A Trump Card in Negotiations

"It's like a vision of hell..." I muttered, looking out over the scene

beneath us.

It was the witching hour, and Julius and I were standing together atop

the walls of Lasta.

In case anything happened, Aisha was standing a little behind us. That

wasn't a precaution against Julius, but against the creatures below.

The chimera-like creatures were swarming beneath us now, feasting on

the roasted remains of the lizardmen killed by our aerial bombardment.

These abominations would happily feed on man and lizard alike.

There were scattered cries as the monsters fought over food.

Watching, or even just listening to all of this couldn't be good for my

mental well-being.

"With all these lizardmen surrounding them, I'm impressed this tiny

country has held out so long," I said uneasily. "It wouldn't have been

unexpected for them to swallow you up in no time."

"Perhaps so, but we couldn't give up on living," Julius said. "We're here

because everyone's fought hard to survive."

It was surprising to hear Julius say that. It seemed he really had changed.

The Julius I'd known before wouldn't have cared this much for the soldiers

doing the fighting. His days of wandering and his time with Princess Tia

really had left him a changed man.

"By the way..." Julius began, "what happened to the wyvern cavalry?"

"I sent them back to the main force," I said. "Since they'd used up the

explosive barrels they brought. Besides, you don't have the reserves to

garrison them here indefinitely."

"...Indeed."

Wyverns would eat the equivalent of one cow per meal. However, once

they fed, they didn't need to feed again for close to a week, so their overall

cost wasn't too bad. Even so, it would be a heavy burden on a country

which was under siege, so I couldn't garrison them here.

Incidentally, if Naden or Ruby used their fire breath or electric shocks in

dragon form, that used a considerable amount of energy, and they would eat

ravenously for a while after to replenish it. Because of that, I hadn't been

able to let them go wild in dragon forms yet, either.

"I have, at least, asked the wyvern cavalry to bring in supplies you're

running short of here, but...it's about half a day's trip, so the earliest they

will arrive is tomorrow night," I said. "We'll have to fight with just this

country's soldiers and the Dratroopers for a little while longer."

"In that case...it will be important to decide how command of the two

countries' troops is handled." Julius looked at me. "Are you sure about this?

Letting me command Friedonia's forces?"

"Well, in this situation, there isn't much alternative."

After speaking to my staff officer, Kaede, we'd decided that, for the

limited time it took the main force to meet up with us, Julius would be

entrusted with command of the Dratroopers.

This was a measure we were taking to avert any conflicts in the

command structures of the Friedonian and Lastanian armed forces.

"You're the most experienced commander here after all," I said. "I may

be high-ranked, but I'm more of a bureaucratic type, and the Dratroopers

are fierce fighters, but they're all a bunch of muscle heads. Kaede is the

best commander we have on hand, but though she's talented at planning

operations, she's not suited to taking command in the middle of a

battlefield. In short, you're the only real general here, Julius."

"I understand that, but...I'm asking if you or your men can trust me. If

they ignore my orders because they can't, that's a problem. I could use the

Dratroopers like they're expendable. Aren't you concerned about that?"

I smiled wryly at his almost paranoid question, and said, "You have

nothing to gain from doing that in the current situation. Besides, if you pull

anything funny, you'll make enemies of the nearly 60,000 soldiers coming

this way."

"I suppose you have a point."

I leaned on the edge of the wall and looked up to the evening autumn

sky. "I never thought a day would come when we'd be fighting together."

"I could say the same. I never expected to see the day I was saved by my

bitter enemy." Julius crossed his arms and leaned against the wall too.

We had once been enemies, but now were allies. The world was an

unpredictable place. There was a quiet moment as I mulled over that

thought.

After some time, Julius hesitantly opened his mouth. "I want you to tell

me. My father, Gaius VIII...what was his end like?"

I paused. "What do you mean, what was it like?"

"From what the soldiers told me, after we parted ways, he said he would

'show the spirit of Amidonia.' Was Father able to achieve his goal?"

I was silent.

His tone wasn't accusatory. Julius purely wanted to know what the end

of Gaius VIII, sovereign prince of Amidonia, had been like.

"It was frightening," I admitted. "When Gaius came for my head, he was

truly terrifying. To be honest, the man's blade was only a step or two from

reaching me."

Even now, I sometimes saw that day's events in my dreams. In my

dreams, the result was different, and the sword he threw with the last of his

strength pierced straight through my chest.

That showed just how traumatizing that day had been for me. I would

never forget Gaius's face, twisted like a demon's and full of murderous

intent, not for the rest of my life.

Julius chuckled. "True, that father of mine's glare was enough to make

anyone fear for their life."

"I can't laugh about it. I seriously accepted my death and was

considering what words I'd leave to my fiancée."

"I see... It seems Father was able to show his spirit then." Julius smiled a

little sadly, and then slapped his cheeks as if to help himself shift gears.

"My father was able to live out the rest of his life as a warrior. It's not my

place to say anything about that now. Like my father, I will endeavor to live

in the way I truly desire to."

"What way of life would that be?" I asked.

"I will live protecting the ones I love with every fiber of my being. So,

Souma, to protect Princess Tia and this country, let me lend you my

strength." With that, Julius bowed his head to me.

He'd...really changed, huh.

I slapped Julius on the shoulder, then started walking. "Let's go, Julius.

I'll be needing you to run the war council."

"Okay. You've got it."

And so, we headed to the castle where everyone was waiting.

◇ ◇ ◇

Meanwhile, around that same time...

In front of one of the lookout towers near the castle there were two

figures, one big and one small. They were Souma's little sister Tomoe and

her bodyguard Inugami.

In the darkening scene, only the watch fire that was lit near the entrance

to the tower burned brightly.

In that unusual atmosphere, Inugami looked at Tomoe with concern.

"Will you really go?" Inugami asked.

Tomoe nodded. "Big Brother said, 'I want you to test if it's possible to

converse with the monster inside here.' He wanted me to learn as much as I

can too."

Tomoe was going to use her ability on the monster inside...which was to

say she would be interrogating the lizardman caught in the earlier battle. If

they could learn the lizardmen's ecology, it would be possible to use that in

planning future operations. However, this was a creature that had tried to

feast on people's flesh. Being able to understand what it said might lead to

psychological trauma for Tomoe.

Souma was extremely worried about that too, but giving in to Tomoe's

enthusiasm to help, he'd reluctantly asked her to gather information.

A concerned Inugami urged Tomoe to be as cautious as the situation

warranted. "His Majesty also ordered, 'Make sure you don't do more than

you can handle.' If I judge this is having a bad effect on your feelings, Little

Sister, I will drag you away from here by force if necessary."

"Okay. Please do, Mr. Inugami."

Tomoe held Inugami's hand tight. Because she was a mystic wolf and

Inugami was a gray wolf, they looked like nothing if not father and

daughter when they held hands.

They opened the door to the tower, hands still held, and went inside.

Then, descending the spiral staircase, they stood in front of a cell.

There, inside, a single lizardman was bound hand and foot.

"Kshaaa!" It opened its toothy maw wide and rattled its chains.

"Eep..." Tomoe gulped.

"Little Sister?! Curse you!" Inugami moved up to put himself between

Tomoe, who had tripped and fallen on her side, and the lizardman.

Tomoe shook her head as if to chase the bad feelings away. "I-I'm fine."

Tomoe wiped her cold sweat away, clinging to Inugami's arm as she

stood up, and then holding it tightly as she faced the lizardman once more.

"This lizardman has nothing but hunger," she said at last. "It only sees

us as food. 'I want to eat.' That's all it says. We can't talk with them."

"So, the basis of their actions is exactly as it appears?"

"Yes. But... Hmm?"

Tomoe tilted her head to the side. Was there something bothering her,

maybe?

"Is something the matter?" Inugami asked.

"I wonder why..." Tomoe said finally. "Mr. Lizardman here, he seems

weird."

"Weird?" Inugami asked.

Tomoe nodded. "I don't know what to think, but...I feel like it's missing

something any living creature should have. Something very important..."

"???"

What Tomoe was saying didn't make any sense to Inugami.

Tomoe couldn't put it into words very well herself, so that was only

natural. Though it frustrated Tomoe, she eventually gave up, shaking her

head.

"It's no good. I don't know how to say it. Anyway, I'll tell Big Brother

and everyone what I found out here."

Tomoe and Inugami left the tower, leaving the lizardman behind.

The feeling of wrongness that Tomoe had gotten from the lizardman...it

would still be some time before they learned the true nature of what that

was.

It was now late in the evening. In a candlelit room in Lasta's castle, the

important figures of the Kingdom of Friedonia and the Kingdom of

Lastania had gathered.

In attendance on the Friedonian side were Aisha, Roroa, Naden, Halbert,

Kaede, Ruby, and me. On the Lastanian side were Julius, who had been

entrusted with full command of their forces by the king of Lastania, the

soldier captain Lauren, and Jirukoma, who was the leader of the volunteer

soldier force. Princess Tia was also present, wanting to watch over the

proceedings as a member of the royal family.

Aisha, who wasn't that great at using her head to begin with, was there

solely as my bodyguard, and Roroa and Princess Tia, who were not

specialists in military matters, were just sitting there at the very end of the

table.

Also, since he'd been noisy, saying, "We wanna be at the war council

too!" Kuu and Leporina, the master-servant pair from the Republic of

Turgis, were being allowed to take part as long as they promised to stay at

the end of the table and behave.

"Now then, I would like to begin the war council," Julius said.

Having been entrusted with the command of both armies, he was also

being trusted with running the war council.

Julius looked around at the officers present. "First, to begin with...on this

occasion, I have been entrusted with command of the Lastanian military by

the King of Lastania. Command of the Dratroopers, who have come to

reinforce us, has also been given to me by Sir Souma. Is there anyone who

objects to this? I want to direct this question especially to those of you from

the Kingdom of Friedonia."

"I guess now's the time. I don't like lying, so I'll be blunt." Hal

scratched his head and spoke up. "I feel uneasy with it. I don't know I can

fight under the command of a former enemy."

"Hal," Ruby objected, "you don't have to say it like that..."

Hal held up a hand to stop her. Kaede put a hand on Ruby's shoulder

too, silently shaking her head.

When Ruby was quiet, Hal continued.

"There may still only be 200 of us, but I'm the captain of the

Dratroopers. I don't have what it takes to lead thousands of troops yet. I

know you're the most capable leader of troops here, and I'm sure that's why

Souma left command of the Dratroopers to you."

Julius was silent.

"But even if it's only 200 men, their lives are my responsibility," Hal

went on. "I can't leave their lives in the hands of some guy who isn't fully

committed."

Julius listened to his words in silence.

"We were enemies to you too," Hal went on. "Can you command us

properly?"

Julius closed his eyes for a moment, then began to speak slowly.

"I think it's inevitable that we both have our misgivings. I can't claim

there is no resentment in my heart. However, this country is everything to

me now. If it is to protect this country, I would work with any kind of

partner, and bow my head to anyone. If it will allow me to gain your trust,

Sir Halbert, that includes you as well."

Hal was silent.

"Ookyakya, you're more passionate about this than you loo—Ow, that

hurt!" Kuu's teasing was interrupted by an elbow from Leporina, leaving

him in pain.

He's being noisy, I thought. Maybe I should throw him out after all.

While I was thinking that, the grim look on Hal's face softened.

"Is that right? If you're that committed, I have nothing more to say. Our

boss decided to leave it to you, so we'll just follow his decision. Right?"

Hal looked to me, so I nodded.

"I've assigned Kaede to Julius as a staff officer," I said. "If they've put

together a plan, it may be crazy, but it won't be reckless. I think we can

trust in that."

"Thank you," Julius said. "Now, let's commence the war council."

He unfurled the map of the Kingdom of Lastania and surrounding areas

that was on the table. Then he began by pointing to Lasta, where we were.

"First, let us review the situation. To address the forces of Lastania first,

there were deaths and injuries in the fighting again today. I would say that,

including conscripts from the general populace, we have about 2,800 people

who can fight. With the 200 Dratroopers from Friedonia bringing the total

to roughly 3,000, that is our total troop count."

3,000, huh... Considering they were largely conscripts, it wasn't a very

reassuring number.

Next, Julius indicated the forests near Lasta. The lizardmen that had

escaped from our bombing were lurking there now.

"Next, the lizardmen. They must have taken a major blow from today's

bombing. Their numbers must have fallen to eight, maybe 900. However,

considering the situation up until this point, those numbers will be

replenished each day. It happens at a pace of roughly several hundred per

day."

"Hm? Are the enemy are deploying their forces in small groups?" I

asked.

I thought it was a poor strategy, but... oh, right, Lizardmen weren't

intelligent enough to think strategically. There was a "man" in their name,

yes, but only because they had some human-like parts.

"Does that mean there's a reason they only come a little at a time?" I

asked.

Julius nodded, pointing to a large river north of Lasta.

"The border between the Union of Eastern Nations and the Demon

Lord's Domain is this large river known as the Dabicon. This river, which is

wide enough that the far shore is blurry, and at its deepest point it is deep

enough for a rhinosaurus to float, has protected us from monsters coming

out of the Demon Lord's Domain. However, being a natural river, the depth

varies, and it can be crossed easily at some points. North of Lasta there is a

narrow section that is shallow, and the lizardmen must be crossing there."

"I see," I mused. "The shallow section is narrow, so they can only cross

a little at a time, huh... Wait, hold on! Then if the Dabicon is dammed

upstream, that means there's a ridiculous number of lizardmen on the other

side?"

When I asked that, Julius nodded gravely. "Most likely...in the tens of

thousands."

"Tens of thousands, huh..."

The Empire had told me this was one of the places where the demon

wave was especially intense, so that might have been a given. If not for the

Dabicon River, this country would have been trampled in no time. Well, I

supposed that would be why the Dabicon was the border.

"That'll have to wait until Ludwin gets here with the main force, I

guess," I said.

"Yeah." Julius nodded. "I think we have no choice but to ask the

reinforcements from the Kingdom of Friedonia to handle it. However,

before the main body of the reinforcements arrives, there is something I

would like to do using the troops here."

With that said, Julius brought his fist down on a certain spot on the map.

It was the forest where the lizardmen who'd escaped from the bombing

were hiding.

"I discussed this with young Miss Kaede as well, but I am thinking I

want to exterminate the lizardmen lurking in the forest using the 3,000

troops we have here. Now, while their numbers are decreased, is our best

opportunity to do so."

"Whoa, wait, what?" Hal exclaimed. "We have limited manpower, and

you want to head out? Their numbers are down, and that's taken the

pressure off, so can't we just hole up in the city walls until reinforcements

arrive?"

"Hal, that will give the enemy time to recover their numbers, you

know," Kaede said. "Like Sir Julius said, the number of lizardmen grows by

the day. Their numbers are massively lower now, so the lizardmen are

waiting to see what happens, but if their numbers recover, they'll attack

again. In a conflict, what is important is how you increase the number of

troops you can deploy into a single battle, while in turn decreasing the

number of enemy troops. For example, if you compare fighting 3,000

enemy troops with 5,000 soldiers to fighting 1,000 enemy troops with 5,000

soldiers three times, the latter will cause less damage to your own forces."

Oh! I'd heard that before. That was why it was better not to deploy your

forces in small groups, but to deploy them in as large a group as possible.

Or so the established knowledge went.

"Compared to a siege battle fought against a reassembled group of

lizardmen, exterminating them in a field battle while their numbers are

lower will lower the number of casualties on our side," Kaede said.

"In addition, if we can eliminate the lizardman presence here, we can

restore the supply lines to Lasta," Julius continued for her, pointing at a spot

close to the Dabicon. "There is a fortress near here. There was no way to

defend it with the regular forces alone, so it was abandoned early in this

demon wave, but if we can exterminate the lizardmen here, advance north

while crushing their reinforcements, and get soldiers into this fortress, we

should be able to hold off the lizardmen that cross the river here. If we can

do that, Lasta will be freed from being besieged by monsters. That will

restore supply lines, so more reinforcements...likely won't be coming, but

material aid should flow in."

If this country fell, the next country to the south would be in danger after

all. Perhaps they would think to send material aid, in order to help us hold

out a bit longer?

There might be merchants who would think now was a good time to

make money too. Medicine to treat the wounded soldiers might arrive.

That all sounded good, but... there was just one thing about it that

concerned me.

"If you only intend to deal with lizardmen, that's fine, but there are

countless warped monsters camped outside the city walls now, aren't

there?"

While looking out from the city walls with Julius, we had seen the

chimera-like monsters with bodies assembled from various parts. There

were still thousands of those things that were greedily feasting on the

corpses of soldiers and lizardmen that fell outside the wall.

"If you head outside the walls, won't they attack you?" I asked.

"That is a concern." Julius pressed a hand against his forehead in

displeasure. "Those monsters are nothing special, taken alone. They can be

slain easily at a distance with bows or magic. However, when they form

such a large swarm, they become a problem. If we fight the lizardmen and

the monsters attack when we're injured, we can't handle that."

"I see. So we'll have to fight those monsters at the end," Aisha said,

crossing her arms.

"If you'd let me go wild in my ryuu form, I could scatter those things

easily," Naden fumed.

I knew that, but in a situation where we had a limited number of calories

available, I couldn't let Naden and Ruby fight at full power.

Julius let out a small sigh. "It's a minor blessing that the lizardmen and

monsters don't work together. For the monsters, they see both us and the

lizardmen as no more than potential food if we die."

"They're scavengers, like jackals or vultures then..." I muttered. "It'd be

a lot easier if they'd just attack and eat the lizardmen for us too."

"The monsters are weaker than the lizardmen. That must be why they

only scavenge corpses," Julius explained in exasperation.

No, I was just saying that, so you didn't need to respond so seriously...

Wait. Huh? I paused. The monsters don't attack the lizardmen because

they're weaker than them, but then... Huh? Why don't the lizardmen attack

the monsters?

Before this war council, I'd received a report on the captured lizardman

from Tomoe. According to Tomoe, she had felt nothing but hunger from the

lizardman. It had only seen Tomoe as prey.

So if they were starving that badly, why didn't the lizardmen try to eat

the monsters?

I discussed that question with everyone.

"The reason that the lizardmen don't eat monsters?" Julius pondered.

"I've never considered it."

"It certainly is strange, yes," Kaede agreed. "Those lizardmen have

decided we're edible. However, it feels strange that they've excluded the

monsters that they aren't cooperating with from the list of potential food

sources."

Julius and Kaede both seemed to think deeply about it.

"Maybe they can't eat 'em? Like they're poisonous or something?" Hal

suggested, but I said shook my head.

"Nah. I've heard this from Madam Jeanne, but some monsters are

apparently edible. If I recall, she ate a winged snake...or something like

that?"

"For her pretty face, she does some awfully wild things..." Julius said in

exasperation. He was also acquainted with Jeanne.

Yeah, I kind of agreed.

"Still...in that case, it makes even less sense," Julius said. "Why, when

the lizardmen are starving so badly, do they not attack and eat the monsters

that are weaker than them?"

While everyone was wracking their brains over this, hesitantly, one

person raised their hand.

"Um, a word if I may?"

It was Aisha.

Aisha was the greatest warrior in our country, but she wasn't especially

good at using her head. Though she was participating in this war council, it

was mainly as my bodyguard, so she had been keeping quiet and refraining

from commenting as we deliberated. Now, it looked like there was

something she wanted to say.

"What is it, Aisha?" I asked.

Aisha hesitantly said, "Um... I thought this while listening to you talk,

but could the reason the lizardmen don't eat monsters be...um...that they

just don't taste very good? I mean, a lot of meats smell too strongly to eat

them raw."

W-Was she joining this topic because it was about food? This was more

about the monsters than the food aspect, though...

"No, but Madam Jeanne has actually eaten them... Wait, huh?" I got that

far, then I caught on to something Aisha had said.

"I mean, a lot of meats smell too strongly to eat them raw."

...Raw meat? That was it. Even if Jeanne had eaten monster meat, she

couldn't have been eating it raw. The more unknown the meat, the more

thoroughly she'd want to cook it.

Mankind cooked, while lizardmen likely ate their food raw.

The key was...the presence of a way to prepare food using heat.

I came to a conclusion.

"The lizardmen don't know how to eat monsters," I said so that

everyone could hear.

Julius furrowed his brow. "How to eat monsters?"

"There are parasites and bacteria in meat...but if I say it that way, you

won't get what I'm talking about, I guess. Those are like little bugs inside

your body, and if you eat meat with them on it, you'll get sick, and might

even die. But thoroughly cooking meat will kill them, and it really brings

down the likelihood of food poisoning. It's a way of preparing food by

sterilizing it with heat."

"I'm sorry, but I have no idea what you're talking about," Julius said,

looking dubious.

Everyone else nodded too.

Though I had been pushing a medical revolution with doctors like Hilde

and Brad at the forefront, knowledge of medicine and biology wasn't

widespread, so this was to be expected. Even if it wasn't possible yet, if the

academic learning became more widespread, and I could plant the

knowledge with broadcast programs... Wait, now wasn't the time to think

about the future! I needed to get the people with me now to understand first.

"Even if you don't understand the words I'm using, you should all know

this from experience," I said. "If meat is getting old, you cook it thoroughly,

right? Why is that?"

"Ookyakya!" Kuu interjected. "That's 'cause if you eat meat raw, you'll

get sick sometimes."

I nodded. "Right. Even without explaining the details of how it happens,

mankind knows through experience that eating meat raw can get us sick,

and if we cook it thoroughly, we can greatly reduce the risk of that. Even if

we haven't experienced it ourselves, the experience is passed from parent to

child, and it's just like we'd experienced it ourselves."

"That experience is passed down, and it becomes knowledge, or

common sense... Is that it?" Julius nodded, seeming satisfied.

He really was fast on the uptake. Every bit as clever as he appeared,

Julius really was a sharp one.

I nodded and continued to talk. "I doubt the lizardmen have that

knowledge. I mean, from everything I've heard, the lizardmen are eating

raw meat, aren't they? If they ate those weird monsters raw, it wouldn't be

weird for them to get sick, now would it?"

"I certainly wouldn't want to eat them raw," Aisha said, making a

disgusted face.

It looked like even Aisha, the dark god of gluttony, felt that way.

"When Madam Jeanne and her people ate monster meat, I'm sure they

must have cooked it carefully," I said. "In other words, perhaps a lizardman

ate the meat of a monster and got sick, and that's why the lizardmen no

longer eat monster meat?"

"I see. So that's the difference between Madam Jeanne and a

lizardman," said Kaede, listening with a pensive look on her face. "In that

case, if we teach the lizardmen to prepare food using heat, the hungry

lizardmen may hunt the monsters, you know."

"I get what you want to say, sure, but how, precisely, do you want to

teach them?" Hal asked. "It's not just that we can't talk to them; we can't

communicate at all, can we?"

He rested his face on the palms of his hands.

That was the problem, yeah...

"It's going depend on how much intelligence they have..." I muttered.

From what Tomoe had told me, they thought only of devouring others,

and communication was impossible. But then again, when Tomoe used her

ability with low intelligence animals like rhinosauruses...

Tomoe: "Cargo, carry, okay?"

Rhinosaurus: "Tasty grass, cute female, okay."

That was the sort of simple communication it ended up as.

If these creatures refused even that level of communication, it was going

to be impossible to teach them anything. For them to be taught, they needed

the capacity to learn.

I was starting to think this plan to have the lizardmen hunt the monsters

for us had run aground.

"No, I don't think they're unthinking," Julius said at last. "That's the

feeling I've gotten from fighting them. It's true that they ignore gates and

can't use proper siege tactics, but they have enough intelligence that they do

choose places our defenses are weak, and if they sense they're at a

disadvantage, they retreat."

"That's right..." Jirukoma pondered. "They avoid contact with strong

enemies and prioritize attacking the weak."

"There's a certain cunning to the way they act," Lauren agreed. "That's

the feeling I've gotten."

Jirukoma and Lauren had both fought alongside Julius, so they knew

what they were talking about.

"How intelligent are they?" I asked. "Do you think they could manage to

steal things in the night?"

"I wouldn't compare them to the races of mankind, but at the same time,

they're better able to assess risk then a common beast," Julius said. "The

closest would be the shoujou, perhaps, but they could be smarter."

"The shoujou... Monkeys, huh."

They were smarter than monkeys. In that case, we might be able to teach

them something simple.

But considering I had a report from Tomoe saying dialogue was

impossible, we wouldn't be able to teach them directly.

Hold on! What if we taught them indirectly?

Even if we didn't teach them properly, if we relied on some "monkey

see, monkey do," maybe we could get them to act in the same way, as if

we'd taught them.

Come to think of it, I'd heard of a precedent in the world I came from. If

I was recalling correctly...

"Monkeys washing potatoes..."

"What's that?" Julius asked.

"It's a story about monkeys from my old world. When one monkey

started washing sweet-potatoes in sea water, the rest of the young males in

its troop started to do the same."

Witnessing this phenomenon had led to a discussion of whether culture

existed in the animal kingdom.

Well, there had also been talk of how, "When the hundredth monkey on

the island learned to wash sweet-potatoes, monkeys on a distant mountain

began to show the same behavior (indicating the possibility of telepathy),"

but that was occult mumbo-jumbo. The thing I wanted to focus on here

wasn't the occult, it was the learning ability of monkeys. If lizardmen also

had the ability to learn...

"If we have one lizardman learn the taste of cooked monster, show it the

cooking process, return it to the pack, and then it starts cooking and eating

monsters..." I said slowly.

"You mean to say that the lizardmen in the pack that see it may begin

imitating that behavior?" Julius said slowly. "I seem to recall you've caught

just what you would need for that, haven't you?"

"Yeah. We took one alive and locked it in the tower."

Julius looked me in the eye and asked, "Do you think it can be done?"

"I don't know, but it's probably worth a try. Even in the worst-case

scenario, we'll only increase the number of enemy lizardmen by one. If we

work at it, it shouldn't take more than half a day."

"Hm... Even if it fails, we'll still only be facing the lizardmen and

monsters with our current forces. If they force an attack, that will cause

more casualties, and I would prefer to avoid that, so...in order to prevent

that, I'd very much like for you to make this idea a success."

"I know," I said. "Let's decide how we'll do it. First we have to procure

the monster we'll be feeding to the lizardman..."

From there, Julius, Kaede and I put together a plan.

While going back and forth on what to do, gradually the plan that had

started as a random thought began to be fleshed out and sound more

realistic.

I didn't think I had felt this way since working out plans against the

Principality of Amidonia with Hakuya. Funny that the guy I was working

with now was one of the enemies I'd been plotting against back then.

That's part of what makes him so reliable.

Looking at Julius's serious face, that was what I thought.

◇ ◇ ◇

"It's kind of a strange feelin'," Roroa said quietly to herself, watching

Souma and Julius work on the plan.

"What is?" Princess Tia asked, tilting her head to the side. She was also

sitting there watching the war council unfold.

Perhaps because she was embarrassed to be asked about something

she'd been saying to herself, Roroa awkwardly scratched her cheek and

smiled wryly. "Mmm, the sight of Darlin' and my big brother together,

workin' on a plan, I suppose. It just feels so unreal that I'm kinda confused.

They're bitter enemies, and've fought to kill each other before, but now

they're workin' together toward a common goal, ya know?"

Tia was silent.

"It's like I'm dreamin'... Hey, that hurts!"

Tia was lightly pinching Roroa's cheek.

"Wh-What're you doin'?!" Roroa exclaimed, rubbing her cheek and

protesting.

Tia smiled at her softly. "It's no dream," she said, taking Roroa's hand

and wrapping her own around it. "This scene is, without a doubt, reality,

Lady Roroa."

"Reality..." Roroa murmured.

Turning that thought over in her mind, she finally started to accept the

scene in front of her was real. The man she loved and her brother by blood

were working toward the same goal. She didn't need to see her brother as

an enemy anymore. Even in front of her brother, she could love Souma.

"You're right. No doubt about it, this, here and now, is reality." Now

able to accept that, Roroa smiled too. "Thanks, Big Sis."

"Oh, it's too early to be calling me Big Sis," Tia said, fidgeting in

embarrassment. "Besides, I'm younger than you anyway."

"Aw, geez. You're just the cutest, Big Sis!"

"Eek?!"

Tia was acting so cute that Roroa hugged her.

Looking at the two of them out of the corner of their eyes, Souma and

Julius both cocked their heads to the side questioningly.

What have those two been doing over there?