The Extra Strategist’s Royal Road Chapter 214

The Extra Strategist’s Royal Road Chapter 214

The party venue fell into uncontrollable chaos at the news of the king’s death.

To me, this situation felt extremely contrived.

“As expected, Lord Ars’ prediction was right. Prince Landis…”

Erina muttered, swallowing dryly.

“That’s not it.”

“What? What do you mean?”

“I wasn’t suspicious of Prince Landis, I was suspicious of the outcome.”

And in the current situation, the outcome changes again.

You could tell just by looking at how the nobles’ gazes toward Prince Landis had changed.

The current situation made it appear as though Prince Landis had assassinated the king to seize power.

Landis shouted in great confusion.

“Ca-calm down! Don’t be swept up by false propaganda!”

“Then tell us the truth! Is it really true that His Majesty lost his life to an assassin?!”

It was Marquis Eines. When this high-rank noble raised his voice, another uproar broke out.

Landis was flustered, unable to handle the situation.

He clearly lacked political sense, as public opinion suggested. In his panic, he made rash moves.

“I told you to calm down! Now that father has passed away, I am the king! Everyone follow my orders!”

Though it sounded forced, by law, he wasn’t wrong.

However, that’s when Prince Joseph, who had been silent all along, stepped forward.

“That’s not correct, brother.”

“Joseph…!!”

“When the previous king loses his life for unclear reasons, the succession to the throne is temporarily suspended. This is because the perpetrator could be one of the successors to the throne. Please don’t say you forgot that.”

“You…!”

Prince Joseph looked around at the nobles as if seeking their agreement.

The nobles quickly made their calculations.

While Landis was still first in line for succession, he now had dark suspicions hanging over him. Moreover, Landis ultimately wasn’t someone who could win over the nobles’ hearts.

Joseph, on the other hand, was ordinary, but that had its advantages.

At least to the nobles, Joseph would seem easier to handle than Landis.

Soon, dozens of nobles including Marquis Eines joined Joseph’s side, facing off against Landis’s forces.

The situation was evenly matched.

Joseph, who had instantly built up a force rivaling Landis.

Given how quickly the top-secret news of the king’s assassination spread through the party venue, his movements clearly seemed planned.

Joseph raised his voice.

“The party is temporarily suspended!”

Landis’s expression became completely crumpled.

In the end, it had become a situation where Joseph could smile.

The kingdom became unstable due to the king’s assassination.

The king’s death and the princes’ conflict completely paralyzed the government’s operation, causing chaos everywhere.

While succession struggles were naturally fierce battles where blood washed away blood, this case was particularly vicious.

Since Prince Proud, who was originally first in line for succession, was assassinated followed by the king’s assassination, there was no way the remaining princes could appear legitimate.

Since the nobles had been plotting rebellion from the start, the kingdom’s internal affairs fell into complete disarray in just a week.

To resolve this chaos, a new king needed to be crowned quickly. Or else the kingdom would simply perish.

‘Things have gotten completely out of hand.’

Even I found it hard to be certain now about who was behind it all.

While my gut feeling pointed to Prince Joseph, Prince Landis wasn’t clean either.

‘The perpetrators might even be different for each case.’

Landis might have killed First Prince Proud, while Joseph might have killed the king. That would explain things.

The question is which of the two is working with the Savior Alliance.

That’s what I couldn’t figure out.

“It must be Joseph, Lord Ars. We need to prepare to leave quickly.”

Erina urged anxiously.

She was convinced that Joseph, having seized power, would cause needless harm.

Indeed, on the day the party was suspended, even I, who had a solid alibi, was unnecessarily investigated under Joseph’s orders, so Erina’s concerns weren’t strange.

“Maybe we should. Once someone seizes power, you never know what they’ll do.”

Since Master Iliya, who had gone to the Northern Continent, had just completed building a base, relocating there wouldn’t be bad.

“Are you abandoning Baien? That’s a shame.”

This came from Bisketa, who was overseeing the construction of the new mansion on Baien’s outskirts.

“The basic construction of the mansion is almost complete. Are you planning to abandon it all?”

“We have no choice. We’re dealing with a prince who’s on the verge of becoming king. There’s nothing to gain from confronting him directly.”

“I understand. Then I’ll start wrapping up the flower shop that Meissen and Claire are running.”

“There’s no need to rush yet. Let’s wait a bit longer.”

The reason for my hesitation was that I hadn’t received a response from that person.

I was planning to wait until then anyway, since I had business in Uland soon.

The response from that person came about two weeks after the party was suspended.

Just as I was preparing to move for the raid on Uland’s underground market, Princess Rosa appeared before me, accompanied by Lucretia.

***

Princess Rosa removed her hood, revealing a pale face.

She looked gaunt, apparently under considerable mental stress.

Erina panicked and insisted on bringing nutritious food, but Rosa stopped her in a low voice.

“I’m fine, Erina. More importantly, could you leave us alone? I want to talk to Wade privately.”

“Princess… I understand.”

Erina headed outside with Lucretia.

I crossed my arms and asked.

“Coming to see me means you’ve made up your mind, right?”

“…Yes. If Landis and Joseph are the ones who killed Brother Proud and Father, I will bring them down and become king.”

She seemed to be asking for confirmation of this.

I shrugged.

“We can’t know who killed whom in the current situation. It’s just speculation for now. If you’re thinking of joining the succession struggle after slowly confirming this, give up. By then, it’ll be too late to turn back. Right now, it’s best to consider everyone but yourself as an enemy.”

Rosa squeezed her eyes shut.

“I still can’t believe it. Those brothers who got along so well, killing each other… And even harming Father.”

Knowing herself how childish this sounded, she shed determined tears as she spoke.

Through her tears, she declared.

“I’ll take the throne and reveal all the truth. And if it turns out Landis is innocent, I plan to hand over the throne. Will you still support me?”

“That’s… Quite a unique idea. What if Landis is guilty and Joseph is innocent?”

“I can’t hand it over to Joseph right away. He would harm you and Erina. I’ll only abdicate after you two have settled somewhere or I’m certain Joseph won’t harbor ill intentions.”

She seemed to have thought it through.

“So Wade, help me. Help me take the throne. I heard from Erina. They called you General in the Magic Continent, right? Use that wisdom pouch for me!”

Her determination seemed firm.

“Alright. However, I’m not omnipotent. What’s impossible is impossible. So let’s start by exchanging information.”

“Okay. What do you want to know?”

“First, your support base. Even with my help, it’s impossible to take the throne without at least some basic support.”

“I have a support base. For starters, Lucretia has agreed to help me.”

Lucretia, who had been on Landis’s side, ultimately turned her heart to our side. She probably thought Landis was the one who killed the king.

Rosa continues speaking.

“Through Lucretia, I plan to gain the support of her family, the Akasha House.”

“Even so, that won’t be much help. The Akasha House is a martial arts family, so they don’t have much connection to politics. Are there no other options?”

“There’s also my mother’s family, the Aller Duchy. Right now they’re supporting my twin Joseph, but if I ask them…”

“If you bring them in, you’ll end up being a puppet king.”

“Ugh.”

“I understand. It must have been difficult to gain support in the current situation. It can’t be helped. Let’s settle for having the Branford House as our only support base.”

“The Branford House…? You mean Rinoa?”

“That’s right. Even so, the Branford County is one of the great noble houses of the Southern Continent. Their influence is not inferior to other houses. Unlike Lucretia, Rinoa is also the head of her family.”

Plus, there’s the information she holds.

The information Rinoa had been reluctant to reveal. I thought the information about those who were in communication with the Savior Alliance could be key to this royal succession battle.

Rosa nodded.

“I can trust Rinoa too. But isn’t she under house arrest at her family home right now?”

“Actually, I’ve already called her here.”

“Really? Did you know I was coming?”

“No, I was planning to flee to the Northern Continent with her if necessary.”

With this, the preparations for entering the succession battle were complete.

The question was how to win from here on out.

Afterward, we came to discuss things together with Erina and Lucretia.

I wanted to include Bisketa in the discussion for advice, but Rosa was hesitant about new people, so we had to settle for talking among the four of us.

Lucretia volunteered to brief us on the situation.

“The two factions are already solid.”

The war situation is worst. Compared to the two major forces of Landis and Joseph, Rosa’s faction is meager and lacks justification.

“We need to somehow bring Princess Rosa to the forefront. That first step is necessary.”

Then Erina raises her hand. As a duke’s daughter who has seen many political affairs, she had her own insights.

“Compared to the two who are suspected of assassinating their relatives, the Princess is perfectly clean. How about appealing to that point to increase our forces?”

Luc seems to have similar thoughts, nodding and looking at me. I shook my head.

“That won’t work.”

“W-why not?”

“While Princess Rosa might be clean, the nobles aren’t. There might be some nobles who have such romantic notions, but the current situation doesn’t allow for such romance. What we need to do now is somehow shake up the two firmly established forces. For that, we need to use wicked and subtle methods.”

“Wicked methods?”

“Regarding that, there’s something Princess Rosa needs to do.”

Rosa answers firmly.

“Tell me anything.”

“Please die.”

“…What?”

Rosa asks stupidly. The other two just stare blankly.

Soon Luc shouts loudly.

“What nonsense is that!”

“Calm down. I don’t mean actually die. You just need to be thought dead.”

“Don’t tell me you’re suggesting we make it look like one of the two factions assassinated the Princess?”

“If that happens, the two factions will be greatly shaken. Already two royals have been assassinated, so if Princess Rosa is also assassinated, some nobles will raise hell and turn their backs. We can quietly recruit them while… Quietly recruit… Recruit while staying quiet…? Could it be…. Haha…. So that’s what it was.”

“Wade? What’s wrong?”

I felt like I’d been hit on the head with a hammer.

The puzzle pieces of the whole affair came together instantly.

Everything about Prince Proud’s death and the truth about the king’s death.

I shook my head and said.

“Please forget what I just said. It seems there’s no need for the Princess to pretend to be dead after all. I’ll prepare everything else, so please just stay quiet for now. That will be enough.”

The board for this incident was already perfectly set up. Not a board I created, but one created by someone else.

If that’s the case, the method to break it was simple. Just hit the opponent who’s drunk on victory from behind by using their own board against them.

Whether by coincidence or necessity, one of the preparations for this coincided with my planned raid on the Uland underground market.

Hi guys, please check out the new novel I picked “I killed the Demon King. It was a mistake.”

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