第６６６堀：そんなことあった (Part2)
"Moreover, there are two letters. One is from the August royal family, and the other is from one of August's oldest ducal houses. The laughable part is that their contents are diametrically opposed. The royal family is asking us to protect the Holy Kingdom, while the ducal house is asking for our assistance in conquering it."
"Huh?"
It made no sense. It made absolutely no sense.
Seeing our confusion, Noble continued his explanation.
"I was confused and made inquiries myself. You remember that foolish knight who insulted Yuki-dono during the If Continent summit, right?"
"Yeah, I remember him."
"At the time, it looked like he was just putting on a show to gauge Yuki-dono's true intentions, but apparently, that wasn't the case. It seems he was a knight pushed into that position by a local ducal house. After he returned, there was a massive fallout over his punishment, creating an irreparable rift between the house and the royal family. They were already harboring deep resentment, especially after the incident where the duke's son acted rudely toward the guests of Dragon Knight Amanda's party during their visit to August, which led to punishments from the royal family, led by Princess Inis."
"Wait? That incident was..."
"Exactly. It was the same son who stole Labyris-dono and the others' cake, swung his sword at them, and took Aslin-dono hostage."
Ah, I remember that.
If I recall, he was that total lolicon creep who also touched Labyris's chest.
"Wow... well, they must absolutely hate Weed. But isn't that just a case of reaping what they sowed?"
"It is indeed their own fault. However, Yuki-dono and the others were just the mercenary escort, and all the credit for that incident went to Dragon Knight Amanda. Furthermore, Cleena-jo's subsequent actions—adopting a princess and treating Weed with the respect due to a nation, despite the ducal house looking down on it as a 'small country'—only added fuel to the fire."
"So, I get that there's internal strife in August due to pent-up frustration, but why is Hifi's place getting dragged into this?"
"No, have you forgotten? The original reason August had to rely on Dragon Knight Amanda in the first place was because Hifi had set things up at the border fortress."
"No, no, that was settled by pinning it on a criminal organization that tried to hijack the Hifi Holy Kingdom, wasn't it?"
"That’s what *we* know. But from the ducal house's perspective, the Holy Kingdom failed in its crisis management and caused them trouble. They are claiming they should incorporate the Holy Kingdom into their own territory as compensation."
"Are they idiots?"
"They may be idiots, but they have the power to push it through. Many local nobles are skeptical about the recent alliance and the special treatment given to Weed. Since incidents keep happening and getting resolved on their own, the royal family likely struggled to gauge the true strength of Yuki-dono and his people, which is probably part of the problem."
"Ah, so that's where it leads. But isn't it the royal family's job to convince—or rather, control—those local nobles?"
"That is where the ducal house comes in. Even if it's their own fault, they feel they've been forced to swallow bitter pills time and again. They are the ones rallying the local nobles by criticizing the treatment of Yuki-dono and Dragon Knight Amanda, as well as the handling of the Hifi Holy Kingdom."
"Doesn't that mean this is less about us and more about them having a long-standing grudge?"
"That would be my assessment. But there is no doubt that August is being shaken, and Weed is one of the causes, as are myself and Hifi."
When he puts it that way, it’s true, but it still doesn't sit right with me.
"So, how does Ex intend to move?"
"Naturally, we will protect the Holy Kingdom. We will side with the royal family. Besides, there's no way we could win if we made enemies of the five great powers."
"That goes without saying. And wouldn't other countries step in if someone laid a hand on the Holy Kingdom? Is that ducal house too dense to realize that?"
"Perhaps. But given that they are asking me to cede the Holy Kingdom, they might be planning to shift the responsibility onto us if something goes wrong, or perhaps they intend to appease others by offering up the Holy Kingdom's human resources. For better or worse, one cannot say the Hifi Holy Kingdom is entirely blameless in this matter. In fact, if you look at the truth, Hifi is the one at fault."
"Well, there is that..."
"Even those who don't know the truth would find it problematic that a nation's leader was captured. If they offer to distribute the talent, the Zilba Empire might even side with the ducal house. That is, assuming they are cooperative regarding intercontinental exchange."
"So, the chances of other great powers lending a hand to the ducal house are low?"
"No, if their goal is the throne of August, then agreeing to intercontinental exchange and dragging down the current royal family would be easy. The ducal house's opposition to the royal family predates all of this. That is a much more likely motive than anything related to how Weed is treated."
"In other words... they might just be using all these problems as a pretext to take control of August."
"That is one possibility. However, if they start rampaging without regard for their surroundings, suppressing them should be easy, right? What we should be worried about is when the problems cannot be solved so easily."
"I suppose so."
Well, in the end, I didn't get any definitive information, just speculation regarding the current state of August.
For now, I'll prioritize gathering information on August by visiting Roday and White Forest first.
It also means I can test the waters on things like the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which might be easier to discuss there.
And so, the problems of August continue to surface.
Well then, what will become of the If Continent from here on out?
And how will Yuki respond?
To find out, we will continue our tour of the six great powers.