Ch.580Episode 21 – Peace in Our Time

# After hearing Peter’s words, the first thing that came to mind was a question.

“What do you mean the era of peace is over? What exactly are you saying?”

“Exactly what I said.”

He stated that the current time was a peaceful era, and that this era would soon come to an end.

It was quite an ambiguous expression. And a puzzling statement as well.

“Have you become a prophet since I last saw you? You’re talking in riddles.”

When I muttered that it was difficult to understand, he nodded as if comprehending my feelings.

“Anyone who grows old develops strong stubbornness. In youth, one might act in ways that seem utterly incomprehensible.”

“You seem to know that well.”

“I’m not scolding you. If it were me in the past, I would have thought the same as you.”

Peter chuckled.

It meant he knew his words sounded like nonsense. In other words, it could also be interpreted that despite this, I shouldn’t dismiss what he was saying.

Has he mastered some kind of clairvoyance? Well, someone of his caliber might well possess insight comparable to clairvoyance. It wouldn’t be strange for the soon-to-retire Chief Inquisitor.

A decadent theater that would be no exaggeration to call sacrilegious. Priestess Rebecca received two cocktails from the bartender and brought them to our table.

I took a small sip of the alcohol in the old-fashioned glass. And as I set the glass down, I casually threw out a question.

“Did something happen?”

“……”

“There must be a reason you think that way.”

Peter listlessly stirred his cocktail, rotating the pick once. The fruit garnish smashed against the side of the glass, and the tangy juice dissolved into the alcohol.

“It’s likely to be quite a long story. Do you have time?”

“Well, if you’re paying for the drinks…”

The Chief Inquisitor smiled as if it were an amusing joke. Along with a ready agreement.

“Let’s put aside the small talk.”

“……”

Peter, bringing the glass to his lips, threw out a topic in a rather solemn voice.

“Yes. Let’s start with a simple subject.”

Episode 21 – The Peace of Our Time

It was a troublesome world.

They say that life is about nothing going as planned, and that the world is maddening because it’s filled with all sorts of different lives. But even accounting for that, there were more than just one or two headaches.

“If there’s a problem that even Prime Minister Stolypin and the Crown Prince are racking their brains over, it’s probably the massive debt. The Empire-Demon Realm conflict that lasted over five years spent trillions of takrons on military expenses, and the national bond market and securities industry have red flags due to uncertainties about war and the economy.”

“Massive national debt, fear that domestic economic conditions might enter a recession. Add to that Emperor Nicholas VI’s silence. We’ve overcome the hurdle of war, but there are still many mountains for the Empire to climb.”

“For the Crown Prince pushing for succession to the throne, there couldn’t be a greater challenge.”

The Kien Empire’s economy was deteriorating day by day. The scars left by the war remained largely unhealed, leaving invisible wounds across the empire.

“Now that the conflict with the Demon Realm is over, the Imperial Family is in a position where they must rebuild the empire by any means necessary. Just think of all the roads, railways, and cities that the demons destroyed—they’re not just in one or two places.”

But it couldn’t be dismissed as entirely negative.

The Chief Inquisitor added this and continued his explanation in a gentle voice.

“Looking on the bright side, post-war reconstruction projects might be a blessing. Rebuilding new mana stone transport routes and infrastructure is not just about raising fallen facilities, but also an opportunity to move toward a comprehensive overhaul of the national economy and social systems.”

“The imperial businessmen based in the west… There’s a good reason they welcomed the hero and your group’s entry with open arms.”

But as someone once said.

Reform and reorganization always bring resistance.

“However, the Imperial Family seems to have different ideas.”

Peter asked me.

“Major, do you know which family wields the most powerful influence in the west, the cradle of the imperial business world?”

“I believe it’s the Count Soldenov family. Famous as mana stone tycoons.”

“Exactly right.”

The Count Soldenov family is one of the most prominent noble families in the Kien Empire. They are the second most powerful after Count Yancherunin, who leads the Imperial Business Association, boasting enormous wealth and prestige.

The word that symbolizes the Count Soldenov family is mana stone.

A semi-national energy corporation with over 30% imperial shares was the source of the Soldenov family’s wealth.

“Soldenov, Volozan, Kupenko. They’re called the three major conglomerates of Kien. They share the common trait of having accumulated vast wealth through state-owned enterprises granted by the Imperial Family.”

“Then you must also know the background of how the Count Soldenov family received their state-owned enterprise.”

“Yes.”

“What was it?”

“They had connections to the distinguished Count Yancherunin family, which produced an empress.”

Simply put, they were the imperial version of “oligarchs.” Merchants who divided up Soviet-era enterprises by currying favor with Russia’s strongman.

The problem was that the lifeline they chose was Count Yancherunin.

The distinguished family of the Kien Empire managed to produce an heir by marrying their esteemed daughter to the emperor.

That person was “Second Princess” Margarita Smirnov.

The daughter of the Count Yancherunin family who married Nicholas VI is known to have passed away from puerperal fever shortly after giving birth to a princess.

The interesting fact was that the Second Princess and the Crown Prince had different mothers.

In other words, the two royals were half-siblings born from different empresses.

As the blood-written history of east and west proves,

Court intrigue between half-siblings often led to unimaginable bloodshed.

“It seems Princess Margarita is getting ambitious.”

“…Is she trying to usurp the throne from the Crown Prince?”

“It’s hard to call it usurpation. The Crown Prince hasn’t ascended to the throne yet, and he’s also the child of a deposed empress. One who died in exile by the order of Nicholas VI.”

Officially it was death by illness, but conspiracy theories surrounding the death of the deposed empress were abundant.

Some said Count Yancherunin instigated an assassination to elevate his daughter as the new empress, or that she committed suicide on Nicholas VI’s orders, or that Yancherunin’s daughter who envied her killed her, and so on.

Of course, the official cause of death announced by the Imperial Family was illness. Therefore, the truth surrounding the empress’s death wasn’t particularly important.

Similarly, it wasn’t very important that the woman who succeeded her as empress died after giving birth to Second Princess Margarita.

She was already dead, and with the appearance of a new empress, she became a person who had disappeared from history. And the new empress, whichever number she was, also became unimportant through death.

What was truly important was the fact that all of Nicholas VI’s children were half-siblings.

And the fact that the absolute power that had ruled the empire was essentially approaching death.

The Chief Inquisitor focused on precisely this point.

“Intelligence has come in that Second Princess Margarita is making contact with western business figures. She intends to grasp financial power by leveraging the connections of her maternal grandfather, Count Yancherunin.”

“Given that the Crown Prince controls a significant portion of military power, Second Princess Margarita’s moves are nothing more than desperate struggles. No matter how powerful the economic figures are, money will tear like paper before guns and swords.”

“However, the military’s influence has strengthened due to the Empire-Demon Realm conflict, and in this situation, thinking that the generals will show absolute loyalty to the Crown Prince is somewhat optimistic. If the military had obediently followed orders, the Crown Prince wouldn’t have stationed the Imperial Guard in the capital. You know that, don’t you?”

“…Yes.”

I nodded calmly in agreement.

After all, I had seen a regimental-level special operations force converging on the imperial capital just before I entered the empire. Considering that all imperial special forces units were under the control of the Reconnaissance Command, the only one with command authority was the Crown Prince, who held at least some military power.

Clinking my cocktail glass, I slowly pieced together the puzzle.

The Crown Prince gathering troops in the capital, the Second Princess contacting business figures ahead of post-war reconstruction projects, the Crown Prince without backing versus Princess Margarita supported by the Count’s family…

“……”

“Of course, the idea that the Second Princess is challenging imperial authority is just an old man’s speculation. It’s just an inference based on circumstances.”

Peter said it might be a coincidence. That all his speculations might remain just suspicions and concerns.

But if coincidences overlap more than twice, they become inevitable.

“However, if the First Princess is checking her half-sister in addition to the Second Princess’s dubious movements, the story changes. You must know about Princess Anastasia?”

“…Yes. She’s the princess born to an empress from a bureaucratic background. She’s also the legitimate daughter born before the Crown Prince, when the young emperor had an affair.”

“According to rumors circulating among imperial officials recently, the First Princess has called together several deputy ministers from government departments for meetings. Interior Ministry, Police, Health and Sanitation Ministry…”

I slowly raised my gaze as I tilted my glass.

“…Is Princess Anastasia some kind of prime minister? With the actual Prime Minister and Crown Prince still alive, having meetings with government officials? What is this, if not a cabinet meeting?”

“Of course, the ministers are following the Crown Prince. I called them meetings, but they were closer to drinking parties hosted by the Princess. But for politicians, are drinking parties simply occasions for socializing?”

“……”

“When information gathers, judgments form, and when judgments form, decisions follow. And decisive people are elevated to leadership in any organization.”

“……”

“Or they directly oust the leader.”

Peter smiled softly. Leaning back on the sofa with his legs stretched out, he cast his gaze toward the lower stage where an obscene performance was taking place.

“The fortunate thing amid the busy activities of the two princesses is that Third Princess Angelica is keeping quiet. Well… from her position, she might want to do something, but it’s impossible. She has neither the power of the Crown Prince, nor is her maternal family in any position to help, having essentially collapsed.”

“……”

“Ah. You might know this, but Princess Angelica is one of the people connected to you. Remember when you were stabbed with a poisoned needle and collapsed?”

“…How could I forget that? I was at death’s door.”

“She was the one who was sent as an envoy to the Abbas government at that time. She conveyed the imperial position to the kingdom’s foreign ministry. At Prime Minister Stolypin’s request, she secretly crossed over to Latuan under an alias.”

“……”

And after that.

Peter continued with secretive stories about this neighborhood for quite some time.

“I heard you were in the Ashtistan Republic recently. Got entangled with a double agent and had a hard time, I hear.”

“It was a bit tiring.”

“The Republic’s Law Enforcement Corps faced a major crisis due to the Siegmund incident. The commander’s head rolled, and Menbashi, who had been backing him, is also in trouble. Our Inquisition suspects that Priestess Zeinab is behind this. It can be interpreted as a kind of check, or it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to call it an expulsion.”

The conflict among revolutionary leaders surrounding a large-scale spy ring case.

The Priestess trying to remove Menbashi, and the Security Committee and Republic Army acting as executioners to pressure the Law Enforcement Corps.

An endless period of chaos that has continued for decades since the collapse of the monarchy.

“What about the Ivory Tower? They suppressed the issue of minority rights centered around dwarf miners by force, didn’t they? The Ivory Tower’s long-standing policy of pure-bloodism led to numerous forced migrations, and the expelled non-humans all had to wander the desert without homes. Then recently, they started forming groups one by one, or settling in Necropolis.”

The conflict between the alchemists of the Red Desert and non-humans.

The Ivory Tower, which considers purity an important virtue, and the existence of non-humans that directly contradicts this value.

The Harbor of the Dead Whale, commonly known as Necropolis, which is growing explosively by absorbing groups of wandering non-humans.

“Speaking of the Ivory Tower, we can’t leave out the Magic Tower. Magicians are aware of Oracle’s mismanagement, but there’s not even any significant resistance. Those who say the Oracle system must end, those who say they should leave the Magic Tower and find a new path, and those who say the Oracle left by the great visionaries should be preserved. They’re all opposing each other with different opinions.”

The division between the leadership of the magical society and its citizens.

Vitriol spewed at those with different beliefs, groups heading toward extremes in their opposition. The daily declining support for Oracle and capital fleeing in terror.

And someone who has stepped back from the fight and is eating the fruits one by one.

“There’s no need to mention the inside story of the Moritani continent in this place. Is there anywhere more chaotic than there right now? The north, which has become a wasteland due to the Al-Qahir incident and successive coups, is fighting over whether to rebuild it or to hurriedly reclaim the south, which was scorched decades ago. Meanwhile, warlords, occult groups, and the People’s Liberation Army causing trouble in the rear are also problems.”

“……”

“Of course, Abbas can’t be said to be entirely peaceful either. Isn’t the opposition party, on the verge of a regime change after decades, causing a storm by bringing up the abolition of the monarchy?”

“Abolishing the monarchy is realistically impossible. It’s not an agenda that has only come up once or twice, and above all, abolishing the monarchy requires a constitutional amendment. It’s impossible with ordinary political will. That’s…”

“Yes. You might be right. But you’re overlooking one thing.”

“…What’s that?”

“The grumbling of drunkards in a pub is just complaining. But when that complaining spreads to the streets, it becomes public opinion. When it spreads to the polling stations, it becomes party policy. Do you know what it becomes when it enters the cabinet?”

“……”

“It becomes national policy.”

I listened silently to his words for a while. I took in every story Peter told me without missing anything.

And,

After a long silence, I opened my mouth.

“…What’s your point?”

It was a demand to say what he wanted.

It was then that Peter, who had been talking leisurely throughout, suddenly stopped speaking.

Leaning back on the sofa, he crossed his legs and rested his arm on the backrest, falling silent. It was a posture as if deep in thought.

I silently waited for his answer.

Eventually, breaking the silence, he began.

“Nothing much. What I want from you is just one thing. Just support Saint Lucia from beside her, that’s all.”

“……”

“As you’ve probably guessed, within the church, the Saint is somewhat of an ambiguous figure. Not as resolute as Saint Raphael, nor does she know how to compromise like Saint Veronica.”

The Chief Inquisitor muttered. It was a somewhat indifferent, or more precisely, a lamenting voice.

“She tries to shoulder all the burdens in the world herself. She wields force she doesn’t really want to, because she doesn’t want to be a burden.”

“…What do you mean by that? A burden?”

“I mean she doesn’t want to be a burden to Saint Veronica. She has no interest in politics herself, but is the position of a saint one where you can act as you please just because you don’t want to do it? Just by being still, the bishops around her try to pit the two saints against each other, so…”

“……”

“What can we do? Her mentor was Saint Veronica after all. She thought she had to cause trouble to drive away the moths.”

His tone suggested he was talking about something trivial. But the content was on a different level.

Peter’s words were crucial information that could help infer the political landscape within the church surrounding Veronica and Lucia, and at the same time, it was a key point I hadn’t considered.

To think that Lucia scored an own goal to avoid political confrontation with Veronica. Who would have imagined?

Of course, this too was just Peter’s speculation, not a clearly revealed truth. Whether Lucia really pretended to be crazy and drew her sword, or whether she genuinely caused a disturbance for the sake of settling past accounts, was something no one could know.

“……”

Buried deep in the sofa, Peter murmured softly.

“A storm is coming, and there’s no way to avoid the rain.”

“……”

“Do you know what all this means?”

“…Well…”

I answered honestly.

I said that if nothing else, one thing was clear: I was going to be very busy from now on.

I answered in a small, shrinking voice, and a smile spread across Peter’s face.

“That’s good enough.”

*

“There will be a lot for you to do in the future. It won’t be easy, but I believe you’ll overcome it well.”

“Yes.”

“And tell Saint Veronica to cut down on alcohol and cigarettes. While you’re at it, you should quit too.”

“Ah, that’s a bit difficult…”

“Why?”

“You know quitting smoking is harder than giving up your life. How can you ask me to quit?”

“No. Honestly, your comrades are doing all the fighting, but what are you doing? Besides cleaning up the messes your comrades make and bringing information.”

“To be honest, dealing with the Foreign Ministry and Intelligence Agency is harder than brawling. But quitting smoking is even harder.”

“Then just die.”

Cut down on alcohol and cigarettes, get Veronica to quit smoking, and prepare for a lot of hard work ahead.

And by the way, please take good care of Saint Lucia from now on.

With that final request, Peter left.

I watched his retreating figure from a distance, and only after sufficient distance had been put between us did I finally get up from my seat.

I chose the back door to avoid crossing paths with Peter, who had gone out through the main entrance.

Following Priestess Rebecca’s guidance, we slipped out into an alley, and then adjusted our pace to maintain an appropriate distance.

“Would you like to go to the embassy?”

“No.”

I immediately shook my head at her question.

The fact that I’ve arrived in Laterano is known to most embassies, and the moment I enter the Abbas embassy at the crack of dawn, there’s a chance of intense surveillance.

“I think I should just go in and sleep. I can make contact later.”

On the way back to the lodging.

In the street where only regular footsteps continued, a sudden question broke the silence.

“…What do you think was Lucia’s—I mean, Saint Lucia’s intention in causing the disturbance?”

It was a simple question.

Priestess Rebecca opened her mouth with a thoughtful look as she walked.

“The Chief just said it was to avoid unnecessary political strife. I think similarly.”

“You agree?”

“In some aspects, yes.”

The cleric, who serves as the Saint’s aide and was formerly the Chief Inquisitor’s secretary, says the Saint’s actions stemmed from two judgments.

“She employed physical force before the council of bishops and cardinals to strongly enforce her argument. And she showed an exaggerated response to avoid getting entangled in unpleasant political strife. I think both speculations have merit.”

“It’s complex?”

Indeed, it was an opinion with merit.

“What do you think, Major?”

“Me? Well…”

If I had to give my opinion, I’d say it’s closer to the former than the latter. From my position of having spoken directly with Lucia, that was the motivation she strongly asserted.

But can human psychology be defined in a linear way?

If Lucia went so far as to resort to violence to avoid political confrontation with Veronica, and didn’t reveal that intention to me and Camilla, then this also makes some sense.

Of course, unless I could enter Lucia’s mind, this was just speculation that would never reach a conclusion.

If there was anything to take at face value from Peter’s claims…

“…Isn’t it just that she’s spent too much time with someone who treats bishops and cardinals like old fogeys? Birds of a feather, you know.”

“I agree without reservation.”

We burst into hollow, helpless laughter.

*

Time flows.

Dates change in the blink of an eye, and so does the world.

“Bro. When can I finally leave Shizuya? I have a place where I normally work and my team is there too. Isn’t it a bit much for a temporary assignment to last this long…?”

“You’re not on temporary assignment.”

“Huh…?”

“Your department changed. Your position changed.”

“W-when…?”

“What do you mean when…? Obviously before you arrived in Shizuya.”

“…Hey.”

“…?”

“Hey, you jerk-!”

Ayla, who had been happily enjoying an easy time in an allied country, suddenly found herself transferred from the intelligence team to the operations team, and newly deployed to a hostile country. She called me out of the blue and poured out a barrage of curses.

“Ah, so noisy… One desert is much like another, why are you making such a fuss with a phone call?”

“You stuck your sister who used to work in a high-rise building into an underground hideout, and that’s what you have to say!?”

She went ballistic, telling me to come see for myself.

A hideout infested with mold, and she hasn’t seen sunlight for nine days while in hiding. The same unchanging meals for four days.

It’s bad enough having to stuff cold bread scraps (which got cold because she had to take detours to avoid being followed) into her stomach, but she can’t even dispose of the garbage and has to tie it in bags and leave it in a corner of the room.

While trying to sleep on a mattress that smells of what might be urine or vomit, she felt a presence, opened her eyes, and found a rat the size of a forearm making eye contact with her from on top of her stomach. That apparently happened the day before yesterday at dawn.

“@%^*~-^~*~~%!”

To my sister’s screams that seemed to come from the depths of hell, I, deep in thought, ended the call with one final remark.

“Sounds fun.”

While Ayla was filming “Nature vs. Girl” as she fled from the Ashtistan Republic’s pursuit,

I returned to my main job and handled company business.

“Hey, did you all do well while I was gone?”

“Manager, you’re back.”

“Where did Pipin and Charnoi go?”

“He went to the brigade for a bit of work.”

Pipin and Jake, who had returned to their home country from the Zamria Federation, were handling small tasks that had piled up.

In just over two weeks of vacation, work had multiplied like cockroaches, with boxes of documents piled on the office floor.

“I’ve already approved all the urgent Box 5s. Send this to the Opera Project Team, and what’s the rest?”

“It’s the L-83-1 profile. The West Moritani branch sent this personnel file and asked if there’s anything you’d like to add.”

“Is this an exile from Necropolis? I think I’ve seen this guy. He’s the one who used to go through the Ash District and was expelled for murder, live experimentation, and special murder of magicians. …Wait, wait a minute.”

“What’s wrong?”

“Here, this part that says he’s right-handed. He’s not right-handed, he’s left-handed. I saw him writing with his left hand. Check this again and request a correction.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Pipin- I heard the Personnel Department is looking for you.”

“I just went there. They were calling about assigning a new analyst?”

“Oh! Are you finally getting a junior? Our team is getting a new youngest member, wow.”

“No? The Topography Department didn’t get personnel last time, so they’re putting in two lieutenants. Our department, which is lower priority, has to wait until the next personnel announcement.”

“…What kind of nonsense is that? They should give us at least one lieutenant!”

“Well… They said it’s hard to give us more manpower since we already got Charnoi…”

For reference, Charnoi was on a solo foreign assignment. Something about playing with angels.

Pipin and Jake defended him, saying “that’s just liaison work,” but…

“Complete-! I, Charnoi, have finally collected the entire Mecha Dragon set…!”

The nymph who ordered hamburger sets for lunch every day and collected the toys that came with them was, in my eyes, already a perfect tax thief.

Besides that, I went to find the idle Charnoi, gave him a flick on the forehead to get him back to work. I checked if Lucia, who was under disciplinary action, was staying quiet.

I also heard that Camilla, who had been hiding in uninhabited areas under the pretext of maintaining public order to avoid her mentor, was finally caught by the Archmage and dragged to the north where demons were swarming.

Anyway, I was busy doing many things.

Then one day.

A letter addressed to me changed everything.

*

[I don’t know if you’ve heard, but a summit will soon be held in the capital of the Lushan Federation. It will be a historic occasion where officials from the Ashtistan Republic and the Abbas Kingdom meet for the first time since the revolution ended.

I am leaving for the Lushan Federation at the invitation of the Priestess.

Although it’s not particularly an issue for me to be involved in, I’m responding to the invitation to hear news, as the World Union session will soon be held in the Lushan Federation.

I’ll see you soon in the Lushan Federation.

– Ranieri, Francesca.]

“……”

I rubbed my face as I put down the letter.

[P.S. I forgot to mention something.

Please give my regards to Saint Veronica.

And I request that you come with the Saint.

Absolutely.]

“…We’re screwed.”