"The Third Underground Training Ground was attacked! There was a single attacker, and all the trainees have been taken!"
"We've lost contact with the operative planted among the citizens. They may have been captured."
"The number of candidates for the enhanced human program is dropping rapidly! There are signs that the outcasts we expelled have infiltrated the area—"
That son of a bitch. If it's come to this, it's all-out war. I'll kill him before the succession war even begins.
As the reports streamed in one after another, Nora Code issued her orders without hesitation.
"Retaliation! That bastard... don't think he's the only one holding information cards. Blow up that man's weapons factory. And kill the nobles backing him — strip him of his resources!"
"B-But the Enhanced Knight Order is under Lady Nora's ownership. There's a risk of earning King Code's wrath—"
Nora thrust her face toward the subordinate who was raising objections far too late, and sneered.
"Then we just temporarily transfer ownership. That's the system loophole, isn't it?"
At this moment, Nora Code's territory was under attack from an unknown enemy.
No — not unknown. This was an attack by Nora Code's greatest rival, Angus, meant to strip her of military strength. And it meant that one taboo had been broken.
Until now, there had never been such a brazen attack. Both Angus and Nora had held back, afraid of earning King Code's wrath.
The cause was clear. It was the notice from King Code a few days ago.
Alicia Code's door lock had been broken by exploiting a loophole in the system.
The fact that a lock placed by the king himself had been breached was hard to believe, but what mattered more was that King Code had acknowledged it and imposed no punishment.
In other words, it meant that King Code had sanctioned the system loopholes — the gray-area actions that skirted the very edge of illegality.
That said, Nora had no intention of immediately venturing into that gray area. There was still a possibility of receiving penalties from King Code. But Angus had plunged in without hesitation. The result was the damage reports currently piling up on Nora's desk.
Nora commanded more than just the Royal Knight Order. Since the system limited the number who could be appointed to the Royal Guard, the excess knights had formed several other knight orders.
While the individual abilities of their members didn't match those of the Royal Knight Order, they far surpassed it in sheer numbers — they were Nora Code's main fighting force.
These were the knight orders that had taken damage this time — the ones Nora had been secretly training throughout her territory.
What Angus had broken was the "unspoken agreement" that every member of the royal family had been aware of but none had dared to cross.
King Code had forbidden conflict between royals before the succession war. But that didn't mean all forms of conflict were banned.
War had many facets, and simply banning all conflict could end up classifying even pre-war military buildup as fighting. The time spent debating what was and wasn't included would be wasted.
Therefore, the rules King Code had established were far more specific.
King Code had forbidden fighting between the core of each royal's military strength — the Royal Knights.
In other words, nothing was said about forces outside the Royal Guard.
That said, the reason the king had banned intra-royal conflict until the succession war was to prevent Code's military strength from being squandered.
To claim that attacking forces outside the Royal Guard was acceptable would be going too far. A fool who couldn't see through to the essence of the rules might well be judged unworthy of the throne.
And so, until now, no one — Royal Guard or otherwise — had attacked another royal's forces.
I misjudged him. There was no putting it any other way — I had underestimated him.
That cautious, insidious Angus — a man who boasted the greatest military power and had no need to make risky moves — to think he would immediately resort to such a bold and reckless scheme— But she had no intention of petitioning the king over this.
Even if she petitioned and it was accepted, Nora's knights wouldn't return. Angus would likely get off scot-free, claiming it was a misunderstanding triggered by King Code's recent notice. If she was then told such surprise attacks wouldn't be permitted going forward, the only outcome would be that Nora's forces had been diminished. She could never accept that.
Nora also held quite a bit of information that Angus was keeping hidden. After all, in a city where surveillance through the urban system was possible, completely concealing anything was nearly impossible.
But even if she destroyed those assets, it wouldn't come close to closing the gap created by the surprise attack. The core of Angus's weapons factory existed within his fortress stronghold.
Even she couldn't touch that. The weapons factory could always be rebuilt, but the loss of knight orders couldn't be so easily replaced.
The gap that had already existed had widened even further. She needed to find some way to turn this around— She didn't know how much time the king had left. At Nora's stronghold, the noble strategists were deliberating on their next moves.
Just then, as Nora was desperately suppressing her anger and trying to maintain her composure, one of her subordinates approached.
"Lady Nora, Klye Andrich is requesting an audience. He has the Thunder Emperor and... um... Princess Alicia with him."
"...Let them in."
At the subordinate's words, Nora looked up and spoke in a low voice.
Before long, Klye Andrich's party arrived. Unlike his previous visit, this was a large group.
Klye Andrich, the ever-dashing Thunder Emperor whom Nora found quite appealing, and their Party. And — a woman in a white dress — the spare, whom Nora had glimpsed several times through the urban system. Alicia Code.
Once admitted, Klye spoke in his usual lazy drawl, not the slightest hint that he was in the presence of royalty.
"Hey, Nora. I'm back. Looks like things are pretty hectic today."
"Klye — did you open the lock on the spare's — Alicia's room door?"
Without even greeting the Thunder Emperor who had come along, Nora's opening question landed like a thunderbolt. A wave of tension ran through the knights. Klye, seemingly oblivious to it, thought for a brief moment before answering with cheerful nonchalance.
"...Hmm... Well, you could say that, I guess."
This guy... was he some kind of jinx?
Looking back, Nora's plans had always been thrown off course by this man.
The Thunder Emperor had been snatched away, and when she'd tried to compromise to secure cooperation, the knights had started squabbling over how to address Alicia. And now, because of this man's actions, the fuse for war had been lit before the king had even passed. This was no longer something that could be brushed off as mere incompetence.
Nora took a deep breath to settle her nerves and asked.
"This is a genuine question — where exactly was the loophole in the system for a door that the king himself had locked?"
The loopholes that Angus and Nora had been exploiting were vastly different from the one Klye claimed to have found.
The former were trivial — the kind anyone would notice, essentially petty legalistic tricks. But the door Klye had opened was one the king had sealed using his own authority.
True, Nora had never attempted to open that door. Nor had Angus, presumably.
But normally, a lower-ranked individual couldn't open a door sealed by someone of higher rank. It was precisely because locking a door was such a simple act that there should have been no room for exploitation.
Klye furrowed his brow at Nora's question for a while, then sighed and spoke.
"Well, it just kinda opened, I don't know. But more importantly, I brought Her Highness along. She said she wanted to meet you, Nora."
It just opened, he didn't know... Nora no longer had the energy to even point out the absurdity of that. She was busy.
At Klye's words, Alicia Code, who had been trailing behind him, stepped forward.
Alicia had an ethereal, almost fragile quality about her. Her hair color and her demeanor were entirely different from Nora's, yet — there was something unmistakably mysterious about her aura.
So even as a spare, there was no denying she was royalty.
When Alicia saw Nora, she spoke in halting tones.
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Lady Nora. I'm Alicia Code. It's an honor to make your acquaintance. I heard about you from Klye... and I've been wanting to meet you, Lady Nora."
Frankly, Nora had no interest in a younger sister who held no resources. She had no intention of holding Klye accountable for the door being opened and the resulting conflict either, but she was, above all, busy.
Despite having been confined for so long, Alicia managed a passable greeting, and Nora could sense a note of admiration from her knights.
But she had no interest beyond the bare minimum.
"Oh... you seem to have a decent grasp of etiquette, Alicia Code. I am Nora Code. By the way, what has that man over there told you about me?"
In response to Nora's thoroughly foul-tempered question, Alicia raised a hand to her forehead and spoke.
"Yes. He said you're the person who researched this enhanced equipment and the supplements he brought as souvenirs."
"...Klye, you treated my research as a souvenir!?"
"Well, it was all I had..."
It was true that Nora had provided her research to forge their alliance, but labeling it a souvenir wasn't really about a lack of respect or anything like that.
But what she found hardest to believe was— Nora examined the enhanced equipment Alicia indicated and furrowed her brow.
"You weren't rejected by the enhanced equipment?"
The enhanced equipment wasn't a convenient device just anyone could use. It was designed to take those who had already been honed through training to the next level.
Even among Nora's citizens who trained daily in pursuit of knighthood, few would pass the equipment's compatibility check. For someone who had been confined her entire life, it should have been virtually impossible.
"Yes. Lady Nora, I may never have been outside, but I have never neglected my training as a royal."
The urban system's educational program... Interesting. She wasn't just any spare after all.
The enhanced equipment was part of the enhanced human program. Being able to use it meant there was a genuine prospect of withstanding the enhancement process.
Nora rose from her throne, pressed a finger to her forehead, and removed her enhanced equipment.
The enhanced human program was technology for creating stronger individuals. And for creating more resilient kings.
Naturally, Nora herself had benefited from it and had honed her own abilities.
The succession war. Once you reached the King's Tower, what ultimately mattered was your ability as a plain human being.
In Nora's eyes, Angus was a king who used weapons to paper over his own laziness — a man utterly beneath contempt.
"Just because you're a princess doesn't mean you get to skip combat. Be glad, spare. I, Nora, will personally test your mettle."
"Yes, Lady Nora!"
At Nora's words, Alicia responded immediately, without the slightest sign of intimidation.
It was rare for anyone to remain natural and composed in Nora's presence. She had thought Alicia was different from her in appearance, personality, and every other way, but it seemed they shared a common thread of courage. If Alicia had been a royal with actual resources rather than a spare, they might have formed a genuine partnership.
Ever since the taboo had been broken, she'd done nothing but receive unpleasant reports, and her spirits had been flagging. But it seemed like she might finally have some fun.
Just then, Klye, who had been silently watching the exchange between his companion and Nora, spoke with a grimace.
"Nora, the name! In exchange for cooperating, you promised to call her 'my very cute little sister Alicia-chan,' remember?"
"—!? I never agreed to that!"
The man had absolutely no ability to read the room and would say the most outrageous things. Alicia was also blinking in surprise and mouthing the words to herself.
She probably never imagined that one of her Royal Guards would make such promises on her behalf.
Something about those innocent eyes made Nora feel strangely embarrassed, and she lashed out at Klye.
"For starters, I told you this before! If you want me to accept your ridiculous conditions, prove your ability. Go show me you can win over the Sealed Designation in the prison!"
That's right... the Sealed Designation.
The worst prisoner, the one even Angus had deemed impossible to deal with. His value had only increased after Angus's despicable attack. Nora had never actually witnessed the Sealed Designation's power, but if there was a move that could turn things around, she couldn't think of anything else.
In response to Nora's words, Klye let out a small sigh and spoke with a look of resignation.
"...Fine. The Sealed Designation, the Sealed Designation. I'll give it a try, just a try."
"Let me say this in advance — even I find this one difficult. After all, that man is currently using his power to deflect not just the city system but all forms of interference. He was given a Sealed Designation partly because there was still potential use for him, and partly because they were unable to eliminate him."
"Kurahi, you'll be coming along too. That's why I asked you to join us."
"Of course. A Mage imprisoned even deeper underground than me... How exciting."
Kurahi flashed a smile that was simultaneously refreshing and ferocious — a captivating expression. Even Kurahi's abilities were nothing compared to that Sealed Designation.
Unlike the Thunder Emperor's power, that thing's abilities couldn't even be analyzed.
"I'll contact the prison ahead of time. Be careful out there. I'll be keeping Alicia company in the meantime."
The chances of winning that man over were practically zero. But if, by some miracle, it was possible — then she would admit it.
That Klye Andrich was a useful man to Nora.