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Chapter 171: For My Friend’s Sake

——Peaceful days always crumble in a sudden manner.

≪Aun-san! Where are you!?≫

A telepathy came in from Barbaru while I was relaxing with Kinu on the 5th floor of the Phantom Castle.

≪What happened? I’m on the 5th floor of Phantom Castle with Kinu right now.≫

≪Please come to my office in the administrative district of Plainevelt City with all of [Black Thunder]! It’s a big matter!≫

≪Calm down, Barbaru. What happened?≫

≪I don’t know the details yet, but… But if the information is true and the response is delayed, it will turn this country upside down! I’ll be collecting information until you arrive, so please come as soon as you can!≫

≪Alright I’ll tell everyone to gather quickly. I think we should all be there in an hour.≫

≪Thank you! I will also ask Sparz-san and Earl Stedrius to set up the communication magic tools so we can share information! I shall see you in one hour then!≫

Judging from Barbaru’s impatience, something very dangerous must be happening.

In addition, sharing information with Sparz and Earl Stedrius of Recuria means that it is a matter that cannot be dealt with by ourselves.

I haven’t told those two that I’m a Dungeon Master yet. I trust them, but I don’t know how they’ll react, so it’s better to hide it for now. To be honest, it’s troublesome to have to talk while keeping in mind to hide that part, but… Well, it can’t be helped.

I immediately conveyed these things to the other party members via telepathy, and temporarily teleported to the Plainvelt core room together with Kinu. About 10 minutes later, the other three members teleported into the core room. We then hurried to the administrative district where Barbaru’s office was located.

◇ ◇ ◇ ◇

〜Office in Plainevelt City Administrative District〜

「Sorry for the delay. Is everyone here?」

「Yes. Let’s start the meeting right away. Sparz-san and Earl Stedrius are connected via communication magic tool.」

『We’re here! Information has reached us as well… But it would be better to have Viscount Barbaru take lead of this situation.』Sparz.

『I agree. We have already shared the information we have, so let’s leave it to Mr. Barbaru. It would be smoother to cooperate with [Black Thunder] in that way.』

Sparz said it passingly but Barbaru was recognized for his achievements in the development of Plainevelt City the other day, and his title was raised to Viscount. However, the tone of their voices conveyed that that was trivial at the moment.

As I exchanged glances with Barbaru, he nodded slightly and started explaining the information he had gathered.

「Understood. Then let me summarize the information that I know so far. To begin with, it’s hard to believe, but there was a coup d’état in the royal capital Alraine yesterday. The mastermind is Fernando. The first prince and the nobles of his faction.」

「…Seriously?」

「That’s right. Early this morning, the capital guild sent a request for assistance to each branch guild as emergency information.」

『Recuria also received a request for help with the same content. Moreover, if that information is true…then the royal capital has already fallen into the hands of the enemy.』

「Ruzark is in capital of Ibrudia right now, isn’t he?」

「Correct. They must have carried out the coup d’état while aiming for the timing when His Highness Ruzark is away. It seems that they had made considerable preparations behind the scenes until then…」

「Does Ruzark know this?」

「No, I don’t think he knows yet. After all, we were in a state of cold war with Ibrudia until just the other day. We are only going to establish a method of communication between the two countries from now on, so……currently, we still don’t have a means of immediate contact.」

「Then I will inform Ruzark. He gave me a communication magic tool during the invasion of Ibrudia. I should still be able to use it.」

『Hey, hey! You were given such an amazing thing!? You normally can’t easily get in touch with His Highness, though!』Sparz.

「Well, we’re pals, after all! So, what’s going on with Alraine right now? Do you have any information?」

「We still don’t have accurate information, but a guild employee in the royal capital contacted me while in hiding. Thanks to that, I’ve gathered a lot of information. To summarize things briefly, the royal capital is completely suppressed by Fernando’s army, and the royal castle has also been occupied. The safety of the king and the royal family is unknown.The regular soldiers are completely caught off guard and the chain of command is disrupted. It is unlikely that they will be reorganized.」

「What a mess… I mean, just how much preparation did they make to succeed in a coup d’etat in just one day? And to do that without Ruzark finding out… First Prince Fernando, wasn’t he supposed to be incompetent?」

「I guess you could say that… Even if he’s rotten, he’s still a member of the royal family, and he should have received a fairly high education. Moreover, considering that he’s from the same family as His Highness Ruzark, I can imagine that he’s highly intelligent.」

『Indeed. However, no one imagined that it would be so flashy. And I didn’t know that the Fernando noble faction was still on friendly terms with the first prince.』Sparz.

『After the previous Ranking Battle, the Fernando noble faction had lost power across the board. They must have required a certain amount of personal property to gather a private army. I can’t even imagine how this situation was created in the last few months.』

「Excuse me, let’s get back on topic. Anyway, Alraine is still in the process of recovering from the damage it received during the invasion of Ibrudia, and it was attacked in the middle of the night this time. The citizens are currently gathered in the arena and are half confined. In other words, it is no exaggeration to say that Alraine is completely occupied by the Fernando faction.」

I’m starting to understand the situation. This might be worse than I thought. We have to move as soon as possible, and no matter what happens, it’s all but decided that we have to go to the royal capital.

In that case, it would be better for us to hurry to Alraine while receiving detailed information from Barbaru.

「If that’s the case, we [Black Thunder] will head to the royal capital right away. I’ll also inform Ruzark of the situation.」

「Alright. Then I shall use the magic tools to keep the communication with Aun-san.」

『We will gather up our forces as well. …From here on, the civil war is inevitable.』

「Yeah. We’ll head out now!」

We can communicate with Barbaru via telepathy, but he did a good job of deceiving Sparz and Earl Stedrius.

There is still little information and many points of concern. Moreover, we honestly don’t have much of an obligation to act for the sake of the country.

But I will do everything I can. For my friend’s sake.