— One day in the 9th month, 1548th year, Continental Calendar —
"Sigh... It sure is nothing but mountains, huh?" I said as I looked at the
scenery while riding on Naden's back.
We were in the skies over Mercenary State Zem, heading to watch the
finals of the Great Martial Arts Tournament. There was a wyvern flying
alongside us, carrying a gondola which held Aisha and the other members
of our entourage. Naden and I had been riding in the gondola at first, but the
scenery outside was so beautiful that Naden said she wanted to go for a
swim through the sky. I ended up tagging along for her little midair stroll.
Our view was truly breathtaking. The Amidonia Region had been pretty
mountainous itself, but the mountains of Zem were big, tall, and they shone
blue when viewed at a distance. There were settlements dotted around at
clearings in the mountains, and I could see the people were raising some
white woolly animals that looked like sheep or llamas. You know, I wouldn't
be surprised to see a certain "Girl of the Alps" out here.
I petted Naden's back as I asked, "What do you think, Naden? Does this
sort of mountainous scenery put you more at ease?"
"Because the Star Dragon Mountain Range is all mountains?"
"Yeah. The only ones near Parnam are medium-sized, and are the source
of our water."
"I never thought about it, you know... Dracul itself is flat, and I only
really went into the mountains to hunt, after all."
"Oh, yeah," I recalled. "The deer meat I had in your cave was
delicious."
It didn't taste too gamey, and the meat was soft. I'd enjoy eating it again.
"Heheh, would you like me to hunt for you again sometime?"
"That'd be nice. I'd like to eat it again, using soy sauce and ginger to
completely get rid of that gameiness. Oh! But don't come back covered in
blood, okay? If you cause an uproar in the castle, I'll be in for a long lecture
from Liscia."
"Roger that... I know it all too well."
While we were chatting idly, our destination came into sight in the
distance. There was an aged castle rising up in the mountains, that was
Blanc Zem Castle. Incidentally, the place the castle looked over was also
called Zem City. The Colosseum where the finals would take place was
located here, as well.
Being their country's greatest hero, the name Zem was used on
everything, from the city itself to the dishes cooked there. Looking at it
from the perspective of a foreigner, it felt excessive, but it just showed how
great the people of this country thought the first Mercenary King Zem was.
"Can I assume that castle's where we're going?" Naden asked.
"The Zemish side said to land right in the courtyard."
"We're not going to suddenly get attacked, are we?"
"They probably wouldn't do anything that stupid, but... if it happens,
let's fly away," I assured her.
A single wyvern rider flew towards us from the direction of the castle.
They came up alongside Naden, then put his hand forward to salute me.
"I assume you must be King Souma of Friedonia and his entourage!" the
rider said. "I have come at the orders of the King of Zem to welcome you! I
will guide you in, so please follow me!"
"Gotcha. Lead the way."
We followed the wyvern rider and flew over the walls of the castle to
land in the courtyard. Naturally, the anti-air repeating bolt throwers did not
take aim at us. There were no flowers in the courtyard, just plaster figures
of macho men, and columns of soldiers who were masses of muscle, trying
to look no less tough.
I jumped down as Naden turned back into her human form, and Aisha
came out of the wyvern gondola that had landed with us and rushed over to
me. "Your Majesty, take every care not to be separated from Madam Naden
and me."
"I know... I'm counting on you to protect me, Aisha, Naden."
"Roger that."
We had fought against Zemish mercenaries during the battle against the
corrupt nobles. There was no guarantee that none of the soldiers lined up
here had been among those who had been forced to pay ransom money for
their release. Also, I had entrusted old man Owen with the task of guarding
Colbert. We had brought other guards as well, and snuck in a number of
members of the Black Cats, too.
"Make way!" a voice rang out.
The line of soldiers in the hall split in two. Once they had, a single man
walked through the middle of the crowd. He was a large, muscular fellow
with an eyepatch over one eye. His physique was quite similar to Owen's.
The man stood in front of me, and spread his big arms wide. "It is good
of you to come to Zem, Sir Souma, King of Friedonia."
"You are... Sir Gimbal?"
"Indeed. I am Gimbal Zem."
"Thank you for the invitation, Sir Gimbal, King of Zem."
I shook his hand as the representative of the group. If Gimbal felt like it,
he could easily have crushed mine, but he held back and left it at a
somewhat firm handshake.
I introduced Aisha and Naden to Gimbal, "Sir Gimbal, these are my
wives, Aisha and Naden."
"It's an honor to meet you, Sir Gimbal." Aisha put her hand to her chest
and bowed.
Naden did the same. "I-It's an honor to meet you."
Gimbal seemed impressed with the two of them, stroking his short
goatee. "It seems your wives are strong and beautiful warriors. Especially
Madam Aisha. If you were to participate in the martial arts tournament, you
might have some chance of winning. If you could win and they defeat me,
you could even become the king of this country."
He must have found the aura Aisha gave off as a warrior quite
stimulating, because there was a somewhat defiant look in Gimbal's eyes.
Aisha looked straight back at him, accepting it.
"It is an honor to meet you, but I am happiest in the Kingdom... at His
Majesty's side," she replied. "I have no wish I would want granted in Zem."
The way Aisha could say that so boldly was really inspiring. Aisha
could be a bit of a disappointment once food got involved, but as a warrior,
she was always so gallant and beautiful I couldn't help but fall head over
heels for her.
Hearing her response, Gimbal laughed heartily. "Is that a fact? Well,
well, I can see she loves you dearly."
"She's too good for me."
"Now then, you must be tired from coming here. Please, rest in your
room first."
"Thank you."
Gimbal clapped his hands twice. When he did, a person clad in armor
walked over from among the soldiers and dropped to one knee before us. I
couldn't see her face, but the shape of the armor indicated it was a woman.
She took off her helmet, and held it under her arm. She was a little older
than me, with well-balanced features, and cat ears perched on top of her
dirty blonde hair.
"Ah! I knew it...!" Owen, who was a little ways back from the rest of us,
exclaimed.
Then is this cat-type beastman Mio? Was she Georg's daughter, Mio
Carmine? Sexual dimorphism was a trait of many of the beastmen races, but
this woman was far prettier than anything I would have imagined from the
stern lion face her father had.
Gimbal put a hand on her shoulder and said, "You can spend your time
as you like until the finals tomorrow. If you wish to look around the castle
town, she will be your guide, so please ask. She is a participant in the
tournament, but I hear she is from the Kingdom, so I asked her to help out."
Yes, she certainly is from the Kingdom...
"It is an honor to meet you. I am Mio."
The girl raised her head and stared straight into my eyes.
"There's no doubt about it. That was Duke Carmine's daughter, Madam
Mio," Owen said with a pained look.
After we had each been shown to our rooms, I had gathered my key
companions in the room allotted to me and my queens.
"Yes, it most definitely was Sir Carmine's daughter. I have met her on
multiple occasions," Colbert agreed, so that more or less confirmed it.
Mio, the daughter of Georg the traitor. If he assigned her to be our guide,
it was a near certainty that Gimbal knew who she was. It was clear Mio was
plotting something by taking part in this tournament. But what was
Gimbal's angle, putting us in contact with her like this? Were their plans the
same?
"What do you think? Colbert?" I asked Colbert, the intellectual of the
group.
Colbert brought a finger to his mouth as he pondered. "Though I've met
her in the past, we weren't friends, so I couldn't tell you what Madam Mio
is thinking. But... if Sir Gimbal were plotting something, you would have
expected him to show some reaction when you and Madam Mio met."
"Reaction? Like a scheming look, or something?"
"Or a forced smile, maybe. But I didn't see either. It's entirely possible
that Madam Mio's intentions are just as inscrutable to Sir Gimbal." Colbert
crossed his arms and groaned. "Even if she is the daughter of Duke
Carmine, Madam Mio is still originally from the Kingdom. To Sir Gimbal's
eyes, she must appear as a suspicious individual who still has ties to us. It
seems Madam Mio has been winning her way through the tournament, so
perhaps he arranged for the two of you to meet so that he could gauge your
reaction?"
"He was checking if we're secretly connected to Mio?" I said with a
sigh. "If that's what it was... his fears are unfounded."
Had he been scrutinizing our motives, the same way we were
scrutinizing his?
"Yes, completely." Colbert nodded. "But it does prove that Sir Gimbal
doesn't have a full grasp of what Mio's intentions are, either."
"...So it all comes down to what Mio's thinking, huh?"
If she won the tournament, she would be granted a wish. But what was
she participating for? What exactly was the wish she'd want granted?
"Hrm... If she's got a grudge against Souma, maybe she wants 'Souma's
head'?" Naden said that so casually that I felt a chill on my neck.
"I-Is that a wish Zem can grant?"
"I doubt she could ask for it directly. However, if she asked for 'the
throne of Zem,' and defeated Sir Gimbal to become the Queen of Zem, she
could start a war with us any time she wanted to. Naturally, based on the
relative size of Zem, they would have a hard time winning a war against us
alone." That was Colbert's sober analysis.
Well, our country was coordinating with the Empire and the Republic,
so even if she roped the Lunarian Orthodox Papal State into attacking us
with her, we could still beat them back. But if she didn't attack directly, and
instead fomented unrest inside the country, lending mercenaries to the
dissidents and encouraging terrorist attacks, that would be a pain.
"So if someone with a grudge against the Kingdom got a hold of the
Zemish throne, they'd have all sorts of ways to harass us, huh?" I thought
aloud.
"Does Madam Mio even resent you to begin with, sire?" Aisha asked.
"She had a bit of determination in her eyes when she looked at you earlier,
but nothing like the dark emotions you would expect from someone looking
at her father's killer."
"Now that you mention it... you've got a point."
If there was any hostility or murderous intent, a warrior like Aisha
wouldn't have missed it. Mio's expression then—her eyes, specifically—
were full of resolve. I felt no anger or hatred. When I met Julius in Van after
the war with the Principality of Amidonia, his disgust for me was palpable.
Even if he kept a level head, those sorts of emotions weren't something you
could fully suppress.
"That makes it even harder to figure out, then. What exactly does Mio
want?"
"Madam Mio, like Duke Carmine, has a one-track mind..." Owen said
with a pained expression. "You could take that to mean she's stubborn and
obstinate like him. Once she sets her mind on something, she will do
whatever it takes to stay the course. Even if it's a path of carnage, and she
may fall along the way..."
"...This father and daughter are a couple of pains in the neck," I said,
scratching the back of my head and trying to find some resolve. "I guess all
that's left is to talk to her directly, huh? She's our guide, after all."
"You're going to have her join us," Naden asked, and I nodded.
The "one-track mind" that Owen mentioned and the lack of "dark
emotions" that Aisha detected led me to believe that she wasn't going to kill
me the moment she saw an opening.
"Whatever Mio's wish is, she'll win the tournament first, and then
openly try to have it granted. That's why I want to try to talk with her as
much as I can before then."
"Is that not... dangerous?"
"Don't worry, Aisha. I'll keep you and Naden with me at all times as a
means of protection and escape, of course. If Mio tries to harm me, will you
stop her for me?"
"Leave it to me." Aisha thumped her chest with one hand. "I can see that
Madam Mio is quite a capable warrior, but I won a tournament of my own
back in the Kingdom. I won't let her lay a finger on you!"
"Well, if it gets dicey, I'll grab you in my mouth and run away into the
sky." Naden put her hands on her hips and puffed up her chest. My wives
were so reliable.
Colbert opened his mouth, a pensive look on his face. "Should I... look
into it a little?"
"You, Colbert?"
"Because I'm from the former Principality of Amidonia, she may be less
wary of me than she would someone from the Kingdom. It would be easier
for her to air her complaints to someone who was also part of a hostile
faction."
I saw what he was saying. Maybe she would let a complaint slip.
"I'm grateful, but don't push yourself too hard," I said. "If anything
were to happen to you, there'd be no one left to keep Roroa under control,
you know?"
"...I could say the same thing to you, sire."
Seeing the wry smile on Colbert's face, everyone nodded in agreement.
Huh? Is that how they all see me? It felt kind of awkward, so I cleared my
throat loudly and moved along.
"Anyway, don't any of you get careless."
"""Yes, sir!