New Year's Banquet (4)
Crash—
"What the hell does that woman think she's doing!?"
Viscount Biyorn dropped the wineglass in his hand and shouted before he could stop himself.
The glass shattered against the floor, and the red wine soaked into his prized trousers and shoes, but such trivialities never even registered. The nobles around him likewise found their feet stained by glass shards and wine, yet they too held their breath and stared straight ahead as if none of that mattered now.
Freyja Evergarden's declaration had been that shocking.
She had taken a warm, convivial atmosphere and obliterated it with a single bombshell. The moment her words spread—that she was begging, before the Emperor himself, for a magic beast, a creature so forbidden that even speaking of it was taboo—every person present froze solid.
And that was not all.
Having committed an act so outrageous that her round head could have been severed on the spot and rolled across the ballroom floor without anyone finding it excessive, she rose from her seat with perfect composure, looked around at them all, and announced that she would report the traitors present in this very hall.
"…Do you understand what you are saying?"
The Emperor looked down at her, his face hardened until not a trace of his usual benevolence remained.
The imperial throne was not a seat just anyone could claim simply by sharing the royal bloodline. Even among direct descendants, it was a position that required a man to hold the taut reins of power through endless daily struggles with the nobility. Only someone who had done so for decades after his accession could possibly occupy it—and a hollow head would never have survived.
Thus the Emperor cooled his thoughts and calmly reassessed the situation.
Any noble who sets foot on imperial soil knows better than anyone what it means to utter the words "magic beast" before me.
And yet, out of nowhere, at a gathering like this… magic beasts? Far too strange.
Moreover, this is not that woman's unilateral stunt. Her family's reactions are far too calm—as if they expected exactly this.
But a young man capable of producing potions and of matching me, however faintly, in a contest of wills… knowingly allowing something like this? It makes no sense.
Which means… this is a performance of sorts.
A show. A calculated piece of theater designed to seize every gaze in the room and provoke an even more explosive reaction. The Emperor understood that much. Yet the fist resting on his armrest was clenched tighter than it had ever been.
She dares demand that I play along in her little drama?
Infuriating. No matter how great her achievements, this was far too large a stage for a mere countess. And the way she was moving now suggested she intended to use even him.
Was it deliberate? A provocation?
And yet—
How interesting.
"If Your Majesty permits, I shall continue."
"…I permit it."
Even with dozens of spear-points of hostility leveled at her, Freyja smiled and calmly requested leave to speak further. The Emperor granted it.
The fury that was boiling a moment ago is cooling. Now I find myself curious what she will say next.
Very well. Let us see how far she can go.
A gambit that staked her own life and her family's. And the sheer nerve to lay that gambit down so boldly. The Emperor found himself oddly taken with the atmosphere she created.
"Your Imperial Majesty. In our territory—that is, the territory of House Evergarden—magic beasts existed until a mere month ago."
"What!?"
"Magic beasts in her own lands?"
"Surely not for a coup…?"
Barely a breath after the Emperor had given her leave to continue, another bombshell detonated.
"However, I stake my house—and I swear before Your Majesty—that I never once intended to make use of those beasts."
"This is, in essence, an accusation."
"An accusation… of what sort?"
"There were those who sought to use my territory to sell magic beasts to various nobles."
"Hah!?"
"Is that true!?"
"Merciful heavens!"
Every single sentence was a bomb. By now the nobles in the ballroom felt their hearts plummet through the floor into the earth itself, only to rocket straight into the sky, each time Freyja opened her mouth.
"…Then who are they?"
"Yes, Your Majesty. The utterly heinous criminals who dared mock the Empire, who illegally captured magic beasts, stored them in other territories, and attempted to sell those beasts to other nobles…"
She closed her mouth and simply turned her head, fixing her gaze on one particular spot.
The nobles whose eyes met hers hastily looked aside and edged out of her line of sight, parting like the sea before Moses. And at the end of that path stood—
"—Viscount Biyorn."
"!?!"
The moment their gazes locked, Viscount Biyorn froze solid, his mouth working soundlessly.
"Is this true?"
"…Y-Your Majesty! Th-this is utter nonsense…! This is a false accusation!"
That insane woman…! That insane woman…! What the hell is she doing!!
The Emperor's gaze shifted to Viscount Biyorn the instant Freyja finished her accusation. The viscount dropped flat to the floor at once and bellowed his innocence at the top of his lungs.
"Then why would House Evergarden frame you?"
"Th-that…!? H-House Evergarden once owed a debt to our territory…! Th-that grudge—"
"I beg Your Majesty's pardon. It is true that our territory once owed Viscount Biyorn a debt, but the principal has already been repaid in full, along with every last coin of interest. If required, I can submit the documents proving the debt was settled."
"Then why claim they framed you?"
"Th-that…! Ghh…!!!"
That bitch…! So that's why she was suddenly so obsessed with paperwork she never cared about before…!!
The sudden betrayal left Viscount Biyorn scrambling for any excuse that might salvage the situation, but official documents already proved the debt had been cleared. His excuse died on the spot.
"I am wronged, Your Majesty!! In all my life I have neither plotted nor committed any such act! I beg you not to lend your ear to the words of that petty, cunning serpent-tongued woman without a shred of evidence!"
Still—there's no proof I did it…! The magic beasts are already in Evergarden territory, and the men I hired were mercenaries, not my private soldiers… There's nothing tying me to those beasts!
Even so, Biyorn refused to give up. Freyja's sudden betrayal had stunned him, but he had already erased every scrap of evidence that could link him to the Evergarden lands—and then some.
"…He has a point. Freyja Evergarden. Do you possess evidence that would lend credibility to your claim?"
The Emperor turned his gaze back to Freyja as though acknowledging the reason in Biyorn's words. At that very moment—
"I shall speak next."
"…What?"
"Th-the Fifth Princess?"
"Why is the Fifth Princess…!?"
Rachel, who until now had remained silent in her seat, rose and walked toward Freyja.
"Father. Approximately two months ago, I met with House Evergarden and spoke with them."
"In the course of that conversation I learned of Viscount Biyorn's plot to use their territory for magic-beast trafficking, and I secretly continued the investigation alongside them."
"And roughly three weeks ago, we obtained definitive proof against Viscount Biyorn."
Standing beside Freyja, Rachel produced a substantial sheaf of documents from somewhere unseen.
"These are the capture routes for magic beasts in Viscount Biyorn's northern lands, their transaction ledgers, and the register of nobles who entered Evergarden territory in order to deal with Viscount Biyorn."
"?!?"
H-how did they get those…!?
"Chamberlain. Verify them."
"Y-yes…! Your Majesty…"
At the Emperor's order, a subordinate began examining the documents Rachel presented with such confidence.
"…This is—!? Your Majesty! There is no mistake! These are genuine transaction ledgers!"
"Ghh… uuuugh…!"
I hid them deep in the underground vault and burned every copy except the originals before leaving for the capital…! How in the world…!
"Father. It is true that House Evergarden brought magic beasts into their territory. But I swear upon the name of Rachel Obina that it was solely a means to cut out far larger, more rotten roots."
"…Fifth Princess. I will not ask just now how you came to be connected with House Evergarden. And if everything you have said proves true, I shall let that matter rest."
"So… that is why the New Year's banquet? At the very moment every noble listed in the register is gathered here? Haha… I hardly know whether to call this bold or reckless…"
Rachel's earnest declaration drew an involuntary smile and a hollow laugh from the Emperor.
It was a perfect trap.
They had brought magic beasts into their own lands to lull the conspirators into complacency while secretly extracting the critical documents for the accusation. And even if every word were false, the Fifth Princess's testimony would force a thorough investigation. But if it were all true, then House Evergarden had played them completely.
"The New Year's banquet ends here. Chamberlain—locate every name on that register and arrest them at once."
"Should any resist arrest… execute them on the spot."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
"Seize the traitors!!"
"Unhand me!! How dare you—!"
"Viscount Biyorn!! What is the meaning of this!!!"
"Y-Your Majesty! I was wrong!! Please…! Please forgive me…!!"
The Emperor confirmed the transaction register Freyja had submitted and ordered the swift arrest of every name upon it. Naturally, every person listed was present at the New Year's ball; they were seized one after another without the slightest chance to resist.
"Viscount Biyorn! You are under arrest for high treason!"
"Th-this… what…!"
Soldiers closed in around Viscount Biyorn as well. His legs trembled.
I've been had. I should have been more careful. I never dreamed that empty-headed woman could devise a plan like this…
The worst possible outcome, born of his own arrogance and carelessness.
"Ha… haha… hahaha…! Uwahahahahaha!!!!!!!!!"
At that result, Viscount Biyorn threw his head back and roared with laughter, body twisting.
"Fine! I've lost! Complete defeat! I never saw this coming!"
"But… I will not die alone!"
He pulled something from his breast.
"It's me! Can you hear me! Wake the magic beasts in the cages right now!"
It was a communication crystal—a magical tool. Viscount Biyorn bellowed into it at the top of his lungs.
"I will never forgive you! Just as my life is finished, I will finish your territory as well!!"
Even if they were only juveniles, he had confined that many of them. If they were all awakened and released at once, Evergarden territory would surely drown in a storm of blood.
But—
"Truly, how pathetic."
"What!?"
Even with her lands on the verge of becoming a wasteland, Freyja only smiled, utterly at ease.
"V-Viscount…! We're in terrible trouble!"
"Wh-what is it?"
"Th-the magic beasts… the magic beasts vanished in an instant!!"
"…Huh?"
And Viscount Biyorn understood the reason at once.
About two weeks earlier, Felix had infiltrated Tene into the underground complex and asked her to draw a magic circle somewhere inside. Tene had completed the task diligently (while pulverizing anyone who tried to harass her). The circle she left behind was a teleportation array that fixed spatial coordinates.
Once the coordinates were set, events moved swiftly. Felix teleported in via the circle, erased his presence, and "processed" the magic beasts in the cages one by one before sending them outside. The empty cages he filled with his own masterwork illusion magic, creating the appearance of drugged beasts to deceive the watchers.
"Didn't you know? There are no magic beasts in the territory at all anymore."
"Th-then…! Where are those beasts…?"
"We already butchered them and sold them off. Capturing or raising magic beasts is a crime… but hunting them and selling the carcasses is perfectly legal."
Freyja held out a single document to the still-dazed Biyorn. It listed receipts for the sale of magic-beast remains to the Magic Tower, the Alchemists' Guild, and various other buyers.
"…Ah."
Every last contingency he had prepared lay in ruins. Viscount Biyorn finally collapsed where he stood and lost consciousness.
And so, at last, the Evergarden family had completely excised the festering rot from their territory.