Chapter 522.2
The current Rogard Empire was headed by the Demon Emperor Yuki, but the fundamental policies of the empire were decided by the leaders of other countries, not by Yuki, and the entire empire operates under his leaders.h.i.+p.
However, it was naturally not possible for leaders to always stay in the empire.
Therefore, there were, of course, personnel to run the empire on a day-to-day basis.
In particular, it was the Senate that was responsible for the actual operation of the empire.
The members of the Senate have changed by about half since before the war, and there have been some complicated political dynamics, but they all share the same goal of running the country.
The empire had suffered defeat in the war, but with senators’ joint efforts, the empire had gradually recovered and somehow managed to reach its current domestic situation. However, recent incidents had made them groan with their heads in their hands.
“…After the stadium and airfield terrorist attacks, what’s next?”
“One after another…”
What they found troubling was – the protest movement by those who had flooded into the Imperial Castle.
“Give us back our teacher!”
“Don’t allow this unjust investigation!”
“If you have any objection, reveal the process of the investigation!”
Angry voices roared from the gates outside and below them.
It was not a riot. They were citizens, protesting. They were not carrying weapons or anything like that.
However, the heat and pressure they were exuding was so strong that the empire had to deploy its troops to calm them down.
It was easy to imagine that one wrong move and the situation would explode and turn into a riot.
They had one goal in mind.
–The release of Alveiro Verbaan.
Alveiro had opened a kind of private school.
And his students, as well as those who were involved with his students, heard of his arrest and came to protest like this.
There were also his friends, acquaintances, and residents of the block where Alveiro lived.
In total, there must have been at least two hundred people.
No, to put it bluntly, two hundred people would not be a problem. If the empire wanted to, it would be easy to subdue them.
But the lineup was not good.
Among them were high-ranking military officers, famous businessmen, and even aristocrats holding important positions, and pressure was beginning to mount on the Senate from all sides.
From the looks of it, apparently, Alveiro was well-liked.
But now, this has turned into a serious annoyance.
In the first place, there was no way they could liberate him.
Alveiro’s name came up in the investigation of a major case involving the Demon Emperor Yuki, the Dwarf King Doda, and the Demon King Finar Reginalis Saturnia. Not only that, it was a case of such magnitude that it could have developed into a diplomatic issue.
This case, more than any other cases filed in the court of the Rogard Empire, must now be resolved immediately. They could not afford to make it look any worse than this. Currently, the empire could not even operate properly without the help of other countries.
The current Rogard Empire was structured in a way that would favor other countries. The current Emperor, the head of the nation, was not a citizen of the Rogard Empire.
It was inevitable since the Empire lost the war, but still, they wanted to resolve what happened inside their own nation by themselves to regain their sovereignty little by little.
It was all a matter of maintaining a face for the nation.
If they could not even keep their own face as a nation, then it would have been better for them to just cease to exist as a nation.
No matter how trivial it may be.
Therefore, after the first suspect was secured, they wanted to solve the case solely with this nation’s own resources, but then came the uproar.
The meeting was heated and rowdy.
“The evidence has been cited. Former senator Alveiro should already be executed as a major criminal!”
“Don’t you know how many complaints and protests have reached the Senate? If we do that, the scale of the riot will grow even larger! If we lose control of the situation and the military is called in, it will be a catastrophe!”
“A former senator is suspected of such a big crime. If we execute him, won’t that be seen as destroying evidence?”
“You are being too timid! If the government is underestimated any further, it will be to its own detriment!”
“But that doesn’t mean we should move too fast! Aggressiveness is fine, but it does not mean we should be decisive in everything we do!”
Opinions came from all sides, but they did not coalesce.
This was proof that the impact of the incident was already having a strong effect.
The man, Alveiro, and his influence was much broader than they had expected.
The Senate President looked a little stifled, and then let out a sigh.
“…Either way, the scale of the problem has become too large for us to handle ourselves. As much as possible, I don’t want him to get involved in national politics, but…this is the way it has to be. First, please contact the Demon King.”
“Mr. Chairman, but that’s…”
“From the very beginning, people from other countries have been involved in this incident. Since that is the case, it may be better to treat this as a [cooperative effort between countries to deal with the terrorist attack]. Fortunately, we were able to secure some of the prime suspects in this case. With this, I think we have at least secured our own reputation. It’s not the best, but if we ask for too much, we may end up failing. So, any objections?”
No objections were raised.