'Raimondo!　What an urgent requirement!

　I get off my horse, out of breath, and quickly enter the palace.
　Only Alice and a few Kingsguard returned with me.

　My guards were about fifty, but now there are only fifteen of them.
　That's because our horses were crushed on the way, and thirty-five of us deserted.

　Thanks to that, we arrived in a day.

　''Your Majesty!　I'm sorry to see you resting.
　No, not at all. Let's go to my office first. No one will hear you in there.

　Me and Raimondo walked quickly to the office.　
　I turned back.

　'Alice, I need you to keep an eye out for anyone eavesdropping.
　Yes, Your Majesty.

　Alice bowed.

　''...Your Majesty, what is that curious outfit?''
　Ninja maid outfit. Isn't it cute?

　The Cilician was well received there as well.
　I'm sure the skirt must look good on Julia and Tetra as well.

　Well, that's just the tip of the iceberg....

　So what happened?

　Closing the door to the office, I questioned again.
　Raimondo handed me a sheet of paper.

　''Well first of all, I'd like you to take a look at this.

　Hmmm....
　This is....

　Are you sure about the information?
　I had it corroborated. There's no such thing as a forgery.

　The paper crumbles in my hands.　
　I feel my blood rush to my head and at the same time I feel myself growing somewhat calm.

　'Gather the troops,'

　His voice was colder and heavier than he thought it would be.
　Raimondo nodded quietly.

　''I understand ... how many troops do you want?''
　Five thousand. Isn't that enough?　And seal off all the gates and scrounge up the sorcerers from the country.
　Ha!

　After Raimondo left, I sat quietly in my chair.
　I look at the paper again.



　The plan for the assassination of Julia........

　It's a good thing they found him early.

　'I never thought I'd have to go through a purge twice in my life... it's my fault, but I can't let it happen again.

　You know what happens to people who turn on me.
　I'll show you what I see.




　Five thousand men were immediately scraped up near the royal capital.
　My edict flew around the kingdom.

　Arrest the person who plotted to assassinate the queen. Those who harbored them are to be held accountable for the same crime.

　Most of the plotters of Julia's assassination were the great Athenian families and the merchants who had loaned them money.
　Once Julia was assassinated, Anx would be the next king.
　Many of them were foolish enough to think that he would be the next king.

　A small number of Cilician cities also seemed to be biting the bullet.
　They, too, thought it would benefit them if Anx became king.

　I've sent two thousand men to capture the great families and three thousand to the cities.

　As far as they were concerned, they were captured without resistance.
　Many of them were captured by the commoners.

　The politicians of the cities also ended up without a fight.

　The citizens captured them and threw them out to the army of Lossies.
　The majority of the citizens didn't care if King Rosais was going to be Anx or an unborn child of Julia, because they didn't care.

　The Cilician people are not stupid enough to go along with the politicians' self-serving outbursts.
　I know they're not guilty either, so I didn't punish them specifically.

　The twenty-two ringleaders, five hundred and thirty-six of them, including the ends, were captured and taken to the royal capital.

　The twenty-two ringleaders were crucified.
　The chief ministers of the wealthy families involved were beheaded.
　Their men were demoted to slavery.

　As for the families of the condemned, all their property was confiscated and they were released without charge.
　In the case of Rigal Dibel, he had enough blood and authority to become a king, even if he was hypothetically a king, so it was necessary to execute them all by the roots, but this time it was a fool's outburst.
　He didn't think it was necessary to go that far.

　Besides, the ringleader this time was an extremist of the As clan.
　Naturally, they have strong blood ties to the moderates, and some of them need to have brothers who are split between extremists and moderates.

　In order not to provoke the moderates, they did not make the tribal killings.

　The series of purges ended in three days.






　"A, Almus....

　Tetra, whom I hadn't seen in a long time, looked gaunt.
　Her face was also very blue and her eyes were moist with tears.

　''I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry.......soooo, don't throw it away.......''

　I silently held Tetra in my arms.
　Tetra cowered for a moment, as if she thought I was going to hit her, but I soon found out that she relaxed in my arms.

　'It's okay, you didn't do anything wrong. This time it's not the As Clan's problem. It's just that there was a fool. It's okay, don't worry.
　"Ugh, Gus, I'm sorry I keep bothering Alms.......

　Tetra started crying in my arms.
　I would rub her back until she stopped crying for a moment.

　After a moment, Tetra looked up.
　Her eyes turned bright red.

　'Have you calmed down?'

　Tetra calmed down quietly.
　Then she bowed to me and....

　I'll do my best.

　After saying that, he glared at Alice, who was standing behind me once, and left.




　''Julia,''
　Alms!

　When I called out to Yulia, she came over to me at a small run.
　I feel like my stomach is bigger than before........is it just my imagination?

　'Is Tetra okay?'
　I'm fine. I think she's calmed down after our little chat. And you're okay with that, by the way?　Are you feeling well or something?

　He asked Yulia if she had been poisoned implicitly.
　Well, as a sorcerer, it would be difficult for Julia to be poisoned.

　'What are you talking about. I have the blessing of detoxification, you know?　It's impossible to poison him.
　That's what I thought.

　I think I've said before that I have such blessings.
　I guess it was a no-brainer.

　''But ... it was scary ...''
　Well....

　No wonder.
　Who wouldn't be horrified to find out that their lives were being threatened?

　Julia is pregnant now.
　It must have been even more heartbreaking.

　"I'm sorry I wasn't there for you.

　I escaped.
　There was a good chance that Julia's life would be threatened.

　And yet I forgot about that possibility and went on an affair trip with Alice.........

　This time the counter-intelligence organization was working well, so it was only an attempt, but.......
　The thought of what would have happened if Yulia had been killed gives me chills.

　Even if it was just me, the Kingsguard was out to protect me, and the palace was stretched thin.
　There's a good chance that they really would have killed me while I was away.

　''No, I'm sorry too...I'm sorry. I'm not a good mother if I don't love him properly I'm not a good mother for forgetting that there are still plenty of opportunities for me to do so. And if the second time doesn't work, there's a third and fourth time!

　Julia smiled.　A radiant smile.
　What, did it fit?

　And....

　Julia shifted her gaze to Alice, who was standing behind me.
　Alice tilted her head.

　''Can I help you?　Ma'am.
　I will not give you the love of Armes.

　Julia said that and left the place.
　

　That's ridiculous.

　War has been declared on you, sir!

　Alice seemed happy for some reason.
　Her stomach was heavy....

　Maybe I'll leave Alice behind this time and run away somewhere far away.




　'As it turns out, this is the end result, but I think we've solved the problem so far.
　'Yes, many of the As clans have agreed to return the territory to us.

　It is unfortunate that this is the case.
　This time, it was the Asha militants who caused the incident.

　Moderates have nothing to do with it..............................
　Because there are many relatives of moderates among the extremists.

　Their position has rapidly deteriorated, and they have returned the right to rule over the territory as if to flip their palms over, saying that they can't afford to make me feel bad about it any more.

　Now, many of the fiefdoms of the great clans will become state property and the great clans will move to the center.

　Well.........

　This case isn't over yet.

　Many of the Cilician merchants involved in this assassination were Gehenna citizens.
　Many of the politicians in the Cilician cities were also close to Gehenna.

　When the Asphites were interrogated, they confessed that they had been promised to receive support from Gehenna.

　The excuse that they were irrelevant was not accepted.

　'I don't think that cunning old man would ever plan such a childish scheme, but that doesn't mean that he didn't know anything about it. Well, it's probably the result of an outburst by that man - Abraham's men and relatives - but you'll have to explain it to me. Raimondo, we'll be on our way to Gehenna as soon as possible. Call Bartolo.
　'Ha!　I understand.

　So, let's go.
　With 10,000 men.



　Thus began the final Southern Conquest, later known as the Fourth Southern Conquest.