Wortenia Senki (LN) - Volume 17 - Chapter Pr

Prologue

Gentle, warming sunlight washed over the garden as a pleasant breeze played through Menea’s hair. This was the courtyard of the Mars Pavilion, an inn built in a corner of Rhoadseria’s capital city, Pireas. This magnificent garden was open to guests, but having been reduced to a shadow of its former glory, very few people passed by this courtyard anymore.

Such a nice breeze... On a day like this, I’d like to go shopping in the market, but...I guess that’s not an option right now.

The sky had been cloudy as of late, and this was the first clear, bright day in some time. Normally, this weather would lift one’s spirits, but Menea’s steps were heavy, burdened by the information that her subordinates, whom she’d sent to scout out the capital, had delivered earlier.

The last thing I want to do right now is provoke Rodney, but...

Following the attack on Count Winzer’s estate in Galatia, where Rodney had lost part of his dominant arm, Rodney had practiced with his sword in what seemed like maddened fervor. His behavior had been the very definition of reckless. Even so, perhaps that recklessness had resulted in an epiphany, because he seemed to have regained his calm as of late.

If nothing else, Rodney no longer solely occupied the inn’s courtyard, practicing with enough fury to lay waste to the garden’s beautiful scenery. That didn’t mean that the garden would immediately return to its former glory, though, so it didn’t look much different from when he occupied it in madness. Still, he was much calmer than he was before.

Unfortunately, the news Menea was about to relay to Rodney was tantamount to throwing a boulder into a calm lake.

The Organization...

That was the name of the mysterious group manipulating the western continent from behind the scenes. Menea and Rodney were in hot pursuit of this shadowy Organization, and to them, Asuka Kiryuu held the key to solving the mystery. More specifically, it wasn’t Asuka herself who was their lead, but her blood relations. Either way, Asuka would no doubt serve as the link.

The man she called “grandpa,” Koichiro Mikoshiba, had brought a katana reinforced with thaumaturgy with him, one that had surely been forged in this world. A man summoned from Rearth possessing such a weapon was exceedingly suspicious. What’s more, it was highly likely that Koichiro was behind the attack on Count Winzer’s estate. They had no concrete proof of this, of course. Rodney had even asked the attacker if he was Koichiro Mikoshiba, only to be met with silence. That didn’t mean much, though, since an assailant wouldn’t disclose their name—barring cases like attacks out of revenge.

The fact that the attacker hadn’t answered him didn’t necessarily prove or dispel the suspicion that he was Koichiro, but the mysterious assailant had cut down Count Winzer yet only severed Rodney’s arm. His sparing Rodney was all too suspicious. After all, all the other guards in Count Winzer’s estate had been mercilessly dispatched.

I can’t imagine the attacker had some kind of strange obsession with simply taking the lives of his victims.

It was more natural to assume that Koichiro Mikoshiba had taken mercy on Rodney, since Rodney was sheltering Koichiro’s relative. Rodney had probably come to the same conclusion himself. In fact, Menea suspected that half the reason Rodney threw himself headlong into training after the incident was because of anger and doubt with regards to Asuka.

Sadly, the report Menea had received from her subordinates was only going to shake Rodney’s heart all the more.

But if I don’t tell him about it, things could get very ugly.

Menea and Rodney weren’t sure if Ryoma Mikoshiba was related to Koichiro. They’d heard from Asuka that Koichiro had a grandson named Ryoma, but as far as they knew, it was merely two people with the same name. In a world without photographs or videos, Menea had no way of knowing what Ryoma looked like, barring meeting him in the flesh or seeing a portrait of him. Nonetheless, just because they couldn’t prove it didn’t necessarily mean it was a mistake or a lie.

If everything she told us is true, then the word “unfortunate” doesn’t even begin to describe this situation.

If something happened once, one could write it off as a coincidence, but if that something, which already had a million in one chance of occurring, then occurred twice, or even thrice over, it wasn’t a coincidence. It was an inevitability.

Either way, they couldn’t ignore the news that Ryoma Mikoshiba’s hearing with the House of Lords was about to begin.

The problem is that there’s only so much we can do in this situation.

Menea and her unit’s role was to serve as guards or vanguards in combat missions. Reconnaissance was outside their wheelhouse. More importantly, Ryoma Mikoshiba was currently a key figure in the Kingdom of Rhoadseria. Since the matter required calling such an important person to testify, the kingdom kept news of the hearing under wraps, which was why Menea had only learned of it on the very day of the event.

We’ve received a good deal of funds from Cardinal Roland, but there’s still not much we can do on such short notice.

Menea knew that even if they’d heard of the hearing ahead of time, it wouldn’t have changed the outcome much.

We just don’t have enough troops on hand. I did hear that Cardinal Roland called for reinforcements, but even if they send units stationed in Tarja or Brittantia over, it’ll take time for them to reach us.

The Kingdom of Rhoadseria was located on the continent’s east. The Church of Meneos’s influence here was weaker, and Menea’s forces were limited in number. Under these conditions, any attempt Menea’s side made to negotiate with the Kingdom of Rhoadseria would fail. No negotiations could even take place without military might to back it up. The Church of Meneos was influential enough that Rhoadseria couldn’t deny a request altogether, but they would stretch things out, give a vague answer, and things would end inconclusively.

Either way, I’ll need to calm Rodney down somehow.

As she watched Rodney train with his sword under the large tree planted in the garden, Menea let out a deep sigh.

♱

At the same time Menea was making her way to Rodney, Lupis Rhoadserians sat in her office in the castle doing paperwork. Hearing her aide, Meltina Lecter, call out to her, she stopped her hands and looked up from the paper. Her refined features were marred by exhaustion from her daily workload.

“What’s the matter?” Lupis asked, sounding terribly tired.

Meltina, hearing the feebleness in her voice, frowned.

Like I thought, she’s completely exhausted.

Normally, Meltina would want nothing more than for her queen to take a break, but right now, Meltina had to deliver a message.

“We sent the bailiff to Count Salzberg’s estate. If all goes well, they should be arriving at the House of Lords any minute now.”

The moment she heard those words, a deep shadow settled over Queen Lupis’s features. After a long silence, she finally nodded.

“I see...”

Her voice was full of conflict and guilt, and the look she gave Meltina seemed to demand something. Although Meltina understood what her queen was asking of her, she didn’t drop her businesslike attitude. She knew that if she were to say anything to Queen Lupis now, the queen would definitely call the whole thing off. But at this point, there was no stopping the plan.

She’s already braced herself for what’s coming, but in the end, her heart is simply too...

The House of Lords had already completed its preparations. Meltina couldn’t tell them to call off the plan now, not after all the time and funds they’d sunk into it.

Whenever it came time to make an important decision, Lupis Rhoadserians always wavered. Her reaction was natural, but for a sovereign, it was the worst possible response. Because of this, Meltina was left to decide how best to handle her liege’s emotions.

Should I be supporting her feelings?

If Meltina were the same woman she’d been in the past, she wouldn’t hesitate to act. She would believe that as her queen’s vassal, it was her duty to support her beloved liege, for better or worse. Right now, however, Meltina felt differently.

Even if we did call it off out of consideration for Her Majesty’s feelings, what would we do then?

Meltina already knew the answer to that question, which was why she had to harden her heart and insist on sticking to their plan. She looked straight into Queen Lupis’s eyes and bowed deeply. She then turned around, ignoring the fact that the queen seemed primed to say something.

She’s already nearing her limit.

As Meltina left the room, the image of Queen Lupis’s exhausted face followed her. In modern society, mental strain and anxiety resulting from overworking was a known cause for depression and bipolar disorder. Any other time, Meltina would have given Queen Lupis a few days to rest and refresh her mind and body.

But with the situation being what it is, we can’t afford to give her that kind of time.

A few years had passed since Queen Lupis claimed the throne, and she’d grown accustomed to her duties as monarch. Be that as it may, it was impossible to read the O’ltromea Empire’s intentions, and with internal affairs being as volatile as they were, there were too many affairs Queen Lupis had to handle personally.

What’s more, things had been getting even worse since a rift had formed between Queen Lupis and Count Bergstone, a key figure in her administration. No matter how much Queen Lupis strove for a regime where the monarch held all the power, she couldn’t govern over all military matters and internal and external affairs all on her own. Both Queen Lupis and Meltina, who aided her in all of her everyday tasks, knew this, but Count Bergstone’s relations with Ryoma Mikoshiba made them both wary of mending things with the count. And then the evening party at Count Salzberg’s estate happened.

We should’ve tried to mend things with him as soon as possible...but it’s too late for that now.

Meltina hadn’t attended the evening party, but she had received news of what had happened there. She knew just how fatal a blow it was for the country.

Everything is going to change today, though. It must change today.

The thought of what was to come crossed Meltina’s mind—a play that would blow away the dark clouds brewing over Rhoadseria in one fell swoop.

Whichever way this goes, it should change things for Her Majesty...

And so Meltina chose to do nothing, no matter how much bloodshed her decision would cause.