At night, while the stars shine down on the world. While there were some people scattered around the Royal Castle, there was another group sneaking around. They were a group consisting of a thoroughly trained elite Goblin and some Ninja Kobolds who specialized in covert operations.
In their hands were either matted daggers made of mithril or Ninja Swords, which are living body weapons. On their bodies, they wore black armor that increases their hiding effectiveness, which was made of black bones. Only the exterior of it was able to move.
Like this, they didn't speak as they moved in search of prey but instead used hand signals and eye contact to communicate in secrecy. With their ability as spies having been greatly enhanced, their goal was the Nobles Faction's private army.
They edged up behind the enemy, who was on the lookout for suspicious characters as they walked the corridors of the Royal Castle, and silenced them by cutting their throat. Because their experienced movements were carried out silently, not even someone standing in the hallway several meters ahead of them would have taken notice.
The corpse of the target they hunted was put in a body bag and brought back with them, without leaving a single drop of blood behind. Although they're like skilled assassins, they aren't related to the Nobles Faction. When a common soldier passes by as they're doing their work, they hide away without doing anything.
They're able to naturally get into a soldier's blind spot by using the cover of a pillar to hide. Those among them that are particularly skilled can change the shape of the exterior armor's black bones so they can cling to the ceiling. That rarely happens, though.
Like this, the hunting continued until daybreak. In total, more than 50 of their private soldiers went missing. The soldiers were never found, but the bodies of 10 nobles were discovered instead.
They were not nobles that had a powerful influence like the Snake Grandfather and the Strong Grandson, but they were able to affect the lower seats. The corpses of the nobles were found by their maids when they went to wake them up in the morning. Their strange appearance made it likely that they were killed using the same poison that killed the Minister.
Although they let their greatest enemy escape, since they had taken control of the majority of the Kingdom, the Nobles Faction were somewhat careless. These assassinations that occurred will cause them to remember the casual murder of the Minister, reawakening the terror that they had started to forget.
In response, some of the Nobles quietly returned to their territory, while others tried to distract themselves with alcohol and women. There were also some who were furious at the killings and snapped challenging the perpetrator to kill them if they can. Their reactions varied, yet the commonly held terror was hard to express.
For the time being, the nobles were not senseless. They had a rough idea who the culprit was. They assumed it was the black Apostle Lord that was employed by the Tomboy Princess. He had displayed his combat capacity in the arena, so they imagined that he had the potential to pass unnoticed through the guard network around the Minister's residence. However, they had no evidence. It was not possible for them to conclude that Aporou is a tremendous criminal who knows no limits.
For that reason, they believed they had to take into consideration the fact that it could be other various culprits as well. This puzzled and disturbed them since the nobles did not have enough information or the means to deduce the correct answer.
A report was delivered at this point saying that the Tomboy Princess had risen up on top of an army. Given she was able to escape the Strong Grandson, however, no one anticipated that kind of information within 1 day.
Since they were confident the Tomboy Princess was inside the Amber Palace until just before the coup d'état, she must have gotten knowledge of it beforehand. It should have been a 3-day ride on a horse to arrive at the home of the Duke that was on friendly terms with the Tomboy Princess. It was utterly unimaginable to go and bring back an army in 1 day.
That's why the aide who gave him the report was cross-examined many times by the Strong Grandson, who asked him, "That's impossible, are you sure the information isn't mistaken?". Still, it didn't take long before he was convinced that being it the princess, it was believable for her.
He thought so, because he knew, that she had inherited the blood of the founder of the nation, King Rorgis, in which dwells the ability to read the minds of others. However, the blood's power has weakened over the generations to the point that most of the current members of the royal family have lost this ability. There are a few exceptions, but most of them must have direct contact to read the other party's mind; otherwise, it will be an inaudible whisper that they can't understand.
The few exceptions to this are the Tomboy Princess and the First Queen. The First Queen is able to read the thoughts of the people she's seen with her own eyes. However, reading the part of the mind that holds a person's cleverly hidden intentions is difficult, since it is possible to provide false information with enough effort. This doesn't change the fact that it's still an incredible ability, though.
He's facing off against the Tomboy Princess, who is said to be a[Throwback]that's gifted with an unusual power which is exceedingly close to that of Founder King Rorgis, who was a[Satori Mixblood].
It could be said that the power to read the deep recesses of its target's mind merely by observing or recognizing them was way too dominant. Because she was born with this unusual power, as well as[God of Judgment's Divine Protection], she was confined in a tower without taking a single step outside until she was 12 years old. While having no freedom, she was carefully raised to ensure a notable career.
Since she was chained by others from birth, she ended up perceiving both the beautiful and foul sides of numerous people, and as a consequence, she became warped. That's why she became a spitfire and manipulated people from the shadows. On the contrast of being a princess of the royal family, she was determined to acquire her own freedom, even if the Kingdom was shattered in the process.
For that reason, he thought that if it was the Tomboy Princess, it might be possible for her to predict the coup d'état beforehand. Although his plans were strictly hidden, the Strong Grandson came to the conclusion that it may have been possible for them to be leaked in some way.
He believed, she meant to alter the way things are in the Sternbild Kingdom for the sake of her own freedom, which she wanted for her own convenience. Even though he felt irritation towards the unusual power left by her distant ancestor, the Strong Grandson earnestly made preparations to attack the Tomboy Princess's private army.
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――Founder King Rorgis
The Sternbild Kingdom was built by a person that was a Mixblood that possessed the[Legendary Hero]job, which is a rare job that combines the traits of the[Hero]and[Great Hero]jobs.
Rorgis's mother, the[Great Hero]Ruskatia, was known as the [Defender of War Souls]. It's said that she used a battle ax to reclaim around half of the current Sternbild Kingdom's territory during a dark age when monsters that were more powerful than today's monsters were prevalent.
Rorgis' father was considered a[Disaster Designated Individual]class monster, born into the world as a result of a[Mountain God] that was defeated during[Eschatology: War of Conquest]losing all of its divine power and falling into ruin, becoming known as [Fallen God: Old Man in the Mountain's Shadow]. At that point, a figure similar to an ape-man was produced out of his own flesh and blood, as well as his brain, creating the mind reader,[Satori].
It seems that Ruskatia and Satori encountered each other on the battlefield. Many people gathered around the[Great Hero]Ruskatia, becoming her companions. Before long, new children were born from them. Since monsters that were more powerful than today's monsters were prevalent, humans were limited in what living provisions they could acquire. However, the solidarity of her companions was strong.
Being confined to live in a limited area, there were many conflicts between humans. They were easier to kill than monsters, and for that reason alone there were numerous wars. There, after traversing the hot sands of the desert, passing over mountains and through forests,[Satori]arrived from an island nation in the far east, which existed across the ocean.
Satori, who had a very tough body and was quite ferocious, also inherited the regrets of his creator, the[Great God ■■■], who supported the world by the direction they decided on.
It's said that aside from his ability to read minds, he had a body that was no less than 4 meters tall and the bristles that grew on it had a hardness equal to dragon scales, while his movements could surpass the speed of sound. This mighty Ape-man Satori, intruded in the war that occurred between Ruskatia and another tribe. The war ended after 3 days and nights when Ruskatia beheaded the enemy's leader. The harm done by the Satori to Ruskatia's companions that participated in the war was enormous. However, the damage that the enemy tribe suffered almost entirely destroyed them.
Ruskatia became pregnant due to a spurt of the Satori's blood. It's not certain why she gave birth to her sworn enemy's child. However, Ruskatia had lost the ability to fight, so instead, she trained Rorgis so that he could fight on his own.
This is the story that was carved into a lithograph that's passed down among the royal family. Well, that's the long and short of it, anyway.
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Should I now summarize the events of the entire day so that they're easy to understand? The private soldiers of the Strong Grandson, as well as several nobles, were assassinated. This has caused uneasiness to spread among those in the Nobles Faction.
Information that the Tomboy Princess is raising a private army reached them. However, it's only half right. I've been in contact with allies of the "Uncle Duke" through the use of a communication demon, a clone that specializes in information transmission. Thus the Uncle has come to the Royal Capital leading an army. The Tomboy Princess is currently underground.
The Strong Grandson believes that these reports are plausible since he knows of the various things that the Tomboy Princess, who has been confined until just recently, did behind the scenes for the sake of her own freedom.
I'm currently preparing the troops to meet the enemy. There's a group of us underground that are awaiting orders to sneak into their ranks. The flesh of the private army is impressive. Well, I wonder what this feeling is?
Speaking of what the Tomboy Princess has done in secret to obtain her freedom, such as; inciting people to commit offenses, using the dirt she discovered to coerce others into doing something for her, leaking people's adultery to their wives to tear their social appearance to shreds, and so on and so forth.
The earnest desire to be free which overflowed from her heart was distorted by her lifelong imprisonment, which caused her power to read minds to ultimately manifest itself. The Minister feared this potential and, seeing it as a hindrance, recklessly tried to have her kidnapped and assassinated, which resulted in him suffering the consequences.
She was forced to read the minds of others too often, which caused her mental-age and thinking-ability to abnormally rise. However, since experience didn't accompany this growth, she seems to make elementary mistakes surprisingly.
That being said, her mind-reading ability doesn't work on me for some reason, and its effectiveness is low for the other members of my group. Therefore, even if she knows my real nature, it's a trivial concern at this point. Except for of her mind-reading and her somewhat unique talent, she's just a frail and beautiful girl of suitable age, so there shouldn't be a problem.
The relationship between us is that of an employer to an employee. Although it's uncertain how long this relationship will last, it's going reasonably well so far, isn't it?
Anyway, since our plans for today were somewhat different from usual, I was tired and went to lie down. Starting tomorrow, I intend to frequently reduce the enemy's forces like I did today.