Chapter 16: 15

After Story 2: Waves -new chapter- 

— End of the 2nd month, 1549th year, Continental Calendar — Imperial Capital, Valois

Empress Maria Euphoria was standing in front of a Jewel Voice Broadcast jewel. The simple receiver placed nearby showed the image of King Souma A. Elfrieden of the Kingdom of Friedonia. 

“King Souma, first, allow me to congratulate you,” Maria said, lowering her head slightly to him. “I hear you put down a great monster in the Nine-Headed Dragon Archipelago. I bow my head to you.” 

“No, no, it was only possible with the Empire’s assistance. Thanks to you spreading word of the danger posed by the Kingdom, the Nine-Headed Dragon Archipelago’s islands unified, and we were able to pull them into a final showdown with Ooyamizuchi. You have my gratitude,” Souma said, bowing his head. 

Maria smiled. “Jeanne was sulking about that, you know? She said things like ‘If they were sending their fleet to the Nine-Headed Dragon Archipelago to slay a monster, I wish they would have told me so,’ and ‘I look like a fool for suggesting they were going to invade.’” 

During the negotiations in Zem, unlike her sister Maria, Jeanne had been furious about her inability to discern Souma’s intentions from the limited information available. Though, her anger had been directed more at herself than at Souma and his party. Obviously, the reason things turned out that way wasn’t because Jeanne was lacking, but because Maria was just that incredible. 

“There was just... no way I could have told you at that point. I needed to set the Kingdom up as a potential enemy. If the information leaked, all of the preparation that the Nine-Headed Dragon King and I did would have been for nothing. In that sense, I’m really grateful that you picked up on what was happening.” 

“Hee hee, do you think I was able to show my dignity as the big sister? I know Jeanne sulked about it at the time, though. If I recall, Sir Hakuya had to console her, didn’t he?” 

“In that case, I’ll tell Hakuya to let Madam Jeanne air her complaints to him again in the future.” 

“Please do.” 

Maria decided to move on and change the topic. 

“Setting that all aside, I want to hear about this Ooyamizuchi that attacked the Nine-Headed Dragon Archipelago. They say it was as big as a mountain. It sounds almost like a monster out of the storybooks. What was it like in reality? I’d love to hear.” 

“Ah, ha ha... That’s true, huh? Ooyamizuchi was...” 

Maria’s eyes shone like those of a little girl asking to be read a picture book. Smiling wryly, Souma described what he had seen of Ooyamizuchi, and related the story of how it confounded the Kingdom and Archipelago Union’s fleets in battle. Maria listened intently with childlike reactions of awe as she heard how the creature shot water from its mouth to capsize several ships, and slapped ships and wyvern cavalry down with its writhing tentacles. 

“Whew.” Maria put her hand to her cheeks and exhaled. “It’s a big world out there. I never imagined there was a creature like that. Dangerous and gargantuan... I believe your word for them was ‘kaiju,’ Sir Souma? I know this must have all been a lot of trouble for you, but I wish I could have seen it before it was slain.” 

“...I can relate. It felt like I was witnessing one of the wonders of this world. I think Ichiha will be compiling an illustrated report for the encyclopedia soon, so I’ll have it sent to you when it’s finished.” 

“I’ll be looking forward to it.” Maria smiled happily. Seeing her like this, she was like a cheerful woman you might find anywhere. Though, beauty like hers was anything but commonplace. “While we’re on the subject, our informants tell me that you used an island-like ship, and controlled a mechanical dragon. I’d love to see those as well.” 

Maria brought these things up like it was a casual extension of the previous conversation, but Souma stiffened the moment he heard her. Hiryuu and Mechadra, eh? he thought.Those were weapons the Kingdom didn’t want to fully open up about yet. Having used them as bombastically as he had, he’d been prepared for other countries to find out about them in time, but counted on the Empire—or Maria, rather—to be on top of gathering intelligence. 

Souma slumped his shoulders in resignation. “...Those are still secret. They’re our tiger cubs, you could say.” 

“Oh, you raise tigers, Sir Souma?” 

“No, Fuuga’s the one with a tiger. It’s a figure of speech from the world I came from... It means a secret weapon.” 

“A secret weapon, hm? Sounds exciting. It certainly has our navy feeling antsy, though.” 

“Antsy... you say?” Souma asked, and Maria let out a faint laugh. 

“You used wyvern cavalry at sea, didn’t you? Now, I’m no expert on naval combat, but judging by how the navy is panicking, I have to assume it’s revolutionary. They’ve been busily coming up with countermeasures like, ‘We must load anti-air repeating bolt throwers on all our ships at once!’” 

Against a crazy weapon like an island-type carrier, that was likely the only thing they could do at the moment. 

“They would think that, huh...?” Souma replied, awkwardly scratching his cheek. “Well, if they do come up with countermeasures, we’ll just counter their countermeasures.” 

“I’m sure you will. I can believe the Kingdom won’t suddenly invade my country, but the people who serve me don’t have that luxury. If working on countermeasures helps put them at ease, I think that’s fine.” 

“Yes. I don’t intend to use them to invade other countries, obviously, but I think our country needs to have its military equipment prepared so that we can respond to the predicted change in the situation up north.” 

“...This is about Sir Fuuga Haan, right?” Maria stopped smiling and looked at Souma. He nodded. 

“He’s been increasing the territory under his control by steadily carving land off the Demon Lord’s Domain. He lets the refugees return, while also becoming their protector. More and more people have been praising him for his great accomplishments.” 

“I am aware. I have a number of my retainers urging me to retake land from the Demon Lord’s Domain as well. They worry that Sir Fuuga’s actions will shake people’s impression of me as a saint, and that it would be terrible if that happened.” 

“...I sense you’re not enthusiastic about this.” 

“The Empire is already too large for me to manage,” Maria said with a slight laugh at her own expense. “It would only be more territory I couldn’t oversee.” 

“I understand the feeling, but... will that satisfy your retainers?” 

Unlike in the Kingdom, where there were many talented personnel working to support the country, Maria’s charisma was a major factor in how the Gran Chaos Empire controlled its vast domain. Her retainers must have been concerned that some of that charisma might fade. That’s why it won’t be easy to convince them... Souma thought. 

Maria lowered her eyes and quietly replied, “If I can’t satisfy them, then it just means I was never that special.” 

Souma didn’t know what to say. Maybe it was the weight of what she carried on her shoulders, but Maria had an air of enlightenment about her that belied her age. 

Then, as if to wipe all the doom and gloom away, Maria clapped her hands. “Come to think of it, I heard something about you forming a maritime alliance with the Nine-Headed Dragon Archipelago Union.” 

“...You do hear a lot of things. I plan to bring it to the Republic, too.” 

“Oh, goodness, and you’re not going to offer it to my country?” Maria said mischievously, and Souma shrugged his shoulders. 

“You’re saying that knowing the Empire can’t join, right? If we were to add the chief signatory of the Mankind Declaration to the maritime alliance, it would be thought of as a practical extension of the Declaration. In order to keep our strong ties a secret, we can’t let the Empire join, yet.” 

“Not yet... you say. I expected that, but it’s still unfortunate. If possible, I would have liked for you to become the leader of all the nations of mankind, Sir Souma.” 

“...Please, don’t push the Empire’s load off onto me.” Souma sighed, then looked at Maria with a serious expression. “The maritime alliance was organized to be a different framework from the Mankind Declaration, which is primarily based on land. If we let them think of it as another faction in opposition to the Empire, then third nations won’t be as wary.” 

“Yes. I understand that.” 

“Besides, even if we’re in different factions, I think the Kingdom and Empire can still work together when we need to, and wield considerable power.” 

“That’s true. I suppose it’s all the more reason I need to maintain the Mankind Declaration.” Maria nodded to herself. 

“What is the scale of the Mankind Declaration at this point?” Souma asked her. “I know we’re partially at fault for this, but... I suspect you lost some members after we annexed the Principality of Amidonia. Has that affected your influence in any way?” 

“Hee hee, you don’t need to be concerned. It’s true that with the Principality of Amidonia’s withdrawal, the Declaration’s membership was reduced to my country and its two vassals, Mercenary State Zem, and a number of countries in the Union of Eastern Nations,” Maria said without sounding concerned. “However, during the demon wave, you sent reinforcements to the Union of Eastern Nations ‘at the request of the Empire.’ That was interpreted as the Kingdom of Friedonia recognizing the validity of the Mankind Declaration even if you won’t join it yourselves. It’s helped guarantee my position as the leader of the alliance.” 

“...I see. I’m glad to have been of service, then.” 

“Yes, I’m glad, too.” 

Then we both laughed. 

Once she was done, Maria said, “But with two large camps having formed like this, it’s likely to confuse the countries that belong to neither of our factions. I don’t expect it to affect the Spirit Kingdom of Garlan or the Nothung Dragon Knight Kingdom because of their closed-off nature, but there’s the Lunarian Orthodox Papal State, the countries in the Union of Eastern Nations that aren’t part of the Mankind Declaration, and...” 

“And Malmkhitan, which is expanding its influence under Fuuga.” Souma finished her thought. 

 

“Yes. It will shake those countries.” 

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Which would they side with? Or would they side with neither? If they wanted to stay independent of both, they would need to build up the strength to make that possible. They would shake under the influence of many crossed intentions. 

Souma let out a little sigh. “That us remaining cautious of Fuuga’s actions and preparing ourselves might be what stimulates him to act... is awfully ironic.” 

Maria silently nodded in agreement. 

 

At the same time, in a dry region of the north...

On this day, the forces of Malmkhitan led by Fuuga had retaken a walled city. The city had prospered thanks to an oasis that sat in the center. The walls were a little on the low side, so they may have served less to protect against attackers and more to keep out sandstorms on windy days. Fuuga and his men had swept away the monsters infesting the city in no time. The battle to retake it had been less of a siege and more of an extermination of some monsters that wandered into the abandoned houses. 

As Fuuga had predicted, it seemed the demons who had broken the combined power of mankind were only deep inside the Demon Lord’s Domain. His forces had already retaken a number of cities and villages of this scale before now. They would settle the refugees that wanted to remain in the towns and villages, then, after securing their supply lines to the Union of Eastern Nations, would head for the next settlement to repeat the process. This resulted in a rather relaxed march. 

Though they had taken back land that was part of the Demon Lord’s Domain, they didn’t so much control the territory as points inside it, connected by supply lines. These cities and villages were in no state to support themselves yet, and Fuuga and his men had to use some of their own numbers to guard the supply lines, so they were under the protection of Malmkhitan. The highly mobile temsbock cavalry were vital to supporting these supply lines. Because of all of this, you could see the recaptured cities and villages as being effectively under Fuuga’s control. 

“...Whew.” 

Fuuga was sitting on the edge of the walls of one such recaptured city, looking at the evening sky. By now, they would no doubt be preparing a feast near the oasis to celebrate retaking the city. Fuuga was the leading actor in the reconquest, but he found himself exhausted with constantly being surrounded by people lately. He didn’t see his comrades as a nuisance, but sometimes he wanted a quiet place where he could relax on his own. 

“Is this where you’ve been, Lord Fuuga?” 

“...Oh, it’s you, Mutsumi,” he replied to her. 

“It worries your followers when you wander off like this,” Mutsumi complained as she sat next to him, and Fuuga scratched his head. 

“Even I want some time to myself.” 

“Oh, my. Should I have left you alone then?” 

“You’re different. Having you at my side helps me relax... Mind if I borrow your thigh?” 

“Go ahead.” 

Fuuga removed his helmet and lay down, resting his head on Mutsumi’s thigh. 

“It’s pretty tough living up to other people’s expectations, huh?” 

“Because you always go beyond what anyone imagines, Lord Fuuga. It must be difficult, seeing how large their expectations grow.” 

“...Could you talk normal when we’re alone?” 

“Oh, are you sure? I quite enjoy acting like a virtuous wife.” Mutsumi stroked Fuuga’s slightly spiky hair with a chuckle. 

When his followers couldn’t see them, Mutsumi spoke more casually with Fuuga. She was an important figure who he could just be himself with. 

“Your followers respectfully refer to me as ‘My Lady.’ They bow when I pass, too. It makes me feel like I’ve become the queen of some great country.” 

“That’s bound to happen eventually.” 

“You sure are confident. That’s one of your strong points, though.” 

“I’m more than just talk. Malmkhitan is growing bigger by the day.” Fuuga pulled a book from the bag sitting next to them. “...Well, it’s a bit upsetting that what’s supporting Malmkhitan’s control is this book that Souma sent us. It makes me feel like I owe him.” 

“The Monster Encyclopedia, right?” 

The book Fuuga was holding was co-authored by Mutsumi’s younger brother Ichiha Chima, and Prime Minister Hakuya of the Kingdom of Friedonia. Souma and Maria suspected that demons and monsters were different. Because of that, Souma had made the contents of this encyclopedia public, and was working to spread it so that countries neighboring the Demon Lord’s Domain wouldn’t conflate the two when they made contact with them. In particular, he’d sent a copy to the Gran Chaos Empire, Malmkhitan, and the Kingdom of Lastania where Julius was. 

Fuuga grunted as he flipped through the Monster Encyclopedia. “It sure is well put together, though. With this book, we don’t have to just rely on supply lines to the cities we’ve retaken; we’re also able to collect edible meat and usable components from the monsters we kill.” 

Because this was the Demon Lord’s Domain, it was swarming with monsters that needed to be hunted to protect the supply lines. Thanks to being able to obtain food and components, merchants who wanted monster components sent adventurers along the supply lines, and it was providing a precious source of resources and funding to restore the recaptured cities to their former lifestyles. Basically, it was no exaggeration to say that Fuuga’s territory was being supported by the encyclopedia. 

“I was surprised to hear this thing was written by that little brother of yours who Souma took back with him.” 

“Me, too. I thought he saw things differently from other people, but not even I, his sister, suspected he had a gift like this. Hee hee, Father must be beside himself with frustration right about now.” 

Souma had made the Monster Encyclopedia public to accomplish a larger goal, but he could have made a fortune selling the information it contained piecemeal. In other words, Ichiha, who many had assumed was the only one of the siblings with no talent, had in fact been a golden goose. Duke Chima would be mortified to know he’d let it get away—even if he’d never have discovered the boy’s gift himself. 

“Even once he graduates, I doubt Ichiha will return to the Duchy of Chima. I’m sure he’ll be happier that way, too.” 

When she said that, Fuuga roared with laughter. 

“I’ll give the kid a warm welcome if he comes to us. Though, if he’s with someone who’ll publish this information instead of hiding it, then that’s good enough. But still... Souma’s eye for people is scary.” Fuuga’s smile vanished and his expression grew serious. “It’s like he sees things I can’t.” 

“That’s true. As a sister, I’m grateful to him for accurately assessing Ichiha’s value.” 

“Hey now, you’re my wife, okay?” 

“Yes, but I’m also Ichiha’s sister.” 

“Sigh... Yeah, I just get the feeling me and Souma aren’t gonna get along.” 

In the same way that Souma was wary of Fuuga, Fuuga was cautious of something he found inscrutable about Souma. 

“...Just the other day, I got a report from Yuriga on what Souma’s been up to.” 

“And what has he been doing?” 

“Apparently, he sent a fleet to the Nine-Headed Dragon Archipelago,” Fuuga replied. 

Mutsumi blinked. “You mean the Kingdom went to war with the Nine-Headed Dragon Archipelago?” 

“Nah, that’s not it. It sounds like the reason he sent the fleet was so they could cooperate with the Archipelago Union to slay some massive monster. She says it was the size of a mountain.” 

“...To slay a monster? It wasn’t a war, then.” 

“Yeah. The Kingdom didn’t seize so much as a single island. You think a guy like him’d work for free like that? Then there was that ‘island-like ship’ and ‘mechanical dragon’ in Yuriga’s report, too. She didn’t see the mechanical dragon herself, but there were rumors. Honestly... I don’t get any of this.” 

Fuuga let out a big yawn. 

“Malmkhitan is a steppe country. I’d never seen the sea until just recently. I thought that was fine. My goal was to make Malmkhitan strong enough to become the dominant power on this continent, that’s why I didn’t take an interest in the world beyond, but... if Souma is actively going out to sea, that got my attention. Well, not that it makes a difference. We don’t know anything about the sea. I’m not interested, either.” 

As Souma had hoped, Fuuga didn’t place much importance on naval activity. He might think it was suspicious that Souma was striking out to sea, but the countries of the continent were connected by land, so he figured a superior army would let him dominate the continent. 

Fuuga reached towards the sky, forming his hand into a fist, and said, “I believe the ones who can run around this land the best will rule this era. That’s why I’ll use all my strength to run as far as I can.” 

“Yes. That’s why everyone follows you. Myself included, of course.” 

“Damn straight! ...But, well, let me rest a bit for now, would you?” 

And so, with his head resting on Mutsumi’s thigh, Fuuga closed his eyes. 

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