The Loner Who Conquers the Other World
chapter-221

Day 58 – Royal Capital, Royal Castle

There will be a civil war. An internal strife under a decline so heavy that sustaining national power will not be possible. That is in case it can be called internal. The great nobles. They already turned traitors, becoming puppets of foreign states. And now they began swarming for the magic stones of the frontier, the last bastion of loyalty. That’s the last thing left for the kingdom. And they want to plunder even that.

「Your Excellency, here is the result of our investigation of the current information. We can’t assure its reliability, but this is the result of our analysis and filtering of all the information that we obtained so far. The time won’t allow us to do more.」

If only my older brother, the king, regained consciousness, we could break this deadlock, but there is no time left. To think that I’ll have to meet sir Mellotosam as an enemy… No, that is precisely what I cannot allow the brother to do. I can’t bear even the thought of the brother and count Mellotosam opposing each other. If only this could’ve been resolved with my, the Royal Prince’s defeat, if only it would have brought peace to the country, I would’ve gladly gone to die in battle, but the cause is so deep and circumstances are so complicated that it won’t solve anything. This issue was bound to come up one day, but we have no solution ready even now.

And I have no excuse to give sir Mellotosam. He simply kept enduring it all for the King’s sake, enduring hardships for the royal family, resigning himself to humiliation. And as soon as the King collapsed with the illness, the great nobles began doing as they please, and finally, even sir Mellotosam’s life became a target of those nobles. But even those transgressions they managed to cover up by sacrificing some small nobles under them.

「So you are saying, that a brat aspiring to become an adventurer, who is yet to reach even level 20, had an accident in the great dungeon, and fell to the lowest floor. The brat, that miraculously survived, returned with the treasures of the dungeon master, that died in the cave-in, and is using that money to buy up and monopolize the frontier?」

「This is merely a deduction from connecting pieces of information that had credibility to them, but I reckon this version is the closest one to the truth. The rest of it are absurd tall stories, no different from fairytales, or some heroic epics overdramatized for fun, utterly lacking in authenticity. According to the latest information, he is surrounded by 20 beautiful maidens, guarded by 10 brawny A-class adventurers, renting an entire inn all for himself has luxurious meals there every day, and wastes fortunes playing around in the town.」

As an attempt to compromise, I tried sending an envoy to have that adventurer and the treasures delivered to the capital, but they couldn’t accept that. I even heard that sir Mellotosam flew into a fit of rage over the request to hand over a mere adventurer.

「Then why is that frontier’s count Mellotosam Shim Omui protecting such a frivolous brat? Isn’t there no possible reason to refuse the handover to the point of going to the war with the kingdom?」

「He isn’t protecting that youngster, he is defying the will of the kingdom. Using the breach of the old covenant as an excuse and the kid as a pretense, he is trying to threaten the kingdom by cutting the supply of magic stones. As proof of that, we have information that a giant fortress was built at the entrance to the frontier, which suggests that he was preparing for this for a long time. Judging from the scale of the castle, it’s not something that began just some 5 years ago. I can’t tell if his goal is a rebellion or the frontier’s independence, he is likely evaluating information coming from here.」

The frontier should’ve long since reached its limit. Located in the most dangerous area, the domain of Omui, that served as the protection of the continent was driven into poverty by the great nobles. They kept fighting monsters of the Evil Forest without the ability to obtain adequate equipment. The fact that they still haven’t perished under such conditions is a miracle in itself. And the foolishness of the great nobles that think of nothing but plundering it for magic stones and stuffing their pockets despite the fall of Omui meaning the destruction of the kingdom itself, is not just appalling but outright revolting!

But he managed to create a fortress in such circumstances? Moreover, working on it for many years. It’s hard to believe, but if he really went that far in his preparations, then it makes sense that negotiations would be fruitless.

「But is it possible to gain victory over the frontier army led by that Mellotosam Shim Omui? And he even built a fortress, so he must be ready for war.」

「But we can’t falter. If we pull back here, the kingdom will split, and become unable to operate as a country. It would be great if the matter was resolved peacefully, the kingdom won’t be able to withstand a war that would follow a break up. We have no time. The treasury is empty, even repayment of our foreign debts is under question.」

「Even the royal guard led by Shariceres was annihilated! Who is going to accomplish that? Our best elites couldn’t even take a step into the frontier, beating it in battle aside, can we even reach the frontier?」

I held a faint hope that Shariceres could bring things to negotiations, but… She clearly went there to die. And even if she did her best for the sake of the kingdom, and reached the frontier, there is no way she could point her sword at sir Mellotosam. She was planning to die there to stop the great nobles. She was planning to use her own life to drive a wedge into the matter.

But even that ended in nothing. However, Shariceres was sheltered by sir Mellotosam. This might be for the best.

「……There is no other choice but to replace young nobles that did nothing but watch borders previously, and attack with the entire army. An army that is nothing but private troops of several great nobles bunched together won’t be much of a challenge. But the first prince Gvaday seems to be in full support of the great nobles. It could become a source of problems in the future if we abandon them here.」

「Abandon them. Who cares about the future problems. Thanks to those shameless greedy bastards we have to clash with the frontier! I can’t possibly entrust the country to idiots who are still going along with that.」

This is too foolish.

But the second prince is making no moves despite the situation. The others are just children, and are too far down the line of succession to be considered. But someone has to take over the royal family. When my brother recovers it won’t be a distant issue anymore. But Shariceres is not going to engage in a bloody cutthroat struggle for succession. In that case, it might be an unexpected stroke of luck that she is in Count Mellotosam’s care. The possibility of her being assassinated if she remained here is too high. She is popular with both the military and the people, meanwhile, the first prince only has a bad reputation in excess and not a shred of popularity, so the royal castle is the most dangerous place for her.

「I will not be ordering the royal army into action. Summon one small unit from nearby. Even if negotiations are pointless, I have to meet sir Mellotosam one last time. Even more so since my brother cannot go himself. At least I should go out… Even if everything is too late, I still must go.」

Is there nothing for us but inevitable ruin? It’s almost comical that the best thing that can happen for us is, ironically, Count Mellotosam rebelling and taking over the kingdom. There is no other hope for us. But I also know that sir Mellotosam will never rebel.

If the kingdom, the throne, was what they desired, then any head of Omui house throughout the ages could’ve taken it. Even so, the successive heads of Omui house always remained the most loyal to the kingdom and royal family.

The successive kings all gave their gratitude to Omui house, and shed tears for the Omui counts that perished in the Evil Forest. Without seeking power or influence, they simply kept fighting for the sake of the people, the heroic house, Omui.

Who else would be more fit to rule the kingdom. We, Diorer Royal family, are no more that foolish and incompetent decorations, that were continuously helped and saved by Omui house, but all we paid them with was resentment.

But now, the kingdom is doomed. Corrupt and rotting from the inside, ending up with the money-crazed nobles selling out the country to the neighbors.

And they are trying to turn the only bargaining chip we have for dealing with the outside, magic stones, into gold for the nobles, even putting pressure on the frontier to rip them off. It came to the point where it would’ve only been natural if we were killed a long time ago. We went that far.

My last act would be meeting Count Mellotosam in my brother’s stead. There is nothing I can possibly say to him, but at the very least, I want to apologize as a member of the royal family. Even that might be presumptuous but there is nothing else I can do.

「What’s the current situation and the plan of the noble’s army? If the kingdom is going to fall anyway, then pincering them together with the frontier’s army and massacring them right there could be amusing too? 」

「T-that is too much even for a joke! If such divisive words were to leak outside it would undoubtedly become a large issue. If Your Excellency intends on supporting the frontier, they might brand even Your Excellency a traitor. 」

There is no way that I can stop the worst outcome that even my brother, that even the King couldn’t stop.

And while the King is unable to act, the worst is turning even worse. It’s getting worse than the worst situation we could’ve anticipated.

By now, the troops of the nobles are far more numerous than the royal army. And the royal army itself is split, with part of it allying with the nobles. It won’t even be a fight.

That weird kid and his treasures is the only condition which might allow for a compromise. Without that there is nothing to bring things to negotiations with the nobles and the church that is backing them.

If Count Omui wasn’t protecting him, it might’ve been possible to take him into custody and crush the nobles’ just cause. Even though protecting all of the people is Omui, he is being way too obstinate.

Since the nobles won’t pull back unless some concessions are made, that is the only available compromise. And if that can’t be achieved, then civil war is the only path left.

But does that lot really think that the royal family and noble riffraff can beat the frontier’s army just because they bunched up? Does it mean that garbage hasn’t even seen the frontier? Do they really think that troops of the nobles, who can’t squash even a small dungeon, will be able to contend with the warriors of the frontier, who continuously fight in the monster-dominated forest of demons?

「It seems the rescue of Shariceres has failed, but that was nothing more than an assassination under the guise of rescue anyway. Now even the pretext for negotiations is eliminated. In the first place, we are not in a position to negotiate, neither do we have anything to offer.」

「We have no means left but to crush the frontier. There is no way to avoid the war. Please, I beg you understand…」

「Are you saying we should kill Count Omui? The hero of the kingdom and its great benefactor? And you think the people will tolerate that?」

「……Otherwise, the kingdom will fall, and the people will become vagrants without a country to call home. And… The continent will fall into chaos. It’s not about should we or should we not, we have no other option. Even if we are talking about that Omui.」

Fall by our own folly. The situation progressed to the stage where offering the heads of the princes along with my own still won’t be enough to settle things. I have to go. To Omui.

If possible, I’d like to shut the noble rabble up by handing them that adventurer brat, and then move to negotiations with Count Omui. Apologize, even if it requires offering him a few royal heads. As for the nobles, there is no other option but to compromise by giving them that kid. This is the last path left for me. Even if I have to hand over my own head. If it comes to a civil war… The kingdom will fall.