They Have Decided
They Have Decided
In the basement of an inn in the grand duchy's capital.
People who appeared to be from the Empire had been gathering there for meetings, and today, another full-blown, heated debate verging on a brawl was underway.
This near-brawl, which lacked only people grabbing one another by the collars, was so intense that the guards would already have barged in if they hadn't set up a soundproofing barrier in advance.
The chaotic debate had been sparked by the special envoy, who had gone to renegotiate and returned with a new proposal from the Grand Prince.
"What on earth are you talking about all of a sudden?! The Grand Archduchess is going to the Carlos Kingdom?!"
At his words, everyone gathered there gasped in sheer shock.
"It hasn't been officially decided yet. However, before the negotiations even began, the Grand Prince brought up the idea of sending the Grand Archduchess to study abroad in the Carlos Kingdom instead of the Empire. Because of that, the renegotiation fell apart completely."
The envoy said this with both hands held out defensively.
"Could he possibly know our objective?"
"Who knows? The Grand Prince is notoriously hard to read."
The envoy shook his head at the words of the woman seated in the seat of honor—the Organization's manager for the Grand Duchy. She wore a troubled expression.
"Or is it just a ploy to wring more support out of us?"
"That could be the case as well."
The envoy gave a half-hearted nod at the suggestion.
Everyone scowled at the envoy's insouciant attitude, but he was a nobleman officially dispatched to the Duchy by the Empire.
He wasn't an actual member of the Organization, but merely a loosely affiliated collaborator.
They had no choice but to swallow their frustration.
"If he wants more support, let's just give it to him. Haven't we received orders to use any means necessary to complete the job anyway?"
Someone else put forward a new opinion, but the envoy shook his head.
"Although I don't belong to the same organization as you all, I received explicit orders from the top to make sure this mission succeeds. Do you really think I didn't offer to provide more support?"
"Don't tell me he refused it?"
"I heard something even more absurd. He said that if we provided proper support, he would send the Crown Prince instead of the Grand Archduchess."
At the envoy's revelation, everyone's jaw dropped.
"Is he fucking insane..."
"Has the Grand Prince gone mad because he wants to swallow up the Carlos Kingdom?"
"Does it make any sense to send the Crown Prince to the Empire? It's not as if the Duchy has another prince."
"If you frame it as studying abroad, it's not entirely bad, but..."
As the group shook their heads, someone offered a somewhat plausible excuse, but he was immediately shut down.
"As if it's really to study abroad! We know it's a hostage situation, and the Grand Prince knows it damn well, too."
While everyone remained bewildered, the envoy shared his impression of the Grand Prince.
"He seems fully aware of how desperate we are. He's testing every angle to maximize the support he can extract while securing solid guarantees."
Despite the envoy's somewhat hopeful assessment, the sighs around the room did not stop.
"Things are a mess. That's not even our objective..."
"From an official standpoint, if he sends the Crown Prince as he offered, it would be a far better deal for us."
"The problem is that we can't accept that."
Amid the ongoing commotion, another question rang out.
"By the way, what made such a topic come up out of nowhere?"
The others were curious as well, and the loud clamor quieted down.
"I heard the Second Prince's strategist arrived—is this plan something that came out of that bastard's brain?"
The word 'strategist' made everyone tense up, but the envoy shook his head.
"That wasn't it. It was due to a completely unexpected reason. Apparently, the Grand Archduchess wants to go to the Carlos Kingdom herself."
At these unexpected words, everyone was thoroughly bewildered. Why would she...?
"Could it be because of the Princess who came from the Kingdom this time? I heard they're quite close."
A plausible theory emerged, but once again, it wasn't the right answer.
"That's part of it, but it's also said to be because of the Shopping District Operation that happened a while back."
At the envoy's words, Ensio, the temporary mercenary leader who had been sitting quietly in the back, sprang up from his seat.
"W-What on earth does that mean?"
"Back then, the team that was supposed to assist the Grand Archduchess from behind got swept up in the mess... It seems the Grand Archduchess thinks both sides were ruffians from the Empire working together. She said she's terrified of imperial thugs..."
"No, what kind of ridiculous nonsense is..."
Ensio tried to argue, his face appalled by the envoy's words, but someone else berated him first.
"I knew it! You should have done the job properly! Forget executing the plan—how could you let everyone get dragged off and arrested?!"
Ensio couldn't just sit there and take it. The one picking a fight was the very bastard who had drawn up the plan in the first place.
"That's because you rushed it and pushed it through so recklessly! How could a sloppy plan like that ever succeed?!"
But the spark flew in a different direction.
The woman in the seat of honor let out a sigh.
"Enough. I was the one who ultimately gave the green light to proceed anyway."
"Ah, my apologies."
Ensio sat back down with a begrudging look on his face.
Once the commotion subsided, the envoy spoke up again.
"Since the Grand Archduchess is using the excuse that she doesn't want to go to the Empire, it's difficult for us to insist on demanding her. If we take our time and negotiate, a way forward might open up, but..."
At the envoy's words, the woman in the seat of honor closed her eyes and said,
"The problem is that we don't have time."
"Yes. Since things can only move forward once the King of Carlos dies, the Grand Prince didn't seem to be in any hurry. It felt as though he realized our weakness and intended to wring out every last bit of leverage he could. The Grand Archduchess even seemed like a mere excuse."
"It is an excuse. The Grand Prince is precisely that kind of man."
Whether it was an excuse or not, relying on negotiations seemed hopeless now.
"Doesn't this mean negotiations are a dead end? Official negotiations can proceed as they are, but that's not what's important for our side."
"It's problematic because what the Organization demands and what the Empire aims to gain through negotiations are different. The plan was to extract what we wanted in the middle of negotiations, but at this rate, relying on them any longer won't work."
Just as everyone was stewing in frustration, the handler responsible for gathering intelligence from their insiders within the grand duchy suddenly brought up a completely different topic.
"Ah, come to think of it, it seems that 'dispatched class' whatever-it-is from the Kingdom is wrapping up in a few days."
"So what if those annoying bastards are leaving? I'm only too glad to see them go quickly. Considering the pain they've caused us, I honestly feel like slicing them up on their way back."
Ensio grumbled softly under his breath at the words, but his jaw dropped at what came next.
"The thing is, they say the Grand Archduchess will be accompanying them quite a distance to see them off."
Surprised, everyone turned to stare at the man who had just spoken.
The woman in the seat of honor asked urgently,
"How far? Outside the capital?"
"It seemed she would be going quite a distance even after leaving the capital."
At his response, solemn expressions settled over everyone's faces.
"Seeing them off, huh..."
"Is it really just seeing them off?"
Suspicion grew rapidly.
"Could she... be heading to the Kingdom with them?"
"That couldn't be..."
"No, we don't know that. What if they realized our objective?"
"Are you saying they realized the Grand Archduchess is our target and are secretly whisking her away to safety?"
Though some were initially hesitant, as they discussed it further, their suspicion ceased to be mere speculation and transformed into certainty in their minds.
"The Grand Archduchess's expressed desire to study in the Kingdom might have been a cover story prepared in advance as well."
"Then don't tell me... calling the Princess here was for that exact reason as well?"
With one suspicion piling on top of another, this was no longer mere paranoia to them—it had become absolute reality.
They all looked at one another before finally turning their eyes toward the woman in the seat of honor.
The woman, who had had her eyes closed, opened them.
"Whether it's true or not, we cannot stand by and watch the Grand Archduchess head toward the Kingdom. Since the higher-ups ordered us to spare no means or methods, we must resolve this by force."
Everyone nodded at her words.
"Knights, please prepare yourselves. Have the mercenaries get ready as well."
A middle-aged knight standing against the back wall nodded, and Ensio, who commanded the mercenary corps, answered with a grim expression.
"Young Lord Vid, please be careful this time."
"I'll be careful."
The man who had ruined the previous job because of Alex scratched his head at the woman's words.
After issuing instructions to the managers, she spoke to everyone.
"Everyone, make sure to move in sync with the moment the Grand Archduchess steps out of the capital. Our branch will take full responsibility for cleaning up afterward."
"Understood."
Everyone answered her with resolute, grim faces.
Time to prepare was short, and the information was far from certain.
Yet they were under too much pressure to take their time preparing.
They could not turn back now.
Even if this operation caused massive casualties, or even if their branch was wiped out, they had to succeed—for the future of the Empire, no, for the future of humanity.
While many things were unfolding in places I knew nothing about, the time had come for me and the students who had come for the 'dispatched classes' to finish our lessons and return home.
During that time, we heard and learned a great deal about the Duchy.
Though our placements differed—whether in the royal palace, the administration, or the border guards—we all got to see and hear a great deal.
'I' personally thought it had been a rather fruitful class.
"It's finally over. That was brutal."
Senior Havier, who always seemed bright and cheerful, said with an exhausted face.
"Indeed. It's over."
Needless to say, Senior Benjamin was exhausted too. Dark circles hung all the way down to his chin.
Even so, Balea and the Princess had bright expressions.
The Princess was deeply saddened that she would soon part ways with the Grand Archduchess, but she seemed immensely satisfied with the time she had spent in the Duchy.
As for Balea, it went without saying that she had thoroughly enjoyed palace life.
So, considering that three out of five people were happy, my opinion that it had been a fruitful class wasn't wrong.
Muttering and grumbling could be heard beside me, but I ignored it all.
"Still, I'm really glad you came out to see us off."
"Yeah, I thought it wouldn't be easy, but thankfully, he gave permission. If I push a bit harder, he might even allow me to travel together with the Princess."
Just as I had worried, the decision about the Grand Archduchess studying in the Kingdom hadn't been made by the time we were leaving.
Supposedly, the Grand Archduchess had brought it up to the Grand Prince multiple times, but he had only dropped positive hints while refraining from making an actual decision.
As expected, it seemed he had no intention of making the decision simply as a father.
As the ruler of the Duchy, that was how he ought to act, and it was entirely expected, but in my position, it was deeply disappointing.
Even so, I couldn't recklessly pull out the orb and show it to her without considering the consequences.
It wasn't as if I could meet the Grand Archduchess alone in private, nor could I breach palace security to sneak into her room at night.
Even if I died and reset, nothing much seemed likely to change, so in the end, I had no choice but to rely on the Grand Prince's decision.
"Since the Grand Archduchess will be sharing a carriage with the Princess, Havier will escort the Princess alongside the carriage on the way back."
Viscount Daniel, flaunting his title as the supervisor of the dispatched classes, banished me to a different carriage.
Granted, it would have been difficult to ride in the carriage with the Princess because of the Grand Archduchess anyway, but I could have sat next to the driver or ridden a horse alongside the carriage like Havier.
No matter how I looked at it, he was definitely taking a petty jab at me.
I heard the renegotiations had gone sour midway, so perhaps he was venting his frustration on me instead.
Senior Havier excitedly spurred his horse alongside the carriage carrying the Princess, while I climbed into another carriage, slightly apart from the Princess's, together with Senior Benjamin.
It was a mistake.
But unaware of the future, I merely spent a relaxing time looking at the slumped-over Senior Benjamin.