—Inside the Holy Amelia Kingdom's throne room.
Within the opulent throne room where ministers of every department would normally assemble, only two men were present.
"Johannes, why did you release Knut from his imprisonment?! What was your thinking in letting that bastard take part in the Throne Succession War?!"
As Edward barked in fury, the Prime Minister merely offered a faint smile.
"I have done nothing more than make a decision based upon the rules of the royal selection. The demand brought forth by the Blood Alliance did not conflict with those rules, so I granted it. That is all."
He answered with utter detachment.
"Cut the crap! You stubbornly refused to allow Knut's release all this time, so what right do you have to say that now?!"
Until now, Prime Minister Johannes had turned down every single request, maintaining the confinement of Edward's biological younger brother, Knut, on Cold Prison Island. Yet now, using Gilbert's drop-out as justification, he had consented to Knut's participation in the royal selection and personally dispelled the barrier arts he had kept over him. As a result, Cold Prison Island lay in ruins, leaving a massive toll among both prisoners and guards.
"Your Majesty, to begin with, a man such as myself could never hope to truly imprison His Highness. The only reason His Highness did not emerge into the mortal world until now was merely because his interests and mine happened to be in perfect alignment."
"And so your interests just happened to align regarding the destruction of Cold Prison Island, too?"
A scalding rage had been boiling inside Edward for some time now, utterly impossible to suppress. Even Edward could have predicted as much. Given the circumstances, Johannes must have been certain of what Knut would do once the barrier was undone. In other words, Johannes had intended to sacrifice the prisoners and guards right from the start.
"You are reading far too much into this, Your Majesty."
Faced with Johannes's customary, impregnable smile and predictable deflection, Edward pressed on:
"Committed crimes though they may have, the prisoners were still Amelians! On top of that, what justification could you possibly have for sacrificing innocent citizens like the guards?!"
At Edward's outburst, Johannes's smile only deepened.
"It seems Your Majesty is somewhat mistaken."
"Mistaken, you say?!"
"Your Majesty, strictly speaking, not a single innocent civilian was on that island to begin with. Those present were solely beasts incapable of proper reflection or remorse, and beasts acting purely in accordance with their own desires."
"What is that supposed to mean?!"
"It would be best for you to investigate further on your own."
Johannes returned to his placid smile. Once he retreated behind that wall, nothing could compel this monster of a Prime Minister to provide the answers Edward desired.
I have to calm down. Appealing to emotion with him is completely useless. Past experience makes that plain enough.
Edward drew in a deep breath and exhaled. Repeating the motion several times to cool the rush of blood to his head, he spoke in a firm tone.
"Then answer me just one thing."
"If it is within my capacity to answer."
"Why did you allow Knut to participate in the Throne Succession War?"
"Because it complied with the rules of the royal selection. I believe I have already stated as much."
"Spare me the official line. If you hand the throne to that bastard, even you can easily foresee what will become of this nation, couldn't you? Why make such a reckless gamble?"
For the first time, a different emotion flickered across Johannes's face. It was the strongest display of sentiment Edward had ever witnessed across the handful of times the Prime Minister's usually inscrutable facade had cracked—namely, profound disappointment.
"Your Majesty, that is an entirely missed question."
Just as expected, Johannes replied gently and calmly, as if admonishing Edward just as he had done countless times during the king's childhood.
"A missed question?"
"Indeed. The core purpose of the Throne Succession War, as well as the very conditions for victory, have already shifted drastically. The fact that the words 'reckless gamble' even cross your lips is proof that you fail to see the true nature of this game."
"And just how has it changed?"
Edward asked, tapping the armrest of his throne with his left index finger in mounting irritation, but—
"..."
Johannes merely smiled, offering no reply.
"So you haven't the slightest intention of answering..."
Unless Edward approached the conclusion Johannes wanted him to reach, the Prime Minister would never give him a straight answer.
The core purpose of the Throne Succession War and the conditions for victory themselves had changed... had they? What did that mean? The arrangement was supposed to be simple: quantify each claimant's territory management and achievements to calculate a final standing.
Setting aside the matter of Knut, if there had been any massive shift in the Throne Succession War, there was only one possible factor.
The existence of Kai Heinemann. That young man was undeniably abnormal. Vice Headmaster Crab, who should have stood as one of the absolute rulers of Babel, had provoked Kai Heinemann's wrath and was casually retired from this world, while even the former headmaster, Inea, who had merely attempted to make use of Kai, had been driven into secluded retirement.
The same was true for the recent elimination from the royal selection of Gilbert, whose crimes against Rose had grown glaringly conspicuous.
Gilbert had been drilled in statecraft from an early age to become king. However, those who taught him were the executives of the Blood Alliance. He had grown up without ever learning the single most essential quality of a ruler. As a result, he committed numerous atrocities against his people and subordinates, even going so far as attempting to sell out his fellow royal, Rose, to the Empire. The moment he tried to hand Rose and Felice over to that pig of a man, Ketzer, the decision that he had to be purged was set in stone.
Even so, Gilbert held the right of succession and was nominally the prime candidate for the throne. With the Blood Alliance backing him, he could not be removed without concrete evidence. Just when Edward and his circle were clutching their heads in frustration because Gilbert and his cohort refused to leave a trail, Gilbert clashed with Kai Heinemann over a trivial squabble at Babel and was effortlessly knocked out of the Throne Succession War.
Initially, Edward had regarded Kai Heinemann merely as a Royal Guard aligned with Rose, but upon hearing the final condition Kai imposed on Gilbert, he revised that assessment completely.
Kai Heinemann was, without a doubt, a man of royal caliber. What was more, he was a true king, not a pale imitation like Edward. That was surely the image of an ideal ruler desired by this monster of a Prime Minister. That was precisely why Johannes treated Kai Heinemann like the eye of a hurricane. Judging by his actions and words, the Prime Minister believed Kai could even bring that monstrous younger brother, Knut, to his knees. To the Holy Amelia Kingdom, Knut's existence was a festering wound from within. A man like the Prime Minister would naturally seek to seize this chance to excise it entirely.
Yet, that line of thought was far too premature. His brother Knut was a genuine monster. He possessed an otherworldly charisma beyond mortal comprehension, as well as a Gift that grew exponentially stronger by feeding upon the negative emotions of others. Ordinary as Edward was, he could not even begin to imagine how immense Knut's strength had become by now.
Had Knut not been utterly deranged, the one sitting upon this throne right now would undoubtedly have been him.
"I know full well that you hold Kai Heinemann in remarkably high regard. Even so, I cannot envision anyone triumphing over the current Knut."
Anyone who had personally witnessed Knut's past deeds would arrive at the exact same conclusion. His power was no longer human; it was a natural disaster. The meager strength of mortal men could never stand against a catastrophe.
Kai Heinemann was an indispensable asset for the future of the Holy Amelia Kingdom—far more so than that party of Heroes blindly fixated on exterminating the demon race. That was precisely why Edward could never allow him to be destroyed by that monster.
"You cannot envision anyone triumphing over Prince Knut, is that it?"
Johannes stared intently at Edward with quiet amusement before speaking again.
"Very well. Let us make this my final assignment to Your Majesty. Once you have seen the conclusion of this game with your own eyes, you may draw your own verdict regarding the purpose behind holding it."
With those parting words, Johannes bowed, turned his back on Edward, and swept out of the room.
"My final assignment, is it...?"
Not once in his life had Johannes ever wasted words on Edward. For him to speak in such an intensely loaded manner meant this selection war had likely ceased to be a simple contest of martial strength or territorial management long ago.
"Fine. I'll see it through to the end, just as you want."
Edward's resolute words echoed through the empty throne room as he quietly steeled his resolve.