#151 The Empire's Turmoil (1)
“We’ll have to see how the situation unfolds, but for now, I’m thinking positively! To think we could smash the Undead King’s skull ourselves—where could there be a more thrilling fight than this! Uwahahaha—!”
Halli answered Rapoli’s question with gusto while leaving some room for doubt.
‘For now, what’s important is the stage.’
A tale like a fairy story, where a hero departs on an adventure to save the princess, gathers companions one by one, foils the Demon King’s schemes, and finally arrives at the Demon King’s castle to defeat him.
For such a development, a battlefield atop a board—one where hero and Demon King could comfortably vie for supremacy, while simultaneously displaying it for all to see, and entirely under his control—was necessary.
‘There’s a reason classics remain beloved. It would be more dramatic to weave the hero’s party into that scenario as well.’
But for that development to be convincing, a scapegoat with enough name value to pique the Undead King’s interest, yet one that would prevent the Empire from acting recklessly—like a kidnapped princess, for instance—was needed…
Fortunately, one person who fit that role perfectly was already prepared.
Though they hadn’t received that person’s consent to appear.
“…Is that so? Anyway, it’s fortunate we met like this. The important discussions are more or less wrapping up, so we were planning to return to the Enamel Continent soon as well.”
Most of all, since Harris had also obtained the qualifications of a High Elf, they needed to visit the World Tree at least once for the Awakening Ceremony.
Of course, with the allied forces and the death squad matters as well, they would have to come back soon enough.
‘It must be about time for the other delegations to return as well. …Of course, the Empire’s side is no different.’
***
Jeron, capital of the Ajerion Empire.
Clip-clop, clip-clop—
Inside a carriage racing along the broadly paved road toward the imperial palace, a person looked outside.
A black-haired woman of small stature draped in a blue robe.
It was Isea, who had visited the Roselia Grand Shrine in the Holy Land and was now returning.
‘Peaceful.’
As if unconcerned with the current chaotic state of affairs, she gazed at the familiar streets and fell blankly into thought.
As the empire’s capital, this place had not yet been touched by the aftermath of war, but this likely wouldn’t last long.
Maintaining this peace would require the sacrifice and effort of many, but…
Right now, she was on her way back after refusing a request to lend her strength to that effort.
To the place where she was needed.
‘…I can’t argue even if I’m called selfish.’
But to Isea, who was not of this world, the small bond she had made here was more precious than the safety of the entire continent.
Of course, she knew that if they failed to stop the Undead King, everyone—including what she wished to protect—would be in danger, but there were plenty of people who could do that even without her, were there not?
Unlike the ‘world’ where there were many who stepped forward to protect it, the Fifth Princess Riley needed her right now.
The forces she had gathered still lagged far behind the Crown Prince’s faction in terms of quality and cohesion.
‘And to think I believed I’d just stay within the empire the whole time before returning to Earth, yet I ended up visiting the Holy Land because of Simon.’
Of course, that didn’t mean her opinion of the Crown Prince had improved.
She was the one who had grown sick of his behind-the-scenes machinations ever since the Fifth Princess’s forces began to grow.
Through truly blood-spitting effort—literally spitting blood, at times—she had somehow managed to block them all.
And finally, arriving at the imperial palace and heading straight to the Fifth Princess’s palace, she was able to face the reason she remained in this world.
“Count Pristine? You’ve returned earlier than expected?”
Hair brilliant as golden thread, turquoise eyes sparkling like jewels, and unlike Isea, a tall, slender frame with a mature figure…
The Fifth Princess, ‘Riley Carte Ajerion,’ draped in nobility and dignity from head to toe, welcomed her with a gentle smile while seated at a tea table.
“You’ve all worked hard. I have matters to discuss with Count Pristine, so you may leave now.”
Despite the gentle honorifics, an oppressive pressure of one born to rule clung viscously to her words.
At the Princess’s low command, the maidservants attending nearby bowed respectfully and withdrew.
Hum—
Once they were alone, Isea lightly waved her hand and, as usual, overlaid the room with a barrier for security.
One must not use magic recklessly inside the imperial palace, but she was an exception as the Princess’s personal bodyguard.
With all that done.
The moment their eyes met again…
“Sea~! Welcome back! What did the Order say? Surely they didn’t recognize how capable you are and try to force you into joining the death squad?”
“Haah, Riley. Calm down first… Mmph!”
Isea, who had been sighing, tried to stop the Princess from hugging her and rubbing her cheek against the top of her head, only to end up buried deeper in her embrace, flailing about.
“Hee-hee— This is definitely better than some doll. Aah~ I’m healed.”
“…Mmph… Hrgk…”
Trapped in the Princess’s embrace that held her like a cage, Isea’s words were muffled, but she finally twisted her body and escaped her hold.
“Aww~ Why! I’ve been so stifled while you were away! Terry just doesn’t feel as good to hug as you do!”
At that, the Princess, Riley, pouted her lips and whined.
‘Terry’ was a teddy bear Isea had given her as a birthday gift, a comforting doll she hugged every time she slept.
“Haah, your body grew but you’re still a child.”
“Hmph! Outside, I’m a dignified Princess too, you know? You’re the only one who gets to see this side of me, so consider it an honor, okay?”
Riley swept her hair back and looked down with an arrogant smile.
And Isea… looked up at the tall beauty standing well over 170 cm with hazy eyes, resenting the world once more.
‘She was so small and cute when we first met…!’
And there was good reason for that.
When they first met, the Princess was just an 11-year-old little girl, exceptionally small even for her age.
Of course, now the Princess had shot up at some point, surpassing her in height, figure, and the maturity of her looks.
Since then, their dynamic had reversed, and this treatment had become constant.
Their first meeting certainly hadn’t been like this.
-“Wow, what the? Did you just teleport? No one should be able to get in here because of the barrier. Are you an Archmage?”
It was hard to say whether her luck was good or bad.
Immediately after being transported to this other world, Isea had crashed into a noble family’s private estate and, to top it off, came face to face with a child playing alone in the garden.
-“You came from another world? …You’re not from this world?”
And the moment she heard that this was a place no one could enter, she immediately assessed the situation and honestly confessed everything.
She had judged that the only way to survive was to gain the goodwill of the girl before her.
Exchanging various conversations with the girl whose eyes sparkled with curiosity, the words that emerged became the true beginning of her life in this strange world.
-“Interesting! So you don’t know anything about this place? Then I’ll help you! …But I have one condition.”
In a normal case, she might have been executed immediately after her unfortunate transportation.
She had to consider herself clearly lucky.
-“…Will you be my friend?”
-“What do you mean, friend? Call me big sis, you little thing.”
-“Big sis? Big sis is… scary.”
A proposal carefully offered by a child who had been lively the entire time.
At the time, she hadn’t known the child’s identity or circumstances, but Isea couldn’t turn away from the loneliness visible in the expression of the young girl who seemed to have grown up so prettily.
-“…Sigh, fine. Then just call me Sea.”
-“Sea? Is that your name? It’s pretty!”
-“Yeah, thanks. What’s your name?”
-“Riley! My name is Riley!”
The moment of the first encounter between the fifth princess of the Ajerion Empire, Riley Carte Ajerion (age 11), who had temporarily come down to her maternal family to avoid the checks and rivalry of her siblings in the fierce imperial palace, and Isea (age 18), a high school student from Earth who had just fallen into this otherworld and was worrying about her future.
For eight years since, they had sometimes been like friends, sometimes like sisters.
Though she had already been surpassed in many ways now, she still cherished Riley as she would her own little sister.
Just as Riley, who had no one to open her heart to, had relied on her, Isea had also been psychologically reliant on that child, the first to extend a hand to her in this strange other world.
“…So Count Walter tried to pull a fast one and got caught by me. I think he was trying to make some achievements while Big Brother was away, but who knows, he might end up with a blemish on his record instead? Hee-hee!”
Isea smiled as she watched Riley chatting away about what had happened while she was away, but her heart grew slightly heavy.
No matter how much she cherished Riley like a little sister, she was ultimately from another world and couldn’t stay here forever.
‘Still, there’s a time difference, so it should be fine to stay a bit longer before going back.’
The line she had drawn in her heart was exactly 10 years—in Earth time, one year.
In this world’s time, roughly two years remained.
She had to create an environment where this child could live safely within that time.
‘If I leave, will Riley, who doesn’t have a single friend, be able to smile like she does now? Even now, she’s someone who doesn’t show her true self to anyone but me…’
Of course, with the assistance of Isea, an Archmage, but even so, the political acumen of a princess who had built a force capable of opposing the Crown Prince at merely nineteen was by no means ordinary.
Her genius was already widely rumored within the empire, and the nickname she was called outside was none other than the ‘Iron-Blooded Princess.’
Even if she only showed such a sloppy side in front of Isea like this.
But separate from all that… having no one to be open with was a great concern.
Isea had tried several times to create someone who could get along closely with the Princess, but perhaps due to childhood memories, her aversion to ‘people of this world’ itself was too great.
‘There’s still plenty of time left, so let’s think about it slowly. Come to think of it, I came here as a second-year high school student, so by the time I return, I’ll be a third-year. Wait, then do I have to take the CSAT? How many months would be left until the CSAT?’
Compared to the serious concerns she had been pondering until just now, it was trivial, but…
To her, a great Archmage of the Auterica dimension and simultaneously a ninth-year high school girl of Earth, it was quite a serious problem in its own way.
***
“Here, Olivia. The latest information supplementing what we’ve investigated so far. Everything from the defensive arrangements of the imperial palace and surrounding areas and their related officers, to the personal details of nobles staying within the capital. I suffered quite a bit organizing this, you know?”
[This is… information investigated by that man called Andrew…? It is quite usable… He seems he will make a fine asset…]
“Tch.”
Olivia ignored Siana, who had been trying to boast, and instantly scanned the densely filled documents.
Though Andrew Weaver had shed blood and sweat, staying up day and night for several days for that information, the evil and merciless executives of the Undead Legion couldn’t have cared less.
“Ah, right! It seems His Majesty will send Andrew under your command later. He’s human, so you know you need to be careful handling him?”
[Worry not… If he seems likely to rebel, I need only let him experience a fear greater than death…]
“No, I’m saying be careful because he’ll be a waste if he breaks from being handled too roughly! Humans die quickly if you don’t guarantee them food and sleep!”
[Ah… stating the obvious… I do not intend to handle him that roughly either… For smooth nutritional supply, I shall guarantee three meals a day and three hours of sleep…]
“Uh—three hours?”
Siana, who had been conversing with Olivia, paused for a moment.
She had some ties with Andrew by now, so she thought it best to speak up here.
[Ah… I forgot time for relieving and washing oneself… Hmm… still, humans need a little leisure time as well, so 18 hours of work a day should suffice…]
“Um, if you make him work like that, won’t his efficiency drop more and more? Can’t you loosen up a bit?”
[It is fine… Originally, such things grow through whipping…]
At that point, Siana firmly resolved herself.
Olivia was definitely under some misunderstanding about human limits.
Of course, it could be done if forced, but long-term, it would hardly be good.
The moment she opened her mouth to point that out…
[To think that having a body allows for six hours of rest a day… I am envious…]
‘I really should stop. Sorry, Andrew.’
At Olivia’s muttered soliloquy that quietly reached her ears, she cleanly gave up.
Come to think of it, it wasn’t even physical labor, so it wasn’t that harsh a condition, was it?
Since one only needed to sit comfortably and use one’s abilities, six hours of rest seemed sufficient.
Apart from the storm clouds unknowingly gathering over one Earthling’s future, the two executives returned to their original topic and discussed the matters ahead.
To fulfill the command given by the Undead King.
Thus, just as the Saint Heinrich had ‘foreseen.’
The Undead King, Hannibal Strauss, began to move to assault the empire.