Let the Whales Fight, This Shrimp is Leaving! - Chapter 74

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 74
I’d felt uneasy the moment he vanished from sight.
Perhaps I should have trusted that instinct more.
‘Though honestly, even if I had, it wouldn’t have changed much.’
Now that I knew the full truth through Beval, if his real purpose was to deal with the Angel who’d disturbed the order, he would naturally have headed straight for the Imperial Palace.
The question was how the battle between the two Angels would end.
If the Fallen Angel lost, what would become of the Emperor’s life?
And if Sariel lost?
Would a new Angel arrive?
As doubts cascaded through my mind, I suddenly grasped the enormity of what I’d become tangled in.
“Honestly, what is this Creator doing, letting his own foot soldiers run amok like this?”
Huff!
“Ducal Princess.”
……
“What? Did I say something wrong?”
I shot back deliberately harsh, glaring at Deyan before sinking back into my thoughts.
Giselle stood beside me in silence, her face wearing its characteristic indifference, as if she’d heard nothing at all.
Beval burst into laughter, then clutched his chest and collapsed.
Judging by how he rolled across the floor, he was in considerable pain.
I gave him a cold glance before turning my attention back to the letter’s contents.
Holdin, whom I’d thought had fled, had voluntarily joined my knights.
And now he was returning to Plene alongside carefully selected, highly trustworthy and skilled knights from House Nemanic.
I didn’t know his purpose or reason—he hadn’t shared that.
He’d only asked that I not harm a single hair on Deyan’s head, claiming he wouldn’t betray me.
‘A request, he calls it. More like a threat.’
Making demands of an enemy as though I’d actually comply—did he take me for a fool?
My nerves were already too raw to worry about appearances.
I’d already shown Deyan my true nature anyway.
He’d have to accept it.
Ow, ow, ow! My stomach hurts! No wait, my chest! But my stomach too! I want to laugh but can’t, which makes it worse!
“Why do you think Lord Holdin is coming back with House Nemanic’s knights?”
I asked Deyan, utterly ignoring Beval’s writhing behind me.
Deyan, who’d been absorbed in thought while reading the letter, pointed to the map hanging on the wall.
“May I borrow this for a moment?”
“Of course.”
We stood side by side before the map.
As Deyan’s eyes swept across the densely placed pins, he glanced at me.
I could tell he was wondering what all this was, so I answered simply.
“Suspects.”
“I see.”
He nodded quickly, then pointed to his own Fiefdom.
It was an elongated territory that bordered Plene’s frontier.
Then he traced his finger along the shortest route from the Grand Ducal Castle to Count Nemanic.
“Wait a moment.”
I carefully removed all the pins that had been stuck in the map to make it easier for Deyan to use.
“There you go.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes, it’s fine.”
I’d already made a new Contract with Beval, and in the end, I would borrow his power to succeed in my revenge.
So this was no longer necessary.
“We need to address the more urgent problems first.”
I handed him thread and pins, which he accepted somewhat reluctantly.
But soon he was marking points on the map and tracing routes with thread in an easy-to-follow manner.
His hands moved across the map with practiced familiarity.
‘So the strategic command on the battlefield was truly his work, not Holdin’s after all.’
I watched intently as Deyan worked.
“If the intent is chaos and mass suffering through war, both leaders will move eventually—Human Disguise or not, they’ll merely mimic human behavior.”
I turned my gaze coolly toward Cordi, which lay at the map’s edge.
“Your absence will tie Adorif’s hands.”
“Yes. And the drought that’s befallen the Empire may well be deliberate as well.”
“How so?”
“When people struggle to eat, riots inevitably follow.”
Internal collapse would begin first, then slowly push southward.
Plene, sharing the border, would naturally be threatened first.
“Once the riots transform into raids against Plene, Cordi will use that as justification to march north—especially if they’re in the middle of pursuing a State Marriage with the Ducal Princess, lending legitimacy to their cause.”
The Agavni United States, protected by their mountain ranges as a natural barrier, were relatively safer.
They would be the last to be swept into this chaos, but depending on circumstances, they could deliver the decisive blow to both nations’ ruin.
‘Or they might sever all ties with the continent and isolate themselves entirely.’
There was no need to overthink it.
“The Heresy that arose within the Temple—that would be the seed of civil war.”
Religious war.
That was the final card that could bring down an isolated nation.
The fact that Joaquin had possessed the Holy Relic likely meant it was intended not merely to exploit his rage for eliminating Deyan, but to compound the chaos.
‘So that’s why they stayed hidden for a full 130 years.’
To plan something this massive while concealing their existence, letting humanity’s own stupidity do the work.
Why they’d bother with such tedious schemes was obvious.
‘The Creator must be afraid.’
The ideal outcome would be for Sariel to deal with the Angel dwelling in the Emperor’s body.
And if Beval then seized that opportunity to eliminate the Demon and reclaim his power…
Though international chaos would ensue, we might even seize that moment to make Plene the true center of the continent.
“The troops Holdin brings will be positioned here.”
Deyan indicated several regions he’d marked on the map.
All were places I hadn’t been able to establish adequate defenses due to insufficient forces—and exactly the gaps through which Adorif could pour in when they advanced southward.
“If civilian casualties are acceptable, they could reach the opposite border fastest.”
“That’s not an option!”
I cried out as if seized by convulsion.
‘What am I even trying to accomplish by starting all this just to prevent one war?’
I had resolved to protect this nation in my father’s stead.
I had also promised to cherish and love the people as much as my mother did.
Plene was the purpose of my life and the direction I must walk—and that inherently included its citizens.
“If you steal people’s homes, where are they supposed to go? Have you already forgotten why I’ve gone through all this ridiculous theater with you just to stop Joaquin? Are you really going to claim you don’t even know that?”
“Of course I know. But thinking of what will come, we must prepare for the worst.”
“What kind of preparation? Sacrificing everything in a fight against creatures that aren’t even human while civilians’ homes burn? How is that not the worst?”
How could that possibly be called anything but the worst?
Deyan’s indifference sparked fury in me.
‘When you think about it, they’re the ones fighting desperately, so why do we have to bear the costs?’
When I pushed back hard, his expression turned troubled.
But I didn’t relent—I reached out and tore the pins from the map.
Careless as my movements were, the sharp needle pricked and scraped my fingers, drawing blood, but I felt no pain at all.
“Ducal Princess.”
Unable to bear it, Deyan grabbed my wrist and stopped me.
“This is a rejection.”
“You must choose between people’s lives and their homes.”
Deyan continued trying to persuade me in his calm, measured tone.
“Then let’s find another way. If there’s truly no other option, I’d rather storm Adorif myself and take the Emperor’s head.”
I wrenched my captured hand free.
“You seem so calm. Is it because this isn’t your problem?”
“We lack the strength to protect everything.”
“And whose fault is that?”
I stared at him, my eyes full of resentment.
I’d expected him to look away as usual and appeal for sympathy with that guilt-stricken face.
But Deyan met my gaze unflinching.
“Fortunately, we do have time to evacuate the people from the civilian settlements.”
“But have you ever thought about how bleak life becomes when you’ve lost your home, even if you survive?”
“Of course I have. That’s why we’ll have them settle in new land—”
“What new land?”
Within this vast continent, Plene held only a fraction of territory—barely a handful.
And even that narrow strip was plagued by constant invasion, offering no safety.
Could a life spent fleeing their homes, searching endlessly for a place to settle, ever truly be called living?
“Did you think resettlement would be easy? These lands have been home to farmers since ancient times. This region’s soil is poor for crops, so many skilled craftspeople have built their expertise here, and this area—”
“They can settle in Count Nemanic.”
……!
My words caught in my throat.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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