Embarrassing, embarrassing.
“Ahaha! How should I put this? It’s like this because I tried my best to act! My loyalty to His Majesty the Emperor remains unchanged, but I guess I have to make an exception for the act of disguise around my own safety!”
Pastel awkwardly twisted her body and laughed.
“I understand your feelings. Apart from loyalty to the Empire, we must appropriately handle the ideological verification that arises during our missions. We also know well the difficulties of not aligning heart and words. Especially the governor, since this kind of fieldwork is not his specialty, must find it even more challenging.”
Mr. Penguin nodded in agreement, acknowledging the mutual embarrassment.
Oh yeah! Survived after being suspected of treason!
“That’s right! That’s right! What I mean is! Even while I was speaking just now, my soul was being tormented on one side!”
Because in acting, I ended up over-mocking His Majesty the Emperor!
“And.”
Mr. Penguin smiled.
“His Majesty is aware that the governor has personal grievances. In attempting to act well, one might need to utilize their true feelings.”
Wow! This person doesn’t agree at all! I can hear the warning that he knows I want to rebel against the royal family!
Loyal Pastel absolutely does not think it’s disgusting that His Majesty the Emperor still can’t forget his dead unrequited love and wallows in it!
I absolutely do not think that taking care of the daughter of that unrequited love is a million times better!
Mr. Penguin checked the door and re-evaluated the soundproofing. He turned his body while looking over the magic circle.
“This is fortuitous. At our last meeting, the Demon King informed us that Princess Elishita was a fake created by the governor, and the governor left immediately, so the situation could not be properly resolved.”
He took out a letter from his chest.
“In the meantime, I have delivered news of the fake Demon King to His Majesty and received new orders. I think it’s time to inform you.”
Ugh. Kind Pastel has His Majesty’s sword, but she finds it very pleasant and good that His Majesty’s orders have become ambiguous.
“His Majesty partially agreed to the strategy of creating a fake Demon King to lure out the real demon king or its subordinates, who may be hiding somewhere.”
Partially.
“However, he stated that he does not believe the real Demon King would come out hastily, so he deemed the strategy to be somewhat disappointing in terms of cost-effectiveness.”
Hmm? The pink eyes rolled around, puzzled.
“That’s not it. It seems that Mr. Penguin, or rather, Mr. Redmond, misunderstood and relayed it incompletely.”
“Excuse me?”
“I mentioned that to catch the hidden mouse, I needed to stir the mouse hole.”
“That’s correct.”
“But if you take that merely as meaning to make an appearance as the Demon King and confuse the real one to reveal themselves, that’s too simplistic of an understanding.”
“Excuse me?”
Mr. Penguin looked perplexed.
Phew. I’m actually more bewildered.
Pastel regarded Mr. Penguin with slight suspicion. Ignoring basic aspects— is this person trying to sow discord between me and His Majesty the Emperor?
Oh dear.
As Governor Pastel, this is very dissatisfactory.
“It would be good if it could be clarified, but a clever Demon King wouldn’t do that; therefore, as His Majesty evaluated, it would inevitably be a disappointing strategy in terms of opportunity cost. There is nothing to lose in that case.”
“That’s as you say. The governor also assessed that it would be better to proceed with another strategy. Monetary issues are not a concern, but investing the time and manpower in this strategy elsewhere would be more effective.”
Phew.
“However, that line of thinking is too simplistic. His Majesty wouldn’t think so, so we can only conclude that Mr. Redmond conveyed it incorrectly.”
“Excuse me?”
Mr. Penguin was flabbergasted.
Phew.
To ignore such basic concepts— is this person really attempting to sow discord?
“It’s irrelevant whether the real Demon King appears and hastily claims to be the true one; the success of this strategy does not depend on that.”
Governor Pastel was becoming dissatisfied, feeling that Mr. Penguin was unnecessarily being difficult about being an information agency.
“The prophecy of the Great Temple states that the appearance of the Demon King will bring the downfall of the Empire.”
“That’s correct.”
“But the world does not collapse due to a single individual. Though it’s called a Demon King, ultimately there must be forces involved, and the most likely candidate would be the Demon Realm United Kingdom.”
“That is also correct. However, His Majesty believes that given the military power of the alliance kingdom and the geographical distance, a traitor within the Empire poses a greater danger.”
Is that so?
Pastel tilted her head, feeling that the perspective was somewhat misaligned.
“The Empire cannot fall due to military power alone.”
His Majesty seems to view the trials mentioned in the prophecy as military challenges to the throne.
Even though the Demon King is the face of history, the real cause would be the military power of the Empire’s nobility greedy for the throne.
Having collaborated in exchange for the throne, if betrayed by the Demon King, and the Demon King emerges victorious in the end, it would align with the prophecy.
But could that really happen?
A global power does not easily collapse.
The Empire has triumphed over all the kingdoms on the continent, achieving continental unification, and after that, it waged a great war against the external forces of the Demon Realm and emerged victorious.
Such powerful legitimacy of a state will not exist again until the age of the cosmos begins.
“The Empire is a hegemonic state that will never exist again in history. Not only has it unified the continent through treachery and stratagems, but it has also achieved this legitimacy by subduing each kingdom through strength.”
You could tell this from the usual attitude of Alesia Bellevue, a former member of the royal family. Although she didn’t particularly like the royal family, she accepted that this country is the Empire and that being from a ducal family doesn’t cause her significant discontent.
What was the reason for her not getting along with Alesia Camelot?
It was because she felt sad about being on the northern fringes and wanting to venture into the central political sphere, but opportunities didn’t arise, causing competition between them.
In other words, while possessing a royal territory and military power, rather than preparing for treason like other Empire nobles, she sought to enter the central political sphere and wield power.
The Empire unified through procedures everyone acknowledges. Thus, contrary to past royalty, the ducal house as part of the unified Empire holds a higher status.
Moreover, having also experienced the unifying of the continent while waging war against the external forces of the Demon Realm.
If the Empire weakens and someone has the fortune to occupy the capital and seize the throne, what the Bellamont family desires won’t be the revival of the former kingdom.
They would rather seek to maintain the existing territory while obtaining the throne of the unified Empire, which would be significantly easier.
Ultimately, even if the nobility betrays the Empire and seeks the throne, it wouldn’t mean the Empire’s downfall, but rather the fall of the royal family. It wouldn’t be unusual for the lineage to change while still maintaining the nation. No one would say that the country has collapsed because of that.
Of course, the Demon King, who had promised to collaborate in exchange for the throne, might betray the traitors and destroy the Empire…
Well, is that really possible now?
Had there been no prophecy, perhaps it might have been possible, but given the rumors circulating, it’s uncertain if that could happen. Although the emergence of the Demon King has been proclaimed, the downfall of the Empire hasn’t been announced to the public, but all significant nobles must know.
Due to the past tyrant staining the entire continent with blood by slaughtering 100,000 newborns, even passing dogs must sense something amiss; how many high-ranking nobles could remain unaware of such things?
With the prophecy that the Demon King will betray you, becoming a foolish traitor striving to destroy a unified Empire that shall never exist again. Or possessing such a powerful force that could determine the Empire’s downfall while entering an unpredictable and uncontrollable civil war, becoming a fool who cannot calculate profits and losses.
VS
Maintaining a powerful force and attempting to twist the prophecy in line with the Empire and the Great Temple’s efforts. Live prosperously through generations while subtly aiming for the throne of the unified Empire.
Ugh, the balance is messed up.
Which noble would choose the former?
Of course, a noble who doesn’t heed the advice of greedy, foolish subordinates who are quick to make profit calculations and instead, a lord who has traitors that would destroy the unified Empire! If there exists a noble who has no one with rational thoughts willing to betray for the sake of historical record, it could be possible.
But how could such a person have strong power?
Phew.
No matter how I think about it, the Empire seems unlikely to fall due to internal military power. Perhaps only the bloodline of the royal family would change.
Huh?
Pastel halted as she pondered down this line of thought. A chill ran down her spine as survival instincts flickered.
Right now, I was having very republican thoughts!
In a monarchy, the monarch is the state!
The change in the royal bloodline is nearly tantamount to the downfall of the Empire!
Although it seems that the prophecy delivered by God wouldn’t agree with the forced logic of monarchy, loyal Pastel can actively agree with the notion that the royal family is the Empire.
Logic shift! Logic shift!
The wicked thoughts of republicanism were discarded, and the true mindset of monarchy poked its head in.
Stealing glances at Mr. Penguin, who was lost in thought, she adjusted the thread of logic.
“The royal family, possessing legitimacy that has never been seen in history, cannot possibly collapse. Even if some great nobles betray and wield military power alongside the Demon King, civil war is inevitable and they cannot surpass the Empire’s inherent military power.”
In the current absence of total war concepts, the gap between the Empire’s peacetime strength and the potential limits that could arise during a civil war is immense.
No single great noble can handle a total war that would occur under the name of the unified Empire, regardless of social status, when it becomes a reality.
Unless it was prior to the development of firearms, especially in a world where a single magical attack can kill a magician.
“But changing the premise alters everything. If justification for civil war is scant, or if there arises a strong and justifiable division to the extent that the Empire would split in two.”
If the Empire’s inherent military might could turn against the Empire itself…
It is not easy for those who love the unified Empire to point their weapons at it.
Yet there might come a time in history when it is possible. At the moment a powerful force comes into play.
History calls this power ideology.
And the latest ideology of this moment is…
Republicanism.
The republican faction of the Empire, led by Duke Nastasha Redgrade, is the political system the Demon Realm United Kingdom has already established.
“The purpose of creating a fake Demon King is not primarily to find the hidden Demon King. It seeks to grasp the command of the republican ideology held by the alliance kingdom under the guise of the Demon King.”
Considering ideology in grand strategy is not common sense?
If you don’t know this as an information agency, wouldn’t it be better to study history, whether it’s World War I, World War II, or the Cold War?
Huh?
Thinking about it, this isn’t Earth, and I haven’t experienced world wars or the Cold War.
Wow, that realization means it wasn’t common sense yet!
Pastel, startled like a rabbit, looked at Mr. Penguin.
“Excuse me?”
His expression was blank.
Ahhh!
I’ve become that strange person who talks about things only I know…!
Disqualified from popularity…!
