The Strongest Dull Prince’s Secret Battle for the Throne

After I returned to Egor, I immediately took Egor and Sonia to the location Gordon gave me.

This is because if we don’t act fast, Gordon might have time to contact his underlings if he changes his mind.

At the first location, we found Sonia’s adopted grandparents.

They were confined in a small remote house but their treatment was decent. There was no visible injury and they don’t seem to be sick either.

Of course, there were guards around but Egor immediately incapacitated them.

Then, we proceed to transfer to where Sonia’s step-father, the genius strategist is being held.

Same as the previous location, he was confined in a small house in a remote location, and Egor immediately neutralized the guards before they could react.

“This is the end huh.”

Hearing that, Sonia quickly runs into the house.

“Otou-san!!”

When she finds a man with glasses sitting on a chair inside, Sonia rushes up and hugs him.

Looking at such Sonia, the glasses man strokes Sonia’s head with a bitter smile.

“Hey, Sonia. How are you?”

“I’m sorry……I’m so sorry…..”

“What are you apologizing for? It was my fault in the first place. The one he wanted was me you know. I’m sorry.”

As the man gently comforts Sonia, he turns to look at me.

He’s a delicate man. Moreover, he looks sickly as well.

No matter how I look at him, he doesn’t look strong at all. Still, he does possess a unique atmosphere around him.

So this is the man who once was called the genius strategist huh.

“It seems that you have taken good care of my daughter. Even a man who lives in the sticks like me would recognize your appearance. It’s an honor to meet you, SS-rank adventurer, Silver.”

“The one who took care of her was not me.”

Saying so, I moved aside and Egor slowly entered the house.

As expected, he doesn’t recognize who Egor is but he probably understands that Egor is not a normal person.

Sonia’s step-father quietly bowed and introduced himself.

“I am Sonia’s step-father, Kevin Laspade. Thank you for taking care of my daughter.”

“No, no, I didn’t do anything. It was Silver who did everything up to this point. My role is to take care of things from now on. I will guarantee everyone’s safety and make sure that you don’t have to be involved with any political conflict ever again. Rest assured. Even like this, I am still an SS-rank adventurer. The name is Egor. but it might be easier to recognize me if I say that I am the Lost Sword Saint huh.”

At that revelation, Kevin was slightly surprised and his eyes opened a little.

He probably thought that Egor is a powerful dwarf but he probably didn’t think that two SS-rank adventurers would be cooperating to help Sonia like this.

He looks at Sonia who is still hugging him while crying and speaks to her in a small voice.

“You have recruited such an excellent help huh. I have been thinking up all kinds of plans but it seems that we will be safe with this.”

“It……was just a coincidence…….I have only been escalating the problem.”

“Your responsibility is my responsibility. You don’t have to worry so much about it. And you know, I never thought two of the SS-rank adventurers would come to help us. There are only five of them in this continent you know.”

“Well, your daughter was worth helping. That’s why I asked Silver to cooperate with me. I wonder why Silver moved though.”

Saying so, Egor glances at me.

It seems that Egor is doubting why I gave him my cooperation so readily.

“This is a cheap price if I can sell you a favor, Elder Egor.”

“You would never move with that kind of reason.”

Seeing him insist on finding out my reason, I sigh.

Egor is convinced that I have an ulterior motive. And in truth, I do have one.

“I didn’t do that for my own benefit though.”

“So it was a request from your collaborator huh?”

“You could say that. He regretted that he couldn’t save her so I just lent her my power in his place.”

There was something I could do to immediately save her.

I simply didn’t do it because there were too few benefits for me.

It was not an impossibility to rescue the hostages when I learned that Sonia’s parents were taken.

But in the end, I did temporarily abandon Sonia after I weighed the options. The benefits of helping her simply don’t match the time and effort it would take.

Leo would have tried to help her immediately but that is the proof of both his strength and weakness.

I am here to make up for that. That is why I can not act like Leo.

“As her father, I want to hear the name of your collaborator. Could you tell me his name? Silver.”

“…..Sonia Laspade. Do you have any idea who it is?”

“…….Your collaborator that would regret not being able to help me……? Was it Prince Leonard?”

“Close. It was his elder brother.”

“No, way……Al-kun…….?”

With an unbelievable expression on her face, Sonia covers her mouth with both of her hands.

I could see the tears in her eyes.

“The Seventh Prince, Arnold Lakes Adler. That is the name of my collaborator and the man who regretted not being able to help you.”

“Did you become friends with him?”

Sonia shakes her head at Kevin’s question.

“I am not his friend……I only……deceived him……”

“I don’t think that the other side thinks of you like that. He was worried about you. That was why I lent you my help. This is probably the case of what goes around comes around huh.”

“But…….I haven’t done anything……”

“That’s probably how twins are. Their naivety of not being able to abandon anyone is similar to each other.”

Saying so, I turn back.

It would be fine to let Egor take care of the rest.

If Sonia is by Egor’s side she will be safe. Plus, Egor’s sense of direction might be able to improve a little too.

Even if that is not the case, Sonia has the right to spend her time with her family.

No matter how much she is well-versed in tactic, Sonia is still an ordinary person. A victim of the succession war. After all, she only served Gordon because she had no other choice.

No one can blame her even if she wants to spend her days in peace. Egor surely knows the place she can do that.

“Then I will excuse myself here. I still have to help those naive twin princes. Someone like the Third Prince might become an emperor if I don’t after all.”

I say so and step out of the house.

However, Kevin suddenly stopped me.

“Silver, please wait a moment.”

“What is it? I can introduce you if you want to become those princes’ strategist though.”

“Unfortunately, I am not brave enough to join the succession war. But please tell this to the princes. [There is something wrong with this succession war].”

“….What do you mean?”

I’ve heard those words somewhere before.

Thinking back a little, I recalled that it came up in my conversation with Elna.

It was not Elna’s words but they were the words of Elna’s father, the Brave.

The same opinion comes up again huh. Moreover, this time it came from a man who was called the genius strategist too.

“……A lot of horrible things have happened in the past succession wars. Family slaughtering each other, that is how a succession war is.”

“That’s right. It is as bloody as I have heard. From your perspective how does this succession war look to you?”

“It seems that a few members of the imperial family have changed in this succession war. Surely, it is normal for someone to change after experiencing a horrible conflict but the change this time is simply too much.”

“Too much?”

“Three years ago, when the Crown Prince died, the succession war began. And the three prime candidates have significantly changed. Princess Zandra became crueler, Prince Gordon became more violent, and Prince Eric became cold-hearted.”

“Don’t you think that they simply show their true nature because of the allure of the throne?”

“People do not change that dramatically. At the very least, a person wouldn’t forget the lesson he has already learned in the past.”

“What do you mean?”

At my question, Kevin looks straight at me.

There is no lie in my words. That was what his eyes were telling me.

“It might be hard to believe but…….as far as I know, Since his first campaign, Prince Gordon was a general who listened to others’ opinions. At the very least, my old colleagues have advised Prince Gordon for many years and he has taken their advice to heart. In his first campaign, he didn’t listen to my advice and charge at the enemy head-on while aiming to gain military achievements. In exchange for his achievement, many sacrifices were made. That was when he changed.”

“Is that true? That Third Prince really changed?”

“Yes. After that, Prince Gordon changed. Although he was still arrogant, he realized that he needed advisers and began to listen to his staff. Through the lesson he learned from his first campaign, he changed. He became a general after he repeatedly obtained military achievement one after another. His Majesty isn’t so sweet on his son that he would promote him to a rank of general if his son always solved any problem with violence. Such a person rejected all of Sonia’s proposals. I have received a lot of letters from him. It said, ‘your daughter is useless so just come and take her place’. Even now, I still can’t find his change to be believable.”

Maybe I didn’t notice it because I was too close to the problem.

Gordon has changed that much huh. I thought that he has always been arrogant and tends to solve any problem with force.

That’s why I was elated to see Gordon’s humiliated expression earlier.

However, if he really learned his lesson in the past then—–his present condition is certainly strange.

He learned his lesson after a failure and he has been successful ever since he changed himself.

Would he really throw away such a lesson after he became so successful because of it?

“So you think that his change came from him getting involved with the succession war?”

“That’s right. I don’t know the exact reason. Maybe something happened that I didn’t know about……But….he did learn his lesson after he witnessed the disaster of his first campaign. And when I served under him….even though he didn’t listen to my advice, he was serious about protecting the Empire.”

“Time changes people……all the more so when all you think about are political maneuvering and how to outdo your rivals. But you of all people should have known that already.”

“Yes…..but I do feel that something besides those factors has changed Prince Gordon.”

Kevin affirmed his point.

It was something that the Brave and the genius strategist himself noticed.

Moreover, Kevin’s opinion is based on how he views the succession war from a distance.

“When Prince Wilhelm became the Crown Prince, everyone was hopeful about the Empire’s future but they also sympathized with the other candidates. Prince Eric, Prince Gordon, and Princess Zandra, they all can become a great emperor in their own right. From simply what I heard, I know that they were all evaluated highly by many people. I can’t believe that to be true when I see them as they are now. If you are saying that their current condition is strange…..then it must be true. I understand, I will tell that to the Princes.”

“Thank you. And please be careful. Even if you are an SS-rank adventurer, this succession war is simply too dangerous. If you plunge yourself in any deeper, you will be drawn in and you will not be able to return.”

“Don’t worry. I am fully aware of that.”

Saying so, I tried to transfer away but this time Sonia called out to me.

“Silver! Uh! Please tell Al-kun…….thank you……and that I am sorry……”

“Understood. I will just give him your thanks then. After all, that person wouldn’t want for anything more than that.”

Saying so, I returned to the imperial capital through the transfer gate.

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