Now he hoped that they would think that nothing had changed, in the hopes that they would not interfere with the royal family after the war.
“…Still, I, Caspond, am deeply grateful that you have led your houses here to save the Holy Kingdom.”
“What are you saying? Your Highness, as noblemen, it is only natural that we should marshal our forces and set out for the sake of the royal family. Or no, anyone who is physically able and does not join a battle concerning the survival of the Holy Kingdom cannot even be considered a nobleman!”
The nobles each nodded and made noises of acknowledgement. In other words, the noblemen who had not come here were the political enemies of the ones who were present.
Unfortunately, Caspond did not know which noble houses were not getting on with each other. That probably meant he was not sufficiently informed.
While he wanted to avoid committing himself to unfavorable promises here, he would need to give the people here preferential treatment or face rather dire consequences. Everyone hated a bat who flitted around trying to get in everyone’s good graces.
“Gentlemen, your loyalty to the royal family needs to be trumpeted far and wide. I feel it needs to be a matter of historical record.”
While it was only for a moment, the one who seemed the happiest about that was Marquis Bodipo, the oldest person present, whose blonde hair was flecked with white.
Now that he had power and position, he probably wanted prestige on top of that. The others would probably prefer to be rewarded instead. Of course, it was only natural for them to expect a certain return on their investment now that they had mobilized their forces.
The Marquis muttered some polite words of refusal — more of a courtesy than anything — even as he adopted a smarmy tone. During this time, Viscount Santz — who looked quite ill at ease — seized on the right moment to interrupt the conversation and hesitantly asked a question.
“My prince, I have a question I would like to ask you. What is the present condition of Her Majesty? I hear she has passed away…”
“That is a fact.”
Startled by Caspond’s frank and direct answer, Viscount Santz asked another question.
“Then, then where does Her Majesty’s body lie?”
“…It was in a hideous state, so we had to cremate it. Originally, we were planning to use a 「Preservation」 spell on it and give her a state funeral after driving off Jaldabaoth…”
Caspond shook his head with a pained look on his face, as though he could not bear to continue. “At the same time, we confirmed the death of the high priestess, Kelart Custodio.”
“Is that so…”
During this silence, Caspond used the time to take a drink.
Calca’s substitute was right before their eyes. However, the high priestess Kelart Custodio — who stood at the apex of all divine magic casters — could not be so easily replaced. Therefore, they were carefully considering how best to use Kelart’s death.
After seeing they had not reacted even after he had taken two drinks of wine, Caspond gave them another tidbit of information.
“Her remains were also in terrible condition, so they were cremated as well.”
The nobles frowned. Had they felt something from the deaths of two of the Holy Kingdom’s top individuals? Perhaps they had finally realised that this was a battle where their lives were on the line and losing meant death. They were probably frightened by the realisation that they would not be ransomed even if they were taken prisoner.
“How about the captain of the paladins, Custodio-dono?”
“Do you wish to speak to her? Can it wait?”
“Oya, so she’s still alive? Meanwhile, Her Majesty and the high priestess-dono are both dead…”
Count Randalse had a magnificent beard. When he delivered those words in a contemptuous tone of voice, the others smiled mockingly, as if to follow suit. Caspond opened the door and ordered the paladin outside to summon Remedios.
Just as the wine in the glasses was about to run dry, Remedios entered the room.
Before Count Randalse could speak, he took a look at Remedios and his eyes went wide.
“What!? Are you Captain Remedios, leader of the paladin corps!?”
The mockery in his tone had been replaced by shock. Every noble in the Holy Kingdom knew what Remedios looked like. Count Randalse was no exception either, hence his surprise. She looked tremendously different from how he remembered her.
Right now, Remedios Custodio looked like a ghost.
Her eyes were deeply sunken and her cheeks were haggard. However, a brilliant light shone in her pupils.
“You called me here right? Who else would I be?”
“What! The… the nerve…”
Count Randalse’s voice trailed off, and he stared intently at Remedios.
Right now, Remedios looked very frightening. The fact that nobody knew what she was thinking or what she would do made others uneasy. That was why Caspond did not keep Remedios by his side. It was also why he took care not to let Remedios know anything about Neia.
“What do you want?”
Everyone in this country knew that Remedios Custodio was the best paladin in the country. When it came to sheer brute force, she was the foremost being in this nation.
What use was authority against violence that was on the verge of running wild? The most solid armor of the aristocracy was like paper to her. In the past, there were people close to her who held her reins, so she was in a state of mind where she could endure being badmouthed. However, it was a different matter now.
The nobles all understood this, so they said nothing. Remedios snorted as she saw them, and then shrugged.
“…May I leave now, Your Highness? It seems there was no reason to call for me.”
“Ahh. Thank you for coming.”
After Remedios left, the nobles finally allowed themselves to look unhappy.
“How dare she show such disrespect to His Highness?”
“Even if she is the captain of the paladin corps, that attitude is intolerable. Can we allow someone without any loyalty to the royal family to remain as captain?”
Caspond raised a hand to quell the venting of their spleens.
“We are at war now. Her talents are still useful. Let us leave her disposition to the future Holy King.”
Quite a few people were upset by Remedios’ attitude. Some of them were hiding their fear of her with anger, but others had ulterior motives. Caspond knew this, and he smiled coldly in his heart.
Remedios had once been the mailed fist of the previous Holy King and a powerful weapon. Surely someone out there would not want to leave that weapon to the next Holy King. No, all of them might be thinking that for all he knew.
“Ohhh! Your Highness is correct! This is wartime! However, we won’t keep fighting the demihumans forever!”
“The Count is right! I believe our envoy already mentioned that we managed to come here because we defeated the demihuman forces. Your Highness! We ought to press our advantage and mount a pursuit!”
“Exactly! We ought to destroy the demihumans in one fell swoop, so Your Highness’ achievements may reach more ears.”
“I see, I see. Then — how’s Old Purple?”
The nobles looked at each other, and then Marquis Bodipo spoke on their behalf.
“The old man seems unwell, so he did not come here with us.”
The Marquis was the most senior person here, and so the person that he called an “old man” was an 80 year old individual who had been appointed one of the Nine Colors. As a great noble of the South with the rank of Marquis, he had been granted that color in recognition of his loyalty to the royal family and his achievements.
Not all the Nine Colors had earned their position because of their fighting strength. Much like Purple, some of them had gained their title because of some great contribution. For instance, there was a Duchess who had been appointed Blue due to her fame as a composite artist.