Chapter 392: The Demonoid King, and Helgaia.
"So, these guys are pirates that have drifted to Helgaia, and when they broke out of prison, they kidnapped Your Highness and took you together with them, is it…"
"Yes… I couldn't hold down my curiosity about the thing known as humans, and when I headed down into the dungeons, I was met with that group of pirates who had just escaped…"
That is quite the misfortune…
When we asked Claudia-san, who named herself the queen of Helgaia, about her circumstances in the Egret castle, it seems that she was dragged into the pirates' escape.
In the Reverse World, similar to the Surface World, demonkin (they're called demonoids on the other side, but since it's troublesome I'll just use demonkin to refer to them) is a feared existence due to their appearance that is close to monsters.
For those pirates, they might as well have drifted into a country of demons.
I wonder if they thought they would be eaten or something if they don't escape. Well, it can't be helped even if they do think like that if they see weretigers, werewolves or ogres. Even though they're actually really nice if you talked with them…
"Does that mean those ships are pirate ships?"
"No, the ship those people rode in was apparently in tatters and could not be used anymore. Those black ships are something our king, as well as my husband, the Demonoid King made as a hobby… I don't think he would've imagined those ships to be hijacked as well."
Hobby… Making warships as a hobby, I wonder if he has lots of free time or something?
Well, he's a vampire so I guess he has all the time in the world anyway.
The Demonoid King who built the country of Helgaia for the oppressed demonoids, and worked to protect them several hundred years ago; I suppose that person is Claudia-san's husband himself.
When I thought about it, in order to take away the persecuted demonoids from other countries, warships might be something that's needed.
"And so, what will happen to us?"
"That is obvious; we'll try to contact the other side somehow, and arrange for your return back to your country. You're a victim in this case as well, after all. Until then, feel free to relax at our place."
When the Egret king, sitting down on a sofa, answered Claudia-san's question, she lowered her head slightly.
"Thank you for your consideration, Your Majesty the Egret King. I wasn't aware that your nation existed in such proximity to Helgaia, but we are thankful for this kindness you've shown us. I'm ashamed of myself for holding disrespectful misconceptions about humans before this…"
"Well, compared to you demonkin… Demonoids, us humans are weak and brittle. That's why we make do with our wisdom and knowledge. That, coupled with fear and prejudice, gives birth to ones such as those pirates, people with slyness and cowardice… I hope you can understand that not everyone is like them."
"I see…"
Regarding the relationship between Egret and Helgaia, the two of them apparently feels that if the other party isn't keen on establishing relationships with other countries, then there's no need to quickly get along with each other. As long as they're not in an antagonistic relationship, it's fine even if they don't force themselves and establish diplomatic ties, I suppose.
If the other country is one with such a stance, then we should honor that, was the Egret king's words.
I personally feel that, like the Demon Kingdom Xenoas, they should establish some ties with other countries even for a bit, but well, I understand that forcing them isn't good. I think the Egret king honestly has the same thought as me deep down, but we have to give precedence to the wishes of the other side for this.
"Now then, regarding how we should send Your Highness and your maidservants, as well as those pirates to Helgaia…"
The Egret king sent a look towards me. Hei hei, I got it, no problem.
"I'll head to Helgaia with a [Teleport] and then open a [Gate] from there. That's the safest way too."
I can use [Teleport] together with the queen and others, but since it'll be my first time teleporting there, I might make a mistake and end up on top of a roof, in a stable, or worse.
"I'm thankful, Touya-dono."
"Umm… What is…"
"His Majesty the Brunhild Sovereign is a user of transfer magic. He can move to Helgaia within an instant."
"Is something like that possible?"
The Helgaia queen looked at me while speaking up in surprise.
For the other side, in which magic isn't very developed, such a notion might be pretty hard to believe. Plus, Helgaia's a country that's rather shut-off from the outside world, too.
"Alright, then let's quickly…"
"Your Majesty!"
Opening the door to the reception room, one of the Egret king's close aide, the warrior chief Totora rushed in.
This Warrior Chief Totora was one of the men who rode on the giant Louf birds, and came to Brunhild some time ago.
"What is it, making so much noise. You're rude to the two guests, you know."
"Ha! Please pardon my rude display, as it is an emergency!"
"Emergency? What happened?"
"Four new black ships appeared on the southwestern sea! They're heading straight in this direction!"
"What did you say!?"
The Egret king stood up forcefully. More black ships? Friends of those pirates… Probably not. They're probably…
I connected us to the beach with a [Gate], and headed there together with the Egret king and the Helgaia queen; true enough, I can see four silhouettes on the horizon.
They're still far away, but it's quite clear that they're the same type of ships as the two black ships currently floating off the shore nearby.
"They're probably ships sent out to chase after the pirates."
"Yeah. I guess there's no need for me to go to Helgaia anymore, eh?"
When the Egret king and I exchanged our opinions, the Helgaia queen placed her hands on her chest and showed a joyous expression.
Elze, Hilda and Yae, who were at the beach earlier, came towards us.
"It's the same situation as before; are we going to ask them to stop their ships again?"
"Well, guess that'll be the case. We've gotta tell them that this place belongs to another country. Having them think of this place as an uninhabited island is, well, you know."
While answering Hilda, I sighed slightly. Doing that would mean I'll have to go out myself again, after all.
Well, it isn't like Warrior Chief Totora and the others can't do it with their Louf birds, but there's the possibility that the other side might open fire on them like earlier, so it's better if I go.
"I just hope the people on those ships are agreeable in nature-degozaru na."
"You said it. Spare me from the instant attacks, really."
Using [Fly] again, I flew to where the four black ships are. I stopped at a place a bit farther away than the last time, and activated [Speaker].
"Attention to the crew of the black ships. The sea before you is part of Egret Kingdom's territory. Stop your vessels immediately. If you belong to Demonoid Kingdom Helgaia, please obediently follow our instructions. Your queen desires for that as well."
Now then, what's gonna happen…
The four ships continued to sail for a while, before the leading ship stopped the waterwheels on its sides and reduced its speed. Following that, the other three ships also started to slow down. Guess they're going to follow our instructions?
I slowly approached the black ships from the air.
On the deck of the leading vessel, there's a pale-skinned man with silver hair, who's wearing a black mantle that's fluttering in the wind, staring at me. Wait, that person is a vampire, isn't he. Don't tell me… The Demonoid King?
When I silently landed on the deck, the demonkins surrounded me with a wary atmosphere. Since they didn't take out their weapons, I shall not go into a combat-ready stance as well.
"Name yourself. I am the king of Demonoid Kingdom Helgaia, Alford Cula Helgaia. A proud Vampire Lord."
Arya, as I guessed. A vampire lord, huh.
That reminds me, His Majesty the Demon King of Xenoas has something like a Four Heavenly Kings under him, and one of them was a vampire lord as well. He looks like he's in his twenties, but he's definitely at least a few hundred years old.
"A pleasure to make your acquaintance, Demonoid King. I am the Sovereign of Brunhild Dukedom, Mochizuki Touya. Best regards from now on."
The gallery around us started buzzing when they heard my words.
"A king?"
"You're telling me such a kid is the king of that island?"
"No, didn't he say Egret Kingdom just now? What's happening here?"
"Impossible, there's no way a king would come all the way out here…"
No no. Isn't your king all the way out here as well? I mean, he is right in front of me and everything.
"Brunhild's king, I trust my wife is safe…?"
Nn? I'm being glared at, somehow? There's a strong pressure coming from the Demonoid King in front of me too.
Are, I guess I'm being misunderstood here, aren't I. Could they be thinking that the pirates kidnapped their queen on our orders?
"Please wait a moment. It seems like you're misunderstanding something here; the group of people who kidnapped your queen are unrelated with us. As for the queen and her maidservants, they have been safely rescued, and have been warmly welcomed to Egret's royal castle where they're staying currently. The reason I came here is to return them to you, okay?"
When I spoke to him, the Demonoid King's glaring eyes opened wide in surprise.
"… Is that so? When those bunch drifted onto our shores, they were saying something like the human countries wouldn't stay silent if we did anything to them, so I thought their escape and kidnapping of the queen was all part of some human country's plan…"
Not correct. The fact that the pirates managed to escape was entirely on them, and the queen was simply heading down to the dungeons out of curiosity and got dragged into it by coincidence.
For now, since the talk should proceed faster if he meets with the queen himself, I opened a [Gate] connecting the deck to the beach of Egret where everyone else were at.
"Claudia!"
"Dear!"
The Helgaia king, who passed through the [Gate], rushed straight towards the queen who's standing on the beach, and hugged her tightly. Ooh, how passionate.
"Are you alright? You're not hurt anywhere?"
"Yes. His Majesty the Brunhild Sovereign over there saved me from the pirates, and I was warmly welcomed by His Majesty the Egret King over here."
The wife replied to the worried husband's glance with a smile. Upon hearing her words, the Demonoid King's eyes turned towards the Egret king for the first time.
"So you are the Egret king?"
"Exactly. King of Egret Kingdom, Lefan Letra. Welcome to my country, king of a neighboring nation."
"I'm obliged for your greeting. I cannot thank you enough for helping my wife in her predicament. Let me convey my gratitude again."
"Those words are better sent towards my friend, His Majesty the Brunhild Sovereign. He was the one who saved Queen Claudia from the pirates by himself, after all."
The Demonoid King looked at me again with a gaze containing shock. To be exact, it wasn't by myself, but with two krakens and a whole group of merfolks, though.
"Egret king… There's something I'd like to ask…"
"Go ahead."
"I've never heard of such an island in the seas around here until now. What exactly is this country called Egret…"
"Hahaha. You should direct that question to His Majesty the Sovereign as well. He is a magician capable of manipulating all phenomena, a well-informed person who knows various things about the world, and a mediator between countries who arbitrate over their quarrels and lead them to a friendly relationship. He is sure to answer any doubts you may have."
Ah, did you just throw this to me wholesale!? I mean, I am probably the one person who knows the most about what's happening to the world right now, but still!
Well, I guess I'll explain it to them. Whether they believe me or not is a separate matter.
I took out my smartphone and projected a map into the air.
"This is a map of the world currently. Ever since the meteor rain some days ago, two separate worlds have been combined into one to form our current one. The one on the left is Your Majesty the Demonoid King's world, while the one on the right is the world I, as well as the Egret king, used to live in."
"What…! Besides the fact that the left and right are reversed, the two are completely the same! T-then, if this island is Helgaia, then this reversed island here is…"
"The island we're on right now, Egret Kingdom."
After that, I explained to His Majesty the Demonoid King about the ongoing situation the world is facing.
For better or for worse, no variants have appeared in Helgaia yet; as such, it's rather hard to explain to the two of them the threat of the variants.
As such, I elected to show them videos of our fight against the variants. As a result, they were able to understand that such fearsome monsters existed out there for real, and that they could appear in Helgaia at any time.
"… I understand. So Your Majesty the Brunhild sovereign is trying to create a place where the kings of the world can meet and talk with each other?"
"It's nothing grand. I'm only lending a hand in deepening the relations between fellow rulers, in order for them to get to know each other better, and develop friendly relations."
I talked to them about the two-world conference I had planned as well, and the Demonoid King sunk into thoughts about the prospect.
"I'd like to ask one thing. In your world, how are we… The demonoids treated?"
"That's well… Unfortunately, there are still a lot of people who hold prejudices due to your appearances. However, most countries have banned unjust treatment of the demonkin, and there are also countries that would welcome them with open arms. This Demon Kingdom Xenoas here is a country of demonkin as well, the same as Helgaia."
"Ohh… Then, what about being treated as slaves…"
"If they have committed crimes, they may be sent off to mines as crime slaves, but other than that, most countries in our world have banned the act of slavery, so."
"Is that so…"
In the Surface World, only the two countries of Heavenly Empire Yulong and Sandora Kingdom acknowledged slaves as personal possessions of others. The other countries only recognize slavery in the form of crime slaves, and while some countries allow using them as labor forces, some others prohibit even that.
With both Yulong and Sandora gone from the equation, slavery is basically universally outlawed; however, unhealthy customs tend to survive in the gaps, and there are still slave trading going on via underground routes and such. Well, they are being crushed every time one is found, though.
"Helgaia was a country that was formed by those who had all been oppressed by the humans. There are a lot of us who wouldn't easily acknowledge us joining hands with human countries."
Probably, yeah. Xenoas was like that too, so I can understand. While they did stop isolating themselves, their trades with other countries are still only on very small scales right now, after all.
"However, Helgaia will not have a future if it continues on that path. The only outcome of being left behind by the outside world is a slow demise. As a king, I must do something about that."
"In that case, how about first establishing diplomatic relations with this Egret Kingdom? If you can deepen your mutual understanding through things like sending ambassadors to each other's country, it would help the development of your countries as well."
After I spoke up, the Egret king took a step towards the Demonoid King.
"Umu. From the standpoint of Egret, we'd like to extend our hospitality to this new neighbor of ours. Is it fine?"
"… Understood. First is learning about the countries next to our own, I suppose. Please take care of me."
The Demonoid King firmly gripped the hand the Egret king extended towards him. Seems like the talks are going in a good direction.
Of course, I'll help out with anything I can in regards to building a friendly relationship between the two countries. When I conveyed that to them, the Demonoid King exchanged a look with his wife and made a slight smile.
"That would help us out a lot. Recently, giant Tentakras have appeared in the sea near our country, and our fishermen were troubled over how they cannot do any fishing due to that. Do you have any good ways of solving this problem?"
The Egret king and I unconsciously looked at each other and made complicated expressions.
So they've been rampaging in the oceans on the other side as well, those giant squids…