A Tale of Ice and Fire

I didn't really want to deal with this if I could avoid it, but I had no real choice.

I headed to the knight barracks, then down the stairs to the recently

constructed underground portion. I slowly walked down the spiral staircase

until I came to a stone corridor. Eventually, I made it to a small room where two

knights stood on duty.

One was working on some documents at their desk, while the other was

doing pushups. I recognized their faces. They were two of the demi-humans

who had participated in the knight exams a while back. The man doing the

paperwork was a wardog beastman, while the woman doing the pushups was a

lioness. If I recalled right, they were called Dingo and Ashley.

"G-Grand Duke!"

"Ah, Your Highness?"

"Oh, don't worry about formalities. I'm just dropping in."

The dog-headed man stood to attention, while the lion-eared woman fell midpushup out of shock. I stopped them from saluting me as I sauntered over to

the next room, the jail cell.

"I'll just be heading in."

"Of course! Here's the key!"

Dingo handed me the large cell key that had been hanging up on the wall. I

smiled politely at the duo, then opened the thick iron door. Behind the door

was the castle dungeon. There were archways to the left and right of me,

leading down hallways to a series of sturdy iron cages. The bars were all infused

with magic, and the barriers placed around the cells were as powerful as my

[Prison] magic.

A particular woman was waiting for me in one of these cells, hidden in the

depths. There was a tatami mat laid atop a stone-crafted bed in the corner of

her cell, with some bedding on top of that. In a little alcove on the wall sat a

leylightstone, which we used as an alternative light source to candles. It shone

inside a small cup of water. A pair of glasses sat next to the cup.

In the back of this special cell was a curtained-off area with a shower and

toilet facilities. This was certainly a luxurious cell, all things considered. I felt it

only fair, given that it was inescapable. Even if the bars were cut or the stone

walls were dug through, the magic surrounding this place would prevent

anyone from ever getting out.

In the corner of the room sat a purple Gollem encased in ice. My [Eternal

Coffin] spell wouldn't wear off until I released it, after all.

"Hey. You sleeping?"

"Hm...? I'm not sleeping... But... A-Ah?! That voice! Tou?!"

Luna jumped up, flinging the blanket off her body. Her hair looked scraggly,

but her complexion was fine enough.

"You don't look bad, given you've been in here a few days."

"Hmmmmph! You're so mean for keeping me here, Tou... A big meanie..."

"Hey, c'mon now. What other prisons give you a toilet, three square meals a

day, and a shower?"

Other places just gave you a jar to do your business in; this was a pretty nice

dungeon, all things considered. It was true that she was basically confined to

this one space, though.

Either way, I wanted to get my purpose here over with.

"Now then, you're charged with breaking and entering into a royal castle, as

well as attempted assassination on royalty."

"I did attack, but I don't remember— Ohhh... That means you're really a royal,

Tou?" Luna reached out for her glasses, the two lenses shining softly as she put

them back on.

"Not just me. Those two you attacked, remember? They're my relatives, so

they're royalty as well."

"Ohhh! Those crazy strong ladies! Were they your sisters?!"

Luna's motions became erratic. She hopped up and charged over to the iron

bars, clasping them tightly in her hands. I took a few steps back.

"One of them was. The other was my cousin."

"Ohhh! Amazing! Amaaazing! I didn't get to do much at all, and Viola got

beaten right away! I bet those girls could kill me really easily!"

Luna's body writhed and shivered as she grinned wide and softly fondled

herself. Her breathing grew heavier. She really was an irredeemable pervert... It

was pretty awful to watch.

"...I don't really get it, but like... Do you want to die?"

"Mm... I think so! If I can die, I think it'd be fun to give it a go. I don't really

understand. I didn't wanna die in the past, I know that much. Nia once said that

if I keep using Viola's power, the more things'll go bad for me, and stuff. And

then, in the end, Viola's gonna kill me, too."

...Wait, she knows that her sanity's getting sapped? So, what... Is she hoping

that she'll either get killed by Viola or that someone'll be able to kill her before it

goes too far?

"It's all your fault, Tou... I thought you'd finally be able to kill me, but you're

being so lazy about it! You limp-dicked bastard, you!"

"...Please don't call me that."

"It's scary when you're gonna die, isn't it? I've felt it lots and lots and lots.

Whenever I feel the pain and the fear, real pleasure comes out after that

feeling... So then all the cutting, the stabbing, the slicing... All that good stuff

going into me? It hurts so good... Ahhh, I love it. I love how good it hurts! It's

kind of like my body telling me I'm alive... That's why it's so good."

Huh... So the only way she feels alive is by having pain inflicted on her. But

each time she does that, her mind breaks down further and it actually brings her

closer to the brink of death...

There was no hope for her. Chrom Ranchesse, creator of the crown Gollems,

created an entire system of incredible powers. Of course, they all required you

to pay a price for them. It was almost like making a contract with a devil. You

gain incredible strength, but something's robbed in return.

In Luna's case, she had eternal life... But even if she could live forever, it

didn't matter if her sanity was the price she had to pay. Plus, her ability was

automatic. Even if she didn't want to use the crown's ability, it would trigger

and regenerate her body whenever she got hurt. Her sanity would be sapped

away at the same time, too. Even though she was the Gollem's master, it was

pretty sketchy that it forced her to use its power no matter what. She got a

pretty raw deal out of it.

"Anyway... I thought I'd be super-duper happy if you killed me, Tou... But now

there are those girls, and they're sooo strong, too! This is a little annoying, you

know? Who should I have kill me now...?"

"None of us. I have no intention of killing you."

Bastet told me that she helped protect the puretree in Isengard, but that

wasn't enough to cancel out her crimes. She definitely needed some form of

punishment.

"Huh? Then what are you doing down here...? My, I guess this is one of the

perils of relying on a virgi—"

"Enough."

Goddamn, she has no tact at all! Still, after that talk I had with Elluka after the

crown's compensation, I want to address what we can do about Luna's.

Usually, you could cancel it out by just trashing the Gollem, but Viola had

rapid regeneration... That meant it would be pretty hard to bust. It wouldn't be

impossible if I used my divinity, but it would still be a bit much...

"If I told you I could totally obliterate Viola, how would you feel about that?

Keep in mind it'd stop your mind from slipping any further."

"You'd obliterate her? Hmm... I don't know... Viola's a nice little one, I think.

Actually, Viola's super gentle with me... The little cutie brings me food when I'm

hungry, and carries me when I'm sleepy. Viola never asked to be born the way

she was, either... If you ask me, the real monster is Viola's creator."

Heh, the creator... He already paid the ultimate price, his memories, after

Albus ran wild in the past... In the end, I suppose he got what was coming to

him.

If Luna didn't want me to trash Viola, then I had to try plan B. I used a divinityinfused [Teleport] to warp into the prison cell. Typically, that kind of spell would

be repelled by the barrier, but that didn't stop me. I'd certainly become an

unusual creature... Though I'd been one for a long time at this point.

"Whuh?!"

Luna jumped up in shock, but I ignored her and walked over to Viola, still

trapped inside the icy coffin. I undid the spell, partially, and the ice thawed

down enough to reveal Viola's head and shoulders. "Beep." Viola struggled to

escape the ice, but it couldn't do anything with its arms and legs trapped.

"Viola. I'm going to take away the parts of you that make you a crown Gollem.

I hope you don't hate me for this, but it's for the greater good."

I touched Viola's head and cast [Analyze] on her. I couldn't understand the

intricacies, but I could sense the rudimentary functions like power flow. I also

sensed the magical pathway that linked Viola to Luna, which was effectively the

pathway that created Viola's functions... Given that knowledge, I couldn't fully

erase it. But I could still do the next best thing.

"[Cracking]."

I used a Null spell that helped me modify magical programming. It was

originally used to tweak magical artifacts. It wasn't actually that useful, though.

I couldn't turn a fire staff into a lightning staff, for example. What I could do was

make the fireball smaller or bigger, or just prevent the fireball from coming out

at all.

I used the spell to meddle with Viola's insides, cutting off all access to her

automatic regeneration ability and effectively removing her status as a Crown

Gollem.

"There we go. Viola's no longer a crown, just a really powerful Gollem."

"No way..."

"Yes way. Here, try jabbing yourself with this."

I took out a small sewing needle from my [Storage], and passed it over to

Luna. Luna shakily held it up, removed her glasses, and immediately thrust the

needlepoint toward her eyeball.

"Whoa, stop! Are you stupid?! Don't stab yourself in the goddamn eye!"

"Hm? Why not? It's just my eye."

"I meant for you to just prick your finger!"

This girl was an honest-to-god nutbag. I didn't trust her not to maim herself,

so I snatched the needle back and gently pricked her fingertip. A small drop of

blood pooled on her skin. She wiped it away, but more blood pooled out. The

wound wasn't healing.

"You... You really disabled it?"

"Try asking Viola to heal it. Trust me."

"Oh? Um... Viola, sweetie? Can you heal this?"

"Beep."

Viola channeled magic energy through to Luna. I had disabled the

regeneration ability, but in the process, I'd effectively created a new Gollem

skill that a Legacy Gollem might have held. Basically, it was just regular

regeneration, and it wasn't automated. The little needle prick wound closed up

in an instant.

"So... what does this mean?"

"It means Viola is now a regular Gollem with healing abilities. It won't be able

to heal anything fatal, though."

Luna wouldn't be able to survive the gruesome injuries she'd been sustaining

up until now. If she had her stomach gouged open again, or anything else like

that, she'd absolutely die.

"And now I need to cap off your punishment. [Guilty Curse]."

I reached out and planted a curse upon Luna. I couldn't just let her go

unpunished, after all.

"You won't be able to derive pleasure from pain anymore."

"Huh?!"

"Let me show you. Luna... Thank you for protecting the puretree, it meant a

lot to me."

"Nh... Whhah?! M-Mmfh?! A-Ah, wh-what was that sensation just now? It

was like a shiver up my spine!"

Luna's cheeks flushed a deep red as she wrapped her arms around her own

body.

Ugh... I'll never get used to her gross behavior...

"It's pretty simple, really. This is the punishment I've imposed on you. You'll

gain pleasure from the gratitude of others."

In a sense, I made her more normal, but I probably just made her weirder.

Then again, the world was full of people who took a lot of pleasure from things

others might not find all that enjoyable. Either way, this curse converted

general appreciation and happiness from others into direct physical pleasure

that would ripple across Luna's body.

Most people felt some measure of happiness by helping others. Helping other

people often served as a validating action for people, and helped with giving

people a feeling of fulfillment and purpose. The curse I placed on Luna

effectively gave her that validation... in the form of pleasurable sensations.

"H-Hey, Tou! D-Do it again... Thank me again!"

"Yeah, sure. Thank you, Luna."

"...Huh?"

"Those words were empty, Luna. It won't trigger anything if there's no feeling

behind it."

"Aww..."

I ignored Luna as she fussed and pouted, and freed Viola from the ice.

"But I don't know how to get people to thank me, Touuuu... Who do I have to

kill?"

"Nobody! Why's that your first assumption?! Just go help people in need!"

Ugh, this isn't good. I don't want her doing bad things... I guess if she's hired

as an assassin, she could kill tons and tons of people just so her employer would

thank her... Better add another stipulation to the curse that prevents her from

committing murder... I'll make sure it adds exceptions for combat or self-defense

situations, though.

Luna had clearly never been thanked in her entire life, so I needed to teach

her the best way to earn gratitude.

I summoned a [Gate] connected to Brunhild's main school and dragged Luna

there along with her Gollem. There were a bunch of kids playing nearby.

"Oh! Grand Duuke!" "Wowie! Gwand Duke!"

The kids cheered in joy as they stampeded toward us. It seemed like the

purple Gollem was attracting their attention the most.

"Hey, Tou! What is this place?!"

"It's my castle town's main school. The kids are planting flowers today, I

think."

Principal Fiana, along with Mr. Mittens, walked over from the main school

building.

"Meow nice to see you, Grand Duke."

"Oh my, what brings you here?"

The two of them smiled as they greeted us. They were carrying small gloves

and little trowels, seemingly in preparation for the flower planting.

"I've brought a helper with me. She has a Gollem with her, too."

"Oh my, what a pleasure to meet you. You're here to help us? Thank you so

much."

"Nh— Aah?!"

Fiana's words of gratitude caused spasms of pleasure to ripple through Luna's

body.

"Is she alright...?"

"Yeah, don't worry. Her name's Luna, and she's just a little shy. Don't worry if

she seems a little jumpy."

"Ah, I see. It's nice to have you here, Miss Luna."

"Y-Y-Yes, good..." Luna breathed heavily as she spoke. I wondered if she was

actually okay, since it seemed like her body still wasn't used to this new kind of

pleasure.

"Hey, Miss Luna! Come get the trowels with us! Over here!"

"This way!"

"Huh? No, I—"

A group of little girls grabbed Luna by her hands and dragged her off. Viola

hurried after them, a worried expression on its face. Frankly, I could use Earth

magic to plant all kinds of flowers and make a lovely little flower bed, but Fiana

was trying to teach the kids the value of hard work and co-operation, so I

refrained. I decided to join in the old-fashioned way.

A few hours later, we had a lovely little flower bed on the school grounds.

Well, lovely by the standards of inexperienced kids, but it definitely had charm.

"We did it..."

"Beep."

Luna and Viola were just following instructions, but along the way, they

started taking more initiative and worked alongside the kids. I was surprised to

see a little smile on Luna's face, even if she hadn't noticed it.

A little girl with a mud-caked face walked toward Luna. "Thanks shooo much!"

"Nnnh?!"

Luna started twitching and shivering, right on cue.

"C-Could you say that again...?"

"Thanks!"

"A-Auuuh!"

"Are you okay?"

The girl seemed confused by Luna's sudden writhing and gasping.

"Thanks to you, too, Viola!"

"Beep."

Luna swiveled around, shuddering hard and rubbing her thighs together as

she shambled towards me.

"T-Touuu... Thish ish baaahd... Nnnh... It feels shhooo good... Mmh... My

heart's pitter-pattering... I-It feels better than scooping out a man's eyes,

ahhhn... It feels better than being impaled by spears! Ohhh, it's too much... I'm

gonna start leaking..."

"Heh. Does it make you feel alive?"

"It really does... Ahh... I never felt this before... I-I'm gonna get hooked on it...

You're so cruel, Tou... So bad..."

I mean, it is meant to be a punishment... But I don't really buy that it's cruel

given how much you're grinning. Honestly, the way your eyes are rolling back is

terrifying, and the fact that you're drooling makes me wanna get the hell outta

here.

The pleasure was maybe a little bit too intense for her... I sighed quietly,

wondering if I'd made a mistake, as Fiana and a few more children came

towards us.

"Alright, class. Let's thank the grand duke and Miss Luna for all their help."

"Ah— Wait, Fiana! You shouldn't—"

"Grand Duke, Miss Luna, thank you for all your help!"

The entire class spoke words of unified gratitude. Their pure, childish hearts

were laced with unadulterated appreciation... And they were all focused on

Luna and I.

"A-Ah, I'm c-cumming... I-I'm cumming!! Nnhaaah!!"

Luna started squealing like a wild animal before collapsing on the spot. I

caught her as she fell, and she grabbed on to my arm. She looked up at me with

an expression of pure, babbling bliss.

"T-Tou... Nnh... This is so bad... I-I'm gonna squirt... It's gonna gush... I-I can't

handle this, aaahn! M-My mind's b-blanking out, eeehk!"

Luna spoke in a raspy, whispery tone as her body shuddered. This was a bad

situation, I could tell that she was definitely close to her physical limit.

The kids here were too pure of heart; I should've brought her somewhere

with a much more casual expression of thanks.

"Um... Is she okay?"

"She'll be fine. We're gonna head back, though. It was nice seeing you all.

Take care, everyone!"

I waved off Fiana and the kids, then teleported back to the dungeon cell with

Luna and Viola.

"Viola, you can handle her from here!"

"Beep?!"

I left the little purple Gollem behind before charging full-speed out of the

dungeon. I could've sworn I heard some kind of dripping noise behind me as I

fled, but I immediately pretended that I hadn't heard it.

That was an awful ordeal, but at least I've given Luna her punishment now... I

can let her go at last. ...It'll be okay if I let her go, right?

◇ ◇ ◇

Despite the fact that we'd stopped the mutants from causing catastrophic

damage, they'd still done quite the number on countries around the world. It

was taking a lot of time and effort to repair the damaged towns and cities.

The dwarven-made powered mechanical suits, the Dverg, were instrumental

in reconstruction efforts. Frame Gears were too big and cumbersome, and the

fact that they required training in the frame units meant that they could only be

piloted by particular specialists. The Dvergs had the benefit of being much

easier to learn and control. Plus, Dvergs weren't limited in quantity, so

countries all over the world were ordering them via Olba's company.

Olba, ever the shrewd businessman, had predicted this demand in advance of

the invasion and stocked up on a large supply of the Dverg units.

"Hmhm... My feelings on the matter are mixed, if I'm honest. It's nice to make

sales, but it's sad that it's necessary."

Olba spoke humbly, but the way his ears twitched and his tail wagged

betrayed the excitement inside him. He was clearly making an absolute fortune.

Given how well-known Dvergs were about to become across the world, I

wondered if I should make a little model of them for the capsule machines.

Dvergs were only being employed heavily on the eastern continent, though. On

the western side, the brunt of the work was being done by industrial-scale

factory model Gollems. I'd headed up to Babylon's hangar, and found myself

glancing at all the lined up Frame Gears.

"Guess we won't be using them much anymore, huh?"

"I wouldn't be so sure." Just as I was feeling a little sentimental, Doc Babylon

appeared, puffing on her e-cig. Her oversized lab coat trailed behind her.

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"It'd be easier if I just showed you."

She pulled out a couple of transparent boards around the size of a notepad

each. One had blue dots on it, while the other had red dots on it. They kind of

looked like glass panels with polka dot designs on them. I wasn't entirely sure

what it was I was looking at.

"Let's say this one here is our world. And this other is Elluka and Fenrir's

world. Well, it doesn't really matter which world represents which, anyway...

The colored dots are areas with a high concentration of magical energy, now

look what happens when they overlap..."

She took both of the panels and placed them atop each other. Some of the

polka dots on the map changed to purple spots where the red and blue

intersected, leading me to immediately understand what she meant.

"Right. These purple spots are going to be massive mana wells. You'd

probably call them mana reservoirs, really. Now the two worlds have coalesced,

we've got quite a few of these on our hands. And you know what that means,

right?"

"Behemoths..."

Behemoths were regular monsters that were exposed to abnormal amounts

of magical energy, resulting in them growing to terrifying sizes. Typically, these

mana wells would only appear in dense forests, deep under the ocean, or at the

peaks of high mountains. The Behemoths born from these instances rarely

caused issues for humanity. But even a single Behemoth near a human

settlement could be catastrophic.

Palerius Island was once so filled with Behemoths that the people living there

needed to keep a constant vigil for their own safety. According to the map

display I was looking at, these supercharged mana reservoirs were now all over

the place.

"I can't say it means Behemoths are just gonna start showing up today,

though. There'll already be Behemoths at the sites where the mana wells were

originally, anyway. It'll take a few more years for Behemoths to be born at the

new sites, too. Plus, Behemoths fight amongst themselves already. All we need

to do is monitor these areas and take action when needed."

In case it wasn't completely obvious, a mana well wouldn't dry up just from

the creation of a single Behemoth. Multiple Behemoths could be born to the

same species in the same area, which would often result in territorial battles

that ended up with one or more dead. That ended up being a more natural

method of keeping their numbers culled. However, the surviving Behemoths did

end up being pretty strong...

"So you're saying we need to keep our Frame Gears on standby, eh?"

"Right. Also, that world barrier of yours still hasn't been fixed, has it? There's

no guarantee our world is safe from extraterrestrial invaders in the meantime.

The Phrase could have simply been the first."

I didn't really want to think about that.

According to the other gods, I had sufficient divinity to fix up the world

barrier, but my sisters told me that if I screwed up I could end up causing an

even worse situation. Since the Phrase invasion incident so heavily involved a

wicked god, God Almighty was going to let one of his guys fix the barrier.

Because there hadn't been a god assigned to this world before me, they

weren't really allowed to interfere. But now that I was in charge, it was

apparently okay to patch it up.

In other words, I couldn't fix it myself for fear of screwing up, but I could ask

some of the gods I knew for their help. There was only one issue. None of the

ones I knew seemed to have the ability to fix the barrier, either.

Moroha, Karina, and Takeru were definitely not viable options. Karen and

Suika didn't exactly seem the types for it, either. There was Kousuke and

Sousuke to consider, but their areas of expertise were pretty far removed from

something so intricate. Gods like them were specialists in one particular field,

and they basically sucked at everything that wasn't in their jurisdiction.

God Almighty told me that he'd send someone to help me out at some

point... I just had to hope it was someone who wasn't a raging maniac or a

peculiar eccentric.

I headed back down from Babylon and caught my phone ringing in my pocket.

I raised a brow at the caller ID. It was Silhouette of the Black Cats. I wondered

what she wanted.

◇ ◇ ◇

She wanted to discuss something with me, so I headed to the Strain

Kingdom's main commerce city, since that's where her HQ was. The city was the

second-largest in Strain, and it was home to Silhouette's Moon Parlor, which

also doubled as a base for Black Cat activity.

It was noon so the neon lights weren't blaring, but the place looked gaudy as

ever... Given that it was a brothel, that wasn't too surprising.

"I wonder what she wants, I do..."

"Hmph... Better safe than sorry..."

Yae and Hilde were clinging to either side of me. There was an unspoken rule

among me and my fiancees that stated I needed to be accompanied by at least

one girl whenever I was called out here.

I could understand it, given that even I felt pretty seedy visiting a location like

the Moon Parlor. The place smelled like sex, and had a totally shady

atmosphere... Now and then, I'd see half-dressed girls walking through the

hallways, too.

The beefy bouncer outside the entryway bowed his head and let me in right

away. It was a little bit disgraceful that a brothel bouncer recognized me

enough to let me in, given I was supposed to be royalty... I decided to ask

Silhouette to meet me elsewhere next time, since I didn't want any rumors of

me being a brothel patron getting out. At least having Yae and Hilde with me

helped combat the idea a bit.

We made it to Silhouette's office on the top floor, only to be greeted by a

black panther and a little black cat outside the door. The panther was a

summoned beast that Silhouette had called forth with my help a while back. If I

recalled correctly he was an elemental creature, a lightning panther.

"This way, Grand Duke."

The lightning panther (Shade, I think his name was?) led us toward his master.

Shade was a particular kind of beast that could also communicate, so that was

pretty handy.

Silhouette sat in her office, sipping a cup of tea.

"Welcome, my friend. Oho, you've brought different girls this time, have you?

You must be quite the vigorous man."

Silhouette grinned slightly as Yae and Hilde exchanged worried looks. I wished

she wouldn't tease my fiancees, because I was the one who had to deal with

them afterward...

She invited us to sit on a nearby couch, so we complied and immediately got

down to brass tacks.

"I was thinking of expanding the influence of the Black Cats to an

international level."

"Uh... I thought you guys were already international."

"Ahh, sorry. I meant intercontinental, I wish to expand our operations to your

nations in the east."

In terms of intercontinental travel, far more people visited the eastern

continent from the west than vice versa. This was because people from the

eastern continent only really had ships (at varying speeds, some of the faster

ones employed wind mages to create favorable gales), while those on the

western continents had flying machines and transportation Gollems as well as

ships. I also speculated that the differences in culture contributed to this

emigration difference. The western continent, the former Reverse World, is

home to a naturally curious people who wished to learn more about magic. On

the other hand, the people of the eastern continent were very cautious when it

came to all this strange magitech stuff from the west.

The very idea of Gollems, which were effectively powerful artifacts, being part

of daily life was a confusing thing for them to wrap their heads around.

Basically, the westerners were actively seeking to interact with the east, while

the easterners were still a little bit apprehensive. Silhouette seemed to be

especially eager to expand her own influence.

"So you're saying you want to start opening brothels in the east?"

"I sure do. Some regular inns, too. We're trying to run a proper business and

all that. My methods are complex. We want you to speak to the countries on

our behalf. I'd rather avoid a Zabbit situation repeating."

Zabbit? Oh, right... That guy from Papillon who kept harassing Silhouette, or

whatever.

I remembered seeing him in Allent's capital city once. He was hassling some

orphanage there but he ended up fleeing.

I could understand why Silhouette was trying to make it as a legitimate

business. Brothels were often easy targets for criminal underworld types, so it

made sense she'd want to avoid any existing crime families trying to integrate

her business into theirs.

"So what exactly do you want me to ask, here?"

"I want you to get approval from the monarchs in the east. I'm sure the inns

will be no issue, though there may be trouble with the brothel permission."

Quite understandably, too. Brothels tended to be used as fronts for other

sketchy activities, like under-the-table loans or human trafficking. Many

brothels were home to trafficked or kidnapped women, too. Though in

Silhouette's case, many of the girls were quite high on the social ladder and

simply enjoyed sex work. Problematic customers were also ejected from the

premises pretty rapidly.

There were even talks about starting up a brothel in Brunhild's castle town... I

considered it a necessary evil, since readily-available sex establishments would

decrease the rate of criminal sexual assault. Either way, it was a bit of a pickle.

"I don't think the inns will be an issue, yeah. The brothels are gonna have to

depend on each country's personal policies. You definitely won't get one in the

Ramissh Theocracy, I can tell you that much right away. As for us... Would you

be opposed to Brunhild's government managing it?"

I squirmed slightly as the two girls either side of me swiveled and glared. It's

not like that! I don't wanna build one because I want to make use of it or

anything...

"Well, I'm sure we'll be able to work something out. Anyway, now we can

move on to the main matter of discussion."

Huh? That wasn't what you even called me over for? Just how opportunistic

are you?!

"As you know, we still have ties to some of Papillon's old less-than-scrupulous

ventures, and that includes the black market. We found something of particular

interest there a while ago."

Silhouette produced a hefty old parchment-paged tome and laid it out on the

table. It looked so old I was surprised it hadn't crumbled away into dust.

"This book is known as Shuraf's Encounters. It's the autobiography of a man

named Shuraf Sikes, a priest in Dauburn from long ago. This book contains the

truth behind Dauburn and Zadonia's conflict."

"Huh? You serious?"

The Nation of Ice, Zadonia, was the long-time enemy of the Nation of Fire,

Dauburn. They weren't entirely sure why they were enemies, but the reason

was apparently contained in this book.

"I'll cut to the chase. Public knowledge dictates that each country thinks the

other stole their offering to the gods, yes? This book states that the offering

was never stolen at all. It was never even made to begin with."

I remembered hearing about an offering, and apparently, the offering was

supposed to be a live sacrifice. According to High Priest Shuraf's writings,

Dauburn was approached by a fire god (like just a powerful spirit) and told to

offer up the king's son as a living sacrifice. But the king didn't want to give up

his son. He told the god that his son had been stolen away by Zadonia, in the

hopes that the sacrifice would be called off.

"So he blamed the other country, huh."

"Indeed. He must have thought that Zadonia would face the god's wrath

instead of Dauburn if he shifted the blame to them. But, by unfortunate

coincidence, a god of ice appeared in Zadonia and asked for the king's son as

well. The king of Zadonia, not wanting to give up his child, did the exact same

thing the king of Dauburn did... He blamed the other country."

That was definitely a terrible coincidence; I couldn't believe both sides tried to

evade the sacrifice in such a ridiculous way. That made the situation even

stupider to me.

"Ultimately, the gods took their wrath out on the countries for the missing

sacrifices, so nothing changed. Zadonia became a frozen wasteland, while

Dauburn became a blazing hell. Then, the gods left. The truth was only known

to the upper echelons of each nation, and obviously, they'd never reveal the

truth of what they allowed to happen. Shuraf, the Dauburnian priest who was

entrusted with the secret, didn't like having to keep it to himself. It's no

surprise, really, given that the lies led to years and years of conflict between the

two nations. This book is likely the result of him no longer wanting to keep it on

his conscience."

It definitely wasn't surprising that the priest was so disturbed by the secret,

since it resulted in so much bloodshed and needless conflict. Personally, I was

weirded out by these gods (who were likely just spirits) who asked for human

sacrifices. I doubted that I'd get any information from asking the current Flame

and Ice Spirits, but I figured it'd be worth following up on at some point.

"Either way, I doubt the countries care about the origins of their animosity

anymore. Shuraf's Encounters was found in an old spirit church in the Allent

Theocracy. It was written in Holy Spirit Script, likely to obscure the contents,

and it almost worked, too. Nobody in the current era can really read it. I doubt

the current royal families of either country know about the truth, either."

That made sense enough to me, since it was never meant to be published or

anything. It was basically the priest guy's diary, something he never wanted

people to actually read. If he had written it in an easier language, he might've

been able to stop the conflict... But I had a feeling that revealing the truth

would have definitely made him an enemy of both states.

"So how come we only just found the book?"

"We didn't. I've had this book for quite some time. The only issue was

deciphering the contents. But, a short time ago, I had the perfect opportunity to

read it."

"Huh? What do you—? Oh. Now I get it."

Silhouette's grin made me realize how she'd been able to read the book. It

was the Mochizuki Touya app. She likely used it to access the [Reading] Null

spell. The app included a little readme file with a list of available Null spells,

after all. The app was no longer in service, but apparently, she'd managed to fit

in some light reading while it was still active. That made me wonder what

others around the world might have done before their app usage ran out...

About two days elapsed between the defeat of the Phrase invasion and the

end of the app's service... Who knows what they could've achieved in that

time...

"S-So... you need Touya-dono's help, you do?"

"Well, Touya. You're known for your mediation abilities between nations at

this point. I want you to resolve the conflict between Zadonia and Dauburn. A

lot of my workers actually come from those countries. The children of that

country struggle to survive, and those that grow up to be adults are deployed

for pointless warfare. Given that the cause of such suffering for many of my

girls is something so ridiculous, I'd rather have it all cleared up."

"She's right, Touya... If the royal families of the two countries don't even

know why they're fighting anymore, then this is just senseless violence..."

Hilde frowned as she spoke. As a royal herself, she clearly had strong opinions

on this. I couldn't blame her, a king shouldn't make his people suffer, much less

for generations.

Personally, I didn't really think it was my place as a grand duke to interfere in

national disputes. Plus, as this world's custodian, I only really had to interfere

when something could threaten the structural integrity of the planet. That

being said, this world was soon to become a vacation spot for the divine. An

argument could be made that having this world remain as peaceful as possible

would make it a better destination.

God Almighty told me to work my hardest with this planet so that I could look

back on it at the end and pridefully say that it was the best world it could be.

Even if I didn't have any obligation to deal with this conflict, it would likely be

for the best if I did.

"Alright, then. I'll give it a shot. At the very least, I should be able to undo the

harsh environmental magic in each country."

"Hurray, Touya-dono!"

"Ah, thank goodness... The people will be saved, after all!"

Yae and Hilde smiled widely, heaving sighs of relief. Personally, I felt they

were celebrating a little prematurely. It wasn't like I'd done anything yet.

The main issue would be convincing the royal families that Shuraf's

Encounters was a legitimate testament... They'd likely see it as me coming in as

an outsider and wanting them to admit their own family's mistakes. I didn't

think it was a mistake to reject a demand for human sacrifice, though. In fact,

rejecting a god (or at least something posing as one) took a hell of a lot of

bravery.

However, it was their fear of retribution that caused them to shirk the blame

off to the other nation, and their own cowardly attitudes are what ultimately

caused their countries to become cursed. Then they continued peddling a false

narrative until the truth was lost to time. In my opinion, that was the biggest

mistake of all. As a result, the two countries had been constantly butting heads

for the last several hundred years...

Either way, the best course of action now was to speak with the Flame and Ice

Spirits. In the worst case, I could get them to come down to earth and pose as

the fake gods that the countries had worshiped in the past.

"Thank you so much for your help in this matter. That being said, I'm not

entirely sure how it'll work out... Their hatred really runs deep. Whenever they

meet to sign ceasefires or treaties, they get so heated that they never actually

get around to the signing. It's just a lot of screaming and shouting."

Hearing that didn't exactly make me hopeful. I wondered if maybe I should

just abduct the two kings and let them duke it out until they were satisfied. I

often found that older people were too set in their ways, so perhaps talking to

their children would be the best way to patch up this matter.

Still, the time for pondering had passed. I had to live up to my reputation and

end the conflict. My first stop on this new journey would be the spirit realm. We

waved our goodbyes to Silhouette and left the Moon Parlor.

◇ ◇ ◇

"Huh? I asked for a human sacrifice? That doesn't sound like me..."

"Doesn't sound like me either... But it wasn't really us, anyway, it was a

previous incarnation from hundreds of years ago..." The Flame Spirit sighed

softly as she spoke, as did the Ice Spirit by her side.

I'd entered the spirit realm to try and get more answers, but the two of them

were pretty vague. Reasonable, given they had no memories of the era I was

trying to learn more about.

"Would you girls maybe know anyone who knew you back then?"

"Um... You'll probably wanna hit up Fire Sis for that. I think she used to know

my old self."

"Same here, but with Her Wateriness. I think she was quite close with my

older incarnation."

The Fire and Water Spirits, eh? Guess that makes sense, the pillar spirits take

longer to reincarnate, after all.

I warped to another area of the spirit realm. The spirit realm had previously

been a formless milky-colored void with glimmering lights in the distance, but

now there were hunks of land floating around. They were like teeny tiny

planets, really.

I asked the Earth Spirit to make them, since occupying a completely empty

space always felt weird for me. Pillar spirits sure were incredible, though; she

managed to form these tiny planets in no time at all. After they were created,

spirits started to settle on them and claim little areas for their own. As I touched

down on one of the larger mini-planets, the Earth Spirit rose from the ground to

greet me.

"It has been some time, milord. Come with me."

The Earth Spirit had the same kind of dazzling green hair as the forest spirit

from the sea of trees, it shimmered as she smiled and turned to lead me into a

wooded area. There was an open clearing inside the woodland, with a charming

little pavilion built inside. The Fire Spirit and the Water Spirit were sitting by a

table, teacups in hand. They certainly got along well for being opposing

elements. But, if I recalled correctly, the Light Spirit and the Dark Spirit were

also sisters. Perhaps this was just a case of opposites attracting, or maybe them

being two halves of the same coin.

Either way, I needed to focus on my primary objective here. I explained the

general gist of Zadonia and Dauburn's conflict and the fact that it was likely to

do with the previous incarnations of the Flame Spirit and the Ice Spirit.

"Huh?! A living sacrifice? No way my little flamey would do something like

that! The last flame incarnation was about the same as the current one,

honestly. Though she could get a little... HOT-TEMPERED. Ahahaha!"

"...Quite. The same should be said of the Ice Spirit. I'm sure she wouldn't have

done something so heinous. It doesn't seem right."

"What, seriously...? Then maybe there's a misunderstanding somewhere..."

The answers the Spirit of Fire and the Spirit of Water had given me were even

more confusing. If the spirits hadn't demanded human sacrifices, then I couldn't

begin to think how this had all started... Before I could start pondering again,

the Fire Spirit spoke up once more.

"Oh, come to think of it... around five hundred years back, I remember the

Flame Spirit being really mad... She was raging because she'd found someone

suited to become a spirit medium, but something went wrong... I think?"

"A spirit medium?"

"Basically a mortal with a strong spiritual side. They can bond with a spirit and

even manifest the spirit within them; they're quite exceptional and rare people.

I'd say they're about a tier above regular spirit contractors in terms of

potential."

The Earth Spirit answered my query.

Manifesting...? Like possession or something? That's pretty interesting, I

imagine that'd let them make full use of a spirit's power, too.

"So wait... When the spirits demanded a sacrifice, you don't think they

meant..."

"Yeah. She probably wanted the king's kid to be a medium for her. Spirit

tongue isn't well understood by people who aren't capable of contracting with

us, so it's possible they misunderstood what she was asking..."

The Fire Spirit patted her hands together as everything clicked into place.

Ugh... So I guess she meant to say something like, "Please give me your child

so I can use them as a spirit medium," and they probably only heard the "give

me your child" part...

"Ah, I see now. And when each of the spirits asked why the kings refused to

hand over their children, they were lied to... We spirits can read human

emotion, so we can tell when we're being deceived. It wouldn't be unusual for

those two spirits to become upset after being so brazenly lied to after a simple

request..."

The Water Spirit nodded slowly as she spoke. It all made sense now. The

spirits had simply offered to grant power to the children of the two kings, and

they were instead met with strange, nonsensical lies. Their anger wasn't exactly

unreasonable in that case. They probably saw a lot of lost potential in the two

princes.

Plus, since they could read human emotions, they probably knew that the

kings had the intention of using the spirit's power to punish the other country.

That probably didn't help their moods one bit.

"Damn... If there hadn't been a misunderstanding, the kings probably

would've agreed."

I was sure they would've jumped at the chance to make their children

powerful spiritual mediums. If it was a more magically advanced society instead

of the Reverse World, they might have had people around who could better

decipher what the spirits were saying... This was all basically the equivalent of

butt-dialing someone and hearing muffled parts out of context.

Still, now I knew enough to get a feel for the actual truth of the situation.

Whether or not the two countries would believe it was another matter entirely.

And even if they did believe it, they'd have to swallow their national pride in

order to accept it.

The situation was difficult, but I resolved to go and meet the two kings.

◇ ◇ ◇

I'd never actually interacted with Dauburn or Zadonia before, so I decided to

find a third party to bridge the gap between me and them. I settled on the

Allent Theocracy, since it bordered both nations. Plus, Allent was a nation that

revered spirits as divine, and has had a long history of worshiping them. The

country had never had any direct contact with pillar spirits, though.

"Ah, yes, we have a history of accepting refugees from both Zadonia and

Dauburn. The lessons they brought with them have taught us to be very careful

when dealing with the sanctity of the great spirits. B-But... Touya, are you truly

capable of summoning the great pillars?"

"Yep, sure can. Want me to do it now?"

"N-No! Th-That's okay! That's quite okay!"

Allent's holy king went pale in the face as I spoke. I wasn't surprised that he'd

gotten so surprised. Pillar spirits were a far realm above regular ones, after all.

We were riding in a Gollem carriage straight toward Dauburn's blazing capital

city, Burn. I looked out the window and saw nothing but desert for miles and

miles. It was just an endless stretch of sand. There was the occasional oasis,

likely the result of the spirit's residual power being weaker in that area.

The Gollem carriage we were in wasn't wheeled, either. It was a specialized

multi-legged carriage, like the one used by Mr. Sancho when I first met him. It

was an all-terrain vehicle that made traveling across sand a total breeze. The

tips of its legs had been fitted with flat parts to prevent sinking, but the jostling

for everyone inside honestly got pretty bad at times.

I'd stopped by briefly in Dauburn and Zadonia before via my [Fly] spell, so I

could have easily just warped us there... But I didn't think suddenly appearing in

the nations would be good from a diplomatic introduction perspective.

I didn't really think the journey would be this bad though... I think I'm gonna

barf...

"[Refresh]... Hrk..."

"Are you alright, my lord?"

"Yeah, I'll be okay... Just gotta keep applying [Refresh] to myself..."

Kohaku, in her tiger cub form, looked merry as ever as she sat by my side.

Apparently summoned beasts didn't get motion sickness.

"I must admit, Grand Duke Touya... I'm not entirely sure if we'll be welcomed

warmly. We have a relationship with Dauburn and Zadonia, but I wouldn't say

we're friendly."

Two other Gollem carriages were traveling with us. One was in front and one

behind. It was only natural to bring escorts with us, since we were two world

leaders heading toward a country that could be described as neutral at best.

Other than Kohaku, I'd brought along Nikola from our knight order, as well as

five knights. They were all in the carriage behind us, though I feared they'd be

getting motion sickness, too.

"I don't mind if they're not friendly, I just need to talk to their king. Everything

that happens from there depends on them, really. I promise I won't cause Allent

any issues with this, though."

"I'm sure it'll be fine... You're the hero who vanquished that wicked god, after

all. I can't say that King Dauburn will be the most accommodating of men, but I

suppose in the worst-case scenario you'd just crush the country or

something..."

Dude, c'mon... Don't just assume I'd handle it so easily! It's not like I'd just

take them out with a couple petty insults or anything.

Still, there were definitely some world leaders who needed a good foot up

their asses, like that piggish king from Sandora. I hoped that Dauburn's leader

wasn't anything like that jackass.

We finally arrived at Burn, the blazing city, before passing through a fanciful

arch and heading toward the castle. The city looked quite like Mismede's

capital. The buildings were all constructed in a similar mudbrick style. But if I

were to compare the two places, I'd say that the people here looked a lot more

lethargic. Everyone had bags under their eyes, a symbol of the psychological toll

the generations-long conflict against Zadonia must have been taking on them.

Rag-clad children sat in the shadows of buildings, looking forlornly at their

own feet. If you asked me, the lack of smiling children was a damning

indictment of this nation's failings.

Dauburn's royal castle was built by the bank of a large oasis. It looked very old

and was constructed from layered bricks, with no fancy spires or anything like

that. It wasn't especially gaudy or even pretty, but the sturdy construction gave

off a powerful vibe.

Once we made it through the castle gate, we kept on going a little while

before stopping in front of a fountain. I let the holy king get out first, then

hopped out of the carriage with Kohaku. It was crazy hot! The Gollem carriage

had air conditioning, so it was almost like stepping out of heaven straight into

hell. It wasn't a humid heat like Japan's, either. It was a dry heat.

I decided to secretly use a water spell called [Cooling] on myself; that

definitely helped. A burly man in red leather armor came to greet us. Next to

him stood an elderly man in a red robe. Dauburnian soldiers wielding red spears

stood by their red Gollems, all lined up either side of us as we walked up the

mudbrick steps. It felt like they were putting on a display, like peacocks. I

wondered if the gaudy red show was meant to intimidate us or something.

"A fine welcome to Dauburn, Holy King Allent. And... you must be Brunhild's

grand duke, yes?"

"That's right. My name's Mochizuki Touya. It's a pleasure to meet with you,

and thank you for allowing us passage."

The beefy armored guy, who was probably some kind of general or military

leader, raised a surprised brow as I spoke.

"Is something wrong?"

"No, I uh... You just speak pretty humbly for a king... Uh, sorry for the

rudeness."

"I started off as an adventurer, so I don't really feel the need to hold myself

above other people. Maybe I should apologize for not acting royally enough,

ahaha."

The military man almost went wide-eyed at my response, but he shot back a

grin toward me. Apparently, he liked my style.

He looked like he was almost forty or so. He had short black hair and light

brown eyes, and a scar ran along his jawline. He definitely seemed to be some

kind of military veteran, he didn't strike me as someone who was highborn.

He'd probably worked his way up the ranks from a common background.

"Well, let me properly welcome you to Dauburn. I'm Glenn, general of

Dauburn's principal army."

"Nice to meet you, General Glenn."

He didn't list his surname, which meant he definitely wasn't a noble. After a

moment of pause, the old man by Glenn's side bowed his head to me.

"And I am Dauburn's prime minister, Rosso Phoenix. A pleasure to meet you."

The old man, Rosso, seemed like he was about to lose his glasses when he

bowed his head. He deftly pushed them back up his nose. He was clearly of

noble birth, which made sense for a prime minister. I couldn't read much from

the old guy's expressions. There was no smile on his face or warmth in his

actions. He just seemed to be acting out of duty.

"Now, if you'll follow me. His Royal Highness is waiting." The holy king and I

followed after Rosso and Glenn, while Kohaku trailed behind me a little. Behind

her were Nikola and my knights, along with the holy knights of Allent and their

silver Gollems.

The castle's interior was much like the exterior, built solidly and non-flashy. It

was quite charming, in all honesty... But I couldn't help but feel like the place

was a little bit run-down and weathered. It kind of made you think maybe the

place should be closed for renovations, or at the very least reminded you of its

age.

The country definitely felt like one struggling with poverty, which made sense.

Between the constant skirmishes, the scorching heat, and the poor

international relations, it was obvious they wouldn't be blossoming. No matter

how things turned out between me and the king, I was going to get the flame

spirit to do something about the environmental disasters here.

We made it to a doorway deep within the castle halls, where two red Gollems

stood. They opened the door, and Glenn stopped to lean on a nearby wall.

Apparently, this was as far as he could go.

The large room had a long table in the middle, which was adorned with

candlesticks and flowers. I noticed some noble-garbed men standing by a great

throne, along with some rougher men who wore armor similar to Glenn's. They

were likely the top brass of the nation.

At the far end of the room, atop the throne, was a man. He looked to be in his

late forties, and he had facial hair that covered both his upper lip and his

jawline. His head was adorned with a piece of cloth bound by a band. If I

remembered correctly, it was an Arabic headdress known as a keffiyeh. His

clothes were clearly of fine making, a flowing robe embroidered with red and

gold stitching, along with a stomach-warming strap tied around his rotund belly.

A gold-plated dagger sat about his waist.

The man was none other than the king of Dauburn, Jaharade Bier Dauburn.

Seated right by his side was a younger man dressed in similar attire. If I had to

guess, I'd say he was around twenty years of age. He had a keffiyeh on his head,

and his skin was dark, though not as dark as his eyes. Much like the king, he

wore a golden dagger about his waist. He was likely the prince.

"A warm welcome to Dauburn, Holy King of Allent and Grand Duke of

Brunhild. What little we have to offer in terms of hospitality is all yours."

King Dauburn gestured for us to sit down. He had a smile on his face, but I

could tell he was trying to ascertain our intentions. I could understand his

suspicions; I was fairly young to be ruling a country, after all.

The holy king and I sat at the other end of the long table, which left quite an

amount of space between us and our host...

"Now then, what can we do for you? I assume you've come with a purpose?"

The king of Dauburn immediately cut to the chase. He clearly wanted to know

what my intentions were with him, and it was fairly obvious he was only

entertaining me because I'd come with Allent's backing.

Either way, I didn't forget my purpose. I began explaining Shuraf's account,

and the truth I'd uncovered about the conflict between Dauburn and Zadonia.

As I continued speaking, I could see the government officials growing angrier

and angrier with me. Eventually, one of the men, a military leader with a thick

mustache, crashed his fist into the table and looked at me with raging eyes.

"How dare you! Did you come here to mock us?! Our land is cursed because

those monsters in Zadonia stole our offering to our god! How dare you come

here and act as an apologist for them! Did they send you with this seditious

material?!"

"No, listen. It's a misunderstanding, that's what I'm saying. The king from

back then simply misunderstood the god's wishes and thought it wanted a live

sacrifice, it's just—"

"Enough with this sacrilege! How dare you insult our leader's ancestry! You

think some backwater duke can charge in here and attempt to shame us into

submission?! Did you think we'd let you go unscathed for such an affront?!"

The furious man reached for his sheathed scimitar, prompting Nikola and my

knights to reach for their own.

I quickly raised a hand, telling my soldiers to stand down. I looked back at the

angered military man. He was glaring at me pretty intensely, but I was actually

kinda mad, too. I didn't appreciate him calling me backwater, or acting like I was

an unfit leader.

"Let me start over from the top. There was no god, it was a powerful spirit.

The ruler of this country back then misinterpreted its demands, shifted the

blame to the other country, and misled the people. I'm not holding any of you

accountable for that, it's hardly your fault. Zadonia did the exact same thing. I

wanted to bring the truth to you, in the hopes that the two countries would

learn to get along better."

"Pah! You suggest we join hands with Zadonian vermin?!"

"Don't make us laugh, you child! Why would we ever want to bridge

connections with those lowlives?!"

"Like we'd ever forgive those thieves."

The roaring members of government gradually gave way to the king, who rose

from his seat.

"Grand Duke... I must admit you surprised and interested me with your topic

today. However, you've crossed a line. There is a saying in our country that says

the new recruit who talks too much will not have a long career. Those who stick

their necks out to butt in may find that neck slit. Understand?"

I definitely understood. There were a few phrases like that back home. In

general, there was safety in silence.

"Zadonia is our oldest foe. We cannot make peace with them. Only when

Zadonia, the country of thieves who stole from us, is vanquished, can we know

peace."

"And when will that be? Ten years? A hundred? Has your history of war

brought either nation anything but tragedy? If you keep this up, both of your

countries will be ruined."

"Enough of your insolence, boy!"

The mustached man stepped in front of the king, roaring out in fury as he

drew his blade and charged toward me.

"General Jhaghil, stop this at once!"

The general ignored the words of his young prince, and recklessly swung his

blade at me.

"Kohaku."

"As you command."

Kohaku, who had been curled up by my feet, instantly transformed into her

true form and let out an immensely intimidating war cry.

"Gh-Gheeh?!"

The charging general was blasted backward by Kohaku's shockwave. Kohaku's

true form sparked fear in the government officials, who stood up from their

chairs in a panic. Glenn, who'd been standing by outside, charged into the room

after hearing the sudden commotion.

"Your general drew his weapon first. All I did was retaliate, and non-lethally. I

will not apologize for what just happened."

"This only happened because of your provocation, boy!"

"Father, stop this at once!"

The prince's words caused the king to briefly come to his senses, and he took

out his frustration by bashing a fist against the table. I couldn't believe how bad

their manners were. Were they trying to start an intercontinental war? The

prince clearly had a better grasp of the situation than his father and the others.

"I didn't come in to provoke you. I only spoke the truth I uncovered. Even if

this story about the misunderstanding is false, do you legitimately believe that

constantly keeping your country at war with Zadonia is the right thing to do? Do

you understand that your people are struggling just to survive? Don't you

realize that if Allent wanted to invade your territory and take it, they could

likely do it with no resistance at all?"

"H-Hey now, don't pull me into it, Grand Duke..."

The holy king smiled softly and shook his head. It definitely wouldn't be hard

for Allent to conquer Dauburn, though. All they'd have to do is tell Zadonia to

make a joint attack and that'd basically be manageable with little major effort.

The opposite would be true for Zadonia's case as well. That was why it was

painfully obvious that they kept a neutral relationship with Allent in order to

placate the holy king. The country reeked of desperation.

"Ghhh..."

The reality of the situation was reflected on King Dauburn's face. He clearly

wasn't blind to the things I'd said. Silhouette had told me that he was a shorttempered and short-sighted man who didn't think of future consequences.

Given that his meetings with Zadonia always turned into yelling contests, it was

likely that the king of Zadonia was the same type of man.

If I was the king, I'd punish the general who tried to slash me, and formally

apologize about the incident. But I had a feeling he'd do something more

stupid, like point over at me and yell...

"Arrest these interlopers!"

Which was exactly what he did. I wondered if he intended to arrest the holy

king as well.

"[Prison]."

"Gwuh?!"

"Buh?!"

The Dauburnian soldiers smashed into the wall of the magic barrier around

me and fell to the ground. The knights from Allent were surprised to find

themselves encased in the barrier, but Nikola and my knights were perfectly

calm about it. It was kind of funny how they'd just gotten used to this kind of

thing.

"At any rate, we're off to Zadonia now. I'd appreciate it if you took what I just

brought up into consideration."

"Hm?! You're going to invade our nation alongside Zadonia and Allent,

then?!"

"Dude, do you have mud bricks where your brain should be? We're just going

to tell them the same story we told you. Try focusing on your own country's

welfare before worrying about the activities of others."

"Grr... You little brat...!"

King Dauburn gnashed his teeth together in fury as his fists clenched hard. He

was quite the character. The holy king let out a small sigh as he watched King

Dauburn's hissy fit.

"King Dauburn, please take it from me. You'd do well to listen to his words.

We do not intend to bring harm to your nation, but things hinge on you right

now. Will you be known as a wise or foolish leader in the history books? Now is

the time for that to be decided."

With that, we stood up from our seats and left the room. The [Prison] around

us only blocked hostile people or Gollems, so we walked out of it without a

hitch.

After we left the room, General Glenn followed after us to bow his head. It

seemed like the country still had some good men in it, at least. To me, that

made stopping this war even more important.

Just as I was about to get back into the Gollem carriage, I turned toward the

voice of hurried footsteps behind me.

"P-Please wait a moment!"

For a brief second, I thought we were being pursued by soldiers, but it was

just the young prince. General Glenn was by his side.

"Yes?"

"Please, I must ask you forgive my father for his attitude. I have a request to

make of you. If you are headed to Zadonia, please take me!"

"Huh?" I raised my brow before glancing at the holy king. His brow was raised

as well. I had assumed everyone in the top brass of Dauburn would view

Zadonia as an enemy, so him asking to go there was peculiar.

"Prince Hakim, we are headed to Zadonia to discuss the same issue we just

brought up with your father. Are you certain you wish to come with us, even

knowing that the king of Zadonia may have the same reaction as your father?"

"I am certain, Holy King. I want to put a stop to this war. In order to do that, I

must understand the other side. There must be people in Zadonia who feel the

way I do. It is my hope I can come with you to meet them."

That was definitely interesting. The prince was clearly more forward-thinking

than his father. I glanced over at Glenn, who gave me a small nod. The two of

them certainly seemed serious, at the very least.

"Say uh... Holy King, won't Dauburn claim we kidnapped their prince or

something?"

"Why worry about that now, Grand Duke? The Dauburnians effectively

declared war on us just now, anyway."

The holy king raised a fair point. I didn't exactly care about forging peaceful

relations with Zadonia at that point, anyway. They needed time to cool their

heads before I'd talk peace with them.

"Alright, then. General Glenn, do you want to come as his guard? I won't let

him get hurt, but I thought I'd offer anyway."

"Aye, if that's permissible."

Then it was settled. I was a little worried we'd have a formation of soldiers

coming after us, so I snapped my fingers and opened up a [Gate] beneath our

feet, moving us along with the Gollem carriages to another location.

After a moment of falling, we found ourselves in an environment much like

the sprawling desert we'd been in not too long ago. Except it was all snow

instead of sand.

Damn, that's surprisingly bright... Man, my eyes are— Aaagh! It's so cold!

I quickly cast the [Warming] spell on everyone, because our asses were about

to freeze off.

It was quite the sudden shock to have scorching heat turn to blistering cold in

the span of a second, but we were now in Zadonian territory. We'd contacted

Zadonia in advance, so now all we had to do was hop into the Gollem carriages

and make our way to the capital city, Zado.