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Chapter 2
Kyle and his group headed for the branch store of the Marco Business Association located on the main street. They entered a warehouse through an open gate and quickly closed it behind them. And after confirming that only the most trustworthy of individuals were left in the warehouse, Klaus gave orders to open the lid of the stone, which allowed Angela to leave it.
“Phew. That was a lot more exhausting than I’d assumed.”
It didn’t take that long to bring her here, but her body must have gotten stiff as she stretched her body once. With how energetic she was, sitting still must not be her strongest suit.
“Thanks for putting up with this. We couldn’t risk anybody seeing you, Angela-sama,” Klaus practically apologized for the rough treatment.
“Yes, I’m well aware. I’m sorry for all this trouble. I will repay you one day.”
“It’s okay. It wasn’t anything too draining. And it went fairly smoothly, too,” Klaus showed a bitter smile at Angela’s response.
In Klaus’ case, he just created a huge debt with Princess Angela that will be repaid eventually.
“I simply helped you return to the capital…” Klaus said and glanced at Kyle as if to say that the rest was up to him.
“Let me thank all of you, too. I couldn’t be more thankful you offered to protect me…” Angela turned towards Kyle’s group and showed her gratitude.
After their return from the island located inside demon territory, Angela had heard the fate her older brother suffered and decided to return to the capital. Even if she wasn’t sure about her chances of changing anything, she couldn’t let the Empire be any longer in such trying times. And for that reason, she also hired Kyle and the others as guards to safely escort her back. This meant they would get involved in the upcoming uproar inside the Empire. Even so, Angela saw Kyle’s instant acceptance as him trying to show understanding after she had just lost her older brother.
“Really, you’re all such wonderful individuals, you are worthy of being called heroes.”
Kyle’s expression grew a bit stiff when he heard such high praise from Angela.
“I actually couldn’t ignore this incident myself, see…” Kyle genuinely felt that way.
Acting as Angela’s protection was just the icing on the cake, as he practically used her to get his way and come here.
“And the rest of us aren’t going to stand down, either,” Kyle looked at his allies.
“Phew…Disguising myself like this sure can be exhausting.” Urza wiped the dirt off her face as she sighed in relief.
“It’s because you stand out wherever you go, Urza. Compared to that, even something like this does good on me, as much as it pains me to admit it,” Lieze looked at her own disguise and threw herself a self-deprecating joke.
“And I just naturally stand out in the crowd, so—hey, listen to me.”
As always, Seran’s rambling was skillfully ignored. Up to this point, Kyle and his friends tried to stand out as much as possible during every task they fulfilled. That’s why sneaking around like this was a fresh experience, and they all seemed to enjoy it to some degree. Kyle glanced at his allies as he grabbed his beloved sword from the heap of equipment, as the jewel at the grip began sparkling.
‘I would have loved to join your game of disguises…’ Shildonia grumbled, but in order to conceal herself, she simply had to erase the image created by mana and all was done for her.
We’re about to barge head-first into an uproar of such a level, and yet they’re treating this like some excursion.
Kyle appreciated that his allies were so reliable no matter the situation, and he knew that their relaxation was a sign of trust in him, but a bit of caution never hurt a soul.
What could I even do for them…after they follow me no matter where I go?
Kyle once again repeated the same question in his mind, but with no answer in sight.
“Seems like we safely managed to get inside,” Minagi approached Kyle.
She had hidden amongst the Marco Business Association employees who welcomed them just now. Kyle had sent her ahead to check out the capital’s situation.
“…No problems on your end?”
“It wasn’t a cakewalk, but I said I’d handle it myself, right?” Minagi said it like it was quite easy, as she sounded proud of herself.
Her duty was to gather information, but in this dire situation of the entire capital being on lockdown, he was worried if she could manage it, so he stressed to be extra careful. At the time, Minagi had laughed off such worries, but she wasn’t just playing tough, it seemed.
“I’m confident in your skill. It’s just…sometimes you tend to end up a bit unlucky.”
Minagi seemed to have an idea or two in regard to Kyle’s comment.
“O-Oh shut up! Anyway, I got you some juicy intel.”
As Minagi had already once snuck into the capital around half a year ago, she was used to this area. For that reason, she managed to gather quite the amount despite being only here for a day.
“Got it. Then let’s get right to it,” Kyle said and Minagi nodded.
Klaus offered Kyle and his friends a meeting room, where they now sat around. And other than the regular members, Princess Angela and Klaus were present, too.
“All right. To decide our future plan of action, we need intel. Minagi, if you would?” Kyle said and after Minagi looked around once, she spoke up.
“Put bluntly, a civil war could break out any second now.”
“It’s gotten this far…?” Kyle massaged his temple as he heard the one thing he’d rather not.
Angela listened to this news with a stern expression.
“First, the official statement is that Prince Eldorand passed away suddenly, and the rumors about an assassination were just that—rumors. However, immediately after this announcement, the army locked off all entry and exit of the capital, which was basically the same as admitting they are trying to find the assassin.”
“Looking at how serious they are, it’s no surprise…” Urza grumbled as she remembered all the guards at the front gate.
“As for Princess Angela, who had been missing this whole time…You’re basically being regarded as dead, too.”
“That is probably more convenient for me. They might aim for my life again if they know I’m alive,” Angela said as Minagi glanced at her.
“That brings up two questions. First, who did it…and who will be the successor.”
The moment Kyle heard that, his face grew tense. What he feared the most was the potential civil war caused by the fight for succession.
“The two candidates are the second prince Konrad and the third prince Maizer. And then there’s also the son of the late first prince, Nord, and it will mainly be decided between them. There’s also a good chance that one of those could be the mastermind behind the assassination.”
Minagi seemingly struggled to share this information because of Angela’s presence, but she had to say it no matter what.
“That is to be expected,” Angela seems to have anticipated this turn of events as she nodded.
The biggest reason for assassination, in this case, is the succession for the seat of emperor. The ones who would benefit most from Eldorand’s death are those who are in line for this position. And Angela had to accept the fact that her older brothers were ready to kill one of their own to simply obtain that.
“However, if the ones who attacked me are the same group who assassinated Brother Eldorand, then I can hardly believe it could be one of those three. There should be no reason to attack me if the goal was the seat of the emperor.”
Angela had no valuable possession when it came to succession. No empress has ever existed in the Empire. And this has been conveyed and established since the time the Empire was a kingdom. But as the current Emperor Benedix worked for this empire, the desire for gender subsided and gave way for the strong to be able to rise, so one day, there could be an empress sitting on the throne.
“There isn’t anything to be gained by assassinating me. And by attacking me before Brother Eldorand, it only heightened caution. At the same time, Nord definitely would be in line to inherit the throne, but he is far too young to carry the weight of the Empire, so I hardly believe it would be him.”
After all, Nord was still four years old. Ordering the assassination of his own father to ascend the throne was an absolutely ludicrous assumption.
“…And what makes this confusion even worse is that the Emperor has yet to issue an official statement,” Minagi spoke like she couldn’t comprehend the reason behind that.
If Emperor Benedix were to publicly declare a successor, then it would calm down the greater half of this chaos. And yet, not even the day of Eldorand’s funeral had been decided.
“That I don’t understand either. Why is it?” Kyle showed a complicated expression.
In the history Kyle knew, Benedix chose Maizer as his successor. However, that was on his deathbed, and they didn’t have time for proper procedures. That’s why some people declared this succession invalid. For that reason, Kyle wished that Benedix would get a move on while he still could. And yet, Angela was the one to deliver an explanation for this.
“There is a reason. If I had to guess, Father has yet to hear of Brother Eldorand’s passing.”
“What do you mean by that?” Kyle returned the question.
This situation could lead to the ruin of the Empire as a whole, so how would he not know of the assassination?
“My father has been bedridden for a long time now, and the doctors give him only two to three more months. His consciousness has been drifting in and out, and he would sometimes just sleep for several days in a row…” Angela revealed one of the densest secrets the current Empire had kept behind closed doors.
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