Rize was cleared of suspicion? That meant she wasn’t the traitor. I was thrilled to hear that her name had been cleared, but…how had they gone from pinning the blame on her to declaring her innocent so quickly?
The empress continued, seeing my doubtful expression. “The report said that she took a gift to the Holy Knights Association’s headquarters yesterday.”
“And that was what proved her innocence?” I asked.
“Yes. Her gift was none other than Von Mustang’s embalmed corpse.”
“What?!” I gasped, shocked. “Von is dead?!”
Von’s swordcraft was precise, his tactics were sharp, his strength was superhuman, and most important, his True Attire—Cleansing Sand Whale—was absurdly powerful. He was undoubtedly among the strongest opponents I’d ever fought. And yet…he was dead.
I could hardly believe it.
“Th-there was a Black Organization member who had a Soul Attire that could create copies of people and objects. She could’ve used that ability to create a perfect copy of Von’s body! Are you sure it was him?!” I asked.
“You’re talking about Tor Sammons, I assume. The Holy Knights Association is well aware of the abilities of her Soul Attire, Shapeshifter. However, the DNA sample they extracted and the spirit power reading matched their records exactly… The corpse Rize delivered is undoubtedly Von’s.”
“So…does that mean Rize killed him?”
“I do not know; that is currently still under investigation. But it would be natural to assume it was Rize or a member of Fox Financing.”
I had heard rumors that Rize and Fox Financing possessed incredible strength, but I never would have imagined they could take out a Holy Blade.
“Next is some bad news. All-out war with the Holy Ronelian Empire has become inevitable,” declared the empress. “Within the next few years—and possibly as early as this year—a world war will break out.”
“Th-this year?!” I repeated.
Everyone knew that international politics were in complete turmoil…but that sounded way too sudden.
“Just the other day, Vesteria Kingdom and the Republic of Ronzo—both of which have taken a hard-line policy against Ronelia—convinced the Commonwealth of Polyesta to join the faction championing for war. That leaves Liengard as the only one of the Four Major Powers still holding out. I intend to continue arguing for a peaceful resolution through diplomacy…but worldwide public opinion will be against me. War may be inevitable.”
The empress paused, her expression sorrowful.
“The Holy Ronelian Empire has been rapidly increasing its influence in recent years. They established the Black Organization militant group, formed a secret pact with powerful demons, and conquered the Principality of Theresia. I’m sure that, even now, they’re reaching out to strong swordsmen all around the world to increase their fighting strength. The other nations argue that we should launch a full-scale war now, rather than sit and watch our enemy grow stronger, and I do admit, I see their point,” the empress said, sighing loudly.
War, huh… That doesn’t feel real, but it sounds like it’s actually gonna happen…
A dark cloud settled over the room.
“There is one more topic I wish to discuss. This is what I most wanted to tell you,” the empress said. She spoke slowly, making sure I didn’t miss a word. “In your battle the other day, you defeated Diehl Reinstad, a former Imperial Knight, and drove Von Mustang, a Holy Blade, to the brink of death. When they caught wind of this, the noble faction was sent into a panic the likes of which I’ve never seen before, and they held an emergency conference a few days ago.”
“…? Why are they panicking?” I asked.
I failed to see how my fight had anything to do with the noble faction.
“Simple. The noble faction has been using the support of one of the Seven Holy Blades as a weapon to undermine Liengard. So when you very nearly killed Von, they inevitably began to doubt whether their Holy Blade could defeat you. They’ve been arguing back and forth, day and night, over how they can win you over.”
“H-huh…”
It made me feel weird to think that people were talking about me without my knowledge.
“By the way…have you had any contact with the noble faction?” asked the empress.
“No, none at all,” I replied.
It had been early January when Chairwoman Reia summoned me to her office and the empress warned me about the noble faction. It had been three months since then, but the nobles hadn’t made any moves.
“That’s strange. My spy in the noble camp reported that they had already sent an assassin,” the empress said, looking anxious.
Just then, Rodis leaned forward and whispered in her ear.
“What if they defected to the enemy?”
“No, it would be hasty for us to assume betrayal. We should perform a careful investigation first,” the empress replied just as quietly.
I couldn’t tell what they were saying, but their expressions were serious.
“Oh, pardon my rudeness. We were discussing a private matter,” the empress said, giving me her usual gentle smile. She put her hands together. “The greatest fear of the imperial faction is that the noble faction will find a way to win you over. We will do whatever it takes to prevent that worst-case scenario from occurring. Would you be willing to help us by taking a simple test?”
“A test?” I asked.
“Yes. It’s a simple psychological examination designed by a renowned psychologist. Proper application of the test will reveal your latent desires.”
“Uhh, would there be any point to that?”
The empress nodded. “Certainly. The noble faction excels at uncovering people’s weaknesses and taking advantage of them. They’ll almost certainly use every method they can to ensnare you. We in the imperial faction will do our best to obstruct them, but that will be difficult without knowing your true desires. Would you mind? It will only take four or five minutes.”
“H-huh… Okay.” I wasn’t really following her logic, but it sounded like it would be pretty simple.
“Thank you very much. Rodis?”
“I shall take it from here, Your Majesty.” Rodis nodded and pulled out a thick stack of papers. “I will now begin a simple examination. Are you ready, Allen?”
“Sure.”
“Good. First question: What do you want more than anything else?” Rodis asked. “Don’t think about it too hard; just say the first thing that comes to mind.”
“Hmm… More time to train, definitely.”