The evening sun bathed the streets of Aureatia in an amber glow. The office of Aureatia's Fourth Minister, looking down over the scenery, was situated in a section of Aureatia where land was particularly high-value.
A gorgeous woman in a red dress entered the room and gave a light bow. The Seventeenth Minster, Elea the Red Tag, had been summoned by the room's master, and came to give a report on the results of her series of investigations.
"It's been too long, Fourth Minister."
"The only reason it's been so long is because you were so obsessed with your investigation out in the far-off boonies of Eta."
Together with his biting initial comments, the man glared at Elea from across the desk. He had strong, sharp features, but the glint in his eyes was cunning and cruel. He was the Fourth Minister, Kaete the Round Table.
While a civil servant like Elea, the man possessed both preeminent authority and military might. It was rumored around town that he was the sole face able to stand toe-to-toe against the faction of Aureatia's all- powerful Second General, Rosclay the Absolute.
"Not only that, but you still haven't given a proper report on the investigation you were in charge of. In our meeting on the Particle Storm, information collected from my soldiers got here faster than your damn report."
Elea bowed her head. Normally, investigation updates and the like were not the responsibility of the head of the intelligence division herself. Despite this, up against the exceedingly harsh disposition of Kaete the Round Table, she had no other choice.
Within the Twenty-Nine Officials of Aureatia, there were no limits based on age or term of service and each individual was recognized as having their own discretionary authority. At the very least, that was how it was on paper.
"My humblest apologies.… Due to the pressing matter at hand, I prioritized contacting those who could immediately respond to the situation.
Although it delayed my report to you by a day, I was prepared to give you my report."
"You're saying that's why it's late?" Kaete scoffed.
"That's not it. You're incompetent. In truth, you've failed to complete the task you were given. It's the intelligence division's job to notify the Twenty- Nine Officials of any information as swiftly as possible. You, Harghent— irredeemably incompetent, the whole lot of you. Maybe Twenty-Nine seats are unnecessary. Am I wrong?"
"..."
While it was unbelievably humiliating to hear her name said in the same breath as Harghent's, Elea remained silent and waited for his next words. Given her position as a lowborn successor of the previous Seventeenth Minister, she was well accustomed to being looked down on.
Kaete meanwhile turned his attention to the view from the window. To him, born with authority, his sadism was a part of everyday life, completely devoid of any relaxation or enjoyment.
"Forget it. Give your report."
"Very well. Three days ago, the Old Kingdoms' loyalists under the command of Gilnes the Ruined Castle took complete control of the Togie City Council. The whole city has been placed under martial law. Gilnes had been recruiting volunteers for a while, and including the soldiers who joined from the New Principality of Lithia and soldiers from the Central Kingdom period, we believe there are close to thirty thousand partisans in total."
"I've heard that. At the very least, those Central Kingdom ghosts have gotten the numbers together."
"Of course, this all falls within our expectations. Even if they start an all- out rebellion, as things currently stand, the regional army keeping an eye on the city is enough to handle them. The problem lies in what's urging them to action, which we anticipate will bring a direct attack to Aureatia soil."
"Hmph. This Particle Storm or what have you, right?"
"A weather anomaly unique to the Yamaga Barrens. Supposing this makes a direct attack on Aureatia itself, it's certain to cause massive damages far beyond anything we can imagine. However dominant our on-hand military forces may be, should the Old Kingdoms' army use the disruption to the chain of command that would accompany an enormous natural disaster to
attack us, we would be at a grievous disadvantage."
The Old Kingdoms' loyalists' idea was the total opposite of the New Principality's, who tried to control the shura, with their aberrant violent power, and put them on the front lines. They sought to gain the upper hand by letting this impossibility to control power stay out of control.
"We are moving forward with countermeasures against this weather phenomenon with the highest priority. We've called the Twenty-Fifth General Kayon the Thundering and the Twenty-Second General Mizial the Iron-Piercing Plumeshade with an emergency summons. Currently, both generals' troops are heading to handle the situation. No other generals have dispatched troops. In order to cover for both of their departures, I request that you, Fourth Minister, handle the homeland defense on behalf of the Twenty- Nine Officials."
"…Ridiculous. Damn weaklings, all of you."
Kaete spat, his tone filled with deeply felt contempt.
"Solidifying the homeland defenses is totally unnecessary. Those troops of yours haven't gotten hold of the information, have they? The Old Kingdoms' loyalists' rear camp took a devastating hit. Even if an outbreak of hostilities was possible, they no longer have the strength to support their front line. These bastards needed to rely on a natural disaster to try and win from the start, anyway."
"How did you get that information…?"
"Best show some respect. In our current situation, information is a matter of life and death—just how many of us do you think are solely relying on you and your spies to get it? The day you've outlived your use is coming fast."
It was exactly as Kaete said. His eyes, and the eyes of the other major players in the Twenty-Nine Officials, were not turned to the war with the Old Kingdoms' loyalists. They were focused on what came after: the Imperial Competition to determine the Hero.
Amid political strife, where each faction was trying to outsmart the other, there wasn't anyone who trusted the information that came in from outside their own faction. It was likely that Elea's troops would also slowly split apart and start to be absorbed into the other factions. Much like the fate that the former Obsidian Eyes met, the ones who tried to monopolize information during times of war would eventually be ostracized and grow weak.
"That's enough. I've compared information plenty. I'm a busy man."
Kaete calmly declared to the person he had personally summoned to his office. Unreasonable, and impudent. Thus was the Fourth Minister, Kaete the Round Table.
This was all just to test me…from the very start.
Elea bit her lip. This man's aim behind forcing Elea to give him a direct report wasn't the information itself. It had all been so he could compare to see if there were any deviances in its accuracy, and to verify if she had already allied herself with another faction.
Elea the Red Tag had risen up from nothing, repeatedly betraying others over and over again, into her leading position in the intelligence division. The daughter of a prostitute, the suspicious Seventeenth Minister. She didn't have a single ally who fully trusted her.
"Soujirou the Willow-Sword, huh?"
His voice called out to her as she put her hand on the door. "What…about him?"
"You don't get it? If you're aiming for the sort of quick rise in power, like what you've done up until now, I'm saying it's got to be about the Imperial Competition. I already knew that during your infiltration into Togie City, you used that visitor, the Willow-Sword, to help. I just thought maybe you were trying to devise a way to sponsor him."
"Not at all. I was simply borrowing the Willow-Sword to have the necessary fighting power with me. I… I don't have any plans on sponsoring him."
"Is that so? Not that I care either way. If you don't want to see yourself destroyed, I suggest you hide that ambition of yours."
"…Thank you for the warning."
With a bow, she exited the office room. All of her emotions were cleanly bottled up within her pretty face.
The war with the Old Kingdoms' loyalists isn't the problem. There are only a few factors that could cause Aureatia to lose.
Kaete was correct. The real problem lay after said war.
The information obtained by each regions' spies was extremely complex, and all woven together as well.
The Particle Storm from the Yamaga Barrens is closing in on Aureatia. The Gray-Haired Child, distributing firearms and weather information, is actively working behind the scenes of the war. Toroa the Awful, who is
supposed to be dead, was spotted around Wyte. And…a demon king. The one responsible for the assault on the Old Kingdoms' loyalists' encampment was a self-proclaimed demon king. What's happening while I've been unaware…?
Assuming that all of these were not coincidental phenomena, but part of a slowing convergence to a single point…
There was a plot behind anything and everything. With the clairvoyance of Kuuro the Cautious, whom she met that day in Togie, maybe she, too, could have perceived it all as an indistinct and threatening premonition.
Nevertheless. Even if all these plots are to thwart me.
Though she had risen all the way up to a place among the Twenty-Nine Officials, even now, she was on the side of the have-nots. Neither Rosclay the Absolute nor Kaete the Round Table included Elea's presence within the course of events they were trying to steer.
The one to win and survive through the Imperial Competition…will be me.
A tournament to determine a sole Hero, to back the greatest of all symbols, eventually rising above the monarchy.
Elea was fighting all by herself. She hadn't a single ally who would fully trust someone like her. However, she alone held an all-powerful trump card that would flip everything in her favor.
I'm the only who knows about the Kia…about the World Word.
Four days left until the disaster's arrival.