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You probably already know, but the rumor was that the Hiers Kingdom had already perished.

I learned this after becoming a noble. The common understanding on this continent is that the nation’s symbol of importance lies in its land and royal family. The capital is crucial too, but only the royal family and the core of the nation are aware of that. Oh, Rare-chan might know that as well.

So, if I were to tell NPC nobles that ‘the country has fallen,’ they would typically think, ‘Did we lose our land, or did the royal family perish?’

For the average NPC, it wouldn’t mean much. They wouldn’t grasp the significance even if they were told the country had fallen; it’s an unprecedented situation for them.

But for nobles, it’s different. For the nobility of Hiers, it’s a crucial matter affecting their future, and for nobles from other countries, it’s a significant diplomatic issue.

And for merchants who have dealings with nobles, it’s a major problem that directly impacts prices and the economy.

Since the currency used on this continent is common, the general population won’t immediately feel a sense of crisis, so this rumor will likely be treated as casual gossip around the town.

Nobles and merchants who understand the gravity of the situation will use every means to gather information, further spreading the rumor.

It will quickly become apparent that the land is not lost yet. So, what they will be searching for is the whereabouts of the royal family.

The spread rumor will soon reach the ears of the ‘calamity’ because the ‘calamity’ is likely paying attention to NPC rumors and information.

Why do I think so?

Because the ‘calamity’ is also searching for the disappeared Hiers royal family.

The ‘calamity’ was temporarily repelled. Well, at that time, I thought it was just an event NPC, faking its death and retreating. If Rare-chan, being the player, experienced it, she probably truly died and respawned. Ouch, fold your wings, please. I won’t mention it again.

Anyway, at that time, ‘calamity’ tasted bitterness due to the artifact used by the players. However, the artifact should have disappeared from the destroyed royal castle immediately after that. Along with the royal family.

So, ‘calamity’ is searching for the royal family. They were quite a noticeable group. It’s not hard to imagine that it would be discussed in the people’s rumors. If they catch some NPC randomly, torture them a bit, and inquire, they would know right away.

I speculated that’s what ‘calamity’ might be thinking.

And in the midst of this, what if a rumor like ‘Nobles are searching for the royal family’ spreads among the NPCs?

If someone is looking for them, it means the royal family is still alive.

And it’s much easier to find them through humans than through the ‘calamity,’ which can only search through brute force.

No, when this rumor reaches ‘calamity,’ those nobles who were already searching might have captured the royal family.

So, where does the information come from, and who is searching for the royal family in the first place?

In the process of tracing that, you would realize that the original content of the rumor was ‘Hiers is destroyed.’

And once you notice that, you would understand that the conditions for destruction are either the loss of the land or the extinction of the royal family. However, ‘calamity’ knows that neither of these has been fulfilled.

So, who and why spread such a rumor?

At this point, only the players would know if the nation has truly perished.

If the destruction is true, the source of the rumor, who knows about it, would be the one who annihilated the royal family.

If the destruction is not true, then why spread false rumors?

To figure this out, think about who would hate this the most. It would be the escaped royal family. To lure them out, someone might have spread the rumor.

If the royal family is still alive, they cannot ignore it. When they think about rebuilding Hiers, this rumor becomes a clear obstacle. So, if they wait, someone related to the royal family will come.

Either way, for ‘calamity,’ it’s quickest to go to the source of the rumor.

Finding the source isn’t a difficult task. We didn’t hide it, after all.

Sooner or later, they would have identified it, and they should have arrived in this town.

In short, although there shouldn’t be any destruction, someone is spreading rumors that it happened.

It’s a matter of what’s going on, and I hope you’re curious about it.

Whether they come alone or not was a gamble for me. ‘Calamity’s’ goal is information, not the destruction of this town. If they invade grandly, they might escape again. Also, the failure last time was due to the artifact, and there’s no fear of it being used in this town, not the capital.

So, it’s either a solo or a small group night raid. Well, that’s the plan.”

“Can I ask you a few questions?”

“Of course, as many as you’d like.”

“Firstly, you mentioned a failure. I mean, isn’t it a success in a way since I was lured here?”

“Oh, that. Well, Rare-chan, you hadn’t heard about NPC talk until you came to this town, right? I’m more interested in that. How did you identify this town?”

“I saw it on SNS.”

“A coupon, really! Rare-chan, you seem a bit different today, don’t you? Expressionless and speaking less. No, it’s because you read a post from a player-like person who happened to be in this town, mentioning the story of its destruction. So, that’s how.”

“I see. If I hadn’t instructed otherwise, it means someone under me talked without knowing. That’s why the attack came earlier than expected. Indeed, SNS has a transmission speed that can’t be compared to rumors. Still, it’s likely just a coincidence. My plan failed.”

“But your plan relied quite a bit on uncertainty and speculation, didn’t it? If ‘calamity’ hadn’t thought that far, or if NPC rumors hadn’t accurately spread, it could have gone south. The likelihood of nothing happening was much higher, don’t you think?”

“Well, that’s true. I just wanted to ‘utilize’ the calamity. It doesn’t have to be this calamity; I don’t know much about other calamities or creatures of that level since there’s no information. Anyway, all I can do is spread rumors, and considering the cost and return, it’s not a loss to try. Just to be clear, I had anticipated the calamity to come after the event ended, so there was a risk of penalty. Even with that, I always kept the experience points at least 10% free. Just in case. We had increased the town’s vigilance regularly, but apparently, residents suddenly disappeared for a short time, so it makes sense to be cautious. That’s when you guys arrived. At first, I didn’t realize, but when that black mist-like thing disappeared, it wasn’t the appearance as described on SNS, right? I thought it must be the calamity, and when I saw the familiar face, I confirmed it. Quite amusing.”

“Got it. Next, the importance of the capital for a nation. Does it have something to do with the activation conditions of certain artifacts?”

“Yes, it does. By the way, I didn’t mention something earlier, although you didn’t ask. It’s a service.

Another reason I wanted this town.

This town was the former capital of a once-prosperous nation. You might know this, but the king who ruled at that time was a person called the Spirit Lord.

The artifacts I mentioned earlier were apparently created by him. One of the activation conditions is being ‘within the territory of the capital.’ So, I thought I could use it in this town. Well, I didn’t have that artifact myself.

By the way, through subsequent investigation, I found out that the curse embedded in that artifact, most likely resentment towards the royal family in the later generations, causes it to activate. Hence, it only activates in the capital ruled by the six current royal families. This town had no relevance.

It was quite a challenge to uncover this fact. Probably, only the royal families of each country would know. It’s a secret how I found out. Not that it’s essential.”

“For the Spirit Lord, the tragedy was probably that the cursed item he created with his last power turned into an artifact because it was of too high quality. Since touching it reveals how to use it, these items have ironically become safeguards for the authority and safety of the current royal families of various countries.

Due to such reasons, it’s possible that in the Hiers capital, where the royal family is now extinct, the activation condition might not be met anymore. This needs verification. If you’re interested.”

“I won’t allow that.

Alright, next. Probably, it’s all pointing to the same thing, so I’ll summarize.

First, when the Hiers capital was destroyed, there shouldn’t have been any royal family or artifacts, as you mentioned. How did you know that? Also, where is the royal family now? And about the artifact, I said I ‘didn’t have it,’ but do I have it now?”

“Well, yeah. It’s all related to the same thing.

I ordered my subordinates to eliminate the Hiers royal family and obtain the artifact. It’s currently stored in the treasure vault of this castle. Originally, I planned to have it prepared here, but it doesn’t activate here. Initially, when I arranged the rumor, I intended to use the artifact. But later, I found out it wouldn’t activate here. If it had, I might have made Rare-chan mine by now.”

“To [Subordinate] players, their consent is necessary, so it’s absolutely impossible.

But when I mentioned giving orders to my subordinates, considering the timeline, it wouldn’t have been possible to kill the royal family and spread rumors unless I had set things in motion around the time I attacked Hiers.

In other words, when Hiers capital was attacked, I was already convinced of the royal family’s exile.

However, since the suggestion for the royal family’s exile came from NPC Chancellor O’Connell, it shouldn’t have been predictable.”

“O’Connell Chancellor? Who’s that?”

“…The reason the Hiers royal family went into exile was because the Chancellor advised them to do so. I heard it from the person himself.”

“Huh, is there a chancellor who suggests exile to their own country’s leader? That’s an outrageous way of thinking. Needs to be cautious.”

“…I’ve taken care of him, so he’s no longer around.”

“Is that so? Well, that’s good.

What should I do? This doesn’t directly relate to the recent series of events, and it’s related to other things too. It feels like I’m providing too much information, but well, if Rare-chan has one request, I’ll answer.”

“Okay then.”

“Hey! Let’s at least hear what the request is! If it’s nothing major, we can consider doing it!”

“…What’s the request?”

“Send me Rare-chan’s friend card. I’ll give you mine. I remember that you can register as friends with that.”

“Okay.”

“Wait, wait, wait! That’s fine! Just give it to her! I’m curious now after hearing all this!”

“…Here it is.”

“Oh, thank you. Blanc-chan does a good job.

Now then, the royal family’s exile.

It was unexpected that the Chancellor suggested it, but it was a reasonably accurate guess that the royal family would choose the option of exile.

In the first place, there was only one country on this continent in the past. Even the official site doesn’t mention this fact, and most NPCs don’t know it. Currently, there are six existing countries, but there has never been a war or the destruction of a country.

So, the idea of exile would never occur to them.

Since I became a noble, I focused on commercial policies and diplomacy. As part of that, I had connections with the Hiers royal family and those closely related to it.

So, I had a fair number of opportunities to talk. I proposed to the royal family that if things ever got tough, they could escape to my city. This town is far from the domain of monsters, and being the former capital of a unified nation, it’s roughly in the center of the continent. It’s an easy location to escape to from any country. This continent rarely sees conflicts between human factions, so there would be no suspicion. Well, the rise in favorability due to ‘good looks’ might have played a part.

Additionally, there was that commotion about the birth of humanity’s enemy. Wasn’t that about Rare-chan?

If the royal family ever despairs about the kingdom’s future, they would surely remember me. That’s what I thought. So, I sent out the knight order.

I had them kill everyone if found, snatch the artifact, and bring it back, given the order.”

“Are you a demon… or something?”

“…Well. Why did you suggest exile in the first place? Because you wanted the artifact?

Also, did you tell this to royal families other than Hiers?”

“I did suggest exile to the Hiers royal family mainly because I wanted the artifact. It can’t be made with current technology. Even if it doesn’t activate in this city, it wouldn’t hurt to have it.

And maybe, when the bloodline of that royal family becomes extinct, claiming to be a descendant of the royal family because of the possession of the artifact might come in handy.

Well, this became difficult after the official site recognized national destruction once all the royals were dead.

I did mention the exile idea to other royal families. They laughed it off, though.

The knights of this country are somewhat stronger than Hiers knights. So, even if the Hiers royal family was in danger, suggesting to shelter them in this city was persuasive.

But for the royal family of this country, my knight order, while having quality, doesn’t surpass the capital’s in terms of strength. So, the proposal was meaningless. I didn’t mention it because I knew that.

Being laughed at by royal families of other countries… That’s… maybe it’s not the right time to bring it up. It’ll be for a separate fee.”