Chapter 41 – Betrayal of the Highest Order, a Crime on the Level of Killing an Entire Household! (Touko’s POV)
Late at night, Touko, exhausted, visited the Duke of Sakuragi’s study, where she found the head of the family, who also looked exhausted.
“Good evening… Oh, looks like you’re not doing so well either?”
“Well…”
A few days ago, news too shocking to be true shook the nation.
The existence of a highly organized army of monsters in the Ogres’ Great Forest.
A massive army of monsters, capable of destroying entire countries, was organized deep within the Ogres’ Great Forest and camouflaged by illusion magic. They were waiting for an opportunity to invade human society.
And that monster army was completely crushed—by just five elites.
“We have also investigated within our own Duke’s household, but it seems that the top military officials are in turmoil from top to bottom. Those fools seem to be scheming to somehow take credit for the annihilation of the army of monsters.”
“What!? What the h**l is that!?”
“Basically, the story they’re trying to spin is that they knew about the army of monsters all along and deliberately sent Yuzuriha and the others to deal with them.”
“No, no, no, that’s too impossible! If they knew that there was a monster army organized in the Ogres’ Great Forest and didn’t tell the king or the neighboring country, it would be a betrayal of the highest order, a crime on the level of killing an entire household!”
“Absolutely.”
“Moreover, that would also mean that they were ridiculously undervaluing Suzuha and the others they sent on the mission! Even if that was actually the case in the end!”
“That’s right. However, even at this point, they don’t seem to have any intention of acknowledging Yuzuriha or that man’s abilities.”
“Well, of course Yuzuriha is a given, but both Suzuha and Suzuha’s older brother are also shunned by the Duke Sakuragi family! If they were recognized for their abilities, don’t you think the Duke’s influence would become overwhelmingly dominant?”
“That’s foolish.”
“I guess that’s true. Whether they admit it or not, they can’t overturn the facts!”
Touko is furious with the military idiots.
As a result of the fact that the best soldiers either went to the frontlines and died or were defeated by political power and dropped out, the current top military brass is made up of scum who are only good at sassing their superiors and intimidating their inferiors.
Nevertheless, due to the exceptional performance of the frontline troops led by Yuzuriha, they continue to achieve victory after victory on the battlefield, which in turn exacerbates the corruption within the command headquarters, creating a vicious cycle.
According to Yuzuriha, she has thought about intentionally losing on more than one occasion.
However, she couldn’t bring herself to do it because if she had let her guard down, more soldiers around her would have died, and she couldn’t accept that.
“So, how’s the royal family doing?”
“I think we are in a similar situation. Both the first prince and the second prince are desperately trying to find a way to use the annihilation of the demon army as their own achievement to take control.”
“That’s stupid. If they want to get a trump card, it would be easiest to get that man.”
“Perhaps they don’t even realize that, and that’s why they continue to engage in petty conflicts. Well, if they try to harm Suzuha’s older brother, I’ll crush them without hesitation!”
“Of course.”
“But even those foolish brothers seem to have realized that it’s impossible to take credit for themselves after spending several days trying to do so.”
“Well, at least it’s better that they didn’t try to forcibly fabricate an achievement.”
“No, at first they did try to do it. But when a formal statement was issued by the neighboring country, they realized that it would be too dangerous to overturn it, so they gave up on the idea.”
Yes, the neighboring country was quick to respond.
They quickly issued a statement after verifying the facts, and publicly disclosed all the details of the incident to the world with astonishing speed.
And they did it in a way that fully supported Touko’s country.
Most of those foolish aristocrats only saw the surface level of it, but the more intelligent few wonder why, however true it may be, they threw away a great opportunity to showcase their country’s accomplishments and military might.
But Touko understands the reasoning.
That country certainly has no intention of giving up the opportunity to promote themselves.
It’s just that Taren, who leads the Amazon tribe, is affiliated with this country, and as a result of praising him, they ended up highlighting this country in a positive light.
Touko exhaled,
“I’m just glad that Yuzuriha and Suzuha’s older brother are safe. This case is more than enough of an achievement to make Suzuha’s older brother a first generation noble, and when I first heard about it, I was so surprised I thought he was going to die, but I’m glad it turned out the way it did—”
“Do you really believe that?”
“…Why not? As you can imagine, neither the idiot aristocrats nor my idiot brothers can ignore the achievements of Suzuha’s older brother in this case. I mean, if they did, they would either be ripped to pieces alive by an angry Yuzuriha, or the Amazons would invade their territory and annihilate them all—”
“According to our intelligence agency, some members of the military seem to be considering a different way to use the incident this time.”
“Eh…?”
“How can they take credit for this achievement this time around without making it seem like it’s a big deal? The answer is to falsely claim it as part of a larger achievement. It’s a sneaky but effective strategy. Unfortunately, they got the excuse they needed to do so by destroying the demon army this time.”
“W-Wait a minute, you’ve got to be kidding me! What the h**l are they trying to do!?”
The head of the dukedom replied with a face that contained not a millimeter of jest.
“It’s a war of aggression.”
