Although General Green had only brought along his most trustworthy subordinates, when their numbers were combined with the president and the others, they were still over forty of them in total.
With such a large group, it would obviously be incredibly difficult to remain unnoticed while moving through the city, which was why General Green had opted to hide and wait for the arranged ‘escape vehicle’ first.
Of course, they could always separate and go out in smaller groups, but that would exponentially decrease their chances of being able to fight back in case they did get caught.
Never in his wildest dreams did General Green expect such a pie to fall from the sky, however.
With a lively parade like this in front of them, not to mention forty, maybe even a hundred men would be able to hide in their ranks and escape!
Naturally, General Green was well aware that it was unlikely for the parade to go all the way out of the city, but as long as it could hide them until they were out of the city center, it would have already served its purpose.
The president and the others obviously didn’t have any other way out either, and could only follow the general to ‘mingle’ with the crowd.
Of course, disguising and hiding within the crowd also meant that they couldn’t continue carrying too many weapons, either, but that was a small sacrifice for a way out.
With the disorganized nature of this parade, their group was quickly able to make their way to a more crowded zone, becoming completely indistinguishable from afar.
Although they didn’t really care about the purpose of the parade at first, hearing the people around them scream their undying love for the girl that they had already begun to hate with all their hearts, their faces quickly turned ugly.
Of course, no matter how they didn’t like Emilia, none of them would be stupid enough to—
”Shit! What’s so great about that stupid bitch, I fucking—?!”
’This motherfucker!’ The general quickly rushed to cover the president’s mouth, hoping against hope that no one else heard them, but unfortunately… it was too late.
”You did NOT just call our beloved princess what I think you did, right?”
”Wait, what did he just say?!”
General Green’s face turned pale, but just as he was debating whether they should attempt diffusing the situation or just run away hoping things wouldn’t escalate, someone suddenly pointed at the president in disbelief.
”I-Isn’t that the bastard president who ruined our country?!”
”It’s him?!”
Although he was wearing a thick red beard that didn’t match his previous face at all, the General failed to take into account that some people still remembered how the president looked like when he kept a beard many years ago when he was a smaller minister.
Or at least that was the most reasonable explanation that his panicked brain could come up with, never realizing that there could be a bigger conspiracy at play.
The general quickly made up his mind to run away from these people to a different part of the crowd, hoping that the numbers alone would be enough to leave them confused and lost.
The civilians who had been loudly questioning and pointing their fingers obviously were no match for the trained military men, and could only be dumbfounded when they realized they had been so easily shoved aside and left in the dust.
”Quick, someone notify the princess! That old bastard president is here!”
”We can’t let him get away! Who knows what kind of trouble he’s trying to stir?!”
”Catch him!”
The general’s hopes of losing the pursuers in the crowd were quickly dashed when the surrounding commotion only grew larger. And it didn’t take long at all for people to start blocking them from all sides with poles and sticks.
Of course, some of them were still carrying guns, but shooting anyone in public would just increase their chances of getting caught, and the General knew it.
Unfortunately, the crowd didn’t allow him the chance to think of a way out, and directly started jumping on the president, leaving the rest of them with no other choice than to resist.
”We’ll move away in formation two, towards the north—!”
The general’s words got stuck in his throat as he was suddenly hit by an intense wave of drowsiness, only then realizing that something was very, very wrong.
When one of his subordinates collapsed right in front of him with a tranquilizer dark stuck on the back of his neck, something finally clicked in General Green’s mind. ‘No way…’
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The news of the old president and his cronies sneaking into the parade of people who gathered to congratulate the empress on her ‘victory’ soon spread throughout the empire.
”Shit, sneaking in with just a few dozen armed men, what was he trying to do, shoot the empress from within the crowd?!”
”Ahh! Just thinking about it makes me mad!”
Even though the chances of his nefarious plan succeeding were minimal, wouldn’t their empress have a bad impression of her people if their ‘first formal greeting’ had someone from the crowd shooting at her?
As for the worst-case scenario… most didn’t even dare to think about it.
Of course, there was no lack of ‘detectives’ in the world, and some soon ‘revealed’ what could really have happened.
”If you think about it carefully, the old president couldn’t have been unaware of just how well-protected the new empress is, and the chances of getting a clear shot at her and succeeding… well, he would have to be pretty stupid to go that route, right? If you ask me, what he wanted to do was completely different.”
”He IS pretty stupid, though, isn’t he?”
The ‘detective’ was naturally not pleased with that response. “Hey, isn’t your focus wrong? You should ask me what he really wanted to do, okay?!”
And then, regardless of other people’s opinions, he coughed awkwardly and continued. “Anyway, although there hasn’t been any official response from the side of the empress so far, based on the video evidence, I have already uncovered the conspiracy in full!”
”What conspiracy?!”
’That’s more like it!’ The ‘detective’ puffed out his chest with pride. “Obviously, many of you noticed that the men who were caught by the soldiers of the empress before were also carrying handguns and knives, right?”
Before someone stupid could mention things like ‘self-defense’, he quickly continued. “Hiding themselves while sneaking in the center of a huge crowd like that… wouldn’t it be incredibly easy for them to start a huge riot with a few well-placed words and shots?”
The ‘detective’ then went on to emphasize how easy it was to sway and rile people up when they were already worked up in that kind of atmosphere, and many who had been skeptical before couldn’t help but be convinced.
”Of course, the most important point is not this. What’s really amazing is that he risked everything with this move by going in himself, do you know why?!”
After waiting just the right amount of time for everyone’s curiosity to reach its peak, the ‘detective’ finally grinned. “Because if he managed to cause a big enough riot that could lead to civil unrest in the empire’s capital and then successfully convinced people that it was all the fault of the new empress… guess who might still stand a chance at turning over her throne for himself?!”
This type of speculation naturally caused a lot of uproar, especially among the people of Blue Dawn, who were incensed that anyone would think of them as so fickle as to betray their empress for the old president who made them suffer so much.
Internationally, however, this ‘conspiracy’ was soon accepted as one with a very high likelihood of being accurate.
Of course, when it came to the leaders of other nations, they were more concerned about Emilia’s response to the situation than the old president’s intentions.
This was especially so for her neighboring countries, who still had no idea what kind of changes were in store for them now that she had taken the throne.
Her attitude in dealing with this situation would not only show them her general stance, but also how flexible or rigid she was when it came to accepting things that weren’t very pleasing to her eye.
Many had already been dreading dealing with a ‘child’ who might start throwing tantrums if she didn’t get her way in the future, and this incident was sure to give them a hint of what was in store for them in the future.
After all, when it came to diplomatic relations between two countries, which one of them didn’t have to accept some compromises?
Fortunately, they didn’t have to wait long before the empire’s official announcement.
”Empress Emilia will be addressing her people in the central plaza tomorrow morning at nine. Everyone who is able to is welcome to attend, though there is no need to crowd the place too much. Her words will be broadcast live on both the empire’s news channel and our official website!”
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