Rivals

Even though we were the Emperor's children, we couldn't see him every day. The Emperor, who ruled a vast empire, was busy.

The Emperor met with his ministers almost every day, but only officials holding important posts could attend. At present, the only one of his sons permitted to attend the imperial council known as the Council of Senior Ministers was the Second Prince.

However, on that day, all the princes and princesses in the imperial capital were ordered to attend the Council of Senior Ministers.

"How unusual. I wonder what this is about?"

"Something like this happens once a year at most. There must be some kind of report."

No one could expect a sensible statement from our father telling us to stop this blood-soaked struggle for the throne. Rather, he was the kind of parent who believed that only those who fought their way to the throne were worthy of becoming Emperor of the Empire.

He was the Emperor before he was our father. He openly declared that it was the Emperor's duty to prepare an outstanding successor capable of maintaining and developing the vast Empire. For that purpose, he would likely turn a blind eye to a certain amount of sacrifice.

"A report... I hope it's good news."

"Nine times out of ten, it's probably nothing good."

As we talked, we headed toward the Throne Room, where the Emperor's throne was located.

■■■

"Thank you for coming, everyone."

"We are honored to appear before Your Majesty."

Everyone knelt and bowed their heads to the golden-haired man seated on the throne.

Johannes Lakes Adler, the thirty-first Emperor of the Adrasia Empire. He was fifty-one years old, though he still looked to be in his early forties.

He was the Emperor of an empire that had lasted for more than six hundred years—and our father.

The people surrounding him were all senior ministers who oversaw the civil and military officials.

Their gazes were fixed directly on us, the Emperor's children. There were eleven of us.

"Nine princes and two princesses. It seems no one is absent. It's unfortunate that my eldest daughter is at the border, but we needn't concern ourselves with her. I am pleased to see you all here, my children."

Our father, who had thirteen children in all, including our deceased eldest brother, looked pleased as he gazed at the assembled children.

The eldest was twenty-eight, while the youngest was ten. It was rare for so many of us to be gathered in one place.

Amid them, a particularly large man spoke up.

"Your Majesty. What business do you have with us today? If it's a war, please let me go! I will bring the full might of the Empire to bear against our enemies!"

The large red-haired man was clad in massive armor. He was the Third Prince, Gordon Lakes Adler. He was one of the generals and the strongest warrior among the princes.

Some people might describe him as imposing and dignified, but to me, arrogant and overbearing suited him much better. He was that confident and full of himself.

Gordon was supported by the military's hawkish faction. If he became Emperor, the Empire would continue its policy of expansion. He might even wage war against the great powers of the continent and pursue the unification of the entire continent. To those who desired military glory, he would be an excellent emperor.

But to those who didn't want war, he would be about as bad an emperor as they could imagine.

"Gordon. You're as boisterous as ever."

"Every time you open your mouth, it's war this and war that. You take being a musclehead too far. Look, Your Majesty is troubled too, isn't he?"

Seeing our father smile wryly, a woman with long green hair interjected.

The woman clad in a black robe was the Second Princess, Zandra Lakes Adler. Her features were beautiful, but her eyes were harsh. That gave her an intimidating air overall. Her nasty personality had probably manifested itself directly in her gaze. In fact, that harsh impression wasn't wrong at all.

Of the three older siblings, Zandra was the most ruthless. Perhaps because of her personality, Zandra favored magic classified as forbidden and was steadily bringing more of it back into use. That had made her quite popular among the mages.

If she became Emperor, the Empire would become a magical superpower. It would also be a mad country where inhumane research was permitted.

"Hmph. A feeble mage like you wouldn't understand. A warrior's honor lies in distinguishing himself on the battlefield and meeting his end there. If you interfere, I'll crush you."

"Oh? That's a dangerous way to put it. If you want honor that badly, shall I give you some as a present?"

The atmosphere in the room grew tense in an instant.

Talk about dangerous. She might as well have said she would kill him.

How could they fight this openly in front of the Emperor? What was wrong with these two?

As I wondered that, a blue-haired man cleared his throat.

"Please forgive the rudeness of my younger siblings, Your Majesty."

With that, the man bowed his head.

Among the children, he stood closest to the Emperor. He was tall, wore glasses, and had a piercing gaze.

The Second Prince, Erik Lakes Adler.

He was the only one of the children with the right to attend the Council of Senior Ministers as Foreign Minister, and a genius who coordinated diplomacy with foreign nations. He was considered intellectually superior even to the Crown Prince and was currently the man closest to the throne.

If he became Emperor, the Empire would undoubtedly be secure. However, his calm yet ruthless rule would likely feel suffocating to the people. And as the realist he was, he would never allow potential future rebels to live. If he became Emperor, we would undoubtedly be killed.

That was why we had no choice but to take part in the struggle for the throne.

Gordon and Zandra glared at Erik as he apologized on our behalf. He had stolen their chance to score points.

"That's fine. Competition is a good thing. I became Emperor that way too."

Competition would eventually become a struggle to kill one another.

Everyone present knew that. Even so, the Emperor permitted it because he believed it was for the good of the Empire.

"Now then, I want all of you to compete with one another. That's why I've gathered you here."

"If it's a contest of strength, I welcome it."

"Wait, Gordon. Don't look at it so simply. How are you and our ten-year-old youngest brother supposed to compete in strength? So, this time, I intend to revive a certain festival that hasn't been held in decades."

"A festival?"

Father nodded at Erik's words, then gave a bold, defiant grin.

In his youth, this man had made a name for himself as a warrior on the battlefield. He was a famous general who had never lost a battle under his command. His occasional hearty smile revealed that side of him.

"The Knights' Hunting Festival. It is a festival in which the Imperial Knight corps compete over the rarity and size of the monsters they hunt. It used to be held frequently, back when monsters were still abundant throughout the Empire, but it fell out of use in recent years because adventurers became so capable. I intend to revive it."

The Imperial Knights were the Empire's most elite force. They were a knight order directly under the Emperor and stood apart from the knights who served individual lords.

They were the Emperor's swords, the Empire's trump card. Whenever the army struggled, they had been dispatched as reinforcements and brought victory. Their loyalty was directed solely toward the Emperor.

A festival involving their mobilization would be a very large-scale affair.

"I see. Monster activity has been unusually high lately. But will the Adventurers' Guild allow it?"

The job of adventurers was to protect the people of the entire continent from monsters. In other words, hunting monsters was their main occupation. Of course, they took on other kinds of requests as well, but most of their work involved monsters.

For adventurers, a festival that might take work away from them would hardly be welcome.

"There's no need to worry about that. I've already obtained permission from the guild headquarters. The branches throughout the Empire have been unable to deal with the damage caused by the rare monsters appearing lately, so they are eager for us to hold it. It seems Duke Kleinert was troubled by monsters as well. He is cooperating too."

I couldn't take that explanation at face value.

In a place like the Empire, where monsters rarely appeared, guild branches existed because the Empire covered their operating costs. In other words, it meant, 'Please deal with the monsters when they appear.' But the Adventurers' Guild hadn't done enough to justify that expense in Duke Kleinert's territory. Silver had operated through channels separate from the Adventurers' Guild, and since Silver had solved the problem, the guild couldn't claim the credit.

Taking all that into account, the actual exchange probably went something like this:

'You can't hunt monsters despite how much we're paying you? What is the meaning of this?'

'We're sorry...'

'We're holding a festival in our country that will also involve hunting monsters, so approve it, will you?'

'No, well... that is... We would prefer not to approve it...'

'What? Then send us your best adventurers.'

'W-we'd rather not do that either...'

'It's one or the other.'

'...Then we'll go with the festival...'

Something like that, I imagine.

He was the father of these troublesome children. There was no way he wouldn't use what had happened in Duke Kleinert's territory as a bargaining chip.

The guild headquarters must have had a difficult time, caught between the local adventurers and the Empire.

Still, it was true that monsters had recently begun appearing throughout the Empire in unprecedented numbers. And they were high-level monsters at that.

If we didn't take countermeasures, they could harm not only the people and crops, but the adventurers as well. In that sense, having the Empire's elite Imperial Knights hunt rare monsters was a clever plan. Holding it as a festival would also generate revenue and reassure the people.

As expected of the Emperor. He had come up with a good plan.

The question was how he intended to use us in this festival.

"Understood. In other words, you want us to lead units of knights and hunt monsters?"

"As expected of Erik. You catch on quickly. I will personally assign knights to each of you. You may go out with them, or you may wait for good news. In any case, I want you to make this festival a grand success."

With that, the Emperor brought the discussion to a close. The fact that he had said he would assign the knights himself was probably meant to prevent anyone from maneuvering to secure the best knights for themselves.

Being allowed to go out and fight or simply wait sounded like consideration for those who weren't comfortable taking the lead. But knights would never swear loyalty to someone who couldn't even stand on the front lines alongside them. For anyone seeking the throne, that would be a fatal blow.

As Emperor, he was probably telling anyone who aspired to the throne that, even if they didn't fight, they should at least have the courage to stand on the same battlefield as the knights. If they couldn't show that much, they had no qualification to seek the throne.

"Your Majesty. I understand the matter of the festival, but I have one question."

"What is it, Gordon?"

"What will we receive when we win? Something paltry won't be enough to motivate me."

"Hmm, yes. What do you want?"

"The Crown Prince's position, of course."

Gordon announced it without the slightest shame.

Zandra glared at him with an expression that seemed to say she would kill him with her eyes if she could. Erik looked calm on the surface, but he was probably seething inside.

"You are an honest man. Very well. In honor of your honesty, I will be honest as well. I cannot decide who will become Crown Prince through a festival like this."

"Of course not. If you chose the Crown Prince through a festival like this, foreign countries would laugh at us."

"Indeed, Zandra. But I cannot leave the winner without a reward. Therefore, I intend to appoint the winner as a plenipotentiary ambassador. Which country they will be sent to will depend on the future movements of the foreign nations."

Everyone drew a sharp breath.

If a prince or princess became a plenipotentiary ambassador, the country they were sent to would at least regard them as a strong candidate to succeed the Emperor. The person sent there would also forge ties with that country.

For anyone competing for the throne, it was a position they would want desperately.

The position offered Erik the least benefit, since he was already Foreign Minister. Even so, he would surely want the post of plenipotentiary ambassador. More importantly, having other candidates take the diplomatic stage away from him while he was Foreign Minister would damage his pride and reputation.

Since Erik had something to lose, he would give it his all.

The Imperial Knights were the Empire's most elite force. Regardless of which knights they received, those knights would give it their all, and in the end, everything would depend on how the princes and princesses commanded them.

This looked like it was going to be a real headache.

With that in mind, I began devising a plan to ensure Leo's victory.