The situation regarding General Ignomus' civil war in the Proustian Empire is becoming clearer.
　Allen checks on the important Bek, who did not appear in the story.

"I'm afraid Bek is not in the palace.

　The Duke of Dresskalay said, and added a reason.

　The Duke of Dresskalay, who was in jail, had heard a lot from his subjects, but there was no mention of Bek.
　He said that if someone in the position of the Crown Prince of the Beast Kingdom of Arbajar, the greatest power on earth, was here, he must have heard about it.
　Although there are no diplomatic relations between the Proustian Empire and the Arbajar Beast Kingdom, Duke Dresskalay seems to know Bek, who was the crown prince of the Beast Kingdom.

"So you're saying that the Proustian Empire was not involved in the civil war in the Arbajar Beast Kingdom?

　Shea interrupted the conversation between Allen and the Duke of Dresskalay.

"Your Highness. I didn't say that.

(I don't know, your tone is more polite than when you talk to me.)

　The Duke of Dresskalay seems to have a different politeness in his attitude and language between the Princess of the Beast, who is the rightful heir to the Beast Throne of the great kingdom of Arbajar, and Allen, who is in an unfamiliar position.

　The Duke of Dresskalay judged that between his own position as a child of a duke family that had turned from royalty to nobility, even though he had the blood of the royal family of the Proustian Empire, and that of Shea, who had the right to inherit the beast throne, Shea's position was higher.

"Mm?　So you're saying that the Proustian Empire is involved in the civil war?

　The Duke of Dresskalay further denied Shea's statement that Bek was not involved, and asked again what she meant.

"I have no proof of this, but I have heard that Ignomus is calling for the cooperation of the Beast Kingdom in surrendering their forces.

　He adds that there are not that many of his subjects in important positions.
　Somehow it sounds like there aren't that many people in important positions on the side.
　It sounds like something I've overheard.

"Help from the Beast Kingdom?"

"...... Actually, we've heard that Ignomus is considering an invasion of the terrestrial continent."

Hmm?　I see. (I see. Is this the reason why both the First and Second Imperial Armies cooperated?

　(I see. Is this the reason why both the First and Second Empires' armies cooperated?) Since Shea is going to carry on the conversation, I'll leave it to her.
　It seems that the story of the Beast Kingdom is also involved, so he seems to be on edge.

　The Duke of Dresskalay explained further.

　It is said that the forces of the First and Second Empires initially joined forces to defeat Ignomus, who had overrun the palace.
　Not only the two armies, but also the noble families in the vicinity of the imperial territory sent out requests for troops, and the number of soldiers to defeat Ignomus exceeded 100,000.

　However, no battle ensued.
　The reason for this was that Ignomus brought the matter to a meeting.

　I don't know exactly what they talked about, but whatever it was, the Beast Kingdom cooperated and let's conquer the earth together.
　He said that now would be a great opportunity to conquer the ground that has been exhausted by the Demon Lord's army.

"The First and Second Reich forces have agreed to this.

"It seems so. It was almost bloodless. It is said that only a few knights who wielded their swords to serve the empire were spared.

　Now both the First and Second Empire armies are completely under the control of Ignomus.

(Well, it's like this, right?)



　Allen looks at Sophie and Cecil's faces, but they look as if they're going to war with the Proustian Empire.
　He seems to be accepting the situation as a matter of course.

　Allen's world is a world with both kingdoms and empires.
　Each kingdom and empire has a king or emperor and an army.

　These armies do not exist only for the defense of the country.

　I learned about history in school and this world has been at war constantly.
　Most of them were conflicts between neighboring countries, but some hegemonic empires, such as the Ghiamut Empire, have waged wars across multiple countries.

　Naturally, there were many nations that were destroyed and many nations that were destroyed.

　In the continent where the Arbajar Beast Kingdom is located, there are not only beastmen, but also avian and other races.
　When Shea says that he will build the first empire of the beastmen, it means that he will conquer the continent by force.

　There hasn't been a large-scale war between major powers or across multiple countries for several decades.
　The only reason there have been no wars is because of the invasion of the Demon Lord's army.
　The reason why there are no more wars is because of the invasion of the Demon Lord Army.
　This is no time for war between nations.

　But there is a country that hasn't had a war in decades.
　That is the Empire of Prostia.
　They are not a member of the League of Five Continents and have not fought for decades.
　The Kingdom of Crevelle was also founded by purchasing land with the Sacred Pearl.

　The Kingdom of Crevelle was founded by purchasing land using the Holy Pearl. Although it has never been at war, it seems to have a hegemonic ideology as it calls itself an empire.
　The military in particular seems to have a strong hegemonic ideology.

"Who is this Ignomus?"

　Shea, who was only interested in Bek, is now interested in Ignomus.

"He was born a commoner. He was born as a commoner. He only had the talent of a spear king, but the emperor gave him such a position and this happened.

(A spear king is one star higher than a spear saint. That's quite a talent.

　So says the Duke of Dresskalay with bitterness.
　The Duke of Dresskalay seems to have a feeling of contempt towards Ignomus.

　Ignomus was born as a commoner, but he joined the Knights of the Kingsguard because of his high talent.
　He continued to rise through the ranks, and before he turned 30, he was given the position of Commander of the Kingsguard and General when he had his own army.
　He was popular among the people, and the Duke of Dresskalay says that this may have caused him to be consumed by greed and to have further desires.

　Allen wonders if this is what he was thinking about when he was in prison.

"What is more desire?　World domination?"

"I have many desires. World domination, yes, but he wants the blood of the royal family. I've heard that he's imprisoned Her Highness Princess Rapsonil to make her his own.

(Oh, the princess locked up in that other room?

　(Oh, the princess locked up in that other room?) Allen is aware of it, but there is indeed a princess locked up in the palace.
　In the event that you're not sure what you're looking for, you'll be able to find it on the web.

　After a successful rebellion, there are only two things a rebel can do next.


　One is to get rid of the blood of the previous powers.
　The other is to get the blood of the former powers.

　I wondered if Ignomus had chosen the latter.

　As he thought this, he looked at the Duke of Dresskalay and saw that he was asking for help.
　Apparently, he wants us to help the princess.

"Yes, sir. I've just made a scene. See you around."

(Well, I wouldn't mind one more person, but we just blew up the palace...)

　Allen spent the next three days using Fish D's summoner to search the palace for Bek.
　At the same time, he also searched the detached palace on the side of the palace.

　He knew that there was an Imperial Princess imprisoned in the palace.
　Since the princess was not in immediate danger, we did not rescue her.

　If you want me to help you, I'm willing to do so, but if you go any further, there is a high possibility that Ignomus will find out.

　Allen did not say, "I will help you immediately," because he wanted to keep an eye on what Ignomus was doing.
　And it turned out that there were more concerns with the rescue of the Duke of Dresskalay.

"What is the meaning of this? This doesn't make sense!　Why is there talk of beastmen and not Bek!

(Surely what?　This is indeed impossible.

　Shea, who had been organizing her thoughts while listening to the princess, stood up.

　(Surely this is impossible.) Shea, who had been collecting her thoughts while listening to the princess, stood up.

　Allen summarized what had happened in his grimoire.

Situation 1: General Lud says that Bek has started a civil war with the help of the fishermen.
Situation 2: The Kingdom of Crevelle says that it is not complicit in the civil war of the Arbahar Beast Kingdom.
Situation 3: In the Proustian Empire, Ignomus almost succeeded in starting a civil war in the Empire.
Situation 4: The Duke of Dresskalay says that Ignomus is ready to work with the beastmen to conquer the earth.

"It's strange, isn't it? The only things that are certain in this situation are situations one and three.

　Cecil peered into Allen's grimoire and muttered.

"It's true. I've heard from General Lud that they've seized dozens of fishermen's bodies.

　The fact that Allen is watching Ignomus sitting on the throne is not something I'm going to mention here, since the Duke of Dresskalay is also present.

(That said, you've only heard about the Arbahar Beast Kingdom from General Lud.

"Someone is lying, isn't he?

"What?　I'm not lying!

　Luke seems to be aware of the contradiction.
　I'm not lying!" Luke seems to be aware of the contradiction. He looks as if he should know that this situation would not be possible if someone were not lying.

　The Duke of Dresskalay seems to have no doubt that the information he has obtained is true.


　While the Duke of Dresskalay spoke passionately about his innocence, Allen continued to think.

　If all of this is true, then it is only natural that Bek is in the palace.

　Assuming that everything is true, Bek has asked Ignomus for help and borrowed the help of the fishermen in order to succeed in the civil war.
　In return, he promised Ignomus that he would help Ignomus negotiate a bloodless conquest of the Proustian Empire and that he would help Ignomus militarily when he became the Beast King.
　This is consistent with Bek's story of wanting to invade the human nations of the central continent.

　Allen believes that this is the most appropriate situation.
　If this is the case, then Bek, with whom he has a cooperative relationship, is in the palace, waiting for Ignomus to finish his complete control over the entirety of the Proustian Empire.
　Once that's done, the next one to invade will be the Arbajar Beast Kingdom, who didn't make themselves the Beast King.
　I will also check for any contradictions in the situation where someone lied.

　If General Rudo's story is a lie, then the fishermen did not come to the Arbajal Beast Kingdom, but the Beast Kingdom told the Kingdom of Culebule that the fishermen came to the royal castle through a magic tool.
　If the Kingdom of Clevure's story is false, it means that the Kingdom of Clevure sent out the fishermen, and Ignomus does not agree that the beastmen are cooperating with them.
　If the Duke of Drescaray's story is a lie, we don't know why the fishermen helped Bek's civil war.

　It was Allen himself who saw that Ignomus was sitting on the throne.
　I see no contradiction in this.

"I don't understand the situation. Is there a truth I haven't found yet? I haven't felt this way in a long time."

(I haven't felt this way since I couldn't find the tablet or the golden key.)

　(It's been a long time since I couldn't find a stone tablet or a gold key.
　And I couldn't even imagine that the golden key on the ground could be found in such a place.
　This was a time when there were no solutions such as asking questions to a third party on the Internet.

"Wait, what do you mean?"

　Cecil asked him what he was thinking about the reminiscent look that Allen sometimes gave him.

　Allen had been in this situation many times in his previous life.

　He would talk to people, make sure there were no conflicts, and try to solve the problem in a rational way.
　However, there were many times when I could not complete the quest, either because I did not have enough information or because I understood it incorrectly.

　If you don't complete the quest, you can't proceed with the rest of the game.
　To use a game expression, it's a "stuck" situation.
　It's a situation where you can't move forward in the story because you're missing some solution.

"Apparently, there's a truth I haven't found yet.

　Maybe there's more than one civil war going on in the Proustian Empire, maybe Bek is somewhere else.

　Allen continued to think over and over again, trying to find out if there was any truth that he hadn't found yet, or if he hadn't made a wrong decision.