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“How did this happen?! What is even happening?!”
“The people are attacking.”
“I know that! Why aren’t the knights acting?!”
“There’s been a split among the knights and soldiers. They’ve turned on each other.”
“So what you’re saying is… everyone else is completely useless except those in this room?”

This took place in the king’s office. Although people often imagined the king always seated on his throne, the reality was different. He had actual work to do, and it was impossible to manage it all from the throne. In truth, he didn’t spend much time there, only during audiences, it seemed. In games, you’d only see the king sitting on his throne, which caused one to wonder if he did any work whatsoever. I remembered thinking he mostly acted in the same way an innkeeper, toolmaker, or weaponsmith would.

The castle was in chaos. Some people were trying to escape before the armed crowds arrived. Others were preparing to face the people in battle. Some just cowered. Others screamed in frustration.

The root of all this disorder was likely the breakdown of the knight order meant to protect them.

The royal family was scrambling to deal with each problem as it arose. The king had to take command of the entire situation, while his children split off to take charge of their respective areas. In that respect, I thought they were still quite capable.

But even that wouldn’t be enough to save them, given that a traitor had already infiltrated the middle of their operations. Someone had been captured already. I believed it was the third prince, the one known for his gentle heart.

Though I couldn’t say much, as I’d never actually met him.

The fact that even that piece of information hadn’t reached here yet spoke volumes about how chaotic everything had become. After a brief exchange with the cabinet minister—or perhaps it was the prime minister, or someone else with a vaguely familiar face—the king began to ramble, just as only a handful of knights remained at his side.

“What’s going on? There weren’t any signs of this until just now. Even if something had happened, it shouldn’t have been enough to make people explode like this… Did he do something behind our backs? No, we were watching him closely. I’m certain he didn’t make any suspicious moves…”
“By him, you’re referring to Alks’s father, correct?”
“Alks? Oh, yes. That is correct. The one from Avaritia. Wait… Who are you?! Guards!”

Alks’ family house was called Avaritia. It sounded kind of cool, honestly. I liked it. Not that I had time to think about such things.

The knights had already noticed me. Their swords were practically at my throat. I could tell they were prepared to cut me down at any moment.

“Who are you?! Are you one of Avaritia’s men?”
“Isn’t it impossible to serve someone you only just learned about?”
“Then who are you? What’s your goal? Speak, or you will lose your head!”
“I’ll still lose my head even if I tell you, so there’s no difference there.”

At that point, they saw me as a nuisance that had to be killed. After all, I had stepped into the room with my own two feet while the king was still present. If I spoke, I’d be killed instantly. Especially given that none of them had even managed to sense my intrusion.

I knew that I’d lose my head either way because the king of this kingdom was a liar. I knew that much all too well!

“You’re right about that, but don’t you want to have an easy death?”
“I’d rather not die at all. You asked me what I came here for, no? You could say, I’m just here to watch. No one asked me to be here.”
“Do you think you’ll get away with such jokes?!”

The king was furious. Well, it probably did sound like I was mocking him, but I was being completely serious.

For now, the swords pressed around my neck were a nuisance, so I grabbed one and, with a well-placed strike from my fist to the blade, shattered it. There were about five swords pointed at me, but breaking one was enough for now. The knight whose blade I broke stared wide-eyed, and the king glared at me.

“Let’s negotiate. The only thing I want is to have a first-row seat to watch the rebellion from. If you let me stay here, I won’t hurt you. But if you resist, I’ll respond accordingly. For now, let’s see, I’ll do with breaking your weapons. If that still doesn’t get my point across, I’ll have no choice but to kill them. How about it? Do you wish to fight me here and now? Or would you rather save your strength for when the mob arrives? Or maybe you are even thinking of running away?”

When I finally said something provocative, the king responded bluntly, “Don’t get in her way.”

Then he glanced at the knights, and they reluctantly lowered their swords.

(Good, good. That’s how it should be. If they had still tried to fight me, I would’ve had to kill one of them to get my point across. But that’s the people’s role now. I’ll just stick to observing.)

But even in a situation like this, the king didn’t run. I couldn’t tell if he was brave or was simply clinging to his royal pride. The king’s guard didn’t appear to be under the influence of Allure, and this was likely to be the final destination for the battle of Fraus.

Originally, this fight was supposed to be between Princess Topersion and Megi’s group. But neither of them are here now. Instead, it seemed the battle would come down to the king and the head of Avaritia, alongside the people.

It was good that I’d reached the king, but the people would take a little more time to arrive. Until then, I figured I might as well talk with him.