“That’s fine, yes,” I replied. “We’re planning on flying to the capital on our own anyway. The only reason we’re allying with you is to lighten the burden.”
Melphina nodded calmly. “Then we shall regroup near the capital in five days.”
She didn’t seem to have an issue with that, but Bazack might, if the grimace on his face was anything to go by. “If we make it there in one piece, that is,” he muttered.
“Lionel and I will work out the details and decide where we’ll meet up later. If you have any requests, feel free to let him know.”
“Understood.” Unlike Bazack, Melphina was able to maintain a perfectly calm expression at all times, perhaps because she was an oracle. It made her really difficult to deal with.
Oh, right, I hadn’t asked them about the spies yet.
“I’ve been wondering, Mister Bazack, were you involved in helping Albert escape from prison?”
“I was indeed. However, I didn’t go into the palace; my role was to create a diversion in the city.” He wasn’t smiling. In fact, he looked somewhat frustrated.
Albert averted his gaze at Bazack’s words. As for Lionel, I heard him let out a resigned sigh.
“Albert, Melphina,” I said, turning to them this time. “There was miasma coming out of your bodies before I healed you. Did someone put magic stones in you?”
“When I tried to fight the fake Lion of War, a red magic circle appeared out of nowhere. I barely had time to process what was happening before the room was filled with some sort of purple smoke. The impostor laughed as he vanished from before us, and I felt my body growing heavier and heavier as my consciousness slipped away. I managed to escape before collapsing, but I couldn’t even tell you how I did it. That’s how desperate I was.”
Smoke—that must’ve been miasma gas. So the empire was most likely developing other methods to cause miasma to seep out of people’s bodies, not just using magic stones anymore.
And the longer I let them do as they please, the more difficult they’ll be to deal with.
They were carrying out research on demons, so perhaps I should think of a way to deal with those as well...
At any rate, I now knew that Albert had been played by the fake Lionel and that said impostor could manipulate miasma. I would cast some Aura Coats on us when we entered the palace. I’d never used that spell, but it should prevent us from turning into demons.
“Well, if there were traitors and spies among your ranks, I suppose it’s only natural you’d end up playing into the empire’s hand, no matter how well thought-out your plan is. Let’s make sure we don’t fail this time, shall we?”
My words were met with silence.
Oh, crap; I’d accidentally dissed them without meaning to. No one had been expecting me to say that. Albert’s shoulders were shaking with frustration, while Melphina was staring at me, speechless. As for Bazack, he seemed to be holding back laughter for some reason. Yet, I knew I had to make them realize how naive they’d been in their information gathering and what a huge mistake it had been not letting Bazack plan their escape. If I didn’t, there would only be demerits in allying with them.
What should I do? As things stood, joining forces with them really didn’t seem to offer any advantages to us. Well, no, there were a couple: We could use them as sacrificial pawns, and helping them out would ensure the empire didn’t collapse once everything was done and dealt with. But beyond that, there was little for us to gain.
Lionel must’ve stayed out of the conversation except when it was necessary because of the internal conflict in his mind. He had said that he didn’t want to become a general of the empire again, after all.
“I’m going to clearly explain our goals to you, just to make sure we’re on the same wavelength. We want to destroy the demonization research facilities and free all the slaves acquired illegally. We’ll be using our airship—the flying thing Bazack tried to shoot down when we were nearing Ebiza—to enter the city, and have no qualms about defeating anyone who tries to prevent us from destroying the facilities.”
Everyone other than Lionel stiffened, a bewildered look registering on their faces at how plainly I had laid out our intentions.
Surprisingly, Albert was the first to return to his senses. “Our nation has wyvern squads! They’ll shoot you down if they spot your vehicle!”
“I’ve heard that wyverns are the best at flying among all the types of dragons but that their breath attacks aren’t all that powerful. Besides, we want to be seen; that’s why we’re using the airship. Imagine Lionel leaping down from the sky above the capital. That would be one showy way for the Lion of War to return to his homeland.”
“I-It is true that most people won’t attack you if they see master with you,” Albert said. “But what if the impostor accuses him of being the fake?”
“The Lion of War is a warrior. We’ll simply challenge the impostor to a duel. If he refuses, he’ll be proving our point, and if he accepts, Lionel just has to win. Defeating him and exposing his identity to the world is one of our goals anyway.”
Someone began to clap. It was Bazack. “How audacious. You truly believe in your abilities to the point where you are willing to charge straight ahead without resorting to tricks or deception. If you succeed, there won’t be any unnecessary casualties. So, that is the ingenuity of a sage.”
He had misunderstood my point big time, but I purposefully didn’t correct him. Instead, I hit him with a question of my own. “As I just explained, our strategy is simply to charge forward. What will the resistance do?”
“How about we ride on that airship—or whatever it’s called—with you so that I can make my triumphant return alongside master?” Albert suggested.
That was way too shortsighted. I’d thought that he seemed like a fellow hard worker, the type who had to struggle a lot to get to where he was, but it turned out I’d been completely wrong. He was just an entitled prince. But I supposed it’d be better to have him ruling over Illumasia rather than the current emperor and his obsession with demonization.
“Absolutely not,” I said.
“Why?”
“First, because the emperor has already disinherited you. Actually, you’re probably on the wanted list, aren’t you?”
“He has indeed been disowned. However, I don’t believe that he is considered a criminal,” Melphina supplied.
But my point still stood. “Either way, our airship doesn’t belong to you, Albert, or the empire. If we let you use it, depending on how things go, people might make it a symbol of the rebellion that brought peace to the empire, and we don’t want that. For those reasons, we can’t allow you on board.”
“Then what is the point in forming an alliance if—” The prince stopped himself before he could finish. That sentence alone would have been enough for us to break our agreement. Bazack and Melphina were staring at him in shock, and Albert himself was frozen in place, having realized what he’d just said.
An idea popped up in my mind, and I decided to use his verbal gaffe as leverage in the negotiation.
“You’re right. There are no advantages for us in joining forces with you and the resistance. On the other hand, for you, it is nothing but beneficial.”
“What are you trying to get at?”
“Hear me out and decide whether you wish to ally with us or not. The choice is yours to make.”
I made two demands of him, and he agreed to both. Our alliance was now set in stone.
After that, Bazack adjusted his plan, and we agreed to meet at the imperial capital in a week’s time. With that, our long meeting finally came to an end.