Ch.73Storm’s Eve…? (2)

“Master…”

Leon’s voice called out to me, filled with deep betrayal.

His voice sounded so pitiful that I almost felt sorry for him.

Of course, that wasn’t important right now, and since I had my own plans, I ignored Leon’s voice and looked at the two figures before me.

First, the figure on my left was a male dwarf named Dustin.

He was the representative chosen among the dwarves—short in stature with fluffy white beard, medium armor covering his entire body, and a hammer as large as himself.

He had the appearance of a typical dwarf in every way.

Though he seemed surprised by my sudden appearance, I could tell he was secretly pleased with my suggestion to go to the royal palace tomorrow.

And the figure on my right was a human female adventurer named Edeline.

Like Dustin on my left, she was chosen as a representative among the adventurers. Interestingly, despite being a mage, she belonged to the Adventurer’s Guild rather than the Magic Tower.

Unlike Dustin who seemed pleased with my words, she was clearly deeply dissatisfied with what I had said.

Since her position was to wait quietly for external support, she had every reason to be upset with my declaration that we wouldn’t wait.

And she immediately began questioning me about whether I had a plan.

“You… didn’t you hear what I said? If we charge in so hastily, everyone will die! The right move here is to wait for outside help. The communication should have gone out by now, and if we just wait a little longer…”

“The reinforcements will arrive, and they’ll find the ruins of Gagap and our corpses.”

“Huh? What nonsense is that… Are you serious?”

A statement without any evidence.

Normally, it would be dismissed as nonsense, but my charm, which exceeded ordinary standards, had the power to make people believe it.

“The apostles’ plan will be executed tomorrow. And if we can’t stop it, everyone will die.”

“Then wouldn’t it have been better to attack earlier, before their plan is executed? It would have been better to strike when they were less prepared.”

Dustin, who had been quietly listening to my story, spoke up as if he had a question.

As he spoke, his gaze shifted toward Edeline, seemingly implying that it was her fault things had been delayed and asking how she would take responsibility.

“Huh? Are you blaming me now?”

“When did I say that? I’m just asking.”

“If you’re going to deny it like that, at least stop giving me such obvious looks when you speak!”

Perhaps due to their countless clashes over the past week?

As if the rift between them had deepened as much as possible, the two were about to raise their voices and start another argument.

Stepping in to mediate between them once again, I began my explanation.

“It wouldn’t have made any difference if we had attacked a week earlier. They had already completed all their preparations long ago.

In fact, making them think their plan might be difficult to execute would only increase the probability of them taking extreme actions.”

There’s a well-known proverb that even a cornered mouse will bite a cat.

The current situation could be described similarly.

The apostles, on the verge of realizing their plan, would use the bloodstone to mobilize weapons to attack us.

But if they judged that the plan itself might be difficult to execute, they could use the bloodstone as a bomb to blow up this entire place.

“Actually, it feels less like a mouse and more like a lion.

Moreover, we need to stop the enemy’s plan, but if we stop it too early they’ll self-destruct, and if we try to walk a tightrope while stopping it… it’s a headache.”

If we decided to abandon Gagap, we could stop them immediately, but if it turned into a war of attrition, we would be at an overwhelming disadvantage.

We couldn’t afford to sacrifice a kingdom every time we stopped one of the apostles’ plans.

As the desperate conversation continued, one of the adventurers who had been quiet in the back raised his hand and expressed his opinion in a trembling voice.

“Th-then wouldn’t it be better to just run away…?”

“That would be the worst choice. If the apostles’ plan succeeds, this world will accelerate toward destruction.”

If we could force them to self-destruct, there might be hope, but if their plan succeeds, there is no hope. I could state that with certainty.

And as my words continued, the atmosphere grew darker and darker.

It was the effect of telling only desperate stories, as making everyone properly aware of reality was the priority before explaining the strategy.

Just as I was about to start sharing some hopeful news, Dustin and Edeline, who had been quiet for a while, opened their mouths as if they had made up their minds.

“Hmph, those who want to make weak excuses can get lost. The apostles are right in front of us, what kind of escape are you talking about?”

“How can we give up when those cruel apostles are trampling our homeland! We must fight back.”

“Not a bad resolve. Looks like I don’t need to lift the mood myself.”

Originally, I had planned to lift the mood by talking about the Hero, the Dragon, or Cecilia.

But as Dustin and Edeline strengthened their resolve and that determination spread to others, I felt there was no need for that.

“Then before explaining the strategy, let’s reconsider our objective.”

What is our objective?

On a one-dimensional level, it’s to kill the apostles, and thinking a bit further, it’s to drive away the apostles and save Gagap.

However, that’s just the objective, and simply repeating that won’t lead us to victory.

“Killing many apostles isn’t our victory condition. What we need to do to win is to stop the Succession Ceremony.”

“Succession Ceremony?”

“Could it be… you mean the royal succession?”

At my words, Edeline seemed not to understand what I was talking about, but Dustin immediately appeared to have realized something.

Being a dwarf, he naturally knew dwarf traditions well, so it was to be expected.

“That’s right. What the apostles are preparing for, and what we ultimately need to stop, is the royal succession ceremony.”

Generally, dwarves don’t have distinctions like nobility or commoners.

While they do have a king, this position merely serves as a temporary stand-in for the vacant seat of a god.

Therefore, while the throne is hereditary, it cannot be succeeded in the ordinary way.

“If a prince wants to succeed to the throne, he must first prove his qualification.

And that qualification can only be obtained by participating in the ritual of forging and creating the finest weapon at that festival.”

“And that series of actions is what’s called the Succession Ceremony.”

Dustin and I briefly explained the Succession Ceremony for Edeline, who didn’t know about it.

And after hearing the explanation, Edeline still had a look of confusion on her face as she expressed her doubt to me.

“I understand what the Succession Ceremony is. But… why bother with succession? After they’ve destroyed the kingdom, is there any need for succession?”

“The position of king itself isn’t the goal. It’s just that there’s a divine artifact that only the legitimate king can use.”

“A divine artifact that only the king can use? I’ve never heard of such a thing…”

It was Dustin who questioned my answer to Edeline’s doubt.

Well, this was information that only an extremely small minority would know unless they were a transmigrator like me, so it couldn’t be helped.

“That’s because it wasn’t disclosed, and it’s not something that should be known widely. Both of you should just think of it as ‘there’s an item that shouldn’t be used.'”

At my words, both of them gave me looks that seemed a bit frustrated, but I wasn’t going to provide them with that answer.

‘Given the situation, I’ve explained various things, but there’s no need for them to know more than necessary.’

According to my speculation, it was a divine artifact that the Evil God had distributed to the kings of each major race when he was defeated in the ancient war.

It was a cursed divine artifact that could neither be destroyed nor sealed, and it continued to whisper sweetly to the kings, disturbing their minds.

‘That’s probably why they made it difficult to succeed to the throne by adding qualifications.’

But no matter how much I embellished it with flowery words, something dangerous wouldn’t become safe.

So this was also a kind of consideration on my part.

There’s no need to inform someone who’s focusing all their attention on defusing the bomb in front of them that there are numerous bombs buried beneath their feet.

‘It’s enough if only I know about the existence of a doomsday button that would destroy the world if used.’

Moreover, thinking that there aren’t just one but seven such buttons—for humans, elves, dwarves, beastkin, merfolk, and demons—would be enough to drive anyone to despair.

While I wanted to make everyone aware of reality before the war, I had no intention of making them aware of things they didn’t need to know.

If they needed to be aware of anything more, it would be better if it was something hopeful.

“From what I’ve said so far, you can probably deduce that at least the Dwarf King isn’t an enemy.

Whether he’s captured or dead, I don’t know, but if he were an enemy, there would be no need to go through the trouble of holding a Succession Ceremony; he would have used it directly.”

“Is that true…!”

Dustin’s expression momentarily brightened with joy upon hearing my words.

Although he had argued that the king might be captured, he had been worried deep down since the king had appeared directly to advance the timing of the festival.

Leaving those with hope behind, I continued explaining the strategy.

“Then let me continue explaining the strategy.”

However, I never mentioned why the Dwarf King had lost the royal palace to the apostles.

It would have killed morale, and I myself wasn’t certain about it.