The Strongest Dull Prince’s Secret Battle for the Throne

Chapter 226: Rendezvous Point

The noon bell huh.

ALRIGHT, LETS GO IM READY! !

They wont be moving immediately you know.

Mia who is here in my room as Finnes escort is a little too enthusiastic.

She is ready for combat with her bow in hands. Its alright that shes being enthusiastic but if she is this energetic now I am worried that she would just exhaust herself during the real deal.

Why so?

Because the tournament has just begun right Al-sama?

Exactly.

I affirm Finnes answer.

That being said, Mia still tilted her head.

If it has already begun then they should have already started moving, no? The castles security is now considerably weaker because of it right?

Just because the tournament has begun doesnt mean that they would enact their plan immediately. The reason they would choose this timing is that the tournament will attract attention. The tournament just started. If they want to move unnoticed then they would choose the time when the peoples eyes focus solely on the tournament.

A secret maneuver is not meant to be seen by others. Is that right?

If they dont do that then it wouldnt be a secret after all.

When I smiled and answered Finne, Mia whispered Hes making an evil smile again.

She isnt my secret sharer for nothing huh.

Then we should quietly wait for them to move?

We will do what we can. Alois already went to Ruperts side and Trau-niisan is already with Christa. Our escorts are ready. How this goes will be depending on our opponents moves but I already predicted it to some extent.

So roundabout! What should I do then!? Cant I just find the enemy and immediately knock them out!?

Argh, seriously! said Mia as she hit the table.

Takedown the obviously bad guy! Thats how Mia fought so far. To her, my fighting style probably seems roundabout.

Mia is the Chivalrous Thief. She finds the bad guy, ambushes them, and lays down the punishment. Her actions are straightforward.

However, right now we are moving behind the scenes. She probably cant get used to it immediately.

Mia-san. Please calm down.

Finne-sama too!? The battle has already begun you know!? Shouldnt we take the initiative and quickly take down the enemy!?

We still havent identified the enemy yet. Without any proof, attacking someone will only cause confusion in the castle. If we do that then we will be giving the initiative to the enemy instead.

That is

Please be at ease. Al-sama is properly thinking about that. Isnt that right?

Finne smiles and directs the conversation toward me.

Nodding to her, I immediately started explaining.

I wouldnt want to be interrupted again after all.

The enemys primary goal is to take control of the castle as a whole. After that, they will move in to secure hostages for themselves. Lastly, they will head to activate the Celestial Sphere, thats where the problem lies.

What is the problem?

To activate the Celestial Sphere, you need multiple highest purity jewels. Another name for those jewels is the Rainbow Celestial Jewels. They are national treasure-class jewels that colorfully shine like a rainbow. The magic power each of them contains is tremendous. They need to procure three of that and place it in a specific location to activate the Celestial Sphere.

So it would be hard for them to get those national-treasure-class things?

Even Gordon, who is a general of the Imperial Army and a candidate for the throne, will probably only have one of his own.

Then he cant activate it right?

The Celestial Sphere is the most important defense Mechanism of the Imperial Capital. Naturally, the Rainbow Celestial Jewels are already prepared here in this castle.

It is only natural to have them on hand so that the Celestial Sphere can be activated at any time.

The problem is where they are.

I know one place that definitely has one.

Hou? Where is that?

The existence of the Rainbow Celestial Jewels is like a national secret.

It would be one thing if you are a minister or a general but it is not information that Finne can personally obtain.

Thats why I am quite interested in her confidence.

I know it too! Its the treasure vault isnt it!?

They wont put it in such a standing out place.

Why!? It would be easier to put important things all together isnt it!

Their value is different from the other treasures. From a strategic point of view, they are not a simple valuable object. There must be some that His Majesty can access at any moment. Thats why I am sure that there must be at least one in the throne room.

What is your basis for that?

I think that if its not there, His Excellency the Prime Minister wouldnt be in such a hurry to have Orihime-sama fix the barrier yesterday.

I quietly nodded to Finne.

As I thought, Finnes ability to assess the situation has been refined.

If she can do this much then I dont need to worry about leaving Mia with her.

Correct. There are two Rainbow Celestial Jewels at the throne room. Well, I dont know where they are exactly though.

Then we can just protect the throne room right!?

Theres no need for us to guard the throne room ourselves. The strongest swordswoman in the Empire is already on that.

So the reason why the Knight Commander is not by His Majestys side is to protect the throne room.

I cant think of any reason other than that. Well, Fathers security will be thin but I think that the Prime Minister probably has some measures in place regarding that.

Alida is currently the strongest fighter in the Imperial Capital.

With the barrier restored and Alidas presence, the security of the two jewels in the throne room is guaranteed.

That being the case, there are three remaining in the castle. Even if Gordon prepared one by himself, he would only have four at most. Now we can avoid the scenario where the Celestial Sphere is activated at full-power.

The Prime Minister probably thinks that the remaining Rainbow Celestial Jewels can be protected by the other Imperial Knights.

As evidence, in addition to the first corp, two more corps stay behind in the castle.

Only the fifth corp and below are at the Emperors side. Their number is not reassuring and the arena is not exactly a place that can easily be defended.

In a sense, Fathers security details are as thin as the time when the vampires attacked.

Even so, the reason why the place with the most protection right now is the castle is to prevent the Celestial Sphere from being activated. After all, once it is activated, he can not expect any external reinforcements nor can he escape in case of emergency.

I could say that the Prime Minister has come up with a solid measure this time.

Then we dont have anything to do right?

Theres no way thats the case. We have to protect the other jewels as much as possible while escorting the other possible hostages from the enemy. First, we must ascertain an escape route then evacuate the possible hostages to a safe place. We need to start on these two things.

There are other possible hostages?

There are. They wont work against the Emperor but.they are valuable enough to be used as a bargaining chip to the people involved in this.

The Consorts in the Inner Palace right?

Yes. My mother is of course a target but that includes the other consorts as well. Moreover, there is my sister in law. My sister-in-law is Alidas elder sister while my mother who was originally a commoner is highly popular among the people. If the Emperor abandons them, people will grow to distrust him.

ARGH! Its getting confusing again! Cant you just say that you want us to save your mother!?

Mia hit the table again.

Seeing that, Finne bitterly smiled.

Thats how the Imperial Family is. We have the duty to protect the Empire over our own family. Even if that is how we really feel, our personal feelings cannot be prioritized.

I decided to protect the Imperial Capital in Leo place.

Thats why I didnt attach any escort to my mother.

I dont even know whether the maids at the Inner Palace can help her survive through the attack.

When I was thinking so, Mia strongly hit the table again.

Stop saying such pathetic things already!! Theres no way that a person who cant even protect their own family can protect their country! You think so too right!? Finne-sama!

Yes. I think so as well.

There, see! If you wont say it no matter what then, FINE! I dont need your permission, I can just save her by myself! You can at least give me approval for that right!?

Mia strongly said so.

A Chivalrous Thief has declared that she would take on a country.

Not only does she have a strong sense of justice, but she also possesses the willingness to believe that her justice is correct.

She is a person worthy of respect.

I didnt want to put Finne at risk too much but even if I stopped her, she would do it anyway without my permission.

Im grateful.

-I will leave her to you.

Alright, leave her to me!

Then we will be heading to the Inner Palace first. Shall we meet up after we finish rescuing the consorts?

Yeah, thats fine. We will rendezvous at the throne room.

The throne room!? Are you sane!? We will have nowhere to escape to at the top of the castle you know!

The usual entrance will be blocked and the lower you go, the more enemies will be. As long as Alida is guarding the throne room, that place is almost impossible to breakthrough. Gordon will probably not send any more units there either. Thats why I chose the throne room.

I understand that the enemy will be thinner there but..I doubt that the Knight Commander can overcome such a difference in numbers. If we gather all the possible hostages at the throne room, I think that they will surely send more reinforcement though?

Theres no problem. There is a secret escape route at the throne room. The ones who know about it are me, the Prime Minister, and the Knight Commander. Other than them it would only be my father alone.

Isnt that the Emperors personal escape route!? How did you know about such a thing?

Eleven years ago, Father told me about it himself. I had to hide in the throne room back then you see.

It was when I was told to observe his meeting with the ambassador from the Sokal empire.

Father told me to hide at the entrance of that secret passage.

I didnt even tell Leo about it.

Father told me that it was a man-to-man promise after all.

But that promise will have to expire today.

Im sure that he will forgive me.

Muttering so, I got up from my chair.

Its about time the enemy started to move.

If we stay in the room then we will be easily apprehended.

Alright, its time to act.

Saying so, we left the room.