Chapter 105
Chapter 105
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 105
Chapter Title: Sail Kingdom Civil War (2)
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"The streets are empty."
Two people were walking down the street.
But despite the bright sunlight signaling the start of the day, the streets were eerily quiet.
It was the time of day when they should have been bustling with people immersed in their daily work, yet such sights were nowhere to be found.
Even the small shops surrounded by old stone walls on the outskirts were mostly shuttered.
A few merchants had opened their doors here and there.
"Even the expressions on the faces of those who managed to open shop aren't good."
But their faces were filled not with hope, but with despair.
Anyone could see the heavy atmosphere hanging in the air.
The two pressed forward cautiously, reading the somber mood.
The one who had just spoken was dressed in leather armor with a sword at their waist.
Next to them walked someone whose face was hidden by a hood and veil, making their features impossible to discern.
Still, the sword-bearer kept speaking to their companion.
No, it was less casual conversation and more like a report.
At a glance, they looked like an ordinary adventurer party. But their destination wasn't the adventurer's guild.
In a way, that was only natural.
"What should we do, Princess?"
They weren't adventurers—they were the princess of Sail Kingdom and her guard knight.
"......"
Lennon, the princess's guard knight, spoke up, but Princess Irena remained silent.
She closed her eyes for a moment.
Yes, not long ago, the streetscapes had been vibrant and full of life.
Given her status, she didn't walk these streets often, but she remembered them well from the occasional strolls.
Antique shops brimmed with items each carrying unique stories, and the blacksmiths hammering weapons amid roaring furnace flames looked like they were dancing.
Street-side performers painting their artwork right there on the pavement had painted a picture of pure happiness.
But the scene now felt utterly alien.
The faces of the common folk were uniformly anxious and uneasy.
It felt like a place without a future.
As Princess Irena and her guard knight Lennon paused to survey their surroundings,
someone appeared.
A figure cloaked in darkness.
Its eyes were as cold as chips of ice.
The moment it appeared, the air seemed to freeze, and the people began to stir in panic.
Some trembled violently enough to soil themselves.
She had hoped it was just a false alarm, but the figure began swinging the whip in its hand.
"......"
Princess Irena clenched her fists tightly at the sight.
And then agonized screams reached her ears.
"Please, sir! Spare me!"
"I don't know anything! Please forgive me!"
Those struck by the whip pleaded their innocence in desperate voices, begging amid endless grief and tears, but the man's lashings showed no sign of stopping.
"Princess, just give the order! I'll handle this right away!"
Lennon, witnessing the brutality beside her, called out to Princess Irena.
As her guard knight, he was ready to resolve the situation at her command.
But Princess Irena shook her head.
"We won't do anything."
"But Princess...!"
Lennon started to protest, but she raised a hand to silence him.
"That's a Heretic Inquisitor from the White Church. If we intervene needlessly, you'll only end up in trouble, Sir Lennon."
The man with the whip was a Heretic Inquisitor from the White Church.
That was why Princess Irena couldn't directly confront the oppression of her people.
If she ordered him stopped,
it might work in the moment, but it wouldn't solve the root problem.
Worse, it could draw the Church's ire on both Lennon and herself.
Sail Kingdom was in utter chaos right now.
'But does that mean we just have to stand by and watch?'
Feeling her own powerlessness in the face of inaction, Princess Irena's heart sank.
There were many reasons things had come to this.
First and foremost, the White Church's unreasonable demands.
'They planned this from the start.'
The Church's claim, as Princess Irena had heard it, was simple.
'Priests and Holy Knights keep going missing in Sail Kingdom, so we'll investigate ourselves?'
But it was utterly absurd.
'Missing in Sail Kingdom?'
No such thing had happened.
Perhaps they had vanished in the nearby mountains?
Or maybe it was an accident they were pinning on Sail Kingdom?
Princess Irena's deductions seemed plausible enough.
After all, neither she nor her father the king even knew about it.
In short, the Church's claim was easily debunked.
But things didn't unfold so smoothly.
'And here's another obstacle.'
There was an unexpected wildcard: the nobles.
They were Sail Kingdom subjects who, more than anyone, sided with the Church's assertions.
They hadn't agreed from the beginning.
But the noble faction, eager to weaken the royal authority, saw this as their chance.
Of course, Princess Irena hadn't been idle.
She'd spoken to her father and sought help from nobles outside the faction.
Yet nothing improved.
In the end, she realized it.
She needed power of her own.
In this stifling situation, she had resorted to the forbidden: summoning a demon.
'Lady Celia...'
And so she had summoned an entity named Celia.
A being of tremendous power.
Borrowing that power, she had sown discord among the nobles.
She even manipulated the faction's leading count into starting a knife fight, but that was the extent of it.
The nobles simply elevated another leader and continued pressing for royal weakening.
She had even dangled development rights to the Silent Mountains to win them over, but it fell flat.
In the end, backed by noble support, the Church's delegation entered Sail Kingdom and continued their outrageous behavior.
Of course, it was all just venting frustration.
They had noble backing, but the investigation was going nowhere.
Naturally so.
There had been no missing priests or Holy Knights in Sail Kingdom to begin with.
If evidence suddenly appeared, that would be suspicious.
Yet the Church pressed on with aggressive investigations.
And eventually, their wrath spilled over onto the common folk.
Hating to watch the Church's abuses, she wanted to break this deadlock.
So she appealed to Celia, whom she had summoned and contracted with, but the response was always one thing.
「Wait quietly.」
'How long am I supposed to wait?!'
Naturally, various big and small orders had come down before.
Ban entry to the Silent Mountains? Done.
Infiltrate mysterious knights into the kingdom and secretly station them at noble estates? Done.
But nothing beyond that.
Just wait quietly—that was it.
She had followed those orders faithfully.
As princess, there was little she could do alone.
Yes, there must be a reason for the wait.
She comforted herself that way.
She was only human, after all.
A princess by birth, but frail all the same.
'In a way, even Father is just a frail human.'
It pained her that her father, ruler of Sail Kingdom, was helpless against the Church.
"...Let's head back."
Princess Irena said in a weary voice.
For now, all they could do was watch her people suffer.
Lennon turned to follow her command.
A long-overdue alarm rang from the smartphone.
"What is it?"
It was a special mission.
As usual, he immediately checked the details.
"What the heck?"
It had been a while since a mission involving Princess Irena popped up.
Dilemma? What could make her waver like that?
He had no way of knowing her inner thoughts.
But one thing was clear.
"Probably some noblesse oblige stuff."
Being a princess was no light burden; she must have her own worries.
Come to think of it, he recalled her first special mission.
"Back then, she wanted a contract with a demon, right?"
He had dispatched Celia for that one.
And it had been a resounding success.
Now another mission tied to Princess Irena.
"Well, the answer's obvious here."
No need to agonize over who to send.
Irena and Celia already knew each other.
Celia was perfect for the mentor role.
"Work your magic again."
Celia would listen to Irena's troubles well.
"This mission's a breeze too."
He promptly dispatched Celia for the mission.
Having finished her brief outing, Princess Irena returned to her room.
And as always, she waited quietly.
With no knowing when Celia's orders might come, staying put in her room had become her routine.
Rumors swirled about her because of it, but she didn't care.
"......"
As she waited endlessly, an alien presence stirred behind her.
Princess Irena whipped around.
There was a black shadow.
Not her own shadow, but something like another living being.
It was Celia's messenger.
"You've finally come."
Princess Irena knelt and accepted the paper from the shadow.
She checked the contents immediately.
"At last...!"
It was an order to move on to the next phase.
They had spent so long just preparing and waiting.
Her eyes widened at the thought of finally acting.
But anxiety lingered too.
Fear of failure?
No.
She had no doubt the plan from a demon of immense power would succeed.
Confidence brimmed over.
Yet something felt lacking.
"What could it be?"
Even if the plan succeeded, Sail Kingdom wouldn't change much—that unease?
The thought brought more anxiety and worry than excitement for victory.
"What should I do now?"
In her frustration, she muttered to herself.
And moments later, a voice answered her soliloquy.
"What are you hesitating for?"
The being she had summoned and contracted with.
Celia.
"Isn't it simple? You restore the kingdom yourself."
Princess Irena shook her head at Celia's words.
"Myself...?"
She understood exactly what Celia meant.
For a mere princess to right an entire nation?
With demonic power, impossible? No, that wasn't it.
The real meaning: ascend to the throne.
But the king still reigned.
If she, the princess, overthrew her own father for the crown, what would the people think?
Even if her father abdicated willingly, the nobles' opposition would be fierce, and the kingdom's state was dire.
"What are you hesitating for?"
But the demon's whisper persisted.
"Wasn't that your wish, Princess Irena? Circling around when the simplest path is right there isn't wise."
She was right.
The kingdom was too weak now.
A weak kingdom meant a weak ruler.
Which meant her own father was incompetent.
She hated to admit it, but it was fact.
"I'll help you. You haven't forgotten your promise to serve the Great One, have you?"
The Great One...
Princess Irena nodded.
"That's right. I remember now...!"
What had she been hesitating for?
Restoring the kingdom was paramount now.
Only then could she serve the Great One Celia spoke of.
That was the contract's term.
"Why did I ever forget something so simple...?"
It was strange.
Recalling it lifted the frustration.
Princess Irena's heart sank into the demon's sweet words.
Even if it was a swamp from which she'd never escape.
It didn't matter.
She had clear goals as princess—and as queen.
Obstacles to those goals needed removing.