Epilogue: His Name Is

— In the middle of the 9th month, 1550th year, Continental Calendar

—

It had been a while since Hakuya and Tomoe returned from the Father

Island.

Hilde, Brad, and the doctors gathered from all countries were still

stationed there studying and treating Magic Bug Disease. The situation

wouldn't subside so easily, so their return was likely to take some time still.

In the meantime, Liscia, Aisha, Naden, and I were at sea with Excel on

the ship she captained, the Albert II.

The ship had left Lagoon City at the start of the 9th month, and we

were heading through Nine-Headed Dragon Archipelago Union waters to

the Spirit Kingdom on the Mother Island with our five escort ships.

Three of those escorts were given to us by Shabon to guide us through

the Archipelago Union's territory.

On the deck of the Albert II...

"Whew, the wind feels great," Liscia said, leaning over the side, letting

her hair blow freely in the sea breeze.

The warm days had continued into the 9th month, and the way the sun

shone on the sea spread out in front of us looked like a scene out of

summer. This might be the first time I've ever gotten to enjoy summer.

Before, when we had a beach barbecue in the Republic, we could see the

frozen continent in the distance, and when we fought Ooyamizuchi, it was

on the rough winter sea.

Liscia, who was at my side, looked at me with a chuckle. "I haven't

been able to take such a relaxed trip with you in a while."

"True... You've been watching the kids all this time."

Liscia had been with the children pretty much ever since they were

born, and I was always dealing with my political duties. Situations like the

bonus diplomatic voyage to Zem and the quest to slay Ooyamizuchi kept

my schedule murderously busy.

Obviously, we lived in the same castle, and I was helping with the kids

as much as I could, so we were managing to have family time, but heading

out somewhere with Liscia—except on official trips like the summit in the

Dragon Knight Kingdom— just hadn't been possible.

Now Cian and Kazuha were big enough to stand up without holding on

to anything and could toddle around on their own. In my old world, that

would make them big enough to leave at daycare, so they could be left to

other people.

That's why I invited Liscia to come on this trip to the Spirit Kingdom.

"I wanted to let Cian and Kazuha ride on the ship's deck too."

"That's...going to have to wait until they're a little older."

Cian and Kazuha were staying home in the Kingdom.

Between Juna and Roroa, who were on maternity leave; Carla the maid,

who they were quite attached to; and Albert and Elisha, who made frequent

visits to the castle to play with them, there was no shortage of people to

look after our kids.

Maybe because of that, even when we left, they never cried, which

made Liscia and I feel kind of sad.

Liscia moved closer to me, slipping her arm through mine. "Hee hee!

Having some together-time, just the two of us, is nice every once in a

while."

"Ah ha ha, agreed."

"But, you know, the staring from behind hurts just a little..."

Liscia glanced behind her as she pressed close to me. I turned to look

too, and there were Aisha and Naden staring out from behind the door to the

bridge. When they noticed we'd noticed, they ducked their heads back in.

"They're still being pretty considerate," Liscia said with a wry smile.

"Since this is my first relaxed trip with you in ages, they're letting me have

time with you to myself... I guess they can't help but be curious though."

"Ha ha ha..."

All I could do was laugh awkwardly. It wasn't my place to tell my

wives how they should show consideration to one another.

Then Liscia groaned and stretched. "Still—traveling by ship is nice. It's

slower than a gondola, but I can stretch wherever I like, and even spar with

Aisha on the deck if I want to."

"Sure, but...don't get carried away and wreck the ship, okay?"

"We won't. Obviously."

"Well... We had to carry you-know-what with us safely. We couldn't

just get in a gondola and take a direct flight with Naden," I said, thinking of

what was in the ship's hold. "It needs to be handled carefully, so we had to

do it this way... You know?"

"Yeah, I know," Liscia said, looking a little sad, and rested her head on

my shoulder.

◇ ◇ ◇

Some days later, our ship arrived at the Mother Island in the Spirit

Kingdom.

There were a lot of high elves gathered at the port, cheering. It was like

the whole country was welcoming us. For a xenophobic country like theirs,

they were being unusually welcoming, but the fact that they knew our

country played a large role in curing Magic Bug Disease, and that they

weren't under Fuuga's control like the Father Island, had a lot to do with

that.

When we disembarked from the Albert II, a high elf man wearing a

prominent, laurel-like crown approached. He looked a lot like Gerula.

"Welcome, O King of Friedonia. I am Garula Garlan, elder brother of

Gerula, who you cared for in your country, and king of this one."

"Nice to meet you. I'm Souma A. Elfrieden."

"We, the high elf people, welcome you."

"Thank you."

As we exchanged a firm handshake, the assembled crowd burst into

applause. The others from the Kingdom were shaking hands up on the ship

too.

I quickly introduced Garula to Liscia, Aisha, and Naden who had

disembarked with me, and decided to deal right away with my primary goal

in coming to this country. I signaled to the Albert II, and raised my voice so

the crowd could hear.

"As of this moment, I hereby return a treasure of your nation which

mine has been holding on to for you!"

When I did, the Albert II began carefully lowering her cargo. It was a

single coffin, the lid of which was made of glass.

I brought Garula next to it so he could see, and when he did, he

narrowed his eyes, and then gazed up to the heavens.

Inside, with a number of flowers, frozen to prevent rot, were the

remains of Gerula Garlan. The long battle with disease had hollowed out his

cheeks, but careful mortuary makeup made him look as though he were

merely sleeping.

I told Garula, who seemed to be struggling to hold back tears, "Gerula

donated a number of organs to research after his death. However, I still felt

his body should be returned to the land he loved."

"You have my thanks for this... King Souma," Garula said, looking me

in the eye, having won against his tears.

Gerula's remains were slowly carried between two lines of high elves.

They couldn't help but shed tears for the man who had literally given his

life for his country, saving countless people from Magic Bug Disease.

"Ohh, Lord Gerula!"

"I feel so sorry for you...and yet, your sacrifice saved us."

The previous cheering was at an end, replaced instead by sobbing and

wails of mourning.

As I looked at those people, I asked Garula, "What will the Spirit

Kingdom do now?"

"We'll have to change what needs changing, I'm sure," Garula said in a

quiet voice. "It should be clear to anyone that we can't afford to keep the

country shuttered any longer. Those ossified by old ideals will finally be

forced to move forward. I would like to unify them, and begin trade with

your Maritime Alliance."

I was a little surprised to hear him say that.

"How unexpected. I'd heard from Merula that the king of the Spirit

Kingdom was a militarist."

From what I was told, the children of the former king were an elder

brother who was an excellent warrior, and a younger brother who was brave

and wise—and it was the elder who took the throne.

That's why when I first met Gerula, I assumed the Spirit Kingdom King

would be even more stubborn, but now that I actually met him, he seemed

gentle-mannered and a flexible thinker.

"Oh, I see..." Garula smiled a little. "Well...I'm just going to talk to

myself for a moment. Please ignore me."

"Huh?"

"Would the elder brother, the militarist, really want the throne? He only

longed to fight on the front lines, so what would he do if asked to take it?

Especially if he had an identical younger brother who found administrative

work no trouble at all."

"Wait... Don't tell me?!"

Did they pull a switcheroo? Just so that he could remain a single

commander fighting on the front lines instead of becoming a king. If so, the

king in front of me is... And the remains sleeping over there are...

I was taken aback, and must have had a silly look on my face, because

"Garula" broke into a smile.