The Second Prince's Declaration
Chomp chomp. Munch munch. Gulp gulp. If one must steal another's life to make it their own just to survive, then perhaps eating is simply living... but enough of that nonsense.
"Were you really that hungry...? Anyone would think you'd gone days without food."
The black-haired girl, Joy, who had been vacuuming up the table like a living vacuum cleaner, puffed out her cheeks in indignation.
"I actually did go hungry! Why won't they give me back the money I put in?!"
It was only natural, but after the terrorist incident, the Mars Duchy had descended into chaos. Relief and treatment for the victims came first, followed by handling the deceased, stabilizing the panicked populace, and investigating the culprits. Duke Mars was a capable man, and his subordinates worked tirelessly to restore order, yet there were limits to what they could manage. With the Star God Cult's volunteers and imperial support pouring in, the visible disturbances quickly subsided, but several lower-priority matters were postponed or quietly swept under the rug. Chief among them was the fate of the funds entrusted to the gambling tables.
"They say the payouts are already done! I never got my money back!"
The gambling house had operated by issuing paper vouchers resembling betting tickets. In the confusion, someone had forged Joy's voucher and claimed the money by pretending to be her proxy. Under normal circumstances, security wouldn't have been so lax, but the chaos engulfing the entire duchy had created the perfect opening. Joy protested, of course, but since several others had already caused scenes by claiming they hadn't received refunds despite having done so, she was lumped in with them. It must have been infuriating for her, but...
"That's why you should've stepped up and helped during the terrorist incident. You could've earned a reward, and as a contributor, you could've explained your situation and asked for the money back. They would've handled it properly."
Even I, who didn't receive any dividend, had my principal returned with a single word. That's the advantage of having connections with the powerful.
"Ugh."
At my words, Joy averted her eyes as if struck by guilt. Ligret spoke to her without a hint of emotion.
"You probably ran away because you were scared."
"No! I wasn't scared of some giant at all!"
"Then why didn't you fight? It wasn't like you got knocked out by a stray hit or anything."
"That's... well, there were circumstances..."
"If you can't talk about them, it's the same as not having any."
"Urgh."
Good grief. Ligret was beating someone down with words instead of fists! Though, to be fair, not fighting wasn't exactly a crime. Especially not for a civilian who wasn't even a soldier. And grilling a kid who'd barely eaten for days wouldn't accomplish much. In this situation, showing warm mercy was the proper adult mindset.
"So you don't have a single coin right now? You can't even pay for what you're eating?"
Unfortunately, my physical age wasn't that of an adult. Joy's furiously moving hands came to an abrupt halt with a mechanical click. I spoke to her with an uneasy expression.
"Ah, it's fine. Eat as much as you want. Helping each other out when times are tough is what friends do. We're not complete strangers, after all."
"......"
"Everyone has their own circumstances. Some people might have reasons to hide and stay out of sight even when others are risking their lives. I won't hold it against you."
"......"
"But we've got a big fight coming up, and we're recruiting skilled fighters."
"......"
"Got any circumstances this time too?"
"I-I'll participate."
"Thanks! See, kindness really does come around!"
Quota 26 has decreased to 25.
Just by treating someone to a few meals, I'd recruited a fighter stronger than Crow. What an incredible cost-performance ratio. Of course, I had no intention of letting it end there. Once things settled, I'd explain Joy's situation to Duke Mars, so she'd get her money back. As a finalist, plenty of people knew her face anyway.
"Welcome! I knew I could count on my friends at a time like this!"
"How did I end up tangled with this guy...?"
"It's been a while, Lord Chrome."
I'd succeeded in recruiting Pino and Rabaul as well. Finding Pino's hometown and delivering the communication artifact had required help from the Midas Merchant Group, but the persuasion itself hadn't been too difficult. Thanks to securing the cooperation of Princess Lyla and Kalyos Schmidt, we had a decent amount of spare funds, and more importantly, both of them had received instruction from Princess Lyla before. When I first mentioned fighting the Central Army, they'd treated me like a madman, but the moment I said it was for the princess, they'd grumbled and complained before ultimately agreeing. Though why Rabaul came as a set when I only asked for Pino, I had no idea. Not that I was complaining—it was convenient.
But our luck ended there.
[It is truly an honor beyond words to participate in the friendship tournament hosted by the great hero and founder of the empire, His Late Majesty the Emperor. To stand alongside the valiant members of the Central Army and display our martial prowess is a meaningful and glorious opportunity indeed. I shall engrave the faces of all who stand with me, as well as every opponent we cross blades with, deep in my heart and never forget them for as long as I live! In the name of Lucas Schpen Barhart, the Second Prince of the Empire, I declare that glory be unto His Majesty the Emperor and His Late Majesty! I shall surely claim victory and offer it to them!]
That lunatic. A complete and utter lunatic. When someone that high up clears their throat, the normal reaction is to read the room and keep your head down. But the Second Prince didn't just fail to back off—he charged straight ahead. Wrapped in flowery language though it was, the meaning of "engrave the faces of every opponent we cross blades with and never forget them" was obvious. It was a death threat promising to crush everyone who fought against him later, in one way or another. It was no different from warning anyone siding with Princess Lyla to prepare for the consequences.
Thanks to that, the nobles who had been cautiously approaching us all stopped in their tracks.
"As expected of people who move fast. They flip their palms faster than lightning."
"...It can't be helped. At this point, it's true that Brother Lucas has the higher chance of winning."
If Princess Lyla won this tournament, she would gain a foundation to build a new faction. Not just some fledgling group, but a faction with the symbolic weight of having used the Great Emperor as backing to topple the Second Prince's faction, while also absorbing the Southern Army by stealing their share from the Central Army. That was why several nobles had been trying to make connections, even while pretending to merely observe. But that was only if Princess Lyla won and the Second Prince's faction collapsed. Conversely, if the Second Prince's faction won, they might suffer some damage to their prestige, but they wouldn't be destroyed. And when the wounded beast that was the Second Prince's faction began its retaliation, Princess Lyla wouldn't have the power to stop it. The Second Prince had made that point crystal clear with his declaration, which was why the neutral factions had all gotten scared and gone into spectator mode. And if the families themselves weren't moving, their academy student members couldn't exactly act on their own either.
How frustrating.
"What will you do regarding the proposals from His Highness the Crown Prince and His Highness the Fourth Prince, Your Highness?"
At the Southern Army Commander's words, Princess Lyla's expression grew even more troubled. Not long after the Second Prince's declaration spread, envoys had arrived from both the Crown Prince and the Fourth Prince. Stripping away all the unnecessary fluff, their messages were essentially the same.
- If you lack the strength to fight the Second Prince, we can lend you our aid.
To understand this bizarre situation where other imperial family members were offering help to fight the Second Prince, one needed to briefly touch on the imperial family's internal issues. The empire practiced polygamy, and the current emperor, Dominique Loop Barhart, was quite fond of women. From his youth, he had laid hands on the daughters of various nobles. Back when he was merely one of many princes, this behavior drew criticism but wasn't a major problem. After all, Dominique was supposed to become the King of Morian, and his official wife would have been Princess Lyla's mother. But when his elder brother died suddenly, Dominique was thrust into the unexpected position of crown prince and then emperor. Instead of clearly ranking his wives, he elevated them all to similar statuses, differing only in order as First Empress, Second Empress, and so on. The imperial family members, who were similar in age but had different mothers, naturally began competing, which soon manifested as a struggle for succession. If the emperor himself had supported the crown prince or checked the other princes, things might have been different, but since he did neither, a strange situation arose where the crown prince existed as the eldest son, yet each prince formed their own factions and fought anyway. The only exception was probably the Third Prince, who was sickly and whose mother had a weak background. Honestly, without my knowledge of the original work, I wouldn't have paid this guy any attention either.
...Could this guy be the one pulling strings from behind the scenes?
"...Indeed, if we could obtain the assistance of even one of my two elder brothers, it would become a significant force."
But it would also mean taking on a massive debt. Especially for someone just starting to stand on their own, it would be an even heavier burden. Still, it might be better than losing and ending up worse off than before we began.
"Your Highness, we of the Southern Army are prepared to stake our lives on this match. We will make up for our lack of skill with fighting spirit."
Perhaps sensing her wavering resolve, the Southern Army Commander spoke as if to comfort her. He must have found it bitter to think that the Southern Army's shortcomings had led to this situation. Would we charge into a reckless fight as we were? Would we take the Crown Prince's hand? The Fourth Prince's hand? Or perhaps...
"Lyla."
"What is it, Chrome?"
"Let's bring in the anti-imperial forces from the Spero Kingdom."
How about just releasing the poison instead?