Merchant Noble is out (2/4 chapters for today)
Casablanca’s Doubts
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“Hoo. It’s cloudy again today.” (Casablanca)
When Casablanca heard that Arc and his group had taken over Kali, she had been spending the past few days in a gloomy state.
“Should I attack Mikanda, where Yanna and Minerva are still remaining, or should I first attack and retake Kali, which Arc and his group are in?” (Casablanca)
She was endlessly wavering.
Requests from Rudolf, who had lost Kali, were also continuing. For him, the fact that his country was taken was a major incident, so he desperately continued to put pressure on Casablanca.
“After all, for Rudolf’s sake, retaking Kali must be the top priority.” (Casablanca)
Honestly, invading Kali was an extremely troublesome task. But since Arc, who had gained a foothold in Kali, could begin doing anything, she wanted to deal with it quickly.
“To begin with, how weak must a country be to be taken over by such a small group like Arc and his people!” (Casablanca)
“Casablanca-sama.” (Fran)
As Casablanca was complaining alone, Fran entered the room. Fran carefully checked that they were the only ones in the room and, lowering her voice, reported to Casablanca.
“This letter was thrown into the private residence of one of the ministers.” (Fran)
“Hm?” (Casablanca)
What she was holding was a single letter. After brushing off the dirt on the surface, she opened it, and inside, small text was densely written on a piece of paper.
“Dear King Rudolf,
Currently, I believe that the leadership of Casablanca and Laplace is preparing to eliminate me.
To defeat the gathered full strength of Casablanca, His Majesty’s ‘strike from behind’ is essential. After Casablanca departs from the royal capital, please find some reason to detach from the troops and launch a surprise attack from behind. If His Majesty and we surround them, victory is guaranteed.
If we succeed in completely crushing Casablanca’s group, as promised, we will exchange Laplace and Kali.”
“This is…” (Casablanca)
By the time she finished reading the letter, Casablanca’s hand holding the letter was trembling violently.
“From the content, it seems that this letter is definitely one Arc sent to King Rudolf.” (Fran)
“Why was this in the minister’s private residence?” (Casablanca)
Fran spread a map of the area around the royal palace. Then, she drew a circle and began explaining.
“That minister’s private residence is located next to the guesthouse where King Rudolf is staying. Most likely, in the darkness, the secret messenger mistakenly threw it into this residence.” (Fran)
“I see…” (Casablanca)
Indeed, the two residences were next to each other, and their appearances were similar. The messenger who brought the letter would have thrown it at night to avoid the guards’ watch, so it wouldn’t have been strange for it to have been thrown into the wrong place.
“Casablanca-sama! This is a serious matter. To think that King Rudolf and Arc were secretly working together! We must act quickly to counter this.” (Fran)
Fran spoke in a panicked tone. For her, the idea that the two were in cahoots was something entirely unexpected.
“Impossible. For Arc, King Rudolf is my enemy just like Tyr, right? To think they would join forces… no, with Arc, it’s possible.” (Casablanca)
Casablanca had been the one who had dealt with Arc more than anyone else. She had seen him prioritize practical gains over his emotions up close for a long time. Even though she couldn’t believe it, Casablanca began to feel more and more uneasy.
“After Arc took over the Kingdom of Kali, King Rudolf showed visible signs of being unsettled. The letter also mentions ‘returning Kali to King Rudolf,’ so maybe he took advantage of that.” (Fran)
Indeed, as Fran said, King Rudolf’s behavior had been strange recently. Well, it would be unreasonable to say he shouldn’t be disturbed after losing his country while on an overseas trip. He had also shown signs of regretting his past actions of picking a fight with Arc and the Warden family.
“…..” (Casablanca)
“Casablanca-sama. What should we do?” (Fran)
Fran hastened Casablanca, who was deep in thought. However, despite her anxiety, Casablanca found herself strangely calm.
“At this point, we can’t suspect just because of this one letter. Arc might think of sending a fake letter. But, increase surveillance on King Rudolf.” (Casablanca)
She merely gave the order to strengthen surveillance on Rudolf, and that was the end of it.
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