<h4>Chapter 123: The Last Piece</h4>


    As soon as the door to the office was closed, a loud sigh was heard behind him.


    He turned to see Harris, the butler, with his hand on the doorknob, shaking slightly.


    The integrity of his manners, cultivated by experience, and the strength of his courage to remain unafraid of anything, let alone show any sign of agitation, were nowpletely missing from him.


    He was like a small animal released into a vast garden.


    “Also, I am sorry, Walkins-sama. I’ve a little shaken up…”


    “Well, I know exactly how you feel. In fact, I appreciate how he persevered until he got back to his room.”


    Crackling and dryly beating, Walkins hung the corners of his mouth in amusement.


    “I did not feel alive.”


    “I’m sure you’re right. The Lord you serve suddenly starts confessing to his crimes, so the obedient butler must have been very ufortable.”


    “I thought my heart would stop.”


    Finally getting back to his usual form, Harris quickly adjusted the distortion of his cor.


    “But will it be okay?”


    “You mean to reveal that it was my hand that tampered with the summoning line?”


    “He’s on the Queen’s side, even that one. When ites down to it, there is a possibility that he will reveal Walkins-sama’s ns to those on the Queen’s side……”


    The story Walkins revealed to Summoner Meidi was the truth.


    Of course, he had the help of experts, but it was Walkins, of all people, who actually tampered with the magic circle, and it might not be impossible to obtain evidence of his involvement if a thorough investigation was carried out.


    In that respect, though, it would be a fool’s errand that would strangle him.


    “Queen Reba seems to be very upset about the 21st saint - Kirishima Ran. The queen did not know until just the other day that there had been a mistake in the summoning. In other words, she was not informed by those on the Queen’s side, whom she could call her rtives. Not even once.”


    “The Queen’s adoration for the King is genuine. If she knew that you had concealed the fact that there was a problem with the summoning of the saints, which would have been the clue to saving the king’s life, until now, she would strongly feel that she had been betrayed.”


    “So they should be neutral in this case, without favouritism for their own people, they should be seeking rification of the facts. The Queen’s side understands this, which is why they are so busy cutting the lizards’ tails off. So a in and simple guilty party is what they need now more than anything else.”


    In a roundabout way, he appeared to be dodging and ducking Harris’s questions.


    But it seemed that Walkins did not intend to leave the answer to the question unanswered.


    “The crime of deceiving the queen. An inconvenient issue at an important ceremony where the king’s life was at stake. If it hadn’t been for the cover-up, it wouldn’t have been so important, but they tried to pretend that Saint Kirishima was not there from the beginning, to save their own skin.”


    Walkins was sure that the people on the Queen’s side would have nned to take care of the ‘alien’ as soon as he got mixed up in the mix.


    Originally, they could have killed him right after he was summoned - right then and there.


    But this time, the intention was to summon several people, who had been friends with each other from the start, at the same time, in order to increase cohesion and train them as a stronger group of warriors.


    What was Kirishima Ran’s position in the group in question, and how was he regarded by the others?


    Until that was clear, they couldn’t kill him. If Kirishima Ran was an important person in that group, the Saints would recognise the people of this world who had killed him as an example as enemies.


    “They’re good at [pretending it didn’t happen].It’s a way of hushing up and covering up the facts with power. It is the same this time. The powerful, such as ministers and some knights, are repeatedly pretending that they don’t know, while trying to pin the me on those who are less powerful.”


    “That is the destination waiting for Meidi the Summoner.”


    “It is known that the summoner is not well-liked by those on the queen’s side. As I told him earlier, they are trying to cover up this incident by creating a convenient scenario, saying that the summoner did it to hide his own failure.”


    Sitting back in his chair, Walkins spread his arms out in a grand gesture.


    “Those who are already on the Queen’s side are nning to cut off the summoner. In such a situation, what would happen if the summoner, who is to be med for the crime, suddenly starts pleading his innocence? Even if he ims that it was me, whom he hates, he cannot call me, the brother of the King’s wife, to the bar of justice lightly without reasonable evidence.”


    “Summoner Meidi said that there was no gain in betraying Walkins-sama here……”


    “No physical evidence. using me of working on the magic circle sounds like an evasion of responsibility. And even if I try to take the summoner at his word now, then what about the testimony that [it was the summoner’s own decision], which they have been iming until now? The ministers who had ordered them to testify would be at a disadvantage, because they would have to ask themselves whether they were endlessly making false allegations in a judicial court ofw. Once they get to this point, it’s toote to change course.”


    Rather, if he was the kind of person who would immediately sell Walkins on the basis of this confession, he was the wrong man for the job.


    It was better to give up on him at an early stage, so that there was no tail end to itter on.


    “Well, it’s in his nature, he wouldn’t do something like selling me lightly. He is not that kind of person. In fact, I think he’s probably just leaping for joy right now, as if there’s a ray of hope in his bleak situation.”


    Narrowing his white eyes, Walkins slowly intertwined his fingers on either side.


    “Well then. The actors are all here. Let’s get on with our ns.”


    “Yes……but”


    Knowing everything that was going to happen, Harris looked as if he had seen something tragic, and his eyes were lightly downcast.


    “…… with all due respect.”


    “Hm?”


    “Is it really necessary to go to such lengths?”


    The n they were about to embark on was a barbaric, even inhumane, act.


    As a fellow seeker of a prosperous future, Harris had pledged his soul to Walkins.


    But as a true human being, he also felt a twinge of conscience at the thought of what they were nning to do from here.


    “I can’t outright deny the question but is there any other way? As I said before, [we’vee this far, we can’t change course].”


    Resting his chin on his folded hands, Walkins stared into the distance.


    “It is not a simple task to make the Pearl’s son the next king. Many obstacles standing in the way. We will not be able to fulfil our ambitions unless we simultaneously neutralise them all. We knew that from the very beginning, didn’t we?”


    “It is as you say.”


    “For this reason, they had to resort to such a ridiculous thing as the demon king’s curse. Prolong his life, don’t kill. Until they’re ready, they’ll have to keep defending the throne of the king.”


    “If he senses a dark cloud and abdicates his throne, it will alle crashing down.”


    “You know what I mean. Once the king is cursed, we no longer have the option of going back.”


    The snake-like, ferocious smile sent a chill of fear down Harris’ spine.


    But he did not show it in his attitude, with his natural equanimity and gantry.


    ◇◇◇


    “The discovery of the 21st saint - Kirishima Ran - has made the Queen very angry.”


    At the same time, ministers on the Queen’s side were meeting in secret to discuss how to get through theing vote.


    “Indeed, I told the queen that the number of saints summoned was 20. But in fact, there was a 21st saint. Did the minister who reported it not know of his existence, or did he deliberately try to conceal him? The queen seems to be trying to rify that.”


    Of course, the only people gathered here were trusted colleagues who had been deeply involved in the summoning of the saints and had shared all the information with each other.


    These were the people who had been responsible for the summoning, education and training of the saints.


    Two officials with diplomatic roles were present at this meeting, but there was no problem with them.


    They were officials who normally dealt with matters at the level of state secrets. It was impossible for any information to leak out of their mouths.


    “The most important fault was the failure to deal with Kirishima Ran. I had no idea that Walkins, of all people, was harbouring him.”


    “The reasons for Walkins’ protection of the deserter saints remain unclear. And that, too, is somewhat eerie.”


    “Yes. We have no choice but to think that it was supposed to be the point where we made a false report to the Queen. Otherwise, the risks and rewards would not be bnced. If we had told the Queen of the existence of the deserter saint, it would have been Walkins who would have been charged with harbouring him.”


    “How could he have protected Kirishima Ran at the risk of losing his current position, which is disproportionate to a low-ranking aristocrat? That’s insane.”


    “But the fact is that this insane act is now strangling us. If Walkins had seen all thising, he would have known…”


    Looking over at the participants, who were verbally exchanging opinions, the minister, who was responsible for the summoning of the Saints as a whole, restrained them in a stern tone of voice.


    “There is no point in arguing about the past. The agenda this time is not reflection, but where to ce the me.”


    It was Walkins, of all people, who hid Ran Kirishima, but it seemed difficult to pin the me on him.


    What Queen Reba was trying to reveal was who first tried to conceal Kirishima Ran’s existence.


    They reported that there were exactly 20 saints summoned, butter a 21st, who should not have been there, appeared.


    It was self-evident that the report was incorrect, and it was now inevitable that someone would be held responsible.


    “Who was the first to conceal the 21st saint? We must make that clear in a way that will satisfy the Queen.”


    Whether this was true or not was not relevant for ministers on the Queen’s side.


    In fact, if the truth were to be revealed honestly, not only the minister who was involved in the summoning made a false report, but also the knights of the Kingsguard who epted the report without objection, and many others involved in the summoning would be charged with a crime.


    As long as one person was held responsible, the damage caused on the Queen’s side could be minimised.


    “Have you done the groundwork with the judicial officers?”


    “Rest assured. We have selected a number of trusted knights to testify that Meidi the Summoner plotted this case on his own initiative.”


    They were unaware of their own ignorance. It was fortunate that the coordinates of the summons were misaligned. Thanks to this, one summoner was the first to meet the saints, and then, after a dy, the knights and ministers confirmed the sessful summoning of 20 people - this was the story they agreed on.


    “We were supposed to be irrelevant in the first ce - we didn’t even know there was such a thing as the 21st Saints. We didn’t even know that the 21st saint existed, because the summoner had arbitrarily hidden Kirishima Ran somewhere before we could face the saints.”


    Several sighs of relief escaped.


    It meant that it was impossible for the judicial officers toe around to investigate.


    “Let’s settle the question of the Saints’ Kirishima Ran for the moment. Let’s move on to the other item on the agenda.”


    Two officials, who had remained silent on the earlier agenda, quickly stepped forward.


    “It’s been a while since the Saints left, how are the neighbouring countries faring? Have there been any developments?”


    “There have been no other major developments. There’s no sign of rm, or even questioning, when so many threats have been unleashed from the royal pce.”


    The king was currently wandering between half-death and half-life under the curse of the Demon King, but when he was in power he was a good king who established various achievements.


    One of these was the signing of ceasefire agreements with neighbouring countries.


    Originally, the area was peaceful and no outright wars had urred, but disputes had broken out over territorial,customs issues and a few peoples had been killed.


    Various measures had been taken since the time of the previous king to try to manage this situation. The current king had seeded in concluding an agreement with neighbouring countries to [refrain from starting any wars or conflicts and from unnecessarily increasing the number of troops].


    “It is only an unnecessary build-up, not an attempt to abolish the military service itself. The point is to build up military power so that it does not intimidate neighbouring countries”


    No matter how many wars and conflicts they had agreed not to start, if they went against that country, they might be attacked in defiance of the agreement. If such a power rtionship remained , there would be no point in having an agreement, so it would be a very natural ce to drop it.


    “The problem is that the king’s condition is not good. If the king were to pass away, there is a possibility that neighbouring countries will take advantage of the chaos in the country to vite the agreement and invade.”


    “However, if we were to prepare for an interception in advance, it would inevitably lead to suspicions that we are the ones who are plotting to vite the agreement.”


    “If it is judged to be a threat and pointed out that it is an unnecessary military build-up, the agreement that has been concluded will be a notoriety. That would be aplete disaster.”


    Unnecessary military build-up was impossible. Then there was no problem with expanding the military if necessary.


    But that was just a convenient perversion of the agreement. If such a thing was allowed to get away with it, there was no point in having concluded the agreement in the first ce.


    “But it also depends on how it is perceived. If it were to say that it was building up its military to prepare for the possibility that it might be attacked by another country, its neighbours would not remain silent…”


    The Minister continued , as if it were nothing.


    “In order to save the king’s life, we summon heroes to defeat the demon king, who is the source of the problem. What part of this amounts to unnecessary military expansion? I don’t think our neighbouring countries would think of objecting to this.”


    Although they had not made a public statement, neighbouring countries were dimly aware that the king was ill.


    However much of an agreement they had , they could not trust the politics of other countries. Spies were undoubtedly lurking. They were both on the same side about that.


    It was not clear whether any country had even identified the source of the problem, but it was possible to predict to some extent from the way officials behaved that it was due to some external factor.


    “And the Saints, around 20 people. They have not been told their true purpose, so there is no way they can screw up. The Saints are just trying to carry out their mission without any doubts.”


    Showing no sign of offence, the minister told those gathered at the meeting.


    “The curse of the demon king, eh? Even if the curse were to be lifted, the n would remain the same. He has been so physically and mentally damaged. Even if he were to return to the throne, he would notst long. We want to strengthen our forces in preparation for theing war.”


    Both the chambein’s side and the queen’s side had already given up on the king’s future.


    For the queen’s side, how to protect her son Alec, who would seed to the throne after the death of the current king. How to keep the country prosperous. This was the most important matter of all.


    “To that end, we must first resolve this disturbance amicably.”


    “There are many asions from here onwards where you will need the Queen’s and Prince’s help. We have to somehow restore the trust that has been fissured between us.”


    The secret meeting was over and those who had gathered went back as if nothing had happened.


    The summoner would take all the me. Without a shred of doubt.


    It was only two days after the meeting that Summoner Meidi visited Walkins’s office and took the oath of allegiance and joined his side.