The Code First Area sprawled across a wide region near the center of the city. In a castle standing in the most prosperous area of the city, Angus Code snorted at Jeanne's report.
"So the Thunder Emperor will fall into Nora's hands after all."
"There's no doubt about it. There's simply no one else who can compete. Everyone knows how ruthless Princess Nora is toward her adversaries."
Nora Code. That was the name of the younger sister who could become Angus's greatest rival in the war of succession.
A boorish woman who had grown completely accustomed to flaunting royal authority with utter contempt for those around her. She refused to serve under anyone and openly declared her opposition to Angus—an incorrigible person through and through.
Angus had been gathering elite soldiers from all corners in preparation for the succession war well in advance. Nora had been preparing for the succession war too, but her approach was the polar opposite.
That woman hadn't recruited soldiers from outside. Instead, she had chosen to train them. After decoding, analyzing, and running countless experiments on the innumerable training-related functions that existed within Code, she had completed her forces—citizens of Code who boasted abilities equal to or greater than Mecha Soldiers.
It was Angus who had led the initiative to send cards to various organizations outside Code to bolster his troop numbers. That was precisely why he had been quicker to secure Saya and Kai. However, when it came to authority over the prison, Nora and Angus were nearly evenly matched. No—Nora Code's influence might have penetrated ever so slightly deeper.
But even setting that aside—Angus couldn't think of a way to control that dangerous Thunder Emperor.
He had already used the masks on Kai and Saya and had none left. Bringing the Thunder Emperor under his wing without one would be extremely risky.
Code did have functions designed to disperse magical construction, but whether they could completely suppress a lightning mage powerful enough to pierce Code's barrier was an open question. In fact, records remained showing that during the previous battle with the Explorer's Guild, they had been unable to fully seal the magic of the enemy's strongest mage.
If he didn't secure the Thunder Emperor first, he couldn't prevent the opponent from doing so.
Appointment of bodyguards was first come, first served. That was one of the rules around bodyguard appointments that even Angus couldn't override.
"I heard the release application hasn't been approved?"
"It will be approved next time. Princess Nora appears to have given up on the persuasion approach."
Code possessed a wide variety of tools that could compel another's actions, but one thing could be said for certain: a warrior forced into battle was weaker than one who fought of their own free will.
That was likely why Princess Nora had been trying persuasion. And that was precisely why the application had been denied.
Release applications would not be approved unless the projected danger level upon release fell below a certain threshold. The fact that the Thunder Emperor had shown absolutely no willingness to accept Princess Nora's overtures even while captured spoke volumes.
But she had given up on persuasion. That meant the next step would be suppressing his will through tools.
Princess Nora should also possess the white masks that Angus had used on Kai and Saya. If she used one, Code's system would determine that the Thunder Emperor was ready for release.
"Hmph… She's gotten impatient. A Thunder Emperor with no will of his own can't beat Saya and Kai. The knight order he built wouldn't even be worth mentioning."
Saya and Kai were strong. Saya's abilities had already been confirmed, and as for Kai—his body had surpassed the limits that the advanced physical civilization had envisioned for humans.
There was virtually no chance that even the training regimens of the advanced physical civilization had been designed to produce warriors of Kai's caliber. Exceptional individual talent was indispensable, and physical training had its limits. After all, in the advanced physical civilization, weapons had fought in place of humans—so the fact that they had managed to produce a warrior on par with Mecha Soldiers was something to be commended in itself.
Kai wasn't fully healed yet, but even so, he already ranked among the top tier of the subordinates Angus had assembled. With Saya and Kai, even the Thunder Emperor wouldn't be a match.
Still, it was an unpleasant situation, no question about it.
"But… I'd like to avoid handing the Thunder Emperor over to him if possible. Isn't there some other way?"
For now, a meaningful gap existed between Nora and Angus, though it wasn't an overwhelming one. If Nora formed alliances with other princes or tamed the other inmates locked away in the prison's lowest levels, the outcome of the race would become anyone's game.
The Thunder Emperor could be Nora's ace in the hole—the move that turned defeat into victory. If there was even the slightest possibility of that, he had to crush it.
"Only royalty can counter royalty. With Class 8 authority, transferring ownership of a criminal released by another noble would be simple."
"He'd have to become a bodyguard. A royal's bodyguard. With my authority, all I could do is make things unpleasant."
A royal's bodyguard held a special position. The bodyguard role was protected by the city's rules and was immune to the influence of other authorities. Royal authority could unilaterally designate citizens as criminals or poach personnel from other institutions, but none of those powers worked on a royal's bodyguard.
To prevent the Thunder Emperor from falling into Nora's hands, he had to somehow make the Thunder Emperor a bodyguard for another member of the royal family.
"But that won't be easy. The Thunder Emperor is far too dangerous, and I can't think of any royal with the backbone to oppose Nora."
Taking an uncontrollable Thunder Emperor on as a bodyguard would be suicide. That man—the one who still chose to draw his bow after witnessing the imposing bulk of Code—could pierce the city system's defenses and kill his master.
Angus couldn't think of any royal who could bring that man in. In the first place, Nora was the odd one for being obsessed with him simply because she found his face appealing.
As Angus wore a troubled expression, Jeanne lowered her voice and spoke.
"There is one possibility I can think of. Apart from Princess Nora, it seems there's another faction that has been gathering information on the Thunder Emperor."
"Oh? Which faction?"
Angus's expression grew more complicated at this new information, and Jeanne answered.
"Princess Alisha's faction. Her bodyguards have recently been venturing into other areas and quietly collecting intelligence. Princess Nora sent a warning, apparently."
"A spare… The spare's faction. Now that's… interesting."
Princess Alisha was the only holder of succession rights whom there was no need to take seriously.
She was a spare that the high nobles had asked the king to create, just in case something happened to the royal family of Code, and had heard she was sequestered in some forgotten corner of Code.
If the king changed, the current royals would no longer be Class 8. Class 8 was a class assigned to the king's children. When that happened, Alisha would have served her purpose.
High nobles in Angus's own faction had a hand in creating the spare. He didn't know why Alisha's bodyguards—whose authority had been frozen by the Code King—were suddenly gathering intelligence on the Thunder Emperor, but…
"Rather than letting Nora have him, wouldn't it be better to hand him to the spare?"
"Would the release application go through?"
"We just need to loosen the criteria. The spare's role is already winding down—would an accident at this stage really be a problem?"
"…As you say, Your Highness."
Jeanne allowed a grin to creep across her face.
With royal authority, it was possible to slightly relax the release criteria for the prison. The reason Nora hadn't done so was because the danger was too great.
The prison's release criteria were set by the city system with safety in mind. Loosened criteria held no real meaning—and Nora's eyes weren't so clouded that she would forget that.
But if it was to make the Thunder Emperor a bodyguard for Princess Alisha, those criteria didn't matter. There was even merit in releasing the Thunder Emperor in his current dangerous state.
Attacking another faction's bodyguard was prohibited by the Code King, so that wasn't an option right now. But if the Thunder Emperor went berserk due to loss of control and had to be dealt with, that was still possible. He could use Kai and Saya, and in such a scenario, even Mecha Soldiers could be deployed in the attack.
The Thunder Emperor's abilities would remain useful even after Angus became king. It would be a bit of a waste, but if letting him fall into Nora's hands and become a major obstacle was the alternative, it would be better to dispose of him before the succession battle even began.
The decision was instantaneous. Nora was also in a hurry. If she had decided to give up on a negotiated release, she would move immediately to turn the Thunder Emperor into a pawn. Nora Code was exactly that kind of woman.
"Rejoice, bodyguard. I shall grant you a noble title. Authority change—Klye Andrich, promote to Class 6."
Once he learned he had become Class 6, the spare's faction would mobilize to rescue the Thunder Emperor—questioning the situation, perhaps, but acting all the same. They would have no idea it was a trap orchestrated by Angus.
A smile playing on his lips, Angus issued his command to Jeanne.
"Jeanne, assist the spare. We'll hold Nora off. For the brief window while they file their application, change the rules around the prison. Make the preparations."
"At once."
§ § § Inside a cramped room, Her Highness gorged on chocolate bars, her entire being radiating how blissfully happy she was.
It seemed the chocolate bar crafted by Zeburdia had thoroughly won over the princess of Code. The five chocolate bars vanished into Her Highness's stomach in the blink of an eye.
I had made a chocolate buddy. A first for me, aside from Tino.
I'd been surprised when Her Highness stood up to Miss Olivia, but I'd decided not to worry about it anymore. After all, Miss Olivia had been the disrespectful one.
Nibbling on snacks with her mouth still smeared with chocolate, Her Highness looked even younger than usual.
She licked her lips clean with a sweep of her tongue, then looked at me and said: "More."
"…Snack time is over, you know. Too much isn't good for your health. We'll have some again tomorrow."
"…………"
Her Highness deflated but withdrew without protest. So obedient.
Who would have thought that the chocolate bars I kept stocked in this Space-Time Bag—the one that had been treated as junk at Marchis's shop—would bring someone this much joy. This Space-Time Bag was so bafflingly useless it didn't even have a name (which wasn't uncommon for Junk Artifacts), but maybe it was about time I came up with one.
Chocolate bars eaten alone were delicious, but chocolate bars shared with others tasted even better. It was through a door, but we could now hear each other's voices too, and it seemed daily life was only going to get more enjoyable from here.
As I watched Her Highness—hugging her knees and stealing glances at me with those deeply expressive eyes—a flustered Kuul and his group came rushing in.
Good grief, everyone was so noisy today. Had Miss Olivia said something to them?
Kuul, gasping for breath, shouted at me.
"Hah… hah. It's bad, Mr. Klye! Princess Nora has started making serious moves to acquire Ms. Kurahi!"
"…It seems your intelligence-gathering got found out by the princess."
When I pointed that out, Zurii let out a squawking voice.
"!? You—n-no, you, you knew about that!? If you'd told us earlier, we could've avoided poking the hornet's nest!"
"Oh come on, what's the use of saying that now, boss? Keep your reports, communication, and follow-ups tight, will ya? At the bare minimum, at least?"
What did they expect… I'd only just heard about it from Miss Olivia myself. Lusha said with tears welling in her eyes: "W-what do we do, Honorable Sir!? We haven't made any progress at all, and Princess Nora is going to brainwash big brother!"
"…………We're in trouble."
Yeah… we sure are in a pickle.
Eliese's expression was the same as always, but… her laid-back attitude was just as genuine as ever.
Still, I had no plan either. The only reason I was this calm was that I didn't think Kurahi would be brainwashed so easily. After all, Kurahi was someone powerful enough to go head-to-head with the Fox Boss and the Fox's little sister—me, an overwhelming weakling, worrying about him would be absurd.
Besides, to release Kurahi, you needed a certain rank… You couldn't even file a release application without being at least a noble— And that's when I stopped mid-thought, pulled out my own card with the large star on it, and checked.
…Huh? How many stars did you need to file again? A large star was worth six small ones, so… could it be that this… was enough?
I blinked and looked to Her Highness for confirmation.
"Your Highness, I have a friend who's locked up in the prison. Would it be okay if I went to help them? They're a good person."
Kuul and the others looked bewildered. Her Highness, who had been hugging her knees, looked at me and nodded several times.
Well, well. Even Her Highness had given her permission.
I stood up and showed my card with the large star to the murmuring members of the Wailing Evil Spirits.
"Alright then, I've got Her Highness's permission too. Let's go rescue Kurahi."