Ch.8888. The Great Escape

Until now, I had never been involved with the Allied Kingdoms.

If I had any connection at all, it would be with the royalty from the Allied Kingdoms who were in the same year as me during my Academy days. The name was… probably Calderon or something like that.

When they said royalty, I thought they were members of the royal family that ruled the entire Kingdom of Microssia. For someone of that status, their spending habits were at the level of a rural noble, which made me think they were quite frugal royalty.

‘Later I found out there were nine kings.’

I wonder if that friend is struggling to come to the Empire now. Or perhaps they died resisting Bynessa of the Tetrad. There was no way to know.

My knowledge of the Allied Kingdoms and their citizens was limited to just this much.

People from a country I’d never visited in my life, people I’d never meet.

Yet the Allied Kingdoms were now stirring because of my actions.

It had only been a few days since I cast bait to the Allied Kingdoms, but I was told that a ship preparing to transport Enrique to the Empire was getting ready to depart from a port in a country called Cadeira (which was invaded first due to its location in front of Ibiza Island).

I had already determined the destination for that ship.

The Barony of Enekia.

It was a small territory on the eastern coast where Millia Neize’s father, who was the father of the female knight from the Hero’s party, had been sent as administrator. It was not normally a place of active trade.

‘That’s the best option to prevent interference from nobles. Former Count Neize would be ready to do anything the imperial family orders.’

Plus, it was effective for luring the Allied Kingdoms.

A small rural territory that was essentially under direct imperial control. There was a high probability they would mistakenly think the Empire wanted to handle matters quietly.

In fact, I did intend to handle it quietly.

These measures alone would be sufficient, but since we were talking about erasing an entire country, I couldn’t be careless and was receiving reports. Anyway, I could hear the cries of the precious humans of the Allied Kingdoms just by keeping one ear open.

Even at this moment, it was said that mages from every family with even the slightest connection to the Allied Kingdoms were being worked to exhaustion.

“Lord Wellesley? The King of Aslas has requested that His Grace the Duke guarantee his safety. He said he would like to serve a formal exile somewhere in the Empire and then reside in His Grace’s territory after a few years. He said he’s willing to pay a large sum.”

News that someone had attempted to negotiate with a member of the imperial family.

“Someone offered to present me with a spear made of dragonbone. What’s more, they don’t want anything specific in return. They just want help for their family and retainers to settle in the Empire.”

This was told to me directly by Starcather, one of the Empire’s Masters.

It seemed they thought they could somehow survive by currying favor with him, who enjoyed enormous benefits as both a Master and an in-law of the imperial family.

Anyway, real dragonbone. For a moment, I felt dizzy at the thought. If such a precious weapon existed, I’d rather give it to wyvern hunters.

‘All the influential nobles in the Empire must be suffering.’

It was obvious that some of the nobles who received requests would have promised salvation.

Of course, they couldn’t make explicit promises. After all, the disposition of these people ultimately depended on the imperial family (or more precisely, on me who had been delegated the authority).

But it was possible to promise “I’ll help reduce your punishment.” They probably thought that if things went well, they could earn a huge sum just by speaking up a few times.

I had no intention of interfering with such nobles. Thanks to them, I could actually build up false hope among the ruling class of the Allied Kingdoms.

‘It’s right to make them all come. Leaving ambiguous remnants behind could become troublesome later.’

I decided to step forward myself to provoke those who might be deliberating until the last moment whether to board the “escape ship” or not.

“Enrique is currently detained in the Allied Kingdoms, correct?”

“Yes. He was captured recently.”

“Then… wait, recently?”

“Yes. Enrique is still a noble who rules over an island. Thinking he would die if caught, he was holding out with a small private army. …They seemed to think there would be casualties if they attacked him, so they just stripped him of his title and pressured him to surrender.”

They only fought and captured him after receiving our transport order.

‘…Huh. Impressive.’

It was an absurd story, but I wasn’t particularly surprised or disappointed. It’s rather fortunate that they caught him now.

I immediately summoned a young court mage.

“I have a message for the Allied Kingdoms. It doesn’t matter who receives it as long as they’re of high status.”

“Ah… yes. I just happened to be communicating with a mage from Turias. What should I tell the royal family there?”

“Tell them that torture of that traitor, Enrique, is forbidden. Tell them we want him to reveal his crimes with a sound mind and body. If there’s even a single mark on his face, or if there’s any trace of mental manipulation magic, many people will get hurt.”

“…In my estimation, he’s probably already been beaten. Perhaps even worse than what Gwon Heejin suffered in front of the exchange.”

“That’s exactly why I’m doing this.”

The court mage tilted his head but cast a communication spell and recited my instructions verbatim.

Naturally, the Allied Kingdoms’ reaction was one of panic.

“N-not even a single mark?”

This reaction meant they had tortured him so severely that even potions couldn’t heal him in a short period. It was exactly as I had expected.

At this point, I abruptly intervened in the communication.

“If you’re thinking of taming Enrique through torture and pinning all political responsibility on him, you’d better reconsider.”

“…Who are you?”

“Count Wellesley. I trust you won’t need to ask who I am. I know that even at this moment, you’re reaching out to every minister in the Empire.”

“Uh, well.”

“It’s curious that you haven’t made any requests to me specifically. Did you perhaps hear something about me from that succubus?”

“……”

I was just probing to intimidate them, but they couldn’t deny it. I let out a small laugh and continued.

“If you think this situation can be resolved by sacrificing just Enrique, you’re mistaken. Even if we could understand your submission to the Demon Lord’s army, from the moment you sold out a Master, you became confirmed criminals.”

“No, there’s a misunderstanding about that too. If we had known Rodrigo was a Master…”

“I’m not sure if you’re saying you sold him because you didn’t know he was a Master, or if you’re saying it’s acceptable to sell someone who isn’t a Master. Either way, I don’t think it’s very suitable for justifying your actions.”

“……”

A moment of silence followed.

If I ended it here, it might actually reduce the number of people boarding the escape ship, but I had no intention of finishing here.

“You’re underestimating the gravity of the situation. This isn’t a situation where you can just hand over a few hostages and return to the Allied Kingdoms. …Depending on the circumstances, you might have to declare the lands you ruled as vassals of the Empire.”

“Vassals…?”

“It’s His Majesty’s decision to make, but I think it’s entirely possible. It would probably be worse than death for you.”

I blurted this out and then closed my mouth.

Immediately afterward, the court mage added a few practical guidelines. Instructions to abandon luxurious treatment.

However, there was no chance the other party would heed those words. They were probably mulling over the word “vassal” that I had dropped.

‘Even in the worst-case scenario, they’ll think they can just hand over their country and be done with it.’

Offering an entire country as a vassal state was indeed harsh.

If such demands had been made to the ruling class of the Allied Kingdoms before they faced the Demon Lord’s army, they would have risked war. But now, I questioned whether they would even perceive it as harsh.

‘They’re more likely to see it as a generous condition.’

After the communication ended, a brief silence followed.

The young mage, who was about my age, studied my expression.

“Um, Lord Wellesley. I will absolutely keep this matter confidential. You can trust me.”

“There’s no need for that.”

“But, still…”

“This isn’t the time to worry about honor. It’s either this or war, and war would mean killing at least tens of thousands. And after that, we’d still have to deal with the aftermath.”

After saying this, I immediately stood up.

Naturally, I planned to personally greet the guests coming from the Allied Kingdoms.

There would be plenty of angry knights, so I wouldn’t need to use force myself, but I needed to supervise directly to prepare for any unexpected variables.

On my way out of the imperial palace, I made eye contact with two people, each giving me a different look.

The royal guard Alan (one of those who had berated me during the height of Cordana) gave me something of a mournful look before hastily showing respect, and

A noble who was sobbing in front of the court department glared at me before turning his head away sharply. Probably one of the nobles whose special deal with the Allied Kingdoms had fallen through. Honestly, I didn’t feel much about it.

***

After the Empire’s power player issued a stern warning, in the Allied Kingdoms…

The majority of the ruling class of the Allied Kingdoms boarded two sailing ships in succession. Knights and mages followed.

Nominally they were escorts, but in reality, they were people leaving to find a new life. After all, staying in the Allied Kingdoms meant only hell awaited them.

“The chief of staff… no, that succubus bitch warned that we might die if we go to the Empire.”

“Do we need to fear threats from demons anymore? Once we get to the Empire, we’re done with her anyway.”

The nobles who remained in the Allied Kingdoms were of two types: those forcibly left behind for fear of arousing suspicion if everyone left, or the few nobles who believed they had nothing to explain to the Empire.

Their expressions were already rotten, but the reaction of the commoners was surprisingly not bad.

“I was going to stab them with a knife if they just sat on their hands this time too. At least we won’t die acting as shields for those bastards.”

“If they come back empty-handed, we’ll drag them down.”

Soon came the moment of departure.

Fortunately, both wind direction and speed were optimal for sailing that day.

The mages were prepared to maintain speed with magic if necessary, and some of the nobles and knights had even disguised themselves as sailors. It was obvious they were hoping for illegal entry, but no one challenged them.

Because regardless of the method, they all shared the same desire to leave the Allied Kingdoms and dream of a new life.