The Strongest Dull Prince’s Secret Battle for the Throne

Chapter 45: Proxy Appointment

Father! This Traugott has something I want to ask of you! Please!

Insolent! Dont suddenly come barging in during a meeting! And you are too loud!

Hiiiii!!?? M, My apologies!!

Haa..

Trau-niisan who loudly opened the double door of the throne room and made a cool entrance immediately got scolded by Father. Since he suddenly got loudly scolded at like that, he headed back outside.

It must have been quite scary.

HaaHaaI went in with a *Bam*.

Well, if you are saying that

After all, this person has no literary talent.

Just how does the word *Bam* described the situation just now?  You were clearly the one that got chased out with a *Bam*.

Finne also has a cramped smile on her face.

Seriously.hes the son of the Empress and his head isnt that bad. If he doesnt have this kind of personality I wouldnt be surprised if he is actively involved in the succession war. 

Exhausted,  I quietly opened the door of the throne room.

There are naturally gatekeepers there but no one tried to stop me. Seeing my appearance, theres no one in this imperial capital that doesnt know about Silver.

Excuse me. Your Imperial Majesty.

HmmAn unusual guest has come huh.

I, Silver have come to seek an audience with His Imperial Majesty.

What audience. If you properly walked through the castle gate I should already have received some kind of report though?

Because of the emergency, I had to violate some manner to enter the castle.

This castle is the center of the Empire. If someone set foot in here unauthorized, it wouldnt be weird to immediately get a death sentence you know? This isnt just a mere manner violation. Have you come here to kill me? Or are you implying that you can assassinate me any time you want?

Your caution is unnecessary. If you are a dull-witted ruler, I wouldnt be able to enter the castle in this manner. A wise ruler such as Your Majesty knows well how to handle me, and you must have guaranteed that assassinating you is already an impossibility. Thats why, although impolite, I chose to seek an audience with you unofficially in this way. Allow me to apologize for that.

The upper floors of the castle of the imperial sword. In other words, the living space of the Emperor has a strong barrier protecting it which makes transfer magic unusable.

Along with the imperial knights guarding the area, anyone who plans to attempt an assassination in this place should get their head checked.

If I tried to seriously do it, will I be able to? With that said, there are various special gimmicks in this castle that I dont even know about. There must be escape routes for cases of assassination attempts as well. If I missed that chance and let him get away, this time, I will be the one who will be hunted down until the end of the earth.

I have no intention to attempt such a stupid thing.

If you can not forgive me no matter what then please let me off with the debt you mentioned when I saved your life last time.

Hm, Alright. So, are you here to talk about the situation in the south?

Yes. [SOMEHOW] the secret of the Adventurer Guild has leaked to the Empire. The Guild is hoping that the Empire will not do something unnecessary with it.

When I emphasize the word Somehow, Father smugly smiled.

So he knows about it after all. Right now, Eric, Gordon, and Zandra are in front of Father. One of these three must have presented him with the information.

Putting it as something unnecessary is quite cruel, isnt it. Is it bad for us to try and help the south?

I dont mind that. I dont know what the Guild will say about this but if you do the right thing, you will definitely be able to help a lot of people. What I am worried about is whether you will choose to make the wrong decision.

As expected of an SS-class adventurer. You are quite arrogant. Who are you to decide what is right or wrong for the Empire?

What decides that isnt me but the result. It is clear as day whether it is the wrong choice or not just by looking at it.

I locked eyes with Father for a while.

It might be disrespectful but it is still allowed because I am an SS-class adventurer. My presence help keeps the Empire safe from the many monster threats. If something that is happening in the south right now happened inside the Empire, the people wouldnt immediately panic because of my presence.

Thats why some disrespect like locking eyes with him like this is allowed. Well, because of my fathers personality, he wouldnt punish anyone just because they are only disrespectful in the first place.

Then lets hear it. What is right and what is wrong?

Its not my job to explain it. Ive already acted enough like a messenger. From here on, it is the job of the two people behind me.

Saying so, I take a step back.

In my place, Trau-niisan and Finne stepped before Father.

Recognizing Finne, Fathers expression collapsed a little.

You look fine. Finne.

Yes, Your Majesty. Please forgive me for seeking an audience with you this way.

Its alright. If its you then you can come to visit whenever you want.

He looked like a father who his beloved daughter just visited.

Nevertheless, Finne is not young enough to take his words at face value and come to visit him whenever she wants. I dont even think of using that to our advantage in the succession war.

My father is an emperor who will definitely punish a person if that person committed a sin no matter how much he favors them after all. Even if he favors Finne, he will not do anything in our favor just because of that.

Thank you for your kind words.

F, Father. I ..

Its Your Imperial Majesty. Trau.

Aah, Your Imperial Majesty. Allow me to be direct, please appoint me as your proxy and dispatch me to the south.

While Finne started by greeting him and making a good impression first, this fourth prince who cant read the mood at all immediately ruined it. 

Well, he might have decided that it would be a waste of time to do some cheap negotiation with Father as the opponent. Rather, I want to think so. 

Keep sleep talking when you are actually asleep, Pig.

Interrupting a meeting is not something Im fond of.

Get in my way and I will crush you.

The three who had been silent until now are voicing their displeasure.

Suddenly being berated by the three of them, Trau-niisan slightly flinched and talked back to them, still, he couldnt read the mood.

Th, that tone and the looks in your eyes still havent changed you know, Miss Zandra.maybe thats why you still couldnt get married?

You want to get turned into minced meat and fed to a pig?

Hii!!??

They dare say that in front of father huh. Both of them.

When the tension is gradually heating up, Finne coughs and draws the attention to her.

Then.

May I speak?

Please do.

Thank you very much. The person who persuaded His Highness Traugott was me. The reason I did that is that the southern military intervention would not benefit the Empire.

Hou? Finne speaking of military affairs huh.

This might be only a womans shallow thinking but please hear me out. Even if the Empire sent troops to assist the situation in the south it would still take days to arrive. If the Sea Dragon is defeated in the meantime, our military deployment will become pointless and even if our troops arrived in time, their opponent is a Sea Dragon. I am afraid that even our fleet would be easily destroyed. We havent deployed troops to exterminate a dragon since ancient times. This is simply because the quality is more important than quantity when combating a dragon. Therefore, I think it would be beneficial for the Empire to send His Highness Traugott as His Majestys proxy and allow Elna-sama to use her holy sword to combat the dragon in the south.

Finnes points were sound but as expected, Finne didnt come up with it herself. Finne does have similar ideas but she wouldnt be able to logically present her point like that.

Before we came here, I told her that Finne has to be the one who explains this to the Emperor. So we have Lynfia thought up the points that she can use to convince the Emperor and have Finne delivers it.

Hmm, I see. That does make sense. But Finne. Why is it that I must appoint Trau as my proxy?

The other three princes and princess have too high a status. The role of the appointed person this time will only be delivering the holy sword. If we leave this to one of the other three princes and princess, this will no doubt damage their reputation. My apologies but if we leave this in His Highness Traugotts hands, we will not have to worry about that.

Miss Finnes words are cruel.but since you are cute, I will forgive you. Cuteness is justice after all.

Trau, quiet down a little bit

Enduring his headache, Father admonished Trau-niisan while holding his forehead. Well, of course, he would have a headache. I have a headache myself too.

Your Imperial Majesty. I have a question I would like to ask Miss Blau Mowe.

I allow it.

Blau Mowe. if we are going along with your reasoning, wouldnt we have the same result if I lead the army while bringing along the holy sword? Why dont you want us to utilize the army so stubbornly? Are you implying that the holy sword user and our imperial army together would lose against the Sea Dragon?

No, Your Highness Gordon. There is no doubt that our army will be victorious. However, it will take too much time. Fortunately, we have Silver-sama with us here. If its Silver-sama then he can take both the proxy and his escorts immediately to the south with his transfer magic. This will be faster than sending out our army. Moreover, we have the strongest holy sword user and the strongest adventurer of the Empire. With these two personages together, it probably wouldnt be necessary to send out our army. Of course, the Empires reputation will be improved throughout the continent, there will be no disadvantage to the Empire either.

Perfect.

It seems Gordon was using his head to argue for once. However, in this situation, they have no chance to win this.

There is no better way to appeal to the Empires interests than this.

There is no damage to the Empire and our reputation will be improved. Moreover, as Finne said before. With the proxys only job to deliver the holy sword, you will only appear as you are acting on someone elses behalf. Those threes pride and reputations are too high to handle that.

However,

Thats just sophistry. The Empires fame will resonate throughout the continent only when we save the south with our own power. Spare me from cooperating with the Adventurer Guild. If it comes to that then the Adventurer Guild can just handle this matter by itself.

Hmm, Eric. What do you think?

I agree with Finnes opinion. This would be the most beneficial option for the Empire. If we do as Zandra says, we will worsen our relationship with the Adventurer Guild and also raise the rumor of Your Majestys narrow mindedness as well.

As expected of Eric.

He ascertained the situation and immediately hopped on the winning ship. Moreover, he used the opportunity to attack Zandra as well.

Zandra sharply stares at Eric but Eric simply ignored her.

Meanwhile, Gordon looks straight at Father.

Your Imperial Majesty. Please leave everything to me. I will take this opportunity and take the southern region for you.

His words were direct without concealing any of his intentions.

Gordon said that he would take advantage of the opportunity and invade the south. 

In response, Father only makes a bitter smile.

You really are honest huh. But I have no need for the south right now. If you want it then you can take it when you become an emperor. We will go with Finnes proposal and conclude this matter. Right now, taking the south isnt that appealing and theres nothing to gain by dispatching our military either.

But, Father!

Its Your Imperial Majesty, Zandra.

Kuh! Your Imperial Majesty! We do not have any need to rely on the Adventurer Guild either!

Last time, we learned a harsh lesson by antagonizing the Adventurer Guild. This time, we will use Silvers face and cooperate with the Adventurer Guild. He came all the way here to us after all. It would be easier if Elna is with you right?

Yeah, it would be bone-breaking if I were to do it alone.

Then thats decided. Trau, come forward.

Saying so, Father removes the ring he has on his finger.

It is a magical ring that has been handed down from generation to generation of emperors. It doesnt have any effect when you are equipping it but it can delegate some of the Emperors authority to others. In other words, it is an item used to designate a proxy.

Traugott Lakes Adler, hear my order. Head to the south and deliver the sword to the Hero.

Yes, Your Majesty.

As expected, he doesnt start blurting out something weird here.

I let out a sigh as I was a little nervous.

Meanwhile, a messenger entered the throne room.

Reporting! A Sea Dragon has been sighted in the Principality of Albatro! The Adventurer Guild is currently searching for Silver right now!

So it appeared

I will assign an imperial knight as a guard but Silver, take care of my son.

Please rest assured. I will return him without any scratches.

If I am going to have a guard then it would be nice to if I got a beautiful girl.

Your favorite imperial knight is currently in the south right now so just be satisfied with her.

A woman with monstrous strength like that is out of my field though.

If Elna heard that, she will surely be pissed off.

With that in mind, I and Trau-niisan headed for the Imperial Capital branch of the Adventurer Guild.