The Strongest Dull Prince’s Secret Battle for the Throne

“Alright, take a rest now Duke.”

I am currently at a nearby resting point with Jurgen.

Originally this is a place was designed to be one of the temporary resting points along the road. It is now acting as a field hospital.

The tattered knights were coming in and out while the necessary treatment was performed on them.

“Sorry…….Your Highness……”

“What are you apologizing for?”

“Your Highness must have wanted to go to your brother’s side………it’s all because I am too weak.”

“Weak? You?”

Jurgen who is lying down in the hut with his armor removed makes a bitter expression.

I can only smile at his words.

No one would be able to say that Jurgen was weak.

“You were splendid. If anyone dares to laugh at you then they will surely get murdered by Aneue.”

“But……Your Highness…..”

“I’m fine. If it means that Aneue can move forward then I think I have already fulfilled my duty by staying behind here.”

When I said that Jurgen replied with [Is that so.] and slowly closed his eyes.

Perhaps he is getting sleepy because he has been running all night without any sleep.

“Thank you, Duke. It may not be long before I can call you my brother-in-law now.”

I said that to the sleeping Jurgen and stood up.

Fortunately, Jurgen’s knights that have been scattered here and there are already gathered here.

Let’s leave the rest to them.

I leave the hut where Jurgen is resting and head to the hut allocated for me.

There, I set up a barrier to turn away the people and create an illusion of myself sleeping inside.

The people warding barrier is not very effective when maintaining it from far away but it should work well enough against these exhausted people. On top of that, there shouldn’t be anyone who enters a prince’s room without permission here but since Jurgen might come in when he wakes up, I set up the illusion just in case. Finne did enter my room back then so I will have to be careful against people in Ducal houses.

With that in mind, I transfer from the hut to the secret room at the imperial capital.

There, my butler is waiting for me as if he was already expecting my arrival.

“Welcome back, Arnold-sama.”

“The preparation is complete right?”

“Of course.”

“Good. Let’s go, it’s time for a secret maneuver.”

Saying so, donning my usual black robe and silver mask, I turned into Silver.

—————————————————————–

“What’s the situation?”

“Apparently, a mysterious black sphere has appeared in the South and a lot of undead monsters are pouring out from it.”

“What about Leo?”

“According to the information from the adventurer guild, he is safe. His Highness Leonard has asked the guild to issue out a Raid Quest to combat the monster threat as well.”

“Raid Quest? I see. It’s must have been Lynfia’s idea.”

It seems she wants to make use of the money I gave her.

I was right to leave the money with her.

Her adventurer’s wisdom really came in handy.

“How is Father going to respond?”

“That is……there is a problem regarding that. The Emperor ordered the army and the nearby Lords to send reinforcement to His Highness Leonard but His Majesty didn’t mobilize the imperial knights.”

“Did something happen when they saved Christa and Rita?”

“……why did you assume that they were saved?”

“Elna won’t fail me. When Christa saw the death of a specific person, that future will be almost inevitable. Long ago, when Christa saw the death of a maid, I kept her safe inside a house with my barrier erected to protect her. But in the end, the scene that Christa saw became a reality. I protecting that maid was also included in her vision. No matter how I move, the scene that she saw will come true. That was why I left the strongest person I can think of at her side. Elna should be able to do something about it through her power.”

“I see. Your thinking was correct. Both Her Highness Christa and Rta are safe.”

I nodded quietly to Sebas’s words.

It’s a good thing that I didn’t tell her that the future will always come true.

No matter how she moves, if she knows beforehand that the future will come true, she will not be able to do anything aggressive. The reason is that she will end up worrying whether her action will lead to Rita’s death. If that’s the case then she won’t be able to change the future.

That’s why I bet on Elna.

If it’s Elna, I thought that she would be able to do something about it.

“However, Elna-sama was removed from the imperial knight order because she was charged with jeopardizing Her Highness Christa’s security. She was ordered to confine herself inside her mansion as well. That’s the reason His Majesty did not mobilize the imperial knights.”

“I see……Elna was…….it seems I will have to make it up to her later. But Father chose to prioritize the castle’s defense huh. Well, it couldn’t be helped. A princess just got kidnapped after all.”

“As expected, the place that Arnold-sama placed the highest hope on is the adventurer guild isn’t it.”

“As expected?”

Sebas nodded quietly as I repeated his words.

It seems he has seen through what I am thinking.

Certainly, I am not aiming to borrow the power of the Empire.

The Empire is huge after all. I can not expect it to move that fast in response to an emergency. As a member of the imperial family, I know that well. Just because some anomaly has occurred in the South doesn’t mean that the army can be mobilized immediately.

In the case of a foreign invasion then the army would immediately be deployed to the border but their response to an internal emergency is sluggish.

Should the one who responds be the central government or the southern army. That decision is hard to make.

Since the Emperor’s command can’t be transmitted instantly, the time it took to relay the command is already a problem. The distance between the imperial capital and the southern border is too great after all. 

In that regard, adventurers are more flexible. In cases like this, they are more reliable than the military or the local Lord’s knights.

“Well, I certainly am counting on the adventurers but how did you know?”

“Finne-sama said that Arnold-sama will definitely do that so she has already moved out in advance. She is currently calling on the adventurers in the capital and its surroundings to take part in the Raid Quest for His Highness Leonard.”

“Finne is?”

“She doesn’t have any ground on it when she said that though…….”

“That’s so like her. I can expect the adventurers standing by inside the guild then?”

Sebas nods.

If that’s the case then this will be quick.

It depends on the situation in the South but if I can bring along the adventurers from the imperial capital branch then it will be a big help.

“Let’s head out then.”

“Certainly. Please leave guarding Finne-sama to me.”

I told Sebas that I will be leaving her to him and transfer to the guild’s entrance.

The people nearby were surprised since I suddenly appeared but I paid them no mind and entered the guild.

However, at the same time, a voice can be heard from within the guild. it is now spreading toward the whole capital.

[[To everyone who lives in the imperial capital. My name is Finne von Kleinert. At present, the Adventurer Guild is now looking for adventurers who are willing to participate in the Raid Quest to respond to the Southern emergency. Please, I beg all adventurers who can hear this to lend us your help. There are people who are suffering in the South. We need your help to save them]]

Finne’s speech echoed throughout the capital.

Listening to her speech, I smile.

It really sounds like her. Not an order, simply a sincere wish can move people.

“This is an announcement from the guild. Currently, the situation is as Finne-sama has described, the guild is now issuing a Raid Quest. The Quest name is [Blue Seagull’s Rescue]. Adventurers of rank B and above can join this quest! This is the first Raid Quest after a long time! It’s your time to make a fortune! Please make sure to participate!”

That must be the guild receptionist. 

This must be good publicity for them as well.

Still, Blue Seagull’s Rescue? The guild is certainly the one who decides on the quest’s name but aren’t they being too cheap? 

It might sound good to adventurers who often just ride the flow though.

They should be happy that they get a chance to fight for the Princess of the Blue Seagull as well.

“Whoa? Even Silver is here? This one must be quite important then.

The man who said that was Gai.

He must have come here in a hurry. He still has his bed hair and his clothes are a mess.

“Are you going to participate as well?”

“That’s a given right? If it’s the request of the Blue Seagull Princess herself then there’s no man who would refuse you know!”

Saying so, Gai cheerfully smiled.

Usually, I would sigh at him.

But.

“And my buddy’s little brother is in the south right now. There’s no way that I wouldn’t go and help him right?”

“Is that so……”

Gai grins and enters the guild.

More and more adventurers hurriedly gather at the guild.

Not only the ones that are going to participate in the quest, there are also those who came to cheer them on as well.

I step into the guild full of such adventurers.

The moment they saw me, the noisy guild turned silent in an instant.

Among them, only the receptionist who was writing down the name of the participant spoke to me.

“Y, Your name and rank please.”

“SS rank adventurer, Silver. I have come to join the Raid Quest.”

The receptionist nervously wrote my name down.

No matter how proficient the adventurer guild is, there’s no way for them to quickly transfer the adventurers to the South. Nevertheless, the reason for the guild to gather their adventurers here in this branch is because of me.

The adventurers must also understand that as well.

The person they have been waiting for has arrived.

Seeing that, the adventurers shout all at once.

“You finally came huh! Silver!”

“If you are here then it’s like we have a thousand men already!”

“Let’s go and help them together, yeah!”

Behind the noisy adventurers.

I found Finne together with the guild staff.

Once she spotted me, Finne bowed and smiled softly at me.

We didn’t exchange words but we conveyed our thoughts to each other.

I gave her a nod and addressed everyone inside the guild.

“Normally, someone with the highest rank will act as the commander for a Raid Quest. In this case, that would be me but does anyone have any objection?”

No one raises any.

It’s natural for this to happen since the highest rank of this branch is SS rank and the one behind that would fall down to AA rank.

However, it doesn’t mean that they are unreliable. 

They are veteran adventurers who have been protecting the Empire in their own way.

“If you guys have no objection then I will assume the role of your commander. Your lives, I gladly accepted it”

There is no reply.

Instead, a loud cheer echoed throughout the guild.

The morale is good. We can put up a fight with this.