Laughter echoed through the magic tent.
Mercurio eventually stopped laughing and a small smile appeared on his face as he read the letter again.
The people watching him……Vihera, Theorem, Gurgast, Tilleyle, Widele and her four subordinates, and Rei, all looked at Mercurio as if they had seen something unusual.
That was only natural. Mercurio could be described as a quiet person and rarely laughed so happily.
Considering he was Vihera’s true brother, he naturally had a fiery temperament and could even be called cold hearted due to being born into royalty.
It wasn’t like he couldn’t laugh, but he just usually didn’t show it like he did just before.
「Mercurio, what did sister say?」
Vihera was the first to speak within the magic tent.
Perhaps because she was Mercurio’s sister.
「Sister……Frizione, wants to side with me.」
「……Huh. That’s surprising. No, not that surprising. I’d say it makes sense.」
「Yeah. It makes sense, but……I still can’t believe it in this situation. Widele, did you say? Regarding this letter……」
Mercurio turned his gaze to Widele to confirm Frizione’s true intentions, but stopped mid way.
That was because Widele herself had her eyes wide in shock.
If she was acting, she’d be a first class actor. Her surprise was so great that this was what Mercurio thought.
Mercurio hesitated for a moment before turning to Rei.
It had only been a few minutes since Mercurio and Widele had met, but Rei had been in contact with Widele for quite some time……at least longer than he had. Considering that, Mercurio looked to Rei, hoping to be able to tell if he though Widele was acting or not, but all he got back was a shake of the head.
He clearly believed Widele’s surprise was real.
Of course, Rei didn’t know much about Widele.
However, from the few times they had spoken, Rei knew her to be a loyal knight and didn’t believe he was mistaken.
In other words, there was no way Widele had read the contents of the letter in advance.
Seeing Rei shaking his head, Mercurio agreed with his assessment for now.
Naturally, it was just a temporary assessment and he still didn’t fully believe Rei’s view.
Mercurio had only spent a little time with Rei. He trusted him to a certain extent because Vihera and Theorem trusted him, but it was just trust, not faith.
「It seems you were not informed of the contents of the letter either……I wonder if the four behind you are the same.」
The others behind Widele nodded in response to Mercurio’s question.
「……I see. What do you think, sister?」
「Considering Frizione’s personality, I don’t think it’s a trap……」
Still, she couldn’t say for sure that it wasn’t a trap, perhaps because she still had doubts about the letter.
「No matter how you look at it, it’s clear that we are at a disadvantage. It’s true that in the first battle, we were able to achieve a crushing victory thanks to Vihera’s war goddess like actions. But, that doesn’t change the fact that we are at a disadvantage. Considering that……」
Tilleyle explained while praising Vihera and Theorem nodded in agreement.
「They want to betray the side with an overwhelming advantage and join our side. They wouldn’t do that unless something extraordinary has happened. I wish I could understand the circumstances.」
Theorem stopped talking and looked towards Widele.
Intrigued, the others also looked towards Widele.
「P-Princess Frizione is not the type to play such dirty tricks. Surely Prince Mercurio and Princess Vihera, as Princess’ Frizione’s siblings, would understand that?」
「……But it’s also true that Frizione assisted in the plan to put me under house arrest. After I escaped, she then suddenly says she would cooperate with me……do you really think I can believe that?」
「That’s right! ……There has to be some reason for that. That’s exactly why she had to do it.」
For Widele, who had sworn allegiance to Frizione, if she couldn’t persuade them to believe her master’s words, she couldn’t say that she had fulfilled her task. And, above all, she believed that Frizione would be sad to hear such an outcome.
Facing Widele, Mercurio gave a sigh before speaking.
「Maybe that is the case, or maybe it wasn’t. In the end, only Frizion knows the reason. All I can say is that I was put under house arrest and my life was in danger. ……Well, that said, I still don’t know where the rumour about my life being in danger came from.」
Because of the rumour, Theorem had been forced to take drastic action after hearing that his master’s life could be in danger.
In that sense, you could say that the rumour was the root cause of everything that followed.
(The rumour suddenly started spreading……really suddenly. There are only a limited number of people who can do something like that. So……who could have done it?)
Although Mercurio muttered to himself with some amusement, his expression didn’t show it at all.
「But, Princess Frizione regrets that decision, which is why she wants to help Prince Mercurio this time, right?」
「Yes, that’s certainly a possibility. But I can’t just take her at her word.」
「……So, you’re turning down Princess Frizione’s proposal?」
Mercurio shook his head at those words, which were asking for confirmation.
「I didn’t say that. But this isn’t something I can answer right away. Fortunately, we’ve only just set up camp here, so it’s not like we’re moving to the next location right away. Since this is no longer the Obrisin County, we need to ensure the safety of the surrounding area before moving on.」
Mercurio, making sure to check the expressions of Widele and the four knights behind her, continued……
「I will decided how to respond to Frizione’s offer before we move to our next camp. Until then, I want you all to relax in the camp. However, you might get lost, so I will assign someone to guide you.」
Although Mercurio called them a guide, in reality, it was nothing more than someone to watch them.
Widele understood that and didn’t seem to object as she silently bowed her head.
「Thank you very much. I’m sorry for the inconvenience and thank you for your help.」
Seeing Widele bow, the other four knights also bowed their heads in unison, even if they had some objections.
「Yes. I’ll try to not inconvenience you, so take your time. However, please refrain from any strange actions. Theorem, could you ask Cyanus to guide them?」
「Yes, right away.」
Theorem nodded at Mercurio’s words and left the magic tent.
It was obvious why he had left and everyone else understood as well.
When he returned about five minutes later, his adjutant, Cyanus, was with him.
「Widele-sama, please follow me. I will guide you to your tent.」
「Yes. I’m sorry for the trouble. We’ll be in your care.」
Giving a bow, the members of the White Rose Knights left the tent with Cyanus.
After seeing them off, about a minute passed before Mercurio let out a big sigh.
「So, is this a good thing or a bad thing……what do you think, sister?」
When he looked at Vihera, she gave a small smile and shook her head.
「I don’t know. But I think she’s probably just worried about blood related siblings fighting each other.」
「……That’s certainly true. But we can’t just give in and give up.」
Mercurio was the one responsible for forming the rebel army. He couldn’t just abandon those who had come to help him despite the obvious disadvantage.
However, he also understood that there were those who would leave as soon as things went bad and he didn’t feel grateful to those.
In the case of such people, there was no telling what they had planned.
In fact, several nobles had already been seen acting suspiciously.
Mercurio was keeping a casual eye on such people……and they hadn’t seemed to notice anything themselves.
If they continued to act together, that was fine. But if they tried to betray the rebel army……
「Theorem, be on the lookout for anyone who comes in contact with the White Rose Knights and let me know if even the slightest unusual thing happens.」
「Yes. I’ll have Cyanus keep a close eye on them.」
Theorem understood what Mercurio was thinking and gave a quick reply.
Watching the two of them, Vihera gave a small smile.
It wasn’t her usual seductive smile, but a smile as she saw something pleasing.
The fact that the two of them got along well was something that Vihera found reassuring.
After all, she couldn’t stay with Mercurio forever. If possible, she wanted someone loyal to her brother, like Theorem, to stay close to him.
「Also, I want you to gather the nobles and commanders again. I want to hear their opinions on the matter.」
「To be honest, I think it would be best to decided with just those here.」
Just as Theorem said, those here were the ones who held various forms of power within the rebel army.
Whether that was political influence, personal military power, or even strong influence over Mercurio.
However, Mercurio shook his head at Theorem’s words.
「If we made a decision, I’m sure the others will follow obediently. But wouldn’t that ultimately lead to a lot of problems? I think it would be better to let them voice their frustrations now.」
「……If anyone has complaints, I can step in. What do you want to do?」
Gurgast, who had been listening in silence up until now, suddenly spoke up.
For Gurgast, there was no point in listening to the words of a bunch of random people.
However, Mercurio shook his head at Gurgast’s words.
It was true that they could push through with force if he really wanted to do something. But even so……Mercurio would rather not do that if he had the option.
「No, it’s true that you hold a lot of say over the army, but this isn’t the place to use it.」
Gurgast seemed slightly annoyed at Mercurio’s answer, but accepted it with a nod.
Gurgast certainly wielded a level of power within the rebel army. In terms of raw numbers, those led by Theorem were greater, but the rebel army had initially formed in the Obrisin County.
In other words, most of the supplies and food prepared for the rebel army, as well as the merchants, prostitutes, and adventurers who had gathered with them, were from the Obrisin County.
Of course, that wasn’t all of them. There were those who had joined after hearing rumours of the rebel army and seeing it as a business opportunity. There were also those who had come from the territories of nobles bordering the Obrisin County.
Still, overall, it was true that people from the Obrisin County made up the majority and they exerted a strong presence within the rebel army, just like Mercurio, who was the leader of the rebel army, Vihera, Mercurio’s sister, Theorem, who had held the Third Prince’s faction together, and Rei, who possessed overwhelming individual combat power.
The reason why Gurgast didn’t exercise his great influence even in such a situation was mostly because he had no interest in such troublesome matters.