It will be good if I have the opportunity, but it seems like things will happen when we get there. Each of us relaxed in our own way before entering their country. Thirty minutes after riding the gondola lift—. The place we arrived at after passing several mountains is the gondola station close to the Tepes’s castle town. Several Vampires appear as soon as we exit the gondola lift. They ask us a question after confirming our identities. “Former governor Azazel and the Gremory group, I presume? We are the ones sent from the Tepes faction.”
We nod silently. So they already know us. Well, it’s not like we came into this country illegally. They ask this while acting politely. “Please come this way. Rias Gremory-sama is waiting at the Tepes’s main base.”
They sure are letting us go through easily for a place that just had a coup d’état. So Rias is at the main base huh. I heard that she was at the House of Vladi…… She must have been captured after being taken there. Their motive of taking us there……must be Sensei’s knowledge about Sacred Gears. Or is it……
Without having any time to think about it, they take us to the wagon that is outside the gondola station. There are luxurious ornaments on them. I’m guessing this is used for the victors that are from a noble family then? In other words it came from the castle. So they’ll be taking us to the castle with this huh. ……I then realise that Bennia and Rugal-san are missing. Akeno-san whispers in my ear after I look around me. “……Both of them are acting separately. Apparently, they will be gathering information with their own methods. We need to have our own escape route after all.”
Seriously? They disappeared without making a sound! Even without letting the Vampires from the Tepes faction notice them……
The Vampires also showed signs of panicking because our numbers don’t add up, so they call their superiors. Maybe it’s because they were given the order to take us as their first priority, so they urge us to get into the wagon reluctantly. We nod to each other and got into the wagon—. ……Rias, Kiba, we’ll be able to see you very soon. The scenery we can observe of the town from the window during our journey makes it appear as if there haven’t been many changes. The town is so quiet for a place where a coup d’état took place and the residents are walking within the town normally. I thought there would be destroyed places within the town……but there isn’t a single sign indicating that. Sensei says. “They must have succeeded in the coup d’état with minimal movement and without making even the residents notice it. You can assume that the ones that rebelled already took care of the things within the government beforehand. ……They may have used the Holy Grail as the bait to take in several nobles within their group.”
……So they succeeded in the coup d’état quietly without making the residents notice it huh. So the King and those close to him had no choice but to escape. ……There must have been many traitors within their group. Or else the coup d’état wouldn’t have succeeded so smoothly and that is something even a high school student like myself can guess. The wagon we are riding on passes through the town and is about to enter the Tepes castle. The huge main gate of the castle gets lifted up and the wagon passes through. The castle doesn’t even lose against the Gremory castle in terms of size. It has the old appearance of being made up of rocks, and it has the aura of evil beings residing in this castle. When we exit the wagon from where it gets stationed, we get taken into the castle and now we are standing in front of the exaggerated double door. ……It certainly feels as though this is a double door that leads to the throne. There is a splendid looking relief of a monster carved into the door. “Please wait here for a short while.”
The butler who guided us here says that and leaves. A few minutes later, we can hear a familiar voice while we wait in front of the door. “Ise! Everyone!”
Hearing my beloved’s voice, I turn to that direction and see Rias who is having a maid escort her! Kiba is also escorting her while walking behind her. “Rias! Are you alright?”
I approach her. She puts on a smile and nods when I asked her. Ah, she’s beautiful like always! So cute! I’m so glad! That nothing happened to Rias! “Yes, somehow. ……Looks like you noticed about the coup d’état, Azazel.”
Sensei nods at Rias’s words. “Yeah, I summoned them here thinking that something may have happened and brought them here. You don’t have any complaint, do you?”
Rias responds to Sensei’s question. “You’re right. Even I was thinking how I should call everyone here. Except, I was imprisoned within this castle and I was in a state where I couldn’t take any action. And I didn’t even get to meet the King despite being invited here. While I was waiting, one of them said to me, “Please follow me since the guests have arrived”……so I came here.”
So while the coup d’état happened, nothing much happened to Rias huh. I look at Kiba. “Looks like nothing happened to you guys, Kiba.”
Kiba shrugs his shoulders. “We didn’t even get dragged into it so it let me down. I guess they aren’t bored enough to lay their hands on us while they were having a war within their faction. At least till now, that is.”
Kiba looks at the double door while saying that. ……I see, so they are planning to meet us at once since everyone has gathered here. The soldiers that are standing on both sides of the door who are equipped with armour and swords from an old era say after seeing us. “Now then, please come in to have your meeting with our new King—”
While saying that, they open the giant double door—. The door opens while making a heavy sound. Sensei walks inside first and Rias walks in after him. We walk in after them. A spacious room. There is a huge red carpet placed on the floor, and there’s a relief of the same beast that was on the double door threaded into it which is shining in gold. At the end of the carpet—there is a throne placed on the highest floor of this room. The one sitting on the throne is a young woman. There is a young man present a bit away from the throne. The man has a beautiful face like that of a doll, but the reason why he doesn’t feel as if he’s alive must be because he’s a pure-blood. Within the spacious throne room, there are unexpectedly few numbers of Vampires besides the woman on the throne and the man near the throne, such as several soldiers and several of those wearing noble attires. —And like I imagined, the nobles here also have an appearance of those from mediaeval times. ……I was preparing for there to be more Vampires here and then they would surround us……however it’s unexpectedly quiet in here. I see, so that’s why the coup d’état went smoothly. They had dug deep within the government. It means that they were prepared in overthrowing the throne.