Chapter 96: Seriousness of the Great Empire ③
The smooth advance of the Revolutionary Army Rebellion has subsided.
The garrison troops that were oppressing various areas were destroyed by mysterious magic, and the Ice Corps launched a counterinvasion.
Alternatively, assassinate the commander class with a black knight.
It was all the work of Flarous of the Universal Truth, Lufil of the Frozen Princess Palace, and Cromlia, the Enma Black Blade.
"Hmph. When I opened the lid, it was like this. It seems like the Holy Grineer Awakened Magician, who I thought would be a nuisance, wasn't a big deal."
Emperor Geass said as he let out his tiredness.
There are piles of completed documents on his office desk, all of which have been processed.
Grand Duke Noahs is also working in the same office, and I'm still sorting through documents.
"No way...I never thought anyone other than the Holy Grineer would use our country's trump card."
"It's definitely not a good choice."
Like the Emperor, Grand Duke Souths, who had finished the paperwork, agreed with Noahs.
Currently, most of the aristocrats of the Great Svalokia Empire are in a state of decline. I have completed preparations to find a relative of the deceased nobleman and install him as the new head of the family. It is safe to think that the confusion has subsided for the time being.
"A reversal... It took a lot of effort and time to get to this point. And resources."
Not only was it a hassle in terms of time and effort, but it was also a disaster in terms of finances.
There were frequent thefts at banks in the imperial capital, and the contents of the safes were stolen. The dexterity with which this safe was cracked, and the stealth nature of not noticing that it was being taken out, were the work of ``Hai Mouse'' and ``Red Rabbit.'' I realized that right away.
"Anyway, that black cat is in a split state. How do you see it?"
“On our side were Tenbin, Wakaeda, White Snake, Gensho, and Ryuu. It was a relief that that horrible underground organization supported us for free, but... It's indescribably creepy. Is it really that terrifying, the Grim Reaper?''
“If you believe their stories, it seems like that Hades.”
“I thought that he was an awakened magician who had lived since ancient times due to his skill in killing former General Ruto, but I never imagined that he was actually a monster. I understand how deadly the consequences can be."
The "king" of monsters is special.
The magic used by normal monsters is similar to what humans would call magic equipment. However, the race of each monster is fixed to some extent. Therefore, it is easy to deal with. But magic draws the line. That is a new law, and magical equipment and magic that operate within the scope of normal laws will not work. It's at a level where you can barely keep up with the Awakening Magic Equipment you've trained in.
In other words, in order to defeat the "king" monster, multiple awakened magicians are required.
As can be seen from the fact that the Great Empire of Sbarokia did not take the trouble to subjugate the immortal king Zenon Life, there was no benefit to subjugating the "king" monster. He is an opponent whose only sacrifices will increase. If I do something wrong, I run the risk of losing my trump card, the Awakened Magician.
I'd rather not interfere than challenge you.
If the Great Empire is going to be at a disadvantage, I will finally take it seriously.
This is an opponent that requires careful handling.
"Even for me, I can't regret what happened with former General Ruto."
Noahs, who finished the last piece, also agreed.
Contrary to his rough tone, he also has the qualifications and education to be a Grand Duke. While he was aware of the horror of the ``King'' monster, he also understood the importance of Ruto.
``The Frozen Princess Palace Lufil, who alone can rival a country, the golden invincible Garudros who is an invincible shield, the Universal Truth Flarous who is a magic genius, the Enma black blade Cromlia who has many uses for combat and assassination, and the world's strongest one-on-one. Hirein, the Secret Sword Saint. It was a type of ability that these guys didn't have. I really wanted that wide-area annihilation ability."
Ruto was also an active general, so it was easy to send him out as a unit.
Awakened Magicians serve as regular soldiers for a certain period of time, and are given the title by the Emperor when the time is right. The Awakened Magician who has earned the title becomes the most important hidden force, and even his nationality is erased.
In return, your life will be guaranteed and you will not have any inconvenience.
Its existence will continue to be hidden for the sake of the time to come.
"But it's a shame. The Golden Undefeated Gardross was assassinated, and the abilities of Frozen Palace Lufil were revealed. The power of Frozen Princess Palace Lufil was supposed to be kept secret until the battle with the Holy Grineer, but..."
“It can’t be helped, Your Majesty.”
"Ah. There are many things to reflect on, but there are also many benefits."
We have lost a lot, but we also have an opportunity.
They now have an excuse to absorb all the countries that were only vassal states and completely rule them as the Great Empire of Sbarokia. And now that it is a home country rather than a vassal state, it will no longer be exploited as before. We plan to collect fair taxes in accordance with the law.
If you think it's a whip, give them candy.
This will change the people's feelings from hatred toward the great empire to gratitude, and perfect their rule. After all, the people don't care who their ruler is as long as they can live comfortably. Because of this rebellion, all the royal families of the vassals are exterminated, and the flag of the rebellion disappears.
Although there were many bad things, not everything was bad.
The reason why they were able to correct their course like this was simply because the Emperor and Grand Duke were extremely talented. The system of selecting the most talented person from the four grand duchies as emperor was successful, and the country did not become a corrupt imperial state. He has always worked to make the Sbarokian Empire prosper, not himself or the people.
The accumulation of these efforts led to a reversal.
"There's no point in hiding the Awakened Magicians anymore. Let's raise the subjugation army and leave the rest to the Awakened Magicians. Since we've come to great lengths, we'd like to show them perfectly rather than half-heartedly."
"I'm sure the Holy Grineer guys will also refrain from introducing Awakened Magicians. They definitely won."
“Please ask ``Ryuu'' to harass you instead of Banshoshinri Flarous or Enma Black Blade Cromlia. Noahs, I asked you to do it.''
“Leave it to me.”
“Also, according to the story of Universal Truth Flarous, it seems that a new ``king'' of the immortal genus was born in the sacred Grineer. There is a monster called Sherry who uses blood magic. Think about whether there is a way to use that. I will leave this to Sauz.''
“Let’s get it together by tomorrow.”
Then, perhaps remembering after hearing about the Universal Truth Flarouth, Saus explained to the emperor about the big problem that had hit the imperial capital.
"Also, Your Majesty, it appears that the incident of the moving corpse has come to an end. In addition to Bansho Shinri Flarous, the executives of Black Cat have cooperated with us. It turns out that the incident was caused by a special bacteria."
"Are you saying it's a bacteria? Are you saying you're sick?"
"It's a disease, but it's mutated by magic."
“You mean it’s artificial?”
"That's what it will be like."
The fact that it can be caused artificially means that there is a high possibility that it will not end unless the culprit is found. Having to fear bioterrorism, which may occur at any time, is stressful for Geass as well.
However, there was some unexpected good news.
"The Black Cat executives are dealing with this bacterium. 'Wakaeda' and 'Gensho' are working on countermeasures. We don't want to depend on the dark organization, but Bansho Shinri Flarous is also busy. hey"
“That kind of thing is too late.”
As much as possible, the national organization should not rely on underground organizations.
If illegal methods continue to be used, the public will come to believe that they are the right thing to do. This will lead to a disturbance in public order and the collapse of the nation. Therefore, the use of underground organizations must be made at the most opportune time.
But Geass didn't care anymore.
He also made contracts with several magician guilds active in the Great Empire, ostensibly requesting a private organization. It's just that there are dark organizations mixed in. The design is such that when you hit it, dust comes out, but you won't notice it just by looking at it.
Now that most of the nobles are dead, there is no one who can deeply investigate the movements of Geass.
I was confident that as long as I did the superficial manipulation, no one would find out.
"We were slow in our initial response and almost lost a battle we didn't have to lose. We finally counterattacked."
Geass finally spoke without hiding his expression.
◆◆◆
Looking at the map, it was clear that the revolutionary army, Rebellion, was gradually being subdued and on the verge of being driven out of the border. Shu and Iris created a map based on the information from Hawk Eye and were formulating a strategy.
"The Awakened Magician is stronger than I imagined."
"Yes, especially I heard that Frozen Palace Lufil is the oldest magician who serves the great empire. She is a magician who makes herself the queen and creates the nation itself. The ice is created from a huge amount of magical power that can be recovered without limit. The kingdom is impregnable."
"If it's a country, it's a forbidden spell so it can't be erased?"
"Iris-san's opinion is understandable, but even if you erase it with a forbidden spell, it will be redeployed. As expected, it will be difficult unless you kill Lufil in the Frozen Princess Palace."
Moreover, Frozen Palace Luffy is not the only awakened magician.
There's also Enma Black Blade Cromlia, who controls a demonic black knight, and Banshojiri Flarous, who can independently activate forbidden spells and divine spells. These three are the awakened magicians that ``Takame'' has investigated.
“There is also another Awakened Magician who is probably a skilled swordsman.”
“Probably.”
"Yes. I deduced it based on multiple pieces of information. Also, he is the only awakened magician who has not shown any activity. The other magicians were active, so I managed to gather information."
“In any case, the Revolutionary Army Rebellion cannot advance unless we kill the three Awakened Magicians first.”
"Yes, that's a new request."
``Takame'' shows a piece of paper.
It was a request from the Revolutionary Army Rebellion.
"As written here, we have made a contract that if you kill one Awakened Magician, you will receive 1,000 gold coins. If you kill three, we will pay you an additional 2,000 gold coins."
"So that's a total of 5,000 gold coins."
That's a lot of money that an average person can play with for a lifetime.
However, the gold coin itself has no meaning. The Great Empire of Sbarokia, where gold coins are accepted, is scheduled to be destroyed, so gold coins will no longer be usable. Shu didn't want gold coins, he wanted the gold used in gold coins.
Since gold can be exchanged for cash anywhere, it will be useful even after the Great Empire of Sbarokia falls.
As long as banknotes are commonly circulated in the sacred Grineer and surrounding countries, after the Great Svalokia Empire disappears, the world will likely become centered around banknotes. If you save money now, you can live without having to work even in a world ruled by demon religion.
"However, 'Shinigami'-san. There is one problem."
"problem?"
“Aside from Lufil, the Frozen Princess Palace, we can’t find the locations of Bansho Shinri Flarous and Enma Black Blade Cromlia. It’s a problem.”
"That's troublesome."
Even if you want to assassinate someone, it doesn't matter if you don't know where the target is.
Up until now, Shu has left the information on assassination targets to others. Therefore, Shu himself cannot be said to have a high ability to gather information. Moreover, the location of the Awakened Magician, who is the subject of secrecy, cannot be easily known.
"...I can't help it. For now, I'll kill Lufil in the Frozen Princess Palace."
“But Mr. Shu, what are we going to do after that?”
"We have no choice but to lure him in. Let's start with 'Takame'."
"Is that so? But it is efficient. Does that mean that as long as you kill Lufil in the Frozen Princess Palace, anything will happen?"
“Well.”
Shu and ``Hawk Eye'' seem to understand each other, but Iris doesn't seem to understand what they're talking about. Her cheeks puffed out in frustration.
"Already! Shu-san and 'Takame'-san are the only ones plotting evil again!"
Iris doesn't have much to do these days.
"I can tell you what Shu is doing, but I can't get involved in it."
For Iris, that was dissatisfying.
"I also worked hard to reduce the size of the forbidden spell! I also want a job."
“Even Iris…”
Shu thought about it for a while.
And after a pause he answered.
“Then please help me.”
Iris smiled heartily at those words.
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