Volume 6 Chapter 54 Interlude - If a Foolishly Honest Move is Made Outside of the Deception, It Becomes a Problem
A huge empire that rules most of the northeastern part of the continent.
Feared by the surrounding countries, it's been said for a long time that only a kingdom can stand against the empire on this continent.
So it's only natural that this empire, one of the two strongest powers on the continent, would start targeting a kingdom that's beginning to split apart.
Everyone in the imperial government understands that a weakened kingdom is not worth dealing with.
But they never get complacent or think it's going to be easy.
Even if it's weak, it's still the oldest country on the continent, and more importantly, the empire's internal ranks are not aligned.
Therefore, the central government, the parliament, is always filled with tension, but today the hall was even more on edge than usual.
The reason was simple: Prince Ragnar, the first prince, had summoned Prince Leonius.
And not in the usual office, but in the imperial parliament hall, as a witness.
It's an unprecedented situation for a prince to summon another prince as a witness.
It's an open secret that there's a fight for the throne going on under the surface, and because of that, there's always tension, but this is the first time such open hostility has been shown, and the tension among the parliament members is at its peak.
If they're not careful, they might end up in a civil war before they even conquer the kingdom.
In the hall, which could be called the source of this tension, Princes Ragnar and Leonius appeared right now.
In the even more tense atmosphere, Leonius took his place at the prepared witness stand, and Ragnar stood in front of him.
The two exchanged glances, and Ragnar let out a small sigh.
"Leo, did you see this article?"
Ragnar slammed the newspaper down, and Leonius nodded with a bitter look on his face.
"Your special unit, the one you lead, it's responsible for the mess at the research facility. I want you to explain the cause and background clearly."
At Ragnar's words, Leonius bit his lip and averted his gaze.
He's trying to find a way to escape, but this is the imperial parliament hall, seen by the whole world.
If he tells a clumsy lie, he'll be bombarded by the surrounding parliament members all at once.
Besides, most of the parliament is on Ragnar's side.
Leonius's popularity is only among the commoners, and most of the nobles who make up the parliament believe that the first prince should inherit the throne traditionally.
Right in the middle of enemy territory, Leonius was thinking about what to do.
"It seems like the water in the Great River is flowing backward. Here, they were certainly managing the teleportation gate."
The sharp-eyed Ragnar continued that this was an important step for the kingdom's advance.
Just as Ragnar said, this invasion of the kingdom was a plan to use the North and West as distractions, strike the key point in the South, and then attack all at once when the kingdom was shaken.
It seemed like a bad idea to split the army, but still, the difference in military strength with the great nation and the territories was clear.
It was thought that preventing the kingdom from becoming united would be more effective.
In reality, the difference in military strength was overwhelming, and normally the kingdom's army and various nobles would need to unite to fight the empire on equal terms.
But thanks to [Pilgrim of Truth]'s actions, those connections were cut off, and each territory was made suspicious of the others, planning to defeat them one by one.
That was the plan, but one of the key points in the West had been crushed.
The imperial council would want to say, "Explain this."
"It seems like the phenomenon was caused by a precious artifact excavated by the army. Yet, after the incident, your unit is said to have taken over the site and obstructed the official investigation."
Ragnar hit the desk dramatically, and Leonius shook his head, saying, "We are not obstructing."
"You know that my special forces are on a mission that cannot be disclosed."
They formed a cult and then invaded other countries.
There was no way he could say such things in the grand imperial council.
After all, the reason the special forces were sent in was under the pretense of chasing [Pilgrim of Truth], who had been seen active in the empire, and this advance was framed as quelling the kingdom that had been confused by [Pilgrim of Truth].
Because of that, even in this situation, they insisted on calling it the 'special forces,' making it impossible to carry out a scene investigation.
Ragnar chuckled at Leonius's words, which contained such feelings.
"Indeed, because it is a military secret, a general investigation cannot be done, but surely you can let in at least the investigation team I appointed."
Ragnar smiled wickedly.
He probably wanted to weaken Leonius's power after this failure.
But there was no way Leonius could refuse here and now.
If the cause of the accident was suspected of being covered up, Leonius might even lose his current position.
With Leonius appearing completely cornered, the chamber, where Ragnar's faction was the majority, was full of people who were impressed and said, "As expected of Your Highness Ragnar!"
"Alright. I'll accept the investigation. But my troops will come along too."
Leonius nodded, and Ragnar muttered, "You could have just said that from the beginning," in a dissatisfied tone. With that, the assembly praised Ragnar and came to an end.
* * *
After leaving the chamber, Leonius walked quickly to his private room with a grim expression.
His harsh face, out of place in the luxurious palace, made even the passing servants avert their gazes and disappear.
He was completely outmaneuvered.
Leonius, who made this impression clear, slammed the door to his room shut.
The curtains were drawn, and in the dimly lit room, Leonius trembled with his shoulders shaking, his back to the door.
"Ugh..."
As if following the choked-back voice, Leonius's shoulders shook more violently...
"Kukukuk... Hahahahahahaha!"
...Unable to suppress his laughter, it echoed through Leonius's room.
Leonius, who had laughed long enough, wore a mocking smile.
"They'll do it. Hartfield, or Victor... either way, they'll do it."
Leonius snorted, but it wasn't bravado.
In fact, the situation had turned in a completely unexpected direction, but it was true that it had become easier to move.
His brother, who had failed and lost his support, would desperately try to turn the tide of the battle.
Leonius had tried his best to cooperate with the suspicious Ragnar and escalate the war, but he never imagined it would turn out like this.
Everyone present, no, the entire Royal Palace now thought Leonius had been outmaneuvered by Ragnar because of this blunder.
Because of that, the support he had from a small number of council members was mostly gone.
But to Leonius, the support of the council members didn't really matter.
All this time, even fighting Ragnar for the right to inherit had been a bluff.
For his true goal, he had to make Ragnar angry and force him into war.
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