LIGHTNOVELONLINE Chapter 88: (1)
Great Mystery
The nation that was said to be the oldest one in the world, the Haru Empire. As its long history continued to pass on, the power of the Imperial family had been gradually declining. However, this didn’t necessarily mean that the power of the Empire had waned. The Imperial Family had generously distributed their accumulation of wealth to various places to ensure the prosperity of the nation.
The nation, which was located on the eastern edge of the continent, was known as a region that was often faced with natural disasters. The people of this region had been fighting against nature in unison since ancient times. Sometimes they excavated forests, reclaimed marshlands, and even expanded their living areas by cultivating land that couldn’t be said to be abundant in any way. It could be said to be not wrong that as the ages passed on, the power was shifting toward those who had cultivated this feeling of independence.
Even in the war against the Purin Kingdom that broke out several years prior, as the Haru Empire, under the name of the Imperial Family, gathered the forces from various places and managed to splendidly repel the Kingdom’s army, it proved the fact that its power as a nation had not waned.
The ideals of the Imperial Family were steadily leading the people in the right direction—or so it was supposed to be.
Ironically, it was during their triumph in the war against the Kingdom that this ideal began to get clouded. The power possessed by the nobilities of the Empire had grown too large.
The influence of the nobles was increasing day by day.
The one who stood up against this unstoppable flow was young Echigoya. As a member of the Imperial Family, Echigoya made a move vigorously to put a stop to the ever expanding influence of the nobles by instituting various policies. However, even as someone who boasted a genius mind, he was unable to stand in the noble society, where old foxes mired with worldly desires were swaggering about, and on the contrary, it was his own standing that became unsteady instead.
Fearing that the brunt of nobles would turn on the entire Imperial Family, Echigoya settled the situation by receding his position as a member of the Imperial Family, and thereafter became a merchant, moving from place to place within the Empire. Leaving a small lingering in the depth of his heart.
「Huh? As expected I didn’t misheard it, huh. I see…, so you are a member of the Imperial Family, huh, Echigoya-san…?」
「No, in the end I’m just a former member of the Imperial Family. The current me is nothing more than a merchant. So….」
「Well, I’ll be damned. So with this I’m also in the clique of the influential people, huh. Haa, it’s not like I’m interested in influence or anything, though. What a bind. I wonder what I should do. Right, brother-in-law.」
「What in the world are you even talking about?」
Tanaka sent fleeting glances at him with a smirk on his face. Echigoya tightly held himself back, who was about to snap, and moved on with the conversation.
「For now, care to tell me your part of the story, Tanaka-san?」
「Hmm? Let’s see? After you left Nanashi town, Echigoya-san, I departed for the Imperial Capital by myself as planned.」
Tanaka recounted. About the arduous road he had to take to reach the Imperial Capital. Yes, about the battle between light and darkness that he unexpectedly ended up getting wrapped in during this journey.
Various peculiar incidents that occurred during the journey. The inept detective Tanaka brilliantly solved the cases, but he also inferred a fishy presence with his exceptional sense of smell. As expected, chronic rhinitis was no joke.
Then, Tanaka came to know of the existence of a heretical cult named the Erominati, which was trying to control this world in the shadows. Tanaka, who prided himself as a diehard(hardliner) protagonist, couldn’t allow the existence of such a frivolous(moderate) bunch such as them. Inevitably, a battle against them began.
The horny legacies known as holy relics that lie dormant in various places. Fierce battle unfolded between The Knights of Nippuru, an active force of the heretic cult, and Tanaka over these adult goods.
The battle went on for eternity. In the midst of this never-ending battle, the conspiracy to revive the Evil God Eros was finally revealed.
Tanaka, borrowing the power of the sailor uniform adherents he met on this journey, crushed the ambitions of the heretic cult Erominati in the name of moderation and gentlemanliness.
As he passionately told about these experiences, which Tanaka himself had never experienced, he emphasized on how arduous of a journey it was toward the Imperial Capital.
「I, I see. Looks like you have gone through quite a tough time.」
「That’s totally right. As expected, even I was forced to think more carefully this time.」
The delusion of this so-called holy war, which was never to be revealed to the public, had taught Tanaka a lesson. That a limitless adulty course would bring about various harmful effects. If the world that the heretic cult Erominati wished had been realized, this work getting crushed by political pressure would have been only a matter of course.
Tanaka recalled of the existence of PT●, which was way more terrifying than the heretic cult, and braced himself.
「Well, the story thus far is already a settled story, so it’s fine. The problem is what comes after this.」
In the Imperial Capital, Tanaka had managed to reunite with his acquaintance, Hero Yashichi. However, that was nothing but the prologue to a new battle.
In the shadow of the people’s excitement over the Imperial Tournament Festival, demon hardliners were making suspicious movements. Tanaka, who had decided to lend a hand at the request of Yashichi who had been cooperating with the demon moderate faction, fully demonstrated his quick wittedness as a strategist who was once known as ‘Liu Zen’, thus unfolded a battle of wits with the Imperial Capital as the stage.
Tanaka briefly informed him about the recent occurrences there.
「For you to have already began to move to such an extent, your capability is as astonishing as usual, Tanaka-san.」
「Oh well~. Well, it’s not really much.」
「What I was intending to request your help with was exactly this very matter, Tanaka-san. But—」
Echigoya decided to once again stand against the corruption of the Empire. He had made thorough preparations and returned to the Imperial Capital, but he had made a miscalculation. The nobles of the Empire were much more wary of that existence than Echigoya had expected.
The dummy trading company which was supposed to be the rendezvous point of he and Tanaka was attacked, and Echigoya himself was even taken captive. However, this affair did not go unnoticed by the Imperial family. After negotiations with the nobles, it was decided that Echigoya was to be confined in Oedo Castle, thus bringing them to the current point.
「I had planned to investigate the movements of the nobles before asking you to take action, Tanaka-san, but unfortunately, I’ve fallen to a state where I can’t even make any movement.」
「Huh? What? Does that mean what you were intending to request with was power struggle…?」