Published at 17th of August 2019 11:51 am

Volume 22, Chapter 7: The Silver Sword

This chapter is updated by NovelFree.ml

Wednesday, November 24

When first hearing the report from Granado, Bandarion didn't believe what he was hearing at first. That was just how confident he was in his plan.

"Is that true, Granado!? Was the spreading of the virus really prevented!?"

"There's no doubting it. Princess Theiamillis herself took control of the situation, and the virus was disposed before it had a chance to spread"

"To think she could see through all of that... curse it!"

Unable to hide his irritation, Bandarion slammed his large fist into his sofa's armrest. The sofa used high quality wood and was well made, but it creaked under the force behind his fist. That was just how much frustration was behind his blow.

"Get to investigating where the information leak came from right away!"

"I have already instructed an investigation to begin. But Bandarion-sama, there is an even greater problem"

"What!?"

Bandarion was in a bad mood, and his tone of voice aggressive. However, Granado who had known him for a long time remained unfazed and calmly operated the panel nearby. Granado knew that Bandarion's anger was not directed at him.

"Please take a look at this"

Bandarion and Granado were in Bandarion's private room. It was filled with luxurious furniture and it was the room where Bandarion spent his private time. However, the room was often used for secret talks as well, and a computer that allowed for the creation of a large hologram had been installed. The computer turned some specific video in holograms.

"This is..."

"This is footage from news that was broadcast recently. Intentionally staging the incident nearby journalists backfired on us. The battle on Alaia was reported on in real time"

Appearing on the hologram was Princess Theiamillis and a knight in blue armor serving as her guard, and they were fighting against giant humanoid mobile weapons. The teamwork between the two was perfect, and despite the numerical disadvantage of a six vs two fight, they gradually cornered the giants. It was the sight of a princess and her knight that the people would love.

The ones that recorded the video was a news organization that had been there for an unrelated interview and were being escorted by the Elfaria faction. The Elfaria faction would fall into a trap, and the media under their protection would capture all of it. By doing that, the report would have increased credibility, and should help corner the Elfaria faction, it could even help change the media's stance. That was the original plan.

However, the trap that had so many precautions had been seen through, and what was broadcast ended up benefitting the Elfaria faction. The video of the princess' and her knight's outstanding performance was broadcasted, what's more was that rumors that the Bandarion side were planning on using a virus weapon starting arising. The news organization that had noticed the fighting attentively listened to all communications, and even though there was jamming in place, they would partially pick up Yurika's and Theia's warnings.

As a result, a lot of things backfired. There was of course the miscalculation with the news organization, but the explosion of the virus weapon had been prevented, and it was safe to assume that evidence such as recordings and remains of the explosive device had fallen into the Elfaria faction's hands. The public opinion would likely sway from this. Depending on the circumstances, the aggressive strategies made possible by the backing of the public might be impossible in the future. The entire thing could only be called a big blunder.

My worrying of that kid's rise to power was what caused this failure, huh... Damnit!!

Bandarion was aware of the reason for this failure. Sensing danger as Elexis distinguished himself, Bandarion forcibly tried to change the situation. As a result, he had to pay a steep price.

"... Reckless pride will sweep the rug from out under my feet, huh"

"This time problems appeared from fundamental places"

"So even if it wasn't for my pride, information would leak and the results would be the same, is it... You sure are calm, Granado"

"In that sense, failing here might have been good timing. This failure can still be recovered from"

The public opinion might change, but they were still overwhelming them in terms of forces. There was also the fact that Elfaria was still running from the trial. While it was an incredibly large blunder, it wasn't a fatal mistake. Like Granado said, they could still recover.

"Let's recover from this situation immediately. We'll stick to fair play for now"

"I believe that is for the best. Our openings will become smaller with that as well"

Satisfied that Bandarion had regained his cool, Granado nodded. Granado was a man who rarely showed emotion, but he was clearly satisfied now. In other words, he placed special importance on that part. Sensing that, Bandarion showed a smile, something he rarely ever showed others.

"... Granado, I'm glad that you're with me"

"Your words are wasted on me"

"I'd like you to share some of that ice cold calmness of yours"

"However, I don't have willpower like flame as you do, Bandarion-sama. In that case, it was only destiny that we would combine our powers of fire and ice"

"Well said! If that is destiny, then domination of the country will surely be accomplished!"

Bandarion's calm had temporarily vanished, and he had lost sight of himself. However, he had a trusted comrade and old friend in Granado, which allowed him to regain his cool. Unless the cooperation of these two was destroyed, Elfaria and Theia would be far from victory.

On the night after the fight had concluded, Yurika, Koutarou and Theia safely reunited with their friends. The location was a base in Pardomshiha territory. Koutarou and the others weren't the only ones that had come there, as captured imperial army soldiers had been taken to the location as well. Upon hearing the circumstances from the soldiers, the whole content of Bandarion's trap became clear.

The soldiers on the trailer had only been told that they were transporting giant mobile weapons to the frontlines, and the metallic box that contained the virus weapon had been explained away as chemicals intended for maintenance. That's why when they were attacked, they simply believed the Elfaria faction was attacking and went on a counteroffensive using the giants. The thought of protecting the trailer never occurred to them. They were sacrificial pawns that didn't know the truth.

The fake Elfaria faction soldiers in the woods had similar circumstances. They had been told that the Elfaria faction was transporting mobile weapons, and they were given the order to disguise themselves and approach the trailer to destroy it. They, of course, hadn't heard anything about a virus in the cargo, nor did they know that soldiers on their own side was within the trailer. If Theia and the others hadn't gotten a hold of the information, they would face a fate worse than sacrificial pawns. They would be framed as Elfaria faction soldiers that had spread a virus weapon, and the virus would kill them. The disguised soldiers had been sent to be framed as Elfaria faction soldiers, using biological weapons for terrorism.

Fortunately, they had been able to escape from Bandarion's conspiracy. Their testimonies and the large amount of evidence would prove the existence of Bandarion's conspiracy. Elfaria would use this conspiracy as a weapon in her showdown against Bandarion.

"Curse you, Bandarion!! To think you'd use such a cruel plan... what do you take the lives of your allies and citizens for!? Is that something a human would do!?"

Upon hearing the report and fully understanding the situation, Theia was enraged. Her loud voice echoed through the command room, and Koutarou and the others sitting with her all opened their eyes wide.

"Calm down, Theia! They say the one that gets mad loses!"

"I won't lose!! As if I would ever lose!! I would never hand over Forthorthe and its citizens to a heartless man like that!!"

Unlike Elfaria who was angry, but remained Calm, her daughter Theia was erupting with rage. She couldn't stand Bandarion using the lives of others as pawns in a game. He wanted to trample everything Theia and the rest of the royal families had desperately protected, the lives of the citizens. Because of that, Theia completely lost sight of herself, and not even the words of her friends could reach her.

"Theia-chan really is a princess, isn't she... Did you feel the same way inside too, Kiriha-san?"

"Well, my heart was certainly not calm when my hometown turned to a battlefield, and many lives of the People of the Earth were lost. That's why I understand how Theia-dono feels"

"Me too. Alaia-sama felt the same way when she stood up. Her expressions were a little more calm though..."

While the girls of room 106 might sympathize with Theia's feelings, they were unable to call out. Being from a different country on a different planet, they couldn't find the right words. The difference in thinking of history, culture and political structure had reduced them to only being able to speak with simple sympathy. It became a difficult problem because they were considerate of her.

"Clan-san, you sure are calm, aren't you? Is that a difference in personality?"

While everyone was struggling to say something, Maki could think of a single person who might be able to call out to Theia. That was Clan, another princess just like Theia. However Clan blushed with embarrassment when Maki turned to her.

"Our personalities are different, but in my case, uhm... a year and a little more ago, I was... what I mean was that I feel more regret, or shame, than anger..."

"I understand how you feel. I feel the same way about Darkness Rainbow"

In Clan's case, she had been on the conspiracy side of things in the past. That's why upon seeing Bandarion's evil deeds, she felt anger, but she was also made to look at what she had objectively done herself and reflection and regret accompanied her anger. In order to call out to Theia, she needed to shelve her own past, which made her words more palpable. Having formerly been in Darkness Rainbow, Maki felt the same way.

"Then it's Satomi-kun's time to shine"

"Eh, me?"

"You're the only one related to 2,000 years ago and now, right?"

Shizuka believed that Koutarou was the only one whose words wouldn't just be simple sympathy. In the past he had saved Forthorthe alongside Alaia, and he had now risen up against another national crisis. At the same time he was an example of how Forthorthians lived. Shizuka concluded that if Koutarou couldn't do it, nobody else could.

"Landlord-san, I'm not that great of a person. Besides, I'm an Earthling"

"Shut up! Get going!"

"Uwah!?"

Shizuka refused to listen to Koutarou's rebuttal and forcibly pushed him forwards. Using the precise use of force made possible thanks to her martial arts training, Koutarou stopped right before Theia.

"You feel the same way, don't you Koutarou!!"

"Ah, um..."

As Koutarou appeared before her, Theia sought after his agreement. However, having not listened for a moment, Koutarou was unable to answer. When he did, Theia's anger turned towards him.

"What, you don't!?"

"Calm down first, okay?"

"If you're a knight, why won't you say that you'll defeat Bandarion!! Don't you have any pride!?

"Now, now..."

"You fool!!"

Up until now, Theia's anger had been directed at Bandarion and had nowhere to go. But now, she had obtained Koutarou, a proper place to take her anger out on. Koutarou didn't know if he could properly persuade Theia or not, but she would likely calm down regardless in a little while. The girls knew that, and they watched the situation unfold with smiles.

When confronted with Theia's intense rage, Koutarou first tried to calm he down. But after a few minutes, he had lost his patience and the two ended up having a screaming match. That eventually turned physical and the two got into a brawl.

At first Lord Pardomshiha tried to stop them. But before he could start, his daughter Ruth stopped him. At first he didn't know the reason why he had been stopped, but as he looked at the two brawl, he began to understand.

"Dieee! Just dieee! You damned disloyalist!!"

"You crappy princess, I won't forgive you today!"

"If you think you can do something, then try it!!"

"I'll beat you up so bad that washboard of yours starts swelling up!!"

"Now you've said it, you hack knight! You don't even know my chest has developed!"

Despite the intense screaming and attacking, there were no critical words of attacks unleashed. Before she knew it, Theia's anger towards Bandarion had disappeared, and she was now single-mindedly throwing her emotions at Koutarou. After looking at the two for a moment, Lord Pardomshiha reached a certain conclusion.

"... So Her Highness Theiamillis is your rival in love. You've got a strong opponent, Ruth"

Neither of them had any intentions of harming the other. Theia was simply depending on Koutarou. That's why Elfaria and her friends left them be. Besides, someone who was able to get into a fist fight with the princess of a country was definitely special.

"Father... no, Her Highness not an opponent"

Ruth's eyes opened wide for a moment upon hearing Lord Pardomshiha's words, but she eventually blushed a little and shook her head.

"That's awfully confident for you"

Lord Pardomshiha thought that her daughter was confident. He was impressed by her reaction as she was always so serious and slow to mature. However, Ruth smiled wryly and shook her head one more time.

"It's the opposite. If anything I don't have any confidence at all"

"What?"

"In order to get him to turn our way, I need to work together with Her Highness"

"Is he that hard to deal with? He certainly doesn't look like it..."

Ruth said that it was hard for her to get Koutarou to look her way on her own. But upon seeing Koutarou for himself, Lord Pardomshiha believed Koutarou to be a perfectly normal boy. While he might get laughed at for being a doting parent if he were to say it out loud, he couldn't imagine the boy being able to ignore Ruth's charm.

"He is more serious than me, firmly keeps to reason, and doesn't even hesitate to correct someone's mistakes, even if they're royalty... he's like the very model of knights. And because of that, nobody can reach him"

Deep trust and love could be seen in Ruth's eyes when she spoke of Koutarou. Lord Pardomshiha believed it was only natural for him to be serious if Ruth had fallen for him. However, he objected to him being unreachable.

"At that age, he looks like he'd easily bend over from some sex appeal..."

"It's impossible"

Ruth adamantly shook her head. If he was someone that could be moved by something like that, Ruth wouldn't have gotten this involved with Koutarou. It was because he didn't move at all that her feelings for him grew.

"After all... not even the legendary Princess Alaia could stop him on her own"

Not even Princess Alaia, often spoken of as a legend, could get Koutarou to stop being a knight. Ruth didn't have to confidence to think she could do something that Alaia couldn't.

"Princess Alaia!? What are you say― Ah!?"

Lord Pardomshiha realized something and hurriedly looked at Koutarou. On his waist were to swords, a golden and a silver one, he saw the crests carved into them, and he saw his shining blue armor. If that wasn't just his hobby, but something born out of necessity, then...

A shock that shook Lord Pardomshiha's entire body assaulted him.

"Impossible! Ruth, are you serious!? If that's the truth, then is that boy!?"

Lord Pardomshiha was starting to understand what Ruth was telling him. Though he couldn't easily believe it. It was far easier to doubt his daughter's sanity than to accept that as the truth.

"Yes, it's just as you think"

"W-What!? Then he... is that man―"

"That man is Satomi Koutarou-sama. He wears a beautiful blue armor, wields a dazzling silver sword, has defeated a giant dragon, and saved the country in the middle of a coup d'etat. The legendary knight―"

In contrast to Lord Pardomshiha who was confused, Ruth was extremely calm and spoke clearly of who the man in the middle of a fist fight with Theia was.

"― whom we have called Reios Fatra Bertorion in the past, a man everyone knows of"

Ruth was proud. She had been able to introduce the person she held dear to her father. That's why she puffed up her chest in a dignified manner and smiled happily.

"― Are you saying that he's the Blue Knight!?"

However, to Lord Pardomshiha that was a big misfortune. Ruth's words made him feel like his heart was about to stop.

Using a private route, and the magic of Darkness Rainbow, escaping from the planet of Alaia wasn't all that difficult. DKI wasn't a company that was being especially watched. If anything, the guard around them was lessened as they worked together with the army. That's why Elexis had returned to his company headquarters in Forthorthe, on the afternoon the day after the battle.

"Looking at yourself in the news... haven't you become quite the star?"

"Maya, you've been picking fights a lot since yesterday. Did something you didn't like happen?"

"Not really. I'm the same as always"

Having returned to his private room in the company HQ, Elexis began staring at his computer immediately after stepping through the door. He was gathering information. He was in particular gathering information on the battle yesterday. There was a lot of things he needed to know, such as how the public opinion was moving, or if their disguise had been seen through and such. He used all kinds of methods, such as reading news on the networks, and buying information from acquainted informants.

"Just do as you please, you don't have to think about me. I'll do my own thing too"

Maya sat down on the sofa in the corner of the room and drank alcohol on her own, in a foul mood. Elexis had noticed her bad mood since yesterday, but he didn't know the reason. But if he was the reason, she would have left the room, so he figured something unpleasant must have happened. That's why Elexis thought of joining her drinking after he finished what he was doing.

"Now, now, I'll join you with your drinking, just wait a little more. There's something that caught my interest"

"Caught your interest?"

As if satisfied with Elexis' words, or having had her own interest drummed up by his, Maya picked up her bottle and glasses and headed towards Elexis.

"This video"

Elexis moved the hologram so that Maya could see, and replayed it from the start. It was a news broadcast by one of Forthorthe's networks.

"This is footage of the battle yesterday, isn't it?"

Maya peeked at the video through the corner of her eyes, as she handed Elexis a glass and began pouring. The alcohol was from Forthorthe and made using fruits growing there, and a mellow smell filled the room.

"That's right, but this is what I want you to pay attention to"

Elexis drank from his glass with his right hand while using his left hand to operate the panel. As he did, messages appeared as if surrounding the hologram. Information networks in Forthorthe allowed people to put messages directly on parts of the video that stood out.

"What's this? The boy's completely buried in characters"

"That's right. Everyone is paying attention to Koutarou-kun"

As Koutarou appeared, his surroundings was completely covered in characters, and he himself could barely be seen. His armor's blue color could sometimes be seen through the messages.

"I understand how they feel. Everyone looking at this video would be reminded of the name of a certain individual who appears in our history"

Elexis operated the panel once more and removed the messages. Just then, Koutarou was chasing away the giant mobile weapons. That was when the video returned to the studio, and the news casters, and an explanation of the details regarding the battle began. Since Elexis knew about the details, he stopped the video, and started up a new one.

"And there are a lot of links from that video to this one"

"Oh... this is the boy too. And in private? Where did this come from?"

"Based on the height of the camera and the surroundings, it seems like it's a child recording"

"And that was leaked for some reason?"

"Something like that, I'd wager. Take a look, you can see a lot of inhuman movements"

A video, most likely filmed by a young child, by the title of 'The Blue Knight found' had been uploaded to the information that connected all of Forthorthe some days ago. The video was of one boy, jumping around. On the video was the boy in question moving in amazing ways that one wouldn't expect from a human.

At first, the video had been considered worthless. As the moves recorded were so far from what humans could do, it was suspected to contain doctored footage. But once the battle on Alaia was broadcast, this video got a lot more attention. The battle had been recorded by several cameras, and showed the fighting prowess of a knight in blue armor. As a result, it was proven that he could actually move like that.

"And this is what's truly extraordinary"

Unlike the video of the combat on Alaia, where the journalists were far away, the video 'The Blue Knight found' was taken up close, and it showed the boy's expression and more detailed movements. As a result, the video caught the interest of a lot of people. What attracted the attention of people the most was his possession.

"The boy's... sword?"

"That's right. This silver sword... I hadn't really thought about it that much before, but if this sword is 'that sword, then the situation will become a little complicated"

Thinking it over again, Elexis realized there had been a lot of hints.

A blue armor, the relationship between the boy and the princess, a giant red dragon, the boy knowing that Folsaria consisted of the descendants of Grevanas and his magicians. And most of all, the silver sword being displayed on the hologram. Elexis had experienced the sword's frightening power first hand.

There was also a lot of circumstantial evidence. They were indirect, but they all pointed to who the boy in question was. But because that was a very bold line of thinking, the rational Elexis had eliminated that possibility from his mind.

"'That sword'?"

"... The treasured sword of the oracle, Signaltin. The sacred treasure that is said to have been lost 2,000 years ago and serves as proof of the royal authority of Forthorthe"

The boy might be holding the treasured sword, Signaltin. As the crest carved into the sword was that of Alaia's, many people who saw the video began thinking that way. And Elexis was one of them.

"... Could Koutarou-kun be the descendant of the Blue Knight...? Or could he be..."

If the sword really was Signaltin, even if the boy in blue armor wasn't the Blue Knight, there was a high chance that he was a descendant. In other words, an individual that could greatly influence the government of Forthorthe had appeared.

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