Opportunity in the Game Becomes Reality Chapter 213
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Opportunity in the Game Becomes Reality Chapter 213
49. The King Is the Fixer (2)
At Field Marshal Nathan's request to borrow my wisdom, this was how I had to respond.
"I think Field Marshal Nathan is overestimating me."
"What do you mean?"
"I mean my wisdom isn't all that special."
I'm not particularly a sage or a detective.
I'm just someone born with memories of a past life who happened to stumble upon an Opportunity.
Of course, I've never considered myself stupid, and I do think my situational judgment is fairly good, but I'm not the kind of exceptional figure who should be called upon for wisdom on matters of national importance.
But my words seemed to have been taken by Field Marshal Nathan as a polite refusal.
He looked greatly flustered and shocked.
"A-aren't you friends with His Excellency the President?"
That's a title I've been hearing a lot lately.
Me, friends with President Izrael?
I tilted my head involuntarily.
Well, I suppose I could take it to mean we appear close enough to be friends, right?
"Please, I beg you. The Republic is currently divided between President Izrael's faction and Supreme Assemblyman Ordein's faction. The military, the security forces, the intelligence agencies Ordein's informants are hidden everywhere, and the investigation simply isn't making any progress. The only one who can break through this frustrating situation is Your Highness the King."
Ricardo Ordein.
A figure who claims to carry on the spirit of President Fairmont, the worst leader and dictator, and he is the political rival of current President Izrael.
President Fairmont, his predecessor, met his end at the hands of the revolutionary army due to corruption beyond anyone's imagination, but Ordein is spreading the claim that all of this was Izrael's scheme to reclaim the throne.
On top of that, he's spinning all sorts of negative rhetoric and sophistry...
The problem is that it's working all too well.
With clever data manipulation, confessions from self-proclaimed close aides of President Izrael whom no one has ever seen, and agitators supporting Ordein actively shaping public opinion, many people are being completely taken in regardless of the facts.
Above all, Ricardo Ordein is a smooth talker and has the kind of handsome looks that win people over, which gives him many advantages in image-making.
'People tend to think of what they believe as justice. And once they've settled on their disposition, it's extremely hard to change.'
As a third party from another country looking at this situation, the Republic's citizens inevitably seem foolish.
But when actually placed in that situation, there's such a thing as atmosphere, and you can't help but get swept up in it.
'If only he'd let me handle it when I offered, and we'd eliminated Ordein.'
Anyone who isn't a fool can tell that the disappearance of President Izrael and Field Marshal Ansen is Ordein's doing.
In other words, it's clearly a kidnapping.
I'd heard that things weren't going well because of Ordein, but I never expected something this extreme to happen.
If I'd been a little more careful, the outcome might have been different, but...
Regrettably, President Izrael didn't want that.
He said that if Ordein died, he'd be the primary suspect, and since the Prius Republic is a nation that professes democracy, he insisted the problem must be solved through the law rather than assassinating a political opponent.
And the result of following that principle is a kidnapping it's nothing short of bitter.
"Your Highness the King! Please, lend us your wisdom!"
Field Marshal Nathan cried out in what was almost a plea, as if he wouldn't back down until I agreed.
Seeing him a man famous for his pride go this far, he must truly believe that if I step in, this case will definitely be resolved.
I've been building an image of being a man of all talents all this time, but being rated this highly just makes me embarrassed for no reason.
I hurriedly stopped him as he looked ready to press his forehead to the floor to express his conviction.
"That's enough. I was going to help anyway."
"R-really? You mean it?"
"Yes. I'm not sure about grandly lending wisdom or anything like that, but I'll use every card I have at my disposal to try and resolve the situation."
"Oh, Your Highness the King! Thank you! Thank you so much!"
Still, it wouldn't do to act as if the situation was already resolved.
I asked seriously.
"But if I make a move, things might get somewhat drastic. Is that acceptable?"
At my words, Field Marshal Nathan flinched for a moment recalling the incident when the King of Coralheim had been abducted but then nodded with the utmost gravity.
"I will entrust the entire plan to Your Highness the King. Whatever method Your Highness the King of Lawrence employs, it will surely be the best."
"Even if something happens to Ricardo Ordein's person in the process?"
"Then all the better."
A cool reaction from Field Marshal Nathan.
Satisfied, I spoke to the empty air.
"Count Gregory."
"Yes, Your Highness the King."
At that, Gregory appeared between me and Field Marshal Nathan, as if he had been there all along.
Gregory has recently gained fame as the Shadow Knight, but he and Field Marshal Nathan were both Aura Masters.
Yet judging from Field Marshal Nathan's quiet admiration, even if their realms were similar, there was apparently some gap in ability.
"You heard the conversation?"
"Yes."
"Keep watch over Ricardo Ordein."
"Yes, understood."
At my order, Gregory vanished from sight, and I spoke to Field Marshal Nathan.
"And Field Marshal Nathan, you also have a task to do."
"Speak."
Field Marshal Nathan looked at me with shining eyes, then tilted his head at my next words.
"From now on, announce that I a close friend of President Izrael will personally launch an investigation."
"What? Ah, understood."
He seemed to think that an investigation was best conducted quietly.
But whether for fame or notoriety, the name of the King of Lawrence carries such weight that Field Marshal Nathan came to me like this to ask for help.
If those involved panic, they will make a mistake somewhere.
And then they won't escape the net of the Blue Moon that will now be focused on the Prius Republic.
'Of course, I have no intention of just sitting still and relying only on the Blue Moon.'
* * *
[Adrian El Lawrence, King of the Duchy: I will launch an independent investigation into the disappearance of my close friend, President Izrael.]
[State Council Chairman Baus: This is interference in state affairs. Domestic matters will be resolved with domestic strength.]
[Adrian El Lawrence, King of the Duchy: The nation is split into two factions, and one side is obstructing the search for the President what exactly do you intend to resolve? Anyone who gets in my way will be treated as a person of interest in the President's disappearance.]
[The King of Lawrence, once again running wild after the abduction of the Coralheim royal family?]
-Our King of the Duchy never backs down lol
--Still, this is a bit lol
--What do you mean 'a bit'?
--Seems like too much interference in another country.
--I don't understand people like you. He's trying to save a missing person what's there to nitpick?
--It causes damage to the nation.
--The actions are unconventional, but looking at it overall, you can't really call it damage.
--Why wouldn't there be damage? Coralheim came to a halt while the King was absent.
--Halt my foot are the Prime Minister and the administrators just decorations? And the Third Prince was the actual culprit behind the Saintess abduction. So the royal family bears responsibility too. But thanks to the King's kidnapping incident, don't you think they actually got to escape the blame?
--That's such a stretch.
--The King of Lawrence is a hundred times smarter than you. Everything he does is calculated.
A high-end residential district in the capital of the Prius Republic.
Ricardo Ordein, looking out over the grand garden of his estate no less than that of a high-ranking noble spoke.
"With the King of Lawrence's arrival, the whole world's attention is pouring onto our Republic."
"This has become troublesome."
The one who answered him was General Raminus a former close aide to President Fairmont and an Aura Master.
"At this rate, we'll need to produce a result that everyone can accept."
Ordein thought that General Raminus was, as expected of a political soldier, a man with accurate judgment of the situation.
Domestic public opinion could be twisted to his liking by manufacturing the right atmosphere and agitating the masses, but the problem was that doing the same abroad wasn't so easy.
[Adrian El Lawrence, King of the Duchy: Whatever anyone says, this is a kidnapping case, and the person who gains the most right after the Republic's President vanishes is the culprit.]
-Then doesn't that confirm Ricardo Ordein as the culprit?
--Yeah, that sounds plausible.
--There's no other suspect besides him.
--President Izrael is a 7th-circle Archmage, so to kidnap someone like that, you'd need comparable power. By all accounts, Ricardo Ordein looks like the culprit.
And what bothered him even more was that this kind of atmosphere where everyone was outright concluding he was the culprit had taken shape.
Even when he'd been suspected before, there had never been such definitive reactions.
That was because he'd buried one suspicion with another, and his supporters' shielding had been overwhelmingly strong.
But once the online reaction spread worldwide and the King of Lawrence drove the nail in, this was the result.
"Honestly, I just sent the President on an overseas trip to clear his head for a bit, and the whole thing's blowing up."
"We need to hasten the revolution. That way, we can create the image that President Izrael went into hiding to escape it."
"Right."
As the two men's conversation made clear, the culprit behind the President's disappearance was, of course, Ricardo Ordein.
But the reason he the obvious suspect to anyone could stay so composed despite committing such an extreme crime was....
"And it seems this is the right timing."
"Sir?"
"I'll issue a statement saying I won't run in the presidential election."
"Then the suspicion toward you, the Supreme Assemblyman, will drop considerably."
It was because his own desire to become President at all costs wasn't all that strong.
As long as he didn't seize Izrael's position, he wouldn't be named the prime suspect.
Public opinion would flip in an instant.
"So who do you plan to put in the next presidential seat?"
"State Council Chairman Baus would be better. No how about you give being President a try?"
"Me, as President?"
Ricardo Ordein believed that the previous administration's Ruin/Downfall was caused by President Fairmont's excessive lust for power.
Seizing the top leader's seat and committing all sorts of corruption wasn't that why he'd been called a dictator and brought to judgment?
After all, humans are thinking animals.
Using past failures as a lesson, Ordein chose not to become President himself but rather to create a President and control him from behind.
A behind-the-scenes leader has no term limit and never gets cursed as a dictator, doesn't he?
"I if you entrust it to me, I'll give it my all."
At General Raminus's response, Ordein nodded and said he'd reconsider.
Because of this disposition of Ordein's, his surroundings were inevitably full of sycophants and yes-men.
[Supreme Assemblyman Ricardo Ordein: I am aware there is much speculation about me. However, it is all groundless rumor. That is because, to begin with, I am not the one who stands to gain the most from President Izrael's disappearance. I state here clearly: I have no desire for the presidential seat, and I will not run in the presidential election.]
And so Ordein, declaring he would "revolutionize the revolutionary government," quickly mobilized his subordinates and began his signature media campaign.
Once supporters and agitators latched onto that media play and churned out favorable responses to build momentum, he believed the speculative attacks against him would stop and the situation would reverse 180 degrees.
Just as it always had until now.
[If you want to prove your innocence, then resign from your assembly seat entirely and refrain from meeting high-ranking government officials and influential politicians, including the President.]
[I can't understand claiming innocence simply by saying you won't run for President. Doesn't that come across as though you think you could become President anytime you wanted?]
--Damn arrogant.
--Seems like the type who lives off his own ego lol
--What if he thinks he can just pull strings from behind?
--lol Could be.
But this time, something was off.
The online agitation wasn't working rather, the attacks on Supreme Assemblyman Ordein had only intensified.
[While the President has gone missing, Supreme Assemblyman Ordein stands at the center of a faction preparing a revolution. What is his real intention?]
Negative articles about him poured out in this manner, drowning out the inflammatory pieces Ordein himself had planted.
"Wh-what. Who exactly am I fighting here?"
The attacks were, to put it plainly, a bombardment.
This was the first time Ordein who had always surged to victory after entering the political arena was truly thrown into confusion.
"Surely this isn't...?"
Anyone could see it was a manufactured situation.
Suddenly, Ordein began to suspect that Adrian might be behind this whole situation.
"No, it's definitely his doing."
As they say, it takes a thief to catch one to his eyes, a master of public opinion manipulation, the flow was visible.
He had no idea how such a level of public opinion could possibly have been formed, but his suspicion toward Adrian had turned into certainty.
And so, while Ordein was racking his brains to turn this situation around.
"O-Ordein, sir."
"Hm? What is it?"
"His Highness the King of the Duchy, Grand Duke Lawrence, has arrived."
He had appeared right before his eyes.
A man whose every move was utterly unpredictable.
To Ordein, Adrian's very existence was an irregular.
* * *
While Adrian was meeting with Ordein.
On Earth, the world's media was buzzing with a new story.
[South Korea, joining hands with outsiders, launches a surprise attack on North Korea!]
South Korea's unification plan had begun.
"Th-this can't be..."
"That's impossible."
Jihari-ri, Icheon County, Gangwon Province.
That place was one of the North Korean military's key strongholds a missile production base closest to the front lines.
-Rat-a-tat-tat-tat!
-BOOM! BOOM!
"Take cover!"
That unit was currently engaged in intense combat with the enemy, and the situation was utterly hopeless.
Missiles and shells flying in from distances they couldn't even see.
They were helplessly pummeled by them, and whenever the North tried to respond with missiles and long-range artillery.
-BOOM!
Without fail, a blue light poured down from the sky, and the missiles and shells were all intercepted mid-air before they could even rise a hundred meters off the ground.
In fact, the allied forces suffered more damage from the debris of their own missiles and shells fired at the enemy than from the enemy's attacks.
The unit commander shouted for a fight to the death, but the soldiers who actually had to fight on the front lines were terrified and screamed for surrender.
"Stop! Let-go, let go!"
Thanks to that, the battle to capture the Jihari base one of the North Korean military's key front-line strongholds ended less than ten minutes after it began.
[Jihari capture complete]
[Gitdaeryeong capture complete]
[Junghwa-gun capture complete]
The problem was that this wasn't just happening in Jihari it was occurring across all of North Korea.