Allen had learned what had happened in Prostia with Ignomas.
But Bek had not been mentioned even once, which was Allen's main interest.
"I'm sorry to say, but Bek isn't in the palace."
Duke Drescalay said that, and then explained the reason why.
While the ministers and servants would leak a lot of information to Drescalay, he never heard about Bek.
If someone as important as the crown prince of Albahar was in the castle, they would have told him.
Prostia had no diplomatic ties with Albahar, but at least he was aware of who Bek was.
"So you don't believe Prostia had a hand in Bek's coup against Albahar?"
Shea also joined the conversation between Allen and Duke Drescalay.
"That's not what I said, Lady Shea."
(Hm, somehow he sounds more respectful than when addressing me.)
Duke Drescalay's attitude differed between Shea, one of the candidates to become Albahar's next Beast King, and Allen who no one really knew whence he came from and where he stood.
While he shared the emperor's bloodline, he had only assumed his father's position as Duke recently, while Shea stood one step away from the throne, so he decided to treat her with more respect.
"Hm? So Prostia did have some involvement?"
Duke Drescalay's denial hinted at some knowledge about Bek, making Shea ask again.
"I don't have any proof, but I heard that Ignomas claimed he had the Beast Kingdom's support to make the armies surrender."
The ministers still opposing Ignomas did not have any high positions.
So they did not have access to some essential information.
Most of what they learned came from rumors and gossip.
"Albahar's support?"
"...Ignomas seems to be planning to invade countries on the surface."
(Hm? I see. So that's why he wanted the First and Second Armies as intact as possible.)
Shea kept asking questions, so Allen decided to let her take care of getting more information.
Somehow the Beast Kingdom seemed to be involved, making her feel uneasy.
Duke Drescalay continued talking.
At first, the two armies considered joining forces and taking down Ignomas to free the palace.
The nobles from nearby territories offered their men to help as well, gaining a force of 10000.
But the war never broke out.
Ignomas had chosen to talk things out instead.
No one knew exactly what they discussed, but someone overheard claims of having the Beast Kingdom's support, and that they planned on invading the surface.
Ignomas claimed this was the best time for that, as the Demon King's Army had left them weak.
"And so both armies were on board with that plan."
"It appears so. There was next to no bloodshed. Only a handful of knights remained loyal to the empire, and they were killed."
Currently both armies were under Ignomas' control.
(That sounds about right.)
Allen looked at Cecile and Sophie, they looked ready to fight Postia in a war.
They did not seem surprised or shocked to learn that whatsoever.
There were kingdoms and empires in this world.
They were led by kings and emperors, and each had their own armies.
Those armies did not exist solely to defend the countries.
Allen had learned a lot of history at the Academy, wars constantly ravaged this world.
Usually they only happened between two neighboring countries, but there were cases like Giamut where they would attempt to take over every nearby country.
That also meant there were many countries that crumbled or were destroyed.
The country where Albahar stood was not only populated by beastmen, but also by birdmen and many other races.
Shea always claimed she wanted to become the first emperor to unite the continent, but she meant using force to conquer them all.
It had been decades since such a widespread war happened, involving an entire continent.
Most wars had stopped once the Demon King's Army began attacking.
The Demon King's Army had killed many more people than previous wars.
So they could not afford to continue warring against each other.
There was one country that had not been at war in decades.
That was Prostia.
They did not join the Five Continents' Alliance, and had not fought in decades.
A Sacred Bead was all they had needed to buy the land for Clebeur.
Considering they were an empire, they already had amassed quite some power.
Especially when it came to their army.
"Just who is Ignomas then?"
Shea had only been interested in Bek, but now she was getting curious about Ignomas as well.
"He was born a peasant. He had the skill of Spear King, so the emperor trusted him with such a high position, now look what happened."
(Spear King is one level above Spear Saint, a 4 Star Talent. That's quite some power.)
Duke Drescalay spoke with a hint of derision in his voice.
He seemed to despise Ignomas' whole being.
Ignomas was born a peasant, but his powerful Talent earned him a position with the knights.
He led a successful life, becoming Knight Commander before he was thirty years old, being entrusted with an army to defend from outside threats.
The populace also liked him, which was one of the reasons why his greed constantly grew.
Allen felt like he Drescalay only started thinking that when he was imprisoned.
"So how far did his ambitions go? World domination?"
"His ambitions and greed are great. World domination is indeed one of his goals, but he wants to claim the blood of all imperial family members. I heard he's keeping Princess Rapsonile in another room to claim her as his too."
(Ahh, that princess I saw in a separate room.)
Allen had searched the entire palace before, and he knew of that princess.
Unlike Duke Drescalay who was thrown to jail, she was kept in a detached villa, next to the palace.
Usually there were only two things someone did after successfully overthrowing a government.
One was to eradicate any remnants of the previous bloodline.
The other was to make the previous bloodline their own.
Ignomas was leaning more on the second option.
Duke Drescalay was looking at Allen, as if trying to ask for his help.
He seemed to want to rescue the princess.
"Hmm, we just caused a pretty big stir. I'll have to look for an opportunity."
(I don't mind rescuing one more person, but we just blew a hole in the palace.)
Allen's Fish D summon had spent around three days surveying the interior of the Palace, looking for Bek.
Eventually he also searched that small villa next to the palace.
He was fully aware that a princess was being held inside.
She did not seem to be in any immediate danger, so he did not bother with her before.
He was not against saving her if asked, but he did not want to raise Ignoma's suspicions any more.
Allen wanted to watch Ignomas' reaction a bit more, which was why he did not say he would rescue her immediately.
He knew Ignomas was on high alert after Drescalay was broken out though.
"I don't get this. Your story doesn't add up! Why are you talking so much about the Beast Kingdom but haven't mentioned Bek a single time!!"
(Actually she's right. That feels a bit odd.)
Shea stood up, she had been mulling over things while they spoke about the princess.
Duke Drescalay had said something that sounded next to impossible.
Allen consulted the notes in his Grimoire to see what had happened.
Event 1: Lud reported that mermen helped Bek stage a coup
Event 2: Clebeur had no involvement in the incident at Albahar
Event 3: Ignomas' insurrection had been successful in Prostia
Event 4: Duke Drescalay said Ignomas had the support of the Beast Kingdom on the surface
"That does seem odd. I guess 1 and 3 are the ones we've verified so far."
Cecile also peeked into Allen's Grimoire and muttered that.
"I think so. Lud said they retrieved dozens of dead mermen bodies too."
Allen decided to not announce he had Ignomas under constant surveillance, since Duge Drescalay was in the room..
(Though now that I think about it, we learned everything about Albahar through Lud.)
"Maybe someone is lying?"
"Wha-?! I didn't tell a single lie!!"
Even Luck was noticing the contradicting stories.
Everyone could tell that this was an impossible situation unless someone was lying.
Duke Drescalay claimed his informants were trustworthy and it was all true.
But Allen paid little attention to his vehement insistence, thinking about everything on his own.
If everything lined up, then Bek should be in the palace.
Assuming everything was true, then Bek had enlisted the help of Ignomas for his own coup.
Meanwhile Ignomas used that alliance to easily take over Prostia, knowing Bek would assist him as soon as he became Beast King.
That also aligned with Bek's desire to invade human countries in the Central Continent.
That was the option that made the most sense to Allen.
But that meant Bek would need to be in Prostia's palace, waiting until Ignomas had the entire empire fully under his control.
Once that was done, they would march to Albahar, where they refused to make Bek Beast King.
Allen also had to consider how things changed depending on who was the liar.
If Lud was not telling the truth, then maybe there had been no mermen in Albahar whatsoever. Though the Beast King had contacted Clebeur themselves, Clebeur's king claimed they used a magic device for that.
If Clebeur's king had lied, and he had aided the coup in Albahar, then it would not make sense for Ignomas to claim having an alliance with beastmen.
If Drescalay had lied, it was hard to say why mermen would help Bek.
Allen had verified that Ignomas was currently sitting on the throne.
That much was true, and nothing contradicted it.
"I'm actually stumped with this. I guess there's stuff we haven't found out yet. It's been a while since I've felt this way."
(The last time was when I couldn't find stone plates, or a gold key for a room.)
Some games would take him a long time to beat, sometimes he would be playing for a hundred hours, and be lost as to where to find a stone plate.
Or another time when he could not find a gold key that was lying on the floor somewhere.
There had been a time when Allen had to ask questions online so others could help him.
"Hey, what are you thinking about?"
Cecile noticed that face on Allen, the one he made whenever he remembered something, so she asked what he was thinking about.
Allen had been in similar situations multiple times in his past life.
He would talk to people, verify everything lined up, and try to find a logical answer to everything.
But sometimes he would lack information, or misunderstand something, leading to a quest remaining incomplete.
Not completing the quest meant not being able to progress in the story.
Basically he would be stumped.
He would not have any idea of what to do, leaving him stuck in that point of the story.
"I guess there's still stuff we haven't found out yet."
Maybe this was not the only place in Prostia under such situations, so Bek was hiding somewhere else.
But there was also the possibility he mentioned, with more information left to be uncovered. He still kept mulling over everything they knew so far, trying to make sure he made no mistakes.
