Chapter 211
The dark elves were visibly flustered.
They clearly hadn't expected their identities to be exposed here.
On top of that, the Imperial Banner must have rendered all the magic they'd prepared useless. They must have made some sort of plan once they'd been summoned, at least.
Trau had smashed all those plans to pieces. Mine too, for that matter.
Still, we'd ultimately reached a result that was about as good as possible.
Dark elves were elves granted power by the Demon Lord, and they wielded more powerful forces than ordinary elves. However, that power was not hereditary. In other words, dark elves were survivors from five hundred years ago, when the Demon Lord still existed.
Their wisdom, magic, and combat skills were terrifying. Even so, they were no match for the Imperial Guards in this situation.
They were captured without being able to put up any meaningful resistance.
"P-Please, stay away!!"
Wendy, who had been hiding behind me, shouted and tried to run toward the balcony.
I grabbed her shoulder and stopped her.
"What are you trying to do?"
"This necklace is a magic tool! It'll explode!"
"Rest assured. Magic tools have lost their effectiveness here as well."
"B-But only temporarily, right!? If it's forcibly removed, it'll explode!"
"That won't be a problem either, Commander."
"I've already cut it."
When I called out, a voice replied.
Wendy's necklace had indeed been cleanly cut off.
I picked it up and tossed it to Alida. She would deal with it appropriately.
The necklace wasn't the problem.
I hid Wendy behind my back again.
"Father, she..."
"You're going to say we should forgive her because she was being threatened? That can wait. There are things we need to ask her now. Lady Wendy, what happened?"
"I will not ask you to forgive me... Everything is our responsibility as elves. After leaving our village, we followed the planned route, but we were attacked there... Every elf except me was killed. After that, they put the magic tool you saw around my neck, and I had no choice but to obey..."
It was probably a magic tool that would kill both her and anyone she tried to tell.
It was understandable that Wendy hadn't been able to tell us.
"But even we couldn't track your movements. Did they manage it because they are dark elves?"
"No... Only the people from the elven village knew the route. Someone from the village must have leaked it... The elven village had been under pressure from the Kingdom for quite some time, so it would not be surprising if someone, fearing that pressure, accepted the Kingdom's plan..."
"I see... Then what was the Kingdom's plan? Tell me everything you know."
"I only heard what they said, so I don't know how much of it is true, but... I heard abducting Saint Leticia was the Kingdom's proposal. The dark elves were merely the ones who carried it out. There is one more problem."
"A problem?"
"Yes. The dark elf who abducted Saint Leticia is someone else. She is the current leader of the dark elves. She killed the escort captain and disguised herself as the escort captain. She has probably moved into the northern part of the Empire by now."
"The dark elf leader..."
Father frowned.
Dark elves were truly troublesome opponents.
Elves themselves were vastly superior to humans as individuals, and the dark elves had been granted power by demons. What was more, they were all veteran survivors of the war five hundred years ago.
If she was their leader, she must be an incredibly troublesome enemy.
"As for that dark elf leader... I only know this because she said it herself, so I can't say whether it's true, but... she claimed to be an executive of the Demon Realm Association. When I asked her why she was doing this, she cheerfully told me it was for magical research, so I believe it is probably true."
"So that's the connection..."
"I know I am in no position to say this, but... send a rescue force at once... They kept talking about demons. In the worst case... they may try to summon the Demon Lord."
"Dark elves could certainly do that, Your Majesty."
The Demon Lord had indeed been defeated.
But there were still countless demons in the demon world. If they tried to summon one, they could probably call forth a demon matching the Demon Lord. After all, their test subject was a Saint.
Whether they intended to use her as a sacrifice or a vessel, the outcome would undoubtedly be disastrous for the Empire.
"Alida."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
"I appoint Elna von Amsberg, commander of the Third Imperial Guard Division, as captain of the Saint's rescue force. Take the three Imperial Guard divisions, including the Fourth and Fifth Divisions, and go reinforce the Eighth Prince Leonart."
"Understood."
After giving Alida her orders, Father leaned back against the throne, looking tired.
Wendy's testimony had no evidentiary value. No matter how insistently she said the Kingdom had orchestrated it, the Kingdom would not admit it, and the other countries would not take it seriously.
Ultimately, the fact remained that Wendy had acted alongside the dark elves.
If so, failing to rescue Leticia would mean war with the Kingdom was imminent.
If we couldn't rescue her, we'd be trapped between a demonic incident within and an invasion from without. No wonder he was tired.
"Franz. Send the Imperial Guard to the western and northern borders and put them on alert. The Second Division to the west and the Sixth Division to the north would be the obvious choices."
"Are you sure?"
"Moving the army or the nobles' knights would attract attention. We have not been invaded yet. Provoking them could create unnecessary problems."
"Understood. I'll make the arrangements immediately."
"Erik. I expect you to show your skill as Minister of Foreign Affairs."
"Leave it to me. However, I can only focus on one country. I will absolutely prevent the most troublesome one, the Holy Empire, from joining the war... but I'm afraid I won't be able to keep up with the others."
"It cannot be helped. An invasion by three nations—the Kingdom, the United Kingdom, and the Principality—was expected. It is close to the worst-case scenario among those we anticipated, though. Gordon. Is the military prepared to respond?"
"The northern border is fully prepared. The Principality's forces will be unable to break through. The western border is the concern. If the Kingdom launches an all-out attack, I doubt we can stop it. However, the forces in the central region are ready to move immediately if ordered."
"Good. If we are invaded, you will have to take the field as well. For now, start by currying Prince William's favor. You have a personal relationship with him. Try to use him to separate the United Kingdom from them."
"Leave it to me."
After giving orders to Erik and Gordon, Father's gaze shifted to Trau.
Maybe because he'd lost blood, even standing appeared difficult, and he was being supported by Imperial Guards.
"Trau. Can you speak?"
"Yes, somehow..."
"Then explain. Why did you bring the Imperial Banner?"
"I-I heard Leonart had left the castle and Arnold had been detained, and I thought I had to do something, so I went to Saint Leticia's room. As I stared intently at the body there, I noticed something strange and concluded that it was the result of magic."
"So you took the Imperial Banner from the treasury?"
"Yes. I thought we could simply nullify the magic. So I took it from the treasury. Ah, I lied to the guards and told them Father needed it. Please forgive me."
"That hardly matters... So you learned that Saint Leticia's body was here and brought it here?"
"That is exactly what happened."
"Should I praise you or scold you...?"
Father placed a hand on his head, looking exasperated.
That was so like Trau. He noticed something was off and, without thinking too deeply about what it was, decided to dispel it.
"Well, I suppose I should say you did well. Only Arnold and you noticed something was wrong. Activating the Imperial Banner worked out well in the end, too. Though we will have to restore the barrier in the throne room."
"I-I'm sorry about that, but since the Fairy Princess was here, I thought it would be all right... Also, I have confidence in my powers of observation. I am always watching, after all."
It was sad that he didn't say what he was always watching.
Trau's eyes had been fixed on Wendy for some time.
I quietly blocked his line of sight and addressed Father.
"Father. I would like to arrange a room for her."
"Yes, that would be best. Lady Wendy, I am afraid we must restrict your movements. However, you will be kept under strict guard. I ask that you accept these terms."
"I would never dream of objecting. I am in a position where execution would be entirely justified. I thank you for Your Majesty's gracious treatment."
Saying so, Wendy bowed politely.
I left the throne room with Wendy and Krista, who looked worried.
But just as I was leaving, Father called out to me.
"Arnold."
"Yes?"
"You did well. This is your achievement."
"Please don't say that. If we're assigning credit, it belongs to Leo."
"Yes... It belongs to both of you."
With a wry smile at Father's insistence on giving me credit, I bowed once and left the throne room.
Nothing had been resolved yet.
■■■
"Looks like you pulled it off."
"Somehow."
After reuniting with Elna, who had been confined to a room in the castle, I spread out a map of the north and marked suspicious locations.
"The culprit is the leader of the dark elves and an executive of the Demon Realm Association. Someone like that should have secured a reasonably large hideout."
"Don't you think she might have fled toward the border?"
"If so, the border garrison can deal with her. But that's highly unlikely. They're acting on a plan led by the Kingdom. Since they were ordered to cause trouble inside the Empire, they shouldn't go too close to the border."
"I see. So the places you've marked are the suspicious ones?"
"For now. Abandoned castles, former military facilities, old mine sites, and various other places."
"How do you know all that?"
"Vin told me. He said these were the areas an enemy would flee to if anything happened in the Imperial capital."
"So that sharp-tongued strategist had anticipated this?"
"Who knows? I think Vin was probably anticipating something else... In any case, I've already sent Linfia as a messenger. She'll make her own moves."
As I finished explaining, Sebas and Zeke entered the room.
Because I'd called for them.
"What do you want, kid?"
"Go with Elna. For now, we're sending every available force to Leo."
"Come on, three Imperial Guard divisions are going, aren't they?"
"Even so... I want to do everything we can."
"I see... Then I guess it can't be helped."
"Understood."
After getting Zeke and Sebas's agreement, I looked at Elna.
Her face bore a confident smile.
"...I'm counting on Leo."
"Leave it to me. I'll make sure we bring him back safely. All of us together."
"You're truly dependable at times like this. But can you make it in time?"
"It would be difficult for even us to catch up with the griffin, I suppose. I've arranged fast horses, but I have one more option."
"Another option?"
"There must be someone in the Imperial capital who can use magic convenient for travel, right? This time, I'll have them run an errand for us."
Elna said this with a smile.
I see. Even after becoming Silver, it seemed I couldn't escape her.
Well, I no longer needed to thrust myself into the spotlight. That was convenient.
As usual, I suppose it's time to work behind the scenes.