“I have a request for all of you. Please lend your strength to the kingdom.”
When Erika said that, the meeting room fell silent.
What were the nobles thinking?
I could guess, but they likely didn’t feel too good about it.
“The enemy consists of former nobles who’ve received support from foreign countries. If this keeps up, enemy armies will flood into the kingdom. And then, the whole kingdom will be engulfed in flames.”
Some nobles might see this as a perfect opportunity to make their move.
A noble with his arms folded glared at me and spoke to Erika.
“Lady Erika, are you telling us to follow the orders of that Bartfort brat too?”
It seems I’m not to his liking.
Erika nodded without hesitation.
“Your frustration that the duke is too young is completely valid. However, I believe this is for the best.”
At Erika’s firm assertion, the noble with his arms folded fell silent.
A gentlemanly noble sitting next to him rested his folded hands and asked me.
“I’d like to ask whether Duke Bartfort has the confidence to ride out this chaotic situation.”
Few people truly understand the current state of affairs.
Because it’s hard to gather information, after all.
But since I have Luxion, that wasn’t an issue.
It really makes me realize—
Cheats are incredible, seriously.
“I have confidence. If you follow me, I’ll let you win.”
At my words, the people around me grimaced.
“The upstart sure talks big. If it’s true, then that’d be reassuring, but…”
“The enemy launched a simultaneous uprising. Can you really win when you’re on the back foot?”
“Anyone can win. The problem comes afterward.”
Right—this coup. From the enemy nation’s perspective, it’s expected to fail.
They just want to stir up chaos inside the Kingdom of Holfart.
Nobody had any expectations for it from the start.
“I’ll have those present here head for the borders immediately. The enemies inside the country will be dealt with at the royal palace.”
A muscular noble looked at me with amusement.
“What? You think you can resolve it all by yourselves?”
“That’s right. The border is the biggest problem, after all.”
The gentlemanly noble nodded.
“—It’s a relief you’re not incompetent. Certainly, the ones who rose up domestically are likely sacrificial pawns.”
Gilbert, attending as the representative of House Redgrave, gave me a cold stare.
“Duke Bartfort. So, which border do you want us to defend? The kingdom is vast. We can’t deploy forces around its entire perimeter, you know?”
I felt like he was testing me.
“The priority is reinforcements for House Fraser.”
Pointing at the map laid out on the table, I indicated where reinforcements were to be sent.
Seeing that, Count Motley was surprised.
“That’s quite a lopsided deployment.”
The other nobles felt the same.
“You’re leaving the side with House Fanoss untouched?”
“They’re likely to move, you know.”
“With this deployment, if it fails, the enemy will flood into the kingdom.”
I’d requested such a skewed deployment precisely for that reason.
Because I’d already investigated which nations seemed likely to move.
“House Fanoss won’t move. They don’t have the spare strength for it.”
Count Motley rubbed his chin.
“You say that with certainty. The Fanoss of the past would’ve seized this opportunity to act, wouldn’t they?”
“I crushed them thoroughly in the last war. Unless they’re idiots, they won’t invade. In the first place, they can’t even muster a proper fighting force.”
Most of the nobles here had been deployed to the border during the war with the Principality.
The gentlemanly noble asked what everyone wanted to know.
“This is His Majesty’s imperial command. We shall follow it. However, we want to make this clear. Your position, Duke Bartfort, that is. We are worried that you might use this chaos to maneuver so that House Redgrave reaps the benefits.”
Gilbert closed his eyes.
The nobles present seemed worried that I intended to manipulate the situation to my advantage.
—Of course I’m going to maneuver well!
“You don’t need to worry; I’ll do everything in my power to protect the kingdom. I’ll continue dedicating myself to protecting the kingdom from now on. If you want to usurp power, go ahead and try. I’ll crush every last one of you.”
Erika was startled and grabbed my sleeve, but I ignored her and kept going.
“I hate that bastard Roland, but I don’t want to start a war for its own sake. And I have no intention of digging up the past and taking petty revenge now.”
When I conveyed my feelings to Gilbert, the surrounding nobles began to complain.
Among them were nobles who’d suffered under the kingdom’s policies.
“Your loyalty, serving the kingdom even after suffering unreasonable treatment, is admirable.”
“I suppose you have no long-standing grudges.”
“It seems you cannot understand our suffering.”
I slammed my fist against the table.
“Unreasonable? Grudges? Suffering? —You all don’t seem to know how I got my hands on a Lost Item, do you. I’ll tell you. I got a Lost Item because I was almost forced into marrying a woman over fifty—and on top of that, it was an attempt to get my survivor’s pension!”
The mood around me eased just a little.
Some even rubbed the corners of their eyes.
“For the sake of his legal wife living in the capital and her children, my old man struggled every month to send money home. Can you understand the feeling of having to farm the land, even as nobles, just to secure your own food? That legal wife and her children lived in luxury and took it all for granted—they didn’t even feel gratitude!”
Even now it’s unreasonable, but back then I didn’t have to think about these complicated things.
“I’m angry too! I want to go wake Roland up right now and punch him! But hey, the one who decided that wasn’t Roland. Not even the queen. Even if I get angry now and burn down the royal palace, it won’t solve anything.”
Listening, Gilbert opened his eyes and said to me,
“However, it’s also a fact that the current royal family can’t keep things together. You say forcibly prolonging their existence won’t cause problems? You tell us to forget our grudges and suffering, but I’d like you to understand that we can’t just forget with so little.”
I do understand.
But I have things I need to protect too.
“Do as you like. If you think you can beat me, come at me. Better yet, how about switching sides to the enemy? Then I could deal with you without holding back, so I wouldn’t mind.”
If you’ve got complaints, step forward.
When I said that, Count Motley clapped his hands.
“The young hero is quite radical. However, I understand that you are sincerely facing this crisis. Everyone, why not try fighting under Duke Bartfort’s command this once? It’s no fun letting the enemy nations do as they please, after all.”
With Count Motley’s words, the room at least gave tentative agreement.
But their dissatisfaction was plainly visible.
◇
After leaving the meeting room, I spoke with Luxion, who approached me.
“Luxion, what’s the situation?”
‘Actually, the conditions are better than expected. So much so that it’s suspicious.’
“What do you mean?”
It seemed things were going more favorably than planned.
‘The facility the enemy attacked—on this particular day, a unit just happened to be stationed there. And a flying ship loaded with live ammunition set out under the cover of drills, enabling them to respond swiftly.’
“—Was it Milene?”
‘It seems Roland arranged it. We’ve been outdone, Master.’
Just what does that guy want?
Or did he foresee this?
While I was perplexed, Erika, who had been following me, spoke up.
“U-Uncle? Why did you say all that? Didn’t you want to live a peaceful life?”
I stopped at Erika’s words.
—I do want a peaceful life. I still think so. I do, but…
I turned around and smiled at Erika.
“Because I’d hate to see my niece put on the executioner’s block. —The slow life will have to wait a while.”
“B-But!”
“Even if I said I want to hole up now, the situation won’t allow it. It’s kind of the price for getting this guy.”
When I poked Luxion, he seemed displeased.
‘Are you that dissatisfied with having obtained me?’
“No, I’m just not satisfied.”
Since he usually says whatever he wants, it feels good to give it back once in a while.
“—Uncle, there’s no reason for you to cling to your past life at this point. You don’t have to overdo it for my sake, you know.”
From Erika’s perspective, I probably looked like I was obsessing over my past life.
But that’s only natural.
“If I have a past life like this, there’s got to be a meaning to it. Otherwise, I wouldn’t retain memories of a past life, right.”
‘That’s the first I’ve heard of it. Did you just come up with that now?’
“Yeah.”
As I was joking in front of Erika, Luxion reported to me.
‘Master, they seem to have located the ringleaders’ hideout.’
“That was quick.”
‘Well, they were foreign agents to begin with. Their goal was to throw the kingdom into chaos; I suppose they weren’t expected to succeed. The real show starts from here.’
“I know. Erika, I’m sorry, but your uncle’s a little busy right now. Once the work’s done, let’s talk calmly again. There’s a lot I want to ask you, after all.”
Stories about my parents.
Stories about Erika.
There’s a mountain of things I want to ask.
Erika hung her head.
“—Uncle, I’m sorry.”
“It’s fine. Just a little relying on Luxion.”
‘I wish you’d made that decision just a little sooner.’
I held out as long as possible.
If things can’t be helped, it’s up to me to do it, isn’t it?
◇
Once Leon and Luxion left, Erika clutched her skirt.
With her head down, she was crying.
“Uncle, you didn’t have to push yourself for my sake…”
In the end, she couldn’t say it.
Because if Leon found out, he would surely end up suffering.
◇
A back alley in the royal capital.
Fleeing around were the members of the Forest of Ladies.
“This is impossible. Utterly impossible!”
“What about the support from foreign countries?!”
“Why did it fail?! You said it would succeed!”
They were running around in dresses, their clothes torn and picking up trash.
Then, waiting ahead where the women had fled was Jilk, rifle in hand.
Riding an airbike, he had surrounded the members of the Forest of Ladies.
Around them were soldiers similarly mounted on airbikes.
“There’s nowhere to run. Surrender.”
As the women sank to the ground, soldiers approached and restrained them.
Approaching Jilk was a knight who, after graduating, had taken a job riding airbikes—the same man who used to be one of Clarice’s hangers-on.
“Never thought I’d be working under you.”
“The feeling is mutual. However, I’d like you to understand.”
“Setting you aside, I do trust your superior.”
Jilk was Clarice’s former fiancé.
From the perspective of the man who’d been one of Clarice’s followers, he probably had at least one complaint he’d like to voice.
But he held back and now followed Jilk.
“More importantly, what are we doing next?”
“We’re moving to the next target. There are several ringleader groups that started the rebellion, after all.”
Jilk’s group handed over the Forest of Ladies members and headed for the next location.
◇
‘That makes six!’
Boarding his armor, Greg rampaged, swinging his spear around wildly.
The armor Luxion had produced overwhelmed the enemy’s new models.
Watching that, Chris was confirming instructions from the royal palace.
“Greg, we’re moving to the next one. Apparently, there are still more suits of armor running wild in the capital.”
‘How the hell did these guys manage to bring so many suits of armor in?’
Greg was stunned, and Chris felt the same.
A considerable number of suits of armor rampaging in the capital had been smuggled in.
“They must’ve had many collaborators. We’ll need to investigate that in detail.”
Nobles who hadn’t been shut down but held grievances probably lent a hand.
Some suits of armor even emerged from noble mansions.
‘Not that I have a problem beating them, but is Brad okay?’
Brad was the only one not in the capital.
“Don’t worry. That guy’s suited to being a commander.”
With that, the two headed for the next battle.
◇
Six flying battleships were headed for the royal capital.
Lying in wait before they could reach it were Leon’s friends.
Leading them was Brad.
“Honestly, Bartfort does understand things, doesn’t he? I am exactly the type suited to be a commander.”
They were aboard Daniel’s flying ship.
Daniel looked troubled.
“Why is the son of a marquis on my ship?”
At Daniel’s complaint, Brad clapped him on the shoulder and pointed ahead.
“Daniel, don’t be so cold. Now, shall we deal with them?”
They had twelve ships prepared.
Twice the enemy’s number.
“I don’t think we’re gonna lose, but seriously, don’t get in my way.”
“No need to worry. Look, the enemy’s exposed their flank. Let’s take aim and sink them.”
Following the enemy’s movements, Daniel gave orders.
“Ah, geez! Open fire! Cannonade! Tell Raymond’s group too!”
After issuing orders to his subordinates, they began bombarding the enemy fleet.
Watching that, Brad shifted his gaze to the map.
“Once we beat these guys, let’s also strike the other fleets heading for the rally point. Going by position, is it this one next?”
Daniel grumbled.
“That damn Leon, using us like workhorses again. Next time, I’m making him treat us at some fancy place.”
Brad laughed.
“Yeah, that’ll be perfect for a victory party. We’ll join in too.”
“—Huh, you guys are coming too?”
“Of course. We’re friends now, aren’t we?”
Remembering something unpleasant at the word “friends,” Daniel hid his face with both hands.