Chapter 107
Princess Pria sat at the head of the table, observing the high-ranking Nobles chattering chaotically before her.
These were people who raised their voices as if what they said was the truth of the world, proclaiming others' words to be foolish lies.
As a child, she had thought of it as conviction.
Now, she realized it was greed.
'*...Disgusting.*'
From childhood until now, they had never changed.
To put it nicely, they were consistent; to put it harshly, they were consistently greedy.
In many ways, she felt no affection for them.
"What nonsense is that! Isn't it obvious we should send Troops to The South to protect the Helios Zone!"
"The Granary Region there is already ruined and no longer valuable..."
"How about sending a few tens of thousands of Knights just to draw attention, act, and then return..."
Numerous discussions intertwined, the topic began to stray, and chaos ensued.
Listening to their words, she sat blankly for a moment, then calmly closed her eyes and fell into thought.
...Humans are fundamentally good.
The problem, however, was that this 'good' was *different for everyone*.
Their goodwill varied depending on their upbringing, background, and the people around them.
It was highly probable that the words they shouted felt genuinely good to them, which is why they proclaimed them.
“*The problem is that for others, that ”good' is highly likely to act as malice.*'
Therefore, regardless of the intention or the outcome,
for someone, it could transform into a terribly great malice.
"Then we must immediately distribute food to the areas where the Demonkind have invaded!"
For example, that.
On the surface, it sounds like a very noble intention—to distribute food to the hungry—but there's a blind spot.
“*The fact that the food merchants there would suffer losses.*”
For small and medium-sized food merchants living hand-to-mouth, there was a high probability of suffering severe financial damage for at least several weeks or even months.
If they suffered such damage, the local economy would likely become dependent on external food supplies, potentially ruining it instead.
'*That's not to say providing aid is wrong.*'
On the contrary, it could save countless lives, so it was indeed an act of goodwill.
But from a certain perspective, she wanted to say that it wouldn't feel like goodwill at all.
“*...In that sense, everything they say is a tangled mess of Interests, making everything a headache.*”
The previous example, discussed solely in terms of goodwill, allowed for relatively quick judgment.
But the moment their Interests were factored in, it became complicated.
For instance, considering the Noble who advocated for distributing food earlier, if his Eldest Son ran a massive Food Business...
'*It would be to bolster his Eldest Son’s power.*'
And the reason for that would be to quell the unsettling whispers within the Family that his Second Son, whose talent was excessively brilliant, should become the Family Head.
Furthermore, it was possible he wanted to support his Eldest Son's Food Business to gain political funds and, in turn, attack the Political Rivals currently pressuring him.
'*And it wouldn’t stop there.*'
As the war continued, the importance of the Food Business would grow, allowing one to secure immense wealth and power by establishing a strong position... *Sigh*.
As her thoughts continued, a sense of futility washed over her, and she stopped thinking.
Regardless, they constantly clashed over their ideologies, driven by countless political motives.
After realizing this truth, she felt no affection whatsoever for this damned Imperial Family.
“*My head hurts.*”
She was so exhausted that she just wanted to abandon everything as a Princess and leave...
Of course, that was absolutely impossible, but she wished it were so, and as she sighed,
discussions about the upcoming Banquet began.
"It would be good to solidify Her Imperial Highness's position at this Banquet. Recently, the First Prince's power has grown excessively strong..."
"That would be good. Lately, their faction has become excessively arrogant..."
Listening to these conversations, she let out a long sigh.
She decided to refocus on her work and stood up.
'*No matter how much I whine, this won’t end.*'
She decided to proceed by making as many adjustments as possible, letting out only a sigh mixed with profound futility.
*****
I listened as Liana, who was sipping tea in front of me, explained what the Banquet was.
"The Banquet hosted by the Imperial Family is different from what Lord Damian might imagine."
"Oh? What's the difference, exactly?"
"A typical banquet literally means a party... but the Imperial Family's banquet is closer to a war."
At the word "war," I expressed a question.
"If it's a war... is it like political infighting or something?"
"No, it's literally a war. Illusion Phenomena often occur near the Castle, and it means achieving the greatest feat there."
"...What does that have to do with a banquet?"
"There are two reasons: the illusion itself resembles a banquet scene, and the rewards one can obtain there are so excellent that it feels like attending a banquet, hence the name."
It didn't quite make sense to me.
But since they called it a banquet, I couldn't very well call it a war by myself, so I nodded for now.
"So, what do you do there?"
"You eliminate the enemies that swarm into the Banquet Hall and receive rewards based on your achievements."
It sounded like playing a defense game, but there were still points I couldn't understand.
No matter how much I thought about it, there were things I couldn't grasp.
For example, why the Imperial Family specifically hosted such an event, and why such phenomena continuously occurred near the Imperial Family.
When I asked Liana these questions,
she shrugged, looked at me, and then spoke with a bright smile.
"I don't know that either. So many inexplicable things happen in this world, so I suppose it's just one of them."
I shook my head, indicating it wasn't helpful.
Liana pouted and said to me,
"It's not like *I* know everything, you know?"
Well, that was true, so I nodded and decided to go see for myself.
"Any other precautions?"
"It would be best not to reveal your identity, if possible. After all, what Lord Damian intends to do could cause severe damage to the Karsaril Family."
"Right. In that case... it would be good to ask Shiren for help."
With the help of Shiren, who was on the verge of becoming an Archmage, it would be possible to perfectly conceal my presence.
So, I decided to use this to Infiltrate, kill Mikhail Archbishop, and if possible, even aim to steal the Banquet's items.
"When you say it like that, you sound like a real Terrorist."
"What are you talking about? What have I done?"
"...?"
Ignoring Liana, who looked utterly dumbfounded, I prepared to leave.
*
This operation was quite dangerous, so I decided it would be best to go alone.
I expected strong opposition if I said I was going alone.
Unexpectedly, they let me go willingly, telling me to have a good trip.
"I don't want to stop what Damian is doing, so I'll let you go."
"It seems like it won't be stopped even if I try, so I won't stop you!"
Thus, guided by Liana, I set off towards the Imperial Family.
Unfortunately, since we were now hostile with the Information Guild, I had to avoid using the Teleportation Device they had created.
There were several reasons, but the biggest one was that I couldn't know what tricks they might have played.
“*For example, they might have set up the Teleportation Device I intended to use to send me directly in front of a Paladin.*”
Or, during Teleportation, they might malfunction the device and send me to some Bizarre Space with an unknown location.
Considering these variables, I took a train to the Imperial Family instead of using a Teleportation Device.
As I was thinking that riding a train after a long time was quite enjoyable, Liana, who was sitting in front of me, chuckled and spoke.
"Why are you acting like it's your first time on a train?"
Liana, who had become noticeably more familiar since we crushed the Information Guild, continued to tease me with a playful expression.
Soon, she used her pale foot to poke my leg.
I was so dumbfounded by Liana's actions that I stared at her silently for a moment, then, with a "two can play at that game" attitude, I grabbed her foot and began to tickle it.
"Hyaak!?"
The moment I tickled her foot, a cute shriek escaped her, and her body trembled violently.
I found Liana's reaction amusing and continued to toy with her foot.
Liana, her face flushed crimson, fidgeted nervously, pressing her skirt down with her hands as she spoke to me.
"P-please stop."
"You started it first."
"I-I'm sorry!"
"No way."
Since there wasn't much else to do anyway, I decided to keep teasing her and continued tickling her foot.
Liana let out a somewhat *sensual* moan and twitched, saying,
"Hmph... S-stop."
*I was just tickling her foot, so why was she reacting like that?*
Just as I thought it might be best to stop here and was about to let go, someone knocked on the door and spoke to us in a cautious voice.
"E-excuse me, but we can hear everything outside. It might be best to refrain from overly passionate displays of affection."
"..."
At those words, I quickly put her foot down and averted my gaze.
Liana, her face still red, stammered and pressed her skirt down.
***
After dozing off for a bit, I woke up to find we had arrived at our destination.
Liana, apparently still embarrassed by what had happened earlier, spoke to me without making eye contact.
"...You can come this way."
Her usual confident demeanor was nowhere to be seen, replaced by a shy expression that felt somewhat unfamiliar, and I followed behind her.