Chapter 207: CH 206

“There’s…… a group in the army that strongly supports Philine.”

Otto didn’t want to talk at first, but as a result of all the stares that Claire-sama and I gave him, he opened up bit by bit.

“Is it like some kind of faction?”

“It’s nothing that big or anything. It’s just that there are just some people in the military training center that seem to idolize her.”

“Idolize her?”

“Claire-sama, don’t you think he might be referring to that? You know, when Philine mentioned that she was kind of popular within a certain group in the army.”

“Ahh, so that’s what we’re talking about.”

That topic came up back when we were discussing the plan to capture the Empire.

Philine mentioned that she held some popularity among the non-commissioned officers in the army.

If I remembered correctly, it was because she petitioned for the sake of the soldiers that were being overworked by their military drill instructor.

“Yeah, that’s it. That story keeps getting passed down among the soldiers in the military training center. The training conditions over there were incredibly harsh, after all. Day after day, they were pushed into working beyond their limits. To those guys, they viewed Philine as their savior of sorts.”

“That’s how that group ended up getting formed,” Otto added.

“My sister’s a part of that group too. The soldier that Philine saved was my sister’s senior, so somehow, she ended up becoming one of Philine’s believers.”

“So that’s how it is….. But how does that lead to the ridiculous idea of wanting to assassinate Her Majesty Dorothea?”

Claire-sama’s question was on the mark.

Those two situations just didn’t add up.

“Philine got exiled, right? That enraged Philine’s believers in the military. Plus, there’s news that she got assassinated too. You guys have heard the rumors, right?”

“Yes. But they’re just rumors, aren’t they?”

“Philine’s believers don’t seem to think so. Someone like Her Majesty Dorothea was the one who exiled Philine, after all. Moreover, she turned a blind eye towards the foreigners too…… Hearing that really made them lose their cool.”

“Oh dear……”

From the perspective of Philine’s believers, Dorothea basically left her to die, and on top of that, she was showing favor towards outsiders as well.

“The people in that group are thinking of starting a coup d’état.”

“A-A coup d’état?!”

The story escalated even further.

It would’ve been one thing if they were planning to petition against Dorothea, but I didn’t think they were making plans to overthrow the entire Empire.

“Isn’t that far too reckless of them? I don’t know how many people are among Philine’s followers, but they’re trying to make enemies out of the Imperial Army and Her Majesty Dorothea, both of which are considered the strongest in the world, you know?”

“Yeah, it’s really reckless. I doubt Philine’s followers will be able to carry out a coup d’état successfully either.”

“In that case, why……”

“Because they’re soldiers. Why do you think they became soldiers in the first place?”

“Eh……?”

Otto suddenly changed the topic.

“Isn’t that because…… they want to protect the country?”

“Exactly. Some people might say they’re doing it for the future generations of their family, and there are those that might say they’re doing it for the money, but in the end, they become soldiers for the sake of the country. If they don’t, there’s no way they could withstand all of that tough training.”

“That’s true.”

“But the country they want to protect is currently deteriorating. Plus, the guys that are at the top don’t have any intentions of fixing it either. And to put the cherry on top, the people that dare to fight for change are always killed off.”

“……”

“Their “coup d’état” strategy probably only involves petitioning for their cause anyway. They’re pleading as hard as they can in order to protect their country.”

In other words, Otto’s older sister and the others were not at all planning for their coup d’état to succeed.

All they were planning to do was to plead hard enough to bring it to Dorothea’s attention.

It was something they were willing to bet their lives on.

“But I don’t think Her Majesty Dorothea will listen to them. Don’t you think they’ll just end up sacrificing themselves in vain?”

“….. To be honest, that’s what I think too.”

Otto’s words surprised us.

I seriously thought he was planning on joining her.

“But this piece of paper is a rough sketch of the Imperial Palace and details the shifts that the guards are on. Plus, this arrow that you drew in is your infiltration route, right?”

“Why do you know that?’

“We were in charge of handling security for the Pope once, after all.”

“So that’s why, huh…… Tch, this just became troublesome……”

Otto scratched his head.

“I found a suicide note.”

“A suicide note?”

“My older sister wrote a suicide note addressing our family.”

“! …… That’s…..”

“Last week, she came home for a while, but she seemed kinda strange. Usually, she wouldn’t even bat an eye at me, but she was acting oddly nice to me. I thought that was weird of her, so when she went back to the military training center, I snuck into her room and found it hidden in her desk.”

Finding a suicide note written by a family member must’ve been a traumatizing event.

I wondered just how Otto felt at that moment.

“‘I have something that I can’t give up on that I’m going to die for, but you should live however you’d like’ ―― is what she wrote. She wrote nothing but selfish things on it……”

Otto clenched his fists and looked down.

He may have been crying.

His words were a bit harsh on the surface, but the feelings that were behind each and every word were――

“Otto, you must really love your sister.”

“Wha-…..! Don’t be stupid!”

“I mean, this is undoubtedly a sister complex, isn’t it?”

Well, turning everything into a joke was just a bad habit of mine, but Otto definitely had his sister in his thoughts.

Whether that was because he was romantically interested in her, or if it was just familial love was something that I was still unsure of.

Well, he did say that he didn’t constantly have love on his brain, so most likely, he simply just cherished her.

“In other words, you want to kill Her Majesty Dorothea off before your older sister gets killed?”

“Is that so wrong?”

“It’s definitely wrong. That’s way too rash.”

“Damn it, I know that better than anyone else!”

But even so, he couldn’t just sit around and do nothing.

“Let’s speak to my father about it.”

“……. You’re right. If it’s Dor-sama, he might be able to come up with a good idea.”

“……. You guys are gonna help me?”

Otto looked like he had heard something unexpected.

Well, that was to be expected.

We weren’t getting anything out of this, after all.

However――

“We’re not going to help you assassinate her. However, as classmates, isn’t it natural to want to lend a hand whenever they’re in trouble?”

“I mean…… I tried to hit you guys before, you know?”

“Although, in the end, we turned it around so easily it was like taking candy from a baby.”

“S-Shut up!”

Ah, he turned red.

How cute.

Since I was reincarnated from my past life, given my actual age, I viewed Otto like a little boy that was a lot younger than me.

“Otto, do you know when the coup d’état will be taking place?”

“There’s that upcoming summit with Sousa, right? It seems like they’re planning to do it then.”

“So we don’t have much time, huh. Rei, let’s head back to the dormitory early today to come up with some plans.”

“Got it.”

“What should I do then?”

Otto asked enthusiastically.

However――

“For the time being, nothing. If you behave recklessly, everything will be ruined.”

“Guh……”

“Just to make sure you don’t end up doing anything bad, you should stay back and do nothing. As long as you want to save your sister, that is.”

“…… I got it. I’m counting on you.”

With this, Otto shouldn’t do anything too reckless.

The problem now was with Philine’s followers.

The bell that signaled the end of lunch break rang.

“Now then, Otto, please let the teachers know of our early departure.”

“Got it.”

“Rei, let’s hurry.”

“Okay.”

Geez, Claire-sama really was a kind person.

But that was something I really loved about her.