230. I’ll do anything
“Friend, what the hell is that…”
“Did I just hear something wrong?”
“Schlus?”
I was expecting Einz and Erika to show a rather strong reaction.
But seeing even Iris with her eyes wide open, I thought it was worth it to surprise her.
I took a token from my inside pocket and set it on the table.
It was a metal token in the shape of a crow’s beak.
“Isn’t that the mark of the crow? Souvenir?”
“No. It’s a real sign. The Secret Service of Trude Kingdom has been cooperating with me for quite some time. There are agents among them who are active as crows.”
“Wait a minute! So, Schluss, are you saying you were a spy from the realm?”
“You made a mistake, Einz. I am not cooperating with the Secret Service, the Secret Service is cooperating with me. The survival of the Secret Service is already in my hands.”
“Then what exactly is your relationship with the kingdom?”
“Strictly speaking, it has nothing to do with it. King Trude doesn’t even know that the Secret Service has fallen into my hands. The ultimate goal is to bring the empire and kingdom to a complete end and develop a cooperative relationship… That was a bit difficult.”
“·······.”
After hearing the explanation, the three people’s expressions became even more dazed.
It wasn’t like he didn’t understand at all.
I understood, but should I say that I did not agree?
“So, then, is this a story that His Majesty the Emperor knows?”
“Your Majesty doesn’t even know.”
“Hey! Then why don’t you tell us this first!”
“Oops! Schluss! Are you trying to kill us!”
The response was very strong.
Still, it was nice not to have to worry.
Because I plan to tell Arya soon.
And the security here is so perfect that no one can get out unless one of them gets stabbed and confesses.
There is no way you dare to be arrested for the crime of hearing secrets that even the emperor of the empire didn’t know about.
“I told you before. I’m preparing for a war against the Mine.”
“Uh… I know, but will that really happen? The Asylums also worship the demons as gods among themselves, but the demons didn’t respond at all?”
“There will be no choice but to respond soon. Then the war with the demons will break out. It is absolutely necessary. If the human race is divided at that time, you can say that there is no chance of winning.”
Now, thanks to the guardians of balance like Tilpitz and Alexia, aggressive demons are suppressed, but it was questionable whether Tilpitz and Alexia would remain still after the incident.
A war breaks out.
Because I have set up the settings so that there is no choice but to do that.
The problem is that I am the only one who fully knows that fact.
These guys are the only ones who believe my words. Even if I said to the people who had been fighting and fighting for thousands of years that they would soon have to wage a war against the demons, they would gather their strength, but they would not listen.
Without the slightest explanation, you have to gather justifications on the spot and induce them to naturally gather their strength, but this wasn’t usually a difficult task.
First of all, through the suppression of the Southern Rebellion, the relationship between the Great Forest and the Empire has succeeded in returning the relationship from confrontation to harmony.
I heard from Miko that if I ask for help, she will consider it first.
But in the case of kingdoms and deserts, it seemed like it would take a lot of time, manpower, and money.
Since both of them have experienced burns from the Empire more than once…
“That, more than that… Schluss.”
“What.”
“I think we got married a while ago. Did I hear that wrong?”
“You heard that right, Erica.”
“What…?”
I hugged and pulled Emilia awkwardly next to her by the waist.
Because if you stay far away from each other, the persuasion will be much less.
Emilia was blushing as if she was very nervous.
“Emilia and I promised to marry. Emilia is the sister of the head of the Secret Service. Now the Secret Service and I are inseparable.”
“That’s right… In a way, a marriage of convenience? A marriage alliance? A sham marriage? What’s that like? Right?”
“It’s just normal love and marriage.”
“Kuk…!”
Erica, who had been constantly picking up her cookies, suddenly coughed up her.
It looked like he was very flustered.
She made an alliance with Lichtenburg without marriage or anything.
Do you feel the need for a stronger relationship like marriage?
I’m sorry, but I didn’t intend to marry Erica yet.
I don’t know if it’s Yulia.
“Is your newlywed life happy, Schlust?”
“I’m not married, so I’m not a newlywed… But let’s just say I’m happy.”
“How about Emilia? How is it?”
“Oh, yes? I-I’m happy too…”
Iris continued to follow my eyes with a gentle smile.
I’m sure it’s paying attention.
Never reveal her secret engagement with him.
Of course, I had no intention of revealing my relationship with Iris in front of these guys.
Because it’s not even necessary information sharing for the execution of the operation.
When she gently nodded her head as a sign of reassurance, Iris let out a deep sigh as if frustrated.
What did I do wrong?
“You don’t look very happy? Schluss, didn’t you force this child into marriage?”
“That’s not it!”
“You don’t do weird things every night?”
“That’s… Ah…”
Emilia, who was urgently trying to protest, shut her mouth.
She dared to say that she couldn’t lie.
Then she lowered her head, and Erica’s face turned red like a carrot for asking her question.
***
“It was very noisy…”
“That’s right.”
After everyone left, I helped Emilia clear her table.
There were many traces of spilled tea or cookies today.
Especially this place where cookie crumbs are scattered here…
Erika was seated no matter who was there.
As if eating popcorn at a movie theater, she constantly brought cookies to her mouth, and it was as if she was watching a squirrel find a pile of acorns and stuff them into her mouth as best she could.
Then, if you’re a little startled, you’ll cough and throw away the crumbs.
I thought it was really good to meet them outdoors.
“Okay. I’ll clean up the dishes.”
“It’s a hassle to come and go. Let’s clean it up together.”
“Huh… Since when have you been so considerate?”
“I’ve always been considerate.”
“A man like that makes me manage this big mansion all by myself?”
“Then shall we hire more of her maids? Ten or so?”
“No. I hate that.”
I don’t know what to say.
Emilia, who had been talking playfully all along, pouted her lips as soon as she said that she would hire her maid, and slammed her head on my shoulder.
She always says that the work is hard and she hates it when she offers to hire more of her maids.
“Why? Isn’t it convenient to have a lot of maids? You, as the head maid, just give orders and stay still.”
“Why do you think he doesn’t like it? Guess what.”
“Why can’t people do this at home?”
“This kind of thing… Huh?!”
There was the sound of the light and fine hem of the skirt moving.
She was surprised as Emilia stumbled her tears along with him.
With this kind of reaction, how can you not be bothered?
“Huh… Now, wait. At least go inside the house-“
“Cough! Cough! Cough!”
Emilia froze as she heard an awkward cough from behind.
She just as naturally removed her hand and looked behind her to see Erwin rolling her eyes, pretending to be watching her garden.
“When did you come in?”
“Just now.”
“Whoever wants.”
“You gave me the keys to the house…”
“What’s the matter? Just tell me.”
As Erwin goes to and from both Asylum and the Secret Service, there is a high risk that her identity will be discovered by stepping on her tail.
She gave me the key so she could run away to my mansion in case of danger.
But I guess I’ll have to confiscate the key and get a safe house.
“The intelligence service asked for an urgent delivery.”
“Good job.”
I accepted the letter from Erwin.
From noble mtl dot com.
If you are going to deliver it urgently, is it a response to the last time you tried to contact the Kingdom?
I opened the seal right there and opened the paper.
It was a cipher text disguised as a propaganda poster, but when I applied the key, the decryption text appeared in front of my eyes in an instant.
“What is it? Where are you from?”
Emilia raised her tiptoes behind her, trying to peek over my shoulder.
I wrote the full text of the deciphered text on the back page with flash magic and showed it to Emilia.
-King of Trude Kingdom······
“Did the king send you?!”
“Uh.”
The identity of the letter is none other than the king’s personal letter.
It was delivered to me in the form of encrypted text after passing through the intelligence service once.
Currently, the kingdom looks pretty solid from the outside.
Although half of the country was devastated, it was highly regarded as a country that did not surrender and drew a truce against the empire.
It was to the extent that the empire was also expanding its strength, fearing that it would be attacked and robbed once again.
But the interior of the kingdom was actually diseased and rotten.
About 30% of the people were killed or injured, and agricultural production was in a mess, and the country was going back to normal when they relentlessly drafted soldiers saying they had to prepare for the second invasion of the empire.
In the end, rebellions and coups broke out here and there, and the existence of the dynasty was threatened.
There are imperial spies inside the kingdom as well, so Arya is not unaware of this situation.
But Arya said it was all about the kingdom deceiving spies to induce an invasion, and she was only wary.
It is surprising that the country is being maintained right now, and the news that it is a mess is flying in every day, so there was a reason to be suspicious.
Ariya I don’t know the circumstances before and after, so I’m careful, but as the original writer, I know everything, so I couldn’t hesitate.
She told a lot of tempting stories to the king of the kingdom, which would be in danger by now, and I wondered what the answer would be.
-The capital is besieged by warlords and is under attack.
“The mainland seems to be in a lot of urgency. It’s enough to write something like this and send it.”
-Currently, the kingdom’s army is only the troops that guard the border, and the rest is nothing special. So even if we move one legion of the Imperial Army right now, we should be able to break through to the capital. Return to the capital and rescue me. And if you let me keep my dynasty, I’ll do anything, whether it’s annexed or puppet.
“Ah…”
A deep sigh erupted from behind.
Anyway, the kingdom seemed to be more rotten than it seemed.