Strategy And The Morning Of The Day

Once the escape route had been secured, Hubert straightened his posture and spoke again.

“I have one more suggestion—may I share it?”

“Of course. Go ahead and propose it without hesitation.”

“Thank you. First of all, do you all know the saying ‘borrow the enemy’s sword’?”

At Hubert’s question, more than half of the people present tilted their heads in confusion. Rebecca and I were among those who had never heard it before, but Ann seemed to know the phrase and nodded with a serious expression.

“It means making enemies fight each other in order to annihilate them with minimal effort. If we make this strategy work properly, the battle will become overwhelmingly advantageous for us. Specifically, some of the knights who have secretly defected will pretend to be on the Empire’s side and make the enemy unable to tell who their allies are.”

“Oh, that certainly sounds interesting. If they become suspicious of each other and begin attacking their own, it will give us a great advantage.”

“Yes. However, for this strategy to work, our side must clearly know who our allies are. Therefore, we should mark ourselves in a way the enemy will not notice.”

Amazing—just as expected from someone who had served for so long as an Imperial Guard knight. Military strategy really could be useful…

“Indeed, having a mark would make things certain. Let’s all think together about what would be good.”

“Understood. It should be something recognizable at a glance.”

“That’s right. But not something the enemy will immediately notice.”

This was surprisingly difficult… If we simply wrapped cloth around our arms, it would be exposed right away and become meaningless. It had to be something easy to recognize if you knew about it, but hard to notice if you didn’t.

“How about earrings?”

“No, those would be hard to see.”

“I see…”

“Um, what about putting a mark on the clothing? For example, a star shape on the shoulder or chest, using a color that doesn’t stand out. If you know about it, it would catch your eye, but if you don’t, you probably wouldn’t notice right away.”

Rebecca’s suggestion was worth considering. After thinking about whether we could prepare it within the remaining time and how useful it would be on the day itself, it was decided that her idea would be adopted.

“Then let us hurry and prepare the marks starting now. I will personally deliver them to the knights who could not come here.”

“Understood. Thank you.”

With that, the strategy meeting ended, and we prepared to leave the base. However, just before departing, Ernesto called us over and moved to a place where the others could not hear.

“About luring Caesar—should we lead him to a narrow place or a wide one?”

“Let’s see… if possible, a wide place would be better.”

I wasn’t entirely sure how the dragon transformation would work, but if my body grew larger, I might end up destroying buildings in a narrow place. If that happened, there was a high chance other people would witness the battle.

“Then I will arrange to guide him to another hall farther away. After leading him there, I only need to deal with the Emperor and the others, correct?”

“Yes, that will be fine. Also, if you get caught up in a battle between divine servants, it would be dangerous, so if possible, please escape far away.”

“Understood… Luca, Rebecca, Ann, Hubert—please take care of this country.”

Ernesto said that with a serious expression, a hint of frustration showing through. He must have felt bitter that he could not save the country by his own strength alone.

But there was no need for him to feel that way. Without Ernesto, the plan to save the Empire would never have progressed this smoothly.

“Ernesto, we’ll be counting on you on the day as well. Let’s save this country together.”

“For the sake of the people who are suffering.”

“—Yes, you’re right. I’ll be counting on you on the day.”

We nodded to each other with serious expressions, lightly bumped our fists together, and then left the base.

At last, the day of the coup had arrived. I woke up early from the tension and headed to the base earlier than planned. When I arrived, it seemed the others had done the same—most of our allies were already gathered there.

Ernesto was not present here and was scheduled to meet us inside the royal palace.

“There are about three hours left until the party begins.”

“Yes… once it starts, we’ll move in immediately, so the execution of the coup is truly close now.”

“Luca, what is the party venue like?”

Rebecca asked quietly, so I called out to Lady Seremees, who had been watching over the palace since morning.

“How are things looking?”

“There are no particular problems. Caesar is moving as usual, and the party hall is decorated in a gaudy manner bordering on vulgar. The Emperor has been drinking since morning with women at his side.”

Wow… he was drinking alcohol since the morning, even on a day like this. I could only sigh in exasperation. At the very least, it confirmed that he absolutely needed to abdicate the throne.

“Is Ernesto moving without problems?”

“Yes. The other knights besides Ernesto also seem to be checking the security situation without letting the enemy discover the plan. The Great Gate has probably already been replaced by forces on the coup’s side.”

“Then all that remains is for us to wait for the moment to charge in.”

“That’s right… Luca, you must defeat Caesar.”

“Of course.”

I responded firmly to Lady Seremees and ended the conversation. Then I leaned closer to Rebecca’s ear, since she was looking at me with concern.

“They said nothing unusual is happening.”

“I see. That’s good to hear.”

“All that’s left is for us to succeed.”

“That’s right… let’s do our best. If it’s us, we can win. After all, we even defeated Aseem, the Servant of the God of Earth.”

That was true. Back then, Rebecca had been my only ally, but this time we had three people. And Ann was the servant of Lady Milora.

After that, we shared the current information about the royal palace with Ann and Hubert as well, and while feeling tense, we all quietly waited for the moment to begin the assault.