“LOOK at all those dragons. They practically fill the sky…”
My month came and went in the blink of an eye. It was time for me to respond to Emperor Ishnad’s accusations.
The grand party of Flying Dragons soared over the royal capital, even more overpowering of a presence than before.
Last time, they’d come with their advance scouting party to reach Wolfvarte quickly. Now they were demonstrating the might of the Ringrard Empire should they decide to utilize it. I kept my guard up as I entered their tent with King Glenreed and Emperor Ishnad.
“All right. I’ve come to hear your response,” Emperor Ishnad said. “Since you requested to meet in a tent, I assume you have something you don’t want seen or overheard by anyone else.” A sharp, yet enchanting smile appeared on his face.
I was seated on one of the chairs inside the tent. Lucian had provided me with a bundle of documents, which I now offered to the emperor.
“This is the truth behind Princess Ileze’s slumber,” I said. “It appears Lady Fillia supplied her with honey that was supposed to combat insomnia, but the princess overdosed by mistake. You can find all the details here.”
Well, Princess Ileze was actually knocked unconscious by the curse…
But I had no way of objectively proving that curses even existed. My only option was to take a different route. In this new story, Princess Ileze collapsed from eating too much of the special honey—honey she’d shared with her maids as well.
“…So this is what it comes to.” The corners of Emperor Ishnad’s lips curled up when he finished skimming the documents. “It was an interesting read…but it’s nothing more than conjecture about what Ileze could have done.”
“Perhaps so. But in that sense, can you really say your accusations against me are anything more than conjecture?” I took his phrasing and used it against him. My forceful response made Emperor Ishnad narrow his eyes threateningly.
“You have much to say, Laetitia. It’s a nice suggestion, but it only works if both sides are perfectly equal.” He crossed his legs arrogantly before leaning in toward me. “Negotiations happen when both parties are in relatively equal situations, where there’s room for agreement. That’s why this is an official directive, not a negotiation. If you admit to poisoning Ileze and turn yourself over, we’ll leave this place with you in custody, but only because I’ve chosen to show mercy. If you refuse to confess your crimes, it will mean the start of a new war to take revenge for Ileze.”
The proud emperor presented me with his two choices.
“It’s your decision, Laetitia. I’m offering you this choice because I’m a generous man.”
“I refuse.” I was taking the third option. I sat up straight and made my voice heard. “You underestimate this country, Emperor Ishnad. We are more than qualified to sit down for negotiations as equals.”
“What foolishness is this?” The emperor was chuckling. “I’ve already conquered many lands. I can deploy my army at a moment’s notice. Not even a child would believe that you, a country barely fending off monsters outside your borders, are on equal terms with us.”
“I’ll admit that you’ve fought many successful battles. However, wouldn’t you agree that the factor responsible for your steady advance can be found in our country as well?”
Then I turned to look at Lucian, who was standing behind me. He removed the cloth from the item he’d been holding in both hands.
When Emperor Ishnad laid eyes on it, his face stiffened ever so slightly.
“Oh, could it be…?”
“This is the new crest tool that’s been allowing your empire to advance. Or, more accurately, it’s your new weapon that’s laid waste to the battlefields.”
Underneath the cloth was a long, slender object made of metal and wood. This was a ground-breaking weapon to the rest of this world. But to me, I saw something very familiar.
“A long-range weapon that ejects metal projectiles,” I said. “You gave it the name ‘firebolt cannon’ for how it roars like a thunderbolt and spits flames from its mouth, isn’t that right?”
The firebolt cannon. In my past life, we simply called it a gun. It was an entirely scientific invention that didn’t use magical energy, so much like a matchlock from my past life.
“I see… But it’s the inside that matters most,” he said. “Are you sure this isn’t just a model?”
“We’ve managed to recreate its firing mechanism as well.” I drove the point home with a smile.
King Glenreed had obtained the schematics for this new form of crest tool.
At least, that was what we thought at first. But we were mistaken.
The schematics showed that the crest tool needed a magic stone inserted into it, but that wasn’t actually the case. The whole thing was a bluff—a fake schematic that couldn’t be easily analyzed or recreated if it fell into enemy hands. They wanted it to look like a new kind of crest tool, even though it used none of those parts whatsoever.
That was how they managed to fool even the Bureau of Magic. The members there tried their hardest to analyze the schematics, but in the end, it turned out to be a simple long-range weapon that functioned with gunpowder, not magic.
Once we figured that much out, it was only a matter of trial and error to get it right. The Bureau of Magic was already well-versed in advanced metallurgy. Though my ability to transmutate the metal parts felt a bit like cheating, we managed to reconstruct the weapon together.
“Shall I hold it up for you to see?” I gently took the gun from Lucian’s hands. The metal weapon was heavy, but not so much that a woman like myself couldn’t lift it. “What do you say, Emperor Ishnad? Would you care to see for yourself if it can fire?”