Retaliation (1)
Agree to leave Prince Loras alone so he can be used for some grand scheme, even while knowing all this? Absolutely not. I had no choice but to oppose it outright.
“Prince Loras is not the right man for any grand plan. If we misstep, we could end up being the ones who suffer for it.”
Given how skilled he was at acting and how carefully he guarded his reputation, the more secure his position became, the harder it would be to expose his crimes. The Holy Empire could still demand the surrender of a mere prince, but once he was named crown prince, the burden would shift. We would have no choice but to tread carefully.
“You seem quite afraid of Prince Loras.”
The look in his eyes suggested I had turned into a coward, so I hurried to correct the misunderstanding.
“It is not fear so much as concern over his character. That man has no hesitation when it comes to harming his own siblings.”
If someone with such cruelty began working with heretics, how far would he go? To my eyes, he had already abandoned any claim to being human. Otherwise, no matter how different their mothers were, he would never have attempted such horrific acts against Princess Canaby—his own blood—more than once.
“How far do you think a prince who has begun using heretics will sink? He would do anything. He is the sort of man who thinks nothing of taking a life.”
Cruelty in people, I believed, came down to whether they had crossed a line. Prince Loras was someone for whom that line simply did not exist. Whether he had been born that way or had become so through his environment, once the line was gone, there was no choice but to remain on guard.
“You are saying Prince Loras’s nature is truly that cruel?”
“Yes. And that nature will mesh perfectly with the heretics.”
“I have never met anyone who consorts with them who was in their right mind, but still…”
“Master, please look into Prince Loras more carefully. Then you will understand why I am saying this.”
People always said one should never leave behind future troubles. Prince Loras would surely become one of the most troublesome enemies among them. Master seemed swayed by my words. After a moment of thought, he spoke.
“You are not the sort of child who speaks without reason, so I suppose I should examine him again. From what happened here, it does seem he has already fallen quite deep into heresy.”
“If you truly intend to make use of someone, there are better candidates than Prince Loras.”
“You think so too? A common priest like Arthur and a junior like you would naturally see things differently.”
“From what I can tell, Prince Loras is highly likely to become a major source of trouble if left alone. It might be best to deal with him before his influence grows any larger.”
“Is that so…”
Since both of us were calling Prince Loras a future calamity, Master’s thoughts seemed to be shifting.
“You will not regret it? This was your chance to achieve something great. At your age, I was running around with bloodshot eyes trying to earn merits. I wanted to rise quickly and take my revenge.”
Revenge? The word caught me off guard, and when I looked at him, Sister Melody spoke as though the matter had nothing to do with her.
“I am fine. I have no desire for revenge.”
It seemed to be a topic shared only between inquisitors, so I could not join in.
“Hmm. You are an unusual child. If you have no interest in earning merits, then there is no need to make the matter any larger.”
Since Master had agreed, he said he would no longer overlook Prince Loras. Now we needed to discuss how to bring him down.
“What will you do about Prince Loras?”
“What is so difficult about dealing with him? I will go there, tell him what he has done, subdue him, and drag him out.”
I could hardly believe it would be that easy to handle Prince Loras.
“What if the Deltrack Empire refuses?”
“That will not happen. Unless the Emperor of Deltrack has lost his mind, there is no reason for it. You just stay put and watch.”
He declared confidently that the empire would never ruin its diplomatic relations over a single prince when there were other candidates for the throne. Since it was Master speaking, I thought I could relax. But things did not go as we expected. Instead, an unforeseen situation erupted and threw us into chaos.
“What happened?”
“We were rejected.”
“You said it would definitely work!”
Master glanced away, avoiding my gaze.
“I do not understand why the Deltrack Empire would take such a risk to protect Prince Loras.”
Sister Melody also seemed to think the situation was unexpected and took Master’s side.
“Still, you spoke as though it was obvious, so I assumed you had some other method. But you really just went and demanded they hand over the prince?”
Contrary to Master’s claim that the Deltrack Empire would never do such a thing, they chose to protect Prince Loras. Then they turned the tables, issuing an official statement questioning the Holy Empire’s morality and declaring that we should no longer make coercive demands. From their perspective, it must have been absurd. We had no evidence, yet we claimed their prince had colluded with heretics and committed crimes, demanding they surrender him immediately. Who would agree to that?
“Did the higher-ups not protest?”
I worried that Master had overextended himself because of my request. The larger the incident grew, the greater the responsibility would become.
“An inquisitor simply did their job. Who would complain about that? Stop worrying about pointless things.”
Master’s attitude remained perfectly calm, but the situation was anything but relaxed. The Holy Empire, suddenly slapped across the face by another empire without warning, had no idea how to respond. Even the Holy Empire could not wage war against an entire nation.
“They will apologize… right? Every empire and country issued statements at the same time. If opinions are this unified against us, even we would have no choice but to back down.”
The Holy Empire had committed so many acts of arrogance that the other nations had apparently decided to join forces.
“Yes. It is frustrating, but we have been completely outmaneuvered.”
One opponent could be handled, but when they all banded together like this, even the Holy Empire would find itself in trouble.
‘Besides, this is the result of all the exploitation we have done, so we have even less room to argue.’
The other side had every reason to feel wronged and angry. But that did not mean they were free of burden either. When issuing their statements, the other countries had used the word “regret” rather than expressing outright fury, trying to frame it as mild discontent rather than full-blown anger. Of course, such efforts did not work on the Holy Empire.
“From the way they were seething, they had no intention of backing down.”
Master had told the investigators everything we had been doing. Judging by their reactions, it was easy to guess how the Holy Empire viewed the situation. When an entire coalition had united against them for the first time, they were hardly going to smile and say, “Ah, we overdid it,” and offer a handshake for the future.
“They will not go to war, will they?”
“With the Labyrinth in play, war is impossible.”
Unless they wanted total ruin, they would not do something so foolish. Still, something comparable could happen.
“I am already terrified. I cannot even guess what orders will come from above.”
“You cannot predict it? I think I can.”
Startled by Master’s words, I asked,
“Do you know something? If you do, please share.”
From what I could see, the situation would only grow more severe. It would not end peacefully.
“What good would it do for you to know in advance? Enough. Stop worrying and just follow orders when they come. You do not have the nerve to refuse anyway.”
“That is true.”
Of course I would obey if ordered.
“Then just wait. It will not take long.”
Master’s meaningful words soon became reality. The Holy Empire did not leave the countries that had expressed regret alone. The price for daring to oppose the Holy Empire was now being paid by the citizens of neighboring nations.
Yes. Retaliation had begun.
“Look at that! We told you the Holy Empire would never bow its head! What are you going to do now? The Labyrinth Temple has closed its doors!”
“…Are priests who claim to follow the words of God allowed to threaten people’s lives like this?”
“The Holy Empire has always been this way. It is nothing new.”
Diplomats from various countries had gathered in secret. They had one reason for meeting: to push back against the Holy Empire’s growing arrogance and secure slightly better treatment by siding with the Deltrack Empire.
“They may show some resistance, but they cannot fight all of us. If they realize it is impossible, they will eventually raise the white flag.”
The diplomat from the Deltrack Empire spoke as if trying to calm the anxious representatives of the neighboring countries.
“That is a convenient interpretation for your side!”
“If that were the case, they would have backed down already. From what I can see, the Holy Empire is not the sort to make weak noises. They have no reason to!”
Everyone could see that they were in a position where they should be begging, yet they had spoken so harshly and now faced heavy losses. Regret washed over them for accepting the Deltrack Empire’s proposal, and they wished they could return to the time before any of this had happened. On top of that, the people were growing restless due to the conflict with the temple. The devout citizens could not understand why their imperial family had expressed regret toward the Holy Empire.
“So what are you going to do? Break the alliance and surrender on your own to save yourselves?”