Volume 2 Chapter 22 Demonstrators
Edited by: Kanaa-senpai
”Lord Mihail, thanks for coming all this way… I was really struggling with how to manage the affairs with just my chief secretary.”
”No, no, Chancellor Rainsheyn. I’m not sure how much help I can be, but please feel free to use me as much as you need.”
Thanks to Puruun’s idea to ask the neighboring lords, who have deep ties with the royal family, for help during this tough time, Chancellor Rainsheyn reached out for support.
Count Mihail of Ilman and a few other local lords offered their assistance.
Of course, these folks aren’t usually involved in royal affairs, so they might not be immediately useful, but they should still lighten the load for Puruun and Chancellor Rainsheyn a bit.
What really helped was that Lady Beyond, Lord Mihail’s wife, brought Ms. Sharlin along to help take care of the queen and act as her bodyguard.
After the assassination attempt on Sir Aaron at Kashiwagi Manor, they were worried about tightening security around the queen.
With Lady Beyond, who has strength comparable to a military infantry squad, and the famous mercenary Ms. Sharlin by her side, they could probably handle things without any issues.
Now, Puruun could focus on the affairs at hand.
He felt a lot lighter about everything.
”Still, it’s shocking that not only the Royal Palace gate but also the research facility at Kashiwagi Manor was destroyed, and Sir Aaron was attacked… It seems like the enemy isn’t just trying to gain a technical advantage; they might be thinking ahead…”
Lord Mihail murmured during a meeting with Puruun.
”I don’t see any troop movements in the neighboring country, so I don’t think they’ll invade the border anytime soon, but we have to prepare for the worst. That’s why I recently met with Duke Yōmo to discuss this.”
”Yeah, when it comes to things getting serious, Sir Yōmo is right at the front lines. So, how’s the gate situation? Can it be fixed?”
”Well… Sistemador still hasn’t regained consciousness. I talked to one of his subordinates who can communicate, but… they said we really need Sistemador to know for sure…”
”I see. In that case, I feel bad for Mr. Yuuta and Cla-Cla, but it looks like we need to take our time with this. But with the current sketchy situation, I wonder if that’s even possible… Lord Rainsheyn must be really worried about his daughter.”
”I think so too, but maybe he’s just putting on a brave face… ‘Oh, even if it seems hopeless, knowing her, she’ll probably settle down with Lord Yuuta and live just fine’… that’s what he said.”
”Haha, sounds about right.”
* * *
”Queen, you shouldn’t be wandering around so much. If you trip and fall, it could be bad for you and the baby.”
Lady Beyond said as Queen Asuka paced around the hospital room like a bear in a zoo.
”But Ms. Beyond, I’ve heard that being inactive isn’t good for childbirth. Still, Puru has me confined here until we figure things out, so all I can do is walk around the room…”
”Oh no, I may not have experience with pregnancy and childbirth, but I know being inactive isn’t good. However, this isn’t a normal Elf pregnancy. We don’t know if the child from a human will develop properly, if there’s a risk of miscarriage, or how long the pregnancy will last… There are so many unknowns, and the doctors are really nervous about it. So, if you gain a little weight and can’t fit into your favorite clothes, it can’t be helped. Please bear with it.”
”Sigh. I guess there’s no choice…”
Haha.
Well, if someone told me not to move, I’d probably freak out too.
But still, I can’t believe that Yuuta crossed the gate into his world and can’t come back…
I wonder how Ms. Akari feels about that.
And Karin too…
I remember when she was just a newborn, we lived together on the way from Tokura Village to the Royal Capital.
She was such a lively kid, I remember that well.
It’s been almost ten years since I last saw her; she must have grown up a lot.
If I get the chance to see her again, maybe I’ll teach her some sword skills.
Anyway, now that I’m the bodyguard, I’ll protect the queen from any terrorists or assassins that come our way.
After all, I’m the unbeatable mercenary, Sharlin Lindenhügel.
”ShaSha. Isn’t it noisy outside?”
Lady Beyond said, so I looked out the window… What’s going on out there?
”Lady Beyond, there are a lot of people gathered in front of the hospital. They look like… regular citizens.”
”Hmm!? This doesn’t feel good. ShaSha, hold this position. I’ll go check it out. Make sure the queen stays away from the window.”
With that, Lady Beyond stepped outside the hospital room and hurried back a little while later.
”What happened? What’s all the commotion?”
I asked, and Lady Beyond answered with a scared look.
”This is bad, ShaSha. That’s a protest against the queen for being pregnant with a human child!!”
”Wait, what!?”
Both the queen and I gasped in surprise.
”What should we do? Should we get rid of them?”
The queen asked me, looking serious.
”No, Ms. Sharlin. We can’t make a move unless they try to break in here. Don’t worry. The Royal Capital army will be here soon…”
The queen said weakly.
”But I can’t believe it got out to the public this fast… Was there a leak?”
”Ms. Beyond. I heard that just a few days ago, there was a petition displayed in front of the Royal Palace… I should have acted more carefully from the start. If this atmosphere spreads, someone among the nobles might try to get me dismissed.”
”Don’t worry, Queen. My husband Mihail and many other surrounding nobles have long received the royal family’s favor, and they’re all pretty wild. Just because you had a little fun with a human and got a bit pregnant, they won’t turn their backs on you!!”
”No, Lady Beyond. There’s got to be a better way to encourage her than that, right?”
”What’s wrong, ShaSha? It’s better to say things directly; it resonates more with the heart. I wouldn’t hesitate to yell at those outside. What’s wrong with having fun with Yuuta? Honestly, he’s the best. You should totally let him have a go at you if you get the chance. It’ll change your world.”
”That’s….”
While I was taken aback, the queen was laughing loudly with tears streaming down her face.
* * *
”So, the Royal Capital army disbanded the protest, huh?”
”Yeah… but isn’t that a bit too much?”
”Just like the chief secretary said. They’ve only known about this for less than a month, so how could they organize such a movement? It’s puzzling.”
”Puzzling, you say, Chancellor? The answer isn’t that complicated. Someone is intentionally pulling the strings behind the scenes.”
”I see. But who could it be…?”
”We don’t know yet, but it seems we need to keep an eye on both the outside and the inside.”
It’s been a while since I had a lunch meeting just with the Chancellor.
So far, there’s no connection between the terrorism and the anti-queen protests, but if I think about it, it’s likely the same person is pulling the strings.
Still, they sure know how to hit a sore spot.
The queen’s affair… that’s perfect material to attack her with.
The Chancellor says,
”For now, the Senate hasn’t said anything, but I’ll keep an eye on things. Secretaries, stay alert to the citizens’ movements”.
”Got it.”
Just then, one of the court secretaries came in to report.
”Sir Sistemador has regained consciousness.”
”!! So, how’s the situation now? Can he talk?”
”Well… for now, we need to keep an eye on things… I’ll let you know when he can talk.”
”Thanks a lot.”
The Chancellor and I exchanged glances.
”Phew. I hope things turn around now.”
”Absolutely…”
* * *
Three days later, I got the doctor’s okay, and I went to visit Sistemador.
”Are you okay? You’ve been unconscious for 3 months. Do you remember anything from back then?”
”I’m so sorry, Chief Secretary… with that sudden explosion, I was totally lost…”
”Yeah. The gate and the machines are all messed up… I wonder if we can fix them. No, it doesn’t have to be right away. I’ll wait for you to recover, and it can take time…”
”…I haven’t seen the site yet, but the main gate is probably not there anymore. So that means…”
”…that means?”
”We’ll have to start from scratch. We’ll have to capture a naturally occurring gate and hold it down with a huge amount of mana and energy… and fix it with magic.”
”How long will that take?”
”…the military joint research facility is gone. We need to prepare a magic device of the same scale, but it might cost about 3 times the current kingdom’s annual military budget. Even if we have the money, it would take at least ten years to make…”
”What the heck!! How did you manage to sneak something so huge under the Royal Palace? How much of the national budget did you skim off?!!”
”That was Sir Aaron’s doing…”
”Enough already. Is there no other way?”
”…I’m really sorry. There’s nothing else right now…”
And that’s when the doctor put a stop to it.
”Alright, Sistemador. Take your time to recover, and when you’re feeling better, think of a good plan. At this rate, neither Yuuta nor Ms. Claudel can come back.”
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Edited by Kanaa-senpai.
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