Opportunity in the Game Becomes Reality Chapter 226
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Opportunity in the Game Becomes Reality Chapter 226
51. Opportunity Seeker (3)
"Your Highness the Queen, how shall we respond?"
The Foreign Minister of the Duchy of Lawrence and the Foreign Minister of the Rhinehearts Empire asked Arcia.
But Arcia, judging that this was not a matter for her to decide, replied as follows.
"First, let them know that His Highness the King is unable to move for three days."
"They will demand to know the reason."
To the duchy's Foreign Minister's natural question, Arcia's answer was firm.
"There's no reason to answer every little thing like that. Are we a duchy of the Bringham Empire? If they made a polite request, that would be one thing, but there's no reason to comply with a notice like this."
The ministers faltered for a moment at that, but soon nodded, judging that Arcia's words were right.
They could not yet be said to have fully bloomed, but all of them were people Adrian had recruited through the Myriad Mirror after examining their stats.
Though their dependence on Adrian was high, they were far from incompetent.
"Understood. We will respond as Your Highness the Queen has said."
"And it would be best to keep silent about His Highness the King challenging the 8th Circle. It would only arouse their suspicions further."
Apart from an extremely small few, no one truly knew Adrian's level.
Because of that, they thought the wall Adrian was trying to cross was the 8th Circle.
However, separately from this, they did not press him on whether Adrian was truly Grand Duke Lucas's disciple, having judged that there was no need to deliberately confirm facts Adrian had not revealed.
It would be good if Adrian were Grand Duke Lucas's disciple, but since the problems that would arise from that were complex, they merely kept the possibility open and prepared accordingly.
Arcia asked Count Basilisk, who had inherited the post of Foreign Minister of the Rhinehearts Empire that Emperor Mikhail had held when he was Crown Prince.
"What are the Imperial Family's thoughts on this situation?"
"Naturally, they intend to protect His Highness the King of Lawrence, the Empire's guardian, no matter what. It's just that they sent me to ask whether His Highness the King of Lawrence has a method of response."
It was a moment that made one feel anew just how great Adrian's presence was.
But since Adrian had to be treated as a nonentity for the next three days, others had to protect him with all their strength.
"Tell His Majesty the Emperor not to worry too much. Even if the Bringham Empire goes too far, we have plenty of means to respond."
"Might I be informed in advance of what those means are?"
Arcia hesitated for a moment, but soon judged that revealing it would not matter, and brought out a hidden card to reassure the people.
"My teacher, Lord Blake, is a Lordmaster, and among those who have newly become friends of His Highness the King, there is one dragon. Receiving help from these two won't be difficult."
Blake was already widely known.
Though foreign nations questioned whether he was truly a Lordmaster, within the Rhinehearts Empire no one would dismiss Adrian's words as lies.
A Lordmaster's martial power was guessed to be at national level, making him a very useful card.
But a Lordmaster alone was surprising enough now a dragon?
People had to widen their eyes in astonishment.
Even more than 9th-circle mages and Lordmasters, what was considered a being of fantasy was a living dragon.
"A-a dragon?"
"Yes. She is someone who would become extremely angry if anything happened to His Highness the King."
"Good heavens..."
The scale was different.
Unlike anyone else, Arcia was not the sort of person to speak carelessly, so her words carried great credibility.
That made it all the more shocking.
"And the civil war in the Prius Republic ended with President Izrael's victory, did it not?"
"That is correct."
"If we request support from the President, he will grant it. After all, having fought a war against them and even taken away the previous president's son, for them to act like this again would be an act of villainy crossing the line."
It was an appropriate response.
As they were about to wrap up the conversation, Count Basilisk's casual remark made Arcia's expression sour.
"I feel anew the terror of His Highness the King of Lawrence's connections. The two women from the Kingdom of Lucias and the Holy See were impressive as well."
"What do you mean by that?"
At Arcia's reaction, which seemed to sense something ominous, Count Basilisk flinched involuntarily.
"Pardon? Ah, His Highness the King does not seem to be aware of the current situation."
It had been exactly 52 hours since Arcia left the room.
Count Basilisk explained that quite a lot had happened during those 52 hours.
"In fact, His Highness the King of Lawrence is not the only one who has been placed under investigation as a disciple of Grand Duke Lucas in the Bringham Empire. Duke Riverdale of the Kingdom of Lucias has also been named as a target. It seems the Empire has set its sights on mages capable of such deception, given that Lewis Fairmont, whom they had detained as an Opportunity Seeker, turned out to be a fake."
"So what exactly did that woman do?"
Adrian is currently affiliated with the school where Olivia serves as Tower Master in order to maintain his cover.
In other words, the two key figures of the same school have both been placed under investigation.
"Duke Riverdale has strongly condemned the Bringham Empire, claiming its true purpose is the ambition of territorial expansion and that it has targeted key figures of the rapidly rising Riverdale School. Furthermore, she has made an official request to Her Highness the Saintess Ibril to restrain the Bringham Empire's actions that threaten peace on the continent."
What came next was easy to predict without being told.
If Adrian had become a target of the Bringham Empire, there was no way Ibril, who was utterly smitten with him, would sit idly by.
The Saintess Ibril was precisely the main reason Arcia had grown wary of the women around Adrian.
"Duke Riverdale continues her fierce criticism day after day, ignoring the Bringham Empire's requests, while Her Highness the Saintess is applying pressure, urging them to respect other nations and not harm the peace of the international community. Thanks to this, international public opinion toward the Bringham Empire is also unfavorable."
"So the current climate is favorable to our side, is it?"
"That is correct."
Even so, they were making such a fuss because the name of the Bringham Empire still carried tremendous weight.
Having learned of the situation, Arcia clicked her tongue and rose from her seat.
"Then we should just ally with those two."
At Arcia's seemingly angered demeanor, Count Basilisk and the ministers who had relayed the news broke out in a cold sweat.
Arcia approached Gregory, who had been standing silently behind her.
"Do I have command authority as well?"
What she asked about was command authority over Blue Moon.
Arcia was an existence artificially created to support Adrian.
Gregory, who had formed a party with the two of them in the game and leveled up alongside them, had noticed this point, but he nodded as if it posed no problem at all.
"Of course."
"Then you know what I want."
"I presume you wish for surveillance on the Bringham Empire and information from the Opportunity Seeker investigation team."
That was exactly right.
When Arcia nodded, Gregory said he would follow her orders and took his leave.
"I will rest for a while. Do not disturb me until I come out of the room on my own."
"Yes, understood."
The direction of the work had been set; the rest was up to the working staff.
Arcia, unaccustomed to such matters, covered her head with her palms and headed to the bedroom where Adrian lay.
Seeing how exhausted she looked, the ladies-in-waiting rushed over to support her.
The ministers could only quietly watch Arcia's retreating figure.
"I think this is the first time I've had such a long conversation with Her Highness the Queen."
"Same here."
"I feel the same."
She was someone who spoke little and rarely changed her expression, but having faced her up close and conversed with her directly, one could not help but think she was truly beautiful, and perhaps because they were married, she somehow gave off a similar air to Adrian.
"We should get to work."
"Right, this is no time for this."
And the ministers moved busily.
* * *
[Duchy of Lawrence Minister of Foreign Affairs: His Highness the King of Lawrence is currently unable to move for three days, and this is related to the Mage Tower's research activities. Moreover, the Bringham Empire's disrespectful attitude of ordering a nation's king around is simply absurd. Are they in their right minds?]
[Rhinehearts Imperial Family: The Bringham Empire needs to learn an attitude of respect toward other nations. The King of Lawrence need not comply with unreasonable demands.]
[Prius Republic: The Bringham Empire already waged war against our Prius Republic claiming they would seize the Opportunity what exactly do they think they are doing now?]
[Kingdom of Lucias Royal Family: The Bringham Empire desires expansion of power. For them, the Opportunity is nothing more than an excuse.]
[Holy See Saintess Department: For the stability of the continent, groundless pressure must cease. We ask that the Bringham Empire uphold the dignity befitting a great nation.]
[Kingdom of Roberto: We condemn the rudeness of the Bringham Empire and support the Duchy of Lawrence.]
[Elysian Coalition: We share the same view as the Kingdom of Roberto.]
From the standpoint of the superpower Bringham Empire, the current situation felt utterly foreign.
When had they ever been berated like this by other nations?
Usually, one raise of their voice was enough to make others grovel and curry favor...
"This is what happens when you poke the Grand Duke Lawrence."
At the rebuke of Count Elfried, the Intelligence Chief of the Bringham Empire and a 7th-circle Archmage, Duke Christopher could only wear a dumbfounded expression.
"I can understand the Kingdom of Lucias and the Rhinehearts Empire stepping forward, but what about the other nations?"
"They are those who owe a debt to the Grand Duke Lawrence."
"Even the Elysian Coalition?"
"They have something to feel guilty about."
Looking at public opinion alone, it felt like Bringham Empire vs. the world.
Even Duke Christopher had not anticipated this situation.
To think all this chaos was caused by a mere 22-year-old.
He could only let out a hollow laugh.
"So what do we do?"
"What do you mean, what?"
"I'm asking whether you intend to push the investigation through recklessly even while being criticized by the entire world like this."
At Count Elfried's cold demeanor, Duke Christopher tilted his head in confusion.
"Why ask something so obvious? Has our Bringham Empire ever failed an operation because of public opinion? And besides, the fact that they're reacting like this only makes it more suspicious."
"Isn't the situation special right now? This time, it's not something that can be resolved by brute force like with the Prius Republic. Have you forgotten? How the Grand Duke Lawrence brought down the Croysen Empire."
"We are not like the Croysen Empire."
His attitude seemed filled with complacency.
But one could not simply dismiss it as complacency, for the Bringham Empire was a nation where everything was solid and powerful.
Even if the opponent were the rising Rhinehearts Empire and the traditional powerhouse Kingdom of Lucias, projecting full force would crush them in less than ten days.
That was how overwhelming the disparity in power between the two sides was.
"If the Grand Duke Lawrence truly is an Opportunity Seeker, I think it would be wise not to touch him."
"Why?"
"Because in that case, he would certainly have prepared some kind of countermeasure in advance."
"In the few days I've worked with you, Count, I've come to feel that you're overly fond of the Grand Duke Lawrence."
"It's not favoritism it's my assessment as Intelligence Chief. He is simply that remarkable a figure. His personal ability goes without saying, but what makes him truly terrifying is how he uses those around him. If we charge in headfirst and a war breaks out, its scale will be incomparable to anything before."
"No matter how I look at it, it's favoritism."
Count Elfried massaged his temples and made a proposal.
"For now, let's proceed with the investigation centered on Duke Olivia Riverdale. We need to be a bit more cautious with the Grand Duke Lawrence."
She was reluctant, but with the Emperor's command already issued, there was no turning back now.
So Count Elfried offered the best alternative she could for the moment.
But at her words, Duke Christopher wagged his index finger from side to side and clicked his tongue, "tsk tsk tsk."
"No, we're going to investigate the Grand Duke Lawrence."
"What?"
Did he even hear what she said?
Count Elfried narrowed her eyes in anger.
"That Olivia barging in and drawing aggro, everyone scrambling to cover for him while the Grand Duke himself stays out of it to me, it all looks like it's because the Grand Duke Lawrence is an Opportunity Seeker, doesn't it?"
It was a plausible theory, but the problem was that his claim lacked evidence.
And that was exactly why they were taking flak from so many nations.
"And a great war, you say? The opponent is Bringham who would dare?"
Count Elfried could only resent the Emperor for putting this man, who moved on gut feelings, in the position of lead.
"Ch-Chief. A visitor has arrived."
How much longer did they bicker like that?
Count Elfried raised a question at the news delivered by Viscount Joseph, her adjutant and magic disciple.
"A visitor? Who is it that you're stuttering like that?"
"Well..."
At the master's question of who it could be, Viscount Joseph's eyes darted about restlessly.
And then.
"Ahem, come here."
From just outside the conference room where Count Elfried and Duke Christopher were seated, an unfamiliar voice rang out.