Editing Rakuin no Monshou:Volume5 Chapter1 (section)

=== Part 1 ===

Kilro was about two hundred kilometres southeast of Mephius' capital, Solon. When he had been informed that the lord of Kilro had been hanged by the neck during the slave uprising that had occurred there, Mephius' Emperor Guhl had said in a murmur,

"Perfect."  

Kilro had been part of Mephius since long ago but, in truth, three generations ago counting from Guhl, it had been lost to civil war. After that, it had been governed by a powerful local family. Roughly thirty years ago however, when internal divisions arose within that family, one faction requested reinforcements from Mephius. At that time still in his thirties, Guhl had sent the reinforcements. The terms of exchange were that Kilro would become Mephian territory provided that faction was given considerable autonomy and self-governance.

Utterly suppressing the conflict and with Kilro as his base, Guhl had successfully regained control the Vlad Plateau, which contained Seirin Valley – where the betrothal ceremony between Crown Prince Gil and Princess Vileena was held – said to be the sacred place where Mephius had been founded.

Kilro was at the centre of the Domick Flats. The land was rough and by no means fertile, but it was endowed with a large air carrier relay base, a structure which ranked second only to that of Birac, which was the centre for domestic trade. However, as air carrier trade was sluggish, Kilro was currently more strongly focused on being a military base.  

No matter how much they got married with the imperial family or swore vows of loyalty, for such an important location to be left to vassals who were not under his direct control was a situation which couldn't fail to irritate the emperor.

Therefore, was this not "Perfect"?

Guhl had immediately organised troops and had dispatched Oubary Bilan to subdue the revolt.

And thus, not so long ago, Isphan York had been appointed as the new domain-lord of Kilro. He was one of Mephius' twelve generals.

"Or else there is also the rumour that it may have been the emperor himself who incited the rebellion," said Fedom Aulin within one of the castle rooms. After glancing upwards at the other six people present as though seeking their reaction, he continued, "One point of view has it that even the internal disputes that arose within the governing family thirty years ago were originally one of the emperor's schemes. As we can see from his erecting a shrine to the Dragon God faith, Emperor Guhl is obsessed with ancient conventions. He was no doubt willing to do whatever it took to regain Seirin Valley during his own reign."

Fedom deliberately paused at this point,

"Could that be it?"

"Or it might not be."

The reactions of the six were not pleasing to Fedom.

''Tsk. They're all getting cold feet''. He inwardly stifled his bitterness.

Their expressions were clearly different from what they had been before. When the seven had gathered there in Kilro, they were united in being concerned over the country's future and were a group of heroes willing to rebuild Mephius by force if necessary. Isphan York was one of those that Fedom had won over to the anti-Guhl faction and when he had been appointed as the new lord of Kilro, Fedom had seen it as a good opportunity to gather together there all the members of that faction under the pretence of helping him govern Kilro.

At first, they had had wild discussions during which they let slip their anger towards the Mephian emperor's wilful self‐righteousness. Raising their wine cups in the air, they had toasted Mephius' future health before draining their cups empty. As the seven were united in a single purpose – namely their ambition to depose the emperor and install themselves as the country's key figures – they had held passionate debates and that future had not seemed so very far away.

''But now''.

Even when offered a worthy topic for criticising the emperor over, the six of them didn't bite.

Fedom felt incredibly thirsty. The sun was still high so there was of course no chance of liquor being brought out on the table tops. But what meaning was there in keeping up the appearance of morality at this point? Feeling waspish, Fedom was about to call over an attendant when,

"It's been over two weeks." Indolph spoke suddenly.

He couldn't tell from the general's ever expressionless face whether he meant it had already been two weeks or that it had only been two weeks. But at those words, the mood within the room sank even further and Fedom lost all urge to drink.

''Right, two weeks''.

Since Crown Prince Gil Mephius had lost his life – 

Perhaps because the general mood was so low, the conversation became more energetic than it had been for Fedom's proposed topic.

"Which reminds me, it seems they still haven't fixed a date for Oubary's execution." Said Tesslan, an aristocrat living in Idoro who was serving in a diplomatic position.

"Say what you will, he is a man who assassinated royalty" Answered Nabarl, a somewhat corpulent soldier. "His Majesty the Emperor probably intends to put on a showy execution before the people. It might involve not only Oubary himself, but his entire clan being fed to the dragons."

"Then has the prince's funeral also been delayed because he's waiting for that?"

"I suppose."

Naturally the conversation did nothing to lift the mood. Fedom turned his away from their faces as they carried on their laconic discussion in hushed tones.

Following the prince's death, the emperor's despotism had grown ever stronger. Take Rogue Saian or Odyne Lorgo. For having ignored the emperor's wishes by helping the prince when he was sending reinforcements to Garbera, both generals were being kept away from Solon. Furthermore, even the leading aristocrat Simon Rodloom was still under house arrest on the charge of having remonstrated with the emperor.

Now that they had lost Prince Gil, who was originally intended to be their leader, each of the seven who had gathered because of their anger at the emperor's high-handedness had lost even the shadow of their resolve.

"Speaking of being delayed, what is going to happen with Garbera's princess?" Asked Merlock, a former member of the Imperial Council.

"It seems a delegation from Garbera arrived just the other day," answered Tesslan. "Ostensibly, it's to present condolences for the prince's death, but of course they'll no doubt also be discussing what will happen to Princess Vileena after this. The delegation met directly with the princess herself, but according to rumours among the palace waiting-maids, she appears to have refused an immediate return to her own country."

"Isn't it that she intends to wait for the prince's funeral?"

"But what about the alliance with Garbera? At present, there are no other suitable young men within the imperial family."

"Garbera's Prince Zenon is unwed. Isn't it possible a new alliance will be forged through a marriage to Princess Ineli?"

"No, it seems that Taúlia has been sounding her out."

"And now it's Taúlia," spat Nabarl.

Although Prince Gil had concluded an alliance with Taúlia, he should have attacked and seized the wide western territories and promptly broken free from the suffocating relationship between the continent's three central countries – so said the advocates of attacking Taúlia.

"But at the moment, the emperor seems rather to be considering drawing closer to Ende."

"Speaking of Princess Ineli," as the conversation almost returned to the emperor, Tesslan hastily changed the topic, "They say there's been something strange about her since she returned from Apta, "

"Ah, I've heard that too."

They said that on the day she returned to Solon, as though unable to suppress her anger at something, she had vented at everything and had screamed at her ladies'-maids and friends alike. And when she had been informed of her step-brother's death, she had exclaimed, "That can't be true."

Visibly shaken, she had done no less than go and negotiate directly with the emperor to "Have them investigate it again". The emperor had always been indulgent towards Ineli but as was to be expected, this time he had raised his voice and had scolded her harshly.

"Well, Ineli-sama was close to Prince Gil and she's at that age, so her feelings were probably thrown into upheaval."

''Humph''. Fedom stifled a yawn. At one time, said Princess Ineli had made Fedom break out in cold sweat as she had come close to realising Prince Gil's real identity, but now that Gil was no more, Fedom had no interest in conversations about her.

Incidentally, regarding the Grand Duchy of Ende which had come up in the conversation earlier. Just recently, Prince Eric had intended to march his army into Garbera but, partly because Prince Gil had arrived with reinforcements, he had pulled up camp almost without their crossing swords. It was thought this might cause some friction in relations between Mephius and Ende, but in the end the delegation that had arrived bore only condolences, without expressing any official criticism or dissatisfaction.

According to whispers in the wind, it seemed that Ende's struggle for succession was coming to a head. That being the case, that country probably didn't want to stir up unnecessary trouble with Mephius.

''That damn Orba''.

Fedom cursed inwardly as he sipped lukewarm tea in place of wine. Of course, only he knew that Crown Prince Gil Mephius had at some point been replaced by the gladiator Orba.

''To die in a place like that''.

Orba was a man with the devil's own luck. So when he had heard that he had died when Fedom's back was turned, it didn't feel quite real. He also felt that he was being sentimental in being unable to abandon his ambitions.

Fedom too had dreamed too much. His dreams were too big. One by one they had solidified underfoot and now, when at long last they seemed to be within reach, his dreams had disappeared like a mirage before his eyes. The swaggerers who burned with the ambition of dragging Guhl Mephius from his throne were now no different from elderly nobles who had retired from life in Solon. It felt like they were having an insignificant chat over tea, talking about anything and everything.

''But I can't grow careless''.

Fedom tightly grasped the hand resting on his knee. The seven people here were, so to speak, accomplices.  If their plans fell through here, one of them might approach the emperor by denouncing the other six.

''With what happened to Simon and Rogue, doubts and opposition towards the emperor are growing. If I can hold my nerve, I should be able to recruit new companions. I can't change course. It's too late now to throw it all away.

Much too late''.

Fedom Aulin wiped his sweaty palms on his knees.

He thought he saw Emperor Guhl's figure flicker in the shimmering heat behind the other six.