Chapter 88 – The Spy

Early evening.

A private leadership meeting of the Golden Age Party held in the capital.

As they say, it was darkest under the lamp.

In the underground of District 13, where the bloody purge had occurred, all the leadership of the Golden Age Party gathered.

The host of the meeting was, of course, the representative of the Golden Age Party, and Rashid also came to attend with a companion.

She asked with wonder.

“Was it here? The place where you said you had a dinner appointment.”

“Right. What did you expect?”

“I know all of the Chief Inquisitor’s schedule, so when you said a dinner appointment… No, never mind. It is actually better.”

“What is better?”

She did not reply, and Rashid, after waiting for an answer, soon saw a party official approaching him.

“You must be the Inquisitor. I am Yosif Brandon, the Propaganda Chief.”

Yosif Brandon.

Wearing a dark suit, he was a man with an angular face, short stature, and a thin build.

Although he looked insignificant, he was undeniably the second-in-command of the Golden Age Party.

“I have heard a lot about you from the party representative. Please come this way. I will guide you.”

Rashid Preston.

He had become someone whom anyone in the leadership of the Golden Age Party would recognize.

It was only natural, since he had returned from hell with the party representative.

As Rashid moved under Brandon’s guidance, she asked him quietly.

“Did you perhaps join the party? Since they are treating you so well.”

“I joined recently.”

She asked with wonder.

“I recall you saying you had no interest in political party activities. Was I wrong?”

“That is still the case now. I only joined this party for convenience. After all, the fact that I support this party is something that even dogs and cows know. Besides, why make it troublesome to meet him? Comfortable is good.”

Her suspicious gaze was still present.

She asked something else.

“By the way, what is happening today? It does not feel like a simple rally.”

First of all, the place they were going to was secretive itself.

A rally would normally be held in a public place where anyone could gather.

She had asked because that was not the case.

“There is a leadership meeting today. In secret, of course.”

“A leadership meeting?”

His words about having no interest in party activities came to her mind anew, and she looked slightly confused.

“Is there a reason?”

“Of course there is a reason. I have something to receive from him.”

Receiving the magic book related to Veronica was the purpose of participating in this meeting.

Guided by Brandon, the two soon reached an underground vacant lot.

There, a crowd of the Golden Age Party leadership who had arrived in advance was gathered.

They were not just one or two.

The number of gathered people exceeded hundreds, and there were also quite a few Revolutionary Guards guarding them nearby.

“The scale is larger than I thought.”

She did not hide her surprised expression.

It was more than she had expected.

“Of course. The number of party members alone now exceeds several hundred thousand. Up until now, it is the undisputed number one party in the empire. Although it will give up that position someday.”

At his words that left a question, a question mark floated on her face.

This influence would change?

She missed the timing to ask.

Meanwhile.

The Propaganda Chief, who had guided them here, stood on the platform that everyone was looking at.

“Revolution in the heart!”

Boom, boom, boom!

The party members supporting him warmly welcomed him with the party slogan and the sound of drums.

Since soundproofing magic was laid over the entire place, there was no way the noise generated here would cause a problem.

In that noise.

Standing on the platform, Brandon quietly waited with his hands folded politely, in a manner completely contrary to his small appearance.

Soon, as the noise subsided, he spoke solemnly.

“The party members and I support the representative with unwavering loyalty, and we will dedicate our bodies and minds without doubt or fear before the new era of the empire and the holy call of revolution.”

“My dear revolutionary comrades. The representative will give a speech.”

As if they had been waiting, a huge cheer burst out, and soon, the one who revealed himself on the platform was Wolfgang Kaiser, the representative of the Golden Age Party and Rashid’s friend.

Kaiser lightly shook hands with Brandon, who was stepping down, showing his friendship with him without filtering, immediately after stepping onto the platform.

It was Kaiser’s consideration for him.

Aria, who was silently watching all of it, opened her lips.

“The support for the party representative is solid. Even though he was persecuted so much… I see no shaking at all.”

Rashid smiled silently, while she had a somewhat heavy expression, as if she had a lot to think about regarding the solid appearance of the Golden Age Party.

Standing on the platform, Kaiser also folded his hands and waited quietly until everyone became silent, just like Brandon.

Once everyone lowered their voices and finished preparing to listen closely to his voice.

Only then did Kaiser’s voice flow out gently.

“My dear revolutionary comrades.”

“I heard that bad rumors about me have been spreading recently.”

“It feels as though attacks against me have become particularly severe lately. However, you who are here and all the citizens of the empire know that it is merely a pathetic trick by external forces trying to drive a wedge between me and the party.”

“They say that I have foreign citizenship. That I am not an imperial citizen. Even that I am a spy.”

“Then I ask you. If I were a spy, would I have risked my life to fight for this empire?”

Kaiser raised his index finger.

“The clear fact here is! In the Grey Morning, I fought against the Allied Kingdom and was captured as a prisoner. The very fact that I became a prisoner is proof that I stood on the side of the empire and fought until the end.”

Wearing a determined expression, Kaiser placed his clenched fist over his heart.

“To me, my homeland is only the empire. In my next life, and the life after that. I will willingly fight and die for this empire that I love.”

A boiling cheer once again strongly washed over the area.

Aria, who was watching this, narrowed her eyes and spoke.

“Come to think of it, there was such a story.”

Her gaze was directed toward Rashid, with an expression that seemed to desperately crave an answer.

“That the party representative here is a spy sent by the Allied Kingdom.”

Since she was someone who had directly participated in the war.

The spy charge attached to the party representative here felt quite sensitive to her.

Putting his mouth right to her ear without hesitation, Rashid showed a rather mischievous smile.

“Right. Because he was a spy attached to keep an eye on Ryden.”

Although she was slightly shocked, Rashid did not seem to mind at all.

Returning to his original position, he spoke in a voice only she could hear.

“But no one cares. Look at this atmosphere now. Who would harbor such suspicion?”

The party members were fiercely supporting Kaiser without any doubt.

Such was the power of his speech and agitation.

Rashid’s words continued.

“There is no shaking, just like your usual behavior.”

* * *

The rose garden located in the Imperial Palace.

The roses, layered from blood-red to light pink, held their heads high loftily, and a strange tension was infused in the surrounding air along with a sweet scent.

The Princess was strolling in the garden, maintaining a cautious distance from the one who was dispatched as the special envoy of the Allied Kingdom.

By their side, Ryden, a knight of the Imperial Guard, and Varasha, who participated in the capacity of an inspector, accompanied them, and in the rear, maids followed like shadows, maintaining a constant distance.

The one who broke the silence that had lasted for a long time was none other than the envoy of the enemy nation.

“I did not expect to encounter in this manner the two people whom I had considered quite a headache. I had only thought it would be a more tense place.”

Eisen Bernstein.

The head who led the Central Intelligence Agency of the Allied Kingdom and was dispatched as the special envoy of the Allied Kingdom, showed a bitter smile.

His gaze was directed at the two heroes of the Empire before they knew it.

“Do the two of you not feel that way?”

Since the two heroes were not the masters of this gathering, they spared their words, and the Princess stepped forward instead.

“Were you that uncomfortable?”

Eisen glared at the Princess briefly before he soon withdrew his gaze.

“No. I do understand. One is a knight of the Imperial Guard, and the other is an inspector. It is not particularly strange. It is just… if you had been considerate of me, anyone else would have been sufficient.”

When he stopped his steps, the steps of everyone, including the Princess, also stopped.

“That aside. I was greatly disappointed in the Internal Inspectorate here. It has been so long since we openly released information about that guy, yet he is still running rampant.”

Having broached the subject in that way, he continued speaking as if he had made up his mind.

“If you are still confused, let me tell you clearly at this gathering.”

His gaze was now directed not at the Princess, but at the inspector nearby.

“The guy is indeed a spy sent by us.”

A shock masquerading as silence swept over everyone.

“Since you cannot handle it even when we release information like that, I went through the trouble of coming all the way to this place.”

He showed anger.

“To deliver it directly.”

He recalled what had happened previously.

What had been given to him as classified information was a photograph of the guy holding up his middle finger.

That damn bastard.

“The reason I came here with such trouble is also entirely because of that guy.”

At his complaint, the Princess’s gaze reached Varasha.

“Inspector.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

“Did you hear?”

“Yes, I heard.”

“Wouldn’t some action be necessary?”

She did not bother to say it was late.

Because it was already beyond the jurisdiction of the Inspectorate.

“Seeing that you have no words, it seems the Inspectorate has already let go of its hands.”

“I am sorry, Your Highness.”

Even in the midst of this, Eisen’s dissatisfaction was considerable.

“It seems I held the standard of the Inspectorate here too high. It must be my mistake to think it was similar to our Central Intelligence Agency.”

Since it was no longer classified.

And since this gathering was solely to screw him over.

Eisen exposed all the things that had been treated as classified in the meantime.

“I will tell you the truth. Sending him back here was to monitor the two of you who are treated as heroes here.”

Eisen’s gaze explicitly landed on Ryden, and Ryden was making a quite serious expression as he recalled Kaiser whom he had met before.

“I heard the two of you here were academy classmates with him?”

Eisen wore a bitter smile.

“Do you know what is funny? The ones I sent as spies are two guys. One of them is definitely a classmate of the two of you here. Wolfgang Kaiser. But that guy died near the border. We found his body.”

Shocking words continued.

“Yet, some unrelated guy is wearing that name. It is that man who is currently leading the Golden Age Party. His name is Matthias Krueger.”

Eisen shook his head.

“He is not the real Wolfgang Kaiser. Although it is still unknown why he is using that name, one thing is certain: he is not the real Kaiser.”

Unable to overcome the shock, Ryden hung his head.

At the same time, he could understand.

Why he had not been able to recognize the one who introduced himself as a classmate.

This was the same for Varasha as well.

Although she did not know the original Kaiser in the first place, to think that all of it was a red lie.

In this way.

Although the two heroes fell into shock.

The Princess was different.

She was angry at the very fact that he could behave like this.

It was an act of making a mockery of herself and the empire.

“Special Envoy, are you not being too honest?”

Eisen responded, keeping her in mind.

“I am sorry if you were offended. I was just so frustrated.”

“Where do you think this place is, dare you?”

“Is it not the heart of the enemy nation?”

“You have a strong heart. To dare say such things in the heart of the enemy nation. Do you perhaps have another heart left behind somewhere else?”

Eisen smiled mockingly.

Although this was the enemy nation, he was a special envoy, and furthermore, behind him stood the Allied Kingdom.

Completely opposite to the empire, which was in jeopardy and swept by confusion.

A kingdom that was more solid and steadfast than ever.

“I am a special envoy. Harming a special envoy is extremely wrong. Or do you intend to not even spare a war with us? That would not be the case.”

There was a reason for the smile Eisen wore.

“Actually, I also volunteered as the envoy because I was pissed off by that guy Kaiser. But putting that aside, I also came here because I had something urgent to tell you.”

The Princess revealed her anger but spared her words, and the empty space was filled by Eisen’s voice.

“The Council. It is a system that our Allied Kingdom, which is a monarchy, can never sit by and watch. Tolerance itself is impossible.”

This was a clear warning.

“I hope you will stop it by any means necessary. Although we understand that the imperial family is in jeopardy in these chaotic times, even so, we will not allow even the Council.”

The Princess asked.

“Does that mean you are ready to wage war if necessary?”

Eisen smiled lightly.

“If necessary. We are prepared to take any measures.”