Invitation to the North

The Great Tiger Empire of Haan had destroyed the Mercenary State

Zem and had taken hold of the Lunarian Orthodox Papal State. With this,

Fuuga now had a system in place to move the continent at his whims. A

combined state, larger than any that had existed before, founded by the

great man of the era.

Wise people likely had doubts that this country could hold together once

they lost Fuuga's charisma. However, most people didn't realize this. They

delighted in Fuuga's exploits as if they were their own, and supported him

fervently. This was a country that could even retake the Demon Lord's

Domain. No, they could go even further: they could force the Maritime

Union into submission and unite the continent—a dream no one had ever

been able to realize before.

Dreamers don't tend to think ahead. They're too busy dreaming to think

about what comes after.

The important thing is to make their dream come true—to get the things

they want—and the results of that are left as a secondary consideration.

This was true of Fuuga too. "I'm gonna do it because no one else will."

That's all that had taken him this far.

"How far...can I go?"

One night, as he lay in his canopied bed, Fuuga mumbled that to

himself. When he did, Mutsumi, who was resting on his arm as her pillow,

rubbed her sleepy eyes and began to stir.

"Darling...?"

"Oh, sorry. Did I wake you?"

"No. It's all right."

Mutsumi pressed herself close against Fuuga. They were both

completely naked, each feeling the other's warmth.

"Is something the matter?" she asked softly.

"Oh, nothing much. I was thinking about how we took Zem and the

Orthodox Papal State, how Yuriga's married now, and...where this country

is heading next..."

Mutsumi chuckled. "You're feeling uncharacteristically sentimental."

"Oh, shove off... The world and this era are changing moment by

moment. Our country's rise wiped several nations off the map, which is still

being redrawn. And that little twerp Yuriga is somebody's wife now, you

know?"

"Hee hee, that last bit is the part that really makes you feel how much

time's gone by, isn't it?"

"I was thinking about how things are always gonna change. The era, this

country, and us."

After saying that, Fuuga let out a big yawn.

Mutsumi sat up and leaned over Fuuga, brushing her long, black hair

back over her shoulder before kissing his forehead. Mutsumi always

appeared so pure and clean, but for just this moment, there was something

alluring about her.

"I decided to be with you—no matter how the times change or how the

world changes. So, please, run down the path you believe in, and show me

things I've never seen before. These days we've spent together since we

were freed from our small countries in the Union of Eastern Nations

certainly haven't been bad by any means."

"Oh, yeah?"

Fuuga stretched out his thick arm and pulled Mutsumi closer.

The next day, in the audience chamber of Great Haan Castle, Fuuga

greeted Hashim and Moumei, who had finished exterminating the rebel

elements in the Zem Region, and Anne, who had purged their political

opponents inside the Orthodox Papal State. Mutsumi stood by his side as he

sat on the throne, her expression resolute.

"Well done, everyone."

"""Yes, sir!"""

The three of them knelt down and bowed in response to Fuuga's praise.

Anne raised her head, then put her hands together in front of her face, as

if praying to him.

"There is something I would like to show you, Holy King Fuuga," she

announced.

"Hm? What's that?"

"Bring it in, please..."

Anne raised her hand, and a group of men dressed in the raiment

Lunarian Orthodoxy appeared, carrying some large object on their

shoulders between them like a portable shrine. It was large enough that

Hashim and Moumei had to step aside so it could pass. With a heavy thud,

the men set it down behind Anne.

The object was tall enough to make people look up at it, and was also

wide and thick. Everyone aside from Anne stared at it, dumbstruck.

"Hey, Anne. What is it?" Fuuga asked, and Anne raised her hand to give

the signal.

The cloth was pulled off of it, revealing what looked like a massive

stone tablet, or perhaps a monument.

Anne assumed a pose as if she were praying before it, then said, "This is

the greatest treasure of Lunarian Orthodoxy, the Lunalith."

"Oh-hoh... Is that what this is?" Hashim, who had been watching from

the side, stroked his chin. "I believe future events are carved into this

monument, yes?"

"Yes. We've only been able to decrypt fragments, but the orthodox pope

managed the country according to the prophecies of this monolith. I had it

brought here in case it can be of use to you, Lord Fuuga," Anne said with

one hand over her chest.

However, Fuuga furrowed his brow.

"What rubbish..." he said dismissively. "If that were true, why is the

Lunarian Orthodox Papal State in our hands now?"

He rested his elbow on the arm of the throne and his chin on the palm of

his hand before he continued, saying, "Why were the heretics destroyed? If

they knew from the prophecies that this would happen, they'd have been

ready for it."

"Well... They must have misinterpreted Lady Lunaria's guidance."

"If things work out, it's because they followed the prophecy. If they fail,

it's because they misinterpreted it. That doesn't sound any different from

your common fortune teller to me. And I'm not gonna be ruled by a future

someone else told me. We'll cut a wide swath towards the future and win it

for ourselves. Like we have all along."

Mutsumi and Moumei nodded, agreeing with Fuuga. Hashim shrugged,

not objecting, while Anne stared at Fuuga with envy.

"Besides," Fuuga added, digging the wax out of one ear while looking

bored, "Souma's probably got experts on this kinda stuff at his place. He

doesn't just hire the smart and the strong—he hires people with all sorts of

weird skills. That country's a box of surprises. You never know what'll pop

out. Wouldn't surprise me if someone there could decipher this thing

properly."

"Ahh... It does feel that way sometimes, doesn't it?" Mutsumi nodded.

Her brother Ichiha's talents blossomed there because that was the kind of

country it was.

Fuuga rose from the throne and walked up to the Lunalith to touch the

surface of it, which bore an inscription he couldn't read.

"If we can only read fragments, it'd be a problem if Souma managed to

decipher the whole thing. I'd rather just smash it..."

"Um, I'd really rather you didn't... Please," Anne said, a sense of

urgency in her voice.

The Lunalith was a source of spiritual support for the believers. If Fuuga

were to destroy it, he risked damaging their faith, even when it came to

those who worshiped him like Anne.

Fuuga laughed raucously, as if he'd understood that all along. "It was a

joke. But if we leave it be, it may benefit Souma. He seems to have some

good spies, after all. Right, Hashim?"

"Indeed," Hashim replied, putting his hands together in front of him as

he nodded. "Souma does seem to have a rather talented group of operatives.

We've organized the White Snakes, expanding and enhancing the spy group

that once worked for the House of Chima, but they've been at this longer

than we have, so we seem to be playing catch-up. While we are not openly

hostile to the Kingdom of Friedonia, the battle between our agents is

intensifying beneath the surface."

"Yeah... It'd be bad if they snuck into this castle and got a glimpse of the

Lunalith. Let's seal it away somewhere where they can't get at it. Would

that work?"

Anne bowed reverently in response to Fuuga's question.

"It will be done as the Holy King Fuuga commands. There is just one

thing I want you to hear," she said, stroking the Lunalith gently. "Recently,

the characters that indicate the lands of the north have appeared on the

Lunalith frequently. That is the note of importance I wanted you to know."

"The lands of the north, huh? The Demon Lord's Domain..."

Anne's words had put a pensive look on Fuuga's face.

I've finally got things settled inside the country. I can use all the forces

at my disposal freely now. And...the Maritime Alliance probably won't be

able to turn me down. Their leader, Souma, must understand the importance

of fully liberating the Demon Lord's Domain. If he and I work together, we

can face the Demon Lord's Domain with the full power of mankind on this

continent.

Fuuga sensed the time had come to resume mankind's war with the

Demon Lord's Domain.

The times are going to be changing again in a big way! And you're

coming with me, Souma!

A feral smile spread across Fuuga's face as he thought that.

◇ ◇ ◇

One night, as I was enjoying a cup of coffee from the Spirit Kingdom in

Yuriga's room after finishing work, she broached the issue.

"My brother's requesting a broadcast meeting with you, Souma."

Although we were married, in light of Yuriga's position, we were putting

off nighttime marital relations until later. That said, it would be awkward to

keep her at a distance. People would start prying about it, so at the advice of

Liscia and our new chamberlain Tomoe, I was spending time with Yuriga at

night once a week.

Though, even if it was at night, all we were doing was drinking tea or

coffee—and maybe a little alcohol—as we chatted. It was a valuable

opportunity to get her opinion on the person this country needed to be most

wary of: Fuuga.

Besides, it was hard to find time to just talk like this lately, so it was as

relaxing for me as my tea parties with Juno, which we were still doing

occasionally.

"I sense more trouble coming my way..." I said, looking obviously

displeased.

"I'll bet," Yuriga replied with a shrug. "My brother wouldn't be

contacting us if he didn't have something bothersome to force you into."

"That's surprisingly harsh."

"Because that's the truth of the matter... I mean, 'cause that's the truth."

Yuriga corrected herself. Since becoming my wife, she's been making an

effort to talk more casually. She didn't want to be super formal and have

people treat her like a foreign princess forever. That's why she was trying to

be frank with us, except at public functions, where there was a hierarchy to

consider... She was still getting used to it though.

I'd have felt bad for her if I called attention to it, so I moved on.

"Fuuga destroyed Zem and took hold of the Orthodox Papal State.

Which means...if he wants to talk about something, it's likely about the

Demon Lord's Domain, huh?"

"Unless he's declaring war on this country, I'm sure that will be it,"

Yuriga said without hesitation.

The Maritime Alliance was the only force left that could oppose Fuuga's

Great Tiger Empire now, making me the only ruler who could contend with

him. That meant everyone on the continent saw me as the person that Fuuga

would eventually have to fight. I'd heard there were already drunks out

there arguing over which of us would win. It's good they were having fun,

because I definitely wasn't enjoying this...

Now that the Great Tiger Empire was united with one will, if Fuuga

attacked our faction now, it would be hard to get him to back off by

deploying troops from the entire Maritime Alliance like when we'd saved

the Gran Chaos Empire. It would certainly crush their morale, but if he

could just force the Kingdom of Friedonia to submit, he probably could take

back any territory he lost elsewhere...

I sighed between sips of coffee.

"Well, Fuuga will want to take care of the threat to his rear before

starting an all-out war with us. He's a pretty cautious guy, all things

considered."

"That's true. If there's going to be a fight, he'll want to be able to throw

everything he has at you."

"What a nuisance. Seriously."

"Uh, sorry..."

"It's not your fault, Yuriga," I said, putting a hand on her dejected

shoulders.

Then, the next day, I had my broadcast meeting with Fuuga.

"So, there you have it, Brother-in-Law. I want the Maritime Alliance's

cooperation in completely liberating the Demon Lord's Domain."

"You can't just say 'there you have it.'"

During the meeting we were holding over the broadcast, Fuuga

requested the Maritime Alliance participate in an operation to fully liberate

the Demon Lord's Domain.

I pinched my temples, feeling an impending headache, and I said, "At its

apex, the Empire suffered a major defeat against the Demon Lord's

Domain, despite leading a united force of mankind's nations. We could face

an unexpected situation. Furthermore, your Great Tiger Empire only just

brought Zem and the Orthodox Papal State under your control. If you get

tripped up here, it'll be a fatal blow to your country."

"I think so too, Brother," said Yuriga, who was standing beside me,

displaying a position that was contrary to her brother's. "It's plain to see

from outside the country. The only reason the Great Tiger Empire works as

an empire is because of you and the prestige you hold. If you were to fail to

take the Demon Lord's Domain, and that was to damage your prestige, the

Great Tiger Empire would crumble."

"Is that your own opinion, Yuriga?"

"Yes. Souma's not making me say this; it's what I think myself."

"You've learned to speak for yourself, huh? I guess having a partner

makes all the difference."

Fuuga smiled, pleased to see Yuriga's growth after she boldly argued

against him.

"Brother!" Yuriga continued, perhaps feeling he wasn't taking her

seriously, but Fuuga held up a hand to stop her.

"I get what you two are trying to say. But that prestige isn't something I

can maintain for long. Right now, the world is balanced between my

country and your faction. We're in a situation where I could have a stable

reign, I'm sure. But peace makes people's dreams and ambitions rot away.

If we don't act while mankind is able to unite against the Demon Lord's

Domain, we'll be missing the opportunity. We can only deal with the

Demon Lord's Domain now, while mankind is longing to be freed from the

threat of it."

I could understand where he was coming from. I agreed that if we were

going to tackle the Demon Lord's Domain, now was the only time to do it.

But the risks of failure were so high... When a ruler considered that his

country might lose stability in battle or another way—stability that so many

people had worked for—he would normally be more hesitant. Granted,

maybe being able to kick aside that sort of normalcy was one of the

prerequisites for becoming a great man.

"We'll head for the northernmost point on the continent by land. I want

your Maritime Alliance to use the fleets you're so proud of to head there

directly and stage a landing. We'll catch them in a pincer from the north and

south."

"We don't know how deep the Demon Lord's Domain actually goes."

"That's part of why we're sending people. We can't just sit on our hands

forever because we don't know."

"There are rumors of a demon lord or a demon god too."

"Just rumors. But if there is one, I'd like to have a go at him," Fuuga

replied with a grin.

There was a vicious innocence in Fuuga's smile. The man certainly

is...pure, I suppose. Pure in his idiocy. Pure in his greatness. Pure in his

humanity.

"Obviously, even if you refuse, we'll try to liberate the Demon Lord's

Domain with our own power."

Urgh... That would be the worst outcome. The reason the Empire's

united force had failed was due to starting a war without knowing much

about the demons. They'd sent in a force that thought they were there to

slay monsters like they were culling dangerous animals. The forces had no

distinction between what was a monster and a demon, and they ended up at

war with the demons. Through Tomoe's ability and her past experience, we

knew that it was possible to communicate with demons.

If I left handling the Demon Lord's Domain entirely up to Fuuga, he'd

attack even the demons we could negotiate with, and when they fought

back, it might be a repeat of the last time. Should Fuuga lose, his country

would split or fall apart, leaving the countries that couldn't handle the

monster attacks to perish. That would create new refugees, putting pressure

on the countries of the south. We'd be back in the same situation as the first

year after I was summoned.

If I was going to stop it, I couldn't leave things entirely to Fuuga.

"When...are you planning to send troops?"

"Sir Souma?!" Yuriga cried out in shock.

I likely had an expression on my face like I'd bitten into something

unpleasant. Fuuga didn't care about that though.

He told me, "The plan is to start in the 11th month of this year. The

Demon Lord's Domain is a desert region in the far north. I figure, if we

don't want our men to perish in the heat, we had better do it sometime after

fall. The nights will be cold, but not unmanageable."

It wasn't happening immediately, we had more than half a year of lead

time.

"Then don't do anything reckless until then. I want to gather information

on the Demon Lord's Domain too. It would be pure folly to start a war

without a plan. There may be records from past battles in Valois Castle in

the Euphoria Kingdom."

"Hmm... You've got a point. Maybe I'll order a search through the

former Imperial territories in my realm too."

"Listen. Avoid any rash actions until the day we send out our troops,

Fuuga."

"Fine... Good working with you."

The broadcast cut out. I pressed a hand to my forehead as I stared up at

the ceiling.

"Oh, jeez!"

"Souma..." Yuriga tugged on my shirt sleeve, her tone compassionate,

but also meek because she felt guilty over her brother's selfish demands.

I patted her on the shoulder, trying to be reassuring, and then slapped my

own cheeks to get myself going.

"There's no time. I've gotta do what I can. I'll need the other countries

in the Maritime Alliance to help too. In particular, I'll need Hakuya to

investigate what had happened around the time the united forces of

mankind lost to the Demon Lord's Domain... We don't have time to waste,

Yuriga."

"Okay!"

Yuriga and I left the room with the jewel, our resolve reaffirmed.