135 Expedition Arc 20 Chancellor
Short and sweet.
‘Hmph. I’m the one doing the apologizing, so you’d better show some gratitude.’
The chancellor opened with something completely incomprehensible.
‘‘‘What’s even remotely apologetic about that?!’‘‘’
Kyle, the observer, and I, Lord Kanzawa, stared in disbelief.
‘If you’re going to apologize, start by officially retracting the slander against me—Akira—in a public forum and restore my honor.
Declare publicly that the blame for this terrorist attack lies with Prince Ethan, the Third Prince.
And since you abused your position, resign from your post. That’s the bare minimum for any apology, don’t you think?’
‘You think I could actually do that?!’
The chancellor barked, completely ignoring his own position.
‘Then it’s war. Choose—lose your rank, or lose your life. Take your pick.’
‘Akira’s side has the other princes and the Imperial Regulars behind him. Even the Guard says they’ll eliminate the chancellor if it means protecting the Emperor.’
Either way, we’ll have to think about what happens when the Emperor regains consciousness.’
Kyle drove the knife in, right after my announcement.
‘Gnunnu.’
The chancellor grunted once, then cut the comms.
‘No good, huh?’
‘Nope.’
‘Yeah, figured.’
Looks like the chancellor chose death by war.
But there won’t be war. Because…
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‘Gnunnu.’
The chancellor cut the line.
He still didn’t grasp how precarious his position really was.
If he got rid of Akira and pinned the blame on Kyle, he could install his grandson, Ethan, as Emperor.
Hearing the Emperor was critically injured—this was his golden opportunity.
He never thought the Emperor would survive.
He figured he’d just sabotage the medical capsule and be done with it.
Easy enough—fabricate some evidence. I figured I could just chase Akira and stir up public outrage. Simple.
But Akira came back with a video—clean, logical, airtight.
It hit you in the eyes. No whisper, no rumor could stand against it.
Public opinion shifted overnight—full-on minister bashing.
Still, I thought: if I just defeat Akira in war, I can salvage everything.
Plenty of nobles who’d lap up the spoils if they’re on my side.
Throw every last ounce of our forces at him—there’s still a chance.
Apologize publicly? That’d be the end of me. I never had that option to begin with.
"War! Ethan—how many troops have you gathered? Hey! Answer me!"
I’d patched through to my grandson, the third prince Ethan, via encrypted channel—no reply.
At that moment, the chancellor’s office was overrun by the imperial guard, swarming in like a avalanche, surrounding the chancellor.
“Chancellor, by the unanimous decision of the royal princes, the First Prince, Kyle, has assumed the title of Imperial Regent.
By Prince Kyle’s command, you are relieved of duty. You are under arrest for treason against the state.”
“That’s absurd. What treason?!”
“Unaware? The Third Prince’s domain has been contaminated by Naihyūmu and utterly destroyed.
You attempted to bring Naihyūmu into the empire and disgrace the hero of the Naihyūmu campaign, Prince Akira.
That’s nothing short of an attempt to endanger the nation. What else would you call it but treason?!”
“I am the chancellor! I removed Prince Akira—this so-called natural-born prince—because I care for the nation!”
“Then you’ve endangered the nation yourself. That’s rather backwards, isn’t it?”
“Guh…!”
The chancellor hung his head and was dragged away.
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"Done with it." "Yeah."
We watched the whole thing unfold.
After that, shutting down the Third Prince's territory and wiping out the Naihyūm was no small task.
For some reason, the third prince, Ethan, had survived without being parasitized.
Akira's slander incident this time was solely the prime minister's doing—Ethan couldn't be held accountable.
The crime of bringing Neahyūm into imperial territory remained, but since Ethan himself had suffered the loss of the star system, the situation became a messy one where the perpetrator was also the victim—so it was left unprosecuted.
A real walking disaster.
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