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I planned to have dinner at the outer court, but I received an invitation from Mommy Elizabeth at night, so I had to go to the inner court for dinner. Once I arrived, I was quite glad because Mom wasn’t the cook. The veteran chef’s dishes were delicious. During the meal, however, Mom suddenly asked, “I heard you went out today, Son, right?”
“Yes. I went to the street. Don’t worry, nonetheless. I brought Nier along, so it was safe.”
“Uhm, that was what I was worried about. Mommy is more worried something might happen between the two churches if you’re identified. Maybe it’s because you appeared there that they might start. After all, we are the royal family. What they’re paying attention to this time is our stance. Therefore, it’s best for us to not appear at such a sensitive location; else, we may be the catalyst for the explosion.” Mom’s tone was amicable. She’d have blew a fuse already if I wasn’t her son.
“I went there with a disguise, so I doubt I was recognised.”
Mom set her fork and knife down. She picked up a napkin to wipe her hand: “What did you find out, then, Son?”
“Nothing, really. The details I found out were, in essence, the two sides haven’t opened fire on each other since the people active in the area have yet to come into conflict. Stores are operating as per usual, and the people won’t attack others on the street. I, therefore, concluded there was still no conflict.”
Mom proudly smiled: “That’s why I thought what you could learn would be limited even if you, personally, went there. According to Mommy’s investigations, the old church has already begun to take action. At least, the members of the old church located at different nations have begun to purchase some strange things.”
“Including firewood?”
Mom nodded: “While the things they’ve purchased appear to be nothing out of the ordinary, there’s an obvious problem with it for the reason that, once you put all the materials they bought together, the final products are guns and gunpowder.”
“We should immediately stop them, then!!!”
“We can’t because the things they bought are legal items,” answered Mom, accompanying a head shake. She expanded on her answer: “Despite being the Empress, I can’t confiscate the firewood they bought. What they’ve done is legal from all accounts. Moreover, because my spies misunderstood it, they thought it was fine and, therefore, reported it. By now, the materials they bought have arrived. There’s one more thing, though, and that it wasn’t sent to the church but a normal warehouse.”
“In that case, does it mean that it was the pope’s idea or his subordinates? Or is the pope trying to prevent himself from being associated?”
“The pope is unaware; it’s those below him who are planning it. The problem is how the church plans to use the weapons. If they don’t gather, I don’t have any excuse to confiscate their stuff. If I do confiscate it, then others will think the royal family doesn’t allow people to store firewood and screws. In turn, that will lead to chaos. Additionally, I don’t want to let the church have any excuse to leverage against me; hence, Mommy has sent out spies to keep an eye on them for the meantime. The old church is unlikely to do anything major. The problem is the new church. Son, Troy City is your city. Mommy didn’t send anybody but envoys there. They can’t control the situation there. The new church got everything they want from Troy City, which means the new church is the target we need to dedicate our attention to.”
“Troy City
 correct?”
Troy City, the city of freedom. Owing to my absence, there was nobody running the city. Plus, Troy City was formed from the nearby villages and cities, which led to many people going there. Not only did oppressed scientists, poets and singers migrate there but even artisans who couldn’t make a name for themselves at other cities. Subsequently, merchants were attracted to the city. As there was nobody to run the city, merchants dared to trade anything and everything at Troy City. Artisans and all sorts of other people created strange things in the city. Most importantly, Troy City’s old factory was once my military factory.
I had since moved my military factory to the North, but the tools would cost more to transport to the North than to make new ones. I, therefore, left them behind at Troy City. Given that they had artisans, they could very well have begun to produce firearms there again. It was hard to regulate guns in the South. But nonetheless, lots of people desired their power, which led to the expensive cost of purchasing them. I had no doubt in my mind that Troy City was exporting firearms.
I focused on the North instead of Troy City. I, consequently, had no clue of the current state of Troy City. My military wasn’t stationed at Troy City, either. Without anyone loyal to me holding down the fort there, my influence there faded, as I had left it for months. The city was where the three nations’ conference was held, true, but that was also why it became a place that none of us managed. While it looked glorious on the surface, rats roamed the underground.
All the old church’s people could do was be extremely cautious as they went about buying the parts for weapons, whereas the new church absolutely could send out weapons if they wanted. After all, Troy City was definitely capable of producing a large amount of weapons. I had no idea what Troy City could do. If I wanted to figure out what the new church is planning, I needed to head to Troy City, myself.
Before I could speak, Mom cut me off. She narrowed her eyes and said, “Son, I know that you definitely want to go to Troy City. As such, Mommy’s answer is no. Son, you can’t go there. Your aim in coming back this time was to rest at Hilles City; however, the things that have transpired were not within Mommy’s predictions. You have been very busy. You don’t need to worry about anything while you’re at Mommy’s City. This should be Mommy’s job. You don’t need to concern yourself with it. What Mommy wanted to say to you today is you’ve begun to investigate this case again and probably forgotten what your body just went through. Henceforth, you should get some peaceful rest in the outer court. Don’t get involved with this. Watch Mommy handle this case.”