Episode 14. Declaration of war (2)
“Oh, you are here, Mr. Prause.”
As soon as I returned to the duke’s residence, the butler hurriedly came running. While gasping for breath, she gracefully puts her hands on his chest and slightly bends his back.
“…… What’s going on?”
He was a Tory loyalist. He only listened to Tori, and he was a human who would risk his life for Tori.
If such a person urgently sought me, it meant that upon my return he ordered me to be brought to him.
There will be no problems other than the noble meeting while I’m gone. It looks like it’s pretty messed up.
“What happened to Duke Tory?”
“…… Duke Tori will explain it himself. Let’s go.”
The butler stepped forward and said. We looked at each other and followed him.
* * *
“Ah, are you here?”
As soon as we set foot in the office, he jumped up from his seat.
“Let’s come here and sit down.”
Tori points to the sofa and guides us.
As we sat down on the sofa, paying attention, several maids came in and set tea and cookies in front of us.
“By the way…… How come you seem to be together?”
Tori’s eyes were fixed on the red-haired woman. It was a phoenix in human form.
“…… Although it has a human form, it is first of all a phoenix.”
“Blood, phoenix? Are you sure you mean the fire spirit king?”
He opens his mouth wide and only blinks his eyes. Seeing her astonished, I felt like I realized what Phoenix’s position was, but I was just shaken up.
The horse is the king of fire spirits, but looking at the content of the contract, there were no insectivores.
“You really have a knack for surprising me every time I see you.”
I could imagine how surprised I would be to hear that I had also signed a contract with Naiad here.
“I don’t think it’s time to talk nonsense, right? Wasn’t the reason why you rushed to find me because there was something wrong with the noble meeting?”
“Yeah, that’s right… ….”
I hoped that there wouldn’t be any problems at the noble meeting, but it didn’t seem to go as easily as I wanted.
Well, if you think about it, one of the biggest episodes in the world, the ‘Imperial Reconciliation’ episode, couldn’t be easily resolved.
“Then explain quickly.”
What kind of problem has arisen, and you are looking for me urgently?
“First of all, the information you handed over to Princess Se-Ri is in fact verified. Several aristocrats are involved, so it will take some time to investigate, but if everything is judged to be true, it will be of great help in shrinking Prince Chris’ forces.”
Since the information given to Princess Se-ri was based on the quests in the actual game, it would surely be concluded that everything was true.
If that happens, the insiders will doubt each other and cause division, claiming that they handed over information to the enemy. As I thought.
“I see. That’s fortunate.”
“But the good things ended there. Everyone at the noble meeting… Even my own faction thought that Princess Se-ri was unfit to become an emperor.
“…… The reason is?”
“Leaving aside the issue of gender, the aristocrats seemed to think that the only thing the princess tax collector could offer was ‘Prause. To put it simply, it’s a nuance that just because you’re competent doesn’t mean that even the princess tax collector can become competent.”
The image of incompetence is deeply embedded, so it’s not understandable to think that way.
But I just pushed her back, and it was Seri’s power that moved forward.
Seeing that and judging it as incompetent could mean that the nobles lacked the ability to look at talented people, or it could have been that they turned away to stand in line for the crown prince.
“Besides, the emperor and the crown prince are trying to walk the completely opposite path……. The way she looked at her didn’t seem to like it very much. Even so, Princess Se-Ri steadfastly presented solutions to the problems she was suffering from in each territory. She says she’s helpful. However, since the nobles ignored them all, her right to speak was weakened.”
After hearing what he had at the noble meeting, I felt a bit of regret.
As expected, I should have gone farming after the noble meeting.
When I saw the appearance of the princess tax collector during her noble meeting, it seemed that she had too much faith.
If you think about it, it was.
She has just made her debut.
No matter how competent the tax collector is, his self-esteem has not fully recovered, so he still needs someone to lead him.
If the hero played that role in the game, I had to do it in real life.
From the point of view of nobles, I would have been a ‘variable’ who didn’t know what to do, so I wouldn’t have easily refuted the tax collector’s words.
However, I chose to ‘neglect’ her in the hope that she would grow up. So that you don’t depend on me as much as possible.
That was the result of the failure of this meeting.
“I see.”
Still, it was fine so far.
This was a problem within the scope of the assumption.
I didn’t think that any nobles would come under the power of Princess Sherry anyway.
The reason I alienated the dukes was not to make them all on my side, but to diminish my power even a little bit. I couldn’t call it a failure.
However, the real problem seemed to lie after this.
If Se-Ri had suffered one-sidedly, Tori would have defended her. As his status is a duke, his remarks boast considerable status.
Since the measures were taken at the previous nobility meeting except for Duke Calus, your thoughts on the princess tax collector must have changed a lot.
Even so, there was a high probability that the crown prince had played a trick.
The nobles must have done something to keep from falling for the princess tax collector.
If this was the case, I would rather have played behind the scenes rather than divulge the information. It would have been nice to use it as a threat.
Still, there is still a lot of quest information. It’s enough to aim for another opportunity at the right time.
“What did the prince say at the meeting? If it were him, he would never have stayed still.”
“You are the only person in the empire who calls the crown prince that bastard.”
“So what is the answer?”
“The prince didn’t say anything.”
I doubted my ears at his words.
“Really?”
“I don’t mean that I didn’t say anything at all, but at least I didn’t tackle or make fun of the tax collector when he spoke at the noble meeting.”
That prince is not such a person…….
Considering that he went out excitedly during the previous meeting, this is a reaction that can never come out.
He is narrowing his position and further threatening the emperor’s position. If he’s not anxious, that’s even weirder.
Did you get something to your advantage before this noble meeting?
To be able to relax that much must have a tremendous ‘ripple effect’…….
What is it? What is it?
Then, I muttered involuntarily, thinking of Tori’s nuance.
“…… What is the crown prince’?”
“… ….”
“Doesn’t that mean there were people other than the crown prince who objected to Princess Se-ri?”
“Hmm… ….”
He sips tea from time to time. This side is the taste of dying from impatience, but it was really leisurely.
From noble mtl dot com
Dalgrak.
Put down the cup for the saucer. I could feel the elegance in his laid-back appearance, so I unknowingly snorted.
“Speak quickly.”
“The person who refuted Princess Se-ri is Soro.”
“…… Thoreau?”
A character so unexpected popped out and kept her name in her mouth again and again.
The psychopath and ignorant woman objected to the tax collector? Wouldn’t it be the tendency to beat someone with words?
That role will mostly be filled by her younger brother, Ther.
That means that there was someone who instructed Thoreau, who attended the noble meeting, what to do in a certain situation.
And there was only one person in the world.
Emperor.
Lupen Aether Pretium.
Thoro was the only person who could move Baek Gwang-jo, who was the leader.
“He only interfered with issues related to the emancipation of slaves. Especially at the end, as if to drive a wedge, he said, ‘As long as I exist, there will never be a chance for other races to be freed from slavery, so don’t be delusional, it’s organized like before.'”
Even if the level of words spoken to the princess of the empire was out of line, it was a long way off.
No matter how incompetent they were, they are still members of the royal family. Even so, the fact that he said such a thing had to be regarded as a confirmation that the emperor had issued an order.
There was no way that she herself would have a grudge against tax collector.
In other words, this is what the emperor wants to say to the publican.
I have nothing to give you, so give it up gracefully.
“Is this a declaration of war… ….”
He nodded at my words.
“Yes. I didn’t know that woman would declare war like that. Urca got caught up in it for no reason.”
“…… Urca?”
There was Urca who had been looking forward to the liberation of slaves from other races for decades, but there was no way she wouldn’t say anything.
“Yes. They said they would have an ‘official duel’.”
“What? Urca and Soro?”
I covered my forehead at his words. His head was pounding
Yes. I guess so. Due to their personalities, there was no way they could have fought only with words.
Both of them were judged to be S-class.
You must be proud of your own strength. It doesn’t make sense that such aliens fight only with words.
Even more so, the issue of freeing the slaves was a hardship for Urca.
You must have said it in front of your eyes with a nuance like ‘Yeah~ There’s nothing like that, so f*ck me.’ I couldn’t stand it.
“A formal duel……. It’s a meaningless duel. Can I cancel?”
“You can do it. But the public thinks so implicitly. ‘Even if it’s the same S class, Urca is weaker than Soro.’ Will Urca really tolerate that?”
“…… I won’t.”
“Don’t you know how proud S-rankers are in their military power? If someone calls you weak right now, can you stand it?”
Of course I’m patient. Weak one
To me, survival is more important than pride.
Still, it wasn’t that she didn’t know Urca’s feelings at all.
When I heard that I couldn’t play games, I was so excited. I admit to being angry.
“It must be the mindset that you will die if your pride is scratched.”
“First of all, I’ll have to meet Princess Se-Ri and Urca. Where are you both?”
“The tax collector hasn’t left the room since the meeting of nobles, and Urca is supposed to be training in a dedicated training ground.”
Has the hikikomori instinct returned? ….
I felt like I needed to take care of her again. Listening to the story, it seems like you worked hard without me, so I should comfort you properly.
“Okay. I’ll meet both of them. Did something else happen during the noble meeting?”
“…… Is it trivial to realize that you are touching someone you do not want to fight?”
I stood up at his nonsensical words. It wasn’t even worth answering.
“Isn’t it the same as touching an opponent you don’t want to fight with?”
“…… Is it. Because you took care of the black dragon.”
No, not me.
There are warriors. Here.
“I see. You don’t have to worry about anything because you defeated Urca. In that sense, I want you to guide me so that I can beat Thoreau. I’m sure if it were you, she would put her ego aside and learn.”
I’m not talking about the warriors…….
It seemed like I was getting caught up in something troublesome.