Dungeon Defense

* * *

Peace is truly a wonderful thing.

Recently, Elizabeth had been spending her days peacefully.

To an ordinary person, peace, enforced by seventeen hours of work and a mere four hours of sleep daily, would feel far from peaceful and rather cruelly oppressive. But for Elizabeth, it mattered little.

Is that so?

Kurtz Schleiermacher rolled his eyes as he entered the Consuls office while on duty. The Consuls desk was piled high with documents. It was evident that anyone who spoke of peace while staring at that monstrous mountain was undoubtedly a pervert.

Indeed. Dantalian is not moving. This alone is enough to make the world beautiful.

Elizabeth remarked with a deeply moved gaze. She looks like an old man who just let his muscles relax while entering a hot spring, was what Kurtz muttered to himself in his mind.

Perhaps Dantalians existence is not that bad in itself.

Pardon me? I dont think I heard you properly.

Think about it, Schleiermacher. Every misfortune on the continent is caused by Dantalian. In other words, if we are cautious of Dantalian alone, the continent will be peaceful and unharmed.

Elizabeth seemed to marvel at her own idea as she spoke.

A rebellion in any part of the continent? Look to Dantalian. A war breaks out anywhere? Again, look to Dantalian. Everything in the world becomes so simple. Whether it is Dantalian or not, all problems boil down to that.

Haa, I see.

Life becomes much more elegant when viewed through one window. Dantalian might just be that very window.

Shes lost it.

Kurtz Schleiermacher deeply sympathized with his consul. He had repeatedly advised her to reduce her workload and take a break, hundreds or even thousands of times. Yet, she claimed that working was resting and proceeded to take on a gruesome amount of work. To make matters worse, it seems she finally lost her mind as well.

I am quite generous in my current life. No matter how capable Dantalian is, toppling the Anatolian Empire overnight is impossible. Things will remain relatively peaceful for the next few decades. Fufu. I have gained an advantage.

Kurtz shook his head.

As the Second Chrysanthemum War drew to a close, the consul graced a peace memorial ball. To the surprise of many, she shared a dance with Count Palatine Dantalian. Since that day, Consul Elizabeth began to speak favorably of him, remarking on his skill as a dancer and occasionally breaking into a chuckle.

Moreover, she seized every chance to mention Dantalian in conversations, making his presence a recurring topic in her discussions.

Dantalian must have also been aware of this, but he lost to a romantic ideal. He yielded to the charming romanticism of scheming with me.

Is that so?

In other words, it means that Dantalian is quite obsessed with me.

She didnt just lose her mind. Her brain had completely decayed.

How could this happen? Kurtz pondered to himself seriously. It was winter, not summer. Even though it wasnt the most suitable season for brains to decay, Consul Elizabeth was deteriorating in real time. What could be the problem? Is it really because shes overworked?

The reason Dantalian is obsessed with me is simple. Its because Im the only one on the continent who can match him.

Kurtz fixed his gaze on the consul with eyes akin to rotten fish.

Why not simply wed the Count Palatine, then?

Hah?

Consul Elizabeth furrowed her brow. Her gaze looked as if it were saying, What nonsense did this idiotic human say just now?

Why would I marry Dantalian? Have you lost your mind, Schleiermacher? It is still winter, yet your mind seems to have decayed as if it were midsummer.

I mean, all you do is talk about Dantalian all the time, so it should not be surprising that I would suggest that. One side is the leader of the Habsburg Republic and the other side is a person of power in the Habsburg Empire. You might as well use this opportunity to unite Habsburg as one again.

Consul Elizabeth let out a scoff.

What nonsense. Our nation advocates republicanism. Though it may be different if they abandon monarchy on their side, an empire and a republic are inherently too different.

Rudolf doesnt have an heir. If Rudolf were to die, wouldnt there be a possibility for a republic to form?

Elizabeth shook her head. She gave Kurtz Schleiermacher a warm gaze, akin to a teacher looking at an underachieving student whom she couldnt bear to hate.

The real power in the Habsburg Empire lies not with the humans, but with the demons. Yet, the reason why the Empire is recognized in international diplomacy on the continent is because, at least superficially, the emperor, being human, appears to have the demons obedient to him.

I see.

Do you know why Dantalian appointed Laura de Farnese as the Empires imperator? It is because Duchess Farnese is a human. He intentionally made the faces of the Empire, both the emperor and the imperator, be humans.

Therefore, the Empire abandoning monarchy for republicanism is diplomatically impossible.

Elizabeth stated.

Moreover, fundamentally, Dantalian is not particularly fond of republicanism. Just look at how he sabotaged the last republican assembly. Adding to this, was Demon Lord Paimon not purged a short while ago? We may not know the details, but there is no way Dantalian was not involved in such an event.

In other words, theres no way that Dantalian would advocate republicanism.

Elizabeth nodded.

Dantalian is simply exploiting the instigation started by republicans in his favor. There is no deeper meaning beyond this. To Dantalian, ideals are most likely useless.

Well, Elizabeth paused for a moment before continuing.

It might be possible to establish something if we abandon republicanism.

Pardon?

Instead of our republic surrendering to the empire, I could ascend as co-emperor alongside Dantalian. Such a possibility exists.

Kurtz Schleiermachers eyes widened as he looked at the Consul. The Consul, unperturbed, continued speaking.

However, the people will not understand if we simply surrender in haste. Several conditions are necessary. The empire must possess overwhelming power compared to our nation and it must be clear that we have no chance of victory in a full-scale war. Only then can we ask for mercy and surrender.

Haah.

Of course, this is akin to a midsummer nights dream.

She must have found her own words funny as Elizabeth smirked.

For starters, no matter how influential Dantalian is in the Empire, his authority does not exceed that of the imperial throne. This is not a problem of skill, but authority. Moreover, I am also not so selfish that I would present our nation to someone who has no interest in republicanism.

However, if things were to unfold that way, the loss of human lives would certainly decrease.

Consul Elizabeth fell into deep thought for a moment.

But it would be the union of a Demon Lord and a human. It creates a pretext for the reconciliation between races. We could even adopt a form of collaboration between monarchists and republicans. A constitutional monarchy would be appropriate. And we could let Laura de Farnese lead the council.

Laura de Farnese is a fair ruler. Her skills have been acknowledged as well. Theres no one better to lead the council. The biggest advantage would be the fact that shes Dantalians vassal. So even under a constitutional monarchy, Dantalian could still exercise undisputed power.

A rough draft could be drawn.

Well, this is still impossible.

There is no way Demon Lord Barbatos would understand that kind of design. Seeing as to how Demon Lord Paimon was purged, Dantalian was most likely more on Barbatos side. Barbatos is someone who wishes for conquest for the sake of Demon Lords. To her, a constitutional monarchy would be considered a path of evil.

In the end, this is nothing more than a delusion, Schleiermacher.

Elizabeth gave Kurtz a bleary-eyed look.

If you have the leisure to waste my time like this, you should help me deal with these documents.

I-I only came here to report about the revolt that is happening in the area of Sardinia captured by Frankia!

I already know. The foolish Frank nobles requested Brittany for reinforcements. They will end up losing their authority and come under Attorney General Bercys reign anyway. This will bring another country closer to republicanism, so there is nothing bad for us.

Now then, Elizabeth uttered as she stood up and handed a stack of documents to Kurtz. At a glance, there were roughly three hundred pages in the stack. Kurtz looked as if he were about to cry.

Your Excellency, you know I am terrible at paperwork.

If you slack off, a hundred people will suffer. If you flee, a thousand people will endure hardship. Laziness is not permitted for leaders responsible for the people.

In the end, after bringing up the topic of marriage as a joke, Kurtz Schleiermacher ended up spending the rest of his day held captive by the Consul.

At this point, besides the parties involved, no one else realized that the series of events unfolding in Frankia were orchestrated by Dantalian.

* * *

The world will not change all at once.

Be it revolutions or reforms, although they may seem to erupt out of the blue on the surface, in reality, they are prepared for a long time beforehand. At the moment, I was currently forcing one to start and end quickly.

Time always demands sacrifice for it to be condensed. The more blood flows, the faster history accelerates.

I have done as you instructed. The rebellion is gradually growing.

The projection of Saintess Longwy spoke from the crystal ball.

The southern nobles of Frankia requested my assistance in quelling their rebellion problem. Instead of directly aiding them, I facilitated a connection with Brittany. You have to make do with what you can get. The nobles poured hefty sums into hiring mercenaries from Brittany to bolster their forces.

However, I slipped in a little scheme here.

In accordance with the request of the nobles, suppress the Sardinian rebellion, but refrain from doing so actively.

This was the situation: Queen Henrietta vigorously sought to crush the rebellion. However, on the other hand, Saintess Longwy constantly criticized the queen, stating that harming the people of other countries should be avoided.

As a result, the Brittany army faced difficulties in its actions due to the clash of opinions between Queen Henrietta and Saintess Longwy.

Revolts, when left unchecked from their outset, often spiral beyond control. Despite the Brittany armys efforts to quash the rebellion, the slightest hint of hesitation within their ranks became a catalyst for Sardinians to assert their defiance against foreign rule.

But, Count Palatine. What do we gain by doing this?

You will be gathering the sentiments of the Sardinians to you. Saintess Longwy, you previously saved the citizens of Genova and now you will be saving the people of other regions.

I stated firmly.

Trust me. Once the Sardinians succeed in their rebellion, they will willingly offer their territory to you. This is all for Brittany, Saintess Longwy.

I asked what do we gain by doing this. I understand what I stand to gain, but I am struggling to discern your potential gains. You are not one to involve yourself unless there is something in it for you.

I smiled.

It is better for me the weaker Frankia becomes.

The Saintess observation was correct. I dont take action unless theres something to gain. This is an opportunity to tidy up three rabbits at once: the Frankish Empire, the Kingdom of Brittany, and even the Kingdom of Sardinia.

Therefore, theres no reason for me to be truthful here. Brittany needs to fatten up a little more. Theyll later discover that they had overindulged, but thats something for me to enjoy when it arrives.

***

TL Note: Thanks for reading the chapter. This week has been way too busy. It was Parents Day on Wednesday, so I went to visit my dad and we ended up having dinner with him and my grandma. Wasa very stressful and awkward dinner. And then I ended up having multiple family dinners with my relatives on my moms side because my aunt came from the states to take care of my grandma for a month.

After that, my brother and his wife came up on Saturday to have lunch and that day ended up being 80% in traffic. God, I feel so drained. My weekend is already gone and I dont feel like Im rested at all. Send help.

Ill see you guys in the next chapter if Im still functional.

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