Chapter 103
Morning.
I stayed awake waiting for Sebas to return.
There was something I couldn't stop thinking about.
"Were you awake?"
"I couldn't sleep, of course."
After that exchange, Sebas handed me a stack of documents.
They were classified military documents.
According to Rebecca, Sonia rarely left her side. It was hard to believe she had contacted anyone outside.
The only exception was the day she met me. She'd said she might have contacted someone while out shopping, but given how little time she was out, it was hard to believe she'd had contact with anyone. She must have been with me almost the entire time.
"If she wasn't communicating with anyone, how did she pass the information along?"
"That is the military's specialty."
"Right."
As I spoke, I continued methodically flipping through the documents. Sonia was connected to Gordon. She was probably familiar with military intelligence as well. The hint had to be somewhere in these documents.
After a while, one particular item caught my eye.
"Could this be it...?"
"Let's see... Is this the plan for retaking the Imperial Capital if it falls into enemy hands?"
"This is information known only to a few senior military officers. And this is the rallying point for entering the Imperial Capital."
The next document contained a map. The locations marked with circles matched the places where Rebecca had been sighted.
It wasn't just one or two. Every sighting except the last matched precisely. It was no coincidence.
The locations of the sightings had been bothering me for a long time. I hadn't known why, but they all shared one feature: they were places where large numbers of people could gather. That was what had seemed strange about Rebecca being spotted in such places.
"The last sighting is the only one in the wrong place."
"Yes. The rendezvous point she was supposed to come to was... the clock tower visible from the South Gate. The moment the rendezvous point and the sighting didn't match, anyone who knew this information would gather forces nearby."
"I see. So that's why there were so many pursuers."
Sebas nodded, apparently satisfied.
Sebas and Zeke should have had no trouble breaking through, without question. That was what I'd assumed. Yet there had been more enemies than expected.
Of course. They had concentrated even more forces at that location.
"Gordon, obviously, but Zandra knew too...?"
"Prince Zandra's faction also has people among the senior military officers. The information must have come from one of them."
"Even so, they wouldn't have told him unless he asked. So Zandra must have been interested in taking the Imperial Capital. At worst, he must have considered attacking it himself."
I sighed softly and leaned back in my chair.
A lot had become clear.
"There are no senior military officers in Leo's faction. The Imperial Capital garrison is part of the military, but it operates outside the normal chain of command. This information couldn't have reached him."
"In the first place, they wouldn't provide plans for taking the capital to someone who might become an enemy. That explains why the enemy numbers were far greater than expected. But what did that woman's five-minute limit mean?"
The five-minute limit.
I'd assumed it simply meant Zandra's assassins were coming, so she couldn't remain in public for long.
That's why I went on ahead. If necessary, I thought I could use magic without being detected.
But that wasn't it.
"It's written here too. In the case of a night attack following an infiltration, it is to be carried out at midnight. Sonia must have predicted that the covert unit would move at midnight to coincide with it. Based on that, she must have calculated that she had five minutes until they arrived."
"She's sharp. She must have moved to that location while we were fighting and drawing their attention away. What would she have done if we hadn't come?"
I sighed again at Sebas's words.
Sonia had probably also taken into account the possibility that Zandra knew about this classified information. In other words, she had considered the possibility that their rallying point had been discovered.
If so, they would be pinned down there and unable to move.
That's why she called us: to use us as decoys.
"She probably had a plan for if we didn't come, but she must have expected us to. She must have passed the information to me after sizing me up."
"She used us well."
I nodded at Sebas's words. Sonia probably hadn't gone out to contact the covert unit, but to find a decoy.
If she hadn't met me, she might have planned to approach someone like Leo.
"Yes. But... it was risky for her to have us arrive within those five minutes."
"Indeed. If the covert unit arrived, neither Rebecca nor the letter would still be there."
It might look as though we'd been lured by irresistible bait, but Sonia must also have been prepared to give us that bait.
If we made it in time, fine. If we didn't, that was fine too.
Sonia had acted so that either outcome would work. But in the former case, she would be placed in an extremely dangerous position.
Even so, she called us. It served not only as a decoy, but also as a safeguard for Rebecca.
"She was prepared to throw away all the credit she could have earned—for Rebecca's sake..."
"What an extraordinary move. Prince Gordon's forces would have no interest in Rebecca herself. They wouldn't kill her, but they wouldn't protect her either. In that case, someone would have to take Rebecca somewhere safe, because Prince Zandra and the organization's pursuers were certain to target her. She must have planned for Rebecca to be saved even if we arrived late."
"She got the better of us."
"Don't let it bother you. We started from an extremely disadvantageous position. No one would examine a plan for taking the Imperial Capital unless they intended to attack it. We were never going to win this time."
"We lost the information war. I have no excuse... And I didn't use my trump card."
This time, I hadn't used Silver's power.
With assassins all around, using it would have exposed my identity. They were always lurking out of sight. I might have been able to use it within the barrier, but I had no way of noticing eyes watching me from outside it.
That's why I ran without using magic.
Afterward, I could have taken the letter from Sonia, but I chose not to. I was more concerned about exposing my identity.
But was refraining truly the right decision?
"Gordon's goal is undoubtedly war. Now that he has the letter, war is certainly drawing closer. War with the South—in other words, civil war. If that's going to happen... should I have used magic?"
"I believe I told you at the outset. There is a world of difference between making your identity public and having it exposed. His Majesty, the nobles of his generation, the ministers, and the people all saw the Mad Emperor wreak havoc on the Imperial Capital when they were children. There is no doubt they have complicated feelings about ancient magic. The only reason Silver is tolerated is that he is on the Empire's side. But the moment people also see Silver as a member of the imperial family, the situation changes completely. Everyone would assume the Mad Emperor had returned. That is precisely why revealing your identity at the proper time and place is the best course, while being exposed is the worst. If your identity were exposed, it would invite baseless speculation, and in the worst case, you could be arrested before anyone even heard you out."
"I know that..."
"Then the answer is clear. Since there was even the slightest chance your identity would be exposed, you were right not to use magic. There's no point tormenting yourself over the civil war. Even if we'd obtained the letter, there would still have been a substantial possibility that civil war would break out. If anything, you might have told Leo everything and teleported together."
"I couldn't do that. Secrets can't be kept forever. Eventually, my identity will be exposed, or I'll reveal it myself. Whether Leo knows then or not will affect how he handles it. Leo didn't know about this situation of mine. He had to remain unaware."
If I could bluff successfully, there would be no problem. But if Father interrogated Leo, he wouldn't be able to bluff his way out. If that happened, at worst, we would both be punished.
But if he didn't know, he couldn't be punished. To punish him merely because he was my brother, because he was family, would mean punishing the entire imperial family. Father wouldn't do something so unreasonable.
"Then we'll just have to accept that it couldn't be helped. The letter hasn't fallen into Prince Zandra's hands. This isn't the worst possible situation. Rather than regret what's already happened, we should look ahead and prepare."
"I know. The letter was taken, but next time won't go like this. Next time, I'll outwit Sonia."
"That's the spirit. Then let's get some sleep first. What Prince Gordon wants is war. He'll probably hold on to the letter and give the South time to prepare. We still have time."
At Sebas's words, I nodded.
Gordon had obtained the letter. But investigating the South was Leo's responsibility. It would be most effective if Leo submitted it.
However, if he submitted it immediately, the South wouldn't have time to prepare. Gordon would let the South panic over the stolen letter and thoroughly prepare for rebellion before handing the letter to us. Then he would take the lead in the war himself.
That must be Gordon's aim.
But that was all.
We could still turn things around. If war broke out, we could help Leo earn merit, and if we played our cards right, we could keep Gordon's movements in check.
Sonia is the troublesome one, though...
"An enemy..."
The image of Sonia's face as she murmured sadly flashed before me.
I couldn't imagine she'd joined Gordon willingly.
When she made contact with Gordon's faction, Sonia said she was on Gordon's side. But that could also be taken to mean she hadn't been on his side before then.
What kind of background did she have, and what had driven her to cooperate with Gordon?
Questions were piling up.
But for now, I would sleep as Sebas had advised.
With that thought, I got into bed.