The Imperial Tour (2)
The day of the imperial tour had finally arrived. When I asked the Emperor, he had indeed given his permission.
“Just make sure the tour goes well and come back.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“Because the moment Ashtar and Libelt meet, all they do is brawl. He thinks everyone acts like a delinquent just like him.”
No matter what anyone said, I was originally a noblewoman by birth. On top of that, I was a Saintess. Even if the other party came from a rival household or an enemy family, I wasn’t about to throw a fit. My relationship with the Ashtars felt more like a cooperative alliance than anything familial. At any rate, the participants for this tour were now seated before Aslan.
“Right, let’s introduce ourselves one by one.”
“Valen Libelt. I’ll be in your care.”
Valen Libelt. True to his military family’s reputation, he gave off a wild, untamed impression. I’d seen him back in my Noah days, and even now he was still a man I couldn’t stand.
“I’m Yuria, a commoner serving as student council secretary.”
“I’m Lailer of the Plant family.”
Oh, so Lailer was coming too.
“I’m Shariel, from the Great Forest. My older sister is in the Hero Party! Even though I look this young, I’m an elf, so I’ve lived more than fifty years. Please don’t treat me like a child just because of how I look!”
“Hmm?”
If her older sister was in the Hero Party, that had to be Ella. Suddenly I felt like I’d been scammed.
Hey, be honest with yourself. You’re an elf, right? You’ve lived over a hundred years, haven’t you? And you still want to hang around young guys?
D-don’t be ridiculous. I’m only in my mid-twenties, you know? That woman is definitely way past fifty, isn’t she?
So in other words, after passing the age of fifty she hid her real age and seduced a fresh, twenty-something corrupted hero. Was that it? Wow, that really did seem completely shameless. On top of that, Hero Eugene didn’t even consider any woman over thirty to be a woman at all. Or maybe as long as the outside looked decent it was fine? Well, even if it was a scam, it was that guy’s problem, not mine.
“Olivia Lapa Ashtar.”
I gave a small, polite bow. For now, it felt more appropriate to greet them as an Ashtar rather than as the Saintess.
“Hmm. So the daughter of Ashtar became the Saintess.”
Valen muttered to himself and then looked me up and down in a distinctly unpleasant way, as if he were appraising merchandise. No, this was definitely a matter of personal feeling.
“Yes. Is there some problem with that?”
“To think a Saintess would come from that den of hypocrites, the Ashtars.”
A deep wave of irritation suddenly surged up from inside me. If I didn’t say something back, it felt like my stomach would twist itself into knots.
“I never expected a foolish family that still obsesses over cavalry in an empire where magic and divine weapons are mass-produced would send someone like Atelrina as their heir.”
I’d disliked him from the start. I knew cavalry still had its uses on the battlefield, but the whole thing just grated on me. I hadn’t liked him since my Noah days. The way he was so narrow-minded and acted like he was the god of war itself.
“Libelt’s cavalry is invincible. As expected from a girl who knows nothing about the military. Do you honestly believe those so-called gun troops can defeat Libelt’s cavalry?”
I knew he’d come out with that. Did he think I wouldn’t have anything to say?
“They only know how to charge forward claiming to be invincible. How exactly are they supposed to beat gun troops that pour mana bullets on them from the front lines?”
“My lady. Young master of Libelt. This is not the place for fighting.”
“Let go. That guy’s……”
I was about to launch into a full-blown argument when Claire stepped between us. Ah, now I understood why they were mortal enemies. This hatred was carved into the bone. Noah’s impression of Valen and Libelt, combined with the deeply rooted animosity between the Ashtar and Libelt families. The two feelings had become hopelessly tangled together.
In the end, the quarrel only stopped after Seria intervened to calm us down.
“As expected, the relationship between Ashtar and Libelt is still terrible.”
“It seems His Highness placed you two together hoping for harmony between Libelt and Ashtar, but I doubt the goal will be achieved.”
Valen spoke bluntly to Aslan. Was Aslan really trying to embrace both the Ashtars and Libelt? Libelt was a semi-independent force. Of course they flew the empire’s banner, but if Aslan intended to fully subordinate even Libelt to the empire and lead them, that would become a serious problem. Libelt had never belonged to any emperor before.
“I am Seria, the next candidate for Magic Tower Master. Please take care of me during the tour period.”
“I am Claire, maid of the Ashtar family.”
Seria and Claire’s introductions were short and simple.
The group consisted of the prince and his close aides, the lone-wolf Valen, the endlessly curious elf, myself with my own objectives, and Claire and Seria who were attached to me. Since there would be no pointless socializing, it was perfect.
Once the self-introductions were finished, the prince pulled a map from his pocket.
“Now, I will explain the tour route.”
Aslan pointed to various regions on the pre-prepared map of the empire’s territory, starting from the imperial capital. The first place we had to pass through was Ashtar’s territory. Because the Ashtar lands were so vast, any eastern tour had to cross them. In this direction… would we be heading toward the area damaged by the Four Heavenly Kings?
“Hmm. According to this map, we’ll be passing through Ashtar’s territory?”
“Ah, we’ll simply pass through the lands. There will be no need to meet the head of Ashtar. The purpose is purely the tour, not politics.”
“That’s a relief.”
If we were going all the way to the main Ashtar residence, ugh, how annoying. I’d have to meet the family head.
“First we’ll cross Ashtar’s territory and head toward the border region.”
“All the way to the border?”
“For now, the priority is the areas that suffered damage from the Four Heavenly Kings.”
Surprisingly proactive. This didn’t seem like a simple popularity-gaining exercise. But what if a Heavenly King actually appeared? Even I couldn’t guarantee victory against one yet.
“Your Highness, if a Heavenly King appears……”
“Don’t worry, Yuria. I believe I need to do at least this much to wash away the stigma of the imperial family that was played by a succubus.”
“Understood.”
The prince brushed off Yuria’s concern. At the moment, what Yuria said seemed correct. In that case, proceeding slowly would be better. The nobles were already a headache, and we also had to consider the possibility of encountering a Heavenly King.
I would be fine. At minimum, I was confident I wouldn’t die. The problem was Aslan. He wasn’t ordinary by any means, but compared to a Heavenly King he fell far short. Even Eugene, who was considered strong among humans, had been thoroughly beaten by Pector. Aslan? No chance.
“Going slowly doesn’t seem like a bad idea.”
“Olivia. What do you mean by that?”
“Because a Heavenly King might appear. Right now the Demon King’s army is hoping for the empire’s collapse. In that situation, if the former crown prince ends up in their hands, what do you think will happen?”
The Four Heavenly Kings were not fools. They had brains. In other words, those bastards were perfectly capable of capturing Aslan, the former crown prince.
“Hmm. So you’re saying it’s dangerous.”
“Yes. Therefore, let’s proceed slowly.”
If you get caught, the guy who’s already being called incompetent will be labeled even more incompetent. Naturally the empire would fall into chaos.
“If I am in danger, doesn’t that mean the people are in danger as well?”
“Well, that’s true, but……”
“Can I abandon my subjects? Olivia. I understand your concern for me, but I’d appreciate it if you kept it in moderation.”
Damn it, I want to keep things in moderation too. Do you have any idea how much chaos the empire would fall into if you were captured? Maybe it would be better to at least receive an escort from Ashtar’s knights along the way.
“Then at least let’s depart quietly.”
“Hmm? Why? To leave an impression on the commoners, shouldn’t we make it somewhat extravagant?”
“Are you saying you’ll dress up flashily and announce that you’re leaving the capital because you want to look good to the commoners? What is this, the hero party?”
I spat my dissatisfaction at Aslan. He claimed it was for the commoners, yet why did he want to do something like that?
“Lady Olivia, what kind of rudeness is this toward His Highness?”
This had already gone beyond the issue of rudeness.
“Actually, I think Ashtar’s words are correct here. Isn’t Your Highness trying to gather public sentiment? In that case, loudly announcing your departure from the capital could simply come across as another high-ranking person doing something pointless again.”
Even Valen of Libelt nodded in agreement with me.
“Isn’t that going too far? No, Young Master Valen. I understand how impressive Libelt is as a military clan, but His Highness Aslan is the first prince of this nation.”
Lailer took the prince’s side, as expected of his position. He was the prince who had stepped down from the position of crown prince.
“And he only stepped down from the crown prince position recently because of the succubus incident.”
“Young Master Valen!”
Valen had actually said something reasonable. Now was the time for restraint. It wasn’t the time for blind loyalty like Lailer’s.
“I also agree with the Libelt heir this time. Spreading it too openly would be dangerous.”
“But we can’t let it not become known in the tour regions, can we? It would be best if every citizen of the empire knew.”
This Lailer guy really had a terrible head on his shoulders.
“No, that’s exactly why I’m saying it shouldn’t be done that way.”
“Then?”
“Things like this are better spread subtly. I’ll release people to spread rumors throughout the empire. That Prince Aslan is secretly taking only a few close aides and touring the regions damaged by the Demon King’s army.”
To think I had to step forward myself. There really was no helping this.
“That doesn’t sound bad. I support Lady Olivia’s opinion.”
“No, isn’t that too underhanded?”
Underhanded my ass. If you called that underhanded, the entire parliament wouldn’t be able to survive. How many underhanded things did they do there?
“Not at all. When doing politics, people use far worse methods than this. If you spread it too widely and only increase the risk factors, it will cause problems.”
It would just become annoying for no reason.
“Hmm. I suppose that makes sense. What does the Libelt heir think?”
“I also oppose making it noisy.”
“What about the elf over there?”
“Yes? Ah, it doesn’t matter to me. Whatever works.”
“No, but still……”
Valen disliked noisy affairs, and the elf seemed content to simply go with the flow. She was quite different from her older sister.
Aslan was an honest man. He probably hated this. The fact that his tour would become known through behind-the-scenes maneuvering. Yet even so, he wanted to carry out a tour that the common people would recognize. That seemed to be the shape of it.
“Then will you advertise it everywhere? ‘The deposed prince is departing on a tour to check on public sentiment! Wow! Everyone please watch!’ Would people really watch then?”
“Mmm.”
It would only have the opposite effect.
“Isn’t it obvious? There’s no answer here. Whether you know it or not, there are probably quite a few people targeting Your Highness.”
“Is that so. Still, I wanted to go about it honestly if possible.”
This was really frustrating enough to kill me.
“In this day and age, honesty can go freeze to death. Just do as I say while I’m still asking nicely.”
“Was your personality always like this?”
Since even Seria had already noticed, did it look like I would bother tiptoeing around things? If I got found out, so be it. If not, then not. After all, there was no one here with any connection to Noah.
Well, there was one person. I glanced sideways at Valen. That Valen bastard. But we’d only exchanged a few conversations at most. So it should be fine.
“I’ve been tied down by certain people until now, but this is how I originally am. Anyway, if you don’t want to get ambushed on the road, it’s best to listen to what I say.”
“Understood.”
I gestured to the nuns guarding me from behind.
“Three sisters. I’m counting on you.”
This was exactly why I had the nuns—to use them at times like this.
“““Yes.”””
The three sisters who received the order scattered in different directions. They would probably spread the information underground together with the assassin guild nuns that Prince Aslan was embarking on the tour. With just that, Aslan should be able to win the hearts of the commoners sufficiently.
Aslan stared at the backs of the disappearing nuns for a long time before turning to me.
“Those women just now—are they really nuns?”
Lailer and Yuria also wore curious expressions.
“Yes, they are.”
“No, but for nuns they seem……”
“They are nuns. They. Are.”
They are, you bastard.