Chapter 23 - Opinion
The surroundings suddenly turned quiet.
Huh...? I didn't say anything strange, did I?
"Fell-chan, are you alright? Did you eat something strange? No way, are you a fake!?" (Via)
"I haven't eaten anything and I'm not a fake!" (Fell)
Seriously, I didn't even have time for breakfast today. I should have eaten my bento while watching them talking.
"Fell Nee-chan, I was short-sighted. I hate to admit it, but… it’s my defeat." (Anri)
I apparently just defeated a five-years-old kid. This doesn't make me happy at all.
"You don't have to answers my previous questions since I'm not particularly interested in your answers. However, don't drag unrelated people into your revenge. It's a bother." (Fell)
If the elves get involved, we won't be able to barter apples. I don't want that.
"Then what should I do?" (Dean)
Is this guy serious? That's for you and your companions to figure it out.
"Why are you asking me? It's you who want to be an emperor. You couldn't possibly plan to rely on other people's directions even after becoming emperor, right? No one would pledge allegiance to such an emperor." (Fell)
He fell silent again. Can I go home now?
"If Fell Nee-chan were in this person's position, what would you do?" (Anri)
"I'm not in his position, so it's no use asking me. I don't do anything extra." (Fell)
"Please tell me for later study." (Anri)
What are you going do after studying this? Are you planning to become an emperor somewhere? Well, I guess it can't be helped. I want to go home soon, so let's say something and wrap this up.
"I will increase the number of people who are likely to side with me. I'm not talking about those who will be on my side during the coup, but those who will be on my side after that." (Fell)
"Why?" (Dean)
"So that when the current emperor is overthrown and a new emperor is named, things will go smoothly. I won't go into the details, but even if the current emperor is overthrown, it doesn't mean you will become an emperor immediately. Even if you have a right of succession, oppositions may still arise. You have make sure such a thing doesn't happen. Especially the support from those in charge of the military. If the emperor changes, there's no way the other countries will just stand by and watch.” (Fell)
"Speaking of which, to be officially crowned as an emperor, one must have a majority of support from the senate members." (Dean)
"In that case, you need to pull those senate guys to your side first." (Fell)
"Yeah." (Dean)
Don’t just ‘Yeah’ me! His response was a bit lacking as if this is someone else's problem. No, wait, could it be he…. Let’s check it out!
I see, so that’s how it is. I wonder what do they think apology is. Well, whatever. This will never end if I tell the elves. Let’s wrap this up so I can go home.
"Next I will spread a rumor that the Republic of Ugen will invade the Kingdom of Trang and vice versa." (Fell)
"To divert their attention from the Ruhara Empire?" (Dean)
"Correct. I don't know much about the current situation, but even if things have calmed down now, there's still a high possibility they will come to invade after learning about the coup. The Ruhara Empire might perish before you could claim the throne. To prevent that from happening, I will have the Republic of Ugen and the Kingdom of Trang to check each other out. The best result would be if the war really did break because of the rumor." (Fell)
"Wow, Fell-chan. I think that's terrible!" (Via)
I bet Dia would carry out such a strategy without hesitation. Well, since I'm a demon race, I don't feel any aversion for making humans and beastfolks fight with each other. This might be different for Via and Yato, though.
In any case, if he can't make that kind of decision, then he is no good as an emperor. Though I would I would have to admit that he is good as a person.
"Indeed, it's a terrible thing to do. However, he should think about the priorities of things. Even if he is not an emperor, if he is aiming to be one, then he should think of the Ruhara Empire and its people first. When the other countries attacked, it's the common people who will suffer the most. If that's how things are going to be, he should at least try to do everything to prevent it." (Fell)
"I need to give it a serious thought." (Dean)
"That was very enlightening." (Anri)
The village chief might get angry when he finds this out that Anri learned something like this from me. Let's apologize later.
“The information is limited, so that’s all I can say.” (Fell)
"No, I've got a lot of references." (Dean)
Is that so? To be honest, everything I've said is almost impossible to put into practice. Unless they are very dissatisfied with the current emperor, they will not cross over to his side, and it's very unlikely that such people are the members of senate.
Even if the Republic of Ugen and the Kingdom of Trang did go to war, they would not leave the Ruhara Empire go unchecked. The news about coup would still reach them sooner or later through their spies.
It is also possible that the Republic of Ugen and the Kingdom of Trang will pretend to start a war, but then launch a joint attack at the same time as the start of the coup. In terms of difficulty, this is also an apocalypse mode. Though it’s none of my business.
Even so, human is such a troublesome race. To be deprived of the throne meant that he had lost the battle. I wish he would follow and accept the result. Or rather, I feel that it would be better for the emperor to not change.
However, that would mean the elves, or rather the non-human race, would be in trouble. I would hate it if I can procure the apples because of this. Well, at the very least, I guess I should do something about the strategic class magic tool.
"I've given my opinion. Now it's your turn to provide me with information about the aforementioned strategic class magic tool." (Fell)
Dean turned to Ur. Ur took out a notepad and checked something.
"It's a magic tool for calling a tornado of fire. From what we have gathered, this magic tool has been used only once a long time ago, and then sealed inside a dungeon because the damage it caused was too enormous. That's why they are handling it very carefully. The six months we mentioned earlier is the estimation time to finish analyzing this magic tool." (Ur)
Fire? That's not a good match for the forest. I can help the elves, but that means I will make enemy of the people (humans) of the Ruhara Empire.
I want to uphold Maou-sama's policy of establishing a friendly relationship with the human race, but I also want to secure the safety of apples. What should I do? Oh well, let’s save it for later. It's still six months away, and it's also possible the magic tool in question can't be used even after that.
"I knew about such magic tools, so I'm good. Instead of that, I want to go home soon. If there's nothing else, let's wrap this up." (Fell)
"I understand.... Then, let me ask you one last thing, are you the ones who caused the World Tree to wither?"
"The World Tree withered!? No, we have nothing to do with it." (Dean)
I actually know the perpetrator, but I will never tell them.
"Very well. Now then, regarding the incident this time, we will pretend nothing happened."
This is unfair! The elves tried to give me a death sentence only because I ate their apples, but these guys, even after stirring up so much trouble, didn't receive any punishment. It's not easy being a demon race.
"This is an amnesty to celebrate the restoration of the World Tree."
"Yes. I shall accept it with gratitude." (Dean)
"Putting that aside, I ask you to provide us with the latest information about the Ruhara Empire on a regular basis. This is not mandatory, but we might become enemies later."
"I understand. I will send one of my men to give you an update on a regular basis." (Dean)
Hey, do that later!
Now it's really over, right? Let's grab the souvenir and go home.