Chapter 56
War had broken out.
The justification was love.
“Does that even make sense?”
It was absurd.
To start a war over love!
But she had thought this would end at the Declaration of War.
She believed they would just go through the motions and resolve the situation through dialogue.
However, the current situation was flowing completely differently from what Mirne had expected.
“This wasn’t in the Original Novel…”
Mirne stopped herself from speaking about the Original Plot Development out loud.
The situation was so twisted now that she couldn’t even harp on about the Original Novel anymore.
There was only one suspected cause.
“…The Crown Prince.”
Just what was his true identity?
Honestly, he had been incredibly suspicious from the start.
Starting from the disappearance of the Emperor who was present in the Original Novel, to his cold attitude toward her.
It was a severe deviation in a world where everyone was naturally supposed to love 'Mirne'.
But honestly, she had tried to brush that off as no big deal.
If there were 100 people, it was impossible to be liked by all 100 of them.
[Of course, Mirne… no, I could do it.]
She had thought that maybe one person was just a variable appearing while following the Original Plot Development.
But she could no longer think of it that way.
[This rumor must be the Crown Prince’s doing too.]
The Crown Prince was a massive variable that shouldn’t exist for the sake of the Original Novel’s plot.
[Could he be a Transmigrator? Like me?]
She wondered if he might be in a similar situation to hers, but soon shook her head.
Because even if he was a Transmigrator, nothing would change.
The Protagonist was her, anyway.
She had no time to care about a character from an Empire that was going to disappear.
She had a lot to do and a lot to prepare for on her end.
“We don’t have any casualties on our side yet, right?”
“Yes, none.”
“We’re just exchanging Magic with each other without any real gains, right?”
“That is correct. It seems they will continue to stall for time like this while attempting to negotiate.”
“What negotiation attempts… He probably just wants to talk to me.”
Tsk.
Mirne clicked her tongue briefly and looked down at the table where the current Troops were deployed.
On the table, the map of the ongoing battle and the locations where the Troops were deployed were marked with pieces.
Right now, they were only exchanging Magic, so there was no major damage, but as time passed, there was no telling how the situation would change.
An uncontrollable development.
[I don’t want that anymore.]
She refused to be dragged around any longer.
Her head already hurt enough from the Confession Attack, and now a war was tormenting her too.
“…I’m going to take some time to think.”
“Understood. Then we will leave you to…”
“No, I’ll go out. To get some fresh air.”
Saying that, Mirne immediately stepped out of the command room.
She walked straight to a place where no Human presence could be felt at all.
Originally, she had no intention of using it right now.
Because even this was completely different from the Original Novel.
[There’s only one Executioner I can summon right now.]
The Dragon Princess Arveda, one of the five Executioners of the Empire.
Her Covenant was to find her forgotten name.
Unlike the other Executioners, simply knowing her name allowed one to immediately bestow a favor upon her.
It was the easiest case for building a connection.
So originally, after the Empire fell.
She had planned to contact Arveda when she was struggling to maintain her ego, tell her true name, and build up her affection.
[I’ll have to do that later.]
Now that the Original Novel was twisted.
Putting out the Urgent Matter was the first priority.
If time continued to drag on like this, there would be a time limit when acquiring the things she needed to get in the future.
There was so much to handle right now while she had plenty of time; she didn’t want to waste time on a war like this.
In the first place, a negotiation setting would obviously make no sense.
They weren’t even that close, yet he was acting like this just because they had a few conversations.
[It’s a country the Maselin Kingdom will naturally swallow up as it grows anyway, so it’s fine.]
It was a complete nuisance.
So she had to pull out the strongest card she could play right now and deal with it quickly.
Right now, they were only exchanging Magic, so Dragon Magic would be able to end the war in an instant.
Phew.
She took a short, deep breath.
“…Arveda Lilaberry Danium.”
That name, which sounded like a spell to anyone listening, revealed its presence to the world for the first time.
Fwoosh!
Just by uttering it, she could feel the surrounding mana concentration thicken drastically.
Ssssh.
“…!”
It felt as if a ferocious dragon had opened its eyes sharply and was staring at her from behind.
The sensation of being completely captured within Vertical Pupils, becoming an insignificant creature.
The equivalent exchange of bestowing a favor by revealing the true name, and being able to command the dragon through that favor.
The ridiculous Protagonist’s Privilege of being able to keep a dragon as a subordinate just by knowing its name.
“Come to me, I shall give you your name.”
With those final words, Mirne looked up at the sky.
Since Arveda was a dragon, she thought that the moment she uttered the true name, Arveda would read her coordinates and Teleport here.
But.
“…?”
There was no reaction.
“Eh?”
Why on earth?
Panic settled on Mirne’s face.
+++++
The difference between the office and the field was massive.
“Grrrrr…”
“We’ve got another one with mana exhaustion here! Bring a stretcher!”
“No time for that! Focus on your chanting! We’re casting cooperative Magic in three minutes, so instead of worrying about the fallen, close your eyes and spin your circles properly!”
Unlike the fiercely active field.
The documents summarized the current situation as merely a “Standoff using a large amount of magical offense and defense”.
The Wizards running around on the actual Battlefield felt like they were dying.
“Ughhhh…”
First of all, the problem was that the Mana Potion tasted like garbage.
When they ran out of mana, they had to drink a Mana Potion, but the potion tasted like dirty mop water.
Of course, they said it tasted different if you used a higher-quality Mana Potion.
But the only thing being supplied on the Front Line right now was the Lowest-Grade Mana Potion.
“I can’t believe this is supposedly an improvement.”
“I heard the potions in the Maselin Kingdom taste amazing. That… Crown Princess supposedly improved the flavor so it tastes like grapes.”
“…Hah, I seriously want to defect to their side.”
The Wizards of the Chireun Kingdom voiced their complaints while continuing to prepare their next Magic.
A war breaking out over love, and their bodies being Ground down because of that war.
Their motivation to participate in the war was so weak that they couldn’t muster any real strength.
But the reason they had no choice but to work hard anyway was…
“We’re being pushed back! Dodge!”
BOOM!
“Keugh!”
Because the moment they were pushed back in this magical Standoff, they would take the damage head-on.
The moment the flow of Magic was broken even once, the other side’s Magic would fly in consecutively.
Then, even if they had defensive measures prepared in advance, they were bound to take damage.
Normally at times like this, soldiers or Knights were supposed to buy time or act as shields.
But they were also busy Maintaining the Front Line, so they had no leeway for that.
[This is a seriously stupid war. Maintaining a showy battle situation just exchanging Magic over love?]
[What if someone dies like this? Who takes responsibility for that? Because of love?]
Even as they voiced their complaints, more complaints piled up.
The fundamental problem was that they couldn’t guess how this war would end.
The Chireun side was demanding a clear answer regarding love, and the Maselin side was remaining completely silent.
Meanwhile, the ones being Ground down were the subordinates, so they couldn’t help but feel it was unfair.
“How long do we have to do this…”
The moment they grumbled naturally and tried to chant their next Magic.
“Huh?”
In the middle of the Battlefield.
“What is that.”
“Flames?”
A flame large enough to easily swallow a castle appeared.
No, rather than calling it a flame.
There was a more fitting expression.
“…The Sun.”
The Power of the Sun.
The only ones on the Continent who could use that power were…
“The Empire…?”
Only the Empire.
So all of them could tell.
That here.
“…The Imperial Family is here?”
The Empire had appeared.
+++++
I do not like Frustrating Plot Developments.
Especially the kind where a comrade is Manipulated by a strange power, inevitably betraying their allies.
I absolutely hate the kind of development where a battle breaks out in the process, and they end up hurting each other and becoming hostile.
It would be one thing if it was a willing betrayal.
But being Manipulated through something like Hypnosis is incredibly unpleasant.
I guess you could say it just feels like it’s being forced too ignorantly.
When you question why you have to fight a comrade, the answer is “because they”re being Manipulated'?
In some developments, you even have to Subjugate that comrade.
Saying they don’t want to fight, saying they don’t want this.
I despised the very situation of having to forcibly knock out someone whose eyes were filling with tears.
[And then wrapping their whole body in restraints just in case they go wild again, having others monitor them… I don’t want a development like that.]
Fwoooosh.
Sol Bellos.
The Power of the Sun stole the attention of the Battlefield.
The flames that swallowed all Magic showed off their presence and brought the war to a halt.
Haa.
My breath created the flames.
This was the first time I had been this furious.
It wasn’t just anger born from her summoning Arveda to use as a weapon of war.
It was anger felt because I could see the future of just how much Mirne would use the Empire like a tool.
Why did the Crown Prince continue to regress?
Naturally, it must have been for the Empire.
The reason he couldn’t produce a positive result even once amidst an incredibly large number of regressions.
That couldn’t be seen as the Crown Prince’s incompetence.
“You must have been the problem, from beginning to end… You, who tried to view the Empire as a tool.”
“…Y-Your Royal Highness the Crown Prince? H-How are you here.”
I could see Mirne panicking beneath my feet.
How am I here? She kept calling for another Family’s precious Executioner, so how could I not know?
“Is there anywhere I cannot go?”
The Empire’s power had no talent for hiding itself.
From mana to Aura, everything belonging to the Empire possessed immense power and revealed a presence proportional to it.
The reason for that was very simple.
“No one would be able to make an issue out of it.”
Because it was fine to do so.
The only country that could intervene using the mere excuse that a neighboring country’s war was too noisy.
That was the Empire.
“Come to think of it, you mentioned something about dragon rumors before.”
“…”
I could hear Mirne’s eyes darting around.
I could see her unable to give any answer, continuously trying to deduce why I was here.
“You shouldn’t rack your brain when the Empire is right in front of you.”
How insolent.
With those words, the crude blade slowly revealed itself.
The God-Slaying Sword showed off its presence.
- It is a power for the next… for the next time.
- When do you mean? It’s my first time making it too, so there will be a lot of errors…
- It is fine, it is fine. I can reduce the errors, so you do not need to worry.
The conversation the Crown Prince once had with the Dwarf Gilbart came to mind.
Just how far into the future did the Crown Prince see before regressing?
What kind of scenarios did he even calculate?
Along with those thoughts, the blade slowly dyed white.
“…Are you seriously thinking of using your power here? Inside the Maselin Kingdom…?”
I could see Mirne’s astonished expression and the Spirits around her trying to use their power.
Eyes filled with the question, “Are you really going to use your power here?”
That look in her eyes was quite funny.
Slash!
Instead of answering, I swung my sword.
“Block it! Please!”
I could see Mirne begging the Spirits for defense.
The vermilion Aura emitted from the pure white blade shot straight toward Mirne.
A half-moon-shaped Aura.
“Kuaaaagh!”
“Kkeuaaaah!”
It erased the Spirits protecting Mirne with futile ease.
“U-Uh?”
Slaaash!
And reached Mirne.
Without receiving the protection of the novel like last time, and without a single Male Lead to protect her.
The flames that carved right through Mirne’s body went from her left shoulder to her right waist.
It created a deep sword wound diagonally across Mirne.
“Ah, ah, aaaaagh…!”
Spitting out her pain, Mirne stared at me with eyes dyed in astonishment.
A look that asked how I could possibly hurt her.
I looked at those eyes and sneered at her.
[Thank you.]
Originally, it would have never been able to reach her, but.
[ Arveda is attempting to leave the Empire while the Covenant remains unbroken. ]
[ This goes against the Covenant forged by the Great Prophet. ]
[ Designating the Covenant Usurper as an enemy. ]
Right now, I could do it.
The message regarding the Covenant.
This contained information that made me view the Covenant itself in a new light.
I originally thought the Covenant was an excuse for the Executioners to destroy the Empire.
But looking at it now, that wasn’t it.
[Was the Covenant a device to ensure they would never be taken by Mirne for a specific period of time?]
This was a safety device to protect the Executioners from Mirne.
Unfortunately, it wasn’t permanent and had an expiration date.
But as long as the Covenant was resolved within that period, there would be no problem.
[You probably don’t know this fact.]
A situation where I clearly had the upper hand in information.
“Try and struggle.”
I will make sure you can never pull this kind of nonsense again.