It was while I was observing Your Highness, who had finally calmed down from the grief of the late king's passing and was slowly savoring a chocolate bar with deep emotion, that Nora and the others arrived.
We'd been to various areas before, but this was the first time anyone had come to us from another area. And it wasn't just Nora who showed up.
Behind her were Zachary and Tony, along with people I'd never seen before.
Olivia, who had guided them here, was already pale as a sheet.
Nora glanced at Your Highness—whose eyes had gone wide even with a chocolate bar still in her mouth—and said: "Alicia, Klye. An unforeseen situation has developed. If we leave it like this, things are going to get bad."
As I stood there bewildered by the sudden turn of events, Nora explained the situation.
A man with legitimate claim to the throne had infiltrated the royal guards. He'd seized Prince Angus's power. And he'd declared war on all of them.
His goal, believe it or not, was revenge against the Code and the Explorer's Guild—and he was planning to launch an assault on the Guild's headquarters.
For someone who hadn't even fully grasped the situation until moments ago, this was completely out of left field.
So that meant... with the royal family growing, did that mean our list of troublesome charges was growing too?
Unlike me, who still hadn't fully wrapped his head around it, Your Highness crumpled up the wrapper from her finished chocolate bar and said: "This... trying to hijack the Code for personal gain... it's unforgivable. Klye, we have to stop him!"
"Ah, yes..."
Apparently, we had to stop him.
Well, stopping the Code was my original goal anyway, so that was fine, but I wanted Your Highness to gain allies who were more reliable than me.
A blond young man who had been following behind Nora stepped forward and spoke to Your Highness nervously: "H-hello, Alicia. I'm Morris Code. I'll side with you too."
"Thank you, Brother Morris. You're the one who was watching me during the tour, aren't you?"
Your Highness smiled, and Morris replied with a slightly embarrassed look: "Y-yeah. That's right. And I don't think we can let this stand. My strongest fighting force was destroyed by Kenby, but that woman didn't even realize it. She was probably only interested in swords—what she cut was just the shell. The outside matters, but what really counts is what's inside."
Morris held out his hand, and the floor opened up, revealing a platform rising into view. On the platform sat a small golden pendant, adorned with a round piece of metal that gave off an otherworldly glow.
"This is the Core. It's used to connect and control the armor, but it's also a universal unit. Alicia, it's yours."
"!! Thank you so much, Brother Morris!"
Seeing Your Highness beam with delight as she put the so-called universal unit around her neck, Morris let out a sigh of relief.
Morris—that was the name the female swordswoman had mentioned. So that meant the swordswoman was Kenby, the one Kuubi had talked about.
I was finally starting to see how everything connected. And it was already feeling like some kind of final showdown, but...
Nora nodded firmly and continued: "The problem is... how to get our hands on the Royal Scepter before Jean does. We're all on your side, of course, but even so, he's formidable. He's meticulous, cautious, and he inherited the entire power base of this fool here, who had the most influence."
Nora said this with cold eyes, gesturing with her chin toward the man behind her. He was a large, middle-aged man.
He had the same red hair and purple eyes as Nora and Tony. His expression was haggard, but there was an unmistakable air of composure about him.
The man looked at me and Alicia, clicked his tongue, and spoke: "...This is the first time we've met face to face. I'm Angus Code. The man who was closest to the throne."
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Brother Angus. I'm Alicia."
Your Highness offered a brief greeting and regarded him with an appraising look as Angus continued: "That man who inherited everything of mine let me go without killing me, even though I had complete knowledge of military strength and other vital information. That means he judged there was no problem in setting me free. And he's right—heh heh... because my armies are overwhelming."
So this was the person Kaiser and the others had been trying to protect. I could tell right away—he was going to be a handful.
But seriously, why the arrogant attitude? Nora scratched her head and said: "Unfortunately, this fool is right. I confirmed it while we were picking him up, but believe it or not, he'd amassed more than double the fighting force I knew about. Just in raw numbers alone—he has five times my army. Even pooling Tony and Zachary's forces, it wouldn't be nearly enough."
"Besides, my forces are all lower-class citizens. Numbers are all they've got, so losing on the numbers game leaves us with nothing."
"On top of that, the real issue is their trump cards. Kai, Saya, and Kenby. You can't face those three with a rabble. He'll most likely position their strength at the front of the Royal Tower. The Tower has only one entrance, so if he holds that, the throne can't be taken. We have no choice but to throw the Thunder Emperor and Kuubi at those three."
"Kai and Saya are still on their side?"
I opened my eyes wide at the unexpected news. Angus said bitterly: "...Yeah. That's right. Apparently, he'd been tampering with the control rights. I'd left all troop management to that man... damn it."
Well then, that solved everything.
Kaiser and Saya were Level 8—they wouldn't make the blunder of being easily manipulated. Which meant they'd both assessed the situation and stayed on that side to protect the newly emerged royals.
That meant their effective trump card was Kenby alone. Kaiser had said she was good at fighting large numbers, and Saya was supposed to possess fearsome sustained combat ability.
If we surrounded Kenby with Klahi, Kuubi, Kaiser, and Saya and beat her down immediately, the rest—turning the tide against the numbers gap—would be easy.
Kaiser and Saya probably hadn't been able to capture Jean yet because Kenby was in the way. But no matter how strong Kenby was, four against one should be more than enough.
After that, we just had to grab the mastermind, everyone would leave the Code together, and we'd bring him to the Explorer's Guild—mission complete.
We hadn't gotten our hands on a smartphone, but all things considered, this could still count as a happy ending.
I flashed a hard-boiled grin and said: "I see, yeah. Got it. The part where there's no problem at all, yeah."
"!?"
"Sure, when it comes to raw military strength alone, the gap might be pretty huge. But as it happens, I've been through this kind of battlefield—more times than I can count."
After all, I do tend to get swarmed by enemies! Though lately it's been shifting from quantity to quality.
Angus furrowed his brows and said: "Klye Andrich... who... what are you?"
"I have... my own plan."
"...Isn't that becoming your catchphrase?"
Zachary retorted at me for trying to act cool. You know, explaining things and making excuses are just such a hassle.
I just grinned and deflected, then promptly began explaining my plan.
§ Even after hearing my perfect plan, Nora and the others' expressions didn't improve one bit.
"...It's a simple operation, isn't it. I was wondering if you had some clever stratagem, but... this is just a frontal assault. We need to overcome the difference in military strength, remember?"
"Truly, you understand nothing of military strategy. To rely entirely on the Thunder Emperor and Kuubi..."
"And what do you mean the critical part is a secret?"
My plan was as follows: We'd send Klahi and Kuubi straight into the center where we expected Kaiser, Saya, and Kenby to converge. Once that area was secured, they'd take care of the remaining horde.
What came after that was going to stay a secret, but once we got that far, Kaiser and the others—now free from Kenby's interference—would capture Jean immediately.
After that, everyone would just leave the Code together, and my commission would be complete. The rest was up to them.
At that point, Tony, who'd been listening to the plan, broke into a grin: "So the idea is to use the Thunder Emperor to hold their troops in place, and while they're distracted, Klye and Alicia infiltrate the Royal Tower and stop Jean. Sure, once you get the scepter and Alicia becomes queen, numbers won't matter... but they should know that better than anyone."
"Destructive weapons are restricted inside the Royal Tower, but the unit I gave Alicia should work without any issues. Once we're inside, I think we can keep up."
"But once Jean learns Alicia has entered the Tower, he'll send part of his army rushing in after her. We royals can use the City System to hold them off—but numbers are numbers, and some will inevitably slip through."
Nora and the others began exchanging various opinions.
Incidentally, I... was pretty sure I'd never actually said Your Highness and I would storm the Tower together, but the conversation seemed to be heading in that direction anyway.
"The biggest problem is whether we can get Alicia and her group into the Tower. Geographically, there's no way to breach the Tower before they've set up their defenses. By the time Alicia reaches it, Jean will already be inside, and Kai and the others will be guarding the entrance. The Royal Tower has only one way in. We'd have to break through the guards AND hold the entrance so they can't send anyone after her."
That sounded like a tall order. Ideally, I'd want Kaiser and the others to find an opening and grab Jean before the operation even started—but as I was thinking this, my eyes met with Tony's.
Tony flashed a mischievous grin and said to everyone: "There is another way... The Royal Tower has another entrance besides the front. The top."
At those words, Nora's eyes went wide for an instant before she immediately furrowed her brows: "...The sortie hatch for flight-type mecha guards. Sure, there won't be guards on the day, but the area around the Royal Tower is special. He can't not know that vehicles and mecha units both stop functioning once they enter a certain range around the Tower. And climbing that tower—with no handholds—using nothing but physical ability is absurd."
"Heh heh heh... but what if there were spiders that didn't stop even inside the area?"
"What did you say...?"
Angus stiffened with a creak. Come to think of it... the small spider Tony had given me hadn't stopped even inside the king's area—it had surprised Zaza and the others.
"I've even prepared a platform for a running start. Test runs too. That's what my research has been. Right, Klye?"
"...Yeah, yeah. That's right."
That strangely tilted building had been a launch ramp?! And a test run... it wasn't exactly an intentional test run... but I didn't feel like bringing that up now.
"Tony, you're an unpredictable man. To think you were researching something so useless behind even my back. You weren't aiming for the throne, were you?"
"A complete blowout wouldn't be any fun, would it, brother?"
Tony said with a teasing tone to the disgruntled Angus. At that, Nora looked at Your Highness, who had been sitting quietly with a chocolate bar in hand, and said: "If there's another entrance, we can significantly reduce the risk. After that... Alicia, it's your decision alone. This is a critical mission that will determine the future of the Code. Even if everything goes well, you'll face Jean inside the Tower. You might die. If you want, you can still swap with someone—"
"Sister Nora... I have no intention of running away."
Your Highness rose to her feet and faced everyone with a resolute expression. She was lovely and courageous, and there was a certain radiance about her—the kind only the truly chosen could wear.
"I will defeat them. I'll take down the villains threatening the great Code, and I will become queen. And then, we'll travel the world together—that is my destiny. Right, Klye!"
"...Yeah, yeah. That's right."
Why did everyone keep seeking my approval? Was there something about me that made people want my agreement?
It seemed everyone was raring to go. With no choice but to go along with it, I flashed a confident grin while silently praying that Kaiser and the others would hurry up and get their job done.