I didn't really want to deal with this if I could avoid it, but I had no real choice.
I headed to the knight barracks, then down the stairs to the recently
constructed underground portion. I slowly walked down the spiral staircase
until I came to a stone corridor. Eventually, I made it to a small room where two
knights stood on duty.
One was working on some documents at their desk, while the other was
doing pushups. I recognized their faces. They were two of the demi-humans
who had participated in the knight exams a while back. The man doing the
paperwork was a wardog beastman, while the woman doing the pushups was a
lioness. If I recalled right, they were called Dingo and Ashley.
"G-Grand Duke!"
"Ah, Your Highness?"
"Oh, don't worry about formalities. I'm just dropping in."
The dog-headed man stood to attention, while the lion-eared woman fell midpushup out of shock. I stopped them from saluting me as I sauntered over to
the next room, the jail cell.
"I'll just be heading in."
"Of course! Here's the key!"
Dingo handed me the large cell key that had been hanging up on the wall. I
smiled politely at the duo, then opened the thick iron door. Behind the door
was the castle dungeon. There were archways to the left and right of me,
leading down hallways to a series of sturdy iron cages. The bars were all infused
with magic, and the barriers placed around the cells were as powerful as my
[Prison] magic.
A particular woman was waiting for me in one of these cells, hidden in the
depths. There was a tatami mat laid atop a stone-crafted bed in the corner of
her cell, with some bedding on top of that. In a little alcove on the wall sat a
leylightstone, which we used as an alternative light source to candles. It shone
inside a small cup of water. A pair of glasses sat next to the cup.
In the back of this special cell was a curtained-off area with a shower and
toilet facilities. This was certainly a luxurious cell, all things considered. I felt it
only fair, given that it was inescapable. Even if the bars were cut or the stone
walls were dug through, the magic surrounding this place would prevent
anyone from ever getting out.
In the corner of the room sat a purple Gollem encased in ice. My [Eternal
Coffin] spell wouldn't wear off until I released it, after all.
"Hey. You sleeping?"
"Hm...? I'm not sleeping... But... A-Ah?! That voice! Tou?!"
Luna jumped up, flinging the blanket off her body. Her hair looked scraggly,
but her complexion was fine enough.
"You don't look bad, given you've been in here a few days."
"Hmmmmph! You're so mean for keeping me here, Tou... A big meanie..."
"Hey, c'mon now. What other prisons give you a toilet, three square meals a
day, and a shower?"
Other places just gave you a jar to do your business in; this was a pretty nice
dungeon, all things considered. It was true that she was basically confined to
this one space, though.
Either way, I wanted to get my purpose here over with.
"Now then, you're charged with breaking and entering into a royal castle, as
well as attempted assassination on royalty."
"I did attack, but I don't remember— Ohhh... That means you're really a royal,
Tou?" Luna reached out for her glasses, the two lenses shining softly as she put
them back on.
"Not just me. Those two you attacked, remember? They're my relatives, so
they're royalty as well."
"Ohhh! Those crazy strong ladies! Were they your sisters?!"
Luna's motions became erratic. She hopped up and charged over to the iron
bars, clasping them tightly in her hands. I took a few steps back.
"One of them was. The other was my cousin."
"Ohhh! Amazing! Amaaazing! I didn't get to do much at all, and Viola got
beaten right away! I bet those girls could kill me really easily!"
Luna's body writhed and shivered as she grinned wide and softly fondled
herself. Her breathing grew heavier. She really was an irredeemable pervert... It
was pretty awful to watch.
"...I don't really get it, but like... Do you want to die?"
"Mm... I think so! If I can die, I think it'd be fun to give it a go. I don't really
understand. I didn't wanna die in the past, I know that much. Nia once said that
if I keep using Viola's power, the more things'll go bad for me, and stuff. And
then, in the end, Viola's gonna kill me, too."
...Wait, she knows that her sanity's getting sapped? So, what... Is she hoping
that she'll either get killed by Viola or that someone'll be able to kill her before it
goes too far?
"It's all your fault, Tou... I thought you'd finally be able to kill me, but you're
being so lazy about it! You limp-dicked bastard, you!"
"...Please don't call me that."
"It's scary when you're gonna die, isn't it? I've felt it lots and lots and lots.
Whenever I feel the pain and the fear, real pleasure comes out after that
feeling... So then all the cutting, the stabbing, the slicing... All that good stuff
going into me? It hurts so good... Ahhh, I love it. I love how good it hurts! It's
kind of like my body telling me I'm alive... That's why it's so good."
Huh... So the only way she feels alive is by having pain inflicted on her. But
each time she does that, her mind breaks down further and it actually brings her
closer to the brink of death...
There was no hope for her. Chrom Ranchesse, creator of the crown Gollems,
created an entire system of incredible powers. Of course, they all required you
to pay a price for them. It was almost like making a contract with a devil. You
gain incredible strength, but something's robbed in return.
In Luna's case, she had eternal life... But even if she could live forever, it
didn't matter if her sanity was the price she had to pay. Plus, her ability was
automatic. Even if she didn't want to use the crown's ability, it would trigger
and regenerate her body whenever she got hurt. Her sanity would be sapped
away at the same time, too. Even though she was the Gollem's master, it was
pretty sketchy that it forced her to use its power no matter what. She got a
pretty raw deal out of it.
"Anyway... I thought I'd be super-duper happy if you killed me, Tou... But now
there are those girls, and they're sooo strong, too! This is a little annoying, you
know? Who should I have kill me now...?"
"None of us. I have no intention of killing you."
Bastet told me that she helped protect the puretree in Isengard, but that
wasn't enough to cancel out her crimes. She definitely needed some form of
punishment.
"Huh? Then what are you doing down here...? My, I guess this is one of the
perils of relying on a virgi—"
"Enough."
Goddamn, she has no tact at all! Still, after that talk I had with Elluka after the
crown's compensation, I want to address what we can do about Luna's.
Usually, you could cancel it out by just trashing the Gollem, but Viola had
rapid regeneration... That meant it would be pretty hard to bust. It wouldn't be
impossible if I used my divinity, but it would still be a bit much...
"If I told you I could totally obliterate Viola, how would you feel about that?
Keep in mind it'd stop your mind from slipping any further."
"You'd obliterate her? Hmm... I don't know... Viola's a nice little one, I think.
Actually, Viola's super gentle with me... The little cutie brings me food when I'm
hungry, and carries me when I'm sleepy. Viola never asked to be born the way
she was, either... If you ask me, the real monster is Viola's creator."
Heh, the creator... He already paid the ultimate price, his memories, after
Albus ran wild in the past... In the end, I suppose he got what was coming to
him.
If Luna didn't want me to trash Viola, then I had to try plan B. I used a divinityinfused [Teleport] to warp into the prison cell. Typically, that kind of spell would
be repelled by the barrier, but that didn't stop me. I'd certainly become an
unusual creature... Though I'd been one for a long time at this point.
"Whuh?!"
Luna jumped up in shock, but I ignored her and walked over to Viola, still
trapped inside the icy coffin. I undid the spell, partially, and the ice thawed
down enough to reveal Viola's head and shoulders. "Beep." Viola struggled to
escape the ice, but it couldn't do anything with its arms and legs trapped.
"Viola. I'm going to take away the parts of you that make you a crown Gollem.
I hope you don't hate me for this, but it's for the greater good."
I touched Viola's head and cast [Analyze] on her. I couldn't understand the
intricacies, but I could sense the rudimentary functions like power flow. I also
sensed the magical pathway that linked Viola to Luna, which was effectively the
pathway that created Viola's functions... Given that knowledge, I couldn't fully
erase it. But I could still do the next best thing.
"[Cracking]."
I used a Null spell that helped me modify magical programming. It was
originally used to tweak magical artifacts. It wasn't actually that useful, though.
I couldn't turn a fire staff into a lightning staff, for example. What I could do was
make the fireball smaller or bigger, or just prevent the fireball from coming out
at all.
I used the spell to meddle with Viola's insides, cutting off all access to her
automatic regeneration ability and effectively removing her status as a Crown
Gollem.
"There we go. Viola's no longer a crown, just a really powerful Gollem."
"No way..."
"Yes way. Here, try jabbing yourself with this."
I took out a small sewing needle from my [Storage], and passed it over to
Luna. Luna shakily held it up, removed her glasses, and immediately thrust the
needlepoint toward her eyeball.
"Whoa, stop! Are you stupid?! Don't stab yourself in the goddamn eye!"
"Hm? Why not? It's just my eye."
"I meant for you to just prick your finger!"
This girl was an honest-to-god nutbag. I didn't trust her not to maim herself,
so I snatched the needle back and gently pricked her fingertip. A small drop of
blood pooled on her skin. She wiped it away, but more blood pooled out. The
wound wasn't healing.
"You... You really disabled it?"
"Try asking Viola to heal it. Trust me."
"Oh? Um... Viola, sweetie? Can you heal this?"
"Beep."
Viola channeled magic energy through to Luna. I had disabled the
regeneration ability, but in the process, I'd effectively created a new Gollem
skill that a Legacy Gollem might have held. Basically, it was just regular
regeneration, and it wasn't automated. The little needle prick wound closed up
in an instant.
"So... what does this mean?"
"It means Viola is now a regular Gollem with healing abilities. It won't be able
to heal anything fatal, though."
Luna wouldn't be able to survive the gruesome injuries she'd been sustaining
up until now. If she had her stomach gouged open again, or anything else like
that, she'd absolutely die.
"And now I need to cap off your punishment. [Guilty Curse]."
I reached out and planted a curse upon Luna. I couldn't just let her go
unpunished, after all.
"You won't be able to derive pleasure from pain anymore."
"Huh?!"
"Let me show you. Luna... Thank you for protecting the puretree, it meant a
lot to me."
"Nh... Whhah?! M-Mmfh?! A-Ah, wh-what was that sensation just now? It
was like a shiver up my spine!"
Luna's cheeks flushed a deep red as she wrapped her arms around her own
body.
Ugh... I'll never get used to her gross behavior...
"It's pretty simple, really. This is the punishment I've imposed on you. You'll
gain pleasure from the gratitude of others."
In a sense, I made her more normal, but I probably just made her weirder.
Then again, the world was full of people who took a lot of pleasure from things
others might not find all that enjoyable. Either way, this curse converted
general appreciation and happiness from others into direct physical pleasure
that would ripple across Luna's body.
Most people felt some measure of happiness by helping others. Helping other
people often served as a validating action for people, and helped with giving
people a feeling of fulfillment and purpose. The curse I placed on Luna
effectively gave her that validation... in the form of pleasurable sensations.
"H-Hey, Tou! D-Do it again... Thank me again!"
"Yeah, sure. Thank you, Luna."
"...Huh?"
"Those words were empty, Luna. It won't trigger anything if there's no feeling
behind it."
"Aww..."
I ignored Luna as she fussed and pouted, and freed Viola from the ice.
"But I don't know how to get people to thank me, Touuuu... Who do I have to
kill?"
"Nobody! Why's that your first assumption?! Just go help people in need!"
Ugh, this isn't good. I don't want her doing bad things... I guess if she's hired
as an assassin, she could kill tons and tons of people just so her employer would
thank her... Better add another stipulation to the curse that prevents her from
committing murder... I'll make sure it adds exceptions for combat or self-defense
situations, though.
Luna had clearly never been thanked in her entire life, so I needed to teach
her the best way to earn gratitude.
I summoned a [Gate] connected to Brunhild's main school and dragged Luna
there along with her Gollem. There were a bunch of kids playing nearby.
"Oh! Grand Duuke!" "Wowie! Gwand Duke!"
The kids cheered in joy as they stampeded toward us. It seemed like the
purple Gollem was attracting their attention the most.
"Hey, Tou! What is this place?!"
"It's my castle town's main school. The kids are planting flowers today, I
think."
Principal Fiana, along with Mr. Mittens, walked over from the main school
building.
"Meow nice to see you, Grand Duke."
"Oh my, what brings you here?"
The two of them smiled as they greeted us. They were carrying small gloves
and little trowels, seemingly in preparation for the flower planting.
"I've brought a helper with me. She has a Gollem with her, too."
"Oh my, what a pleasure to meet you. You're here to help us? Thank you so
much."
"Nh— Aah?!"
Fiana's words of gratitude caused spasms of pleasure to ripple through Luna's
body.
"Is she alright...?"
"Yeah, don't worry. Her name's Luna, and she's just a little shy. Don't worry if
she seems a little jumpy."
"Ah, I see. It's nice to have you here, Miss Luna."
"Y-Y-Yes, good..." Luna breathed heavily as she spoke. I wondered if she was
actually okay, since it seemed like her body still wasn't used to this new kind of
pleasure.
"Hey, Miss Luna! Come get the trowels with us! Over here!"
"This way!"
"Huh? No, I—"
A group of little girls grabbed Luna by her hands and dragged her off. Viola
hurried after them, a worried expression on its face. Frankly, I could use Earth
magic to plant all kinds of flowers and make a lovely little flower bed, but Fiana
was trying to teach the kids the value of hard work and co-operation, so I
refrained. I decided to join in the old-fashioned way.
A few hours later, we had a lovely little flower bed on the school grounds.
Well, lovely by the standards of inexperienced kids, but it definitely had charm.
"We did it..."
"Beep."
Luna and Viola were just following instructions, but along the way, they
started taking more initiative and worked alongside the kids. I was surprised to
see a little smile on Luna's face, even if she hadn't noticed it.
A little girl with a mud-caked face walked toward Luna. "Thanks shooo much!"
"Nnnh?!"
Luna started twitching and shivering, right on cue.
"C-Could you say that again...?"
"Thanks!"
"A-Auuuh!"
"Are you okay?"
The girl seemed confused by Luna's sudden writhing and gasping.
"Thanks to you, too, Viola!"
"Beep."
Luna swiveled around, shuddering hard and rubbing her thighs together as
she shambled towards me.
"T-Touuu... Thish ish baaahd... Nnnh... It feels shhooo good... Mmh... My
heart's pitter-pattering... I-It feels better than scooping out a man's eyes,
ahhhn... It feels better than being impaled by spears! Ohhh, it's too much... I'm
gonna start leaking..."
"Heh. Does it make you feel alive?"
"It really does... Ahh... I never felt this before... I-I'm gonna get hooked on it...
You're so cruel, Tou... So bad..."
I mean, it is meant to be a punishment... But I don't really buy that it's cruel
given how much you're grinning. Honestly, the way your eyes are rolling back is
terrifying, and the fact that you're drooling makes me wanna get the hell outta
here.
The pleasure was maybe a little bit too intense for her... I sighed quietly,
wondering if I'd made a mistake, as Fiana and a few more children came
towards us.
"Alright, class. Let's thank the grand duke and Miss Luna for all their help."
"Ah— Wait, Fiana! You shouldn't—"
"Grand Duke, Miss Luna, thank you for all your help!"
The entire class spoke words of unified gratitude. Their pure, childish hearts
were laced with unadulterated appreciation... And they were all focused on
Luna and I.
"A-Ah, I'm c-cumming... I-I'm cumming!! Nnhaaah!!"
Luna started squealing like a wild animal before collapsing on the spot. I
caught her as she fell, and she grabbed on to my arm. She looked up at me with
an expression of pure, babbling bliss.
"T-Tou... Nnh... This is so bad... I-I'm gonna squirt... It's gonna gush... I-I can't
handle this, aaahn! M-My mind's b-blanking out, eeehk!"
Luna spoke in a raspy, whispery tone as her body shuddered. This was a bad
situation, I could tell that she was definitely close to her physical limit.
The kids here were too pure of heart; I should've brought her somewhere
with a much more casual expression of thanks.
"Um... Is she okay?"
"She'll be fine. We're gonna head back, though. It was nice seeing you all.
Take care, everyone!"
I waved off Fiana and the kids, then teleported back to the dungeon cell with
Luna and Viola.
"Viola, you can handle her from here!"
"Beep?!"
I left the little purple Gollem behind before charging full-speed out of the
dungeon. I could've sworn I heard some kind of dripping noise behind me as I
fled, but I immediately pretended that I hadn't heard it.
That was an awful ordeal, but at least I've given Luna her punishment now... I
can let her go at last. ...It'll be okay if I let her go, right?
◇ ◇ ◇
Despite the fact that we'd stopped the mutants from causing catastrophic
damage, they'd still done quite the number on countries around the world. It
was taking a lot of time and effort to repair the damaged towns and cities.
The dwarven-made powered mechanical suits, the Dverg, were instrumental
in reconstruction efforts. Frame Gears were too big and cumbersome, and the
fact that they required training in the frame units meant that they could only be
piloted by particular specialists. The Dvergs had the benefit of being much
easier to learn and control. Plus, Dvergs weren't limited in quantity, so
countries all over the world were ordering them via Olba's company.
Olba, ever the shrewd businessman, had predicted this demand in advance of
the invasion and stocked up on a large supply of the Dverg units.
"Hmhm... My feelings on the matter are mixed, if I'm honest. It's nice to make
sales, but it's sad that it's necessary."
Olba spoke humbly, but the way his ears twitched and his tail wagged
betrayed the excitement inside him. He was clearly making an absolute fortune.
Given how well-known Dvergs were about to become across the world, I
wondered if I should make a little model of them for the capsule machines.
Dvergs were only being employed heavily on the eastern continent, though. On
the western side, the brunt of the work was being done by industrial-scale
factory model Gollems. I'd headed up to Babylon's hangar, and found myself
glancing at all the lined up Frame Gears.
"Guess we won't be using them much anymore, huh?"
"I wouldn't be so sure." Just as I was feeling a little sentimental, Doc Babylon
appeared, puffing on her e-cig. Her oversized lab coat trailed behind her.
"Huh? What do you mean?"
"It'd be easier if I just showed you."
She pulled out a couple of transparent boards around the size of a notepad
each. One had blue dots on it, while the other had red dots on it. They kind of
looked like glass panels with polka dot designs on them. I wasn't entirely sure
what it was I was looking at.
"Let's say this one here is our world. And this other is Elluka and Fenrir's
world. Well, it doesn't really matter which world represents which, anyway...
The colored dots are areas with a high concentration of magical energy, now
look what happens when they overlap..."
She took both of the panels and placed them atop each other. Some of the
polka dots on the map changed to purple spots where the red and blue
intersected, leading me to immediately understand what she meant.
"Right. These purple spots are going to be massive mana wells. You'd
probably call them mana reservoirs, really. Now the two worlds have coalesced,
we've got quite a few of these on our hands. And you know what that means,
right?"
"Behemoths..."
Behemoths were regular monsters that were exposed to abnormal amounts
of magical energy, resulting in them growing to terrifying sizes. Typically, these
mana wells would only appear in dense forests, deep under the ocean, or at the
peaks of high mountains. The Behemoths born from these instances rarely
caused issues for humanity. But even a single Behemoth near a human
settlement could be catastrophic.
Palerius Island was once so filled with Behemoths that the people living there
needed to keep a constant vigil for their own safety. According to the map
display I was looking at, these supercharged mana reservoirs were now all over
the place.
"I can't say it means Behemoths are just gonna start showing up today,
though. There'll already be Behemoths at the sites where the mana wells were
originally, anyway. It'll take a few more years for Behemoths to be born at the
new sites, too. Plus, Behemoths fight amongst themselves already. All we need
to do is monitor these areas and take action when needed."
In case it wasn't completely obvious, a mana well wouldn't dry up just from
the creation of a single Behemoth. Multiple Behemoths could be born to the
same species in the same area, which would often result in territorial battles
that ended up with one or more dead. That ended up being a more natural
method of keeping their numbers culled. However, the surviving Behemoths did
end up being pretty strong...
"So you're saying we need to keep our Frame Gears on standby, eh?"
"Right. Also, that world barrier of yours still hasn't been fixed, has it? There's
no guarantee our world is safe from extraterrestrial invaders in the meantime.
The Phrase could have simply been the first."
I didn't really want to think about that.
According to the other gods, I had sufficient divinity to fix up the world
barrier, but my sisters told me that if I screwed up I could end up causing an
even worse situation. Since the Phrase invasion incident so heavily involved a
wicked god, God Almighty was going to let one of his guys fix the barrier.
Because there hadn't been a god assigned to this world before me, they
weren't really allowed to interfere. But now that I was in charge, it was
apparently okay to patch it up.
In other words, I couldn't fix it myself for fear of screwing up, but I could ask
some of the gods I knew for their help. There was only one issue. None of the
ones I knew seemed to have the ability to fix the barrier, either.
Moroha, Karina, and Takeru were definitely not viable options. Karen and
Suika didn't exactly seem the types for it, either. There was Kousuke and
Sousuke to consider, but their areas of expertise were pretty far removed from
something so intricate. Gods like them were specialists in one particular field,
and they basically sucked at everything that wasn't in their jurisdiction.
God Almighty told me that he'd send someone to help me out at some
point... I just had to hope it was someone who wasn't a raging maniac or a
peculiar eccentric.
I headed back down from Babylon and caught my phone ringing in my pocket.
I raised a brow at the caller ID. It was Silhouette of the Black Cats. I wondered
what she wanted.
◇ ◇ ◇
She wanted to discuss something with me, so I headed to the Strain
Kingdom's main commerce city, since that's where her HQ was. The city was the
second-largest in Strain, and it was home to Silhouette's Moon Parlor, which
also doubled as a base for Black Cat activity.
It was noon so the neon lights weren't blaring, but the place looked gaudy as
ever... Given that it was a brothel, that wasn't too surprising.
"I wonder what she wants, I do..."
"Hmph... Better safe than sorry..."
Yae and Hilde were clinging to either side of me. There was an unspoken rule
among me and my fiancees that stated I needed to be accompanied by at least
one girl whenever I was called out here.
I could understand it, given that even I felt pretty seedy visiting a location like
the Moon Parlor. The place smelled like sex, and had a totally shady
atmosphere... Now and then, I'd see half-dressed girls walking through the
hallways, too.
The beefy bouncer outside the entryway bowed his head and let me in right
away. It was a little bit disgraceful that a brothel bouncer recognized me
enough to let me in, given I was supposed to be royalty... I decided to ask
Silhouette to meet me elsewhere next time, since I didn't want any rumors of
me being a brothel patron getting out. At least having Yae and Hilde with me
helped combat the idea a bit.
We made it to Silhouette's office on the top floor, only to be greeted by a
black panther and a little black cat outside the door. The panther was a
summoned beast that Silhouette had called forth with my help a while back. If I
recalled correctly he was an elemental creature, a lightning panther.
"This way, Grand Duke."
The lightning panther (Shade, I think his name was?) led us toward his master.
Shade was a particular kind of beast that could also communicate, so that was
pretty handy.
Silhouette sat in her office, sipping a cup of tea.
"Welcome, my friend. Oho, you've brought different girls this time, have you?
You must be quite the vigorous man."
Silhouette grinned slightly as Yae and Hilde exchanged worried looks. I wished
she wouldn't tease my fiancees, because I was the one who had to deal with
them afterward...
She invited us to sit on a nearby couch, so we complied and immediately got
down to brass tacks.
"I was thinking of expanding the influence of the Black Cats to an
international level."
"Uh... I thought you guys were already international."
"Ahh, sorry. I meant intercontinental, I wish to expand our operations to your
nations in the east."
In terms of intercontinental travel, far more people visited the eastern
continent from the west than vice versa. This was because people from the
eastern continent only really had ships (at varying speeds, some of the faster
ones employed wind mages to create favorable gales), while those on the
western continents had flying machines and transportation Gollems as well as
ships. I also speculated that the differences in culture contributed to this
emigration difference. The western continent, the former Reverse World, is
home to a naturally curious people who wished to learn more about magic. On
the other hand, the people of the eastern continent were very cautious when it
came to all this strange magitech stuff from the west.
The very idea of Gollems, which were effectively powerful artifacts, being part
of daily life was a confusing thing for them to wrap their heads around.
Basically, the westerners were actively seeking to interact with the east, while
the easterners were still a little bit apprehensive. Silhouette seemed to be
especially eager to expand her own influence.
"So you're saying you want to start opening brothels in the east?"
"I sure do. Some regular inns, too. We're trying to run a proper business and
all that. My methods are complex. We want you to speak to the countries on
our behalf. I'd rather avoid a Zabbit situation repeating."
Zabbit? Oh, right... That guy from Papillon who kept harassing Silhouette, or
whatever.
I remembered seeing him in Allent's capital city once. He was hassling some
orphanage there but he ended up fleeing.
I could understand why Silhouette was trying to make it as a legitimate
business. Brothels were often easy targets for criminal underworld types, so it
made sense she'd want to avoid any existing crime families trying to integrate
her business into theirs.
"So what exactly do you want me to ask, here?"
"I want you to get approval from the monarchs in the east. I'm sure the inns
will be no issue, though there may be trouble with the brothel permission."
Quite understandably, too. Brothels tended to be used as fronts for other
sketchy activities, like under-the-table loans or human trafficking. Many
brothels were home to trafficked or kidnapped women, too. Though in
Silhouette's case, many of the girls were quite high on the social ladder and
simply enjoyed sex work. Problematic customers were also ejected from the
premises pretty rapidly.
There were even talks about starting up a brothel in Brunhild's castle town... I
considered it a necessary evil, since readily-available sex establishments would
decrease the rate of criminal sexual assault. Either way, it was a bit of a pickle.
"I don't think the inns will be an issue, yeah. The brothels are gonna have to
depend on each country's personal policies. You definitely won't get one in the
Ramissh Theocracy, I can tell you that much right away. As for us... Would you
be opposed to Brunhild's government managing it?"
I squirmed slightly as the two girls either side of me swiveled and glared. It's
not like that! I don't wanna build one because I want to make use of it or
anything...
"Well, I'm sure we'll be able to work something out. Anyway, now we can
move on to the main matter of discussion."
Huh? That wasn't what you even called me over for? Just how opportunistic
are you?!
"As you know, we still have ties to some of Papillon's old less-than-scrupulous
ventures, and that includes the black market. We found something of particular
interest there a while ago."
Silhouette produced a hefty old parchment-paged tome and laid it out on the
table. It looked so old I was surprised it hadn't crumbled away into dust.
"This book is known as Shuraf's Encounters. It's the autobiography of a man
named Shuraf Sikes, a priest in Dauburn from long ago. This book contains the
truth behind Dauburn and Zadonia's conflict."
"Huh? You serious?"
The Nation of Ice, Zadonia, was the long-time enemy of the Nation of Fire,
Dauburn. They weren't entirely sure why they were enemies, but the reason
was apparently contained in this book.
"I'll cut to the chase. Public knowledge dictates that each country thinks the
other stole their offering to the gods, yes? This book states that the offering
was never stolen at all. It was never even made to begin with."
I remembered hearing about an offering, and apparently, the offering was
supposed to be a live sacrifice. According to High Priest Shuraf's writings,
Dauburn was approached by a fire god (like just a powerful spirit) and told to
offer up the king's son as a living sacrifice. But the king didn't want to give up
his son. He told the god that his son had been stolen away by Zadonia, in the
hopes that the sacrifice would be called off.
"So he blamed the other country, huh."
"Indeed. He must have thought that Zadonia would face the god's wrath
instead of Dauburn if he shifted the blame to them. But, by unfortunate
coincidence, a god of ice appeared in Zadonia and asked for the king's son as
well. The king of Zadonia, not wanting to give up his child, did the exact same
thing the king of Dauburn did... He blamed the other country."
That was definitely a terrible coincidence; I couldn't believe both sides tried to
evade the sacrifice in such a ridiculous way. That made the situation even
stupider to me.
"Ultimately, the gods took their wrath out on the countries for the missing
sacrifices, so nothing changed. Zadonia became a frozen wasteland, while
Dauburn became a blazing hell. Then, the gods left. The truth was only known
to the upper echelons of each nation, and obviously, they'd never reveal the
truth of what they allowed to happen. Shuraf, the Dauburnian priest who was
entrusted with the secret, didn't like having to keep it to himself. It's no
surprise, really, given that the lies led to years and years of conflict between the
two nations. This book is likely the result of him no longer wanting to keep it on
his conscience."
It definitely wasn't surprising that the priest was so disturbed by the secret,
since it resulted in so much bloodshed and needless conflict. Personally, I was
weirded out by these gods (who were likely just spirits) who asked for human
sacrifices. I doubted that I'd get any information from asking the current Flame
and Ice Spirits, but I figured it'd be worth following up on at some point.
"Either way, I doubt the countries care about the origins of their animosity
anymore. Shuraf's Encounters was found in an old spirit church in the Allent
Theocracy. It was written in Holy Spirit Script, likely to obscure the contents,
and it almost worked, too. Nobody in the current era can really read it. I doubt
the current royal families of either country know about the truth, either."
That made sense enough to me, since it was never meant to be published or
anything. It was basically the priest guy's diary, something he never wanted
people to actually read. If he had written it in an easier language, he might've
been able to stop the conflict... But I had a feeling that revealing the truth
would have definitely made him an enemy of both states.
"So how come we only just found the book?"
"We didn't. I've had this book for quite some time. The only issue was
deciphering the contents. But, a short time ago, I had the perfect opportunity to
read it."
"Huh? What do you—? Oh. Now I get it."
Silhouette's grin made me realize how she'd been able to read the book. It
was the Mochizuki Touya app. She likely used it to access the [Reading] Null
spell. The app included a little readme file with a list of available Null spells,
after all. The app was no longer in service, but apparently, she'd managed to fit
in some light reading while it was still active. That made me wonder what
others around the world might have done before their app usage ran out...
About two days elapsed between the defeat of the Phrase invasion and the
end of the app's service... Who knows what they could've achieved in that
time...
"S-So... you need Touya-dono's help, you do?"
"Well, Touya. You're known for your mediation abilities between nations at
this point. I want you to resolve the conflict between Zadonia and Dauburn. A
lot of my workers actually come from those countries. The children of that
country struggle to survive, and those that grow up to be adults are deployed
for pointless warfare. Given that the cause of such suffering for many of my
girls is something so ridiculous, I'd rather have it all cleared up."
"She's right, Touya... If the royal families of the two countries don't even
know why they're fighting anymore, then this is just senseless violence..."
Hilde frowned as she spoke. As a royal herself, she clearly had strong opinions
on this. I couldn't blame her, a king shouldn't make his people suffer, much less
for generations.
Personally, I didn't really think it was my place as a grand duke to interfere in
national disputes. Plus, as this world's custodian, I only really had to interfere
when something could threaten the structural integrity of the planet. That
being said, this world was soon to become a vacation spot for the divine. An
argument could be made that having this world remain as peaceful as possible
would make it a better destination.
God Almighty told me to work my hardest with this planet so that I could look
back on it at the end and pridefully say that it was the best world it could be.
Even if I didn't have any obligation to deal with this conflict, it would likely be
for the best if I did.
"Alright, then. I'll give it a shot. At the very least, I should be able to undo the
harsh environmental magic in each country."
"Hurray, Touya-dono!"
"Ah, thank goodness... The people will be saved, after all!"
Yae and Hilde smiled widely, heaving sighs of relief. Personally, I felt they
were celebrating a little prematurely. It wasn't like I'd done anything yet.
The main issue would be convincing the royal families that Shuraf's
Encounters was a legitimate testament... They'd likely see it as me coming in as
an outsider and wanting them to admit their own family's mistakes. I didn't
think it was a mistake to reject a demand for human sacrifice, though. In fact,
rejecting a god (or at least something posing as one) took a hell of a lot of
bravery.
However, it was their fear of retribution that caused them to shirk the blame
off to the other nation, and their own cowardly attitudes are what ultimately
caused their countries to become cursed. Then they continued peddling a false
narrative until the truth was lost to time. In my opinion, that was the biggest
mistake of all. As a result, the two countries had been constantly butting heads
for the last several hundred years...
Either way, the best course of action now was to speak with the Flame and Ice
Spirits. In the worst case, I could get them to come down to earth and pose as
the fake gods that the countries had worshiped in the past.
"Thank you so much for your help in this matter. That being said, I'm not
entirely sure how it'll work out... Their hatred really runs deep. Whenever they
meet to sign ceasefires or treaties, they get so heated that they never actually
get around to the signing. It's just a lot of screaming and shouting."
Hearing that didn't exactly make me hopeful. I wondered if maybe I should
just abduct the two kings and let them duke it out until they were satisfied. I
often found that older people were too set in their ways, so perhaps talking to
their children would be the best way to patch up this matter.
Still, the time for pondering had passed. I had to live up to my reputation and
end the conflict. My first stop on this new journey would be the spirit realm. We
waved our goodbyes to Silhouette and left the Moon Parlor.
◇ ◇ ◇
"Huh? I asked for a human sacrifice? That doesn't sound like me..."
"Doesn't sound like me either... But it wasn't really us, anyway, it was a
previous incarnation from hundreds of years ago..." The Flame Spirit sighed
softly as she spoke, as did the Ice Spirit by her side.
I'd entered the spirit realm to try and get more answers, but the two of them
were pretty vague. Reasonable, given they had no memories of the era I was
trying to learn more about.
"Would you girls maybe know anyone who knew you back then?"
"Um... You'll probably wanna hit up Fire Sis for that. I think she used to know
my old self."
"Same here, but with Her Wateriness. I think she was quite close with my
older incarnation."
The Fire and Water Spirits, eh? Guess that makes sense, the pillar spirits take
longer to reincarnate, after all.
I warped to another area of the spirit realm. The spirit realm had previously
been a formless milky-colored void with glimmering lights in the distance, but
now there were hunks of land floating around. They were like teeny tiny
planets, really.
I asked the Earth Spirit to make them, since occupying a completely empty
space always felt weird for me. Pillar spirits sure were incredible, though; she
managed to form these tiny planets in no time at all. After they were created,
spirits started to settle on them and claim little areas for their own. As I touched
down on one of the larger mini-planets, the Earth Spirit rose from the ground to
greet me.
"It has been some time, milord. Come with me."
The Earth Spirit had the same kind of dazzling green hair as the forest spirit
from the sea of trees, it shimmered as she smiled and turned to lead me into a
wooded area. There was an open clearing inside the woodland, with a charming
little pavilion built inside. The Fire Spirit and the Water Spirit were sitting by a
table, teacups in hand. They certainly got along well for being opposing
elements. But, if I recalled correctly, the Light Spirit and the Dark Spirit were
also sisters. Perhaps this was just a case of opposites attracting, or maybe them
being two halves of the same coin.
Either way, I needed to focus on my primary objective here. I explained the
general gist of Zadonia and Dauburn's conflict and the fact that it was likely to
do with the previous incarnations of the Flame Spirit and the Ice Spirit.
"Huh?! A living sacrifice? No way my little flamey would do something like
that! The last flame incarnation was about the same as the current one,
honestly. Though she could get a little... HOT-TEMPERED. Ahahaha!"
"...Quite. The same should be said of the Ice Spirit. I'm sure she wouldn't have
done something so heinous. It doesn't seem right."
"What, seriously...? Then maybe there's a misunderstanding somewhere..."
The answers the Spirit of Fire and the Spirit of Water had given me were even
more confusing. If the spirits hadn't demanded human sacrifices, then I couldn't
begin to think how this had all started... Before I could start pondering again,
the Fire Spirit spoke up once more.
"Oh, come to think of it... around five hundred years back, I remember the
Flame Spirit being really mad... She was raging because she'd found someone
suited to become a spirit medium, but something went wrong... I think?"
"A spirit medium?"
"Basically a mortal with a strong spiritual side. They can bond with a spirit and
even manifest the spirit within them; they're quite exceptional and rare people.
I'd say they're about a tier above regular spirit contractors in terms of
potential."
The Earth Spirit answered my query.
Manifesting...? Like possession or something? That's pretty interesting, I
imagine that'd let them make full use of a spirit's power, too.
"So wait... When the spirits demanded a sacrifice, you don't think they
meant..."
"Yeah. She probably wanted the king's kid to be a medium for her. Spirit
tongue isn't well understood by people who aren't capable of contracting with
us, so it's possible they misunderstood what she was asking..."
The Fire Spirit patted her hands together as everything clicked into place.
Ugh... So I guess she meant to say something like, "Please give me your child
so I can use them as a spirit medium," and they probably only heard the "give
me your child" part...
"Ah, I see now. And when each of the spirits asked why the kings refused to
hand over their children, they were lied to... We spirits can read human
emotion, so we can tell when we're being deceived. It wouldn't be unusual for
those two spirits to become upset after being so brazenly lied to after a simple
request..."
The Water Spirit nodded slowly as she spoke. It all made sense now. The
spirits had simply offered to grant power to the children of the two kings, and
they were instead met with strange, nonsensical lies. Their anger wasn't exactly
unreasonable in that case. They probably saw a lot of lost potential in the two
princes.
Plus, since they could read human emotions, they probably knew that the
kings had the intention of using the spirit's power to punish the other country.
That probably didn't help their moods one bit.
"Damn... If there hadn't been a misunderstanding, the kings probably
would've agreed."
I was sure they would've jumped at the chance to make their children
powerful spiritual mediums. If it was a more magically advanced society instead
of the Reverse World, they might have had people around who could better
decipher what the spirits were saying... This was all basically the equivalent of
butt-dialing someone and hearing muffled parts out of context.
Still, now I knew enough to get a feel for the actual truth of the situation.
Whether or not the two countries would believe it was another matter entirely.
And even if they did believe it, they'd have to swallow their national pride in
order to accept it.
The situation was difficult, but I resolved to go and meet the two kings.
◇ ◇ ◇
I'd never actually interacted with Dauburn or Zadonia before, so I decided to
find a third party to bridge the gap between me and them. I settled on the
Allent Theocracy, since it bordered both nations. Plus, Allent was a nation that
revered spirits as divine, and has had a long history of worshiping them. The
country had never had any direct contact with pillar spirits, though.
"Ah, yes, we have a history of accepting refugees from both Zadonia and
Dauburn. The lessons they brought with them have taught us to be very careful
when dealing with the sanctity of the great spirits. B-But... Touya, are you truly
capable of summoning the great pillars?"
"Yep, sure can. Want me to do it now?"
"N-No! Th-That's okay! That's quite okay!"
Allent's holy king went pale in the face as I spoke. I wasn't surprised that he'd
gotten so surprised. Pillar spirits were a far realm above regular ones, after all.
We were riding in a Gollem carriage straight toward Dauburn's blazing capital
city, Burn. I looked out the window and saw nothing but desert for miles and
miles. It was just an endless stretch of sand. There was the occasional oasis,
likely the result of the spirit's residual power being weaker in that area.
The Gollem carriage we were in wasn't wheeled, either. It was a specialized
multi-legged carriage, like the one used by Mr. Sancho when I first met him. It
was an all-terrain vehicle that made traveling across sand a total breeze. The
tips of its legs had been fitted with flat parts to prevent sinking, but the jostling
for everyone inside honestly got pretty bad at times.
I'd stopped by briefly in Dauburn and Zadonia before via my [Fly] spell, so I
could have easily just warped us there... But I didn't think suddenly appearing in
the nations would be good from a diplomatic introduction perspective.
I didn't really think the journey would be this bad though... I think I'm gonna
barf...
"[Refresh]... Hrk..."
"Are you alright, my lord?"
"Yeah, I'll be okay... Just gotta keep applying [Refresh] to myself..."
Kohaku, in her tiger cub form, looked merry as ever as she sat by my side.
Apparently summoned beasts didn't get motion sickness.
"I must admit, Grand Duke Touya... I'm not entirely sure if we'll be welcomed
warmly. We have a relationship with Dauburn and Zadonia, but I wouldn't say
we're friendly."
Two other Gollem carriages were traveling with us. One was in front and one
behind. It was only natural to bring escorts with us, since we were two world
leaders heading toward a country that could be described as neutral at best.
Other than Kohaku, I'd brought along Nikola from our knight order, as well as
five knights. They were all in the carriage behind us, though I feared they'd be
getting motion sickness, too.
"I don't mind if they're not friendly, I just need to talk to their king. Everything
that happens from there depends on them, really. I promise I won't cause Allent
any issues with this, though."
"I'm sure it'll be fine... You're the hero who vanquished that wicked god, after
all. I can't say that King Dauburn will be the most accommodating of men, but I
suppose in the worst-case scenario you'd just crush the country or
something..."
Dude, c'mon... Don't just assume I'd handle it so easily! It's not like I'd just
take them out with a couple petty insults or anything.
Still, there were definitely some world leaders who needed a good foot up
their asses, like that piggish king from Sandora. I hoped that Dauburn's leader
wasn't anything like that jackass.
We finally arrived at Burn, the blazing city, before passing through a fanciful
arch and heading toward the castle. The city looked quite like Mismede's
capital. The buildings were all constructed in a similar mudbrick style. But if I
were to compare the two places, I'd say that the people here looked a lot more
lethargic. Everyone had bags under their eyes, a symbol of the psychological toll
the generations-long conflict against Zadonia must have been taking on them.
Rag-clad children sat in the shadows of buildings, looking forlornly at their
own feet. If you asked me, the lack of smiling children was a damning
indictment of this nation's failings.
Dauburn's royal castle was built by the bank of a large oasis. It looked very old
and was constructed from layered bricks, with no fancy spires or anything like
that. It wasn't especially gaudy or even pretty, but the sturdy construction gave
off a powerful vibe.
Once we made it through the castle gate, we kept on going a little while
before stopping in front of a fountain. I let the holy king get out first, then
hopped out of the carriage with Kohaku. It was crazy hot! The Gollem carriage
had air conditioning, so it was almost like stepping out of heaven straight into
hell. It wasn't a humid heat like Japan's, either. It was a dry heat.
I decided to secretly use a water spell called [Cooling] on myself; that
definitely helped. A burly man in red leather armor came to greet us. Next to
him stood an elderly man in a red robe. Dauburnian soldiers wielding red spears
stood by their red Gollems, all lined up either side of us as we walked up the
mudbrick steps. It felt like they were putting on a display, like peacocks. I
wondered if the gaudy red show was meant to intimidate us or something.
"A fine welcome to Dauburn, Holy King Allent. And... you must be Brunhild's
grand duke, yes?"
"That's right. My name's Mochizuki Touya. It's a pleasure to meet with you,
and thank you for allowing us passage."
The beefy armored guy, who was probably some kind of general or military
leader, raised a surprised brow as I spoke.
"Is something wrong?"
"No, I uh... You just speak pretty humbly for a king... Uh, sorry for the
rudeness."
"I started off as an adventurer, so I don't really feel the need to hold myself
above other people. Maybe I should apologize for not acting royally enough,
ahaha."
The military man almost went wide-eyed at my response, but he shot back a
grin toward me. Apparently, he liked my style.
He looked like he was almost forty or so. He had short black hair and light
brown eyes, and a scar ran along his jawline. He definitely seemed to be some
kind of military veteran, he didn't strike me as someone who was highborn.
He'd probably worked his way up the ranks from a common background.
"Well, let me properly welcome you to Dauburn. I'm Glenn, general of
Dauburn's principal army."
"Nice to meet you, General Glenn."
He didn't list his surname, which meant he definitely wasn't a noble. After a
moment of pause, the old man by Glenn's side bowed his head to me.
"And I am Dauburn's prime minister, Rosso Phoenix. A pleasure to meet you."
The old man, Rosso, seemed like he was about to lose his glasses when he
bowed his head. He deftly pushed them back up his nose. He was clearly of
noble birth, which made sense for a prime minister. I couldn't read much from
the old guy's expressions. There was no smile on his face or warmth in his
actions. He just seemed to be acting out of duty.
"Now, if you'll follow me. His Royal Highness is waiting." The holy king and I
followed after Rosso and Glenn, while Kohaku trailed behind me a little. Behind
her were Nikola and my knights, along with the holy knights of Allent and their
silver Gollems.
The castle's interior was much like the exterior, built solidly and non-flashy. It
was quite charming, in all honesty... But I couldn't help but feel like the place
was a little bit run-down and weathered. It kind of made you think maybe the
place should be closed for renovations, or at the very least reminded you of its
age.
The country definitely felt like one struggling with poverty, which made sense.
Between the constant skirmishes, the scorching heat, and the poor
international relations, it was obvious they wouldn't be blossoming. No matter
how things turned out between me and the king, I was going to get the flame
spirit to do something about the environmental disasters here.
We made it to a doorway deep within the castle halls, where two red Gollems
stood. They opened the door, and Glenn stopped to lean on a nearby wall.
Apparently, this was as far as he could go.
The large room had a long table in the middle, which was adorned with
candlesticks and flowers. I noticed some noble-garbed men standing by a great
throne, along with some rougher men who wore armor similar to Glenn's. They
were likely the top brass of the nation.
At the far end of the room, atop the throne, was a man. He looked to be in his
late forties, and he had facial hair that covered both his upper lip and his
jawline. His head was adorned with a piece of cloth bound by a band. If I
remembered correctly, it was an Arabic headdress known as a keffiyeh. His
clothes were clearly of fine making, a flowing robe embroidered with red and
gold stitching, along with a stomach-warming strap tied around his rotund belly.
A gold-plated dagger sat about his waist.
The man was none other than the king of Dauburn, Jaharade Bier Dauburn.
Seated right by his side was a younger man dressed in similar attire. If I had to
guess, I'd say he was around twenty years of age. He had a keffiyeh on his head,
and his skin was dark, though not as dark as his eyes. Much like the king, he
wore a golden dagger about his waist. He was likely the prince.
"A warm welcome to Dauburn, Holy King of Allent and Grand Duke of
Brunhild. What little we have to offer in terms of hospitality is all yours."
King Dauburn gestured for us to sit down. He had a smile on his face, but I
could tell he was trying to ascertain our intentions. I could understand his
suspicions; I was fairly young to be ruling a country, after all.
The holy king and I sat at the other end of the long table, which left quite an
amount of space between us and our host...
"Now then, what can we do for you? I assume you've come with a purpose?"
The king of Dauburn immediately cut to the chase. He clearly wanted to know
what my intentions were with him, and it was fairly obvious he was only
entertaining me because I'd come with Allent's backing.
Either way, I didn't forget my purpose. I began explaining Shuraf's account,
and the truth I'd uncovered about the conflict between Dauburn and Zadonia.
As I continued speaking, I could see the government officials growing angrier
and angrier with me. Eventually, one of the men, a military leader with a thick
mustache, crashed his fist into the table and looked at me with raging eyes.
"How dare you! Did you come here to mock us?! Our land is cursed because
those monsters in Zadonia stole our offering to our god! How dare you come
here and act as an apologist for them! Did they send you with this seditious
material?!"
"No, listen. It's a misunderstanding, that's what I'm saying. The king from
back then simply misunderstood the god's wishes and thought it wanted a live
sacrifice, it's just—"
"Enough with this sacrilege! How dare you insult our leader's ancestry! You
think some backwater duke can charge in here and attempt to shame us into
submission?! Did you think we'd let you go unscathed for such an affront?!"
The furious man reached for his sheathed scimitar, prompting Nikola and my
knights to reach for their own.
I quickly raised a hand, telling my soldiers to stand down. I looked back at the
angered military man. He was glaring at me pretty intensely, but I was actually
kinda mad, too. I didn't appreciate him calling me backwater, or acting like I was
an unfit leader.
"Let me start over from the top. There was no god, it was a powerful spirit.
The ruler of this country back then misinterpreted its demands, shifted the
blame to the other country, and misled the people. I'm not holding any of you
accountable for that, it's hardly your fault. Zadonia did the exact same thing. I
wanted to bring the truth to you, in the hopes that the two countries would
learn to get along better."
"Pah! You suggest we join hands with Zadonian vermin?!"
"Don't make us laugh, you child! Why would we ever want to bridge
connections with those lowlives?!"
"Like we'd ever forgive those thieves."
The roaring members of government gradually gave way to the king, who rose
from his seat.
"Grand Duke... I must admit you surprised and interested me with your topic
today. However, you've crossed a line. There is a saying in our country that says
the new recruit who talks too much will not have a long career. Those who stick
their necks out to butt in may find that neck slit. Understand?"
I definitely understood. There were a few phrases like that back home. In
general, there was safety in silence.
"Zadonia is our oldest foe. We cannot make peace with them. Only when
Zadonia, the country of thieves who stole from us, is vanquished, can we know
peace."
"And when will that be? Ten years? A hundred? Has your history of war
brought either nation anything but tragedy? If you keep this up, both of your
countries will be ruined."
"Enough of your insolence, boy!"
The mustached man stepped in front of the king, roaring out in fury as he
drew his blade and charged toward me.
"General Jhaghil, stop this at once!"
The general ignored the words of his young prince, and recklessly swung his
blade at me.
"Kohaku."
"As you command."
Kohaku, who had been curled up by my feet, instantly transformed into her
true form and let out an immensely intimidating war cry.
"Gh-Gheeh?!"
The charging general was blasted backward by Kohaku's shockwave. Kohaku's
true form sparked fear in the government officials, who stood up from their
chairs in a panic. Glenn, who'd been standing by outside, charged into the room
after hearing the sudden commotion.
"Your general drew his weapon first. All I did was retaliate, and non-lethally. I
will not apologize for what just happened."
"This only happened because of your provocation, boy!"
"Father, stop this at once!"
The prince's words caused the king to briefly come to his senses, and he took
out his frustration by bashing a fist against the table. I couldn't believe how bad
their manners were. Were they trying to start an intercontinental war? The
prince clearly had a better grasp of the situation than his father and the others.
"I didn't come in to provoke you. I only spoke the truth I uncovered. Even if
this story about the misunderstanding is false, do you legitimately believe that
constantly keeping your country at war with Zadonia is the right thing to do? Do
you understand that your people are struggling just to survive? Don't you
realize that if Allent wanted to invade your territory and take it, they could
likely do it with no resistance at all?"
"H-Hey now, don't pull me into it, Grand Duke..."
The holy king smiled softly and shook his head. It definitely wouldn't be hard
for Allent to conquer Dauburn, though. All they'd have to do is tell Zadonia to
make a joint attack and that'd basically be manageable with little major effort.
The opposite would be true for Zadonia's case as well. That was why it was
painfully obvious that they kept a neutral relationship with Allent in order to
placate the holy king. The country reeked of desperation.
"Ghhh..."
The reality of the situation was reflected on King Dauburn's face. He clearly
wasn't blind to the things I'd said. Silhouette had told me that he was a shorttempered and short-sighted man who didn't think of future consequences.
Given that his meetings with Zadonia always turned into yelling contests, it was
likely that the king of Zadonia was the same type of man.
If I was the king, I'd punish the general who tried to slash me, and formally
apologize about the incident. But I had a feeling he'd do something more
stupid, like point over at me and yell...
"Arrest these interlopers!"
Which was exactly what he did. I wondered if he intended to arrest the holy
king as well.
"[Prison]."
"Gwuh?!"
"Buh?!"
The Dauburnian soldiers smashed into the wall of the magic barrier around
me and fell to the ground. The knights from Allent were surprised to find
themselves encased in the barrier, but Nikola and my knights were perfectly
calm about it. It was kind of funny how they'd just gotten used to this kind of
thing.
"At any rate, we're off to Zadonia now. I'd appreciate it if you took what I just
brought up into consideration."
"Hm?! You're going to invade our nation alongside Zadonia and Allent,
then?!"
"Dude, do you have mud bricks where your brain should be? We're just going
to tell them the same story we told you. Try focusing on your own country's
welfare before worrying about the activities of others."
"Grr... You little brat...!"
King Dauburn gnashed his teeth together in fury as his fists clenched hard. He
was quite the character. The holy king let out a small sigh as he watched King
Dauburn's hissy fit.
"King Dauburn, please take it from me. You'd do well to listen to his words.
We do not intend to bring harm to your nation, but things hinge on you right
now. Will you be known as a wise or foolish leader in the history books? Now is
the time for that to be decided."
With that, we stood up from our seats and left the room. The [Prison] around
us only blocked hostile people or Gollems, so we walked out of it without a
hitch.
After we left the room, General Glenn followed after us to bow his head. It
seemed like the country still had some good men in it, at least. To me, that
made stopping this war even more important.
Just as I was about to get back into the Gollem carriage, I turned toward the
voice of hurried footsteps behind me.
"P-Please wait a moment!"
For a brief second, I thought we were being pursued by soldiers, but it was
just the young prince. General Glenn was by his side.
"Yes?"
"Please, I must ask you forgive my father for his attitude. I have a request to
make of you. If you are headed to Zadonia, please take me!"
"Huh?" I raised my brow before glancing at the holy king. His brow was raised
as well. I had assumed everyone in the top brass of Dauburn would view
Zadonia as an enemy, so him asking to go there was peculiar.
"Prince Hakim, we are headed to Zadonia to discuss the same issue we just
brought up with your father. Are you certain you wish to come with us, even
knowing that the king of Zadonia may have the same reaction as your father?"
"I am certain, Holy King. I want to put a stop to this war. In order to do that, I
must understand the other side. There must be people in Zadonia who feel the
way I do. It is my hope I can come with you to meet them."
That was definitely interesting. The prince was clearly more forward-thinking
than his father. I glanced over at Glenn, who gave me a small nod. The two of
them certainly seemed serious, at the very least.
"Say uh... Holy King, won't Dauburn claim we kidnapped their prince or
something?"
"Why worry about that now, Grand Duke? The Dauburnians effectively
declared war on us just now, anyway."
The holy king raised a fair point. I didn't exactly care about forging peaceful
relations with Zadonia at that point, anyway. They needed time to cool their
heads before I'd talk peace with them.
"Alright, then. General Glenn, do you want to come as his guard? I won't let
him get hurt, but I thought I'd offer anyway."
"Aye, if that's permissible."
Then it was settled. I was a little worried we'd have a formation of soldiers
coming after us, so I snapped my fingers and opened up a [Gate] beneath our
feet, moving us along with the Gollem carriages to another location.
After a moment of falling, we found ourselves in an environment much like
the sprawling desert we'd been in not too long ago. Except it was all snow
instead of sand.
Damn, that's surprisingly bright... Man, my eyes are— Aaagh! It's so cold!
I quickly cast the [Warming] spell on everyone, because our asses were about
to freeze off.
It was quite the sudden shock to have scorching heat turn to blistering cold in
the span of a second, but we were now in Zadonian territory. We'd contacted
Zadonia in advance, so now all we had to do was hop into the Gollem carriages
and make our way to the capital city, Zado.