Imperial Goodwill Tournament (4)
The reaction was explosive.
"You bastard!! How dare you speak of treason right now! Just because you have the princess's favor, you think there's nothing you can't spout?!"
The Southern Army Commander shot up from his chair, kicking it back, his fury completely genuine. If Princess Lyla hadn't been at the same table, he probably would have drawn his spear on the spot.
With one hand restraining him, Lyla Everblaze Barhart spoke.
"…Chrome. No matter who you are, there are things you can say and things you cannot."
Her tone was calm, but her eyes burned with a sunset glow, scolding me. Still, I simply shrugged.
"Even among anti-imperial factions, not everyone is shouting 'Destroy the Empire! Terrorism! Massacre!' or anything like that. In fact, those types are in the minority. Most of them probably died off long ago. The ones who harbor dissatisfaction in their hearts but still submit to imperial rule are far more numerous. And that's exactly the group I'm talking about right now."
I placed several colorful gemstones on the table.
"These represent the various forces currently on the board… or more precisely, the factions connected to the Academy. First, due to the Second Prince's declaration, we've lost the ability to pull in the Empire's neutral factions."
I pushed one of the four red gems outward.
"Similarly, it's impossible to draw in the pro-imperial vassal kingdoms. For them, stability matters far more than one big score. The Nahat Grand Duchy is almost entirely pro-imperial or neutral, so they're completely out at this point."
I pushed out the single yellow gem.
"For the same reason, the new royalist faction of the Spero Kingdom is excluded."
I pushed out one of the two green gems.
"The pro-imperial forces within the Morian Kingdom are also out. Though honestly, they were weak to begin with."
I pushed out one of the two blue gems.
"There are ambiguous groups like the Star God Church or commoners unrelated to the power struggle, but we've already recruited everyone worth pulling in from those categories, so they're excluded too."
After shoving aside even the scattered small white gems, what remained was this:
Three red gems symbolizing the Crown Prince, the Second Prince, and the Fourth Prince.
One blue gem representing the anti-imperial forces within the Morian Kingdom.
One green gem representing the anti-imperial forces within the Spero Kingdom.
And one murky, iridescent stone symbolizing us.
"If we bring the Crown Prince and the Fourth Prince to our side, we might win, but what comes after will be difficult. Instead of standing tall as one unified force, we'd end up in a half-subordinate relationship."
I swept away two of the red gems.
"The remaining red gem is the enemy, and the mixed colors are us. So now there are only two choices left. Blue or green. But as Lady Lyla mentioned, the optics of Princess Lyla joining hands with the anti-imperial forces inside the Morian Kingdom would be terrible. Especially since Morian is far too powerful."
When I removed the blue gem as well, only one green remained.
Kalyos Schmidt, the Southern Army Commander, frowned deeply.
"…So the only remaining option is the anti-imperial faction of the Spero Kingdom. Compared to Morian, their power is weak, and their connection to Her Highness is minimal, so there would be less backlash. You're saying we should recruit them, right?"
"Correct!"
"Do you actually think that makes any sense?"
"Why wouldn't it? The Empire is already doing exactly that right now."
"What?"
As he looked confused, Ligret, who had been quietly listening beside me, dropped a single blunt remark.
"The Academy itself is already scraping up all those kinds of people and putting them to use. That's why it's so strong."
Exactly. In truth, this was a strategy the Empire had already been executing.
Students from the Empire or the Nahat Grand Duchy were one thing, but among those from Morian and Spero, quite a few secretly harbored resentment toward the Empire. You didn't have to look far—back at the beginning of the school year, both I and Fiore had nearly become victims of a public opinion smear campaign precisely because the old royalist faction kids had targeted our family, which was close to Spero's new royal family.
And even after pulling something like that, the Academy's administration hadn't reacted at all. They'd simply left it alone, as if to say 'handle it yourselves.'
"Well, this isn't necessarily the only correct answer. We could try joining hands with either the Crown Prince or the Fourth Prince and flip things from the inside. Or we could shake hands with both sides and walk the tightrope. The choice is yours, Lady Lyla."
Incidentally, the two options I'd just mentioned were ideas Fiore had added after hearing my plan beforehand. Each approach had its own merits and drawbacks, she'd said.
Princess Lyla asked,
"…Alphons Betuart. Are you thinking of recruiting him?"
"He's the representative of Spero within the Academy. No, honestly, if things continue like this, I expect he'll become the central figure of the old royalist faction itself, beyond just the Academy."
"But he seemed to harbor quite a strong resentment toward the Empire. Do you really think he'll willingly take our hand?"
Princess Lyla sounded deeply skeptical. Had that guy done something in front of her? Still, this was a relatively easy question to answer.
I shrugged theatrically.
"It's fine, Lady Lyla. Because the one we're fighting is the Empire too."
Her eyes widened for a moment, then she smiled.
"Understood. Go ahead, Chrome. I'll take responsibility."
"Leave it to me."
Alright then. Time to get moving.
Preparing the remote communication with Alphons took about a full day. Not because the Midas family's capabilities were lacking, but because this particular call needed to be conducted in absolute secrecy.
"Wow, what a beautiful first greeting. Really."
"Want to have a match against the sword the Empire is so proud of?"
Oh, he was interested.
I explained the goodwill tournament and the plan I'd drawn up. Of course, I trimmed out all unnecessary information.
Alphons Betuart wore an expression so icy it made his handsome face seem wasted as he replied.
"Even if we hand over one of the Empire's territories to you?"
"Hey, Alphons Betuart. Let's be a little more honest with each other."
I slouched crookedly in my chair in front of the full-body mirror-shaped communication magic tool.
"I know the old royalist faction of Spero hates the Empire. I know you hate our family too—for interfering with you and reaching out to the new royal family, regardless of intent. I'm sure some in your faction genuinely want to see the Empire destroyed. But here's the thing."
Staring straight at him, I declared,
"—You're different, aren't you?"
A very brief silence.
His expression remained coldly unchanged, but I didn't miss the subtle shift in the atmosphere I could feel through the mirror.
"Then why did you come to the Academy?"
"Sure, let's say that's true. Then wouldn't it have been enough to participate half-heartedly and get eliminated?"
"Then becoming a member of the special class must also be for the sake of that honor, right?"
To Alphons, whose face was twisting, I continued.
"Your followers and friends might have convinced themselves that way. That they're not submitting to the Empire by taking its resources to grow stronger. That achieving better grades than the Empire's students is a way to raise Spero's honor. Something like that. But you don't strike me as the type who's either that stupid or that good at self-justification."
"Rather than making meaningless shows of force that don't even count as threats, rather than just complaining about the Empire with no prospects for growth, it's better to seize power and authority within the Empire and use it for the Spero Kingdom. That's why you can hide your hostility toward the Empire without going off the rails. Well, I'm not claiming to know you in extreme detail like you said, so let's just move on."
"The Spero Kingdom has only become a vassal state. It hasn't been fully integrated into the Empire. Depending on how the Empire treats the kingdom, the situation can change as much as we want. It may be called a vassal on paper, but in reality it could function more like an alliance. Furthermore, Lady Lyla is aiming high, and at this point she doesn't have many forces around her that could be called loyalists. I think I've laid all my cards on the table. Your answer?"
Alphons stared at me for a long time before finally speaking.
"Ah, you can rest easy about that. I can't openly join hands with you either. Marquis Magnus wouldn't allow it. The one extending our hand publicly will be Lady Lyla."
"Gather up the skilled ones."
The deal was made.