Chapter 77 - Decision (2/2)

While I was dripping with a cold sweat, Violette approached the Emperor and quietly knelt in front of him.

With her head lowered, Violette reported to the Emperor.

「Aifa and I have reached Heavenly country and had an audience with its king, Taiki. The technology I’ve seen there defied common sense, it seems that Aifa concluded that by borrowing that power he might be able to take the elves away from Your Majesty.」

「…Then Heavenly king is supporting Aifa, not Schwartz? But that doesn’t make sense. There is something more to it. Normally, one would try to do something about the Empire itself.」

Muttering that, the Emperor lowered his eyes as if pondering on something.

「……I have several thoughts, but all of them are lacking a decisive factor. If so, the more negotiation material is the better.」

The Emperor turned his gaze to the Schwarz and soldiers rushed to action.

Taken by surprise Schwartz and Fiatora were immediately caught and pressed to the ground.

「Guh.」

A muffled voice resounded, and finally, Schwartz and Fiatora also fell into the hands of the Emperor.

Now that the three of them had swords aimed at their necks, it was impossible to act. That would surely mean abandoning the lives of the hostages.

As the situation got worse moment by moment, I still had no idea what to do.

「How I captured both the elves and the banner for this revolution. As for the rest, if Violette can move those golems then it would pose no problem.」

「It is as Your Majesty says. Then, let me operate the golems.」

Responding to the words of the Emperor, that sounded like he wanted to confirm something, Violette stood up and raised one hand. Then, raising the palm of her hand she beckoned the golems.

【Taiki]

On the screen I saw Violette, beckoning while facing the camera.

I didn’t know what to do when she suddenly became naked, but discovering a slave’s seal on her back on the contrary cooled my head.

With one sudden development after another, I would like to be astonished, but I cannot allow myself even to idle slightly.

Choosing the robot that Violette was calling, I moved it forward.

「…Isn’t General Violette unable to defy the Emperor?」

Muttered Ayla, who was completely silent since she saw the slave seal on Violette’s back.

「It’s fine. Violette-san has no authority of command over them. Even if she were to give them some order, Mea has the highest command priority on the site. They wouldn’t move.」

And after telling her that, I continued.

「What’s more important, she knows they wouldn’t listen to her, so why she invites them closer… Well, I have a vague idea. But what do we do if it’s different?」

And while I operated the robot with a wry smile, Ayla looked at me with a frown.

「…Pretending to control Taiki-sama’s golems she calls it closer to the emperor. Which means…」

「Violette also decided to bring the Emperor down… I guess?」

I replied, finishing Ayla’s sentence, but something felt strange.

If such were Violette’s intentions, then why did she take that attitude?

The actions so far showed that she clearly was on the Emperor’s side.

Are you saying that coming this far she suddenly determined herself to betray the Empire?

「Somethings wrong… But this is the only way to save Aifa and the others.」

Saying that I ordered the robot to grab the Emperor.