“I’m surprised, too.”
“Who do you guys work for?”
“Oh, brother, what’s all this? You could have just let us through… For starters, you seem to have misunderstood something, but I—we were invited here by His Imperial Majesty with proper reason. If you show us hostility, you’ll only be displeasing him.”
“Hmm. Then how about you wait right there a minute. I’ll ask him if what you’re saying is true or not.”
When Jircniv poked his head out, he saw the high priests of the fire and water shrines, plus four others he didn’t know. They wore deep hoods that hid their faces; nothing could have been shadier.
Since it was his first time meeting them, there was no way to know if they were really from the Theocracy or not. But the high priests were there, and if he didn’t trust them, the conversation wouldn’t even get off the ground. If they argued and everything fell through, the only one who would be happy was the King of Darkness.
“These are the people I was waiting for. Sorry, but could you let them in?”
The members of Argenti looked suspicious, but they let everyone through right away.
Even once the door was shut, his guests didn’t remove their hoods.
Jircniv couldn’t comment on that breach of etiquette. They were probably on guard just as he was—against the King of Darkness, of course.
“I’m terribly sorry my guards caused you trouble.”
“You needn’t worry. And actually, those two are just as the adamantite adventurers said.”
Two messengers from the Theocracy took seats, while the two in back remained standing.
Jircniv wrote “scripture” on a piece of paper with the pen in his hand. The slight smile in reply said more loudly than words that he was correct. The Theocracy was said to have special ops units called “scriptures.” It had to be members of one of those six groups.
“Now then, more importantly, let’s enjoy the match. The main fight should be starting soon, right?”
Jircniv nodded.
The main event meant the audience would be at peak excitement, totally worked up. That would make it extremely difficult to listen in on their conversation, hence the choice of this time and place for their meeting.
The messenger seated next to Jircniv reached into his breast pocket, took out a letter, and handed it to him.
Jircniv unfolded the letter slightly, taking care that no one could peek from the side or behind him. There were questions written on it.
The gist of it was: Why did you ask the King of Darkness to use a spell like that?
Next was about the empire’s position going forward.
How much intelligence do you have on the Nation of Darkness?
It was written politely, but in essence, they were grilling him.
Was the reason they had brought it here instead of sending it ahead of time that the Theocracy was also wary of how far the King of Darkness’s reach might extend? Or that they didn’t trust the empire?
Jircniv was mildly offended, but considering the empire’s relationship with the Nation of Darkness so far, it was only natural that the Theocracy would have trouble trusting it.
As Jircniv was about to write his reply, a cheer louder than the rest sounded. It seemed like the match had begun.
“His Imperial Majesty Emperor El Nix will be watching the main event today. Everyone, please turn your attention to the box seat up above.”
The announcer’s voice boomed via magic item amplification.
“Excuse me for a moment.”
Jircniv stood to show his face to the crowd below.
All his subjects cheered for him at once. A gentle smile graced his regular features as he raised a hand in reply. Women sent up shrill cries. Jircniv was satisfied that his popularity hadn’t waned.
“Thank you! Now then, everyone, the first martial king match in quite some time is about to begin. It seems to be taking a little while to get ready, so please be patient a bit longer!”
“The martial king…,” Jircniv murmured.
Once he asked Baswood what would happen if all of the Four challenged the martial king. Baswood laughed and said they didn’t have a chance. The answer disturbed him, so he had Fluder collect information about the fighter. What he learned was that the martial king was so strong, it was unfair.
“Your Majesty, who is even facing him?”
The messenger asked a natural question. And actually, Jircniv didn’t have the answer to it.
“I don’t know, either. Apparently, this match got set up quite suddenly. They seem to have kept it secret to make an even bigger splash, and it’s not even on the program.”
“I see,” said the messenger.
“Well, I’m sure that to go up against the martial king one-on-one, it would have to be an adamantite-plate adventurer. But the members of Argenti are here. Is it someone from the Eight Ripples? Honestly, I’m hard-pressed to approve of precious adamantite adventurers participating in a death match spectacle.”
“I can’t deny that, but power is alluring. This is the prime place to put power gone wild on display and inspire people to dream of being so strong one day themselves.”
The one who interjected was the high priest in service of the fire god—the supreme authority in the empire for fire god believers.
“That’s true, but considering the empire’s current situation, I’m not sure if doing something that could result in weakened fighting power is the smartest move… The martial king is the strongest person in the empire. Couldn’t we get him involved somehow?”
“…I didn’t expect that coming from you gentlemen.”
The Slane Theocracy was a nation that valued humans. No, it was probably more accurate to say they didn’t accept any other races.
In this world with its diversity of races, that they could maintain their country despite other countries knowing that factor was impressive. Or was a single race a condition for building a powerful nation?
“I was just suggesting an idea personally. The country has nothing to do with it. That’s enough chitchat, then. May we have your answers, Your Majesty?”
“Yeah. An—”
“All right, sorry to keep you waiting, everyone. The challenger is about to enter the arena!”
Jircniv had taken up a pen to write an answer to the first question, but his hand stopped—because he was curious about who was brave enough to challenge the martial king. If he was accepted as a challenger, it meant they could at least expect a good fight. Was there even anyone left in the empire like that?
If it was someone valuable who felt like serving the empire, he would be fine hiring them even if they lost. He might be fine giving them the slot in the Four that opened up with the loss of Unshakable.
“…I’m sure many of you have heard whispers of our challenger’s name. And now he’s here! The king of the Nation of Darkness, His Majesty Ainz Ooal Gown!”
“Huh?” Jircniv yelped idiotically without thinking.
It was like the meaning of the MC’s words had passed straight through his head.
As the arena descended into confusion, the noble box was silent.
Jircniv looked around to confirm that everyone had heard the same thing that he did.
“Ainz Ooal Gown?”
It can’t be.
Of course it couldn’t. A king would never appear in combat at another country’s arena. Anyone with common sense knew that as the obvious truth. Ainz Ooal Gown wasn’t some savage.
In the first place, he’d been keeping a close eye on the Nation of Darkness’s movements. If the King of Darkness entered the empire, alerting Jircniv had been designated as a top-priority matter. Whether he was in the inner palace or whatever state he was in, arrangements had been made to get word to him.
So then why hadn’t he heard anything?
Did he enter the country in secret? Would he do that? And show up at the arena? What is he thinki— Huh? It couldn’t be. Could it? Of all the…ridiculo
us…
Jircniv shuddered.
Then, moving just his eyes, he looked at the messenger from the Theocracy.
Their eyes were sharp beneath their hood. There was only one thing that gaze could mean. Well, if their positions were reversed, he would have arrived at the same conclusion.
They thought Jircniv was the one who called the King of Darkness here.
“Wait! This is a trap.”
Yes.
This was a conspiracy orchestrated by Ainz Ooal Gown. He had to get them to understand—no, come to terms with—that fact, or he was in trouble.
“The Nation of Darkness’s? Or? You’re the one who chose the location, Your Majesty. And we only learned it a few hours ago.”
That was true. He had waited to the last minute to avoid leaks.
Jircniv frantically tried to think who knew. There were extremely few. All people he could trust—or could he?
Agh…
“It’s possible someone was manipulated for information using magic. This definitely isn’t my scheme. As proof, why would I be so panicked if this was something I planned?!”
“You expect us to believe that? You didn’t mean to get us caught in the cross fire? Or have you sold us out?”
He couldn’t get them to trust him at all.
Well, of course he couldn’t. If their positions were reversed, he would be just as accusing.
But how did the info leak? Or wait, did it? Maybe this is all according to his plan? He put out the bait and waited for me to bite…?
Chills ran down his spine.
How far ahead had the King of Darkness read his moves?
There was a good chance that everything from the beginning until now was part of his calculations.
That’s the sort of opponent the King of Darkness is, was the answer Jircniv’s intelligent mind gave.
How far does this plan of his go? No, this is no time to be terrified of his plot. I’ve got to hurry!
“This is bad. We need to get ou—”
But it was too late.
The intruder’s voice sounded. It was a voice like a hunter glad to see his prey caught in the trap he set.
“Sir Jircniv Rune Farlord El Nix. Long time no see.”
When he turned around, desperately trying to get his breathing under control, the King of Darkness had risen from the center of the arena to the level of the guest box.
The reason he had revealed his horrifying face had to be to prove it was really him.
“Yhez, id—phew. Yes, it has, Sir Gown. I never imagined we would meet in a place like this…”
He didn’t know what to say. The feeling that anything he said would be taken as a commitment made his lips as impossible to open as if they had been glued shut.
“I thought the same thing. Coincidences sure are astounding.” He snickered with a sinister smile. It was clear that he didn’t believe it to be a coincidence in any way.
There’s no doubt about it.
Jircniv was sure. This was all part of Ainz Ooal Gown’s plot.
He was putting pressure on Jircniv by occupying the site of the secret meeting with the Theocracy while at the same time preventing the two countries from joining forces and putting pressure on the Theocracy as well.
He was a monster of a genius.
Jircniv wiped the sweat from his hands on his clothes.
There has to be a fairly extensive leak of empire intelligence. So how much does he know?
Jircniv frantically spun the wheels of his brain, and the horrifying light in the King of Darkness’s orbits shifted to the messenger from the Theocracy.
“Are those acquaintances of yours, Your Majesty?”
Ainz’s question rendered Jircniv speechless.
This was no simple question.
It was a test.
Should I lie and protect the Theocracy? Or should I take the King of Darkness’s side and sell them out?
It was so crafty, it made him feel sick.
He had the feeling the expressionless skull face was warped in a wicked way. Jircniv being unable to open his mouth probably amused him.
“What is it, Sir El Nix—er, Sir Jircniv? You’ve gone a bit pale. Are you not feeling well?”
It was creepy—and terrifying—because it sounded like he actually cared. It was only natural as a human being to be frightened of that sense of someone gleefully cuddling a small animal writhing in their grip.
“N-no. I’m fine. Just a bit of a head rush.”
“I see. Your body is your capital asset. Take care of it.”
He must have gone along with it even though Jircniv’s excruciating excuse failed because he was waiting for the right moment to nail his prey. Or did he have a torture fetish? Or…
“Could you introduce them? I’m Ainz Ooal Gown, King of Darkness.”
So he wanted to say that?
Once a country’s king had introduced himself, it was impossible to leave the room without another word. If he gave fake names, how would the king react if he knew their real identities?
Stop toying with me!
It was like his expression didn’t move at all. Or rather, since he had neither skin nor flesh, his face was all bone. On top of that, he didn’t have any eyes, just red flames flickering deep in his skull. There was no way to grasp his emotions. But Jircniv just knew that his sinister smile had grown even harder.
“Thank you. Normally, I would introduce myself, but a matter of some urgency requires me to leave just now. I’m sure His Imperial Majesty will be kind enough to tell you who we are.” The messenger from the Theocracy rose.
“I see. That’s an awful shame. I hope to meet you again sometime, then. Take care until then… Well, I have a match, so I should get going, too.”
With those no doubt sarcastic parting remarks, the King of Darkness floated down.
When the king could no longer be seen, the Theocracy’s messenger turned a sharp gaze on Jircniv.
“You set us up, didn’t you?”
“N-no, I didn’t!”
“What didn’t you do? No matter how you look at it, he seems to have known who we are. He was obviously mocking us for operating as expected… How much did you tell him? How much did you sell in order to protect your own country? Is it true that you requested that violently destructive spell?”
Jircniv looked to the high priests for assistance.
The emotions in their eyes weren’t confusion and doubt but hostility and disappointment.
This was the King of Darkness’s most effective attack, perfectly timed. It gave the empire a thorough beating—brought it to its knees. It showed Jircniv and his nation that they had no choice but to betray humanity.
“Please believe me. I honestly didn’t tell him anything.”
“…Even if we believe you, it doesn’t change the fact that there was obviously a huge leak. It’s a shame, Your Imperial Majesty. I suppose we shan’t meet again.”
With that, the messenger from the Theocracy took their leave. And the high priests followed.
“Wait! I forbid you from leaving this room until I’ve heard your thoughts!”
Nimble and Baswood leaped into action with their hands on their weapons.
Jircniv roused his crushed heart and stared down the two high priests.
The Slane Theocracy messenger left without even turning around.
“You two, tell me what the shrines think. What do they think about the King of Darkness?”
“…The King of Darkness is an evil undead, and we can’t allow him to be acknowledged as a king.” Before Jircniv could get a word in edgewise, the high priest of the fire god continued. “But we can’t fight that thing and win. So we’re trying to find a way to destroy him.”
“If you’re going to sell us out, then sell us out, Your Majesty. If you’ve been so charmed by his darkness…” The high priest of wind’s comment showed that they were completely against Jircniv.
This was extremely bad.
The shrines di
dn’t stick their necks into politics. But they might try to banish an emperor who joined forces with one of their archenemies, the undead.
He couldn’t purge them. The shrines were the people’s mental salvation and also administered medical treatment.
If he purged them, the empire would collapsed from the inside out.
The blow Ainz Ooal Gown had struck might as well have been the god of death striking with his scythe for how frightened Jircniv was. Even if that guy did nothing else, the empire was on its way to collapse. Then he would fabricate some reason and show up after the fact.
If it were Jircniv, he probably would use an excuse like, Our friend and neighbor is in trouble, so we’ll move in our army to keep the peace.
Judging from the messenger’s reaction before, the Slane Theocracy probably wouldn’t even condemn the Nation of Darkness if it did something like that. The Re-Estize Kingdom certainly didn’t have the extra energy. And the city-state alliance would need time in order to come out against it.
What could I offer them to assuage their suspicions—no, more like swallow their doubt and promise to cooperate?
Jircniv had this on his mind no matter whom he was talking to. The easiest way to shift someone’s feelings was to stimulate their desire. He knew quite well from his life so far that that was true. He had seen enough people with pretty faces smeared with greed underneath.
But at this moment, he couldn’t think of an answer.
There was no benefit he could offer to break through this situation of them thinking he betrayed humanity to team up with an undead.
So the only thing he could do was speak sincerely from his heart.
“Please let me say just one thing. His plot goes beyond me. All of this is happening according to his plan… If I were in your position, I probably wouldn’t be able to believe me, either, but…I really didn’t sell any intelligence. And you may not believe this, but I’d like to warn you: The King of Darkness’s rule is merciful. The people of E-Rantel are living in peace.”
“But we don’t know how long that will continue.”
“Perhaps not. But they’re safe right now. If we try to fight with no chance of winning, our country will go straight down the path to ruin. So I’d ask that you avoid doing anything too hastily.”
The Ruler of Conspiracy Page 22
