For the past two years, Kuu had been building his own drill for boring tunnels. Then, after he’d decided to take Zem’s cities, he began slowly tunneling through the mountains along their border.

“The hole behind that machine goes all the way to the heart of the Republic!” Kuu told the power brokers assembled before him. “Up until now, whenever the Republic seized land outside the Turgis Region, we struggled to hold it when winter snow made communication difficult. But with this tunnel, traveling back and forth will be much easier. Once you’re inside the Republic, we have a lot of mounts that can handle the snow. The supply of goods to this area should become much better... Ookyakya! Like this!”

With that, a group of people riding numoths and snow yaks with baskets began emerging from the tunnel. It was a merchant caravan from the Republic of Turgis.

Kuu had them lay out the things they had brought for the people of Zem to see. Their eyes widened when they saw what the baskets contained—fresh fish. There were shellfish too, and they were still alive.

“Now, take a gander. We’ve got fresh seafood, caught in Turgis’s ports today. You’re a bunch of inlanders, so you probably don’t get fresh fish often. I’ve been putting effort into my logistics, just like the Kingdom of Friedonia,” Kuu boasted. He took a bottle of alcohol from his first wife, Taru, the Republic’s top technologist, who had rejoined them after directing the drill team. He held it up for the crowd to see. “Now, let’s drink and eat fish! We can save the boring talk for later!”

The crowd roared with applause at this declaration. They’d figured they were going to be murdered and buried. But they weren’t just being allowed to live—they were being shown this newfangled drilling machine, treated to fresh seafood, and even drinks to go with it. The release from fear combined with this excitement dulled their decision-making ability. No one here thought of Kuu and his people as invaders anymore. These influential figures had fallen for his scheme.

“Okay, everyone! Let’s go all out, partying and stuffing our faces today! Cheers!”

““Cheers! To Lord Kuu and the Republic!””

As the curtain of night began to fall, a big banquet was held between the Republic’s military and the influential figures of the former Zemish cities, along with their families. They put a simple curtain over the front of the tunnel and laid out the food and drinks brought from the Republic behind it to create a space for the occasion. Kuu was in the center of the party, speaking about the future with a glass of wine in one hand.

“From now on, you’re people of the Republic too! We’ll be bringing more and more seafood through this tunnel! But that’s not all! This warm land will become an important bridge between the Republic of Turgis, the Kingdom of Friedonia, and the Gran Chaos—er, wait, they’re the Euphoria Kingdom now, aren’t they? Well, it’ll be an important bridge between the three countries! People and goods will gather, which means you can count on a lot of development!”

“““Yeahhhh!”””

“The continent is now divided between the Maritime Alliance and the Great Tiger Kingdom. Even if Fuuga comes knocking, we don’t have to worry! Does he have an awesome machine that can pierce through these mountains? No! Only the countries of the Maritime Alliance do! If Fuuga attacks, we’ll come through this tunnel to rush to the rescue!”

“Wow! You’re so cool, Lord Kuu!”

“Ookyakya! Thanks!”

As Kuu waved to the clapping drunk, a round of applause erupted. Taru, Leporina, and Nike watched him from a short distance away, eating and drinking themselves.

“Here, Nike. It’s hot wine.”

“Oh, thanks.” Nike gave a polite bow to Leporina as she poured him a drink.

Though he drank it for warmth, he never let go of his spear. If anyone tried to harm Kuu, he was going to be ready to run them through at any moment.

As he kept watching Kuu, Nike whispered, “He looks like he’s getting drunk and rowdy, but he’s actually sober, isn’t he?”

“Of course,” Taru responded. “The milk Master Kuu’s drinking isn’t fermented, it’s just normal milk.”

“He’s acting like he’s let his guard down in order to get them to open up to him, but he hasn’t relaxed his guard at all,” Leporina explained. “He’s willing to put on a goofy act in order to win their hearts. It shows you he’s operating on another level.”

Taru nodded. “As a ruler, he gets full marks. As a husband, I have to take off five marks.”

“Hm? Why is that?” Leporina asked, but Taru looked away peevishly.

“He’s all caught up in his work, leaving his two cute wives alone.”

“Ah ha ha... You have a point there. By the way, how many points is a full score?”

“One hundred.”

“Even after you mark him down, he’s still scoring ninety-five? You’re head over heels, aren’t you?”

You could tell from the way his wives were talking that they understood. Kuu was still fighting. And he was confident he would win.

Sensing the trust between the three of them, Nike thought, Watching them makes me want a wife of my own...

◇ ◇ ◇

Meanwhile, in the Kingdom of Friedonia, Souma was so busy with work he thought it might kill him.

This was nothing new, but the amount of work being brought in to him recently was on the rise. That’s because, with Maria retiring from her role as empress and marrying Souma, Hakuya the Black-Robed Prime Minister had gone to marry the new queen, Jeanne. The adoption of a system of “two countries, one nation” in the Kingdom of Friedonia and the Euphoria Kingdom was necessitating many changes.

So, once again today, Souma was working alongside his wife, Liscia. It was around the time it began to get dark outside.

“Excuse me, Your Majesty.”

Ichiha, who was serving as acting prime minister while Hakuya was in the Euphoria Kingdom, came in.

“Ichiha? What’s up?” Souma asked, and Ichiha stood tall as he gave his report.

“Sir Poncho has returned. He is waiting in your family’s personal dining hall, sire.”

Ichiha was doing a good job maintaining his composure with the eyes of the royal couple and their bureaucrats on him. You could tell he was Hakuya’s successor. He’d really settled into his role as acting prime minister.

Souma nodded and stopped doing paperwork. “Let’s take a break. Will you come too, Liscia?”

“Yeah. It sounds like there might be something interesting.”

Liscia, who seemed to know where Poncho had been sent, smiled peacefully as she set a bundle of papers down on the desk. It produced a heavy thunk, making Souma grimace.

There’s still that much left...? Well, it can wait. Souma shook his head, changing gears, and then left the office with Liscia and Ichiha to go see Poncho.

When they reached the dining hall, Poncho had already laid the fruits of his trip out on a long, wide table. Noticing Souma and the others, he bowed repeatedly.

“Wh-Why, Your Majesties. It’s a pleasure to see the two of you. I, Poncho Ishizuka Panacotta, have returned, yes.”

“Thank you for your trouble, Poncho.”

As Souma thanked the man, Liscia looked at him, a little confused.

“Hm? Sir Poncho... Have you lost weight again?”

“Now that you mention it, he has...” Souma agreed, nodding.

It wasn’t like the sudden, intense weight loss he’d gone through before, but he’d lost his usual roundness of form.

Poncho smiled awkwardly, scratching his cheek. “Um... Miss Serina and Miss Komain want ‘another,’ you see... Yes.”

““Ah...”” Souma and Liscia instantly understood. This had happened before. He must have been putting in a lot of effort, late at night with his two wives.

Ichiha, who was beside them, listening in, turned a bright shade of red as he figured it out too.

“That’s, uh...more than I needed to know,” he said.

“No, no, you’re at the age where you need to start thinking about that kind of thing too, you know?”

“D-Do you think so?”

“Well, we can leave that talk for later. This is more important.” Souma clapped his hands as he tried to move things along from this awkward topic. “So, how was the Spirit Kingdom of Garlan?”

“Oh, yes. To think I could go to the Spirit Kingdom, take care of my mission, and return within a week. It’s an incredible time to be alive, yes,” Poncho said with a wry smile.

Liscia looked at Souma. “You put in a request with the Nothung Dragon Knight Kingdom, right?”

“Yeah, I did. I asked Queen Sill to send dragon knights to drop off Poncho and pick him back up. Man, their transition from being the Dragon Knight Kingdom to a ‘courier kingdom’ sure is convenient. They can handle the sort of high-speed, long-distance shipping that only Naden and Ruby could do for us before, allowing us to move men and supplies around freely.”

It was especially tempting as a means of moving retainers around. If he wanted to, Souma could bring Hakuya back from the Euphoria Kingdom in about a day, and it was also easy to send people and supplies there from the Kingdom of Friedonia.

“They’re currently limiting their services to requests we submit as a nation, but with the advance of globalization, the Dragon Knight Kingdom will become indispensable to the world.”

“They’re turning into an incredible country... Queen Sill must be working hard too,” Liscia said, sounding impressed.

Next, Poncho pointed to the stuff laid out on the table. “As requested, I have brought back samples of potential trade goods from the Spirit Kingdom, yes. King Garula is taking a positive view of trade with our country.”

Souma had sent Poncho to the Spirit Kingdom in order to investigate what trade goods they had. The independent government on the Father Island was the only part of the Spirit Kingdom beholden to Fuuga. The Mother Island still maintained its independence from him.

During the Spirit King’s Curse Incident (or Magic Bug Disease Incident), the high elves of the Mother Island learned there were some problems they couldn’t tackle alone. Unable to remain as they were, they became more open to trade. The Spirit Kingdom was now opening to the outside world. They were trading with Fuuga’s Great Tiger Kingdom, using Princess Elulu, who was the representative of the independent government on the Father Island, as a mediator, and also wanted to trade with the Maritime Alliance.

However, while the Kingdom of Friedonia had many things to offer, such as medical goods and foodstuffs, Souma wondered if the Spirit Kingdom had any alluring goods of their own. If trade was one-sided, it risked being seen as economic exploitation. In order to prevent friction, the Spirit Kingdom needed to have some star products of their own. As a professional gourmet, Poncho was sent to investigate just that.

Well-traveled as he was, even Poncho couldn’t have entered the Spirit Kingdom back when it was closed to the outside world, so he’d been interested in their local cuisine.

Poncho smiled broadly as he picked up the box he’d brought back with him.

“Oh, the Spirit Kingdom’s cuisine really was fascinating, yes. I thought they might live exclusively off the bounty of the forest, like the dark elves of the God-Protected Forest, but it seems they’ll eat just about anything. The hot, humid climate has given bloom to a food culture that uses spices to make up for the difficulty in preserving food, yes.”

“Spices, huh? Come to think of it, I remember Merula mentioning that.” Something about them growing the sort of spices that might be used to make curry powder.

“That’s right, yes,” Poncho said, nodding with glee. “There were many spices I haven’t seen on the continent, and I think they will make wonderful trade goods, yes. I’ve brought a number back with me, so I’m looking forward to seeing how I can use them in my own cooking. Ah... I think I’ll try chicken first. I wonder how it will taste marinated in each of them...”

Poncho had a silly grin on his face, no doubt imagining all the different dishes he was going to make. Seeing him like that made the others present feel hungry. Especially Souma, who still had vibrant memories of the curry from his old world.

The Nine-Headed Dragon Archipelago had seasonings the continent didn’t, so here’s hoping I can combine them to make something like Japanese-style curry. That would expand our repertoire of dishes, and...more importantly, I want to eat some curry. I haven’t had it in years... Sigh...

“Souma, you’re drooling...” Liscia warned him.

“Whoops,” Souma said, wiping his mouth. “So, did they have anything other than spices?”

“Oh, yes. There were a number of crops I wasn’t familiar with, but the one that caught my attention was ‘bean tea.’ It is also drunk in a number of places on the continent, but there’s not much supply. Yet, it seemed the Spirit Kingdom could grow it in abundance.”

“Bean tea?” Souma asked.

“This is it, yes.”

Poncho handed Souma a bottle filled with brown beans. Hold on, are these... he thought before opening the bottle to take a sniff of them. Yeah, they definitely are.

“Is this coffee? Oh...I see. You guys call it bean tea, huh?”

“As you say, sire, this is a variety of coffee, yes.”

“Aw, yeah!”

Souma pumped his arm enthusiastically, earning him a blank look from Liscia.

“You had coffee at Genia’s place before, didn’t you? Is this anything to be so happy about?”

“Well, it’s partially because I’m more of a coffee person than a tea drinker, but it’s apparently more of a northern specialty, not something we have a large supply of. I think Genia got hers from the northern refugees too. That makes it more of a luxury than something people can drink regularly.”

“Yeah. That sounds about right,” Liscia said, nodding. That was how people saw it in this country.

Souma picked up a bean and sniffed it. “The caffeine in this bean will wake you right up. I imagine people drinking it when working late or staying up to study.”

“I see why you’d need it then, Souma...”

Working in the palace was a battle of perseverance. For Souma, he was working at home, and yet still had to do a lot of overtime and all-nighters. It wasn’t as bad as just after he was first summoned, but it still cut into his sleep time. Souma had been compensating by drinking some well-steeped tea up until now, but if he could drink coffee on a daily basis, the bean would be a powerful ally.

“Oh, this is good. If we can trade for large quantities, I’ll send some to Hakuya, since his workload is killing him too... I’d like to import a large amount of both the coffee and the spices all at once.”

“I think the Spirit Kingdom will be glad to hear that, yes.”

“Ah... But spices and coffee are both cash crops...” Souma said, scratching his head. Liscia clapped her hands together.

“Ohh. Like what caused our food crisis.”

It looked like she remembered.

“If you grow too many cash crops for export, that lowers your food self-sufficiency rate, and adverse events can result in a food crisis. You can use the money to import food crops from elsewhere, but it’s not good to rely on that too much... I guess we’ll have to talk it over with King Garula and see if we can find a healthy balance... Well, there’s something else to do first.”

“Hm?”

“Since we’ve got some here already, why don’t we all try it?”

Souma decided to make coffee for his friends and family right away.

The result was that Juna and Roroa liked it, while Aisha and Naden were not fans. Liscia and Maria were somewhere in the middle. (They could drink it with milk and sugar.) Surprisingly, Tomoe, Ichiha, and Yuriga all liked it. They said that if it became more widely available, they’d want to introduce it to Lucy’s family’s parlor. It wouldn’t be long before there were coffee-flavored sweets.

As Souma watched all of them react, he thought, We’ve found a reliable ally in a surprising place, and sipped a cup of coffee with milk in it.

Tomoe started jabbing in the general direction of the subject.

“Well, they’ll be getting married, but they’re not going to be trying for a baby for a little while. Yuriga wants to keep playing mage soccer for now.”

“Oh, yeah?”

“Yeah. I know because I’m going to be the chamberlain.”

It had been decided Tomoe would be taking over Marx’s role in managing palace events and managing the health of the royal family. One of those duties was managing their nightly schedules to ensure the propagation of the royal bloodline. That meant their family planning was handled by Tomoe, and she’d been using that to poke fun at Yuriga lately. It was adorable the way Yuriga turned beet-red and got angry.

Tomoe chuckled to herself as she remembered Yuriga’s face.

“Big Brother and the others want to respect Yuriga’s decision,” she said.

“I see. Well, they already have Prince Cian and Princess Kazuha as heirs. When you consider our relationship with the Great Tiger Kingdom, it’s probably best not to rush things.”

“Yeah. So...I may be the problem. There’s been a lot of marriage offers for me lately.” Tomoe went and threw a straight punch at the matter. “Maybe a lot of people are being influenced by this mass marriage? I’ve been getting a lot of requests from knightly and noble families... It’s a real nuisance, you know?”

Tomoe let out a belabored sigh, but...it was all a lie.

Souma had made some moves behind the scenes, quietly shutting down any offers for the Wise Wolf Princess’s hand before they could happen.

By stressing that she already had someone in mind and bringing Liscia and the other queens, who were always delighted to hear about their little sister’s love life, on board, he had managed to kill any attempts to say, “It would look bad if she were to refuse outright, so could we just have the two of them meet?”

In short, there were no offers to marry Tomoe right now. It was a total bluff! Tomoe was simply scheming to make Ichiha feel it was urgent that he propose to her himself! This was what the Wise Wolf Princess could do when she got serious!

Now, as for Ichiha...

“Yeah, go figure. I get a mountain of those requests too.”

“...”

He was serious. Once his talents were discovered, Ichiha had become famous throughout the country. It had also been decided he would act as prime minister while Hakuya was out of the country. There were few better people to marry for wealth and power, so all the upper-class families with daughters of marriageable age were plotting to arrange a marriage with Ichiha. And having come from another country, Ichiha didn’t have the kind of strong backers that Tomoe did. It was hard for him to reject the meetings. While he was at the Royal Academy, and Tomoe was by his side, the houses had restrained themselves, thinking it best not to anger the king’s little sister.

However, now that he had graduated, they didn’t see the need to hold back anymore. Many of them thought that even if he was going to get engaged to Tomoe at some point, they should get in there first, build a connection, and have him choose their daughters as his second or third wife.

Tomoe understood that too. She had been trying to put pressure on Ichiha, but instead, she unknowingly piled more pressure on herself. What a natural womanizer! Ichiha Chima!

But Tomoe wasn’t one to be deterred.

“Then I think you should get yourself some proper backers. If you had a fiancée with powerful people behind her, that would dissuade the others from making offers. Might I suggest someone with ties to the royal family?”

A blatant appeal to pick her!

Tomoe was King Souma’s honorary little sister. Who could have a more powerful backer than her? If he would just get engaged to her, he could get rid of all those bothersome other offers.

So, propose to me, she was saying.

Tomoe gave Ichiha a meaningful gesture, but...

“Hmm... But wouldn’t it be rude to the lady I proposed to if I was only doing it to fend off other suitors?”

Ichiha unbelievably missed this blatant move due to his sincerity! What he was saying was genuine, and it was a valid argument. But because of that, Tomoe couldn’t keep pushing. However, she wouldn’t give up!

“By that same logic, isn’t it insincere going to meetings with prospective marriage partners you have no intention of taking seriously?” she questioned.

Tomoe overturned his good argument with one of her own! That put a pensive look on Ichiha’s face.

“You’ve got a point... It gets harder to refuse every time I see them, but it’s not like I can just keep ignoring them either...”

“Th-Then...”

“How do you handle it, Tomoe? You’ve been getting offers too, right?”

An unexpected counterattack!

Her earlier attempts to make Ichiha feel the need to act fast were coming back to bite her! Because all attempts to make marriage offers to Tomoe had been shut down completely, she’d never struggled with this problem.

Tomoe looked around evasively, sipping her tea and trying to appear calm.

“W-Well... In the end, you have to turn them down sincerely, I guess?”

“Yeah, you’re right,” Ichiha replied, nodding repeatedly.

Tomoe had just been trying to say something inoffensive, but Ichiha was in agreement. Despite her feigned composure, her hands trembled as she held her teacup.

Urkh... I’m so bad at acting like a mature woman... she thought.

In order to compete with Yuriga, whose perspective was broadening as she grew up, Tomoe had turned to Juna for lessons on how to act like an adult woman. Perhaps thanks to that, Tomoe wasn’t intimidated by adults the way she had been when Souma first hired her. She’d gained the ability to keep her composure no matter whom she was dealing with.

However, that was only on the surface level, with people she only had superficial relationships with. When it came to someone like Ichiha, who she was looking to connect with on a deeper level, she lacked the experience she’d need to show that kind of composure. He was her first love, after all. And they’d come this far with their relationship as it was.

Tomoe stared down into her cup.

This is hopeless. I can’t think of where to take this. What am I supposed to do, Juna?

Inwardly, she turned to her master for help. When she did, Juna’s words echoed in her mind...

“There are times when thinking with your head will get you stuck. Sometimes, you need to act honestly with your feelings. Surprisingly, there are moments when that kind of candor will work better.”

This was something Juna said to her one day.

“There was a time I prioritized my own feelings over my family’s situation. It was at the ceremony to reward those who distinguished themselves during the war with Amidonia. The right thing to do there would’ve probably been to act on behalf of the Houses of Walter and Vargas for my grandmother. But Grandmother gave me the push I needed, and that let me ask His Majesty for what I really wanted. Hee hee! Now, I’m glad I was honest with my own feelings.”

Juna had patted Tomoe on the head as she said that. Even the mature Juna had given in to her emotions before, and that fact gave Tomoe the push she needed.

“I...hate this...” Tomoe said, forcing the words out. Ichiha suddenly looked up at her, surprised.

Large tears were streaming down her face.

Ichiha panicked. “T-Tomoe?! What’s wrong...?!”

While Ichiha was all shook up, Tomoe let her emotions do the talking.

“I don’t want you marrying someone else. We... We’ve been together all this time... And I want us to stay together...forever... Sniff...”

“Well...yes. I want to be together forever too.”

“Sniff... Do you mean...as family? Will you be with me my whole life?” Tomoe asked between sobs. Ichiha was so preoccupied with thinking about how to make Tomoe stop crying, that he’d lost all his previous self-control and lack of confidence.

That’s why, almost reflexively, he said what he’d been holding back all this time.

“As a family—of course! Because I want you to be the one I spend the rest of my life with too...! Ah—”

A moment later, Ichiha’s eyes widened as he realized what he’d just said. There was no doubt about it—he had just proposed to Tomoe. And in response, fresh tears began to roll down Tomoe’s face.

Unlike her previous sobbing, she was outright bawling in earnest now. Ichiha still didn’t know how to react.

“U-Um...Tomoe?”

“Thank...”

“Thank...?”

“Thank goodness! Oh, thank goooodness! You proposed, Ichiha...”

When she heard his proposal, all the tension she’d been feeling broke. These were tears of joy.

Seeing her tears, Ichiha realized that Tomoe had been waiting for him all this time. Though he hesitated at first, Ichiha resolved to get up from his seat and walked around to hug her from behind.

“Um... Sorry I’m a gutless coward, and I made you wait so long...”

“Sniff... Tell me about it. You’re such a dummy.”

Ichiha smiled wryly. He had to admit, he’d been a big dummy indeed, making her worry like this.

“Yes. But if you’ll have me, I hope we can be happy together.”

“Yeah.”

Tomoe relaxed, leaning her head back against Ichiha.

◇ ◇ ◇

A little later, once they’d calmed down, Tomoe clapped her hands.

“Okay, why don’t we go tell Big Brother that we’re engaged now?”

“Huh?! So soon?”

“Yeah. It’d be nice if we could announce our engagement at the wedding.”

Tomoe was giggling, despite crying not that long ago.

She brought her hands to his face, and her expression changed gears.

“Those tears weren’t just an act...were they?”

“Hee hee! I’m not that skilled an actress. I learned that today,” Tomoe said with a soft smile. “That’s why I opened up about my feelings. It just happened to work out.”

“You’ve got me beat...”

When he saw Tomoe’s smile, Ichiha raised the white flag. When you think about it, he’d been tossed this way and that at the whims of Tomoe’s emotions today. When she stopped thinking and acted naturally, Tomoe was even more of a little devil. As Ichiha realized this, and that his fate was to be at her mercy from now on, he let out a sigh, not entirely unhappy with that outcome.

Today’s victor: Tomoe (as she got Ichiha to propose.)

“Like little sisters... A family, huh?” Yuriga got a pensive look on her face.

Maria cocked her head to the side. “Is something the matter?”

“Considering my situation, I’d arranged my marriage to Souma so that I could do as much of what I want to do as possible. I don’t think it was the wrong choice, but...after being so calculating about marrying him, I’m wondering if I can be a good wife. You know, Sir Souma and his family are tight-knit, and it seems like you understand each other well too, Madam Maria.”

“Yuriga...”

It seemed Yuriga had caught the marriage blues before the wedding.

“Sir Souma is kind. He’ll scold me when I make a mistake, and even apologize after. He’s fixed me a snack late at night more times than I can remember, and I think I like him. But at the same time, he feels more like a nice friend of my brother’s... I’m marrying him for my own convenience, and it makes me wonder if that’s really okay...”

“I think...you feel that way because you care about him, you know?” Maria smiled as she reached out and patted Yuriga on the head. “You have a somewhat unique situation, but he’s told you that even once you’re married, you’ll be free to do as you please for a while, right? If you were to have a change of heart at some point, I’m sure Sir Souma would accept it. I think you should take your time and not rush to an answer.”

“Ha ha, she’s right, you know?” Aisha agreed with a laugh. “We all had our own circumstances when we married Sir Souma. I’m told that Madam Naden once asked if the love that starts out prearranged by someone else isn’t real love. This might surprise you, but any number of things can end up deepening a relationship. I don’t think you need to worry so much.”

“Madam Maria, Madam Aisha...”

Listening to the two of them had slightly alleviated Yuriga’s concern.

Maria started giggling. “Though, I’m going to get in my share of flirting with Sir Souma first.”

“Er, flirting...?”

“Nothing’s holding me back now, so I’m going to do what I want! In love and in work! It’s time for me to take back all those years of my youth I spent supporting the Empire!”

As Maria clenched her fist and made this impassioned speech, Yuriga felt her image of the fallen empress of a destroyed country crumble. Even with her country split and herself far from her former lands, Maria was still herself, shining powerfully. Watching her made Yuriga’s own worries seem silly.

“Ha ha... Is that right?” Yuriga said with a slight laugh.

“Well, if you’re uneasy about being a wife... We have just the thing,” Aisha said nonchalantly as she savored her tea.

Maria and Yuriga both cocked their heads to the side. Aisha looked around to see that no one was watching before beckoning them closer. They did so, leaning in so their faces were close to hers.

Aisha covered her mouth with one hand and whispered, “We queens all receive...special lessons...”

What she went on to explain made the other two flush red. And they both agreed they would definitely participate next time.

Third bridal training course, date unscheduled...

◇ ◇ ◇

The war between the Empire and the Great Tiger Kingdom in the 1552nd year of the Continental Calendar changed the world.

There had been a three-way competition between Fuuga’s Great Tiger Kingdom, the Empire’s Mankind Declaration, and the Maritime Alliance. However, with the fall of the Empire and its exit from the Mankind Declaration, there were only two factions remaining. The Great Tiger Kingdom became the most powerful country in the world, with the land, population, and personnel of the northern half of the continent. Meanwhile, the Maritime Alliance welcomed the Euphoria Kingdom, founded from the remains of the Empire, as a new ally, increasing their strength as well.

Furthermore, with Souma—the head of the Maritime Alliance—marrying Maria, and Black-Robed Prime Minister Hakuya marrying Queen Jeanne of Euphoria, coordination between the two states deepened, allowing them to effectively rule as if they were one nation. The people of these two countries called the new nation the “Gran Friedonia Empire,” and Souma came to be called Emperor Friedonia.

In order to compete, Fuuga followed Hashim’s suggestion to rename the Great Tiger Kingdom of Haan the “Great Tiger Empire of Haan,” and began calling himself Great Tiger Emperor Fuuga Haan.

It was an era where two emperors—one north and one south—vied for power. Although, Souma was only being called an emperor by the people, and Fuuga only assumed the title because his retainer suggested it, so neither emperor was that attached to being called one. Every country had to adapt to this new bipolar world.

In an effort to stabilize their expanded territory, the Great Tiger Empire developed a new bureaucracy around their top bureaucrat, Lumiere. Using the skill at public works she had developed in the Empire, she took advantage of the mobility of Malmkhitan’s cavalry to lay out a transportation network. It unfolded at a pace far greater than the road network Souma had built during the first year after he was summoned.

“Sir Kasen. The next document, please.”

“Y-Yes, ma’am!”

Lumiere was in the governmental affairs office of Haan Castle, surrounded by piles of documents with her feather pen.

Fuuga had the charisma to sway others and his martial prowess was absolute, but he had no particular gift for governing. (It’s not that he couldn’t govern, but he was unmotivated and inefficient.) That’s why Hashim and Lumiere ran the administration of the Great Tiger Empire now. However, Hashim also had to handle diplomacy and political strategy, so domestic affairs fell squarely on Lumiere’s shoulders.

Lumiere used Kasen Shuri, the Crossbow of the Tiger—who had been picked out as her assistant due to his youth and ability—as an extension of herself in the battle against all this paperwork.

Sigh... Now I see why Madam Maria always kept a bed in the governmental affairs office. When there’s this much work, it’s hard to go back to your own room. Lumiere let out a sigh as her hands kept moving. And she handled diplomacy, political strategy, and even requests from the people like performing as a lorelei on top of this. I always knew she was great, but she was even greater than I imagined... I can see why she wanted to abandon all this work. If only she had the opportunity...

And Fuuga and Lumiere were the ones who gave that opportunity to Maria. Now that it was over, she could see that all of the factions had been working to let Maria abandon her country. Lumiere had been indignant when she first realized her empress had been the one to give up on her, but at this point, she was over it and working towards her own goals.

I want to control a great nation from within the bureaucracy, and win glory by accomplishing mankind’s dream of completely liberating the Demon Lord’s Domain. My goal hasn’t changed. That’s why I parted ways with Madam Maria and my friend Jeanne. Now I must make it a reality so I can hold my head high in front of them.

“Sir Kasen. Please take this document to Sir Hashim.”

“Y-Yes, ma’am!” Kasen was overwhelmed by Lumiere.

He had stood at the side of fierce, courageous generals like Fuuga and Shuukin who shone like stars, so he thought that he was used to seeing great people. He believed that even if he were faced with famous generals from other countries, he wouldn’t be frightened or falter.

Now that he was being cowed by an administrator, it confused him.

Madam Lumiere is incredible, Kasen thought.

And for some reason...seeing Lumiere single-mindedly throw herself into her work reminded him of how cool Fuuga and Shuukin looked, leading the charge on the front lines of battle. If we were to put this in terms of Souma’s old world, Kasen might have been like a new hire at a company, infatuated with a career woman.

“What are you doing? Please, get going immediately.”

“Huh?! S-Sorry!”

Once Lumiere called him out for his dawdling, Kasen shot out of the room with an armful of paperwork. It was another thing that made him look like a new hire.

Thanks to Lumiere’s efforts, the Great Tiger Empire was able to rapidly overcome the bottlenecks imposed on it by the instability that came with acquiring new territory.

◇ ◇ ◇

Meanwhile, there was another woman struggling to manage her state...

It was the newly crowned queen of the Euphoria Kingdom, Jeanne.

Jeanne was in her own governmental affairs office, surrounded by paperwork...and sick of it.

“Sir Hakuya... Could we please take a break already?”

Jeanne was an irresistible force on the battlefield, but her aptitude for paperwork wasn’t very high. Her groaning made Hakuya, who was with her more as an instructor than an assistant, feel sorry for Jeanne, but that didn’t stop him from giving her a new document to work on.

“Please. At least look through these papers and sign off on them. They concern the reorganization of the Gran Chaos Empire’s fleet and the regular stationing of the Maritime Alliance fleet in this country.”

“The fleets are our ‘shield’ now, after all...” Jeanne said as she accepted the paperwork.

“Indeed.” Hakuya nodded. “They’re a gift your sister left us. An incredibly valuable one at that.”

In the fall of the Empire, the Euphoria Kingdom had lost its northern lands, Lumiere and her bureaucrats, and half of their air force. However, because Maria had taken steps to ensure their naval forces were concentrated in the south, their fleet was mostly intact, barring some ships that had been owned by the lords of the northern coast. While those naval forces were obviously no match for the Kingdom of Friedonia’s—owing to that country’s use of island carriers—they were at least equal to the Nine-Headed Dragon Kingdom’s fleet.

Considering their shrunken nation, the amount of maritime power at their disposal was a little excessive. Because of this fleet, if Fuuga were to attack them again, they could use their ships to withdraw, or launch powerful attacks against his poorly guarded coastlines. The Euphoria Fleet was a shield that deterred their enemy from attacking, and also a sword.

Suddenly, a new voice said, “Hee hee! That’s what you called me for, isn’t it?”

Jeanne turned in the direction of the voice, and there stood a buxom beauty with blue hair and a little pair of antlers on her head. It was the commander in chief of the Kingdom of Friedonia’s National Defense Force, Excel Walter.

“Oh, I’m sorry to make you come all this way,” Jeanne said. She moved to get up so she could bow her head, but Excel gestured for her to stop with her fan.

“You’re the queen of a nation now. You mustn’t go bowing to a general from another country.”

“R-Right... But...”

“Duchess Walter is correct. There’s no need for you to bow,” Hakuya said nonchalantly as Jeanne tried to figure out how to respond. Then he turned his cold eyes towards Excel. “You had ‘free time on your hands,’ yes? I’m told that you’ve been having Sir Ludwin assume your duties as commander in chief of the National Defense Force and letting Sir Castor command the navy.”

“Hee hee, it’s important to train your successors, you know?” Excel said with a laugh, covering her mouth with her fan.

“Yes,” Hakuya agreed with a fake smile that looked like it had been plastered to his face. “That is why you’ve been invited to come and command the Euphoria Fleet.”

“You and your lord are both dead set on not letting me have a peaceful retirement, I see.”

“I will take that as a compliment,” Hakuya replied.

Although they were both smiling, neither thought it was sincere. That said, this conversation was possible because they each knew that the other was intelligent, and the reasoning behind their actions. However, Jeanne, who understood none of this and was watching the two schemers smile at each other, wanted nothing more than to clutch her head.

Sister... Being a queen is too great a burden for me... Jeanne thought.

Excel tapped her fan. “Well, you had best get all this sorted out quickly. You have other important duties to attend to, don’t you?”

“Other...important...duties?” Jeanne was confused. Excel looked at Hakuya with a chuckle.

“I mean your wedding, of course.”

The moment she said that, Jeanne turned a bright red and Hakuya grimaced. Their reactions only made Excel smile with greater cheer.

But as Castor raised his head, Halbert’s spear was at his throat. Castor glared up at Halbert as he stared down at him threateningly, but soon his lips curled into a smile.

“You got me. I yield.”

“““Yeahhhh!””” The spectators let out a throaty cheer as Castor admitted defeat.

Halbert had finally scored a victory against Castor. Those who had seen Halbert train and strive to improve since his early years celebrated his victory as if it were their own.

“You’ve gotten strong, Halbert,” Castor said, accepting Halbert’s hand as he was pulled to his feet. “The short-lived races grow fast. You were nothing but a child to me just the other day.”

“Don’t measure me by the values of the long-lived races.”

Long-lived races like the elves, dragonewts, and sea serpents had a tendency to think about things continuously due to their longevity. Consequently, their abilities developed at a more relaxed pace than those of humans or beastmen. They were well-suited to specializing in something and refining their ability to do it. But those with more normal lifespans were used to thinking about time limits, and were able to achieve results in a short time frame.

Castor put a hand on Halbert’s shoulder. “But you managed to beat me, a man with a century of experience. You can be prouder of that.”

Halbert grinned and shook his head. “I’ve still got a ways to go. There’s a guy I want to beat.”

After a pause, Castor asked, “Is it Fuuga Haan?”

“Yeah. If it comes to it, I must be able to defend my family and country.”

Halbert looked at the spears in his hands. He seemed pretty worked up, but Castor simply shrugged.

“Didn’t the king tell you to not shoulder everything yourself?”

“I’m a man. I don’t want to act indulgent. I want to defend the people I care about with my own hands.”

“You’re a real warrior. I’ll give you that.”

As they were praising the other’s performance, two women worked their way through the crowd of burly men and rushed to Halbert’s side.

“Jeez! What do you think you’re doing at a time like this?!” Ruby, Halbert’s second wife, berated them. “We have to be at the wedding in the capital! You shouldn’t be having one of your little sparring matches now!”

“Uh, well... We had time to spare, so I thought I’d have the captain give me some lessons...” Halbert desperately tried to explain himself, but...

“There’s no need for excuses, Lord Hal.”

Looking good in her National Defense Force uniform, a beautiful lady with an air of intelligence about her stood in front of Halbert. She was tall and slim, with long legs, and the lower half of her uniform was hot-pants length—not full pants like Liscia’s—so it showed off her stunning legs without reservation. Her brown skin and elf ears identified her as a dark elf.

“Urkh, Velza.”

She was one of Tomoe’s school friends at the Academy, and had joined the National Defense Force after graduation. With backing from Halbert’s first wife Kaede, Velza was able to achieve her dream of serving under Halbert.

Velza leveled a finger at him. “What do you mean, ‘urkh’? That’s an awful thing to say to your cute subordinate.”

“S-Sorry... But should you really be calling yourself cute?”

“I am cute though, aren’t I? I’m quite popular in the military, you know? Mainly with the women.”

““Ah...”” Halbert and Ruby looked at Velza with pity.

Her short hair gave her a boyish look. Being tall on top of that, with regular features, gave her the appearance of either a pretty boy in girls’ clothes or an elegant lady in menswear. For the members of the House of Magna who had known Velza since she was little, they knew how her eyes sparkled at the sight of tasty food, so they had a strong image of her as acting like a girl her age.

Velza cleared her throat loudly. “More importantly, Lord Hal. We have an invitation to His Majesty’s wedding. I also received invitations from one of the brides, Yuriga...erm, Lady Yuriga, and from Sir Ichiha who will be announcing his engagement to Lady Tomoe. It would be inexcusable for us to be late.”

“Well, it’s just a short flight for Ruby...”

“That doesn’t mean you can leave Lady Kaede to take care of all the preparations in the capital by herself, does it?! Little Bill—Halbert and Kaede’s son—must be waiting for you to come home too.”

“Right...” Halbert hung his head as a younger woman berated him.

The brave warrior of moments before was nowhere to be seen now. The onlookers chuckled at the scene until Halbert gave them a death glare that sent them scattering.

Ruby, who had been watching this exchange, nodded in agreement. “You’ve become so reliable, Velza.”

“Uh, I’d rather you talk her down a bit.”

“I don’t want to. I’m with Velza on this...”

With that said, Ruby transformed into a great red dragon, stretching her head towards Halbert and Velza and speaking directly inside their heads.

“Let’s get going. Both of you, hop on, chop-chop.”

“Y-Yeah.”

“Got it.”

Halbert and Velza both responded then climbed onto Ruby’s back.

Velza sat in front of Halbert, tying herself to him securely with rope. Normally, only a dragon’s partner could ride them, but Velza was already more or less guaranteed to marry Halbert, so they used the old “partner of my partner” justification to sidestep that issue.

Once they were ready to go, Halbert saluted to Castor who was down below them.

“So long, Captain. We’re heading off now.”

“Take care. I’ll be going myself later.”

Once Castor snapped off a navy-style salute, Ruby lifted off into the sky.

Having seen off the Magnas, Castor felt a strong desire to be with his own family. Accela, Carla, Carl... They’d all be there for the wedding, so he’d be able to see them again. Following the restoration of the House of Carmine’s honor, so too was the House of Vargas restored, and with it permission to see his family. However, as he didn’t like prying eyes, Castor had decided not to return to the house for the time being.

Heh... It’ll be good to see them, Castor thought as he gazed off in the direction the Magnas had gone.

◇ ◇ ◇

—Late in the 1st month, 1553rd year, Continental Calendar — Royal Capital Parnam—

It was a bright day with clear skies, though the snow that’d fallen the other day still lingered on the rooftops.

The multi-wedding event centered around Souma, Maria, and Yuriga’s ceremony was underway in Parnam. Souma and his family would have preferred to hold off on the wedding until spring, but in anticipation of sudden moves by the Great Tiger Empire of Haan, they had decided to hold the ceremony while they could.

Now, Souma’s retainers were getting married all around the capital as part of this event.

Tomoe’s birth mother—Tomoko, and Inugami—the second-in-command of the Black Cats, were one such couple. Attendees included Jirukoma, Komain, and some friends of Tomoko’s among the refugees who’d relocated to the new port city of Venetinova, as well as the mystic wolves involved in making Kikkoro-brand miso and soy sauce. Inugami’s identity was concealed, so none of his acquaintances were able to be in attendance. However, he’d still received a small mountain of flowers and other gifts from Kagetora and other well-wishers in the Black Cats.

Inugami wore a tuxedo but didn’t remove his mask, making those unfamiliar with his situation do a double take when they saw him. Tomoko chuckled when she saw how awkward he felt about it.

“Congratulations! Father, Mother.”

“Congratulations, both of you.”

Tomoe’s little brother Rou and her friend Lucy came to congratulate them.

Rou had still been little when he first came to the Kingdom, but now he was around ten years old. Having lost his biological father at a young age, and lacking any real memories of him, he’d long since accepted the family’s protector Inugami as a father figure.

Lucy, meanwhile, was here on behalf of Tomoe. She had brought a basket of expensive fruits as a gift.

“These’re from Tomie. She says she’ll come runnin’ as soon as her engagement’s been announced.”

“Oh, my! Thank you.”

Tomoe was at the castle now to announce her engagement with Ichiha. She’d have liked to be at her birth mother’s wedding, but her engagement was a matter of national importance, so Tomoko and Inugami had told her not to worry about it.

Lucy snickered to herself. “I bet ya Tomie’ll rush in here with her fiancé in tow.”

“Oh, my. Oh, my,” Tomoko said with a soft smile while Inugami groaned in chagrin.

“This should be the happiest day of my life, and I haven’t a shred of regret about my choices, but...it’s a shame I won’t be there to see the honored little sister’s engagement announced.”

Lucy could only laugh politely at Inugami’s heartfelt disappointment.

“Ah ha ha... You’re sure hard done by, huh?”

“What do you mean?” Rou asked, tilting his head to the side adorably.

Lucy smiled wryly and said, “I mean, he’s a pain in the butt to deal with.”

“Father, you’re a pain in the butt!” Rou shouted, raising both hands with all the innocence of a child. There was no malice behind his words.

“Gwah!”

Inugami was laid low, like a boxer KO’d after a critical hit. It was so funny that everyone, Tomoko included, burst out laughing.

Meanwhile, at another wedding venue, Mio Carmine—daughter of Georg, former General of the Army—was holding a ceremony with her groom, Gatsby C. Carmine.

In attendance was Halbert’s father Glaive (due to his connection with Georg), Souma’s personal trainer Owen, and other military members with ties to Mio’s father. On Colbert’s side were his friend Julius and his wife Tia, his coworkers in the Ministry of Finance, and the loreleis like Nanna and Pamille whom he was always helping. It was probably unusual for the bride and groom’s guests to split so neatly into members of the military and bureaucratic/cultural wings of the country.

“Okay, here it comes!”

“Whoa! Madam Mio?! You threw it too high!”

With the ceremony finished, Mio was so delighted to be bound to Colbert as wife and husband that she threw the bouquet with all her might. The women in attendance were aiming to catch the bouquet and get some of that marital bliss for themselves. However, the bouquet flew so high into the air that they decided its landing spot would be too dangerous to be in, so they all scattered.

Julius palmed his face in exasperation before turning to Jirukoma’s wife Lauren, who was attending as Tia’s bodyguard.

“Madam Lauren, would you please?”

“Yes, sir,” Lauren replied before rushing to the landing point and catching the bouquet. “I’m already married, so...”

She gently tossed the bouquet towards the other women. The one to catch it was Pamille Carol of the childlike kobito race. Pamille looked stunned for a moment before breaking into a grin as the other attendees clapped. Mio was so grateful to Julius and Lauren for their quick response that she bowed her head repeatedly.

There was a shadow watching the noisy wedding proceedings from a distance—the commander of the Black Cats, Kagetora. He was absolutely in no way connected to the bride whatsoever, but he gave a satisfied nod when he saw Mio’s big day being celebrated by so many of his friends and acquaintances.

“You could watch from closer, not way out here, you know?”

“...!” Kagetora tensed at the sudden voice.

At some point, the late Georg’s wife, Mio’s mother, had appeared beside him. The suddenness of her appearance would have put his covert operatives to shame.

Kagetora looked at the pitch-black cape he was shrouded in.

“This cape has magic that is supposed to interfere with people’s perception of me...” he said quietly.

The wife chuckled. “I simply checked where you seemed most likely to be. I believed you were not so heartless that you wouldn’t come, yet you couldn’t bring yourself to come any closer. I surmised you would be watching from the shadows, neither too near nor too far away.”

“You amaze me...” Kagetora’s expression twitched underneath the mask. That was because he was ashamed of his immaturity, and awed by this woman’s prowess.

Mio noticed the two of them and waved, smiling broadly.

The perception impairing magic wasn’t perfect. If someone was with him and they noticed that person, they could see him too. Was it only her mother Mio was waving at? Or perhaps...

The wife waved to Mio, whispering, “With Mio finding herself a good man, that’s one less worry our house needs to deal with.”

“You speak as if there are others...”

“Yes. There’s an especially large one still,” the wife said to him with a smile.

Kagetora looked away, unable to say anything in response.

◇ ◇ ◇

Also on that same day, Valois, the capital of the Euphoria Kingdom, was in the middle of its own festivities. Queen Jeanne and Prime Minister Hakuya were getting married.

Hakuya would be marrying into her family as royal consort, so his name would be Hakuya Euphoria from this day forward.

Just as the ceremony was about to begin, Jeanne, who was wearing the traditional Imperial wedding dress, smiled at Hakuya as he stood beside her.

“You look good in white too,” she remarked.

“I’m having trouble calming down though.”

The Black-Robed Prime Minister normally wore black clothes, as you would expect from his sobriquet. But he obviously couldn’t wear black to his own wedding, so he was clad in a pure-white tuxedo.

Jeanne wrapped her arm around Hakuya’s as he loomed awkwardly, then rested her head on his shoulder.

“How many times have I dreamed of this day? I thought it would never be more than a dream.”

Hakuya gently put his hand over Jeanne’s and said, “It was the same for me. I’ve longed for the day I could be with you like this.”

“Ah ha ha... But I never thought I’d be a queen when it happened!”

“I have to agree on that too.”

As the two of them were laughing about it, Trill interjected, incensed by this saccharine display. “Um... Could you two save that stuff for later? You know, on your own time, when the ceremony is over and done with?”

That snapped the two of them back to their senses, and they quickly pulled apart.

Trill cleared her throat loudly in an attempt to move on, then lifted up the corners of her skirt and curtsied. “Congratulations. Big Sister Jeanne, Big Brother Hakuya.”

“Yeah. Thanks, Trill.”

“Thank you, Lady Trill.”

Once the two of them thanked her, Trill looked up and grinned.

“Big Brother, please take care of Big Sister for me.”

“Yes. Of course I will.”

“When she gets angry, do try to calm her down, will you?”

“Yes,” he replied reflexively. After a moment, he muttered, “Hm?”

Trill cackled.

“From now on, when I cause a problem and Big Sister is giving me trouble for it, I’ll come running to you for protection. You’ll protect your darling little sister-in-law, won’t you?”

“Trill!” Jeanne shouted, causing Trill to quickly hide behind Hakuya.

“Look, it’s your move now, Big Brother.”

“Hold on, Trill! It’s not fair for you to use Sir Hakuya as a shield!”

“Good grief...” Hakuya groaned, caught between two of the Euphoria sisters.

He’d had plenty of opportunities to see Souma getting run ragged by his fiancées (now wives) when he was in the Kingdom of Friedonia. If he’d known he would be facing this himself, he should have used his time in Friedonia to learn how Souma handled family squabbles.

Hakuya was rather regretting the fact he hadn’t done so now.

◇ ◇ ◇

The story now returns to Parnam in the Kingdom of Friedonia...

While a number of retainers were having their weddings in town, Souma, Yuriga, and Maria were having their ceremony in the castle. The audience chamber had been decorated for the occasion, and retainers like Excel and Castor lined both sides of the red carpet that led from the entrance up to the throne.

As the band played, Maria and Yuriga silently walked along that carpet wrapped in wedding dresses. Maria’s gait was elegant and confident, while Yuriga’s was stiff and tense. It was hard to blame her, given this was being broadcast around the country.

King Souma and First Primary Queen Liscia were sitting on the thrones they were walking towards. Next to them were Acting Prime Minister Ichiha and future chamberlain Tomoe, who had just announced their engagement to the public.

When she saw Tomoe chuckle at how tense she seemed, Yuriga pursed her lips in irritation. That anger gave her the courage—false or not—to puff up her chest with pride, and that helped her to loosen up.

Maria and Yuriga proceeded to where Souma was, then both dropped to one knee. When they did, Souma and Liscia rose from their thrones.

Souma descended the steps to walk in front of them. Liscia first received the two tiaras that would mark them as queens from Tomoe, then moved to stand beside Souma.

Then Souma spoke.

“Madam Maria of the Euphoria Kingdom and Madam Yuriga Haan of the Great Tiger Empire of Haan, I hereby welcome you as queens of this country. Through this ceremony, I hope to forge an everlasting friendship between our nations.”

““Yes,”” Maria and Yuriga replied, bowing their heads in unison.

Souma took the tiaras from Liscia and placed them on their heads as proof of their queenly status. During the first wedding with Liscia and the others, they had kissed at this point, but that was skipped over this time. That was because this ceremony’s diplomatic significance was being emphasized over it being a wedding. There was no telling how the Great Tiger Empire might act in the future, so he was trying to be considerate of the delicate position Yuriga might find herself in.

After the ceremony concluded, Souma and Maria stood side by side on the balcony with the broadcast jewel. They put on a display that told the assembled crowd and those watching the broadcast that a wedding had just taken place, and that it would strengthen the coordination between the Kingdom of Friedonia and the Euphoria Kingdom. Once they saw the peaceful smile on Maria’s face, those who loved and respected her in the Euphoria Kingdom would feel at ease too.

“Oh, right, you worked as a lorelei too, didn’t you, Maria?” Souma asked in a quiet voice as he waved to the people. Maria cocked her head to the side questioningly.

“Yes, I did. Why do you ask?”

“Well... I thought this when I married Juna too, but your male fans are gonna hate me, huh? I can just imagine them making hundreds of straw dolls right now...”

“Why would they do that?”

“They’re used in a curse from my old world.”

“Oh, that sort of thing,” Maria said with a happy chuckle. “I suppose whatever happens, happens. Try to accept it for what it is.”

“You say that like it’s not your problem...”

“Well, you are the one who stole me, the object of their affections.”

With that, Maria pecked Souma on the cheek.

The crowd watching from below the balcony erupted in applause seeing the newlyweds showing clear signs of affection. The jewel had caught all of it too, and broadcast it to fountain plazas around both countries.

Souma was speechless for a moment. With a twitching smile on his face, he said, “I think you just increased the number of straw dolls by fifty percent.”

Maria laughed out loud.

◇ ◇ ◇

While the Kingdom of Friedonia was in a celebratory mood, Zem City, the capital of the Mercenary State, was on fire.

The mercenaries were cornered in the colosseum—assaulted by the common people, wielding farming implements and kitchen knives in place of proper weapons. Not even the mercenaries, who were confident in their abilities, could stand in the face of these numbers. There were clearly some experienced fighters in the mob too, so the mercenaries went down one after another.

“It’s time to change this country from the bottom up!”

“Show the oppressive mercenaries our wrath!”

“Emperor Fuuga Haan is with us!”

It had seemed might made right in this country, but the suppressed anger of the populace exploded, causing them to rise in rebellion. However, it was clear that the Great Tiger Empire of Haan—which is to say Fuuga’s advisor Hashim—was scheming in the shadows.

It all started with the Zemish mercenaries’ unauthorized retreat during the war with the Gran Chaos Empire.

Hashim denounced them after the conflict was over, and worked with Moumei, who was acting as the Mercenary King, to prosecute them for deserting. The mercenaries, who hated being restricted as a general rule, pushed back against this and holed up in key cities in order to resist Fuuga’s forces. These people had lived by the strength of their arms all this time. When the mercenaries dug their heels in to resist, it wasn’t because they intended to protect the country or land. If things went south, they probably thought they’d be able to flee, possibly even out of the country to become adventurers in the worst case.

But their ill-conceived plans would never work against the cold and calculating Hashim, of course. There were sparks for conflict.

This country was founded by mercenaries. Strength was everything here, but the weak and downtrodden existed, and they had their grievances with the mercenaries. The former Mercenary King, Gimbal, had been a talented monarch, and had managed his mercs in a way that kept the populace’s resentment from manifesting. After his defeat by Fuuga, Gimbal was removed from the throne and went into retirement. This was when Hashim began inciting the populace, who were in a weak position.

“The mercenaries boast of their strength and look down on the weak, but see how they flee when the battle turns against them! People of Zem! How long have you let these men oppress you?! With Fuuga Haan as your protector, you must smash this country’s system and let it be born anew!”

This powerful speech stirred up the common people. Hashim had made the Great Tiger Empire’s problem with the Zemish mercenaries a domestic problem for Zem, leading to mercenaries and the people opposing each other. Even after the mercenaries holed up inside key cities, the ones who maintained them were the civilians—an overwhelmingly larger population. The Zemish mercenaries found themselves assaulted by the people inside the cities they were trying to hold.

The former king Gimbal, choosing not to side with the mercenaries who had relied on him, was another factor.

The mercenaries had asked him to raise the flag of rebellion against the Great Tiger Empire, but he refused, saying he was retired. He had always ruled with policies that favored the people, so he had no reason to side with mercenaries who only worked for their own self-interest.

Gimbal was now under the watchful eye of Moumei’s agents and placed under house arrest in his small cabin in the mountains, but it was essentially a peaceful retirement. That was because Moumei respected Gimbal’s achievements, and arranged for him to be able to live without inconvenience.

And now Zem City, the last bastion of the mercenaries, was about to be liberated.

“Face our wrath of many years!”

“Eek! Stay away! Stay awaaay!”

Ironically, the location where the endless horde of commoners had cornered the mercenaries was the colosseum that was the symbol of this city itself. Here, in the place many had won acclaim and far more had been disgraced as losers, the mercenaries fell one after another.

Naturally, Hashim didn’t leave this entirely to the people. They had been infiltrated by the Great Tiger Empire’s elites and other rogue soldiers who supported Fuuga in order to ensure the Zemish mercenaries were annihilated.

In their agitated state, the people were brutal, ripping the fallen mercenaries apart—to the point where it was hard to tell which parts had belonged to whom anymore. When the people came to their senses, the bodies would be buried in a cemetery near the colosseum, and a memorial service held, but that was no consolation to the mercenaries.

Having lost the mercenaries who were central to their national defense, the people turned to Fuuga Haan for protection. Fuuga accepted their request, annexing the country and appointing Moumei as governor of the Zem Region.

And so, Mercenary State Zem vanished from the map.

Meanwhile, there was another uproar underway in the Lunarian Orthodox Papal State...

The hardliners—who in the name of Lunaria, had been executing moderates for wanting to distance themselves from Fuuga—had now fractured into two factions.

One side was the pope faction, who wanted Fuuga to be subordinate to their religious authority. The other side was the saint faction, centered around Anne. They believed that as the holy king, Fuuga’s will was the will of God, and they should serve him as they spread the word.

However, this rift was easily settled. That was because the saint’s faction had the military backing of the Great Tiger Empire. As soon as the conflict began, the pope was taken into the Great Tiger Empire’s custody.

In Chapter 6 of The Prince, Ma­chiavelli said, “If Moses, Cyr­us, Theseus, and Ro­mu­lus had been un­armed, they could not have en­forced their con­sti­tu­tions for long.”

Machiavelli also noted that because Girolamo Savon­arola—who incited the people to drive the Medici out of Florence and ruled it for a time—lacked arms of his own, he had no way to preserve himself once his popularity failed, and so he was lost to the flames.

The pope’s faction met the same fate as Savonarola.

The former pope was imprisoned, and eventually “died of undetermined causes” at the hands of Hashim. Was it poison, or was he thrown to his death? The remnants of his faction met the same fate as the moderates before them. They were branded heretics and burned at the stake.

The people of the Orthodox Papal State watched quietly as the heretics were burned in the town square. The populace was obedient to the church, and that didn’t change when the higher-ups were replaced by members of the saint faction. Even if the old higher-ups who’d declared their new masters as heretics were now tied to logs as they burned alive, the populace had no doubt that the right thing was being done.

Anne quietly watched events unfold from on high. It was as if she were burning the heretics into her memory. When the flames burned out and the heretics were no more, all light had vanished from her eyes. The girl had killed her heart in the name of her duty as saint.

And so, while the Orthodox Papal State would continue to exist as a country, it would be ruled directly by the Great Tiger Kingdom. During the gaudy banquet, the world was changing rapidly.

That very moment, someone pushed me out of the way. I stared, aghast, as I watched the person standing where I had been a moment ago get pierced by bullets.

Her armor, red as her hair, was shattered, and fresh blood gushed forth from her body.

“Carla!!!”

She slumped to the deck as I screamed her name.

◇ ◇ ◇

There was something a little odd about Prince Cian.

“Carla. Could you look after the children for me for a moment?”

“Sure. Leave it to me, Liscia.”

Prince Cian and Princess Kazuha are the children of the master I serve. They are the proper heirs to the Royal House of Elfrieden, and most importantly, the children of my dear friend Liscia. Having watched over them as a maid from the time they were born, they were incredibly precious to me.

Around when they’d turned two years of age—when they couldn’t talk yet but could toddle around and play in the courtyard—an incident occurred.

“Whah... Whaaaa!”

Cian, who had been happily playing with Princess Kazuha up until that point, suddenly burst out crying. Then he hugged Princess Kazuha tight and tried to stop her from going anywhere.

This was unusual for the usually introverted Cian. But Kazuha, who took after her tomboyish mother, pulled herself free, as if telling him he was being a nuisance, and then ran off.

Prince Cian fell over and then rolled up in a ball, weeping.

“A-Are you all right, Lord Cian?” I asked, rushing over to him.

At the same time, Princess Kazuha climbed up onto the edge of the fountain in the courtyard and started walking along it.

Suddenly... Sploosh! She lost her balance and plunged into the water.

“Wahhhh!!!”

I picked up Prince Cian and put him under my arm, then rushed over to scoop Princess Kazuha out of the water.

Princess Kazuha stared blankly at me for a while, but then what had happened hit her, and she started bawling into my chest. When he heard her, Prince Cian started crying too, and I didn’t know what to do about it.

Similar incidents happened over and over.

Whenever Princess Kazuha put herself in danger and got hurt, Prince Cian would start crying before it happened and try to stop her. He failed most of the time, but after seeing it happen so often, I started to think: Prince Cian knows when Princess Kazuha will be in danger?

With that suspicion, I began observing the two of them more closely.

When Princess Kazuha got hurt, Prince Cian would cry right before it happened. Conversely, there were a number of times when I was able to protect Princess Kazuha by observing her closely after the prince cried.

Can Prince Cian see the future?

It was unusual for someone to manifest magic at such a young age, so it was traditional in this country to wait until they were older before investigating what kind of magic they had. However, if Prince Cian had already manifested magic, and it was some kind of precognition or prophetic magic, it would explain the strange behavior I’d been observing.

Then, just the other day, Prince Cian tried to stop King Souma from going to the Demon Lord’s Domain.

“You won’t come back.”

That’s what he said. If this was a prediction made by his magic, then my master’s life might be in danger. That was why I volunteered to join him on this expedition, so that I could be at his side and protect him.

Ra-tat-tat-tat-tat!

That’s why...I was able to defend him from the giant’s attack.

I felt my consciousness slipping before I could feel the pain of the impact that tore through my chest. But seeing the look of shock on my master’s face, I was just relieved that I’d been able to protect him.

Because...I’m supposed to kill you...when you become a tyrant... I can’t let you die here.

These thoughts echoed in my mind as my consciousness faded.

◇ ◇ ◇

My mind went blank as I watched Carla collapse.

It was like all sound had receded from my ears—all the noise that had filled the world vanished at once. I didn’t know what Aisha or Naden, who were right beside me, were saying as I rushed to Carla’s side and cradled her in my arms.

“Why youuuu!”

“Grahhhh!”

Hal and Ruby dropped out of the sky and slammed into Jangar.

Sound gradually returned to my ears. A copious amount of blood flowed out of Carla’s chest, and the life was draining from her face. Death was creeping closer to her. I could feel it.

“Sire!”

“Souma!”

But Aisha and Naden’s voices wouldn’t let me give up thinking.

If I gave up thinking now, death would rain down on Aisha, Naden, and so many others too. I punched myself in the forehead, then laid Carla’s body down on the deck.

Then I turned to look at Excel who was standing there, speechless, and I said to her, “Excel. Take care of Carla. And have the fleet withdraw.”

“Understood, but what will you be doing, sire?” she asked.

I gazed up to the skies where Ruby was in the middle of a tailspin with Jangar.

“It’s after me. I’ll pull it away,” I said.

“What do you mean...?”

“Naden, help me out.”

When I said that, Naden seemed to snap back to her senses.

“Roger that!”

“Sire! I’m coming with you!” Aisha said, holding her greatsword ready.

I wouldn’t be able to handle incoming projectiles... I guess I had no choice but to have her come along.

“I’m counting on you, Aisha.”

“Leave it to me!”

“Sire!” Excel tried to stop us, but I held up a hand to stop her instead.

“If anything happens to us, look after Liscia and the others.”

“Understood...” Excel said, nodding. She knew there was no time to argue.

If that thing was after me, it probably wouldn’t pursue the retreating fleet once I was dead. My demise wouldn’t keep Liscia, Roroa, and the others who survived from running a healthy country. So, for that reason...the important thing was to ensure that no one but me died here.

I got onto Naden’s back with Aisha, and we danced up into the sky. Jangar followed us, as I’d expected. It wasn’t paying any attention to the fleet. It seemed that the Vulcan cannons on its chest couldn’t be used while in flight due to its posture, so it was taking aim at us with its beam weapon instead.

——————!!!

“To the right!”

“Roger!”

The murderous light flew towards us, but Aisha had predicted the trajectory from the direction the barrel was pointed and told Naden which way she should twist to get out of the way.

As we flew along, Aisha flung blades of air, Naden fired electric strikes, and Hal and Ruby and the wyvern cavalry used fire attacks, but Jangar showed no signs of stopping.

I looked down at the fleet below. It looked like they were making headway on evacuating the immobilized Souryuu and rescuing the crew of sunken ships who were floating in the water. I needed to keep buying them time...

“Sire!” Aisha’s voice snapped me back to the situation at hand.

Jangar turned and unloaded on us with its Vulcan cannons. It wasn’t aiming carefully, but the hail of bullets hit Ruby and the wyverns, causing them to lose altitude.

“Guh...!”

“Naden?!”

One of the shots had hit Naden in her back foot.

“I’m fine... It just grazed me.”

Or so she said, but the pain seemed to be affecting her balance.

Jangar turned the barrel of its beam weapon towards us as we struggled to stay aloft. Oh, crap, I thought, flashing back to the war with the Principality of Amidonia, when Gaius was closing in on me. That moment when I had braced myself for death.

The next moment, my eyes filled with a surge of light...

And yet, we were fine.

Another light, one far greater than that of the beam weapon about to be fired on us, slammed into the mech, sending it flying. Thrown through the air, Jangar was singed and sparking in a way that it was clear it had taken heavy damage.

We turned in the direction of the new light, and there was...

A white dragon, massive as a mountain, with horns like a sheep.

“Lady...Tiamat?” Naden murmured inside our heads.

It was the majestic form of Mother Dragon Tiamat, which I had seen back in the Star Dragon Mountain Range.

The mother of all the dragons that resided in the Star Dragon Mountain Range. The god of Mother Dragon Worship.

That Tiamat unleashed a roar like the cry of a whale. Then, she spoke towards the clouds which hung low in the sky.

“Do you mean to slay the familiar one you have awaited so long?”

When she did. The massive black cube I had seen before descended from the clouds.

Then, once we proceeded halfway to the demon’s camp, the black cube—Mao—sent a number of demons forward too. Is that large man with a doglike face a kobold? There was a woman who looked like a vampire in armor, and a heavily armored lizardman too.

Behind them was a human with dark skin like Jirukoma or Komain’s.

“They’re rather diverse...” I said to myself.

“Our side isn’t any less so,” Juna noted, and I had to agree, now that I thought about it. We had humans, a beastman, dragons, a dark elf, and a celestial.

We ended up facing one another looking like a melting pot of different races. And Mao, whose projection was now human-sized, bowed her head to me.

“It is good of you to come, Lord Souma Kazuya. I have waited so long for this day to come. I would love to shake your hand, but...” With that, Mao extended her hand towards me. “As you can see, this form is only a projection. I hope you don’t mind.”

“Oh, that’s no problem, but...I’ve got a mountain of other questions.”

“What might those be?”

“First up, that form is the DIVAloid MAO, right? The anthropomorphization of a text-to-speech software?”

Mao nodded in response.

“Yes. This form is from that text-to-speech software that was popular on Earth in the 21st century. Even by the standards of the DIVAloid series, MAO, was extremely successful.”

“Okay... The demon lord being MAO and also a two-dimensional being...is already throwing my head for a loop. But you, the one speaking to us through that form—you’re a separate entity, in a different place? Like the actor behind her?”

I asked that, thinking maybe someone was making Mao say all these things—like a person behind a moving avatar—but Mao just cocked her head to the side.

“That’s sort of true, but also not. I’m like an AI that manages the northern test subjects, and I have no body. But when I’m communicating with organic lifeforms, it helps to have hands to express myself with, right? That’s why I’m borrowing this appearance. This form is far from the uncanny valley and doesn’t provoke feelings of unease in unknowing humanoids.”

Erm... So Mao is an AI without a physical body, and she borrowed MAO’s form in order to make contact with people like us... Is that it? The uncanny valley is an effect that happens when something seems too similar to a human and provokes unpleasant feelings, right? It’s that thing where people get scared of wax dolls or mannequins because they look too realistic. So she was deliberately using a blocky 3D character to avoid that?

“Um...sire? I’m struggling to understand what this person is saying.”

Aisha, who wasn’t much of a thinker, looked at me with eyes like someone had just plopped a big book of problems down in front of her. Don’t worry, Aisha. I don’t really get it either. Wait... So, everyone can understand Mao, huh? Was this my mysterious hero translation at work?

“Come to think of it, you called me Souma Kazuya, didn’t you?” I asked.

“Yes. That is your name, is it not?”

“Ahh. It changed after I got married. I go by Souma E. Friedonia now.”

“Oh, I see. You were registered with me under your name at the time of summoning.”

“Registered...?”

How machine-like. I could see why she called herself an AI.

At this point, the big kobold who had been waiting behind Mao stepped forward.

“○○○○, ○○○○.”

He was saying something, but I couldn’t make it out.

I looked at the rest of my companions, but the blank looks on their faces told me it must be the same for them. That’s when the dark-skinned woman behind the kobold who appeared to be in her twenties started to speak.

“Garogaro is saying: ‘South people. Welcome. I am Garogaro. Representative of the north people.’”

Oh, she’s going to interpret for us? At this point, Tomoe stepped forward.

“Big Brother. It’s true, that kobold said, ‘Greetings, people of the south. I am Garogaro, the representative of the northern people.”

“Oh?! You can understand Mr. Garogaro?” the woman said, her eyes widening.

Tomoe grinned. “I can understand because of my translation magic. You look human, so why are you with the demons?”

“Ah! Um...my name is Poco. After the monsters attacked from the north, I was wandering around, lost, when these demons took me in and brought me to their city. I was brought here because they needed an interpreter.”

Ohh... There are demons like that too, huh? Demons were intelligent life, just like mankind, so of course there were good and bad people among them too. Some were hostile to mankind because of the war, but some of them were happy to help a person in need. That was rather humanlike behavior.

“△△△△, △△△△!”

The vampire woman in armor said something to Poco with a harsh expression on her face.

“Oh, I’m sorry, Ms. Lavin,” Poco apologized to the vampire knight.

She was probably telling her off for talking in our language so much. Poco didn’t seem scared, so she couldn’t have been too harsh about it.

Poco gestured to the vampire knight and the lizardman. “Erm... This is Lavin Gore the vampire, and this is Kukudora the lizardman. They’re both important members of their respective races, so you can think of them as something like tribal elders.”

The lizardman extended a scaly hand.

“××××, ××××.”

“He says ‘Nice to meet you,’ Big Brother,” Tomoe said.

“Oh, uhh. Nice to meet you too,” I replied, shaking Kukudora’s hand.

It felt less like a lizard’s skin and more like a vinyl kaiju doll where the material had softened with age.

The vampire knight, Lavin Gore, said something to Mao.

“‘If this is the person we’ve heard of who can close the door, I believe it would be best to have him do so quickly,’ is what she’s saying to Mao,” Tomoe told me.

The door... Oh, yeah, she did say something about that.

Mao looked in our direction, extending a hand towards me. “Lord Souma. Please, come to my castle at once. To close the door.”

“What’s this door you keep talking about?”

“The gate we used to come to the world of the south. We used it to evacuate here, but had no way to close it behind us. That’s why the gate’s still wide open, and it’s calling northern monsters.”

“Northern monsters...” Ichiha murmured to himself. “I’ve heard that when the Demon Lord’s Domain appeared, ‘the door to another world opened, releasing vast amounts of monsters that would attack towns and villages.’ Is this that door to another world?”

“Ohh. I think I heard about something like that too, now that you mention it,” I said.

“Yes. In order to save my children, who were being pushed to the brink in the lands of the north, I had to let them escape into Tiamat’s jurisdiction in the south. However, while I was able to use unorthodox methods to connect the gate, I didn’t have the authorization to close it. You are the one with the right to do that, Sir Souma. You, a familiar one from the mother planet, and no one else,” Mao said, bowing her head deeply.

Seeing this, Garogaro, Kukudora, Lavin Gore, and Poco all bowed their heads too.

While I was still feeling confused, a soft voice spoke from behind me.

“Please, go,” said Madam Tiamat, who had apparently been standing there for some time without me noticing.

“Madam Tiamat?”

“She cannot stop it of her own will. Even if her children suffer, she also gave birth to their tormentors, so she cannot involve herself. If you can release her from her limitations, that will remove a source of suffering for people on this continent.”

“You always explain things in such a roundabout way...” I said, earning me a faint smile from Madam Tiamat.

“There are many limitations. Both on me and on her.”

Well...sitting around here wasn’t going to help. I’d wanted to get in touch with the demons and communicate with them as peacefully as possible. If they were inviting me to come, I was getting exactly what I’d wanted.

I looked at Halbert. “Hal...can I count on you to manage the troops here for a while?”

“I don’t mind, but...you’re planning to go?”

“Yeah. First, I need to learn. Nothing can start until I know what’s going on.”

Hal snorted. “Gotcha. Leave this place to me and Ruby.”

“You’re a lifesaver... Mao...uh, Madam Mao? Can I take everyone who’s here with me except for Hal and Ruby?”

Mao nodded. “Thank you, Lord Souma... Now, if I may.”

In the next moment, the scenery around us changed. The sun-scorched desert vanished, replaced by a dim, metallic room.

This room... It’s got the same vibe as Genia’s dungeon lab, huh?

Then Mao spread her arms and began to speak.

“Welcome, Lord Souma, to my heart.”

As she said that, a massive image appeared above our heads. It was a midair projection, like the ones used in the jewel broadcast. It showed a single planet, floating in space.

It was an all-too-familiar image of Earth.

As I stared, surprised and in awe, Mao quietly spoke.

“You will now learn how this world came to be, Lord Souma.”

Mao began to tell the tale in her cute DIVAloid voice.

Bonus Short Stories

The C Clan

One day, I was in the governmental affairs office planning an event to promote the economy with Roroa.

“Souma, Roroa, do you have a moment?” came a voice.

“Julius?”

“Bro?”

Julius, Roroa’s elder brother who had become my White General, dropped in on us.

“What’s up? Got a problem with the military or somethin’?” Roroa asked.

“No, it’s nothing that important.”

“Ya get in a fight with Big Sis Tia, then? Did she run out on you?”

“How rude. We get along swimmingly as a couple.”

“Yeah, I can’t see your little missus doin’ that anyway.”

“I’m more worried about you,” Julius said. “I pray your tendency to come out and say things like that doesn’t make your husband come to hate you.”

“Oh, yeah? If it’s a fight you’re here lookin’ for, I’ll give ya one at a discount.”

Watching the two siblings banter, I thought about how much better they were getting along now. They had been political opponents at one point, but now looked like any other brother and sister pair you might meet.

Feeling a little left out, I smiled wryly as I asked Julius, “So, Julius, what did you come here for?”

“Oh, right.” Julius returned to his senses and looked at me. “I wanted to talk to you about my good friend Colbert.”

“Hm? What’s this about Mr. Colbert?” Roroa asked, cocking her head to the side.

“You know Colbert will be marrying Madam Mio of the House of Carmine on the same day as Souma and Madam Maria’s wedding, right?”

“Yeah. They’re participatin’ in the mass wedding event. And?”

“That means he’ll be a member of the House of Carmine from here on. His first name is Gatsby, so that would make him Gatsby Carmine.”

“I see... We won’t be able to call him Colbert anymore, huh?” I mused.

Colbert’s full name was Gatsby Colbert, and Roroa and I both called him Colbert because we found it easier to pronounce. But he would be marrying into the House of Carmine soon, which would mean he wasn’t a Colbert any longer.

“That’s...kinda sad, huh?” Roroa murmured.

Colbert had been like a second brother to Roroa. Even when she was on poor terms with her real brother, Colbert had been with her as part of the Ministry of Finance.

“He’s always been Mr. Colbert to me, so not bein’ able to call him that is gonna make it feel he’s become a whole different person.”

Roroa began scratching her cheek with a troubled smile.

Was it like having a sibling’s last name change all of a sudden after they got married? I was a single child, so it was hard to put myself in her shoes, but...I could sympathize a little, at least.

“So, I had an idea,” Julius said, broaching the subject. “Could you let Colbert keep his family name as a middle name? I’m aware that the Carmine name has historical and political significance to this country, but... For my part, I’d like to be able to keep calling him Colbert.”

“Darlin’, I’d like you to let him too,” Roroa agreed, turning an expectant look towards me.

“I see. Gatsby C. Carmine, huh?” I thought for a moment, crossing my arms, then quickly nodded. “Sounds good to me. It’d feel weird to me having to call him Gatsby or Carmine at this point too.”

“But won’t there be people concerned about what to call him?” Julius asked, but I just shrugged.

“That’s nothing new. I went from Souma Kazuya to Souma A. Elfrieden, and soon I’ll be Souma E. Friedonia. Where did my first name, Kazuya, go?”

“That’s your fault for messin’ up at the start, darlin’,” Roroa said with a slightly exasperated tone.

“It is?” asked Julius.

“Sure is,” she replied.

I loudly cleared my throat. “You’ve got the same sort of problem, don’t you? Julius Lastania.”

“Yes, I suppose I do...” Julius said, it being his turn to shrug now. “I can’t very well change my name to Julius A. Lastania now. I wouldn’t want to make Tia and my son Tius bear the burdens of the Amidonia name.”

“Hold up, Bro? I’m the one havin’ to bear those burdens, y’know?”

“You snatched them away from me, so you’ll have to take responsibility for that.”

“Ugh... I wanna give ’em all back to you, with interest.”

The two of them started going at it again. They really did get along better now...

“Anyway, Colbert doesn’t want to give up his name, and Mio isn’t demanding he let go of it, right? In that case, I’ve decided to have him keep it.”

“Yeah!”

“I’ll inform Colbert and Madam Mio.”

And so, the name Gatsby C. Colbert was born.

Poncho Comes Home

In the noble quarter of Parnam, many properties had once belonged to the corrupt nobles Souma punished. These properties had since been given to Souma’s newly hired military or civil officials (instead of the old guard, who didn’t want them because of how they came to be uninhabited) or were used to house foreign guests. Poncho’s mansion was one such case.

“Whew, I’m finally home, yes.”

Having returned from a trip to the Spirit Kingdom and made his report to Souma, Poncho was finally able to make it home in the evening.

“I wonder how everyone’s been getting on without me, yes.”

Poncho was greeted by the mansion’s servants, who were largely managed by Serina, as he passed through the gate, then went and opened the front door. Two little figures leapt at Poncho the moment he did.

““Father! Welcome home!””

His usual, more rotund build would have absorbed the impact, but he was currently slimmed down due to both Serina and Komain demanding another child from him, so he felt the blow hitting his internal organs directly.

“Gwugh...! I-I’m home, Marin, Maron.” Poncho gagged a little before recovering enough to pat his two five-year-old girls on the head.

Marin was the daughter he’d had with his first wife, Serina, and Maron with his second wife, Komain. They looked like twins, both pudgy in the same way their father was, but Maron’s skin had a slight reddish tinge, which made it easy to distinguish them.

“Hey, hey, you went to that place called Abroad, right?”

“Did you bring back gifts? Are there any sweets?”

The girls were begging for food the moment he returned. Oh, yes, Poncho could have absolutely no doubt that these were his children with Serina and Komain.

As he returned their embrace, Poncho said, “I did bring back something for you, but I’d like to see your mothers first, yes.”

The twins looked at one another.

“Father kissed our mommies goodbye!”

“Now he’s going to kiss our mommies hello!”

“D-Don’t say that so loudly, yes.”

Poncho was intimidated seeing his daughters be so direct about it. The servants who were watching from a distance all chuckled.

Then, two women came down the stairs.

“Welcome home.”

“Welcome home, Poncho.”

It was Poncho’s wives, Serina and Komain.

They were in the clothes they were used to wearing at home, a maid outfit and a traditional ethnic costume. Marin and Maron, who were hugging Poncho, each cried, “Mommy!” before jumping off of their father and rushing over to their respective mothers. They both lovingly patted their daughters on the head.

“Marin, did you greet your father properly?”

“I did! I said, ‘Father! Welcome home!’”

“And you, Maron? Did you greet him too?”

“I did! He said he brought gifts too!”

The mothers both smiled wryly at their daughters’ boisterous smiles.

Poncho walked over to the four of them at a relaxed pace.

“I’m home, yes. Serina, Komain, did I miss anything while I was away, yes?”

“Nothing all that important... If I were to reach for something to tell you, it would be that we were, perhaps, a little lonely? Both at the absence of our husband and the resulting decline in the number of dishes on the table,” Serina said without a hint of guilt, bringing a wry smile to Komain’s face.

“We don’t get to try your experimental dishes when you’re not around, after all. It’s so like Serina, mixing love with hunger... I can never tell which of the two is greater; her love for you or her appetite for the food you cook.”

“Are you not the same, Komain? Marin and Maron would never have been born if we weren’t like this.”

“Ah ha ha... I suppose not.”

Poncho felt a warm, fuzzy feeling in his heart as he watched them. Back when he first entered Souma’s service, he could never have imagined that one day his wives and daughters would welcome him home like this. He savored the happiness as he set down his bag.

“Now then, I’ve brought back bean tea and spices from the Spirit Kingdom, and I’m going to use them to fix up a delicious meal for all of us, yes.”

““Yay!””

Marin and Maron raised their arms and jumped into the air when they heard there was going to be good food. Unable to wait, they picked up his bag and rushed off to the kitchen with it. When they were gone, Serina and Komain subtly approached Poncho, planting a kiss on each of his cheeks, then whispered in his ears.

“Darling, we’ve had a break because of your trip, but let’s get back to work tonight.”

“Marin and Maron have been pestering us for a little brother or sister, and we need to do our best for them.”

Hearing this, Poncho knew he wouldn’t be able to gain back his weight for the foreseeable future.

Watching Smart People Talk Is Nerve-racking

In the gardens of Castle Valois, in the city of Valois—which had just recently changed from being an imperial capital to a royal capital—Queen Jeanne and her royal consort, Hakuya, were having tea with Excel Walter, who had been sent from the Kingdom of Friedonia to help instruct their fleet. This break was something Hakuya had suggested to give Jeanne some relief from her heavy workload.

“Oh? Were you ever this considerate to His Majesty?” Excel asked, chuckling, her mouth hidden behind her fan.

Hakuya shrugged. “His Majesty had many around him like the indulgent Lady Juna and the adoring Lady Aisha to help him recover. Lady Liscia was always there, monitoring his mental well-being too, so I never felt the need to say anything.”

“Heh heh, I suppose so. And that’s why you act so sweet to Madam Jeanne?”

“I believe it’s only natural that a husband should indulge his wife.”

“You sure know how to make an argument...” Excel said, letting out a sigh that was half exasperated, half impressed.

Then, looking from Jeanne’s face to Hakuya’s, she snapped her fan shut.

“I see. Madam Jeanne has worked outside as a military officer, while Sir Hakuya defended her inside as a civil official. It seems the Vargas household has stayed peaceful because my daughter keeps Castor under her thumb, but I see that you two have the opposite sort of arrangement.”

“What? Sir Hakuya has me under his thumb?” Jeanne blinked, earning a chuckle from Excel.

“It’s about distribution of roles. Things tend to work out much better if the reliable partner keeps a hold of the more active partner’s reins. It’s the same with Madam Mio and Sir Colbert of the House of Carmine who’ll be marrying soon. Sir Colbert does a good job of supporting her. If the reliable partner doesn’t have a hold of the reins though, you end up with Madam Genia and poor Sir Ludwin, who’s going to develop an ulcer from all the stress she causes him.”

Alas, that’s just life for them at this point, Excel thought, a cool look on her face as she sipped her black tea. Then, she smiled at Jeanne.

“It’s nothing for you to worry about. Be yourself, and do all you can. It’s the duty of the Black-Robed Royal Consort to manage things appropriately for you.”

“I sense the many long years of wisdom behind those words,” Hakuya said with a smile that seemed plastered onto his face.

Excel returned an identical grin, saying, “Oh, my, I suppose it was much too soon to talk about this with a little boy who’s only an adult in terms of his height.”

“Ha ha ha.”

“Hee hee hee.”

Sparks flew between them.

They were both sharp, and just bantering in a way they expected they could get away with, but Jeanne was beside herself with worry watching them.

“S-So, how are things with our fleet, Duchess Walter?” she asked, trying to change the topic.

Setting her teacup down, Excel replied, “Well...I can tell you, without any undue flattery, that this country’s fleet is first-rate. Even if you don’t have wonder weapons like the island carriers, you have more than enough of each type of ship, and they’re well serviced and maintained. With such a large fleet, it’s a mystery to me why the Empire never expanded out to sea.”

“It seems past emperors were focused on expanding our terrestrial holdings. Dominating the seas remained a second priority,” Hakuya explained with a serious look on his face. “The fleet was apparently built with the then Nine-Headed Dragon Archipelago Union in mind, but only to clamp down on their piracy.”

“And Sister had her hands full with the monsters on land too...” Jeanne added.

“Yes, I suppose she did,” Excel replied with a nod. “However, it’s your time now, and your fleet will be one of the driving forces in this new era.”

“Duchess Walter... Yes! I think you’re right!” Jeanne responded, full of energy.

Nodding with satisfaction, Excel said, “Oh, I know,” and clapped her hands together. “Now that I think of it, I brought some tea with me from the Kingdom. Since we’re already indulging, perhaps you would like to...”

“Hold on,” Hakuya interrupted, stopping Excel before she could have the servants prepare it.

Then, with a smile plastered on his face, he turned to Excel.

“This tea wouldn’t happen to have something in it, would it? I know that you’ve gotten all sorts of information out of King Souma with his wives’ permission, you realize?”

“My, you’re so perceptive. And here I was hoping to prepare some educational materials for Madam Jeanne.”

“Huh? Me?! What are you talking about?!” Jeanne blinked in confusion.

Smiling, Hakuya said, “Save that for His Majesty.”

“A fine piece of work you are, offering up His Majesty like that.”

“I’m honored to receive such a compliment from the venerable Duchess Walter.”

“Hee hee hee.”

“Ha ha ha.”

They each confronted the other with a smile again.

At the end of the day, Jeanne had spent the whole time on edge.

Hal and Velza’s Relationship

“Hey, Velza, are you sure this is where you wanted to go?”

This was the fruit parlor managed by Lucy’s family, the Evans Company. Velza was sitting across from Halbert, in a seat on the second-floor terrace.

“Given we’re celebrating your first day of work and all, I’d have gladly taken you somewhere more expensive, you know?”

“No. This place is where I wanted to come, Lord Hal,” Velza answered with alacrity.

Today, Velza had reached the age of majority and formally came to serve at the House of Magna, so they were here to celebrate the occasion. With permission from Halbert’s wives, Kaede and Ruby, of course.

“This is actually where Ichiha proposed to Tomoe. They’ve been coming since they got married to flirt with each other too. That’s why I wanted to come here with you, Lord Hal,” she said with a smile.

“O-Oh, yeah?” Halbert’s heart skipped a beat, seeing her beaming face. When she looked at him this way, it forced him to see her as a girl, like it or not.

They were both in civilian clothes today. Velza looked quite handsome in her uniform, and the women in the military were fangirling over her all the time. But with the short pants she was wearing now to show off her healthy legs and just a little makeup, she came off as a pretty, if somewhat boyish, girl.

“Thank you for waiting.”

The waitress came over carrying their food. Velza had ordered a parfait, while Halbert had ordered coffee. The coffee was a recent import from the Spirit Kingdom of Garlan, and Halbert had taken a liking to its aroma.

“Now, please, take your time and enjoy yourselves,” the waitress said before leaving.

Velza immediately took a spoonful of parfait, her cheeks melting into a grin.

“Mmm!”

Despite her usual cool demeanor, when she was eating sweets or in front of Halbert, her expression turned into something more like what you’d expect from a girl of her age. Halbert smiled wryly as he watched her.

“Ah ha ha... You’re making that look pretty delicious.”

“Sweet things have all the happiness of this world packed into them.”

With that said, Velza scooped up some of the cream and pudding from her parfait, offering it to Halbert as if she were going to say, “Say ahh.”

Halbert froze up when he saw that.

“Um...Velza?”

“Lady Tomoe was doing this with Ichiha, so I thought I’d try it myself.”

“Uh, you’re supposed to do that kind of thing with the guy you like...”

“Yes, which is why I’m doing it,” Velza replied, leaving no room for doubt as she pushed the spoon closer. Her eyes were fixed on Halbert.

Relenting under her gaze, Halbert accepted the proffered spoonful, chewing it with a wry smile on his face.

“To think you liked me so much...”

“Had you not noticed? I thought I’d made it pretty clear.”

“Well, yeah, I’d noticed. I mean, you’ve been working to box me in and cut off all avenues of escape.”

Halbert leaned back in his seat with a sigh.

“Kaede and Ruby are always telling me I need to treat you like a girl, not a little sister or something like that, and my folks are already treating you like a member of the family. Then there’s your father, Sur, constantly calling me your groom-to-be. At this point, I’ve already accepted that you have every intention of marrying me.”

“It took a lot of work, if I dare say so myself,” Velza said, puffing her chest up with pride. Halbert found that a little cute.

“I was kind of expecting you to cool off on the idea eventually...”

“We dark elf women are a passionate bunch. My love for you will never cool.”

“I get that from watching Madam Aisha, but...I’m human, you know? We live on different time scales.”

“You say that, yet you’ve already married Ruby, Lord Hal?”

“Well...you’ve got a point there.”

“It’s okay. We long-lived races know what we’re getting ourselves into,” Velza said, chuckling. “In fact, if we leave you short-lived people alone, you vanish in no time. That’s why I want to treasure the precious moments that we do have together.”

“Oh, yeah? Guess that’s one way of looking at it.” Halbert scratched his head shyly. “I’m blessed to have someone who cares so much about me.”

“Well, you have Kaede and Ruby too, so consider yourself thrice-blessed.”

“Ha ha ha. It seems almost excessive.”

“Yes. So...” Velza placed her hands over Halbert’s which had been resting on the table. “Live as long as you can, and let’s make lots of happy memories together. You saved a girl from the sand and dirt, and made her go weak in the knees for you, so please take responsibility for your actions, okay?”

The coffee tasted sweet as Velza smiled at him.

A Request for Shabon

A little while after a solution had been found to the problem of the Demon Lord’s Domain, Nine-Headed Dragon Queen Shabon and her partner Kishun visited Parnam.

They were publicly announcing it as a courtesy visit in recognition of the liberation of the Demon Lord’s Domain, but the main reasons were more practical. We all were going to discuss how to handle Fuuga, and also negotiate trade. That said, our countries were on good terms, and another goal of the trip was to introduce my son Cian to his fiancée, Shabon’s daughter, Princess Sharan.

“Look, Sharan! Over here! Over here!”

“Ahh! Wait for me, Big Sis Kazu.”

The children were playing noisily in my father-in-law Albert’s garden in the castle.

“It’s dangerous to run like that, you two,” Cian called after his playmates.

“Ahh, you too, Lord Cian! And Lady Kazuha, don’t pull her around like that!”

It looked like my daughter, Kazuha, had taken a liking to Princess Sharan. Kazuha was pulling her around by the hand as Cian toddled after them, worried. Carla, the maid, watched over them, constantly on edge.

“Hee hee, the children certainly are energetic,” Shabon said, stroking the head of her second child, Prince Sharon, who was sleeping on her lap. Liscia and I were with Shabon and Kishun in the gazebo, sipping tea as we took a break.

“Too much energy can be a problem though. Especially with Kazuha,” Liscia said with a sigh. I could only smile wryly at that.

“She sure does take after you, huh?” I said.

“Hold on, what’s that supposed to mean?”

“Just what it sounds like, actually.”

“The two of you get along as well as ever, I see,” Shabon said, chuckling at us. “I am envious.”

“You say that, but you and Kishun must be getting along pretty well yourselves,” I countered. “I mean, you’ve popped out two babies already.”

“Yeah. And it wasn’t twins like it was for me,” Liscia agreed.

“Why yes,” Shabon replied with a smile. “I do believe we are your equals when it comes to how well we can get along. Right, Kishun?”

“It’s an honor to have you say that...” Kishun replied awkwardly.

For Kishun, Shabon wasn’t just his wife, she’d also been his princess, so the combined feelings of love and loyalty made it hard for him to ever disagree with her. I could relate...

Shabon set her teacup down with a slight clatter.

“So, what is this favor you wanted to ask of me?” Her expression grew a little sterner as she spoke. “If it involves the Great Tiger Empire again, is it a favor that you would be asking of my country?”

“Oh, no, no, this isn’t anything so heavy,” I said, hurriedly correcting the misconception. “There’s something I want to order from your craftsmen for my personal use.”

“For...your personal use?”

“Yeah, this is it here,” I said, producing a rough design I had drawn up.

“Is this a house... No, a shrine, perhaps?”

“Yeah, I knew you’d have designs like this in the Nine-Headed Dragon Archipelago.”

“What’s this about, Souma?” Liscia asked.

I pointed to the designs and said, “This is something from my old world, modeled after the shrines where people in my country prayed to the kami. The Nine-Headed Dragon Archipelago’s culture is similar to my home country’s in many ways, so I figured they would have buildings like this there.”

“I see. And your request is to have them build this for you?” Shabon asked, head inclined to one side.

“No, no,” I shook my head. “I want a small one. A miniature. It should be about the right size to hold this magatama.”

I set the comma-shaped jewel, which shone with a dull red light, on the table. Liscia looked closely at it.

“This thing... You got it from the Demon Lord... I mean Mao, didn’t you?”

“Yeah. It’s like a mortuary tablet for all my ancestors. This design I have is for a kind of house shrine called a ‘kamidana,’ where you can pray to the kami at home. I was hoping to put the magatama in one so I could pay my respects to it there.”

“Oh! We do have a similar tradition in the Nine-Headed Dragon Archipelago.”

“There are these little stone shrines by the side of the road, and we pray to the local gods of each island at them.”

Shabon and Kishun both nodded, seeming to have figured it out. If they were wayside shrines, then were they for gods that watch over travelers, maybe? Yeah, the tradition really did seem similar.

I offered the designs to Shabon.

“I’d like it made without nails, if possible. Do you think they can do that?”

“Well, I should think so... Our country’s craftsmen are excellent, after all.” Shabon took the plans and rolled them up. “But this certainly is unexpected. I never took you for the religious type, Sir Souma.”

“Yeah, I mean, you rejected becoming the Holy King, so I assumed you weren’t interested in divine authority,” Liscia said, agreeing with Shabon.

“Well, I’m not deeply religious, no, but I’m not an atheist either. In my old country, faith was something a little personal, integrated into our daily lives.”

“What do you mean?”

“We didn’t go to church and pray to God, but would think things like, ‘The sun god is watching me, so I can’t do anything evil,’ or ‘This is an affront to my ancestors.’ Oh, and also, ‘You have to take care of your things, because everything has a soul inside of it.’ Those thoughts could be seen as sun worship, ancestor worship, and animism, right?”

“Ami... Ani... Uh, I think I kind of get it, aside from that last one that started with A.”

I smiled wryly at the look on Liscia’s face as she struggled to understand.

Picking the red magatama, I held it up to the light. “It’s nothing complicated. It’s just that imagining Grandma and Grandpa are watching over me through this magatama makes me feel a little better.”

“Hee hee, I think that is a wonderful thought,” Shabon said with a smile. “We will set about construction with all the respect such a project deserves. This is a house for the ancestors of Sharan’s future partner, so it will need to be a splendid one.”

“Thank you, Shabon.”

I felt like this request was going to help strengthen the bond between our countries.