I guess I should go meet the Great Sage.
Even aside from Ollie’s situation, that guy has been getting on my nerves lately to an unusual degree. The fact that he came looking for me, and how the current peace feels like the calm before a storm.
Rather than getting blindsided later and rolling around like a dog, it might be better to start preparing now.
Even if I’m not planning to be openly hostile right away, I should at least probe what he’s thinking.
“I plan to summon the Great Sage, try to gauge what he’s thinking, and if things go wrong, take him down on the spot.”
“That truly sounds like you. For someone who says he’s going to talk, the first thing on your mind is stabbing him in the back.”
“Stabbing him in the back? Let’s call it a strategic choice.”
Meeting the Great Sage.
It’s an extremely dangerous thing.
So if I’m going to make preparations accordingly, what’s the problem?
“So I was hoping you could deliver this document to His Majesty and get his approval…”
“If you’re planning to use your position as a staff officer, wouldn’t it be better to ask him directly?”
“His Majesty the Emperor is scary.”
I’d rather not even see his face if I can help it.
“Well, he scares me too…”
I guess Lobelia is human after all, since she’s afraid of the Emperor.
Up until now, seeing how she grits her teeth every time the Emperor is mentioned, I thought she was like a fearless puppy that didn’t know the terror of a tiger.
“Anyway, wouldn’t it be better to make things certain while we’re at it?”
So I’m thinking of mobilizing the entire Guillotine Knights. If I drag them all along, the other side might get suspicious.
But if I say I brought them secretly because I was scared, what could they really do about it?
In reality, I am weak, and I’ve always shown this kind of cowardly behavior, so even if they suspect something, they won’t really be able to say much.
Of course, because of that, the meeting itself might get canceled. If they find it too burdensome, well, what can I do?
In that case, I’ll just have the knights fall back.
“And when the knights withdraw, I’ll use that opening to call in Yuna.”
“Pulling back the knights and then using Yuna to look for an opening… that sounds like you’re plotting an assassination.”
“She’s just an escort. If Yuna gets discovered too, I’m planning to run.”
All of the Guillotine Knights possess stealth abilities. That’s why people out in the world call them wraiths or ghosts.
The hooded cloaks that are part of the knight order’s uniform even have recognition-interference magic woven into them.
Anyway, I was planning to secretly plant Yuna among them.
It’s insurance, just in case the time comes when I have to withdraw the Guillotine Knights.
“Well, honestly, I don’t think things will go that smoothly.”
“But it’s not like we can bring our full force with us, right? If I bring Your Highness along, he’ll probably run away before the conversation even starts.”
Bringing the Guillotine Knights is fine.
As long as I don’t bring their commander Lanius, I can probably smooth it over somehow. I am technically the knight order’s strategist, after all, so that much should be acceptable.
But Lobelia is out of the question.
She would be a real threat. Ariel is the same for similar reasons.
Bringing people above a certain level of strength requires caution.
“Then it can’t be helped. I’ll have Stan keep watch from a distance, so if something happens, try to hold out for at most about five minutes.”
“I’m confident I can collapse in five seconds.”
“…At this rate Ariel will be worried too. Try to have a little more confidence in yourself.”
“I’ll try to hold out for fifty seconds.”
“That’s better.”
What exactly is better about that?
Does that mean someone could run a city-level distance in under fifty seconds?
Well… thinking about how Theseus came running before, maybe it’s not completely impossible.
“Huh?”
At that moment, an unexpected possibility crossed my mind. I really am an idiot. With such a lack of imagination…
“Your Highness, where is Prince Theseus?”
“He should still be in prison.”
“Why is he still…?”
“Wasn’t that your order?”
“No.”
If you say it like that, it sounds like I deliberately kept Theseus locked up longer on purpose. I’m not the type to do something that would leave me dealing with that kind of aftermath.
“Anyway, do you happen to know how fast Prince Theseus can move?”
“Then you’d have to ask the man himself to know that. Is that really important?”
“It might help us find Under Chain’s headquarters.”
“Go on.”
I don’t know whether Lobelia could actually run a city’s distance in under fifty seconds, but hearing that reminded me of something.
“Prince Theseus is a well-known figure, so his movements were relatively well documented. So when he went to Under Chain’s headquarters, we can calculate where he originally was.”
The straight-line distance from where he originally was to Under Chain’s headquarters.
If we calculate Theseus’s speed, we should be able to narrow down the range to some extent.
Then within that narrowed range, we just need to look for a wide, flat location where Under Chain’s headquarters could plausibly be.
And I’m only thinking of this now.
“I knew you were clever, but that’s genuinely impressive thinking.”
“Right?”
Lobelia smiled faintly with an amused expression. Still, it really felt strangely moving.
To think the day would come when I’d be discussing my future plans with Lobelia…
Well, that’s partly because Yuna is still hospitalized and Ariel is so busy she can barely catch her breath.
Somehow Ariel seemed even busier than Lobelia. Then again, she did just become a newly recognized archmage, so I suppose that makes sense.
“In that case, my job will be to hound that reckless fool and keep watch over you from afar.”
“If you could also somehow take care of getting His Majesty the Emperor’s approval…”
“Hmm.”
Lobelia answered with a bright smile.
“That’s something you should handle yourself.”
Then she handed back the operation plan I had given her.
“I’m saying this for your sake. For the future, you should get used to having audiences with His Majesty.”
“But…”
“Heh. When I become Emperor someday, I plan to approve your official documents only if you come see me in person.”
“If you say it like that, it sounds like I’ll still be working on imperial affairs in the future.”
“Hahahaha!”
Why is she laughing?
I didn’t say that as a joke.
***
In the end, Lobelia refused my request, insisting that I go myself.
She can be surprisingly ruthless about things like this.
Did she know how many favors I’ve done for her?!
But what could I do? A mere public official standing before those in power has no choice but to live while swallowing such unfairness.
I suppose this is how one comes to experience the bitter taste of society.
I didn’t have any real social experience in my previous life either, but it must have been similar back then.
“Hmm.”
But when I visited the Imperial Palace for the first time in a while, the atmosphere around me was noisy.
How should I put it? This feeling was both familiar and unfamiliar…
“That person is the…”
“Shh! Keep your voice down. Isn’t he the one who suddenly became the strategist of the Guillotine Knights?”
“For someone that young to rise to that position, his temperament must be quite twisted.”
I’m being ostracized.
Haha, since when did I become this famous?
Well… if someone hears that the new advisor who suddenly joined the Guillotine Knights is a student, I guess it might sound unusual.
But if people were going to react like this, shouldn’t it have happened much earlier?
Why now?
“Be careful. They say His Highness is still imprisoned because of that man.”
“How could he do something so outrageous…? Prince Theseus is the kind of person who could live without even needing the law. As expected of someone from the Guillotine Knights…how ruthless.”
“And that’s not all. The fact that he singled out Princess Lobelia alone is practically an open declaration of support.”
My confusion was resolved.
So the story that I openly sided with Lobelia and left Theseus to rot in prison had gotten twisted along the way? No wonder the things Lobelia said earlier and the rumors going around about me felt so malicious.
Where did this rumor even start?
In the Imperial Palace, there were… far too many people who might want to frame me.
In this place, there were more twisted individuals than normal ones.
Then again, that was only natural. To survive in the Imperial Palace, where schemes and conspiracies ran rampant, everyone had to keep a few poisonous snakes in their hearts.
“Looks like I should meet Prince Theseus before seeing His Majesty.”
Even so, it wouldn’t be wise to make enemies in an already dangerous place.
It would be best to get Theseus who was apparently still locked up released so the misunderstanding could be cleared up.
Someone might have even approached Theseus during that time.
Personally, there is one person who immediately comes to mind. In fact, that very person has just appeared right in front of me.
“It’s been a while, Count.”
The man who had been Loki’s most fervent supporter. Count Python.
The moment he saw me, Count Python gave a sly, almost mocking smile, as if to ask how things were going.
He was the sort who had always enjoyed using underhanded methods like this. It wasn’t surprising at all.
“Oh, isn’t this our Advisor Johan? It’s been a while since that day, hasn’t it? How have things been? Work isn’t too difficult, I hope?”
He spoke as if scolding a child. He was openly looking down on me.
He probably thought he was being indirect, but it didn’t seem like he had any intention of hiding it.
He should know what kind of person I am, yet he’s quite bold.
Considering that last time he dragged a chair over just to keep his distance from me, I suppose you could call this bravery.
“It’s difficult. As you know, the work I do tends to be rather dirty.”
“Ahem…”
In an instant, Count Python’s face turned pale.
Seeing that, it was clear he was even more timid than I was.
What exactly gave him the confidence to provoke me? Did he have some kind of good card up his sleeve?
Maybe I should have Yuna secretly dig into his background later.
“Fufu, Fufufufu! Well, that’s true enough. I suppose that was a foolish question of mine. It’s not exactly pleasant work, after all! Allow me to apologize, Johan Damus.”
“……”
Wow. His face is pale from fear, yet he still managed to fire back like that?
Count Python had just belittled the very work I do.
He’s got quite the nerve. That remark wasn’t just directed at me. It practically makes an enemy of the entire Guillotine Knights.
But does Count Python realize?
“Our advisor does work hard.”
“La-La-La-La-Lanius!”
“Ah, right, I know that. Opera, right? The melody is rather nice.”
Count Python stammered like a thief caught in the act, while Lanius spoke nonsense as if trying to imitate the manners of a noble.
What an absurd combination.
The most aristocratic and delicate man imaginable paired with an old man who was stronger than anyone and about as far from a noble as one could get.
“W-We’ll be going now.”
“Ah! Now that I think about it, I believe the Treasurer was looking for me!”
The nobles quickly distanced themselves from Count Python and hurried away.
The crowd that had been gathered around him vanished in an instant.
Such was the weight carried by the name of Lanius, the commander of the Guillotine Knights…
Truly terrifying. They’re so afraid of even talking behind his back that they scramble away in a panic.
Then again, with a superhuman like that standing right there, who would dare gossip?
As if accustomed to situations like this, Lanius asked with an indifferent expression.
“Are you finished talking? If you are, I’d like to take Johan Damus with me.”
“Not yet! And as I’ve said many times before, please don’t suddenly appear behind people like that, Sir Lanius! You nearly scared me into cardiac arrest!”
“A person can’t always approach from the front, you know.”
“W-Well, that’s true, but…!”
“Ah, that’s enough. Just finish whatever business you have with the count quickly. I have business with Johan Damus as well.”
For some reason, the two of them seemed more familiar with each other than I expected. Of course, judging by how terrified one of them looked, it felt more like a rabbit standing before a lion…
“Ahem, Sir Johan. There’s no need for you to be so wary. This too is His Majesty the Emperor’s will, so at least outwardly I have to pretend to keep you in check.”
“I thought so.”
“…What do you mean, ‘I thought so’? Actually, never mind. I don’t want to know.”
So that’s what it was. I was wondering what gave him the confidence to act so bold. Turns out it was all an act.
Come to think of it, Count Python was one of the people originally selected by the Emperor.
In other words, he’s someone who has been evaluated, in his own way.
“Anyway, keep that in mind. Whether it’s here in the Imperial Palace or anywhere else, when you see me it would be best if you appear wary of me or even dismissive.”
“Of you?”
Do I really have to?
I don’t even have time, and now I’m supposed to play along with something this trivial?
“Yes, just like that. That expression you’re making, like you’re completely ignoring me; it looks quite convincing. I heard you were good at acting, but that almost made me want to punch you.”
“…Well, something like that.”
Ah, sorry about that.
I didn’t really mean it.
I’ll start acting fom now on, though.
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