The audience room.

　Not only was Milene there, but Vince and Gilbert were there as well.

　There were also armed knights and soldiers.

　In contrast, Roland, sitting on the throne, was alone.

　Amidst the pompous atmosphere, Angier was meeting Roland.

''Your Majesty--I will tell you straightforwardly. I would like you to step down from the throne.

　If he didn't shake his head, Angier was going to take a hard line.

　Roland stroked his own beard and looked indifferent.

''You're going to make that little boy king?''

　Roland is a big Leon hater.

　They disliked each other, and there was even a chance that they would not retreat from their personal feelings if they were not good enough.

　Angel nodded.

''Yes.''

　Angier's plan--that is, to install the most powerful Rion in the kingdom on the throne.

　This is what the kingdom has been doing to the nobles.

　And many other things as well, the current royal family has no credibility.

　But - most importantly - the current Holfert royal family has no power.

　They have lost their royal ship, Weiss, and without a trump card, the royal family doesn't have enough power to make other nobles follow them.

　There are many reasons, but this was the biggest problem.

　Because - the nobles of this world are only following the strongest ones.

　Their dissatisfaction with the royal family is just an excuse, and even if there is nothing wrong with them, if the royal family is weakened, they will easily betray them.

　The power is there and everyone follows.

　The fundamentals of this are shaky.

　In the past, during the civil unrest, Rion took over the power of the royal family on behalf of them.

　That's why many nobles followed, even though they were dissatisfied.

　--because of Leon's strength.

''As things stand here, there's no point in letting the current royal family survive forever. Rion has also made up his mind. Your Majesty--Will you please step down?

　If he didn't retreat, he would be forced to - it was like he was saying.

　Tensions spread throughout the audience.

　Then Roland stood up - and clapped.

'Excellent!'

　The people around him are taken aback by his attitude.

　Angier hurriedly asks Roland.

'Your Majesty, I'm not joking. And what exactly do you mean by wonderful?

　Vince and others behind Angier looked like they were biting down on a bitter worm.

　Milene puts her hand to her forehead and shakes her head.

　Roland put his hand to his chin and spoke in a theatrical tone.

'The young people are working hard to get out of this situation. When you think about it, don't you think this country is not abandoned?

-It was the kingdom that got Leon to this point, wasn't it?

Yes, I will be very sorry.

　He says he's sorry, but there's not the slightest hint of that in his attitude.

　Roland extends his hand.

'Now, about the throne - I can't personally forgive you for giving it to that little boy, but I'll gladly give it up if you'll release me from this heavy responsibility.

　Hearing this, Milene wrinkles her brow and mutters.

'How dare you, Nuke Nuke!'

　Vince clasped his hand too.

'A heavy responsibility?　Which is to say?

　But Roland didn't seem to mind their words.

It's a lonely thing to be a king. I'm not sure if the boy can bear it, but if he wants to do it, I'll let him do it. Oops, I forgot to mention something important. I hope you've taken my treatment into consideration.

　Angier explains to Roland.

'I know it will be somewhat cramped, but we're going to have you in a supervised retreat.

　I was going to set up a little floating island and throw him there.

　He had given up the throne honestly, but he couldn't be locked up.

　If you kill Roland, there will be many who will distrust you.

　If the king is replaced, many nobles will fear for their own safety.

　In such a situation, many noblemen would be relieved to know that Roland is in easy retirement.

　And - Roland seemed to know that.

''That's a reasonable point. In that case, I'll take my women with me, and I've asked you to make those arrangements as well.''

　Angier nodded, though he was inwardly unconvinced when he was told that the women Roland had surrounded himself with, too.

''If you could tell me later on about His Majesty's female relations.

　However, Roland seemed to be prepared to go that far.

'No worries then. Hey, Bernard.

　Bernard, the minister, who came out from behind a pillar when he was called, handed the document to Angier, again with a blue streak on his forehead.

'- Here's the report on His Majesty's relations with women. It's a lot of extra work at this busy time.

　Apparently, he's more angry at Roland than at Angier and the others.

　Bernard is also glaring at Roland.

　It's the same with Vince.

　And Milene's expression disappears and she turns her cold gaze on Roland.

　Angier takes the document and checks the contents.

''Is this, is this a fact, Your Majesty?

　Angier felt the expression disappear from his face.

　He had a terrible, cold look in his eyes now.

　On the papers were the names of Roland's side of the family as well as the mistresses he had surrounded himself with outside.

　Some of them were the names of women who were not noblemen.

　And there are even children.

　The number of them was not half bad.

''Actually, there is a child in King's Landing who doesn't know I'm the king. I'd like to take them with me, but those children have their own lives to live. If they want to stay in King's Landing, please leave them behind. Oops, you'll have to take good care of them.

　Angier crushed the report.

Why shouldn't I clean up his mess-- no, settle down. No, relax, I did it to make Léon king. It's the cheaper way to go. Yes, the cheaper way - and there are so many of them. Your Majesty, how much trouble has this fellow been in?

　I had no idea that our own king would be so bad.

　He'd heard a lot of things from rumors, but in reality it was more than that.

　Bernard glared at Roland.

'How in the world have we been cleaning up our asses?

　Vince did the same.

"Roland, you can't just start...

　Milene looks resigned.

''He's that kind of person. Isn't he so happy to give up the throne to you, Leon, anyway that he wants to dance inwardly?'

　Roland blurts out as he is told.

'What about it?　I feel like thanking that little boy for taking over such a troublesome position and dealing with all the hassle. Just seeing his bitter face makes me happy. Moreover, from now on, he's going to have a hard time supporting me. I'm just going to say 'thank you' honestly.

　If Leon listens, he's going to pull the trigger on the shotgun,

　Bernard explains to Angel.

'We're actually getting ready to take over,'

　Angier's eyes widened when he heard that.

'You knew we were going to move?'

　Bernard nodded.

'To be precise, if it didn't move, it moved from us. At all - if you're usually this vigorous.

　Even before Ange moved, Roland seemed to be rooting around in the royal palace.

　Looking at Roland's face with a triumphant look on his face, Angier felt a headache.

(If Rion had been there, he would have been absolutely chagrined.)

　I feel like I've been rolled over in the palm of my hand.

　Roland crosses his arms confidently.

'Because it would fit best if you gave that little boy the throne. Now, the problem is not the palace, but the lords. They're so annoying, annoying, annoying, and yet cunning. --Angelica, do you have the capacity to subdue them?

　Angel takes a deep breath once in front of Roland.

　And--

'Of course.'

　--I answered.

◇

　After Angier and the others left.

　Milene remains in the audience room, feeling refreshed to be free of the throne!　He says sarcastically to Roland, who is like.

'You're lucky they didn't send you to the executioner's table.

　Then Roland says, as if he could see right through it.

The boy doesn't like bloodshed. Even if he had to kill me, he would have pretended to kill me outwardly and let me go behind my back.

　Milene can't talk back because Angier has proven Roland's opinion to be correct.

　So she says sarcasm and sarcasm.

'You seem happy to be relieved of your position of responsibility. Do you dislike the throne so much?'

'I hate it. I don't know what kind of people want this punishing chair. More - I'm just glad that the boy is going to be sitting in this chair.

'What?　You don't regret it like you usually do. Are you happy to be forced into a position you don't like?

'I'm certainly irresponsible, but not so irresponsible that it doesn't hurt my heart to see the people who live on this earth perish. That boy--he'll fight to the end.

　Roland turns his back to Milene.

'The only one who has a chance of winning is that little boy. Honestly, I'm convinced that it's a race for survival. The emperor of the empire is a man who never does anything for nothing. That's why he's going to this extent. It's only natural that he has a good reason.

　It was strange that they had declared war on the kingdom.

　From Roland's point of view, the Empire's reason for starting the war seemed to be convincing, as he heard from Angier.

You should have held your ground and let Leon fight without a second thought.

　At Milene's words, Roland turned around.

'People follow the strong. ─ People follow the strong, just like the nobility. No, they are more sensitive. A weak king is useless. It's fine for that little boy to rely on the royal family, but it's not the other way around. But still, Balticphalt...

　Roland folds his hands behind him and looks out the window.

　Several of the Redgrave family's airships were floating outside the window.

　Roland gave a small smile.

'I suppose it's just another cause and effect.'

　Hearing that muttering, Milene nodded her head.

　However, due to the problems in the future, Milene ignored Roland's mutterings.

''More importantly, will the nobles follow?　I don't think they're going to obey me honestly when they say it's a race for survival or something like that.

　Roland laughs.

'There's no way they're going to obey us honestly. But yes - it's possible. Hmmm, let's just tell Angelica about the weaknesses of these picky eaters.

Why do you hold the lords' weaknesses in your hands?　If you could have told me long ago--

It's times like these that make it useful. What do you usually threaten to do?　Well, I'll take care of it. I'm good at using people's weaknesses as a threat.

　Roland was excited and started to work behind the scenes.

◇

　A room in the royal palace.

　Angier was talking with his brother, Gilbert.

　Gilbert puts his hand on his chin.

'Well, what do we do now?　Your father has convinced me that the Redgrave family faction is the one that matters, but it's the other factions that matter.

　Considering the battle against the Empire, it wouldn't be enough to scrape together the entire kingdom's forces.

　In order to get all of them to participate, he had to ask the other factions to help him.

''I will honestly explain the situation to you.

　Gilbert shook his head at Angier's words.

There are few people who can understand the competition for survival," he said. They will only listen to us and make fun of us.

　No matter how much he told her the truth, she wouldn't understand.

　But Angier still wanted to show his sincerity.

'If we don't fight here, there is no future for us. It's not for our country. I will make you fight for yourself. Besides, if you only threaten me with force--'

　There was no Creare on Angier's side.

　If he was there, it would give credibility to the persuasion, but bringing Creare along would reduce Rion's chances of winning by that much.

　After all, Creare is also busy.

(If I don't get through this place with my strength--)

　As I thought this, I saw a man enter the room in a ragged state.

　The guards at the door lent their shoulders to him.

　At the sight of him, Gilbert made an exasperated sound.

'Didn't I tell you not to let anyone in without permission?

　The knights in the guards are a little disconcerted, but the young man who was lent a shoulder looks up.

　His glasses are cracked.

　His clothes are tattered and he has bruises all over his body.

　Angier is surprised to see the young man.

'Chris?　What are you doing here?

　A battered Chris thanked the knight for lending him a shoulder and moved away.

　Then he stood firmly on his own two feet.

'I've convinced my parents to let me go. Your father almost knocked me out of the house - but in the end he understood. I'll help Baldfart with that, too.

　Chris's family is a family that teaches swordsmanship.

　Naturally, many of their students are aristocrats, and many of them are talented knights.

''--Oh, you.''

　Ange was surprised by this.

　I thought he usually just takes off his clothes and runs around in a loincloth, but he says he can convince his parents to cooperate with us.

　Gilbert is surprised.

''How could you be convinced by the Sword Sage Lord?

　It seemed like an incredible story to Gilbert, who knew the man himself.

　Chris grins.

'Since it was impossible to discuss it - we beat each other with wooden swords. Thanks to that, he said he'd give up the title of Sword Saint too.''

　As a result, Chris apparently won.

　Angel puts his hand to his forehead.

'Tend to your wounds at once, you fool. But thank you.

　Chris teaches Angel.

'I'm not the only one. Zilk, Brad - and Greg, too - headed to the family home for help.

The three of them?　What about His Highness?

　It bothered Angel that Julius's name hadn't been mentioned there.

　Chris takes off his distorted glasses.

'--His Highness has gone to pick up Baldfalt.