[Somewhere in Estel]

[Diana point of view]

(Diana, please take care of them...) [?]

What... What was that? And this extreme anxiety...

"..." [Diana]

"Princess?" [Qis]

"Did something happen?" [Alice]

"Diana! What happen!?" [Rumia]

"Ash..." [Diana]

"""Ash???""" [Alice, Qis, Rumia]

"No... Nothing. Sorry, let's keep going" [Diana]

What was that bad feeling just now? Did something major happen in the holy palace right now? If so, all of you, please stay safe.

(Concentrate Diana, concentrate!) [Diana]

For the citizen of mine turning into a monster, Rumia's holy mana will halt the progress of this sudden monsterification. While they don't turn back into normal, they will at least retain their sanity, and also get the chance to live instead of getting slaughter by adventures and knights alike. As for those monsters who are from the true beastman group, my order is that to kill them.

(It's hard to differentiate between those two, between civilians and terrorist, so this permission of mine, every live they snatch will fall under me, but...) [Diana]

~Nod~

Qis give me that nod. Good, that mean the preparation is ready

Operation, sacrificial pawns. By using the Holy Palace prince and his convoys that were kidnapped by Ash the other day, I will...

"Kill! Kill them under the order of holy palace! We will take the ten heroes for us" [Controlled Holy prince]

"Right!" [Controlled holy palace guard]

"No!!!" [Civilian A?]

"Somebody help! The holy palace prince run amok!" [Civilian B?]

"What!" [Civilian C?]

"Does that mean the monster attack, are they the one responsible!?" [Civilian D?]

"What is he doing here!" [Rumia]

Sorry Rumia... But I'll have to dirty my hand on this one

With the vampire guards of mine controlling them from behind the scene, and the "civilians" actors of mine (they're the holy prince guards that's getting controlled as well) shouting about the holy prince is the one responsible for all of this, plus with the massive confusion that suddenly happen, something bound to happen, and that something is

"The old follower! They're behind all of this!" [Real civilian A]

"And isn't the 2nd Queen and Prince have a good relationship with them?" [Real civilian B]

"There's no mistaking it! They're conspiring!" [Civilian A?]

"And where are the ministry of defense! They're suppose to control the situation!" [Real civilian C]

"The first prince, he must have conspire with them as well!" [Civilian A?]

"Why! Why are they doing this! Their dispute cause nothing but bloodshed for us commoner!" [Real civilian D]

"Looks! It's the adventures and knights under Princess Diana!" [Real civilian A]

"Princess Diana, and Saintess Rumia! Hooray! They're the real saviour here!" [Civilian B?]

"Everyone! Quickly, take shelter at Diana's hall! Knights and adventures, quickly, control the situation!" [Diana]

"Yes!" [All]

The scenario that's happening now, it's just perfect to drag those two down, especially the 2nd Queen and Prince, and also to loosen the grip of the old follower on Estel. I feel bad, no, awful. I shouldn't do this, I shouldn't bring myself to employ this dirty tactic, and yet, as a ruler, sometimes, you have to embrace the darkness in order for your subject to bask in light. This tactic was supposed to be done on much later date, under a more control environment, but given the situation now...

~Slash~

The controlled holy prince guards start attacking the actors, while the four of us with some of the adventures and Valkyrie start to subdue the monster. Of course, the scheme will only harm the holy palace convoy, not anyone else, but given the situation, it's inappropriate at best to do so

~Stare~

Alice, she is staring dagger at me. Of course she would figure it out, we are close and study together during our childhood. So, instead of feigning ignorance

~Nod~

"Understood..." [Alice]

I'm glad we are on the same page, and I'm glad she understands the reason behind it. She might not agree to it, but I know she wouldn't expose this to anyone else

"Diana?" [Rumia]

As for Rumia, she might be a bit of naive and oblivious, but she is smart. If the time we spent during our childhood were any longer, I'm sure she will catch this scheme of mine like Alice does. For now, she has a tinge of awareness that something behind the scenes is going on, but she quickly erases such thought, thinking that it is impossible for me to employ such tactic... Again, I'm sorry. The guilt, it feels like it will consume me

"Please stop it!" [Rumia]

"Rumia! Wait!" [Diana]

She tried to reason with the controlled holy prince, of course, the vampire guards of mine wouldn't hurt her, but Rumia keeps trying to "cure" the holy prince, believing something is controlling him, thus

"Saintess Rumia...?" [Holy palace prince]

"Yes!" [Saintess Rumia]

"You dare do this to me! I'll kill you!" [Holy palace prince]

"NO!" [Diana]

He suddenly becomes berserk, must be because of his unstable emotions couple with adverse effect of being controlled by magic. The vampire guard controlling him couldn't do much as Rumia's mana interfere with the process, and thus

"RUMIA!" [Diana]

"Stay back!" [Qis]

"Are you alright!?" [Alice]

Rumia's face...

"WHY YOU!" [Diana]

As I am about to unleash my magic to shoot at him, Qis quickly stop me from doing so, and instead

"Ice slash" [Qis]

She didn't want me to further stain my hand. Her words from before, a ruler like me should appear clean and noble, keeps lingering inside my mind.

"Kill the remaining forces! Don't let any of them escape!" [Qis]

"RIGHT!" [All]

and thus, a one sided massacre of the holy palace convoys unfold right before our eyes, with Saintess Rumia begging them to stop. Alice, who knows the truth, couldn't do anything beside watching from the sidelines

"Awful..." [Alice]

"True" [Diana]

"Still, if it meant to prevent a bigger disaster..." [Alice]

Alice quickly went to Rumia side, asking her to perform some prayer for the holy palace convoys. Rumia agree and make a very brief prayer for them, before helping to subdue the monster roaming around

We went to the orphanage direction afterward, and

"Rafiah! Claude! Filvisar!" [Diana]

"And that! They're Kadeus's father and Lily's mother" [Alice]

"The fire, its raging more strongly here than any other places" [Qis]

"What happen here?" [Rumia]

Just when Claude and Filvisar suddenly regain their consciousness, something big appear from the orphanage...

A tiger with enormous fang, with fur made out of fire of varying colour, from orange to black flame continuously emitted from it... No doubt about it

"The holy beast of fire, Hell Tiger Har..." [Rumia]

"Mahsuri, Aries, the pair S rank adventure are fighting it, that as well as...! That dwarf is also there!" [Qis]

"Hurry! To the orphanage!" [Diana]