25. Sky Journey
“So then, Emperor-san, how are we going to chase after them?”
Walking along led by the emperor, Claude asked about the method to pursue Garnets and the others.
The enemy had flown away through the sky. There was no way to catch up using ordinary methods.
The imperial guards made unpleasant faces at Claude’s casual way of speaking to their lord, but Siegfried deliberately let him do as he pleased. The emperor, who had a good eye for people, had seen through that Claude the thief was the type who would rebel if suppressed.
“Nothing to it—I have another airship prepared for just such an occasion. Almost identical to that one. I had it secretly built in a different location. Thanks to those fellows, the flight tests are practically complete, so it can be used immediately. We’ll pursue them by riding in that.”
“Another one just like that?”
Claude’s eyes widened. Murakumo and Yuri were also genuinely surprised. The airship had clearly cost an enormous amount of money. The national power of an empire that had built another one was truly extraordinary.
“Of course. Otherwise, if that one had crashed, it would have been the end of everything, wouldn’t it? To continue the technology, backup is always necessary. I won’t let it end with a single gamble. Nations don’t develop through gambling. I spare no expense for such purposes.”
Seeing Claude and the others’ surprise, Siegfried grinned.
Claude had thought the empire was a country that had developed by stealing ancient civilization’s technology—a country that had grown large through cowardly mimicry. However, listening to the emperor’s words, he felt that the man had considerable conviction.
In reality, though the emperor spoke favorably, when it came to the airship specifically, it was so technically excessive that it had strong aspects of being the emperor’s personal hobby. Not letting them realize this was also part of Siegfried’s skillfulness.
“Does Garnets know about the backup?”
“He doesn’t. If I had told him, he would have destroyed that first.”
“Why didn’t you tell him? Does that mean you didn’t trust him?”
Claude was curious about what kind of relationship the emperor and chancellor had.
“No.”
Siegfried showed an innocent expression free of calculation.
“When the time came, I just wanted to surprise people by saying ‘I prepared for just such an occasion.’ You were actually surprised, weren’t you?”
Garnets and the others’ airship journey was going smoothly. After all, they were the only humans flying through the sky in the world—there was no one to obstruct them.
Emma was given a private room. Just like in the castle, she had two female soldiers as guards. Of course, Cat was with her too.
Since the airship was flying above the clouds, only sky and clouds were visible through the round glass window, but occasionally the ground could be seen through gaps in the clouds. It was a god’s-eye view, making towns and villages seem terribly small.
After being hastily stuffed into the airship and thrown into the room, Emma was captivated by the scenery visible from that window. However, this was temporary, and gradually anger welled up within her.
After all, she had been carried here tucked under Garnets’ arm like a child. Even for the gentle Emma, this was quite humiliating.
Moreover, Garnets had even betrayed the empire. This meant he intended to use The Castle of Canaan for his personal ambitions. He was probably plotting world conquest or something.
Emma considered escaping again, but this was high in the sky. Compared to that tower where she had been confined in the empire, this was incomparably higher, making escape impossible.
(But I might be able to hide at least)
This airship was quite large and spacious. On the other hand, Garnets’ group wasn’t very numerous. If she hid skillfully, she might not be found, and if lucky, she might make them think she had jumped off. That would be exactly what she wished for.
The female soldiers in the same room seemed to plan on taking turns sleeping and keeping watch, but Emma quietly thought of ways to slip past their surveillance.
And then, she suddenly made eye contact with Cat on her lap.
(That’s it!)
Emma thought she had come up with a brilliant plan… or so it seemed.
The door to this room only opened when meals were brought in. At that time, she would deliberately let Cat escape and chase after it, pretending to pursue it out of the room. That way she could naturally escape from this room. Even if she failed, it wouldn’t raise suspicion.
The problem was whether Cat would move as she hoped, but Emma, who had interacted with various animals in the forest, had some confidence in communicating with animals. Besides, Cat was strangely clever and sometimes seemed to understand human speech.
Emma brought her mouth close to Cat’s small ear and whispered:
“Cat-san, when that door opens, run and dash outside. I’ll chase after you.”
Cat showed a gesture that seemed like nodding.
She didn’t know if the meaning really got through, but Emma prepared herself to dash out of the room at any time. Even if such resolve proved futile, she had nothing to lose.
And then some uneventful time passed. Cat walked around the room as if it owned the place.
Emma sat on the bed, pretending to gaze out the window while straining her ears for sounds outside the door.
One of the female soldiers was taking a nap, while the other had placed a chair to block the door and sat there, intently watching Emma.
(This is really difficult to move. At this rate, even when the door opens, I might not be able to get out of the room)
Thinking this, Emma tried to create an opening by talking to the sitting female soldier.
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“You said ‘our goal is to create a world without conflict,’ but what exactly does that mean?”
The female soldier, suddenly questioned, showed a face as if caught off guard, then looked away and showed signs of thinking.
Then, exhaling a thin, long breath, she quietly spoke:
“Emma-sama, how do you think the world could become peaceful?”
Now it was Emma’s turn to be caught off guard. That was because it wasn’t something to think about by wishing for it.
“……If everyone would put down their weapons and stop fighting, wouldn’t there be peace?”
“Do you really think humans would put down their weapons? No, even if they did put down their weapons, primitive conflicts based on physical strength would simply begin instead. Because fighting is the essence of human nature. You can understand this by looking at the world. Countries are divided into small pieces and continue to fight, never trying to become one. Even if they are temporarily unified, they immediately split apart and begin fighting again. History proves this.
The world is currently being unified by the Empire, but cracks have already begun to appear. His Majesty the Emperor is using the power of ancient civilization to do everything possible, but even that is reaching its limits. The territory has become too vast, and his watchful eye can no longer reach every corner. The fact that that thief Claude and his gang were allowed to repeatedly plunder as they pleased is one piece of evidence of this.”
When this was pointed out, Emma gasped. Indeed, it seemed strange that Claude and his men had been left alone for so long in the Empire’s territory, even if it was on the frontier, given the Empire’s reputation for strict governance.
“Couldn’t time have solved that? His Majesty the Emperor seemed like a wise and intelligent person. If given a little more time, surely……”
Why am I defending Siegfried? Emma found herself puzzled by her own reaction.
“Yes, indeed. His Majesty is certainly an excellent person. He’s skilled at capturing people’s hearts, and he always carries out what he says he will do. ……But he cannot change people’s hearts. There’s nothing that can be done about that. Though it’s rarely said openly now, there are still those who call His Majesty the ‘Crippled Emperor’ and look down on him. Such a person who works so hard. Especially the Empire’s nobles—they said ‘politics would be difficult with that body’ and were constantly watching for an opportunity to strip him of the imperial throne. That’s why Prime Minister Garnets deliberately made himself conspicuous, becoming the target of criticism. The Empire is distorted, you see. It’s not as solid as Emma-sama thinks it is.”
“Then what do you intend to do? Are you going to change people’s hearts? There’s no way you could do such a thing!”
Emma stood up from the bed and pressed closer, somewhat agitated. This was deliberate. She had heard footsteps from outside the door. Given the timing, there was a high possibility that someone had come to bring food.
“That is……”
The female soldier hesitated. At that moment, a voice called from outside the door: “I’ve brought food.”
Looking flustered, the female soldier moved the chair aside, unlocked the door, and opened it wide. Just as Emma had planned, she seemed to be somewhat distracted by her thoughts, her attention diverted from her purpose of surveillance.
The cat suddenly started running and darted between the feet of the soldier who had brought the food.
“Whoa!”
The soldier, whose hands were occupied with the food tray, staggered involuntarily, and Emma could see the gap in the open door.
“Wait!”
Emma ran toward that gap.
“Ah!”
The distracted female soldier tried to chase after Emma a beat too late and collided with the soldier who had brought the food. The food that had been brought scattered all over the floor.
“Hey!”
The soldier who had been knocked into showed his anger.
“Sorry!”
Leaving only those words behind, the female soldier chased after Emma.
TLNOTE
While waiting for the next chapter, I encourage you, dear readers, to explore other masterpieces written by Daken-sensei :
- Monster Meat Led Me to the Throne
- Who killed the Hero?
- The Wicked Princess and 12 Eyes – The Strongest Squires and the Legendary Evil Woman, the Second Time in Her Life
- The Suspects of Necromancy
- The Exiled Merchant Saves the World with the Power of Gold (translated by my friend meerkat)
- The Last Magic (translated by my friend narwhal)
Also check out my friend Localizermeerkat for more LN translations!
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