The Duke Lefort de Orange of the Kingdom of Franz, who had never been seen, arrived at the accompanied by a nobleman.
The nobleman's name was Alain Demonne de Grimaldi. He is the brother of King Richard and a duke. He is 41 years old. He ruled the southern part of the kingdom, including Koup.
He was fifth in line to the throne, behind Cesar and his siblings.
In his hand, however, he held the key to the throne that Cesar had been unable to find no matter how hard he searched for it.
"My brother was anxious that Cesar, the present crown prince, should not be trusted with the kingdom, so he wanted me to succeed him. So he entrusted me with the key seal. It was supposed to be announced after the ceremony was over, but ...... it was a pity that it turned out like that."
"I was close by and heard it myself."
Prince Oranjee corroborated this.
This statement was said to have led the majority of the cabinet members to support Alain. Less than half of the ministers and representatives of other countries support Cesar.
"......I wonder why they would do that. ......"
Jin knows that the Kingdom of Celuloa itself will not be able to survive if it is involved in such an internal dispute at this time of the year.
And yet, can't the power-mongers understand such a simple thing?
"I don't understand, Jin.
Reinhard muttered sadly.
"Eyes clouded by power can no longer see the ground beneath their feet.
"...... I guess I shouldn't be with you."
The position of the two men is different.
He said regretfully, left Jin and the others, and walked away.
Jin and Reinhardt head for the guest house with Gloria. Reiko follows them, keeping a watchful eye on the surroundings to make sure they are not attacked by the assailants.
* * * * *
When Jin and the others returned to the guest house, they were met by the representatives of each country with difficult faces.
"Reinhard, you heard, didn't you? You heard, Jin?
Yes, from Gloria.
Reinhardt answered the question from the Shoro emperor. Jin nodded silently.
"We are in trouble!"
Again, it was the Shoro empress who presided over the meeting.
"What kind of person is this, uh, ...... Alan something?"
Jin asked. Without knowing who he is, it is impossible to make a judgment.
"He rules the southern part of the kingdom, including Kupu. I have heard a little about him from Stearina, Vivienne, and Eckert. ......
The emperor cut her off and continued with a slightly awkward look on her face.
"...... not a very good lord, it seems. I heard that he took the initiative in sending out troops to collect Eckert's ships."
"Ah,......."
At this point, the old man had finished compiling the information from the fifth column (Quinta) which had been dispatched to that direction and informed Reiko about it.
Reiko, however, could not tell Jin about it at this moment.
"If I may give you my personal impression, I would like the Dauphin Cesar to be the king.
These words seemed to be the feeling of everyone present, and no one objected to the words of the queen.
"But it would be difficult for us to say so, since it would be interference in our internal affairs if we did so publicly.
"It is a matter for the Kingdom of Celuloa, isn't it?
Reinhardt had to nod.
After that, various discussions took place, but nothing of note came out, and the meeting was adjourned for the night.
As soon as he returned to his room, he said, "Father, I have just received a message from the old man and I have accepted it.
As soon as he returned to his room, Reiko started to report.
"All right, tell me about it."
"Okay, let me hear it." "Yes. I've compiled the reports from the fifth column and Alain Demonne is the same type as Richard.
"...... is easy to understand."
"He's abusing the people and fattening them up. The famine has not caused much of a loss of harvest in the south, but if there had been a famine, a large number of people would have starved to death, according to the old man's analysis.
"I see, there are many royalty like that."
Jin muttered with a sad look on his face. Erza had a similar expression.
"Maybe it's the magic of power ...... like my brothers Jin and Rai said."
"Indeed. Those in power have a duty to protect those below them. That's why those below obey by paying taxes and so on, but if it becomes one-sided, it's the end.
While Elsa and Jin were having such a conversation, Anne made a proposal.
"Goshujin-sama, tonight is dangerous. We'll have to think of an escort."
"What?"
"If Alan, the next king candidate, is to become king without fail, Cesar's presence will be a hindrance. At the same time, the leaders of the nations who are pushing for him..."
Oh, I see.
Anne is saying that assassination, blackmail, and other strong-arm tactics could be used against him.
"The Goshujin-sama and Erza-sama are safe with Reiko, but I'm worried about the others."
"Indeed.
Jin decided to contact the old man, because he was too worried about the others.
"Old man, I want you to dispatch a covert task force (SP) to escort the representatives of each country and the Dauphin Cesar.
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"All right, I'm on it."
For the time being, Jin has done what he can do.
Perhaps because he had taken all the necessary precautions, the night passed without incident.
The next morning.
"Everything seems to be all right.
The covert task force (SP) that had been secretly dispatched to the representatives of the countries did not say anything. In this case, nothing is better than nothing.
"In normal circumstances, it would be foolish to touch the representative," Anne said, and then added, "I'm sure you're right.
Anne said and added.
"But this country is not afraid to make such a foolish move.
"That's right."
Jin nodded with a wry smile.
"Of course, you also need to be careful about what you eat.
"Yes, of course."
Jin, Elsa, Reinhardt, the emperor, and Minister of Magic and Technology Degauze had the antidote to the poison that Jin had made, but the rest of them did not.
We were relatively safe until yesterday, but we will have to be very careful about what we eat last night and this morning.
At any rate, the food delivered to Jin and the others was fine.
"If anything happens to Goshujin-sama, this country will be destroyed.
Anne said something that sounded both joking and serious,
"No, I will destroy not only the country but also the world.
Reiko answered with a straight face, which made Jin think again that he should be careful.
"Well, let's go to the main conference room.
Jin thought it was a little early, but when he went there, he found that most of the representatives from each country had already gathered there. It seemed that everyone was not in the mood to take it easy.
The only ones who arrived after Jin and Elsa were the Duke of Bruu and Count Galana.
"Well, it looks like we are all here now. Now we will have a meeting for today.
The Empress presided over the meeting. And since it was an informal meeting, she probably used the word "meeting".
"The question is whether we should interfere in such an important decision to decide the next king.
This is a topic that had come up the day before.
"We are always thinking of our own interests, you know."
The Duke of Brouw chuckled and muttered to himself.
"Indeed."
The Marquis of Florenziano agreed with him.
But then an unexpected person made an unexpected remark.
"I think we need to consider which of the two would be a better monarch for the people of the Kingdom of Celuloa.
It was Elsa who sat next to Jin. As she and Jin had discussed the night before, they decided to make their opinions clear.
"I think we must not forget that those who stand on top have a duty to protect the people."