Manuke FPS Chapter 250

Published at 8th of May 2023 04:19:14 PM

“Your Majesty, I have been waiting for your safe return.”

When I transferred from the shooting range to the Valdege Castle with the current King and the Chancellor, many dots appeared in my map, in an orderly manner in front of the warehouse. As if waiting impatiently for the current King’s return. Lined up before us were the Knights of the Western Barga, the representatives of the Knights from all over the Kingdom and the Nobles leading them, as well as Crown Prince Khan, Prince Ark, Chancellor Zephanel, and Lapitirica.

“Everyone, thank you for gathering here. As I’m sure you’ve already heard, My foolish son Kilik has led a rebellion with the help of the Viceburn Empire. You can’t come back after transferring from the teleport portal. Khan, how much is our total strength gathered?”

“Yes, Your Majesty. Thirty-six knights out of fifty-two in the country have responded to the gathering.”

“So, the remaining 16 have been swayed by Kilik?”

“We have no confirmation yet… Also, we have received a message from the general guild master, Duke Berdaline, that many adventurer clans under the umbrella of Rafflesia have cut off contact.”

“Yuki, has the Viceburn Empire declared war on us?”

“It shouldn’t have come yet. When we return to the Royal Castle, there may be a letter lying around, but first we need to calm the country down.”

The movement from then on approached the rebellion of the Rafflesia.

Leaving the fortified city of Barga with the Queen and its defense forces, the Western Knights of Balga headed for the capital. We recaptured the temporarily occupied important facilities of the Royal Capital one after another, forcibly investigated the clan house of the Rafflesia and its affiliated company, and――wiped out the remnants of the Rafflesia remaining in the half-destroyed Royal Castle. By the evening of the day after the rebellion, we regained control of the Royal Capital.

However, the suppression of the rebellion did not end there. Dispatching the knights to the Noble territories that had refrained from gathering in this emergency, and temporarily restrained them.

They would be questioned in various ways, to glean whether or not they were involved in this rebellion and their connection with the Viceburn Empire.

However, although we were able to capture most of the main force of the “Rafflesia”, Kilik and Felix, who transferred away from the underground temple, disappeared. And the adventurer clans under their umbrella were scattered and unable to be followed.

The biggest reason why we couldn’t follow them is that we can’t confirm the individual. There is an identification card called a guild card, but it is only one of the many means of proof. The Guild issues guild cards but does not store duplicate information.

By presenting card information that can only be presented by the person themselves, it is possible to verify the person’s identity.

In that case, we had no choice but to interrogate them and collect evidence after arresting them, just like we would normally do to maintain public order, but we couldn’t do that to all the adventurers in the Kingdom. Doing so will cause the adventurers to leave Kurtmerga and move to a neighboring country.

A few days after the suppression of the rebellion, the Viceburn Empire and the Drak Kingdom, which had become a vassal state, remained silent. We never received any war declaration, nor an inquiry about the Imperial family that I killed at the Yamigasa trading house. They continued to take a wait-and-see stance, as if all the things about the rebellion were irrelevant from the beginning.

And, as for myself――

“Shaft-sama, dinner is ready.”

After transferring the current King’s party to the fortress city of Barga, I moved to the oceanic city of Amar at the request of the current King. I wonder why――

“Where are Prince Khan and Prince Ark now?”

“Having a conversation at the salon with Princess Anastasia and Lapitirica.”

“Ashley and the predecessor still at the Fleet Headquarter?”

“Yes, but I think the two will be home soon.”

“Is that so? Then, please get the Crown Prince and the others to eat first.”

“What about Shaft-sama?”

“I’m fine. I’ll wait for Ashley and the others to return.”

“As you wish.”

“Please, Lester.”

When I saw Lester-san, the butler of the Zephanel family’s main residence, leave my private room, I took off my Kevlar mask and took a breather with my true face as Schwartz.

After rescuing the current King from the Royal Castle, I didn’t participate in the operation to suppress the rebellion. Of course, I was asked to participate in the war, but I continued fighting all night, and decided to take a rest in Barga, arbitrarily arranging that I was at the limit of my physical strength and morale.

The real reason is that my remaining amount of CP was no longer enough for protracted combat. Considering refueling vehicles, and resupplying ammo, it’s just impossible to continue fighting. Therefore, I decided… 

While the suppression operation was in progress, I visited Marida Company in Barga, met with the branch manager, Bill, and secretly asked him to buy non-attribute magic stones. Bill-san felt uneasy about the appearance of the Knights of each territory overflowing in Barga, and so asked about the information of the Royal Capital and the safety of Maltsan, but there was a limit to what I could convey.

I couldn’t talk too much about the details of the Royal Capital, the rebellion, and the suppression operation, so at that time I only told him that Maltsan escaped the first attack safely. After that, Earl Crude began contacting the knights in Barga as general advisor to the knights of the Kingdom, so I was finally able to hear the story after the attack on Flyhigh.

Earl Crude, who escaped through Flyhigh’s unused underpass with the Nobles, women, and merchants who could not fight, immediately secured several carriages and rushed through the first district to secede to the second.

The Rafflesia did not aim to destroy the Royal Capital. The fighting was concentrated in the first district, and the second district, which has many commercial facilities, while the third district, the residential areas, were relatively quiet.

And this is the current situation.

The current King, having suppressed the rebellion of the “Rafflesia”, widely informed the people about Kilik’s rebellion, stripped him of the right to succeed to the throne, and declared that the remnants of the “Rafflesia” must atone for their crimes of treason.

However, the scars of the rebellion carved into the Royal Castle are deep. Therefore, it is difficult to take command of the Kingdom’s governance and live a daily life. In addition, Prince Khan, who continued to shoot powerful magic in the counteroffensive, fell ill due to the magical power that overflowed in reaction, and needed rest.

Therefore, it was decided for the Prince to take a rest at Zephanel’s mansion in the oceanic city of Amar, far from the Royal Capital and the Viceburn Empire, and impossible to directly board with the transfer magic circle. Since Prince Ark could still be targeted, he was also sent here, accompanied by Lapitirica.

The current King asked me to protect the two Princes, their spouses, and the Zephanel family. I felt a sense of indebtedness for not participating in the suppression operation, but there was really no reason to refuse when I think that it is an occasion to protect Ashley.

Ashley exchanges information with the Royal Capital almost every day at Amar’s escort fleet headquarters, and under the supervision of Chancellor Zephanel, she is being educated to become a symbol of nobility as the next head of Zephanel family.

Well, I was able to restore my CP a little with the non-attribute magic stones that Bill-san prepared for me and some that I bought in Amar. In the future, I plan to buy non-attribute magic stones from the Filtonia Islands Alliance, which is doing ocean trade with Amar, and accumulate more CP.

Personally, I would like to explore the nearby labyrinth, but there is no labyrinth within a day trip distance near Amar. Besides, considering the escort of Crown Prince Khan and others, I can’t afford to leave for a long time.

Here’s a silver lining, I could just take a rest along with Prince Khan and the others.

Chapter end