First Meeting

That night, there was a feast held in the great hall of Blanc Zem Castle

in honor of the victor.

If you hear the words "feast" and "castle" in the same sentence, you

might imagine something more gaudy, but Zem was not known to stand on

ceremony. When it came time to honor the winner of their national

tournament, it turned into a raucous celebration with drinking and singing.

Souma, his wives, and Gimbal each gave an address at the beginning of

the event, and then quickly retired. This was at the urging of Gimbal,

because if the drunken mercenaries were rude to Souma and the other

foreign guests of honor, it could cause a diplomatic incident. He was

probably telling them, "I can't handle you guys, so just do whatever you

want on your own."

"Ungh... Hic." In the middle of that raucous celebration, Mio was redfaced and vomiting.

As the center of attention at tonight's function, the guests came to hear a

word from Mio, and, at the same time, pour her a new glass of alcohol to

have a toast. Mio knew she had a high tolerance for alcohol, but after this

many drinks, even she was a little unsteady on her feet.

"Whoa, there." As she stumbled, someone got under her to hold her up.

"Are you all right, Madam Mio?"

"Sir... Colbert?" she mumbled.

"Your face is bright red. Are you sure you haven't had too much to

drink?"

"Ungh... It's 'cause everyone makes me drink a toast with them..." As

she spoke, Mio felt something welling up inside her chest. "Urgh... Blech!"

"Whoa! Madam Mio, hold yourself together!" Lending Mio a shoulder,

Colbert took her out onto the terrace to get some fresh air. He gently stroked

her back as she held onto the railing and puked over the edge.

"I'm sorry... for letting you see me like—urgh!"

"You don't have to force yourself to speak, okay?"

After a little while like that, Mio calmed down.

"I really am sorry. I've caused some trouble for you."

"No... Ah! I know this comes a bit late, but congratulations on your

victory."

Mio gave him an embarrassed laugh. "Ahaha... Thanks."

"After what His Majesty said, I'm sure you'll get the new investigation

into Duke Carmine that you were hoping for. He won't treat the House of

Carmine badly, either."

Seeing the genuine smile on Colbert's face, Mio gave him a troubled

smile of her own. "Yeah, I guess you're right."

"Huh? Aren't you happy?"

"Ah... Um... I'm happy, yes, but... I kind of figured some things out, and

I'm feeling better after letting out all that pent up frustration..."

"Eh?"

"No, I'm just talking to myself," Mio explained to him with a wry smile

on her face. "But, more importantly, Sir Colbert, will you be going back to

the Kingdom right away? I'm sure I'll be joining you, but I need to bring

my mother, too, so I need to prepare."

"Oh, no, I'm sure I'll be going home as soon as tomorrow, but His

Majesty and the others intend to stay in Zem a while longer."

"Huh? They do?"

"Yes, well... They have other business to attend to..."

Colbert was being evasive about something. Mio cocked her head to the

side. "Something other than the Great Martial Arts Tournament? What

could that be...?"

"If you're curious, will you join us?" The two turned towards the sudden

voice that came from beside them. There stood a tall, smart-looking man

dressed all in black.

"Sir Hakuya. You'd arrived?" Colbert was taken aback by his sudden

appearance.

"Yes, just now. I've already reported to His Majesty."

"Hakuya... The Kingdom of Friedonia's 'Black-robed Prime Minister,'

huh?"

Hakuya nodded and bowed his head slightly to Mio. "I appear to have

been eavesdropping. I'm sorry. I came to speak to Sir Colbert, and

happened to hear the two of you talking. It is an honor to meet you, Madam

Mio. I am Hakuya Kwonmin, and I serve His Majesty in my capacity as

Prime Minister."

"Oh! Nice to meet you. I-I am Mio Carmine," she stammered.

Hakuya gave her a weak smile. "I have been hearing about you.

Congratulations on your victory."

"Th-Thank you."

"In regards to the House of Carmine, once we return to the Kingdom, I

will perform a sincere reevaluation of the situation. ...If it were possible, I

would however have liked to consult with His Majesty in advance of any

decision on the matter."

Hakuya let out an exhausted sigh.

Mio asked him, "Um, when you asked if I would join you, what did you

mean?"

"Exactly what I said. I was asking if you would join us in our other

business, Madam Mio. I heard from His Majesty that you hold no hostility

towards His Majesty or the Kingdom, correct?"

"Oh, yeah. I have no real axe to grind."

"Then there's no issue." Hakuya nodded. "I want to bring a small but

elite set of guards tomorrow. If you have the martial prowess to win a

tournament, I think you should be more than up to the task. Besides, if

anything should happen to His Majesty and the others, I won't be able to

carry out the new investigation into Sir Georg, so I expect you will do a

good job of defending them."

"R-Right..."

"You can leave your mother to Sir Colbert, I'm sure. How about we

have her return to the Kingdom in advance, while you stay with us?"

"O-Okay. I have no problem with that..." Mio blinked, unable to grasp

the situation. "Um, so what exactly is this business?"

"A meeting with... a very important person," he said, his expression very

serious. "Tomorrow, here in Zem, there will be a meeting that decides the

future of the country. That is why not just His Majesty, but I too, am here."

"I see..."

Just what had she gotten herself into? Mio's head was a confused mess.

◇ ◇ ◇

The following day, we left Zem City and flew through the air.

"You could have ridden on my back." Naden telepathically griped at me.

Because there were things we needed to talk about, I didn't ride on

Naden's back this time, instead joining everyone in the gondola that she

was carrying in her ryuu form. Naden had given me an unhappy look about

it, but this time I didn't really have much choice.

Inside the gondola were me, Aisha, Owen, and Hakuya who had joined

us in place of Colbert. Colbert took the wyvern gondola we had used on the

way here back with Mio's mother—which was to say Georg's wife—and

they headed back to the Kingdom before the rest of us.

The remaining guards were with us as well, but Mio seemed a little out

of place among them. She had apparently joined us at Hakuya's request. I

knew what her intentions were, and I had no reason to view her as a threat

now that we had promised a new investigation into Georg, but it was still a

bold move, bringing her like this.

By the way, on the matter of that new investigation, Hakuya had

thoroughly chewed me out last night for making that decision.

"Honestly... That may have been the right choice this time, but a single

misstep and it could have harmed national interest. I do wish you would

consult me in advance. Now listen, sire, you really do need to..."

It was lecture time with Hakuya for a little while after that. Once I had

heard everything he had to say, I told him, "I do think this stuff through."

I had learned from Liscia's sermons that when someone is on your case,

it's more effective to wait until they're done before you explain yourself.

"Georg was especially respected by people in the military. Even now

that he's a traitor, there are probably people looking around, suspecting he

might have had some reason, right?"

"Well... yes."

"I thought it was a good opportunity to extinguish that discord within

the country. If Mio will just cooperate, we can give them a beautified

version of the story that is incredibly close to the truth."

There were two points that were preventing us from making Georg's

plan public.

Firstly, Georg had sent Glaive to inform me about the plan in advance.

Because people died as a result of the plan, I would end up agitating their

bereaved relatives. There were people like Carla's family who joined the

rebellion and martyred themselves for their friendship with Georg, too, after

all.

Secondly, we took the mercenaries hired by the corrupt nobles captive,

and used them to collect the nobles' secret wealth in the form of ransom

money. If Zem found out about that, it would cause a lot of trouble.

Because, from their perspective, they would have been deceived by Georg

and me. It could well turn into a diplomatic incident. Conversely, if we

could just keep those two points under wraps, we could do as we liked

about the rest.

When I explained that, Hakuya sighed, "It could lower the people's

opinion of you, because you let a good vassal die."

"That will pass. Georg deceived everyone, and, because of my youth and

inexperience, he was able to make me dance on his strings. If Mio will say

the right things to back up the story, we can make the public view it that

way. From there, if we just pump up Georg's reputation, the things we make

public won't hurt me that much."

"I see... It's not that you were blind, but that Duke Carmine was simply

too good for you? ...You're quite the schemer, huh?" Hakuya let out a sigh

filled with a little admiration and a whole lot of exasperation. "If Duke

Carmine were listening, I'm sure he'd want to disagree."

"Well, you know, dead men tell no tales."

"It's all in how you say a thing..."

After that exchange, I was able to force Hakuya to accept it. Though

we'd only move on it once we were back in the Kingdom. Until then, we

had to focus on what lay ahead of us.

"Um, where is this gondola going? We seem to be heading in the

opposite direction of the Kingdom of Friedonia..." Mio asked, unable to

bear being in the dark about the current situation any longer.

It was true we were heading west, not east towards the Kingdom.

"Because of the other reason we came to Zem."

"...I hear you're meeting someone important."

"That's right. This is a very important negotiation that will affect how

we act going forward. That's why, well, I'll have to ask you to forgive me

for not heading straight home. I promise we'll launch the new investigation

into your father as soon as we're back."

"Th-That's not a problem, but... um, is it okay for me to come to such an

important place?"

I smiled wryly as Mio seemed to break out in a cold sweat. She had

looked so strong and brave fighting Kagetora, but she was as timid as timid

could be when you took her out of her element and brought her to a place

for negotiating like this. She was so cool you might fall in love with her

when she was doing what she specialized in, but kind of a disappointment

when it came to anything else.

"Reminds me of a certain someone..." I muttered.

"...Um, sire? Why do you look at me when you say that?" Aisha gave

me an accusatory glance, and I looked away to try and hide what I'd been

thinking.

"W-Well, it's an important negotiation, but that's a job for me and

Hakuya to handle. Nothing bad will happen to you for joining us, so relax."

"On the other hand, in your case, sire, failure can not be tolerated,"

Hakuya told me that with a dispassionate look on his face.

"I know... We don't have much time left, after all."

As the air in the gondola grew heavier, Mio looked around restlessly, not

sure what she should do. As they were talking...

"Souma, we're here. It's that place that looks like a house, right?"

...Naden's voice echoed inside my head.

I looked down from the gondola's windows, and there was a mansion on

top of one of Zem's mountains. It looked like a Canadian log house, made

using lots of logs. That was apparently the King of Zem's mountain villa for

getting away from the summer heat.

As I looked down at the villa, I spotted a luxurious gondola meant to be

carried by a wyvern parked nearby. "...They're already here, huh?"

"Sire, we must hurry, too."

"I know. Naden, set us down next to that gondola."

"Roger that."

Naden made a smooth descent and landed next to the luxurious gondola.

When Naden took on her human form and we got out of the gondola, a

number of people immediately came out from the villa.

"Hee hee."

The person at the head of the group stood in front of us, then chuckled.

Like always... especially now that I was meeting her in the flesh, I was

overwhelmed by her beauty. I thought I was used to seeing it, too... Of

course, if it was just about simple beauty, my own wives were no less

beautiful than she was. Liscia, Aisha, and Juna were all beauties, and Roroa

and Naden were cute.

However, in her case, the air around her was different. She had natural

charisma. The charm that always drew people to her. Fuuga had something

like it, too, but in his case, it mostly arose from his ridiculous martial

abilities. Her presence exuded purely from her human charm.

She extended her right hand to me. I took her hand, placing my left hand

on top of it, and she reached out and placed her left hand on top of mine.

We exchanged a firm, two-handed handshake.

With a smile, she said, "I'm finally able to meet you, Sir Souma."

"Yes. I'm happy to be able to talk with you in person, Madam Maria."

Though, strangely enough, it didn't feel that way, this was my first

meeting (not counting the Jewel Voice Broadcast) with Empress Maria

Euphoria of the Gran Chaos Empire.

◇ ◇ ◇

Another reason I'd accepted Gimbal's invitation was that he proposed a

meeting between myself and Empress Maria of the Gran Chaos Empire

from within Zem's borders. His goal in inviting me to the Great Martial

Arts Tournament was likely to show off the strength of his mercenaries, and

either convince us to reenter the mercenary contract with them, or, failing

that, to secure a treaty of mutual non-aggression. Between encountering

Mio personally and this chance to meet the Empress, Gimbal drove a hard

bargain.

That said, we had amicable relations with the Empire, but our alliance

was fundamentally a secret one. The trade brought about by the medical

pact between the Kingdom, the Empire, and the Republic of Turgis must

have been visible even to those outside the three countries. Only members

of the highest echelons of our two nations knew that we were in constant

communication using the Jewel Voice Broadcast, though. If information

leaked and third parties discovered we had such a close relationship with

either the Empire or the Republic, there was the risk they would become

wary of us. For example, if Fuuga learned about it, that would cause quite a

stir.

Upon hearing the news of an apparent joint relationship between the

Empire and our kingdom, he may be desperate enough to build a power

base that outstripped our own; enriching his country's resources, and

strengthening their military were also not outside the realm of possibility.

He would likely pursue his ambitions with greater intensity, and even less

heed for the consequences of his actions.

Because we had kept things secret to prevent that, neither of us had been

able to head to the other person's country for talks. However, since this was

proposed by a third-party, we were keen to take advantage of the

opportunity. Because Zem was sandwiched between our two countries, it

was probable that they made the offer in order to gauge the risk of being

caught in a conflict between us. They likely wanted to bring Maria and me

together so that they could use the atmosphere of the meeting as an

indicator of whether our countries were on amicable terms or not.

I was willingly going along with this narrative, however. With

everything in mind, by agreeing to come to Zem, I would knock down three

birds with one stone. And, as for Gimbal, my assurance that we won't be

hostile towards them—assuming they are truly neutral—probably has

satisfied his end goal, for the most part. He truly was more than just a

capable warrior, but also a crafty king.

I found a familiar face in the group of people behind Maria who had

come out to greet us. I extended my hand to her next. "It's been too long,

Madam Jeanne."

"It has. You seem well, King Souma."

This was Maria's little sister and general, Jeanne.

Jeanne shook my hand, then turned to Hakuya. "It's been a long time

since I've seen you, too, Sir Hakuya. It's a pleasure."

"The pleasure is all mine. I am glad to see that you seem well, Madam

Jeanne."

"We see each other's faces during our regular scheduled talks, but this

feels kind of strange."

"Heh, it does, doesn't it?"

Jeanne was grinning broadly, and even Hakuya's stony face had a hint of

a smile on it.

Those two were getting along as well as ever. I'd heard that, as they

were both run ragged at the whims of their respective rulers, they had

formed something they called the "Association of the Victims of Slothful

Masters." Their membership, by the way, may have expanded now to

include Colbert, who was run ragged by Roroa, and Leporina, who had the

same experience with Kuu.

Maria clapped her hands. "Oh, right, Sir Souma. In addition to Jeanne,

I've brought some capable commanders from our country to provide

security at this conference. Let me introduce them to you. Gunther, Krahe.

Please, come this way."

""Yes, ma'am!""

Two men in impressive suits of armor stepped forward. The one in

yellow armor was your stereotypical macho man. His stern face was built

similarly to Owen or Herman, and had a crew cut and a goatee. He looked

to be in his thirties or forties, but was definitely the type who appeared

older than their actual age.

He pursed his lips, crossing his arms behind his back like a military man

would, tilting his head so that his goatee stuck out, and making no attempt

to make eye contact.

The other man wore blue armor, and gave off the opposite impression.

He was a slim but strong man, like Julius. This guy was around thirty,

maybe. He had long hair, and was wearing a little makeup, so he had a face

reminiscent of a member in a visual-kei rock band.

The long-haired man looked at me with a broad grin. It wasn't

unpleasant, but I'd never felt someone's eyes cling to me quite like this, and

it made me shiver a bit.

Indicating to each of them with the palms of her hands, Maria continued,

"Let me introduce them. The big one is Gunther Lyle, and the slim one is

Krahe Laval. These two, as well as Jeanne, have managed the Empire's

military for me, since that's not something I'm not good at."

"...I'm Gunther," the big man said suddenly. He felt a little intimidating,

but I didn't detect any hostility there. He was likely quiet by nature.

Looking at the way Maria's expression hadn't changed a bit, this was

apparently just how he always was. Krahe, on the other hand...

"Well, well, it is an honor to meet you, King Souma. My name is Krahe

Laval. It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance. I don't mind if you want

to call me 'Lavie.' Oh, you won't? How rude of me to suggest it. But I truly

am pleased to make your acquaintance. Yes. I never lie."

Even if he was using up Gunther's share of talking time, too, the man

was too garrulous. He approached with a friendly smile, grasped my hand

with both of his own, and shook it vigorously.

Shocked by his forwardness, I looked to Maria and the others, struggling

to figure out how I should respond. Maria gave me a slightly troubled smile

while Jeanne pressed her palm against her forehead.

"Not again..." she mumbled.

This was apparently business as usual here, too.

"Erm... You have some unique personnel in the Empire too, I see," I

said, giving a strained smile.

Maria responded with a business smile of her own. "They are both loyal

and reliable commanders."

That probably meant they were capable, so their personality was second

priority. Our country had some of those, too. (Like the super sadistic head

maid Serina, or Genia the Overscientist.)

Krahe went on babbling, "Still, to think I would be present when the

Saint of the East and the Hero of the West meet. I am beyond delighted.

This will be another page in the book of legends. Once the two of you crush

the Demon Lord's Domain, hand in hand, this day will be spoken of

forever. Ohh, you're marvelous, Your Imperial Majesty. Truly, you are a

saint."

The look of ecstasy on Krahe's face made it seem like he might burst

into poetry or song. He came off as a bit of a freak which began to weird me

out.

"Lady Maria, you are a heavenly vision of beauty descended to—Ow!"

"You talk too much, fool!" Jeanne dropped a fist on top of his head to

shut him up.

Grabbing his head, she forced him to bow. "Ow! Madam Jeanne, that

hurts! I said that hurts...!"

"I'm sorry, please ignore Sir Krahe. He's a highly impressionable

individual, and with the way he worships my sister as a saint, he's like a

young maiden with her head full of dreams."

"...The Empire has some really interesting people," I joked.

"It's a big country, after all." Maria chuckled. "Of course there are all

kinds. The Kingdom is the same way, right?"

She was looking at my queens and retainers behind me. Yeah... She has

a point.

"Ahh, let me introduce them, Madam Maria," I said, walking over to

them. "These are my wives, Aisha and Naden."

"Nice to meet you. I am Aisha Udgard Elfrieden."

"Naden Delal Souma."

These two hadn't sat in on our Jewel Voice Broadcast conferences, so

this was Maria's first time meeting them. Because the broadcasts were held

in secret, aside from the rare exception of people like Ginger and Sandria,

there were few people who she had met.

"I've heard of the two of you from Souma. You're both adorable." Maria

smiled at both of them.

"This is that singing, dancing empress... She's pretty normal, huh?"

Naden said quietly to herself as she looked at Maria.

Come to think of it, Naden had been watching broadcast programs from

the Empire while she was in the Star Dragon Mountain Range. Incidentally,

the simple receiver she had been using was in the castle now.

I didn't want to be thought of as engaging in spying, thus leaving a bad

impression, so I'd told Maria we had a receiver that could view the

Empire's broadcasts. Since they used separate jewels for public broadcasts

and important communications like us, she said it wasn't an issue. In fact,

she wanted a receiver that could view broadcasts from the Kingdom in

return, so we sent her one.

When Juna saw Maria singing and dancing, she'd said, "What natural

charisma... It's frightening how gifted she is," which got her competitive

spirit all fired up. I felt lucky to have caught a glimpse of her determination

to always win.

"You're amazing. I think this is the first time I've seen a woman who's

stronger than Jeanne." Maria poked around Aisha's physique as she stood

rigid and upright.

"Y-You flatter me."

Maria had a gentle demeanor, and could interact with anyone quite

naturally. She was good at closing the distance between her and other

people, so I could see why the people of the Empire loved her. If this came

to her naturally, she was a born enchantress. It wasn't just Krahe; she could

probably make any man dance around in the palm of her hand.

"Th-The Empress? Seriously?" Hearing a strange tone of voice, and I

turned around to see Mio was frozen stiff, her eyes blinking rapidly. She'd

just come along as told, and now the head of the superpower to the west

was standing in front of her. No doubt her mind was still trying to process

all of what was going on.

Owen gave Mio a slap on the back. "Ah! Sir Owen?"

"I know how you feel, but relax. When you live in the Kingdom, these

sorts of ridiculous things happen all the time. It'll be easier on you if you

get used to it early."

"...What happened to the Kingdom after I left?"

Ouch, that hurt. Nothing bad happened to it. Probably.

"Sister, it's about time," Jeanne urged.

"Hee hee, yes, it is." Maria looked at me. "It won't do for us to stand

here, talking all day. Let's go inside. I've heard in advance that you have

something of great importance to discuss, after all."

"Yes. As such, I would like to limit the number of people who attend the

talks. Will that be acceptable? We'll each have one assistant inside the

room, and one guard outside."

"I understand. I'd like Jeanne to join me. Gunther will stand guard."

"Then Hakuya will join me, and Aisha will be the other guard."

We ordered the others to watch the surrounding area.

Lavie... Er, no, Krahe, who was left out, said, "Why must I be left out of

this historic conference? I'm very sad. I mean, silly Gunther is just a

taciturn ox of a man, isn't he? I'm begging you, let me be by your side, too.

Please, please, please, please, please."

He cried and begged desperately, but Maria and Jeanne both just waved

it off.

Following that, Maria pointed at Naden. "I've heard the raven-haired

Madam Naden is a dragon from the Star Dragon Mountain Range."

"Huh? Why are we talking about me now?!" Naden's eyes widened at

the sudden change in topic to her.

I thought I noticed a flash in Krahe's eye then. Maria continued, "I've

heard she's a particularly unique type of dragon called a 'ryuu,' too. Aren't

you curious how Naden met Souma, who is not one of the dragon knights of

Nothung, and built a bond strong enough it led them to form a contract?"

"...Certainly!"

Whoa... In order to distract Krahe from the conference, she'd brought up

Naden's heritage, and was trying to shove him off onto her. That was an

empress for you. What a harsh move.

"Why don't you ask her about it while we're having the conference?"

"Ohhh, I most definitely will!" Krahe rushed over to Naden, put his

hands together in front of him, and bowed his head. "Please, please, tell me

about it!"

"Whoa, you're too close! Souma, can I shock this guy?!"

"Uh, no, he's kind of a foreign general..."

"We don't mind. If he gets too rude, please, punish him," Jeanne said

with a smile.

"I can?!"

She gave permission awfully easily. Is this really all right? Naden sent

sparks flying through her black hair to intimidate him, but it seemed Krahe

didn't mind at all, as he kept getting closer.

"Ohh, the hero's dragon partner wreaths herself in lightning? How

mystical and divine! Ahh, I'm fascinated to learn how you and Souma met.

What was the story? Please, tell me! Now, now, now!"

"Gyah! Stay! Away! From! Meeee!"

I dunno. If he was able to go this far without batting an eye, I almost had

to be impressed. Ah! I might just have the word to describe Krahe... He was

a romanticist—to an unhealthy degree—that was what Krahe was.

"Sorry, Naden. It'd be a pain if he interrupted the conference, so can you

keep him occupied for us?"

"Wait! Why me?!"

"Please. I promise I'll make it up to you later." I put my hands together,

as if in prayer, as I asked her.

"Murgh..." Naden groaned. "...I'm going to make sure you make it up to

me."

"Yeah, I swear I will."

"Okay, I get it. I'll chat with him, but just for a little while."

It looked like I'd talked her into it. Naden would handle Krahe, so we

decided to quickly go inside the villa and get the conference going.