Seirei Gensouki ~Konna Sekai de Deaeta Kimi ni~ (LN) - Volume 26 - Chapter Pr

Prologue: The Current State of the Restoration

The morning after the golem attack, in a room of the guest house the Restoration was using in the Galarc Kingdom...

“Hmm...”

Gustav Huguenot, a leading noble of the Beltrum Kingdom, glared at the document in his right hand with a listless look. He was seated in an office chair and checking the financial report of the Restoration.

After losing their headquarters in Rodania, the Restoration was in a precarious situation. Only a few hundred members of the organization had evacuated when the Beltrum army led by Duke Arbor’s faction had attacked Rodania, and the majority of those members were women and children—only a few officials and soldiers had made it out with them.

As they had evacuated with only the clothes on their backs, most of the Restoration’s fortune had also been left behind in Rodania. The only assets they had were intangible things like personnel and intellectual property.

The current income of the Restoration was entirely reliant on Celia: She was donating the profits from her presentations of the sorcery knowledge she possessed to Christina. Without that, they would have been lodging in the Galarc Kingdom without compensation.

This isn’t good...

They were barely maintaining the appearance of an organization; they lacked the income to reliably continue supporting several hundred members.

If this situation drags on, the members will lose morale. We need something to remind them of our momentum and justification.

If possible, it would be something too impactful to argue against. Some good news would be most welcome.

Declaring Princess Christina’s ascension to the throne was a start.

It was just the other day that Christina had dispatched Celia as a messenger to Duke Arbor, announcing her intention to ascend as queen. Under the laws of the Beltrum Kingdom, a new monarch had to undergo a coronation ceremony. However, as long as they made a declaration using the regalia that proved their royal authority, they would temporarily be regarded as the legitimate king.

Christina had used the regalia to declare her ascension to Duke Arbor, so she was already regarded as an official queen of Beltrum. Since King Philip III was also still in power, the regal power over Beltrum was split between them. It was the birth of the first dyarchy in the history of the Beltrum Kingdom.

However, since Christina was currently staying outside the kingdom, she had no real power she could use.

In the end, it was just a desperate last resort to buy time. With an overwhelming majority of the nobles in the kingdom belonging to the Arbor faction, the legitimacy of her ascension will obviously be rejected.

Duke Huguenot bit his lip and frowned at the thought of the future waiting for them. The problem was that her ascension was only temporarily regarded as legitimate. As long as the other party went through the proper legal process, they could reject Christina’s legitimacy.

If three-quarters of the nobility in Beltrum voted against her ascension, Christina’s legitimacy would be retroactively denied. In other words, it would be as though she had never been queen at all.

If the legitimacy of her ascension is denied, the justification of the Restoration would also be denied. If that happens, it won’t just be a matter of losing morale anymore.

Losing morale was just the beginning. At worst, it could create internal conflict, leading to the collapse of the organization itself.

We’d also get a lot more criticism from the Galarc Kingdom. We’re already at the mercy of King Francois—a single decision could make us nomads.

The other problem with the Restoration was their lack of headquarters. If they didn’t retake their base, they would be unable to resume activity in their home country. They were only able to maintain their organization right now thanks to King Francois’s kindness. If they ever became a detriment to the Galarc Kingdom, the nobles here would oppose their stay.

King Francois agreed to accommodate us because of our mutual interests.

In other words, the Galarc Kingdom didn’t want the Beltrum Kingdom joining hands with their potential enemy nation—the Proxia Empire—while in the hands of the Arbor faction. In order to prevent that, they were willing to support the Restoration in taking down the Arbor faction, but...

If we do not live up to expectations, they may give up on us. We need to prove there’s merit to the Restoration staying in Galarc... Doing so would also improve our morale.

Thankfully, there was still time. Voting to deny the ascension to the throne had to be proposed at the coronation ceremony, so they had until then.

We need to come up with something by the coronation ceremony. Something with enough influence to overturn our situation... There’s no one better than him.

The first thing that came to mind was a certain boy.

Haruto Amakawa. If we can bring him into the Restoration, retrieving Rodania will no longer be a mere dream.

At that thought, flames of excitement lit up in Duke Huguenot’s eyes. When he recalled the way Haruto had fought in the rooftop garden of the Galarc Castle, his heart beat like he was a young boy again. The way Haruto had fought with the golems was like watching a one-man army—no, even that would be an understatement.

I want him. We need his power, no matter what it takes...

Duke Huguenot longed to invite Haruto to their side. Of course, he had considered it in the past as well, but now that they had lost their base in Rodania, his power was more valuable than ever.

What intrigues me is how I had lost all memory of him up until yesterday...

But Duke Huguenot had no idea that Rio was a transcendent one. He hadn’t been invited to the explanation after the battle—only King Francois and the residents of Rio’s mansion had been in attendance, as well as...

Princess Christina may have received some information through King Francois...

The excitement from his eyes faded as the frown returned to his face.

But would she share that information with me?

He was unsure if Christina would pass that information down to him.

For some reason, Her Majesty seems rather passive when it comes to soliciting him.

He recalled how her reaction had been rather lukewarm the last time he suggested inviting Rio to their side. His proposal back then had been to offer Rio one of the daughters of a Restoration-affiliated noble family as a mistress.

All my past suggestions were avoided and ended ambiguously. Because of that, Her Majesty seems reluctant to discuss anything regarding him with me.

Was it because it was a topic she refused to budge on? She seemed wary whenever he brought up Haruto, reacting rather questionably.

Thus, Duke Huguenot had also stopped bringing up Rio in front of Christina. This was because he had stopped expecting her to do anything when it came to soliciting Rio.

What happened when a human stopped expecting things from someone? They endured, they gave up, they ceased to speak to that someone. However...

The situation is what it is. We cannot afford to avoid the topic any longer.

Having lost their base in Rodania, the situation was vastly different to before. They needed something dramatic to bring the Restoration back from the brink of downfall. And the key to that was Rio.

I need to approach Her Majesty about gaining his assistance once more.

Everything was for the sake of the Restoration—and the Beltrum Kingdom, Duke Huguenot privately thought with determination.

Hopefully we’ll be able to present an enticing offer to him...

Frankly speaking, it was questionable whether the Restoration was capable of offering anything worthy. In fact, the only thing he could think of was an arranged marriage with a noblewoman from a prominent family.

After everything that happened this time, it’s clear he has many mysteries. I’d like to have a bit more information about him. It would be good if I could ask the people near him, but...

Duke Huguenot knew less about Haruto Amakawa than he thought. No, it wasn’t only Haruto.

The people around him are equally mysterious. Though there’s no doubt they’re capable...

Satsuki and her friends aside, there was little that he knew about Sara’s and Gouki’s respective groups. Sara’s group appeared to interact with Rio as friends, but Gouki’s group seemed to be vassals that had pledged their loyalty to him. All he knew for certain was that they were all excellent warriors. In other words, they were a treasure trove of personnel.

At any rate, those closest to Haruto weren’t very public figures. Just like him, they had no interest in their social status and rarely ever left the mansion. King Francois also seemed to respect that, as he had made it extremely difficult to gather information regarding them—any outsider who wanted contact with the residents of the mansion had to go through Princess Charlotte first.

The same goes for that little girl who appeared with Haruto—Sora, I believe?

If Duke Huguenot’s memory was correct, she was a completely new face. And she appeared to be quite attached to Haruto.

Even a little girl like her possessed abnormal strength. Where does he find all of them?

Like Gouki’s group, she had black hair, which was rarely seen in the Strahl region.

I believe they said Haruto’s parents were immigrants. Was it through that connection?

Duke Huguenot could only guess based on the little information he had about Haruto’s background.

It’s such an uncommon hair color, though...

He tried to think if he had met anyone similar in the past.

That boy.

There was one person in Duke Huguenot’s memories who matched that trait. He had never spoken to him in person, and the few times he saw him, it had always been from afar. But he had left quite an impression on him.

“...Rio, if I’m not mistaken.”

He was the orphan who had saved Flora when she was kidnapped in her youth. As a result, he had enrolled in the Royal Academy, but five years later, he had been suspected of pushing Flora off a cliff during the outdoor drill. After that, he had vanished from the Royal Academy.

Duke Huguenot’s own son Stewart had been involved in that incident, so he had been personally involved in dealing with the aftermath and punishing Rio.

Duke Huguenot grimaced—it wasn’t a very good memory. But in the next moment, his eyes widened with a gasp.

He had heard that name just recently.

“That little girl...”

Yesterday, right after Rio and Sora had been summoned in the rooftop garden. While everyone had been dumbfounded by their sudden appearance, Sora had turned to Haruto.

“She called him ‘Master Rio,’ didn’t she?” Duke Huguenot murmured, eyes glinting.

No, it wasn’t only yesterday. When we were evacuating from Rodania, Haruto and that little girl helped us. 

Hadn’t she called Haruto by the name “Master Rio” that time too? The moment he recalled that, the scattered points connected in Duke Huguenot’s mind. If that was the case...

No, but... He wasn’t certain. He had no other proof.

Duke Huguenot remained frozen with his hand over his mouth for a long moment.