#189
The Imperial Palace of the Empire (3)
After the hero’s party and Hesperon escorted Fifth Princess Riley back to the imperial palace.
At Heinrich’s request, the troublesome procedures and the like had been omitted, but that did not mean the Empire had shown them insufficient courtesy.
Leaving aside the fact that the party’s leader was a saint, treating the benefactors who had saved a member of the imperial family was a matter directly tied to the dignity of the imperial household.
And if that princess was the strongest candidate for the throne, and had even received the current emperor’s tacit support, what more needed to be said?
Naturally, the treatment given to them could only become extravagant.
The enormous guest residence was lined with expensive items, any one of which looked as though selling it alone would cover a commoner’s living expenses for years.
In the dining hall kitchen, imperial chefs stood by twenty-four hours a day, ready to comply no matter what dish was requested or when.
Veteran maids were stationed throughout the building as well, meticulously checking every corner as if they would not tolerate even the slightest inconvenience.
And they did so with ghostlike steps, suppressing their footsteps and presence to the absolute limit.
‘Impressive. Do imperial maids learn stealth techniques separately? Their level seems fairly high, too. In an emergency, they could even be used as bodyguards.’
Unfortunately, however, they were in no position to stay long and rest in this luxurious lodging.
Naturally, the hero’s party did not have the leisure to spend their time so idly.
“Wahahaha! As expected of the Empire, they sure are generous!”
“Ooh— The gold coins are sparkling.”
Of course, the imperial household had not intended to settle things with hospitality alone.
They had also offered a more direct and material compensation.
They altered the finest luxury equipment to fit every member of the party and presented it to them as gifts, and provided an enormous sum of funds under the pretext of operating expenses.
Since they were supported by the Main God Church, they had never been short on money, but wasn’t wealth the sort of thing where the more you had, the better?
“I like this quite a bit as well. What do you think, Heron?”
“Kh~ You look even more dignified, Brother! That wildness, like you might bite someone apart at any moment, is absolutely chilling!”
Moreover, with fine sense, they had made Harley not ordinary equipment, but a version of his trademark “monster-head helmet cloak” crafted from the hide of a top-grade magical beast, the Shabel Lion—something that looked as if it should have been hung on a wall as decoration...
And perhaps because it had been touched by the hands of an imperial artisan, it too was no ordinary piece of equipment.
‘I never thought they’d turn this into a magic tool and gift it to me in such a short time.’
A magic tool imbued with a special ability, not merely a sturdy item.
It was an excellent piece of equipment that strengthened both physical and magical defense, and even had the effect of applying “intimidation” to nearby opponents.
‘It must be something made through the cooperation of a top-class leatherworker and an enchantment mage.’
Harley quietly stirred his energy, examined the inside of the helmet, and clicked his tongue in admiration.
He could sense the magic stones densely embedded on the leather-finished interior, as well as the intricately constructed mana circuits.
‘Even if they started making it from the moment they received word that Riley had been rescued in the Duchy of Rohan, they would have had only three or four days at most. It might have been even less than that. ...So this is the strength of the imperial household.’
Perhaps because it had been made in haste, the circuits themselves were simple and did not seem to contain any complex functions. But for Harley’s combat style, the current design—simple but prioritizing stability—was far more suitable than complicated, delicate functions anyway.
No matter how he looked at it, it was an item he liked in many ways.
‘...Mm, as expected.’
Harley’s gaze, which had been caught by the helmet for a moment, turned toward Hesperon, who stood blankly in front of him with a vacant expression.
‘Good. Let’s have him work on this path as well.’
It was the moment Hesperon’s career path, which had begun as a summoner, extended through orthodox mage and battle mage all the way to enchantment mage.
Howard, who was currently burning through branches of the World Tree while busily learning the secret techniques of the dwarves, would also become capable of making objects imbued with special abilities. If enchantments were added on top of that, wouldn’t the effects be multiplied even further?
‘That’s something even Hans can’t do, after all.’
Of course, Hans could make magic tools themselves.
The problem was that they would not be items commonly accepted by others, but sinister and wicked cursed items that operated on black magic.
‘...Well, that can’t be helped, given his nature.’
But there was no need for one person to be good at everything.
Everyone’s talents were different by nature.
This world was one where people lived together, so each person only needed to focus on the field they excelled in and cooperate with one another!
‘Howard makes items using the branches of the World Tree Harris brought, and Hesperon engraves the enchantments with Hans’s advice.’
On top of that, Hubert could handle the supply of other materials, and Harley could procure monster byproducts.
‘If Heinrich’s sacred flame is added throughout the entire production process, couldn’t we even make something like a pseudo-holy sword? Conversely, if we use Hans’s Abyss, the worst demonic sword might be born.’
And if it were quenched in Heinz II’s blood, they could likely make arms that used blood magic power as well.
If several people combined their strength, such boundless possibilities would unfold!
‘As expected, living together, cooperation, is a beautiful thing.’
Thus, just before the hero’s party left the imperial palace.
At the same time Harley’s lips curled up into a vicious grin.
A loose smile appeared on Hesperon’s face, and a gentle smile settled at the corners of Heinrich’s mouth.
And at that moment, by coincidence...
Similar smiles lingered on the lips of several others in a very distant place.
***
The organization known as the Oath of Heaven-Defiance had been created under the leadership of the Revolutionary, an apostle of the “God of Humanity,” but that did not mean all of its members shared the same goal as he did.
Although he had secretly drawn in the leaders through some method and had gathered forces in the shadows by stimulating the desires of others, its essence was ultimately closer to an alliance formed according to each member’s interests.
Thanks to that, not only was it secure as a cell organization, but each member also had autonomy in their own territory and could handle affairs more efficiently...
But naturally, it did not have only advantages.
Whoosh—
A violet flame blazed in the dark space.
And at the same time...
[Get out here right now! Revolutionary, you bastard! You son of a bitch, I’ll tear you apart!]
A wrathful shout burst out, seeming to shake every direction.
[How noisy...]
[Kihit! Seriously~ Calling for him so desperately, did he run off with your money or something? Kikikik!]
[Tsk, ...Come to think of it, he’s nowhere to be seen. I had guessed Lilith was done in by the Immortal King, but...]
At the commotion, the black figures that had just begun to appear complained one by one.
But regardless of what the others said, the large shadow, paying them no mind, merely raged and looked around again and again.
Though what he could see amounted to nothing but shadows swaying here and there in accordance with the violet flames flickering in the brazier.
And that large figure... Baltheon, the Oath of Heaven-Defiance’s person in charge of the southern region of the Ion Continent and the great warrior of the Kalkos Tribal Alliance, eventually could not contain his fury and turned his gaze toward the others.
[Graah— You bastards over there, if you know anything about that son of a bitch, spill it right now! How dare he stab me in the back and run away? I’ll tear him to death no matter what!]
At those words, the other three shadows glanced at one another.
Judging by the circumstances, it seemed the Revolutionary had pulled some trick on that stupid barbarian and gone into hiding.
Naturally, they too knew nothing in particular, but unlike the two who quietly watched the situation, the remaining one burst into a frivolous laugh as if he had been waiting for this.
[Puhit! That stiff human did that? Well, well, I wanted to torment you first, but he beat me to it!]
[What did you say?!]
[Kakakak— Look at this, you react so well. How could I resist? Huh? Are you angry?]
[...I’ll rip out your tongue first!]
[Hit, if you can come all the way to the Enamel Continent, then go ahead and try! Though I don’t know if you can in your current situation!]
The meeting hall grew noisy once more because of the two who had begun to argue.
However, perhaps because the one who usually mediated conflicts and led the atmosphere was gone, the commotion did not easily subside and instead gradually intensified.
When it showed no sign of stopping, one shadow who had only been watching finally stepped in reluctantly, admonishing them in a refined voice.
[Whew— You know there’s no point in us doing this among ourselves, don’t you? Stop it, state your business, and let’s end this quickly. In any case, is this all that’s left? I thought we were decreasing one by one, and now we’ve finally come to this.]
The speaker lightly clicked his tongue and shook his head after finishing his words.
One was a barbarian with emotional and rough speech and behavior, another was a mad clown desperate to get under others’ skin, and the last was a block of wood who had said nothing since his first remark about the noise and was merely watching.
It was a lineup that made him keenly feel that he was now the only normal person left.
‘The Oath of Heaven-Defiance is finished now. What a shame. Wait, is that why the Revolutionary went into hiding?’
Still, when they had been actively operating here, they had helped each other and gained fairly decent profits in their own ways.
It was a regrettable situation in many respects.
And after some time passed.
[So, what exactly happened with this stabbing you in the back?]
They heard the whole story from Baltheon, who had calmed down somewhat, and were able to understand why he had acted that way.
The Revolutionary had visited the south and approached Baltheon, saying he would help with the work, only to steal the cherished “Seed of Madness” and vanish while Baltheon’s guard was down.
Of course, since the organization’s support had been decisive in extracting it from the Abyss, it could not be said to belong entirely to Baltheon alone.
However, the plan had undeniably been completed and succeeded under his overall command, and it had already been agreed that the immediate priority would therefore belong to him...
[And yet that bastard ignored it and took the madness, throwing the entire plan into disarray! If things had gone as intended, all the work would have been finished before the Second Continental Summit opened!]
Now it had become impossible to meet the deadline.
[Hmm— So he acted despite disregarding an already agreed-upon plan. If that’s the case, then as expected...]
[Puhihit, he must have judged that such things no longer mattered! Well, it’s not as if only one or two operations have gone awry recently!]
[...Did he already notice something and turn to his own course...]
The air between them subtly stiffened.
With even a deserter having appeared, all of them instinctively realized that this gathering was now over.
And when that existence was the one who had created the organization and was no different from its true leader, what more was there to say?
However, setting that aside for the moment...
[Kik, so? You’re not thinking of throwing away everything we’ve prepared so far and hiding again like this, are you~?]
[Out of the question! This work has already begun. I cannot back down now!]
[Though there have been several failures... it is undeniable that now, when the entire continent is in chaos, is the best opportunity...]
Objectively, the fact that this was the best time to act had not changed.
[Then there’s no helping it. Now there is only one thing left that “we” can do. We’ll have to do it this way.]
Not only their subordinate organizations, but even their executives had disappeared one by one, and their forces had now shrunk to less than half.
On top of that, judging by how things were going, if they remained still, they could not know when the rest might collapse as well.
[Kikikik~ Good, good! Just in time, with this continental allied force or whatever they’re calling it, a gap has opened in Enamel’s military strength. We’ll use this chance to make them snap wide awake!]
[Needless to say for the south! There’s been a slight setback, but information control is perfect, so as long as we have time, it’s a problem that can be solved.]
[The east... has a few points of concern, but they will not become major problems... We have the things we’ve been preparing all this time...]
In truth, there was nothing that could particularly be called an operation.
Unlike before, when they had established thorough and meticulous plans in pursuit of the greatest efficiency, and even calculated synergistic effects as a bonus.
They were merely going to release everything they had steadily prepared all at once.
‘The problem is that every operation we carried out in anticipation of variables was smashed to pieces. While trying to minimize our losses and chasing efficiency, the entire board was overturned instead. We should have done this from the start.’
After the first three finished answering, the refined voice followed last.
[As for the central region... the Empire will lose its focal point and fall into chaos on its own as long as we deal with the Fifth Princess who has returned. The problem is that nothing has been arranged in advance on this side...]
To begin with, the abduction of both the crown prince and the princess by the Immortal King, as well as the princess escaping alone afterward and succeeding in returning, had been developments they truly never could have imagined.
Naturally, there was no way any separate means had been prepared.
[Still, I’ll hurry as much as possible with the aim of acting immediately after the Second Continental Summit ends. ...What a shame. It would have been easier if Lilith had remained.]
Perhaps because the Immortal King, who boasted an overwhelming presence, had taken most of the blame in their stead, the name of the Oath of Heaven-Defiance was not widely known compared to the incidents and accidents they had caused.
Their final desperate struggle had entered its countdown.