Crow and Lernaean had already assembled a script to play out, but there was someone who opposed it.
“What the hell, man. We’re borrowin’ a noble’s strength to defeat the nobles? That’s fucked up,” Keele said as he wandered in suddenly. He didn’t show a single hint of courtesy to Lernaean or Saya.
“Keele, our objective isn’t to defeat the nobles, it’s to liberate the commoners from the tyrannical rule of nobles. We should be borrowing strength from the civilized nobles here.”
“You’re just gonna get used and thrown away after they’re done with you.”
“That won’t happen,” Lernaean said with a deep and somehow overwhelmingly persuasive voice. Perhaps this quality of his was what put him above all others. Nagi found it terrifying.
“I don’t like it.”
“It’s not a matter of you liking it. You lack a strategic mindset,” Lernaean told him.
“I know. Go take your strategy and sow your stupid seeds with Crow. I just want to butcher me some fucking vampires. So long as you keep pointin’ me at fights that get my blood boiling, I guess I’ll stick around a while.”
Crow made a bitter expression. Ignoring him, Keele suddenly realized something.
“Hang on. If we join forces with these guys, it means I can’t fight against that woman?”
“Of course not. She will be our ally. You can’t possibly lay a hand on her.”
“On the eve of our victory, I do not mind if you have a bout with her,” Lernaean added, but Keele didn’t look pleased at all.
“I want a serious fight to the death, dammit... Whatever. First, we’ve got to throw down with a whole pile of knights, yeah?”
“Of course.”
“Then I’ll make do with that for now. Get my battlefield set up already. Where do I go?”
“Keele, I seriously can’t believe you...” Crow muttered in exasperation.
“Allow me to explain,” Lernaean said in Crow’s stead. “In addition to the knights who serve directly under the False Sovereign Kyou in his royal guard, there are Gratos’ Hidden Blades, and the Order of Obsidian Blood led by Duke Togart. The Obsidian Blood manages public order in central Agartha, within the first ring road. They lack the royal guard’s individual fighting strength, but they make up for it in numbers. They are the strongest armed force in Agartha. On the other hand, our forces consist of the Order of Sapphire Blood. You may think of them as my troops. Their individual skill is no different from the Obsidian Blood, but unfortunately, we only have half their numbers. In other words, if we were to clash right now, I would be decisively beaten. Do you understand the situation so far?”
Everyone nodded. It felt like the reverberations of Lernaean’s voice had drawn the reaction out of a quiet and compliant layer of their minds, beneath conscious thought. Nagi barely managed a nod himself. The only ones who didn’t were Keele, who was perhaps not even listening, and Saya, who stared at Lernaean expressionlessly.
“So, there is a need for Cobalt to make up for the difference in strength. To that end, we’ll use the same strategy you used to capture this prison.”
“A diversion, you mean?”
“Indeed. I would like you to foment a general uprising. Widespread chaos will stall the knights from coordinating their forces. We begin with the town of Brandall, far from the capital. The Order of Emerald Blood will have to be dispatched there. While they are caught up away from the capital, we then cause an even bigger uprising in the town of Kelst—as a vital economic center of the southern region, the Emerald Blood would ordinarily be stationed there; the Obsidian Blood will have to be dispatched from the capital along the highway. Then the Sapphire Blood will swoop in on the royal guard, who are left defending the capital alone.”
“No can do. We do it like that, and you lot get all the good parts. Send me to the capital too,” Keele said.
“That was my intention. I know there are elites among Cobalt capable of fighting on the level of knights. I would like them to take part in the assault on the capital. What do you think, Lady Saya?”
“Why are you asking me?”
“Because this is your army. Isn’t that right, Crow?”
“Exactly. Nobles and commoners are fighting side by side. You are the only one who can carry our banner, Lady Saya.”
“I don’t understand this stuff...”
“Still, there is nobody but you.”
There was a hint of criticism in Crow’s voice. Saya strengthened her grip on Nagi’s hand, clinging to him for help. He squeezed back. No matter what happened, he would protect her. He believed his feelings would get through to her.
Saya nodded. “Fine. That’s the best way, right? Then let’s go with it.”
“Thank you very much.”
Lernaean and Crow bowed to her reverently. With that, the meeting was over. Before Nagi and Saya could leave, Lernaean called out to them.
“Nagi, could I have a little of your time? I would like to speak with you. Alone.”
Nagi and Saya exchanged curious looks.
Ronadyphe Prison was rife with places to have a secret conversation. That was the kind of building it was to begin with. Lernaean brought Nagi to a gloomy room with an unpleasant stench to it.
“This room was apparently used for torture. It seems all such tools have already been removed. A pity,” Lernaean said, his voice reverberating through the room. “I’m sure many who opposed the Sovereign screamed their last here.”
“Quit putting on airs. What do you want?”
“There’s no need to be so wary of me. It would be simple for me to kill you, but I can’t possibly afford to. There’s something I must explain to you.”
Lernaean gazed into Nagi’s eyes. That was all it took for his presence to overwhelm him, but Nagi defied the pressure and glared back at him.
“Then stop threatening me like that.”
“Quite impressive, for a commoner. Well, it’d be troublesome if you weren’t. You are the last piece required for this revolution, after all.”
“You said the same thing earlier. What do you mean? What piece?”
“I’ve been slowly preparing for this battle far before your grandparents were even born. Little by little, I’ve been gathering everything I need. Like Halahala. Like Cobalt. The greatest of all these was making the True Sovereign my ally.”
“And that’s Saya?”
“Of course. But Lady Saya isn’t complete. She possesses the Sovereign’s Blood, but she isn’t the Sovereign in a true sense.” Lernaean walked in a slow circuit of the room as he addressed Nagi. “Lady Saya does not possess the royal caliber. This is likely because she has been locked inside the Garden since her infancy. A blood caliber is proof of adulthood. To acquire one, one must have a mature mind. With the resolve to fight the world in hand, one’s blood becomes a weapon. That is the true nature of a blood caliber. There was no need for such a thing growing up within that bird cage. Until you showed up, that is.”
“What are you getting at?”
“You can’t tell? By wishing to walk beside you, whose time is finite in this world, she now desires to become an adult. She recognizes the world as a battlefield and has made the resolve to walk through it. That’s what grants her the royal caliber. She is awakening as the True Sovereign.”
“The royal caliber... you mean that red butterfly?”
“I’ve never seen it myself, unfortunately. All I heard was Jubilia’s report. Lady Saya wielded the royal caliber once before that too, didn’t she? Back at the Forbidden Garden.”
Nagi thought back to that time. What had happened was in fact similar to Ivara’s defeat.
“How do you know that?”
“I came to the conclusion after investigating the guard’s corpse. The direct cause of death was the wound you inflicted on him, but the corpse had aged visibly. Ivara’s corpse was the same. I could only believe it to be a result of Lady Saya’s power. But it seems her awakening is still at an incomplete stage. And what’s needed to complete it...”
Lernaean took a step closer. Nagi unconsciously grit his teeth at the pressure.
“Is your very existence. That’s why you’re the last piece to this revolution.” Lernaean’s lips curved into an elegant, yet ferocious smile. “Just as I said before, the difference in strength between us and the knights of the royal guard is vast. At this rate, there’s less than a one in ten chance that the revolution succeeds. You will die. She will be captured. If you do not wish for that to happen, she must become the True Sovereign. When she awakens, the revolution will be complete.”
“I don’t even know what to do.”
“Neither do I. Give it some thought. What happened when she used the royal caliber?”
Nagi thought it over, but his memories of those times were chaotic. Both were crises where he had been placed in desperate situations.
“At the very least, one of the conditions is for Lady Saya to be with you. She showed no sign of being able to use the royal caliber while she was in the palace; it’s your job to find out what is needed.”
“I’ve got no clue, though...”
“If you can’t find it, all that awaits us is ruin.”
“Why be so rash? I don’t get it. You’re a noble, aren’t you? You can live as long as you want.”
Nagi could glimpse a bottomless expression within Lernaean’s eyes.
“Being granted a long life without purpose only brings suffering. Only when one acquires hope does their life become their own. The hope once granted to us by the Intelligence was foolishly cast away. So long as we do not take it back, we will never live true lives. This is a rash decision, but all of our fates lie within your hands.”
Nagi remained stock still, unable to say a thing, as Lernaean slapped his shoulder.
“I expect much of you, Nagi. If this were a fairy tale, a kiss would do the trick.”
“Huh?”
“A joke.”
Sarcasm would be one thing, but Nagi never expected this man to tell a joke. Setting the surprised boy aside, Lernaean left the room.