The Sloppy Rebellion
“What’s going on!?”
“It appears there’s been an intruder in the castle.”
This siren indicates an intruder alert. It signals that an unauthorized person has entered a non-critical area of the castle.
“From this moment on, we, the Noble Council, shall decide the future of this nation.”
The council members declare triumphantly. No, you lot have no capability to govern a nation. If you did, you wouldn’t have been quarantined in the detention facility known as the Noble Council.
It seems I was one step behind. I had planned to detain the Noble Council under emergency royal authority as soon as the war council ended.
“You really think I’ll let you?”
“By now, our private forces must be rampaging through the royal capital. Are you okay with this? Precious, precious citizens are being sacrificed, you know.”
“……”
Are these guys actually idiots? A rebellion while the citizens of the royal capital are already on edge? I can only see it ending in them getting slaughtered.
I didn’t expect these “lawmakers” to be so utterly indifferent to the people. The surrounding nobles are visibly exasperated. It’s obvious that a rebellion under these conditions would just be an outlet for the people's pent-up anger. The capital won’t fall so easily.
“Well, putting that aside, how did you even get your hands on an entry card for the castle?”
“We took the rear gate by force with our men!”
Q: We’ve installed the highest level of security systems. Can perfect security be achieved?
A: It depends on the people operating it.
It seems I entrusted too many of the guards to Father. I didn’t expect them to lose a card… though I’m not the one in charge of managing them, so who knows. But I doubt there was any intentional leakage. The knights guarding the castle are trustworthy… just too few in number.
Big brother will probably take care of it later. It’s not within my jurisdiction anyway.
“So? You really think I’d lose to something like this?”
“Would you still say that after seeing this?”
Wait a second, wasn’t this guy the former Speaker of the Noble Council? I think he went missing after being arrested. But I don’t remember his name or face clearly. I just vaguely recall him being this blubbery pig-faced man with tusks… like an orc?
And then, for some reason, Mother entered the audience chamber. She’s obviously being held captive.
“Why are you captured?”
“I’m sorry. I was just taking a walk and got caught. I can’t use magic today, you know.”
Apparently, Mother can’t use magic today. Yeah, I get that. If she could, these fools would already be ash.
And these idiots are too dumb to notice—Mother is holding a cat (a monster) in her arms, and her scarf is actually a disguised monster.
I mean, Kuro and Mofuko, aren’t you supposed to be on guard duty…? Oh, they’re asleep. I see, they don’t even consider these guys a threat. Oh, they just woke up. One of them just ate the blade of the knife pointed at Mother. Right, Mofuko, who’s disguised as her scarf, eats minerals. The knife was devoured in an instant, and the guy hasn’t even realized the blade is gone.
“Fuhahaha, finally. Finally, our time has come. You dared mock us nobles for so long!”
“Maybe you should’ve just done your jobs?”
You’re mocked because you don’t work.
“You insolent brat! You haven’t even lived a fifth of our lives! Know your place!
We are the chosen ones! Why should we have to work? That’s what commoners are for!”
Do they even realize that what they’re saying makes nobles obsolete? What, is Arland going to become a democracy now? That’s going to be tough unless I consult Father, Big brother, and the other nobles.
And besides, if Arland were democratized, these lawmakers would probably get the death penalty. Do they not realize how much the common people despise them?
“Useless scum.”
“You dare say that when we still hold hostages? Besides, your airship must already be in our hands by now.”
“Oh, the armed airship? We were already aware of the rebellion. They’re probably captured by now.”
The only thing you could possibly bring aboard would be a knife. They’ll be caught immediately. I mean, the crew’s already armed and waiting.
“Such a mouth on this brat!”
“Using the ship’s comms to contact an enemy nation? Are you stupid? We knew instantly. The crew is already armed and ready for action.”
“… We still have hostages…”
I teleport behind the man holding a knife (well, just the hilt) to Mother and draw not Gladius, but the magic staff-sword, Beelzebub, and activated its mana-devouring ability. Against magic, this surpasses Gladius.
Magic staff-sword Beelzebub. I called it a failure when I handed it to Big brother. It’s the final form of the magic-absorbing gem he owns. It’s a mysterious substance that was born while I was messing around—both a sword and a staff.
Its ability is Gluttony. It devours mana, and if none is available, it will consume life force itself. If it were ever stabbed into the ground, it could turn that area into a desert.
Naturally, Big brother can’t use it due to his low mana. If it devours all his magic, it’ll eat his life next.
It’s about the size of a short tachi. The blade is blood-red and black. When filled with mana, it’ll far surpass any dragon staff as a supreme wand… though I don’t know when it’ll reach that point.
“Okay, teleport.”
I teleported Mother to the Prime Minister. The officers immediately step forward to shield her.
“So, what were you saying about hostages?”
“Damn it, then we’ll just capture you!”
The men reach out to grab me. Fine. I’ve made up my mind. I’ll start by killing these bastards.
“I will kill you all. That’s the proof of my resolve.”
The first to rush me was the man who had held a knife to Mother. Realizing the blade was gone, he tossed the hilt away and cloaked himself in battle aura. He must be surprised, but he prioritized his objective.
I swung Beelzebub. He seemed to find my half-hearted swing unthreatening and sneered.
The moment Beelzebub touched his fist, he let out a scream and clutched his arm.
“Gyaaaaaaaaah!! Why!? What’s happening to my arm!?”
His arm had turned mummy-like. All his mana was instantly devoured, and his battle aura vanished. Well, in the short term, this weapon outperforms Gladius. My mana is being consumed rapidly, but I can last about an hour.
The man clutched his withered arm and writhed on the ground. The others, including the council members, were thrown into a panic.
"So what are you going to do?"
I pointed Beelzebub, not even stained with blood, at the councilmen.
"You lot, hold out until reinforcements arrive. They should be here soon."
Not that I actually believe they will.
"As long as the sirens are going off, that means the bulkheads have dropped too—so reinforcements from outside aren't coming."
In reality, they’ve already tripped security. Since they have the card, it hasn't gone into full combat mode, but they probably broke the rear gate door. Intrusions into non-critical sectors only trigger bulkhead closure.
Or rather, what is security even doing… oh right, the person in charge is right here!
"What about the knight guards?"
"This morning there was an uproar among the evacuees, so they went to subdue it."
"Hmph, so easily tricked. Some among the evacuees were our comrades!"
"Comrades… the orcs?"
Guess tonight it's orc steak.
Well, jokes aside, we really should’ve left about a hundred more guards behind.
At that moment, the security officer's phone rang. I nodded, and he answered. It’s probably about the capital. A few seconds later, he hung up. Of course, he didn’t lower his guard at all during that time.
"A rebellion of about 500 has broken out in the capital."
"We’ve won!"
"… Which is why you fools are hopeless. The rebellion has already shifted into a citizen-led purge. Looks like the elders are about to burn the captured rebels at the stake."
"Put a stop to that for now. I’ll send them to the mines later."
A rebellion turning into a purge immediately—yep, same old citizens.
Most likely, imperial soldiers slipped into the capital disguised as evacuees. With so many evacuees, we didn’t have the time to check everyone during the evacuation.
"No deaths, right?"
"They say they used your golems as shields, Princess. Just some injuries."
Well, technically those were golems too. So they were used as shields, huh? I did install a lot of them across the capital.
Alright, what’s left are these guys. The rebellion has already failed. They have no hostages, no way out.
When I stepped forward with Beelzebub in hand, the men backed away. Looks like they at least realized they’re cornered.
"I sentence you all to death for high treason and collusion with the enemy."
Treason during wartime means the death penalty. No exceptions. I raised my blade. They should understand the power of this sword by now—it kills with a single hit. Even armor won’t protect them; it rots the armor away too. There’s no defense.
"Treason?! There’s no way we can win against the Empire! You must understand that too! It’s not too late. Join us. Capture Alicetia and offer her to the Empire—we can preserve the kingdom that way!"
"Is surviving really that important if it means abandoning the citizens? Nobles exist because of the people."
"Silence! It’s precisely because we manage them that they exist!"
You guys seriously lack any management ability. Besides, if there were no nobles, commoners would just rise up and become the new ones. All nobles were once commoners. If you're a noble, you should fulfill your duties. That’s why you get to live better lives.
Which is exactly why these people need to die… or so I thought, until a few councilmen threw down their cards and began stomping on them.
"What noble duty? Screw that! These stupid cards…"
"Hey, you idiots, stop!"
With a crack, a card shattered, and the walls of the room briefly lit up red. The entire room had been scanned.
Their weapons were small knives. Anything bigger would have raised the security level. They must’ve understood that raising the security level would be bad.
Weapons are basically banned inside the castle. Only a select few have permission cards, and the ones at the front and rear gates are strictly limited.
Why are small blades okay? Well, because even inside the castle, those get used. But without a card? That’s a no-go.
"Armed force detected in critical sector. All personnel and non-combatants, retreat to designated evacuation areas or equip gas masks.
Tear gas will be deployed in 30 seconds, and golems will be released. I repeat, retreat to evacuation zones or wear a gas mask."
I teleported Mother to my room. It’s the only place I can send her without line of sight. And royal chambers also double as shelters. My official room is labeled as my former one—my real room isn't fit for royalty, so it's kept secret.
Ministers and nobles working in the castle carry gas masks in their waist pouches. Councilmen don’t. They don’t work in the castle. The Noble Council is on the edge of the capital.
I put on my Darth V○der-style mask. Looks cool, right?
As the gas is released, the attackers clutched their eyes and cough. The golems are summoned—not the usual soldier type, but special models. Probably something like that G○bli-style robot that looks like it’ll fall from the sky into a field.
"I don’t get why they broke their cards."
These people really only make mysterious decisions. They told themselves to wait for reinforcements and then just self-destruct?
The golems will only subdue them if they don’t resist. And in a gas-filled room, there’s no way they can resist. No magicians among them either.
For a while, the sound of pummeling echoed, along with hideous screams. Once they were all subdued, I used magic to gather the gas and tossed it into the Treasury. A clone should be fine.
And so, in the audience chamber, the rebels lay pinned to the floor. Dealing with these people is utterly exhausting. How did it come to this, even after they got so far in?
This is ridiculous. I’m tired. Time to end it.
"Then die."
"Ugh… guh!"
I impaled the former speaker with Beelzebub. He rotted away in an instant.
Yeah, I really feel nothing. I could probably kill imperial soldiers with this too. I opened the Treasury and chucked Beelzebub in. It’s drained too much of my mana. It ended up stabbing the clone inside and devouring it, but whatever.
"Torture the rest and extract whatever intel you can. There might still be others who haven’t made a move in the midst of this chaos."
"Understood. My deepest apologies."
The head of security bowed.
"It’s my fault for leaving the security so thin. Also, let’s reevaluate the entire system and improve it. At this level, they’re not even using the equipment properly."
"Punish me however you see fit. But first, I’ll make sure we build a system that can handle it."
In truth, I’m not the one responsible for the operations. This kind of thing existed in the other world too. I just thought, “Let’s implement it.” If the actual castle guards had been in place, they wouldn’t have gotten this far. I’ll take responsibility after the war. Maybe I’ll step down from Director of Technical Development Bureau or Commander of the Air Force—that should suffice.
Ugh, my head hurts. I just want to sleep in my room. But I still have things to do. Next is… ah, right. I have to detain Takuto.
What do you think about this chapter?
