Chapter 4
The last banquet I attended.
I hadn’t attended the banquet held at the Imperial Palace to cut ties with Elina, the man-crazy one.
Nor had I attended to enjoy an extravagant banquet when I didn’t even like banquets in the first place.
I had gone out to reclaim the seeds I’d sown at that banquet.
“……I’ve been waiting for you, Young Master Debert.”
I’d stirred things up, so I figured they would come looking for me.
Looking at one of the attendants who had waited for me and politely greeted me, I gave an impassive nod.
“Did you come from the Imperial Palace?”
“Yes, we’ve been waiting for you. Please come this way.”
I didn’t think they would take my words at face value.
No, if they had actually believed me, I would have been disappointed instead. It would mean they were no different from the rest.
But at least judging by their attitude, they still seemed wary of me.
That alone was enough to please me.
Following the attendant’s guidance, I boarded an unmarked carriage and slowly exhaled as I looked toward its window.
The window was firmly shut, and it didn’t look as if it could be opened without breaking it.
I assumed that was to keep me from learning our destination, but I decided not to worry about it too much.
This wretched Empire was already rotten.
The fact that one of the men following Elina was the crown prince said it all.
The emperor was old, the empress kept her mouth shut out of love for her son, and the crown prince was blinded by love.
At this rate, there was no way they could repel a full-scale invasion.
The North, which bordered the magical beasts’ territory most closely, would fall, and the Empire would collapse in succession from the North to the center.
Only after the North fell would the Empire’s leadership realize how serious the situation was.
That was not something I could stop with my strength alone.
“We’ll be departing.”
“All right.”
I could hear the attendant’s voice through the thin wall.
I closed my eyes, answered impassively, and sank into thought.
If.
What should I do if the negotiations broke down?
I didn’t possess all the information, nor did I have any certainty about the future.
After all, the original novel in this world was a romance fantasy, not a dark fantasy.
Plans going awry wasn’t anything that happened just once or twice.
That might not be true for the protagonists of other novels, but it was true for me. So even if the negotiations fell through…
‘I’ll make it work somehow.’
If I failed, all that awaited me in the end was death.
I had simply been running—and was still running—to prevent that ending.
Merely.
Just.
That was all.
“We’ve arrived.”
At the voice rousing me from my thoughts, I slowly opened my eyes and straightened my clothes.
Judging by how little time we’d spent traveling by carriage, it seemed the place wasn’t very far away.
When the door that couldn’t be opened from inside swung open, I stepped out of the carriage with impassive eyes.
The place we arrived at by carriage was a mansion in some remote area. In front of the mansion, which looked poorly maintained from the outside, stood two suspicious-looking men, plainly acting as guards.
“He’s Young Master Debert.”
When the servant who had brought me told the men, they looked me over from head to toe, then fixed their gazes on the sword hanging at my waist.
“I’m sorry, but weapons aren’t permitted inside.”
I stared at the knight who said that for a moment, then gave a small snort and nodded.
I unfastened the sword at my waist and handed it to them, and only then did they step aside from the door.
For a knight, having his weapon taken was fatal.
That said, no matter what happened inside, there probably wasn’t much they could do.
Well.
Unless they made the first move, I had no intention whatsoever of doing anything first.
Despite its dilapidated appearance, the door opened smoothly without making a sound.
I cast a brief glance at the door’s hinges, then withdrew my gaze and entered the house.
The interior was pitch-dark, without a speck of light.
Even for a building in such a remote place, where little light reached it, it was unnaturally dark on all sides.
The moment I entered the building’s lightless interior, where it was difficult to see even an inch ahead, I let out a small breath.
‘……An artifact.’
If there were artifacts that emitted light, then naturally there were artifacts that did the opposite.
I hated these pointless little tests, but for the moment, I decided to play along.
“I heard something very interesting.”
A voice rang out.
Yet it echoed throughout the building so thoroughly that I couldn’t tell whether it came from ahead, behind, or beside me.
I swallowed at that annoyingly thorough precaution and calmly surveyed my surroundings.
“I was quite surprised to hear that you’d said something that could, if things went badly, justify arresting not only you but your entire family for treason.”
“I’m glad you found it interesting.”
“So then, does the traitor have any final words?”
In that instant.
Her voice turned chillingly cold.
The chill in it carried a warning that she could cut my throat at any moment, but I merely let out another small breath and took a step forward.
Tap, tap.
The sound of dress shoes rang out clearly.
Even in the darkness where I couldn’t see an inch ahead, I calmly walked forward and took a seat in the chair before me.
“If I’m a traitor, then Your Highness is a traitor as well. We have the same goal, after all.”
“……What goal are you talking about?”
Was she flustered?
Or intrigued?
I didn’t know why, but her answer came a beat late.
I leisurely reached for the teacup set on the table and continued.
“Changing the heir to the Empire.”
In truth, I didn’t particularly care who became the next emperor.
Whether it was the current crown prince, the meek and gentle Fourth Princess, or the violent, wastrel-like Second Prince…
Even the First Princess sitting before me.
What mattered to me was which of them would be useful to me.
And the most suitable candidate among them was the First Princess, who was constantly eyeing the emperor’s throne.
She behaved like a gentle puppy on the outside while hiding a snake within.
“……How can you be so certain that’s what I want?”
She had been trying to hide it, but her voice was beginning to tremble.
I hid the smile that bloomed at the sound of her voice, now that I’d exposed her true feelings, and looked around me.
“The one who is endlessly training knights, recruiting nobles to bring into her faction, and secretly spreading the Crown Prince’s scandals.”
“…….”
“Because that person is none other than Your Highness.”
I had struck at her opening.
How would she respond?
Would she stab me in the throat?
If not…
“You already know what must be done, don’t you?”
Would she grasp the rope I was offering, unsure whether it was rotten or golden?
I grinned at her predictable question and leaned back against the chair.
“There’s something I need you to do.”
@
The day of my departure for the front lines drew near.
To adapt to the cold at the front, I had bundled myself up warmly and was standing before the main gate of the estate.
“……Brother, are you really sure this is enough?”
Zeke, who had come to see me off, asked while looking at my luggage with a worried expression.
I let out a hollow laugh at this unexpected concern from someone who had never once worried about me before and answered.
“Am I going on a vacation or something? Bringing a ton of stuff will only weigh me down.”
“Wouldn’t it be better to take at least a few family guards with you?”
“No need. I can protect myself.”
To put it bluntly, anyone who headed to the front lines laden with luggage and an escort probably wasn’t thinking about survival at all.
Only reckless fools lacking confidence in their own abilities moved around like that.
And I had no desire whatsoever to become one of those pathetic losers.
I patted Zeke’s shoulder a couple of times to ease his pointless worries, then let out a small breath and turned my gaze to Father, who stood there staring blankly.
“I’ll be going.”
“……Allen.”
“Yes.”
I hadn’t thought Father and I had much to say to each other.
It seemed Father didn’t feel the same way.
After looking down at me for a while with his usual impassive eyes, Father let out a small breath and opened his mouth.
“In the picture you’re drawing, in the future you’re looking toward—is there anything we can do to help?”
“……Of course.”
I gave a small smile and nodded at Father’s needless worry.
Both Zeke and Father seemed to overestimate me far too much.
There was nothing I could accomplish on my own.
That was why I’d been preparing for this since long ago.
“The only people I can trust to watch my back are my family, aren’t they?”
“……That’s enough.”
“Please take care of things.”
At the front lines.
I would do everything I could there, but that didn’t mean there was nothing for them to do in the rear.
I gave Father a small bow in farewell, then turned away without hesitation and mounted the black horse the family had prepared.
I calmly stroked the mane of the black horse as it tossed its head with a snort, then looked at Father, Zeke, and the other members of the family for a brief moment.
“I’ll be back.”
“All right. Come back safely.”
Watching Father silently nod, I let out a small laugh and tapped the black horse to signal our departure.
With the black horse’s neigh, I began riding toward the front lines.
With approximately two months remaining until the Demon King’s army, magical beasts and all, invaded…
I headed for the front lines.