Banished Villainess

125 : Yello Keith Coloflare 5 - The Conditions for Ruin

‘Hey, Sand… when do you think will the kingdom fall?’

As I fiddled around the feather pen that Canaria gave me on my 11th birthday, I asked Sand out of the blue. The tutor-cum-escort, could only give an unpleasant look as a response to my disturbing question.

I wanted to invite Canaria to my birthday this year but because of the turbulence in their kingdom, she could only send a gift together with an apology. Apparently, the first princess that has been long gone missing due to the succession conflict was found living as a commoner in a city. It put the entire Corundum Kingdom in an uproar, and the official ceremony to welcome her as a royal family member had overlapped with my birthday.

This feather pen was not a normal writing pen; it had a magic stone placed between the feather and the tip. I was told that rather than dipping in ink, it should be stabbed into a fruit or vegetable with high magical potency, that’s why there’s currently a “Hell Squash”, a vegetable cultivated from the seeds of the monster, ‘Jack o Lantern’, placed right above my table. Although Coloflare kingdom is at least two to three steps behind the Corundum Kingdom when it comes to the cultivation of magic tools, we’re quite confident when it comes to the method of selective breeding… though that may sound like a desperate excuse. Nevertheless, the effectiveness of this pen still shows the gap between the two country’s capabilities.

‘What about it, highness? Why ask about something so ominous?’

‘Well, as one of the royalties, myself, I thought that it wouldn’t be so bad to stop with the optimism and consider all sorts of possibilities.’

‘That’s a wonderful thought, highness, but the populace pays attention to your words down to each syllable. Please refrain from saying such things in public. As for your question, sir… our kingdom’s destruction, is it? Just for argument’s sake, sir, what do you suppose are the three components of a war?’

The mention of a conflict reminded me of the game that Canaria talked about. As of this moment, there are no traces of the empire’s invasion yet. However, it’s not as if they are fools who suddenly decided to invade after a hundred years. They must still have undergone preparations.

Three components of war, huh?… I guess the reason to fight… and an objective?

‘The things that came to mind are massacre, plunder, and domination, I guess?’

‘Those are methods, sir, not objectives. In the first place, even if you expand your territories, if you can’t properly govern your domain well, it will lead to revolt. The first one is trade and resources, in other words, ‘economy.’ Secondly, is to gain advantageous agreements, or ‘diplomacy’. Lastly, a ‘national defense’ against an invader. These are the three principal components of war.’

‘But, those things could also be called as components of peace, don’t they? If you make your kingdom richer, form alliances with other kingdoms, and build a sizable army, no invasions or domestic conflicts will happen. A country cannot possibly fall in peace… right?’

Sand nodded to my question in satisfaction. But it was not because my answer was correct, he was satisfied that I didn’t just obediently accept his words without sparing a thought.

‘That’s not necessarily true at all times, sir. While it may do prevent a conflict, not all invasions come as obvious as people taking up arms to battle. There are methods like slowly distorting a country’s shape from the inside for decades or even centuries while keeping it looking peaceful on the surface.’

The mention of a century gave me a mini-heart attack. Because of the threat of the monsters, the Coloflare kingdom was never subjected to a foreign invasion, which convinced me that the kingdom is firm. But I wonder if that’s really true.

‘How do our kingdom’s defenses look in Sand’s personal opinion?’

‘If I were, to be honest, it is rather dangerous to put all the burden to a single saintess. Although the sacred barrier puts all the evil things at bay, humans and flying beasts can still pass through. We are also far behind in common magic aside from the House Whitey. On top of it, the belief that the Saintess will protect the country from all peril has led to calls to reducing the military budget… a complacency brought by peace.’

‘The god of our kingdom is the Saintess, the first, after all.’

‘A person recognized by the first saintess awakening will have the same right-to-speak as that of a royalty… that’s quite a fearsome thing.’

Sand who seemingly spat his words out had no respect to the Saintess nor the Sacred Church. He is a merchant that my mother took from the House Whitey, so he has a bias when it comes to common magic. Apparently, he is in a seniority relationship with the lord steward of House Sereknight, Lemis. (Although Sir Lewis looked like an ordinary old man to me, he was apparently the guardian of Shin who is also proficient at swordsmanship, according to the game data.)

Putting the kingdom’s entire fate to a Saintess, huh?— I guess the kingdom might indeed fall if that rings true. The reason why the kingdom has not been invaded was not because of the saintess. It’s just that the Corundum Kingdom is an obstacle geographically, and they’re the ones taking up the skirmishes with the empire.

But if the aforementioned slow invasion has already started… what could be a definitive blow that would lead to the kingdom’s destruction?

Having finished writing the letter, I’ve spilled wax on the paper and pressed it with my signet ring. Then after chanting the word ‘pumpkin’, the letter transformed into a yellow bird. This is the real capability of the magical pen; it turns the letter that it wrote to into a bird who will fly towards the owner of the other pair of the pen. The main difference with the messenger birds is that it does not need feed, rest, and neither will the bird be burdened by a heavy parcel, rather, it would be the parcel itself that will fly towards the destination. The other person will only need to invoke the little bird’s name to turn it back into a letter.

[As for the password, sir. It’s similar to a pet anyway, so please give it an adorable name instead.]

That was written in the letter in the same container as the feather pen, so after deciding on the password, or rather, the name of the little bird, I wrote it in my letter of gratitude. Although it may seem too simple, the pen sources its magical power from a hell squash, hence ‘Pumpkin’. Canaria’s bird on the other hand is named ‘Honey.’ With this, I can now exchange correspondence with the lady to my heart’s content. Either way, exchanging letters through normal means would be dangerous, considering that the contents could leak state secrets.

I opened the window and released Pumpkin towards the sky. The sight of the bird slowly disappearing over the horizon had sent me back into my thoughts.

The fact that the Coloflare Kingdom burdens its fate unto a single saintess was quite a shock. Moreso considering that this does not apply solely to national defense alone. The royal family’s declining power has forced itself to rely on the church to maintain its influence, which would make the church’s influence grow stronger.

I could hardly believe Canaria’s speculation about the kingdom a hundred years in the future, but the more I investigate the more I feel anxious. Countries that are so caught up with their ancient traditions are left over by the times and get swallowed by large countries as a result. It’s something not related to the game; a historical precedence.

That’s why I need to dig deeper and deeper into this. The kingdom, the sacred church, each and everyone’s motives,…. in order to preserve the country’s shape for decades and centuries and allow our descendants to succeed it.

(But right now, the thing I want to know the most is how Canaria is doing. Ah, I want to meet her soon.)

The two of us couldn’t meet so casually due to two of our differing nations; my brother, who not only could meet his fiancée at will, but would also enjoy his school life together with his fated, is starting to look a little hateful.