Flowers Working Behind the Scenes

It had only been a few days since the Black Cats brought me the report

saying that the Empire's vassals, the Frakt Federation and the Kingdom of

Meltonia, had switched sides to join the Fuuga Faction. The Kingdom of

Meltonia, which had expelled its royal family, was dismantled and annexed,

and the Frakt Federation was allowed to maintain nominal independence,

but was effectively controlled by the Great Tiger Kingdom.

The Mankind Declaration did not allow the changing of borders by

military force, but also recognized the right of peoples to selfdetermination. In the event that a country's people decided they wanted to

be ruled by Fuuga, the Empire had no choice but to accept it. They'd fallen

victim to the same hole in the Mankind Declaration that we'd taken

advantage of in the Amidonian War.

It's possible that Hashim, the instigator of all this, had been studying our

methods. With their vassals leaving them, the Empire was still a great

power, but the Mankind Declaration was no more. Meanwhile, if you

included his allies in the equation, Fuuga had now expanded to the point

where he had overwhelmingly more people and power than the Empire. His

sphere of influence formed an ominous, warped crescent, and people said it

looked like the maw of a wolf, ready to devour the Empire.

Even the common folk could see it was time for a showdown between

the two.

With me in the governmental affairs office were Liscia, Hakuya, and

Julius.

"Things moved faster than we expected..." I said, pressing a hand to my

forehead.

"Yeah..." said Liscia with a nod, stroking her chin. "I didn't expect such

momentum from the Great Tiger Kingdom, nor how fast Maria would find

herself pushed into a corner."

"Part of that comes down to bad timing... They were shaken up by the

sudden abolition of slavery, and then there were the natural disasters on top

of that. It all piled up."

"Will our country be all right? Won't they try the same slavery trick

here?" Julius asked.

"We should be fine," Hakuya replied. "The rights of our slaves are well

protected. And if none of them are dissatisfied, there should be no one for

them to stir up. They live better than the freed slaves in the Great Tiger

Kingdom, and we've made that clear to the people using broadcast

programs. Now, it's just a matter of us moving together with the Republic

and the Archipelago Kingdom to change what they're called. At which

point, the system will be no more."

"Yeah, that sounds about right. Let's work with Kuu and Shabon to go

forward with it," I said.

Julius crossed his arms and groaned. "The ability to spread news with

broadcast programs... It's a powerful tool. I could sense that even when I

was in Amidonia. I hated it when I was up against you, but now it's

reassuring."

"Ah ha ha... I'll take that as a compliment," I said with a wry smile at

the frowning Julius. "Anyway, if they were going to stir up trouble here, it

would be with people in the Amidonia Region, not the slaves. But Roroa is

still beloved by the people there, and Julius can keep the ones who don't

care for her in line with the memory of Gaius. With you two on our side, I

don't see the Amidonia Region getting out of hand."

That took the scowl off Julius's face.

"Heh! It's not bad, hearing you say that," he said.

"For all your arguments, you two get along pretty well," Liscia said,

sounding exasperated.

Julius and I both smiled wryly.

"That said...Souma? I know Fuuga Haan seems to have his eyes set on

the Empire, but what would have happened if he'd come after us instead?"

"I had plans I was working on for if it came to that, but... Hakuya's read

on the situation was, well... You tell her."

Liscia looked to Hakuya. He nodded.

"We wouldn't lose, but it would be a quagmire."

"Oh! That's how it'd be, huh?"

"In a defensive war, the terrain is on our side. Fuuga's forces are

powerful, but we hold a technological advantage. We have a number of

weapons, such as our wyvern cavalry equipped with simplified propulsion

devices, that they don't know about. That's not something they would be

able to deal with overnight. Their current strategy of lightning-fast advances

wouldn't work here."

Having said this, Hakuya pointed to the world map behind the desk.

"And given time, our Maritime Alliance allies in the Republic and the

Archipelago Kingdom would attack the Great Tiger Kingdom and their

allies. If our fleet moves with the Archipelago Kingdom's, we would be

able to fight defensively on land while also attacking the Great Tiger

Kingdom from both the east and west coasts. Fuuga's forces would be

forced to respond to this, further delaying their invasion. And if it dragged

on for several years...something decisive would happen."

"Something decisive?" Liscia repeated, and Hakuya pointed to the upper

area of the map.

"The periodic release of large numbers of monsters from the Demon

Lord's Domain in the phenomenon we call a demon wave. As things stand

now, the Great Tiger Kingdom is the sole nation keeping the domain in

check. It will take some time still, but if things drag on for too long and a

demon wave breaks out, the Great Tiger Kingdom will be forced to

confront it alone. They've rendered the Mankind Declaration ineffective,

and we'd be under no obligation to help the people who'd invaded us."

"I get it. You're saying they don't have time to attack us, right?"

"Yes, but we would also have trouble attacking them. So with neither

side being able to win a decisive victory, the war would bog down. That's

why it would be a quagmire."

"I'm sure Fuuga and Hashim know as much too. That's why they went

after the Empire," Julius added helpfully.

"If Fuuga was going to pick a fight with the Kingdom, it would have to

be after he's built his forces up enough to overwhelm the Maritime

Alliance. He'll need to be able to place units all over to respond to our

attacks before he's able to come settle things with us."

"Conversely, he doesn't want us to make a move until then."

Hakuya stroked his chin and grunted in agreement. "Mmm. He'll do

something to keep us in check, I'm sure. To keep us from acting while he

attacks the Empire."

"I agree, Prime Minister. I'd do the same."

"You would, would you?"

If Hakuya and Julius, my two great advisors, agreed on that, I had no

choice but to believe it.

Some days later, I received word from Yuriga that Fuuga wanted to do a

broadcast meeting with me.

It seemed Fuuga had gotten his hands on a number of dungeon cores in

the process of expanding his territory. They'd learned how to use them for

communication and broadcasting from Yuriga, who had experience with

that in the Kingdom. Now he was set up to hold broadcast meetings with us

like the Empire did.

Tomoe and Yuriga were in the room with me, watching as we prepared

for the broadcast.

"Maybe I can make my reports to my brother over the broadcast instead

of by letter from now on? It's been such a hassle," Yuriga said casually,

earning a wry smile from Tomoe.

"I don't think so. This country isn't allied with the Great Tiger

Kingdom, and there's no telling what you might say."

"But they haven't been censoring my letters anyway, right?"

"Oh, well... I guess it might be fine then?"

As Tomoe cocked her head to the side, Yuriga suddenly let out a sigh.

Tomoe blinked repeatedly. "Are you feeling tense...?"

"Of course I am... I have no idea what my brother plans to say."

Fuuga hadn't told Yuriga what this broadcast would be about, only to get

him a meeting with Souma. The lack of information made her think all sorts

of things, and she felt uneasy.

Tomoe had a pensive look on her face, and she said, "They say he's

going to war with the Empire..."

"Yeah... Augh, I don't want anything that makes it hard for me to stay

here..."

"Hee hee, so you want to stay in this country now," Tomoe said.

Yuriga turned her head away peevishly. "Yeah, I do. I've been talking

with my teammates about how we're going to win for sure."

"Oh, this is about mage soccer, huh? I know you've been doing really

well."

"Me and this senior dragonewt girl on the team are the two top players...

That's why it'd be tough being called back home so suddenly. The team's

on a roll right now."

Yuriga's expression clouded as she said that. Tomoe subtly moved closer

to her.

"...What?" Yuriga asked.

"Hm? Oh, I was just thinking if you went, I'd miss you too."

"Agh! Don't get cheeky with me, you little kid!"

"We're about the same height now."

Yuriga turned her head away, acting prickly. Meanwhile, Tomoe was

grinning, her tail wagging back and forth.

While they were chatting, preparations for the broadcast meeting moved

forward, and Souma and Fuuga were finally able to meet directly.

"It's been a while, Fuuga."

"Yeah. Long time no see, Souma."

After some meaningless pleasantries through the broadcast...

Fuuga suddenly looked around and called her name. "Yuriga. Are you

around?"

"Ah! Yes, Big Brother."

Despite her surprise, Yuriga stepped forward next to Souma.

Fuuga then told her, "Yuriga. I'm speaking to you as king of the Great

Tiger Kingdom."

"R-Right!"

Yuriga stood at attention as Fuuga slowly opened his mouth.

"I will have my sister, Yuriga Haan, marry into the family of Souma A.

Elfrieden."

"Fuuga!" I exclaimed.

After hearing his words, I couldn't help but raise my voice. He wanted

Yuriga to marry me. It was a clear demand for a strategic marriage.

Using his sister as a political pawn... For a king in this world, and in

these times, it was common sense for him to do so. My relationship with

Liscia had started out that way too. Despite understanding this, however, it

upset me that he was doing it so naturally. Furthermore, Yuriga had been

living here long enough that I'd developed a familial affection for her.

I glared at him, and Fuuga looked straight back into my eyes.

"Souma. I'm considering an invasion of the Gran Chaos Empire."

I listened in alarmed silence.

"I'll defeat the declining Empire and show the world that the Great Tiger

Kingdom is the one to lead the nations of mankind. With you married to

Yuriga, you'll be family. If the leader of the Maritime Alliance is with me,

mankind will be unified. The Nothung Dragon Knight Kingdom and what's

left of the Spirit Kingdom of Garlan will have no choice but to obey. We

can just ignore the Star Dragon Mountain Range. With mankind unified,

we'll liberate the Demon Lord's Domain. I'm going to unify the world—

something no one's ever been able to do."

He's talking nonsense... I thought, but there was a certain amount of

logic to it.

If the Great Tiger Kingdom was able to take all of the Empire's land, not

even the Maritime Alliance would be able to oppose him. If he sent

Imperial troops to contain the Republic, Kuu wouldn't be able to act.

Meanwhile, he'd invade us with his main forces from the north, and Zem

and the Lunarian Orthodox Papal State to the west. Even if we had control

of the seas, we'd be slowly ground down on land. We'd be left with little

choice but to seek asylum in the Archipelago Union. And if it was going to

come to that...I'd likely surrender early on. With all this in mind, Fuuga's

read on the situation wasn't necessarily wrong.

"Is that your plan, Fuuga?"

"Yeah. So, while we settle things with the Empire, I want you to stay

put. In exchange, I'll give you Yuriga."

"You'll give her to me? She's your family... You'd do that so easily?"

I glanced at Yuriga. She was standing up straight, looking at Fuuga.

I couldn't read any emotion in her expression. Her eyes weren't dead, at

least, but there was no great emotion. She was just calmly, intentionally,

looking at Fuuga. What does she think of all this?

"I'm not doing this lightly," Fuuga said. "She's my darling sister, cheeky

as she can be sometimes."

He didn't show even a hint of guilt.

"I've been running around with my buddies, working towards this grand

ambition of unifying the continent, and the country's grown this big. The

soldiers and the people lend me their strength in order to chase that dream.

But...once it comes true, I'll probably be satisfied. I think I have the

strength to take over the world. But I also know I don't have the talent to

hold on to it once I do."

"What are you trying to say?"

"I'm thinking you're more fit to rule the world after I unify it. Once the

world is all mine, I figure I'll hand it over to you."

"""...?!""" Everyone in the room gulped.

He's going to give me the world... Is he serious? In an old game, the

Dragonlord said, "I'll give you half the world," but Fuuga was offering me

the whole thing once he'd unified it.

"Don't say that so easily. Your subordinates and the people won't accept

it."

"That's why you're marrying Yuriga. The kid she'll have with you can

inherit the Great Tiger Kingdom. You can handle the rest of the personnel

assignments. You're good at that stuff, right?"

"I've got a whole mountain of things to say about this, but... What if you

have a kid with Mutsumi?"

"Hmm... I guess we'll go back to the steppes, or maybe become

adventurers. Neither Mutsumi or I want to manage a sprawling empire. And

even if we do have kids, I wouldn't want them to inherit it."

I had no reply to this. And he probably wasn't lying. This man is

genuinely just interested in taking over the world... Damn it!

Gathering myself, I then said, "Is this why you showed no sign of

calling Yuriga back home?"

"I was leaving her with you until she was of age. My subordinates knew

that was with a future marriage in mind."

"But Yuriga came to this country to study because she wanted to be of

use to you."

"It was reading her letters that convinced me I shouldn't fight with you

or the Kingdom. If she can stop our countries from getting into a war that's

bound to turn into a total quagmire, she'll already have done more than

enough."

When Fuuga said that, Yuriga stepped forward.

"Brother. You took my letters seriously then?"

"Of course. That's why I decided I should join hands with the Kingdom

and subjugate the Empire."

"I see..." Yuriga spun around to face me. "I'm sorry to interrupt during

an important talk between kings, but could I speak to my brother for a

moment?"

"S-Sure..."

"Thank you. Now then, Brother..."

Yuriga looked directly into Fuuga's eyes.

"In the time I've lived in this country, I've been thinking about it. If you

fought them, what would happen? Could you defeat Souma? Could Souma

defeat you?"

"Oh, yeah? And how do you see it?"

Fuuga urged her to continue, seemingly interested. Yuriga quietly shook

her head.

"I couldn't imagine Sir Souma being able to achieve victory."

"Mmm."

"But at the same time, I could never fully convince myself that you'd be

able to conquer this country."

Fuuga's eyes widened. Yuriga continued, choosing her words carefully.

"As I wrote in my letters...this country's values are too diverse. Even if

you're unmatched in martial prowess, that won't be enough to rule here.

Your power comes from having the respect of all your people, but in a

country with such diverse values like the Kingdom, one man couldn't

possibly earn the respect of the entire country."

Fuuga looked at Yuriga, showing no sign of interrupting her.

"There are people who respect Souma for rebuilding this country with

his policies, and those who love and respect Queen Liscia. There are people

charmed by the songs of the Prima Lorelei, Queen Juna Doma—warriors

who aspire to have the strength of Queen Aisha. There are those of

Amidonia, who love Queen Roroa, and the common people of Parnam who

are friends with Queen Naden. Even with just the current king and his

wives, there are all these different reasons...different views..."

Yuriga took a long breath before continuing.

"And despite all these groups, they don't form factions. Because this

house is unified in their desire to keep the country together. That's why a

system of rule like yours or Empress Maria's, where all of that respect is

concentrated on one person, wouldn't work in this country. Even with your

great majesty, it wouldn't be easy to capture the hearts of all this country's

people. And that's why..."

Finally, Yuriga came straight out and said it.

"I accept your command to marry Souma."

"Come again?" I blurted out despite myself. Huh? Is it really okay for

her to accept so easily?

Even Fuuga looked a little thrown off by this.

"I was ready for you to pitch a fit..." he said.

"I won't be doing that. I more or less saw this coming. Although, I want

to complain a bit about you bringing this up so suddenly."

"Right... Sorry."

"You'd better be. Still, if I'm going to marry Souma, you should

understand that I'll be working on behalf of the Kingdom of Friedonia from

here on. Because that will benefit you too."

"Hmm... What do you mean?" Fuuga asked dubiously.

Yuriga put her hands on her hips and thrust her chest out towards him.

"I'm not convinced you're going to win. So I can't say for certain that

you're not going to end up dragged before Sir Souma bound in ropes

someday. When that happens, I'm the one who'll have to beg him to spare

your life."

Fuuga was speechless.

"Whether Sir Souma listens to my pleas or not is going to hinge entirely

on whether he loves me. I need to become a queen Souma will love and the

people of this country will feel sympathy for. In order to do that, I'll serve

this country with all my heart."

"Heh, heh... Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha!" Fuuga roared with laughter. "So you

decided to marry him on your own, not because I said to?!"

"Yes, Brother."

"I like it! You've really grown up in the short time I haven't seen you!

You're not letting yourself be swept along by events—you're carving your

own path! I regret letting Souma have you now!"

Uh... I didn't even know what was happening at this point.

After a hearty laugh, Fuuga looked at me.

"Well, there you have it. Look after Yuriga for me, all right?"

"You can't just lay this on me..."

"There isn't a single lie in what I just said. This shouldn't be a bad deal

for you people. You should talk it over with the Black-robed Prime Minister

and Julius Lastania. So...I want you to stay out of this one."

War between the Empire and the Great Tiger Kingdom seemed

inevitable. I had just one thing to say about that.

"Are you sure you're not taking Maria Euphoria too lightly?"

"I'm not taking her lightly at all. I intend to throw everything I have at

her."

With that, Fuuga's image vanished.

We hadn't formally accepted the marriage yet, but they were probably

going to announce it as an established fact. If I tried to drive Yuriga off and

get out of it, I'd only be giving them an excuse I didn't have to.

As I was wondering what to do, I noticed Yuriga trembling next to me.

"Um... You okay, Yuriga?"

"...won."

"Huh?"

Yuriga was mumbling so I cupped my ear...

"I won!!!" she shouted out loud right next to me.

"Whoa?!" I stumbled backwards.

The others were looking at us, wondering what was up. But Yuriga paid

no mind to them; instead, she thrust her right fist into the air.

She was like a new champion who'd just taken the throne. And as if that

wasn't enough for her, she thrust her left fist up too, holding both arms up

in jubilation.

"I won my bet!!!"

Huh? Bet? Has she gone crazy? As I was thinking that, Tomoe ran over

and tackle-hugged her.

"Congratulations, Yuriga!"

"Tomoe! Thank you!"

Yuriga and Tomoe jumped up and down, holding one another.

Seriously... What?

"She really pulled it off," Liscia said as she walked over to us.

"Do you know something about this?" I asked.

"She's been talking to me about it for a while. Come on, Yuriga. We

have to explain to Souma."

"Oh! Sure thing, Lady Liscia."

Yuriga seemed to come back to reality when Liscia called for her. She

let go of Tomoe and cleared her throat before slowly approaching.

"Erm... Uh... Where do I start?"

"How about with what you said about winning a bet?"

"Of all the potential futures for me, I was able to win close to the best

one."

"Close to the best one? You mean getting married to me?"

"I mean, in my position. It was always a given that I was going to be

thrust to someone for a strategic marriage."

Yuriga shrugged her shoulders and sighed.

"I mean, the Great Tiger Kingdom is rising rapidly, and I'm the younger

sister of their king, right? People were going to want to marry me to get

closer to my brother, and he was going to want to wed me to someone

influential who could help him on his quest for dominance."

"Yeah...I get that."

"So, at that point, the only difference is who I get married off to. Having

lived in this country for a few years now, I'm used to living here. I didn't

even want to think about getting sent elsewhere. I want to keep playing with

my mage soccer team. And as for having to leave behind my friends like

Tomoe, Ichiha, Lucy, and Velza, well, um...I didn't want that either."

"Aww, Yuriga," Tomoe cooed, a huge grin on her face.

Yuriga turned her head away, refusing to look at Tomoe.

"Um, that's why I wanted to marry someone who'd let me stay in this

country, and hopefully continue playing mage soccer a while longer. But

when it came to who my brother would be willing to accept, you were about

the only person who came to mind. Ichiha meets the first two criteria, but

my brother wasn't going to settle for me marrying a vassal of yours. And

besides..."

"Yuriga?" Tomoe called to her, still smiling.

"...Your little sister kind of scares me."

"Ah ha ha..."

Given these events, I was going to have to get Tomoe and Ichiha

formally engaged too. They each seemed interested in the other, and a lot of

other people were aiming for both of them, so making it official would nip

that in the bud.

Yuriga looked at Liscia. "That's why I went to talk to Lady Liscia and

the others. I needed to know if she could accept me as one of your wives,

and I wanted help convincing my brother to give me the order."

"Wait... The other queens were in on this too?" I asked, looking at

Liscia.

"Well, you could say our interests were aligned. Right, Yuriga?"

"Yep!"

Liscia and Yuriga high-fived one another, looking smugly satisfied.

"You said you wanted to avoid a war with the Great Tiger Kingdom

now, right? And that we needed to convince Sir Fuuga not to fight with us.

That's why when Yuriga came to me for advice, I said I'd accept her as one

of your queens if she'd use her letters to make Fuuga less likely to attack

us. We wanted to convince him to win us over instead of opposing. Juna

was in charge of overseeing the letters, by the way."

"Oh... Well, damn..."

If she was getting tips from Juna, who'd learned from the experienced

Excel—then yeah, of course she'd be able to make Fuuga cautious of this

country. And since Yuriga was writing the letters of her own accord, he was

unlikely to notice it. Well, that didn't guarantee Fuuga would make the

decision they wanted, but... Oh! So that's why it was a bet.

I stared at Yuriga.

"So you had him dancing in the palm of your hand?"

"Ah... What I said in my letters and what he told you just now were all

true, you know? If a mighty warrior like my brother was going to fall, I

think it would be to this country. And honestly, I do plan to beg for his life

if it comes to that."

"That's some determination... But are you really satisfied with this?

Having to marry me."

"Well, I do like you. Up until now, I would have been more into

someone like Sir Shuukin, who's like another big brother to me. But I

respect you, and I could see myself loving you."

"Y-You could...? You're being awfully pragmatic about this."

"She's like a past version of me, isn't she? I just couldn't leave her

alone," Liscia said with a wry smile as I stared at them in awe.

"Oh, and one other thing..." Yuriga looked at Tomoe. "If I marry you,

that makes Tomoe my little sister, right? I like the idea of that."

"Ah! But I'm the adopted daughter of the former royal couple, so this

won't make me your little sister, Yuriga."

"Huh? It won't?"

"I only call Big Sister Liscia my big sister. I just call Big Brother Souma

that because he's married to her. I don't call Aisha, Juna, Roroa, and Naden

'Big Sister.'"

"W-Well, when I'm queen, you'd better show me respect! You're just a

princess!"

"Okaaay," Tomoe said with a chuckle. "I've applied to be chamberlain,

by the way. I'll do a good job scheduling your nights with Big Brother."

"Bwuh?! Oh, I can't stand you!"

"Ah ha ha ha ha ha."

Tomoe and Yuriga bantered back and forth.

Yuriga probably came up with this plot and found the determination to

carry it out because she didn't want to lose this sort of interaction.

Hakuya and Julius were no doubt listening somewhere nearby, so I said,

"A question for the brilliant minds that help run this country..."

"May we help you?" asked Hakuya.

"What is it?" followed up Julius.

"Did you two see this coming?"

When I asked that, they looked at one another and shrugged.

"No. I never anticipated the queens were backing her..."

"I doubt Fuuga or Hashim imagined this either. They might have

expected you, me, or the prime minister to be planning something,

but...they wouldn't have counted on having to consider the intentions of the

queens as well. What a terrifying country."

"Tell me about it," I said with a nod.

These reliable, frightening women were working as a team. We were no

match for them. If you looked at just the result, they'd pulled one over on

both Fuuga and me