Chapter 138
"A change of plans?"
"Yes. Have you heard anything, Prince Zeland?"
As usual, Prince Zeland had come to visit my room when Raiz-sama summoned me.
As soon as we entered Raiz-sama's room, he announced the change to the royal ritual's personnel.
"No. Nothing at all."
It seemed to be news to Prince Zeland as well. He looked puzzled.
When I asked, "So, what exactly is changing?"
"The number of soldiers being sent by the Tenth Knight Order has been reduced to half the original plan."
"From 4,000 to 2,000? What about the rest?"
Since reducing the number of soldiers assigned to guard the ceremony seemed unlikely, it was natural to assume that another knight order would be joining us.
"The Ninth Knight Order has offered to send 2,000, saying that the royal shrine lies within their area of responsibility."
At the mention of the Ninth Knight Order, Glantz-sama and Lapiria-sama furrowed their brows. I was probably wearing much the same expression.
The Ninth Knight Order. When King Zeurasia once asked me about the various knight orders, he called it "one of the foremost offensive forces," while I said it was better suited to rear-area support.
It is currently stationed in northeastern Rudek, handling missions against the Empire.
To be blunt, my assessment of the Ninth Knight Order was not particularly favorable. That was why I said it was suited to rear-area support.
That was different, however, from the Third Knight Order, which I had likewise said was suited to rear-area support.
Zackhart-sama's flexible tactics, grounded in experience, and reassuring presence make the Third Knight Order genuinely worthy of being entrusted with support. In fact, from Gadeland, the heart of Rudek, it keeps a watchful eye on every direction.
By contrast, the commander of the Ninth Knight Order is Humett Torad. As the name Torad suggests, he is King Zeurasia's uncle.
It has accomplishments, yes. But whether those achievements truly belong to Humett-sama is somewhat questionable.
Later generations have even speculated that it was created to balance things out when a new knight order was founded.
In other words, did King Zeurasia, who wanted to entrust the Tenth Knight Order to Raiz-sama, create the Ninth Knight Order as an outlet for the discontent of those opposed to creating a new knight order?
To bolster that suspicion, the Ninth Knight Order has a higher proportion of people connected to nobles than the other knight orders.
Ordinarily, nobles who fail to make their way in a knight order have little chance of advancing afterward.
However, a backdoor remains for people connected to high-ranking nobles: admission to the Ninth Knight Order. It is the only knight order where money and power can buy a high-ranking officer's position.
Of course, there aren't many high-ranking officer positions. Only nobles with truly substantial power can use this trick. As a result, many of the Ninth Knight Order's senior officers look impressive in their lavish equipment but lack the substance to match.
In fact, there may even be fewer capable senior officers than incapable ones.
This is why it is entrusted with defending the northeast.
The northeastern region might sound like the front line against the Empire, but towering mountains stand between the Empire and Rudek.
Unlike the southeast, which is guarded by the Fifth Knight Order, it has no major routes such as the Yoros Corridor, so the Empire does not attach much importance to it.
Indeed, there has never once been a large-scale battle with the Empire in the Ninth Knight Order's area of responsibility.
Moreover, whenever an emergency occurs in the Ninth Knight Order's area, the Second Knight Order is supposed to rush there immediately.
The Great Battle of the Zetta Plains makes that clear. In the history I know, the Second Knight Order arrived late because an incident in the Empire had sent it eastward. In short, the Ninth Knight Order was not relied upon.
With the Ninth Knight Order volunteering, it was only natural for me to ask, "Why all of a sudden?"
"Apparently, Duke Sembria made the offer. He said, 'Give us one more chance to redeem ourselves.' One of Duke Sembria's own children is a unit commander in the Ninth Knight Order."
At the mention of Duke Sembria, Prince Zeland's shoulders jerked. Seeing that, I understood. Duke Sembria was probably the noble who had sent tutors to educate Prince Zeland and Prince Ural.
But if that was the case...
"Isn't Duke Sembria the noble who incurred the king's wrath?"
"Yes. We are still gathering evidence to bring that house down."
"Then isn't this dangerous? He might be plotting something again."
"That's right."
Raiz-sama readily admitted it. Then he turned his gaze toward Prince Zeland.
"The king will probably speak to you about this later, but since I've told you this much, I'll tell you myself."
At Raiz-sama's words, Prince Zeland swallowed hard.
"Duke Sembria is undoubtedly plotting something. The king gave him this chance to redeem himself knowing that. In other words, if he makes a move, we will use it as grounds to bring down Duke Sembria's house. Prince Zeland, overcome a scheme of Duke Sembria's caliber with your own abilities. That is what this means."
Prince Zeland nodded with a tense expression. After confirming Prince Zeland's understanding, Raiz-sama shifted his gaze back to me.
"Roa, select 1,000 of the elite from the Roa Unit."
"Understood. What about the remaining 1,000?"
"They'll come from the Lapiria Unit. Even if the Ninth Knight Order's 2,000 draw their swords on us from behind, overwhelm them with equal numbers."
"...Understood."
Thus, with the scent of some kind of conspiracy hanging in the air, the beginning of the royal ritual drew near.