“The Kingdom won’t be unduly harmed even if the Princess dies, but on the contrary, the Empire is finished if Your Majesty perishes. We, the Four Knights, might be able to deal with assassins, but other factors are a different matter entirely, so I hope Your Majesty does not immerse himself too deeply into his work.”
“Of course. No matter the reason, I cannot allow myself to die before a strong government has been formed for the Empire.”
If the head of an organization ―its most critical person― was lost, it implied that the catastrophic collapse of the organization would soon follow.
The Empire might become a great nation in the future. If anyone knew this and wanted to prevent it, they would sacrifice anything to forestall that rise by turning the Emperor into a martyr. The most likely suspects were the nearby countries, like the Kingdom and the Theocracy.
Part of the reason why he wanted Ijaniya under his wing was so that they could be used as counter-assassins.
“That’s right, if Your Majesty were to perish, things would be troublesome. We have divine magic casters on standby to ward against poison and injury, but in the end, we still lack sufficient skilled personnel for these duties. I wish my dabbling in that field was more extensive, but my grasp of divine magic is still inadequate to the task.”
“Well, you’re already excellent as an arcane magic caster, so a small weakness like that can’t be helped. Oh, yes. We’ve asked for the Theocracy’s help, but haven’t received any response from them. Why not let the temples of the Four Gods and the minor gods compete with each other? Then let the Empire back whichever of the faith that produces the best results.”
Competition was the driving force for the development of new techniques. However, the mention of that made Roune shake his head violently, tossing his sparse hair about his forehead.
“It’s too dangerous. The temples in the Empire are supported by donations from the populace, and they remain independent by selling various products only they know how to manufacture. If the Empire exerts any undue influence on them or interferes with their livelihoods, the repercussions could be… severe.”
“That’s true… if only we could nationalize the various temples, the Empire would grow stronger. In that respect, the Theocracy has done an excellent job. I wonder what methods they used to keep the priests in line all these centuries?”
“The practice of divine magic is closely linked to everyone’s health, so I think it would be a good idea if we could have more divine magic casters be knights, or at least, teach knights how to use divine magic. Hacking and slashing at monsters with swords alone only produces casualties.”
Baziwood was a man who had had to hunt down monsters in the past, and he had spent his fair share of time on the edge of death. He nodded, and continued in a low tone.
“Personally, I would feel safer if I could count on resurrection magic. With that, we could reduce the number of situations where people mourned the loss of talented young men. Although, I’ve heard that resurrection magic consumes life force, and ordinary people will be reduced to glowing ash if they’re resurrected. Is that true?”
Fluder shifted his body forward.
Perhaps this old man had been the Emperor’s tutor for too long, or perhaps it was because his pet topic of magic had come up, but now, he was speaking animatedly, his eyes alight. Jircniv knew the old man would ramble on and on once he started on this subject, and Baziwood saw a look of annoyance cross the young Emperor’s face.
“That is a fact. Among the fifth-tier divine spells, the resurrection magic ‘Raise Dead’ consumes vast quantities of life force. Perhaps higher-tiered resurrection spells might reduce the requirement for life force… but no living person can use those, so that is merely academic. Then again, I have heard that the Dragon Lords and their ancient magic could return the dead to life without the loss of any life force―”
“―Then, could the Queen of the Draconic Kingdom achieve such feats?”
“An excellent question, Varmilinen. Indeed, that country’s queen has been confirmed to have inherited the ability to use what we call ancient magic, or primal magic, or perhaps the magic of the soul. There are many names for this kind of magic. This is because the blood of the Brightness Dragon Lord flows within her veins ― that is known. The only question is whether or not she can use resurrection magic. Ancient magic and our current style of magic are completely different from each other, and we who can only use modern magic may never be able to understand it.”
Fluder closed his mouth, and at the same time Jircniv stared at him. Although irritation and worry was evident on Jircniv’s face, Fluder’s next words put him at ease.
“Ancient magic… how I want to research it. If only those with the bloodline of the Brightness Dragon Lord can use it, then the pedigree is the most important thing. Therefore, I feel that if Your Majesty is to wed, he would do well to select that Queen or one of her relatives…”
“Give me a break, Gramps… I’m not interested in old hags who pretend to be little girls…”
He did not even want to think about having to marry the woman who ranked second on his list of most hated women. In addition, even if he did not love his offspring, it would be far too cruel to have them become guinea pigs.
Even so, if he had to weigh that cruelty against the benefits the Empire would reap, there was no telling which course of action he would decide on.
At this moment, a loud knocking came from the carriage door.
This carriage had been fitted with defenses against physical attacks and information-type magic. The entire chassis was covered in metal sheeting, and as such it didn’t even have windows. Baziwood stood and cracked the door open to peek outside ― or rather, at the person who had knocked on the door.
Although they were surrounded by knights protecting them and he was sure that this person was a friendly, he couldn’t help but remain on guard against an unexpected situation.
“Your Majesty, it’s Leinas.”
“Open the door.”
The fresh air from the plains flowed in as the door opened fully, blowing through the hair of everyone within. During this season, the air coming in from the outside should have been cold, but the breeze that reached the people inside was comfortably warm.
Needless to say, this was the result of magic used on this carriage.
The rider keeping pace with the carriage was the woman who had been at the head of the formation.
“Forgive me, Your Majesty. There’s―”
It was hard to make out her words over the rushing of the wind between them.
“This is no way to talk. Come in, don’t stand on ceremony.”
“Understood. Then, permit me this intrusion.”
With that, she gracefully vaulted off her horse and landed elegantly in the doorway of the moving carriage. Although she made it look simple, given that she was wearing full plate armor and that both her horse and the carriage were moving at a full gallop, it was proof that she had considerable athletic ability.
Still, that was only to be expected of one of the Four Knights that were the pride of the Empire.