Volume 6 Release Commemorative Special Episode
Battle Towards the Liberation of the National Territory ③ - Princess Alicia's Battle
Translator : PolterGlast
Right after Takuhir and the others led the majority of the army and advanced towards the Vile Kingdom, there were forces within the Royal Capital of the Cain Kingdom that began to maneuver, seeing this as an opportunity. Of course, those spearheading it were the major merchants of the Cain Kingdom whose schemes were severely rejected the previous night, and they had not yet given up on their wicked plots. Such as they were, they did not know that a successor of even higher rank than the 『successor to the throne』 they hoisted as a portable shrine to manipulate as they pleased was alive, and had already concluded discussions about the future with Takuhir and the others. And then... the seeds of calamity they sowed began to spread across the Royal Capital.
「The invaders from Istoria have left, but this time it seems the Demon Territory Dukedom has barged in borrowing the authority of the Empire.」
「It seems the Demon Territory Dukedom Army intends to snatch the wealth the invaders stole from us, and rule the Royal Capital as new plunderers this time.」
「I hear they chained the Prince-denka of the Cain Kingdom who protested the unjust rule in prison, stole his right to succeed the throne, and are proceeding with the rule of the kingdom.」
Simultaneously with the departure of Takuhir and the others, such rumors ran through the Royal Capital of the Cain Kingdom. Of course, this was before the territory resident relief measures devised by Takuhir and the others were announced, and it also caused headaches for the remaining parties involved who learned of these rumors. At such a time, Princess Alicia visited the Royal Palace again, and requested a meeting with Sean, who was entrusted with domestic affairs.
「Sean-sama, thank you for permitting this sudden meeting. And first of all, I must apologize. I too am heartbroken by the fact that heartless rumors are spreading against everyone who are the benefactors of this country.」
「No... please, call me Sean. I am nothing more than a mere official entrusted with the reconstruction of this Royal Capital by Archduke-heika. Please do not worry yourself, Alicia-denka. Even so, you are well informed.」
At those words, Princess Alicia bowed once and raised her face. There was the face of a Princess endowed with an indescribable dignity, floating a smile.
「Thank you. However, I am one saved by Archduke-heika. Sean-sama is Heika's proxy; to me, that is the same as Heika. I too am aware of the rude incident last night. The source of the rumors is also probably their retaliation...」
「I see, how should we move against that?」
「If it is alright with you, could you leave this matter to me? This is an evil practice the Cain Kingdom has nurtured for many years, a remote cause that ruined this country, and something unnecessary for the new ruler. Although it will disparage my deceased father and others, I believe it is my duty as a surviving royal to draw the curtain on this.」
Saying so, she took on a resolute expression full of resolve, unsuited for an elegant, innocent young girl. By that intensity, even Sean was unconsciously taken aback... After that, the two held several meetings and began preparations for 『that time』.
※
During the morning of that day, a notification was issued that an 『important announcement』 would be made, deliberately not in the hall of the Royal Palace, but in a corner of a plaza in the commercial district of the Royal Capital. Correspondingly, people with various speculations gathered in the plaza, and some of them waited for the time of the announcement sharpening the claws of malice. Of course, the majority of the gathered people were territory residents who took the rumors seriously, and it goes without saying that they were on the verge of exploding due to their circumstances where even tomorrow's living was uncertain. And... Sean appeared before the waiting crowd and stood on a balcony overlooking the plaza.
「People of the Cain Kingdom, I wish to convey anew words entrusted by our lord, Takuhir-heika, the Archduke of the Westlights Demon Territory Dukedom. The tyrannical invaders have already been struck down and destroyed, and peace has visited you. From here on out, please overcome your sorrow and move forward looking ahead towards reconstruction.」
The eyes of the crowd toward Sean's words were cold. There were even those among them who raised voices similar to booing.
「From here on, the Cain Kingdom will walk the path of reconstruction. The divided three countries will welcome a new King after being unified; The three countries, having pooled their strength, will likely develop into a wealthy and powerful country, no different from the strong country of ancient times. In response to that, we intend to spare no helping hand.」
When Sean spoke this far, those who self-proclaimed to be representatives of the territory residents began to raise their voices in various places.
「Then return the assets those guys stole from us immediately!」
「In the end, it doesn't change the fact that the Dukedom is ruling us, does it!」
「What is an invader saying! Even though you chained the Prince-denka who was supposed to succeed the throne in prison!」
Voices hurling abuse could be heard here and there, but Sean continued without minding. Because this too was anticipated beforehand.
「The wealth we recaptured is not everything that was stolen. I understand everyone's circumstances, but I want you to understand that we cannot return it exactly as everyone requests. We will entrust everything to the new King, and the future of this country...」
「That's a deception, isn't it!」
「Are you planning to deceive us!」
「In the end, you're no different from thieves!」
「Give it back! We can't even manage tomorrow's living!」
「I heard it, the story of the Demon King indiscriminately killing enemy soldiers without mercy on the battlefield!」
「The Demon King has left, so you underling, get out right now!」
Sean's words were drowned out midway by the voices of the clamoring populace. Of course, the voice of a single person could not possibly match the voices of protest raised by hundreds of the populace. The fact that the soldiers under Sean's command remaining in the Royal Capital were few, and that Sean himself was nothing more than a proxy, was also one of the factors that made them raise their voices without reserve even further.
「「「「Get out! And return what you stole!」」」」
When this grand chorus enveloped the plaza, a single young girl appeared beside Sean.
「Calm down! Who are you speaking to? You are raising your words of protest to the wrong person.」
She didn't shout loudly. They were words spoken calmly and indifferently, but her crystal-clear voice echoed throughout the entire plaza. This was a secret measure Takuhir had left for Sean as 『reinforcements』: amplification by a Sound Mage, but the people had no way of knowing that. To begin with, receiving the incident with the merchants, Takuhir was worried about what would happen after he left. Therefore, he had bestowed three measures upon Sean.
· Regarding relief measures, do not deal with the major merchants who are nothing but a harmful effect of the past, but speak directly to the populace.
· To counter the volume of their voices (human wave tactics), entrust him with one of the Sound Mages who accompanied the army.
· Arrange to obtain cooperation from Princess Alicia for restoring public order in the Royal Capital and suppressing the populace. These measures were showing their effects.
「Princess-sama?」
「No way... she was alive?」
「Truly, Alicia-denka?」
「She was alive! Long live the Princess!」
The people who saw her figure and heard her voice began to raise their voices one by one. Among the crowd, there were not a few who fought alongside her and had been anxious about her safety after the Royal Capital fell.
「First, there are two things I must convey to everyone, and I must apologize as someone representing the royal family. To begin with, the origin started with the Cain Kingdom running on its own greed, invading another country, and then being defeated. The suffering we experienced until the other day, in truth, as perpetrators, we were inflicting upon the people of another country!」
「「「「「Such a...」」」」」
To the Princess speaking with an expression of distress, the populace gasped in astonishment. The populace had not been informed much about the fact that their own country had dispatched soldiers for an invasion.
「Of course, this is a crime borne by the royal family, not everyone, and I plan to make amends for it from here on. But...」
Here Princess Alicia looked forward and surveyed the populace. Then, pausing for a beat, she began to speak slowly.
「Archduke-heika of the Westlights Demon Territory Dukedom and the soldiers are risking their lives fighting to save our country—we who carried out an invasion and lost the war—and to liberate us, who were an enemy country, from the invaders. If we do not express gratitude for this, wouldn't we lose something important as human beings?」
「But, in the end, they are plundering our wealth, are they not! With this, they are invaders, not a liberation army!」
「「「「That's right!」」」」
When one man said so, voices agreeing with the man who raised that voice erupted. However, Princess Alicia looked straight at them, puffed out her chest, and argued back resolutely.
「That is incorrect! Archduke-heika also said this: 『We will not requisition any of the recaptured wealth, so I want it used for the reconstruction of the country and to protect the lives of the people』. Knowing those words, I could not help but state the truth upon hearing everyone's words.」
「But what was stolen won't be returned, will it! Then they are no different from the Istoria bastards!」
「「「「In the end, those guys are plunderers too!」」」」
「I do not know what you are pointing to or whose words you received to say such things, but to begin with, our lives were saved. Do you grudge wealth more than your lives? Without even words of gratitude to the lifesavers, do you say such rude things?」
「......」
At those words, this time another man raised his voice.
「If they return all the wealth, we'll give them all the thanks they want! We can't even manage tomorrow's living!」
「Are you not misunderstanding the order? Those words just now, could you have said the same to the invaders? Sean-sama, who is here, was trying to speak about relieving everyone upon receiving Archduke-heika's intent. Do you obstruct that and merely assert your own desires?」
「......」
In place of the man at a loss for a reply, yet a new man raised his voice.
「But what about the imprisoned royalty? They put the person who tried to recover the wealth and reconstruct the former kingdom in prison! Didn't they abolish the legitimate successor to the throne and merely install someone who obeys their will?」
Receiving those words, Princess Alicia floated a fearless smile.
「Whose words are you speaking on behalf of? I do not know where you heard that story, but do you not realize the premise itself is mistaken?」
Here Sean interjected. To supplement Princess Alicia's words.
「When Alicia-denka visited Archduke-heika, she expressed gratitude for liberating the homeland, and simultaneously requested merciful behavior towards the populace in exchange for bearing the crimes of the royal family as invaders.」
This time Sean's words were also amplified by magic, and resounded loudly even to the gathered crowd. Therefore, the objections welling up in various places were also crushed by the volume of the voice.
「However, the imprisoned insolent fool pushed aside Alicia-denka, who holds the fifth rank of succession to the throne, and demanded the throne with a status holding only the thirteenth rank of succession. Furthermore, he attempted to make all the recaptured wealth his own. Who is the legitimate successor to the throne, who thought of the people first, and who is the disrespectful fool who ran on personal greed and self-interest; is it not a clear story?」
「As one of the royalty, I must expose the shame of the royal family. To begin with, our country rushed to invade as a result of collusion between the royal family seeking to gain profit and the merchants. Even the royal family could not ignore the intentions of the major merchants; this country was distorted to that extent.」
「「「That is incorrect!」」」
Those who received the intentions of the pointed-out merchants began clamoring all at once, but Princess Alicia continued her words without minding.
「This country was distorted to the extent that even the King could not ignore the intentions of the major merchants. It is obvious even looking at the fact that right now they are using groundless rumors and personnel to disparage Archduke-heika, our benefactor.」
When she said so, the populace looked at those who had been taking the initiative to raise loud voices up until now. Unlike a little while ago, with gazes holding suspicion...
「The merchants objected to Archduke-sama's policy to distribute funds to support everyone so that you can manage your living for the time being, asserted that they themselves would keep the recaptured wealth, and came saying that rather than 『distributing』 it for relief, they themselves would 『lend』 it. Everyone can understand this difference, right?」
「That's completely different from the story we heard!」
「Being distributed and being lent are completely different.」
「Those guys... prioritizing business even at a time like this.」
「Please understand that malicious rumors were spread by them in order to restrain their actions running on personal greed and self-interest, and to obstruct Archduke-heika's measures to prioritize the lives of the people.」
「So that was it?」
「Were we being deceived?」
「I thought it was a strange story to begin with.」
The people began raising their voices in agreement with the Princess's words one by one, but new instructions flew secretly to those who had been arguing back until now.
「Who is everyone's ally; please do not forget that. Please do not forget the feeling of gratitude for the favors received. Please do not be manipulated by malicious rumors colored with wicked words.」
「Tyrannical!」
「The Princess sold out the country!」
「That exactly is malicious, abusive language!」
「The Princess has lost her sanity!」
「All the guys agreeing are traitors who sold out the homeland!」
The men responding to the instructions began raising their voices all at once in various places and condemning. However... even against that, Princess Alicia did not waver, and cast a gaze of pity upon the men.
「Are you saying that on someone's instructions? You are probably driven into a situation where you have no choice but to say so. But, is that really okay? The ones who protected your families and loved ones, was it the invaders from Istoria? Or was it the person who extended a helping hand despite being hostile?」
「That's right! Alicia-denka fought with us until the very end! She's not a coward like the other royals who abandoned us and fled, or those who just kept hiding.」
「Denka didn't abandon us until the very end. Everyone, think carefully about whose words are correct!」
「I'll believe Denka's words; I haven't lost what's important as a human being, after all.」
Such voices gradually spread, beginning to overwhelm the arguing men.
「Everyone, thank you for your courageous words. I express my gratitude anew. And, what we can do best at the current point, Sean-sama will convey that to you. Please, believe in us and cooperate in reconstruction and the building of a new country. As a successor to the throne, I promise to invest the royal family's treasures and use them to support reconstruction and the people's lives.」
「Gratitude to Alicia-denka!」
「Long live Denka!」
「To the new Queen-heika!」
「We believe in Denka!」
While the populace responded with loud cheers, the support measures presented by Sean afterwards were also favorably received by the territory residents. Having cooled down, they were able to properly understand that those were the 『best possible measures』. From this day on, the Royal Capital of the Cain Kingdom united as one, the four major merchants who had been spreading disturbing rumors and inciting the populace, those who ruled the Cain Kingdom from the shadows, lost credibility and fell from power, and all the major trading companies that followed their stance lost the means to rebel and lay low. Here, the evil practice that dominated the Cain Kingdom was abolished, and the soil to accept the new governance was prepared. And at a later date, they would welcome the new King of the unified three countries, but by that time, the cooperation system of the Cain Kingdom headed by Princess Alicia was prepared. It goes without saying that supported by Sean, the soldiers of the Cain Kingdom, and the active roles of civil officials who were fed up with the old evils, the subsequent unification was carried out without delay.
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