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CHAPTER 196: FERNANDO’S OBJECTIVE ①

CHAPTER 196: FERNANDO’S OBJECTIVE ①

~ Drake’s Point of View~

As I headed towards the castle through the streets of the royal capital, I heard a loud crashing sound from behind my back. I guess my brother has started fighting Bride seriously.

「Oh well, it’s not like that is my problem to begin with.

I am a century too old to be worried about my brother. Instead, I needed to do something about the royal castle that my brother had left in my care for the time being, or else Shinku-neesan would surely scold me later.

Thinking this, I used my “Flight” skill to soar into the sky and head straight for the royal castle. Then I saw the royal castle’s courtyard. There were a few soldiers stationed there, but it did not not look like the castle itself was well-guarded at all.

「Hmm. Fernando should be in the castle at the moment, but something definitely seems strange here……」

Not only were there not too many men stationed in the castle’s defenses, which should be the strongest out of all the other places, but there were more enemy soldiers stationed in the arena and the surrounding area when we dropped off Kinu-nee-san and the others.

This may be related to the bomb that Nelfy-nee-san mentioned earlier, but…… I had a feeling that there was more to it than just that. However, this was also convenient for me.

「If we don’t find Fernando quickly and capture him, he will surely do something unnecessary to us.」

Ignoring all the other soldiers I could see below me, I landed on the balcony of the castle itself.

This must be where my brother gave his speech after the Ranking Battle. In that case, the throne room should not be too far from this room. I will start by looking in that direction.

The balcony window was firmly locked, but I pulled the handle and destroyed the window just like that. I stepped inside, but there was no sign of anyone currently being. Despite being in the royal castle, there were no enemy soldiers or servants to be seen, which made the atmosphere seem even more eerie than usual.

Staying cautious at all times, I left the room and entered the nearby corridor, relying on my memory as I walked forward, opening the particularly large door and entering the throne room. The scene that greeted me was different from what I had expected.

「Are you…… the First Prince Ferdinand?」

「Yes, that’s right. Are you the only one here, Drake-kun?」

In the hall, Ferdinand was sitting deep on the throne, which was placed one step higher from the floor. His attitude seemed to show that he was looking down on me, but his eyes were sharp and I could tell he was carefully observing me all this time.

However, there were no guards around. It even gave the impression that he was “waiting” for me just now.

「Hmm…… I guess I managed to pull off a pretty good pattern out of all the possibilities I had in mind.」

「What are you talking about? If you think you can take me on entirely on your own without any bodyguards, then that would be hugely disappointing.」

「No, no. I did not mean to give you the wrong idea, but I have no intention of getting into a fight with you.」

「And that’s precisely what I don’t understand. Don’t you know that my goal is to capture you?」

「Hmm…… Drake-kun, do you want to talk for a bit?」

「Like I said, we do not have time for that and……」

「It’s all good, so listen for the time being. The arena is not the only place where the bombs were planted.」

「Huh……?」

「Now, now…… It will only take a few minutes at best. S, if you can talk to me, I will give you a hint as to where the bombs were planted.」

「No, no, no. It is you who do not understand. I just have to capture you and force you to confess the bombs’ locations, and that would be it.」

「All the bombs I planted are set to detonate the moment I die. Even if I’m captured, I’m prepared to kill myself right away to make it happen.」

It looks like Prince Ferdinand seems to have prepared for this coup way more carefully than I had thought. He seemed to have predicted our movements in advance and thought up ways to respond to each and every single one of them.

However, at this point, I did not understand Ferdinand’s purpose at all. If his goal was to plant the bombs in the royal capital and detonate them, then he wouldn’t be able to continue his rise to power even if he took the power through a coup. So detonating the bomb should have been a sort of last resort option for him.

First of all, it seems that my priority here would be to talk to him and extract as much information from him as possible.

「…… I guess it cannot be helped, huh?」

「I’m really glad that you are such an understanding man.」

「What is your goal here?」

「The goal here is to replace the one sitting on the throne. I am the one who deserves to sit on this throne the most.」

「Even so, your methods are quite forceful. I don’t think destroying this entire system is the right answer that you seek.」

「Hmm. I suppose that’s what it seems like at first glance…… So, let’s expand the topic a little bit, shall we? Drake-kun, how much do you know about other countries?」

「Well, I don’t really know anything about the world situation, but……」

「That’s probably true. You see, most of the people in this country don’t know much about outside information, and they don’t even try to find out about it themselves. Besides, this country, if you only look at your own country, it may seem like a peaceful place. But the reality is not like that. Did you feel anything about the recent invasion from the Ibrudia Empire?」

「What do you mean? That was a war that ended in a crushing victory for us, right?」

「That’s true. But if we had not been in this country, or had not cooperated in the defense efforts, what would have happened?」

「That is……」

「In all likelihood, we would have allowed the Empire to unilaterally overrun us. That shows how much of a difference there is in military strength and national power between the other countries and the Alto Kingdom.」

That’s true, now that you mention it. Fernando was speaking the truth.

The difference in Magical Tool technology was obvious when you look at that Magical Airship. Also, when I visited the imperial capital of Ibrand during the Seven Sphin Nations Conference, I saw countless Magical Tools being used all over the city. I’m sure I’m not the only one who was surprised at how widespread they are.

In terms of the sheer number of soldiers, there was also a huge difference with the Ibuldia Empire.

The number of soldiers invading from the Ibuldia Empire, including the Airborne Combat Unit, was roughly about six and a half thousand However, it was clear that that was not all of their full military strength. From what I have heard from my brother and Prince Ruzarc about the size of the Ibuldia Empire’s lands and their number of cities, it seems to be a fairly large country.

In contrast, our defense forces were mobilized at merely five thousand. There are soldiers stationed in cities other than the capital, Alrain, but the only cities in the Alto Kingdom that are large enough to rival the capital, Alrain, are Miralda and Leculia. Plainnevert, which is currently undergoing urban development, was likely to be even larger, but even I could see that the number of our soldiers was not that large to begin with……

As we talked, I began to understand what Fernando was trying to say and accomplish here. However, there was still something that felt strange here. Or rather, it even felt like I was being tricked by Fernando’s intricate storytelling……

However, knowing Fernando’s true intentions and way of thinking at this point will be really important pieces of information in thwarting this current coup.

So for now, let’s pretend that we are actually being manipulated by him and prioritize getting our hands on the information that we need.