"I wanna soar through the sky!"
"That's a little, uh..." Leen and I sat on the balcony. As she sipped her black
tea, she raised an eyebrow at my statement.
I'd been thinking about what happened in Ramissh a few days prior, and also
what had happened during the coup before that. Both of those events had
involved airborne enemies, and it'd make a world of difference if I was freely
able to fly around on their level.
Sure, I could just summon a Griffin and ride it around, but flying myself was
way cooler than just fighting atop the back of a mythical beast. That's why I
decided to ask Leen if she knew anything about it.
"I mean... you can make yourself leap through the sky using wind magic, but...
You wouldn't be able to soar or fly freely, nothing like that. It's more of a spell
for blasting people away, so you'd just be using the knockback. Less flying, more
being blasted away."
"Hrmph... in that case, isn't there a Null spell or something?"
"It's possible. But it's not a Null spell that I know." Hrmph... I guess fairies
wouldn't need flight magic, so none of them bothered memorizing which spell
that might be.
I quickly considered another angle as well. Null magic was personal magic. It's
not like most people would be able to use it, even if it was shared. That's
probably why looking into it would end up being fruitless.
Guess I've got no choice, then. I'm gonna have to look through those dusty old
magic books. I'd bought a ton of encyclopedias about Null magic from various
bookstores, and gotten them together in the castle's library. The books had
records of Null magic from all over the world, and from various periods in time.
But, since it was a comprehensive list, the spells ranged from useful... to
absurdly useless. One of the spells allowed you to make ants walk in a straight
line. I couldn't even think how anyone discovered that, or why. "Touya, bruv...
you're really gonna look through all of this?" Renne was free, so I asked her to
help out. But after looking at just one book, she seemed intimidated. I guess she
had a point...
The worst thing about all of these books is that they were all published
independently of each other, and at different points in time. Therefore I saw a
lot of repeated spell names in each book. [Gate] was apparently pretty wellknown. It was listed in every one.
"Yep, I think so. Gonna scour them all. Let's have Lain and Cesca help us out
later on." Renne sat on a chair and began to look through the books. While we
were ostensibly searching for magic that'd allow me to fly, I also asked her to
keep an eye out for any spell that might seem useful as well.
I thought maybe the spell would be called [Fly], or [Flight], but even if I
invoked those names, nothing happened. I wasn't entirely sure why that was
the case, but it was probable that I needed to fully understand the effects of the
spell before I could visualize and use it.
I wondered now and then, but my power felt more like a copy ability than
anything else. I replicated magic that already existed, and made it my own. I
never really created my own.
I decided thinking about stuff like that was a bit pointless, though. As I flipped
through the books, I found some interesting spells now and then. Like [Taboo] a
spell that censored certain words and made it impossible to speak them. That
was interesting, but I didn't know exactly how useful it'd be. For example, I
could forbid the use of the word [Fireball], and that might prevent my enemy
from casting that spell, but it looked like the effect was limited to one word per
person.
"Oi bruv, what about this one?"
"...Nope, don't need that one." What Renne had found was a spell named
[Mosaic]. I wasn't sure about it... Apparently it was a kind of spell that
interfered with the visual spectrum and allowed you to blur certain objects in
people's field of view, but... all it made me think of was something sexually
obscene. It confused me, because mosaics were supposed to be a pattern-
based art form! I had no idea why it created that kind of effect.
Other spells included [Silence], a spell that made things quiet. [Speaker],
which made everything noisy... and [Shield], which created an invisible barrier
to defend the user.
Luckily it hadn't been a complete waste of time, I'd found a few useful spells.
[Silence] didn't actually prevent spells from being cast, like I'd thought it might.
It just made the chanting inaudible, they could still be cast even under the
effects of the spell.
Regardless, we still hadn't found what we were looking for to begin with...
"Oho." My hand stopped on a certain page.
[Levitation]. It was a spell that allowed objects to float. But it seemed to only
make things float within arm's reach of the caster. I figured it'd be around two
meters, then. Meaning it'd be a useful spell for carrying stuff, but I already had
[Storage] for that anyway. Then again, I couldn't use [Storage] on living
creatures, so it could end up being useful after all.
"[Levitation]." As a test, I decided to use the spell on the book. The heavy old
tome started floating up in the air. Whoa, it really is floating! I tried moving it
around in the air. Yup, it can move, but... As I'd expected, it couldn't move any
further than my own reach.
I applied [Levitation] to Renne as another test, but it looked like she couldn't
move freely in the air. She motioned like she was swimming, but only budged a
tiny bit. I wondered if propelling her with a fan or something would work...
Renne seemed like she was having fun, but it wasn't really something you could
call flying. She couldn't go beyond two meters, and she was crawling at a snail's
pace. But seeing her did make me wonder if I could enchant it into a rug and
make a flying carpet like in Arabian Nights. "I guess I'll memorize this one for
the time being." The magic seemed like it had potential, I just had to learn how
to apply it properly.
When the afternoon rolled around, Cesca and Lain came to help us. With the
power of four, our speed was increased considerably. After just two hours,
Cesca finally found it.
"[Fly]. The method to propel oneself with magic. Indeed, this must be it. It
seems that the spell consumes a considerable amount of magical power, but I
doubt that'll be an issue." According to the book, the person who originally
used this spell could freely fly for a maximum of three minutes. But apparently
when it was over, he came crashing toward the ground. I doubted that'd be an
issue for me, I had the convenient power of teleportation portals, after all.
Three seconds were enough to regain enough magic to create one.
Either way, I'd have to test it out. That was the first step.
I arrived at the training field and began to concentrate my magical energy.
Renne, Cesca, Lain, Nikola, and Elze were all watching me. The latter two took a
break from their training to come over and watch. Old man Yamagata and
company also came over. It was a little distracting. But regardless of the
attention, I had to focus.
"[Fly]." My body suddenly began to float about one meter above the ground.
It was awesome. My body turned without me actively willing it, so I figured it
was operating on my most basic thoughts, like moving a limb. I decided to try
going up a little higher, but the moment that thought entered my mind, I shot
several meters up in the air! Uwaaah! The fine-tuning left much to be desired. It
kind of felt like I was operating one of those RC Helicopters, but without a
controller. After a while, I was up way too high for comfort, though. I'd tried
seeing how high I could go, but had to stop when the air became so thin and
cold that I started losing feeling in my limbs. I thought I was gonna suffocate!
The next test was working out my maximum speed. But again, I had to stop.
The wind on my face was extreme, way too extreme! I had to close my eyes and
fly blind for a while.
Hrmph... maybe this'll be tricky to deal with. Should I use [Shield], maybe? I
put up a barrier, and it worked as a makeshift windscreen. Yup, that works.
After that, I decided to try turning around. I started zig-zagging, stopping
suddenly, nosediving, somersaulting! It was actually really fun. Alright, let's try
three spinning somersaults!
I got a little carried away...
"...You tried spinning around in the air and you're surprised you got queasy?!"
"I-I don't really have an excuse." I was completely exhausted, lying down
beneath a tree with my head on Elze's lap. I'd calmed down some, but the
incident itself was still a little extreme for me.
I didn't even know why I'd done it, I hated riding stuff like rollercoasters. Highspeed stuff like that definitely wasn't my scene. Come to think of it, the Great
Gau River ride left me feeling kinda seasick, too...
For whatever reason, [Recovery] didn't alleviate queasiness like this. When
Baba got drunk on sake, I tried using that spell on him as a sort of field test. It
sobered him up right away, which I found hilarious. Then again, I guess being
drunk on sake and dizzy on motion sickness are two different things.
Incidentally, old man Baba started drinking booze right after he sobered up.
"Were there any other problems?"
"Nah, it was pretty much fine. I did get super cold when I went way up high,
though..." Come to think of it, I could probably use [Warming] to negate the
cold. But the atmosphere's way too thin up there, and it's not like I was looking
to explore space anyway.
I raised my head and sat up properly, I didn't intend to use her as a lap pillow
forever. Hm, stuff like this has gotten less embarrassing lately. We probably look
like one of those annoying lovey-dovey couples at this point, huh...
"Hey, Touya... Do you think you could use that magic on me? Would I be able
to fly then?"
"No, I don't think it's possible. I can't use my magic in that way. You can't put
[Boost] on Linze, right? It's the same thing."
"I guess so..." Elze let out a sad sigh. I think she wanted to fly with me.
"You should be able to fly if I hold you in my arms, though."
"A-Ah, that's... p-pretty embarrassing." Elze turned beet red and looked down
nervously. So lap pillows are fine, but being held isn't? I don't get the criteria
here!
"You might be able to fly by my side if I used [Levitation] as well, but you
wouldn't be able to fly freely in that case." I tried to make Elze float using one of
my newfound spells. She was caught by surprise and tried to flail around, which
was a little funny. After she calmed down, I tried levitating her around. As
expected, she stopped around about where my arms could reach.
"[Fly]." I used my flying spell after that. As I rose, Elze rose with me. I'd
figured it out. I'd be able to raise people up and down based on my own
location in the air. So long as I paid attention, I could use [Levitation] to make
people fly alongside me.
I took care to maintain everything, and flew up to the castle balcony. Yup, no
problem! Elze staggered around and put her hand to her chest, letting out a sigh
of relief.
"That was scary! I-I'm still not used to it. M-Maybe I don't need to fly after
all..." Heh, that was amusing. But I could understand. Her movements were
beyond her control, and if she fell from that height she'd definitely die.
That aside, my mission was complete. This new spell changed the game for
me. Creatures like the Manta Phrase no longer had air superiority over me.
"I'm gonna go fly again."
"Okay, don't get sick this time." Elze waved me off, and I circled the castle a
few times. After that, I flew across the highway. Looking down on the town
from above, it was easy to see it'd been expanded considerably. It was quite an
emotional sight, if I'm honest.
Still, it did look more like a shopping district than a full town... I touched down
in a back alley, where I'd noticed a few children playing with spinning tops.
"Uwaaah?! M-Milord?! Wh-What a surprise!"
"Did you just come out of the sky?!"
"Th-That's amazing!" It was a little heart-warming to see the kids look up to
me. I didn't want them to revere me too hard, though.
"What?! Do you dare think a goddamn sorry is enough? After treating a
customer like this?!" A crude male voice echoed from across the street. I looked
over from where it came from, and there seemed to be a commotion going on
in a coffee shop.
Two large men stood on the shop patio. They looked like military-types. More
importantly, they were hassling a waitress.
"Lookie here! There's a goddamn cigarette butt in my food! How can you
expect me ta pay for that?!"
"You better compensate us, bitch! What if we ate it?! What if we got a tummy
ache?! Good thing we're so goddamn attentive, understand?!" Those guys were
assholes. They totally looked like crooks. I had no doubt they were lying.
I walked over to the shop and spoke to the waitress.
"Something wrong here?"
"A-Ah, these two gents say there's a cigarette butt in their food, but... Nobody
who works here actually smokes, so I don't understand!"
"Hear that, boys? Sounds like you're mistaken. Sure neither of you dropped it
in the food by mistake?" The waitress stood behind me, and I puffed out my
chest. The two men glared daggers at me.
"Huh? What's it ta you, fuckface? You looking down on us, brat? Who the
hell're you?"
"Yeah, you little shitbird. Want a first-class ticket to paintown? Step right up,
bitch." The two men loomed in closer as they cracked their knuckles. Well. Let's
have a little fun, then.
I touched the men on their arms, pushed them, and they fell back easily. They
flew away from the shop and landed in the middle of the road.
"Ghuh!!"
"Aghagh!!" They flew pretty easily, but that was because I'd reduced their
weight with [Gravity]. Neither of them seemed to understand what had just
happened, but they charged at me regardless. One brandished an axe, the other
held a broadsword.
"[Slip]."
"Augh!"
"Eek!" The two men went tumbling down. Then, I used [Gravity] to keep
them down. They were completely immobilized by their own increased body
weight, so I strolled over, grinned, and squatted down near them.
"A-Augh... h-how...!"
"I'd really appreciate it if you didn't cause trouble in my country. I can't really
overlook things like this, given that I kind of run the show around here.
Understand?"
The two men looked at each other in shock, their expressions shifting in fear.
The surprise coating their faces acted as proof that they understood who I was.
Bah, these guys are a real pain in the ass. What should I do with them?
Actually, we don't have a prison or anything yet, do we... Guess I should take
this opportunity to set one up.
I took out several iron pieces from [Storage] and created a decently-sized
prison room. After that, I applied a few enchantments, and a [Program]. Then,
after stripping them of their gear, I tossed the two men inside.
I called it a prison, but it was just an iron box with one see-through wall. There
were no bars, either. I wasn't a monster, though. I'd put airholes in the ceiling!
Now, let's begin the punishment! The moment the door closed, the two of
them began to scream and yell. At least, it looked like that's what they were
doing. I'd soundproofed the cell. The two of them were running around the
interior of the prison, clutching at their ears and roaring in what looked like
extreme discomfort. Despite the commotion going on in there, not a single
sound leaked out. I'd enchanted the cell with [Silence] after all.
"M-Milord... what's going on in there?"
"Mm, just a little crash course in white noise."
"Err, noise?"
"There's a sound blaring in there at a similar frequency to nails coming down
a chalkboard, and a fork scratching against a plate. Over, and over, and over
again."
"O-Oh goodness me..." The waitress slinked back a little, a dash of fear
clouding her eyes as she looked at me, and then the floor. What's her problem?
Eventually the guardsmen came running over. I set it so the sound would stop
when the door was opened, so I handed the key over to them, placed the jail in
a good position, and told them to let the guys out whenever they felt it
appropriate.
Seeing that commotion made me realize that there was a lot more to work on
in my country. I definitely need to improve defenses and public order
infrastructure... Maybe I should finally get around to establishing my knight
order.
I flew off toward the castle, pondering my next course of action.
◇ ◇ ◇
"...And that's why I think we need to establish our knight order." Everyone sat
around the conference table, but only Kousaka stood up after I made my case.
"Given our current national interests, I believe I have a reasonable plan set
out, then. For our knights, we shall start with thirty ex-Takeda troops. They
were originally our subordinates, so we've already vetted them extensively.
Fifteen of Baba's men, fifteen of Yamagata's. On top of that, we will integrate
ten former Takeda ninjas, commanded by Tsubaki, to create our intelligence
corps. In addition, we should take sixty new recruits, giving us a nice round one
hundred. What are your thoughts?" Sixty new recruits sounded good to me.
The town wasn't especially large, so it sounded like a good start.
Aside from myself, the conference room was occupied by Baba, Yamagata,
Naito, and our chief ninja Tsubaki. Lain, Nikola, and Norn were also present.
Kousaka, Naito, and Tsubaki weren't really knights, but it made sense to include
them on military matters.
"So what are the qualifying traits we want in a recruit?" Old man Baba spoke
up with a question, to which I replied immediately.
"Well, let's see... I'll reject anyone with a criminal background right off the
bat. Sex doesn't matter. Race doesn't matter. Neither social standing nor age
matter, either."
"Isn't that a tad broad? Won't we get a swarm of candidates in that case?"
Yamagata had a point, but I decided that taking a ton of applications gave us a
better chance of finding talented people.
The mission here was to separate the wheat from the chaff, and find the
diamonds in the rough.
"Who's going to be the commander, anyway?" Naito raised his hand and let
out an innocent enough question. Oh, I never thought about that. I cast a
cursory glance over at Yamagata and Baba. "I'm sorry, my boy, but... I won't be
taking that role. Squad captain's more than enough for me."
"Same here. It ain't in my nature to take such a demanding job." Welp, it was
worth a shot. I had hoped that one of them would accept, since they had served
as generals for Takeda and all, but... I guess they'd had enough of that life. Well,
that just leaves...
"I'll have to pick one of you three, then."
"Wait, us?!" Lain's rabbit ears perked up rapidly. Norn and Nikola just stared,
dumbfounded. I didn't know what they were so surprised about. The wolf,
rabbit, and fox trio were formal knights of my kingdom, after all.
"Well, there's nobody else."
"B-But we can't be commanders, that's impossible!" Lain waved her hands in
a fluster all of a sudden. The two behind her nodded in unified agreement.
"Well, I mean, in the case of emergencies you three band up with me anyway,
right? I just think it's necessary to have a commander while I'm absent. Plus, it's
only a company of one hundred."
"That's true, but..." Having a commander was necessary. Even if it didn't have
that many members, I needed to maintain a hierarchy. But the issue was which
of them to choose. They were all talented, but all had their drawbacks too.
Nikola was stoic and serious, but generally inflexible. Norn was a people
person, but very reckless. Lain was an exemplary all-rounder, but she was
dangerously reserved.
"Look, for now let's have one of you be the commander, and the other two
can be the vice-commanders. Alright?" Nikola immediately raised his hand.
"Lain should be the commander, then."
"Y-Yeah, I agree! Lain'll do great!"
"Wh-Wh-What?!" Lain was betrayed by her closest comrades! She glared
right at them. But she was outvoted two-to-one, so I was completely fine to go
ahead with it.
"U-Um, please, you two...! Isn't Nikola more suited for the role than I?!"
"Nah, you're much better for this. Norn's careless, so she'd make a sloppy
commander. She likes to slack off, too. I'm kind of a strict person, so I don't
think I'd treat people especially fairly. Inflexibility is not a trait you want at the
head of an organization. They say a carrot and a stick is needed to drive
something forward, but I'm just a stick. I'd say that you're the carrot we need,
Lain." Hm, lemme look at this objectively here... This case kind of reminded me
of the Hijikata Toshizo, vice-commander of the Shinsengumi. He was known as
the Demon Vice-Commander because of his attitude. So while Kondo Isami took
the role as the Shinsengumi's commander, Toshizo simply stood by the wayside
and sternly enforced the rules. A guy like that was definitely best at the sidelines, growling and staring.
"Very well, then. Lain's the new commander."
"Sounds good to us!"
"Wh-What?! Please wait a moment!" All three of them had grown
considerably stronger over the last few months. Yamagata and Baba had really
put them through the wringer, and the results were showing. They'd even
trained often with veterans from both Regulus and Belfast. They all had valiant
personalities, and they were naturally talented in the physical arts just by virtue
of being beastmen.
That aside, putting Lain at the top of my knight order was a convenient social
move, as well. She was a beastwoman, so that was two birds with one stone.
With Lain as the commander, everyone would know at a glance that Brunhild
was a progressive country that did not discriminate based on sex or race.
"Please don't worry so much. Even if the title is commander, right now it's
only comparable to leading a small platoon. Don't get worked up, you'll be fine.
Your two vice-commanders will be supporting you fully as well."
"Yessir."
"You got it!" Nikola stood stoic and serious, while Norn gave a bubbly
response. Lain just sat down on her chair, staring blankly and quietly babbling.
Her rabbit ears were drooped down in resignation.
It felt a little awkward, but I'm sure she'd do her best. I also decided to
support her in every way possible.
All that was left was to create leaflets and fliers, then distribute them. I was
sure that putting them in places like the guild in Regulus and Belfast would be
more than enough.
We all decided to host the interview itself after a month.
And then, one month later...
"Huh?"
"Allow me to repeat myself. Over a thousand candidates are here to fill up the
sixty available positions. It is both unexpected and unprecedented." Kousaka
repeated himself, but I still couldn't wrap my head around what he said. How
had we attracted that many people? Sure, we'd thrown out fliers all over the
place, but over a thousand, really? There were more applicants than citizens!
"How did this happen?"
"Your Majesty... you are the sole Silver-ranked adventurer in Belfast. You
squashed a military coup in Regulus. You slayed a Dragon in Mismede! These
people were naturally drawn here due to your great deeds. Word of mouth is
powerful. But of course there are likely spies from other nations mixed in
amongst the candidates as well." That made sense enough. It was still better to
have a ton of candidates than no candidates, though. "How do you plan on
processing them, then? And what about the criteria you're looking for in a
knight?"
"Hrmm, I'm not actually sure about the best course of action. I still haven't
got that figured out." I didn't know the first thing about interviewing this many
people.
"Well, Your Majesty... it depends on the kind of individual you want to
prioritize within the ranks of Brunhild. Frankly, if you think strength is all that
matters, why not have them all brawl until there are only sixty left? Hohoh..."
Easy for you to say. Well, if they're thuggish or crude I don't want them working
here. I guess the ideal I'm looking for in a knight is someone who looks at the
citizens and sees them as the priority. Good-hearted people with dutiful
attitudes. I'm sure a lot of people will have come along with different
expectations, but I'm not gonna budge there.
Still, interviewing each candidate one after the other is gonna be a pain. What
should I do...
◇ ◇ ◇
"Applicants for the Brunhild knight order, please come over here. Line up in
an orderly fashion." The desk was at the castle gates. I had the applicants come
one by one to write down their full name, their sex, their age, birthplace, race,
and personal statements on a document. After that, Lapis would give them a
numbered badge. Then, that same number was stamped on the back of their
hand. The actual interview was scheduled for two days afterward.
The badges were to be worn on the chest, or anywhere where it was easily
visible. Wearing them was mandatory.
The badges were secretly the first part of the test. I'd informed every citizen
of the town to record the badge number of anyone that gives them a tough
time or a poor impression. I asked them to put down the reason for the
concern, and the nature of the harassment.
A smart applicant would probably realize the meaning behind the badge to
begin with.
This wasn't a test to find those with the right qualities, but more of a test to
root out those with the wrong qualities. Those who were inconsiderate, those
who didn't think about the badge's meaning, or the people they were going to
be protecting? I didn't want those people anywhere near my country.
I used [Mirage] on Tsubaki's subordinates to make them look like demonkin
and beastmen, then I had them wander around the town. I wanted to see if
anyone would actively discriminate against them. Because those were the kind
of people I wanted to kick out.
About a third of the candidates were demi-human, so naturally if I employed
them I wanted them working alongside people who wouldn't discriminate or
look down on them. It'd be a pain in the ass if I had people who were like,
"Wow, you're okay for a beastman," as well. Friendly discrimination was still
racist.
I summoned one hundred cats and sent them into town. Their mission was to
report in to me about the situation.
"Meow... there's a certain fellow hassling a merchant! He's badge number six
hundred and eighty-five."
"Meow, there's a group of drunkards making a hassle in a restaurant. The
barkeep's trying to keep the situation under control, meow! They're badges
number eighty-two through eighty-five!"
"S-Some rude son of a meow threw a rock at me... He's badge number two
hundred and fifty-eight!" I was surprised that so many reports were coming in
so soon. It was pretty hard for me to take note of all of that alone. I decided to
ask Kohaku for help. Kohaku was the Monarch that governed land beasts, so
that tiger would have no issue receiving telepathic messages from the cats
either. Renne and Laim came to help me record everything.
Over a thousand applicants had shown up, so Micah's inn was beyond its
limit. In the end, most of the applicants had to camp in the plains outside town.
Thankfully there was no dangerous wildlife in the region.
A huge variety of people had shown up, though. I disguised myself with
[Mirage] and went to check out the town. There were a lot of female
adventurers, probably because I'd mentioned that sex didn't matter. A lot of
beastmen and demonkin showed up as well, mostly gathering in groups of their
own.
I decided to reject humans that were racist against beastmen and demonkin,
but I also decided to reject beastmen and intelligent monsters that were racist
toward humans as well. It was true that they might've all had personal
circumstances that made them feel that way, but my country had no room for
discriminatory people, bleeding hearts or not.
With that initial wave over, the worst of them would probably be singled out
and removed. But the screening still had to occur.
My idea of using [Paralysis] on all of the candidates and letting those with
high magical resistance pass to the next round was vetoed. I guess it didn't have
much to do with knighthood. It didn't really let me know if the person was good
or bad, either.
I decided to rely on Yumina's Mystic Eyes for that little detail, but resolved
only to include her after I'd narrowed down the candidates considerably.
Things were definitely about to get busier.
◇ ◇ ◇
It was screening day. The people whose ticket numbers had been recorded by
Tsubaki's subordinates and the cats were not allowed passage through the
castle's gate. Of course, some people were hanging around, but most had gone
home in low spirits, grumbling to themselves about what they could do to help
their country. Thus about fifty people had been rejected, which left about nine
hundred and fifty people. But only about a twentieth had left. That wasn't
enough.
Applicants gathered within the training ground in the castle. I stood on the
hastily constructed stage alongside Lain, Norn, Nikola, Baba, and Yamagata.
Elze, Linze, Yae, Yumina, Lu, and Tsubaki all waited in the wings beside the
stage.
I used my Null spell [Speaker], which caused the sides of the stages to shine
as magic formations headed toward the galleries.
These two magic formations, about thirty centimeters in diameter, floated up
into the sky as another smaller formation appeared by my mouth. Anything I'd
say into this one would stream out of the larger formations at a magnified
volume.
"First, allow me to welcome you all to the Duchy of Brunhild. I am Mochizuki
Touya, the grand duke. We are about to proceed with the screening to see who
will join my royal knight order. But let me be frank with you all, we do not pay
much. As knights you will not only defend this duchy, but you will have
numerous other roles to fill as well. As you can see from the beastmen behind
me, your race or social position will do you no favors here. I would ask only
those who agree with what I've said to remain here." I declared as such, and
the applicants began to mutter amongst themselves. Eventually several of them
left through the castle gate. Well, I didn't expect everyone to stay after that. If
they didn't agree with what I'd said, then I'd much rather have had them leave
immediately.
"In that case, I will now have you all show me your strength. Please head out
through the gate, and do a lap around the castle moat." A puzzled expression
came over the crowd's faces at my latest declaration. The distance around the
castle was about two kilometers. They were likely thinking it was too small a
distance to test strength.
"It also matters not if you come first or last. I wish you to take this at your
own pace. Those who find this too hard and wish to give up are to remove the
badges they're wearing. You'll be teleported back here and allowed to leave.
With that said, let's begin!" As the applicants began to file off, I cast my magic.
"[Gravity]."
"Argh?!" Everyone collapsed to the ground under their newfound weight.
"I used weight magic on you all. Please complete the course under these
conditions. If you wish to give up, simply do as I said earlier and remove your
badge. You will then be teleported here." The applicants began to stand up one
by one, and then walked slowly out of the gate. They weren't quite going at a
snail's pace, but it was far slower than standard walking speed.
I hadn't made them so heavy that they couldn't move, so they should still be
able to walk fine. It'd take an incredibly amount of strength though. I'd also sent
the ninjas to keep an eye on everyone, in case anyone tried to get sneaky, or
accidentally fell into the moat.
"So their position doesn't matter?"
"Hmm... Well I'll take it into consideration, but this isn't a test to simply see
their physical strength." I answered Laim's question. I'll certainly be able to
work out how strong they are from this. But that isn't what I want to know.
"If this isn't a test of physical strength, then what is it?"
"A test of will."
"Their will?" How serious they can be, in other words. Anyone who gives up
immediately wouldn't be any use to us. Those would be the first people to give
up when the going gets tough. And that could put us all in danger.
After a certain amount of time had passed, I intended to send relief to those
who haven't returned. But anyone who gives up before that would be instantly
disqualified. Anyone still striving for the goal at that point would be considered
a successful applicant, and move on to the next stage.
I explain all this to Laim as people start teleporting in, having given up. That's
way too soon! At least put some effort into it!
I removed [Gravity] from them, and used [Refresh] to restore their strength
before quickly sending them home. Hm, how many are left...
Wow, we started with nine hundred and fifty, but we're already down to four
hundred and fifty?! That means half of them have given up already!
The people in first place were all beastmen and demonkin who had naturally
enhanced strength, but that wasn't too important here. As long as a person had
the mental strength to continue without giving up, they'd pass. Whatever their
reason for giving up, be it that they were merely window-shopping for a job, or
just realized their own lack of strength, that was irrelevant to me as well. I
appreciated their efforts, regardless.
After a certain amount of time elapsed, I used recovery magic on everyone
who was still struggling. I also cast it on anyone that managed to make it
through the goal.
Now, for the next test.
"Next we'll move onto the practical skills examination. You may use whatever
weapons you prefer. Any who manages to land a hit on me within thirty
minutes will have passed. I shall be using this wooden sword. You may begin." I
declared the start and picked up my wooden sword, but not a single person
charged toward me. I was thinking about how weird it was that they weren't
doing anything, when eventually someone timidly spoke up.
"U-Uh, what order are we meant to attack you in?" Ahh, so that's it.
"That doesn't matter. You can all come at me at once. Give it everything
you've got, by all means." They might've thought I was mocking them, because
they all begin to charge me at once, specialized weapons in hand.
"[Accel]." I used my acceleration magic to slip between them, and start
hitting the unprotected applicants with my sword. Given the huge number of
people, they kept on surging toward me. But I just kept on dodging, hitting out
when I got the chance.
I made a point not to attack anyone who held a firm guard. During this test,
Baba, Yamagata, Elze and Yae were judging the participants' skills. If they were
determined to be above a certain level, then their number would be recorded. I
felt bad for the people who I could clearly see weren't at that level, but I hit
them anyway. That meant they'd failed.
Occasionally an attack would come my way, but [Accel] made it a trifling
matter to deal with. Eventually, half of the people had fallen, with the rest still
standing raggedly around the field.
"That's enough. Time!" Laim announced the test's end. And with that,
everyone collapsed to the ground. That also reminded me, I happened to see a
few people I recognized during the brawl.
I glanced over to the two of them, collapsed on the ground. Ha! Wow, it's
Rebecca and Logan.
They were the two adventurers I'd met in the Rabbi Desert. Last I heard they
were still guarding the reading cafe back in Belfast. I wondered what had
brought them here. The two of them noticed my staring and gave me a small
wave. I wanted to talk to them, but there were a lot of people around. I
wouldn't want them knowing that I knew any of the applicants. They might
start thinking I was giving people special treatment.
I cast recovery magic on everyone, and took the notes from Baba and the
others.
"I'll now read out the results. Those whose numbers I read out will come this
way. If I do not read out your number, I apologize, but you have failed. Please
leave through the castle gates. I will now begin. Numbers three, fourteen,
twenty-one..." Now only one hundred people remained. The people I attacked
obviously failed, but so did the ones who didn't try to attack me. This was their
chance to show off their own abilities, so that only makes sense.
In addition, both Rebecca and Logan ended up passing. And, since I wasn't the
one who decided that, it wasn't like I gave them special treatment or anything.
We sure have narrowed it down... Now there should be few enough for the
interview phase.
We took the successful applicants into the castle, and headed toward the
knights' barracks. Leaving the applicants in one room, we began preparing the
adjacent one for the interviews. The ones leading these interviews were to be
myself, Laim, Yumina, and one more person. I'd called them to the duchy,
because their aid was imperative.
"Sorry for making you come here. Your help is much appreciated."
"Oh no, this is nothing. I already owe you far more than I could ever repay."
Her Eminence the Pope smiled as she answered me. I'd contacted the Ramissh
Theocracy beforehand to ask for help. Her guards, several holy paladins, were
waiting at the back of the room too. We were going to perform these interviews
using the pope's ability to see through lies, and Yumina's ability to see one's
true nature.
Her Holiness was a bit of a celebrity, so I used [Mirage] to disguise her
appearance. When I did so, she asked me to make her look young. Since she'd
look like a different person I didn't think it really mattered... But a woman's
heart could be complicated and fickle, I guess.
"Very well, call them five at a time." Nikola left the room, and came back with
five applicants. Two beastmen, and three humans. I advised that they sit in the
chairs in the center of the room.
"If you could all state your names, age, and birthplace, from left to right
please." Laim and I began to ask rather inoffensive questions as Yumina
checked out their true natures.
Every time we asked a question, Her Holiness either clenched or opened her
left hand. This was a signal we set up in advance. If she opened her hand flat, it
meant they were telling the truth. But if she clenched her hand into a fist, then
they were lying. I continued to ask questions as I observe this.
It's not that telling a lie will get you immediately disqualified. There are things
people don't want to talk about, and things that could be dangerous if revealed.
But I cannot place my trust in someone who would lie about everything and
anything.
Nor did it mean that people who truthfully answered question such as
"What's more important, you or your country?", "What would you do if you
were rich?", and "Could you calmly dispose of a traitor?", would immediately
pass.
When the interview was done we allowed the five applicants to leave the
room before Yumina started to speak.
"We should reject the people third and fifth from the left. I believe they had
malicious intent in their minds."
"They did indeed tell many lies. They had wonderful poker faces, however."
"Poker faces...? Ahh, you mean the technique where you stop your opponent
from reading your expression during card games." For now we decided to cross
those two people off the list, and had Nikola call in the next five. We're gonna
have to do this twenty times? What a pain in the ass...
"Ahh, I'm exhausted...!" We were finally done with the interviews, which
meant my head could come crashing down on the desk. Fighting against a lot of
people was far easier, if you asked me.
We ended up dealing with a few people who casually lied with smiles on their
faces like it was nothing. It kinda freaked me out. Still, it seemed that the ability
to discern lies from truth was actually a bit of a burden.
"I try my best not to invoke it too often. Sometimes it's best not to know."
Her Eminence certainly had a point. If you went through life seeing through
everyone completely, you could end up mistrusting people in general. I hoped I
hadn't made her overdo it a bit. I decided to treat her to dinner later as an
apology.
After we rounded off the disqualified candidates, there were sixty-four
applicants remaining. It was just a little bit more than expected, but I was fine
to accept all of them.
Thirty-seven men, and twenty-seven women. It was actually more women
than I had anticipated. Though, it was probably because the knight orders in
other countries didn't allow females to join. My poster had specified that sex,
creed, or race was irrelevant, so naturally a few talented ladies made their way
to my duchy.
As it happened, Rebecca's reason for coming to Brunhild was precisely that.
Logan also came along, stating he was looking for steady work. I asked if they
were planning on getting married or something, but they both yelled at me in
surprised unison. Apparently he was seeing someone else. Talk about
awkward...
Twenty-two of the candidates were beastmen and demonkin. I could
understand so many beastmen coming in, because my commanding trio were
also beastmen, but the number of demonkin definitely threw me off.
Demonkin were a species that were typically bipedal and similar to humans in
appearance. But even if they were generally considered demi-human, they
were much closer to conventional monsters for the most part. Members of
their race included vampires, lamias, ogres, and alraunes. They're fully capable
of communication, and are just as intelligent as humans, though they tend to
keep their distance from mankind.
As you'd expect, there's a lot of prejudice and discrimination against
demonkin across the world. Several countries even actively oppress members
of the species, including the Ramissh Theocracy before their reforms.
The interviews with the demonkin were especially strict and thorough due to
the potential distrust or ill will toward humanity. But the five of them that
passed all were approved wholly by Yumina's Mystic Eyes. Her Holiness the
Pope also determined they were all honest and true individuals. They all
genuinely wished to live amongst humans, so I passed them. They were a
vampire, an ogre, an alraune, and two lamias.
As an aside, the vampire candidate looked like a stereotypical vampire, but he
seemed to be fine without drinking blood. Apparently, amongst vampires at
least, blood was seen as something similar to how humans see booze or
cigarettes. Some enjoyed partaking, but others just had no interest or even
actively disliked it. The vampire who joined our ranks stated that he was quite
uncomfortable around blood, actually. It was pretty jarring, given my image of
vampirism as an insatiable hunger.
I began wondering just how my royal knights were going to end up looking.
There were a few details like squad arrangement to go over, but we certainly
had quite the diverse cast of characters making up my ranks. I didn't mind,
though, it seemed like things would be more fun that way anyhow.
◇ ◇ ◇
I created a second barrack due to our sudden increase in troops. Men and
women didn't need to share accommodation, either. Though I provided the
barracks for them to live in, I'd also be fine with them staying in the town if they
paid for it themselves.
I also took some advice from old man Baba and built an underground training
facility.
"For the time bein', these three're the commander and vice-commanders,
right? How's it gonna look to the newbies if they see Yamagata and me beatin'
them around?" He had a point. The three of them were definitely strong, but
they still weren't tough enough to hold a candle to the old men. If the new
recruits saw them getting roughed up by Yamagata and company, they might
lose confidence in Lain and consider the old men more suited to lead. That'd be
bad!
Therefore we decided to create an elite-members only exclusive training
facility, deep underground. As they poured into the place, which was basically
just a gym with a training field attached to it, they all looked around in glee at
the inventions I had placed within. Like children, they ran over and used the
exercise bike, the treadmill, the barbell weights, and so on. They'd end up
suffering extreme muscle fatigue if they overdid it. They weren't toys!
Now, I had a few things to do that day. The duchy was being well-managed, so
I decided to finally address a few things in my personal life.
Even though it was long overdue, I decided that today was the day... To tell
the parents of the girls I'd proposed to that we were engaged.
It was already settled in the case of Yumina and Lu, but I hadn't told Yae's
family, or Elze and Linze's, either.
I was already acquainted with Yae's mother and father, but Elze and Linze's
biological parents were dead. I knew that their uncle and aunt were living in
Refreese though, they lived in a farming village and had raised the twins there.
I decided to meet with Yae's parents first. I whipped up a portal, and the two
of us found ourselves in Oedo.
"Been a while since I've been to Eashen." It felt a little funny to me, since
roughly half of Brunhild's citizens were Eashen natives. We passed through the
gate of the Kokonoe dojo, and Ayane, their maid, came to greet us.
I was brought through to see her parents, Jubei and Nanae. I told them
straight-up about my engagement. To my surprise, they didn't respond with
much other than a silent glance between the two.
"See? It is as I said it would be."
"I suppose you were correct. Very well, and thank you. Please take care of our
Yae as you would your other brides, Touya-dono." They bowed their heads to
us, and we returned the gesture. I was kind of pleased it went so seamlessly. I
half expected it to turn into a "If you want my daughter, then best me in
battle!" kind of a situation.
"But, I must confess... I did not expect you to become nobility, Touya-dono.
Nor did I expect my Yae to marry into a monarch's house... life certainly is full of
surprises!" Jubei let out his honest feelings. I felt mostly the same as he did. I
couldn't have foreseen this happening a year ago.
"Excuse me, Touya-san. Would you perhaps take us to this Brunhild? I wish to
see where my daughter will be spending her life."
"Hm? I don't see why not, but bear in mind we aren't very well-developed
just yet." I didn't mind if Yae's mother was interested in her daughter's home,
so I obliged. We waited for Yae's brother to return home, and I took them all
with me. Ayane came along as well, as she'd never seen any place outside of
Eashen before.
"Welcome hooome, your Hiiighness."
"Welcome home!" Cecile and Renne came to greet us at the castle entry.
Yae's family began to look around at the castle's interior, their heads craning to
stare at everything.
"This is Yae's family. They'll be looking around for a while, so please take good
care of them."
"Oh myyy, Lady Yae's familyy... This waay, please. I'll shooow you to your
quarteeers." Cecile guided them off to their rooms, one-by-one. I decided that
we'd stop to have lunch in the dining room, and then take them for a tour
around the town. Then again, there wasn't really much to see there. Yae's
brother, and her father, would probably prefer to check out our training
grounds.
As I expected, they did! I went with the two of them, while Yae went to the
castle town with Ayane and Nanae.
The fresh recruits of my knight order were practicing with deadly zeal. I was
kind of pleased to see it, because the only thing I'd seen on the training field
previously was Lain and the others being beaten to a pulp by old men.
After a short while of observing, Jubei and Jutaro said they wanted to
participate in the training as well. That was only natural; they were the direct
family of Yae, after all, and she was a sword nut.
I flagged down Yamagata and called him over for a mock battle with Jubei. I
thought that a showdown between a former member of the Takeda Elite Four,
and the swordsmanship instructor of the Tokugawa house would be something
to behold indeed.
As soon as the battle began, everyone was captured by the stunning display
of swordplay. Even Jutaro, who was standing right next to me, stood
enraptured by the dancing blades.
I watched the two clash for a while, before calling it prematurely. It'd be
better for the pride of both men to call it a draw, anyway.
After the battle ended, the knights all clamored around Jubei and begged him
to teach them swordplay. I was pleased they were all so eager to improve.
Yamagata then caught the attention of Jutaro, who challenged him
immediately. The boy couldn't resist the opportunity to face off against a
former member of the Takeda Clan's Elite Four, after all.
He wasn't on his father's level, but Yae's brother certainly put up an
incredible fight against old man Yamagata. He was definitely stronger than Lain
and the vice-commanders. But he'd been raised with a blade in his hand, and
had experienced war as well. If that wasn't natural talent honed through
experience, then what was?
The two of them joined the knight recruits and began to practice, which left
me with some time to kill. I thought about leaving them in Yamagata's care and
heading back to take care of some other stuff, but I had some apprehensions
about abandoning what were effectively my brother and father-in-law. I
decided it'd be too cold to leave immediately, so I waited around a bit.
As I sat down on the bench and watched them clash, Rebecca walked over to
say hello.
"Got some free time, Touya? Oh, er... I mean, my liege, right?" She spoke with
a grin plastered on her face. I didn't really mind what she called me, but she
should definitely try to act formal with me around other people.
"I didn't expect you to come here at all, Rebecca. Why was it that you came,
again?"
"I had aspirations to join an order of Royal Knights. But a woman has little to
no chance of joining an order without noble blood, or friends in high places. I
started adventuring to hone my skills, then jumped at the chance when I saw
the notice about indiscriminate hiring here." That made sense enough to me.
There were a lot of women amongst the applicants I'd had. Apparently Logan
tagged along after Rebecca invited him. But they had no idea that I was the one
at the head of the country.
"Will didn't come, then?"
"He's stuck in Belfast's knight order, I think. Vice-Commander Neil has taken a
real liking to him. Plus, Wendy lives over there, so there's no way he'd leave."
According to Rebecca, Wendy was still working in Moon Reader, so Will would
frequently take guard jobs there.
It was a little late to consider, but I had no idea what was going to happen
with that cafe. Would it being owned by the leader of a foreign country be a
problem? Well, I had no doubts the King of Belfast would be fine with it either
way.
I had them send over reports on revenue, expenditures, and monthly
proceeds through a Gate Mirror. I also delivered them new books every month.
It was all being managed very well, and seemed to be quite popular. It made me
wonder if I'd have to consider setting up a second branch in Brunhild.
"A-Also... I have a request of you, Your Highness..."
"A request?"
"Yeah, see... there should be some equipment that allows one to recognize us
as members of the Royal Knights, right? Like a distinctive armor, shield, or
blade. Don't you think we should have something like that? Something iconic?"
Rebecca blurted out her proposal, blushing slightly. She raised a point I hadn't
considered, we definitely didn't have anything unified or distinct. Brunhild's
knights would be easier to recognize if they had a piece of gear that made them
stand out.
"Hmm... you've got a point, Rebecca! It'd be super convenient if citizens could
recognize you as a member of the knight order at a glance."
"For reals, right?!" Rebecca grinned, clapping her hands together. Seems I'd
hit it right on the head. She looked way too excited, though. I guess she had
always dreamed of joining a knight order, though. Plus a stereotypical knight
looked very cool and distinct, I figured she wanted to have that kind of image.
"Hmm... then let's give it a try."
"Wait, right now?" I took a lump of mithril out of my magic storage,
completely ignoring the bewildered Rebecca as I did so.
I used another of my trusty spells to start shaping it properly. I made an armor
plating typical of fantasy anime and games, since I wanted it to have a bit of a
different feeling to the armors commonly found in this world.
I made a breastplate, set of shoulder pauldrons, greaves, and neckbrace. I had
Rebecca put it on, and then adjusted the size to fit her form. I formed it in such
a way that let her have free movement, but also gave the outfit a feminine
feeling. Lastly, I made a helmet with a transparent visor and a wide field of
view.
I had to make sure it didn't hinder movement, so I had Rebecca go through
various motions while wearing it. It was mithril, so it shouldn't have had much
weight to it.
"This is amazing! It's like I'm wearing a sheet!" As Rebecca bounded around in
the armor a little more, I took a Phrase shard from storage and shaped it into a
blade, a shield, and a scabbard. I then charged the items with a small amount of
my magic. I also made sure part of the sword's core structure was made of
mithril.
The amount of magic I poured into the sword and shield made them harder
than mithril itself. I made sure it wasn't as sharp as Yae's Touka, though. Didn't
want anyone stealing it and causing absolute chaos with an impossibly sharp
blade.
I finished it up by using another nifty spell to reduce the gear's weight. And,
just like that, I had created a crystal sword and shield.
It was possible to make armor using the Phrase fragments too, but then it'd
be see-through, so I decided against it. I added straps so the shield would be
worn on the back, and the sword at the waist, and then it was done.
"So, how is it?"
"Amazing, really!" Rebecca triumphantly held up her shield and thrust out her
blade. The glimmering quickly caught the attention of just about everyone else,
and soon we were surrounded.
I caught Logan amongst the onlookers, and called him over. Then I used him
as a base and took feedback from the other knights to create a male variant of
the armor. After that, I went to the workshop and mass-produced the armor for
everyone to wear.
Only the base shape was mass-produced, though. I had to apply the
enchanted effects myself. Luckily, I had [Multiple] to do it all at once.
I set it so the armor intelligently adapted to fit the size of the person wearing
it. I also added a crest in the image of Brynhildr, the Germanic shieldmaiden my
gun and country were named for, on to the shields.
I made special, unique-looking armors for the commander, vice-commanders,
and squad captains. Then I had to create custom-fit armors for the demonkin
members of my army. The vampire guy was fine to wear the regular model,
though.
It was their on-duty gear, so it would be best if they didn't use it for practice.
Their blades were made of Phrase shards, so their magic power would end up
depleting if they used it wastefully, and that wouldn't be good...
I returned to the training grounds with the armor in tow. Everyone rushed
ahead, desperate to be the first to get their hands on the stuff. They all smiled
and began touching at the metal. When they were all fitted in their matching
armor, they definitely gave off the feel of a proper group of royal knights.
In later years, due to their swords and shields, Brunhild's knights would come
to be known as the "Order of the Crystal Blade." But that's a story for another
day.