Prologue to the Post-war Period

The Gran Chaos Empire was in the west of the continent.

On this continent, if you excluded the Demon Lord's Domain, this state

had the largest territory. When it came to population, war potential,

technology, and even the quality of life for its people, it was a great empire

to which no other country could compare.

Even the Elfrieden Kingdom, which had the second-largest territory on

the continent, was insignificant compared to the Empire. If the kingdom

wanted to compete with the Empire, even after annexing Amidonia, they

would still need to double their strength.

In fact, that calculation only worked if they were fighting the Empire

alone. If they made enemies of the Empire's allied countries, too, there

would be no room left for them on the continent.

About the only area where the kingdom could compete with the Empire

was in how far back their histories went. The Empire was younger than the

kingdom, though only by a little.

It had happened towards the end of the Chaotic Period. There had been

conflict between the many diverse races of the continent, and many

countries had suddenly risen to power. Unlike Elfrieden, which was

founded by the coming together of many races, the Chaos Kingdom of the

time was ruled by a single king. He centralized power, concentrating it in

the hands of the human race, and created what might be called a

dictatorship.

Especially in troubled times, centralized states are more powerful. This

is because the decisions made by a single individual are immediately

reflected, so they can make swift decisions and act immediately. By the

time the Chaotic Period was drawing to an end, the Chaos Kingdom stood

head and shoulders above the other nations on the continent. However, at

that point, it was just one power among many. The people back then would

never have thought it would become the sort of massive empire it was

today.

The biggest revolution came around one hundred years ago, with the

birth of a heroic individual in the Chaos Kingdom.

Manas Chaos.

The person who would later come to be known as Emperor Chaos.

Manas was born as the second son of the King of Chaos, but he inherited

the throne when his father and elder brother perished in the war with the

Euphoria Kingdom, a country which existed in the northwest of the

continent. When Manas took the throne, those around him naturally

expected a war of revenge against the Euphoria Kingdom.

However, Manas not only didn't launch a war for revenge, he also took

the King of Euphoria's daughter as his wife, forming a marital bond

between the two countries. What was more, he went as far as renaming

himself Manas Euphoria, so those in the Euphoria Kingdom let down their

guards.

There was some resistance to this in the Chaos Kingdom, but Manas was

a military genius and suppressed all of the dissenters.

As a military genius, Manas understood. Right now, the gap in power

between the Euphoria Kingdom and his own wasn't that large. If they were

to fight in these circumstances, the war would be drawn out and it would

only succeed in exhausting the country.

His plan was to first use the King of Euphoria, absorb the smaller

countries around them, and then, once the difference in power between

them was overwhelmingly in his favor, he would try to swallow the

Euphoria Kingdom again.

In fact, Manas did absorb the smaller countries, and then, when the

difference in power between them was great enough, he invaded the

Euphoria Kingdom, his wife's home, and destroyed it.

However, perhaps out of some small feeling of regret, even after he

destroyed the Euphoria Kingdom, he didn't return to his former name of

Chaos and continued to use the Euphoria name. Even now, the imperial

family of the Gran Chaos Empire used the Euphoria name.

Even after destroying the Euphoria Kingdom, Manas continued with his

wars of invasion, and before he knew it, his country had become a large

nation controlling the west of the continent. This was when the Chaos

Kingdom renamed itself the Gran Chaos Empire.

The appearance of this massive country was a cause of great concern

even to countries that didn't neighbor it.

This happened some decades later, but in the Elfrieden Kingdom, the

reason that the king who was Souma's predecessor's predecessor had taken

the path of expansionism was out of fear over the existence of the Empire.

The world had already been transitioning towards an atmosphere of

cooperation then, but he must have wanted to strengthen his own country

before the threat that was the Empire closed in on him. However, lacking

the genius of Manas, when that former King of Elfrieden had seized half of

Amidonia, his followers who were unhappy about the exhaustion of the

country that had come from his excessive expansion assassinated him.

After that, the kingdom saw a succession war between his relatives (the

three dukes of the time didn't want to get involved, so they secluded

themselves in their duchies) which led to the near-elimination of the royal

line.

In the end, the young girl who would later become Liscia's mother

survived the troubles, inherited the throne, and managed to make things

settle down in the kingdom by taking Albert as her husband.

Let's get back to talking about the Empire.

The Empire had become a great power and was even looking at unifying

the continent, but the core figure in all of this, Manas, had passed away at

the age of fifty, when he still could have done more. There were rumors of

assassination, but the truth is that it was illness. Not even such a great man

could defeat illness.

With the death of Manas, the situation in the Empire began to look

dubious. When a country is built around a strong personality, it often

fractures when that strong personality is lost. There have been examples of

this on Earth, too. There were Alexander the Great's empire, the Mongol

Empire, Qin Shi Huang's Qin Dynasty, and more. The faster a country

expands, the more likely it is to fracture before three generations have

passed. It was the same with the Gran Chaos Empire.

The second emperor, thanks in part to Manas's loyal associates still

being alive, ruled the Empire with a steady hand. However, by the time the

third emperor ascended the throne, those loyal attendants had passed away.

Partly because it was a country centered around humans, there were no

vassals of other races, such as Excel, who had served the royal family for

generations. As a result, the third emperor launched new invasions in an

attempt to gain the support of his retainers. He must have wanted to show

people both inside and outside the country that he could continue Manas's

work of unifying the continent.

However, the war that had broken out sixty years ago had turned into a

world-wide war, with many countries being exhausted as a result. The

Empire was no exception. With the unexpectedly high war costs ruining the

country, it had damaged the support it had been trying to build.

There were repeated civil wars in the Empire, and the third emperor died

at the hands of rebels during the fourth such war. Ironically, it was actually

because of the losses inflicted in the war that the third emperor started in on

an attempt to carry on the work of unification, one which caused the world

to shift towards an atmosphere of greater cooperation.

The fourth emperor, who had inherited an empire in disarray, abandoned

the expansionist policies and focused on domestic politics. It could have

been called a wise decision, but he was called too passive and was looked

down on by the lords of the empire.

When the fifth emperor took the throne, the Empire had already lost its

centripetal force, and it was thought it would soon break up. However,

roughly ten years ago, something completely unexpected had happened.

The appearance of the Demon Lord's Domain.

The sudden advance of these aberrant armies caused the Empire to lose

the former territory of the Euphoria Kingdom along with many of its other

northern territories. However, the threat was the same for all countries,

leading to calls for mankind to unite in the face of this situation.

And so, they turned to the largest, most powerful nation, the Empire, for

leadership. As a result, the Empire managed to avoid the threat of division.

They became the leading power in the alliance of mankind's nations,

but, owing to the fact that mankind wasn't working in unison at first, they

were forced into a hard battle against the monsters. Then, in a battle during

the invasion that pushed deep into the Demon Lord's Domain, mankind

suffered a crushing defeat.

The fifth emperor was a man of culture, not gifted in the art of war. As a

result of the unfamiliar battlefield grinding him down, body and soul, he

had passed away five years ago.

The fifth emperor had no boys, so the one to inherit the throne was a girl

who was still only fourteen at the time.

That girl was Maria Euphoria.

Now, at the age of nineteen, she was the empress of the Grand Chaos

Empire ("emperor" being a title for males, the position had been newly

created.)

At the time, there had been many voices concerned that such a young

girl was to take the throne. However, once she did take the throne, she

immediately put her natural charisma to work.

She first changed the human-favoring Empire policies, employing those

with talent even if they belonged to another race. In peace time, the humans

might have pushed back against that, but this was a time of crisis with the

threat of the Demon Lord's Domain bearing down on them. Their positions

and prestige were dependent on their survival.

Her policies, which were suited to the current era, received the support

of her subjects.

Included in Maria's policies was the one said to be her greatest, the

Declaration of Mankind's Common Front Against the Demon Race (also

known as the Mankind Declaration).

In response to the encroaching threat of the Demon Lord's Domain, she

called for a common front between all mankind.

The Mankind Declaration with its three articles, "The acquisition of

territory by force between the nations of mankind is deemed inadmissible,"

"the right of all peoples to equality and self-determination will be

respected," and "countries that are distant from the Demon Lord's Domain

will provide support to those nations which are adjacent to it and are acting

as a defensive wall," was revolutionary in that it not only established a

common front against the forces of the demon lord, but also made reference

to stopping wars and forbidding racial discrimination.

Also, Maria gave her undivided attention to saving the weak. With her

beautiful appearance and the gentle disposition she greeted everyone with,

regardless of their background, she seized the hearts of the people.

At some point, the people naturally came to call her this:

The "Saint of the Empire."

◇ ◇ ◇

That Saint of the Empire, Maria, was now in her room in the imperial

capital of the Gran Chaos Empire with a gloomy look on her face.

It was a quiet night. There was something transient about the way she

looked as she stood next to the window with moonlight streaming in, not

bothering to turn the lights on. Her feminine, well-balanced figure was

wrapped in a pure white dress, and she looked beautiful with her wavy

blond hair.

Who would have believed that she stood at the top of the most powerful

state on the continent?

As Maria looked through the glass at the moon shining in the night sky,

she let out another sigh. At that moment, there was a knock at the door to

her room.

Maria corrected her posture, then said, "Come in."

Another young girl entered. "Excuse me, sister."

This girl was clad in a military uniform, and had a face that looked

identical to Maria's.

If there was a difference between them, it was that she tied her hair back

in a ponytail and that her eyes looked slightly more courageous. It was only

natural that they would look similar, because she was Maria's sister who

was two years younger, Jeanne Euphoria.

Jeanne stood in front of her sister, giving her a salute. "I, Jeanne

Euphoria, will head to the Amidonian capital, Van, as commander of the

Army."

Jeanne had such a great gift for the military that she was called "the

female Manas," and despite being first in the line of succession, she also

acted as the commander of the entire Army.

Maria handled the administrative side while Jeanne handled the military.

By dividing the roles between these two sisters, they had managed to handle

the tasks which had made the previous emperor collapse from being

overworked.

Incidentally, there was another sister who was one year younger than

Jeanne, but according to rumors she was a rare eccentric and not allowed

out in public.

Maria looked at Jeanne apologetically. "Yes... You'll be meeting with

that hero king."

"...Yes," said Jeanne. "I don't like being used like this by Amidonia, but

I suppose we'll have to negotiate the return of Van, which is under

occupation." Jeanne looked as if she'd just bitten into something

unpleasant.

A messenger from the sovereign prince of Amidonia, Julius, had arrived

in the imperial capital, Valois, just a few days prior.

"The occupation of Van by the Elfrieden Kingdom is a challenge to

signatories of the Mankind Declaration, which forbids the changing of

borders," the messenger had told them. "As the leading power of the treaty,

we ask that Her Imperial Majesty, Empress Maria Euphoria, use her power

to take Van back from that country."

Of course, the Empire knew that the Principality of Amidonia had been

the one to initiate hostilities. When pressed on that point, the messenger had

said, "That is something the former prince, Lord Gaius, did despite Lord

Julius's warnings to the contrary. It has nothing to do with Lord Julius." The

excuse sounded almost defiant.

When he spoke to them like that, Jeanne nearly drew the sword at her

hip, but as the one in charge of the Empire's military, she restrained herself.

Then, despite really not wanting to, she agreed to take over the negotiations.

Even if the principality was at fault, the Mankind Declaration had to be

respected. The Mankind Declaration was the embodiment of the Empire's

prestige. It was a bitter decision for Maria and Jeanne to have to make.

"I'm sorry," Maria said. "Making you go to all this trouble."

"What are you saying? I'm sure you're the one troubled most by this,

sister. I swear we'll make Julius Amidonia pay for this someday," Jeanne

spat.

Maria could understand how Jeanne felt, but she told her in the calmest

tone possible, "It will be fine. The Elfrieden Kingdom's new king, Souma,

is by all accounts a wise man. I can't see him being so foolish as to fight

with our country."

"Are you sure?" Jeanne asked. "We once demanded he be handed over

to us..."

"True... He must have a bad impression of us."

Roughly half a year before, the Empire had requested that Elfrieden

provide subsidies for the war against the demons. If they couldn't do that,

the Empire had included a condition wherein they could carry out the ritual

of hero summoning which was passed down in their country, and turn that

summoned hero over to the Empire instead. As a result, the financially

troubled Elfrieden Kingdom had chosen to summon a hero.

Then the summoned hero, Souma Kazuya, had been given the throne by

the king and become the current King of Elfrieden.

There were many points that remained unclear, such as why the former

king, Albert, had handed over the throne so easily, but Souma had improved

the health of the Elfrieden Kingdom's economy and begun to provide

subsidies.

Since then, the new king Souma had solved a food crisis, put down a

rebellion by the three dukes, and dealt with Amidonia, which had used the

rebellion as an opportunity to invade, by launching a counter invasion and

occupying their capital, Van.

A man who was close in age to Maria had accomplished all of that in a

short time. Even if he hadn't been a hero, she would want someone that

capable for herself.

To be honest, rather than Julius who had acted arbitrarily, she would

have preferred to be on friendly terms with King Souma. However, because

the Empire had demanded he be turned over to them, it was assumed that

there was no hope of them forming a friendly relationship. However, Maria

hadn't given up hope yet.

"From what I hear in the reports, I think Sir Souma is the type who will

understand if we talk to him," she said.

Jeanne, on the other hand, disagreed with her assessment. "You do? I

feel the opposite, sister. You and he are like oil and water..."

From all the reports Jeanne had heard about Souma, she felt like he was

Maria's polar opposite. For instance, Maria was trying to unite mankind in

the face of the threat from the Demon Lord's Domain, while Souma seemed

to be thinking his country needed to be able stand on its own two feet first.

Also, no matter how unpleasant things got, Maria respected the law and

rules, trying to act logically, like an empress should. Meanwhile, for

Souma, when it came to his powers as king, his subjects, and systems, his

policy seemed to be, "If they're useful, I use them, and if they're not, I

don't," with his criteria for which was which being decided by his own

sensibilities. If a system wasn't in line with the facts, he would change it,

while if it was practical, he'd employ it even if no one had ever looked at it

before.

Maria acted according to logic, while Souma acted according to his

feelings. Jeanne didn't think the two of them would ever understand one

another.

"To me, it feels like you two are facing in entirely different directions..."

she said.

Maria was silent for a moment, then giggled. "Oh, but if we're both

facing different directions, don't you think we could eliminate our blind

spots if we cooperate?"

When she saw Maria's mischievous smile, even as her little sister,

Jeanne thought she was very cute.