Interlude: Rodania after Invasion
A few hours prior, in Marquess Rodan’s territory capital of Rodania in the Beltrum Kingdom, the Restoration’s forces had been completely suppressed, and the city was now under the control of the Beltrum army led by Duke Arbor.
That being said, there was no change to the livelihoods of the commoners. To them, an army had suddenly invaded the noble district, seized control of the area, and swiftly brought down the governor of the city.
Some soldiers were patrolling the commoner district in search of any remnants of the Restoration, but others had booked out entire taverns to celebrate their victory. This atmosphere was only possible due to the invaders being the kingdom’s own troops.
In contrast, the only ones walking around the noble district were those of the Beltrum army. Every last member of the Restoration remaining had been restrained and imprisoned. The building that had been used as the headquarters of the Restoration had also been seized by the army and now served as Duke Arbor’s temporary residence.
After dinner, Duke Arbor, his son Charles, and the Proxia Empire’s ambassador Reiss gathered in a drawing room of that building.
“Goodness. What a pain this has become.” Duke Arbor’s heavy sigh echoed throughout the room.
“There was nothing we could have done against that water monster...” Charles said nervously, watching for his father’s reaction.
“That’s only the beginning of our problems. Princess Christina, Princess Flora, and Duke Huguenot all escaped. There’s no doubt the regalia is with them. If only you had captured Princess Christina and Duke Huguenot like you were told.”
Duke Arbor clicked his tongue in clear annoyance, glaring at Charles. Charles had been the one in charge of locating Christina and Duke Huguenot on their way to the harbor and capturing them. If he had succeeded, the greatest victory of the operation would have been thanks to him—but he had failed.
“I have no excuses...” Charles bowed his head in shame.
“How could they have been whisked away without your knowledge?”
The stern crease in Duke Arbor’s brow deepened. Alas, Charles couldn’t recall anything about the person who had snatched them from his hands.
What had actually happened was this: Sora had flown over and immediately sent Charles and his men flying, grabbed Christina and Duke Huguenot, then flown away again. Charles and his troops hadn’t seen Sora’s face, so there wasn’t even a chance for the rules of god to apply. It was an extremely skillful performance on Sora’s part.
“Well, even if he had captured Princess Christina and Duke Huguenot at that time, there’s no telling how things would have gone afterwards. That water monster would have been a product of the cornered hero of water. If we hadn’t allowed Princess Christina and Duke Huguenot to escape, he may have used that power for offense instead of defense,” Reiss said, extending a lifeline to Charles.
Though it wasn’t the work of the hero of water.
He knew that the Yamata no Orochi on the lake hadn’t been Hiroaki’s work.
“Hmm...” Duke Arbor hummed in contemplation at Reiss’s words, leaning back in his seat.
If the water hero is capable of using that much power, we’ll need to have our hero of lightning do the same. The intelligent brat won’t be easy to manipulate, so I’ll have to think of a way to control him...
Duke Arbor carefully noted the need to find a means of militarizing the Beltrum Kingdom’s hero Rui Shigekura in the corner of his mind.
“There’s no point in lamenting what’s happened. Taking their headquarters and reducing their organization’s numbers is a fine result in itself. What we should be focusing on right now is the next move.”
Reiss gave his constructive opinion and tried to move forward with the discussions.
“The highest priority is the regalia. The worst-case scenario is if Princess Christina or Princess Flora use it for politics. There’s no telling what that unpredictable vixen will do when cornered...”
The cornered fox he was referring to was most likely Christina. There wasn’t even a hint of respect towards the First Princess of his kingdom in Duke Arbor’s words.
“The only place Princess Christina can rely on is the Galarc Kingdom. That’s the most likely destination for them to flee to...” Charles offered in hopes of getting back on Duke Arbor’s good side.
“That much is obvious,” Duke Arbor spat angrily.
“The problem is whether Galarc will see the Restoration as precarious baggage and discard them, or not. Well, my guess is that they’ll take them in,” Reiss said, giving his predictions on the situation.
“Even at the risk of certain conflict with our kingdom? The Galarc Kingdom originally sought to use the Restoration as cushioning between our kingdom and the Proxia Empire. With that role lost, wouldn’t the Galarc Kingdom be less willing to defend the Restoration...?” Charles expressed his doubts without being discouraged.
And his opinion was right on the mark. He had suffered a number of consecutive defeats due to unlucky matchups with powerful opponents, but his abilities weren’t actually that low. He did tend to lose sight of his surroundings when he got too heated, but he was normally capable of analyzing war situations to a considerable degree.
“That’s a good point. King Francois is clever. His intelligence makes him sensitive to loss and gain, and his passive stance towards war would normally make him lean in the direction you speak of. However, his intelligence will also sense that Galarc is already bound for conflict with Beltrum—whether he turns away the Restoration or not.”
“So he’ll keep them close by as negotiation material if war breaks out. Is that what you’re saying, Mr. Reiss?” Duke Arbor asked with a sullen look.
“Indeed so. He’d also have a lot to gain if Princess Christina won the war and seized power. And he’d have even more reason to help them if the regalia is in her hands.”
“Tch. What a pain this has become.” With a vein pulsing with anger at his temple, Duke Arbor clicked his tongue in disgust for the nth time today. He made sure to glare at Charles again too.
“Taking on the Galarc Kingdom will be a much different matter to invading Rodania. They’ve recently grown closer to the Centostella Kingdom in place of Beltrum, and have more heroes at their disposal than us. And now the hero of water may have awakened his powers... Although there’s enough reason to declare war, I strongly recommend you refrain from applying anything more than diplomatic pressure. Your army isn’t ready to face an invasion from them at the moment,” Reiss said in warning.
“You said their hero couldn’t bring out as much power as the hero of ice. Does that mean your nation knows how to draw out the power of the heroes?” Duke Arbor suddenly asked.
“Yes.”
“Would you be willing to teach our hero of lightning the same?”
“Unfortunately, I wouldn’t be able to do that without recompense. And there’s nothing our nation is in particularly need of at the moment either...” Naturally, it seemed that Reiss was unwilling to go so far for free.
“Hmph...” A hero that could draw out their power was capable of changing the tides of a battle in an instant. Honestly speaking, Duke Arbor was desperate for such a force—but he couldn’t show that on the surface.
“However, I can lend you the power of the ice hero again as I did this time. Although I will have to kindly decline if you intend on sending him to invade Galarc.”
Duke Arbor shook his head in irritation. “I wouldn’t do that.”
“That being said, the usual diplomatic letter of protest will have no effect. We need something that can apply actual pressure. But the only real usable pawn we have is the captured Marquess Rodan...”
Duke Arbor considered how he could apply diplomatic pressure to the Restoration and Galarc. They had a large number of prisoners, but the leading figure they had was rather lacking.
“Instead of searching for a usable pawn, how about we consider an obtainable one?” Reiss suggested.
“An obtainable one?”
Both Duke Arbor and Charles looked dubious, unable to think of anyone off the top of their heads.
“I believe you agreed to use the Count Claire family as neutral messengers in the agreement you struck before you invaded Rodania.”
With a faint smile on his face, Reiss brought up the Count Claire family. Just what was he plotting?
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