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Capturing the Emperor must definitely be a significant achievement.

If we hold this Emperor hostage, we could probably resolve quite a few issues.

At least, that’s what I thought…

“Everyone from the Emperor’s Imperial Guard has disappeared…?”

“Yes. They were definitely there until last night, but they started scattering through the night, and by morning, there was no one left.”

“Hmph. Cowardly bastards!”

Ignoring the dwarf representative’s curses for now…

“Did they run away, leaving the Emperor behind? No, there’s no way the Imperial Army would be so disloyal…”

“But considering the Emperor charged in alone yesterday… there might be a possibility.”

“Well… I don’t know the situation well, but they must be managing the Emperor properly, right?”

“Yes. He is being kept under strict guard. We strengthened the defenses with spirits.”

Hmm. If they’ve set up guards using spirits, it wouldn’t be easy to escape by regular means.

“Just remember, treat the prisoner with no lack of respect. Even if he’s a fool, he is the Emperor of a nation. We can’t afford issues in negotiations either.”

“Understood.”

“Honestly, I feel like he doesn’t deserve that treatment….”

Even though the representative of the dwarves growled with displeasure… well, I can understand why they’re so upset.

If that foolish Emperor hadn’t had such odd ideas in the first place, we wouldn’t have this headache.

In the end, the root of all this trouble is that foolish Emperor, so their anger towards him is actually quite justified.

However…

“I completely understand your desire to tear him to shreds and kill him. But we can’t do that.”

It’s not easy to be kind to someone who barges in with an army out of nowhere.

But, we simply can’t do that.

“He’s a valuable hostage for gaining the upper hand in negotiations. We can’t kill him.”

“Yes. Understood.”

“Hmph…”

The dwarf representative had a face full of dissatisfaction, but they nodded in agreement, seemingly coming to terms with it.

Alright. Then… should I send a letter through the Church of Life?

Unlike that foolish Emperor, I hope the other nobles can be reasoned with.

– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

News of the Emperor’s capture quickly spread through the mouths of the Imperial Guards.

The foolish Emperor had made another blunder and invaded the cities of the elves and dwarves.

The loyal Imperial Guard couldn’t refuse the foolish Emperor’s unjust orders and bravely fought against the forces of the elves and dwarves guarding Betelgeuse. However, they were ultimately defeated, unable to breach the solid walls built by the dwarves and the incredible archery skills of the elves.

Even though it sounded like a juicy rumor filled with exaggeration,

the guards didn’t hesitate to inflate the tale to cover up that they had betrayed the Emperor.

Such rumors were not what the nobles of North Romania wanted.

“Why are such absurd rumors circulating…?”

“It seems they were afraid of being labeled as cowards who fled without even putting up a fight.”

For the nobles, it was a headache. They had planned to create circumstances where the guards would reject the Emperor’s orders or use the guards to stab the Emperor in the back… but now, the Emperor had been captured alive in Betelgeuse.

If only the Emperor had died, things would’ve been smoother.

“Rumors about battles that didn’t actually happen are spreading. This is frustrating. If their hatred towards the elves and dwarves rises based on hearsay without understanding the situation…”

“Well, the nobles will have to rein in that aspect. The common people can’t do anything about such rumors anyway.”

“Hmm. There’s no choice but to act in that manner.”

If they, as nobles, firmly control the common folk, the rumors would quickly disappear.

Right now, there were more pressing matters to deal with than those rumors.

“What should we do about the Emperor?”

“What if we kill him now…?”

“Of course, that’s impossible. Right now, access to Betelgeuse is only possible for elves and dwarves.”

“Perhaps the only exception would be someone from the Church of Life, but… hmm… that would be a tall order.”

The old noble stroked his chin thoughtfully.

They cannot do anything about the captured Emperor. They can’t turn against the elves and dwarves. They can’t infiltrate Betelgeuse either.

In this situation, the best course of action would be…

“Let’s send someone to the Church of Life.”

“The Church of Life?”

“Hmm. Although there are unfortunate rumors, they are just the Emperor’s personal opinions. Make it clear that it doesn’t represent all of North Romania. If possible, express a desire to halt the war as well.”

“So you want to draw a line.”

The old noble nodded. The best scenario would be for the Imperial Guard to disband before the war breaks out, but… where exactly did things go wrong? It was quite a headache.

“Where exactly did it get so tangled…?”

With a small sigh, the old noble could only hold his aching head.

– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

Not long after sending letters to the nobles in Sirius through the Church of Life, a letter also arrived in Betelgeuse.

The letter, sent under the names of several nobles, contained apologies for not being able to stop the Emperor’s disgraceful actions, along with a request to converse with them.

Both sides were hoping for dialogue instead of war.

“That’s a relief.”

“From their standpoint, they probably wouldn’t want to antagonize Betelgeuse, let alone the elves and dwarves.”

“There are the elves and dwarves, but there’s also the matter of the Church of Life.”

Honestly, if anyone were to think for a moment and not live their life foolishly, they wouldn’t want to get into a conflict with them.

Especially when there’s another Romania lurking down south.

“For now, they say they will prepare a delegation of nobles to send, so let’s wait.”

The flames of war have somewhat cooled, and given time, things will likely revert to how they were.

“What about our vigilance regarding the Emperor?”

Hmm. The Emperor. The Emperor… honestly, it’s quite a headache.

Given the persistence of hostility towards him, I feel like if he were released, he’d be stabbed or shot with an arrow before long… but if we intimidate him too much, that might also cause issues.

“Let’s keep him confined like this, but ensure we don’t lack in hospitality.”

“Should we maintain surveillance?”

“I worry that the spirit mages have been working too hard. It might be better to ease off on surveillance using spirits a bit.”

Despite spirit magic using less magical power than other forms of magic, it’s still a tiring endeavor to keep using it continuously.

Besides, there’s no way the Emperor could escape on his own. Hmm. Easing restrictions a bit does seem reasonable.

Even if the nobles of North Romania try to send someone to rescue the Emperor, they wouldn’t be able to fool the senses of the countless elves and dwarves in Betelgeuse.

Unless they use powerful magic like spatial movement.

If such a magician existed, that is!

“Then, can we lift the emergency state?”

At the dwarf representative’s slight gleeful tone, I nodded slightly.

“Great! Now I can drink!!”

“Drinking, huh. Ugh.”

The elf representative looked horrified at those words, but what can we do? For dwarves, alcohol is akin to the elixir of life.

For now, the emergency state is maintained, completely cutting off access to and from Betelgeuse while banning activities like drinking.

It’s only natural for the dwarf representative to be acting like this.

“Alcohol! Bring me some medicinal liquor! I want to get drunk today until I drop!!”

“Even if we lift the emergency state, things are not entirely over yet…”

“Hey, I haven’t had a drink in ages, so cut me some slack. I probably couldn’t even smoke a proper cigarette.”

In response to my words, the elf representative nodded slightly. We all faced many restrictions in the lead-up to war.

We limited many things, from cherished indulgences like alcohol and cigarettes to food!

“So, what kind of discussions do you think will take place when the Romanian nobles arrive?”

“Well. From their perspective, they probably wouldn’t want a war, so they’d likely want to return to their pre-war relations. The only issue that could arise would be how to treat the Emperor… hmm…”

I paused, pondering. What will happen to that foolish Emperor going forward?

From North Romania’s point of view, they wouldn’t want to recognize an Emperor who almost led the country into a pit of destruction.

Honestly, neither would I. A ruler like that? From the rumors, there seemed to be nothing right about him! Trying to stretch his hands into the affairs of both the elves and dwarves and the Dragon Priestess!

In a world where the influence of the Church of Life seeps into every nook and cranny, such thoughts could only mean one thing… they don’t want to be recognized as human.

Accordingly, the best possible future for the Emperor would probably be to be dethroned and imprisoned.

Or simply to have his head chopped off.

Having that fool live on would be a considerable burden for North Romania.

Well, if they kill him, that could cause problems too. The noble who beheads the Emperor would gain a notorious label, and if it became known that the position of Emperor could lead to death, who knows… maybe some noble would think, “I want to be Emperor too!”

It’s a problem, either way. The fact that the one in the position of Emperor is a fool has surprisingly made this whole situation extremely complicated!