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CHAPTER 202: THE URGING

CHAPTER 202: THE URGING

~ Aun’s Point of View ~

(Aun, Fernando found out that I came to the royal capital! The bomb in the arena was also equipped with a eavesdropping Magical Tool)

The sudden telepathic message from Ruzarc was pretty bad news to us.

I understood why Ruzarc was so anxious about it, but until I was going to hear it directly, I could not be sure that what I was thinking was the same as what Ruzarc was thinking. If it was going to be different, it would be even worse……

(What do you mean by that? Please calm down and explain it to me.)

(Ah, y-yeah…… I’m really sorry about that. It is the kind of an eavesdropping Magical Tool that I have improved about a year ago. The previous eavesdropping Magical Tool had a narrow reception range, so a receiver had to be nearby, but I improved it and made the reception range much wider than it was initially intended.)

(So, Fernando, who is in the royal castle right now, knows almost everything that’s going on in the arena?)

(If we assume that this was a set up everywhere in the arena…… Then yes, this is precisely what this would be all about.)

(Seriously now…… But I think it’s best to assume that this assumption is correct for the tim being……)

(Yes, that’s right. Or rather, even if it was not, it does not change the fact that my conversation with Kinu and the others was overheard by him.)

It is better to think that the situation was worse than we initially thought.

To summarize the situation, there were two new factors that have put us at a tremendous disadvantage due to the eavesdropping Magical Tool. The first was that the enemy found out that Ruzarc was now in the royal capital. This created an opportunity for Fernando to move on to the next stage of his operation. Furthermore, they also found out that Ruzarc had a means of returning to Alline from the Ibuldia Empire other than the airship.

If that happened, it was even possible that they would have found out that we had the same means of quick transportation. I would like to believe that they did not know what method it was or what restrictions it had on itself, but since Kinu and the others’ conversation was overheard by the enemy, it was better to assume that they knew that Cinque went out to pick up Ruzarc and return there with him……

Honestly, this fact alone was a factor that put us at a considerable disadvantage here, but there was another factor that was even more problematic for us.

That thing was, Ferdinand knew exactly where everyone currently was in real time.

Considering that about an hour has passed since Ruzarc arrived at the royal capital, not only does it mean that the current position of our forces was fully known to the enemy, but it also gave Ferdinand time to simulate future developments.

In addition to that, it was now known that one of the two bombs planted in the royal capital has not yet been found, and the bomb in the arena has not been completely defused……

(…… This is quite a dangerous situation we are currently in. We still do not know Ferdinand’s plans or the intentions and goals of the coup itself, and we are already losing the information war so much……)

(Yes, that’s right. It would not be strange if they launched a campaign against us right about now.)

As I reached that conclusion through telepathy with Ruzarc, Fernando’s voice began to flow from the voice-enhancing Magical Tools spread out across the royal capital.

「My name is Fernando Alto. As you all know, I am the leader of this currently ongoing revolution. First of all, I would like to apologize to the people for making them feel scared and anxious. I am truly sorry for that…… But once this revolution is successfully over, everyone’s lives will be much better than they are now. I promise that this country, the Kingdom of Alto, will develop several levels more than it is right now.」

This is really not good…

We do not have the means to stop this broadcast at the current moment. Besides, the people, who are not informed of anything, are craving the sweet nectar of “information” right about now. In addition to that, an apology and a manifesto statement from Fernando will be sent out. If Fernando launched this coup with a noble cause in his mind, there was even a possibility that the negative feelings of the people will be directed towards us if we stop this broadcast halfway through.

While I was thinking about all of this, Fernando continued with his speech.

「There is only one more way left to end this revolution, this conflict that everyone is calling a coup d’état. …… The Second Prince Ruzarc Alto, fight me! Let’s settle who is worthy of being the “True King”! I will wait for you in the throne room. ……If you try to do something sneaky like bringing someone else with you…… You know the price for that, right? Then, we shall meet in the throne room in an hour and—」

With that, Ferdinand’s voice from the voice-enhancing Magic Tool was abruptly cut off.

Summoning Ruzarc to fight him…… This is a complete and utter trap if I have ever seen one. It was no different from the suicidal act of rushing naked into a Boss Area filled ot the brim with traps.

But even so, Ruzarc would surely say,”I will go there alone.” That’s the kind of guy he was……

(Ruzarc, I want you to listen to me and……)

(I will go there. Even if I know that it is most definitely a trap.)

(Haah…… Yeah, I knew it. I mean, that’s precisely the kind of a guy you are, huh……?)

(Sorry about that……)

(No, it’s fine. Actually, that’s why we like you so much. And it’s not like you are not thinking about anything up your sleeve, right?)

(Yeah. The conditions for us to win against Fernando are now perfectly clear.)

(Dealing with the bombs and neutralizing Fernando at the same time……)

(Yeah. Of course, I know it’s not going to be easy. But being able to see the shape of the bomb and being given an hour should be to our advantage to accomplish just that.)

(That means we have to find and defuse another bomb in the remaining hour, right? And considering the travel time, we will have to do it without you, Ruzarc.)

(It will take me about forty five minutes to travel to the throne room on foot. So, I will defuse the bomb in the arena to a certain extent in those fifteen minutes I have left, and figure out what its structure is. From there on, will have to ask Nelfie-san to do the rest, but I think I can give telepathic instructions for the rest of the work remotely.)

(What about taking care of Fernando?)

(I’m afraid that you will have to trust me with that…… But I will do something about it for sure!)

Though Ruzarc said that, the tightrope walk for him to follow remained unchanged.

…… However, there are only a limited number of things we needed to do and the means we could take to do so. Besides, every second counted right now.

(I understand. I will leave Fernando to you, Ruzarc.)

From here on, it’s an all-out war. We have no choice but to use all the means at our disposal to break out of this desperate situation.