Chapter 393: The Two-World Conference, and Fire and Ice.
On this day, the [Two-World Conference] was held.
As the host country for the [Two-World Conference]—that sounds rather grandiose, but to be honest, all Brunhild is doing is providing a venue for the conference, as well as requesting for cooperation in our preparation against the variants.
Also, when disagreements occur between other countries, if it's something we can help to resolve, then we will lend a hand. Brunhild's position in the world is something like that.
It was like this since back when we were only the Western Alliance, but it becomes more of a party than a conference every time. It's now basically the norm since we just followed the flow every single time.
Here and there in the venue, while having friendly conversations, various talks between nations are being exchanged.
Since there are representatives from the Reverse World countries present here, there's no lack of conversation partners.
On a side note, the countries we've invited this time from the other side are:
Primula Kingdom.
Trihalan God-Empire.
Strain Kingdom.
Holy Kingdom Alent.
Garudio Empire.
Raze Martial Kingdom.
Panashes Kingdom.
The above seven.
I've asked the Demonoid King of Demonoid Kingdom Helgaia on his intent to participate as well, and he decided to pass on this occasion. Since he had finally begun interacting with Egret, I suppose he isn't keen on appearing in this kind of event so readily yet.
While I've met with the rulers of Primula, Trihalan, Strain and Panashes, this is my first time meeting the rulers of Alent, Garudio and Raze.
The young new emperor of Garudio, Lancelet Rig Garudio. After the clash with Eisengard, since Imperial Prince Lucrecion renounced his right to succession, he became the one who would succeed as the next emperor.
We exchanged greetings earlier, and he felt like a serious young man to me. When Yumina, who was following me, looked at him with her mystic eyes, she confirmed that he was indeed possessed of a straightforward disposition as a person.
As they're fellow young rulers of the same generation, he's currently having fun talking with Lestia's knight king and Lihnea's King Cloud. I hope they become friends.
Next is Holy Kingdom Alent's Holy King, Garaud Zess Alent.
Even though he's close to sixty, he was a large-bodied man who doesn't look nearly as old as what his age suggests. A grim face and the white beard. He'd be a good match against Baba jii- san.
I was totally imagining a slender, delicate-looking man since he's called "holy king" and all… Well, we have an unbalanced leader in the form of the macho man who's king of the kingdom of magic here in our world as well, so.
Holy Kingdom Alent was apparently a country formed by a hero who unified the surrounding tribes with guidance from the spirits.
Due to that, it has a deep-rooted faith in spirits, and spirits are referred to as "holy spirits" in the country, apparently. (Note: "spirit" and "holy spirit" are pronounced the same in Japanese: both being "seirei".)
When I told him that I can use spirit magic, at first, he thought it was something similar to summoning magic, and was angry at me saying "Using holy spirit-sama as servants!" and other things along that line.
However, after I explained to him that spirit magic is a magic in which the caster seeks for cooperation from the contracted spirit through communicating with it, he honestly apologized.
Since there's coincidentally another person who can call out a spirit here in the venue, I introduced him to Eashen's Shirohime-sama, and asked her to call out her contracted spirit (who's also her mother), the spirit of snow.
I could've done the spirit summoning myself, but I asked Shirohime-sama to do it, thinking that it could be a good opportunity for them to know each other better as fellow monarchs; however, the result was a failure.
The Holy King, who saw a spirit for the first time, started praying to the spirit of snow on the spot. It was likely quite embarrassing; the spirit of snow promptly returned to the Spirit Realm with a bright red face.
When I promised to provide beginner magic tomes about spirit magic to him, he held my hand and gave his thanks to me rather exaggeratedly. My hand hurts…
Well, that's still the better one. The problem is another…
"I desire a bout with Mochizuki Takeru-dono."
"No, like I said…"
The one who's drawing closer to me with glittering eyes while saying that is the king of Raze Martial Kingdom. The Martial King, Gimlet Gal Raze.
He's the father of Prince Zanbert, who came to our country and got beaten up hard the other day. Of course, he's also a dragonkin… A dragonewt.
He's a macho old man who feels like the result of putting an extra round of muscle on his son. Various scars could be seen on his visible neck and wrists.
Unfortunately for him, Takeru ojii had went on a training trip together with his two disciples, Ende and Elze. He'll probably come back by sunset, but in either case, I don't really want to see something like the king of a country getting blown away by one hit.
"Have you not heard from your son about what happened when he fought Takeru ojii?"
"I don't need to; I can tell that he got blown away in one hit. Ever since then, my son's arrogance had disappeared, and he's diligently making effort these days. I'm thankful to you guys from the bottom of my heart. That's why, I'd like to have a bout with my son's benefactor."
"No, that logic's weird, okay."
How does that lead to this. Aren't you mixing a bunch of sophism together to hide the fact that you just want to fight, you old man? The way you're carrying the conversation over is a bit too forceful.
If it's Moroha nee-san or Karina nee-san then they're available, but the result will be the same, so I don't really want to do it.
As I was worried over how to handle this, a helping hand came from a weird direction.
"If it's a fight you want, how about I take you on, o Martial King of a foreign country?"
"Mu?"
At the friendship party after the conference, His Majesty the Mismede Beast King came towards us while saying that. Another troublesome… Oi, the Mismede warriors behind you are facepalming, you know.
"You are Mismede Kingdom's…"
"Ou. I happen to like fighting strong people as well, you see. I feel like I can fight without restraints if it's against you; how about it?"
Nonono. Isn't it weird for fellow kings to interact with each other like that? And I'm trying to make you guys become friendly with each other too.
"Is there a good location?"
"The knight order's training grounds is behind this place. How about there?"
"I see. Alright, let's do it."
With a grin, the Martial King began leaving the room together with the Beast King.
"Wai-, you seriously going to do it!?"
"Don't worry, Touya-dono. We won't hold any grudges even if we lose, and isn't the training field here made so that we won't die inside it?"
"Well, it is made that way, but…"
Our training field is set up so that if a life-threatening injury was sustained by someone inside, it would automatically cast [Mega Heal], [Recovery] and [Refresh] on them.
As for why I made something like that, it's because I'm worried Moroha nee-san might do something stupid when I'm not looking. People like the Lestia Knight King come to spar with her from time to time, too. As expected, I wouldn't feel at ease if I don't put up some kind of countermeasures.
…When I thought about it, it's an out in the first place for Lestia's Knight King to get beaten up by Moroha nee-san, isn't it… If so, does that mean there's no problem to the two kings fighting each other?
As I tilted my head with a "Unn…", Her Majesty the Strain Queen tapped me on the shoulder.
"It'll be fine. Raze's Martial King is someone who respects his opponents, and abhors acts of mixing personal sentiments into political affairs."
Even if you say that, I'm still worried, so I had Yae and Hilda follow them. I asked them to stop the two if anything happened even if they had to use force.
Following the two, the Raze and Mismede guards also went out of the room while sighing. The subordinates sure have it tough when the tops are muscleheads… I feel sorry for them.
"That reminds me, were there any refugees from Eisengard arriving in Strain?"
After making some small talks for a while, Yumina presented the question to Her Majesty the Strain Queen. Ah, right, I was curious about that too. There should've been quite a few people who abandoned that country and escaped to other countries lately.
"Although it's not as much as Garudio, we do have a number of them who reached our shores. However, to start anew on an unknown land isn't something easy by all means. There are some who fear that they may become thieves or bandits due to a lack of resources."
While it's unfortunate, that possibility is rather large, isn't it.
According to the reports from Bastet and Anubis, a lot of strange things are occurring within Eisengard right now.
I understand how they would want to escape to get rid of their unease, but going to another country and becoming bandits there is nothing but causing trouble for others.
The issue of refugees is a headache no matter what age or world we're in, eh. Although it's still not anything big right now, we don't know what it may develop into in the future.
"Just what is happening in Eisengard, I wonder?"
"We're investigating that right now. Unless it's for a matter of great importance, I don't recommend going over to that place. It'd be good for us to stay cautious regarding this case."
"Do you mean to say that Eisengard might be attacking us?"
"Well, I don't know if it'll actually be Eisengard, though."
I'm firm in my belief that variant ruler-classes are behind this. The ones I know of are Yura, who had a hand in creating the evil god, and the twin ruler-classes, Leto and Luto, who Ende mentioned; however, there may be more aside from those three. I should ask about this from Nei, who's together with the Phrase's sovereign, Mel. They were once comrades, so.
"Over in your world… Wait, it's just another continent now, isn't it. Over in your continent, has there been any rumors of unrest or conflicts?"
"Rumors of unrest, is it… Right, I've heard that the dispute between Ice Nation Zadonia and Flame Nation Dauburn is intensifying recently."
Zadonia and Dauburn? Etto, they are countries that are located to the north of Holy Kingdom Alent, right. I've heard about their bad relationship with each other before.
"Those two countries are like cats and dogs… If Zadonia says something is right, Dauburn would definitely disagree; if word comes out that Dauburn imported some new model of armed golems, Zadonia would also import those new golems in defiance to Dauburn. Ever since the two countries were created, they've been competing with each other like that; it's basically a tradition."
Like cats and dogs, eh. There were countries like that back on Earth as well, wasn't there.
"Zadonia is a country covered in snow, and Dauburn is a desert country; even though they're neighbors, their environments are completely different. It's been passed down in the two countries that the reason lies with the other."
"Passed down? Do they not know of the exact reason why that is the case?"
"I do not know that much. I only know that something was stolen."
"Stolen? By which side?"
"By both sides."
What is that. When I asked about it in detail, apparently both countries have denounced the other one as a thief. I don't really get this situation.
Since Alent's Holy King is apparently more knowledgeable about this topic, I went to ask him about it.
"Ah, that story? I heard that the ancient documents they possess claimed that Zadonia earned the ire of the goddess of ice, and Dauburn was cursed by a demon god of fire due to an item they stole from each other. We interpreted that story as 'They stole an offering to be made to their gods from each other'…"
Etto… So basically, Zadonia had something they were going to offer to the goddess of ice, and Dauburn had something they were going to offer to the demon god of fire, and they each stole that offering in question from each other; due to the lack of offerings, the goddess and demon god got angry and cursed their countries, resulting in a land of extreme cold and a land of extreme heat, or something like that?
Un… First off, that's not the work of gods, isn't it. I think. I mean, even the World God-sama was basically leaving these two worlds alone until now, so.
There's the case of Ramissh Theocracy before too. Is this another case caused by the spirits?
"What're you sinking into thought for? Don't tell me, you're actually thinking of reconciling Zadonia and Dauburn? Even if you're the [Arbiter], that's going to be a tough job, you know. Those two countries basically never listen to anything we say, after all."
The Holy King called out to me, who had become silent. Wait, what do you mean by that [Arbiter]?
"Weren't you the one who stopped the war between Primula and Trihalan, and the one between Garudio and Eisengard?"
"No, well, those were, how should I say it, spur of the moment, or something like that…"
Catching the conversation, the Primula king who had been listening to us nearby opened his mouth.
"It was surprising when Touya-dono suddenly kidnapped the general of the Trihalan army, eh… Don't tell me you're also planning to kidnap the kings of Zadonia and Dauburn?"
"No no no. Please stop speaking like I'm a habitual kidnapper or something. Well, I do think it might be a good idea to let them talk with each other as fellow kings, in a place where there won't be any interruptions."
"I wonder about that. They might start a fistfight instead, you know."
Un, that's also troubling, isn't it. Should I tie them up so that they can't move… I'm steadily heading deeper down the path of a habitual kidnapper, aren't I.
If it's a personal grudge, I'd like them to fight it out between themselves by all means; however, the damage from such a fight might reach the citizens under them, after all.
"Do the two country's people also hate each other and call each other thieves?"
"No, not as much as the nobles. I believe most of them would be happy for the rift between the two countries to close, since that would lead to things like being conscripted ceasing. They were apparently recruited as soldiers on a near-yearly basis, after all. It's certainly not something they would endure willingly. Nobody lives at the land near their borders, and every time there's a war, that area's ownership would exchange hands several times, or something."
Apparently, no matter who managed to invade the other, they would find the climate unbearable and would run back to their own country in the end, abandoning the territory they conquered. The hell is that.
"For us Alent, since their ongoing rivalry with each other effectively prevents any conflicts from happening between us, we're thankful for it, to be honest."
Basically, the two countries are both wary of the possibility that if either one of them attacked Alent, the other could take that opportunity and attack themselves.
With that same reason, the close-by Panashes Kingdom and Gem Kingdom havn't been attacked by them as well.
When you think about it like that, letting the two countries continue feuding with each other might be the better option for the sake of world peace.
However, I immediately denied that thought when I caught sight of the Lihnea king and the young Palouf king laughing together in the corner of my vision.
Lihnea and Palouf have had small skirmishes against each other for a long period of time. A large part of that was due to the former Prime Minister Warduck who had control of Lihnea, as well as the fake prince Zabun; and right now, the two countries are steadily building up a good relationship.
The princess of Palouf, as well as the young Palouf king's older sister, Princess Lucienne is also the fiancée of the Lihnea king, Cloud.
Those two are the proof that even if two countries have fought each other constantly in the past, they can still establish friendly relationships with each other.
Well, both Lihnea and Palouf have had their leaders switched out at a good timing, which contributed to the result as well.
I suppose I'll sit back and watch the situation for now. Excessively interfering in the affairs of others isn't something good, and I've got my hands full with other things right now anyway.
As I was thinking about something like that, the smartphone in my breast pocket rang. It's from Guildmaster Rerishia-san.
Ah, that reminds me, she asked me to seek permission to set up Adventurer's Guilds over on the other side, didn't she. I was planning to bring that topic up at the party after the conference. Well, the conference right now is kinda like a party already, though.
With a bit of an awkward feeling, I picked up the call.
"Yes, hello."
"This is Rerishia. We've caught signs of a future variant appearance."
"… The location?"
"That is… It's apparently in the sea… In the area between Refreese, Lihnea and Panashes—it could be at the surface or bottom of the sea—we detected signs of spatial distortion."
From the sea…? It's an appearance pattern that hasn't appeared before. If it was the Phrase, we can predict and induce their movements to a degree, as their goal is to kill humans. However, the variants wouldn't be that easy.
They're probably moving with a goal in mind. I don't know if that goal is an order from the ruler-classes, or a plot of the evil god's, though. Since we don't know their aim, the only thing we can do is to watch how they move, I guess.
Since it's out at sea, the fact that no humans would be in immediate danger due to their appearance is the only saving grace in this case, isn't it.
"The estimated number and appearance time?"
"Around 10 thousand. We believe it should be something close to the invasion of Yulong. The estimated time of appearance is around thirty hours from now."
About the same as that time, huh… And all of them are variants. For our side too, different from that time, we have the personal frames of everyone, and there's my Reginleiv as well. We have new mass-produced Chevaliers and Knight Barons, and although there's only two, the new Over Gears too.
There are so many countries who would lend their strength to us as well. There isn't a thing for me to feel uneasy about.
I conveyed the matter regarding the variant appearance to the leaders assembled here, and asked them to select members for the defense from their knight orders.
I won't let the variants or the evil god do whatever they want. This place is our world, after all.