Chapter 365: Dinner, and the Ruined Fortress.
The restaurant Silhouette-san brought us to was something that clearly caters to the nobility; a high-quality establishment.
Over in this world, there's no such thing as a dress code, but as expected, it doesn't look like a shop we can enter while in our adventurers' mode.
That's why, we took a short break as we returned to the villa on Dracliff Island, where Yumina, Sakura and Suu each took out some formal clothes they had inside the [Storage] enchanted on their smartphones, and I changed into a blazer and leather boots as well.
This blazer was something based off the uniform I was wearing when I first came to this world; Zanack-san, who I sold that uniform to, was the one who designed this.
Zanack-san was saying something about how the sewing had been rough, but I don't see how. It's almost indistinguishable from the uniform it was based off of. Honestly, looking at the raw materials, I'd say this one has a better durability.
Still, it does feel comforting to be wearing a necktie again after so long. Oops, for precaution's sake, I should keep Brunhild hanging from my waist at least.
"Those are new clothes, aren't they? They suit you well."
"King-sama, cool."
"As expected of Touya-nano ja."
The fiancée group gave me their praises. I think they're flattering me a bit much, but I said my thanks to them regardless. Still, now that I think about it, Zanack-san is the only one who saw me in my uniform, huh.
When Silhouette-san saw my figure as we returned from the island, she made a comment.
"That's some weird clothing. Are those the kind of clothes one wears for formal occasions over in your world?"
"No, well… It is so for the place I lived at."
It's actually from another different world, but explaining that would be troublesome, so I gave Silhouette-san a suitable reply. Students do wear their uniforms for ceremonial occasions sometimes, so it's not exactly wrong.
When we, now dressed formally, entered the restaurant, one of the staff saw Silhouette-san and rushed over.
On a side note, the black panther Shade, who became Silhouette-san's summoned beast a moment ago, was staying with us as usual.
The staff all had a stupefied face on when they saw it, but Silhouette-san explained that it's her guard while stroking Shade's head; after that, no one raised the matter again. Well, we're bringing Kohaku along too, for that matter.
It's a guess, no, it's probably the truth, but this restaurant is likely under Silhouette-san's patronage.
If so, then it was probably alright even if we hadn't changed. Well, it would be bad if the other side were to feel slighted, so I guess it wasn't a waste.
Seems that that "other side" is already here. We were guided to the second floor of the restaurant, and when we entered a room deep within the building, there was the figure of a woman sitting in front of a large table. Behind her, two silver-colored knight golems are standing guard.
She looks to be around her forties. Her eyes are blue, and a pair of glasses covered them. A gentle smile was on her lips, and she gives off a similar feeling in some ways to Yumina's mother, Belfast's Queen Yuel.
Her light brown hair was brushed upwards, and held in place by a barrette. And on top of that, a silver tiara-like circlet shined as it reflected the ambient light.
"My sincere apologies, Your Majesty. Did we keep you waiting?"
"No, I've just reached here myself. Those people there are?"
"Yes. Mochizuki Touya-sama, and his fiancées."
After exchanging greetings with Silhouette-san, the woman stood up and bowed lightly towards us.
"Nice to meet you. I am the leader of this Strain Kingdom, Margarita Twente Strain. I wanted to talk with you at least once."
"… I'm Mochizuki Touya. You know about me?"
While bowing to Queen Margarita, I asked a question. Did Silhouette-san talk to her about me?
"Strain has its own intelligence department as well. Recently, topics concerning you are all the rage, you know? The great magician that stopped the war between Primula Kingdom and Trihalan God-Empire, defeated the golden monsters that appeared in Eisengard, and also destroyed the ancient final weapon Hekatonkheire. You've also repelled the purple [Crown] once before, taken the chivalrous thieves' group [Red Cats] under your wings, and live on an island where countless dragons reside. And now you also made deep connections with the [Black Cats], as well."
"There are several points I would like to correct in that summary…"
The Red Cats aren't under my wings or anything like that, and I don't exactly live on Dracliff Island too. There is the villa that serves as our base of operations there, though.
"May I ask something? What could your relationship with Silhouette-san be?"
"A personal client… Would be the correct term, I believe. She provides me with important information that I need sometimes. Of course, she won't give me information regarding other countries easily, but if it's things regarding my own country then it is fine. It's helpful in pinning down negative influences such as insurgents within the country."
Insurgents… Huh. Seems like she has a lot to deal with too, so I'll refrain from going further down that topic. It smells like trouble. So Strain Kingdom has problems with its unity…
I glanced at Yumina for a second. She sent a small nod back with a smile. Her mystic eyes activated without problems; seems like the queen's as good a person as she looks to be.
Well, even if she's a good person, she still could be troublesome to deal with, just like the monarchs back in the Surface World. Let's see if she's a fox or a raccoon… (Note: both foxes and raccoons are animals that can symbolize cunning and slyness.)
"For the moment, let us sit down and eat. The food here is delicious, you know."
We sat down at the table as she suggested. Shade, the black panther who's guarding Silhouette-san, also sat down next to the chair she's sitting on.
Kohaku was sitting on top of Yumina's knees. Eh, won't that make it hard to eat?
While I was thinking something like that, a carpaccio-like dish was brought in as appetizer. The herb-based sauce looked very appetizing.
The thinly-sliced meat was tender, and when I bit into it, the sauce and the finely-chopped vegetables added together to great effect. It really is delicious. If the appetizer is this good, I'm looking forward to the rest.
The fact that I don't know what kind of meat this is is slightly uncomforting though. It's somewhat beef-like… Well, since Her Majesty the Queen is eating it as well in front of us, it shouldn't be anything too weird.
"Does Touya-san know of a country named 'Belfast'?"
I almost spit out the food in my mouth upon hearing Her Majesty the Strain Queen's sudden words. I took out a piece of napkin to wipe my mouth in a panic, and drank some water.
"It seems that you do."
"… That would be correct. On the other hand, where did Your Majesty hear about the country named Belfast?"
If she spoke about "Brunhild", that's still understandable. I had already given that name out to people like Nia of the [Red Cats] as well as His Majesty the Primula King. However, I'm sure I've never said the name "Belfast" to anyone over in this world.
"In the recent months, there have been several cases of persons with unknown origins being found within this kingdom. As they cannot speak the common language, we thought they were refugees from some remote frontier at first, but as they began to learn our language, we
realized that's not the case. Some among them were capable of wielding magic, and they were also saying that they're from countries called 'Belfast', 'Roadmare', 'Regulus', and 'Ferzen'."
"Wha…!"
Transferrers! There are people who drifted over from the Surface World through cracks in the world barrier here!?
"Of course, those are all country names we've never heard of before. When we asked them if those are names of towns or cities, they were firm in saying that those are countries. Furthermore, when they looked at a world map, they said something about how it was completely reversed from that of the world they were in."
Silhouette-san was silently watching us as we listened to Her Majesty the Queen. I've told Silhouette-san about how we're from a different world, so it's not out of the question for the Strain queen to know about it too.
However, judging from the flow of conversation, it doesn't seem like the queen heard about it from Silhouette-san.
"Where could you people be from?"
The queen in front of us went straight for the heart of the matter. Her eyes, which are looking directly at us, looked to be sincere.
Well, it's not something I want to hide. To be honest, it's for the best that she knows about this, really. As the leader of a country, it's not something she would want to ignore.
"… As you've probably already guesses, we're from another world. It's a world that neighbors this one; something like its twin. Over there, while still inexperienced, I'm serving as the sovereign of a country named 'Brunhild Dukedom'. Also, Yumina here is the princess of Belfast, which Your Majesty the Queen just mentioned."
The queen showed an expression of shock upon hearing my words; from what I could tell, however, it wasn't due to hearing about how we're from another world, but the fact that Yumina is the princess of Belfast.
Yumina, who's placed into focus, just smiled and nodded to her.
For now, I should talk about all the important things that have happened so far, I suppose.
As the appetizers were removed from the table, and the soup dish was served, I looked at Her Majesty the Strain Queen.
I managed to wrap up most of the explanations around the time we finished the main dish. Normally, it's a talk that most would be hard-pressed to believe, but the successive appearance of the variants, the information on the transferrers, and our existence before her eyes all lend credibility to it.
I've also showed her things like the view of the cities in the Surface World as well as Frame Gear combat through videos.
Further, I reported about the battle we had against the giant tree variant earlier today.
"I had also heard about Eisengard being on the verge of collapse, but to think that sort of thing happened… So that strange phenomenon wasn't caused by a kind of disease, then?"
"Yes. Quite likely, the variant's spores… Or seeds, I suppose; they would react with the negative emotions of the people they came into contact with and bloom into those flowers, taking over control of the host body in the process. Since the source of all that had already been destroyed, things should be fine for now."
There's the possibility that similar tree variants had been planted elsewhere, so I can't say that with certainty, though.
"And, well… Is our world really going to merge with yours in the future?"
"It is. For a while, you may experience things like light earthquakes and other phenomena. Also, there might be more of those transferrers appearing in the future. Of course, there might
also be similar people appearing in our world, so I hope we can both endeavor to protect them."
Criminals would be off our considerations, though. While we would show some consideration to their situations, there's no way we will treat someone who came to our world and killed several people in any decent way.
"I understand. We'll kindly protect the ones who appeared in our country as well."
That'd help a lot. We'll have to send them back to their homeland sometime soon as well.
"I want to convey this matter to the neighboring Holy Kingdom as well. Apparently, several transferrers have appeared there too. The Holy King had also been concerned about this."
The Holy Kingdom… Holy Kingdom Alent, huh. The country I visited when I came to the Reverse World for the first time.
Apparently, a transferrer appeared in the Holy Capital Alen who can use recovery magic, which caused a bit of fuss. Although that person cannot converse with others, the kingdom had welcomed him/her as a state guest due to the fact that he/she can use the rare recovery magic.
Since that person can use magic, he/she might be someone from Magic Kingdom Ferzen.
Still, the holy capital, eh. I wonder if the merchant Sancho-san and the others I've met there before are still doing well. Right, it was at that city where I first met Nia and the rest from the Red Cats.
"In the future, I'm planning to hold a conference between the two worlds' leaders; do you have any interest in participating?"
"Let's see… From what I've heard from you, Primula, Trihalan and Garudio would be participating; in that case, us Strain Kingdom as well as our allied countries, Holy Kingdom Alent, Raze Martial Kingdom, and Panashes Kingdom should agree to it as well."
"Panashes… Ah, I've met with the prince of that country before. Back when variants appeared in this country. He was… Quite an impactful prince, alright."
The master of the blue [Crown]. His name was Robert, wasn't it?
With the crown on top of his bowl-cut golden blonde hair, the pumpkin pants and the white tights, he's a prince that would leave an impression on anyone regardless of whether they wanted that or not.
The Strain queen also floated a bitter smile when she heard my words.
"While I certainly can't say much regarding his taste in clothing, he's excellent as an individual and overflowing with a sense of justice. He's also engaged to my niece, actually."
That prince is engaged to the niece of Her Majesty the Strain Queen's niece, huh… So, Strain Kingdom and Panashes Kingdom would have a tie of blood between them?
"The power of the blue [Crown] held by the Panashes royal family is strong, after all. We were helped by it several times in the past. Since most [Crown] holders don't take too kindly to serving under a country, and we can't track most of them down reliably enough, Prince Robert is the only one we can ask for help from in most cases."
Ah… I can understand. [Black], [Red], and [Purple], their masters all have problems after all… If I think about it this way, that sleeping prince actually does sound like an excellent person…
Oh, right.
"I think there'll be more opportunities for us to contact each other in the future, so I'll pass this to you now."
I took out a mass-production model smartphone as well as a user manual from [Storage], and passed them to the queen. The user manual is written in the Reverse World's common language.
"This is?"
"A magic tool used for communication; I've already given others to Silhouette-san and the Primula king. It also has a lot of different functions and is a very convenient tool to have, really."
Silhouette-san taught the queen the basics on using the smartphone. Her Majesty the Queen was surprised at the various functions included in it.
While the Reverse World is more developed than the Surface World in terms of science, their communication devices are still large and unwieldly; they average out at around the size of a common microwave. On top of that, their maximum range is short as well.
If it's our smartphone, on the other hand, it would connect as long as there's magic particles in the air around it, regardless of distance. Well, as expected, places like deep within the sea might be stretching it a bit, though.
"This map is really helpful… It shows the streets of the royal capital clearly. It would play a huge role in city planning, and also help in planning trade routes between cities."
Seems like Her Majesty the Queen is already thinking about practical applications for the smartphone. As expected of a politician, the first thing she thinks of is how it could benefit her country.
"Can this not be mass-produced?"
"For now, it's only for the leaders and other important vessels of the various countries. There's the fear of it being misused, after all. Well, we do have insurances in place for that eventuality, though…"
Each mass-production model smartphone has its own unique serial number, and I can track their locations with my own smartphone. They also have forced transfer magic programmed on them, and I can teleport them to me if I need to. They won't break with any half-assed effort, so it's practically impossible to dismantle it. And in the first place, they're programmed to teleport themselves to me before they're destroyed, anyway.
After that, while receiving more questions from Her Majesty the Queen, the meal continued. The dessert was a crepe-like dish with whipped cream and orange sauce, accompanied by black tea. The food was well-made until the end.
As expected of a restaurant that the queen would visit, the cooking was superb. It was very satisfying.
"The time we spent together had been meaningful to me. I'll be returning to the capital; I want to make haste and start relaying the matter regarding the two-world conference to the other countries."
When we got out of the restaurant, a luxurious-looking golem carriage and several silver-clad knights and knight-type golems awaited Her Majesty the Queen.
The golem carriage isn't an automatic carriage, but a wagon-like part pulled by a golem with wheels attached to it. The wagon also has a platform that looks to be for the golem knights.
"Then, be seeing you."
"Yes. Careful on your way back."
As the queen got onto the wagon-like carriage, it pulled away from us.
I managed to create an opportunity for the leaders of this world to come together in a meeting. This is a big step forward in our preparations. The food was delicious too, so I'm satisfied.
I turned and lowered my head towards Silhouette-san.
"Thank you very much. With this, we've made more progress."
"From the information we've gathered so far, it's already an established fact that those golden monsters are appearing all around the world, and you guys are the only ones who can fight against them. It's not as if this doesn't concern us. Well, the matter this time can also be taken as my thanks for this child, I suppose."
When I said my thanks, she smiled slightly while patting the head of Shade, who was sitting next to her. The black panther narrowed its eyes in comfort.
Silhouette-san parted with us in front of the restaurant. She really seems to be quite busy. In a word, she's in a position akin to the owner of a large corporation, after all. Although that corporation mainly operates adult shops.
"Since we're here anyway, might as well go visit Nia and the rest."
The abandoned fortress, which served as the Red Cats' base of operations, is in Strain Kingdom as well. It's in a place near the border with Holy Kingdom Alent, but well, that doesn't matter when I can use [Gate] anyway.
"By Nia, you mean that girl from the thieves' group-ja na? It'll be my first time meeting her- no."
"Chivalrous thieves' group, okay. Don't say that in front of the person herself, got it? You'll make her feel bad."
I reminded Suu. Right, besides Yumina, Luu and Leen, everyone else still hasn't met with the people from Red Cats yet. It's a good opportunity; I'll introduce Suu and Sakura to them as well. When I tell her Suu's my fiancée, Nia's definitely gonna say something stupid to me again… For now, I opened the [Gate], and transferred ourselves to the Red Cats' hideout.
"Wh…!"
When I passed through the gate of light, I was dumbstruck at the sight of the abandoned fortress that entered my eyes.
Well, it was an old abandoned fortress, but with its state right now it's fit to be called ruins, or wreckage. The walls are completely in a crumbling state, and destruction marks can be seen here and there in the grounds. The chairs and tables that the group used to use are scattered here and there, and Est-san's communicator was also in a corner, broken.
The ladder used for ascending and descending was also broken, almost as if by cannon fire.
This clearly doesn't look like anything normal. Are Nia and the others alright?
I took out my smartphone and hurriedly pressed Nia's number in the address book.