Envoys From Two Nations

About three days had passed since we had crushed the army that had eagerly rushed to attack Einheria and seized the fortress, and had instead begun invading their country in return.

The invading army was advancing smoothly across the board, and had already captured the fortress on the border, as well as the towns near it.

The country that had been invaded seemed to be in utter chaos, but for them to panic after launching a war and then getting hit with a counterattack was remarkably carefree of them.

In the midst of that, as I was working through documents in the office as usual, Kiriku, even more expressionless than normal, came in and informed me of the matter at hand.

“An envoy from the Kingdom of Largray?”

“Yes. They will arrive at the former royal capital of Lumoria tomorrow.”

The Kingdom of Largray that had just been mentioned was one of the neighboring countries located west of Einheria, and one of the nations that had not attacked us this time.

“And their business is…?”

“They wish to express their congratulations on the enthronement of the King of Einheria, and to use this opportunity to establish diplomatic relations.”

I understood perfectly why Kiriku looked as expressionless as he did.

“I see… when ignorance reaches this level, it goes beyond anger and inspires pity instead.”

It was painfully obvious that they had sent an envoy without having any understanding of Einheria.

If they had properly spoken beforehand even to the governors who were former nobles, they never would have said something as off the mark as congratulations on an enthronement, nor would they have said something that would completely turn my children against them.

Well, even if they were not dealing with my children, the moment an official envoy uttered incorrect information in an exchange between nations, it was already over.

“Would you permit us to handle this matter on our side?”

Kiriku, whose eyes had completely gone dead, asked with only the corners of his mouth curled into a smile.

The reason Kiriku was so enraged like this was simple. My enthronement had taken place… at least in Kiriku and the others’ minds, more than ten years ago.

When I first came to this world as Fels, Lynferia had said that it was currently Year 8 of the Unification Calendar.

The Unification Calendar was the era name given in the Overlord route of Sword and Legions after all nations had been annexed and the Demon King had been defeated. Naturally, Fels had been enthroned as king even before that… so if they spoke as though I had only become king by defeating the Kingdom of Lumoria… then it would be more than just an international incident.

In other words, they were calling me a usurper. To my children, that meant their rightful king had been insulted, so of course they were furious with all their might.

Well, I had intended to flatten the neighboring countries one way or another anyway, and since they had insulted another nation’s king without even doing proper research, they had only themselves to blame.

More importantly, if a country you had never even heard of suddenly appeared next door, then be cautious and investigate properly… even if we were conducting counterintelligence, we had not completely shut out even the kind of information that would come up in ordinary conversation among the people.

What sort of nation Einheria was, why it had fought the Kingdom of Lumoria, what kind of person its king was… we had actively spread rumors about such things, and they were the sort of information anyone could gather immediately if they looked.

Whether they had neglected even that, or whether they had deliberately said something like that to test our reaction… I still did not know, but to mock another nation’s king just to gauge their response carried far too much risk, so it was probably better to assume they were fools acting only on the information that had reached them without even gathering rumors first… namely, that the Kingdom of Lumoria had fallen and that its successor now called itself Einheria.

Well, I would leave the Kingdom of Largray to Kiriku… honestly, I was worried it might end up even worse off than the three countries that had attacked us, but since they had angered my children, they would just have to give up.

“Understood, I leave it to you. However, do not go too far, all right? The people in particular bear no fault.”

“By your will. May I borrow the diplomatic trainees?”

“Diplomatic trainees…? Ah, the ones who used to be in the scout unit of the former Kingdom of Lumoria? Will that really be enough?”

“Yes. And if, at the end, we might borrow the radiance of Fels-sama’s august presence…”

“Hm? And what exactly would I need to do?”

You say the radiance of my august presence… what was I supposed to do, cast magic and make holy rays shine from my back? I could not use the light attribute, so it would be lightning instead….

“I would like you to enter the royal capital of the Kingdom of Largray at the head of the troops. That will be the end of the Kingdom of Largray.”

Huh. I had absolutely no idea what that meant. At any rate, it did not sound like I needed any halo.

More importantly, it seemed that in Kiriku’s mind, the Kingdom of Largray Collapse Plan had already been fully completed.

In this case, the only thing I could really say was…

“So I only need to enter the royal capital… I see, you mean to make it fall without fighting… is that it?”

“Exactly as your wisdom perceives. I wish to clear away the trash, make it clean, and then present it to Fels-sama.”

I thought my eyes were clouded all the time… but well, there was no doubt that Kiriku would somehow make everything turn out nicely.

“How much time do you estimate?”

“I was thinking of aligning it with the three nations currently being invaded.”

“Two months, huh…”

Judging by the way Kiriku spoke, he did not mean to conquer it through battle… but just what kind of fate awaited the Kingdom of Largray…?

Well, only Kiriku knew that… but setting that aside, four of the five neighboring nations had now shown movement, while the last one… the Lufelon Holy Kingdom to the east, had done nothing at all.

The name Holy Kingdom had sounded strongly of religion, and I had intensely disliked that, but apparently it was not that kind of country at all, and was simply called the Holy Kingdom because its king styled himself the Holy King.

By that logic, ours would be the Overlord Kingdom, but I was not going around calling myself the Overlord outwardly… though perhaps people would start calling it that eventually.

“There is no problem with handling the Kingdom of Largray that way. By the way, has that so-called Lufelon Holy Kingdom shown no movement at all?”

“It was not yet confirmed information, so I had not informed you, but like the Kingdom of Largray, the Lufelon Holy Kingdom is also making moves to dispatch an envoy.”

“Oh…? I can only hope they are wiser than the Kingdom of Largray.”

If they came with the same pattern, Kiriku would really cut loose, you know?

“The Lufelon Holy Kingdom is the least politically stable of the five neighboring nations. The Holy King who took the throne last year is ten years old this year. Naturally, he cannot conduct state affairs, and it appears that the regent, who is the Holy King’s uncle, holds the real power.”

“…A regent, huh.”

A regent… it should not necessarily be a villainous role, and yet the word gave off an incredibly suspicious smell, didn’t it?

“The regent, who acts in place of the sovereign, and the chancellor, who handles the affairs of state, are engaged in factional conflict, and the nobles divided into those two camps are consumed by power struggles, leaving domestic politics in shambles. The reason that country did not attack us even when we showed an opening was probably because the factional conflict prevented them from directing military strength outward.”

“How ridiculous. To become so absorbed in child’s play like power struggles that they neglect governance… if left alone, it seems they would destroy themselves before long, but how do you see it, Kiriku?”

“Though the central authority is unstable, it is still a country with history. Thanks to the political system built up over many years, no decisive failure great enough to shake the nation has yet occurred. The Holy King is young, and his qualities are not yet clear, but it will still take several years before he reaches adulthood and can govern personally. Even so, even if the current situation continues, the country should last until the Holy King comes of age. That is, if no foreign nation intervenes.”

“Naturally, the other nations will not simply watch in silence.”

Just as we had been attacked this time, any weakness would be exploited thoroughly.

“It appears that both the regent faction and the chancellor faction are strengthening their own positions by using the power of foreign nations, so an internal war will most likely break out before the current Holy King reaches adulthood.”

“A civil war, huh… and even if one side emerges victorious, the ultimate destination would be subordination to the foreign nation that lent them strength… that young Holy King is pitiable. He did not wish for the Holy King’s throne of his own accord, did he?”

A ten-year-old child was hardly likely to say, I’ll become king and lead the nation… and if he really were some child prodigy who did say that, then things would never have reached the point where the regent held such sway.

“Yes. The former Holy King and his consort died in an accident, and the current Holy King, their only child, took the throne.”

“An accident, huh…”

There was another suspiciously foul-smelling word….

“It is said that while they were inspecting the provinces by carriage, they were caught in a cliff collapse. Nearly half of the Royal Guard knights serving as escorts were executed for failing to protect the Holy King, and apparently no one remains who knows the situation at the time.”

“…That is a remarkably easy-to-understand accident.”

That was black as night… whether it was the regent or the chancellor who did it, I did not know… but judging by the power they had gained from it, the regent gave off the more suspicious smell.

“It is the regent’s faction that is moving to send the envoy. What shall we do?”

“There is no need for us to act from our side. Gather information thoroughly, and after that, let us take our time and observe what the envoy intends to do.”

Unlike the blundering envoy from the Kingdom of Largray, this one might actually be a proper diplomatic mission, and whether the regent or the chancellor was the villain, it had nothing to do with us.

I did feel sorry for the Holy King, who had been caught up in political strife at such a young age, but we had neither the right nor the need to do anything about it.

Interference in another nation’s internal affairs would be a matter that even those other than the Lufelon Holy Kingdom itself would complain was none of our business.

To the people moving in secret behind the scenes, it would also mean ruining their carefully prepared hunting ground.

Well, there was also the option of stepping into the struggle between the regent faction and the chancellor faction from behind the scenes as patron to create a Holy King faction… but treating a ten-year-old child like a pawn in that way was not to my taste. Though it would probably make excellent bait for advancing an invasion.

In any case, it would all depend on how the envoy of the Lufelon Holy Kingdom moved.

There was no way they would declare war on us in this situation… and as long as they did not make some idiotic blunder like the Kingdom of Largray… they were probably just ordinary envoys of friendship.

Apparently the envoy would be dispatched under the initiative of the regent faction, but whether it was meant as a line to rely on in an emergency… or whether they would ask us to lend them strength, or warn us not to do anything… well, I supposed that would be something to enjoy once the envoy actually arrived.