Just then, Alger gave a chuckle. "I heard that Ambassador Beckland is also the Republic of Intis's intelligence chief in the kingdom. He secretly supported the bloody demonstrations, planned several incidents meant to drive a wedge between nobles and wealthy citizens, and spread rumors on a large scale to incite opposition between the public and the government."
As Alger spoke, he gave Alice a meaningful glance. Alice froze for a moment, unable to stop herself from wondering what The Hanged Man had imagined on his own this time.
A Blessed... Backlund... Pritz Harbor... He couldn't possibly think I'm that Blessed, could he? But even being a Blessed wouldn't explain my attitude toward Klein...
While Alice was thinking, Alger continued:
"I don't know whether this ambassador is a Beyonder, but many clues suggest that he very likely is.
"He has quite a few Beyonders around him, Beyonders affiliated with Intis's intelligence agency. That department has long been influenced by the former royal Sauron family and possesses the earlier sequences of the Hunter Pathway.
"Besides, whether the two nations go to war depends only on whether their high-level officials want to fight. It has nothing to do with the life or death of a diplomat."
The concept of war, something quite unfamiliar to Alice, entered her mind. She suddenly realized what Audrey had been worried about before: as a Loën noble, she was concerned that war might break out in her own country.
But... war?
Having already escaped illiteracy, Alice had read a few history books in a superficial way. She knew Emperor Roselle had created the steam engine and begun the first Industrial Revolution in this world, but what came after the first Industrial Revolution again?
The First World War... Germany, Britain, Russia, Italy... Alice dug up the history of another