Chapter 149 - Episode 11: "If I've Decided to Burn It, Then Burn It I Shall"
"Ojo-san, calm down."
"How can I be expected to stay calm!?"
Because that prince, he disappeared! If he disappeared, doesn't that mean his whereabouts are unknown!? Which means! I! Might not be able to personally kill him anymore! I absolutely cannot forgive this!
"It's not decided that he's disappeared yet, Ojo-san."
And so, after I had heightened my murderous intent toward Dactor-sama for a while, the members gathered, and once again, a detailed explanation came from Giovan.
"The reason why the talk of the prince's disappearance came out this time is because that's what the royal family announced."
"The royal family announced it? What does that mean?"
"I don't know. If he really disappeared, it feels like they would search for him secretly, or perhaps the prince really did vanish."
Hmm... I just don't know about this. No, Dactor-sama has plenty of motivation to disappear. After all, he was almost killed along with Carol and the Holy Knights. If he found out that even the King agreed to the plan to kill him, he would likely jump out of the castle...
"By the way, I think the prince didn't 'vanish' but was 'vanished.'"
...Furthermore, as Giovan says, there is also this view regarding this 'disappearance.' In short, it means 'The royal family killed Dactor-sama to silence him about various things, and to hide the murder, they made it out that the prince they killed had disappeared.' This also seems quite likely... After all, the royal family has failed spectacularly in their special grand operation. They couldn't kill Carol and take over the Cathedral, and furthermore, they haven't been able to silence the people involved. This is a truly helpless situation for the royal family. ...No, if I think about it carefully, that's not quite right. How should I put it, the royal family... their reputation has already fallen to the ground, so they don't have to worry about their reputation falling any further.
Even if I think about it, there are no options left for the royal family to choose. The plan to win over the Cathedral and make them an ally to intercept the Revolutionary Army became impossible by trying to kill Carol. The plan to kill Carol and seize the Cathedral became impossible by failing to kill Carol. ...If that's the case, the royal family no longer has any means to oppose the Revolutionary Army. At most, if the Guns have been passed on from House Fruitier, then maybe? But in the stories I heard from the 5th and 8th princesses, nothing about Guns or Cannons came up at all. Then the royal family can be said to be in a situation where they can only choose the final means such as 'exile,' 'flight,' or 'surrender.'
In that situation, is there a need to go out of the way to say that Dactor-sama has disappeared...?
"Is the announcement from the royal family only the fact that Dactor-sama has disappeared?"
"No? They said they'd give a reward if someone protects him."
H-Hmm...? Then, does the royal family want him to be searched for? But regarding that reward, it might be information to hide the fact that 'Dactor-sama is no longer in this world'... I feel it's difficult for Dactor-sama and the royal family to have a cooperative relationship now. It's quite difficult to get along with someone who tried to kill you. At the very least, Dactor-sama would feel a sense of danger... Therefore, there shouldn't be a case of 'hiding Dactor-sama in the castle and the royal family spreading false information,' and I don't think there would be a case of 'having only Dactor-sama go into exile first and the royal family releasing information to match that to make Dactor-sama's whereabouts difficult to understand.' Surely, it's not the case that Dactor-sama has truly disappeared and the royal family just issued a notice and a reward for the sake of appearances. That's too optimistic.
...And so.
"Then, isn't the prince already dead?"
"I'm starting to feel like that possibility is high..."
Yes! Finally, the possibility that Dactor-sama is dead is high! Oh, what a thing... for Dactor-sama to die... Just what have I been working hard for until now? Naturally, it was to kill all the unpleasant people, including him! And yet, if Dactor-sama has died, I won't be able to 'kill them all'!
Oh, if it was going to be like this, I should have killed him at that time when I helped him at the castle... I wanted a better way to kill him and became too greedy...
"A-Ano... Violia-sama, please cheer up."
"I can't cheer up..."
"Do you really get that depressed just because someone you hate is dead?"
"I do get depressed..."
"It's fine, isn't it? You were going to kill him anyway, right? It saves you the trouble since he's dead."
"I wanted to be the one to kill him!"
That's right, I, I wanted to be the one to kill him! I was excitedly thinking about whether to set Dactor-sama on fire and burn him, tie him to a cliff and let birds eat him, or attach a weight and sink him in the sea! All those plans are rejected! This is too much!
"Well, it can't be helped since he's dead. Yeah. Depending on how you think about it, you could think that the prince was killed because of Ojo-san, who messed with the royal family. Look, Ojo-san, it's all in how you look at it."
"...If he died after being betrayed by his own flesh and blood, it certainly wouldn't be a good way to die. Think of it that way and give up."
"What, it's not decided that Dactor is dead yet. Hope that he's alive somewhere and move forward for now."
...But, that's right. Yes. It can't be helped even if I'm depressed. I must turn my back on the sadness of Dactor-sama's death and move forward properly. Yes.
Therefore, I have decided.
"In order to clear this sadness and regret, I have no choice but to burn the royal castle."
I'll burn it! I have to take care of my own mood. If something sad happens, I just have to do something fun. Therefore, I'm finally going to burn the castle!
"Finally, huh. It's been a long time."
"If I burned it immediately, it felt like various grudges would remain..."
The reason I didn't burn the castle right away was, for one thing, because I wanted time to think. Even for burning a castle, there are various aesthetics, right? Therefore, I wanted to think carefully about how to burn the castle. But I've mostly gathered my thoughts on that, and all that's left is to put it into practice.
And... the reason I couldn't burn the castle immediately was because I didn't want to give the royal family a place to escape. ...No, rather than a place to escape, an 'excuse'? I wanted to burn it after crushing them completely. It's quite ridiculous for a villain like me to make a fuss about justice and evil, but even so, I want the royal family to die while carrying the mark of 'evil.' After all, what they desired was 'to be justice.' Isn't it revenge to make them face the exact opposite of their hope? ...Right now, the royal family has no room for excuses. I don't think their reign until now was decent, and I don't think the commoners think so either. They couldn't even take in the Cathedral, and even though they tried to create a hero or something, it only ended in allowing my speech. And so finally, Carol will likely announce a statement saying 'I was almost killed by the royal family. The royal family is evil. The Cathedral will support the Revolutionary Army for the sake of this country and its people,' and if that happens, the royal family is evil. There won't even be a fragment of room for excuses. This revolution has greatly exceeded the personal meaning of 'Violia Nico Fortesia's revenge' and has gained the pretext of 'defeating the great evil that infests this country.' This is exactly the situation I idealize. The exact opposite of that time when the royal family was trying to crush me as 'evil.' This time, it's my turn to crush the 'evil' royal family. And the winner is me. History is made by the winners, so in the history passed down to future generations, the current Orchesta King will leave his name as a foolish king. And so my revenge will continue 100 years, 200 years later! Ohohohohohoho!
Now then. If it's finally decided to burn the royal castle, the first thing to do is...
"Now! We're going to break into the royal castle to steal!"
It's stealing! "Now then. Is there anyone who wants to break into the royal castle to steal?" When I called out like that, the villains each began to answer.
"I'll go. I know the state of the royal castle's basement to some extent."
Ah, come to think of it, Doran was also in prison.
"I'll pass. I'd definitely be a hindrance."
Giovan's answer is as expected. On the contrary, I would have been surprised if he had said 'I'll go' here.
"I'll go. ...Well, I feel like I won't get any good medicine in the royal family's castle, though."
There seems to be liquor. Yes.
"I'll go too. It looks fun."
That's right. I think so too. After all, we're going to raid the royal family's treasury!
"P-Please take me with you too! I'll prove myself useful!"
Lital is... w-well, he'll be a pair of hands. Moreover, he can float in the air with wind magic. He seems like he'll be useful in various ways.
"Hmm. Then I shall go as well."
And so, finally, since Onii-sama said that...
"Ah, Onii-sama is not allowed."
"What!?"
I refused!
"If something were to happen to me, I must ask Onii-sama to take over the Revolutionary Army. Therefore, Onii-sama, please take the safe route and stay on standby."
"...I see. Understood. Then I shall stay on standby. It can't be helped."
When I explained it to Onii-sama, he looked disappointed, but he seemed to understand what I wanted to say. He withdrew easily.
"...'If something were to happen to me' is not very peaceful."
"Is that so?"
Doran, who was watching the interaction between me and Onii-sama, said that with a grim face. "If we're going to break into the royal castle to steal, what's the method? Where will we enter from? Surely, you're not choosing a dangerous means?"
"No, not particularly."
While smiling at Doran, I told him the plan for the theft this time!
"This time, we'll go with a decoy operation. While the decoy draws the attention of the King and the soldiers throughout the castle... the other members can just perform the theft in the meantime."
When I said that, Doran, of course, and the other members also made indescribable faces.
"...By the way, Ojo-san. That decoy, is it... Chris or someone?"
Giovan confirmed that, but isn't it obvious?
"It is I!"