The Strongest Dull Prince’s Secret Battle for the Throne

The castle is on lockdown and the search for the culprit begins.

While that is going on, I remain inside Leticia’s room.

“Are you perhaps regretting what happened, sir?”

Sebas said as he silently appeared behind me. 

In response, I shook my head.

“Not really. Why do  you think so?”

“[I should have taken her away even by force]. Were you not mulling over an idea along that line?”

“If this crime scene is not giving me this discomfort then I would probably feel that way I guess.”

“Discomfort, sir?”

As I thought, I can feel a slight discomfort coming from Leticia’s body. But it is subtle, it is questionable at best whether a member of the imperial family can spot it if they pay close attention.

Even Sebas who is quite observant doesn’t notice it. One could say that this is a perfect dead body.

But there is something wrong with it.

“I couldn’t tell, sir.”

“Then tell me what you can from what you see. Why do you think she was killed?”

“If the Saint died inside the Empire, it would be a trigger for the war between the Empire and the Kingdom. Is that not a desirable development for the Anti-Empire faction?”

“By that Captain of the personal guard that she trusted?”

“That is what the circumstantial evidence indicated, sir.”

“Circumstantial evidence huh…..Orihime’s barrier can not be broken unless Leticia opens the door herself. In other words, the culprit is someone who can get Leticia to open the door for them. The Captain is certainly capable of that and the murder weapon belongs to her as well.”

“Yes, that’s why-”

“It’s strange, right? To cause a war between the Empire and the Kingdom, the person that they pin the crime on should not be the Captain of Leticia’s escort. Rather than the Empire’s, it would be the Kingdom’s mistake in selecting their personnel.”

“That is certainly true……”

Sebas also reached the point where I felt the discomfort.

Besides the corpse, the circumstantial evidence that indicates the Captain to be the culprit is strange. The evidence that indicates such a thing should be removed if the Captain is really the culprit. R̃åŊꝋᛒĚš

After all, by leaving such evidence behind, anyone could make the connection.

“It would be one thing if the culprit did not have enough time to collect the evidence but………if that person has the time to pin Leticia’s body to the wall then there should be enough time to erase the evidence.”

“In case I push the original theory to the extreme, what if the culprit tried to do it but couldn’t pull the sword back out, sir?”

“The Captain of the Saint’s personal guard is also a Griffon Knight. Do you think that she could be so incompetent? Moreover, I can’t see any sign of struggle in this room. Do you think that the culprit would impale the non-resisting victim with all their power that her body got pinned to the wall? In the first place, someone like the Captain should be able to procure other weapons for the task.”

“I completely agree…….then wouldn’t it be bad if we recognize the culprit as the Captain, sir?”

“It’s not necessarily a bad thing. If it wasn’t the Captain’s doing then the crime would be pinned on someone else. At the moment, Father is searching for the [Knight Captain of the Kingdom] as a scapegoat for this case. Not to mention that he went as far as sealing the castle. After all, if she escaped, we would miss the chance to pursue her. With the castle on lockdown, no one can go in or out but………Our Imperial Knights, the pride of the Empire, are stuck here as well.”

“From the Kingdom’s perspective…….that would be an ideal situation. If we fail to catch the culprit, they will be able to cite it as the Empire’s mistake.”

“If they start saying that we deliberately let the culprit escape then we will not be able to argue against it. Even so……locking down the castle is a protocol. Whenever something happens in the castle, the Emperor would order a lockdown. The question is how our enemy knows of such protocol when it is rarely used in the first place. They wouldn’t be able to orchestrate this flow of events otherwise. Our enemy’s true aim is to stall us here. We have walked right into their trap.”

At that time, there is no other method to pursue the culprit besides locking down the castle. After all, there is the possibility that the culprit is still here with us. Regardless of the enemy’s aim, Father has no choice but to seal the castle and order a search.

In other words, this chain of events was inevitable when Leticia’s body was discovered.

The culprit managed to stall the Imperial Knights while the Kingdom got the chance to continue the war.

“What are you planning to do, sir?”

“There’s no choice but to have someone from the Empire’s side find the culprit.”

“Would we be able to?”

“Probably not. The clues we have are too few……but, if my theory is correct, we might be able to find more.”

“Your theory, sir?”

“That’s right. The culprit wanted to stall us while the Kingdom wanted to continue the war. Both can benefit from this case but there is an organization that doesn’t gain anything in this.”

“Grimoire is it?”

I nod to Sebas’s words.

Grimoire, the organization that was lurking in the Imperial Capital’s underground, has no benefit in this.

Their base was destroyed and Leticia, who they planned to use as a test subject, is dead.

The organization that is supposed to be deeply involved in all this has nothing to gain from this incident.

“They are researchers who are obsessed with magic. Those people would never be moved with money. At least to move them you would need something equal to Leticia in research value.”

“If we are talking about the user of the four sacred treasures, would Elna-sama fit that description?”

“That would be impossible. It would be like swallowing a blade and getting cut up from inside out.”

Elna and Leticia are different.

Elna is strong even without the holy sword, but it is only because of the holy staff that Leticia could shine in battle.

Which one of them is more viable for research purposes, there is no need to compare them.

In that case, Grimoire would only move if they can obtain Leticia in exchange.

“Perhaps the Kingdom is unrelated to Grimoire, sir?”

“I don’t know the whole truth either. But…..we only have the documents about Leticia we found at Grimoire’s base to go on. If they are going to dispose of the evidence they should be more thorough about it and there was no trace that they were destroying the evidence either. So, it means that we already got everything.”

“In other words…..Grimoire already has the means to obtain Saint-sama?”

“If they were expecting her to be handed from an outsider then that would explain it. Since the Kingdom is going to fight the Empire, they would want us to be weakened as much as possible. A research utilizing one of  the four sacred treasures, even I don’t know how much destruction it will cause.”

“However, if they poorly manage Grimoire, won’t the damage spread to the Kingdom as well? Grimoire is that much of a troublesome organization after all.”

“If the damage spreads, they probably expect Silver to intervene. In the off chance that Silver starts cooperating with the Imperial army for the war then it would be a problem for them after all.”

“Is it not too dangerous for the Kingdom to plan such a thing on their own, sir? No matter how much I think about this, this matter is far too big for the Kingdom alone.”

“That may be right, I have something that I must look into before we go to that.”

Saying so, I point at Leticia’s body.

That over there is certainly a dead body. No doubt about that.

“If they are planning to hand Leticia over to Grimoire…….then what is that?”

“…….a fake body?”

“I think so. This discomfort is surely not just my imagination. Something magical in nature must be involved. But I can only feel slight discomfort from it. Why is that? After all, that is unmistakably a dead body. It has both the smell of blood and entrail. It is impossible to completely disguise those things.”

“I see. So you are saying that the missing Captain is right in front of us?”

“That way of thinking would be reasonable. So, you know what to do right?”

“Yes. Even an expert in magic on the level of Arnold-sama couldn’t discern it. I am sure that it is something that you are unfamiliar with. And  we already know of one group that utilizes such techniques.”

“That’s right. There is a certain group that suddenly accepted our invitation to the ceremony. The Great Forest on the west side of the continent is located close to the Kingdom. It wouldn’t be strange if they are connected. Keep an eye on the [Elves]. They are the only ones capable of disguising Leticia’s body. This is [an abduction under the guise of muder]. If they make a move, I will leave the decision to you.”

Wendy was disguising herself with an illusion.

Using that illusion, the elves should be able to put a show of Leticia’s dead body. Still, this illusion is much more advanced than Wendy’s.

So it’s not her huh. Or is it not just her? In any case, it is important to keep an eye on them.

“Arnold-sama, where are you going?”

“I’m going to see Leo.”

“What about the matter of solving the illusion, sir?”

“I would do it if I can. I don’t know the secret technique of the Elves after all. I should be able to do it if I have time but we do not have that luxury right now. First, we must convince Father of this and have the Elves solve it themselves.”

“I see. Leonard-sama is necessary for that.”

“His voice holds much more weight than mine. Even if I say it, it will only be treated as a delusion after all.”

Reasoning coming from the Dull Prince would not move people. Of course, if I really want to I can do it but that would require a huge amount of effort. In that case, having Leo explain it would save more time.

As long as Leticia is still alive, time is priceless.

“I see. It seems that the consequences of your lifestyle finally caught up to you isn’t it.”

“Shut up. Oh, and send Lynfia out as a messenger for me too.”

“The castle is still under lockdown, sir?”

“If we wait around then we might not be able to make it in time right? Just let her out where Elna’s unit is guarding.”

“It will cause a big issue if someone found out though?”

“The situation is bad enough already.”

“That’s true. To whom do you want to contact, sir?”

“Vin’s place.”

If you are only going to put on a smile and greet the VIPs then you don’t need me.

That was what Vin said before he left the Imperial Capital.

Vin is not a strategist who adapts to the situation but one that acts out his well-thought-out plan. He operates by thinking up patterns for various situations. He should already have something planned in case something bad happened in the Imperial Capital.

That’s why Vin must be waiting on standby at a certain place just for that.

“I see. The Narbe Ritter Garrison. However, how do you plan for them to move without any clue, sir?”

“Vin will surely be able to manage that. If we relay the suspicion we have to him, he should be able to figure out the culprit’s escape route. Well, if they want to escape by force then they would head north. The Eastern Border is being guarded by Aneue. We have a lot of soldiers and knights in the south for the reconstruction. The west is the Kingdom’s border. It is the current frontline and if we are beginning the investigation on the Kingdom then that is where our soldiers will be dispatched to. No matter who the culprit is, the only way for them to escape is the north.”

With that said, Vin will soon reach the same conclusion as me.

The talent the Crown Prince wanted at his side is not just vainglory.

“Alright…….let’s breakthrough our enemy’s trap.”

“Understood, sir.”

Saying so, Sebas left and I headed to Leo’s room.

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