“......”
My words hung in the air, and for a moment, the room was engulfed in silence.
“War...?”
Charlotte, who had grown up in this very kingdom, mumbled in disbelief, her voice almost a whisper.
“No, that can’t be!”
Sophia flinched at Charlotte's mumbling and immediately stepped forward, defending her kingdom.
“There’s no reason for the Holy Kingdom to go to war with Belvur! Yes, there have been issues in the past, but those were resolved a long time ago through diplomatic agreements!”
“I didn’t say the Holy Kingdom was preparing for war with Belvur.”
“Then who?”
Alice, who had been lost in thought with her arms crossed, spoke up.
“Perhaps... they were preparing for a war with the Emperor.”
At my words, Alice let out a soft groan, clearly taken aback.
“...What are you talking about? A war between the Empire and the Holy Kingdom? Why would they be preparing such a war here, beneath Lutetia?”
Unable to hold back, Charlotte interrupted as she overheard my conversation with Alice.
“It’s not a war between the Empire and the Holy Kingdom, it’s a war between the Emperor and the Holy Kingdom.”
At my words, the room fell silent again.
In the original story, the Emperor had prepared for war—and eventually carried it out. In two months’ time, this world would be a battlefield.
The practice in Lutetia was a consequence of my arrival in this world. In the original story, Alice had failed to grow fully until the very brink of war, and during the several months leading up to it, tensions between the Empire and Belvur escalated. Charlotte’s temperament became more sensitive as well.
No, the truth was that Charlotte and Alice had never been friends from the start. They met at the academy, gradually grew closer, and then, because of the war, their relationship fractured. They would only become friends again when they united to stop the Emperor.
“They were preparing to stop the Emperor.”
“Stop the Emperor? Why would you need to stop him? Is the Emperor preparing for war?”
No.
Well, more accurately, he had been. But because of me, that war was stopped, and his plans shifted. I didn’t know exactly what those plans were, though.
“The Emperor—”
I opened my mouth but then glanced at Alice and Sophia.
Alice nodded, while Sophia, her face pale, appeared as though her emotions were entirely mixed. It was honestly harder to read her emotions than Alice’s, who was trying to hide hers.
...Well, to be honest, I wasn’t exactly perceptive, whether in my previous life or this one.
Mia was holding her staff tightly, looking at me. The Marmaros embedded in her staff had multiplied since I first gave it to her, but the ice-element Marmaros I gave her was still embedded there. I wondered why she continued to keep it when she must have obtained better ones by now...
Rottie and Jake were looking at me, standing together.
They hadn’t asked any questions; they simply followed us. It felt like they were doing so because they believed it was only natural to help after I had helped them.
I hadn’t thought things would get to this point, so I hadn’t said anything about possibly risking my life, but it felt like Rottie and Jake would have come along anyway, even if I had.
Rena... was just the same as usual. She’d been completely fooled by me, thinking I was just putting on a brave front, and had followed me this far. I couldn’t help but wonder, how would she have reacted if I had shown her my true self? Would she have been disappointed? Thinking back, I realized I had been so caught up in other things that I had forgotten the competition I once had with her over our "concepts."
And then, finally, Claire and Leo.
Claire was the first major character I met after arriving here.
...And she had a secret about her birth that I never could have imagined. Now that I thought about it, I understood why I had ended up meeting her first. Maybe it was because of her birth secret that the Emperor’s plan had unraveled so suddenly after Claire’s death.
Back when I first met Claire, she had boldly called me "sister." And even now, she acted as though I was the most important person in her life.
As for Leo... I felt truly sorry for him.
He had been so kind, always coming to my aid whenever I asked, and I found it strange how easily he followed me. Maybe, after some time passed, the two of us could share a drink and talk things through. He didn’t look as pale when he had to speak to me alone lately, so it might be possible.
...Hmm.
I had been lost in thought for so long that the expressions of those around me had started to turn increasingly anxious. I decided it was time to stop my musings and speak up.
“The Emperor, in the past, had a plan to conquer this world. But now, he has ‘retracted’ it, mostly because of me.”
“......”
The eyes of everyone in the room turned to Alice. Alice nodded and added to the explanation.
“But Sylvia refused to become the Emperor. She insisted that she was the rightful heir to the Empire. Her father completely trusts Sylvia’s judgment. So, when Sylvia said she didn’t want that path, the Emperor didn’t seem to care, thinking it was of no consequence.”
“Huh?”
Mia let out an exclamation, a question that escaped her lips as all eyes turned toward her. She quickly covered her mouth, unnecessary as that was.
“Yes, that’s right. I have no royal blood. I’m from an orphanage.”
This wasn’t news to nearly everyone in the room.
...In truth, it wasn’t completely accurate, but by coincidence, it was still somewhat true. If this had been "Claire Fangryphon" saying this, it would either be a lie or the person themselves wouldn’t know the truth.
“Even so, the Emperor saw you as the next Empress?”
Charlotte asked.
“My father... believes that ability is more important than bloodline when it comes to succeeding the throne,” Alice replied.
In truth, he was far more concerned with bloodline than he let on, sowing his seeds far and wide and selecting capable heirs. He didn’t care much about things like ‘purity’ or ‘honor.’ Just look at Claire in the original.
“But I don’t think the Emperor truly gave up on his plans. The last time we met, he made it sound like he had abandoned them entirely, but I suspect it’s a smokescreen. And I believe the Holy Kingdom thinks the same. I only realized this after coming here and seeing things for myself.”
“......”
When I finished speaking, silence once again fell over the room.
“So...?”
Sophia spoke up, her voice calm but filled with confusion.
“Are you saying that, whether back then or now, you’ve been working to extinguish the spark of war?”
“Yes.”
I nodded.
This much was clear.
Of course, I hadn’t done it for some noble reason. It wasn’t about stopping the war to save lives or prevent sorrow. I had no right to think that way.
I had only acted to save the characters I liked.
If, on the other hand, war had been necessary for that, I wouldn’t have hesitated to start one. But that path would lead to a much harder road to a happy ending.
“So, I need to know more about this situation. Where are these beasts coming from? Is the Holy Kingdom really behind this? And if so, how exactly are they doing it?”
I had a general idea of what was happening. After all, I had already navigated through many dungeons. There was no way we’d take an unexpected turn—especially not to a place that hadn’t appeared in the original story.
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But even though the world was clearly influenced by the game, it was far more real than any virtual world.
So, if there were any unexpected variables, I needed to understand their origin. That way, I could figure out how to deal with them—whether now or in the future.
I had barely finished speaking when everyone in the room continued to stare at me in silence.
There were no loud responses, no one nodding eagerly.
Click.
The silence was broken by a small metallic sound.
“We’re ready.”
Rena stood up, holding her pistol.
I nodded at her.
“Then, shall we go?”
Not a single person objected.