The festival was held by the pinnacle of the Demon Realm, the Six
Kings… Information about the Six Kings Festival, along with the
invitations, quickly spread around the words. especially among the
nobles and wealthy merchants.
An invitation from the Six Kings. It could already be described as a kind
of status, especially for those who held a high-ranking invitation, as
they could even improve the status of the recipient.
Hence, many nobles and wealthy merchants were very busy these days.
And the royalty was no exception for this.
In a room in the royal palace of the Symphonia Kingdom, Ryze, the
current King of Symphonia, held an envelope in his hand with a very
tense expression on his face. Grasping a paper knife as if he was praying
to someone, his shaking hands cut the seal off the envelope.
Although Ryze had reconciled with Kaito, he still didn't know how the
Six Kings currently evaluated him.
Hence, he was still somewhat holding inferior thoughts while within his
own royal palace, and this invitation was a chance for him to restore his
honor, but at the same time, this invitation could also be a one-way
ticket to hell.
If he didn't receive at least an invitation from the Underworld King and
the World King, his position within the royal castle would become
increasingly difficult.
Praying that he would somehow be ranked bronze or higher, Ryze took
out the invitation… and let out a sigh of relief so loud that everyone
around him could have heard him,
The invitation that Ryze received is glimmering with a beautiful golden
hue… that means that he has a Gold rank, and that means that his honor
as a King is safe.
No, on the contrary, having this Gold rank allows him to join the party
on the final day, which was more than enough to restore his honor.
When Ryze opened the invitation, it listed the names of the Underworld
King, Death King, World King, and the Phantasmal King, and noted that
he had received an invitation from four of the Six Kings.
Ryze is relieved to have received an invitation from the Underworld
King, which was one of his biggest concerns, but soon afterwards, he
found that there's something else in the envelope… a message card.
[Hmm? This is…]
The message only had the words "I heard you gave Kaito some advice.
Thank you" written in it in clean handwriting, and at the bottom of the
note, it was signed with the name of the Death King, Isis Remnant.
It was actually something that Ryze himself didn't know, but his advice
to Kaito was well known, as Kaito himself had told Kuromueina and Isis
that he was grateful to Ryze.
And for the girls, it was a fine play on his part that even warrants a
standing ovation, and thus, his reputation had explosively risen.
He's currently already on the level where if he sends out an invitation to
Kuromueina for an evening party and other events, Kuromueina will
also participate.
Granted, Ryze only seriously advised Kaito because he thought Kaito
was consulting about his sister, Lilia, and achieving this result wasn't
his intention at all but… No, you could say that it was exactly because he
thought that it was for his sister, and that must be why he was able to
give advice that isn't for his own interest at all.
Anyway, King Ryze of Symphonia was able to successfully recover his
evaluation from the eyes of the Six Kings.
In the royal castle of the Archlesia Empire, Emperor Chris, who had
received her invitation just like Ryze, opened the envelope with a
serious expression on her face,
[…Oya? Gold rank huh… I thought I would have a Silver rank…]
Seeing that the rank of her invitation wasn't quite what she expected,
Chris tilted her head, but receiving a rank higher than she expected is of
no inconvenience and actually something that she should be grateful
about, so she just opened her invitation.
Thereupon, she saw the names of the Underworld King, Dragon King,
War King and the Phantasmal King written there, and Chris tilted her
head again.
[…Phantasmal King-sama? Hmmm? I think I've barely spoken to
Phantasmal King-sama though…]
As for the other members of the Six Kings that had sent her invitation,
Chris had somewhat expected them.
Chris is one of "Kuromueina's baby birds" so she expected
Kuromueina's invitation. The Archlesia Empire has a close relationship
with the Dragon King, Magnawell, so she also expected his invitation.
Chris also had a certain amount of familiarity with one of the Six Kings,
so she was thinking that she may receive Megiddo's invitation… So far,
the invitation came from the people Chris was supposed to have
interacted with.
However, she didn't understand why the name of the Phantasmal King,
No Face was also written there. Of course, she has seen her at the
Festival of Heroes and some other events, but she rarely had a direct
conversation with that mysterious being.
That's also the same case for the World King, Lillywood.
[…Unnn? There's something more? A message card?]
On the message card in the envelope… written on it was "Dinner was
delicious. From Kaito-san's gorgeous guard." and seeing that, Chris's
expression stiffened.
[…Miyama-sama's guard?… C- Could it be, Alice-sama… is the
Phantasmal King?]
That's when she realized that the masked girl who was with Kaito when
he visited the castle… Alice was the Phantasmal King, No Face.
After that thought surfaced within her mind, she looked shaken, which
is very unusual for her, and a great amount of sweat poured out of her
face.
[…Alice-sama is the Phantasmal King-sama… That means… Even that
time when I received information that Miyama-sama was sighted in the
monster racetrack…]
That day, Chris received information that Kaito had come to the
Archlesia Empire and that's why she invited Kaito to the royal castle…
But thinking about it again, to receive such information was too
convenient for her.
A subordinate who had attended the Sacred Tree Festival had informed
her that she had seen Kaito, whose face was barely known to the public
at that point, at the monster racetrack, and that was a really convenient
coincidence.
[…Could it be that the information was sent by the Phantasmal King…
For those powerful nobles, who were vehemently opposed to inviting
Miyama-sama as a state guest, to not make any particular movements
after that… And even those people who just want to watch over
Miyama-sama…]
Chris shuddered. It was because she was thinking about how Alice had
figured out and controlled all of her thoughts once she acquired such
information about Kaito, and what method she would use if she was
opposed by the nobles.
[…N- No, I guess I was just thinking too much. Even if she does that, the
benefit to Phantasmal King-sam is just… could it be… There's
something hidden within it? If she has read through my actions and
thoughts… Did she deliberately do it to search for the powerful nobles
who would try opposing Miyama-sama?]
When Chris tries to welcome him as a state guest, and if any nobles
speak in opposition… And from those antagonistic nobles, search for
the nobles on their side and monitor their every move.
Thinking about that, that explains the deliberately aggravating
statements she said to Chris at that time.
[…In other words, she was also testing me. While acting as if she was
cooperating with my plan, she repeatedly said and did things that were
provoking me. That means that her interactions with me… If I had made
a mistake in judgment and turned against Miyama-sama… Perhaps, I
would have been…]
Chris' predictions were undoubtedly correct. That's why cold sweat ran
down her back.
Chris only tried to proceed in the direction of not antagonizing Kaito at
that time, but if she had given priority to the opinions of the powerful
nobles, if the situation had resulted in any harm to Kaito…
[Well, I'll be damned… Should I say that this is to be expected from
Phantasmal King-sama… How frightening. I'm completely running
around the palm of her hand… As I thought, that person really is the
most frightening in the world for me. Moreover, the -people that
Phantasmal King-sama had in control are all irreplaceable for me…
There's nothing I can do to stop her.]
Chris doesn't know if the great nobles and her subordinates are under
the Phantasmal King's command, or if they were just requested to do
so.
No, even if they were under the Phantasmal King's command and the
great nobles carelessly made their move and started a civil war, even if
she were to dismiss her subordinates, Phantasmal King's other
subordinates would undoubtedly be in the castle.
If that's the case, for Chris, pursuing this matter would only result in the
loss of excellent personnel, and there's even a chance that making this
move might incite the Phantasmal King's displeasure.
[Well, I guess I think of this as me being lucky to have a bit of
recognition from Phantasmal King-sama… Haahhh… I really couldn't
match up to Miyama-sama.]
After muttering that with a smile, Chris keeps the invitation safely kept
away before turning her gaze to the letter sent by Kaito.
Even with the way Kaito acts, he still faithfully sends back a letter back
to her, making their exchange in letters last for a reasonable amount of
time.
[…Speaking of which, Miyama-sama would obviously be at the Six Kings
Festival… Fumu. I'm not really fond of wearing clothes like that, but I
guess I'll wear feminine clothes once in a while.]