Chapter 452

Meeting with the Resistance Leader
Thanks to having brought the real Third and Fourth Princes with us, we were treated as heroes and were set to meet with the leader of the Resistance, Mr. Varias.
Apparently, he was in the midst of conquering the last remaining ducal house, but that mission was finished, and he was currently on his way back to this city.

It seemed the Resistance planned to use this city, once used as a base by the Third and Fourth Princes, as their new stronghold moving forward.
There was probably some political intent behind that decision.

“Sorry about this. Lord Varias is expected to arrive tomorrow. Also, he might behave rudely toward you. I’ll apologize in advance.”

“Huh… Is Mr. Varias really such a troublesome person?”

“Well, he is the leader of the Resistance. He’s a capable commander, a warrior, and has charisma. But he tends to believe that everything should go exactly the way he envisions. If things don't go as he planned, he throws tantrums.”

That sounds… like a pretty terrible person to have as a leader, doesn’t it?
Is the Resistance really okay being led by someone like that?

They said they’d prepared a lodging for us, but I wasn’t quite bold enough to sleep under a roof offered by people whose alignment—friend or foe—wasn’t yet clear.
So we spent the night camping outside the city again.

Now then, what should I even talk about with the leader of the Resistance?

“Hmm. First, we should state our demands. First, no interference in the areas outside the influence of the Third and Fourth Princes. Second, no violence or looting of the townspeople... though it seems we’re already too late on that one.”

“Yeah. And on top of that, they’re plotting to reunify the old kingdom. Do you think we can reason with them?”

“If we can’t, then that’s fine too. We’ll just use Talat’s power to intimidate them until they back down.”

“Do you think they’ll really withdraw because of that?”

“Anyone who sees Talat’s power and still doesn’t back down would have to be a complete fool.”

Though Plum said that, she couldn’t entirely rule out the possibility that they *would* be that foolish—and could only pray they weren’t.
Her words made me feel uneasy, too.

Then, the next day.

Around noon, a messenger from the Resistance came and said that preparations for our meeting with Mr. Varias were complete.

I wondered if he would be someone we could actually talk to. Mr. Graf would be accompanying us for support, but I still had a bad feeling about this.
I just hoped it wouldn’t turn into anything too troublesome.

What do you think about this chapter?