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~3^rd Person Perspective~

　Chloe rode an unfamiliar horse and heads alone to the outskirts.

　She doesn’t peep at the letter.

　Leon told her not to show it to anyone other than Volks. There may be some intention in that. Leon von Almarsh was a man who has never done anything meaningless.

　All Chloe had to do was deliver this letter to her brother Volks as soon as possible.

　Without taking a break, she rode off and made contact with the volunteer army hiding on the outskirts of the Royal Capital.

　They were volunteers who stood by Sicily’s righteousness and Ziggurat’s letter of fealty.

　They had one thing in common: they questioned the state of the country and abhorred Crown Prince Maxis.

　They were a group of people who wanted to put Reinhardt on the throne and reform the country.

　All of them were either military men or skilled in military arts, so they were capable as soldiers.

　There were no less than three hundred of them.

　She thought that if there were 300 of these brave men, it would be easy to carry out a mission to retake Reinhardt.

　Chloe immediately handed the letter to her brother Volks.

　After reading the letter politely but quickly, Volks immediately implemented Leon’s idea.

　He gathered his soldiers and began to move them to “Mount Shibi”.

　Chloe was astonished to behold them.

“What do you mean, brother!? We must rescue His Highness Reinhardt at the Royal Capital.” (Chloe)

“That’s not possible. This directive doesn’t say that. The Strategist Leon says we should be heading to Mount Shibi immediately and as quick as possible.” (Volks)

“That’s unreasonable!?” (Chloe)

　Reading the directive.

　Certainly, there was only such an order written there.

“We are going to the mountain of Shibi. We will continue on our way to the mountain of Shibi, rallying the volunteers along the way.” (Volks)

　Chloe winced at her brother’s calm words, but she wanted to turn around and slap Leon on the cheek for tricking her, but she couldn’t. Her brother grabbed her by the wrist.

“The librarian Leon is a lazy salary thief, but the military strategist Leon von Almarsh is the genius of his generation. There is always a point to those plans. Are you going to let a moment’s passion disrupt his scheme for victory?” (Volks)

“…………” (Chloe)

　She knew that, but she hated the fact that Leon was so cruel that he would sacrifice his own life to complete the equation.

　She wanted to destroy that equation. Biting her lip, she obeyed her brother’s words.

　He just stared at the capital and shouted out loud.

“Leon von Almarsh! You big liar! At least tell me you’re planning to die and never come back!” (Chloe)

　The words did not reach Leon’s ears, but they resonated in Volks’s mind.

　He realized that his sister trusted and loved this man, Leon.

　It wasn’t the same as between a man and a woman, but love was something that transcended rank.

　Volks was glad that his sister now had someone to love. [T/N: So, it’s a knight’s love/loyalty? Huh. Well I do know from the start who I want Leon to end up with.]

~Leon’s Perspective~

　I sneezed.

“-Someone is talking behind my back.”

　I’m sure they’re saying bad things about me, but I’m used to people saying bad things about me, so I don’t care and head for the guest house.

　Reinhardt was the lifeline of the Libra Division and Maxis’ weak point.

　The place was heavily guarded.

　All the roads leading to the guesthouse were closed, and dozens of soldiers were posted at every turn.

　It would have been foolish to force my way through in such a situation, but I would do it.

　It was a foolish plan, but it was the only way.

　There was no time to look for a tunnel or wait for the situation to change.

　I decided that the best thing to do was to meet Reinhardt any way I could, so I armed myself and made a frontal assault.

　I set up a temporary camp where the soldiers were playing poker. It was only half of them, the other half were working properly.

　One of them walks up to me and says,

“Who are you! This is the road to the guest house where His Highness Reinhardt is staying. We have orders not to let anyone through.” (Soldier)

　The soldiers shouted.

　Without answering them, I drop a crystal ball from inside my magician’s coat.

　A dry hissing sound echoed through the air.

　The moment it reaches the ears of the soldiers, I kick the crystal ball out. The crystal ball rolled under the guards’ feet and exploded.

　Some of the guards were blown away by the explosion, and I jumped towards the rest of the soldiers who had no idea what had happened and used [Shock] magic to blow them away.

　The soldiers were smashed into houses and walls.

　Seeing this scene, the guards, who had finally grasped the existence of the enemy attack, prepared for battle.

　The soldiers in the stockade throw away their cards.

　It’s a pity that some of them had made up the role of the four cards, but I won’t make it up to them. Their fate was sealed the moment they gave in to Maxis.

　I will show them no mercy at all, and I will tear them down.

　The call quickly circulated among the guards, and soldiers from other sections began to rush to their aid.

　They were armed with state-of-the-art guns and were raining bullets at me.

　At first, I avoided them by building a defensive wall or creating an afterimage, but when the number of bullets exceeded 100, it became impossible.

　Some of the bullets ran right past my body, and some of them plunged into my body.

　One of the bullets pierced my stomach, and blood poured out of it, but I didn’t care as I reeled in the guards.

　On the way, I see a soldier who seems to have shot me in the stomach, but I don’t pay him any mind.

　The sniper, who had been thinking of revenge, stared at me with a puzzled expression.

　He seemed to be surprised, but in my opinion, revenge was not important.

　My goal now was to meet Reinhardt.

　Getting him in my sights is my one and only goal. I didn’t care about the snipers.

　I continued to move forward as if I were ignoring the soldiers approaching from behind.

　It took several hundred liters of enemy blood and several liters of my own blood to advance one hundred meters.

　A great deal of blood was left behind, but thanks to my efforts, the guesthouse came into view.

　A carriage was parked there, and I could see the figures of the nobles.

　At this point, I couldn’t see any possibility of them being anyone other than Reinhardt’s group, so I chanted a spell. I tried to destroy the wheel with impact magic, but it was narrowly avoided.

　The carriage starts at a brisk pace, and in order to catch up with them, I use the magic of flight and jump onto the roof of the carriage. I use my flying magic to catch up with them and jump onto the roof of the carriage, destroying the ceiling with my magic. Then a flash of a dagger strikes.

　I looked over to see Reinhardt’s mother, Cecilia, clutching her dagger.

“Greetings, Third Lady.”

“I would be a demon to protect my son.” (Cecilia)

“That’s very impressive, but would you please reconsider?”

“I can’t. You can’t fight Maxis anymore. The majority of the ruling factions are on his side, and there are signs of an evil cult behind him.” (Cecilia)

“So, you know that much.”

“Do think of me as an ignorant woman?” (Cecilia)

　The dagger strikes again, but I grip it with all my magic power and shatter the dagger.

　Cecilia’s face paled at the sight of it, but her will to engage in battle had not diminished.

　Reinhardt, on the other hand, was calm and collected, calmly talking to his mother.

“Mother, it is no longer the case. My elder sister and the others could not make the mainstream groups their allies, but they seem to have made all the sensible groups in this country their allies. If you side with them here and now, you will be able to stand up to Brother Maxis.” (Reinhardt)

　Reinhardt said in an admonishing manner as if he didn’t know which of them was the child, but Cecilia still opposed him. “Mother was not such a foolish person”, he said.

　Having obtained important information, I whispered to them.

“There is a reason why your mother sided with Maxis, or rather, against Sicily.”

　Cecilia’s body jolted as soon as she heard the words.

　Her face changes color, and she gives me a look Reinhardt a look that says, “Don’t tell him”.

　If I expose everything here, at least Reinhardt will be on your side. I could have taken him away by force, but I didn’t want to do that and asked him to let me talk with Cecilia alone.

　Reinhardt agreed and stopped the carriage.

　He stepped out of the carriage, probably out of concern for my injuries. I was grateful, so I made it quick.

　I put my hand on the wound and cast a healing spell.

　As I settled into the luxurious backrest, Cecilia asked,

“…How much do you know?” (Cecilia)

　She asked.

　I honestly told her.

“I know you’ve colluded with the First Lady and killed the Second Lady, Sicily’s mother.”

“…Almost everything then.” (Cecilia)

“No, I don’t know your motive. I heard that you and Philia were very close.”

“We’ve known each other since childhood. We played together from a very young age. We were both born into families with no money, so we used to pick up acorns to keep ourselves alive. If we could get caramels, which was rare, we would split a small caramel for each other and our families.” (Cecilia)

　“We had a large family, so the caramels were really smaller than the tips of our fingernails,” Cecilia said nostalgically.

“They were small, but I haven’t had anything remotely as sweet since I became queen.” (Cecilia)

“You had a very close relationship. So why did you assassinate such a beloved friend?”

“……that is.” (Cecilia)

“Can’t you even say it? Even if you can’t say that Reinhardt was an illegitimate child and killed her because you have been caught.”

“!?” (Cecilia)

　Cecilia looks at me confused.

　So, I answer calmly.

“The more I looked into your relationship with Philia, the more I couldn’t see the possibility of assassination. However, it is also becoming more and more obvious that you are the one who assassinated her. If so, why did you kill her?”

“…………” (Cecilia)

　Cecilia didn’t say there was no evidence. I know I’m a magician. In the world of magic, you can analyze the base sequence called DNA to identify the true relationship between parent and child. There is a discipline that creates synthetic beasts called Chimeras. I’m familiar with those, and I’m sure she knows my personality, so I investigated it carefully. She doesn’t seem to want to escape anymore.

　She burst into tears, saying, “Yeah…” and expressed her feelings, “I am ready.”

“I was called to the court with Philia, I became a lady of the nobility just like her, and I was treated by the king kindly just like her. But mostly because of her. The king was only attracted to Filia’s beauty and kindness. I was just an extra.” (Cecilia)

“So, is that why you had an affair?”

“It was a one-time dalliance. I spent one night with a court musician. One mistake and I was pregnant.” (Cecilia)

“I see. And when she found out, you killed Philia.”

“…At the time, the First Lady hated Filia. She hated her for monopolizing His Majesty’s favor.” (Cecilia)

“Everyone knows that, so even if we assassinated them, only she was accused of assassinating Philia.”

“The First Lady prepares an assassin and I guided him.” (Cecilia)

“It was a perfect plan.”

“–In fact, I succeeded.” (Cecilia)

“Well, brilliantly, you’ve killed your best friend. But I wouldn’t call it a success.”

“The truth has been revealed.” (Cecilia)

“No, no. Because you regret it. For the last ten years, you’ve been wearing a mask, but you’ve been repenting.”

“…No.” (Cecilia)

“No, you’re keeping Sicily alive that is proof. You’re even saved Sicily during the assassination. I heard it from Sicily. At that time, she was attacked by an assassin, but her mother’s friend’s subordinates saved her. Why did you help Sicily?”

“That is……” (Cecilia)

“Because Sicily is innocent. There is no reason to kill her. Sicily doesn’t know about your unfaithfulness. Then she’s your best friend’s daughter, her daughter. That’s why you helped Sicily.”

　At that time, Sicily and her mother lived in a castle town.

　To escape the envy of the First Lady, however, she was assassinated by the First Lady and killed.

　Cecilia provided the guidance, but she didn’t take the Second Lady’s daughter’s life and continued to help her. The First Lady would have wanted to kill the daughter of the Second Lady, but she might have threatened to expose everything to the sun. No, it must have been a threat.

　Otherwise, they couldn’t explain why the little girl, Sicily, still lives.

　Cecilia killed her best friend for her own motives but spared no help to her daughter.

　It may have been an atonement or a way to escape guilt, but that was good. What was important for Leon was that Sicily was alive.

　I have no resentment for Cecilia who spared nothing to help.

　When I tell her that, big tears collect in Cecilia’s eyes. When a drop fell to the floor, tears continued to flow.

“Crying here is also proof of your human heart. I trust you. There is no lie in your feelings about your child. You think of Sicily as a real daughter. That’s why. Trust me, I’ll keep this secret. I’ll keep it from Reinhardt and keep him safe, so cooperate with me. Change the world for my princess. Give me a chance.”

　I pleaded earnestly.

　Cecilia looked at me with a face swollen with tears and nodded slightly.

“…I see. I believe in you. I also believe in Sicily who you believe in.” (Cecilia)

“I believe in your son, too. He’s a gifted man. He’s also a good judge of character. He’ll be a good king.”

“……Thank you.” (Cecilia)

　Cecilia squeezed out her gratitude and called out for Reinhardt.

　Cecilia hugged him.

“I want you to be the king of this country. I want you to live. I want my ‘daughter’ to live.” (Cecilia)

　She said.

　Reinhardt felt his mother’s determination through his chest and nodded his head.

“I understand. I thought my life would be short and thin, but I will at least make it thicker. I will help lead the people of this country in the right direction.” (Reinhardt)

　When Cecilia heard those words, she shed tears again and hugged her beloved son.

　I wanted to watch this beautiful scene forever, but there was a lot of noise behind me. It seems that they know I’m in the carriage. I ordered the coachman to leave. Where to, the coachman asked? “How far”, the coachman asked, but of course, he knew where to go.

“To the foot of Mount Shibi. That’s where the throne of the next king is prepared.”

　When I said so, the coachman took off his hat and said with a smile.

“Glory to His Majesty the Next King.” (Coachman)

　When—.

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