This Is All Your Fault (3)
This Is All Your Fault (3)
The longer the negotiations with the Eastern Coalition dragged on, the harder it became for Galdur to shake the feeling that something was going wrong.
The condition the Eastern Coalition had proposed was exclusive rights over all maritime trade routes in the east. That alone was already excessive, but now they were demanding reparations on top of it, and he simply could not accept it.
"Have you ever seen such madmen!"
"I have no idea what they're counting on to act like this!"
The furious staff officers were in the middle of a heated debate. No matter how much the Empire had to bow its head in these negotiations, there was no need to bow this low.
Starting a war would have been less damaging at this point.
"One thing is certain. If we accept this deal, the Empire will suffer irreparable damage."
Galdur bit his lip at the conclusion his staff had reached.
No matter how much the direct negotiations were handled by the staff officers, on paper the overall responsibility fell to Galdur.
If the negotiations were concluded as they stood, Galdur would be recorded as the traitor who sold out the Empire. And if he refused to conclude them, he would be recorded as the madman who started a war.
"Find out what that Martial King is thinking first. I cannot possibly regard this as the attitude of a man who wants to negotiate."
The biggest reason the negotiations remained deadlocked was, of course, the Martial King, Ashe Baltar.
When he stubbornly insisted that he could not negotiate with spell-slingers, they had gone to the trouble of bringing in Duke Kiel himself, only for Baltar to spout nonsense like, "Hand over exclusive rights to the eastern seas."
If he had his way, Galdur would have gladly just rammed straight into him, but Duke Kiel had suggested they withdraw for the time being, and as the lower-ranking man, Galdur had no choice but to endure it.
But now, even that Kiel was nowhere to be found.
"Lord Galdur. Should we not be bringing the Duke back by now? The fourth round of negotiations is approaching."
"Leave him be."
"Pardon?"
Galdur let out a scornful laugh.
"I'm sure he knows what he's doing."
'So this is what knights are like. Can't control their tempers and go storming off.'
To be honest, Galdur was hoping Kiel would cause some kind of trouble.
That way, he himself would catch less of the blame.
If the Empire was going to fall anyway, it would be better if a knight set it in motion...
- Red Tower Lord.
At the voice that rang out from the empty air, Galdur reflexively rose from his seat.
- How are the negotiations proceeding?
The face that then surfaced in the Crystal Orb was that of Galdur's liege lord, the Second Prince Edward.
Startled, Galdur swiftly composed himself and dismissed his staff officers.
Edward was the man who had drawn out the support of the Mage Council. With every Tower Lord except the Gold Tower Lord, who answered directly to the Emperor, counted among its ranks, the Mage Council was in name and fact the largest organization of mages on the continent.
Beyond the Crystal Orb, Edward looked to be in excellent spirits. He was almost unrecognizable as the man who had been constantly downcast, overshadowed by the First Prince.
"To be frank, things are not going well."
- Could it be because of that barbarian from Mikavel? Has he proposed outrageous terms?
"...Yes. How did you know?"
Edward laughed aloud. Even Galdur had never seen him so delighted before.
- I had help from an ally.
"An ally? Have you managed to win over the knights, by any chance?"
- Not that. A hint, then: she is a member of the Imperial Family.
At the words Imperial Family, Galdur's expression shifted.
Few people could be called a member of the Imperial Family. The Emperor and Empress, the First Prince and Second Prince. And...
"Surely you don't mean Her Highness?"
- That's right.
At Edward's words, Galdur's expression turned complicated. Support from an ordinary princess would have been a good thing, but when the support came from Aria, of all people, the story was a little different.
Because of her peculiar disposition, Aria enjoyed enormous popularity among the common people, but the nobles ostracized her in ways both open and subtle.
As someone of imperial blood, she was simply too lacking.
Not the sharpest, one might say.
'We'll be lucky if the nobles don't turn against us.'
But there was no way Edward was unaware of that simple fact.
Galdur instinctively sensed that something else lay hidden underneath.
- Aria... I never imagined that child was concealing her ability. To think she had House Crafen under her command, of all things!
"...Crafen, you say?"
Crafen, one of the Four Great Duchies.
Through steady trade with the western archipelagos, they had amassed a fortune so vast that no other house could compare.
Precisely because their regional identity was so strong, they were famous for refusing any involvement whatsoever in the high-risk imperial succession struggles.
"Is that true? How in the world..."
For hundreds of years, countless would-be successors had appealed to Crafen for support, yet Crafen had never once involved itself in a succession fight.
And now that precedent had been broken.
- I don't know that either. But what matters is that we now have the support of one of the Four Great Duchies as well. Which means we're no longer outmatched in a power struggle against my elder brother!
The Crouch family, which had originally backed the Second Prince, lost its influence and collapsed following the Yekaterina incident, so they had been forced into a disadvantage against the First Prince. But with House Crafen's support, that would no longer be a problem.
- All you have to do is wrap up the negotiations successfully. Once that's done, the momentum will swing entirely to our side!
Galdur swallowed without realizing it.
The pressure bearing down on his shoulders had become incomparably heavier than it had been moments before.
"I will do my utmost, Your Highness."
- Ah, and one more thing. You can take this one lightly.
"Please speak."
- If the barbarian becomes a problem, I'm told you should go to the Wave Catcher of Ikail and say this: that you will protect the waters of Ikail on terms more favorable than the Eastern Coalition's.
"...Excuse me?"
The Wave Catcher of Ikail was a person famous for her ferocity.
The ships she had wrecked numbered far more than several hundred.
Wave Catcher in name only, she was practically a tyrant of the sea.
- Ha ha ha. A bit much, is it?
"Who told you to say that?"
- It was that child Aria who told me.
"Her Highness did?"
For a moment, Galdur was at a loss for words.
Did the Princess truly believe she could sway the Wave Catcher's heart with a few mere words?
- Still, there's no harm in trying. That child Aria is sharper than she appears. So much so that it almost feels as if she's been hiding her ability all along. His Majesty was surprised... and so was my brother.
"...To that extent?"
- To the point where I imagine things would have become quite troublesome if that child had thrown herself into the succession struggle.
If Edward thought that highly of her, Aria's ability was as good as proven.
Even so, Galdur's expression remained dubious.
'In that case, how did she persuade Crafen?'
Even the reigning emperor, known as the Ironblood, had failed to persuade House Crafen right up until he ascended the throne.
But Galdur soon let out a scoff.
If it was not luck but genuine skill, then why had she hidden such remarkable ability all this time?
- At any rate, if the negotiations keep dragging on, try going to Ikail.
As Galdur nodded absently, Edward spoke in an odd tone.
- The one thing the Wave Catcher treasures, I hear, is Ikail. Not the Kingdom of Canis.
*****
From the day Olivia collapsed, Rebekah had not missed a single day observing her.
She had sat beside her reading the Scripture all day long, openly bestowed blessings upon her, and even obtained the Pope's permission on the pretext of missionary work to bring her inside the Sanctuary. But none of it had yielded anything.
Olivia was unmistakably human.
"...Rebekah? Don't you think the time has come to tell me what is going on?"
Rebekah kept her mouth shut.
The demon was quiet for now, but there was no knowing when it might surge out and slit Olivia's throat.
If Olivia were to be injured because of her own mistake, she felt she would never be able to forgive herself.
- It's a contest. Whether you save her, or I devour her.
The demon had put it in exactly those terms.
Even for a Great Demon, eroding the mind of a human on the level of an Archmage was surely a difficult task.
That must have been why it had lost its body and was living as nothing more than a parasite in her mind.
That was the moment.
"How warm."
In an instant, the touch turned cold, and the atmosphere sank with a chill.
Rebekah bit down hard on her back teeth and shoved Olivia away.
That damned face.
It was the creature.
['Saintess Rebekah' activates 'Lie Detection'!]
['Saintess Rebekah' uses 'Divine Barrier'!]
An immense quantity of Divine Power bloomed around Rebekah.
The raw, undisguised hostility made her whole body sting. However, perhaps because she was mindful of the eyes around them, the Divine Power was aimed precisely at Olivia alone.
Rebekah opened her mouth as if grinding the words out.
"...Asmodeus."
At that, Olivia merely answered with a smile. There was no need to correct her when she was obligingly jumping to the wrong conclusion on her own.
"Have you made any progress?"
Rebekah took a step back and kept her guard up against Olivia.
Demons were creatures that wormed their way through cracks in one's emotions.
According to her research, this one was the most vicious of them all.
'I must not let myself be shaken.'
The creature had failed to show itself for well over ten days.
That meant only one thing.
'It's withering away too.'
Unable to pierce through Olivia's firm will...
"I did make progress. I've gotten to the point where I can control it now, to some degree."
"...Progress?"
"Don't pretend you don't know."
Before Rebekah could say anything more, Olivia snapped her fingers.
[Currently spectating 'Saintess Rebekah'.]
The atmosphere shifted in a heartbeat, and Rebekah's face noticeably stiffened.
She said nothing, but her eyes alone were enough to tell.
The person in front of her was unmistakably...
[Spectating ended.]
"Well?"
"...!"
In that brief instant, a single word came to dominate Rebekah's mind.
Again, again, again...
Once more, the demon wore a cold smile.
"Think you can save her?"