Opportunity from the Game Becomes Reality, Chapter 104
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Opportunity from the Game Becomes Reality, Chapter 104
27. Civil War or a Comedy Routine (1)
"Marquis Lawrence, you surprise me in so many ways. When my moves keep getting read like this, I can't pull any tricks against you. Having someone think so similarly to me it feels rather complicated."
From the Crown Prince's response, I could strongly sense that he absolutely did not want to make an enemy of me.
And there was even a reaction of delight at having a comrade who understood him.
Worried I had come across as too arrogant, I tried to dress it up as "mere coincidence."
"It's just that a novel I conjured up like a fantasy happened to match reality."
"That only means your predictive ability is outstanding. You're too modest in front of me, Marquis."
But the Crown Prince denied my remark, saying that wasn't the case.
Even when I denied it, he wrapped it in modesty and praised me up.
At this rate, he'd believe it if I said beans were used to make meju paste.
"Does Marquis Trenton know about me?"
"No, not yet. His inferiority complex toward Marquis Lawrence played a part in recruiting Marquis Trenton, so I plan not to inform him until the very last moment."
"Your Highness the Crown Prince is secretly a villain too."
"Haha, I'm openly a villain, actually. I could have wrung Luke's neck long ago, but I stirred up this chaos precisely to clearly distinguish my allies from those who aren't."
So that really was his goal?
Turning my vague suspicion into certainty made me realize anew just how terrifying a figure the Crown Prince was.
'Now he's volunteering information I didn't even ask for.'
I cleared my throat and asked about the operation.
At that, the Crown Prince narrowed his signature squint and curled up the corners of his mouth.
And so, the face of a fox staring at a delicious meal formed before me.
"Gather them in one place, surround them, betray them, and sweep them all up."
It was as simple a reply as a perm instructor saying, "See? Easy, right?"
He planned to gather the Second Prince's faction in one place, surround them, and starting with the betrayal by me and Marquis Trenton annihilate them all at once. Simple, but I could tell it was a good plan.
But what I asked was how he planned to make it possible.
"Marquis Lawrence, what do you consider the Second Prince's faction's greatest weakness?"
Having rated me so highly, he seemed to assume I would naturally give an answer worthy of his expectations.
I thought for a moment, then answered simply, as if there was no need to think long.
"Exposure of their plans."
"Correct. In war, information decides victory or defeat. In that regard, we can be seen as one step away from victory."
Prince Luke's problem is that he's too honest.
He likes exchanging opinions with his subordinates when planning operations, and the results he obtains are always relayed to his key figures.
In a way, that's the true image of a commander, but the problem is that many spies pretending to be allies are hidden among those around him.
In the end, whatever the operation, it leaks in advance, so the Crown Prince can respond with ease.
Moreover, unlike the Second Prince, the Crown Prince keeps every operation solely in his own head, making exposure nearly impossible.
Clearly, he would only assign each person their tasks on the day of the operation itself when dealing with the Second Prince.
"I went around in circles, so you must be getting bored."
I had only been lost in thought for a moment, but the Crown Prince who had been fooled by my acting and rated me extremely highly wore a sheepish expression.
"Well, someone like Marquis Lawrence would catch on quickly anyway, so there's no need to hide it."
No, sorry to say, but unless you give me plenty of hints, I can't figure it out.
I had some intuition, sure, but I wasn't the genius he thought I was.
Still, the Crown Prince said hiding it from me was pointless and laid out his plan.
"I hear Second Prince Luke is preparing a mobile strike force?"
"Yes, that's correct. Count Klein is also part of that unit. The Second Prince, Marquis Vincent, Margrave Ignis, and Count Klein four Aura Masters along with twenty top-tier Experts will move as one team."
"We plan to create a gap and allow their infiltration."
"Indeed..."
I casually played along with a "Indeed..." to pretend I understood.
I still had no idea what he was talking about, but I felt I couldn't disappoint the Crown Prince, so I pretended to understand.
At that, the Crown Prince went on all by himself, singing his own praises and answering his own questions.
"Yes, that's right. We're handing over the Crown Prince's Palace which Prince Luke has so desperately wanted and the main palace where Father resides."
That means giving up the Royal Palace? Why?
The Royal Palace of the Kingdom of Rhinehearts is essentially a Heaven-Piercing Fortress in its own right.
Why would they willingly give up that defensive advantage?
I nodded with a smile, frantically racking my brain.
And then, at that moment.
A single possibility flashed through my mind.
For the first move of his so-called "encirclement, betrayal, and annihilation," he was handing the Royal Palace over to the Second Prince's mobile strike force.
The Second Prince, for the sake of claiming legitimacy, wouldn't be able to let go of the Royal Palace and the King he'd finally gotten his hands on.
In other words, the Second Prince would bring his own faction into the Royal Palace and voluntarily choose isolation.
'The moment the Second Prince holes up in the Royal Palace, both offense and defense become fixed positions.'
The Crown Prince becomes the attacker and surrounds the Royal Palace, while the Second Prince becomes the defender and sets up a defensive line around it.
But when the Second Prince sets up that defensive line, the worst-case scenario occurs.
That's when I, Arcia, and the Marquis Trenton faction betray him.
'A Trojan Horse in this day and age.'
It's classic, but with his own father the King of this nation as bait, it's a plan that can't fail to work.
"This is a tactic that can only be used if there are internal collaborators. And all the while, the Second Prince will be pleased, thinking His Highness the Crown Prince has fled."
"As expected, it's a relief we communicate so well."
I had barely just understood, and he gave me a thumbs-up with an "as expected" look.
Honestly, he's hard to keep up with.
However, there is one major problem with this plan.
"Unfortunately, there is one issue with this plan."
And the Crown Prince had already pinpointed it.
"You mean that inevitably, I, Count Klein, and Count Trenton will be put in danger?"
"Yes, that's correct. The Second Prince's faction, caught off guard, will collapse rapidly due to your betrayal. Inevitably, in that process, you will become the focus of concentrated attacks."
If our abilities hold up, we'll survive.
If not, it could be the end of us.
Truly high risk, high reward.
"Do you have a separate plan for this part, Your Highness the Crown Prince?"
"I intend to reveal several secret passages hidden in the palace. If you use them to confuse the enemy, your survival odds will rise dramatically."
Still risky, but it certainly was a plan that greatly increased our chances of survival.
I thought it over for a moment.
There's no such thing as a safe betrayal in war, but I still wanted to reduce the risk even a little.
The Crown Prince quietly watched me, giving me time to think.
"It's Your Highness's plan, but may I make one proposal?"
After a brief deliberation, his interest was piqued by my next words, and he nodded.
"During the recent Prius Republic incident, I had a hand in it and contributed considerably to the revolution."
The Prius Republic, coming out of nowhere.
What's more, that story was related to my little escapade, which everyone had seen as mere whimsy.
Naturally, a look of doubt settled on the Crown Prince's face.
"Because of that, they promised me a certain reward."
"A reward?"
"Yes."
The matter of the reward, mentioned several times during my conversation with the revolutionary army commander at the Presidential Palace.
That reward is exactly this.
"Just as they did, they've agreed to send military support to our kingdom if a civil war breaks out."
The Prius Republic providing military support to the Kingdom of Rhinehearts.
That was an arrangement I'd made to raise my survival odds and secure a definitive victory for the Crown Prince's camp in the event of civil war.
"Hmm..."
But no matter how it was arranged, what I'd just said could only sound like I was bringing in foreign forces.
So, fearing the Crown Prince might take offense, I quickly continued.
"It's not some grand support like a fleet of Heaven-Piercing Fortresses."
"Exactly how large is the support force?"
The one I made my promise with was not the President of the Prius Republic.
It was Israel Oscar Prius, the commander of the revolutionary army.
And the best military support he could promise would be...
The three captains of the revolutionary army's mobile strike division, who had been Commander Izrael's closest aides.
"Three Aura Masters."
At my words, the Crown Prince's eyes went wide.
It wasn't some grand military support just borrowing three people.
That was enough to completely dismiss any nonsense about me bringing in foreign forces.
But the presence and destructive power of those three were exactly what we needed right now.
"Ha, so you're saying all those Republic-related incidents we dismissed as deviations were all part of the plan for this?"
That wasn't really the case.
The Republic affair was originally just me cleaning up my own mess.
But his question had a predetermined answer.
"Of course."
"Well, of course Marquis Lawrence would never do something meaningless. Truly remarkable."
At my self-praise, he just shook his head in amazement.
'There is the condition that I must bring them back alive, but there's no need to mention that.'
In truth, I couldn't very well squeeze money out of the revolutionary army, so I asked for personnel as compensation, and aside from the dispatch of those personnel with the condition of their safe return, there's one more compensation I agreed to receive small, but still.
But in this good atmosphere, there's no need to explain something that would only dampen the mood.
"Then let me hide those three Aura Masters discreetly in the secret passage. That way, rapid support will be possible you will all surely survive. After all, it's a party of no fewer than four Aura Masters and two Grand Mages."
"Understood."
"Thanks to you, we've created a situation where failure is impossible. Bringing in Marquis Lawrence was truly a stroke of genius."
The Crown Prince looked at me with eyes like someone swept up in a cult.
After that, the conversation with the Crown Prince didn't last long.
After all, there was much to be done.
"You've worked hard, Marquis Lawrence, Count Klein."
A moment later, I rose from my seat and moved to the secret teleport gate to leave the Crown Prince's palace.
But then, a thought struck me, and I stopped in my tracks.
"By the way, what happens if Prince Luke tries to subdue His Majesty the King but is subdued instead?"
"That would never happen, but if it did, this matter would be settled even more simply."
"I see."
What I'd thought of was the arrangement of the Rhinehearts royal family that my father had mentioned.
Judging by the Crown Prince's reaction, he seemed completely unaware of it.
'Is it really real, then?'
* * *
While Adrian was having a private conversation with the Crown Prince.
Prince Luke Win Rhinehearts was having a secret discussion with his closest aide and teacher, Marquis Vincent, and the Head of the Noble Auditor's Office, Marquis Hamington.
"After we win this war, do you truly intend to deal with him?"
"For stable governance, there's no need to keep a madman who can't even be controlled."
"During the war, it's a waste to use him as a disposable tool and throw him away..."
"The plan was always to finish off Marquis Lawrence after winning the war. Marquis Vincent, why are you suddenly pretending to care?"
They were discussing assassinating Adrian after this civil war ended.
Marquis Vincent, the kingdom's finest sword, was reluctant to assassinate the now-illustrious Adrian, but the Second Prince was so adamant that he could no longer voice his opposition.
The reason the Second Prince so strongly insisted on Adrian's assassination was that he had contracted a disease that no medicine could cure.
"I've accepted your opinions all this time and kept friction with Marquis Lawrence to a minimum for the sake of winning the throne. But after everything is settled, must I still endure? I, who will become king?"
"If we kill Marquis Lawrence, we won't win Count Klein's heart we'll only push him further away."
That disease he had contracted was the incurable ailment called "love."
Was it after he personally witnessed Arcia's battle with the ogre at the royal hunting grounds?
Or had his feelings been growing steadily even before that?
He had already decided in his heart that Arcia would be his future queen.
"Does her opinion matter? I want her."
But the problem was that his love was twisted in a way that was excessively selfish and sinister.
Therefore, to claim Arcia, he believed he absolutely had to kill Adrian, her fiancé.
At that, Marquis Vincent let out a small groan, then, as if there was no helping it, sighed and nodded.
"Understood. I will support Your Highness's will."
For Prince Luke, who often lost his composure when it came to matters involving Adrian and Arcia, Marquis Vincent judged that some traffic control was necessary.
After all, what mattered most to them was Prince Luke, who would inherit the throne not some outstanding talent.
"Good, now that's to my liking."
Though the war for the throne had not yet begun, those planning for what came after already looked as if they had won it.
If Adrian had heard their conversation, he would have shaken his head and told them to scheme in secret over a battle strategy for victory, not a conspiracy.