Chapter 154

"Are you... going to kill me?"

At Margarita's words, I readily nodded my head.

"I might."

"..."

"All your priests could be in on it. I might even hang you all for the audacity of bringing down the royal family."

"!"

Margarita's complexion turned pale. Damien, who was listening from afar, also seemed surprised.

"But!"

I smiled mischievously.

"I won't."

"Are you... serious?"

"Of course! I would want you and your colleagues to continue taking care of the wounded on the frontline. Just as sincerely as you have done until now."

She swiftly put away the staff she was menacingly wielding.

"I just need a little cooperation."

Looking into Margarita's eyes, I whispered softly.

"For this city, your temple, and ultimately for all of humanity. I need your cooperation."

"..."

"You'll do it, right? Yes?"

Spies can be useful.

And spies that have turned from being an enemy to an ally are incredibly useful.

I never intended to kill Godhand or Margarita.

I planned to bring them to my side, or in game terms, 'recruit' them, for my use.

"Your Highness."

Margarita, who was looking at me with trembling eyes, reluctantly opened her mouth.

"What... what should I do for you...?"

***

Temple.

Lucas, Margarita and I were traversing the corridors of this place.

I instructed Evangeline, Damien, and Jupiter to watch over the Shadow Squad.

They should be comfortably gathered in the reception room of my mansion.

Walking through the temple corridors, I thought about what Margarita had confessed on our way here.

'Using priests as spies. What a remarkably efficient method.'

Since the Goddess Faith is the state religion of the empire, a temple of the Goddess Faith is mandatorily installed in every city of the empire.

These temples perform the role of public health facilities.

The priests who work here walk the city receiving everyone's respect.

Without any suspicion.

They see and hear everything in the city.

These priests are the eyes and ears of the royal family.

'All the priests appointed directly by the Emperor are doing this.'

I clicked my tongue inside.

'Considering it's the state religion, there would be a close connection between the top brass of the religious order and the royal family... I wonder when they started doing this.'

Thinking about this, I quickly arrived at the central hall.

Margarita stood in front of the goddess statue with a pale face as if she would die at any moment.

Lucas was keeping an eye on Margarita to make sure she didn't do anything suspicious.

Me? I was humming happily.

The events about to unfold were too exciting and I was so looking forward to them that I couldn't help but dance a bit. Oh, how exciting.

Margarita, who knelt in front of the goddess statue, calmed her breath and then uttered in a dry voice.

"I... report."

Then a faint sound of magic device activation rang.

It was such a faint sound that one could miss it if not fully concentrated.

A while later, a thick voice leaked out from the goddess statue with a crackling sound.

- I am listening. Report.

"..."

Margarita, who was silent, stole a glance at me. I nodded my head with a warm smile.

Do as you were told.

- The... rebellion was a lie.

Margarita trembled as she spoke.

"It was a trap set by His Highness, Prince Ash, to weed out spies like me."

- What?

"I repeat. The rebellion was a complete lie. It was a false alarm due to my fatal mistake. I am sorry."

- What are you talking... wait. So, Prince Ash knows your identity?

"Yes, he does."

Margarita spit out exactly as I instructed.

"I was 'exposed'. I am sorry."

At this point, I stepped forward.

"That's the story, my friend hiding behind the goddess statue!"

Pushing Margarita aside and standing right in front of the goddess statue, I smirked.

"Wow~ Talking about this in front of the goddess makes even a person with weak faith like me feel guilty, but thinking of making the priests do this kind of work. You guys really have a wicked taste."

- ...

"Hey, hey. I get all that. You're not ignoring the prince, are you? Huh? No dodging. Let's cut the crap."

Silence was broken again, filled with a sense of confusion.

- Your Highness, I regret to inform you that you do not have the authorization to use this communication channel...

"Then bring out the authorized person in charge."

I growled threateningly.

"Bring him out."

- ...

"Can't bring him out? Then shall I guess who your boss is?"

I started counting on my fingers one by one.

"Someone with a deep relationship with the Goddess Religion enough to use the priests as his chess pieces, someone with ties to the covert world that can oversee spies within the empire. Moreover, someone who can build such a communication magic infrastructure and bear astronomical usage fees."

"..."

"Who could it be?"

Cooperating closely with the state religion, Goddess Religion,

Commander of the covert, Aegis Special Forces Team,

Someone who can scatter spies across the continent, collect information, and willingly pay for the process.

I muttered his name.

"Our empire's administrative representative, my second older brother! Fernandez 'Ember Keeper' Everblack! It can only be him~"

"..."

"I command in the name of the third prince, Ash 'Born Hater' Everblack. Bring my brother here immediately."

Staring at the delicately carved face of the Goddess, I threw down the gauntlet.

"I won't be waiting long."

***

About 10 minutes, I guess.

With a crackling sound, the communication was connected.

"Ah, ah. Can you hear me?"

The voice that came out as if testing the microphone was distinctive and clear, even within the poor quality sound.

It was a voice I heard for the first time, but I had a hunch.

This voice belonged to the second prince, Fernandez.

"'Central' to 'South'. Communication status is good. Awaiting response."

Finally – a direct conversation with this jerk.

I burst out laughing with energy.

"Wow~ bro! It's been a while! It's me, Ash!"

Of course, we've never met. But let's pretend we're close.

"How long has it been since I've heard your voice? I'm thrilled! You must be happy to hear my voice too, right?"

- ...

After a brief silence.

Fernandez spoke in a calm tone.

- Magic communication is at risk of eavesdropping. Replace personal names with regional code names.

"You're worried about eavesdropping? Bullshit. Who the hell is going to intercept Goddess Statue communications?"

I snorted.

"If there's a real threat of eavesdropping, you should assign completely irrelevant codenames. You're just arbitrarily attaching them to regions."

- ...

"Alright, let's just chat comfortably, Mr. Central!"

A long sigh was audible.

- It's been a while, Ash.

"I've missed you too, bro. Just hearing your voice gets me sentimental."

- How on earth did you find this line? It's the first time I've been caught this clearly. It's quite... embarrassing as the head of the covert.

His voice wasn't embarrassed at all, but I guess he meant something like 'I'm going to gut the bastards who let this happen'.

"Haha, but I'm thrilled to be able to chat like this with you, bro! Let's communicate often! Are you eating well? Is that unpleasant face of yours still glowing?"

Of course, I've never seen his face.

Fernandez is a character that only appears in game settings. I'm just rambling in an 'Ash-like' way.

Fernandez let out a sigh again.

- Do you know how much it costs per second for magic communication, Ash? It's not meant for casual chats.

"Cost? I don't know? What's certain is that I'm not paying for it. That's why collect calls are great."

- What? Collect... Call? What's that?

It exists. It's a reverse charge call. They hardly use it on Earth these days.

- Get to the point, brother. I'm busy here.

"Oh, aren't you apologetic for planting a spy that got caught?"

- Why should I be sorry?

Fernandez retorted.

- It was for the safety of the royal family and the empire. I don't have a reason to be sorry to you, do I?

"You're pretty brazen, bro."

- When you're in a place like this, it's natural to grow thick-skinned. You're the same, aren't you, brother?

I crossed my arms. It seemed like our tongue battle wasn't particularly productive.

"Whatever, let's cut the crap and get straight to the point."

Straightforward as ever.

"Send reinforcements. Within a week. If not, the southern front is screwed, and the monsters will begin their invasion of the Empire."

- So you mentioned rebellion to get those reinforcements? Our little brother, you're quite a rebellious commander, aren't you?

"Well, when the person who refused to send reinforcements until the end calls me rebellious, I feel rather shitty."

I gritted my teeth and retorted sarcastically.

"Didn't you receive all the reports about the situation here through the Goddess Statue? This place is really, extremely, unbearably hard. Just send a few troops, and we'll all be happier. Am I asking for too much?"

- ...

Fernandez gave a sound of feigned sympathy.

- Sending reinforcements is difficult. The war with the Bringar Kingdom isn't over yet.

"Haven't we burned down the whole kingdom and even captured the capital? Isn't it over yet?"

I don't have many ways to get news from outside, but the fall of Bringar Kingdom is a major event in the game.

I have a rough idea of the timeline. They should have captured the capital by now.

- How good it would be if the war ended with the fall of the capital. There are sporadic resistances all over the kingdom. Our Imperial Army is also fighting back with all its might.

Fernandez's voice turned stern.

- The peace of the Empire can only be assured by rooting out the Dragon's Blood entrenched in the Bringar Kingdom. That's Father's decision.

"..."

- It's hard to send reinforcements right now, Ash. Can you hold out a little longer?

"And what if that 'little longer' leads to the collapse of the front?"

- Even if the southern front collapses, there's a chance to rebuild it, but the western front... We can only carry out the Bringar Kingdom annihilation operation now.

Fernandez flatly declared as if he had never considered sending reinforcements in the first place.

- The Empire faces a bigger crisis in the west. Please understand.

"Oh, is that so?"

I scoffed. So that's how it goes?

"Well, I can't help it then. I'll have to resort to other measures."

- ...Don't tell me, you're actually going to declare a rebellion?

"Why would I do such a thing~? It's heartbreaking. Who am I? Ash! The most filial son! Would I go against Father and stage a rebellion?"

I chuckled.

"All I'm doing is getting the troops not from 'the central' but from somewhere else."

- Somewhere else?

At that remark, Fernandez's voice faltered.

- Where exactly?

"The Everblack Empire has swallowed half the world. Are you saying that we can't borrow troops from there?"

I shrugged my shoulders.

"Then we'll have to borrow from the other half. There's no other way, right?"

- ...You wouldn't.

"Yes. I'm going to gather the remnants from all the countries our Empire has destroyed here on the southern front."

Fernandez started to say something, but I didn't give him a chance and continued.

"And! Oh my, what a surprise! The Bringar Kingdom is just a three-day march from here, right?"

- ...!

"Who knows if someone unknown might suddenly offer money, supplies, and a comfortable place to rest to those who have lost their capital and are fighting a difficult battle~?"

I won't stage a rebellion. That's too risky.

Instead, I'll tear down the tower that the royal family has carefully built over the years - the Bringar Kingdom annihilation operation.

That was the chaos I had planned.

- Ash, you...!

"I'm going to die anyway."

It was an incredibly honest sentiment.

"Why can't I cause some trouble?"