I head to Anon’s hideout on the outskirts as he instructed. When I approach the destination, I feel some kind of magical interference dissolve. The sensation is so subtle that not only ordinary people but even those with decent magical abilities probably wouldn’t notice anything. His hideout has concealment spells cast on it. When I finally reach his hideout, the entrance door opens by itself. I step in with a casual 「Excuse me,」 as if I’m already familiar with the place.
「I’m coming in!」
The hideout is small, and as soon as I enter, I’m in the guest room that also serves as a living room. Sitting in a chair is Anon, looking visibly troubled even with his hood on.
「Oh, it’s Ichiro… Sorry. I meant to come greet you, but… seems I didn’t notice your arrival.」
「No, it’s fine. Don’t worry about it.」
Some major problem has occurred, and he’s scrambling to deal with it. That much is certain. On his cluttered desk sits a Contact Pearl and multiple lists. The lists contain several names, many of which have been crossed out with horizontal lines. Until just recently, he must have been checking these lists, contacting people, and making arrangements of some kind. Anon directs me to sit across from him, then stands up.
○○○
As I sit in the chair, absently staring at the documents on the table, Anon efficiently prepares tea and cookies, pushes the documents aside, and places everything on the table.
「I actually didn’t intend to call you here.」
He sits down across from me and interlocks his fingers. Probably unconsciously, but back in Japan, interlocking fingers was said to be a gesture people make when worried or emotionally unstable.
「You’ve finally been able to live a peaceful life. I didn’t want to disturb that…」
Even now, he seems to be struggling to speak. So, this can’t be helped.
「Don’t worry about that. Anon, what exactly happened?」
I ask him directly. He lets out a deep sigh and begins to speak with determination.
「A rebellion by radical anti-royalist nobleman faction is about to break out.」
Anon’s voice is somber.
「The Arcana royal family lost the support of many noblemen after the Ryūgūin incident and hasn’t fully recovered. The wounds from that time have somewhat healed, and they’ve managed to silence the loudest voices against the royal family by compensating those who suffered the most damage. But as shown by Princess Puffy still not being able to completely win over her sympathizers, things haven’t completely returned to normal.」
I remember Puffy saying she would work hard to regain trust, her small shoulders trembling as she spoke.
「So, for the anti-royalists, now is the perfect opportunity. This rebellion will be carried out in utmost secrecy—at least nominally making it impossible to identify who did it—and even if they succeed in the taboo of regicide and that information becomes public, they can come up with all sorts of reasons for eliminating the royal family. Things like ‘Princess Puffy prioritized romance over state affairs. She doesn’t think about the citizens at all’ or ‘The royal family knew about the Hero’s violent tendencies but turned a blind eye. They can’t be trusted. Who can say similar disasters won’t befall the country in the future?’」
「That’s—!!」
I raise my voice involuntarily, but Anon gestures for me to calm down.
「Stop right there, Ichiro. I understand their circumstances… But the problem is the fact that they’ve created a situation that the enemy can exploit.」
Despite her position as a princess, she would go out into towns and villages on her own two feet when necessary, to hear the voices of the citizens firsthand—the image comes unbidden to my mind.
「The mastermind behind this plot is the head of the Duke Strengths family, who rules the territory south of the royal capital—he happens to be the current King Arcana’s nephew.」
「Nephew?」
「Yes. Furthermore, the current head—Julian—was the second son of the king’s brother.」
At this point, I don’t even ask about the first son.
「In this flow of events, it’s probably obvious by now, but the former head, the king’s brother, died during an expedition about a month after the Ryūgūin dispute ended, allegedly ambushed by bandits. His eldest son, who was accompanying him, also died. Despite having multiple guards with abilities equivalent to A-rank adventurers, they were all wiped out. The following day, his first wife took her own life.」
「That sounds like…」
「Yes, it’s almost certainly what you’re thinking. The fact that multiple A-rank equivalent guards were wiped out means they must have hired extremely high-level assassins. In fact, there were suspicious movements of money in the Strengths family during that period.」
「So they used that money to hire assassins?」
「That’s the conclusion.」
「Then, if we could apprehend those assassins before they act this time—」
「They’re no longer in this world.」
「What?」
「We haven’t just been sitting on our hands. Chancellor Madison and his people utilized every information network at their disposal to find them. By the time we caught the assassins’ trail, it was already too late.」
「You mean they were killed to silence them… But in that case—」
Judging by their abilities, they must have been among the nation’s top assassins. To silence them… that means—
「We also know that money from the Strengths family has been flowing into the Lionel Empire, located in the southwest of the Arcana Kingdom. And Julian’s mother, the second wife, is from the Lionel Empire.」
「This smells so bad it makes me want to pinch my nose.」
「In this case, the Lionel Empire is 100% involved. They probably figure they have nothing to lose—if Julian succeeds, it’s a bonus. Even if he doesn’t manage to usurp the throne, as long as they can destabilize Arcana’s political situation for a long time, it will make their political maneuvering against Arcana easier, and they can implement various other schemes in the future.」
「So what do you want me to do?」
Having heard this much, there’s no way I could turn my back on Anon, who has helped me countless times, and just go home.
「—Tomorrow evening, there will be simultaneous attacks at four locations throughout the kingdom.」
Anon’s statement comes abruptly. I feel as if the two of us have been cut off from the rest of the world. He continues regardless.
「The first location is the Wiseman ducal house, the greatest standard-bearer of the royalist faction in the royal capital.」
He’s someone renowned for his wisdom, famous enough that even I have heard of him.
「The second location is the Masquerade marquis family, the largest neutral faction noble house located in the central part of the country.」
Anon’s voice drops even lower.
「The third location is the Boldaf Margrave family here in Boldaf, which exists as a bulwark protecting the people from external enemies and monsters from the Hidden Mountain.」
Here?! I’m surprised, and Anon delivers another blow.
「—And finally, the Arcana Castle where the King of Arcana and his blood relatives reside.」
If you enjoy it and wish to see more, please consider giving it a 5-star rating for the series on NU. Click Here.
Check out my Patreon for early access to upcoming updates. Patreon Link
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Chapter 280
○○○
I head to Anon’s hideout on the outskirts as he instructed.
When I approach the destination, I feel some kind of magical interference dissolve. The sensation is so subtle that not only ordinary people but even those with decent magical abilities probably wouldn’t notice anything.
His hideout has concealment spells cast on it.
When I finally reach his hideout, the entrance door opens by itself.
I step in with a casual 「Excuse me,」 as if I’m already familiar with the place.
「I’m coming in!」
The hideout is small, and as soon as I enter, I’m in the guest room that also serves as a living room.
Sitting in a chair is Anon, looking visibly troubled even with his hood on.
「Oh, it’s Ichiro… Sorry. I meant to come greet you, but… seems I didn’t notice your arrival.」
「No, it’s fine. Don’t worry about it.」
Some major problem has occurred, and he’s scrambling to deal with it.
That much is certain.
On his cluttered desk sits a Contact Pearl and multiple lists. The lists contain several names, many of which have been crossed out with horizontal lines.
Until just recently, he must have been checking these lists, contacting people, and making arrangements of some kind.
Anon directs me to sit across from him, then stands up.
○○○
As I sit in the chair, absently staring at the documents on the table, Anon efficiently prepares tea and cookies, pushes the documents aside, and places everything on the table.
「I actually didn’t intend to call you here.」
He sits down across from me and interlocks his fingers.
Probably unconsciously, but back in Japan, interlocking fingers was said to be a gesture people make when worried or emotionally unstable.
「You’ve finally been able to live a peaceful life. I didn’t want to disturb that…」
Even now, he seems to be struggling to speak.
So, this can’t be helped.
「Don’t worry about that. Anon, what exactly happened?」
I ask him directly.
He lets out a deep sigh and begins to speak with determination.
「A rebellion by radical anti-royalist nobleman faction is about to break out.」
Anon’s voice is somber.
「The Arcana royal family lost the support of many noblemen after the Ryūgūin incident and hasn’t fully recovered.
The wounds from that time have somewhat healed, and they’ve managed to silence the loudest voices against the royal family by compensating those who suffered the most damage. But as shown by Princess Puffy still not being able to completely win over her sympathizers, things haven’t completely returned to normal.」
I remember Puffy saying she would work hard to regain trust, her small shoulders trembling as she spoke.
「So, for the anti-royalists, now is the perfect opportunity.
This rebellion will be carried out in utmost secrecy—at least nominally making it impossible to identify who did it—and even if they succeed in the taboo of regicide and that information becomes public, they can come up with all sorts of reasons for eliminating the royal family.
Things like ‘Princess Puffy prioritized romance over state affairs. She doesn’t think about the citizens at all’ or ‘The royal family knew about the Hero’s violent tendencies but turned a blind eye. They can’t be trusted. Who can say similar disasters won’t befall the country in the future?’」
「That’s—!!」
I raise my voice involuntarily, but Anon gestures for me to calm down.
「Stop right there, Ichiro. I understand their circumstances…
But the problem is the fact that they’ve created a situation that the enemy can exploit.」
Despite her position as a princess, she would go out into towns and villages on her own two feet when necessary, to hear the voices of the citizens firsthand—the image comes unbidden to my mind.
「The mastermind behind this plot is the head of the Duke Strengths family, who rules the territory south of the royal capital—he happens to be the current King Arcana’s nephew.」
「Nephew?」
「Yes. Furthermore, the current head—Julian—was the second son of the king’s brother.」
At this point, I don’t even ask about the first son.
「In this flow of events, it’s probably obvious by now, but the former head, the king’s brother, died during an expedition about a month after the Ryūgūin dispute ended, allegedly ambushed by bandits. His eldest son, who was accompanying him, also died. Despite having multiple guards with abilities equivalent to A-rank adventurers, they were all wiped out.
The following day, his first wife took her own life.」
「That sounds like…」
「Yes, it’s almost certainly what you’re thinking. The fact that multiple A-rank equivalent guards were wiped out means they must have hired extremely high-level assassins. In fact, there were suspicious movements of money in the Strengths family during that period.」
「So they used that money to hire assassins?」
「That’s the conclusion.」
「Then, if we could apprehend those assassins before they act this time—」
「They’re no longer in this world.」
「What?」
「We haven’t just been sitting on our hands. Chancellor Madison and his people utilized every information network at their disposal to find them. By the time we caught the assassins’ trail, it was already too late.」
「You mean they were killed to silence them… But in that case—」
Judging by their abilities, they must have been among the nation’s top assassins.
To silence them… that means—
「We also know that money from the Strengths family has been flowing into the Lionel Empire, located in the southwest of the Arcana Kingdom. And Julian’s mother, the second wife, is from the Lionel Empire.」
「This smells so bad it makes me want to pinch my nose.」
「In this case, the Lionel Empire is 100% involved. They probably figure they have nothing to lose—if Julian succeeds, it’s a bonus. Even if he doesn’t manage to usurp the throne, as long as they can destabilize Arcana’s political situation for a long time, it will make their political maneuvering against Arcana easier, and they can implement various other schemes in the future.」
「So what do you want me to do?」
Having heard this much, there’s no way I could turn my back on Anon, who has helped me countless times, and just go home.
「—Tomorrow evening, there will be simultaneous attacks at four locations throughout the kingdom.」
Anon’s statement comes abruptly.
I feel as if the two of us have been cut off from the rest of the world.
He continues regardless.
「The first location is the Wiseman ducal house, the greatest standard-bearer of the royalist faction in the royal capital.」
He’s someone renowned for his wisdom, famous enough that even I have heard of him.
「The second location is the Masquerade marquis family, the largest neutral faction noble house located in the central part of the country.」
Anon’s voice drops even lower.
「The third location is the Boldaf Margrave family here in Boldaf, which exists as a bulwark protecting the people from external enemies and monsters from the Hidden Mountain.」
Here?!
I’m surprised, and Anon delivers another blow.
「—And finally, the Arcana Castle where the King of Arcana and his blood relatives reside.」
If you enjoy it and wish to see more, please consider giving it a 5-star rating for the series on NU. Click Here.
Check out my Patreon for early access to upcoming updates. Patreon Link
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