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Chapter 173: The Genius’ Scheme

〜Royal Capital Alraine Royal Castle〜

「Fuhahahaha!! How about it! If I put my mind to it, I can even start a revolution!!」

Fernando laughed loudly while seated deeply on the throne. Next to him, the king was tied up on the floor. Looking at this situation, it would seem like the coup was successful and the battle is already over.

「Fuu… No. The real thing starts from here on out.」

Fernando, however, was not arrogant. On the contrary, he objectively grasped the current situation and even guessed what will happen in the future to some extent.

The man named Fernando Arto had been branded as incompetent by the public until now, and was only seen as an easy-to-control puppet by the nobles.

However, he was, in fact, controlling his own image so that he would be seen that way.

Fernando is not incompetent. He was rather a prodigy comparable to Ruzark.

Ever since he was a child, he has never lost the priority of “becoming a king”, and after grasping not only the politics and economy of the Arto Kingdom, but also the nature and power balance of those involved in national affairs, he dared to be “incompetent”. By doing so, he encouraged the nobles to flock to suck the sweet nectar. And he eventually built a large force called the Fernando faction.

In short, he established the “power in numbers” in national affairs to such an extent that even the “genius” Ruzark was unable to obtain the right to succeed to the throne.

It was like walking a tightrope where one wrong step could lead to everything falling apart. But Fernando having maintained that balance for more than 10 years, you can get a glimpse of his extraordinary ability to grasp situations and make decisions.

The only point where Fernando made a mistake was that he was unable to find the irregularity – Black Thunder, before Ruzark.

As such, Fernando was now naturally concerned about one thing – the adventurer party [Black Thunder] who got SS-rank at the award ceremony recently. When this coup d’état becomes known, it is clear as day that they will come.

They have overwhelming force and mobility. And Black Thunder, which has the charisma to turn their surroundings into allies, and its affiliated clan, Star Supremacy, were the most troublesome enemies in this plan from Fernando’s point of view.

To the point where he can’t truly say “the revolution was a success” unless he does something about them.

「Well, I’ve already made a move. Besides, it’s not like I don’t have a trump card…」

As he sat on the throne, he recrossed his legs and pondered on one elbow. About the man called [Lightning Emperor].

At first glance, he seems to be acting bluntly and erratically, but his principle of action makes sense to some extent.

His principle of action is to prioritize protecting his friends and loved ones above all else.

If you know that much, then you should deliberately cause a situation that prevents them from coming to the capital. At Plainevelt, a place that Aun cherishes.

「I will make this revolution a success no matter what I have to sacrifice. There is no going back.」

Fernando’s plan to complete the coup was divided into three stages, and the attack on the royal capital was just the beginning.

First, while Luzark was away from the royal capital to visit Ibrudia, he launched an attack from inside and outside the royal castle at the same time. Fernando’s strategy at this stage begins with having the rebel army equip the same equipment as the Royal Knights. And by letting the rebels know how to distinguish between the two, they avoided fighting each other.

Due to this, the Knights Order was plunged into confusion and were unable to counterattack. The rebel army led by Fernando managed to capture the royal castle almost overnight.

Next is the second stage. This is the stage of stopping Aun’s [Black Thunder] in Plainevelt. If possible, it would be best if Plainevelt could also fall, but Fernando was not naive enough to hope for that.

If he can stop Aun and the others for just one day, his chances of winning will greatly increase.

And the third and final stage. If Fernando can arrest Ruzark when he returns to the royal capital, kill the only other heir to the throne and the king, and crucify them as an example, then there will be no one who can oppose him.

In order to accomplish this, it is necessary to stop Aun in Plainevelt in the second stage. If everything goes according to plan, Ruzark can no longer put up a resistance. The only concern is that Ruzark won’t return to the royal capital, but by keeping the king alive, the odds of that happening can be reduced to zero.

The reason why he intentionally allowed information to be passed between the guilds using magic tools is so that the current situation is passed on to the nobles of the Ruzark faction and give Ruzark a reason to return to the royal capital as soon as possible.

Having thought that far, Fernando cut off his train of thoughts and conveyed his instructions to the rebel army lined up in front of him.

「We will immediately proceed to the second stage. Invade with our army 3400 and adventurers who belonged to Daytona hiding in the vicinity of Plainevelt. Now is the time to bring down the hammer on the detestable Ruzark and Star Supremacy!」

「「「「「YEAHHHHHHH!!!!!!」」」」」

The rebel army includes many former Daytona adventurers, in addition to the Fernando faction nobles who held the supremacy of national affairs before the Ranking Battle. [Daytona] had been ranked first for many years, and numerous adventurers belonged to it. Also, of course, there were many S-rank parties among them, but after the forced dissolution of the clan, they lost their influence and power.

And it was actually one of Fernando’s schemes to direct their anger towards [Star Supremacy] behind the scenes.

「Well then, I have to do my job as well…」

Fernando slowly rose from the throne, left the room without even giving a glance to the king who was lying next to him, and turned his feet towards the stairs leading to the basement.

——Towards his trump card.