episode_0298

“Sir David, what brings you here?!”

Two days passed, and Eugene Schneider and his party arrived in Bahad.

However, the ones who greeted them were not only Memphis, the existing commander of the defense force, and Nazrid, the leader of the Gray Bear Mercenary Corps, but also a very welcome and unexpected figure.

It was David, the deputy commander of the Alexandria Iron Cross Knights.

At the unexpected reunion, Eugene, with wide eyes, approached him along with Jeanne and others who had a connection with him.

“Lady Vivian sent me urgently to meet Great Swordsman Eugene. It would be better to go to the defense headquarters and have a serious discussion with me rather than standing here.”

As expected, David had come at the instruction of Vivian, the liege lord served by the Iron Cross Knights.

“Is that true?”

Afterward, Eugene Schneider and his party went to the Bahad Defense Headquarters following David’s words.

The level of military discipline of the Bahad defense force that they saw in the process was even greater than before.

Eugene Schneider, who was somewhat puzzled by the sight, soon heard shocking words from David.

“Yes. Emperor Louis XVI has passed away.”

It was news that the emperor had lost his life.

‘So, the troops outside are standing even more intensely than when the monsters were rampant!’

The emperor is dead.

This means that the emergency alert system is operating more strongly than ever in the empire.

The Bahad defense force, being a government army, was also affected.

“Was the Emperor… assassinated?”

At that moment, Charlotte, who was next to Eugene, asked David.

David was wearing an imperial military epaulet.

In other words, he came as an imperial military herald, not in the capacity as Vivian’s private soldier.

All of that was clear in the minds of both Eugene and Charlotte, so they did not ask separately.

However, upon hearing the shocking news that the Emperor had passed away, Charlotte had something she needed to confirm.

“Yes, Professor Charlotte. A coup d’état occurred, and the imperial palace was occupied in an instant, and the Emperor lost his life at the hands of the rebel leader.”

David began to give the answer Charlotte wanted to know.

“The rebel leader being…”

Charlotte asked in a dismal voice, as if squeezing out the name she didn’t want to hear but had to hear.

“Antoine Desselles Oblean, Kaiser of the Imperial Army.”

The content of Vivian’s earlier letter was hoped to be false.

Although they were responding to it with some degree of consideration, they wished it was unnecessary, but it became a reality.

Charlotte Desselles Oblean’s biological father, Antoine Desselles Oblean, had launched a coup and eventually assassinated the Emperor.

“Ah…”

Stagger!

“S, Sister!”

Thud!

When what she had deeply hoped was not true came as an undeniable reality, Charlotte momentarily lost her mind and almost leaned over.

Eugene was startled and supported Charlotte.

‘So it ends up like this after all. In my case, all compasses are pointing to the Archduke, so I was prepared, but it can’t be the same for my sister.’

Due to the anecdote with Alexis and the story he recently heard from Marianne, Antoine was very different in Eugene’s mind than before.

However, as the eldest daughter of the Oblean family, Charlotte had seen her father more often as the Kaiser of the Imperial Knights than anyone else in the family, so the shock was great.

“Fortunately, the imperial seal was delivered to Lady Vivian. Along with the Emperor’s letter transferring power. So Lady Vivian is currently the acting Emperor.”

The reason why David could appear wearing the imperial military epaulet was that Vivian had become the Emperor. However, since she had not gone through the proper procedures, she was formally in the state of an acting Emperor. However, her authority was already that of the highest person in charge of the empire.

‘Logically speaking, if the Archduke launched a coup, other nobles wouldn’t be able to step forward. So, despite the past, he must have requested help from Vivian, but in the end, he entrusted everything until the end. The position of Emperor, it is.’

Eugene clicked his tongue quietly while supporting Charlotte.

Is there really such a thing as destiny?

Alexis Saint-Pierre was previously regarded by the Great Emperor, nobles, and even the people as the vessel of the Emperor.

However, that vessel was destroyed by the schemes of Antoine and Louis XV.

Nevertheless, the position of Emperor eventually returned and found its way back to his daughter when she came of age.

“According to the message I received when I came here, the rebel forces abandoned the imperial palace and retreated for some reason. Perhaps by now, acting Emperor Vivian will be moving to retake the imperial palace.”

Antoine, who did not aim for the position of Emperor, left the imperial palace without regret.

Vivian’s side, unaware of the reason, waited for a while before starting to move to the imperial palace a few days ago.

“If the coup forces are Archduke Antoine, and former Emperor Louis XVI was killed by him, we can’t afford to be at ease either.”

Soon, Eugene Schneider began to talk about realistic matters.

The fact that Antoine killed the Emperor and then retreated means that the Oblean family has become a family of traitors, not a new imperial family.

Then, other nobles who had been watching Antoine’s movements would have begun to capture and execute members of the Oblean family.

“The acting Emperor was also concerned about that. That’s why she sent me to Bahad right away.”

Vivian, who had personally experienced the ruthlessness of politics through her father’s death and had solid experience in the merchant business, could not have been unaware of it.

So, in fact, Vivian accepted the position of Emperor to protect Eugene Schneider.

Therefore, after becoming Emperor, she observed Antoine’s movements and then immediately sent David to Eugene with the qualification of a special envoy.

“Primarily, due to the emergency situation, the acting Emperor intends to cut off the backlash against the people of the Oblean family, excluding Antoine, with a strong imperial decree.”

David began to convey Vivian’s intentions to Eugene Schneider.

“Next, she said that we must combine forces with the imperial family to alleviate this situation and make those around us think differently.”

Monsters are rampant, and a coup has occurred.

Although she is an acting Emperor, it is a foundation where imperial orders can be enforced more powerfully than ever.

Vivian intends to buy some time within that foundation.

And she intends to use that time to separate Antoine and Eugene Schneider’s party and make them approach the imperial citizens as heroes, not as members of a traitorous family.

“The heroic tales of destroying Drake, Owlber, and the Minotaur are already being spread by the imperial family.”

Vivian’s actions, which swayed the hearts of merchants who moved like reeds, were quick.

To the imperial citizens, the one who can protect them now is the best, and in that case, it doesn’t matter whether they are traitors or not.

Vivian, who fully understood the ways of the people at the bottom while running a business, immediately began to create Eugene Schneider as a hero.

“Also, more than 70 percent of the Imperial Knights, the most powerful armed group in the Empire at this point, have defected to the rebel forces. Monsters are monsters, but from the perspective of the Elysium aristocratic forces, Tyrannos is the most burdensome.”

However, they cannot ignore the nobles.

Vivian’s solution for them was negotiation.

The most troublesome figures for the nobles of the Empire are none other than the Anti-Imperial Alliance Tyrannos.

In the case of noble families belonging to the Anti-Imperial Alliance Tyrannos, there are many cases where they have an antagonistic relationship with the nobles of the Empire.

“……”

Eugene Schneider, who was listening to David’s explanation, silently looked at his hand.

And in his hand was an item that looked special at a glance.

None other than the Emperor’s Sword.

Vivian not only hastily sent David to protect Eugene, but also delivered an item that could be said to be the Emperor’s avatar through him.

“Vivian, no, the Emperor, has given and is giving a lot of consideration.”

Eugene Schneider’s heart is touched.

Bahad and Vivian are very far away. But even so, Vivian is taking care of Eugene Schneider as if she were right next to him.

Even though she is busy fulfilling her father’s wish and has a heavy responsibility.

“The Emperor is conveying great gratitude to Great Swordsman Eugene in return.”

However, Vivian’s heart was different.

“She said that if Great Swordsman Eugene had not given her great enlightenment, she would not have been able to break away from her previous mindset and make the same decision as now. So she asked me to reassure the Great Swordsman and his family and tell them not to be alarmed.”

Vivian Saint-Pierre’s current actions were possible because she had broken free from the trauma created by Antoine.

After all, it means directly confronting the enemy Antoine and helping Louis XV, who was in cahoots with such Antoine.

Vivian, who was deeply frightened by Antoine’s horror and tried to hide her frightened appearance by passing the responsibility to Jeanne,

If she had not gained confidence through Eugene, she would not have even dared to accept Louis XV’s request, regardless of gains and losses.

But she eventually accepted the position of Emperor, and the reason was for the sake of the greater good and Eugene Schneider, she even accepted the position of Emperor.

Thanks to the connection called Eugene, Vivian became that much stronger.

So, between Eugene and Vivian, it cannot but be a truly heartwarming story.

“I can’t believe it… Father?”

However, the story was different in the Red Fox Mercenary Corps, which had newly set up shop in Bahad.

Eugene Schneider finished his conversation with David and returned to the Red Fox Mercenary Corps headquarters.

He told Jeanne about Antoine’s coup, and Jeanne, upon hearing the news, almost lost her mind.

“……”

Eugene Schneider silently looked at Jeanne, whose face had turned white.

It must have been because he couldn’t think of any words of comfort.

He thought about giving her a heads-up in advance, but he couldn’t confuse Jeanne, who was leading the mercenary corps in a dangerous situation.

That’s why Jeanne, who settled in Bahad like this, heard the shocking story all at once.

“That person, who was so sincere about going the path of a knight… so he applied his strict standards mercilessly even to me, his daughter… abandoned the path of a knight…?”

Jeanne’s reaction seemed different from Charlotte’s.

If Charlotte’s was general bewilderment and shock,

Jeanne felt resentment.

“Jeanne, do you remember the promise you made with me before?”

Eugene felt it too.

“You promised that if I ask you a question, you will always answer one thing properly.”

So he brought up the promise he made between Jeanne and himself.

It was a promise he made in exchange for forming a harem.

“What did the Archduke do to you?”

Eugene is certain. Antoine Desselles Oblean, the father of Jeanne d’Arc Desselles Oblean, gave his second daughter a deep wound in her heart.