Isaac

“No!”

Rivelia cried out as Isaac executed her father.

Thud!

Rivelia collapsed on the floor, looking at her father’s collapsed body helplessly.

The Queen too looked at the screen in confusion. It was difficult to figure out what was exactly happening from the limited information this broadcast presented.

Isaac taking over the plaza and massacring the royal family, the Emperor, and Duke Pendleton? Perhaps that was plausible. But what about the non-humans? To suggest that the members of the Grand Council would line their heads in a row over a few human hostages wasn’t even a bad joke at best.

Then how? Just what method did Isaac use to force them into submission? And why did he kill the Emperor and Duke Pendleton?

And what was most inexplicable was his acts of terrorism in Gabelin. She knew he wanted to create fear and confusion—but for what incomprehensible reason?

The Queen glimpsed at her tablet, just to find out that it’d take a little longer before she could have control over the communications again. She swore to herself to update the whole thing so it’d never happen again once she returned. But when she heard Isaac’s last words, the Queen laughed, completely taken aback.

This was a difficult situation. It would take more than ten years for her plan to enact any form of damage. But now that Isaac proclaimed he had spread the plague already, the radicals were free to release it into the world as they pleased.

The entirety of the radical’s leadership had perished, which made them all the more dangerous. Without their leaders, they could rampage out of control. If the plague were to spread now, the Queen had to make a cure.

She couldn’t possibly cooperate with the radicals toward their goal. The Empire was destined to lose if driven into war by the plague without any preparation. The radicals were so drunk with their victory that they didn’t even bother to look into why Rivelia and Kunette were cooperating with her. The radicals despised the humans, but they had no idea how cruel humans could become over profit.

The other world had researched the most economical method of massacre time and time again. A mass of refugees? Humanitarian groups would speak out for their defence, asserting that they were fellow humans and not animals. The leaders of the other world would hesitate at first.

But what if the refugees went beyond a million and into the tens of millions? The humanitarians would go silent, and war would break out. And in the end, they would press the button for their weapons of mass destruction.

Their target would be the land without a nation, far from their own territories. The leaders would be labeled as mass murderers, but only for a moment. With a few movies and documentaries detailing the tragedy “behind-the-scenes,” they could easily manipulate the populace into their hypocritical slogan of “never forget the past.” As the people’s rage died down, they could then talk about overpopulation, resource and environmental issues. And with a finger oh-so-conveniently pointed at a fantastical other world, people would volunteer en masse to become fabled adventurers.

Those with remorse would be a minority. With the flag of profit at the helm, any excuse would do for these despicable humans to crawl their way back into the world.

“I will declare a state of emergency as the Director of Surveillance. Use all forms of communication to send it. Move!”

The Queen looked suspiciously at Kunette, who commanded with great urgency. Did Kunette know Isaac was going to do this? No. That was impossible. The death of the Emperor may have been acceptable as a sacrifice, but Kunette would have never remained silent at the deaths of Duke Pendleton and the Grand Council.

“Ahem. It seems the situation isn’t going so smoothly.”

The leader of the delegates approached the Queen carefully and whispered to her.

“.. I admit, I never suspected something like this to happen.”

The Queen replied with a polite voice, her anger bubbling quietly within.

“Just give us the word if you need help. The U.S. 7th Army is on standby.”

The Queen looked at the delegate coldly. They too had prepared for many scenarios. They planned to take over the gate with their army if the situation didn’t suit them. Citing her protection as their deplorable excuse, of course.

Permanent control of the Gate was worth any and every sacrifice. But they were oblivious to the powers of non-humans. Did they really think the non-humans were blind to the possibility that the Expeditionary Forces could take over the Gate via brute force?

The final reason New Port City was chosen as the location was because it hugged a lake. Among the non-humans, there were species that lived underwater. These underwater races lived in the seas carefree, uninvolved with the Grand Council. Despite their semi-independent nature, they still answered the Grand Council’s calls.

By calling upon the races that could manipulate water at their whim, they could permanently submerge the whole of New Port City underwater. These fools didn’t know why she had to plan for the past 300 years so carefully. Not even she was aware of how many non-humans existed in this world nor what powers they had.

The Queen wondered what she should do. The delegates looking at her expectantly for a decisive move, Kunette desperately trying to regain control over the situation, and Rivelia collapsed on the floor mourning her loss. At that moment, the Queen felt a vibration in her coat signalling her communication takeover was complete. The Queen quickly took out her tablet.

“Hm… Ha! Is that why? Dark Royale planted themselves not only in high military command but in government offices—for this? No wonder they got us. I told those idiots time and time again not to drop their guard.”

The Queen’s face stiffened as she frantically flicked through the tablet with a frown. After watching it for a moment, the Queen smirked and placed it back in her coat.

“Dear Mr. Isaac. You really did something beyond everyone’s imagination. Guards, arrest the emissaries and confiscate everything they have.”

The beastmen guards moved as the Queen directed. The emissaries argued back when the beastmen came at them, and their guards pulled out their pistols. But they of all humans knew how powerless these pistols were against them. Their grips of the pistols were shaking ever so slightly.

“… How are we supposed to take this?”

The leader of the delegates shouted at the Queen just before he was dragged away from the Queen. The Queen shook her head as if there was no choice.

“Calm down.”

“Do you think this is a situation where we can be calm?”

“You have no idea how massive this situation is. If I were to give you a parallel, all the world’s leaders have just been killed during an international conference. And everyone saw firearms being used. Where do you think the anger of the Empire’s citizens will fall? Mr. Isaac is an obvious answer, but the force that provided him with those weapons will be second. Remember, this is a different world. You saw how nobody stopped that little girl from killing a man right? They are like that to Laila, a mere Lord. But this is the assassination of the Emperor. What do you think? Know that this is for your own safety.”

The delegate’s leader shut his mouth. The Queen had a point. His world would do little more than scold them diplomatically and ask for recompensation if all the emissaries had been killed out of frustration.  It would never lead to an all out war. Because that was more economical.

The Queen watched the non-humans herd the emissaries into a corner when Kunette approached the Queen. She stood there awkwardly, hesitant to talk to her. The Queen smiled.

“Oh my! Does Kunette need something from me?”

Kunette’s face crumpled listening to the Queen. Kunette replied to the Queen reluctantly.

“… It’s an emergency. We have no time to gather the leaders of all races now. We have to hold a video meeting.”

The deaths of Duke Pendleton and the Emperor had thrown all of humanity into a hysteria. Communication was key in order to suppress the hysteria as quickly as possible, and the Queen had complete control over communications. It came bitterly to Kunette, asking for help from the Queen.

“Did you know Mr. Isaac would do this?”

The Queen asked, and Kunette glared back at the Queen.

“I wouldn’t be here if I did.”

Kunette was aware Isaac had gotten himself arrested for a reason. But she had chosen the Queen as the future of the human race and prepared herself for Isaac’s death. If she had been aware that Isaac was going to kill all members of the Grand Council, she would have done everything in her power to stop him.

But now, Isaac had pushed humans and non-humans to the brink of war. If it weren’t for the deaths of the Emperor and Duke Pendleton, the non-humans would have made the human race responsible for the deaths of the Grand Council.

In order to stop the hot-headed races from enacting their vengeance, Kunette had to control them—by reestablishing the Grand Council.