Chapter 9: Power Balance

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“What did you say? Cardinal Hector visited Charlotte…?”

“Yes. He suddenly arrived a short while ago and went straight to Princess Charlotte.”

At the sudden report, Crown Prince Leon furrowed his brow.

Cardinal Hector Highrendille. Excluding the Pontiff of the Esperanza Church, he was effectively one of the top two figures within the faith that had spread its roots across the world, and even on a global scale he was one of only ten absolute powerholders. What made the Esperanza Church truly terrifying was the fact that, despite being a religion, it possessed a nation of its own.

The Holy Nation of Esperanza. It possessed the 【Saint】, said to be individually equal to the military strength of an entire nation and there were no fewer than eight of them. Two of those were currently within the Kingdom, but they did not belong to the Kingdom. They belonged to the Church. The Kingdom had survived for many years with forces at its throat that were said to be capable of annihilating an army single-handedly, and for that reason the royal family never underestimated just how overwhelming that power was.

Of course, the Kingdom understood that this situation could not continue forever, and had invited the Adventurers’ Guild headquarters and gradually deployed forces in an attempt to counterbalance the Church. However, there was still no visible path to victory against the raw violence of the Saint. If the Adventurers’ Guild were to truly commit, perhaps there might be a chance but since the Guild had no reason to oppose the Church, relying on them was impossible.

Used by the Adventurers’ Guild, ignored by the Church. The Kingdom stood in an extremely precarious position. In any case, a cardinal of the Esperanza Church was not someone that even royalty could casually come into contact with. Even Leon, who was all but guaranteed to become the next king despite still being in the midst of a succession struggle, was no exception.

He could visit them, but he could not summon them. No. More precisely, he could summon them, but they would refuse. And if they refused, it would leave a terrible impression and undoubtedly inflict a deep wound upon his future reign. That was how immense the Church’s authority was.

And such a figure had come to visit his younger sister.

“……Why?”

“……We don’t know. Even the reports from the Shadows showed no signs this would happen.”

“I figured. I knew that already.”

The Royal Shadows. These were the Kingdom’s directly controlled intelligence operatives—orphans gathered up, thoroughly trained and raised one by one, serving as the royal family’s eyes, ears, and limbs. The Shadows, passed down through generations, had already been largely transferred from the King to the Crown Prince, which itself was proof of Leon’s status as heir.

“……This won’t affect the overall situation. Even if Charlotte becomes close with the Church, there’s nothing she can really do.”

“If anything, it’s more troublesome if the Church starts interfering.”

“No doubt. But I don’t understand why Cardinal Hector would choose now to meddle with the succession.”

If he had wanted to intervene, he could have done so at any time. Yet since their childhood, he had not interfered with any of the princes, nor approached the princesses. He maintained ties with the King and Queen, of course, but aside from that, his only connections were perhaps the Captain of the Knights and the Chancellor. Why, then, now?

Princess Charlotte, the Second Princess, possessed no real power. Her mother had been a wandering dancer whom the King had taken on a whim. She conceived a child and became a concubine, but died during childbirth. A princess with no backing was born, and after the King declared that he would “not favor her,” no one interfered excessively. She received a standard princess’s education and technically held succession rights, but ranked dead last, had no special connections, and lived in isolation.

That was Charlotte.

“……Can you investigate?”

“We will do everything we can.”

“Don’t let this cost us any Shadows. Don’t push too far.”

“Yes! Understood!”

Watching his subordinate leave the room, Leon began to think.

Charlotte. Not incompetent, but not outstanding. Her personal qualities were excellent enough, but her faction was far too weak. With a dancer mother and a king for a father, she was physically attractive, so there was a possibility—however slim—that the Cardinal intended to surround her for that kind of purpose. But even then, there was no reason it had to be Charlotte. Besides, he did not appear to be the type who openly kept many women. Nor did he seem inclined to expose such obvious weaknesses.

And so… He didn’t understand. That was his conclusion.

Leon neither disliked Charlotte nor treated her coldly. He had brought her into his faction because she was his sister, not because he needed her to win. His younger brother believed he was fighting desperately, but from Leon’s perspective, it barely even qualified as a struggle.

On the contrary, Leon considered it a good opportunity to cut away incompetents who couldn’t read the times. Cut out his brother entirely and absorb new, capable individuals. In short, a replacement of blood. That, too, was considered an important act in royal succession. The fact that his sister was gaining new connections was, in itself, something to welcome. When he became king, having a separate pipeline to the Church could even prove interesting.

And yet, something bothered him…..

“…………Cardinal Hector. The ones involved would be the 【Saint of Holy Smite】 and the 【Saint of Rewinding Heavens】, wouldn’t they?”

Among the ten cardinals, Cardinal Hector possessed the third-greatest authority. That was because he held two Saintesses under his control. Saintess Rank 3, 【Saint of Holy Smite】 Marianne Highrendine. Saintess Rank 6, 【Saint of Rewinding Heavens】 Seraphine Yudragcel.

Marianne boasted the greatest annihilation power among the Saints, while Seraphine possessed the greatest healing power. If those two worked together, the Kingdom would stand no chance. In fact, they could fight even the greatest empires. Even if they couldn’t secure outright victory, they were strong enough to hold an entire front, which was why it was said that in a war, the Holy Nation would prevail.

“……Well, as long as their spear isn’t pointed at us, we’ll be fine…”

As royalty, Leon swore that he had never done and never intended to do anything that would draw the Church’s attention. If two Saintesses rampaged, the damage to the royal capital would be catastrophic. No. Everyone would be slaughtered outright. And to make matters worse, the 【Saint of Holy Smite】 belonged to a Gold-rank adventurer party. Which meant three other Gold-rank adventurers would also become enemies.

The Gold-rank party 【Dawn】. Leon knew of this party, rumored to be the closest to Platinum-rank among all Gold-rank adventurers.

【Crimson Sword Saint】 Carla Tsukamoto. A prodigy whose father was an Eastern Sword Saint. During the “Necromantic Uprising” in the southern Kingdom, she overwhelmingly defeated two Sword Saints resurrected by a lich. Her strength was unquestionably that of a true 【Sword Saint】so much so that even the Captain of the Knights admitted he had “no chance of winning” against her.

【Tempest】 Astrea la Aeras. An elf of noble blood, said by all elves to be loved by the wind. But the reality went far beyond mere “love.” She single-handedly dispersed a storm that had come from the far edge of the continent, with nothing more than a flick of her finger. In the domain of wind, she possessed power unrivaled in the world. It was a mystery why she had not yet been promoted to Platinum-rank.

【Saint of Holy Smite】 Marianne Highrendine. A wielder of holy smite who annihilated demons. But her greatest strength lay elsewhere. Her overwhelming, abundant mana—like a great river overflowing its banks—was what truly made her a Saint. She possessed the greatest amount of mana among all Saintes, and that was no exaggeration. To say she could fight an army alone was the same as saying she could fight a nation alone.

And then…. Finn Debyura. He had no particularly noteworthy traits, and the Adventurers’ Guild never promoted him heavily. Wherever they went, attention always focused on the three beautiful women, and he was treated like an afterthought. There was no leeway to send Shadow scouts, so his true abilities were unknown, but he too was a Gold-rank adventurer. Not someone to underestimate.

Each one was a monster. Every last one was abnormal. Among the fewer than one hundred Gold-rank adventurer parties in the world, they stood at the very top. They were practically monsters in human form. That was the evaluation of the Kingdom’s foremost Gold-rank party, 【Dawn 】.

One should never involve oneself with those above Gold-rank adventurers.

That was common sense among this country’s nobles. The more powerful the faction, the more strictly they adhered to that rule. Once, a noble attempted to approach and control a female mage who was a Gold-rank adventurer at the time. He was a marquis with a powerful regional faction, troublesome even for the royal family to deal with.

He invited the adventurer, slipped drugs into the party, and attempted to brainwash her… And was destroyed. Destroyed in a single night. Not just the mansion. The city… The very city that served as the noble’s base was annihilated. And his entire faction was wiped out. In just one night, a noble house vanished from the world.

That adventurer later became a Platinum-rank adventurer, her name resounding across the globe as an absolute monster who annihilated a great noble house in a single night.

An individual who was too powerful could shatter even society itself.

“Charlotte may be royalty, but surely she wouldn’t try to involve herself with 【Dawn】.”

Even meeting a 【Saint】 would be difficult for her. Leon could not imagine what conditions Charlotte could possibly offer to summon a cardinal and secure a meeting with a Saintess, given the cards she held.

The faction of Princess Charlotte, Second Princess, effectively did not exist. Setting aside the question of why the Church would enclose her, the mere fact that this now allowed the Church to intervene in the royal succession was enough to acknowledge for the moment.

Is he planning to make her a puppet? Or…?

The most troublesome outcome would be if they sided with the Second Prince. That would destabilize Leon’s previously secure position as Crown Prince. He would need to reach out to the nobles currently aligned with him as well. Letting out a sigh at the increase in his workload, he began writing a letter.

The arduous days of Crown Prince Leon continued.

~*~*~*~

 Today, too, had been a good fight. A stray wolf that had emerged from the Abyssal Forest  had slaughtered all nearby monsters and advanced into noble territory, so we launched an assault. I got charged and blown away. Carla cut it down. I got bitten, my arm bone exposed. Astrea severed the beast’s legs with wind. I got raked by claws and my arm came off like butter. Marianne screamed, blasted the beast into nothing, and it was over.

Man…… It was the best. Especially that bite into claw combo. It hurt so bad I screamed like “hogyah!” and then lost my arm! I was this close to climaxing! No, seriously. Abyssal Forest monsters are absolutely insane.

Well, I’m already fully healed, though. As expected of a Saint. She’s in a different league entirely.

But still… Something felt off. The atmosphere in the carriage was really heavy. Marianne was looking down, Carla iwa sitting formally with her eyes closed, and Astrea was staring at me with eyes devoid of highlights.

This is… Don’t tell me…?! The “this guy never grows up, does he” vibe…!?

Sure, I got beaten up more than usual this time and kind of enjoyed it, but could that really be the reason!?

Th-this is bad! At this rate I’ll be expelled! The trendy kind of expulsion route! I have to… I have to change the mood…!

“H-hey, Marianne.”

“Eek! Y-yes. What is it?”

“What’s going on with the Second Princess situation?”

It had been almost a week since we talked about it, and I’d completely dumped it on her. She said to leave it to her, so I did…. But since I was the one who brought it up, I figured I should at least show some concern.

That was why I asked, but…

“Ah… Everything is perfectly fine.”

“……Everything?”

“Yes. Everything. Absolutely nothing, not a single problem.”

She declared it confidently while smiling brightly.

W-well, if Marianne says so…

But still, the other party was the Second Princess. Even a countryside guy like me understood how strong royalty was. Heck, even a baron felt amazing to me, let alone a marquis. I was just a second son from the sticks. I couldn’t shake that mindset.

I don’t have any backing… I can only rely on my companions… How pathetic. 

“Sorry. I keep leaving it all to you.”

“No! Please don’t apologize, Finn-san. I’m happy you rely on me.”

She said that, her cheeks relaxing into a smile.

So cute~. Ah—! No, no, no. Marianne is a companion and family. We’re the same age and go way back, but she’s not someone I should look at that way. Same as Carla’s way-too-erotic conversation the other day! I’ve been getting careless lately. I mean, the way she traces her bag legs with her fingers was honestly just way too erotic! Of course I’d get excited!

No, that’s not the point! I’m a gentleman. I’m a gentleman because it’s cooler to be one. No matter what’s on the inside, I’m a gentleman on the outside so if I feel myself slipping, I need to rein it in. I really need to be more self-disciplined…

Didn’t my master say that while kinks are fine, flaunting them anywhere and everywhere isn’t!?

“Actually, I’ll be meeting the Second Princess in person at a later date.”

“O-oh. I see.”

“I’ll let you know once the schedule is set.”

When that time comes, we’ll all go together, so I won’t have to worry about getting dragged into some noble scheme alone.

Haah… I really hate not having any backing. I wonder where my master is and what my master is doing. I know where my childhood friend is, but I can’t rely on my childhood friend.  I can’t exactly walk up to someone that accomplished and say, “Hey, we’re childhood friends, you know?”

Princess Charlotte, huh… I hope she’s not the scheming type.

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