Behind the Scenes 06-02: Fief
Thirty minutes later, Alberto, the captain of the 3rd Knight Order and Yuuri, the head magician of the Court Mage Division, were called to the King’s office.
The Prime Minister explained that they planned to send the Knight Order to Klaussner while the two sat in the lounge suite.
The two had expected that the Knight Order would be sent to other fiefs, so they didn’t react and just listened.
However, the stoic Alberto’s eyebrow twitched when the Prime Minister hinted that there was a high probability that a swamp, like the one in the West Forest, had appeared at Klaussner.
“You want to send Sei-sama?” Whereas Alberto’s face was slightly twitching, Yuuri had an unchanged smile plastered on his face as he asked the Prime Minister that question.
“Yes. There’s no one other than her that can use the technique that can annihilate that miasma.” The Prime Minister’s words felt like they were wounding Yuuri’s pride, since he was apt in magic, but Yuuri’s expression didn’t change as he replied. “That’s true.”
The person’s whose expression changed was the Prime Minister, because of what Yuuri said next. “But she can’t use that technique freely.”
“What do you mean she can’t use it freely?”
“To be more accurate, she hasn’t been able to activate the 【Saint】technique since that time.”
Yuuri had reported to the King and Prime Minister that Sei hadn’t been able to use that technique again, since she’d returned from the West Forest.
Since then, there had been no report stating that Sei was able to use it.
However, they held onto the small hope that she could use it.
The Prime Minister frowned in order to cover that up.
“Is it too early to send Sei-sama, since she can’t use the technique?” Alberto asked in stiff tone.
Sei wasn’t injured at the West Forest, but she was exposed to danger and that made Alberto cringe.
It was undeniable that Sei could be exposed to the same situation if she went on the expedition.
Besides, unlike the Royal Capital, they didn’t know the situation or the geography in Klaussner.
Klaussner was more dangerous than the West Forest.
Therefore, Alberto hoped that Sei wouldn’t be sent on this expedition.
The Prime Minister noticed that Alberto was worried about Sei and didn’t want her to be sent to Klaussner.
He put his hand to his chin and pondered. Even if there was a swamp in Klaussner, if she couldn’t use the technique then the situation wouldn’t be solved even if they sent her there.
If it was pointless to send her to Klaussner then it would be better to keep her at the Royal Capital, where they could see to her safety.
But things weren’t that simple.
The nation was unified during a national crisis, but there were factions and they were in no way a monolithic society.
Some prioritised their own interests over those of the Kingdom’s and there were people who would sometimes go against the will of the Royal Palace.
Now that the crisis around the Royal Capital had settled, the Royal Palace had to help the other fiefs, or else the n.o.bles from those fiefs would loudly criticize the Royal Palace.
If the Royal Palace didn’t help those in times of need then the n.o.bles who had been on the side of the Royal Palace may also distance themselves.
If the Royal Palace just wanted to show them that they would provide aid, then they probably only had to send the Knight Order.
Although it was only a temporary solution, the demons around the area would decrease.
The problem was that the n.o.bles already knew of the usefulness of the【Saint】.
Even the Prime Minister wanted to send only the Knight Order to Klaussner if he could, but then it would take time to solve the problem.
Besides, it was only temporary.
It was needless to say that they could solve the problem with the【Saint】technique, and it also wouldn’t take much time.
That was proven in the West Forest. Nevertheless, if they said that they would only send the Knight Order, then those who prioritised their own interests wouldn’t approve.
The Prime Minister raised his head and spoke. “No, I want Sei to go.”
“Even though she can’t use the technique?”
“The problem isn’t whether she can use it or not.”
The Prime Minister realised that Alberto looked grim, so he explained that there was a problem.
Moreover, what mattered was sending the【Saint】to Klaussner; it wasn’t a problem that she couldn’t use the technique.
Alberto heard what the Prime Minister said and frowned.
“It’s important that Sei goes. We’d definitely be pressure by those who run the fief if we didn’t send her just because she couldn’t use the technique.”
“I know that, but wouldn’t the result be the same if we sent her there, if she can’t use the technique?”
“I certainly heard that Sei-sama couldn’t use the technique anymore, since she’s returned to the Royal Palace. But what if she couldn’t use it because it’s not necessary?”
“That’s……” Alberto was speechless because of the Prime Minister.
The 【Saint】technique was still an enigma and they only knew a few things about it.
Therefore, like the Prime Minister had said, it could be that the technique couldn’t be activated because they didn’t need it like they did at the West Forest, and there was nothing to purify.
There was talk that the 【Saint】technique had been activated at the Medicinal Herb Research Inst.i.tute, but the Prime Minister didn’t take that into account.
The Prime Minister thought that had been a different technique, since the target had been medicinal herbs.
At the end of the day, the conditions to activate the 【Saint】technique weren’t clear.
Even the Prime Minister realised that sending Sei to Klaussner under the present situation was a big gamble, since it wasn’t guaranteed that Sei would be able to use the 【Saint】technique if they sent her to Klaussner.
Even though the Prime Minister knew that, he had taken many things into consideration and could no longer afford not to send Sei to Klaussner.
Alberto knew the problems that the Prime Minister was facing but he still didn’t understand why Sei had to be sent to Klaussner under the present situation.
If Sei couldn’t use the technique when they went to Klaussner then the problem wouldn’t be solved quickly.
It would take time to solve the problem, even if the Knight Order was involved.
Alberto wondered if the n.o.bles would criticise them anyway.
It was still fine if they criticised the Knight Order, but what if Sei was the one to receive the brunt of it?
Bad situations came to Alberto’s mind one after the other, and he felt uneasy sending Sei to Klaussner when she couldn’t even activate the technique.
The King had been listening the whole time and interrupted Alberto as he tried to argue once again. “We’ll send Sei to Klaussner.” He had the final say.
That wasn’t the decision he had hoped for. Alberto gripped his fist gently and swallowed the words he had wanted to say.
The King had made his decision and brought the discussions to a conclusion.
Let’s leave for now and stop Sei from being sent to Klaussner, Alberto decided and left the King’s office with Yuuri.