Chapter 31

~An abandoned factory near the capital city of Londinium~

"Leader."

"Selena."

Her voice, addressing me flatly, was not particularly emotional, nor overly respectful or pompous.

"I have completed my undercover investigation inside the Crystal Palace, as ordered."

"Well done."

That made talking to her relatively easy.

"Is there anything in particular I should be concerned about?"

"Depends on who you're looking at."

Selena of Darkmoon, a dark elf with an inky hood, said.

Pointed ears were peeking out from under the hood and her skin was as pale and dark as a corpse's. The hem of her coat fluttered in the absence of a breeze, storing all manner of blades and scattering them eerily.

"At least there's nothing for you to worry about. Apart from us."

"I'd like to hear about it first."

"On the Breton Empire side, the head of the third ducal family came in person."

The Third Ducal House of the Empire.

I frowned wordlessly at the name.

The three most powerful ducal families and lords in the empire–York of the White Flower, Lancaster of the Flame, and Cromwell of the Iron Blood.

Each of these named NPCs are among the most powerful and powerful in the game.

"There's also a Dreadnought-class aircraft carrier planned, but...it's the Holy Kingdom's display we're after anyway, so we won't have to worry about that."

Dreadnought-class airships, the name reminded me that we were in a fantasy world.

That we were a small, elite organization of only a dozen people, and that our opponents were nations.

"It seems that the six participating nations, starting with the Breton Empire, will each perform a 'military display' over five days, with two days of preparation and rest in between. Aside from the host nation, the order of the other five nations has yet to be determined."

"Participating countries besides the three?"

In addition to the three great powers, there are unfathomable nations on this continent.

From the ones that quietly keep their claws hidden to the ones that insist their crumbling thatched cottages are open for business anyway.

But it's one thing for a nation to keep an eye on the World's Fair, and another for them to participate in it.

It's as if they're throwing their hat in the ring to join the power struggle between the Empire, the Holy Kingdom, and the Duchy.

And there are not one, not two, but three countries breaking their silence like that. It's not like it's a 3+3 event.

"First and foremost, the Northern Kingdoms Alliance and, most unusually, two foreign nations from the East have expressed interest in joining."

"...Exotic nations of the East?"

"The Anatolian Empire and the Silver Country."

I had to hold back the cursing that threatened to escape my mouth.

Two foreign countries in the East.

Although talk has continued to be made casually and people from the relevant countries have appeared, this is the first time that a region called the 'East' has so blatantly taken center stage.

Who would say that this is a small business? We move on to a topic that we can't properly cover even with the first three countries, and by adding countries we don't even know about, we are increasing the scale without a plan.

Nevertheless, there was no doubt that this was a part of the core story in the game.

"...This is getting bigger than I thought it would."

"I agree."

Selena nodded and continued.

"Especially from the Silver Empire's point of view, why they would bother showing up at the western edge of the continent."

"Do you have any guesses?"

"─I can only think of one."

Silan, the man with the snake eyes, interjected.

Like a villain in a villainous group, he suddenly appeared from behind the high steel beams of the abandoned factory and took his form. I don't know why these guys like to appear out of nowhere from so high up.

"They're watching, I suppose. Like us."

I look into the snake-like slits of his eyes, hiding an unreadable intent.

"What other reason could a nation at the edge of the world have to legally move its troops across a continent?"

I thought to myself.

The map hidden in the <Commander's Secret> points to the same map, the 'real map' to the Mausoleum.

And that map is–the Holy Relic of the Holy Kingdom that will be on display here at the World Military Exhibition.

A map and a key to the tomb of heroes, this is what we, the Black Snake, are after.

We will steal the relic from the exhibition and use the map hidden there to reach the mausoleum. After that? That's something I'll think about when I get there.

Nothing will change.

Still, I couldn't help but think about the possibility of change.

Could it be that we are the only ones who know the identity of the relic and want it?

For example, does the Holy Kingdom, the direct party, really not know what is hidden in their relics?

<We are not the only ones targeting Mausoleum.>

It was only recently that I realized the existence of the Mausoleum, just like the Duchy and the Führer did.

Chasing the whereabouts of the disappeared heroes and the protagonists of previous works must have been the motive behind the secret actions of quite a few forces in this world.

And yet, the Holy Kingdom has placed the most coveted relic in the center of another nation's core power.

Once there, a possibility popped into my head.

"Maybe...they know about it beforehand."

"Well, there's a 100% chance it's a trap."

Silan shrugged and Selena fell silent, sending a tacit affirmation.

A short silence descends.

"It doesn't change anything."

I spoke after the silence.

"We get the map to the mausoleum...and the relic by any means necessary."

Right now, I needed to know the whereabouts of the missing heroes.

I needed to know the whereabouts of the heroes I'd built up over the course of nineteen works, because their whereabouts might provide some answers to my current predicament, or new clues, or both.

"Yeah, that's it, there's no point in overthinking it!"

Just then, a wolf-headed werewolf appeared in the abandoned factory and shouted.

"Who cares, it's been infiltrated, it's been investigated, let's just go in there and take it now, eh, Chief?"

"Regrettably, the military power of the nations participating in the fair is 'jointly' guarded by a peace treaty."

Hearing that, Selena replied in disbelief.

"You don't mean to go into a place where they're all huddled together in preparation for an event."

"Haha, if we did, we might have a real Continental Alliance!"

Silan smirked but I did not laugh. No, I could not laugh.

"What do you know of me?"

"The Enemy of the World."

"That's what my father called Lord Rain."

That day, I remembered Ergo's words to me: I and the Black Snake are considered enemies of the world, even if we aren't.

How would it be viewed to appear and rampage on an international stage like this, where continental powers and nations come together?

At that moment, a silhouette with bat wings fluttered by, hanging upside down from the ceiling.

"Hmph, what the...."

With that, the bat wings unfurled, revealing a girl in a blood-red dress underneath.

"Is the meeting over yet, I'm starving, maybe we should go get a midnight snack."

"Aww, midnight snack, Alice wants one too!"

"Do you want to come with me?"

"Yes! I'll go!"

Then, instead of dozing off on the bent steel, Alice looked up and shouted angrily.

"Hoo-hoo, okay, you get to eat what's left after this big sister sucks the blood, how about it?"

"Alice doesn't like it getting messy!"

"Does losing a little blood make any difference?"

"Blood is important! Alice likes it rare!"

As the vampire and the shadow monster chatted amiably over food, I turned my head as if it were no one's business.

There was a dark elf assassin, a werewolf ready to pounce, and a man with eyes as creepy as snakes.

And on the cold floor of the abandoned factory, wood carvings lay strewn about like broken puppets.

And apart from the wood carvings, Ergo, who looks indistinguishable from a human, is lying on an operating table, undergoing maintenance from the Golden Lord.

Furthermore, there was a little witch squatting alone, playing with a branch, while a smiling man stood silently by her side.

He was literally smiling.

Eleven people, including me.

Finally, Aria and Freya, off on a separate mission, just as Selena had left them.

"Welcome back, Lord Rain!"

"─Sir."

They had just returned from their mission.

Only thirteen people.

"Did you find out about the identity of the holy relic?"

"Ohhhh, of course I have! To this girl, Lord Rain orders are more absolute than anything else, even if it means sacrificing a thousand lives!"

"As for the identity of the holy relic, with a high probability, it is Longinus' Star Spear."

"─"

I continued to listen to Aria's report without speaking.

"I saw the head of the Kingdom's Crusader Knight Corps, Lord Roland the Divine Spear, holding it himself."

It was not a pleasant report, though it was somewhat expected.

Roland the Divine, the most powerful man in the Holy Kingdom.

"Well done, Aria, Freya."

"Aah, aah, huh! Ang, there...!"

Freya suddenly shuddered at the words, unable to speak, and I asked her if she needed to use the restroom.

"What's wrong?"

"Well, embarrassingly, I went a bit...."

"...."

I didn't really want to know.

It wasn't the nicest thing to say in front of all the Black Snake members.