第７８８堀：あれからどうなってこうなった？ (Part2)
Everywhere you look, people are driven by their own agendas, striving to achieve their goals. Some are noble, some are not, but that’s beside the point. Right now, the focus is on the internal state of Haiden.
Specifically, what has become of Haiden since the threat of the "Assembly of Wisdom"—the shadow organization behind the Akenoki—was neutralized?
"……Well, to put it simply," the former princess began, "the members of the Assembly of Wisdom were largely aligned with the current royal faction. The chaos of that time significantly thinned their ranks, allowing the old royal faction to regain its footing. My own efforts played a part in that, of course."
"A natural progression, I suppose," I remarked.
"Indeed. At the time, I was viewed as a pitiable princess whose mother had been isolated by the King—my uncle. However, because the Haile Church was lurking behind the Assembly of Wisdom, the infighting between our factions came to a temporary halt. After all, having witnessed such monstrous entities, we realized we couldn't afford to harbor such dangerous elements within our borders. We chose to cooperate."
It’s true; they couldn't afford to be at each other's throats in such a dire situation. If they had, there’s no telling what might have become of Haiden. With the Akenoki pulling strings from the shadows, a Great Stampede of monsters might have been the least of their worries.
"The biggest factor in our cooperation was that I, the head of the old royal faction, joined hands with the King—my uncle. When the leaders have no intention of clashing, the subordinates have no choice but to fall in line, or else face punishment."
"I see. So, those counts were just the lucky ones who weren't affected by the fallout?"
"Yes. The regional nobles, who were not stationed in the royal capital or the palace, were spared the threats and damages of that crisis. They were summoned here only recently. In doing so, it effectively brought together the new current royal faction and the old royal faction."
Ah, that explains why those people were acting so blatantly foolish toward Kagura and the others.
"So, the ones who kept refusing Kagura’s requests for cooperation were the old-guard current royal faction? It wasn't just simple misogyny, then."
"Exactly as you say, Milly-sama. I continued the discussions while wondering why they were so stubborn, and it finally dawned on me. They simply don't know the reality of the world yet. It seems the King only realized this yesterday as well. He concluded that their resistance was too extreme to be motivated by sexism alone."
"My, they are quite poorly informed, aren't they?"
Deryu is right; they are woefully out of the loop. Then again, the seamless flow of information is a luxury unique to Weed. You can't expect instant communication everywhere else; a delay like this is only natural. Still, for the sake of the future, we need to ensure proper intelligence gathering. After all, we’re here in person precisely to collect that information ourselves.
"I apologize. The delay in information—or rather, the resistance from nobles who refused to believe the reports—was caused by the sudden mobilization due to the arrival of the Seacypho Kingdom's army. To the current royal faction, it looks as though I, a member of the old royal faction, am rising to power alone. These are the same people who weren't even allowed to participate in the International Exchange Conference held in Weed, to begin with……"
"Ah."
It all clicked. They were the ones excluded from intercontinental exchanges from the start to prevent them from becoming a source of trouble, and now they’d been hastily rounded up because of the Seacypho Kingdom’s approach. Even if they were told about Weed, they wouldn't believe a word of it. That much is clear. Still, defying a royal order is another matter, though I suppose they were desperate, fighting for their own survival.
"Furthermore, as counts responsible for guarding the borders, they likely aren't pleased with their forces being diverted to the royal capital as they are now."
"True enough. Is there no issue with the borders those counts are supposed to be guarding?"
"Yes. Naturally, there are no problems there, which is why they were able to come here. However, they couldn't keep up with the current state of Haiden and were dragging the whole country down. That is why we had them witness the true strength of the people from Weed. It should make things much easier to manage from here on out."
So that’s why they asked us to conduct the training.
"Yuki-san, did you know?"
"I didn't know the details, no. But I understood that by conducting the training, we were showing off our strength. Milly, you understood that too, right?"
"Yes. For people like them, a live demonstration is the most effective medicine."
"The Adventurer's Guild certainly has it rough, doesn't it?"
Deryu is right; it’s a headache. There are so many fools who don't know the world who aspire to be adventurers. Wait—is this starting to feel like an extension of my work at the Adventurer's Guild? I hope that’s just my imagination.
The counts' resistance was rooted in old grudges. It’s hard to believe they’d defy a princess—even a former one—based on sexism alone. Not that it excuses their behavior. Regardless, having been shown the reality of the situation, the nobles have finally quieted down.
If you think of them as "pure" nobles who weren't tainted by the Assembly of Wisdom or the Akenoki, they almost seem cute, don't they? Oh, you think they're ugly? Well, never mind that. Milly’s skills haven't dulled, either. She’s been training quite a bit with Tori, Riel, and Kaya, and she’s always dealing with adventurers, after all.
Now that the internal affairs are settled, all that’s left is to wait for Seacypho to arrive.