Episode 42: Dream in the game becomes reality

13. Appearance at the Board of Audit and Inspection (4)

After the meal with Crown Prince Michael, we had tea time.

Unlike the meal, tea time was held quietly, and when the crown prince seemed to gather his thoughts for a moment, I did not say anything and calmed my heated heart, anticipating what would happen next.

"By the way."

Then, a question suddenly occurred to me, so I cautiously called the crown prince.

"Yes, please tell me."

"First of all, it would be nice for me to get the title of marquess in Prince Luke's camp, but wouldn't it be suspicious if His Royal Highness doesn't respond in the process?"

The crown prince nodded obediently to my question.

Naturally, the person who proposed the operation seemed to have been thinking about that as well.

"Yes, I guess so. So, I plan to pretend to protest and then take a step back as if pushed by the momentum."

Of course it should be so to avoid suspicion.

But I thought that was not enough.

The Crown Prince, who was contemplating an act of betrayal, seemed to think that it would be advantageous for me to obtain the title of marquis, but I did not think there was any need to end this matter by taking a step back.

"Rather than end it like that, if I give up the marquess to Prince Luke, I think His Highness should also get something out of it."

"For example?"

In response to my words, the crown prince asked for a detailed explanation with a fox-like expression, with narrowed eyes.

"The Raven Margrave has suffered a great loss due to the trouble with me this time. But doesn't it make sense that the Margrave, one of the pillars of national defense, lost 40% of his strength due to personal feelings? "I think he doesn't deserve to be a margrave."

"Instead of giving up the position of marquis, shall we take the command of the Margrave from Raven Margrave?"

"Isn't it a good cause? Even if we just demote Margrave Raven to count, Prince Luke's loss will be considerable."

The military power that a margrave can possess is comparable to that of a marquis or a duke, and is 2.5 times that of an ordinary count.

Because of that, Margrave Raven's decision to cut half of his troops meant to allow him to continue as just a count.

"Sounds like a personal thought?"

"I won't deny it."

Wouldn't it be best to beat up your enemy, the Margrave Raven?

By tightening the leash, you have an opportunity to harass, but you can't miss it.

"What if Prince Luke isn't willing to let go of the Raven Margrave?"

"Then, I think it would be a good idea to make one of the counts in His Majesty's camp a margrave. Since I will become a marquis based on my achievements on the battlefield, it is also worth proposing to promote a count who has distinguished himself during this war."

The reason why promotion to margrave rather than marquis was mentioned in the second proposal is because the second prince should feel that he has benefited at least a little.

There is a big difference between a new person appearing and becoming a marquis and taking the side of the second prince, and a count who is already a key figure on the crown prince's side becoming a margrave.

Moreover, am I not a marquis with the rank of Auror Master?

'If this plan is accepted and the situation goes as planned, the effect of the betrayal will be maximized.'

However, the emotion felt from the crown prince nodding his head and looking slightly surprised was somehow different from what I expected.

[Relationship: Suspicious / Alliance] [Status: Perplexed / Intrigued]His current state, as indicated in the Mangyeong, was so complicated that it was impossible to determine anything.

Are you suddenly suspicious?

I was embarrassed and had to call him because I didn't know the English language.

"His Royal Highness?"

"Oh, I'm sorry. Hey Prince Lawrence… … ."

"Yes, please speak."

"Can you tell me who you met in the Second Prince camp before meeting me?"

I'm sure you've already figured out who I'm dating, right?

I gave him the names of people I had met at the Noble Audit Office, as he had wished.

"Prince Luke and the Marquess of Hammington… … "This is Baron Walker."

A total of 9 names.

Prince Michael nodded quietly as if he knew what he was talking about, but then made an 'Ah' sound and let out a small exclamation.

[Relationship: Interest / Alliance] [Status: Perplexity / Admiration]And his feelings changed.

When I saw that, I thought of one possibility.

"Now that I see it, you were thinking the same thing?"

"Haha, does Confucius even read other people's thoughts? "He quickly figured out the betrayal plan earlier."

Although it is not possible to read thoughts exactly, it is possible to infer them through Mangyeong.

I was able to understand what he had shown earlier by the crown prince's reaction, which was nothing short of agreement.

When I told him the plan without even explaining it, he was confused and wondered if the plan had come out somewhere.

"great. "I had both options equally in mind."

"I feel embarrassed that you suggested something I had already thought of as if it were a big deal."

"No, absolutely not. It was great to get a glimpse into Prince Lawrence's judgment skills. "I don't think anyone can accomplish the feat of achieving the 7th circle at the age of 20."

I shrugged my shoulders.

My suggestion was in vain, but my evaluation seemed to have increased further as I had inferred the crown prince's plan in advance.

"I don't want to be an enemy of Prince Lawrence. Let's be friends from now on."

"haha… … ."

I also don't want to be an enemy.

"Oh my, the car is cold. "I'll tell you to bring it back."

"no. "I've been out for a long time, so I'll just get up now."

Enough time has already been spent.

I'm tired today, so I want to go back.

"there's nothing we can do. Please take this."

"Isn't it a terminal?"

"Yes, it is a security terminal that cannot be intercepted. If you have anything else to say, I will contact you with that."

Mine is an expensive security terminal sold by the Brigham Empire, but I think the one the Crown Prince gave me is something more special.

He gave me and Arcia each a terminal with a different design.

"See you again."

"Yes, I'm looking forward to it."

And I entered the secret room again with Arsia.

The crown prince took out a switch from his pocket again, disarmed the space movement blocking magic, and sent us to another location by teleportation.

"Where?"

The place we arrived was a warehouse located at the entrance to the castle where the crown prince had prepared in advance.

According to the Crown Prince, it is a warehouse shared by the shops within the royal castle.

When I left the warehouse, there were several warehouses lined up along the middle of the hallway.

I feel this once again, but the crown prince is a thorough person.

How many places like this were created inside the royal castle?

As we left the warehouse, we came into a dark alley between buildings, and we walked towards a place where we could feel the presence of people.

Then, a commercial building appeared at the entrance to the royal castle, where the general public could enter.

"uh? "Master?"

"Young lord?"

There, in front of the souvenir shop stall, I was able to spot Knight Commander William and Demon Swordsman Lopez receiving a full shopping bag from the store clerk.

"I see you are enjoying yourself."

The store clerk's eyes widened and looked surprised at my appearance, and William and Lopez became contemplative for some reason and hid their shopping bags behind their backs.

"What is it?"

I was about to tell them that we should go back to the estate, but their strange behavior aroused my interest and I used Mangyeong's clairvoyance function.

"Eh?"

And I was able to find out the identity of what they were desperately hiding.

Even without using perspective, I could tell that what they bought was the same as the items lined up on the stall.

"what's this?"

I approached the stall and picked up two elaborately made figures.

"Si, I never thought I'd see it in real life. It is an honour."

"nice to meet you."

The store clerk, who was a commoner, jumped up as if he had seen a celebrity, but my attention was focused on the object in my hand.

'Why is this souvenir shop selling something like this?'

To my dismay, the figures were modeled after Arsia and I.

[The divinity of the Kingdom of Reinharts! Adrian and Arsia's figures are in stock!]In other words, William and Lopez had purchased a large number of figurines of the two of us.

Arcia, who usually speaks little, looked at the two and said something.

"transformation?"

It seems the dictionary in her head failed to choose a word.

However, a short and bold statement shocked the two people.

"Oh, no."

"We respectfully… … ."

The entrance to appear before the Noble Audit Office was irregular from start to finish.

* * *

[Prius Republic, where the national debt ratio has risen by 12% in one year. Extreme corruption that causes Reese Island to hesitate in its attempt to introduce a republican system.] [Crown Prince of the Croesian Empire: The republican system is the culmination of a delusion. The president and local government heads, who are elected by the people, are only interested in the popular vote, and have no sense of ownership of the country, so they try to extract profits in any way possible during their term.] [The economy showing signs of inflation is left behind. The Prius Republic is focusing on military power.] [The only hope for the Prius Republic is the talent of Manuel Lucas, acquired by the president's son, Luis Fairmont.] [Is the talent of Archduke Lucas, acquired by the son of the President of the Prius Republic, real? .]-Quaang!

"Are you really saying that Archduke Lucas's talent was lost in the hands of these baseless people?"

In Rondel, where God exists and is full of miracles and extraordinary powers, there are 20 countries on 4 continents.

In Rondel, no matter how small a country is, its territory is the size of India, its population is over 50 million, and it has corresponding military and economic power, so it can be said that the power balance between countries is good compared to Earth.

However, even in this world, there is a mutant-like force that stands out alone, and that is the 'Bringham Empire', which is always considered the leader among the four great empires.

The population is 920 million, and 30% of the world's GDP belongs to the Brigham Empire.

The country is located on the Defteron continent, the largest in Rondel, along with the Kingdom of Reinharts.

One-third of the Defteron continent, home to 11 countries.

It occupies a luxurious 20% of the world's land mass.

In addition, it has the military power to single-handedly deal with the Croesian Empire, the Allies of Elysia, and the Republic of Prius, which are also selected as the four major empires. It is like the United States of Rondel, and it is not enough to call it the ruler of the world.

However, when explaining the Brigham Empire, without going into a long list of numbers, this one word can simply prove its greatness.

It is the homeland of Manuel Lucas, a pioneer of the Magic Age who led Rondel to its golden age.

-The Imperial Castle of the Brigham Empire, the Golden Dragon Palace.

"If you have a mouth, speak out! "Are you saying that the effort and cost our empire put into exploring the natural world was insufficient compared to theirs!?"

The Emperor of the Empire, Edward Noah Brigham, shouted at the ministers who were bowing their heads while sitting on a golden throne in the main hall decorated with gold on all sides, befitting the name Golden Castle.

There was not a single minister who could respond to the emperor's shouting, and only bowed their heads even deeper.

"I apologize."

"Huh! "This is frustrating!"

The Brigham Empire's obsession with Archduke Lucas's talents greatly exceeds the expectations of other countries.

There is no one who does not know the greatness of Archduke Lucas, but the place that accurately understands his value was the Brigham Empire.

They were well aware that there was much more unknown about Archduke Lucas's research records than was known to the public, and they were convinced that its value was still valid even after 20 years.

Therefore, even while many treasure hunters and countries looking for a big hit fell away, the Brigham Empire never once reduced the scale of its search.

However, when it was suddenly announced that the Prius Republic, which had less than 1/100th of the scale of the search, had acquired the opportunity, the Emperor had no choice but to become angry.

"Director of Intelligence!"

"Yes, Your Majesty."

"What do you think? "Do you think the Prius guys' claims are true?"

In the end, the emperor asked the opinion of Count Elfrid, a female archmage of the 7th Circle who could be said to be in charge of exploring the cause.

"I think the chances are about 50%."

"Half?"

"That's right."

The emperor laughed helplessly and asked for an explanation.

"I looked into their investigation process, and compared to our Brigham Empire, they were taking a much more backward approach. Of course, the place they claimed they got it from was a place we didn't expect, but if it was going to be obtained that way in the first place, I think someone 10 or 20 years ago would have already gotten it."

"Go ahead."

"And above all, they don't know anything about the cryptogram that is the core of the foundation. Archduke Lucas used a code called 'English' to spread hints here and there. However, it makes no sense to ignore this process and gain an opportunity, unless the hints that have been thrown out so far as if to solve the riddle are not a trick."

The emperor stroked his chin and thought that this certainly made sense.

However, the problem was that this was only their guess and not confirmation.

"Even though the situation is so suspicious, why did you cut the Prius's chances of acquiring the talent by half?"

"Well, the hints that Archduke Lucas scattered here and there were really just a prank on us... … ."

Normally, he would have thought this was a foolish thing for a great man to do, but Emperor Brigham, who is turning 60 this year, swallowed his sleep because he was a person who remembered Archduke Lucas when he was alive.

"If you're that kind of guy, you'll still have years left."

If Adrian had heard this answer, he would have been surprised that Archduke Lucas was such a character.

"another reason is?"

"Because I thought there was a good chance that there was someone else who actually got the opportunity, and that the Prius Republic was brought in to divert attention."

"Do you really mean it? "Why do we have to divert attention and announce Giyeon's appearance when we can just hide it quietly?"

"You may already be in a situation where you are suspected of being an actor, or some variable may have arisen that we are not aware of. "There is a need to examine various possibilities."

Intelligence chief Count Elfrid approached the truth through deduction alone.