The Crown Prince Who Raises Alt Characters

#382 Tyrant (9) - The Loyalty of a Demigod The capable woman of this era. If the world had been a romance fantasy court-intrigue story, Lady Beatrix, the Fourth Consort — who would undoubtedly have been cast as the protagonist, or as a villain more popular than the protagonist — once taught her then-13-year-old daughter about 'what exactly is the 6th Rank' (she'd also tried to teach her son, but he'd bolted off to go hunting with his friends). "They're not human." To this, Trisha asked back. "Do you mean their personality is garbage?" "No, that's not what I mean. Well, I suppose there are quite a few among them whose personalities are garbage too, but that's not a given." Beatrix continued with a short sigh. "People commonly divide strength into 7 ranks, but strictly speaking, this is less a matter of 'strength' than a matter of 'station.' Since a higher station also tends to mean greater strength, the two are usually used interchangeably, but in truth they're very different things." Up to the 5th rank, one is still human. But from the 6th Rank onward, one is no longer human. "If you look at old texts, the 7th Rank is called 'Transcendence.' Those who've gone beyond the limits of their race, the limits of biology, even the laws of the world itself — beings whose very existence is itself a law. Godhood. The Demon King. A Greater Demon. Or a transcendent." Naturally, those who were never human to begin with can't 'suddenly' become transcendents one day. There has to be an intermediate process. That's why between 5 (the limit of humanity) and 7 (the transcendent), there is 6. "Some call them demigods, and some simply call them superhumans for having transcended humanity, but in any case, the key point is that they're in the process of 'departing' from humanity." "...Hm? Hmm? Ah-ha. So worldly affairs would look trivial to them." Beatrix let out a hollow laugh. It was a reaction mixed with admiration for her daughter, who was so clever and quick-witted even at such a young age, and a tinge of regret that this child hadn't been born just a little earlier. "That's right. These are people who, if things go well, could even become gods. To beings like that, how much meaning could worldly power or treasures possibly hold?" Those who must live their entire lives on a single game board have to live paying close attention to that game's rules, resources, competition with other players, public opinion, and so on. But what if one could move to a different game board? What if one could even decide that board's rules, or anything else, however one pleased? "Of course, just as not every 5th rank can rise to the 6th Rank, those who can rise from the 6th Rank to the 7th Rank are no more than a handful. No — some even say that the hardship of climbing from the 6th Rank to the 7th is worse than the combined hardship of the entire journey from the 1st rank to the 6th. So even a 6th Rank exercises a degree of restraint and reads the room. After all, they might end up having to remain in this world after all." The problem is that even the standard for that 'restraint' is absurd by worldly standards. And that's only natural, because once someone reaches the 6th Rank, they are, without exaggeration, a national-level force. If a 6th Rank knight harbors murderous intent toward a nation's monarch and charges the palace at full strength, then at minimum several 5th rank knights must give up on winning outright and aim only to buy time so the monarch can flee. And even then, if things start looking even slightly disadvantageous, the 6th Rank can simply flee. On top of that comes the unfairness that a 6th Rank can rest as much as they like and attack whenever they please, while those below that rank must band together around the monarch and stay tense at all times. If a 6th Rank mage sets their mind to raining down magical bombardment, even a sound fortress will struggle to hold out for a single day without national-level preparation, reinforcement, and defense. Burning down an entire territory and reducing it to ruins is no great feat for them. And on top of that, preparing for just 'one' 6th Rank requires an investment of national resources. If a 6th Rank priest performs a miracle, they can turn even a city of death ravaged by plague into a city of vitality, full of healthy people bustling about. Moreover, if they merely hide in the rear and pour out ample support, that army becomes, with only slight exaggeration, an undying legion. That's why, in most cases, a 6th Rank is held in higher esteem than a king. After all, if a king dies, someone else simply takes the throne, but a 6th Rank cannot be replaced that way. "That's why most ordinary nations can't hold onto a 6th Rank to begin with. After all, if a 6th Rank demands 'treatment befitting their own worth,' they end up as a superior even to the king — and what nation could easily bear that?" A superhuman with godhood within sight doesn't place much importance on worldly power. And if they do happen to value it, their demands are absurdly high. That's why, to a worldly ruler, a 6th Rank is both a coveted jewel and a burden too difficult to make use of. That was the reason why, although there were many nations on the continent, absurdly few of them possessed a 6th Rank. "But in reality, the great powers actually possess several 6th Ranks each, don't they?" "Each great power has its own secret to that." The Liu Empire, due to the unique environment known as the martial world, has no shortage of people throughout the nation who make a living by the blade. It also has a characteristic reverence for the strong, where greater strength means higher social standing. From a 6th Rank's perspective, the nation itself becomes 'my own power base' rather than 'someone else's power.' As a result, fights between 6th Ranks within the nation are common, and they don't readily follow the orders of their superiors either — but at least the nation can always count on holding onto a certain number of experts. In the Hasht Sacred State, those called the gods' 'incarnations' mainly occupy the 6th Rank position, and these incarnations naturally must act on behalf of the gods' will. And the gods want the Sacred State to endure. Naturally, the incarnations end up serving the nation as well. The Omnium Beastkin Alliance is a bit unusual, so it's an exception. To begin with, this place isn't treated as a great power because it has many 6th Ranks or strong national power. It's simply that the elven Guardian is putting on a show of strength. In the case of the Cardian Republic, ideology is the key. Having made ideals like a nation of the people and the value of revolution their core, these people are, in a sense different from the Sacred State, fanatics of their own kind — so even a 6th Rank doesn't throw their weight around against the nation. To begin with, if they were the type to do that, they wouldn't belong to the Republic in the first place. "Then what about our country? The Empire?" "That's a bit too complex to sum up in one word. It's partly loyalty, and partly the fact that many of the prestigious houses that produce 6th Ranks belong to the Empire, and also that there's no great problem giving a 6th Rank treatment comparable to a foreign king. After all, even a duke who already rules territory comparable to a foreign king still submits to His Majesty the Emperor." On top of that, Beatrix said, a nation with only a single 6th Rank ends up at that person's mercy, but a nation with a certain number of 6th Ranks or more can, conversely, control them. This is because even if one of them pretends to go mad and strikes at the monarch, or looks down on the monarch, the other 6th Ranks will suppress them. "Then conversely, what if the many 6th Ranks who were loyal for different reasons were to abandon that loyalty, each for their own different reasons?" To that question of Trisha's, the girl's mother answered simply. "It would become an empire in name only — a pseudo-empire." But she added that as long as her father was the Emperor, no such thing would happen, and stroked her daughter's head. It had happened two years before the daughter fell into a world where her father was not the Emperor. *** "What on earth are you all doing!!" A cup made of pure gold rolled across the floor. The cup had dented from the violent impact and its contents had soaked the floor, but no one dared point it out. Because the man who had flung the cup was the first son of this nation's Emperor — that is, the 1st Imperial Prince, Dmitri. Although Trisha was nominally the Crown Princess, it was all too obvious this was merely because of the pretext raised back when their father first became Emperor, and it was equally obvious that the Crown Princess would soon 'voluntarily' cede her position to the 1st Imperial Prince — so Dmitri was in a position where calling him the de facto Crown Prince wouldn't have been strange at all. And those around him treated him accordingly. And that Dmitri was now raging like a man about to drop dead from a fit of apoplexy. "Father!! This empire's Emperor!! Had his head cut off openly, in front of countless witnesses!! And not only did no one stop it, how does it make any sense that they still haven't managed to subdue or bring down the perpetrator even now!!" If the man had at least fled somewhere, well, it would still be infuriating, but at least it could be understood. After all, a pursuit isn't something that's unconditionally solved just by having more people or greater strength. But the enemy was openly right at the heart of the imperial palace, where the throne stood. And he hadn't fled anywhere either. He was simply grinding down, one after another, every force sent to subdue him. In truth, it wasn't just the 1st Imperial Prince — the vassals too were at a loss for words. 'What in the world is this situation?' In truth, a monarch being assassinated isn't, in itself, an overwhelmingly rare occurrence. Look through history and there are plenty of examples, and it had happened a few times even within the Empire. Some of those times, the circumstances even pointed to a fellow member of the imperial family as the one behind it. But after succeeding in such an assassination, most of the assassins died as well. And those who weren't among the majority simply fled. Because if they didn't flee, they'd die. There was no reason not to flee. But now? He wasn't fleeing. And yet no one could kill him. If anything, it was the knight orders and soldiers sent to capture him who were being caught, one after another. The vassals were even feeling something like a culture shock. 'Had the Empire's standards really fallen this far?' 'Well, I suppose the general discipline these days had grown quite lax, but still.' The Emperor idled, the imperial family feasted, and the ministers were obsessed with turf wars and factional strife — that was the Empire as it stood now. There was no reason the knight orders or soldiers would be any different. It had been a long while since connections and political maneuvering had come to be prioritized over pure skill. And yet, even so, there were numbers. And yet, even so, there was strength that came simply from being of the Empire's weight class. Even if a score of 100 had fallen to around 70, surely it wouldn't disgrace itself before the likes scoring a mere 10 or 20 points below, would it? But that absurd, impossible thing was happening in reality, so all they could do was be dumbfounded. After roughly five knight orders had already been ground down, even the vassals could no longer help but realize that this crisis wasn't something that could be resolved just by throwing in half-hearted forces. There were two possible approaches. One was quantity. Going beyond the level of the Imperial Guard Squad or knight orders and mobilizing the military on an imperial scale instead. But considering the enemy numbered fewer than a few dozen, that was the height of inefficiency. The very idea of raising soldiers en masse and marching them on the imperial palace was laughable in appearance as well. If so, what remained was quality. "What in the world are the 6th Ranks doing!! Aren't they the very people the Empire pays money and grants rank to, precisely for times like this!! If they couldn't stop Father's death, shouldn't they at least be able to catch the culprit!! Yes, Balduer! Where is Sir Balduer!!" "He is currently at his place of exile. Even if word is sent and he rushes here at top speed, it will take at least three days." "What about the Divine Archer, Roksley!!" "I'm told he went into the mountains a week ago, and he currently cannot be reached." "What about Lady Carmilla!!" "...I'm told she's taken ill." "....." Not a single person there was convinced enough to simply think, 'Ah, I see,' at the claim that a 6th Rank had fallen ill. Because that was simply code for, 'It's too much trouble, so just say I'm sick.' "The Emperor is dead!! Their sovereign is dead!! And yet how — how is it that not a single loyal subject has come forward for his sake!!" It was because they themselves had driven those loyal subjects away. It was because they had dragged them into political struggles and turf wars, making them feel nothing but 'trouble.' It was because they had made those who once felt they belonged to the strongest nation begin to doubt whether it was truly the strongest after all. Sure, there were still many 6th Ranks who 'belonged' to the Empire. It was simply that they held little loyalty toward the imperial family. Of course, there were those who could be moved by something other than loyalty. "Contact Tower Master Kirie!! Tell her I'll hand over the Dragonheart from the imperial vault if she steps forward!! Contact the alchemist Chelleno and the Spear Saint Arclight too!! Tell them we'll grant whatever they've been demanding from the imperial family all this time!! So tell them to bring that traitor to kneel before me!!" Lacking as it was, it was still the Empire. Ruined as it was, it was still the Empire. Even after fourteen years of festering and rot, the Empire still possessed a great deal, and among its holdings were things capable of tempting even those who had half-departed from worldly concerns. And so, they went to seek out the traitor. "Tower Master. Regarding Summoning Magic — I think it's far too narrow a view to see it merely as a technique for commanding powerful beings. What would you say to standardizing the beings to be summoned, formalizing each and every skill and physical specification they possess?" "Head of House Boriel. I understand you have a great interest in making money. You run quite a few companies too. Tell me, by chance, would you have any interest in something called circular shareholding?" (E/N: NOOOOOOOO!!!!!! Alondre! You!) "Spear Saint. Hand me a spear. I'll just try a single thrust. Go ahead and evaluate it." "Hm." "Hmm?" "Oho!" ...At any rate, they had gone to seek them out.