Her own eyes were red, but her gaze was filled with genuine strength and unshakable determination.
"Tell me what's happening in the southern region. I can help."
"Okay."
And so I began telling her every single detail that had occurred since I'd left the capital.
I explained how the sea dragon would probably start causing trouble soon, that someone in the capital was attempting to intervene in the unusual situation in the region, and that I had to prevent that from happening.
"I guess that's about all of it. There's only one person I can think of who'd come up with a plan to use the military to intervene. If they try and fail, then the problem takes care of itself, but it would still be unfair to the soldiers who sacrifice themselves on the battlefield. I think the ideal scenario is if we can keep any interference from the empire to a minimum and I slay the sea dragon myself."
"I think so, too. And...I think I have an idea how to save the southern region with minimal interference from the empire."
"That's a coincidence. I have an idea, too. The problem is how to convince the key person in this plan to get on board. I can't go myself. Can I trust you to take care of it?"
"Of course. I'll find a way to convince him," Finne answered with a subtle smile and an elegant bow.
3
Following our discussion, Finne and I reconvened with Lynphia. She immediately noticed the redness around Finne's eyes and gave me a sharp look.
"What's going on?"
"A sea dragon has appeared in the southern region. I assume you understand how bad a situation that is?"
"A s-sea dragon?!"
"It seems Master Silver is unable to take any action without a request from the Adventurers' Guild."
"The circumstances are different from when I defeated the vampires in the East. The two grand duchies that make up the southern region have formed an alliance and begun taking their own actions. Under these circumstances, if I intervene personally, the situation could become more complicated in a different sense. After all, even though the vampires were given the same S-class designation as a sea dragon, the dragon is exponentially more difficult to deal with. If I want to be certain of killing it, I'll need backup."
I could probably kill the dragon myself if I tried, but I'd need to release a huge amount of magic to do so. And that would be too powerful. No one would be happy to hear that the sea dragon had been slain but the surrounding ocean ecosystem had also been destroyed. To that end, in order to minimize incidental damage, I needed Elna.
"Of course. Additional help will be necessary against a sea dragon." Lynphia immediately understood the gravity of the situation. It was useful to have an adventurer like her on my side. Not that dragons weren't infamous enough that even non-adventurers would probably recognize their danger.
"So, what brings you here?"
"There is a wielder of the holy sword currently stationed in the South. If she can use it, together we will be strong enough to slay the sea dragon. I want the empire to send a proxy for the emperor."
"You're referring to the regulation that says members of the Amsberg household cannot use the holy sword outside of Adrasia. Where did you learn that? Even I didn't know about it until the princes told me."
"An SS-class adventurer has ways of knowing plenty of things that normal adventurers don't. Is that explanation satisfactory enough?"
"And that includes classified imperial information?"
"The regulation regarding the holy sword isn't classified information. And the empire isn't trying to hide it. It just hasn't become widely known, since the sword isn't used all that often in the first place."
"...I see. All right, then."
Lynphia gave me a look that said she was still doubtful, but she didn't press the subject, probably because she knew there was no point in doing so. Solving the issues in the South was more important than finding out where I got my information.
"Since you deliberately came all the way here, I assume you had a favor to ask of Lady Finne. Would I be right in guessing that one of the empire's higher-ranking officials is attempting to interfere in the South's issues?"
"Good guess. That's right. For some reason, the information was leaked from the Adventurers' Guild, and now they are also wary of possible interference from the empire. They would prefer the empire not intervene whatsoever, but personally, I would like the empire's permission to use the holy sword. Unfortunately, it sounds like once the empire's involved, they'll probably end up dispatching the military along with a proxy. Military power is unnecessary though. I want to cut out that part somehow."
"And what does Lady Finne have to do with that? What are you planning to do?"
"The three front-runners in the battle for the throne will all vie to be the emperor's proxy. The most likely winner will be the general, Prince Gordon. That said, even if one of the other two are chosen, they'd probably still send the military, too. I'd prefer to have a small party comprised of an imperial family member as the emperor's proxy and just a few skilled fighters as an escort. With a group that size, I can use my transfer magic to quickly transport them to the region, and that will be enough fighting power to resolve the issue."
"So basically, what you want is for Lady Finne to convince someone in the imperial family other than the three front-runners to act as the proxy?"
Impressive. I felt thankful once again that Lynphia was so quick to catch on.
When I nodded in agreement, Lynphia didn't appear to have any problem with my plan. The next order of business was which prince or princess to target.
"The three princes and princess fighting for the throne will never go along with my proposal. It wouldn't be nearly enough of an accomplishment for them if they went out as a proxy and someone else used the holy sword to save the day. They'll want to mobilize the military to avoid that. Then, even if the holy sword comes into play, it won't overshadow their actions. What we need is a prince or princess who's not involved in the conflict for the throne."
That said, there weren't many such choices. Almost all of the emperor's children were siding with either Erik, Gordon, or Zandra due to their shared mothers. There was just one perfect candidate for the job.
"In that case, the Fourth Imperial Prince would be best."
"Right."
The fact that Lynphia was so quick to give such a precise answer told me that she'd been studying up on the battle for the throne.
I applauded her diligence. The Fourth Imperial Prince's mother was the empress. That meant he shared the same mother as the crown prince and would be uninvolved in the power struggle within the inner palace.
Furthermore, the Fourth Imperial Prince had discovered his life's purpose in writing and showed no interest whatsoever in becoming emperor.
The modest role of being used as, to put it crudely, a means of transport for the holy sword was not likely to raise any complaints from him. The question was, would he be willing to leave the empire, and would he go somewhere there was a sea dragon, no less? That was where Finne's tactics of persuasion came in.
"Well then, let's get going," Finne piped up with a look of eager excitement.
It was time to start negotiating.