How to Tame That Gentle Male Lead - Chapter 7.5
After sipping her latte through the straw for a moment, Resena spoke in a calm voice.
“If we can assume the missing persons have been murdered, then we can consider that killing has already become familiar to his hands. A normal knight would think differently about cutting down enemies versus ordinary people, but a serial killer lacks such moral sense and would kill without hesitation. In my opinion, if he isn’t caught quickly, there will be more victims.”
“I think so too. But apart from the slums, we haven’t yet figured out where the killer mainly commits his murders, so the investigation is difficult. I’ve already mentioned to the royal knights at the palace that help is needed, but the commander has so many approvals to process…”
Resena looked at Alken quietly for a moment before speaking.
“…Alken. Then… what if House Arnasus provides knights to support, so we can double the patrol personnel to prevent any more disappearances?”
“Everyone would be grateful if you could do that. Then they could patrol in groups of four. No matter how excellent a knight the murderer is, it would be difficult for him to face three people at once.”
When he finished speaking, Resena hesitated for a moment. The reason she was buying time like this was that stopping Amarast’s war preparations was more urgent. Of course, it would be better to catch Tom Baker early, but the fundamental cause of this social chaos was Amarast stockpiling exported goods in preparation for war… So, preventing the war was the more pressing matter.
‘Moreover, if Amarast actually starts a war, dark mages will be able to gather black mana more easily and infinitely. Since the Kingdom of Serma doesn’t have many knights or mages either, there would be considerable casualties on both sides.’
Resena bit her lip briefly before looking directly at Alken.
Alken, thinking that Resena had something to say to him, waited for her words. His guess was correct. Resena made a proposal to Alken.
“Um, Alken. If you have time… could you go to Amarast with Renard and me?”
“To Amarast… You mean you want to go directly to the place preparing for war?”
Alken opened his eyes wide. But despite his surprise, Resena continued speaking.
“Yes. Isn’t the price of goods in Crevasta soaring because of these untimely war preparations? And now a killer has appeared, throwing the imperial city into chaos. To solve this fundamentally, we need to go to Amarast first and stop their war preparations.”
“That… is certainly true, Resena. But do you have a good strategy to stop the war preparations?”
Resena stared at Alken intently, then made a funnel with her hands and whispered.
“Actually, I think the royal family of Amarast is currently being controlled by dark mages.”
“…!”
Alken looked at Resena with surprised eyes, but couldn’t continue speaking. Soon, however, he lowered his head again and focused all his attention on Resena’s whispered words.
“May I hear why you think so?”
“First, the reason for Amarast’s war preparation makes no sense.”
“Please continue.”
Resena nodded.
“Even if it’s an old grudge, 20 years have passed. If this were right after the peace treaty was signed, these war preparations might be understandable. But 20 years have passed since the peace treaty, and the two countries have been peaceful with no room for grudges, exchanging goods well with each other. And then suddenly they’re preparing for war to resolve an old grudge. It makes no sense.”
“That’s true… And?”
“Second, it’s strange that the prince is coming here.”
“In what way?”
“It’s not like Crevasta is situated between the Kingdom of Amarast and the Kingdom of Serma, so there’s no reason for the prince to come personally to request cooperation. They’ve already caused prices to soar by stockpiling traded goods for war preparations. If he comes to Crevasta to request cooperation, His Majesty the Emperor wouldn’t receive him kindly.”
“I suppose that’s true.”
“Yet he’s coming despite that… It makes more sense that the prince isn’t coming for ordinary cooperation but to escape the high-ranking dark mage who has taken control of the Amarast royal family. Dark mages aren’t fools, and they won’t sit idle if they learn the prince has noticed. So the prince is essentially coming to Crevasta to request asylum.”
Hmm. Alken looked at her with surprised eyes and nodded.
“Ah… I suppose if black mana is controlling the Amarast royal family, fleeing would be the best option for the prince who’s next in line. As you know, Amarast has lands that are mana wastelands where few knights and mages are born.”
“Yes. They don’t have knights of Sword Expert rank or higher who could block black mana. Not only that, but it’s also a place where mages don’t possess enough mana to block black mana. So it has the most disadvantageous conditions for waging war, which makes the talk of war preparations completely unsuitable.”
Alken listened carefully to Resena’s words.
“But if dark mages have taken control of the royal family with black mana, that changes things. Since there are so few knights and mages there, if they clash with the Kingdom of Serma, which has old grudges, the casualties would be enormous. The two kingdoms have similar numbers of knights and mages, and battles would mainly involve regular soldiers, so if dark mages sacrifice wounded or dying soldiers to black mana, they would generate almost infinite black mana.”
He bit his lip at those words. At first, Resena’s words had sounded far-fetched, but the more he listened, the more sense they made. Moreover, Amarast was known for having many pacifists, so it was strange that war preparations had begun without any warning signs.
‘If dark mages obtain nearly infinite mana, the “Demon King’s Advent” they would certainly perform… Is that their goal?’
“Hearing this, I think the dark mages might be trying to obtain nearly infinite black mana to attempt the Demon King’s Advent. …Of course, the Demon King’s Advent was a terrifying event that occurred when the empire was founded… but now we don’t even have the holy sword Arcana from that time, so facing the Demon King would be overwhelming. Fortunately, we have His Highness the Crown Prince who can wield the light of Sernaus and Saint Lorona Weiz, so we might somehow manage to seal it…”
“The best thing would be to reduce the amount of black mana they can acquire to a level where the Demon King’s Advent cannot succeed. And to prevent them from acquiring it at all, we need to stop the war.”
Alken nodded again in agreement with Resena’s words.
“Indeed, stopping the war preparations and liberating the royal family from black mana control should be prioritized. Fortunately, to eliminate black mana, we need priests or a saint… If we take Saint Lorona and several holy knights, along with Sword Masters to protect them, we could eliminate the black mana controlling the royal family, though it would be dangerous.”
“And there are a few more important things. All attendants we take must be consecrated to prevent black mana infiltration, and once we arrive, we must find and eliminate the dark mages first. Otherwise, black mana will infiltrate minds again and they’ll be controlled once more.”
Alken agreed.
“I understand. Then we’ve decided who will go. Consecrated attendants and knights, plus the Sword Master of the Arnasus family, young Duke Renard, I, Resena, Saint Lorona, and Holy Knight Sir Ian Fullecher—that would make about 30 people.”
“That’s right. And before that, we need cooperation from Crown Prince Eldis, who will announce that he’s sending us as envoys to Amarast in response to the prince’s request for cooperation.”
Alken took another sip of his drink. As Resena was starting to feel thirsty too, she took a sip before the conversation resumed.
“Then I’ll use my authority as deputy commander of the royal knights to see the Crown Prince today and speak with him.”
“Yes. We’ll prepare everything before the prince arrives, and when he comes, we’ll naturally send an envoy saying we’ll help with Amarast’s war preparations. With that excuse, even the dark mages in Amarast won’t be able to refuse us.”
Alken tapped the table.
“Then I should get going right away. To convey this information to His Highness Eldis, it would be best to enter the palace as soon as possible and speak with him to avoid any misunderstandings in the content.”
“Yes. Then I’ll leave it to you, Alken.”
“Leave it to me.”
Alken spoke as if suddenly remembering something.
“Resena, make sure to receive consecration before going. And as I mentioned, please prepare only with knights who have received consecration. I’ll also select a few Sword Experts from the royal guard to accompany me… but I’ll choose only those who have received consecration, even among the Sword Experts.”
“I understand. Thank you, Alken.”
“No need for thanks. Then, after speaking with His Highness the Crown Prince, I’ll send a messenger bird right away.”
