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The Fierce Saintess

episode 21

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「What is it you wish to say?」

「No. I merely wondered what it is you are going so far to protect. Is it the Saintess, or perhaps...?」

Saying so, Pope Blackham II slowly sipped his tea, which had already gone cold. Watching him, Aldridge raised a single eyebrow slightly, offered a faint smile, and replied:

「Just as Your Holiness's heart rests ever with Goddess Dralah, my heart is ever concerned with the affairs of the state.」

「...Well, very well. By the way, regarding the 'Saintess Appointment Ceremony,' considering what I heard earlier, it seems best to postpone it for the time being, does it not? Since you informed Marquess Blacker in such a manner, I assume you intend to hold the funerals for all three royal family members simultaneously? If so, the First Prince's enthronement ceremony and coronation will naturally have to be conducted alongside them.」

He added that if that were the case, even the temple would have to hurry and begin preparations immediately or risk not finishing in time, concluding by remarking that it was truly regrettable they could not invite the Saintess.

Indeed, under the original schedule, the plan had been to hold the funeral for the Royal Concubine and Second Prince, followed by Prince William's investiture as Crown Prince. After that would come the King's funeral, followed by the Crown Prince's accession and coronation. However, taking current events into account, Aldridge had unilaterally decided to settle everything all at once.

(I will likely receive a mountain of complaints from Beaton and his circle, but no matter.)

From here on out, this nation would have to summon its full strength to oppose the Empire. However, with national power depleted after two years of havoc wrought by magic beasts, Aldridge was convinced that presenting an absolute evil was the most effective card to play to unite the kingdom.

Therefore, he believed they should sacrifice the duke who had colluded with the Empire, raising hostility toward the Empire to serve as their future driving force.

Granted, preparing simultaneously for the funerals of three royals, the First Prince's accession ceremony, and the coronation would be a daunting task, but he took pride in his ability to see it through.

Moreover, this was an emergency. If they invited guests from other nations, who knew where spies might slip in? Therefore, he felt it was entirely possible to move forward with the plan to refrain from inviting external dignitaries altogether.

「Indeed. Once the detailed schedule is finalized, I shall contact you. However, if possible, I ask that you refrain from making any plans for long-distance travel over the next two weeks.」

This was a roundabout way of telling him that everything would be prepared within two weeks, so he expected full cooperation. Having said that much, Aldridge wetted his throat with his own cold tea.

He then decided to ask the Pope something he had been curious about for quite some time.

「By the way, I have been wondering if Your Holiness might also happen to possess one?」

「Possess what?」

「A brooch fashioned in the likeness of the royal crest. Originally, four of them were made in total. The duke's illegitimate son who was arrested this time possessed the one stamped with the Roman numeral II. Regarding that brooch, a loss report was filed twenty-five years ago. However, the one stamped with the Roman numeral I had a loss report filed for it more than ten years prior to that. I wondered if Your Holiness might happen to possess that one.」

Given his standing, the previous duke had been careful regarding affairs with women. However, after the tragedy where his wife and child both died during the birth of their second child, rumors began circulating about three years later that he had a woman close to him. This was about thirty-five years ago.

The person rumored to be his partner was a female Royal Mage skilled in earth and wind magic. However, shortly after that, she resigned from her post, citing poor health.

Having previously heard from Henry that the Pope bore a subtle resemblance to her, Aldridge asked out of curiosity. Yet, the Pope did not panic in the slightest, replying:

「Whatever do you mean? I am merely a commoner who became a clergyman simply because I possessed a bit more magic power than most. There is no reason I would possess such a grand item. Well then, I shall await your contact at your earliest convenience.」

Saying so, he stood up and headed toward the door, only to stop as if suddenly remembering something.

「Ah, yes. I have one request for you, Chancellor. Once the duchess and the young lady are cleared of suspicion, I would like to take custody of them at the Grand Temple. Fortunately, we have quarters prepared for when the Saintess arrived, so I thought they might spend some time there in quiet seclusion.」

「...Understood. At present, nothing indicating the involvement of those two has come to light, but I expect the interrogation will take a little longer. As soon as it is finished, I shall arrange for you to be notified.」

The Pope gave a single nod and left the room without another word.

***

From that point on, Aldridge moved with relentless speed. First, he sought Princess Kana's cooperation to dispatch letters all at once notifying everyone of an upcoming assembly of the royal council.

The Royal Council consisted of a total of 62 members: 42 high-ranking nobles and 20 heads selected from various professional guilds. Excluding the duke, there were 61 members this time.

Currently, most of the guild masters resided within or near the royal capital. However, among the noble councilors—aside from those with territories close to the capital—most who governed distant lands had returned to their domains to handle the magic beast threat. Yet, there was no luxury of time to wait for them to travel to the royal capital.

There were two main items on the agenda:

The date for the funerals of the King and the others, alongside Prince William's accession and coronation, and the punishment of those who committed crimes in this incident. Since these were matters he could not decide unilaterally, he promptly arranged a meeting with the Queen, Prince William, and Knight Commander Beaton.

As expected, Beaton voiced a mountain of complaints, but Aldridge successfully secured the approval of all three for every item on the agenda.

There were also several minor matters connected to these main items, but since the prince told him to handle those as he saw fit, all that remained from then on was pure, unadulterated execution.

Mobilizing every civil servant in the royal printing department, they created documents detailing the incident alongside the agenda items, as well as response forms and return envelopes. These were placed together in envelopes designated specifically for the Royal Council and sealed with wax magic-encoded to be opened exclusively by council members.

Afterward, he entrusted them to Princess Kana along with maps rendered in as much precise detail as possible, which included arrangements for sending follow-up letters to the exact same locations later.

「To send all of these flying, I'll need a somewhat larger Shikigami. Aldridge, I shall be demanding separate compensation for this.」

Looking at the stack of letters and the maps, Princess Kana spoke with a laugh to the bowing Aldridge and willingly accepted the task.

For councilors stationed in the royal capital or its outskirts—both nobles and guild leaders alike—he had knights deliver the same packets via Beaton. Naturally, it was already calculated into the plan to 'hint that if they wished to know the full details, they should inquire with Marquess Blacker.'

Next came the temple. Even though the formal resolution had yet to pass, he sent an itinerary noting that no changes were expected and requested that they handle all preparations for temple rites ranging from the funerals to the coronation.

By the time those matters were addressed, a mountain of written inquiries from councilors residing in the capital had arrived.

From among them, he selected only the highest-priority questions and those requiring answers, dictating responses one after another to civil servants lined up holding recording magic circles. By the time everything was finished, late night had already fallen.

The following day, from early morning onward, Princess Kana's Shikigami returned one after another. Meanwhile, tasks continued to mount in rapid succession: arranging Prince William's official attire, preparing notifications for neighboring nations, and more.

Items that were not particularly important or urgent were tossed to subordinates or dumped into the pending box, leaving Aldridge to focus solely on handling the highest-priority matters.

Two days later, the responses from all councilors had been gathered. To demonstrate transparency, he called for as many councilors as possible to witness the unsealing. As a result, the unsealing and vote tallying of the agenda items took place under the watchful eyes of thirty-two councilors present in the capital.

Although several members added notes raising objections regarding the haste and short preparation window, not a single person opposed the proposal as a whole.

With this, the dates for the funerals of the three royals, along with Prince William's accession and coronation, as well as the execution by hanging for former Duke Maxwell Arkwright and his accomplices, were officially decided.

***

Aldridge was currently visiting the underground dungeon to deliver this news.

Inside his cell, Maxwell was gaunt and worn, yet he still did not seem to grasp his current standing. This was evident from how he demanded every single day to be released, or at the very least transferred to a VIP cell.

「You've finally arrived, Aldridge! Get me out of here at once! I'm sick and tired of this place. The air is foul, the food tastes awful, and it's served only once a day! But it seems you've finally realized who truly deserves to be king of this nation. That prince is simply unfit for the role—」

Aldridge cut off the former duke's eloquent rant.

「I haven't the slightest idea what you are talking about. A man who betrayed his country, ruined its lands, harmed its people, and stole their lives claiming to be king? Nonsense has its limits. It's utterly laughable.」

「It is not nonsense! If I become king, I will restore everything to how it was—no, I will make it flourish far beyond that!」

「Lost lives will never return. A man who fails to understand even a truth as simple as that belongs not on a throne, but on the gallows.」

「The gal...」

「I have come today to inform you of precisely that. The ducal house has already had its territory confiscated and its title stripped. The council has officially resolved that all individuals involved in this affair shall be executed by hanging. Naturally, Maxwell, that includes you.」

「How could such a thing be permitted?! I am a duke!」

「*Former* duke. Furthermore, a resolution of the council requires no one's permission.」

The only person capable of raising an objection was the King, but the throne was currently vacant, and His Highness Prince William—first in line to the throne—had already approved the council's decision.

「The execution will take place following His Highness's coronation. His very first official act upon becoming king will be signing your execution order.」

Saying so, Aldridge let out a faint smirk. After gazing briefly at Maxwell, who sat collapsed in dumbfounded silence, Aldridge moved in front of the neighboring cell.

The day after Princess Kana and her party performed their technique, Maxwell had been imprisoned next door, but even now, four days later, the two apparently did not know of each other's presence.

(Well, I deliberately refrained from informing them.)

「Darren Garritston. You likely heard what was just said, but your execution by hanging has also been decided.」

「Hey, Lord Chancellor! Are you telling me you still don't know who I am?! Damn it! You bastards know my true identity, and you're trying to do away with me anyway, aren't you?!」

Grasping the iron bars and shouting at the top of his lungs, the man was met with a contemptuous gaze from Aldridge.

「Who you are, you ask? You are the murderer who killed your cousin, Cliff Steer, and an accomplice to the wicked deeds of former Duke Arkwright. We have already confirmed that you went around burying cursed jars and that you played a double role with your cousin under the duke's orders.」

「That's not what I mean! What I'm talking about is the brooch! That...」

「Ah, that. A loss report for that item was filed by the Arkwright ducal house twenty-five years ago. No matter who holds it, it is hardly surprising—all the more so if it belongs to an accomplice to their crimes.」

Perhaps having overheard those words, a noise echoed from the adjacent cell, but Aldridge deliberately chose not to look.

「The ducal house?! That can't be... That was without a doubt the royal crest!」

「This is precisely why commoners are so ignorant. That was a gift presented by the former King to his younger brother, who married into the Arkwright ducal house. In the first place, there is no way an ornament used by the royal family would be made of silver. The royal crest is strictly crafted in gold.」

「...It's not? Then who on earth... am I?」

「You are Darren Garritston. A criminal who murdered his cousin.」

Leaving him with those cold words, Aldridge turned and walked away. From the neighboring cell, a voice bellowed out, 「Hey! What do you mean, 'the Arkwright silver brooch'?! Tell me, Aldridge!」 but he ignored that as well.

(Let them agonize over it all they want.)

Less than ten days remained until the execution. Whether they claimed each other as father and son or repented their respective sins, none of it mattered to Aldridge. The only thing that mattered was that the execution was carried out without a hitch.

The Babiji Trading Company had already been expelled from the Merchants' Guild, and all its stores were ordered closed, but the whereabouts of the company head remained unknown. An order had been issued for his arrest upon sight, dead or alive.

Furthermore, the viscount and baron families—branch families of the ducal house who had acted as accomplices—were charged with the same crime, having their lands confiscated and their titles revoked.

Their wives, sons, and daughters had already had their property confiscated and were reduced to commoners, but most of them were currently missing.

Aldridge was certain the Pope had arranged for their disappearance, but so long as they never resurfaced on the public stage, he resolved to keep quiet about it.

(One week remaining. I must keep moving forward! Move!)

Picturing the framed plaque on his office desk to spur himself on, he departed the area.

Once again, he had Princess Kana send out letters bearing news of the council's resolutions along with the scheduled dates for the funerals, accession, and coronation.

In parallel, printed materials detailing the incident in easily understandable terms were sold at low prices throughout the royal capital. Naturally, this was done after hiring town criers to read them aloud.

Although many citizens were shocked by the sudden news of the deaths of the King, Royal Concubine, and Second Prince, public perception moved largely in the direction Aldridge desired.

Namely, that 'the cause of this tragic news lay with the villainous Empire and the duke who aligned himself with such a nation, and furthermore, the magic beasts and miasma pools that had tormented everyone over the past two years were also engineered by these two parties.' And that 'His Highness Prince William, who uncovered the truth alongside the Saintess, would become the new king.'

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