Ch.349The Way Back

At this point, it was impossible for the Empire to attack Panam.

Even if they could invade and destroy Panam, they would have no way to defend the imperial homeland if another country attacked during that time.

The already strained diplomatic relations with the Holy State would only deteriorate further.

Still…

“Even if war is impossible, couldn’t I go and quietly assassinate him? His guards would be master-level at most.”

I might not be able to completely erase my presence like a ghost blade, but I could cover myself in night clothes, storm the palace, kill the king, and escape.

[You speak of assassination so easily. Didn’t you once say you wanted to protect people?]

Hersella smirked mockingly.

Well, I did say something like that, but…

‘A person should act like a person. Not all humans deserve to be called people.’

Evil people can die.

No, they must die.

To create a pure and clean world.

Each time an evil person dies and disappears, this world becomes more peaceful.

“Assassination in these times? Hmm… hmmmm…”

Leopold began seriously considering it with an intrigued expression.

He must have accumulated quite a grudge against Panam.

If he’s contemplating what I said half-jokingly this seriously…

“It would be difficult right now. After the king is killed, only the four-year-old prince would remain, causing nobles throughout Panam to fight amongst themselves… The person in most danger would be my sister Eleonora, the prince’s mother. Even if you, Baron Median, rescued and brought her here, if a missing queen were discovered in the Empire, it would be as good as confessing who the assassin was. We can’t hide her from public view forever… So, I’ll postpone the assassination until we can guarantee Eleonora’s safety.”

Postpone… so he ultimately agrees with assassination.

How ironic that Leopold, who has suffered from Isabella’s assassination threats, is now approving assassination.

—-

After the Panam discussion concluded, we continued our conversation while enjoying the tea a maid had brought.

He complained about not wanting to ruin the cooperation system with Lacy, but the Holy State’s protests were becoming increasingly troublesome.

He lamented about how difficult it was to fill the vacancies left by Georg and Duber in the imperial army.

He sighed that the firepower displayed by the elves and dwarves was so overwhelming that he could only hope they would destroy each other.

Seeing golden threads scattering to the floor as he spoke, he must be under tremendous stress… I had no words of comfort.

He mentioned wanting to send me to the western border, but couldn’t because of issues in the east.

At this rate, I wonder if he might die from stress alone.

The chaos of this world will only intensify as time passes, making the current turmoil seem insignificant.

Though I don’t know when that will happen.

—-

The official rewards promised to me will be presented tomorrow.

Since the main palace collapsed, the ceremony will be held at the cathedral.

I needed to meet Lacy anyway, so I could visit her after the ceremony.

After saying goodbye to Leopold and Percival, I left the annex and joined Leonore, who was waiting in the carriage.

Since becoming her knight, no one questioned Isabella’s bloodline anymore, but she still didn’t want to meet Leopold, so I had left her in the carriage.

“Is Leopold that uncomfortable for you? He certainly has sly aspects… but he wouldn’t harm you now.”

“No, that’s not it…”

Leonore twisted her hair awkwardly and averted her gaze slightly.

She seemed to have a reason for avoiding him, but it was too embarrassing to admit.

“If not that, then what?”

“…I’m afraid I won’t be able to hold back my laughter when I see his head.”

Ah. Well. Right. That makes sense.

Can’t blame her for that. It’s the fault of Leopold’s rapidly advancing forehead.

—-

Having finished our business at the palace with meeting Leopold, our carriage left the palace heading to our next destination.

In other words, we were going to the academy.

Ophelia’s hideout was outside the capital, and Asha was probably not in Himmel, so the academy was the only place to visit for now.

“By the way, Leopold said he’d grant me a mansion separate from Rose Manor. What should I do about that?”

This is quite awkward.

Moving there seems premature since I just moved to the professor’s residence, but leaving it empty feels wasteful.

I can’t sell or demolish a house directly granted by the Emperor.

“A mansion? Where is it located?”

“He said it was a mansion Isabella had purchased. Wouldn’t you know better than me?”

The previous owner makes me uneasy… but he said it’s been thoroughly cleansed, so there shouldn’t be any problems.

Just like Isabella’s mansion, the exterior and interior are extremely luxurious, but they say the basement was filled with corpses of insects and people.

“…That mansion of all places? I don’t like it much… It seems like a place crawling with ghosts.”

“Wouldn’t ghosts die immediately if you slash them with your spirit sword?”

If spirits die when cut, ghosts wouldn’t be any different.

“You’re right, miss, but still…”

Leonore still looked somewhat displeased. Understandable, given her terrible relationship with Isabella.

At this rate, it would be difficult to house the Rose Cross Knights there.

Since the Rose Manor is quite far from the academy, I was thinking of moving them somewhere closer.

Should I send Demian and Millia there instead?

If they leave the academy, I, as their nominal lord, would be responsible for their lodging.

Yes, let’s do that.

Millia is lucky to have such a good friend.

The capital mansion has become their newlywed home.

The mansion will be filled with moans.

Though for the mansion itself, that’s probably nothing new.

—-

“Huh? Miss, isn’t that Asha’s workshop over there?”

On our way back to the academy, Leonore looked out the window and turned to me in surprise.

“We should be getting close to it. Why?”

Wondering what the commotion was about, I looked in that direction too.

Oh.

What my widened eyes saw was a building with one wall completely burned and collapsed, as if there had been a fire.

What’s this? What happened while I was away from the capital?

“That is Asha’s workshop… let’s go check it out. We need to find out what happened.”

The female knight who heard my order turned the horse toward the workshop.

Up close, the workshop looked like it had burned down days ago, with ash and dust covering the debris, and caution tape surrounding the building.

In front of it stood a familiar were-beast with an undisguised irritated expression, glaring at the workshop ruins.

Wasn’t she planning to go to Himmel? Did she not go?

“Asha!”

I called her name from behind the carriage to ask what happened.

I didn’t want to cause a commotion by getting out of the carriage.

“Haschal…? You’re back!”

Asha turned toward me with a delighted smile and approached the carriage.

“Yeah, I just got back today.”

After waving Asha into the carriage, I closed the door.

Asha glanced at Leonore and nodded slightly in greeting.

“Anyway, what happened? You said you were going to Himmel, but you’re here, and why is your workshop in that state?”

Did she blow something up while experimenting with gunpowder?

“To summarize briefly, it was attacked by those who took advantage of my absence.”

“Attacked…?”

So it wasn’t an experimental accident but terrorism?

This was an unexpected answer.

The only enemies likely to target were-beasts at this point would be elves.

But if elves were rampaging in the capital, Leopold or Lacy would have told me.

Besides, the elven warriors are being ground down at the frontlines with Himmel, so they wouldn’t have the resources to attack a single workshop…

“It was other craftsmen. Humans call them guilds, right? The blacksmiths and tanners pressured me to join their association, and when I ignored them, they did this. I understand, though. With their skills, they can’t even compete with us were-beasts.”

Indeed, it was impossible for human craftsmen to compete with Asha’s products.

Until now, most were-beast products were imported through Panam, so quantities were limited and prices high, but Asha had built a small factory in the capital and was producing products directly here.

While it’s just Asha for now, if more were-beasts start doing business in the capital following her example… existing craftsmen might all have to close shop.

Moreover, were-beasts never reveal their core techniques, so humans can’t learn from them or adapt by imitation.

However, this kind of terrorist act couldn’t be tolerated.

“Anyway, this happened right after I left the capital, so I had no choice but to return. If I stayed away, I might have lost all my capital.”

“You’ve had it rough. So, what happened to the arsonists? Were they sent to prison?”

Seeing how confident she is that craftsmen were behind the attack, she must have caught them somehow, even though she was away.

“Well… I sent them somewhere. The automatic gun I had installed for security worked a bit too enthusiastically.”

…So she turned them into Swiss cheese.