After all the Young Guard nobles had departed.
Only three people remained in the underground meeting room.
Terriuss Assis.
Griel.
And Gracchus, the Commissioner of the Thousand Kingdom.
Outside, the sound of carriage wheels was fading one by one into the distance.
The cheers and fury that had filled the room moments ago had vanished.
Civilization Enlightenment.
A new kingdom.
The protection of Caesar.
Those burning words had disappeared along with the Young Guard nobles who had ascended to the surface.
All that remained was the crackle of burning candles.
The smell of cold alcohol.
And a chilling silence.
Terriuss Assis remained silent for a long while.
He rolled an empty glass with his fingertips.
A little wine remained in the glass, but he did not drink it.
Just moments ago, the Young Guard nobles had been flushed with the excitement of believing they would be the protagonists of a new era.
They believed they would drive out the Royal and Noble Factions.
They believed they would reform the Re-Estize Kingdom.
They believed they would reclaim their rightful places.
Their eyes had been shining.
But Terriuss Assis had seen those eyes.
They were too hot.
They heated up too easily.
They were the kind of eyes that were far too easy to exploit.
He looked at Gracchus.
There was no trace of human excitement on Gracchus's face.
No matter how much the Young Guard nobles had shouted, he had merely watched their desires as if they were nothing more than fuel.
Next, Terriuss looked at Griel.
Dressed in black and blue scholar’s robes.
Cold eyes behind glasses.
A mouth curved in a smile as if he were peering into the future.
From start to finish, Griel had viewed this meeting as a single experiment.
He saw variables, not people.
He saw resources, not anger.
He saw a blueprint, not reform.
That was the look in his eyes.
Terriuss finally spoke.
"Now, tell me."
Griel tilted his head slightly.
"Tell you what?"
Terriuss set down his glass.
"The plan for the future governance of the Re-Estize Kingdom."
Gracchus spoke quietly.
"You will learn that when the time comes."
Terriuss's eyebrow twitched.
Griel added.
"For now, focus on preparing your private army. Weapons, food, retired adventurers, the command structure of your troops. That is what you need right now."
Terriuss's face hardened at those words.
"Focus on preparing my private army?"
He slowly stood up from his seat.
"Do I look like a scarecrow to you?"
The air in the room grew heavy.
Gracchus looked at Terriuss.
But Terriuss did not back down.
"'Just prepare your troops.' That isn't the reason you recruited me separately, is it?"
Gracchus and Griel looked at each other.
A brief silence followed.
Then, Griel laughed.
It was a laugh that could have been mockery.
Or perhaps, genuine interest.
"What a peculiar look in your eyes."
Griel studied Terriuss's face intently.
"They contain a resolve to not be merely used, even while being used."
He nudged his glasses up slightly.
"Certainly not the eyes of a simple puppet."
Terriuss bristled.
"What?"
Griel did not stop smiling.
"Don't be angry. It was a compliment."
"A compliment? There's a limit to how much you can mock a man."
"No. It truly was a compliment."
Griel walked slowly toward the table.
"What we need is not a simple puppet. Puppets are convenient, yes. They move when ordered and can be discarded when dangerous."
He pointed a fingertip at one of the candles.
"But such people don't last long. They are too weak to be placed at the center of a political storm."
Terriuss glared at him in silence.
Griel continued.
"You have just passed the final test."
Terriuss's expression shifted slightly.
"Test?"
"Yes. If you had bowed your head and said 'I will prepare the troops' without any suspicion, you would have been nothing more than a tool."
Griel's voice dropped an octave.
"But you asked. Why am I needed? What will I be in charge of? Where will I stand?"
He smiled.
"A human capable of asking those questions is useful."
Terriuss slowly sat back down.
The emotion drained from his face.
Calculation returned in place of anger.
"Then tell me now."
Griel nodded.
"Very well. I shall reveal the true plan."
Without a word, Gracchus unfurled a magical map in the center of the room.
A blue light rose above the meeting table.
The Royal Capital of the Re-Estize Kingdom.
The Royal Palace, Ro Lente.
The noble estates.
The main thoroughfares to be used for the festival procession.
The barracks.
The city gates.
The plazas.
The major buildings in the heart of the capital were outlined in glowing blue lines.
Griel pointed to the map.
"The first phase of the plan begins during the upcoming festival in the capital."
Terriuss narrowed his eyes.
Griel tapped the Royal Palace, Ro Lente, with his finger.
"Ramposa III. Prince Zanac. First Prince Barbro."
Names appeared on the map one by one.
"Marquis Blumrush. Marquis Lytton. Marquis Raeven. Marquis Boullope. Marquis Pespea. Marquis Urovana."
The names were arranged around Ro Lente Castle like glowing markers.
"With the exception of Princess Lana, the royalty, the Six Great Nobles, and the major lords will be gathered in one place under the pretext of the festival."
Terriuss's gaze hardened.
Griel spoke as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
"And then, we have the Young Guard forces eliminate them."
The moment those words were uttered.
The candles in the meeting room flickered.
Terriuss spoke immediately.
"That is impossible."
Gracchus looked at him.
Terriuss pointed to the map.
"Even if we prepare a private army, our forces cannot match the troops guarding Ro Lente. Even with Gazef gone, it is impossible to face the Royal Guard and the private armies of the nobles all at once."
He continued right away.
"And there is a bigger problem. The Young Guard factions will not follow such a reckless plan. They are angry, but they are not yet mad enough to stage an outright rebellion."
Griel laughed upon hearing this.
"Exactly right."
Terriuss's eyes wavered.
Griel clapped his hands lightly.
"That is why we chose you. The Young Guard nobles from earlier spoke of their grievances, but grievances alone do not make a rebellion. Anger is merely a spark."
Griel raised a finger.
"A spark needs oil."
Gracchus placed a small metal box on the table.
The box opened.
Inside was a grayish-white, viscous substance contained within a small, sealed vial.
Terriuss instinctively recoiled upon seeing it.
"What is this?"
Griel spoke.
"It is a White Phosphorus Bomb from the Thousand Kingdom."
Terriuss furrowed his brow.
"White phosphorus?"
"Simply put, it is a fire that cannot be extinguished."
Griel's voice was calm.
"If it touches flesh, it burns flesh. If it touches wood, it burns wood. If it touches cloth, it burns cloth. It cannot be easily put out with water. Even magic has difficulty suppressing it through conventional means."
Gracchus added.
"The Thousand Kingdom's White Phosphorus Bomb is not a simple incendiary weapon. The result value of 'combustion' itself is fixed."
His voice was devoid of emotion.
"If it attaches, it burns. It does not go out. It is designed that way."
Terriuss's face went pale.
Griel pointed to several locations in Ro Lente Castle on the map.
"The day before the festival, we will install these White Phosphorus Bombs in Ro Lente Castle and the festival security facilities. Stables, barracks, supply depots, the guard armory, and certain corridors inside the palace."
He traced a line with his fingertip.
"When the festival begins and the royalty and nobility are gathered, the fire will break out."
Terriuss said in a low voice.
"The entire palace will be thrown into chaos."
"Indeed."
Griel nodded.
"The Royal Guard will have to fight the fire, protect the royalty, and evacuate the nobles all at once. The private armies of the nobles will try to protect their own masters, the Royal Faction will try to protect the King, and the Noble Faction will try to protect their own houses."
Gracchus spoke.
"At that moment, the Young Guard forces will move."
Griel smiled.
"Initially, the Young Guard will move 'to save the capital.' They will enter the palace under the cover of the fire and chaos. They won't think of themselves as rebels. At first, we will make them believe they are a National Salvation Army."
Terriuss asked quietly.
"And then?"
"Then, they will eliminate the King, the princes, the Six Great Nobles, and the major lords."
"The Young Guard will do it themselves?"
"Yes. They must be the ones to get blood on their hands."
Griel's voice was ice-cold.
"Only when they cross a line they can never return from will they be unable to turn back."
Terriuss fell silent.
His fingers trembled slightly.
Griel continued his explanation.
"The fire will not go out."
He closed the vial containing the white phosphorus.
"However, the Thousand Kingdom will fix the result value so that the fire is extinguished when the time is right."
Terriuss's eyes widened.
Griel spoke nonchalantly.
"Once the fire is out, and both the Royal Army and the Young Guard rebels are exhausted..."
He pointed at Terriuss.
"Your private army will slaughter all the Young Guard forces."
Terriuss held his breath.
Griel delivered the final sentence.
"Under the pretext of purging the traitors."
A long silence descended upon the meeting room.
Now, Terriuss understood.
They would use the Young Guard's rebellion.
Through that rebellion, they would eliminate both the Royal and Noble Factions.
And then, he would eliminate the Young Guard rebels.
After everyone was dead.
He would become the one who restored order to the kingdom.
With the princes dead.
With the great nobles dead.
And with the rebels purged.
The only one left would be him.
Terriuss Assis.
A former Baronet turned Acting Commissioner.
The man who saved the kingdom.
The man who suppressed the treason.
The sole political axis connecting the Thousand Kingdom and the Re-Estize Kingdom.
The color drained from Terriuss's face.
But the light in his eyes did not fade.
He spoke slowly.
"Then..."
He looked at Gracchus.
"I will have to kill you, Gracchus."
Gracchus looked back at him calmly.
Terriuss continued.
"In order to give the Thousand Kingdom a justification to invade the capital of Re-Estize."
Gracchus nodded.
There was no hesitation in that nod.
"Of course," he said flatly.
"I am prepared to be sacrificed for the glory of Lord Caesar."
Terriuss's hands shook violently.
He had heard of the relationship between a summoner and their summons.
A being summoned by magic obeying its master's commands.
A created being submitting to its creator.
He could understand that much.
But the Gracchus before him was different.
He was thinking.
He was speaking.
He was making judgments.
He clearly understood the fact that he was going to die.
And yet, there was no hesitation.
It wasn't the resolve of a soldier ordered to sacrifice himself.
Nor was it the fervor of a fanatic.
It was something colder and more terrifying.
An obedience that accepted one's own death as if it were a mere administrative procedure.
Terriuss felt goosebumps at the nature of that relationship.
Caesar and the members of the Thousand Kingdom.
They were not simple masters and servants.
They were bound by something deeper than faith.
Something stronger than a contract.
Something that took precedence over the instinct for survival.
Griel laughed, as if he had noticed Terriuss's thoughts.
"Are you surprised?"
Terriuss did not answer.
Griel said,
"With this, the first stage of the takeover of the Re-Estize Kingdom is complete."
He pointed to the outskirts of the capital on the map.
"The Six Arms, the security division of the Eight Fingers that we dismantled, will also be part of your strength, so do not worry too much."
Terriuss looked up.
"The Six Arms?"
Griel nodded.
"Six individuals with power equivalent to the Adamantite rank."
Gracchus recited the names one by one.
"The leader, Battle Demon Zero."
A marker for a massive warrior appeared on the map.
"Illusion Demon Succulent."
A marker for magic circles and illusions.
"Undead King Davernoc."
The emblem of an undead lich.
"Spatial Slash Pesurian."
A mark showing a sword's trajectory cutting through space.
"Dancing Scimitar Edström."
Two curved blades crossed.
"Thousand Kills Malmvist."
The shadows of countless daggers appeared.
Griel spoke.
"Every one of them is hero-class. They are specialized in their respective fields and will be a significant force amidst the chaos of the capital."
Terriuss grit his teeth.
The Six Arms.
The violent arm of Eight Fingers.
Monsters who had killed, sold, and trampled countless people in the kingdom's shadows.
Even such beings were now pieces on the Thousand Kingdom's board.
Griel folded the magical map.
The blue light vanished.
Only the candlelight remained in the meeting room once more.
"The night is late."
Griel looked at Terriuss.
"Go to sleep."
Terriuss did not move for a long time.
He chewed over the plan he had just heard.
The capital's festival.
The inextinguishable white phosphorus.
The deaths of the King and the princes.
The elimination of the Six Great Nobles.
The Young Guard's rebellion.
The suppression of the rebels.
The death of Gracchus.
The Thousand Kingdom's justification for intervention.
His own rise to power.
Everything was so massive.
But at the same time, it was so clear.
He slowly stood up from his seat.
And he bowed his head to Griel.
"I understand."
Griel smiled.
Gracchus stood there without expression.
Terriuss left the meeting room.
The hallway was dark.
The stone walls were cold.
The candlelight flickered long and thin.
He looked at his hands.
They were still trembling.
But that trembling was not just from fear.
Ambition.
Fear.
Loathing.
Excitement.
Guilt.
And calculation.
All of it was tangled at his fingertips.
Outside, dawn was approaching.
The capital was still asleep.
No one knew.
No one knew that the heart of the city would soon be set ablaze.
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