Read Novel Full Chapter 299
Chapter 299
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Chapter 299 – Naked Elf
The situation of the “Saint of the Kingdom,” who is now the “Saint of Fort Ilm,” as Loringen-shi told me, was something that made it difficult for me to react. However, I couldn’t just leave it at that, and I was also concerned about the movements of the Imperial Army, which seemed to have entered the Republic’s territory, so I decided to check out the current situation for the time being…
“Whoaa!?”
“Kyaaaa!?”
As I was storing the Griffon in the merchant guild’s warehouse, a naked Ecla-san and Hjelmar appeared.
You may not know what I’m talking about, but that’s okay; I don’t either. Even Loringen-shi, who led me to the warehouse, looked at it with a blank stare.
By the way, “whoaa⁉︎” is Ecla-san, and “kyaaaa⁉︎” is Hjelmar. It is interesting and complicated because it seems to show their hidden mentality.
“Hey, Takifu, what are you doing?”
“That’s what I want to ask you, Ecla-dono.”
Covering both of them with the blanket that had been hastily placed on top of the wooden box, a stunned Myrril let out a sigh.
“You probably thought you were going to sneak aboard and get a ride with us, but… why go to all this trouble?”
“You’re going to attack the Emperor, aren’t you? If no one from the Republic is with you, you’ll kill everyone again, and the bodies will disappear, and we won’t know what happened before and after.”
“If that was the case, you should have just talked to us instead of trying to sneak in. It wouldn’t have mattered much if we had a few more people with us.”
“Huh?”
“I thought you were going to exterminate people because of your extermination magic tool or something.”
What do these people take me for? If they are quiet and do not interfere, there is no particular reason to reject them. I don’t know if it’s right for Ecla-san to abandon her work as a council member, but… It’s none of my business.
“I thought you wanted to go with the ‘hobakurafuto.'”
Hjelmar asked, shivering in the cold. This one… was probably just dragged into the witch’s hands from the master’s side.
“It’s making a lot of noise. If the false emperor’s group is still out there, I thought we could use another vehicle to keep a low profile until we get out of Hagwai.”
The roads in Hagwai have been cleared of snow, so I talked to Myrril about taking the Ural, a motorcycle with a sidecar. We ended up taking the Griffon again. The Ural can carry up to three people, but with four, it’s like an acrobatic troupe.
I returned the hovercraft and the stowed clothes and started the engine. Our movements were obvious, but there was nothing we could do about it. Even if we move stealthily, we are still being watched.
“…Achoo! Ah, geez! If I catch a cold from this, I’ll look so disgraceful!”
I don’t know if it was a backhanded gesture or an attempt to hide her embarrassment, but when Hjelmar and I heard Ecla-san blurt it out while changing in the rear compartment, we both tilted our heads. I remember a few days ago, you said something about elves not catching colds.
“Why am I involved in the Council’s decision to monitor the Demon King?”
“Yes, I understand how you feel. But isn’t it strange that you are asking us about this?”
“Perhaps because of her position, Ecla-dono is not very good at asking for favors. She is hiding her embarrassment. Just listen to her and let her do her thing.”
I guess that’s true, isn’t it?
Well, I thanked Loringen-shi, who came out to see us off for the vehicle and the information and told him that I would be out for a few days. He seemed to have some business to discuss, but we’ll talk about it when we get back.
“Sorry about that. I think Ecla is also half worried about the Demon King and his wife because of this. I don’t know why, but when she gets caught up in her personal feelings, she suddenly becomes childish…”
“There’s no need to say unnecessary things, Shua! You should make a reorganization plan for the inland areas!”
The elven giant shrugged as if to say, “Oh, dear.” I don’t know about their friendship, but if she calls him ‘Shua,’ they must be close friends. Loringen-shi bows his head to us as he is forced to the side of the road to avoid a turning hovercraft.
“Ecla-san, we’re going to Fort Ilm. Is that okay with you?”
“Yes, you can go wherever you want and move as you please.”
Ecla-san holds the communication circle in her hand and makes a difficult face. The Republic Council wanted to send the Imperial Negotiating Team (a so-called Disturbance Unit) to the border with surveillance, but when we informed them of the Imperial Army’s planned invasion, they took the group into custody. They were protected under the guise of an emergency situation, but in reality, they were under house arrest.
“If they want to do this, the game is over. I won’t let them do anything else until this war is over.”
There seem to be no written rules of war in this world, and the treatment of prisoners of war is a matter of luck. War is also a localized war of annihilation until one side or the other runs out of money or troops. Fortunately or unfortunately, there is no total war. Rather, it is not possible unless it is a very small country because the logistics depend on horses.
The case of the Casemaians is a special case.
“But from the looks of it, they’re pawns to be discarded. It doesn’t look like they’ll be of any use in stopping the invasion.”
“It’s okay; they are connected to the capital. They could at least replace the communication circle.”
We left the walls of Hagwai and pointed the Griffon in a northwesterly direction. It seemed to be about a hundred miles to the fort, and we still could not see a single anomaly. It would be a long, quiet ride through the snowfields for a while.
“If it was necessary to have a guard, why Ecla-san? The board member didn’t have to come all the way out here; why not send a deputy or a low-level person?”
Or Hjelmar, for that matter?
In the rear compartment of the Griffon, Ecla-san and Hjelmar spread out their luggage. A black short bow, a quiver of arrows, a magic staff, and a black cloak with a different atmosphere. It was embroidered with what looked like a magic circle, so it was some kind of camouflage equipment for undercover work?
“What are you going to do to leave such an interesting thing to someone else? I’m tired of dealing with idiots and doing paperwork.”
Perhaps frustration was building up, but Ecla-san was in a strange mood. Hjelmarr had just caught up with the “Witch of Sarz,” who he couldn’t stand up to.
“The “Murderer of 30,000” and the “Demon King of Annihilation” were going head-to-head with the Emperor. How could I miss such a big game?”
No, she confessed that she had nothing to do with the surveillance but was just a curious spectator.
“…This is a matter between the Empire and the Casemaians, you know?”
“No, I won’t touch anything. I’ll just watch.”
This witch is too honest.
“Don’t talk nonsense to me after stirring up trouble in our peace negotiations.”
Whether it’s diplomacy or domestic affairs, I want to maintain my dignity as the head of another country and the head of Casemaian, even if they have a cooperative or friendly relationship. That’s what I wanted to say, but… I should not have said that. It is true that I completely destroyed the peace negotiations between the Republic and the Empire. But I can’t help but feel that I was played by the chairman of the council.
“That was the plan all along, wasn’t it? Both Ecla-san and the chairman knew it was a fake, so you let the guy float around.”
“If you mean an impostor, then of course we would know. It’s obvious that he’s more than ten years older than the Emperor I saw in the audience before. It seems that he has cast a cloaking spell, but that in itself is like saying that he is hiding something.”
Myrril-san, who was sitting on the gun emplacement, also snickered as she swayed her legs.
“I’ve never seen the Emperor before. With such a bad performance, even children can’t be fooled.”
“Even if they wanted to use an impostor, couldn’t they have done something better? The Emperor may have run out of talent, just like… the Republic.”
What is that suspicious look, Ecla-san? Are you saying it’s my fault? It may have been my fault for destroying the golem and the soldiers, but I don’t remember killing the Emperor’s dummy.
“Yoshua. There was that ship you sank in the eastern waters and the inner bay of Cassmeer, wasn’t there?”
Myrril looked at me as if something had occurred to her.
“Oh, the ship we sank. There were quite a few of them.”
“After the Rebel and Imperial forces conquered the Republic, wouldn’t it be the most obvious way to declare a quick occupation if a force led by the Emperor occupied the capital?”
“Uh. Are you saying that the gunboat that was blown up at sea was carrying an impostor emperor?”
“It’s possible, isn’t it? For the rebels, it would be a great selling point for their rule to advertise that they were with the Emperor.”
“A giant golem would be even better.”
The generals of the Imperial Army, who had no intention of losing, brought in their most valuable possessions, but they drew the unexpected devil’s bargain and lost all their bets. If this is true, there is no good force left at home. Even though the domestic reactionary forces have been wiped out, the emperor has already been stuffed.
Isn’t it rather strange that… so many forces have left on their own, and no one has noticed or stopped them and folded their hands?
“…..”
“What is it, Takifu?”
“I heard that the civil war in the Republic was the result of the courage of the generals who had fallen out of the mainstream of the imperialists. Is it possible that they were all directed by the Emperor from the beginning?”
“Yes, it is possible. Whether he did it or not, he almost certainly gave his tacit approval.”
Yes. The emperor has sole control over the military, so even though the number of soldiers is smaller than that of the kingdom, it is said to be more efficient and powerful. In such a country, if the army and navy, which number in the tens of thousands, were to break away from the emperor’s command and take independent military action, the emperor’s rule would collapse. If the reactionary forces were to raise troops at all, the emperor would be the one to turn to. Even if the Emperor were able to take over the Republic, it would only lead to a war with the motherland.
Although the Emperor’s character is still unclear, we cannot read what he is thinking and what his situation is. I feel like I’ve been watching a big farce for a long time.