5
The price of fish has significantly increased. Vegetables remain consistently expensive.
The nation is immersed in a major war, with reports of continuous victories by our country’s military.
I observe the merchants. Smiling merchants, pale-faced merchants, those secretly preparing to flee… Their attitudes speak louder than words.
Observing the atmosphere in the capital, I eventually came to a conclusion.
For today’s dinner, it’s tempura soba.
While gobbling down her food, Suzuha and, naturally, Yuzuriha beside her, I decided to bring up something I wanted to ask.
“In the near future, I think there’s a high possibility of a coup happening in this country.”
“Wh-wha──!?”
Yuzuriha spewed out the soba in her mouth, scattering noodles and broth everywhere.
“Yes, Yuzuriha-san, please use this cloth to wipe it up.”
“T-Thank you… But, why do you know about that? Where did you hear it!?”
“What do you mean by ‘hear’? I didn’t hear it from anywhere.”
“It’s obvious! It’s about the Duke Sakuragi’s plan for a princess faction coup!”
“…Yuzuriha-san? Falling into divulgence like this, isn’t it a bit too much?”
Suzuha gave Yuzuriha-san a piercing gaze. I completely agree with that sentiment.
However, Yuzuriha-san maintained a defiant attitude.
“Suzuha-kun and I were originally planning to inform you just before, so you would cooperate. But at this stage, it’s more of a problem that the plan is leaking. So, Suzuha-kun’s older brother, where did he hear about the coup plan?”
“Well, I didn’t hear it from anywhere.”
“…Huh?”
Yuzuriha-san had a perplexed expression.
To help Yuzuriha-san understand, I decided to explain the situation step by step.
“Firstly, as far as I know, our country had no chance of winning in this war.”
“Why do you think that?”
“Simply because we’re holding back our forces. If we genuinely intended to win the war, Yuzuriha-san should have definitely been deployed.”
“But if I take the lead, it’ll end up being credited to me again. This war was, in part, conducted to divert attention from the great victory we achieved in the Ogre’s Great Forest. So, it’s unreasonable for the royals to go out, leaving us behind.”
“While that may make sense politically, it’s disastrous in terms of tactics.”
“Why is that?”
” I borrowed the Duke’s study and researched our country’s recent war situations. It turns out, we’ve only been winning on the battlefields where Yuzuriha-san is present. Conversely, there’s no record of the two princes leading a battle and achieving victory.”
” That’s true.”
” For the past few years, Yuzuriha-san’s overwhelming strength has been the only thing holding our ground. If it weren’t for her, this country would have lost a long time ago.”
” Really? Well, I did have a similar thought, but hearing it from you makes it quite embarrassing…”
Seemingly embarrassed, Yuzuriha-san blushes and squirms.
But that’s not the main point.
“So, I thought we would lose this war quickly and retreat. However, the reports say we are on a winning streak, advancing with unstoppable momentum.”
” Yeah, it was surprising for me too.”
“So, I’ve been closely watching the merchants in the capital. Their reactions, what goods they deal with, individual markup rates, shortages, changes in origin, frequency of restocking… After careful observation and combining all these factors, I reached a certain conclusion.”
“Oh, really? What’s that?”
I declared solemnly,
“Our country’s military is on a continuous losing streak. There’s no doubt.”
It’s like the official announcement from the headquarters.
Our top leaders are hiding the fact of defeat, deceiving the citizens with false reports of success.
“Hey, wait a minute!”
Yuzuriha-san hastily interjects,
READ THE ORIGINAL TRANSLATION AT LOCALIZERMEERKAT.PAGES.DEV
“If what you’re saying is true, there’s no way I wouldn’t know! Our Duke family has its own information network, and we are always attentive to gathering information!”
“Then let me ask you, Yuzuriha-san. Have you directly heard about the current war from someone who has been on the battlefield?”
“…No. It seems direct reports are delayed. Usually, soldiers who have been on the front lines come to sell information, but…”
“Hearing your story, I became even more convinced.”
I stare at Yuzuriha-san and say,
“Think about it. If the two princes with their personalities were really winning, they would be boasting about how much the prince from their camp outshone the other. They would be trying to undermine each other as much as possible.”
“True. Those two princes are rotten to the core.”
“Moreover, the primary goal of this war is likely to showcase how suitable each prince is for the next king. But there’s no mention of that at all.”
“Yeah…”
“Two princes joining forces to crush the enemy army sounds impressive, but I’ve never heard any detailed descriptions. If it were a victorious battle, they should be thoroughly and vividly described, and widely publicized.”
“Now that you mention it… but those idiot princes probably just charged in recklessly, so there might not have been any heroic moments to report.”
“Even if that were the case, we’d still hear something about it. But this time, there’s absolutely no detailed information.”
Talking so much has made me thirsty. I could use some tea.
“In other words, from the beginning, winning or losing didn’t matter. A scenario like that was being created.”
“…Hmm…”
If not, it doesn’t make sense.
Why information control has been so successful.
The reason must be that they meticulously and delicately prepared long before the results of the battles were known. They managed to deceive even Yuzuriha-san, the daughter of the Duke.
Now, with just one more step, we can find the answer.
“In that case, what could be the reason for preparing such false information? It’ll be exposed sooner or later.”
“False information has no value as time passes. So, it’s only a time-buying tactic… Ah, I see!?”
“That’s right. So, the aim is probably a coup.”
Once they seize power through a coup, no matter how badly they lose the war, they can eliminate anyone who would hold them accountable.
Of course, it would be a different story if the enemy country invaded. But given that we have Yuzuriha-san, known as the Goddess of War, and an alliance with the Amazoness, they probably judged that the chance of being attacked is low.
I don’t know which noble orchestrated this, but they probably planned for the prince to lose from the start. It’s incredibly devious.
“So, I thought one of the princes’ factions would stage a coup, targeting the current king, queen, and princess in the royal capital… Uh, is the princess staging a coup too?”
“Ugh.”
“If you want me to pretend I didn’t hear that, I’d be happy to oblige.”
“──No. At this point, you might as well know. I was going to tell you eventually anyway.”
And so, I was told, in excruciating detail, about the princess’s coup plan to become the next queen.
I’m just a commoner, so knowing the core of a national-scale conspiracy doesn’t help me at all.
Then, five days after we had that conversation during dinner, a coup by the second prince’s faction took place,
and the king, queen, and princess were imprisoned.
6
Martial law was imposed in the capital, restricting freedom of movement.
In the midst of all that, Yuzuriha showed up at my place with a face paler than pale.
“…I’m really sorry. Despite your warnings, it turned out like this. I tried my best to prevent the coup, but…”
“You don’t need to apologize to me.”
I might have predicted the prince’s faction pulling off a coup, but I had no clue how it would actually go down.
Honestly, for us common folks, noble power struggles and, let alone who becomes the next king, are usually none of our business.
If a dumbass becomes king and ruins the country, well, there’s always the option of moving abroad with Suzuha.
Our village, where Suzuha and I were born and raised, doesn’t even exist anymore, along with the fields.
“So, what do you think will happen now?”
“What do you mean?”
“The current king, queen, and princess are imprisoned.”
Yuzuriha’s intense gaze made it clear she wasn’t looking for some comforting words.
So, I gave her an honest answer.
“The princess will probably get killed.”
“What?!”
“The current rulers’ reputation isn’t that bad, and there’s public opinion to consider. The king and queen might be locked up until the coronation, then either exiled, imprisoned for life, or poisoned. But the princess won’t be spared.”
“Too dangerous.”
“Plus, she was planning a coup, right? If that’s known, it’s likely she’ll be a target even if she’s kept alive. To silence the noble supporters of the princess’s faction, she’s probably gonna get killed.”
Well, it’s just the perspective of a commoner. I have no idea if I’m on the mark,
but Yuzuriha seemed to ponder my words seriously. After a moment of contemplation, she looked me straight in the eye.
“I have a favor to ask you.”
“Sure.”
“I know this isn’t something you should be involved in, but I’m well aware of that. So, it’s a request, and you have the right to refuse. But if possible, I hope you won’t refuse. I’m willing to do anything I can for you, so please…”
Yuzuriha cleared her throat.
“Will you… help me save the princess?”
“Sure thing.”
“Huh?”
I didn’t waste any time with my answer, and Yuzuriha’s eyes widened in disbelief.
Visit the request page If there’s a Japanese Light Novel (LN) or Web Novel (WN) you’d like me to translate
When the donation goal progress bar above hit 100% one novel will be chosen for translation
| Table of Contents | Next* |
Support the Author by Buying the Original Books!
