I, who was eager to retire, became an Imperial General.

Chapter 312 Unexpected Intelligence, Allied Decision

After leaving Mirror Spring Manor, John went to the West family manor as usual to provide tactical guidance to Lothar.

However, because he obtained too much unexpected information from his conversation with Alafia, even John couldn't help but frequently look at the obsidian pocket watch in his hand during the teaching process. As a result, he was unusually at a disadvantage in the subsequent simulated battle against Lothar on the sand table.

Fortunately, after regaining his composure, he immediately put aside all his thoughts and focused intently on the sand table battle. In the end, he successfully turned the tide and won the battle, thus avoiding embarrassment in this teaching session.

Compared to Lothar, who was thrilled to have successfully made John look weak, Olivia, who was watching silently from the sidelines, noticed John's unusual behavior.

However, she did not ask directly. Instead, she waited until after the class ended and then sent Lothar away, citing some business matters she needed to discuss with John.

"John, has something happened to you lately?"

After sending Lothar away, Olivia went straight to the point and asked John this question, her pale purple eyes filled with seriousness.

Clearly, the unusual behavior from her allies led this shrewd businesswoman to mistakenly believe that the conservatives had preemptively launched an attack on John, the newly promoted lieutenant general of the empire.

Otherwise, it's impossible to explain why the opponent, who had been dominating her muscle-bound brother in yesterday's sand table exercise, made so many mistakes in today's exercise and even almost had their base destroyed by Lothar.

This is clearly not normal.

At this moment, Olivia had even conjured up an extremely dangerous assassination plot in her mind.

However, before she could even say anything about how the West family could provide John with additional security support under the guise of business cooperation to ensure the safety of their ally, she was met with a barrage of questions.

John, on the other side, shook his head and said:

"It's nothing, I just encountered some, well, problems related to myself."

Meeting Olivia's questioning gaze, John paused for a moment, then explained:
“Olivia, you should know what happened at the victory celebration. That’s right, for some reason, I lost a part of my memory, and a large part of that memory is related to Princess Elafia, so…”

"I see, that makes sense."

Upon hearing this and learning what John was finally troubled about, Olivia's heavy heart immediately dissipated.

But then, his gaze toward John became full of amusement:
"To be honest, I was quite shocked when I first learned that you, John, had a secret past with that First Princess."

"After all, given that princess's majesty and His Majesty's affection for her, ordinary nobles probably wouldn't even have the chance to catch a glimpse of her face."

“But John, you have a past with that prince. If it weren’t for the prince saying it himself, I might have doubted its authenticity.”

"To be honest, I didn't expect it either, and frankly, I also find this somewhat unbelievable."

"Haha~"

Seeing John's helpless expression, Olivia chuckled but didn't continue teasing her ally. Instead, she casually glanced at the pocket watch in John's hand before giving him a meaningful reminder:
"Although I don't know what your past relationship is with that First Princess, I think that, whether it's your current situation, the alliance between us, or the future of the party, you should keep a proper distance from this princess."

"After all, besides being the most noble princess of the empire, this princess is also the granddaughter of the prime minister. Getting too close to her might not be a good thing for us."

Finally, seemingly realizing that her words might make John think she was too assertive and could cause problems for their future cooperation, Olivia paused slightly before adding:
"Of course, my suggestions are based on the premise of our cooperation, and are not a requirement for you to sever ties with that prince. I also trust your credibility and judgment; otherwise, I wouldn't have chosen to have my family form a secret alliance with you, would I?"

"...I understand, I will give your suggestion a good consideration."

"That's good."

Seeing that John didn't show any displeasure, Olivia breathed a sigh of relief, but at the same time she was a little puzzled. How could she, who was always so shrewd, make such a basic mistake in negotiations?

Could it be that he still hasn't gotten over losing to the other party in the college's excellent rating back then?
This is absolutely terrible...

Recalling her time at the aristocratic academy, where she was ruthlessly outshone by her opponent in both academics and appearance, a hint of annoyance flashed in Olivia's eyes.

But he quickly returned to normal and changed the subject, saying:

"By the way, John, you must already know about the earl who framed you this morning who committed suicide out of guilt."

"However, compared to the information that has already been circulated, I have learned some other things through reports from my subordinate members of the merchant guild, and they seem to be related to that Demon King. I wonder if you are interested in this?"

"?"

Seeing John's surprised expression, Olivia instantly realized that he was unaware of Principal Trolowski's long-awaited departure from the academy the previous night. Without further ado, she shared this information directly:
"In fact, I only received this information at noon, and it has not yet been verified. Its authenticity is still debatable."

"To put it simply, at the same time that Count Emmentault committed suicide last night, the Demon King seemed to have left the Imperial First Military Academy after a long absence and carried out multiple long-distance teleportations in Eleno, and is suspected of capturing a large number of enemy spies."

"At the same time, around 10:20 a.m., a cardinal of the Holy Radiance Church led members of the Holy Knights to visit the Demon King. After about half an hour of discussion, the Demon King returned with his men."

"However, according to the information I have gathered so far, it seems that there were more church members leaving than before."

Did Trolowski conduct multiple long-distance teleportations within the capital last night?
Furthermore, they captured a large number of enemy spies?

The cardinals of the Holy Radiance Church also brought all these prisoners back to the church through a transaction.
This……

The sudden news caught John completely off guard.

But soon, combined with the fact that Mayer was walking alone on the street that morning, without acting with the other members of the Special Operations Department, and that even after he captured her, the Special Operations Department did not react to it.

In an instant, John realized that the Special Operations Department had probably already launched its operation last night.

However, due to a lack of intelligence, Olko misjudged the duration of Trolowski's seclusion.

And because of this oversight, the newly established department suffered a devastating blow from the Demon King during its first mission, and was wiped out before it could even develop!

Wait a minute, so if I haven't misunderstood...

Anna, the original female protagonist of the game, has most likely been captured by now.

Furthermore, Trotsky even sold it directly to members of the Holy Light Cult for an unknown price.

"!"

Upon realizing this, John's pupils immediately contracted to their maximum size.

After all, as a player, he was extremely familiar with the Holy Radiance Cult of the Empire. As the Empire's native religious church, the Holy Radiance Cult's followers accounted for almost 80% of the Empire's religious system.

However, due to the division of power within the empire, and because Perus I had intended to weaken the power of the church and enhance the prestige of the royal family since his accession to the throne.

This resulted in these clergy members always serving as mascots within the empire.

Although they possessed a certain ability to build up military forces and had a say in the situation, they were essentially just vassals of the emperor.

In addition, there was the rise of the conservatives and reformers, as well as the watchful eyes of the independence faction, or rather the usurpers, to which Moses belonged.

This led to the rise of the Holy Radiance Cult during the reign of Perus XII, which, due to its expertise in indoctrination and its secret conduct of forbidden experiments and various clandestine human modifications under Perus XII's direction, even openly and openly carried out these activities towards the end of the XII's reign, thus gaining some power.

After William's coup and ascension to the throne, through a series of maneuvers carried out by the then-unified imperial leadership, he went from holding a certain amount of power to becoming a nobody among the many forces in the empire.

This transformation could easily be described as a motorcycle turning into a bicycle.

However, compared to the current situation where the Holy Radiance Cult has become a vassal state due to changes in monarchs and governing philosophies.

John was even more puzzled by the fact that this spiritual organization, which had almost lost its voice, was spared by William because the church's propaganda could consolidate the emperor's rule and completely eradicate it would affect the morale of the empire.

Why would the other side make some kind of deal with Trotsky and take away all the members of the Allied Special Operations Department?

It is this organization, in the background of the story, that has always held the wicked ambition of trying to extract their unique techniques and infuse them into one person's body, thereby completing the so-called plan to create a human body of a true god.

Or is there a deeper purpose behind this?
John was unaware of the reason why the Holy Radiance Cult took away the Special Operations Department members captured by Trotsky.

But at that moment he knew something else.

That is, in order to prevent Anna, a genius with unlimited potential, from becoming a useless person, he must go to this damned church right now.

Incidentally, as a lieutenant general of the Empire, he also wants an explanation for that damned woman's attack on him last time.

Of course, considering that the other party possessed the strength of a Grand-rank mage, he would need to bring a few helpers with him when he went to demand the person back.

Upon learning that the members of the 'main characters' group had been captured, a cold glint flashed in John's eyes. After a brief discussion with Olivia, he excused himself and drove away while she looked on thoughtfully.

"Wow!"

……

"So, you mean, retreat immediately?"

Meanwhile, in Eleanor, inside a house located in a civilian area that appears to be an ordinary general store but is actually a secret liaison station for Allied forces.

Anna's face was filled with disbelief as she listened to the instructions given by the deputy head on the other end.

She never expected that her mission would be forced to end prematurely before she even had a chance to investigate her true background.

This has clearly disrupted all her plans.

"That's right. After Commander Manusius was killed by the Demon King, seven members of the department were captured by the Demon King during the operation, and Maye Sistana, who was supposed to go to this contact point according to the department's orders, disappeared for some unknown reason."

"Given the current situation, the wisest decision is to evacuate and preserve the seeds of your three departments."

"Moreover, due to unforeseen circumstances, the Demon King has not fallen into silence, but is currently active."

"Under the nose of this terrifying monster, any action we attempt will be laid bare. Continuing to act will only increase casualties and will not serve any purpose."

"In other words, evacuation has become our only option!"

The deputy head solemnly announced the verdict, and looking at the three remaining members of the Special Operations Department who were in front of him as if they had lost their parents, his expression was also extremely grim.

In fact, there was something else he hadn't told the three agents in front of him.

That is, even knowing that the Demon King had not gone into seclusion, he could not guarantee that he could safely send the three members on whom the higher-ups had placed their hopes back to the Kingdom of Victoria using the existing methods.

After all, the title of Demon King is simply too terrifying.

So terrifying that even just thinking about the word sent chills down his spine, and he didn't even dare to recall the other person's real name.

Because his nominal superior had already personally demonstrated to him the price he would pay for doing so.

Having learned from past mistakes, he naturally wouldn't do anything so suicidal again.

Right now, he just wants to sprout two wings and escape this dangerous city so he can never come back.

Just for reciting the true name, the Demon King could crush someone's head from afar.

Such a pathetic way of dying is too much.

However, unlike his superior, who knew how terrifying the Demon King was and deeply revered his existence, less than half a minute after hearing his order to evacuate, a dissenting voice slowly rose from inside the room:
"No, I don't think we can leave right now!"

"?"

The deputy head suddenly raised his head, looking at Anna with an expression that seemed to say, "Do you want to hear what nonsense you're spouting?"

However, before he could even angrily berate the other party for wanting to die and dragging him down with them, Anna's words the next second instantly sent a chill down his spine, plunging him into an unprecedented state of turmoil.

"Because if the remaining captured members fail to withstand the torture and choose to confess, then the peace negotiations between our side and the Empire will likely break down completely!"

"And our attempt to use peaceful negotiations as a pretext to delay the manufacture and large-scale production of the third-generation anti-magic device will be thwarted!"

"Therefore, we must not withdraw before rescuing the captured members!"

Looking at the silent crowd, Anna spoke decisively.

……

(End of this chapter)