Hachinan tte, Sore wa Nai Deshou! - Chapter 102.2

Hachinan tte, Sore wa Nai Deshou! Side Chapter Part 2 of 4

And no matter how good the Duke of Nuremberg is, he can’t prevent the leaking of information from them.

He is also a nobleman, so he doesn’t understand the behavior of beggars or the mafia.

“As for the rest, the stagecoach waiting area in the northern part of the Imperial City was burned to the ground.”

Osbert continued to report about the stagecoach waiting area. The carriages were all destroyed, and the horses killed because of the burn.

Apparently, since everything was completely burnt, the cleanup was very easy.

“Why  would the coup troops benefit from that?”

It’s not like it was a restricted military base, and it’s normal to keep the horses and carriages safe awaiting transport.

That means the executors were most likely those opposed to the coup troops.

Almost certainly, it was the work of Count Baumeister and his team.

His magic should be sufficient to do that much.

“You think they burned it in their escape?”

“I’m afraid so.”

It seems that, without incident, Duke Philip, and Count Baumeister’s groups had escaped.

Considering the circumstances, I think it’s reasonable to assume the groups have joined up.

“That’s one hell of a prey to miss, Duke Nuremberg.”

If he had successfully captured or killed Duke Philip, the coup would have been a great success.

If she was able to escape, then Duke Philip would be able to gather troops to survive.

So, it would naturally devolve into a civil war.

“Will the Duke of Nuremberg’s coup stumble because of the foreign nobleman, Count Baumeister?”

“Dike Philip is likely to gather the Northern Lords against the Duke of Nuremberg and I wonder if Count Baumeister and his party will join in that?”

“Do you think they might return by sea?”

For Count Baumeister there is no point in participating in the Empire’s civil war

I’m sure he’d like to return quickly and proceed with the development in his territory.

“Your Highness, that won’t happen.”

“How do you know that, Emera?”

“I tried to conduct a reconnaissance earlier using ‘Flight’, but I felt a severe pain in my head and couldn’t activate it.”

“You can’t use any magic?”

“Not exactly, precisely some of the magic doesn’t work.”

That’s odd.

Come to think of it, since the coup, there hasn’t been a single magic airship to fly out of the Imperial City.

It’s probably the same reason Emera can’t use ‘Flight’.

“It’s not some kind of magic, is it?”

“I’ve never heard of any magic that would permanently disable magic over a wide area.”

The amount of magic power would need to be extreme.

Emera is one of the best wizards in the Empire, but as expected, she wouldn’t be able to do that.

“As I recall, there were many underground ruins from the era of an ancient magical civilization in Duke Nuremberg’s domain, right?”

Maybe they found some good treasure and that’s the basis for their confidence.

Anyway, I can’t move easily anymore.

I kept thinking and tried to gather information for a few more days, but my men couldn’t come up with anything.

“I wish the Duke of Nuremberg killed my damned father and brothers, too.”

“Your Highness, that’s not polite.”

“If it were the case, I could gather troops and take down the Duke of Nuremberg.”

I am the son of the Emperor and could have used his death to carry out the will of the Emperor and take down the Duke of Nuremberg.

Although the emperor’s son doesn’t have the right of succession, the whole empire is in turmoil now, so I could get away with it.

“Then shall we flee North and join Duke Philip?”

“Marc, there’s this saying, ‘A ship will go to the mountain if there are too many captains.’”[1]

[1] Korean proverb meaning a situation where a lack of leadership (or too much) leads to confusion. Equivalent: Too many cooks in the kitchen.

If I go it will only cause another mess.

A rebel army overcome with a leadership struggle.

I would be ridiculed in the history books.

I’m sure it wouldn’t be appreciated by the other side either.

It doesn’t matter how useless my father it, but I’m still his son.

“So, what do you want to do?”

“You know what to do. I’m going back to the Imperial City. The Duke of Nuremberg will capture me, but…” I paused, “He won’t kill me.”

Yes, how could someone like me be killed when my father and brother weren’t?

The Duke of Nuremberg must have found some kind of use for the members of the Imperial Family.

So, I need to return to find out.

“I will go, but not Emera or Marc.”

He’s an extremely capable man.

He could use me as a hostage and send me off to fight Duke Philip.

I have to abandon myself for this serious matter.

Everyone else must abandon something too. Right now, is a time for patience.

Most of my vassals and friends will stay in the depths of the forest, while a few of us will return to the Imperial City.

Before going, we change into our messy, dirty clothes and drink alcohol.

“Who are you?”

“I’m the emperor’s third son and these are my playmates.”

At the main gate of the Imperial City, I drunkenly reveal my identity.

Immediately, I was taken away and brought before the Duke of Nuremberg.

His eyes were as sharp as a hawk, leaving an impression on me the first time I saw him, and he had a small smile on his face from his success.

But he still has the fight with Duke Philip.

He won’t succeed, though.

“What have you been doing?”

“We were having a barbecue outside the Imperial City. At night there was a commotion in the Imperial City. My vassals advised me to flee to the provinces and gather my troops, but I refused saying it was reckless. After that, they all left me.”

When I explained this to him, the Duke of Nuremberg was somehow satisfied.

I guess he was glad I didn’t have any popularity.

“Why didn’t you just gather your troops?”

“I’m just the third son  of the emperor and my mother was a commoner, not even a bannerman. Besides, Arya and Mirei are in the Imperial City.”

“Who is that?”

“My favorite whore. Duke of Nuremberg, hurry up and allow the brothel to open for business.”

“Well, we’ll see.”

The Duke of Nuremberg stared at me with pensive eyes. Did he buy my act?

Or does he still doubt it?

I need to get him to let his guard down more.

I was put under house arrest like the rest of my family, but I was allowed to go out with supervision.

Of course, the only place I go is the brothel.

“Mr. Warden, would you like to watch me satisfy little Mirei? I don’t have that kind of taste, but I know you have a job to do.”

After I said that the first time, Warden started waiting for me outside the brothel.

“Your Highness, didn’t you come to this place to do things like that?”

“You’re attractive, but I have Emera.”

“Oh, you’re more serious than I thought.”

“Serious. I’ve always been serious.”

“Well, it doesn’t matter. I’m getting paid either way.”

This brothel is run by Osbert’s father, a senior member of the mafia, so he nominated the number one prostitute to practice sword fighting with me, analyze the information we gathered, and contact the Meier Trading Company who was assisting me.

“You can rest assured I won’t tell anyone what happens in this room.”

If she were a cheap prostitute, she would speak with the promise of money, but she’s number one in the Imperial City.

Osbert’s father, the owner, instructed her to tell anyone who asked that I was shaking my hips the whole time.

“Keep me posted on how skilled I am.”

“You can count on me, Your Highness.”

And before leaving, I’d drink a lot of booze.

It was really lucky I was a strong drinker.

“The Imperial Family will pay for it.”

This is the extreme.