Trouble in the Empire’s Heart Part 2

I was accompanied by Elze, Linze, Yae, Yumina, Kohaku, Kokuyou, and Sango.

His Majesty the King of Belfast, as well as His Highness the Emperor of Regulus

were there as well, accompanied by General Leon, Deputy Commander Neil,

Lyon, and some other members of the Belfastian knight order. And, even

though I didn't want to bring her, Lu was here with Carol as her personal guard.

I told everyone other than my core party to wait here for the time being. I

also left a [Gate] open by them, just in case we needed to perform a tactical

retreat. It was programmed to close one minute after someone went through it,

in order to prevent the enemy army from invading through it. I didn't think it'd

come to that, though.

"Now, for the declaration of war... Uhh... Video playback. In the sky above this

city."

"Understood. Playback initiating." A great big screen was projected across the

sky over the empire's capital. It was about two hundred meters across. It was

definitely big enough to see at a distance, I didn't think it'd be appropriate to

have such a large screen at close range, anyway.

I also included a loud audio track alongside the video, since I had to be sure

that everyone below paid attention. The music I chose was Wagner's "Ride of

the Valkyries." I reduced the volume of the backing music and faded in the

audio from the video that we had recorded earlier that morning. The emperor

appeared on the video feed.

"People of the Empire's Heart. I am the Regulus Empire's ruler, Zephyrus Loah

Regulus. The situation is this. The standing army has staged a violent military

coup. Please accept my most sincere apologies for the carnage caused in their

name. I intend to quell this rebellion once and for all, so please stay safe until

then. Be at ease, and rest easy. As I speak, my warriors make steps to retake the

city from the insurgents. Remain within your homes."

"Goodness, is that what I sound like?" The emperor turned to his daughter,

seeming quite surprised. I shouldn't have been too surprised he reacted this

way. Few people in this world had heard their own voices, after all.

"Now, this is a message for the army staging the coup. I have my faults, I will

readily admit that. And so, I will let your voices be heard, but this is not the way

to get my attention. I will offer you one chance to surrender. If you remove your

uniforms now, you will be pardoned. But for those of you who are still clad in

your military uniforms by the time I count to ten... Well, I assure you my

judgment shall be swift. The count begins now. One... two..." A smaller screen

was projected in front of me, showing the uniformed soldiers marked in red on

the map. The city was packed full of them, but one by one their numbers

dropped. It seemed that many of them were listening to the emperor, and

discarding their uniforms.

"The men who remain in their uniforms... are we to attack them?"

"We've no choice. But I'd prefer you to attack to detain or maim, rather than

kill."

"Very well." The emperor image, high above our heads, continued counting

up to ten. As he did, the red dots on my map began to reduce in number. Two

thirds of the capital was still red, however.

"Nine... and ten. Your opportunity to surrender has now ended. We will

proceed to retake the capital by force." The giant screen disappeared alongside

the giant emperor. A trumpet began to blare. This time it was Suppe's "Light

Cavalry Overture."

Alrighty, time to begin.

"Lock on to the uniformed soldiers. Invoke [Paralysis]."

"Understood... Target lock confirmed. Invoking [Paralysis]." There were

various shrieks that echoed out across the capital city, but I noticed something

strange. The red dots didn't decrease in number at all.

What the hell is going on here? Oh, wait... obviously. Paralyzing them doesn't

change who they are. Soldiers are soldiers, regardless of whether or not they

can walk.

"Display incapacitated soldiers as yellow pins."

"Understood." About half of the pins transformed into yellow ones. Less than

I expected, actually. I figured that a surprising amount of soldiers had either

magical talismans on them, or abnormally high magic resistance. That wasn't

promising.

"Touya-dono, over there!" Yae pointed over at the castle. The enormous

Demon Lord was rampaging over it. Surrounding it was a massive swarm of

demons, both in the sky and on the ground. There were a lot of them, a lot of

different types too. I counted dozens upon dozens of them on my screen.

"Heh, I think it's time we called out our own cavalry." I focused my magic, and

a magic circle appeared on the ground.

"Rend forth, Darkness. I seek a Guardian of Hell: [Cerberus]!" A dark mist

began to ooze and pool from the magic circle, and a three-headed dog crawled

out from it. Right now it was the size of a regular dog, but once it switched to

battle mode it'd be the size of a lion.

I continued to call out the various creatures I had spent most of yesterday

afternoon contracting with.

I called out groups of Lizardmen, a gang of Griffins, a troupe of Armored

Turtles, a band of Blood Ligers, a platoon of Power Bear, and a regiment of

Lizard Knights. By their powers combined, they were my very own monster

army.

Come to think of it, is it really fair to call Kohaku and the others Heavenly

Beasts? All we summoned were terrifying monsters! I guess I shouldn't think too

hard about it. I decided not to dwell on the issue, instead choosing to issue my

next command.

"Target lock. The demons. Invoke [Shining Javelin]."

"Understood. Invoking [Shining Javelin]." Several magic circles appeared in

the sky, and light rained down upon my foes... But the demons were unscathed.

"The attacks were repelled by an invisible barrier. No effect recorded."

Well, that's not surprising. The Demon Lord offers magical resistance to

everything on its side. Just means we'll have to lay a physical smackdown on

them.

"Summoned beasts, you follow the orders of Kohaku, Kokuyou, and Sango.

Yae and Elze, you join them. Yumina, Linze, you stand in the back lines with

Cerberus and use long-ranged attacks through magic and guns. I'll make a

beeline for the Demon Lord and the general."

Kokuyou, Sango, and Kohaku suddenly vanished in a puff of smoke. A popping

sound rang out, and they reappeared in their full forms. It'd been a long time

since they were last in their true forms, so I told them they could go all-out.

"Alright, I'll be off."

"...I'll be counting on you." I looked back at the emperor and informed him of

my plans. Then, I hopped along the rooftops and headed for the front lines.

Elze, Yae, Sango, Kokuyou, and the ground troops charged along the city

streets. Meanwhile, Kohaku, myself, and the Griffins made our way up along

the rooftops toward a group of incoming flying demons.

"Don't overdo it now, and remember... aim for their wings. The guys on the

ground should be able to take them out once they fall." I issued orders to the

Griffins. The ground-based demons were engaging the others in the streets

already, and a second group of flying ones was already inbound. I needed to

take out the airborne ones as soon as possible.

"Erm... John, wait, are you John or Paul? Oh, George? Alright, uh... You three

take the left flank. Ringo? You take the right!" The Griffins let out a war cry as

they charged from two different sides. Griffins all looked the same to me, so it

wasn't exactly my fault! I made a mental note to buy them some differently

colored collars.

As I jumped from roof to roof, I reached into [Storage] and pulled out a

mithril greatsword. It was forty centimeters wide, and about two meters long.

Mithril was light by default, and it became even lighter when I reduced its

weight through [Gravity]. It turned this massive blade into a one-hander.

I used [Boost] to leap up high above an enemy demon. Then, as I plunged

down toward it, I invoked [Gravity] to massively increase the weight of my

weapon.

It was so powerful that the demon was cleaved in half instantly. I quickly

changed the weight again and reduced it to a manageable amount.

Being able to change the weight of my weapon on the fly was exceptionally

useful. A demon charged me from the right, so I quickly cleaved it in half, but it

was a horizontal slice this time, rather than a vertical.

I needed to make sure the timing was right or I could really hurt my arms. I

felt like I was getting the hang of it, though. Honestly I might've even been fine

without using [Gravity], since the sword was doing a good job of slicing things.

Kohaku leaped up near me and sliced off a demon's wings with a set of

fearsome claws.

"Kohaku! I'll leave the rest to you!"

"Very well! Good luck to you, my liege!"

I combined [Boost] and [Accel] to quickly make a beeline for the castle. I

reasoned that if I could defeat the general, all the demons would disappear and

the fight would be won.

I jumped from roof to roof, using the momentum to propel myself into the

castle courtyard. After I touched down, a group of soldiers immediately

surrounded me.

I quickly jumped up in the air and pulled out Brunhild, firing a salvo of

paralysis bullets toward the men in the vicinity.

Well, if [Paralysis] doesn't work, then I guess these bullets are useless too. I'll

have to hold back against them for the time being.

I had aroused the Demon Lord's attention. It turned toward me and fired

some kind of red beam out of its eyes.

Holy shit! The beam hit an area on the ground near me. It was smoldering. It

has laser eyes?!

It kept firing waves of heat at me from a distance, while the smaller demons

swarmed me from all angles.

I managed to cleave them apart fairly easily using my mithril greatsword. The

normal demons were definitely not very strong. They were more of a pain in

that ass than anything else, actually.

The Demon Lord finally stopped its barrage of heat. Guh... about damn time.

Electricity suddenly began to build up around its body. Seemed the Demon

Lord's horns were acting as some kind of lightning rod. Eventually, it built up a

huge charge, and light flashed around its body in various enormous swirling

masses.

I have no idea what it's doing, but it doesn't look safe at all... It's gotta be

charging something up, right?!

"Gruuugaaaaaaaah!!!" It attacked and let out what appeared to be several

snaking blasts of lightning. I avoided the attacks, but they hit a building behind

me and wreaked absolute havoc on a small neighborhood. Now it has a laser

barrage...?

This was some next-level stuff. It must've been the Demon Lord's ultimate

attack. If it kept up like this, it could level the entire city.

"Nngh." I felt a sudden sensation. My magical energy was being drawn out of

my body. Is it absorbing my energy to make up for the charge it just let off? Is

the general nearby and doing this?

Even if my magical power was absorbed, I'd be able to recover it nearinstantly. In other words, the Demon Lord could launch as many bolts as it

wanted.

It was a never-ending attack. It could make use of my own magic and use it

against me.

I used [Accel Boost] to dash up the side of the castle wall like a ninja, then

bounced off it.

I jumped up high above the monster's head and turned my blade toward it.

Then, I swung down the mithril greatsword right on its head.

"Time to sleep!" I brought the blade crashing down, and the Demon Lord fell

to the ground. Even if it nullified magic, that meant nothing. This was still a

sword, magic effect or not.

Though it clearly took harm, it didn't seem to be seriously hurt. Well, one of

its horns was sliced open, at least. To survive a blow like that, it must've been

hardy indeed. It clearly had a thick skull.

The Demon Lord tried to steady itself with its arm and get back up, which was

when I unloaded my final assault.

"[Slip]." Its arm slipped, bringing it crashing to the ground and exposing its

shoulders and back. I leaped into action, cleaving off its wings with my blade.

"GyAaAAaauuUuuuUuggGGghhh!!!" As the Demon Lord screamed, I finished

off the job by firing numerous [Slip] bullets at its feet.

The Demon Lord began to fall forever. It couldn't fly away, as it no longer had

wings. Nobody could possibly come to its aid.

Every time the beast fell, the ground rumbled and quaked. I'd have to

apologize to anyone living in the vicinity later on.

Leaving the Demon Lord behind, I jumped up to the grand balcony. General

Bazoar was up there, pale-faced and horrified.

"Ready for your divine punishment, General?"

"Wh-Who are you?! That was a Greater Demon! One man alone cannot

possibly hope to...!"

"It doesn't matter what you say, bozo. I still did it." As I spoke, I gestured to

the Demon Lord, which was still falling into infinity.

It did take a lot more than I expected, though... My mithril sword is all bent

out of shape after that last attack! It's seriously damaged...

"Hmph... you won't be doing the same to me, however! My Blockbracer

makes physical strikes meaningless, and I still have the ability to nullify spells!

Even if that were to fail, my Drainbracer still absorbs any incoming magic

anyway!"

Tch... guess he's aware of how my [Slip] works now... Suppose that means he

won't be dancing to the same tune if I use it again.

"The emperor didn't die, but it matters not. This is no longer his domain! I will

become the new emperor. And then, I shall use the power of the demons to

strike down Refreese, Belfast, Mismede, and all the other western nations!

Under one banner, the Regulus Empire will be reborn! Reborn as the Bazoar

Empire!" The general began to laugh like a madman.

How does he expect to maintain his army, exactly? He can't just keep

sacrificing people, it's not sustainable! This man is completely delusional, there's

no saving him.

I saw no other options, so I elected to remove that from my storage. My

secret weapon, a three-by-three meter cube, was now sitting on the balcony.

Aside from the base, it was entirely made of a transparent, glass-like material.

You could clearly see inside.

In the middle of this transparent box was a disgusting-looking Slime creature.

It was discolored and almost looked toxic. Still, despite the coloration, it wasn't

actually poisonous at all. In fact, it was mostly harmless. Mostly harmless.

"Wh-What is that thing?"

"This, my friend, is a Sludge Slime. They're a wonderful little part of a

standard ecosystem. They live in water and clean it up. But, they do have one

quite horrible thing about them. About one hour after death, they begin to

exude one of the most foul odors known to man. Well, it's supposed to go away

after two hours, or so they say... But this one? Well, it died just about an hour

ago." As I explained, I smiled at the general and gave him a sidelong glare.

"Y-You wouldn't dare..."

"[Gate]." A magical circle appeared beneath the general and he sank into it

like quicksand. It didn't target him directly, so the nullification didn't activate. It

was a spell that connected two places, after all... And my glorious scheme all

hinged on where I'd just sent him.

The general instantly reappeared inside the glass box. And then, the show

began.

"GHAGUAAAAAUUUGH!" From within the thick iron plating I had enchanted

to look like glass, the general began to scream. He pinched his nose tight, but it

was too late. His face turned paler than before and he began to sweat bullets.

"Ghaugh!! Wh-What's this smell?! It— N-No! Please! It hurts! I-It hurts!" It

must've stunk just as bad as I thought it would in there. The general began to

turn purple.

My original world had something known as surstromming. It was a kind of

fermented herring. The smell was said to be among the most atrocious in

reality. But it seemed that the smell of the Sludge Slime was even worse than

that. The general looked about ready to pass out already. I raised my brow

slightly as I watched the man struggle. He attempted to focus his magic on one

of the windows, but he fumbled it. It was impossible for him to channel vast

magical energy with one hand, and he had his right hand firmly planted around

his nose. Eventually, he gave up and began to sit in the corner of the box,

rocking back and forth. He was crying.

I wondered if he was trying to wait it out, but I knew it'd be futile.

His surroundings were entirely composed of the foul stench. His face

contorted in disgust and agony every time he took a breath. All he could inhale

was the fetid, noxious odor of defeat.

"Auugh!!! Make it stop!!!" His stoic facade began to crumble. His face was

slick with tears, sweat, and snot. There was a small [Gate] at the top of the box

to allow fresh air inside, since I didn't want him suffocating. I connected it to an

unsettled place high in the mountains, so at most it would've upset some

animals.

He began to convulse. He could no longer even concentrate on his own

breathing. He fell to his knees and slumped forward. The whites of his eyes

were showing, as they had rolled back into his head. He was completely passed

out.

I had originally considered just sending him into the middle of the sea

somewhere, but... He'd surely just summon the Demon Lord again and have it

fly him off.

Then, I considered burying him in this box at the bottom of the sea, but I'd

never been there, so wasn't like opening the [Gate] would be especially easy,

either.

Alright, guess he's done, I'll transport him out now... I opened up a [Gate] and

warped him out, but I immediately regretted it.

"Ghaughaguh!?" What the hell is that smell?! It smells like a bunch of trash

took a dump on a pile of used sanitary products! HOLY HELL MAKE IT STOP. I

immediately closed the [Gate], but the smell didn't stop. It's coming from the

general? Gross!

I quickly yanked the bracers off of him and put him back inside the container.

The Sludge Slime was said to stop exuding a stink after being dead for two

hours, but I seriously wondered otherwise about things the smell had infested.

The stench was so strong that I was worried it'd never go away.

In seconds flat, the demon army vanished. The Demon Lord stopped slipping

and faded into nothingness, too. With the bracers gone, the magical supply line

had been cut.

With that, the demons were vanquished. Only the regular army remained.

I decided to open up a [Gate] and call the emperor and others through.

"You've actually done it... Incredible..." The emperor spoke in an astonished

tone, staring at the general all the while.

"I-It certainly smells rather foul." Lyon held his nose as he spoke.

"Sorry, it's the Sludge Slime's death stench... A little bit of the stink ended up

getting out. Geez, it's pretty potent." The stink wafted out from the two

Artifacts that the general once wore.

The Drainbracer and Blockbracer, huh...? They're useful tools, no doubt about

that, but... They stink. They stink really badly. Even my fingers stink slightly, and

I barely touched them.

Given that this was the state of the bracelets, I dreaded to think about the

general himself.

The Belfastian Knights headed underground to the dungeon to free the

Regulus Knights. As they did that, the emperor and I set up on the balcony for

another broadcast. We needed to update the people about the situation, after

all.

This time, the broadcast was live. I held up my smartphone and started

filming the emperor.

"Citizens of the Empire's Heart, I apologize for what has transpired this day.

The leader of the coup has been detained, and our capital city is once more in

the hands of the just. Thank you for your understanding." The projection

panned over to show the general. He was unconscious, eyes rolled over white,

snot running down his face, and drool leaking from his mouth. I hoped that the

other members of the army would surrender after seeing something so horrid.

This might be seen as a little cruel, but... it's necessary.

"I promise to you now that I will work harder. This shall never again happen to

us as a people. From the bottom of my heart, please accept my sincere

apologies. I am truly sorry." The emperor bowed his head slightly.

Huh, he's apologetic... I had honestly heard he was quite arrogant, but

perhaps the illness had instilled some humility in him.

After the broadcast, the emperor looked over the general with sad eyes.

"Is something wrong?"

"It is nothing... I just feel this man is a pitiful sort. His feelings for the empire

were sincere, I know that much. He joined the army at a young age and wanted

to make a real difference. In some ways he reminds me of myself when I was

younger. Had I not fallen ill, I may have ended up treading a similar path. It

makes me sad to think about it..."

"Even so, this man's crimes are unforgivable." He summoned a legion of

demons and monsters. Each one was summoned at the cost of several human

lives, meaning he had to have slaughtered many people in his mad campaign.

Not all of those people were condemned to jail or execution, either. And

honestly, it wouldn't really have been okay even if they were.

"I understand it well. A crime is a crime. He must atone for his sins. He has

caused great sorrow to our people, and I will show no leniency." The emperor

let out a small, sad laugh. He was a victim in all of this too, after all.

"Milord!" A group of knights charged out onto the balcony and prostrated

themselves immediately.

Oh, were these the ones who were confined in the dungeon? An older, blackhaired man with one eye came forward and bowed down on one knee.

"Milord, how can this be?! You seem to be in full spirits once more!"

"I am rather well, Knight Commander Gaspar! It's all thanks to the amazing

young Touya, here. By his might, I am restored to full strength. It is also by his

might that General Bazoar was vanquished!"

"What?!" The knight commander stared at me, wide-eyed and shocked. The

emperor simply nodded and smiled. I wasn't so sure that it was down to me,

but... I figured it was probably that [Recovery] spell I cast.

Elze and Yae showed up, riding on Kohaku's back. He was in his full form, after

all. Sango and Kokuyou were floating nearby, but they were in their mini-forms.

"It's all done, for now at least. Most of the soldiers collapsed!" Elze hopped

off Kohaku and reported in.

Good. I'm glad the remaining soldiers have been taken care of. Even better to

see these two are safe and sound.

"Now then, detain the unconscious soldiers. However, spare those that

surrendered their arms during the initial call."

"Yes, Milord!" The emperor issued an order to Knight Commander Gaspar,

who departed at once.

I guess the riots'll die down now... I'm glad that nothing major ended up

happening in the end. Now I've got nothing to do but leave it to the people of

the empire.

Oh, whoops... I gotta recall all those creatures I summoned first, don't I...

All of the Regulus Empire's soldiers who had collapsed were rounded up and

placed in custody. They were immediately dishonorably discharged from the

standing army, then interrogated about their other potential crimes.

Aside from a specific band of instigators, it was found that most soldiers

simply went along with orders and didn't partake in any serious criminal

activity. Naturally, those who deliberately instigated the rebellion would be

subject to the most grave of sentencings, but those who participated would

have to be punished as well. Still, I was sure they'd be thankful to learn they

weren't going to be killed, at the very least.

The emperor ordered the remaining troops out to the various towns and

cities within the country. Peacekeeping was the number one priority for the

coming days, it seemed.

The captive heads of state were also freed from their confines. General

Romero brought the crown prince back to the palace as well. When the boy saw

me, he was taken aback. He really was the kid that I saved back during the crisis.

He had disguised himself as a knight in order to escape the castle, but

because of that outfit he found himself under attack by the rebel soldiers.

I wasn't thoroughly impressed by what I saw in him, to be honest. He didn't

have much of a commanding presence... But he did seem to have a gentle

heart, so I was sure he'd turn out alright.

"We are truly, so truly, in your debt this day. Touya, you most dignified man...

you have not only saved my life, but the life of my only son and daughter.

Please, name your price. How might I reward you for this feat?"

"Please don't worry about it, it just happened to turn out this way, honestly...

It was more coincidence than heroism or anything." I politely declined the

emperor's ludicrous offer. I didn't really want anything at all from him. After

hearing that, however, the king of Belfast let out a chuckle.

"Such things matter not to my boy Touya. Indeed, we tried to give him a

noble position in Belfast, but he declined that as well. In the end, we managed

to settle on a sizable home and a lump sum... But I'd prefer for him to settle on

my daughter! Hohoho!"

"Ohoho... Then how about this, I would be honored if you would accept my

Lucia. If both the princesses of Belfast and Regulus were joined to the same

man, it would create a more powerful unification between the two nations than

there has ever been before!"

"Now hold on a moment there." The discussion started to go to weird places,

so I was about to tell them to knock it off. Instead, however, Yumina was the

one to speak up. I wondered what she was going to say.

"This is no mere political arrangement, I have spoken with Princess Lucia. She

feels the same as I and the others do about Touya, and would therefore be

more than happy to become his fiancee. You are indeed right, it would improve

relations between our nations, but what's important here is that it's what she

wants as well." I was dumbstruck. What the hell was Yumina saying?

"I... think it's fine, too..." uttered Elze.

"Y-Yes, as do I," chimed Linze.

"I have no objections to such an arrangement, I do not," spoke Yae. All the

other girls who were engaged to marry me had spoken up in support of this

new addition.

All I could think of in that moment was the simple line, "Et tu, Brute?" I'd

been betrayed on the deepest possible level! I mean, why weren't they

considering my feelings in the matter?!

"W-Wait just a darned minute, don't I get a say in this?!" The conversation

seemed to be heading on a one-way track to "Touya's opinions are invalid," so I

had to say something! In response, Lyon simply shrugged his shoulders and

smiled wryly at me.

"Hmph... really, Sir Touya... this is your own fault, in a way."

"What? How could this possibly be my fault?!"

"From the first moment I met you, Sir Touya, I realized that your power is

abnormal. For a single country to be tied to such a... superhuman, it would only

be perceived as a threat on an international scale. Try to see this from our

perspective. If you're viewed as dangerous, then Belfast would be viewed as

dangerous. But if you were engaged to the princess of Regulus as well? Well,

then we'd be able to say your power isn't simply consolidated in one place, and

that you aren't going to instigate some kind of horrific war."

"The Empire is the Empire, and the Kingdom is the Kingdom. No shady

political dealings. It is a simple political alliance using Sir Touya's body!" Knight

Commander Gaspar continued on from where Lyon had left off. I could

understand what they meant, but my opinion still had to count for something,

surely! I glanced over at Lu, who was blushing madly and playing with her hair.

Every so often she'd shoot a glance my way, as well. Ah, crap.

"Ahaha! Touya, my boy! There's no real difference between the number four

and the number five, is there? What's there to worry about, lad?!"

"W-Well, even so, I don't..." General Leon strutted over and smacked me hard

on the back in his usual fashion. He seemed very upbeat about this whole thing.

I couldn't really think of a way out of the situation. But we've only known each

other for two days, isn't this a little sudden?! It's a huge commitment...! Wait, I

also got engaged to Yumina the same day I met her, didn't I...? I-I guess that

means... It's okay...?

"What of you, Lucia my love? Are you against marrying brave young Touya?"

"Not even slightly, Father! I'm so happy that I might burst with pride and

faint! I've never felt this excited in my life! I-I wish to be his and his alone!" Her

hands were clasped in front of her chest, her eyes were practically glittering...

there was steam shooting out of her nose...!

Oh, damn it... I don't think I can get out of this at all, huh?

I couldn't really begin to grasp how people in this world viewed marriage. In

my world it was more of a sacred institution between two people, but here... it

seemed much more light-hearted. Part of me was a little afraid of just how

different this world was from my old one on a social level.

"Well then, what say you? Will you accept my Lucia into your arms and take

her as your bride?"

"Hrmph... w-well, can we at least wait until I'm eighteen until any ceremonies

happen, please?"

"That's no problem to me! It's settled, then." It's not like we actually had to

wait until I was eighteen or anything, but I needed to put up some kind of

resistance or I'd look like a complete pushover.

Gah, Lu's running off to join the other girls already?! Th-They became friends

pretty fast, huh... What is this, a "let's marry Touya" club?!

"Very well, then. I would like to offer you another reward alongside this,

naturally. Now that my Empire and the Kingdom of Belfast are on equal footing,

I'm sure we'll have a lasting alliance." What the emperor said was something

truly astounding. With this, almost all of the major western powers would be

unified. Belfast, Mismede, Refreese, and now Regulus, all connected

peacefully...

"In addition, we will formally announce your engagement to both Lucia and

my Yumina in both nations. Due to this, it is prudent that we grant you a true,

proper title. I spoke with the emperor of Regulus, and we've both agreed to

split off some of our own territories and grant the combined land portion to

you."

"I'm sorry, what?" I'm having trouble processing what was said just now.

Giving me a portion of each country's territory? It's gonna be a pain in the ass if

they want me to rule over some place like a lord or something...

"It's less of a bestowment of land, and more of a transferal of territory. In

other words, we intend to form a small country between the border of Regulus

and Belfast. The sovereign of this freshly-birthed nation will be you, Touya.

Please be just and kind in your rule."

"Excuse me?!" Founding a country? Wait?! Sovereign?! Me, what?! Stop!

"Well, we say it's a country but there are no people to rule over quite yet. It's

a fairly uninhabited stretch of land, and under your rule it will be bound by the

laws of neither Regulus nor Belfast. Our two countries, in support of your

fledgling nation, will naturally sign a peace treaty with you as well. Whatever

happens within that country, we vow not to interfere. The country will be solely

yours, Touya. With this, the issue of your social standing is completely invalid,

and you may marry both princesses without any concerns!"

So what, kind of like the Vatican? Or I guess it'd be more like a sovereign

duchy or a principality... Augh, I really don't know about this...

"Touya, my boy. Can you pull up that map?"

"Huh? Er, sure. Display map."

"Understood. Displaying map." I was unsure what the king wanted exactly,

but I did as he asked and let the map project itself in the air.

Belfast was on the left, and Regulus was on the right. The king pointed his

finger at the border line between them.

"Now, between our great nations is the Melicia Mountain Range. It extends

down a good way, but at the bottom here is a forest and a great plain. Although

the land is fertile, there are many demonic beasts that infest the area. For that

reason, neither country has involved itself in that territory very much. To the

south of that area is a road that will become the nexus of trade between the

two nations. That's where we'll found your country!"

What?! Didn't you just say that place is infested with man-eating monsters?

"You plan on having us settle in a dangerous place like that?"

"Now now, nobody said you have to actually live there. That being said, that

area's completely independent and out of our hands now. Even if something

happened there, neither Regulus nor Belfast could do a thing. Even if a group of

brigands holed up there and used it as their base of operations, it's completely

out of our jurisdiction. Touya, my boy. You'd be the grand duke, so the

responsibility of clearing out the mess falls to you." Both the emperor and the

king were grinning ear-to-ear.

You no-good crooks... you've saddled me with cleaning out your new trade

route, haven't you?! After the alliance is announced, a lot more people will start

to take the only road between the two nations. So this is your plan to make the

path safe, is it? You... bastards!

Wait, was this their plan the whole time? Did they just offer Lu up so I'd fall

into the palms of their hands?! These guys are seriously scary... I walked right

into it!

"I feel like I'm being cheated here, but..."

"No, no! Perish the thought. It's a rich and plentiful area with wide borders.

The people passing through it will receive safety and peace of mind, and in turn

you'll receive status, praise, and accolades. Isn't that good in itself?"

So that's how it is, huh...? I feel like these two are using me, but whatever.

They're a little too conniving for my tastes, but I guess I can understand. They've

both had troubles with their neighbors in the past, so having me there would be

good for peace of mind.

Hmph... It's not that bad of a deal, I guess... In order to marry both of the girls,

I do need a suitable position. Plus, it's not like there are any citizens there to

worry about, either... Not to mention the fact that having a large expanse of

land I can do whatever I want with is definitely a plus. Well, why not? Having a

country of my own might come in handy.

"Yeah, fair enough, then. You just want me there to make it safe, right? I'll do

it."

"Our apologies, lad. In that case, we shall formally declare the formation of a

new nation! Both countries shall formally recognize your right to rule!"

Right to rule, huh... I can't even begin to imagine how I'll be as a head of state.

Well, I don't really have that many responsibilities to deal with, I guess. Am I

gonna have to build a castle?

"You have finally taken a royal position, you have. Our husband-to-be is truly

magnificent, he is..."

"I know, right? I never thought he'd take it this far, but it's seriously amazing!"

Yae and Elze began chattering with each other. In all honesty, I never expected

anything like this to happen, either. I think I was more shocked than they were.

"Uhm, what do you want to do in regards to the name of the new nation?"

Linze looked over at me, asking an important question that I hadn't really

considered.

Uhh... a name? Maybe... Mochizukiland? N-No, that's way too embarrassing!

No way...

Nihon? Eh, that's a little uninspired... Japan? Japang...? Ugh... None of these

really feel good as names at all! Oh... wait, maybe...

"Brunhild... I think. The Duchy of Brunhild."

"Isn't Brunhild the name you gave to that weapon of yours, Touya?"

"Yeah. Though where I come from, it's a derivative name taken from a

legendary shieldmaiden." Yeah, the Duchy of Brunhild... Sounds pretty nice, if I

do say so myself. Plus, it's more like a micro-nation than a real kingdom, so it's

more like I'm just giving my land a fancy name.

"The Brunhild Duchy, was it? A rather splendid name. Very well, the Kingdom

of Belfast will formally support this fledgling nation in an alliance!"

"Indeed. As will the Regulus Empire."

"Now then, shall we get to work on making the land safe?"

Just how big is the territory, anyway? I better use my phone to check, just to

be sure. Just as I'd asked, the phone read back the exact size.

"Total Size: Approximately four hundred and ten square kilometers." I

honestly have no idea what that means... Lemme compare it to the size of the

23 Special Wards in Tokyo... I ran a search for the size of that, and the phone

told me it was around six hundred and nineteen square kilometers.

Wait what?! That means my country's about two thirds the size of the special

wards?! That's a little much, isn't it?!

◇ ◇ ◇

"There's really nothing around, huh?" We looked over the forest and the

plain. There were some hilly areas, as well as the mountains off in the distance.

There was also a river nearby, so that was nice.

We'd decided to go and visit the land that Regulus and Belfast had oh-sograciously bestowed upon me. I found it to be rather barren. Though, to be

honest, that was better than it being too noisy.

"Alrighty then... Run search. Monstrous creatures that could cause potential

harm to human beings."

"Understood. Displaying." With several "pings," red markers dotted

themselves all over the surrounding area on the map. There were a lot. I mean

it is a huge area, so it's not too surprising... I guess? But I didn't even include

lesser monsters in the search query! Now it was simply a matter of figuring out

what to do.

"Should I just wipe them all out at once with magic, maybe?"

"If you dealt with them all like that, I-I'm not so sure it'd turn out well..."

Yumina furrowed her brow.

Hmph, I guess... if I did that, then there'd be a huge pile of dead bodies.

Carnivorous animals might eat some of them, but I highly doubt they'd be able

to clear all that meat before it became an issue. The smell would definitely end

up being a major problem for everyone. Plus, it's more likely that the

carnivorous ones would be the ones being killed in the first place.

I considered just sending them somewhere through a [Gate] or something,

but that would cause trouble for the people on the other side. I thought about

just sending them all into the sea to drown, but then Elze spoke up.

"Some of those monsters might have valuable raw materials, you can't just

send them off like that!" She had a point, too. Sending off monsters like that

would mean less potential finances for us. Teleporting them to the sea was a

needlessly wasteful act.

Even so, since we were looking over the territory from Babylon, it was

possible to make a [Gate] anywhere down there, so I didn't want to waste that

opportunity...

"What if we used [Gate] to teleport dead ones to us? We could defeat them,

and then transport them here... Then we can harvest them manually for

materials... But uh... what about the dead bodies?"

"It would be good for the natural order of things if we spread their corpses

across the mountains and countryside, it would. So long as there are not too

many, we could provide food for the animals, and nutrition for the ground and

plants, we could."

Hm, let's just do that then. Yae's sense seemed fair enough to me, so I rolled

with it.

"Let's do it, then. Target Lock. Invoke [Shining Javelin]."

"Understood. Invoking [Shining Javelin]."

"I-Is it finally over...?" I'm done, damn it... Harvesting materials from monsters

is too difficult...! Every monster has different parts and different features with

different values. It's way too much to keep track of! Fangs, claws, hides? How

am I meant to know what all of this is worth?!

Partway through we quickly realized that we weren't the best-equipped to be

determining exactly what was worth what, so we called over Will, Logan, and

Rebecca from the capital. We decided to give them half of the harvest, so they

graciously accepted the job.

I also called over my maid, Cecile, and my gardener, Julio. Then, I grabbed

Lyon for good measure, because he was off-duty today. Honestly, it was a

pretty decent part-time job for them.

Lyon ripped, tore, and furiously shredded the monsters apart. Something

made me think he seriously needed the cash. Something to do with Olga,

perhaps... Was he getting engaged, I wondered. The polar opposite of Lyon's

enthusiasm was Lu, who was clearly struggling to take apart the dead animals. I

decided to give her a helping hand.

I was surprised by how well she took to it once she got a handle on it, though.

She seemed to be pretty skilled in preparation.

"You're a princess, so it's only natural. This is your first time doing something

like this, right?"

"Yes, it is. But I still want to do it to the best of my ability. I wish not to be a

burden to you, dear Touya. I wish to be as much of a help as the others." After

she said that, I gave her a little pat on the head. She blushed a bit red. Heh,

she's a cutie...

The third princess of the Regulus Empire, Lucia Leah Regulus, became my

fiancee. At the same time, on Yumina's recommendation, she came to live with

me in Belfast.

I thought the same around the time I met Yumina, but the princesses of this

world sure had a lot of autonomy...

She wasn't wearing a big regal outfit like she was the first time I met her,

either. She was wearing some more easily-manageable clothing.

She wore a long-sleeved shirt with a big bow about the neck, and black tights

under a white pleated skirt. At her waist, behind her back, were two holstered

short-swords.

From what I understood, Lu was a dual-wielder. It seemed she had learned a

little about the style from Carol and developed a taste for it. Her magical

aptitude was completely in the red, so no spells for her.

Apparently Yae tried training her a little, but Lu just wasn't compatible. Since

twin blades were based on speedy and deceptive movement, it was only natural

it wouldn't mesh with Yae's samurai style.

I certainly wondered if she'd be fine with just two swords on her side... But I

decided that it'd be better to wait and see her in action.

"Well, now the really dangerous stuff is taken care of..." I fired up my map

app again, just to be sure. Not a single hit registered in the area. Mission

accomplished.

However, I had a sudden thought and decided to run a search for humans in

the vicinity. Sure enough, there was a whole bunch of them in the forest...

Do people really live out here? It's kinda dangerous, so I didn't think this was a

place someone could call home...

"It's likely a band of brigands." Lyon let out a mutter as he looked the map

over.

"Really?"

"From what I've heard there have been a lot of bandit attacks in the

surrounding territories lately... Such a gathering of them is surely their main

base of operations. They likely have a great price upon their heads." The forest

was huge, and dangerous, so logically it made sense as a place for cutthroats to

hide. If there were enough of them, and they were tough, they'd be fine to

repel the monsters.

"...So what should we do?" Linze spoke up, as if she didn't know already that

we'd be clearing them out. This place was to be part of my territory, after all, so

clearing out bad people was for the best.

"Well, I'll go take care of it."

"Mind if I accompany you?" Surprisingly, Lyon offered to tag along. I had no

reason to say no, so I let him. We left the handling of the monster bodies to

everyone else, and the two of us walked off to the hideout. It was only a thirty

minute trip on foot, so there was no need to overcomplicate the travel method.

"Heh, you're after the bounty, aren't you?"

"H-Huh? Aah... ahaha, well... Guess you figured me out, Sir Touya." Lyon

chuckled a little, scratching the back of his head all the while. I could feel the

desire to earn money emanating from him when he was stripping the monsters

bare, so this was only natural.

"Are you saving up for an engagement ring to get Olga?"

"Ah, no... I-I've actually already given her one of those."

"You serious?!" I was completely taken aback. Talk about left field. He

might've had it in mind since the beginning, but isn't he moving things a little bit

too quickly? It didn't take me long to realize I was in no position to speak about

that of all things.

"Wow, man... congratulations. So then, why are you trying so hard to get

money?"

"Well, weddings are quite expensive... as will be cost of living after the fact.

Ideally, I'd like to purchase a home for the two of us." Lyon let out a slightly

worried laugh, but he seemed happy all the same. I understood his feelings well

enough, money was definitely necessary to maintain a happy married life.

"Can't your parents help you out?"

"Ah, well... my folks believe in cutting your own path in life, and her folks

believe that money is something you need to earn yourself..."

Oh dear... The resolute natures of iron-clad military tradition and merciless

mercantile tradition are both bearing down on him.

"We both live with our respective parents right now, but... As I am the second

son, I must move out after I marry."

"So will Olga be coming to Belfast?"

"Her father needs a successor for his mercantile empire, but... I'm really

hoping I can afford to call her over soon enough." Lyon let out a small, irritated

sigh. Hmph... I can loan him the cash, but that would probably make General

Leon angry at both me and him, so I better not...

"Oh, what about any of the stolen goods that the brigands'll have?"

"Ideally, we'd like to get those returned to their original owners. Anything

other than that rightfully belongs to the ones that bested the bandits, I'll say.

There's no real profit in rooting bandits out, so they usually manage to hole out

for a good bit of time."

"So you're saying their leader probably has a ton of money, right...?"

"That's what I'm hoping for, actually. Obviously I'll return anything that has a

known owner, though." So if there's nobody to claim the goods, he gets to

pocket it. Makes sense.

The map indicated a roughly-constructed hut at the forest's edge. I assumed

that to be their hideout.

"So what bandits in this area have bounties?"

"Three of them. A trio of thieves, all siblings." I confirmed their presence on

the map, three markers dropped down. Seemed that was all of the big-named

bandits, though. Lyon drew the weapon that I'd made for him and morphed it

into blade mode.

I'm gonna leave this one to Lyon, I think... If I got involved, then he'd probably

want to split the reward with me, and I'm fine with him having it all.

In the end, Lyon wiped the entire camp of brigands out. Well, I say wiped out,

but he used Stun Mode to paralyze them all. I thought they'd be tougher, given

that they had a reputation, but it seemed I didn't have anything to worry about

after all.

The bandits had accumulated a pretty big pile of loot, which I was quite

pleased to see. With a smile on his face, Lyon bound up all the brigands and I

opened up a [Gate] to the Royal Capital.

I stashed all of their ill-gotten gains in [Storage], making a mental note to

hand it over to Lyon later. After that, I crushed their miserable shack using

[Gravity]. It would have been a pain in my ass if any other guys got the bright

idea of squatting there, after all.

After we returned to the others, it looked like they were pretty much done

with the material harvest. We bagged them up and I put all the good stuff in

[Storage], making a point to label two bags "Rebecca," and "Cecile." It would've

been bad for them to lug around so much stuff, after all.

We returned to the guild in the capital and headed straight to the trading

desk. Immediately, I pulled a ton of stuff out of [Storage] and hefted it on to the

counter. The amount of stuff was so obscene that the man at the desk had to

take a few minutes to collect himself.

While he figured out the value, I took Lu over to Prim's desk.

"I'd like to register this girl with the guild. There should be a notification from

the Regulus Empire?"

"Ah, yes! We did get that, but... D-Did you really suppress a military coup all

by yourself?!"

"Well, I didn't quite do it alone, but... yeah."

"H-Holy... I-I almost can't believe it's true. I should have known that Moon

Reader's owner was such a magnificent man..." As Prim stood around admiring

my accomplishments, another employee gave Lu the basic explanation, and Lu

explained her reasons for becoming an adventurer. Naturally, I listened in. From

what I understood, Lu definitely didn't need to become a pro adventurer, but

she couldn't bear the thought of staying at home and being excluded from the

rest, so she took it upon herself to become stronger.

"Ah, please hand over your guild card." I handed over the card, just as Prim

asked. She stamped down on it with a different seal than usual.

"This is proof that you took down a Greater Demon in the Regulus Empire. On

behalf of the guild, please accept this new title. You're formally a Demon Killer!"

Dragon Slayer, Golem Buster, and now Demon Killer, huh? I'm just racking up

titles like crazy.

"With this, you have acquired three titles in total. This, combined with the

formal recommendation from the Kingdom of Belfast and the Regulus Empire,

means your guild rank has increased by one. Congratulations!"

"Huh? Is that how it works?" The guild card she returned to me was a

shimmering silver. It was really pretty. I guess the guild had no issue promoting

me to this level after realizing the extent of my power, not to mention my

political backing.

"Well, this is certainly something special! It's almost been two decades since

our country had a Silver-ranked adventurer." I was surprised it had been that

long, but it was true that I'd never seen any Silver or Gold-tier requests on the

job boards.

"When you stand at Silver, and Gold above that, you typically receive quests

right from the guild." That made sense enough to me. It made sense to limit

who could see such jobs, since they'd probably be sensitive or only be able to

be handled by the most proficient of people.

Lu finished registering and happily showed me her black guild card.

I took Lu over to the trading area, and it seemed that the man had finally

figured out how much everything was worth.

Rebecca and the others from Sandora seemed extremely pleased by the

unexpected boon. Cecile and Julio also looked very happy. That was to be

expected. They'd all come out of this quite well off, after all.

The portion for myself, and the portion for Lyon, had been set aside and

handed to us as I left the guild. The bandits were apparently apprehended

without any trouble. Lyon had to report it in solo due to the bounty on their

heads, but he was able to receive it without any hassle.

The money from the materials, coupled with the money from the brigands... It

was a pretty penny for Lyon, all-in-all. With that, he'd definitely have enough to

secure his wedding at the very least.

I suddenly realized that I should get Lyon and Olga a wedding gift. I made a

mental note to ask the girls for suggestions later on.