Thank you for coming. Thanks for calling me up again.

　As soon as we entered the room, His Majesty Alfred's voice greeted us.

　I've been waiting for us there, His Majesty with several subordinates and the Commander of the Angelica Order.

　I wonder if the errand is as I imagined it to be after all?

　Garnet and I finished our civilized greetings and waited for His Majesty to speak to us.

'If it were possible, I suppose I should finish all my errands at once, but it's just not convenient for me. It's not good enough.'
No, Your Majesty. His Majesty's convenience must take precedence.
That's not going to happen. And on this occasion, I'd like to talk to you about ......, Sir Angelica.

　His Majesty Alfred urged Commander Angelica to speak.

''Awe. First of all, I would like to talk to you about the coordinated actions of the rainbow scale knights and the White Wolf Knights in the dungeon 'Ark of the Elements', if you don't mind.
Yes, please.

　After all, this will be the first topic of discussion.

　Once we finish grasping with the rainbow scale knights as well, we should be able to align ourselves with all of the knights involved in that dungeon.

''Our involvement with the 'Ark of the Elements' will mainly be in researching and studying the ancient magical civilization. Although our original official duty is to oversee the temple.
'I know. You began to study the relationship between beliefs and skills in the gods, and then you branched out into a variety of fields of study.
Inevitably, the members who will be working in the field will be limited to the members of the corps ...... that study ancient magical civilizations, i.e., the hilds that have already been sent there, and the hilds will be responsible for securing personnel, etc., at their discretion.

　While many other knightly orders were devoted to official duties in specific fields, the rainbow scales were also contributing in a different field of research activities, perhaps because overseeing and guarding the temples, a field that required manpower but where the effort itself was not so great.

　Each member of the team is involved in various research themes, for example, Hild is researching ancient magical civilizations.

Therefore, the collaboration between rainbow scales and white wolves in the Ark of the Elements is a collaboration between Hild and you.
''Since the study of ancient magical civilizations is Hild's personal research topic, does that mean you're going to give a budget but not talk about it ......?
'Quite simply, yes. I've given Hild sufficient authority and he's perfectly capable.

　Considering that research is not an inherently public task, it may be natural in a sense that this would be the case.

　The content itself was natural and convincing, but one question comes to mind.

　This much content could have been communicated at the previous meeting.

　When I was wondering why there was a need to be a waste of time, Commander Angelica continued to speak without a pause.

''But I would like to ask you to do one thing: ...... exactly what I would like you to note.
Something to be aware of, is it ......?

　I see, I prepared myself for this to be the main topic of discussion and focused my attention to make sure I didn't miss what Commander Angelica had to say.

'As Hild continues his research, various facts will come to light, and the contents will be communicated to Commander Luke one after another. However, as to whether or not such information will be made public, please be sure to listen to Hild's decision.
It's .......

　I couldn't help but be reminded of the exchange with Eil Sethloomnir.

　The possibility of not releasing the facts that the research has revealed - in other words, that there may be facts revealed that must be withheld from the public.

...... Is that what Senator Eil was talking about, that they might dig up information that no one on the ground should know ...... that's what you mean?
'Yes, I think it's quite possible. It is by no means an unnatural imagination that the information that might have been obtained through Alphasul's 'right eye' could also be obtained from the dungeons Alphasul has created: ......
Angelica.

　His Majesty's grave but well-spoken voice interrupts.

'Sir Luke is on the front lines of things. Even if we can't reveal the truth, shouldn't we tell him one step closer to it?
I'm in awe of ....... You may be right.

　It felt as if the air in the room had changed somehow.

　Garnett, standing next to her, was also sensitive to the change in atmosphere and gulped and waited for Commander Angelica's words.

''The 'truth' that Coalition Senator Eir Sethloomnir was referring to, the 'truth' that humans are not supposed to know ...... we ...... no, His Majesty and I probably know what it is.'''
Wha-......!

　I'm so surprised that Garnett and I both let out an unmendable cry.

"..........What the hell is that? ......
I'm sorry, sir. It seems to me that you shouldn't be aware of any of the details at this time. It's a matter that will shake the very foundations of human society to such an extent.

　This time, His Majesty didn't interrupt and affirmed Commander Angelica's statement with silence.

　The silence of someone who usually immediately added what was necessary was felt with great significance by itself.

''Of course, we haven't checked with Senator Eil, so it's possible that we may have discrepancies in what we have in mind for each other. But if that is the 'truth' as we know it, then we also don't feel the need to disagree with Senator Eil's policy of concealment.
'Well ...... is why His Majesty the King didn't strongly accuse Senator Ayre of being in the dark: ......

　Watering down the matter of working magical manipulation on the knight commander, a matter that could restart the war with one misstep, with multiple concessions, including providing information as a High Elf - this decision was not a compromise for His Majesty.

　The fact that I would grasp the 'truth' that His Majesty and the others knew was not a desirable development for His Majesty, and Eir's cover-up was a favorable one in the end.

　However, ostensibly, they didn't show any such pretense, and took it into negotiations to compromise and let bygones be bygones, so they obtained the results unilaterally without giving anything away in effect.

　That's the extent of their tactics.
　This is a man I wouldn't want to make enemies with.

''In other words, Senator Eil thought he was making me dance on the palm of his hand, but in fact he was dancing on the palm of His Majesty's hand too?
'Oh come on, you're overreacting. Do I look that bad?

　His Majesty said this deliberately, and a smirk lifted the corners of his mouth into a smile.