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「What do you mean? What are you trying to say?」

It appeared that Redas had the capacity to listen to a mere Squire student like Inglis. Taking up the offer, Inglis continued.

「It is also the will of Special Envoy Theodore to have Miss Ripple stay at the Knight Academy. In other words, it is the will of the Highland. The fact that the Royal Decree is contradicting that, means that the Decree is under the influence of an opposing faction…… in short, the Church’s Union.」

The Church’s Union, officially known as the Church Founder’s Union. Opposing them was the Duke’s Party, officially known as the Three Archdukes Party. Those were the two major political factions of the Highland. Special Envoy Theodore belonged to the latter.

Traditionally, this kingdom had been receiving Special Envoys from the Church’s Union and the Duke’s Party alternatively as the two factions’ influence was balanced. That was why the bestowed Hyrule Menaces, Eris and Ripple, were affiliated with the Duke’s Party and the Church’s Union respectively.

「Yes—Precisely as you say.」
「The disaster that happens to Miss Ripple’s body right now is a sanction from the Church’s Union, isn’t it? This means it’s safe to assume that they are enraged. They cannot tolerate the attempt of the power balance shifting towards the favor of the Duke’s Party.」¹　
「……We do not recognize any such agenda. It must be nothing more than an anomaly that happens in the body of Lady Ripple.」
「Yes, I see. That’s a different take from what Special Envoy Theodore has in mind.」
「Lord Theodore belongs to the Duke’s Party. Being in the opposing faction, he’s bound to possess a biased view.」
「Have we received any assurances from the Highland regarding the replacement of the Hyrule Menace?」
「No… I have heard that it’s still in negotiation.」
「If so, keeping in mind that the negotiation may or may not be lengthened for some period of time, I believe it is best to make a thorough preparation before Miss Ripple is removed from the Academy’s grounds. So far, there hasn’t been any major problem that involved the students, the environment, or the city and its residents. If by any chance a major incident happened after she was transferred to the Imperial Guard Order’s care, critics would say that the Imperial Guard was inferior to mere students.」
「You can’t say there aren’t any problems. A problem did happen. A student as excellent as Silva was injured.」

As expected of the doting-parent, or rather, doting-brother Redas, he wouldn’t agree to let Ripple stay. This was within her expectation. Inglis would in turn take advantage of it.

「Exactly. Even someone as strong as Senior Silva was injured. That is why I said we mustn’t be negligent with the preparation.」
「Mu…… What preparation did you speak of?」
「Special Envoy Theodore has arranged for us a new type of Artifacts. The reason our damages is kept at minimum is because of those Artifacts.」

While that wasn’t strictly the truth, that was still the case to some level. For now, Inglis only needed to make Redas think that those Artifacts had such a high value in order to postpone the transfer of the baton to an even later date.

Right now, the last thing Inglis wished to happen was to have Ripple taken away from them without them being able to do anything about it. And then, during the postpone period Inglis created, they could devise their next move.

No, to be precise, Inglis already had a plan in mind. She would consult it with the others after her agenda was through.

「Hm, I see. Lord Theodore did——」
「I think it would be safer to first make preparations to transfer the rights of those Artifacts, selection of suitable personnel, training in their use, and many others.」
「Hmm……」

Redus seemed to be much more inclined to Inglis’ idea. Even for him, it would be ideal to carry out his duty with the least chance of fatality. In addition, just several days would still be under the tolerance level for the handover

「I think it is best to ask Senior Silva to be in charge of the handover. With that, he can leave his escorting duty.」

Finally, Inglis unleashed a decisive blow.

「Hm, that sounds good. Let’s go with that.」

If he was transferred from escorting duty to handover duty, Silva would immediately be in a safe position. Taking account of Redas’ character, he couldn’t ask more from this idea.

「As I have no authority to make the decision——Principal, are we good with these terms?」

Said Inglis as she turned to face Principal Miliera, but then Rafinha’s face suddenly intruded her vision.

Squeeze!

And thus, both of Inglis’ cheeks were stretched apart.

「WE ARE NOOT!! What are you thinking, do you want to just cast aside Miss Ripple!? We can’t, absolutely can’t!! I won’t yield even if it’s you, Glis!!」
「N-, nyaw nyaw. We awe nyot ngoin nyu do awiining fat do er, ohay.」²　

It was hard to speak with her cheeks pulled.

「Eh……? What do you mean?」
「Yow nyow whay aw alway hay ihn mayn.」³　
「……Want to fight strong opponents, want to eat delicious foods, want to put on cute dresses?」
「Ayn alway weing wanwi’s ayly.」⁴　
「……I can believe in you, right? I’m going to believe you, okay? I can, right?」
「Yesh!」

After Inglis nodded, Rafinha finally let her hands off Inglis’ cheeks.

「T-, they managed to converse perfectly…… I can’t even fathom what she was even speaking about.」
「For some odd reason, they still can understand each other even when being like that, you see… It’s already a special ability in its own right.」

Liselotte and Leone whispered to each other.

「U-, understood… We will go with the course of action Miss Inglis and Mr. Redas have devised.……」

The principal was furious beyond words just moments ago, but now she just nodded in assent. She must have read Inglis’ intention with this plan.

「That’s how it is, Lady Ripple. Are you fine with it?」
「Yeah……I’m good with that. I’ll just follow what you guys say…」

Ripple gave Redas a small nod.

1. Mab: I had to reread the raw 5 times while crying before I could be sure I get the general idea of it.

   Basically, it should be church’s turn to play with the toy, but duke didn’t want to let it go, so church sulks.

2. Silva: N-, now now. We’re not going to do anything bad to her, okay.
3. Silva: You know what I always have in mind.
4. Silva: And always being Rani’s ally.