I Became the Tyrant of a Defense Game [EN]: Chapter 174

“One, two, three. One, two, three.”

To Serenade’s rhythm, we danced the waltz.

There were no more mistakes, and I was quite good at keeping the rhythm. Serenade smiled brightly.

“You’re really good at it now, my lord?”

“……”

I just stared at Serenade.

Fernandez’s words seemed to echo in my ears.

– This time, it’s a proper noble lady. A princess from the Kingdom of Arian, and as you know, the Kingdom of Arian is the largest among the northern allies……

– If you accept this marriage proposal, you can return with enough elite troops to protect Crossroads.

My teeth clenched.

– I’ll break off the engagement with Winter Silver. And, I’ll meet the princess of the Kingdom of Arian.

I said this to get out of the situation at the time.

But when I thought about it rationally, this choice was obviously the right one.

The daughter of a merchant family on the verge of ruin, and a princess of a powerful northern country.

The comparison itself is embarrassing. There’s no need to even consider which one is more beneficial for the monster front.

No matter how large the Winter Silver Merchant Guild is, it cannot be compared to the power of a country.

Moreover, the Kingdom of Arian is the most powerful country in the north.

‘There were some mercenaries from the Kingdom of Arian in the game too.’

As expected of friends from the frigid lands, they were all incredibly tough characters.

They had ice resistance as a basic skill, and some were even SSR grade [Super Super Rare, a high-tier character ranking].

If I were to have a political marriage with the princess of the Kingdom of Arian, I could mobilize these tough and strong northern soldiers to the monster front.

And that’s not all. If I have a political marriage as the Imperial Family orders, my relationship with the Imperial Family will improve.

Then I can receive support from the central government.

They even said they would support elite troops when I return to Crossroads this time.

However-

“……”

It’s unsettling.

There was an indescribable unease that was gently nudging my intuition.

Thorns.

The guardians.

Another front.

The fate of destruction……

My hesitation is not because I feel sorry for the lady who is dancing with me now.

It was the gamer’s sense honed through 742 playthroughs.

There’s something in that route.

But what is that something…?

Strategy is not carried out with emotions or intuition.

It’s a narrow path built on solid data and evidence.

And the data and evidence were clearly on the side of the princess of the Kingdom of Arian.

“……”

I could feel Serenade staring at my troubled face. I quickly came to my senses and asked while continuing to dance.

“Serenade, what’s the progress on the task I gave you before?”

“Ah, yes! I was just about to tell you.”

I had instructed Serenade to reorganize the merchant guild so that they could trade information. I was asking about its progress.

“Informants are stationed in every city where the merchant guild has a branch. They were mainly used to gather information on local prices, product prices, weather, and local specialties.”

“Can we use those people?”

“Yes. Since the connections are already established, we just need to change the type of information we collect.”

The information network was already established throughout the country.

“And we have systematized the cipher that the family used independently and made sure that each branch manager in each city is familiar with it.”

Serenade spoke step by step.

“Using this method, all branch managers can create ciphers, but only I and my closest aides can decipher them.”

Even an encryption method was prepared.

“And this is not something to be proud of, but… each branch has messenger hawks.”

“You mean you deliver mail using hawks?”

“Yes. In the past, a rival merchant guild intentionally captured and killed our messenger birds, which made my father very angry, so he introduced them. It cost a lot of money because we had to use taming magic, but the accuracy, speed, and stability are much better.”

This merchant guild has more than I thought.

I nodded.

“Okay, Serenade. Then, using those informants, the cipher, and the hawk friends, gather the information I instruct you to collect for the next three days.”

I told her in detail about the information that the Winter Silver Merchant Guild needed to collect.

After hearing everything, Serenade swallowed hard and looked at me.

“I-Is it okay? This kind of information is quite dangerous……”

I said sternly.

“It’s necessary for your family to survive. You have to do it properly.”

Serenade’s face turned pale, but she nodded with a determined look.

“I understand. I’ll do as you say, my lord……”

“You can spend as much money as you want. It doesn’t matter if the information seems irrelevant. Think of quantity over quality, and gather as much information as possible.”

We continued the meeting while dancing, and then today’s dance practice ended.

Serenade and I stood facing each other and bowed.

“It was a good time, my lord.”

“I enjoyed it too, Serenade.”

We exchanged our now familiar greetings.

Looking at Serenade, who was breathing heavily with a flushed face, I thought.

Whether the Winter Silver family will survive or be destroyed.

It depends entirely on the information that the Winter Silver family collects from now on.

‘Do your best, Serenade.’

The data and evidence had left Winter Silver.

But my intuition is still telling me to stand by Serenade.

I hope my intuition is right. However.

If the data and evidence are too clear, I might have to make a cruel choice for the sake of the strategy.

***

As the victory celebration festival approached, the capital became increasingly busy and chaotic.

Lanterns wrapped in colorful cloths were hung in every alley of the city, and national flags were hung.

The design of the national flags was quite intentional, with the flags of the empire and its allies, especially the flags of the northern front allies, being emphasized.

It’s obvious, but effective.

Time passed quickly, and it was already the day before the party.

I nodded to Alberto’s tearful plea to please stay quietly in the detached palace today, and I put on my invisible cloak and went outside.

It’s too late for me to listen to you now, Alberto.

‘Is it because it’s the eve of the festival? It’s a mess.’

After safely leaving the detached palace, I took off my cloak and put it in my inventory.

I whistled as I looked around the bustling city streets.

Everywhere were stalls, vendors, food, and entertainment. And there were crowds of excited people.

‘It would be fun to bring our party members here.’

As I walked through the noisy streets, I briefly imagined walking here with my party members.

Evangeline would be running around in front, saying she graduated from here a while ago and would guide us, but then she would fall because of her [Clumsy] trait.

Damian would be looking around with wide eyes and using his good eyes to say, ‘They’re selling chicken skewers over there!’ ‘They’re selling fried bread over there!’ acting as a scout.

Junior would be loitering in front of the fireworks shop or the magic balloon shop.

Saying things like, ‘I should have tried selling things too.’ I wish he would stop coughing up blood.

Lucas would be right behind me.

He would be fussing about protecting me with a solemn face, and then he would put whatever I gave him to eat in his mouth.

As I walked through the festival streets imagining my main party members, someone tapped me on the shoulder. Huh?

I turned around to see who it was, and it was Elise. She still had a grim face, a maid’s uniform, and was carrying a coffin.

“You were here, Your Highness.”

I clicked my tongue.

“It’s a festival, why don’t you try to smile, Elise?”

“……”

“At least leave that coffin somewhere.”

What’s with the coffin at a festival? The people around are scared. And… the contents are really scary.

Ignoring my words, Elise mumbled in her unique eerie voice.

“My master ordered me. Since His Highness the Prince would surely wander around the city alone, I was told to escort him.”

“So you were waiting for me?”

“I was waiting around the detached palace, and then I felt an invisible, transparent presence, so I followed it, and it was Your Highness.”

She followed and felt the transparent cloak that couldn’t be detected by detection magic level 3 or lower.

As expected of an SSR grade, she has a good nose… no, anyway, her detection ability is good.

“There are many foreigners in the capital now. The Central Standing Army has increased its security, but with the festive atmosphere, there is a higher possibility of something bad happening than usual.”

Elise looked around sharply with her blue eyes.

“I will escort you. Let’s move to safer places.”

“Aren’t you the most dangerous one?”

You tried to cut my neck with that coffin on your back.

“……For now, I have no intention of harming Your Highness.”

Elise glanced at me.

“Your Highness has changed… and above all, I am a warrior. I am not so shameless as to aim for the back of someone I owe my life to.”

“That’s a relief.”

I shrugged and started walking forward. Elise quickly followed behind me.

“So, where are you going?”

“To your master.”

Where else would I go? I have to check the dance one last time on the day before the party.

“Why, don’t you like it?”

When I asked, Elise replied curtly.

“Honestly, I don’t like it, but the young lady likes it. I was told to bring you to her if possible.”

“Serenade is not honest either.”

What kind of escort is this? She could have just said, ‘I sent Elise to meet you, so please come to me.’

“……Is there anything wrong with the merchant guild?”

As I headed towards the pier through the crowded streets, I suddenly asked Elise.

“Is there any pressure from the Imperial Family, or any work from the dark forces… is there anything else?”

“No, there isn’t.”

Elise answered coldly and asked me, a little surprised.

“Will something like that happen soon?”

“I don’t know. You never know how things will turn out.”

The Imperial Family has not yet touched the Winter Silver Merchant Guild.

Perhaps they judged that it was better not to cause unnecessary trouble before an important event.

Or maybe they are just too busy to care.

They haven’t issued a formal notice of the broken engagement, and there are no moves to take away the merchant guild.

‘Then there’s still a chance.’

If the party goes well tomorrow……

The Winter Silver Merchant Guild still has a chance to survive. Even if I break off the engagement with Serenade and connect with the Kingdom of Arian……

“Hmm?”

It was then.

Elise started sniffing, smelling something. What’s wrong, dog nose?

“I smell something burning……”

“Huh? Isn’t that the smell of meat grilling at the stalls?”

“No, this is……”

Elise’s blue eyes widened.

“It’s the smell of fire.”

A bad feeling ran down my spine.

Elise and I made eye contact for a moment, and then we both started running south, pushing through the crowd.

I could see the acrid smoke rising in the southern sky.

We arrived at the pier, pushing through the people who were screaming and running away, and I saw a huge fire.

The building engulfed in flames was… the building where I had been practicing social dancing until yesterday.

It was the Winter Silver Merchant Guild’s building.

“……Young lady.”

Elise let out a shrill scream that I had never heard before and ran towards the burning building.

“Young Lady Serenade!”

This is bad.

I quickly followed behind her.