Editing Saijaku Muhai no Bahamut:Volume 5 Episode 2 (section)

===Part 9===

Around the same time.

While the girls were thinking about what they should do with the reward of a special request──Lux and Airi passed through the castle gate and stepped inside the castle.

The hustle and bustle of people remained in the night air in preparation of the All-Dragon Battle that would start tomorrow and the New Kingdom’s founding anniversary the day after that.

Lux was wrapped with a strange nervousness when he entered inside the castle after almost five years.

The chalk white structure that were inherited from the building since the era of the Old Empire was this country’s government office.

Inside the spacious assembly hall that was illuminated by lamp’s lighting, a great number of consuls were already assembled.

The seating was placed to left and right in stair shape. A red carpet was laid down on the pathway.

Lux and Airi were standing on a platform at the lowest level──where they were stared down from the stair model seating facing them.

「You must be tired from the long travel, former Arcadia Empire’s seventh imperial prince Lux Arcadia. And then his little sister Airi Arcadia.」

「We have arrived in accordance to the invitation.」

Lux responded like that to the consuls addressing him and bowed.

Their seating was enveloped in ultramarine colored darkness. From where Lux was standing, he couldn’t see the faces of everyone there.

Originally their faces should be visible. But for Lux who was completely distant from the capital after the founding of the New Kingdom, he didn’t even know most of their faces and names.

「So, what business do you have with us?」

Airi who was behind Lux asked the question with a voice that was slightly tinged with nervousness.

The messenger who came to their inn before this only told them 『It’s an important talk』.

At that point it was undeniable that it was suspicious, but seeing this many consuls gathering like this, that suspicion turned into conviction.

「What a hasty young lady. ──Well, certainly it’s the night before the All-Dragon Battle, it would be pitiful to make you accompany us for a long talk. Oi, prime minister-dono.」

The one who urged on with such a large voice was a big man with red hair, one of the Four Great Nobles, a man called Bugriser.

Even Lux who wasn’t that knowledgeable about the politics in the New Kingdom recognized the Four Great Nobles’ feudal lords who controlled the vast territory in the four directions since the era of the Old Empire.

Even their personalities and their way of doing things.

「Do you remember my face? I’m the prime minister who serves as the aide of her majesty the queen, Nulph. The reason we expressly summoned the two of you here like this is just as you suspected, because we wish for you to listen to an important matter that still cannot be disclosed to the people of this country. The『Imperial Capital Recapture Plan』──it’s the plot of the Heiburg Republic.」

「……-!?」

Lux and Airi’s expressions changed from Prime Minister Nulph’s words.

「A notice has come from the spy we sent to Heiburg, and from it we understand the specifics of the plan. It seems that the enlarged military division of Heiburg will enforce it. The plan will be carried out before long──perhaps even right after the end of this All-Dragon Battle. They will take advantage of the opening when the security of the New Kingdom will be short of hand.」

Nulph was reading from the document on his hand dispassionately.

「But, Heiburg’s troops won’t attack directly. The remnants who sought asylum there and wished for the restoration of the Arcadia Empire──the rebel army will become the ringleaders on the surface.」

「The rebel army that escaped to Heiburg will come attacking the New Kingdom. So that means, don’t tell me……」

Airi whispered with a trembling voice. Prime Minister Nulph nodded silently to that.

「It’s just as you surmised. If Heiburg’s pet, the rebel army take down the capital, it will become the start of the indirect rule of Heiburg’s military division. That’s the only thing that we have to avoid at all cost.」

──The remnants of the Old Empire.

In other words this was the rebel army’s Imperial Capital Recapture Plan against the New Kingdom.

Their objective was to destroy the pillar of the New Kingdom and then bloom a second time as rulers once more, but they were actually being used by the Heiburg Republic’s military division to invade the New Kingdom.

Furthermore it was obvious that the Black Marketer Hayes was deeply involved in this.

「The supreme commander of the rebel army that became Heiburg’s pawn, is a man called Ragreed Forus I believe?」

「──Eh?」

A hoarse voice abruptly came from the edge of the parliamentary seat.

The owner of that voice was one of the Four Great Nobles, Zagha Schultzed. Lux reacted to the words he said.

Ragreed Forus.

He was once a high noble that was in the Empire faction, a man who was the best friend of Lux’s older brother Abel.

And then, he was also the man who once attempted to make Philuffy into a scapegoat at the imperial court.

Five years ago when the Old Empire perished, his whereabouts became unknown, but to think he escaped to Heiburg──

「Oo, come to think of it, Lux-dono, if I remember correctly──you were acquainted with him I believe? On the surface he is the leader of the rebel army, but it seems he is the one leading the whole army to attack here you know?」

The destiny between him with Ragreed Forus from their childhood.

The man who inherited the ideology of the Old Empire markedly appeared leading the rebel army as the supreme commander of the Imperial Capital Recapture Plan.

But rather than that information itself, it was the fact that this information was told to him right now in this place that made him sense a certain omen.

「And……what do you want me to do?」

「Hohou. As expected from a former prince, although you were estranged from politics for five years already, but you possess a profound discernment. Have you predicted it from what we said just now?」

「You ought to stop with the foolish preface, Lord Zagha.」

The voice of a gentleman in the prime of his life interrupted Zagha who was letting out admiration while continuing.

One of the Four Great Nobles, Dist Ralgris.

He is the father of Syvalles’s captain, Celis.

「Just as we explained, this country is on the verge of an unprecedented danger. In order to prevent that, we wish to borrow your strength, as the trump card against the Imperial Capital Recapture Plan.」

「What kind of role will I have more specifically?」

Lux replied shortly and waited for the answer. Dist paused shortly before continuing the talk.

「I have heard about your true strength and deeds of arms from my daughter. Yes, of course I knew about the rumor from the royal capital’s tournament(official mock battle), but I never thought that your strength was to the degree of being able to repulse a Ragnarok.」

「…………」

Lux responded to that with silence.

At first glance it was a compliment to him, but he couldn’t get carried away and say anything unnecessary.

The matter of a seed of an Abyss being inserted into Philuffy’s body and that the seed’s host, Yggdrasil had been defeated were significant secrets that were only known to Lux and company.

The Abyss were subjugation targets by law. That law applied not just to the New Kingdom, but anywhere in the world.

Therefore, he absolutely had to avoid from saying anything careless and cause that secret to become known.

「Other than that, I also heard the report that you saved the students many times from the Abyss’s assaults on the Academy, and you were victorious against Lord Barzeride in an one-on-one duel. There is already no doubt that you are a prominent Drag-Knight even among the men of the New Kingdom. ──Therefore, we judged that it is possible if it’s you.」

Dist stopped his calm praising words and changed his tone into a strict one.

「From the scout’s report, a hundred Abyss that appear to be the battle strength for the sake of this Imperial Capital Recapture Plan are already hiding in an abandoned village northwest from this royal capital.」

「……Wha-!?」

That terrifying piece of information that was said really naturally caused Lux and Airi’s body to tremble in shock.

Even just several Abyss were hiding strength that could easily destroy a single village without any Drag-Ride to oppose them.

If several dozen Abyss were rampaging in the capital unchecked, it would bring the danger of destruction in one night just from that.

「Is that information──true?」

「For the Abyss to quietly lurk in an abandoned village, there is no doubt that the treasure called the『Horn Flute』 that was used by the rebel army’s commanding officer you once brought down is in use here. The execution day of the Imperial Capital Recapture Plan will be the day after the end of the All-Dragon Battle. It’s necessary for us to be a step ahead of the rebel army and exterminate the Abyss before they can be used to attack here. Therefore──」

Dist cut off his words for a moment and gazed at Lux, then, he told him.

「Lux Arcadia. We will have you to take on the role as the decoy to lure all one hundred Abyss.」

「……!?」

「Ple, please stop with the joke Lord Dist! That’s impossible! No matter how, for my brother alone to face such a large army is──」

Airi pleaded in panic right after Lux held his breath.

But, all the consuls including Dist resumed the talk as though nothing happened.

「We have sent a scout to the abandoned village and confirmed that fact. This role can only be carried out by you, the Weakest Undefeated──the one who excelled in defense more than any other Drag-Knight. And then of course, we don’t intent to leave it to you to annihilate all of the Abyss. You will lure the Abyss until a hidden fortress located at the north of the New Kingdom, then the army unit standing by there will strike down the Abyss with concentrated fire. That’s the plan.」

「…………」

「This plan didn’t come from my own discretion. It’s a conclusion that was hammered in a war council that reflected the opinion of her majesty the queen and all the consuls here. The execution of this mission will be the next morning after the founding anniversary. We will crush the Abyss swarm that is the keystone of the rebel army’s tactic beforehand. Also in order to avoid chaos from the foreign countries and the people, refrain from saying a word of this to other people.」

‘I see’, Lux comprehended inside his heart.

It was unclear whether these people had grasped as far as until the matter of the 『Black Hero』, but Lux understood several things.

Putting aside the intention of the Four Great Nobles, the consuls of the New Kingdom were putting their utmost trust in Lux’s strength, on top of that──they wished to make the annihilation of the Abyss as the achievement of the New Kingdom’s army, that was their thinking.

Lux was selected to take the decoy role for that reason.

The Arcadia Empire lost the majority of their Drag-Knight’s war potential from the coup d’etat five years ago and their military strength was greatly weakened.

The New Kingdom was hastening the nurture of the Drag-Knights, but as expected, looking at the whole, it was the fact that there was a large gap opened between the New Kingdom’s forces and the surrounding large countries.

There, they wanted to use this chance where many important people from various neighboring countries were gathering to demonstrate the New Kingdom’s strength to the people and all the other countries.

However, skilled Drag-Knights who could carry out the decoy role were few in number in the New Kingdom, and no one wanted to lose their own superior pawns.

They were trying to use Lux most likely because of such reason.

「If you cooperate with us, the matter of the other day──the unauthorized Ruin investigation by the arbitrary judgment of the headmaster of the Royal Officer Academy you are attending, Relie Aingram, as well as the indiscretion of all of you Syvalles who were going along with it in order to save her. We won’t question those any further. I think that this is not a bad deal, but what do you think?」

「That’s reckless Lord Dist! My brother’s wound is still not fully healed for battle. Carrying out that mission by himself is──」

Airi raised her objection against Dist’s offer.

But,

「──I understand. I’ll do it.」

Lux calmed his breathing in only a moment and clearly answered like that.

「Nii-san!?」

「It’s fine Airi.」

Lux smiled gently in order to calm the worried Airi.

「In the end, this is something that someone has to do. Even the current me will manage somehow, surely.」

「…………」

Airi faltered to say any further from working out her thoughts to think of various things. Then more voices came from the parliamentary seats.

「Looks like the talk is finished. Then, I’ll speak about another demand from us.」

「Eh……?」

The words of one of the Four Great Nobles, Zagha, that suddenly came caused Airi to knit her eyebrows. The aged man then grinned smugly and raised four of his fingers.

「Four wins──. In order to obtain enough Ruin investigation rights, we want you to get at least four wins. Of course, carrying out the aforementioned decoy role is your top priority still.」

「……What could you mean by that?」

When Airi made a dubious face, Zagha’s narrow eyes narrowed further and he chuckled with a stifled voice.

At the All-Dragon Battle, it would be a round-robin event against each country. This time a total of six battles would be carried out.

In the recent years, the military cadets of each country had grown in strength quite much. Obtaining four victories there was next to impossible.

Nothing could be done about it with just Lux’s strength alone but──

「It means exactly as how the words sound. It will take some effort to not question about the incident we mentioned just now. There is also no way we can just not question the incident of using the Ruin investigation right without the authorization itself. Don’t worry, I heard that all of you the selection members of Syvalles are a gathering of powerful people. It will be easy to raise four wins in the All-Dragon Battle, I’m sure. If need be, you, the Weakest Undefeated, can just fight hard for the sake of victory.」

「That’s, no matter what it’s too high-handed──……-!?」

Airi moaned and she prepared to protest further, but her mouth closed against the cold gaze from the consuls that were looking down from the surrounding seats.

The demand of firm promise for obtaining four wins in the All-Dragon Battles following the matter of the decoy role.

Lux who had seen the way the Old Empire did things in the past could easily read their intentions of intentionally forcing difficult tasks on him.

They prepared a difficult problem that was hard to accomplish in addition to the decoy role matter so that in the event he was unable to accomplish one of the tasks, they intended to force another troublesome request on him again someday in the future.

They would use this chance to ascertain whether Lux was an existence that was easy to control for the New Kingdom or not, and whether he was a beneficial personnel or not. If possible they would want to put a collar on him.

That not even a shred of guilt could be seen from such people was because Lux and Airi were criminals from the Old Empire.

(Aa, this again……)

It was pointless no matter what they said, they who were existences with weak positions.

People like them who held authority would be endlessly self-assured against such weak existences.

Just like the Old Empire that once imposed a tyrannical rule on the people and brought the tide of male chauvinism in the past──

(Eh? Just now, what did I……?)

Lux asked himself in his mind because of the strange déjà vu.

It was strange. Even though this wasn’t the Old Empire anymore……why?

But if that was the case──if it was the same like in the past, then it was easy to understand.

If it was the current him, he had even more ways to do things than in the past.

「Understood. Regarding the decoy role for the Abyss extermination and the four wins from the All-Dragon Battle. I will undertake both of them.」

「Oo!」

At that moment, cheers and small applause welled up from the stair-shaped parliamentary seats.

Airi looked like she wanted to say something, but after a few moments she hung her head down in resignation.