“No, it was Prince Gerald…” Jill replied.
“Right. Whew. That’s good…”
“Is it? I don’t really have any sympathy for the previous emperor, since he tried to kill His Majesty, but still…”
The previous emperor was Roger’s biological father.
Roger gave a strained smile. “It might be cruel to say, but Father wasn’t suited to be the emperor the moment he tried to cozy up to Kratos. Had he been more reliable when the imperial crown princes died, he wouldn’t have died amid all that fuss. So, I’m glad Minerd wasn’t left to do the dirty work… Or I guess it’s not all good. That event caused this meeting and this ordeal.”
Roger glanced at the fireplace by the window, the only source of light, and sighed.
“I’m only here in search of the Draco Flute,” Roger confessed. “They covered their tracks well, but I found that the Arks had funded Gunther’s research. That isn’t too shocking in and of itself, but among the list of donors was Cornelia.”
Cornelia was Minerd and Natalie’s mother, and the very person who’d offered Natalie to the previous emperor in hopes of the young lady giving birth to a Dragon Emperor. Jill scowled as Roger handed her a wooden plate of bread and cheese.
“Looks like you know who she is,” Roger said. “I thought that there’s gotta be more to this, and was gathering info. Former Empress Cornelia left the imperial castle with Minerd, and they received support from the Arks to survive. I’m sure that’s where Minerd learned about all sorts of things…”
“What’s going on with former empress Cornelia?” Jill asked. “I heard that she passed away.”
“Yeah. I don’t have any proof, but it looks like Minerd killed her. She planned on stealing Natalie from the imperial castle and forcing her to have a child with Minerd.”
Jill was at a loss for words as Roger continued, “Former Empress Cornelia was at her wit’s end. The fact that the current Rave imperial family and the former emperor are not descendants of the Dragon God was publicized, and that cut her off from the Arks’ aid. Minerd probably held her back until…”
Jill placed the wooden plate on her lap and sighed. “What a mess… I can’t tell Princess Natalie the truth.”
“I think Minerd feels the same.”
Roger took the pot and poured the hot water into two cups. He handed one to Jill and sat down on a small dining chair with the other cup in his hand.
“He plotted all sorts of schemes in Laika so that he’d have a gift to offer to Kratos when he proudly stormed into the imperial castle,” Roger surmised. “Since he’s got a claim to the throne, simply seeking refuge would allow him to be welcomed by the enemy with open arms, but he went so far because he…probably felt sympathy for Lutiya. Minerd may not look it, but he’s pretty compassionate.”
“I still can’t forgive him,” Jill said. “He went way too far—many lives were sacrificed in Laika.”
“Well, he doesn’t plan on returning alive. So, I think the best punishment for him is to prevent his death in Kratos and drag him in front of Risteard, but then I heard that there was a plan to steal the Sacred Spear from the queen, who was headed for a meeting in Lehrsatz.”
Jill placed the cheese atop the tough rye bread and opened her mouth wide to take a big bite. It wasn’t very good, but she couldn’t complain.
“The Moechia faction spearheaded the plan, so I was a few steps behind when I started collecting information, and that’s when you ran into me, Miss Jill,” Roger said. “And what about you? Why in the world are you trying to flee with the queen?” He used his thumb to point at the door to the room where Faris was sleeping.
“I don’t know what they’d do to her if I left her behind,” Jill said. “That’s my only reason. I need to search for the Sacred Spear anyway.”
“Hey now, don’t tell me you’re going off on some grand adventure with the queen to search for the Sacred Spear.”
“Mr. Brooder, we’re in for some trouble!”
Just then, a group of people burst into the room, cutting off their conversation.
“It might be bad if we let Miss Jill return to Lehrsatz— Ack!”
Jill was stunned. The group all wore the attire of the Arks—black mantles with white borders. But the faces underneath the hoods were very familiar to her. They were the students of the Azure Dragon Class from La Baier Military Academy. She had personally trained every single one of them.
“Why are you guys here?!” she yelped.
“Mr. Brooder asked if we wanted to do some part-time work until the new military academy opened. Right?” a student replied.
“Part-time work?! Where do you think you are…” She turned to Roger. “Mr. Brooder!”
“I thought I should learn a thing or two from your teaching techniques,” Roger replied. “I called out to a few who were good at spying. A super long time ago, the Arks tried to vehemently propagate their beliefs in Laika, so it’s easy to get accepted from there.”
“Even so, how can you place your students in such danger?!” Jill jumped to her feet and kicked her chair behind her, but it was the students who looked perplexed.
“It’s more dangerous to fight a red dragon, isn’t it?” one asked.
“Yeah, and we were kicked by Instructor Sauté and beaten to a pulp by Mr. Bear…” another added.
“That was all training! It’s very different from actual combat,” Jill retorted.
“But Miss Jill, you were the one who told us to drop dead if we couldn’t handle it,” a student countered.
Everyone else voiced their agreement.
“I-In any case, leave here at once!” Jill cried. “You wouldn’t want this to affect your futures and careers!”
“So, we just can’t get caught,” a student replied.
“Besides, with Principal Brooder and you here, you lack persuasion,” another added.
“We’re the Sewer Rats, remember?” said a third. “We don’t care about tarnishing our careers and futures and stuff like that.”
The students all nodded in agreement.
“I trained you to become splendid soldiers for the Rave Empire!” Jill shouted.
“Let’s leave that to the Gold Dragons,” a student replied. “Have you seen Class President Noyn? He’s totally suited to climbing up the ranks. But we do have a few Gold Dragons, though. They feel a sense of rivalry toward us! Isn’t that hilarious?”
Even those snooty elites are in on this?! No… Jill groaned as the oldest member of the Azure Dragons approached her to calm her down.