Chapter 45
The Empire must absolutely fall.
This is a law.
It is an event that must inevitably occur for the novel to flow smoothly.
Since it is bound to fall in the end no matter what, one must extract as much from it as possible.
But.
“Why on earth did it turn out like this.”
What in the world is the situation happening right now?
“The Crown Prince has changed a lot, severely so compared to the original.”
What could be the reason?
Mirne could not guess any of it.
“Two Male Leads have died, and two with immense potential at that.”
The Northern Grand Duke and the Saint were absolutely not supposed to die here.
No, in the first place, it was strange for a Male Lead in a Romance Fantasy Novel to die so vainly.
Especially since the first thing that comes to mind when thinking of a Northern Grand Duke is martial prowess.
For the position in charge of that martial prowess to die from the very beginning?
“Then that means we”ll be short a hand later when a situation arises where that martial prowess must be used.'
Mirne was sad that the people she had been in contact with met their deaths.
But more than that, the anxiety stemming from not knowing how the novel would change in the future felt much greater.
“What happens if the development gets even more twisted than it is now? No, what if the Empire doesn”t fall in the first place?'
The worst-case scenarios crept into her mind.
She was anxious. In particular, the Empire not falling was the biggest problem.
In the past, this issue did not lead to great anxiety.
Because she thought there was still a lot to leech off the Empire.
Since there was still much to take, it would be troublesome if it fell on its own.
She had considered it not bad for it to maintain a moderately strong appearance.
But there was no support coming toward Maselin.
Recently, they had even been extorted by the Empire.
The Empire was moving beyond a moderately strong level and trying to regain the appearance of its past golden age.
“Could it be that as the story changed, a possibility arose for the Crown Prince to become a Conquest Target?”
Like the famous saying that nothing is absolute.
She wondered if a “what if” possibility had emerged, but.
[ The Crown Prince of the Empire, Bellon Bellos, is not a Conquest Target. ]
It was still just a message stating that the Crown Prince was not a Conquest Target.
Then was it really a situation where only the developments in the novel were continuously twisting?
And the Empire wasn’t falling?
“This can”t be… This can’t be… Then later, the moment the Empire changes…'
As Mirne continued to dwell only on bad thoughts.
Rustle.
The Spirits that had been waiting nearby revealed themselves to comfort Mirne.
Bang!
“Kyaaak!”
At that moment, the back of her neck was grabbed, and Mirne’s body was slammed into the table.
“Given the setting, being carefree wasn’t enough, so you tried to bring out Spirits… Are you crazy?”
“Y-Your Highness the Crown Prince…! I am sorry. I was trembling, and seeing that, the Spirits tried to comfort me…”
“Whatever. It wasn’t a setting meant to nitpick such trivial things in the first place anyway.”
After the Crown Prince released the pressure suppressing Mirne’s body.
He naturally looked around.
“Teo, good work. I can handle things here alone, so you may rest.”
“As you command!”
He ordered Teo, who was maintaining a posture of attention by his side, to rest.
The space left after Teo departed.
The Crown Prince, Bellon, quietly stared at Mirne for a moment.
“Are Male Leads inherently unable to harm Mirne?”
Could they inflict meaningful damage on Mirne if they lacked killing intent?
To test this, he had told Teo to pressure Mirne with Telekinesis Magic.
Fascinatingly, Teo’s Magic activated, but Mirne was perfectly fine.
“But it worked when I did it.”
So this time, the Crown Prince himself used Telekinesis Magic to press down on Mirne.
As if it would be strange for it not to work, Mirne was quickly Subjugated.
“It seems there”s some sort of rule… but that’s not what’s important right now.'
The Crown Prince shook his head slightly.
“Why you think Black Mages will appear in the Empire, and how you know that… and even if you knew, why you secretly tagged along with the Holy Kingdom’s side. I’d like you to explain this and that.”
He focused on the immediate situation.
“But what exactly is the relationship between the Saint dying and the Empire”s Chance of Annihilation, for it to drop by 10%?'
Along with his unresolved curiosity.
+++++
The Empire is vast.
Absurdly vast.
And recently, the Empire had not been able to properly manage that vast land.
Unmanaged land is bound to rot eventually, and in rotten places, foul things are bound to grow.
They were things that could have been resolved with just a little attention.
But because the Empire had been busy providing support to other countries all this time.
Those foul things had grown significantly in size compared to the beginning.
And those foul and evil things that had grown so large.
Ended up being perfectly detected by her own Divine Power as a Prospective Saintess.
“So that’s roughly the story?”
“Yes, that is correct. Your Highness.”
“And the reason you checked secretly was because you thought speaking up first about something unconfirmed might cause unnecessary confusion.”
“That is correct.”
“You are a remarkably competent Prospective Saintess, to be able to know what’s happening here from such a far distance.”
I listened to Mirne’s words and laughed inwardly.
“If I knew this would happen, maybe I should have read a little more past chapter 50.”
Because up to chapter 50, the content was entirely just the Empire eagerly giving everything away.
So I couldn’t read any further and just immediately hit the drop button.
“There are Magic Towers in the sky… and Black Mages living in the unmanaged lands?”
I never imagined the Empire would be in such a sick state.
And in the first place, the concept of unmanaged land was also very ambiguous.
To the point where I wondered, “There was such a thing?”
“Is it because it”s not being managed that no one is able to report on it?'
But even with such lands existing, it had held out well without falling until now.
Just how was the Empire’s foundation built for it to be this sturdy?
Around the time I was marveling inwardly like that.
Ding!
[ You have heard the story regarding the Black Mages. ]
[ The story changes. ]
[ The worldline shifts. ]
[ “Empire Map” is provided as a reward. ]
[ Please illuminate the map by revealing every corner of the Empire! ]
A reward came in perfectly suited to make finding the Black Mages easier.
“Right, it was about time it gave me something.”
The Transmigrator Protagonist right in front of me gets showered with things from her surroundings even when she stays still.
It would have been a shame if I didn’t at least get something like this.
However.
[ Because you obtained information on the Black Mages in advance, the Chance of Annihilation will not increase immediately. ]
[ However, if the Black Mages begin their activities in earnest, the Chance of Annihilation will rise sharply. ]
[ Please be careful so that the Chance of Annihilation does not reach 100%! ]
The subsequent messages almost caused a change in my expression.
So if I had just sat back and done nothing, the Chance of Annihilation would have suddenly skyrocketed?
“Why on earth does this novel want to destroy the Empire so badly?”
Just as my irritation was surging.
“Are you believing my words?”
Mirne showed a flustered face at how easily I believed her words.
Honestly, it was a situation where I could have gotten angry.
Because giving Black Mages as the reason for why she came could be seen as an excuse blurted out thoughtlessly due to the urgency of the situation.
“I wouldn”t have believed you either if I didn’t know you were a Transmigrator.'
Since it was the word of someone who had read the Original Novel to the end, its value of trust was quite high.
Even so, I had no intention of explaining the basis of this trust one by one.
I looked at Mirne and lightly waved my hand.
“I’m actually more surprised by you being surprised by such a thing.”
“What does that…”
“A Saint died right in front of your eyes, and a god died… yet you are excessively calm. It’s an attitude as if what was meant to happen has happened.”
I had obtained all the information I could get from Mirne for now.
Since I also obtained the Empire Map, I just needed to tell Arveda and Teo to inspect every corner of the Empire.
The most urgent thing was for Rowena to perform Purification on the curse placed on Luminix’s body.
If there was anything left to discuss with Mirne, it was related to the Saintess.
“As long as the Holy Kingdom is under the Empire”s management anyway, Mirne will not be treated as a Saintess.'
Since all the personnel related to the Saint would be completely wiped out.
Mirne would no longer be able to exert any influence over the Holy Kingdom.
Therefore.
“T-That is…”
“Enough. I didn’t say it to hear an answer.”
I stood up from my seat first.
Due to the operation to tame the Maselin Kingdom, Mirne would not be returning immediately.
She was scheduled to spend some time in prison before returning to the Kingdom.
“I hope such an unsavory incident does not happen in the future.”
I let it slide this time because of the information related to the Black Mages.
But I couldn’t guarantee that I would let it go as nicely as now if such a thing happened again.
With those thoughts, I left the Interrogation room and reviewed the conversation I just had with Mirne once again.
“Black Mages… It”s out of the blue, but it’s entirely possible. But why are they appearing in the Empire instead of near the novel’s Protagonist?'
Why were Black Mages active within the Empire?
Why did the activities of those Black Mages sharply increase the Empire Destruction Probability?
There was something bothering me about the reason.
“Usually, when it comes to the evil that appears in fantasy novels… it could be a god, or just between Characters… Black Mages are also a part of that.”
But generally speaking, it was difficult to see Black Mages themselves as the main body.
Meaning, Black Mages were just the role that spat out lines like “the weakest among us”.
And that main body was mostly.
'Don’t tell me.'
Related to the Demon Race.
And speaking of the Demon Race, exactly one staple trope came to mind.
“The Demon King.”
If so, the reason Black Mages were active within the Empire was.
“…Why are they so anxious to devour the Empire?”
The possibility of the Demon King’s Advent was extremely high.
“Do they want to earn the Hero title or something?”
But if the Demon King appeared within the Empire.
“Not a chance.”
I will become the Hero.