25-269

EP.269. [The Adoptive Mother Marianne Is Curious About Her Son’s Secret.] 

“Is that so?” 

At the Imperial Knights Headquarters, Victoria responded with a rather serious look. 

“Yes, Victoria. The situation is becoming quite complicated.” 

The person she was speaking with was none other than the heart of the Imperial Knights, Supreme Commander Kaiser Antoine de Sel Oblaing. 

“The intelligence is that Tyrannos and Sophist are preparing increasingly suspicious moves, having noticed the imperial forces are starting to be spread thin.” 

Antoine had summoned Victoria, who was at the arena, to inform her about the anti-empire group Tyrannos and their subordinate faction, Sophist. 

It had been over twenty days since the large-scale monster outbreak began, and not only were the number of monsters increasing, but their distribution was also very wide. The Imperial Knights had tried to defend only the regions directly under the imperial family, but inevitable gaps in their forces had begun to appear. Although the scale was not yet catastrophic and they had kept this a secret, Antoine’s intelligence network had detected that Tyrannos and Sophist had noticed enough to start planning their own operations. 

“And by ‘moves’ you mean?” 

Victoria, though she could guess what Antoine meant, wanted to confirm. 

“There are signs of troop redeployment. I think you, Saber Victoria, can analyze what that means.” 

The anti-empire noble alliance Tyrannos was redeploying its troops in response to the Imperial Knights’ movements. 

‘They’re monitoring the empire’s troop deployments and waiting for the right moment to strike somewhere.’ 

As Antoine implied, Victoria immediately understood what Tyrannos’s movements meant. The Elysium Empire’s greatest troop concentration was in the north, to keep the demons in check, followed by the border with Tyrannos. The northern troops were a fixed constant and couldn’t be moved. So if special units were formed to combat the increasing monsters, it would likely mean drawing forces from the Tyrannos border. Tyrannos was watching for this and waiting for an opportunity to strike. 

“But since the situation is due to the monster outbreak, I don’t think Tyrannos will be able to threaten the empire directly,” Victoria replied. Monsters didn’t distinguish between the empire and Tyrannos, and monster outbreaks were happening in Tyrannos’s territories too. She reasoned that while there might be some conflict, it wouldn’t escalate to a major battle. 

“Tyrannos has been gathering dark mages and researching dark magic for a long time, as you know. It’s possible they’ve developed countermeasures against monsters,” Antoine replied. Dark magic, which incorporates demonic energy, had been secretly developed by Tyrannos to oppose the holy magic of the Radiant Goddess Church allied with the empire. Dark magic was said to be more advanced in taming monsters, so it was naive to assume Tyrannos faced the same risks as the empire. 

“Even so, it would be risky for Tyrannos to launch a major attack on the imperial core. But they don’t need to take that risk themselves they have Sophist,” Antoine continued, mentioning Sophist as Tyrannos’s shadow force. 

If Tyrannos attacked directly, it would mean all-out war, which was too risky. The more efficient way was for Tyrannos to open a path, then send in the highly concentrated force of Sophist, for which Tyrannos would bear no official responsibility. 

“So, it comes down to Sophist,” Victoria replied, her tone nuanced. She had long emphasized the variable of Sophist, but the veteran knights had ignored its influence. Now that it was finally being taken seriously, she felt a bit frustrated. 

“I know how you feel, Victoria. That’s why I’m planning a preemptive strike against Tyrannos and Sophist,” Antoine said, walking over to his desk. 

‘A preemptive strike?’ 

The phrase caught Victoria’s attention. 

“I can finally speak about it. I’ve long recognized the threat of Sophist and felt action was needed. But due to political considerations, I had to remain neutral in internal discussions. So I’ve been gathering information on Sophist unofficially and preparing possible attack routes.” 

Antoine, though a high noble, had worked his way up to become Kaiser, so his perspective was similar to Victoria’s. But his position forced him to consider politics, so he’d taken personal precautions. 

“Does that mean...?” 

“Yes, Victoria. I want you to lead the emergency operation to eliminate Sophist.” 

Antoine nodded, confirming her suspicion. He intended to entrust Victoria with the most secret and urgent mission. 

“Tyrannos is able to act so quickly because, unfortunately, there are people within the Imperial Knights connected to Tyrannos or Sophist.” 

He explained his reasoning for this decision. 

“I’ve suspected it for some time. Ideally, I’d clean house before launching the operation, but the situation doesn’t allow it. So we need to gather the most trustworthy members and succeed in the quest, Victoria.” 

It was a true preemptive strike. If it failed, the consequences would be severe both in losses and reputation. Preparing too carefully could risk exposing the secret operation if there were spies, and there was little time. So Antoine chose only the most loyal knights. 

“After careful consideration, I realized you were the best candidate, Victoria. Your loyalty to the knights and the empire is unquestionable, and you’re an expert on Sophist.” 

Victoria had only been with the knights for a year and wasn’t part of any faction or tainted by politics. Until now, Antoine had found her lack of connections regrettable, but for this secret quest, it was a huge advantage. 

“.....” 

Victoria listened silently. 

“Understood, Supreme Commander Antoine. I accept the secret quest to eliminate Sophist.” 

She accepted his order. 

“You’re amazing, Grand Duchess! To have created such an incredible artifact!” 

The nuns of Bahad showered Grand Duchess Marianne with praise for the artifact she introduced to suppress the dimensional rift: the Heart of the Sun. 

“Thank you for your kind words. I was worried it might offend you.” 

Marianne responded with a gentle smile. The Heart of the Sun was, strictly speaking, a heretical object from the Radiant Goddess Church’s perspective. So, except for her daughter Charlotte, Marianne presented it as a magic-suppressing artifact she had created. 

“Grand Duchess Marianne made it for the peace of the continent there’s no reason to be offended! In fact, it raises the prestige of the Radiant Goddess Church!” 

The nuns’ positive response was largely because Marianne herself was presenting it. She was considered the closest to sainthood in sixty years and would have become a saint if not for marriage. Even as a duchess, she was revered as a saint and wielded great influence. The Holy See wanted to maintain ties with her and thus interpreted her actions as positively as possible. 

“For now, it looks like things are resolved, Mother.” 

With the help of the nuns, Eugene, Charlotte, and Marianne placed the Hearts of the Sun in key locations around Bahad. After finishing, Eugene Schneider looked relieved and spoke to Marianne. 

“Yes. But if the Holy See starts talking openly about dimensional rifts, things will change. They’ll become extremely fundamentalist to prevent public unrest.” 

This peace was only temporary for Eugene’s group. As dimensional rifts became more common, the Radiant Goddess Church would assert itself as a symbol of judgment rather than peace. 

“That’s why I need to be sure, my son Eugene Schneider.” 

With a serious expression, Marianne looked at her adopted son. 

“During your pilgrimage, did you have any unusual experiences related to Atlantis?” 

Having seen Eugene Schneider seal a dimensional gate, and after her own years of research, Marianne immediately connected it to Atlantis.