"Tell me where His Highness is-- and tell me now!

　The whip struck me hard on the back.
　With a cracking sound, pain shot through my body. For a moment, your vision is enveloped in a blinding light.

　In the cold prison, my hands were hung by chains, and I was being interrogated for a long time.
　I'm used to pain. I'm used to pain, so it doesn't matter what they do to me.
　But I'm worried about Mize. In her condition, she'll be bedridden for days. I've left enough food and water for her to barely survive during that time, but ...... about her. There is a possibility that she will do something rash in order to find me after I disappear.
　As I was thinking about this, I received another whip on my back.

"Huh, huh ......, I told you to throw up!

"Hey, leave it there. If you keep this up, you're gonna die.

　From outside the cage, another man called out.

"...... d*mn you, you're a licker.

　The man with the whip leaves the cell, out of breath.
　The lock of the cell was locked with a snap.

But have we really been struggling with this one guy all this time?

"Huh. I don't know if he's a war hero or what, but he's a rag now. If you leave him alone, he'll die sooner or later.

　The two men looked down at me blatantly.
　As Mize had said before, the Kingdom of Arcadia also has an intelligence unit. The men seemed to be members of that unit and seemed to know me.

　Even though I was considered a hero of the Great War in the Kingdom of Terraria, the situation was different in other countries.
　To the Kingdom of Arcadia, I was nothing more than a dangerous person.

"King, please go to .......

　I opened my mouth and said in a hushed voice.

"Call the king. ......

　After he said that, the man went into a rage.

"I'm not calling him!　You're going to be tortured by us until the day you die.

"What do you want from me?

　A man appears at the entrance.
　The man who had just interrogated me dropped his whip when the man in the fine red cloak appeared.

"Hey, Your Majesty!　Why are you here?

"Why, it's only natural that you would want to catch a glimpse of someone who has given you so much trouble.

　Lord Lieutenant Arcadia.
　The current king of the Holy Arcadia Kingdom glared at me from outside his prison.
　He is tall and well-built. His straight back and the wrinkles on his face exude dignity, indicating that he is no mere decoration.

　However, his eyes were somewhat cloudy.
　It's not the confident eyes of one who stands above others, but rather the ugly eyes of one who finds the weak and mocks them.

You are ...... Mize's father?

Yeah. Yes, I am the father of that thing.

　The way he said it made me chuckle.

You call my daughter a b*tc*?

"I'm sorry, but I've never treated her like a daughter. I used to expect her to grow up to be a tool for the prosperity of the country. ...... Now she's a war monger.

　With a lowly smile, Lord Lieutenant said.

I need that thing's corpse to keep the peace in my country. So go to ...... and tell me where it is!

　Lord Lieutenant revealed his anger.
　Until you show me Mize's corpse, the battle for the Path of Wisdom will not end. It seemed that Lord Lieutenant had already decided to sacrifice Mize for the sake of his country.

"I want to negotiate.

"What?

"I want to discuss a way to save Mize without killing him.

　Lord Lieutenant laughed out loud.

"Ha, ha, ha, ha!　You don't seem to be able to read the situation!

　Lord Lieutenant glared at me with glaring eyes.

We are also working in conjunction with the forces of the Kingdom of Terraria. I'm sure you've had a lot of fierce battles on your way to ...... this place, haven't you?　I'm sure it's already dying, even if you don't want to talk about it. The only reason I'm asking you where it is is to save you the trouble of searching for the body. There is no room for negotiation. ...... It will die anyway.

　Lord Lieutenant said with an amused laugh.

"...... I see.

　This was the first time I had met Lord Lieutenant, but he was generally as I had expected.
　Chris once told me that aristocrats are more motivated by profit than emotion. Lord Lieutenant might be a typical example. I don't think an appeal to emotion will work on this man.

　I don't think I want to go easy on him now.

　He turned his face upward and spat out the pebbles in his mouth at the chains that bound his arms.



　.



　Shortly before Tuite and Lord Lieutenant came face to face.


　Chris was being led by a soldier from the Kingdom of Arcadia to the Twite.

Is it true that the 28 have surrendered?

"Yes, sir. They're being held in a prison for now. However, it seems that Her Highness Princess Meesheriase is nowhere to be found. ......

　It's a lie to surrender when you don't have Meeschliese to protect you.
　Chris thought, shaking his military uniform.

　Perhaps Meeschliese is still trying to escape somewhere. Either that, or he's stuck for some reason. As for Twait, he might want to attract the attention of the searchers by remaining silent during the interrogation.

This way.

　A soldier around thirty or forty years old continued to guide Chris in a polite manner.
　He led us into a large building.

It's quite luxurious.

　This city, located on the eastern edge of the Kingdom of Arcadia, was rather rural, and I heard that it didn't have many facilities. However, the interior of the mansion Chris was shown to was very luxurious, and it was clearly not for ordinary people.

"His Majesty has been staying here for a few days now.

"His Majesty?

We can't let the Second Prince's faction take custody of Princess Micheliese. In order to keep them in check, His Majesty has personally visited the palace. Thanks to ...... Chris-sama's troops' hard work, we were able to drive the 28 to this place. We thank you.

　The Kingdom of Arcadia was no fool. While Chris and Oz were steadily hunting down Toate, they were apparently developing a plan to drive him back to this city.
　It was clear from his footsteps that Toate was aiming for the Republic. If that was the case, then waiting for Toate here, halfway between the Republic and the Kingdom of Terraria, was not a bad plan. Even if Toate hadn't surrendered, he would have been captured by them somewhere.

So, where is the important thing, ......?

He's meeting with the 28 in the dungeons.

Where's ......?

　Chris's eyes widened as the soldier spoke fluently.

...... You're not meeting him in person, are you?

"Haha, don't worry. We have him in jail, bound hand and foot, and torturing him. There are soldiers like us waiting in the dungeons, so it shouldn't be a problem to talk across the bars.

"No!　That's not enough!

　If we had restrained the man with our own hands, but this time he gave his head to us.
　There's got to be an ulterior motive. We shouldn't let him have his mouth, eyes, ears, nose, and everything else he could possibly want.

　A moment later, my feet shook violently.
　Chris fell to one knee at the sudden shaking of the ground.

What the hell was that shaking?

"Is this ...... the dungeon?

　Chris ran to the dungeon, passing through the panicked soldiers.
　He descended the stairs and arrived at the dungeon.

"Huh?

　Lord Lieutenant, the king of Arcadia, let out a frightened cry.
　Behind him was a man with frighteningly cold eyes.

"Chris. ...... You're a little late.

　Toate said as he brushed his blade across the king's neck.

"I say again... --Lord Lieutenant Arcadia, I want to negotiate with you.