive, isn’t she?!”
“I did preface with the fact that her corpse wasn’t found.”
“Even then, it should have been easy to imagine that the Saint would be enraged by Liselotte’s rescue and escalate things. That’s why he should have settled everything properly! He made a real mess of things with his inadequacy!”
“You seem insistent on blaming Liselotte and Haruto for this, but the Saint invaded a land completely unrelated to them. According to your claims, shouldn’t she have targeted Amande or Haruto’s mansion for revenge? In the first place, you seem to be blaming Liselotte for being attacked in the first place. Does this mean you should be similarly criticized for the attack on your land?”
“Grr... You’re just arguing in circles.”
“Haruto said he stabbed the Saint through the heart. He confirmed her pulse had stopped. Do you consider that an inadequate job?”
Out of desperation, Duke Gregory expressed his distrust for Rio with extreme resentment. “Did he truly pierce the Saint’s heart? How do you know he isn’t lying?”
“He is not a man who would tell such lies,” Francois answered without any hesitation. It was proof of his utmost trust in Rio.
“You...” Duke Gregory’s eyes widened so far, his bloodshot veins were in danger of bursting. He swallowed his words, unable to argue back against the king, but everyone could see his discontent rising higher and higher by the moment.
“The greater matter of importance right now is what to do about Greille. Declaring a vital city of our kingdom an exclave of the Holy Democratic Republic of Erica is not something that can be overlooked. That is why I will first send a team to scout the state of the city. Once they confirm that the Saint is alive, we will attempt subjugation,” Francois said.
“This is no time to be acting so complacent!” Duke Gregory snapped once again. “Forget the reconnaissance team and send the enchanted airship fleet immediately to snatch the city back!”
“No, we mustn’t underestimate the Saint’s power. From what Haruto has described, her power is a true threat. If she is still alive, then it would be unwise to send soldiers charging in recklessly.”
“The beast of the land, was it? Hmph, I find it questionable whether such a monster even exists. Everything that boy says rouses suspicion.”
It seemed Duke Gregory had nothing but distrust for Rio. It also seemed like he disliked Rio. To be precise, it seemed he didn’t want to believe him because he disliked him.
“I know that you dislike Haruto and are panicking right now. But while this issue involves your territory, at the same time it is a national emergency. As king, I cannot allow you to let your personal feelings affect your judgment in this matter.”
He would prefer to dismiss Duke Gregory from his position, but things were never that easy. Though he was the king, there was an arrangement with the nobles that even he had to obey. If he wanted to dispossess a lord of his territory, it had to be for a clear and objective reason such as a serious crime on the lord’s part.
Breaking that arrangement and dismissing a lord one-sidedly would create animosity from every noble in the kingdom. At worst, the kingdom could fall into pieces. In this incident, it was impossible to use Duke Gregory’s dislike for Rio as an objective reason for dismissal. That being said...
“I do not particularly dislike him,” Duke Gregory said, having detached his emotions to regain some of his composure. “But if Your Majesty insists, then I will cease my objections. However, would you please consider my opinion on two counts?”
Although he nodded in agreement, it was unlikely he had discarded his resentment for Rio.
“What are they?”
“The first is regarding the reconnaissance team. You must require someone familiar with the geography of the city. Please use one of my subordinates for that role.”
“That is a reasonable request. However, my personnel will also be in that team, so do keep that in mind.”
Duke Gregory glared at Rio in annoyance, figuring he would be one of those selected. But he didn’t voice his disapproval out loud.
“Understood,” he continued, moving on with the conversation. “And once the Saint has been subjugated, please deploy the military to recapture the city as swiftly as possible.”
As the lord of a territory, this was another reasonable request. Francois hadn’t wanted to send in the military when the beast of the land could appear, but not sending a single soldier was out of the question. Refusing here would potentially create dissent from every other territory lord as well.
“Very well. Then I will have a thousand soldiers on standby.”
Francois gave a number that could be mobilized easily in an emergency.
“A thousand, you say...?”
The word “merely” was omitted, but it was certainly implied.
“I cannot imagine the Saint would have brought that many forces with her into the city. A thousand should suffice in regaining control of the city. Increasing the numbers would result in longer preparation time as well. I wish to prepare all the necessary personnel and supplies today, so they can depart to resolve the situation tomorrow.”
A swifter resolution was better for Duke Gregory as well. Besides, his territory was only a few hours away from the capital by airship. If they needed more reinforcements, they could request more without too much effort. Thus, Duke Gregory chose to obediently back down.
“I understand. Thank you for your consideration.”
◇ ◇ ◇
Meanwhile, in Greille—the capital of Duke Gregory’s territory—Erica had completed her takeover of the consulate, which was constructed as a fortress.
She had taken Duke Gregory’s second son Maxim as a hostage. It took no effort to disarm all the soldiers and use the transmission artifact to send notice of Greille’s takeover to the Galarc Castle.
However, there were some people who opposed her in spite of the second son being taken hostage: Duke Gregory’s third son and his followers. Immediately after Erica made Maxim use the magic artifact to declare war on the capital, they attacked with no regard for the hostage’s life.
“Your little brother doesn’t seem to be a fan of yours,” Erica chuckled. She was seated in a lounge chair in the office, across from the similarly seated Maxim.
“...” Maxim was staring downwards with a conflicted expression. Lying in front of him was his little brother, his magic sealed with a collar. The third son had believed that if he could eliminate Erica after his older brother’s huge blunder, he’d obtain a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to move up into the governor position. Of course, his attempt to do so had resulted in his own capture.
“In order to recapture the city, I would have done the same... It was the right action as a noble,” Maxim muttered.
“Is that so? Either way, it would be annoying if another fool decided to imitate him. And so, I have a new request to make of you.”
“What?”
“Banish all the residents of the noble district from this city,” Erica stated simply.
“Wha... I can’t do such a thing! How would it even be possible?! Do you know how many residents there are?”
From Maxim’s point of view, it was an absurd request.
“How many residents are there?”
“Over a thousand!”
“I see. But they’ll leave if you order them to, no? Or do your retainers hate you just as much as your little brother?”
“What...?!”
“Order them to leave,” Erica demanded mercilessly.
“I can’t do that! That’s what will make them really hate me!”
“I don’t get it. If those thousand residents were from the slums instead, you wouldn’t hesitate to obey me, would you?”
“...” Maxim didn’t deny her words. Indeed, banishing the poorest people of the city wouldn’t be much of a problem. The public order of the city would be unsettled for a while, but he would have overlooked it as a demerit of the current situation.
“You’re fine with banishing the poor, but you can’t banish your noble retainers. It really is a strange way of thinking.”
“There’s nothing strange about it! The nobles all serve the Gregory family. If I banish them, they’d all lose their faith in us.”
“Yet you’d be fine with losing a thousand of the poorer residents of the territory? Both of them are your people, are they not?”
“They’re not the same! Those filthy commoners could never compare to the retainers who work for our family!”
“That’s where you’re wrong.”
“What...?”
“This is already my country,” Erica said indifferently. “It is no longer the territory of Duke Gregory. I have no need for people with special statuses in my country. That is, of course, unless they’re willing to give up those statuses.”
“Father would never accept that. The kingdom won’t remain silent either,” Maxim muttered bitterly, expressing his utmost opposition.
“I see. Then perhaps I’ll ask your brother instead. He becomes governor if I kill you, right? I didn’t think I had a use for the third son with you around, but now I’m glad I didn’t kill him right away.”
Erica stood up and went over to the third son on the floor, removing his mouth gag.
“I-I’ll do it! Let me do it, please! I’ll convince all the retainers!” The third son immediately agreed. He nodded furiously, swearing to obey Erica.
“Fool! Fearing for your life doesn’t mean you can discard your pride as a noble! You don’t deserve to be called a member of the Gregory family—you don’t even deserve to be called a noble!” Maxim yelled at his brother.
“P-Pride, you say? You must be kidding me! Just because I was born one year later than you, I’ve had to live an inferior life to you in every way! Father’s also treated me as a lesser being my whole life! Perhaps I would have had that pride you speak of if I were the second son!” the third son yelled back.
“Wh-What did you say...?!” Maxim had noticed his little brother’s rebellious attitude towards him, but he had never heard his true feelings expressed so clearly. He was taken aback by the sudden truth that was revealed to him.
“Goodness, the traditions of nobility are truly evil. Humans are born equal, yet you people somehow find value in the order of your birth. What fools you all are,” she said, before turning to the third son. “You poor thing. I see you are just another victim of noble society.”
They were the sweet, compassionate whispers of a witch.
“Th-That’s right... The order of my birth was all it took for Father to ignore my abilities.” But those whispers shook the heart of the third son.
“You’ll cooperate with me, then? I will go with you, but you should be the ones to give the noble district residents the order. Tell them this is no longer their country, so they should leave. I will help with persuading anyone who refuses.”
“Right...” the third son nodded.
“No one will accept such a thing...” Maxim mumbled to himself.
His words turned out to be in vain, as Erica’s display of her military power sent the nobles scattering from the city that very day.
The sight of the nobles being banished from the city became a spectacle that was highly discussed amongst the commoners. The banished residents were taken in as refugees in the neighboring towns, and word of their banishment reached Francois’s ears in the capital by the next morning.
Thus, in one way or another, the exclave of the Holy Democratic Republic of Erica was established successfully.
◇ ◇ ◇
The next afternoon, at the bank of a lake about five kilometers from Greille, approximately one thousand troops dispatched from the capital of Galtuuk had set up an encampment.
Inside one of the tents, Rio was having a meeting with King Francois. Accompanying Rio were Aishia, Miharu, Celia, Latifa, Satsuki, Sara, Orphia, Alma, Gouki, and Kayoko. Charlotte, Duke Cretia, Liselotte, and Aria were also present.
“And you’re sure you’re willing to join the reconnaissance team, Haruto?” Francois asked.
“I’m the one who offered my assistance. If the saint is truly alive, then Duke Gregory was right. It was my failure to finish her off that led to this situation.”
“You are mistaken, Haruto. As an honorary knight, you have no duty to serve this kingdom. Yet you’ve lent us your strength numerous times until now. I appreciate your assistance greatly, but I must confirm this to be sure. Are you really okay with going?”
Francois gazed at Rio, assessing his resolution.
“What do you mean?”
“I believe in your strength. And I know just how reassuring it is to have it on our side. That is why I appreciate your volunteering yourself to the cause. However, this is a matter for the kingdom to resolve. Calling it a subjugation doesn’t change the fact it is a dirty job to be doing. It’s not the same as your mission to rescue Liselotte. It is not a burden someone with no duty to the kingdom needs to bear, and it is not a matter you need to be taking part in,” Francois said, clearly seeking to gauge Rio’s resolve.
“My decision was made with all these factors already in mind. If the Saint is truly alive, then in order to settle this as fast as possible...she must be killed. She is not someone that can be left to her own devices to roam.”
It was rare for the warmhearted Rio to say something this extreme. He had even made this violent statement in front of Miharu and the others. The thought of their reaction was a little frightening, but he didn’t intend on hiding himself from them at this point. He was a human capable of killing if he believed it to be necessary, and he was about to participate in an operation to kill someone. If he hid this from them, he would feel guilty for the rest of his life.
“It’s true that I shouldn’t be taking part in the matters of the Galarc Kingdom, but this is a personal matter to me. I do not wish to lose the people precious to me, and I don’t want to leave their protection up to others.”
That’s why he was willing to do whatever dirty work necessary, Rio stated resolutely.
“I see... In that case, I gratefully accept your offer to assist. This isn’t an order as the king, but a request: I am formally asking that you help subjugate Saint Erica. Do you accept this request?”
“Yes. I swear to do the best I can,” Rio pledged firmly with his right hand over his chest.
“Thank you. Clement will be sending his private soldiers, but he doesn’t have the best opinion of you. If his soldiers are uncooperative in the operation, you may act on your own judgment.”
“Aishia will go and search for the Saint in her spirit form, so I plan on obeying the orders of the squad until an emergency arises. I don’t know what will happen once the Saint is found, but I will follow your words if the need arises.”
“Good. If any trouble arises with Clement after the operation, I vow to stand on your side. Do whatever you need to succeed.”
“Yes, Your Majesty. But was it really okay for Your Majesty and Princess Charlotte to come here? If the beast of the land appears, you’d be in danger even at this distance...”
“We’re here to subjugate a hero. This is an event that may impact the future of this kingdom. As the king, I have a duty to watch the outcome of this battle. And shouldn’t you be asking that of your own companions?” Francois asked, looking around at Miharu and the others.
“I did tell them it was dangerous...” Rio’s gaze was also redirected by the question.
“Everyone came here believing there’s something we can do to help. We’re all prepared for this, King. That’s why I’m here as the hero of this kingdom as well,” Satsuki said. This was something they had all discussed together. Aishia may be the only one who could fight the beast of the land with Rio, but they insisted there was a role that they could fulfill as well.
“They’re all going to act as Your Majesty’s guards here at this base. Sara’s group will also bring out their spirits in case of an emergency.”
“I see. Most of the military personnel will be leaving this base, so that is most reassuring,” Francois agreed. As he said, most of the people remaining at the lake base would be noncombatants.
This was the breakdown of the one thousand troops that had been dispatched:
First, there was the reconnaissance squad that consisted of Rio and a select few. The role of this squad was to infiltrate the city and confirm Saint Erica’s survival. Once they located her, they would consider subjugation.
Next, there was the capture squad led by the deputy commander of the First Order of the knights, William Lopes. Their role was to promptly take back the city once Saint Erica was confirmed either absent or subjugated. They would be on standby at the lake base until they received word from the reconnaissance team.
The final group was the base that set up the encampment. This group consisted of Francois and Charlotte, several important figures including Satsuki, and the rest of the noncombatants.
“Your Majesty.”
Just then, the knight guarding the tent came inside.
“What is it?”
“Duke Gregory has arrived. He wishes to hold a strategy meeting regarding the reconnaissance team.”
“Very well. Everyone besides Haruto may excuse themselves.”
At Francois’s order, everyone except Rio and Francois left the tent. They were replaced by Duke Gregory and his private soldiers that formed the reconnaissance team.
“Hmph. Bringing all those women to the battlefield... Hoping to get lucky, are we?”
Duke Gregory shot the girls a look of disdain as he walked past them on his way in, disregarding their strength completely. But no one heard his muttering.
“Welcome. Are those your people for the reconnaissance team?”
“Yes. I’ve selected the very best out of those directly under my command, Your Majesty.”
At Francois’s prompting, Duke Gregory introduced his soldiers proudly. There were a total of four people, and among them was Gilbert, who Rio fought the day before. When they met eyes, Gilbert gave Rio a silent nod in greeting.
Thus, the strategy meeting commenced.
“I believe the consulate is their headquarters! The refugees reported that the Saint took my son and shut herself inside the building. We should assassinate her right away!”
The first to speak was Duke Gregory, who immediately leaned forward and demanded Francois make a decision. Word of the residents of the noble district flooding the neighboring cities had arrived at the capital via the transmission artifacts this morning. That had probably increased his impatience.
However, Francois was only interested in proceeding carefully. “Calm down, Clement. Even if we go with subjugation, we must gather more information first. That is the purpose of the reconnaissance team, no?”
Duke Gregory frowned unhappily. “We already have all the information we need! My banished retainers reported seeing a woman that matched the description of the Saint. They also said she had shut herself away in the consulate. What more do you need?!”
“Even if the Saint is in the consulate, she would have naturally established her defenses. We also don’t know anything about the forces she brought into the city. There’s also the beast of the land to consider. In order to be absolutely prepared, we should do our due research,” Francois said, admonishing Duke Gregory.
What beast of the land? As if she could summon a monster as big as a mountain. There’s no sign of such a thing anywhere near the city right now.
Duke Gregory was extremely unsatisfied with the response. Perhaps that was why he gritted his teeth and opened his mouth. “Then what if we took a hostage to draw the Saint out? As a Saint, she values the people above all else, no? Oh, what a brilliant idea!” he said dramatically. It sounded like his emotions were causing him to speak out of desperation, but there was no telling how serious he was.
However, even if he had spoken out of desperation, Rio had a rare frown on his face. Although he saw the Saint as an enemy, he didn’t want to participate in a plan that used innocent people as hostages.
“You would take your people hostage to regain your land? That makes it hard to tell which side is more justified.”
Francois had a similar opinion to Rio. He expressed disapproval for Duke Gregory’s plan.
What naivete! The greatest priority right now is to subjugate the Saint, is it not?!
Unable to criticize Francois directly, Duke Gregory used the last of his rationality to bite down on his lip in detestation and control his words. But he couldn’t hold back the sarcasm from the question that came out next. “In that case, what would be a good plan? I would love to hear your thoughts, Your Majesty.”
“I am thinking of splitting the team into two groups to scout the noble district and commoner district separately. I imagine the noble district will be heavily guarded due to the consulate within, but Haruto would be able to infiltrate from the skies with his enchanted sword.”
“So you wish to send Amakawa to the noble district...?”
“Yes. Your subordinates are familiar with the land, so they should go question the commoners.”
After a long pause, Duke Gregory nodded. “I understand.”
There’s no mistaking it... His Majesty wants to let Amakawa subjugate the Saint himself by splitting the team into two.
Although he had gained his position from his heritage, he wasn’t a duke just for show. Duke Gregory wasn’t foolish enough to miss Francois’s true intentions. However, it was clear that any point he made would just be evaded.
I must do something...but what...
What if Rio really subjugated the Saint like this? The resolution of this incident would be entirely credited to Rio, indebting Duke Gregory to him for the rest of his life. He wasn’t willing to bear that humiliation.
It’s my territory. I cannot let Amakawa resolve this incident...
If this was how Francois was going to be, then he had no choice but to convince him with the result. Just like how Haruto Amakawa once won over Francois’s trust... That was the conclusion Duke Gregory came to, rivalry burning in his heart.
After that, the meeting concluded.
“We will excuse ourselves now. My men need to prepare for departure.”
Duke Gregory led Gilbert and the other three men out of the tent, leaving Rio and Francois behind.
“Haruto. I’m sure you know already, but if you find the Saint in the consulate, you may engage her without contacting Clement. You may say that I ordered you to do so,” Francois said to Rio.
At the same time, outside the tent...
“Follow me. I have something important to discuss,” Duke Francois said, leading his four men away.
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