Chapter 6: Rivals

Even if you are a child of the Emperor, it doesnt mean that you get to see him every day. The reason is simple, it is because the Emperor who rules over such a vast empire is always busy.

Almost every day the Emperor has a meeting with his subjects and the only ones who can participate are those who hold important positions. The Privy Council, the only one who can participate in such an imperial council among the Emperors children is only the Second Prince.

However, on that day, the princes and princesses in the imperial capital were ordered to participate in that privy council.

This is unusual. I wonder what is happening?

It is not the once a year thing either. Is there some kind of an announcement, I wonder.

I dont expect him to stop this blood-soaked succession war either. Rather, he is a person who would think that only the one who won such a succession war is worthy to become the next emperor.

He is an Emperor before being a parent. Some would say that it is an emperors duty to prepare a suitable successor who can protect and develop this vast empire. For that, he has to turn a blind eye to some sacrifices.

Announcement huh..I hope it is a good one.

Ten to one, it is going to be bad.

While having such a conversation, we headed toward the throne room.

Everyone, thank you for coming.

We are honored by your summon Your Majesty.

Everyone bows to the blond-haired man on the throne.

The 31st emperor of the Adracia empire, Johannes Lakes Adler. Even though he is already 51 years old but he looks like he is still in his early 40s.

He is the reigning emperor of this empire that aged for more than 600 years as well as our father.

The people around him consisted of only high-ranking civil and military officials.

Their gazes point straight at us, the Emperors children. There are eleven of us today.

Nine princes and two princesses. No one seems to be absent. Its a shame that my eldest daughter is still at the border. Well, we lets put that aside. I am happy, my children.

Including our eldest brother who passed away, my father has 13 children. 

He is looking at us with satisfaction in his eyes.

The eldest is 28 years old while the youngest is 10 years old. It is rare for us to gather together like this.

Among us, a man with a big body frame speaks up.

Your Majesty. What is the occasion today? If its a war then please send me out by all means. Without sparing the might of the empire, I will crush the enemy for you.

He is a red-haired man with huge armor. The Third Prince, Gordon Lakes Adler. He is one of the empires generals and among the Prince, he is the one who possesses the most military might.

Some people describe him as intimidating but for me, the word I would use is arrogant. He is that much of a self-important man.

The pro-war faction and high-ranking military officials are Gordons ally. If he becomes the emperor, undoubtedly the empire will continue to take the territorial expansion policy. He might lead us to fight against the other continental powers (TLN: Other big countries on the continent) and we might be able to unify the continent under his rule. He would be a good emperor who those who are hungry for war.

For those who dont wish for war, he would be close to the worst emperor they could ask for though.

Gordon. You never change huh.

The only thing you talk about is war this, war that. Do you still have a brain left in there? Look, His Majesty is troubled too you know?

Seeing father making a bitter smile, a woman with long green hair spoke out.

Covering her body in a black robe, she is the Second Princess, Zandra Lakes Adler. Her face is good but her eyes give off a bad vibe. Thanks to that, she gives an overall severe impression. Perhaps her bad personality is as bad as her eyes suggested. In fact, the impression you got from her isnt wrong.

Among our elder sisters, the one who has the most brutal personality is unmistakably Zandra. Maybe it was because she has such a personality, she is delving into the forbidden magic technique and revive them one after another. Thats the reason she is popular among the magicians.

If she becomes the empress then the empire would surely become a magical superpower. However, it might also become a mad country where inhumane researches are permitted. 

Fuhn, a weak magician like you probably wouldnt understand. It is a warrior honor to fight and perish on the battlefield. If you are going to deny me that I will crush you.

Ara? What a dangerous thing to say. If you want honor that much then shall I gift wrapped it for you?

The atmosphere turned severe in an instant.

I wonder who is the dangerous one here. Arent both of you offer to kill each other just now?

Well, they wouldnt go that far in front of the Emperor. The nerves these guys have.

As I thought so, a blue-haired man cough.

Please forgive my younger brother and sisters rudeness, Your Majesty.

Saying so, he lowers his head.

Among the children, he is the one closest to the Emperor. Wearing a pair of glasses, he is a tall man with sharp eyes.

The Second Prince, Eric Lakes Adler.

The only one among the children who have the right to attend the privy council, holding the position of the Minister of Foreign Affair, he is the genius who oversee the empire diplomacy. As an intellectual, he is considered to be better than the Crown Prince and is currently the man who is closest to the throne.

If he becomes the emperor, the empire will definitely be safe. However, the people under his rule of logic and reason will undoubtedly feel suffocated. And to this realist man, he will never leave the seed of the future rebel alone. If this man becomes the emperor, we will definitely be killed.

Thats why we have no choice but to participate in this succession war. 

Eric who apologizes in their places is being stared at by Gordon and Zandra. The good part was taken by Eric after all.

Its fine. Competition is a good thing. I did just that when I became the Emperor after all.

This competition will eventually end up as a slaughter.

Everyone here knows that. Even so, the emperor still approves it. Thats because he believes that it is for the good of the empire.

Now, that is why I thought up a way for everyone to compete. It is the reason that I gathered all of you today.

If it is a competition of strength then it is exactly what I want.

Well, slow down Gordon. Dont take things so simple like that. What would you do if you have to compete with your ten years old brother? So, to that end, for the first time, I am thinking about reviving a festival that has been abandoned for decades.

Festival, Your Majesty?

Hearing Erics question, the Emperor nod and give him a daring smile.

In his younger days, he was a warrior whose name resounded on the battlefield. The army he led has the reputation of being undefeated. That side of him often comes out with his fearless smile.

The Knights Hunting Festival. It is the festival where each of the imperial knight orders competes against each other with the rarity and the size of the monster they hunted. It was a festival that often organized during the old days when there were still many monsters running rampant in the empire but we no longer organize it now a day because the adventurers are so excellent. I want to revive that festival.

The imperial knight order is the most elite of the empire. Different from the knights that serve the feudal lords, they are the knights that report directly to the emperor. 

They act as the trump card of the empire. When the army hit a roadblock, they are the ones we sent out to assure the victory of the empire, they are the Emperors sword whose loyalty lies solely in the Emperor.

If it is the festival that mobilize such a knight order then it must be quite big.

I see. The monster has been active as of late after all. However, will the adventurer guild allow this?

The adventurers job is to protect the people of this continent from the monsters. In other words, their job is monster hunting. Of course, there are other requests besides that but most of the requests are still monster related jobs.

To those adventurers, they wouldnt find a festival that takes away their job to be enjoyable.

Dont worry. I have already got permission from the guilds headquarter. Since their branch offices around the empire cant deal with the rare monsters that appeared recently, it seems like they really want us to give them a hand. I heard that Duke Kleinert was troubled by such monsters too. Consider it as cooperation between us and the guild.

Its not something I can just accept. What he said about the guild.

The reason why guild branch offices are in the location with a few monsters is that the empire has to pay the maintenance fee for it. It is like when a monster appears, the empire says: Hey theres a monster, take care of it. However, the branch office in Duke Kleinerts territory didnt do the thing that they were paid to do. Since Silver didnt solve the incident on the guilds behalf as he took a different route to do the job, you cannot say that the guild did it.

Considering all that, the correct exchange between them would be this.

[What do you mean you cant even take care of a single monster even after we paid so much money to you?]

[Were sorry]

[I want to hold a monster hunting festival, you are going to approve that right?]

[No, Um,that isgetting an approval is a little]

[Haa? Then give us some good adventurers then.]

[Th, that is]

[Which is it?]

[..w, we will approve of the festival.]

Something like that, I think.

He is the father of these villainous children after all. Theres no way he wouldnt use what happened at Kleinert Ducal as a bargaining chip.

The guild headquarter must be in a tight spot between the local adventurers and the empire as well.

Well, it is certainly true that monsters that never appear in the imperial territory before have been appearing recently. Moreover, they are high-level monsters too.

If no countermeasures are taken, the damage will start to spread to the people, their crops and even the adventurers themselves. In that sense, it is a sound strategy to have the imperial knight order hunt down those rare monsters. If we organize a festival we can make money, improve morale and people can feel safe as well.

As expected of the Emperor. He thought up a good strategy.

However, the problem is that he is planning to use us at this festival too.

Understood. In other words, you want us to lead the knight order to hunt the monsters, correct?

As expected of you, Eric. you guessed it. I have allocated the knights to each of you. You can go out to hunt the monster together with them, I dont mind if you sit back and wait for the result either. Anyhow, I want this festival to be exciting.  

Saying so, the Emperor bring the conversation to an end. The reason that he goes out of his way to allocate the knights himself must be because he wanted to prevent his children from recruit all the excellent knights to themselves.

Moreover, what he said about going out hunting with the knights or relax and wait for the result, at first it looked like he was being considerate for those who are not good at leading the troop. However, the knights will never swear their loyalty to those who cant go out to the frontline with them. It is a fatal weakness for those who are aiming for the throne.

The Emperor must want to say that even if you cant fight, you must at least have enough resolve to stand on the same battlefield as them. If we cant show him that then we dont have the right to aim for the throne huh.

Your Majesty. I understand about the festival but I have a question I would like to ask.

What is it? Gordon.

What will be the reward for the winner? If it is something cheap then that wouldnt serve as a motivation.

Fumu, thats right. What do you want?

Of course, I want the seat of the crown prince.

Gordon fearlessly said so.

Zandra is staring at him. If a look could kill then he would already be dead right now. Eric still seems to be cool on the surface but inside he must be quite irritated.

You really are honest huh. Alright, as an answer to your honesty, I will be honest with you as well. I will not decide on the next crown prince at this kind of festival.

Naturally, if a crown prince was decided at a festival like this we would become a laughing stock of the other countries.

Thats right, Zandra. However, it doesnt mean I am not going to give you a reward. So, I will appoint the winner as my ambassador plenipotentiary (TLN: a diplomat, invested with the full power of independent action on behalf of the emperor in a foreign country) To which country they will be dispatched to will be decided after we consider the future movements of other countries.

Everyone stop breathing.

If a prince or princess was appointed as the ambassador plenipotentiary, at the very least they would treat you as a successor candidate in their dispatched country. And you would be able to connect the pipe between the empire and that country as well.

For those participating in the succession war, it would be an irresistible post.

As the minister of foreign affairs, it wouldnt be as beneficial to Eric but even so, he would want the position. Above all, it would damage his pride as the minister of foreign affairs if other candidates were to deprive him of his complete authority over diplomatic affairs.

As long as he has something to lose, Eric will probably get serious.

The Knight Order is the most elite of the empire. The knights will probably give their all no matter who they were assigned to, in the end, it will be depending on the prince or princesss disposition

It seems like things are going to get troublesome.

Thinking so, I started concocting a plan to let Leo win this.

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