The floating island Leon had previously relinquished.
Livia had come to the dock there, standing before the Lycorne, which was being refitted by Cleare.
"Cleare, aren't you going to repair the Weiss?"
"There's no need. After all, I've already removed the Saint-related equipment from the Weiss and installed it on the Lycorne. It's a case of 'I thought this might come in handy someday.'"
"W-when did you do that?"
"While Master was in the Republic."
"That's been since the Lycorne was built!"
"That's right. I prepared it so we could use it when the time came."
Cleare, laughing, didn't show the slightest hint of remorse.
Livia put a hand to her forehead.
(But, this means I can fight for Leon too.)
The Weiss—the trump card the kingdom had once possessed—was an airship loaded with a device capable of performing wide-range mental interference.
It had sunk in the war with the Principality and become unusable—or so it should have been.
But now, with that device installed on the Lycorne, if the Saint boarded it, it would become the most fearsome weapon of all.
Whether it would be effective against Arcadia was questionable, but it was better than nothing.
Cleare turned her gaze from Livia toward the back of the corridor.
"Oh, here she comes."
When Livia looked in the same direction as Cleare, she saw Noelle there, waving her hand.
"Heeey!"
Behind Noelle, who was cheerfully waving, robots were carrying a sapling of the Sacred Tree.
Seeing this, Livia asked Cleare for an explanation.
"What are you going to do with the Sacred Tree sapling?"
"That little one absorbs magical essence. And the absorbed essence will become the Lycorne's energy source. This will make the Lycorne even more powerful."
Noelle approached Livia, then looked at the sapling.
"This little one's going to do its best too. After all, our future is on the line."
Cleare drew close to the sapling and muttered something frightening.
"You absorb magical essence and purify the air, which makes you a harmful plant from the New Humanity's perspective, right? If we lose, you'll be burned. If you don't want that, cooperate with us."
Watching Cleare like that, Livia gave a wry smile.
"Cleare, that's a threat."
"It's fine. With this one, a little threatening is just right. Now, with this, we've loaded Livia's power, Noelle, and the Sacred Tree. The remaining issue is one more piece—we want the Saint's power."
Noelle seemed to think of Marie.
"Marietchi? But, isn't Marietchi—hated by the temple?"
As a villain who had impersonated the Saint, Marie was hated by the temple.
That's why, even though she had been recognized by the Saint's artifacts, she ended up being labeled a false Saint.
Normally she would have been certified as the Saint, but the handling after the war with the Principality had been so terrible that the matter had been buried.
In other words, Marie couldn't wield power as the Saint.
"To draw out the Lycorne's maximum performance, the Saint's power is absolutely necessary."
When Cleare said that, Livia slowly nodded.
"Then, I'll ask the temple for their cooperation."
"—Will they cooperate?"
Noelle made a difficult expression.
"That's right, isn't it? After the war with the Principality, Leon defended Marietchi, so they're on bad terms, right? Will they lend their power?"
But Livia wouldn't back down.
"I'll make them lend it. —Until now, I've been relying on Leon for everything. They should at least cooperate a little. No, I'll make them cooperate."
Livia's eyes were strong, and she fully intended to make them cooperate no matter what.
"Though they probably don't see it that way. To begin with, they don't even think of this as a survival competition. And, there's bad news. Some factions on the temple's side are getting close to the Empire."
Livia's eyes widened.
"Why would they do that?"
"Resentment at being made fools of by the royal family? Well, they don't have any awareness that they're tightening the noose around their own necks. Also, there are nobles within the kingdom making suspicious moves."
Livia immediately began walking, intending to head to the temple.
"Hey! If you go alone—"
"If I don't do my best here, I can't help Leon. Besides, Angie will definitely take care of matters at the royal palace and with the nobles. So I have to do my best where I can."
Noelle grasped Livia's hand.
"Got it. I'll go too. Even I'm the priestess of the Sacred Tree. I should at least be able to—"
Then, Cleare raised her blue eye slightly.
"Oh my, it seems Marie has handled it for us."
At Cleare's report, Livia let out a deflated voice.
"Huh?"
◇
The temple.
It was a religious facility that had once worshipped the healer known as the Saint.
The sixth woman involved in the founding of the Holfart Kingdom.
She was an excellent practitioner of healing magic, and her techniques were said to be a power blessed by the gods.
Marie had come alone to the temple, which revered her as a messenger of the gods.
The knights serving the temple—the Temple Knights—drew their swords.
"How dare you appear before us, witch!"
"I'll cut off your head!"
"Report to the High Priest!"
Deep within the bustling temple, there was a statue of the Saint.
The Saint's artifacts—the staff, the necklace, and the bracelet—were affixed to it.
Currently no one could use them, and they were carefully preserved there.
Before the knights with drawn swords, Marie raised her right hand.
"If you once acknowledged me—just for now, lend me your power."
Then, cracks ran through the Saint's statue.
The left arm crumbled, the head fell off, and the right hand was shattered to pieces.
The bracelet and necklace fastened themselves onto Marie's neck and left arm.
And the Saint's staff spun as it flew toward Marie—and as it was, plunged into her raised right hand, which Marie firmly grasped.
The Temple Knights and the High Priest, who had rushed in after receiving the report, gasped at the sight.
The Saint's artifacts had recognized Marie as their master.
"—Thank you. Just this once is enough. If I don't save Bro, I'll regret it again."
Praying to the Saint's artifacts, Marie tried to leave the temple.
Then, the High Priest reached out his hand to Marie.
"W-wait! No, please wait! For the Saint's holy relics to show such a strong reaction is unprecedented! C-could it be, are you perhaps the true Saint!?"
With a 'why now?' kind of feeling, Marie turned around.
She remembered what Leon had said before.
Even if she called herself a fake, since the Saint's artifacts had recognized Marie, "You are the Saint."
"Of course I am. More importantly, I'm busy, so I'm leaving now."
"Please wait!"
The High Priest clung to her, but Marie shook him off.
"Shut up! I don't have time to deal with the likes of you!"
"W-what an outrageous manner of speech! You are the Saint. You should speak more—"
Marie slammed the staff's butt-end against the floor.
"In this critical time, when you won't cooperate and just keep grumbling complaints, I don't have time to deal with you!"
In an instant, pale-blue purple lightning crackled and scattered around with a bursting sound before disappearing.
The High Priest and the Temple Knights froze.
"I have things to do! Don't get in my way!"
The temple's officials could only watch as Marie left, having essentially run off with the Saint's artifacts.
◇
At the royal palace, Angie was meeting with a certain person.
"Headmaster—no, Duke, I request your cooperation."
The person, looking out the window, stood with his hands clasped behind his back and his posture straight.
He had his back to Angie.
To the Duke, who gave no answer, Angie continued her words.
"Or, do you intend to let Leon die just like this? Your disciple is about to fight for the kingdom—do you intend to abandon him?"
Turning around—the Duke, the younger brother of the previous king, was the man Leon called his master.
He looked a little sad.
"—I made Mister Leon shoulder too much."
"Then, you should have become king."
The era of the previous king.
Between the royal brother—the master—and Roland, a succession dispute had been brewing.
The master had gathered much support, but the legitimate successor was Roland.
Roland had been seen as a problem even back then, and many nobles had supported the master.
The master shook his head.
"I couldn't change this country. His Majesty—I entrusted it to Roland, thinking that with him there might be a possibility."
Angie said:
"I've been thinking about this for a while now. In the war with the Principality, you gave Leon advice, but in the previous civil war, you said nothing in particular."
The master turned his face away from Angie.
"Just as I had hoped for Roland, I felt I might come to hope for Mister Leon as well. But, having fled from the throne myself, I felt I had no right to say anything."
Watching Leon gradually become ill, the master couldn't bring himself to speak to him.
"I couldn't tell Mister Leon to run away. I'm just a coward. And now, I'm nothing but a Duke in name only."
To pass the throne to Roland, he had immersed himself in tea and hobbies.
In doing so, people drifted away from him, and Roland successfully inherited the throne.
At that time, Angie had heard Roland tell Vince, "That bastard, he dumped it on me and ran!"
"I'll have you cooperate as well, Duke. If your voice is heard, there should be many nobles who would gather."
To Angie's request, the master nodded silently.
"I can't keep pushing the bill onto Mister Leon forever. However, I alone cannot do anything."
Even if he alone cooperated, it wasn't a situation that could be resolved.
Angie, having been told that, nodded slightly.
"I understand. We'll have His Majesty Roland abdicate the throne. The kingdom needs to be reborn under a king whom everyone strongly acknowledges."
The reason the nobles weren't unifying, simply put, wasn't because of past circumstances and distrust.
That was one reason, but it was because the kingdom had no power.
The kingdom needed a new king.
The master put a hand to his chin.
"I see. You're asking me to help with that. It's a big role."
"And, Duke, I have one more job for you."
"If it's something I can do, please tell me anything."
Angie looked apologetic, and sadly cast her eyes downward.
"Please talk with Leon. The one Leon trusts is—you, Duke."
The master shook his head.
"I'm just a hobby friend. Mister Leon does call me his master, though. But, I'll undertake it."
Angie bowed deeply.
"Thank you."
The master said:
"Now then, in that case, countermeasures against the Rashel Holy Kingdom are urgent. That place has been in conflict with our country for many years. I don't think they'll miss this opportunity."
There would surely be many countries wanting to invade the kingdom while it was busy with the war against the Empire.
But among them, the Rashel Holy Kingdom was the most dangerous.
"I'll leave that to House Fraser. I'll have them buy us time."
"You've brought House Fraser into the fold too?"
"Leon got his hands dirty for Lady Eliya's sake. —I'll have them work hard for us. Besides, House Fraser's role has always been to guard the border."
Though they were falling into decline, they had continued fighting the Rashel Holy Kingdom all this time.
Put simply, they were accustomed to war with the Rashel Holy Kingdom.
And, this meant that the nobles guarding the borders couldn't participate in the war against the Empire.
"Even if we unite the kingdom, the disparity in military strength against the Empire will be vast."
Angie understood that too.
"Even so, we have to unite."
Seeing the strength in Angie's eyes, the master closed his own.
"—I shall do my small part as well."
◇
Within the royal palace.
The next person Angie went to was Mylene.
Mylene was doing paperwork in her office.
"Your Majesty."
With Angie's arrival, Mylene seemed to have sensed various things.
"—There's been contact from the Empire. They say if we hand over Leon, they'll avoid war."
Angie thought bitterly of the Empire, which kept attacking through every possible means.
Meanwhile, the kingdom was a mess—unable to unite.
"Do you intend to hand him over?"
"As if. There's no way we can beat Leon in our current state. But there are many nobles who think they can at least harass him. They seem to want to avoid war with the Empire at all costs."
The nobles, unaware of the circumstances, didn't realize this was a trap by the Empire.
They thought that if they avoided war with the Empire, they could survive.
Or else, they intended to abandon the weakened kingdom and side with the Empire.
"—Your Majesty, there's something behind this Empire matter. The Empire intends to destroy us."
As Angie slowly explained the circumstances, Mylene listened silently.
Mylene, who listened seriously without making light of it, looked up at the ceiling.
"A survival competition, huh. What a far-fetched story."
"And yet you listened to my story quite seriously, didn't you?"
"Because I know you're not a child who would lie in such a situation. Besides, even I am royalty. —I know that there was a civilization in the past more advanced than the current one."
It was a world with many irreproducible tools called Lost Items.
The intellectuals knew that there had been a civilization more advanced than the present one in the past.
They just didn't know to what extent it had been.
Mylene put a hand to her mouth.
"About the story of Old Humanity and New Humanity, there are several traditions in my family's home as well. And in this country too, of course."
Angie was surprised.
"There are?"
"It's what you'd call a royal family secret. I thought it was a fairy tale, though. Of course, it's not as detailed as your story, Angie."
It was a story about how, long ago, the new people had destroyed the old people and come to rule the land.
"The problem is, even if we say it's a survival competition, many nobles won't understand. Nobles who defect to the Empire will appear."
For Angie, that was the problem.
Mylene said to Angie:
"Will you need my power?"
"It would help if you could request your family's home for cooperation."
"—Anything else?"
"I'll handle matters within the country."
Mylene sensed Angie's strong will to bring at least this much together.
Mylene conveyed to Angie:
"His Majesty is waiting for you in the audience chamber."