The Extra Strategist’s Royal Road Chapter 179
Rinoa was sobbing with her eyes lowered.
Her appearance seemed to be seeking comfort, but I instead scolded her angrily.
“What was Prince Joseph saying just now? A traitor? What kind of person am I with?”
“T-That’s…”
Seeing my stern gaze, Rinoa stuttered, flustered.
Honestly, I was surprised too.
I thought there must be some circumstances, but for the prince himself to call her a traitor.
‘It doesn’t seem to be a small matter.’
I decided to hear the story before Anduha, who was seeing off Prince Joseph, came here, as it could all be for naught if he arrived.
“Please tell me. I think I have the right to know since I’m involved with you.”
“…Alright.”
Rinoa lowered her head as if resigned and continued speaking.
“The prince’s words weren’t wrong. Our Branford family is a family of traitors.”
“Were you dreaming of overthrowing the state?”
“That’s right. In the end.”
Although the Kingdom of Ellan takes the form of an absolute monarchy in its ruling structure, that powerful royal authority was limited to the Western Continent.
In the Southern Continent, the power of local clans is strong.
Because of that, in the Southern Continent, there was a covert battle of wits between the royal family trying to suppress those clans and the clans wanting to break free from that restraint.
“Our Branford family was one of the leaders in that. My father and brother devised ways to become independent from the royal family. And they thought of a method. To bring in the Salvation Alliance.”
“The Salvation Alliance…”
“You know too, right? The Salvation Alliance is bound as an alliance, but the independence of each alliance is strong. Above all, territories directly reclaimed from monsters can be ruled by the alliance that carried out the reclamation operation without any restrictions.”
“So you found that attractive.”
“That’s right. Most of the nobles in our Southern Continent are families of heroes who defeated monsters and reclaimed territories in the past. So they felt envious looking at the Salvation Alliance and couldn’t help but feel dissatisfied with the interference of the kingdom.”
Such dissatisfaction was about to burst.
Rinoa’s father was one of the key figures in that.
“But how were you planning to do it? How could you rebel without a private army?”
What’s needed for a rebellion is an army.
However, in this world, the concept of an army is vague.
If they had started gathering soldiers, there’s no way the kingdom wouldn’t have noticed.
Rinoa nodded, agreeing that was correct.
“That’s where the Salvation Alliance taught us a method. It was to shatter the royal palace’s magic stone sealing vault.”
“…!”
I was at a loss for words.
That place contains all the magic stones from dungeons subdued in the territory of the Kingdom of Ellan, in other words, the southern part of the Western Continent and the western part of the Southern Continent.
“You were going to release those back into the world!”
It was madness.
If those were all released at once, during the next upheaval, the territory of the Kingdom of Ellan would become no different from lost land due to the reappearing dungeons.
The human casualties wouldn’t be in the thousands or tens of thousands, but could be in the millions.
“That’s what they aimed for. If the kingdom’s territory became like that, the royal authority would disappear instantly and the people would fall into chaos. The Salvation Alliance planned to seize the kingdom’s territory under the guise of helping in that gap. I don’t know well, but I hear there’s intense territorial disputes among the alliances too. They say they openly engage in secret struggles.”
“So they were trying to shift that gaze to the territory of the Kingdom of Ellan…”
In reality, the Salvation Alliance was the true villain.
The nobles of the Southern Continent took the bait, enticed by the promise of being given territory.
“I couldn’t just stand by and watch. Because countless people would die if that happened. So… I secretly reported it to His Majesty the King.”
“…!”
“His Majesty was half in doubt but believed my words. And he said he wanted to end this matter amicably.”
“You mean he couldn’t openly make an example of the situation?”
“It was unavoidable. If he had taken strong action, all the nobles of the Southern Continent would have risen up together. The Salvation Alliance would have intervened, saying it was right. So His Majesty wished to handle it discreetly. So he… Handed me poison.”
And Rinoa poisoned her parents and brothers.
I couldn’t condemn her filial impiety.
She had acted for the lives of others rather than her family.
“Whew! It really wasn’t a small matter. But why were you acting the role of an evil lady on purpose?”
“The Branford family was set to have their noble title revoked in due course. It was for the justification of that.”
In the end, the Branford family would be dealt with as an example.
However, the pretext would not be treason, but the filial impiety and misdeeds of the delinquent lady Rinoa.
“You’re trying to conclude all matters by making yourself the root of all evil. You’ve somehow agreed to that.”
There’s a limit to how good-natured a person can be.
Rinoa agreed to shoulder everything and die herself.
Whether it was out of loyalty to the kingdom or for the sake of others, I don’t know.
It was a self-sacrifice I could never imagine.
“So? Are you just planning to die like that?”
“I told you before, didn’t I? I’ve already finished everything. I don’t know how things will unfold after that. His Majesty might spare only my life, or I might just be executed.”
That meant it was neither her business nor did she want to know.
Her stubborn nature activated in a strange area.
“Oh my, I’ve gotten involved with a strange person.”
“…If you’re going to leave, you can leave now. I was planning to banish you far away before all this anyway. You might end up being punished along with me if you stay involved.”
“It’s alright. I’ve been through several chaotic situations before.”
“You might regret it.”
“I’m confident I can get out before that. So until then… I’ll help you resolve your situation amicably.”
“What?”
“I told you before, didn’t I? If you help me find someone, I’ll help you too.”
“That…”
It seems she had just let it slide back then.
Because she considered herself already dead.
“There’s still time, right?”
“I don’t know how much.”
“But if it’s not immediate, we might be able to find some way.”
Rinoa didn’t answer.
She probably wants to cling to such a method if there is one.
Of course, even I didn’t know of a clear method right now.
The only option was to consult after finding my vassals first.
* * *
Meanwhile, Joseph, who had left the Branford mansion, was heading towards the royal palace, seething with anger.
He was quite enraged.
It wasn’t because of Ars.
It was because of what Rinoa had said.
‘She says I’m exactly like Rosa? No, I’m different!’
Rosa’s love for Ars was undoubtedly infatuation with his outward appearance.
On the other hand, his interest in Erina wasn’t like that.
That’s why he was angry.
‘The nerve of a traitor!’
Thinking about what the Branford family had tried to do, even exterminating three generations of their family wouldn’t be enough.
However, the king, who pitied Rinoa, intended to at least spare her life.
The plan was to execute her in name only, using a stand-in.
Afterwards, she would be given enough money to live comfortably and made to live quietly.
Joseph was not pleased with this decision.
Even if she had confessed, she was still a member of a family that had plotted treason.
The confession itself might even be a deception.
After suppressing his anger for a while, Joseph headed towards Princess Rosa.
Rosa, who had been pretending to be sick, seemed to have actually developed some kind of mental illness and was languishing.
Her bedside was full of get-well gifts from her noble lady friends.
Among them were books suitable for passing time.
‘Their circumstances?’
Joseph looked down at the book with contempt, guessing the content just from the title. Then, sighing, he spoke to Rosa.
“Rosa, are you alright?”
“I’m fine.”
“You don’t sound fine. What’s wrong? You weren’t really sick, were you?”
“……”
Rosa made an expression as if she was about to cry and then spoke as if clinging to him.
“Brother, how would you feel if the lover of the person you like was your close friend?”
“What? What are you talking about?”
“Just answer me.”
“I would steal that lover.”
“…!”
“There’s no other meaning. I’m just saying you should steel your heart. Rosa, we are royalty. We can’t survive with a weak mindset. If something needs to be taken, we must take it.”
Rosa thought about his words for a while and then shook her head.
“…I think that’s wrong!”
Rosa spoke as if she had made up her mind.
There was even wariness in her eyes.
“As I’ve said before, brother. Erina has someone she’s set her heart on. Please don’t show any more interest in Erina.”
“W-What are you suddenly saying? Besides, wasn’t that story about her lover not even certain?”
“It will be certain now.”
“What?”
“…Please leave now. I have something to talk about with Erina from now on.”
Driven out, Joseph wore an expression of confusion.
As if switching places with Joseph, Erina appeared.
She was holding a book to her chest.
Joseph wanted to speak to her for no particular reason, but Rosa, who had come out of the room, glared at him, so he could only shrug his shoulders and leave.
Erina, who had entered the room, blinked and asked. “Did you have an argument?”
“A little… More importantly, Erina. I have something I want to talk about.”
“Yes, of course.”
Erina, assuming that Rosa just wanted someone to talk to, didn’t think much of it.
On the other hand, Rosa was restless, unsure of how to broach the subject.
Then she noticed the book Erina had brought.
“What’s that?”
At Rosa’s question, Erina smiled brightly and said.
“I brought a book in case you were bored, Princess. This was written by… Someone I know. I helped with it too. I think you’ll like it, Princess.”
Wondering what it was, Rosa opened the book and bit her lip.
She hurriedly looked at the book that her academy friend had brought as a get-well gift.
She hadn’t paid attention before, but the author’s name was clearly written there.
Ars Elaine.
“Sob! Sob sob!”
As Rosa started crying, Erina didn’t know what to do.
“P-Princess? Are you not feeling well? Then I should immediately…”
“No. It’s not that…”
Rosa hugged Erina and began to wail.
“I’m sorry, Erina! You’ve been thinking of me like this… I’m so sorry…!”
“…?”
Erina wore a bewildered expression but still comforted Rosa.
After crying for a while, Rosa finally began to confess everything.
* * *
Day 11 of the festival.
As the festival was nearing its end, the Martial Arts Tournament competition was also approaching its conclusion.
In the freshman division, where only 4 teams remained, they were about to determine the final team to advance to the championship stage.
‘Well, this is unfortunate.’
Although I wanted to make it to the finals if possible, our opponent in the semifinals was none other than the team of Prince Joseph and Dayan Kiros.
From the start, Rinoa had no intention of beating the royal family, and considering what happened a few days ago, the outcome of this match was all but decided.
“Can’t we just forfeit?”
To my question, Rinoa shook her head.
“That would make the win-loss appearance unfavorable.”
Well, if the team with the prince won all matches by forfeit, anyone would find it strange.
“So we need to do our best, but still lose.”
“That’s a tricky order.”
From my perspective, losing was actually more difficult.
Once we got up on the stage, jeers rained down on us.
Perhaps because our opponent was the prince, it was even more intense than before.
Rinoa says, “Wade, in this duel, you only need to face one side.”
“You mean I can just deal with that Dayan guy?”
“I heard that’s what the prince did in the last duel. It will probably unfold the same way today. I’ll surrender at the right time, so just play around with him. Of course, don’t win.”
“Yes.”
What’s so great about royalty.
‘Well, I guess our continent isn’t much different.’
At least in the Calliper Kingdom I belonged to, the princes were in their 40s and 50s, so we didn’t have situations like this, but other kingdoms weren’t much different from here.
You’d often hear things like how amazing a prince is, or how they excelled in some competition.
Those reputations were probably gained in ways like this too.
If there’s any consolation, it’s that I don’t have to lose to Joseph.
Maybe Rinoa was being considerate about this.
If I just play around with Dayan, Rinoa will surrender at the right time.
I faced off against Dayan, swinging my spear casually.
Dayan stared at me with sharp eyes.
I heard he also knocked down a royal guard in the last exam.
He’s skilled, in other words.
‘Let’s see how good he is.’
Just as the signal to start was about to be given.
The arena started to buzz.
“It’s Princess Rosa…!”
“Has her condition improved?”
I couldn’t help but sigh. She just had to come.
‘Joseph will probably make a fuss again.’
I deliberately didn’t look towards Princess Rosa.
But then.
“Sir Ars!”
A voice that made my eyes snap open.
I quickly turned my head.
“…Huh?”
The woman with Princess Rosa.
For some reason, Erina, wearing the Royal Academy uniform, was standing there.
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