Chapter 118: Sudden Death

“I have indeed received your reply. However, I have been subjected to repeated, baseless attacks…”

“Regarding that matter, His Highness Crown Prince Meredith Holtland—who planned and pushed for the military expedition against your nation—has taken his own life. Those who assisted him have followed after him.”

“Nonsense! I have heard nothing of this! My…!”

“Prince Felix acted without His Majesty the King’s approval…”

The moment the assembled nobles began to raise a commotion, the knights lined up along the walls drew their swords and silenced them, thrusting blades into their backs.

Cries like “Ugh!” and “Hiiieee!” echoed, and men collapsed in shock murmuring “This…can’t…be…” Many nobles, seeing this, lost strength in their legs and slumped down.
Born into status and privilege, they had neither pride nor resolve.

“My apologies for showing you such unpleasantness, Envoy. His Majesty King Lagrange Holtland, who approved this expedition, is to abdicate.”

“Felix! I—I never said any such thing! So Meredith was right—you intend to seize the throne…”

The king, his face red with anger, suddenly clutched his mouth, writhed, and collapsed.

“Father, Father! Get a healer at once!”

“What are you doing? Hurry and fetch a healing mage!”

I asked a water spirit to lodge a small water sphere in the king’s throat. It only appeared for an instant, and being no larger than a glass pebble and transparent, no one would notice.

Following Felix, the chancellor shouted commands, and the audience chamber fell into chaos.

I was more than ten meters from the throne, and the king collapsed while yelling at Felix beside the throne—there is no way suspicion would fall on me. Felix also avoids the disgrace of killing his own father to usurp the crown and will be able to succeed the throne without issue.

While Felix and the chancellor earnestly tended to the king—just as we had planned—I observed the surroundings for any suspicious movement. Everything seemed fine.

After watching the king being carried to his quarters, I followed the chancellor out to the courtyard and rose into the sky, flying toward Emilia.

I had flown quickly, so I reached the airspace above the Holtland army near Narcier before dusk. I dropped a communication tube from above what seemed to be their command post and then continued on toward Emilia.

＊ ＊ ＊

I arrived in Emilia and landed at the mansion Duke Berlant was using as his base.
When the guards challenged me, I showed the duke’s identification and explained that I carried letters from the Holtland Kingdom, requesting to be granted an audience.

They should know who I am—the moment I descended from the sky—but since my former service had already ended once, procedures matter.
I waited for a while before the duke’s adjutant came to meet me.

“Letters from the Holtland Kingdom, you say?”

“Yes. Chancellor Brighton entrusted me with delivering documents regarding ceasefire negotiations to Holtland. This is their reply. I was asked to deliver it to both Narsie and Emilia so that fighting doesn’t resume before negotiations begin.”

After confirming the letter I handed over, he told me to follow him and entered the mansion.

＊ ＊ ＊

“Leon, it says here that you also dropped a communication tube on Holtland’s side?”

“Yes. I dropped it before coming here. I doubt Holtland will launch any attack now. Proper negotiations will begin once I return to Leclerc and deliver this reply.”

“Then Narsie and the nearby forces haven’t increased their troops?”

“You haven’t scouted?”

“We can’t send regular soldiers, so we hired adventurers. But they can’t get close to the encampment, so we only know the positions of each unit. Also—Felix Holtland is listed here as king?”

“I’ve been told that His Majesty King Lagrange Holtland has passed away.”

“Crown Prince Meredith Holtland was supposed to be the heir… did he do something?”

As expected, this old man is sharp.
Rumors will spread soon enough, and the envoy survived and will be reporting back; I suppose I can explain a little.

“This war began because that fool Meredith learned of Rosenne’s beast disturbance and urged the king to act. When I delivered the ceasefire document to the Holtland castle, I was attacked without warning, so I counterattacked. My assignment was simply to deliver the document and return with a reply. Since I was attacked not once but two, three times, I retaliated thoroughly and ultimately dealt with that idiot Meredith and his followers. After that, during discussions with the imprisoned former crown prince Felix and Chancellor Corbens, they proposed that His Majesty abdicate. During the negotiation, His Majesty suddenly fell ill, and later I heard he had passed away. Thus, Felix, with the support of the chancellor and many nobles, ascended the throne.”

…Yes, I skipped quite a lot.
But I don’t like the suspicious looks from the duke and the two princes behind him.
I was attacked and defended myself—that’s all. I have zero interest in overthrowing kingdoms or getting involved in succession disputes.

I intended to take my leave since I had delivered what needed delivering, but since it was already dusk, they urged me to stay the night. I declined, as I planned to depart at dawn, and rested in a corner of the garden.

＊ ＊ ＊

“He doesn’t seem inclined to explain in detail.”

“During the beast subjugation, he supposedly tossed around herds of golden bears and armored buffalo with whirlwinds and tornados. As for the dragon, rumor says he lifted it with a tornado and flung it away. With such power, he still let others take credit for the dragon’s defeat. Since his companions are not here, he likely fought alone in the Holtland castle earlier.”

“I’ve heard those stories, but I assumed they were mere tavern talk from adventurers…”

“I had my men investigate. Each of the three groups credited with slaying the dragon had a mage. Every one of those mages had received some form of instruction from him. Or rather, casual advice in passing that significantly improved their skills.”

“Then we could ask those mages—”

“It would be pointless.”

“Why? If we trained based on that knowledge—”

“That’s exactly why it’s pointless. The advice he gave was something any mage already knows. The Mage Corps laughed—they said it was nothing new.”

“Something any mage knows?”

“Yes. Things like pushing out your mana, raising a magic shield, or making a night-camp dome. Any mage trying to improve already trains to reduce the mana they use.”

“So, he was simply giving advice to those who already had talent.”

“He may simply be able to see talent.”

“Even so, his ability is extraordinary. Hard to believe he’s just a wind mage.”

“The Mage Corps captain, after seeing him, is now hard at work training those with aptitude for wind magic, but…”

“They can only manage little whirlwinds?”

“He can swing an armored buffalo around with one of those whirlwinds. They can barely envelop a single person.”

＊ ＊ ＊

I left Emilia at dawn, took a break after passing Lynas, then flew past Adèle and slept again.
At this rate, I could fly from Holtland’s capital Flangle to Sutherland’s capital Leclerc in two days.

I began flying again at dawn and arrived before noon at the Berlant estate in the noble district.
The guards rushed over, but after saluting, they ran to inform Steward Hoylart.
He had clearly been waiting, though I had my own delays.

Once guided inside, I handed over the letter from the duke and said:

“I also carry Holtland’s reply. They want a response prepared.”

“A response?”

“The letter from Holtland ends Sutherland’s original request. Now I’ve been commissioned to deliver your reply to their reply. It concerns ceasefire negotiations, so delaying your response would be unwise.”

“Understood. I will deliver this to Chancellor Brighton at once and arrange for his reply.”

“I’ll wait in the back garden. Please make arrangements quickly.”

Hoylart rang a bell and ordered a carriage prepared, then sent another servant to guide me outside.

＊ ＊ ＊

“Chancellor, the Berlant estate reports that they have received Holtland’s reply. They request an answer. That man will fly it back to Holtland.”

“Hm… The request should have only been to send notice of negotiations and decide the date.”

“Yes, but a second letter came with it.”

The chancellor accepted the two letters and opened the first.
It expressed acceptance of negotiations, proposing the Linjueil River—between Narcier and Emilia—as a temporary border for talks.
The second letter, however, was the real issue.

It explained that Crown Prince Meredith Holtland had strongly urged the king to launch the invasion, that he had attacked the envoy without warning, and that he had previously imprisoned Sutherland’s envoy on his own authority and was stripped of his status for it.
It also stated the king had died from the strain, which caused the reply to be delayed.

Finally, the surprise came in the last lines:

Holtland apologized for the invasion and wrote that if they could conclude a treaty establishing the Linjueil River as the border, they wished to form a strong bond with Sutherland.

Signed: Felix Holtland, King of the Holtland Kingdom.