Chapter 118 – Siege of the Night Darkness

Upon arriving at the mansion, the servants who had accompanied us from the royal castle began bustling about, carrying luggage into rooms and moving hurriedly.

Going up the stairs from the entrance hall, the room immediately to the right on the second-floor corridor was for Albert and Marlene. I was sharing the room with them. To be precise, I was staying in their room in the capacity of a servant on standby.

Across from this room was Prince Helfried’s room. Further down the corridor, the adjacent room was Prince Roy’s. Diagonally opposite was Princess Stephania’s room. Next to Princess Stephania’s room was Prince Josiah’s. And at the end of the passageway, the largest room was allocated to King Melvin and the First Queen.

There were other rooms as well, but they had grouped our rooms together in one corner of the mansion. Having them arranged according to hierarchy was unavoidable to avoid suspicion.

Now then. First, understanding the surrounding environment. While moving luggage into the room, I moved Caduceus to examine the interior and exterior structure of the mansion.

“A barrier, huh. King Melvin did mention it.”

Noise mixed into my Five Senses Link. It was the same as the one placed in the audience chamber of the royal castle.

“Hmm. It’s for countermeasures against demons and chantless assassinations, right? I haven’t trained much in magic itself, so I don’t really understand these things… Is it problematic?”

“No, it’s fine for me. I can handle barriers, which is why I judged this operation would work.”

Such magical interference barriers existed as traps even in the Labyrinth Depths. Magic Tools function without issue, but they can be quite a hindrance to magicians themselves.

Now, if you ask whether this means Battle Mages are checkmated, that’s not the case. By circulating magical power, the very nature of the magic changes, allowing one to suppress the effects received from the barrier. As long as I maintain circulation, my magic use won’t be a problem.

As for Caduceus’s activities… if I don’t send him too far, I can keep him under control. This also means the enemy can use familiars to a limited extent. I’ll need to keep this point in mind.

“But there’s an aspect where countermeasures against magicians are simultaneously preventing the royal family themselves from resisting with magic.”

When I said this, Albert furrowed his brow.

“…That is—”

“You could say it’s not a problem since there are island guards. But if you ask which is more dangerous—chantless assassination or this—I still think the barrier is necessary.”

To begin with, the royal family shouldn’t be on the front lines; knights and soldiers protect them. Therefore, a situation where the royal family must defend themselves means they’re already at a disadvantage.

The fact that the royal family values bloodlines for the Nation Protecting Ceremony means, conversely, that they’re more likely to be born with magical talent. Aiming to become a magician isn’t a necessary condition for becoming king, but if there’s a tendency for magical talent to develop easily, it’s natural for each to hone their magic skills.

So… targeting the Termwills royal family here would indeed be effective in some respects.

“I see. In that case, what method will they use?”

“First, the same method as before—mixing poison into food and drink. As you know, Albert, we’ve taken thorough countermeasures against this.”

Originally, there were food tasters, and we’ve prepared the Amulet of Evil Repulsion along with Magic Tools engraved with the antidote magic Clear Blood, exercising maximum caution.

“So… if I were to be wary, it would be assassination by sneaking into rooms.”

By activating Life Detection, I can monitor people’s movements by sensing life signs through walls. If there’s any movement, I’ll have Caduceus infiltrate each time to guard the VIPs. Additionally, in an emergency, King Melvin should contact us via the Communication Device. In that case, we’re set to rush to King Melvin’s room.

I’ve packed an excessive amount of Stamina Potions and Magic Potions in my bag. Combined with body Enhancement through circulation and anti-sleep spells, I’m prepared to take on this stay without sleep or rest.

“Really… I’m impressed. I guess Marlene and I can keep you company so you don’t get bored or fall asleep?”

Marlene had already taken out her Lute. She’s been improving her musical skills lately, learning from Irmhild.

“My familiar will alert me even if I miss something. You don’t need to worry that much.”

“I can’t do that. We’ll take turns napping.”

Albert said with a wry smile. Then he suddenly turned serious and asked.

“…Who do you think the culprit is?”

“…Hard to say at this point. But if the culprit acts this time, the possibility of it being His Highness Josiah or the First Queen decreases.”

“Those two… because maintaining the status quo is sufficient for them.”

“Right. Conversely, if nothing happens, the possibility of it being those two increases, you could say.”

Even though Rosemary’s downfall changed the situation… for Prince Josiah and the First Queen alone, it’s something to welcome with open arms. Since Prince Josiah can become king as things are, there’s little need for them to act proactively under these circumstances. Well… if they’re impatient about the succession, that’s a different story.

So, if the culprit’s goal is the royal succession… the one most likely targeted would be Prince Josiah first. Next would be King Melvin. After that, they’d probably target others in order of higher succession rights.

On the other hand, there’s little merit in targeting those lower in the hierarchy. If they attack extra targets first, it would only heighten the vigilance of the other royals. So if they’re going to strike, they must achieve their goal in one blow.

I’ve considered another possibility too—but in that case, there’s no evidence whatsoever.

“—So they didn’t use poison.”

Looking out the window where night had fallen, Albert murmured. On the bed, Marlene was breathing softly in her sleep. The only sound echoing in the room was the crackling of firewood in the fireplace.

Dinner had also passed without incident—it was utterly quiet.

“For now.”

Just because nothing happened on the first day doesn’t mean we can let our guard down.

As I answered and returned to monitoring with Life Detection, Albert asked.

“Mathius… no, Theo-kun, there’s one thing I wanted to ask you.”

“Hmm?”

“You don’t suspect me of being the culprit, do you? I get the impression you haven’t even considered me as a candidate from the start.”

I wondered what he meant, looking puzzled. Considering his age at the time, feasibility, the personnel and foundation needed to bypass the Magical Inquisition, motives and personality, the subsequent outcome, and various other factors, I didn’t think Albert was a likely suspect.

In BFO—during the era when King Melvin was aging and Rosemary and Prince Josiah were fiercely competing. Even in that period, Albert was someone who showed up at workshops and the Adventurer Guild without having any faction. He consistently kept his distance from the succession dispute.

“Well… there are various reasons. If he had the knowledge to pull off something like that back then, information about him studying alchemy or potion-making should have surfaced, but nothing like that came up. More than anything, I can’t find a motive.”

It’s not like he was blessed with special circumstances like Rosemary. Turning to look at Albert, I found myself frowning.

“Besides—there’s one more reason Albert couldn’t be the culprit.”

Ignoring Albert’s puzzled expression, I went to the window and glared at the reactions visible outside as I spoke.

Our room faced the forest side of the mansion, not the ocean side—and in that forest, I could see numerous lights of life reactions.

“What is it?”

“There are people trying to surround this mansion. Uh, hold on a moment.”

I cut off Life Detection once and switched to Night Vision Magic, peering intently into the night forest.

Visible between the shadows of trees—were armed guards.

They had no reason to surround the mansion, nor any reason to tighten the encirclement toward us. It was behavior that deviated severely from normal duties.

Had they co-opted the island guards, or had they landed people under their influence, or replaced them?

Either way, Albert doesn’t possess the political foundation or connections to mobilize such people.

Still… So it’s the other possibility—neither poisoning nor infiltration assassination. My predictions always seem to hit exactly the worst scenarios.

“This seems less like assassination and more like

usurpation of the throne

(

coup d’état

).

Don’t they intend to kill everyone here except themselves?”

There are still some questions, like how they plan to handle the aftermath if successful… but anyway, if they eliminate all pursuers and place themselves at the top, whether evidence remains or not becomes irrelevant.

First, I need to eliminate or neutralize them. Picking up the Dragon Staff wrapped in cloth, thoroughly displeased, Ouroboros chirped happily.