The Beginning Of The Festival

"The overlord is coming...?"

"Yes... Him and his stupid face..." Sakura pouted, as was usual whenever her

father came up.

He'd cry if he saw you like that, you know?

Their father-daughter relationship was as one-sided as ever.

"I should warn my mother... Tell her to hide..."

"No, no... Come on now... Let's not treat him that way. You need to at least

meet him."

"Hmph..." Sakura quietly sipped her tea. The overlord was a little...

overbearing, that was true... but I didn't want to cause any trouble with him. He

was just the typical doting dad, really.

"As for me, I'm fine with my brother coming, but... my grandfather may cause

trouble..." Hilde let out a little sigh.

Oh... The old man's coming too? He was the only person in the world other

than me who'd reached gold rank as an adventurer.

He'd probably go tame if I showed him some swimsuit photos or something...

He'd be a lot easier to deal with than Sakura's dad.

"My elder brother will be coming to escort Ieyahsu-sama, he will. It has been

a while since I have seen him, it has. I look forward to it!" Yae smiled to herself,

seemingly content. Her brother wasn't just here as a guard, since he also

planned to participate in the tournament. There were also several Eashen

fighters coming to test their mettle.

"Man, this festival sure got out of hand quick..."

"I think it'll be fun, don't you? Oh yeah, Auntie Lana and our cousin Emma are

coming over, too."

"Not your uncle?" I remembered that Elze's uncle was pretty nervous when it

came to being around members of higher social class.

"He won't be coming. I'm pretty sure he'd faint where he stood and never get

back up if we brought him somewhere as fancy as a castle."

I agreed with what Linze said. It was a shame but it was how it was. Hell, he'd

probably get unlucky enough to bump into the emperor of Refreese, his own

ruler. He'd probably have a heart attack.

Things were going to be super busy on the opening day, that was for sure...

Especially for me. I dreaded to think of the number of times I'd have to cast

[Gate]. Still, it probably wouldn't take too long... I just needed to arrange to

meet each world leader in a designated spot.

Members of the alliance participating were:

Belfast

Regulus

Refreese

Mismede

Ramissh

Roadmare

Lestia

Lihnea

Including Brunhild, that amounted to nine nations in total.

Then there were the countries that weren't part of the alliance, but we were

still well-acquainted with. These nations included:

Eashen

Xenoahs

Palouf

Felsen

Elfrau

Ryle

Hannock

Seven in total.

Lastly, there were the nations we didn't really have anything to do with:

Egret

Horn

Nokia

Three in total.

The world as we knew it was composed of these nineteen nations.

Technically, there was also Palerius island, as well as the tribes from the Sea

of Trees, but they weren't areas that were formally recognized as nations.

There were also still people living in the fractured remnants of Yulong and

Sandora, but those places weren't really countries anymore either.

Ultimately, representatives from every nation in the world would be

gathering in Brunhild... To be honest, I was kind of worried. I'd definitely

overdone it here. Still, there was no going back.

I just hoped everyone could have some fun.

Guess I'll give it my all, then! This is pretty hype!

◇ ◇ ◇

The day had finally come.

I'd been going from country to country in order to pick up the relevant VIPs.

The nobles and royals had gathered in my castle, and for the most part, they

seemed to be getting along. Some of them had never met in person before, so it

was a bit of a casual chance for them to get to know one another.

They were made to disguise themselves, so at a glance, they'd look like

nothing more than regular people. That being said, they still stuck out a little bit

in the way they carried themselves. It was only natural due to how they'd been

brought up, and I didn't think it'd be a huge deal. Still, they definitely had

something in them that just made them look regal.

"Grand Duke... How does this badge work, exactly?"

The young king of Palouf spoke up as he pinned a little star-shaped badge to

his chest. He was dressed in plain clothing, which made him look like a regular

little kid you might see walking around any regular old town in the world. He

really did look completely unremarkable...

"You just need to channel a little bit of your magic into the star. The

spellstone inside will turn from red to yellow, alright? Then, your appearance

should change to the disguised form. Like this, see?"

"But, Your Highness... Ernest doesn't look any different to me at all."

The young king's sister, Lucienne, tilted her head slightly. His badge had

indeed turned yellow, while hers was still red.

"That's because you're wearing a badge, too. People wearing badges won't

see the illusions, so they can know who they're talking to. If you remove your

badge and look at the king of Palouf, you'll see what I mean."

The princess followed my instructions and removed her badge, her eyes

widening in shock as she looked over at her brother. He likely looked like a

complete stranger. I was also wearing a badge, so the disguises didn't work on

me either.

"The star also has a protective function, so listen carefully. If you pour extra

magic into it, it should turn green. While the badge is green, it will be able to

sense if you're in danger. Should you come to any harm, no matter the cause,

the badge will warp you back to your guest room in this castle. Please make

sure the star remains green throughout the festival, and don't take it off,

either."

We'd given badges to the guards charged with protecting their heads of state,

as well. But those guys had been instructed to keep their badges yellow, since

they'd end up being warped away from any danger if it was set to green.

There'd be no point in them being there if they couldn't protect their monarchs.

Those participating in the tournament, like the Beastking, were asked to keep

it set to green outside of matches. There weren't any matches on the first day,

so that much was fine. Jutaro and Lyon weren't exactly high standing citizens,

so they didn't need the disguises, but they still received badges so they could

tell who everyone else was.

"Ah, right, please take this little guy too..." I called a small white puppy out of

a summoning circle. I didn't want to give out smartphones to people who

weren't in the alliance, so everyone in that category got a familiar to follow

them around instead.

"If anything happens, just talk to this guy. He'll be able to contact me. He's

also a lot stronger than he looks."

"Thanks! Oh, he's so cute!"

The king of Palouf squatted down and gently pet the puppy's head. The puppy

responded by happily wagging its tail. It wasn't actually a dog, it was a wolf pup.

More specifically, it was an infant Snorra Wolf from the frozen wastes of Elfrau.

Rachael, Duke Rembrandt's daughter, was standing across the room from us.

She was carefully looking at the Snorra puppy with curious eyes. It looked to me

like she wanted to play with the puppy like the young king was, but she didn't

want to approach because I was there. Damn... I really did go overboard with

her... Guess I can't blame her.

I said goodbye to the Palouf party and made my way across the room. Rachael

immediately walked over to the king and his sister, and they started playing

with the puppy. It went just as I'd expected...

I'd finally finished explaining everything to the royalty in the room, at the very

least. Some people had returned to their guest chambers, but for the most part,

everyone seemed to be getting along. They were probably taking advantage of

the fact that they could freely talk to foreign nationals in a relaxed

environment.

I left the rest of the royal greetings to Yumina and Lu before opening a portal

to the Silver Moon Inn in the castle town.

I entered the dining room and found Elze and Linze eating their breakfast

amongst many others. They were seated next to their Aunt Lana and her

children. There were seven in total, including Emma. Emma was the eldest

daughter, and she was around my age. The entire family was eating breakfast

together, except the eldest son, who was independent enough to go off on his

own.

"Ah, Touya. Is everything sorted?"

"For the most part, yeah. How're things here?"

"Things are fine, yeah. Nobody here needs any disguises, so it's been pretty

chill."

I nodded to Elze and then greeted both Lana and Emma. There were a few

people from Reflet eating their meals too, like Barral from the weapon store,

and Simon from the general store. I waved to them and they returned the

gesture with smiles.

All our invited guests were going to have their food and board covered by the

national treasury. Most of the people staying in the Silver Moon were people

we'd asked to come.

"Hmm... Where's Dolan? I don't see him anywhere."

"Ah, Dolan is helping Micah in the kitchen. The inn is totally booked, so there

were some staff shortage issues..." Linze explained the situation to me.

Geez, I guess things really are getting busy around here... I wonder how it's

going in the other inns.

"When does the festival start, again?"

"Around eight. So, about an hour from now. We'll do a formal opening

ceremony, greet all the guests, and then put on some mock battles in the

northern training field. We're gonna try to make it flashy and all that."

"The northern field... Are you gonna use Frame Gears?"

The northern training field was different from the standard field our knights

typically used. It was a more spacious area far away from the castle, and we

used the area to run Frame Gear field tests. For the most part, only authorized

people were allowed to access the field due to how dangerous it could be. We'd

installed a powerful barrier on the northern field to prevent any damage from

spells or bullets from escaping a certain area. Our testing often had a... large

area of effect, so the barrier was necessary to ensure that no bystanders ended

up hurting themselves. Frame Gears were kind of too massive to keep secret, so

they could be seen training in the field from a distance.

During training hours, a lot of the townspeople had started coming to watch

the Frame Gears clash. It had become a bit of a regular thing for them, and they

seemed to like it a lot. That was why I thought a Frame Gear demonstration

would be entertaining enough for our international visitors.

"After that, we'll do the first baseball rounds. Both stadiums are hosting two

games, one in the morning and the other in the afternoon. That means today

we'll get four matches in. Those games should decide who'll advance to

tomorrow's games."

"Have we decided who's playing against who yet?"

"Nope. We'll be doing a lottery draw to decide that in a bit." There were only

eight teams, so it wouldn't take long. The lottery was actually one of the events

I'd chosen to pad out the fun a bit.

Brunhild's team was led by Logan from the knight order, but I didn't really

have much to say about the team in general. It wasn't especially strong, nor was

it particularly weak. Really, it all depended on who we ended up getting as an

enemy... since all the other teams seemed to have more specific strengths and

weaknesses. Either way, it would probably be fine so long as everyone enjoyed

themselves.

I handed out a few discount coupons to Lana and her kids. They could be

exchanged at the festival stalls for 50% off select purchases. Then, I waved

goodbye before warping off to the schoolhouse.

"Whoa! What the heck?!" I stared in disbelief at the crowd of cats gathered in

the schoolyard. There were tri-color cats, spotted cats, black cats, white cats,

tiger-striped cats... Cats as far as the eye could see. And they were all staring at

Mr. Mittens... He stood atop a mandarin box, holding his sword skyward.

"My dear furry friends! Today is a day for meow and you! The very peace of

the town rests in our paws! Begin the paw patrol, my feline eyes and ears!"

"Meow! Meow!"

"If you see something suspicious, then keep tabby-tabs on them, got it?! If

anything happens, run to the nearest guard and bring them to the incident!

Then, get meowwta there!"

"Meow! Meow! Meow!"

"The cats that fight for the sake of mankind! Mankind that gives its lifeblood

to the cats! The heavens cry! The earth cries! The cats cry! They shall bear

witness to our kitty-cat chivalry! Glory awaits those that work hard today! One

dried tuna for all, I say! One for all!"

"Meooow!"

The cats all scattered in various directions, dispersing into the town. His

leadership was certainly... incredible. It was almost too good to be wasted on

cats, honestly. Then again, the dried tuna probably had something to do with

that.

"Ah, meow liege. Here to purruse the area?"

"Well, I guess. But it looks like you've got everything taken care of here."

"But of course! I am the purrfect guardian for both this town and milady's

mother! For I am Mr. Mitt— Uh... D'artagnan!" Wow... He actually got his own

name wrong. That's kinda funny... Oh right, I gotta warn him.

"The overlord of Xenoahs might want to visit Fiana while he's here..."

"I already got the litter scoop from the princess! Should he behave insolently

in front of Lady Fiana, I have permission to slay him where he stands!"

"Isn't that a little much?!"

That'd cause an international incident, Sakura... Forgive the old guy already.

I'm seriously starting to feel sorry for this guy. He just wants his daughter's

love... Sheesh.

I kindly asked Mr. Mittens not to murder the overlord, lest political

destabilization emerge as a result.

I sighed quietly and checked my smartphone. Doctor Babylon had sent me a

mail, so I decided to return to the castle. Things seemed to be progressing

smoothly enough.

Once I made it back to the castle, I found Kohaku, Kougyoku, Sango, Kokuyou,

and Luli waiting to greet me.

"My liege, we're sending out our own subordinate animals to keep an eye on

the streets as well."

"Gotcha. Lemme know if anything weird happens."

Kohaku sent out dogs and mice, Kougyoku dispatched several tiny birds, while

Sango and Kokuyou dispersed many tiny snakes into the urban sprawl. They'd

be extra security for us. Obviously, we couldn't make much use of Luli's

subordinates, since she governed dragons. Luli herself would take to the skies,

allowing a bird's-eye view of any incidents in town.

I passed through the castle gate and noticed a group of people from Ramissh

heading down the road into town. Her Holiness the Pope was among them. I

guess some of the foreign envoys are already checking the castle town out...

The pope noticed me and began to approach, there was a priest walking with

her. Oh! I know you... It's Phyllis!

After everything that went down in Ramissh, Phyllis became a cardinal. She

was also the only person aside from me and the Pope herself who had met God

Almighty.

The two of them had their star-shaped badges on. I was pleased to see that

both badges were green.

"G-Grand Duke... Do you know when He will be arriving...?"

He...? Ah, that can only mean one person... God Almighty! I'd informed her a

little while ago that he was going to descend for the festival, and she ended up

getting a little panicked about it. Thankfully, she'd calmed down a bit since

then... But not completely, it seemed. There was nothing I could do about that.

"I don't think he'll be coming down today. He contacted me recently, so I

think he'll be here from tomorrow on. Don't worry so much, I'll let you know

when he's here."

"D-Do you think he remembers me...?" Phyllis turned to me and sighed

slightly. She looked concerned.

"He will, you know? He isn't senile just yet, you know?"

"Wh-Whoa! Don't just appear out of nowhere like that, Karen!" I jumped as

my annoying sister appeared from nowhere to answer Phyllis. You need to stop

doing that! I'm gonna have a heart attack, you scared the pope and Phyllis, too!

"I'll be opening up a consultation office in the church today, you know? I can't

wait to solve people's problems! I'm gonna show them my skills!"

Hmm... That sounds great and all, but the way she's putting it is making me

uneasy... I quietly hoped she wouldn't cause any issues.

"Well, let's head off! The lost lambs need us, you know?"

"A-Ah, wait, Lady Karen!"

"A-Ah, s-sorry, Grand Duke! W-We'll see you later!"

Karen grabbed Phyllis and the pope and started dragging them toward the

town. Their guards started to hurry after the three, clearly confused. I wonder if

it's alright to treat a foreign representative like that... Damn it, Karen. You're

technically royalty here, act a little more like it!

I didn't worry too much, though. They were incredibly safe so long as they

were around her. That girl was scary when she wanted to be.

A few more groups headed into the castle town, and it was finally time to

begin.

The clocktower in the middle of town struck eight, and Babylon launched

several fireworks into the airspace above.

Sousuke, who was positioned in the clocktower, began to play his violin,

sending out a tune across the entire town. He was playing the Pomp and

Circumstance Marches by Edward Elgar.

I'd heard that the song was known as The Land of Hope and Glory in the

United Kingdom, and was beloved there to the point where many regarded it as

their second national anthem. It was somewhat funny to me that such a song

was now being played in another world.

Personally, I wished for Brunhild to become a "Land of Hope and Glory" of its

own... I smiled quietly, then approached a microphone connected to the

clocktower speakers. It was time for the festivities to officially begin.

◇ ◇ ◇

The first day was well underway.

Business was booming, the mock battle between the Frame Gears went

swimmingly, and the streets of the castle town were now bustling with life.

There were all kinds of stalls lining the streets, and wonderful smells were

mingling in the air. I wanted to try some festival food...

We had guards from the knight order patrolling and watching out for crime,

and a few Belfastian and Regulusian guards were here to enjoy the festivities

too. On top of that, we had Mr. Mitten's cats, and the subordinate animals of

my Heavenly Beasts scattered around. Security was all but guaranteed.

I didn't really have any need to do any patrolling myself, so...

"Guess I'll enjoy myself a bit!"

"That sounds good to me. The world leaders have their badges and guards, so

we can take it easy..." Leen was walking by my side, wearing her usual gothic

lolita outfit and wielding a black parasol.

The others had gone to join their own families... Sakura was a little bit

irritated when the overlord tried to talk to her, though. She was probably trying

to keep him from visiting Fiana. That guy was really hopeless.

Leen had offered to spend some time with the beastking of Mismede, but he

wanted to walk around on his own for a bit, so she decided to accompany me

instead. Leen was fairly well-regarded in Mismede, so she'd invited some

friends over to the festival, but they hadn't arrived yet.

Paula was toddling along behind us as well, but she occasionally got held up

by excited children who wanted to poke and prod at her.

"Hm...?" I glanced over to the stage by the clocktower and saw a swarm of

attractive young women fawning over Sousuke.

...Are you doing an impromptu piano concert or something?

"He's certainly amazing... I've never heard a melody so beautiful in my life."

Even Leen seemed enraptured by the music. I wondered if the bewitching

nature of his music was his own brand of divinity... He was wearing pretty

gaudy clothing, almost like a court musician... Actually, he basically was our

court musician, when I really thought about it...

He was playing a French tune on his piano, a fairly simple melody.

Though, as plain as it was, it went without saying that Sousuke's skill

surpassed mine by leaps and bounds. It certainly came naturally to him, but

that wasn't too surprising... He's a god... If he wasn't a god, I'd totally be better,

I swear!

I wanted to keep on listening to his song, but we just walked past him and

headed to one of the stadiums.

There were four matches to be played today, two in each stadium. Two in the

morning, and two in the afternoon.

The matchups were like this:

Stadium One

Morning: Brunhild vs Lestia

Afternoon: Mismede vs Refreese

Stadium Two

Morning: Belfast vs Roadmare

Afternoon: Regulus vs Lihnea

Seemed simple enough to me.

After the mock battle earlier, we'd hosted the lottery that determined who

would be playing against who.

We were up against the Knight Kingdom of Lestia... Their team was offensivefocused, but that didn't necessarily mean they had a lot of heavy hitters. They

were the kind that slowly ramped up points to maintain an advantage.

Logan said he was confident that Brunhild's batters were more well-rounded

and capable than Lestia's.

The first match was already underway when I got there. The score was still

evenly matched at 0-0. They were up to the second inning, and Lestia had just

finished pitching.

I looked into the stands and saw the beastking with Mismede's team, and the

emperor of Refreese with his team as well. They were keenly watching the

proceedings.

Mismede would be going up against Refreese after this, and the winner would

go up against whoever won here. It made sense they'd survey the game.

I looked down into the stands and saw the knight king of Lestia sitting a little

bit away from third base. Hilde was sitting to his right, and their grandfather

was sitting to his left.

On Brunhild's side of the stands was old man Naito. He and his men were

enjoying some beers and laughing to themselves.

People who worked in the knight order and the castle were given one day

during the festival off in order to enjoy themselves. I wanted them to take it

easy for a while, after all. There weren't a lot of opportunities for them to have

fun like this on vacation days, so I let them seize it when they could. But

obviously, not everyone could take the same day off, so they had a rota that

meant some staff was off during day one, some during day two, and so on.

The only events on the first day were the baseball matches, so the people

who got that day off probably drew the short straw... Still, I was glad to see that

they were enjoying themselves.

"Ah, milord. Patrolling?"

"Just looking around for now. Everyone enjoying themselves?"

"Aye! This is a festival in a town that we ourselves built, you know? Of course

we're having fun!"

Usually, the old guy didn't do much to stand out, but he seemed to be in

unusually high spirits. We probably had the booze to thank for that. Naito was

in charge of construction and agricultural developments, so he was probably

really proud of what Brunhild had become.

I built the foundation of this place, but they were responsible for building on

that and modeling it. The town wouldn't have made it nearly as far as it had

without them. No, the entire country needed them.

I aimed a grin at them, ordered myself and Leen some popcorn and drinks,

and we spent some time enjoying the match together with Naito and the

workers.

◇ ◇ ◇

"What a shame..."

"Yeah... If only we'd gotten that last point..."

Lestia had won against Brunhild with a final score of three to two. It wasn't

like Brunhild was a worse team or anything, it was just the way the match had

gone... Sometimes victory was just circumstantial.

The players had tried their best, so I decided to bring them some snacks and

drinks afterward.

The match between Belfast and Roadmare at the other stadium had ended in

a win for Belfast. Apparently, their tactical play was superior across the board.

Mismede vs Refreese and Regulus vs Lihnea would be later on in the day.

Then, the final matches between the winning teams would come the day

afterward.

As we walked through the town, we saw the Palouf entourage eating in a

corner café. The young king was there, as was his sister, Duke Rembrandt, and

his daughter Rachael. They looked to be enjoying their lunch.

I unfastened my badge for a moment and looked over at them. Their disguises

made them look just like a regular old family. I was glad to see the illusions

were functioning properly. Leen was also wearing a badge, but we had no need

for the disguise functions, so ours were inactive.

"Yo, you guys eating?"

"Ah, Grand Duke! Yeah, we've walked around a lot, so we were taking a

break..."

I greeted them, and the young king offered us some nearby seats. Rachael

was sitting opposite the young king. She held the Snorra pup in her hands and

looked just about everywhere except for me. She definitely hated my guts...

"What are you guys gonna do this afternoon?"

"We were planning on seeing the Lihnea match. We've yet to acquaint

ourselves properly with baseball, after all..." Princess Lucienne spoke up,

smiling softly. They were probably asked to show up by King Cloud. I was glad to

hear that things were still going well between them.

"We had a stroll this morning and certainly found no shortage of

distractions... The time had passed by before we even noticed it, actually! This

is a wonderful town. There's much Palouf could learn from it..." Duke

Rembrandt looked out into the streets as he spoke. I was extremely happy to

hear that he thought so highly of the place.

"That being said, we found a place that was quite the money sink... It ended

up being rather... unfortunate."

"Ah..."

Duke Rembrandt grinned at the young king, who suddenly turned a little red. I

wondered what he was talking about.

"Ernie here got rather addicted to the capsule toy machines in the market

district... He turned them many a time. We had a lot of money, but Father still

ended up telling him off because other people wanted a chance to use it, too."

"I really wanted to get the Shining Count toy, that's all..."

Rachael glanced toward something on one of the nearby chairs, and I saw a

paper bag full of capsule toys. Seemed like he really did overdo it...

Wait, she just spoke to me! Did she forgive me already? I turned back to look

at her, and she immediately averted her gaze. Geez, come on...

"Did you manage to collect them all in the end?"

"Uhm... I didn't manage to get Grimgerde..."

"Oh? My Frame Gear?"

"Huh?"

The young king looked over at Leen with a puzzled expression on his face. I

explained to everyone at the table that Leen was the pilot of Grimgerde, and

they all looked on in surprise.

She might have been six-hundred-and-twelve years old, but she still

resembled a young woman. She probably didn't match up at all to the image in

their heads. Grimgerde had unleashed a ton of destruction during the mock

battle after the opening ceremony, so they probably thought the pilot was

someone a lot scarier.

People knew that Leen was court magician of Brunhild, and the former clan

matriarch of the fairies, as well as the fact that she was my fiancée... But not

many people seemed to know that she was also a Frame Gear pilot.

"Darling, don't you have one of those?" Leen quickly prodded her fingers into

my side as she asked me that question.

"Oh, yeah... But, I mean... Ah, whatever..." I kind of wanted people to get the

prizes the proper way... but he'd poured a lot of money into it, so I didn't feel

too bad letting him have this one.

I opened up [Storage] and took out a small black Grimgerde figurine. Leen

then took it and handed it over to the young king of Palouf.

"Here you are. Make sure you treat it well."

"Oh, thank you so much! Now I have them all!"

"Ahaha, not quite. We'll be adding Lu's Waltraute and Sakura's Rossweisse

next month, so the set will have new additions..."

"Ah..."

The young king frowned a little at my words, which made everyone giggle

softly. Probably shouldn't tell him that Lu's Waltraute has four variants... There

are the attacker, booster, caster, and defender types... It'll be hard to catch

them all...!

Olba would probably open a branch store in Palouf eventually... If he was

patient, I was sure he'd finish the set.

We weren't just adding Frame Gear toys to the collection either, there were

new Behemoths going into the lineup too. Specifically, the Heavy Kong, Grand

Boar, Power Bison, and Needle Rat from Palerius Island.

Still, I wondered if there'd end up being more of a demand for vinyl

Behemoth figures, or scale model plastic Frame Gears... I wasn't really sure if

we had the kind of tech to mass-produce stuff like that... Especially since we'd

need glue. This world didn't really have plastic, so that might be an issue. Then

again, magic beast bones were roughly similar in composition.

Hmm... But if we can do that, maybe we can figure out how to use magic to

produce them more easily...

As I continued to sink into thought, Leen jabbed me in the side. Ack! Fine, I'll

save business thoughts for later.

After we finished our meal, the Paloufean group decided to head off to watch

Lihnea's match.

Alright, where should we go next...

"Ah... Uhm...!"

I turned my head to the sudden voice and saw Rachael looking down at the

ground. She was tightly clutching the Snorra puppy to her chest. I wondered

what she wanted...

"I-I'm sorry... About the other day... I... I understand just how far I have to go,

now..."

Oh my... This is a far cry from the smug little girl I spoke to recently. Looks like

she's been thinking things through. Actually, now that I look back on the day,

she's been acting more awkward around me than hateful... Guess that makes

sense...

"...It's alright. Just remember that you can't ever assume yourself to be the

best. There are many people in the world who can surpass you in a lot of

different ways. Even I have people that I can't match in certain fields, and I lose

to them every day."

"Wh-What?! Really?!" It would be more apt to call them gods rather than

people, but still... I wondered when I'd actually be able to win. I was probably a

thousand or so years too early...

"I... have to protect Ernie... Even though I thought I was unbeatable... I still

lost to you, so I've been thinking more about just how strong I actually am..."

She was starting to sound more and more miserable, and she let her head

hang in shame. Huh... Guess she's the one lacking in self-confidence for once...

Geez...

It wasn't like she wasn't strong. Her opponent was just an overpowered

matchup... But I couldn't say that to her, since she wouldn't take it as sincere.

I was at a loss for words, but Leen suddenly opened her mouth.

"If you become strong, you'll be able to protect the king of Palouf, that much

is true. But any strong knight could do that, couldn't they? You need to think

harder, young lady. There's something only you can do."

"H-Huh...?" Leen's words prompted Rachael to raise her head.

"A king's life is a life of hardship and struggle. Sometimes it can be hard to

face those things alone. That's why you need to be his rock. Sure, his advisors

can support political and military matters, but you must be there to support his

heart. You need to stay by his side, to worry alongside him, laugh alongside him,

smile with him, and be there for him. You don't have to protect him with raw

strength alone. You can become his support by being there for him on a

personal level. That's something only you can do. You can become a shield that

protects the heart of the one that matters to you... Just like me." Leen smiled

and took my hand.

O-Oh geez, how embarrassing... Paula suddenly put her hands to her own face

as if she was blushing. Damn it, Paula, your mime skills are too good!

"Can I really do that...? Can I become his shield...?"

"A good woman can be just that for her man. She can become an

irreplaceable person in his life. If you ask me, you're the only one who can do

that for him. I'm sure of it... Only you can support the king's heart, and walk by

his side. Don't lose hope."

"...O-Okay!" Rachael smiled up at us both and ran back to rejoin the others

from Palouf.

She certainly made a speedy recovery... I grinned a little as I saw her cling to

Ernest's arm.

"That was some interesting advice you had for her there."

"Well, it wasn't entirely my idea... It was just me telling her what your sister

told me, Darling..."

So this was Karen's doing... No wonder it sounded so sappy... But man, she

really has a way with words. It's actually a little scary, honestly.

"So, where shall we go now, Darling?"

"Ah... My arm..."

Leen tugged at my arm as if to guide me down the street. I was seriously

embarrassed...

"Hmm? You don't want to lock arms with me, Darling? I may not be proficient

at clinging to you... Do you think you're the only one shy here? I'm the one

summoning the courage to take the initiative... Shouldn't you play along?"

"Ahh... I guess you're right. Hm... There's gonna be a puppet show in a little

while. Wanna go see it?"

"As you wish, Grand Duke!" Leen smiled and gave a wink to accompany her

half-joking response, and we walked off into the crowd.