The Strongest Dull Prince’s Secret Battle for the Throne

“Then I will be going now.”

“Yeah, see you later.”

I say goodbye to Leo.

King Rondine finished preparing his fleet on the next day after he agreed to the alliance. He worked fast. Such a difference in skill is probably the characteristic of the southern nations.

This time, King Rondine himself will personally head out to form a formal alliance with the Principality of Albatro. Even with that said, he is probably thinking that it would be best to fight against the Sea Dragon while it is still in Albatro’s territory.

“Al. will you be fine by yourself?”

Elna asks with a worried expression. She stubbornly prevents herself from looking at the sea. 

So she still finds it scary from here huh.

Marc will be joining Leo this time. There is only the minimum personnel at my side.

But I don’t need any talented person to stay with me in Rondine.

“As long as you enter Albatro water, the Sea Dragon’s attention will be focused on the Principality of  Albatro. I can rest easy here for a while. Rather, I am more worried about you. Hey, Look. the sea is so pretty right?”

“I, I, I will be fine!! If, if it’s a battle then…..L, Leave it to me. An, and like you said….the sea sure is pr, pretty……it’s, it’s like I just jumped into a painting…….”

Just by looking at the sea from the harbor, Elna’s face gradually turned blue as she said that. Her eyes are already dead.

I am almost certain that she will not really be that useful in battle.

Elna is better to fight on land. Well, Leo should already be aware of this so it will be fine even if I don’t tell him myself.

“I will leave the rest to you. Follow up for Elna for me alright.”

“Yeah, leave it to me. Nii-san can rest easy here.”

“Right. I will leave the battle to you. Bring this to an end for me. It will be hard to return to the Empire with a Sea Dragon lurking around after all.”

In that manner, I bid farewell to the two of them.

When the fleet disappeared from view, I returned to the room that was given to me inside the castle. I want to go to sleep just like this but as expected, I can’t afford to do that.

Just in case, I created an illusion of myself sleeping on the bed before I leave the room through the window.

My destination is the Rondine branch of Adventurer Guild.

Of course, I am not heading there as Arnold. I will be going there as Silver, using illusion magic to falsify my appearance.

However, it will create a fuss if the general adventurers know that Silver is here so I will make them sleep with magic before entering the branch’s office.

As every adventurer inside falls asleep, I head inside.

The receptionist which I left as an exception was still awake. However, she’s getting confused by what is happening around her.

“Wh, Who are you…….!?”

“I am Silver, an SS-class adventurer affiliated with the Imperial Capital branch. I don’t want to make a fuss so I made all the adventurers here fall asleep. Sorry if that scared you.”

“S, Silver? That famous adventurer?”

“I don’t know anything about being famous.”

Saying so, I showed my adventurer card to the receptionist.

The receptionist scarily accepted it and confirmed its content while raising a startling voice.

“Th, the real deal!?”

“That’s what I told you. Sorry but I want to use the remote communication room.”

Each branch of the Adventurer Guild has its own remote communication room.

It is a room with a special barrier erected by a crystal located at the center of the room which connects to another remote communication room in the Adventurer Guild Headquarter and its other branches.

It is the Guild’s hidden technique that allows the Guild branches to quickly respond to monster threats across the continent.

“Un, Understood! Please follow me this way!”

Only the Guild staff or S-class or above adventurers are allowed to use the remote communication room.

Adventurers of S-class or higher that can fight toe to toe with high-ranked monsters are treated exceptionally well among the Guild members.

The receptionist led me to the remote communication room and immediately connected the line to the Headquarter.

Then.

“This is SS-class adventurer Silver. Please connect me to the Deputy Guild Chef.”

“Certainly.”

As expected of the headquarters staff. They are used to this.

Their responses are calm and composed.

After waiting for a while, the face of a bearded man appeared on the crystal.

Black hair and blue eyes. The name of this man who is suited to be described as [Nice Middle] is Clyde.

(TLN: Nice Middle is a JP slang for an attractive middle-aged man)

He was once an S-class adventurer who fiercely roamed through the continent. He is now retired and acting as the Deputy Guild Chief at the Adventurer Guild Headquarters.

[[So, why are you calling me from the Southern branch?]]

“I just came here to see an acquaintance.”

[[An acquaintance huh. I’m surprised that you have someone you could call an acquaintance.]]

“I am a human too after all. I do have a few acquaintances. Putting that aside, I’ve heard a strange rumor. Is it true?”

[[No use hiding it huh…..it’s true. There’s a formal request from the Principality of Albatro to subjugate a Sea Dragon. Right now the Headquarter is in an uproar you know]]

“Supposed so. What rank did the Headquarter assign it to?”

[[They are going to put it at S-rank. But depending on how much destruction it will bring its rank might rise to SS. if that’s the case then it will be turned into a top-level request that requires more than one SS-class adventurers.]]

“Don’t do that. Even if they can defeat the Sea Dragon, the Principality of Albatro will be in ruin.”

Gathering multiple SS-class adventurers.

That is something even the Adventurer Guild wants to avoid. Although each one of them possesses monstrous strength, they have no common sense.

If someone like that gathered, all living beings in the sea might perish along with the Sea Dragon, the port town might be left in a state beyond recovery. The damage of that magnitude is a possibility.

[[I don’t want to gather them either. Sorry but since you are already in the area, could you defeat it for me?]]

“Don’t treat me like I am your errand boy. I will be returning to the Imperial Capital to take care of some business first. I will deal with it later.”

[[Is that so….it would be nice if you take care of it soon though.]]

“Is there any problem?”

[[……This information is a secret but somehow this matter has already been leaked to the Empire. It seems they already started talking about some kind of intervention as well.]]

“If their intervention were successful then they would create a big debt for the southern countries after all. But…..there’s a possibility that a secondary disaster may happen.”

Rather, it will definitely happen.

Even if they dispatched a fleet, they will just be sunk by the storm.

What the Empire can do is to dispatch their elites but if it comes to that, it would be better to leave it to Elna who is already on the scene.

Perhaps what my father is considering right now is whether he should grant Elna the permission to use the holy sword.

[[Exactly. Before the Empire come in and mess things up, I want the Adventurer Guild to deal with it first.]]

“I understand your feelings but spare me from waiting around for a Sea Dragon that can show up wherever and whenever it wants. If it showed up I will head over immediately. How does that sound?”

[[Well, let’s go with that. I will put in a word for you. Recently the Empire is a pain because of their succession war. I don’t want to get involved with them if possible. Take care of it immediately when you get the report of its sighting.]]

“I will be using my discretion then.”

I answered so and ended the communication.

A guild’s secret leaked to the Empire huh…..I got a bad feeling about this.

I think there’s someone trying to take advantage of this situation.

If I don’t prevent that then this might get messy.

I should return to the Imperial Capital once to check this out.

“Thank you. I will be excusing myself now.”

“Y, Yes!”

I thanked the receptionist and left the guild.

I guess I will head back to the Imperial Capital tomorrow.

Let’s confirm the situation with Finne and find out how the Empire is planning to intervene.

If the Empire is going to go all out then it wouldn’t be good to squash their plan as Silver.

The Empire and the Adventurer Guild, both of them have a reputation to uphold. It would be best to resolve this while letting both of them save their faces.

“Well, I guess I will think about it after I return.”

I mutter so after I dispel the illusion and return to being Arnold.

In the worst-case scenario, Finne and the other might already be cornered after all. As I thought, I can only find out for sure after I return and take a look myself.

“I hope that at least she didn’t do anything crazy though.”

Even if she looked like that Finne is quite reckless.

When we were fighting against the vampires, she climbed up the clock tower without any hesitation. Even when she was falling, she prioritized the flute over herself.

She has a point in her personality where she doesn’t care about herself.

It would be great if that side of her doesn’t surface though.

I returned to the castle while worrying about her.