The Great Marriage Caper

"The Kingdom of Horn is on the verge of civil war...?"

"It is. There are two factions. One supports the grandson of the king, and the

other supports the younger brother of the king."

I groaned out in irritation as Tsubaki gave her report.

The Kingdom of Horn was a country to the east of Felsen, and to the south of

where Yulong once was.

It was a fertile land that had the blessing of various spirits, and a mighty king

that managed his nation well. It was probably the best country in the world

when it came to agriculture and financial prosperity.

Culture-wise, it was kind of similar to Eashen, but also a little bit different. If it

were a country on earth, it would be one of the many nations that factored into

Asia's cultural sphere.

Unfortunately, tragedy struck the kingdom only a year ago. Their brilliant king

died without warning.

Typically, the crown prince would just succeed the throne, and life would go

on... But there was an issue.

The crown prince of Horn had suddenly died only a week before his father

did. He was only twenty-one years old, but apparently it was caused by an

accident.

The king had no other male heirs, but the prince did have a son. In other

words, the dead king's grandson was eligible for the throne.

Or he would've been eligible, if not for the fact that he was a literal infant at

only one year old. And so, the prime minister took over as regent in his stead.

But while things seemed to be moving smoothly, the process was suddenly

stalled when the late king's younger brother raised an objection.

The prime minister of the nation happened to be the father of the dead

prince's wife. The king's younger brother claimed that something smelled foul,

and it was a clear plot by the prime minister's family to usurp the country. He

claimed that only he could carry on his brother's will.

It seemed that when he was alive, the king had disagreed with his son often.

The late king preferred traditional, less risky methods and wanted to keep the

country focused on what worked for it. The son, however, was industrious and

wanted to lead Horn into several new fields and focuses.

It was a shame that the two of them, who clearly cared in different ways

about their country, died within the same week.

The king's younger brother publicly stated that the late king was always

planning on cutting the crown prince out of the line of succession due to his

'dangerous' new-age way of thinking and that he should be king instead.

The prime minister, however, stated that although the king and the prince

had argued often, they understood that they had the best interests of the

country in mind and managed to keep an open mind with each other. He even

stated that he often acted as a mediator between the two parties, and helped

them come to an understanding about several issues over the course of their

lives.

Unfortunately, neither side listened to the other, and tensions mounted until

civil war seemed about ready to break out.

"Seems more like a conflict between the prime minister and the king's

brother than the king's grandson and the king's brother..."

"Quite, yes. The brother of the late king is named Ganossa Da Horn, and the

prime minister is named Schwein Adante. The grandson of the late king is

named Kuoh Da Horn, and he is also the grandson of the prime minister due to

his mother."

Tsubaki nodded at Kousaka, who gave his take on the situation.

This certainly sounded like a whole heap of trouble to me. Succession issues

like this did sprout up now and then, so it wasn't like I could really do much.

There were also special cases like if the crown prince was a blistering idiot,

and his younger brother happened to be intelligent and wise. That might be

cause for a succession dispute. It'd be better to have the more talented person

reigning, after all.

Though, in the king's case, it would be rough since they'd both be his

children... But that also begged the question of whether or not a good king

would let personal feelings and connections sway him.

Either way, a civil war sounded rough. I didn't know if we needed to

intervene, since I doubted it would cause international issues.

"It's irritating that we don't have any ties to Horn... What are their neighbors

doing?"

"Felsen is simply watching without making any moves. It seems as if they have

ties to both the younger brother and the prime minister, so it is an awkward

situation for them..."

Tsubaki hesitated for a moment, before continuing.

"...Yulong may be behind this."

"Excuse me?"

...Yulong? What? Ever since all that stuff with their heavenly emperor and the

Phrase invasion, the country's basically been reduced to nothing.

As far as I understood it, the region only had a group of independent cities in

it. There were even small in-fights between those cities every now and then.

"Yulong is to the north of Horn. Ever since the Phrase invasion, there has been

a large influx of refugees out of Yulong into Horn, which has caused trouble."

"What kind of trouble?"

"The citizens of Horn cannot easily accept the refugees from Yulong, which

has resulted in many of the Yulongese refugees turning to crime. A lot of them

have even gone so far as becoming roving gangs, laying waste to the fertile

farmland."

That was definitely trouble. I wondered why Horn couldn't take in the people

from Yulong, though... A fertile nation like that shouldn't have had any issues.

"Yulong had planned to invade Horn, just like it had planned to invade

Hannock. The people of Yulong also had a lot of national propaganda, belittling

the Horn citizens as inferior and uncivilized. Given the national image, it is no

surprise to me that the people of Horn would be reluctant to allow a group of

people that so clearly hated them to join their society."

Hm... I listened to what Kousaka said and sighed. He was certainly right,

though. If the Yulongese people had looked down on Horn and then suddenly

counted on them for help, it was only natural that the original victimized party

would be hesitant to let them integrate.

"As you know, there was that spy division in Yulong, yes? They specialized in

sabotage and assassination. From what my intelligence suggests, they all drifted

to Horn when the country collapsed. The rumors go that these individuals may

be behind the current unrest in that nation."

Yulong's spies... If I remember right, that organization was called Qulau or

something. They targeted me in the past. I remember they wore those

traditional Chinese masks and were the kinds of guys who'd kill themselves if

they failed. They were pretty intense...

"Don't tell me the deaths of the king and his son..."

"Yes. It could have been the work of Qulau. Either Prime Minister Schwein or

the king's brother, Ganossa, may have hired them. It might be neither of them,

some random third party that sought to drive Horn into chaos..."

If the prime minister hired them, then... It went without saying that the prime

minister would want his grandson to have the throne someday. If the king's

younger brother's claims were true, then him succeeding the throne would

become an obstacle to that eventuality. That would be reason enough to kill the

prince and king... especially if the prime minister disagreed with the prince's

new-age thinking as well. But I wondered if he'd really be able to kill his own

son-in-law for an agenda like that.

On the other side of the argument, if the king's brother was the culprit... No,

that didn't make sense. If his story was true, then neither the king nor his son

would need to die. He'd get the throne eventually anyway.

But if he was actually lying about that, and the prime minister was telling the

truth about the king and his son having a mutual understanding... then yeah,

he'd have cause to kill both parties.

Still, it was confusing... If the king's brother wanted to succeed, I would have

expected him to kill the grandson as well to eliminate all potential

competition... This case was a perplexing one.

"This is annoying."

"Agreed."

"I also agree." It wasn't like we could act without knowing the truth.

Though with all we had right now, I was more inclined to believe the prime

minister. His faction had less of a reason to kill the crown prince.

"I guess we shouldn't interfere anyway, huh?"

"There is no reason for us to get involved, yes. The country has no formal

contact with Brunhild. You could surely end the conflict with the power that you

hold, but it would likely be an unnecessary move... Or would you prefer it if we

crushed Horn and claimed it as one of our territories amidst all this chaos?"

Gimme a break, old man... Why didn't that sound like the joke it should've

been...?

It wasn't like I was incapable of conquering Horn, or even the world! I just had

no desire to handle the clerical duties of owning that much territory. Brunhild

was tiny and it was already a pain in my ass a lot of the time.

"Jokes aside, the development of our nation comes before interfering with

the outside. The castle town has increased in size lately, and we have had

another influx of citizens. Crime rates have been rising proportionally to that

influx. The knight order and Mr. Mittens have been doing a fine job keeping the

peace in town, but I am concerned that if our knights were to be dispatched, we

would not have enough personnel to handle these issues."

I could understand what Kousaka was worried about. The town guards were

made up of our knights, so the town became less secure during training

missions or Frame Gear operations. Ideally, there wouldn't be any more large

battles in the near future, but the mutants were so unpredictable that I couldn't

say that with any certainty.

"Guess so. We'll create a town guard unit separate from the main knights."

"Wonderful. We can have Yamagata and Baba-dono command it, and make it

an official government branch instead of something that serves you directly.

With that in place, they will be able to operate autonomously even when you

are not around."

I was pretty confident in the two old men to run the guards well. They didn't

exactly enjoy Frame Gear combat anyway, so I figured it'd be the best job for

them.

"The fishery we established on the dungeon islands is also going quite well.

Merchants from Belfast and Regulus have come by to purchase our fresh

wares."

"Tell the fishermen not to go out too far from the coastline, alright? Don't

want any monster attacks."

"Of course, we are aware."

I'd summoned a Kraken to patrol the waters around the dungeon islands and

keep strong monsters at bay, but if the fishermen went too far out to sea then

there'd be trouble.

I received a few more reports from Kousaka and Tsubaki, and then my duties

were over. After that, I ate lunch with everyone and decided to head to the

Reverse World in the afternoon. I still had a few things I needed to prepare

before the multi-world summit.

First up was the Triharan Holy empire. I needed to schedule a meeting with

the leader of that place... Linze and Hilde seemed to have some free time, so

they decided they'd tag along too.

I used my divinity to warp us through to the Triharan imperial palace. We

were greeted there by a familiar face.

"Long time no see, Prince Listin... Or should that be Princess Listis? How are

you?"

"Ah, well... There has been much going on in the country since it reformed.

I'm certainly glad for it, though."

She was now wearing a jacket and some loose pants, instead of the straightlaced masculine clothing that I'd seen last time. It had been a while since I'd

seen Tristan Le Triharan, imperial princess of the Holy Empire, but it was nice to

see her.

I introduced Linze and Hilde to her as my fiancees, and she seemed briefly

taken aback. Either way, she leaned in and shook their hands with a smile.

"My father and brother are waiting for you. They have a matter they wanted

to discuss with you, actually."

Listis spoke casually as she took us into the castle. I wondered what they

wanted with me. We reached an inner room in the castle and were greeted by

Emperor Harold La Triharan, along with his son, Prince Lupheus La Triharan.

Listis' mentor, Zerorick, was also in attendance.

The emperor and his son both wore glasses, giving them kind of a nerdy and

studious look. Zerorick, on the other hand, looked like a battle-scarred combat

veteran.

Back when the senate still ran things in the Holy Empire, the emperor and his

son looked a lot more sickly... I was happy to see that their health had

noticeably improved.

"Aha. It's nice to see you again, Touya." The Triharan emperor stood up and

went to shake my hand.

"Glad you're looking well, Emperor."

"It's all thanks to you, my boy. I feel like I've been aging backward lately!"

I smiled at the emperor's joke. Recently, he'd only really been a puppet

leader, held back by the senate. It only made sense he'd be more lively once he

could actually do what he wanted to do.

Same with his son. All the misery he had about him because of that woman

he'd been engaged to had been completely wiped from his face.

I heard that, much like her father, that fiancee of his was using her position

for exploitative purposes. After her father was dealt with, she'd been

imprisoned for good. Anyone would feel invigorated after being freed by a

beastly fiancee like that.

I'd briefed them on it over the phone, but I decided to once again explain the

whole multi-world summit concept to the emperor and his son. I asked if they

had any ideas for countries that might like to join, as well.

"Sadly, the senate controlled most of our international relationships in the

past. There isn't really a country out there that's friendly with us... We have a

non-combat treaty with the Lassei Military Kingdom to the south, but that's

about it... The senate was also putting pressure on the Gem Kingdom to the

east, so that's a no-go either. Currently, only the Kingdom of Primula is willing

to co-operate with us, and that's only thanks to your efforts."

Oh yeah, there was that thing where Primula nearly got invaded, huh...? I

guess you can't fix international relations by saying 'these guys did it, blame

them!'

"That's why we intend to show a new and reborn Triharan at the upcoming

summit. Putting that aside for a moment, we actually had something we

wanted to discuss with you..."

"Oh yeah, Princess Listis said something like that earlier. What's up? Do you

need my help with something?"

The emperor glanced at his son for a moment before clearing his throat. His

bespectacled son suddenly looked uncomfortable for a moment, but I couldn't

discern why.

"Well... I heard that you met Queen Margarita of the Strain Kingdom

recently?"

"I did. She'll be participating in the summit as well. She plans on bringing the

Lassei Military Kingdom and the Allent Theocracy with her... Is there an issue?"

"Well, you see... Queen Margarita has a son and a daughter, and that

daughter of hers... She's twenty years old, her name is Berlietta... She's said to

be a great beauty, highly intelligent... So, well... You know..."

As I stared at the emperor in confusion, hoping that he'd spit out what he

meant already, Linze suddenly spoke up.

"...D-Do you perhaps wish for her to be engaged to your son?"

Linze's words caused the emperor to nod enthusiastically.

"Precisely! Exactly! Don't you think such a union could bring Strain and

Triharan closer together?! Touya, my boy, I'd very much like you to convey our

intentions to Queen Margarita, and..."

"Wouldn't this be better coming from you? I can just give you her phone

number."

"Ah, well... That's not ideal, honestly. You know how our image is to outsiders

right now... I don't want her to think I or my son are useless people who get

pushed around... I fear she may reject us on the grounds of being

incompetent."

Yeah, she might... I thought to myself, taking care not to say anything mean to

the dejected emperor in front of me.

"What about your son's feelings on the matter?"

"I agree with my father's opinion. Though I must confess, I have mixed

feelings about wedding someone I have little personal knowledge of... It could

be trouble for her, as well. I do not wish for her to be unhappy with me as her

husband, after all... She may dislike me..."

The bespectacled prince shrugged slightly as he pushed his glasses up his

nose. I thought his assumptions were a little bit negative.

"My brother isn't what one might call an optimist. He hasn't considered that

they'd likely grow to love each other after getting married."

The crown prince heaved a sigh at his sister's words. She'd been living as a

man for most of her life, so it only stood to reason that she'd be a bit more

assertive than most girls, and her relatively reserved brother.

Even if it was a political marriage, it would be better if all parties were in love.

That was the case for my brides-to-be.

"Is she not engaged yet?"

I raised a brow at Hilde's sudden comment. That was definitely a fair point. If

she was already engaged, then we might as well just call this off.

That actually reminded me of Hilde being surprised to learn about my other

fiancees before she joined their ranks.

"Nothing to worry about there. According to our reports, Princess Berlietta is

not betrothed, nor does she have any suitors. We don't know if she has a crush

on anyone, though."

Ah, fair enough... That's kind of weird though, isn't it? A princess that old not

having a single suitor? Does she have unreasonable standards or something?

"Well, whatever. I guess I'll contact Queen Margarita for you."

"I'm sorry for the trouble, but please do take care. The future of our country

may be at stake!"

I grumbled slightly as the emperor bowed his head.

He wasn't wrong in that it was a good way to forge bonds between nations. I

just hoped that things wouldn't end awkwardly.

I wondered if I should just bring appropriately-aged nobles to the multi-world

conference and host a big old mixer or something. Well, even if it wasn't

specifically a mixer, it'd be a chance for highborn people to get to know each

other.

The only thing I'd provide would be the venue, then they could figure the rest

out themselves... The idea was definitely worth thinking about, at least. Plus,

my Duchy happened to have a pro in the matter of love... Or rather, a goddess...

I sighed, took my phone out, and began calling Queen Margarita of Strain.

◇ ◇ ◇

I managed to gain an audience with Queen Margarita, so I decided to talk to

Prince Lupheus before going to meet her.

After all, if a salesman didn't know anything about the product he was selling,

he probably wouldn't be doing a great job. I took a picture of him, then asked

the imperial secretary to locate a family history and personal notes on the guy.

"Hm..."

"Hmhm... It looks mostly good... There's just one issue."

"Please neglect to point it out..." Crown Prince Lupheus grumbled to himself.

The issue was the fact that Prince Lupheus had been engaged, and then that

engagement had been broken off. Obviously, that wasn't his fault, since it was

caused entirely by issues on the part of the other person, but it still made him

look like a weak judge of character.

Though, of course, the truth of the matter was that the senate had forced the

engagement on him, so it wasn't like he'd judged her poorly at first glance or

anything.

Princess Listis flicked through the papers and muttered something.

"The hobby section hasn't been filled out."

"I mean... You know..."

"Come now, if you're getting married, she'll find out about it eventually. You

should just write it down."

Prince Lupheus resigned himself, sighed, and wrote down "magitechnology

alteration/Gollem maintenance" on the sheet of paper.

"Oho... You're into magitech?"

"He's not just into it, he's super into it. He's been tinkering around with that

smoffo... smart... phone thing that you gave us a while ago. He also enjoys

tinkering with the Gollem carriages we keep in the courtyard. I'm sure that if he

tried hard enough, he'd even be able to create a Gollem of his own!"

"I'm not so sure about that... The G-Cube and Q-Crystals are still a bit beyond

my expertise. Only geniuses like Elluka have a comprehensive understanding of

those elements."

The prince smiled wryly in his sister's direction. Personally, I had trouble

imagining Elluka as a genius, given her awful personality... But she was

definitely worthy of working on nonsensical stuff with Doctor Babylon.

Either way, this guy certainly seemed more and more like a geek.

"I don't think it's a hobby you need to hide, is it?"

"That's right. It doesn't seem all that strange to me."

Linze and Hilde voiced their support for his interests. Lupheus simply let out a

miserable sigh in response.

"I was once told by my ex-fiancee that I was pathetic, that playing around

with commoner stuff was unbecoming of the emperor-to-be... She told me that

the oil and grime from my tinkering smelled horrible and that I should just give

up..."

Ah... The old hag instilled some kind of trauma in you, huh...? I wonder if your

lack of confidence is because she was always keeping you down...

I didn't really think it was a bad hobby to have, even if he was to be a world

leader. The witch-king of Isengard sure enjoyed it... Although he was kind of a

horrible monster.

The prince looked down and sniffed slightly, he was probably recalling all the

times he'd been verbally abused. His glasses slipped down to the edge of his

nose.

Ohh, here's an idea...

"Here. There's something I'd like you to take a look at, actually. It's something

I think you'll be impressed with."

"Hm?" I took everyone out to the Triharan palace courtyard and pulled out an

Ether Vehicle from my [Storage].

It was a slightly better version than the Fiat 3.5 HP models that I'd sold to the

world leaders back home.

"This is an Ether Vehicle. It's an autonomous vehicle that can move without

Gollem interference."

In the place I called home, transport was mostly done via horse-drawn

carriages. Transportation in the reverse world was mostly done via Gollemdrawn carriages.

Usually, Gollem carriages were pulled by multi-legged Gollems, or Gollems

that had continuous metal tracks like those used on tanks. They could lug

around a lot of cargo. There were also smaller options available for personal

use.

Science in the Reverse World was heavily based on Gollems, so virtually

everything they invented required Gollems to actually function. Transportation

naturally fell under that umbrella, too. Even the ships in the reverse world had

Gollem parts.

Ether Vehicles, however, were pretty much ideal. Other than the Ether Liquid

they used for fuel, it was entirely composed of parts most engineers in the

reverse world could understand. Plus, it didn't need a Gollem to operate.

I hopped into the Ether Vehicle and drove it around a few times, showing

everyone how it handled. I returned to the original position, and Prince Lupheus

immediately wanted to give it a go.

"This is incredible! The power must come from a magic-based engine... But it

certainly isn't an ordinary one. I didn't even know speeds of this level were

possible with such a small-sized power source... I wonder if I could use a

Barreken-brand engine if we increased the size a little... Ah, but would that

reduce speeds due to the weight offset? Hmm... And it's astounding how the

magic energy is distributed, these parts are incredible..."

The prince started murmuring to himself as he investigated each nook and

cranny of the Ether Vehicle. I had a feeling he'd get along with those tech-loving

dwarves back home.

"You can have this, if you want."

"I can?!"

"Sure. In the world I come from, a bunch of countries are trying to make new

models based on this one. I have a feeling you've got plenty of ideas yourself,

right?"

"I do, yes. I'd love to try improving this design. It's honestly fascinating... I

can't remember the last time my heart fluttered this way."

I could understand him a little. When I was a kid, I had a little toy car of my

own... I'd happily buy new parts, opened up holes on it for weight reduction,

streamlined it for more aerodynamic capability... Precious memories.

I passed over an operations manual and a basic blueprint to the prince. It was

written by Doctor Babylon and Rosetta. Obviously, it'd be bad if he didn't know

how to reassemble it.

I passed on a few bottles of Ether Liquid as a bonus, too.

The giddy prince happily took it all, thanked me profusely, and drove his Ether

Vehicle straight to the Gollem workshop near the stables.

"...He probably won't come out for a few days. We're not gonna get more

marriage-related information out of him."

Princess Listis heaved a sigh as she crossed her arms.

Frankly, I thought he looked a lot better than the miserable young man I'd

seen earlier, but my opinion wasn't the one that counted here. I could only

hope that the princess of Strain would be able to tolerate his hobby.

Married couples could definitely fight over petty things like personal

interests... But it was better to do that than to lie.

"No worries, I'll go talk to the Queen of Strain about the marriage. I promise

we'll do our best to represent you. Even if they say no, we'll come back to tell

you exactly why."

"Best of luck... Or rather, thank you for this."

Princess Listis waved us off as we hopped through a [Gate] to the kingdom of

Strain. It was time to play matchmaker.

◇ ◇ ◇

Strain's capital city, Citronia, resembled Belfast's capital quite a bit.

It was just as lively as Allent's capital city, too. There were many people and

Gollems making their way around the bustling streets.

"It's a nice city..."

Hilde gazed around and muttered her impression of the place. Linze stood

nearby, curiously gazing at all the Gollems.

We headed to the shining white castle ahead. It was a very beautiful building

with red-colored roof tiles. It contrasted well against the blue of the sky.

I gave my name to the guards by the castle bridge, and we were escorted in

quickly. It seemed that the queen had already planned for my arrival.

We waited in a guest room for a while before Queen Margarita came to see

us, with a few knights and hand servants in tow.

"Welcome, Grand Duke. It's a pleasure to see you again."

"Likewise. Sorry for the short notice on our visit."

I didn't really think I'd be visiting her again so soon. It had only been a couple

of days since I saw her at the restaurant, so I figured I wouldn't be seeing her

again until the summit.

"And who are these young women?"

"Ah, this is Linze and this is Hilde, two of my fiancees. Linze is a mage who

wields magic from a bygone age, and Hilde is a princess from a kingdom of

knights."

"Goodness me... And here I thought it would end at the three I met at

dinner."

The queen had a baffled look on her face. Apparently, she thought it had

ended with just Yumina, Sakura, and Sue... But nope. There were another two

visiting this time. I didn't really know how to break it to her that I had nine

brides-to-be. And that was why I didn't.

I didn't know much about how the Reverse World treated marriage in

general. It was possible that even royals of this world didn't have many spouses.

I asked for clarification, and my original guess was wrong. Apparently, it was

fairly normal for nobles and royals in the Reverse World to have many partners.

The former King of Strain had two wives, in fact. Each wife bore him one

daughter, and the eldest of those two daughters was Queen Margarita herself.

The queen had married a duke's son, and gave birth to a daughter and then a

son. The daughter in question was Princess Berlietta.

Since she happened to be brought up, I seized the opportunity to cover the

matter entrusted to me by the Triharan royal family.

"...The emperor of Triharan really said that? I'm thankful for the offer, but..."

The queen frowned, implying rejection was on the table. Everyone around the

queen made some awkward faces, so apparently whatever the issues were...

they were well known.

Damn it, I even dug out the prince's family history and everything... Was it all

for nothing?

"Erm... Does your daughter already have a suitor she's interested in? Or do

you just not want to connect your nation with Triharan?"

"No, that isn't the issue. I actually feel like marrying my daughter off would be

a burden to Prince Lupheus."

The queen smiled wryly.

"Berl... Berlietta is... Somewhat of an odd young lady. Since a young age she's

done nothing but involve herself in Gollem tinkering, and studies of

magitechnology. She's a recluse, so to speak."

Wait a second... That actually sounds perfect, doesn't it?

"Perhaps she takes after me a little too much... When she becomes interested

in something, she'll engross herself in it so deeply that she'll ignore everything

else. We've talked about potential suitors in the past, but she merely told me

that she'd rather invest time and effort into building a magical motor than

something as unoriginal as a baby."

Hrm... So I guess we'd need to get her to be interested in him before bringing

up marriage talks.

Still... I think I can bait her pretty easily. I'll just do the same thing I did with

the prince, show her something cool.

"Would you mind if I met with Princess Berlietta? I'd like to speak with her,

and then hand her a present."

"That would be agreeable to me. I'll have her called to meet us, she should be

in her workshop right now."

One of the maids exited the room to fetch the princess, and the topic of my

discussion with Queen Margarita switched to the displaced refugees from the

regular world.

There were eight refugees currently taking shelter in Strain. Of the eight,

three had decided they didn't want to go home. Since that left five lost people

who wanted to head back, it would be up to me to warp them home later on.

Queen Margarita began questioning Linze on multiple topics. Apparently, she

was curious about magic.

"So even someone from my world could use magic, should they have the right

aptitude?"

"That's right, yes. This world has a thinner amount of mana in its atmosphere,

so it would take a truly talented person to cast more powerful spells... But it

should be possible. The right person would at least be able to cast standard

spells."

"How would one be able to know their aptitu—"

The queen was cut off by the arrival of a lone woman. She had brown hair,

much like her mother. It was tied up, but messy in a few places. It seemed like

she'd ran all the way here. I heard she was around twenty, but she looked much

closer to someone my age due to her thick-rimmed glasses and baby-face.

Guess this is Berlietta.

Her outfit didn't exactly exude feminine charm. She was wearing the kinds of

workman's coveralls that Rosetta wore... The oil-slicked workman's pouch

about her waist also made her look more like a laborer than a princess. Frankly,

I wouldn't have even been able to tell at a glance that she was royalty.

"Berl... Berlietta. Why are you wearing that? Did I not tell you to change your

clothing when we have guests?"

"Mother, please don't worry about that right now! I need to know if that's the

person who gave you that Smarfoam thing?!"

The girl ignored her mother and stared at me. I could practically see the stars

in her eyes.

"Nice to meet you, Princess Berlietta. I'm Mochizuki Touya, Grand Duke of

Brunhi—"

"Please give me one of those snarfphones! It's incredible! A technological

marvel! It's a mass-produced model, isn't it?! That means it isn't an ancient

object like the legacy Gollems, I can tell! What kind of tech did you even use to

get it so small? Are you perhaps using methods derived from the ol—"

"Hey, hey, hey! Personal space!"

I held up my arms to block Berlietta as she brought herself dangerously close

to me.

Hilde parted the two of us and narrowed her eyes at the other princess,

causing her to back off a little.

"Sorry, I didn't create it. The ones who did work for me, but I, unfortunately,

won't be able to answer any of your questions."

"...That's a shame. I was hoping I'd learn something of note."

Princess Berlietta slumped her shoulders and sat down on a nearby armchair.

It was as if all energy had drained from her body. The contrast in her behavior

was extremely noticeable.

"Please forgive my daughter's disrespectful display, Grand Duke..."

"No, don't worry about it. She just caught me by surprise a bit. You did warn

me about her interest in magitech, so it's sort of my fault anyway. Actually, that

reminds me, I mentioned earlier that I have a present here for her..."

"A present?! I-Is it one of those fabled smarf... smartphones?"

"...No, it isn't."

Berlietta's shoulders sank again. We walked out to the courtyard. It wasn't

like I could take her gift out of [Storage] indoors.

"This is amazing! Can I really keep this?"

"You can."

Princess Berlietta had already started tinkering around with the Ether

Vehicle's engine.

"Is it really okay if my daughter has this, Grand Duke?"

"It is, I don't mind. I gave one to the prince of Triharan as well... The prince

actually has an interest in magitechnology as well, I think he'd get along with

your daughter."

"Oh my! That's promising!"

Berlietta stopped tinkering and instead turned and looked over at us with

suspicious eyes.

"What are you discussing?"

She didn't know why I'd come here, so I filled her in on the situation regarding

Triharan. I explained that the prince wanted to marry her and that he was also

an enthusiast in the field of magitechnology. Then, I passed over his personal

details and a photo of his face.

"Hmm... He certainly seems attractive..."

Princess Berlietta muttered slightly after looking over his details. It seemed

like she was tentatively interested, at least. She was probably reassured by the

fact that their hobbies lined up.

"Would you like to meet with him? You can just talk a little for the time being.

He was also really interested in the Ether Vehicle I gave him, so I'm sure you'd

be able to talk at length about it."

"Well, I suppose... If it's just a meeting and a conversation..."

Princess Berlietta looked down slightly as a red flush overtook her cheeks. The

uncharacteristic response prompted the nearby knights and servants to start

muttering to each other.

"Lady Berlietta's interested in a boy..."

"Lady Berlietta, who always holed herself up in her workshop, is interested in

a boy..."

"She never showed an interest in fashion or men, but now Lady Berlietta is

interested in a boy!"

"P-Please be quiet!"

Berlietta's blush grew deeper as she yelled, and she immediately drove away

in her Ether Vehicle.

Damn, she's got the steering down.

"Goodness me... That girl's never blushed like that before. Please, Grand

Duke, convey our intentions to the prince and his family. It may be my

daughter's last chance for salvation."

"I wouldn't go that far, but I'll arrange a meeting for them both. I'll be in

contact about it soon."

Thank goodness... Seems like this all just might work out.

Whew, I thought. I'm sure they'll get along because of their hobby.

But I didn't realize the untold chaos that their shared hobby would eventually

create...

◇ ◇ ◇

In the Reverse World, my main base of operations was on Drakliff Island.

It was an island of Dragons, so no other humans were allowed to set foot

there. The one who sat as the island's overseer was Shirogane, the Silver

Dragon.

If a ship approached the island, then Elder Dragons would warn the people

aboard not to approach. If they failed to heed the warning, they'd be chased

away.

I told the Dragons to avoid killing when they could, but that wasn't absolute.

If the island came under attack, they were free to kill in self-defense.

Drakliff island was located within a landlocked body of water, surrounded by

Triharan, Strain, Allent, and Gem.

Since the island was located roughly between the territories of Triharan and

Strain, I thought it'd be a good place for the prince and princess to meet.

The emperor of Triharan and his son arrived on the island first, followed by

the queen of Strain and her daughter. They gathered on the island as Dragons

freely soared overhead.

Prince Lupheus had come looking slightly more formal than usual, but he was

still his recognizable self. Princess Berlietta, on the other hand, was almost

unrecognizable when compared to how I'd last seen her.

She wore a beautiful pink dress and a small tiara on her head. Her brown hair

flowed freely down her back, and she wore much more flattering glasses. Her

cute baby-like face was also lightly accentuated with makeup. Women were

pretty versatile creatures when it came to fashion, it seemed...

After the introductions, it was time to see how well they'd get along.

I was technically the one doing the matchmaking here, but I was also kind of a

total outsider... That was why I tried my best not to get involved in their

conversations. I didn't exactly know much about Strain or Triharan anyway, so

there wasn't a lot for me to add.

I wasn't the only one not saying much, though. The queen and emperor were

happily chatting away, but the prince and princess seemed too nervous to

actually speak.

"My home has a beautiful garden, you know. It has a full view of the island.

Maybe you two would be more comfortable taking a walk out there?"

"Hm? Ah, yes... If Princess Berlietta would be happy with that..."

"Huh? Oh, yes... I think I would. L-Let us go."

The two of them shyly toddled outside, each of them followed by a

bodyguard.

I also sent out Kougyoku to keep an eye on them from above.

"Seems like they made a decent first impression at least."

"Indeed. The atmosphere was quite calm."

The emperor and the queen both looked over at their respective children with

smiles on their faces. I could see that they were speaking as parents, not world

leaders.

Still, they did have to go into government mode at some point. This was a rare

opportunity for two monarchs to have an audience with one another. The two

of them promptly began chatting over legal proposals, trade agreements, and

so on.

That wasn't a discussion I could participate in, so I left them in Shirogane's

care. Ruby, Saph, and Emerl bowed to me as I left for the garden.

I'm not going out to interfere or anything... I just want to take a little peek at

how they're getting along. Just a little one.

I sat down outside the house and synchronized my vision with Kougyoku's.

She was perched atop a tree branch, watching the duo intently. They were

walking alongside each other, but they were still maintaining a respectful

distance.

It seemed like they hadn't broken the ice. From where I was looking, it was

more like they both had good ideas for conversation starters, they just couldn't

find the right moment to talk. I wondered why they didn't just start talking

about magitech, I was sure the conversation would flow naturally if they

brought up their mutual interest.

"I guess they're both pretty inexperienced..."

One party was a fairly spineless man who had been engaged to an abusive old

hag, while the other was a recluse who only really cared about her tinkering. I

had a hard time viewing these people as future leaders.

"You should give them a little push, you know?"

"Eh... I don't wanna interfere."

"But if they get married without knowing each other better, they'll have a

shallow marriage, you know?"

"I mean that's true and all, but... Wait a minute, whoa!"

I blinked in surprise at the sudden appearance of Karen. When the hell did you

get here?!

"I told you not to shield your presence before approaching me. You're gonna

give me a goddamn heart attack!"

"My radar went off, that's all. Although it was a faulty reading, since the

couple isn't really related to you this time, you know?"

Karen, the god of love, frowned a bit. I wish that sensor of yours would break.

"Still, I think a little push would be good for them, you know? Look, the

awkward silences between them are getting longer. It's gonna get bad real

soon, you know?"

Well, you raise a good point... But I can't help but feel like a meddler here. I

didn't really want to do this.

I opened [Storage] and pulled out an Ether Vehicle, then started up its engine.

Karen promptly hopped into the passenger seat, even though I didn't recall

inviting her.

The magical engine within let out a whirring sound as I drove toward the

couple.

"Ah?"

"Grand Duke, what is that?"

The duo didn't seem especially interested in me or Karen. Instead, they were

more focused on the vehicle I'd driven over in.

The ones I'd given to them were based on Fiat 3.5 HPs, but the one I was

driving was based on the Renault Type K.

In 1902, the France-based company, Renault, won a race from Paris to Vienna

with their Type K. The real thing could reach speeds of 125km/hour, but this

one couldn't go that fast. It was just a replica in terms of appearance, really.

To be honest though, depending on how it could be tweaked, this engine

could probably go faster. I just capped out the speed at some point, since the

car's core frame wouldn't be able to handle a massive impact.

I stopped the vehicle and stepped out before the duo. Technically, there were

four of them if you counted the guards, but I couldn't even see their faces.

"This is a different model of Ether Vehicle, isn't it?!"

"Sorry, but could we take a look at the inner workings?"

I nodded to Berlietta and opened the hood of the vehicle. The two of them

stared in awe, almost crashing into each other as they rushed to see the insides.

"Ooh... Three ether lines, I see... But I've never seen this kind of magic engine

before..."

"Isn't this the kind of engine used in the Gardio Empire? By Gritten Corp, as I

recall."

"It's not. That one is slightly larger, and the mechanisms in this one are more

intricate."

"Interesting..."

The two escort knights simply shrugged and sat down nearby. The prince and

princess were engrossed in an incomprehensible conversation.

Magic engines were, as the name would suggest, engines that operated

through magic. But it was very hard for a single human to provide the amount

of magic power necessary to start it. That was why Gollems and their G-Cubes

were necessary in the Reverse World.

The Ether Vehicle worked in a similar way, only it had Ether Liquid for mana

amplification instead of a G-Cube, which allowed it to flow into the engine and

start it up.

Depending on which engine was used, various things would change. For

example, one might be more durable, less noisy, have better horsepower, or

require less liquid. That was what they were finding the most interesting.

"This is a new kind of magical engine made in my world. New vehicles are

being created over there as we speak."

The Type K was made by Rosetta when she was bored. I felt like if Babylon or

Elluka had made one, it would've been something absurd.

There were a few factions like the dwarves, or the engineers from Felsen, that

continued working on new models of Ether Vehicles around the clock. Doctor

Babylon found them interesting, since quite a few unique designs were

sprouting up.

"I was thinking of hosting a race between all the Ether Vehicles that have

been developed by different nations. It'd work as a testing track, basically. We'll

be running it as an experimental run on a track that we're planning out right

now."

Frankly, I needed to put some rules together, along with some health and

safety standards. Didn't want anyone getting hurt.

The race would be about experimenting with how well the Ether Vehicles ran

on a variety of terrains or under a variety of circumstances. I was sure it would

be interesting. We could use magic to make the track safer, but also use that

same magic to make the race more compelling from a viewer's perspective.

For example, we were thinking of floor panels that could slow down the

racers for a while or tunnels that accelerated the driver's speed. We'd also been

experimenting with enchanting the seats with [Teleport], which would move

the riders to a safe location if there was a sudden impact. It was basically like

what we used in the Frame Gears. We decided to use them in the vehicles

because they were much safer than airbags.

"Would you two perhaps like to participate in the race? I think that—"

"Yes! I'd love that!"

"I can't pass up on a chance like this!"

The two of them nodded so hard I thought their heads were gonna fly off.

They were a little too excitable for me...

They wanted to know more about the Type K, so I handed them the

blueprints that Rosetta had drawn up. Doc Babylon and I were lucky, since we

could just use [Analyze].

Though, Doc Babylon would get more out of it than me, since she had the

actual technical understanding.

"Interesting... I didn't know it could be done like this."

"Hmm... But what about short bursts of magic through the piping?"

"That's handled by this part, see?"

"Ooh... Perhaps if we cut out this segment and fed it through..." The two of

them were in their own world now, so I turned and left the garden with my

sister.

"Well, at least they've found common ground to talk about."

"This is just the start, you know? The next step is getting them interested in

each other on a personal level. It won't be any good if their marriage is built on

an interest in your Ether Vehicles, you know?"

She had a point. The hobby alone wouldn't be enough to keep them working

as a good couple. But in the end, that was up to the two of them, and there

were also other matters like circumstances lining up properly, and so on... I

wasn't really qualified as a love expert, but I sure was talking like one.

We entered the house again and found the emperor and queen chatting

casually.

"Oh, Touya. How are they getting along?"

"Pretty well, I think. They're talking at least."

"Mm, I see. That's good to hear."

The two of them sighed breaths of relief. It seemed to me like they were

worried about their kids.

I introduced Karen to the two of them as Shirogane poured us all tea. Then, I

decided to go over the upcoming multidimensional summit.

According to the queen of Strain, the Allent Theocracy had agreed to join,

while the Lassei Military Kingdom was still on the fence. Apparently they found

the whole story of another world hard to believe because they hadn't suffered

any attacks from the mutants, nor had they any refugees who had accidentally

phased in.

Still, I didn't exactly want to wait until they'd been attacked for them to

listen... I decided that convincing them some other way would be best.

"I think it'll be fine. If you show them your strength they'll listen."

"What do you mean, exactly?"

"They're a military kingdom, yeah? Their culture is all about individual

strength trumping all. If you charge at them head-on and show them what

you're made of, they'll definitely respect that."

A country full of musclebrained meatheads, huh...? I bet if I threw uncle

Takeru in there, he'd rise to the top in no time...

"Touya... I can tell what you're thinking, you know? That would definitely be a

bad idea."

"Tsk... I guess."

As usual, Karen could read me like a book. She was right, though. That course

of action would lead to a major incident.

The Panaches Kingdom responded positively, apparently mostly thanks to

their prince. I kept hearing about how he was telling everyone what a good

friend I was to him, but I didn't recall befriending the guy... We just know each

other! As casual acquaintances!

Either way, it was decided that Triharan, Primula, Allent, Panaches, and

hopefully Lassei would be joining us.

As we continued to plan, I got a telepathic message from Kougyoku.

"My lord, we have a problem."

"What's wrong?"

"The two of them are arguing."

"Huh?!"

"Is something wrong?"

The queen noticed my alarm and turned to me in confusion.

"Ah, I'm sorry. I'm receiving a phone call... Excuse me a moment."

I took my smartphone out and pretended to start a conversation with the

static on the other side of the line as I walked out of the room. After I left their

line of sight, I used [Teleport] to warp straight to Kougyoku.

"I told you already! We need to bolster the magic engine first! Then we design

the main body of the car once we've established the limits!"

"No way! You need to balance the car's body first! If we ignore that

procedure, then it'll be totally unsafe!"

"It's not like I'm ignoring the safety procedures, I'm just saying that it's better

to specialize the vehicle than make it all well-balanced!"

"That's just gonna cause more trouble for the driver! Do you want poor

handling? Because that's how you get poor handling. It's not like human drivers

can respond like machines, duh!"

The two of them were engaged in a shouting match. The two knights just sort

of looked at each other uncomfortably, sitting at a short distance away.

Apparently they'd had a falling out when they disagreed over which way to

improve the Ether Vehicle.

"Calm down, you two..."

I tried to settle them both, but they simply stared at me with unified, furious

eyes. It was terrifying.

"Grand Duke, you agree with me, don't you?! We need to increase the output

of the engine first, so that the future models can incrementally have more

horsepower! That would make Ether Vehicles even more powerful over time!"

"He obviously agrees with me, that if such a thing happened, the high-specs

would be completely wasted on the average driver! The best solution is to

create a well-balanced vehicle that just about anyone can drive which will pave

the way forward to more well-rounded models!"

"Sorry, I don't really know much about this subject..."

I wasn't even the creator of this car!

"Fine then, Lupheus! I'll prove to you that my theory is right during the test

race! My vehicle won't lose to yours!"

"Very well, Berlietta! I'll prove to you that speed doesn't matter, it's how you

balance it!"

Uhh... Guys, I haven't even built the racetrack yet. There are gonna be more

participants than just you guys, too...

Clearly, I was misguided when I thought inviting them to race would be a

good idea.

"Okay, you know? I hope you two fight with all your heart, you know?! Make

it a fair race!"

"Wait, hey! Sis, stop! What are you doing?! Why are you encouraging this?"

In a flash, Karen had appeared out of nowhere with her thumbs up. I didn't

want her making this bad situation any worse!

"Goodness me... Love is born from conflict, you know? This is a good chance

for them to get to know each other on a personal level."

"You sure? Seems to me it's more like you just thought it'd be funny to watch

them duke it out..."

Even though Karen had whispered an excuse into my ear, I glared at her with

suspicion. Still, she had a point... They were learning more about each other

already... Sort of.

I wonder if this is really gonna turn out okay... I looked at the two of them,

glaring fearlessly at one another. I had no idea how to feel about all of this.

◇ ◇ ◇

"The track's being planned to go one loop around Drakliff island. Are we good

to add hazards and obstacles?"

"This race is about testing the Ether Vehicles out, so yeah. We want different

kinds of road conditions, and other environmental hazards."

...The test was supposed to be the main part, but it seems like the race is

gradually becoming the focal point.

Doctor Babylon was the one designing the racetrack, since she was the one

gathering the data. I was a little worried about having her in charge of it, but I

was sure that it'd be able to suit our needs.

We were in Babylon's research laboratory, where she had the design

projected up on a monitor. It looked normal at a glance, but I had my doubts...

"Why does the road split here?"

"That's a shortcut. If the driver manages to navigate it well, then they'll get a

major boost. If they don't? Well, I wouldn't want to be them."

"And this part here? Why the gap in the road?"

"That's an area where they'll need to jump. If their car can't go the full

distance, then they're done for."

"...Why's this part in the ocean?"

"Oh, we'll be putting a pier here. It's part of the track where you can't afford

to go off-road. Eheheh."

I quietly reminded Doc Babylon not to go too far, while wondering if things

were really going to be okay.

I wondered how they'd be able to construct the course over on Drakliff island,

but apparently, they were just going to transport mini fabricators from the

workshop. The same kinds of things they used to make Frame Gear ammunition

on the fly.

The mini fabricators weren't quite as complex as the original Workshop, so I

had faith it wouldn't be misused.

"Regina! I've finished it!"

Elluka walked into the research laboratory with Fenrir plodding along after

her.

Hearing that she was also helping design the track just gave me more anxiety.

"Look, guys... safety is paramount here, okay? I don't want anyone crashing

badly and getting hurt."

"It's fine, you silly boy. Even if their Ether Vehicle explodes into smithereens,

I'll ensure that no harm comes to the driver. Have a little faith in your lover,

hm?"

I'm not your damn lover, pipsqueak. I sighed, left the research laboratory, and

left the grinning little doctor to her own devices.

I went to the hangar to speak with Monica, and found her doing maintenance

on an Ether Vehicle along with Rosetta and the minibots.

"Oh, it's like... totally you and stuff, Master. Could I trouble you to pass me

that wrench?"

I passed over the wrench to Monica, who promptly used it to tighten a bolt or

two on a wheel fitting. She let out a deep breath before Rosetta tried turning

the wheel itself.

I looked further into the garage area and saw several chassis and basic

vehicular frames with exposed magic engines. They were all Ether Vehicles with

different designs and specialties.

"All good here?"

"Uhm, yeah. This isn't really all that much compared to Frame Gears. We can

like, totally get all this done even if we used a little bit of our free time and stuff.

What about the doctor?"

"She's designing a weird-ass racetrack."

"Sir! We'll make an Ether Vehicle so well-refined that it'll conquer any kind of

track they throw our way, sir! Yessir we will, just you wait!"

Rosetta puffed hot air through her nose as she stood tall, triumphantly

gripping a spanner in her hands.

The two of them were also planning on participating in the race. They were

gonna be drivers, while Doctor Babylon and Elluka were sticking to course

design. It seemed like they had a feeling of rivalry going on, probably because

they were all in the engineering field.

I didn't write about it in the rules, but the two of them decided that they

weren't going to incorporate any Babylon tech into their Ether Vehicle.

That was what I wanted, though. It would've been pointless to have some

souped-up mega-car enter the race. It needed to be something that any

engineer from either world could reasonably create... Putting aside the Ether

Liquid, at least.

"The dwarves are like, totally making their own stuff too, right? We cannot

afford to lose to them!"

Monica was referring to the group of dwarves that had built the Dverg. They

planned on participating as well.

I was looking forward to seeing what kind of unique vehicle they'd bring to

the table, but I also knew that they'd be pitting it against a terrifying racetrack...

I could only pray that nothing explosive would happen.

Our head maid, Lapis, was also intent on participating. She was extremely

good at handling Ether Vehicles, so we'd be able to collect really interesting

data on her handling in the race.

Nia, leader of the Red Cats, also forced her way into the whole thing

somehow... She was the owner of the red crown, though... I hoped she'd be

able to keep her road rage contained. If she didn't, I was sure that Est would

give her a stern talking to.

The Ether Vehicles for Nia and Lapis were being designed by the hangar-

dwelling duo. The cars didn't look all that flashy, so I wasn't too scared.

Triharan and Strain were participating, obviously... But Felsen also wanted to

participate.

Felsen had always held a claim as one of the most advanced nations in the

world when it came to magical engineering, and they immediately signed up to

assert their dominance in the race.

I figured having a good variety of participants would be fun, and it'd help us

collect more data on different models... But I almost canceled the whole thing

entirely when the nominated driver for Felsen ended up being the king himself.

I couldn't imagine what kind of vehicle that beefy weapon-loving man would

end up driving, but I could only picture it as a dump truck, or some other kind of

beefy construction vehicle.

As I continued to worry about the race and its participants, the days flew by

until the date was nearly upon us...

The Ether Vehicle testing is pretty important, but I hope those two end up

closer together because of this...

I called their parents up to check on them, and apparently, they were working

themselves so ragged that they were even missing out on sleep... Frankly, I

worried about them.