บท 13: Who is the Chess Player, Who is the Chess Pawn, and Who Can Play Against Him?
"It seems this matter isn't simple." Ayanokouji slowly said to Emilia. "Since the target is Lady Emilia's royal badge, it seems the goal is to make Lady Emilia lose her qualification as a monarch."
"Yes."
Emilia also nodded, beginning to search for possible culprits in her mind.
"From the current perspective, it is highly likely that the culprit is one of the other throne candidates, because if Lady Emilia loses her qualification, they would be the direct beneficiaries." Ayanokouji analyzed. "We cannot rule out the possibility that it is one of your enemies who simply wants revenge on Lady Emilia. Do you know who might be the most likely to do such a thing?"
"I... I don't know..." Emilia replied hesitantly.
She knew many people in the capital were wary of her Half-Elf identity, so they didn't want her to ascend the throne. Emilia's political stance of equality for all would harm the interests of the nobles, so many nobles secretly obstructed her actions. Hence, she couldn't pinpoint which power was behind this.
However, Emilia was still a bit surprised. Although there were many voices against her candidacy for the throne, her current level of support and power was the lowest among the candidates. Therefore, those opponents had previously only chosen to support other forces without doing anything too outrageous.
"Would they really do such a thing?"
"Politics is far darker than you think." Ayanokouji said calmly.
There was no doubt that the girl in front of him knew nothing about politics. She didn't realize how deep political struggles for the throne went; it was far more complex than becoming a class president in elementary school. Additionally, Ayanokouji had spoken with Emilia in the previous regression and understood her political views.
The idea of equality for all was too idealistic. Regardless of the social structure, it was impossible to achieve equality for everyone. Society is like a large machine; some people are the machinery, and others are just the parts. This inequality is what allows society to function in an orderly manner.
Having been raised in the White Room, he was well aware of the darkness of politics. The equality Emilia spoke of was just overly idealistic nonsense. Ayanokouji believed it was impossible to achieve, but he wouldn't tell her his thoughts, because her idealism was a remote control he used to manipulate her.
But now he needed to make Emilia aware of the dark side of politics.
"Lady Emilia is in a very dangerous situation right now." Ayanokouji said slowly. "You are now the target of other forces, and it's unclear who is behind all this. It's safe to say hidden arrows are hard to guard against, and if they tried to seize your badge today, they might use other means in the future."
Hearing Ayanokouji's words, Emilia's expression gradually darkened.
"The importance of the throne is self-evident, and others will do anything to fight for it. Lady Emilia, it is not good for you to be too simple and kind-hearted, as it may put you in danger."
"What Ayanokouji said is true." Puck agreed from the side.
She had been with Emilia long enough to know that her good and simple nature would suffer among the cunning and strategic royal candidates. Such a personality would likely cause Emilia to suffer significant losses in the future.
Emilia's expression grew increasingly serious, and she felt Ayanokouji's words made a lot of sense. She had to win the throne because she had reasons to win.
She lifted her head and directed her gaze at Ayanokouji, wanting to ask his opinion: "Then what should I do..."
"What Lady Emilia currently lacks the most is supporters. If possible, I am willing to be your supporter, Lady Emilia." Ayanokouji said slowly. "I'm not boasting, but my intelligence is quite good. Combining intelligence and forces should be able to provide support to Lady Emilia."
Listening to his words, Emilia thought his reasoning was clear and logical. Perhaps he could truly provide advice to her among the royal candidates. Regarding the use of force, the three robbers lying on the ground were proof enough. Ayanokouji being able to fight one against three without injury was sufficient proof that he was no ordinary person.
And Emilia just learned from his words that he had a certain status in another country, which equated to giving herself an extra layer of political protection.
If Ayanokouji could join her camp, he might really be able to offer her significant assistance.
"However, I want to know why you want to help me, Ayanokouji-sama." Emilia thought for a moment, lifted her head, and asked.
"Of course, there is something I want in return. I need Lady Emilia to provide me with treatment according to my status. After all, to the royal capital, I am just a foreigner."
Ayanokouji stated his conditions, needing Emilia to provide him with good food, clothing, house, and transportation. At present, it was more important to acknowledge his needs than to hide them.
"Um, we can provide that." Emilia nodded.
"After all, I must join now." As Ayanokouji spoke, his eyes intentionally glanced at Felt's body, trying to draw her attention unintentionally.
"Although I didn't know Lady Emilia's badge and identity before, now that the matter has reached this point, we are already involved..."
After a brief pause, Ayanokouji continued, "Normally, the other party should have made a deal with this girl later, but now that the plan to seize the badge has failed and the deal cannot be completed, the other party will be very anxious. They will soon realize that their plan has failed, and your surroundings must have their spies. After a little investigation, they will find out that I contacted Lady Emilia and guess that I might have disrupted their plans..."
Felt, who was listening to the two of them, felt her heartbeat quicken.
She was just an ordinary person living in the slums, usually making a living by petty theft. After reaching a deal with gold coins as a reward, she chose to steal Emilia's badge.
She began to worry that she might also be involved.
"As someone involved, I will certainly be considered a thorn in their side after interfering with the plan, and I might even be silenced." Ayanokouji said slowly.
Elsa not only aimed to kill Emilia but also to eliminate everyone present. But what he was saying now wasn't just for Emilia's ears. In fact, he wanted Felt to hear it and to obediently follow his instructions.
Felt's character was more cautious compared to Emilia, but compared to Emilia, she had one thing that was easier to control: her bond with Rom.
In the slums, Felt and Rom always depended on each other. In the last regression, Ayanokouji successfully used Rom to threaten Felt, confirming Felt's affection for Rom.
With Rom's life as a direct threat, Felt would have to comply with Ayanokouji's orders, but she wouldn't be loyal and wouldn't give her full strength. Therefore, Ayanokouji needed to make Felt voluntarily join under his command, and when Felt joined, Rom would surely join as well.
"...Not only that, but insiders and other relatives might also be involved." Ayanokouji added.
Hearing this, Felt's heart beat faster, and she couldn't help swallowing her saliva.
She felt what the other party said seemed reasonable. She herself was involved in this incident, but she didn't have the means to handle it. If she completed her mission, she would likely be silenced by her employer's forces.
And this might also involve Rom!
Although Rom knew she had made a deal with her employer, he didn't know the specifics. Felt didn't want to bring misfortune to him because of her.
"Is there no solution?" Emilia asked anxiously.
"From the current standpoint, since there is no way to escape, we can only choose to take sides." Ayanokouji shook his head slightly and said.
"Alright... I want to join you too! Is there anything I can do!"
At this moment, Felt heard Emilia's words and finally made up her mind to join. She felt that Ayanokouji was right. If she didn't take sides now, she might be silenced by other forces. It was better to join Emilia's camp now and rely on her support. She sought refuge to protect herself and Rom.
"Huh?"
Emilia was slightly surprised by Felt's words. She didn't expect the other party to want to join her camp as well. However, when she thought about Felt stealing her badge, she felt a bit angry.
"Isn't all this because of you!"
"I, I... I just used money to do something!" Felt quickly defended herself.
"Then what can you offer us?" Ayanokouji squinted his eyes and asked slowly, using a difficult-to-obtain method to make Felt easier to control.
Wanting to highlight her value, Felt proudly patted her chest, "My name is Felt, and I'm a famous thief in this area! If you don't believe me, you can ask others! I can help you steal anything you want."
"That's not something to be proud of!" Emilia said firmly.
"But this child seems to have no choice. If we don't care, she will likely be silenced. And having one more person on our side can give us more strength."
Ayanokouji took the opportunity to say, and Felt looked at him with a bit of gratitude in her eyes.
"And maybe we can use Felt to find out who is behind the scenes." He said slowly.
He had already devised a plan in his mind. Now that Emilia and Felt had taken the bait, he could proceed to the next step of his setup.
"What should we do?" Emilia asked curiously.
"We need to return to the slums first, go to the place where Felt and her employer agreed to meet, and ambush there in advance, waiting for the other party to appear before launching a surprise attack."
Everyone's eyes were on him. Ayanokouji glanced at them and said, "But we need to consider the possibility that the opponent has other forces or weapons, so we also need to make more preparations."
❀❀❀
"Did he gain Emilia and Felt's trust with just a few words?"
In front of the TV, Shirogane could only nod. Ayanokouji in the video was too cunning. Even he, who was always at the top of the school, was lacking in handling interpersonal relationships.
Ayanokouji's cunning was too sophisticated, and his nearly perfect presence made Shirogane admire him a little.
If Ayanokouji were in the same school as him, he feared he would have a formidable opponent.
❰❱SKY SCREEN❰❱
The camera panned to Ayanokouji and his group arriving in the slums.
Seeing the lifeless environment, just like in the previous regression, Emilia's face showed expressions of worry and pity, while Ayanokouji's expression remained unchanged.
He didn't ask Felt to follow him but asked her to return to the slums to meet him in a few minutes. This was because, although Elsa's transaction time was almost evening, Ayanokouji considered that Elsa might have sneaked into the slums earlier, or she had other informants in the slums.
Therefore, Ayanokouji asked Felt to act separately from him and, at the same time, changed Emilia's clothes to more tattered ones, putting a hood on her to cover her conspicuous silver hair and hide her identity.
All of this was to avoid attracting Elsa's attention in advance.
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