“Liscia, hold these documents for me,” Souma said.

“…Okay. Got it,” I responded.

Lately, Souma had been acting strangely.

As I took the stack of documents from Souma, a thought occurred to me.

Recently, Souma had been working on paperwork with even greater zeal and enthusiasm than before. It was as if we’d returned to that time shortly after my father had abdicated the throne to him. He shouldn’t have been as busy now as he was back then, but it seemed to me as if he was seeking out work and packing in more of it than he reasonably could.

And yet, when he suddenly found himself with free time, he didn’t do anything in particular, just stared vacantly out the window. Before, when he’d had free time, he would have come to my room and worked on dolls, or on cute outfits to dress Tomoe up in, but he didn’t even do that lately.

I watched Souma silently processing documents.

The change was a subtle one, and I was sure that hardly anyone else in the castle would have noticed it.

I started to speak.

“…Hm? Is something the matter?” Having noticed my eyes on him, Souma looked up.

I said, “…No. It’s nothing.” With just those words, I turned around and walked out of the governmental affairs office.

“Ah! Hey, Liscia.”

I could hear Souma’s voice from behind me, but I couldn’t bring myself to turn back. Or, rather, I couldn’t bear to look at Souma as he was now.

In the middle of the 9th month, 1,546th year, Continental Calendar.

In Elfrieden, where the four seasons were especially distinct, even compared to the other continental nations, the lingering heat of summer had faded and it was now a more temperate season. The season of bountiful harvests, when this country’s food crisis was expected to be resolved. Even with that season lying before them, there was still an air of unease hanging over the kingdom.

The source of that unease lay in the opposition between the new king, Souma Kazuya, and the three dukes.

Souma, who was said to have been summoned from another world as a hero, had had his potential recognized by the former king, Albert Elfrieden, who had then ceded the throne to him. With support from the daughter of the former king, Liscia, who became Souma’s betrothed, Souma moved to enrich the state and strengthen the military. He gathered a diverse variety of gifted personnel, solved the food crisis, set up a transportation network, and got involved in disaster prevention. It all might have been a little plain for one called a hero, but his stable reign had the support of the populace.

The three dukes, on the other hand, were the three people who controlled the kingdom’s land, air and sea forces.

General of the Elfrieden Kingdom Army, Duke Georg Carmine, who was a lion beastman.

Admiral of the Elfrieden Kingdom Navy, Duchess Excel Walter, who was a sea serpent.

General of the Elfrieden Kingdom Air Force, Duke Castor Vargas, who was a dragonewt.

These three had protected the kingdom for many long years, but they were still not loyal to the new king, Souma, and they had taken their forces and were secluding themselves in their own territories. It was unclear what each of their intentions were, but of the three dukes, Army General Carmine had given shelter to nobles being investigated by Souma for corruption, and he was taking a clearly defiant stance.

The new King Souma and Army General Georg Carmine.

People believed it was only a matter of time before the two came into conflict.

“Listen, Souma,” Liscia told me. “In this world’s wars, it’s coordination between the land and air forces that’s important.”

It was a day that, with things gradually growing chilly, you could really feel that it was now autumn. On this day, I was having Liscia teach me about wars in this world. As the inevitable conflict with Georg, who was sheltering corrupt nobles, and Amidonia, who were maneuvering in the shadows, drew ever closer, I wanted to at least have a sense for what the flow of battle would be like.

Of course, as a total amateur, I wouldn’t be commanding troops. When the war came, I would probably end up leaving control of my personal forces, the Forbidden Army, to the Captain of the Royal Guard, Ludwin. Even so, as the king, and thus the one who had to decide whether or not to open hostilities, I felt I should know these things, and so I was having Liscia teach me.

Though she was royalty, she had graduated from the Officers’ Academy and was knowledgeable enough on military matters that Ludwin had said of her, “While she lacks the experience to lead a large army, she has courage, and would have no trouble leading a smaller army.”

…Honestly, I just wanted a rough outline of how a skirmish would go, so she could have kept it simple, but Liscia was too serious for that. She had even prepared a blackboard to draw diagrams on as she explained things, turning this into something like a lecture at officers’ school.

Liscia drew two circles on the board, labeling them “Our Army” and “Enemy Army.” She also wrote the words “land force” and “air force” in both circles.

Here, I should caution you about one thing. What was meant by a “land force” or “air force” here was different from what you would expect on Earth. The wars in this world were still fought by knights in armor, so if you were looking at just the style, it was similar to the Hundred Years’ War. However, in this world, there was magic and there were fantastic creatures like wyverns.

In the land forces there weren’t just infantry, cavalry, and archers, there were also mages. And as for the air force, it wasn’t made up of fighter planes, it was made up of wyvern knights, who fought on the backs of great flying lizards. Because of that, the flow of battle naturally ended up being different than on Earth.

“I’m not familiar with naval battles, so this will only cover land battles, okay?” Liscia said. “First, in a field battle, the air and land forces of both camps will begin to fight at practically the same time.”

Liscia first drew arrows from the two land forces and had them ram into one another.

“The battle between land forces is orthodox. It starts with long-range fire from archers and mages, and then, when the enemy formation breaks, infantry advance and push in. Knights and cavalry look for openings, charging in small numbers to disrupt the enemy’s formation, or massing in larger numbers to charge the enemy, followed by infantry, in order to tear the enemy unit apart. We call the former tactic ‘cutting,’ and the latter ‘breaking.’ That’s probably pretty similar to the battles in your world, right?”

“…Well, we don’t hurl spells back and forth, but aside from that, I think it’s the same,” I said.

Somehow, it called to mind memories of watching the battle scenes in the Taiga drama series.

It started with an exchange of fire using the matchlock rifle and bow and arrow. Then, when the ashigaru foot soldiers were given the order to charge, they advanced through rifle fire, even as they were shot down, to reach the enemy’s fence. Because it was hard to use ranged weapons to deal with enemies once they were allowed to close in, the defenders would send out their own unit of ashigaru soldiers, and from there the two units of ashigaru would slug it out. Because this world hadn’t developed firearms, it might be easiest to think of magic as a replacement for matchlocks.

Next, Liscia drew arrows from the two air forces, having them ram into one another, too.

“And, at the same time as the two land forces are colliding, the air forces will crash into one another, too. If they can seize the airspace over the battlefield, the wyvern cavalry can fly at altitudes that arrows can’t reach to drop gunpowder barrels (a sort of bomb), after all.”

“That’s… brutal,” I said.

It was like… the fear and the pain that came from being punched, with no way to fight back.

“In that case, is the key to victory or defeat in battle held by the air force, then?” I asked.

“No,” she said. “The battle between air forces almost never decides the outcome of a battle.”

“Huh? But, just now, you said if you can gain control of the air, you can attack without there being any way for them to fight back…”

“Yes, I did. Which is precisely why the primary goal of the air battle is not to gain control of the air, but to keep the other side from gaining control of the air.”

Next, Liscia wrote “1,000” next to the air force of our army and “500” next to the enemy’s.

“Wyvern knights are only a small fraction of the overall army. In the Elfrieden Kingdom, there are 1,000 knights, and in the Principality of Amidonia, around 500 knights. Now, hearing that, you might think in a straight up fight, our side would win, but the enemy know they’re at a numerical disadvantage. They won’t actively try to go on the offensive: they’re going to stick purely to defense. If we try to force the attack, we’ll take heavier losses. It takes a lot of time to raise a single wyvern knight, so we don’t want to take those losses.”

“Ah, I think I’ve got a sense of it. Basically, in a field battle, the air force’s job is to guard the air until the battle between the two land forces is decided, right?”

“You’ve got it…Well, if our air force is considerably more powerful than the other country’s, there are times when things can be decided by just the air battle, though.”

Liscia turned to the map of the continent on the blackboard and pointed to the big country on the western edge, the Gran Chaos Empire. Then she pointed to the Star Dragon Mountain Range in the center, and to the Nothung Dragon Knight Kingdom in the north.

“The Gran Chaos Empire has air force units that are organized not around wyverns, but another type of mount called griffons.”

“When you say Griffons… they’re the ones with the head of an eagle, and a body that’s like a lion with wings, right?”

“Yeah,” she said. “They can’t fly continuously for as long as wyverns do, but they can make tight turns in mid-air, and they can overpower wyverns in a fight. On top of that, the Empire has a large number of wyverns, too. That makes them dangerous.”

From what I was hearing, wyverns were like bombers, while griffons were like fighters. Both had strengths and weaknesses depending on how they were used, but when it came to a battle, fighters, which could make tighter turns, would be the stronger of the two. While I was sitting there satisfied with my own explanation, Liscia continued on.

“Next, the Star Dragon Mountain Range and Nothung Dragon Knight Kingdom have dragons.”

“Now that you mention it… I think I heard about them when we found the dragon bones at the sedimentation pool,” I said.

Dragons had a degree of magical power that was incomparably higher than what wyverns had, they were intelligent, they understood human language, and apparently they could even take on human form. While they didn’t fall under the classification of mankind, they had a pact of mutual non-aggression with mankind and had built a country of their own in the Star Dragon Mountain Range. In terms of appearance, while wyverns had wings in place of their forelegs, like pterosaurs, dragons had wings, but they also had front legs and back legs, looking more like the Western conception of dragons on Earth.

“North of the Star Dragon Mountain, in the Nothung Dragon Knight Kingdom, there are dragon knights who’ve formed contracts with dragons from the Star Dragon Mountain Range,” Liscia said. “A dragon knight takes a dragon as their partner, and in exchange for helping them to produce offspring, the dragon lends them their strength on the battlefield. Basically, they get married to the dragons.”

“Hmm… Can I think of them like an upgraded version of the wyvern cavalry?” I asked.

“They’re similar, but dragon knights are an order of magnitude more powerful. When a dragon and its knight become husband and wife, they’re in perfect sync with one another. Even 1,000 soldiers from the land force would be no match for them. I hear they even managed to turn back an invasion by the Empire when it was at its peak once, even with the Empire’s griffon units.”

“Well… they definitely have the strongest air force, then,” I said.

So they went into battle like a married couple running a three-legged race… No, in their case, I guess it would be a five-legged race.

By the way, dragonewts, like Air Force General Castor Vargas, were a race born from the union between those dragons and their knights. When a child was born to a dragon and knight, it might be a dragon, it might belong to the knight’s race, or it might be a dragonewt. There was no way to predict which it would be. It was totally random. On the other hand, a dragon couldn’t be born from a dragonewt. And if a dragonewt married someone of another race, there was a 50–50 chance a dragonewt would be the result, so they were fairly numerous.

“Wait, huh? Why did we start talking about this again?” I asked.

“Because we were talking about how it’s hard for wyvern cavalry to be the deciding factor in battle, remember?” Liscia stared at me, appalled.

Oh, right, right, that was it.

Next, Liscia drew a picture of a castle on the blackboard. “That’s a trend that becomes especially apparent in castle battles. At first glance, you might think the air force could fly over castle walls, directly attacking the castle and town, but it’s actually impossible.”

“Why is that?” I asked.

“Because there are what you could call air force killers, anti-air repeating bolt throwers, installed on the castle walls.”

According to Liscia, from practically the moment wyvern knights first came into this world, there had been research into countermeasures against them. That was because, if the wyvern knights were allowed to fly over the walls as they pleased, it was a threat to the security of the state.

In order to counter the wyvern cavalry, the anti-air repeating bolt thrower had been invented.

Inside a large rectangular box, there were small compartments, like a honeycomb, and in each of them was a thick, stake-like bolt. The bolts had their flying distance extended with attached spells, and they would also trace anything moving in the air. The anti-air repeating bolt thrower could fire dozens of these bolts simultaneously.

If any wyvern knight carelessly got too close to the wall, the bolts fired by the anti-air repeating bolt throwers would attack them like homing missiles.

“That’s why, in order to bomb a city, it’s first necessary to attack the castle walls from ground-level and destroy the bolt throwers,” Liscia explained. “Up until that point, the air force’s job is just to guard the air above the land force.”

“I see… castle battles are like a three-way deadlock,” I said.

Land forces were beaten by air forces, air forces were beaten by bolt throwers, and bolt throwers were beaten by ground forces. It was because of those inter-related strengths and weaknesses that Liscia said coordination between the air and land forces was important. Basically…

“Setting aside the navy for the moment, in the present situation, where we don’t have a land or air force, if the Principality of Amidonia were to invade, we would have no way to deal with them, huh?”

Liscia was silent.

The Elfrieden kingdom had a total manpower of around 100,000 troops.

To break that down, the king’s personal army, the Forbidden Army, had over 40,000.

40,000 in the army, led by Duke Georg Carmine.

10,000 in the navy, led by Duchess Excel Walter.

1,000 in the air force, led by Duke Castor Vargas.

First, when it came to the king’s personal army, the Forbidden Army, in reality only around 10,000 of those troops could be mobilized. Publicly, the Forbidden Army was said to be more than 40,000 strong, but those numbers had included mercenaries dispatched by the mercenary state, Zem, as well as the personal forces of nobles not attached to the army, navy, or air force.

Of those, I had already terminated our contract with the Zemish mercenaries. This was partly to save expenses, and partly because of Machiavelli’s advice against trusting mercenaries. On top of that, while things might be different in a battle against Amidonia, in the upcoming conflict between myself and the three dukes, many among the nobility were going to be fair-weather allies. If it actually came to war against the three dukes, I probably wouldn’t be able to count on using their personal forces.

As such, the number of troops I could deploy would be only 10,000 or so, made up of the royal guard and the forces I controlled directly.

My directly-controlled army was almost entirely made up of infantry (800 members of the royal guard were heavy cavalry), but because I had put them to work on infrastructure projects recently, all of them also had the skills required to be combat engineers. Furthermore, in my personal forces, there were also 500 earth mages like Kaede.

Now, as for the three dukes, if I were to give you the quick rundown, this is what it looked like.

First, there were the 10,000 in the navy. Most of these were the crew of battleships, cruisers, destroyers, or torpedo boats. There were only about 2,000 marines who could go ashore and fight. So, even if we had to fight them, because it would be on land, they weren’t much of a threat.

However, their admiral, Duchess Excel Walter, warranted caution.

She was an incredible woman, possessing not only wisdom and courage, but political savvy as well. I’d heard that she had overcome the food crisis that had struck the whole kingdom using her own independent plan. If I made an enemy of her, she would probably come up with surprising ways to take advantage of my weaknesses, even from outside the battlefield. Personally, of the three dukes, she was the one I least wanted to make an enemy of.

In contrast, the air force had a leader who would be easy to handle, and soldiers who would be dangerous to fight.

Each of their soldiers generally came paired with a wyvern, and there were around 1,000 of these wyvern cavalry. Wyvern knights were every bit as strong as Liscia had explained earlier. With the Forbidden Army having only a few wyverns used for relaying messages, it would be hard to fight them straight up.

Air Force General Castor Vargas was a dragonewt, and it was no exaggeration to say that he was a peerless warrior. Also, being a dragonewt, even without a wyvern he could fly using his own wings. He was hot-blooded, impulsive, and had a distaste for using any sort of petty tricks. While his actions would be easy to read, he had a tendency to put his beliefs before his own interests, so if I were to attempt to persuade him based on what was to his advantage… he was the one that would be least likely to work on.

Finally, we were left with the 40,000 in the land forces, but both the general and his troops were going to be troublesome.

While the simple number of soldiers they had was already impressive, their equipment and overall quality was like an upgraded version of what I saw in the Forbidden Army and my directly-controlled forces. In addition to infantry and cavalry, there was also a siege weapon unit, and the firepower provided by their fire mages would be on another level. This was truly an army built to play the main role in a war.

The man leading this army corps, General Georg Carmine, was a fierce commander and veteran of many battles.

While his martial prowess was no less than Castor’s, he didn’t just rely on that. He was the rare warrior who could make level-headed decisions backed up by past experience. Honestly, I didn’t want to make an enemy of him any more than I did Duchess Walter, but… It didn’t look like he had any intention of backing down. He had sheltered the nobles I was investigating for corruption, and was clearly positioning himself for a confrontation.

From what I had been told by Hal’s father, Glaive Magna, there were many nobles and knights in the army faction who had left Duke Carmine over doubts about the position he was taking, but his forces were bolstered by the personal soldiers of the corrupt nobles he was sheltering as well as Zemish mercenaries that he had hired, so there was no real change in the numbers.

40,000 in the army vs. 10,000 in the Forbidden Army.

If fought, the enemy would have four times our number.

“Four times our number… Those are numbers where Sun Tzu would say to either flee or avoid the battle,” I said.

“Sun Tzu?” Liscia asked.

“A military strategist from my old world.”

The name Sun Tzu refers to Sun Wu (He wrote The Art of War), who served the King of Wu during the Spring and Autumn period of Chinese history, or to his descendent, Sun Bin (He wrote Sun Bin’s Art of War), who served King Wei of Qi during the Warring States period. They were both excellent strategists, and The Art of War and Sun Bin’s Art of War are both excellent books on military strategy.

When I explained that to her, Liscia looked at me dubiously.

“Souma, you were a student, right? Were you reading books on military strategy?”

“Yeah, because I liked history,” I said. “It was related to my interest in that.”

I had especially liked reading Records of the Grand Historian,Romance of the Three Kingdoms, and books about the Warring States Period in Japan. As an offshoot of that, I had read both The Art of War and Sun Bin’s Art of War because both Sun Tzus appear as characters in Records of the Grand Historian.

If you read them, they’re actually quite interesting. Like Machiavelli, they lived in turbulent times, and in their work they accepted that “This is just the way humans are,” and so they discussed how best to deal with the unending wars.

Both became famous through war, but that wasn’t to say that they were bellicose men. Both of them spoke against easily resorting to war. Sun Wu had said, “To break the enemy’s resistance without fighting is best” (in Sun Wu’s “Strategic Attack”) and when giving council to King Wei, Sun Bin had said, “War is not a place for merriment” (in Sun Bin’s “Meeting King Wei”).

However, in a chaotic world, such platitudes wouldn’t always be enough. If you didn’t defend, didn’t attack, the result would be that people died.

Both Sun Tzus understood that. Sun Bin said, “Even the great rulers of legend wanted to rule by morals, but they couldn’t do that. That was why they had to subjugate evil kings by means of war.”

It’s important to separate ideals from reality, and to do the things that, realistically, you ought to do.

“Even if I don’t want to do it, I have to,” I said. “Because I’m the king now.”

“Huh?! Souma…!” Liscia began to say.

There was a knock at the door.

“Come in,” I called out, and my adopted little sister-in-law, Tomoe, poked her head out from the shadow of the door.

“Big Brother Souma, Hakuya is calling for you,” she said.

It seemed that Tomoe had been sent by my prime minister, Hakuya, to come and call me.

“Hakuya is?” I asked. “Got it. Well then, Liscia, please teach me the rest next time.”

After making that request to Liscia, I left the room to go see Hakuya.

“Um… Is something wrong, Big Sister?” Tomoe asked.

As I stared vacantly at the door Souma had left through, my adopted sister spoke up, sounding concerned.

Oh, that’s no good, I thought. I can’t go worrying such a little girl…

“It’s just… There was something that bothered me…” I said.

“Something bothered you?” Tomoe tilted her head to the side quizzically. She looked adorable the way she did it, which helped to calm me down a little bit.

“…You see, Souma, he said, ‘Because I’m the king now.’”

“Big Brother Souma is the king of this country, you know?” she said.

“Well, yes, but…”

But… I didn’t think that the Souma I had known up until then would ever have said those words.

Up until just recently, he’d said things like “I’m just holding onto the crown temporarily,” or “Once I’ve finished reconstructing this kingdom, I’ll give it back to you, Liscia.” Like I’d thought, taking part in the relief effort at the God-Protected Forest might have caused Souma to have a change of heart. Of course, I wanted Souma to be the king, and if he’d gained an awareness of his position, it should have been a good thing, but…

But, I don’t know… For some reason, there’s an uneasiness in my heart.

I couldn’t put it into words very well. There was a sort of premonition creeping into my breast. It felt as if Souma was slowly turning into someone he wasn’t.

“Big Sister? Is Big Brother Souma strange?” Tomoe was looking at me worriedly again.

It seemed I’d had a gloomy look on my face again. I patted Tomoe on the head. “It’ll all be okay. Souma’s not alone. He has all of us with him, after all.”

“Yes, he does!” Tomoe’s little wolf tail was wagging about energetically.

…Yes, that’s right. No matter what future awaits…

…I will walk alongside you to the very end, Souma.

— 9th Month, 1,546th Year, Continental Calendar — Princely Capital Van.

The city of Van, in the princely capital of the Principality of Amidonia, was surrounded by high castle walls, and its architecture was without stylistic excess or ornamentation. Put in a flattering light, it could have been called austere and rugged. Termed less favorably, it was dull and monotonous. The unrefined scenery of this town closely resembled the people who inhabited it.

This country, which had lost land in a war with Elfrieden two reigns ago, had made revenge on that kingdom a national policy. What they valued above all else was the warrior ethos. Of their men, they demanded austerity. Of their women, they demanded servility to those men, as well as a feminine modesty. Because of that, there were no men laughing in the streets and no women promenading in fashionable outfits.

That was the nature of the “quiet city” Van, but recently there was a strange giddiness in the air. It had started when their neighboring country, the enemy Kingdom of Elfrieden, had gone through a sudden change of leadership.

In the 1,546th year of the Continental Calendar, King Albert of Elfrieden had abdicated his throne.

Albert, the now-former king, had been a mediocre individual, but owing to his gentle nature, he had been respected by his vassals and the people. However, also owing to this gentleness, he had not implemented the drastic policies that would have rooted out the corruption of wicked vassals. Thanks to this and a variety of other, overlapping causes, the kingdom had fallen into a slow decline.

This Albert had turned over his throne to a hero said to have been summoned from another world.

The hero was apparently named Souma Kazuya.

At the same time as Albert had entrusted the throne to Souma, he had also arranged for the betrothal of his only daughter Liscia to the new king, ensuring Souma’s hold on power. This Souma, who the throne had been turned over to, had yet to be formally crowned, but he was, in effect, the king, and had embarked on a series of political reforms.

With this sudden change of kings, there had been those who had suspected usurpation at first, but, with the support of Liscia, he had righted the wrongs of his vassals, gathered new personnel, improved the food security situation during a time of shortages, and installed a domestic transportation network to boost shipping capacity. With the steady implementation of these policies and more, Souma was gathering the support of the people. For a hero he was rather plain, but as a king, he was a superb. That was the people’s appraisal of him.

It happened in the Jewel Voice Room, Parnam Castle.

In this room where the two-meter diameter jewel used in the Jewel Voice Broadcast floated, there was also equipment for receiving a Jewel Voice Broadcast. The receivers in each city used equipment installed in fountains to produce mist, then used water-type magic to reproduce the recorded video, and wind-type magic to reproduce the recorded sound. The system in this room, however, projected the image on a piece of equipment that was like a thin, wide tank filled with water.

To differentiate the two, I was calling this one a “simple receiver.”

If the fountain receiver was like a theater, you could say this simple receiver was like a television. The simple receiver produced a clearer image, too. The jewels were a rare item found in dungeons, so it seemed that it wouldn’t be possible to mass-produce them, but maybe we could mass-produce these simple receivers. If that could be arranged, maybe someday families would be able to watch the Jewel Voice Broadcast in their own homes.

Anyway, let’s get back to the story. There were three of those simple receivers set up in this room.

The three receivers showed the faces of Army General Georg Carmine, who was a lion beastman, Air Force General Castor Vargas, who was a dragonewt, and Navy Admiral Excel Walter, who was a sea serpent. I was sure that, on their end, they had a projection of me and Liscia standing together, too.

“…It’s our first time meeting face-to-face like this, huh?” I said. “I am the one to whom the former King of Elfrieden, Sir Albert, entrusted with the throne, the provisional king, Souma Kazuya.”

“You’re…” After hearing me introduce myself, Castor opened his eyes wide in surprise.

“Is something the matter?” I asked.

“No, I had heard you were a hero summoned from another world, so I had expected someone more tough and rugged…”

“Duke Vargas!” Excel interjected, as if scolding him. “If you call yourself a warrior, you must always show the proper respect to those you deal with.”

After Excel’s rebuke, Castor meekly gave his name.

“…Right. I’m Air Force General Castor Vargas.”

According to my information, Castor was Excel’s son-in-law. Perhaps the reason he was acting more meekly than the personality I had heard for him (a muscle-head) was because of that power dynamic between them.

“…I apologize for raising my voice just now,” the sea serpent said, accompanying her words with an elegant bow. “It is a pleasure to meet you, Your Majesty. I am Excel Walter, at your service.”

“I am Army General Georg Carmine,” the beastman said shortly.

This brought the introductions to a close.

…This lion-faced beastman is Georg Carmine, huh? I thought.

He had a well-built physique that an ordinary guy like me couldn’t hope to compare with, a mane that served to accentuate his manliness, and, lastly, the shining, fiery eyes of a lion. Even though I was only seeing a video image of him, it felt like he was right there in the room with me.

I could understand why Liscia had admired him. He had the look of an experienced warrior.

“Duke Carmine…” Liscia began.

The duke said nothing.

Liscia had let out his name without intending to, but Georg didn’t even cast a glance in her direction.

“I will now issue an ultimatum to the three dukes.” In order to keep myself from being overwhelmed by Georg’s presence, I issued this pronouncement in a clear tone. “In the time since I took the throne, you have all failed to respond to repeated requests for your cooperation. While it may have been Sir Albert’s own idea, I am sure the suddenness with which the throne changed hands must have played into that. As such, I will not hold you responsible for not obeying my commands up to this point. However, if you continue to disregard my orders, I will be left with no choice but to declare you traitors. I would like to hear your opinions on this.”

“I have something to ask you, sire.” The first to open her mouth was Excel.

“…What might that be?” I asked.

“What do you intend to do about the three duchies?”

I looked Excel’s image in the eye. As might have been expected from a woman who had inherited the blood of sea serpents, her eyes were endlessly cold, seeming to stare into the depths of my heart.

“If you obey me… I have no intention of laying a hand on the three duchies themselves,” I said.

She immediately came back with another question. “Then what of the three ducal armies?”

Her ability to accurately cut to the heart of the matter impressed me.

“…The three ducal armies will be folded into the Forbidden Army to create a new unified army,” I said. “Furthermore, noble fiefs will be forbidden to maintain personal forces in excess of what is needed for policing. These excess troops will also be incorporated into the Forbidden Army. In accordance with this, the special rights afforded to the three duchies for maintaining an army will be abolished. They will henceforth be treated the same as any other noble fief.”

“So that is it, after all…” Excel murmured.

“…You understand what you’re trying to do here, right?” Castor said, glaring at me.

“Castor…” Excel seemed to be trying to rebuke him for his attitude, but Castor held up a hand to stop her.

“This is important, Duchess Walter.”

When he responded with that serious tone of voice, Excel grudgingly closed her mouth.

Taking it as a sign of acquiescence, Castor looked me straight in the eye and spoke. “The three ducal armies are a system put in place to prevent the rise of a tyrant. This is a multiracial state, but the royal family is human. If a tyrant were to become king and institute policies that favored humans, the other races might face oppression. In order to prevent that, our predecessors came up with the three ducal armies. We three dukes of different races support the royal family, but we also monitor it, so that we can step in and depose a tyrant if it comes to that. Are you saying you want to destroy that system?”

It was a direct question, so I looked Castor in the eyes and answered. “In times of peace, that system would be fine, I’m sure. However, the world is full of instability now. While the expansion of the Demon Lord’s Domain to the north has stopped, there’s no telling when that might change suddenly and drastically. The intentions of the great power to the west, the Gran Chaos Empire, also remain unclear. The Duchy of Amidonia, who long for revenge on this country, and the Turgis Republic, with their Go North policy, are actively looking for any opening to seize our territory. The disputes with the Nine-Headed Dragon Archipelago Union to our east over fishing rights are unending.”

I was speaking about the situation this country had currently found itself in. This country’s situation was incredibly unstable. Ordinarily, we shouldn’t have had time for this petty squabbling.

“Look at the situation in the world, Duke Vargas,” I continued. “In this unstable situation, an army with multiple command structures is not going to perform anywhere near well enough. This is the time to centralize power.”

“And what if the center is rotten?” he demanded. “How can you say for certain that you won’t become a tyrant? If we leave the entire army in your hands, who could hold you to account?”

“If that happens, then come for my head yourself!” I slammed my hands down on the desk hard, knowing this was where I would have to fight.

In the corner of my eye, I could see the image of Georg, his eyes closed and his arms crossed. That man… He wasn’t about to stop now. However, that only made it more important that I win Castor and Excel over to my side here.

“I’m only human,” I said. “I can’t guarantee that I won’t turn into a tyrant. Of course, that said, I have no intention of ever doing anything that would make Liscia and the others sad.”

“Souma…” Liscia said sorrowfully, but I went on.

“I will be dismantling the three ducal armies, but I will promise you positions within the national defense force. So, if I do become a tyrant, then lead the armies and stage a revolution, or whatever.”

“Talk is easy,” Castor said. “If that time comes, wouldn’t you move to protect yourself?”

“There’s a political thinker from my world, Machiavelli, who had something to say about that. ‘The best possible fortress is not to be hated by the people.’ If the people are on your side, anyone plotting rebellion will quickly be exposed. On the other hand, if the people abandon you, you might wait out a rebellion or two by hiding in your castle, but there will never be a shortage of foreigners willing to assist a people who have taken up arms against you. If I were to become a tyrant, so causing the people to abandon me, a rebellion would easily succeed.”

Castor was quietly listening to me speak.

Were my words reaching him…? At this point, I couldn’t be sure one way or the other.

Then, Excel spoke.

“I would like to ask one more thing. I hear that you are building a new coastal city. When that city is completed, what will become of Lagoon City, I wonder?”

Lagoon City was the central city of the Walter Duchy.

I had heard that for Excel and her race, the sea serpents, Lagoon City always came first. Apparently the sea serpents had been driven out of their former home, the Nine-Headed Dragon Archipelago, and Lagoon City was the place they had found to live in peace after many years of wandering, or something like that.

Since I didn’t want to incur the wrath of the sea serpent people, I made a point of explaining myself carefully. “The new city is being planned as a tourist destination and trade port. Because, from a secrecy standpoint, the tourism industry and a military port mix incredibly poorly, I have no intention of having the new city function as a military port. So, Lagoon City will likely continue to serve in that capacity. I’ll generally be leaving the construction of warships to Lagoon City, too.”

If Lagoon City was a military port and the new city was a trade port, they would each have their own distinct role. It should be possible for them to coexist and prosper together that way. When I explained it like that, Excel nodded in satisfaction.

“Hearing that has put me at ease. Sire, as of this moment, I, Excel Walter, and the Elfrieden Navy are at your command. We await your orders.”

With those words, Duchess Walter took a knee, swearing loyalty to me as a vassal. This meant that the 10,000 under Excel’s command in the Navy were now on my side.

“I am grateful for your wise decision, Duchess Walter,” I said. “Please, continue to work for this nation.”

“I will.”

When Excel placed herself at my service, Georg’s expression didn’t change in the slightest and Castor looked on with what seemed like resignation. One more time, I tried extending a hand to Castor.

“Duke Vargas. Please, lend me your strength for this country’s sake.”

“…Sorry, but I can’t do that.”

“Castor!” Excel scolded.

Despite that, Castor shook his head silently. “You seem to have decided you can trust him, Duchess Walter, but… I can’t. I’ve protected Elfrieden since the time of the king before the last. I’ve eliminated foreign enemies, taking territory from them, for close to one hundred years now. Despite that, why did King Albert not consult us at all before giving the throne to you, who just suddenly appeared out of nowhere…?”

“Yeah… I’d like an answer to that one myself.” Without thinking, I let my true feelings slip out. Ever since being given the throne, I had worked desperately to avoid being turned over to the Empire and to save this country from its crisis.

I had been much too busy to think about it, but why had Liscia’s old man been so quick to hand over the throne to me when I had just been summoned? In this country, a hero was apparently “one who leads the change of an era,” but was that really so trustworthy?

Castor tried asking Liscia, who was standing at my side. “Princess Liscia, do you know anything?”

“…I’m sorry,” she said. “In regards to this matter, my father is insisting he will not get involved. I asked him to help convince the three of you, but ‘Were I to take action, it would cause undue suspicion. Sir Souma is king now,’ is all he would say…”

“…I see.”

Castor seemed confused and unable to understand what the former king’s intentions were, but it was the same for me. I had absolutely no idea what he had been thinking. It was something that made me wonder, but… I knew that I wouldn’t be getting any answers here and now.

I had to focus on persuading Castor. That was what I was thinking, but…

“I just can’t bring myself to serve you,” Castor said, rejecting me once again.

“Duke Vargas…” I began.

“Don’t say any more,” he said. “Considering Duchess Walter has agreed to obey you, I know there must be some merit in what you say. However, I can’t imagine Duke Carmine would oppose you without good reason. If Duchess Walter says she’s siding with you, I’m going to side with Duke Carmine.”

It seemed to be a difficult decision for him, as Castor had a pained look on his face. Once I saw that expression… I knew there was nothing left I could say.

“That’s… the decision you’ve come to, is it?” I asked.

“Yeah. However, it’s my decision alone. The ones siding with Duke Carmine are myself and one hundred of my personal troops. I will not call up the remaining units of the Air Force. They will remain neutral. If… I am defeated, please, take care of those I leave behind.”

“…I see.”

He was acting on the assumption that he would lose. If that was the case… there was nothing I could say.

“Sire, Castor is…” Excel tried to speak in his defense, but I raised a hand for her to stop.

“It’s no use,” I said. “I can’t spend any more time on this.”

“Urkh…”

I understood how Excel must have felt, but events were already in motion. I couldn’t spend any more time trying to persuade him.

In the end, I hadn’t gotten Castor and the Air Force on my side. That was going to make things a lot harder, but at least most of the Air Force would be remaining neutral.

Trying to change gears to fight off the disappointment, I turned to the last of the three, Georg. “Now then, Army General Georg Carmine.”

The fierce lion-headed beastman general glared back at me. Even though I was speaking to him through a monitor, he was incredibly intimidating. If I had been meeting him in person, my legs would have started to shake, and I would have made a pathetic show of myself.

“Duke Carmine,” I said. “I will not ask whether you will obey me. At the point when you gave shelter to the nobles under investigation for corruption, it was made clear that you had no intention of obeying me. Attempting to persuade you is a waste of my time.”

He said nothing.

“So, I would like to ask you one thing,” I said. “What is it that drove you to this?”

“My pride as a warrior.” That was Georg’s response. “Being more than fifty years of age, my body will only grow weaker from here, but now I have been given the greatest of opportunities. I will decide the fate of Elfrieden with my own talents. Once in his lifetime, it is every warrior’s wish to accomplish something that will be remembered by later generations.”

“For something as petty as that…” I murmured.

Had he planned all this for reasons as simple as the “Human life lasts only 50 years” line from the Noh play Atsumori? He had known how it would sadden Liscia, yet still this was the only path he could choose?

“I can’t understand it,” I said. “You are… an incredible fool.”

“It was a silly question,” he returned. “One cannot be a warrior without also being a fool. I will have you bear witness to the way I live.”

“Are you sure you don’t mean the way you’ll die?”

“They are one and the same,” he said. “Those who wish to live die; those who wish to die live. That is what it is to be a warrior.”

He spoke in a resolute voice that was reminiscent of a lion’s roar. He showed no sign of wavering.

And so, I could not waver, either.

“If you are to be a great tree blocking my path, I will step over you,” I said.

“Rotting though I may be, I am a tree with strong roots,” he responded. “You will not step over me with half-hearted resolve.”

“I have resolve!” I had long since found the resolve to stain my hands with this one-time cruelty. “Georg Carmine and Castor Vargas.”

Duke Carmine said nothing.

“What?” Duke Vargas asked.

“As we will soon do battle, I have one proposal,” I said. “I doubt any of us want for this war to drag on endlessly, ensnaring the common people who have nothing to do with it. That’s why I want one rule in place. ‘If one of us is struck down or captured, that person’s subordinates will immediately come under the command of the other side.’ This is meant to prevent an army that loses its leader from seeking revenge or continuing to rebel.”

When they heard my proposal, both nodded.

“Very well,” Georg said.

“I’m good with that, too,” Castor agreed. “I will inform my men that, should I fall, the entire Air Force is to obey you.”

“…Thank you.”

“Now, I shall take my leave.” Georg rose from his seat, moving to cut the transmission.

“Wait!” Liscia burst out, after remaining quiet all this time.

Georg narrowed his eyes. “Princess…”

“Duke Carmine…”

Each addressed the other, but neither could find any words beyond that. They only gazed into each other’s eyes in silence.

Liscia and Georg. In the palace, they were princess and vassal. In the army, they were subordinate and superior. From that alone, they should have been able to find some way to understand each other.

For some time, the two of them looked at each other in silence, but then, in the next moment, Liscia drew the rapier she kept at her hip.

While I was still surprised at the suddenness of it, Liscia brought the blade around to the back of her head, cutting off her platinum blond ponytail.

Wait, whaaaa?!

Her hair, like golden thread, fell to the floor.

It was so sudden that not only I, but the three dukes as well, were left speechless.

Liscia suddenly had a medium-short haircut, but she showed no sign of caring. Instead, she thrust her rapier out towards the jewel. Then she said: “This is my resolve. I will walk alongside Souma.” She declared this with unwavering eyes.

Georg was dumbfounded like me at first, but soon his eyes took on a sharp glint, and he smiled like a carnivore that had found its prey. “I have seen your resolve, princess. However, I will have you show me that resolve on the battlefield.”

“Count on it.”

The two seemed to have come to an understanding. I couldn’t comprehend it myself, but it was probably just the way warriors communicated. The meeting had ended with everyone being taken aback by Liscia, but… Anyway, that was the end of the ultimatum to the three dukes.

It happened a few days before the ultimatum to the three dukes.

I was in a dark room with Hakuya, poring over a big map of this country that was spread out across the table. There were pawns of various sizes, all shaped like upside-down “T”s, at various points on the map.

At the point representing the royal capital, Parnam, there was a large pawn and a medium-sized pawn. In the central city of the Carmine Duchy, Randel, there were four large pawns. In the central city of the Vargas Duchy, Red Dragon City, there was a single pawn that was smaller than the others. These T-shaped pawns represented the forces positioned in each location.

Hakuya was using a long stick to explain each of the pawns.

“The large pawns represent a force of 10,000, the medium ones a force of 5,000, and the small ones a force of 100. In other words, the number of troops you can mobilize is 15,000, while Duke Carmine has gathered around 40,000. There were many deserters from the Army, such as Glaive Magna, but they seem to have made up their losses from that with the personal troops of the nobles who were engaged in corruption.”

“So, no change to the numerical values, there, huh,” I said.

“Correct. Furthermore, according to the information we received from Duchess Walter, Duke Vargas has done as he declared he would. He has not called up the Air Force. It seems he intends to go into battle with only 100 of his own troops.”

“Hm… Still, if they’re Castor’s troops, they’re all wyvern cavalry, right?” I picked up one of the medium-sized pawns from beside the map and replaced the small pawn at Red Dragon City with it. “I’ve heard a single wyvern knight can do the work of 500 soldiers from the Army. If we’re looking at comparative power, we should think of them as being equivalent to 5,000 of our troops. Even if there are only 100 of them, we can’t afford to underestimate their power.”

“I am awed by your astute powers of observation.” Hakuya bowed reverently. He made a big deal of it, but I knew he was probably just flattering me.

“Please, stop. I take no joy in being able to point out how bad the situation is for us.”

“I suppose not,” he said. “It appears as though the situation is still worsening, too…”

With those words, Hakuya placed three large pawns on the southwest border with the Principality of Amidonia. These three large pawns represented the forces of Amidonia which were about to invade this country.

“The armies of the Principality of Amidonia are prepared to advance through the valleys of the Ursula Mountains to invade,” he said.

“Their total manpower was 50,000 or so, right?” I asked.

The Principality of Amidonia was only half as powerful a nation as the Elfrieden Kingdom. Because of that, they could only maintain half the standing army. On top of that, the Principality of Amidonia shared borders with three other countries in addition to us, so they had to leave troops to defend against them.

“Given their circumstances, 30,000 is a lot to be sending,” I said.

“You can see how serious Gaius is just from that, I suppose,” he replied. “He is ready to win or die trying.”

“That’s just going to mean problems for us,” I sighed. “…What will the principality do from here?”

“They likely mean to occupy the southwestern city of Altomura,” he replied. “Once Altomura falls, they will sweep all opposition from the surrounding area and move to secure the grain-producing region. Once they have de facto control of this area, I expect they will declare it part of their domain.”

Gaius was mobilizing his army with the resolve to win or die trying, but then he was just going to do the equivalent of burglarizing a building while it was on fire.

“For all his resolve, he’s not doing much,” I said.

“With the manpower Amidonia has, I believe this is the most they could accomplish,” Hakuya responded. “If they get too out of hand, the nobles who have been taking a wait-and-see approach to your conflict with Duke Carmine would likely gather to your side, after all.”

“I see… What’s the strength of our border defense force?” I asked.

Hakuya moved the medium-sized pawn that was in Parnam to the southwest border. “I have already dispatched 5,000 from the Forbidden Army to the area near the border.”

“We’re sending a land force of 5,000 to face a force of 30,000 which will have air forces as well, huh…” I murmured.

We were outnumbered by more than six-to-one. I had known this would be the case, but… I didn’t feel good about those numbers.

“…How long can they hold out?” I asked.

“Even if they shut themselves up in the fortress near the border, they would be doing well to last a day,” he responded. “The intent is only to buy time, so the commander has been ordered not to be reckless, and to carry out a staged retreat.”

“That’s easier said than done… She can pull it off, though, I guess. But even if we assume the troops are fine with all this… what do you plan to do about the people living in the area?” I turned a harsh eye towards Hakuya.

Unless they were expecting an ambush, armies would avoid the steep slopes and advance along roads across flat land. Those roads saw the daily coming and going of people, and people gathered at them to form towns and villages. There would be towns and villages at points along the route the armies of the principality would be advancing through to reach Altomura, as well.

“We don’t have long before the armies of the principality strike,” I added. “Should we issue a royal order to encourage them to evacuate?”

When I asked that, Hakuya shook his head silently. “Please, refrain. If we show we are aware of the principality’s intentions, their armies will be on alert. It could make all our preparations for naught.”

“…You’re telling me to abandon them?”

“I believe we have no other choice,” Hakuya said firmly, his eyes never wavering from my glare. “Now that you have made the decision to fight, sire, you must be aware that that means the blood of your people will be shed. As king, sometimes you must swallow your tears and be prepared to make sacrifices to save a greater number of people.”

Hakuya said this with a serious look on his face. It might have sounded cold, but he was taking it upon himself to say the things he knew would hurt for me to hear. So that I couldn’t run away from making those choices.

“…Yeah,” I said. “I get what you’re saying. That’s probably the more guaranteed, safer way. But… is it really the only option?”

He said nothing.

“On this occasion, I don’t mind if the method is a little bit rough, or dangerous,” I added.

With a war coming, there was going to be some number of people sacrificed no matter what I did. Even so, if I didn’t work to lower those numbers to the absolute minimum, that wasn’t being safe, it was being negligent.

“I’ll take whatever you’ve got,” I said in a strained voice. “Is there something, anything we could do?”

Hakuya paused for a moment to think. Then… he let out a sigh, shrugging his shoulders in exasperation. “And here I had thought you had been acting quite kingly of late, sire.”

“I’ve still got a long way to go if I let compassion get the better of me, is that it?” I asked.

“If you are aware of that, then very well. Good grief… It seems I have no choice.”

For all his complaining, this was the closest I had seen to a smile on Hakuya’s face in some time. It seemed that even Hakuya had some reservations about abandoning the people along the highway to their fates.

“I do have one idea,” he said. “However, this is a rather rough method…”

The plan he proposed was definitely very rough. For the people along the highway, it was sure to be a real nuisance. Still… it was far better than abandoning them.

“Let’s go with that plan,” I said. “There’s little time. Contact the adventurers’ guild at once.”

“By your will.”

Unidentified monsters had appeared in the southeast of the Elfrieden Kingdom.

The monsters were bipedal and humanoid, had patchwork, clown-like bodies, and their heads were on fire. These were monsters that had never been discovered before.

From their appearance, the monsters came to be known as flame pierrots.

Flame pierrots would appear in groups, attack a village, then use the flames on their heads to set houses aflame. While it wasn’t common for a new species of monster to appear like this, in a world where there were dungeons everywhere, it was far from unheard of. These flame pierrots had no doubt been born in some dungeon or another.

Dealing with new monsters like these was mainly a job for adventurers. So, soon after reports of the flame pierrots came in, a quest was issued by the adventurers’ guild. “Protect the refugees displaced by flame pierrot attacks,” it said.

This quest had been issued by a kingdom under the king’s own name. It seemed that the king’s first thought had been to evacuate people from the villages near where the flame pierrots were appearing. However, the current king, King Souma, and the General of the Army, Georg, were currently in a state of conflict, so he couldn’t afford to dispatch troops.

By having the guild issue a quest, he had probably hoped to have adventurers protect the refugees. As a quest issued by a country, it seemed like there would be a good payout for it, so all of the adventurers accepted the quest and worked to protect the refugees.

Here, too, there was another party that had accepted that quest.

There was their leader, the young and muscular swordsman, Dece, the baby-faced, female thief, Juno, the quiet, affable priest, Febral, and the shapely, quiet beauty, Julia. This was the party that had once gone on a quest with Little Musashibo.

This time, in addition to those four, there was the brawny, macho brawler, Augus. The reason Little Musashibo had joined their party last time was that Augus had been unavailable and they had been looking for someone to fill in for him.

They, too, had taken on the quest issued by the kingdom.

The closer a village was to the capital, the sooner a group of adventurers had claimed it, and so, having gotten a late start, their group accepted a mountain village near the southeastern border. They were now pushing on towards the east through the dense forest, protecting thirty or so villagers.

So far… All clear. The party scout, Juno, was surveying the area from up in the treetops.

In the process of protecting the villagers, they had to be on alert for more than just flame pierrots. There were vicious wild animals, and, in areas where public order was poor, they also had to watch out for brigands during an escort mission. Because of that, Juno was jumping from tree to tree like a monkey, surveying the area.

For pay this good, there haven’t been many problems… I’m kind of disappointed, Juno thought to herself while leaping through the air.

Most of the time, if a quest paid well, it was going to be highly difficult. Even for quests that appeared to not be so difficult at first glance, if there was a good reward, you could count on there being something more to it. “Beware anything that seems too good to be true” was an iron rule among adventurers. Even if the quest came from a trustworthy kingdom.

However, once they had accepted it, no flame pierrots had appeared, and it was turning out to be a simple quest where they just went for a walk with some villagers.

When Juno finished her patrol mission and returned, Dece and Febral were talking.

“I think this quest really is too easy,” Febral said.

“Hey, what’s wrong with easy?” Dece replied to the more pensive Febral, swinging his arms in a circle as he did.

Febral was the party analyst and also served as advisor to Dece, the party leader.

“For starters, we haven’t even seen the flame pierrots that were supposed to be the reason for this quest,” said Febral. “There’s been a lot of talk about how dangerous they are, but… I can’t help but feel it’s exaggerated.”

“Ah, I’ve been thinking that, too.” Juno said, joining their conversation.

Dece looked to Juno. “What’s the situation?”

“All clear. The forest was quiet.”

“I see… So, what is it you were thinking, too, Juno?”

“This is an escort quest where we protect people from the flame pierrots, yeah? I was wondering why it wasn’t a subjugation quest against the flame pierrots. From what I’ve heard, there aren’t many of them. Rather than make all these villagers move, wouldn’t it be faster to wipe out those flame pierrots?”

“I think that’s a reasonable opinion,” Febral said with a nod, but Dece still seemed doubtful.

“Doesn’t that just mean they’re too dangerous to put out a subjugation quest for them?” he asked.

“If they were, you’d expect reports of more extreme damage than what we’re seeing,” Febral replied. “The only damages I’ve heard of are an empty village or two burning to the ground after its residents were already evacuated…”

“…Well, I guess that does seem a bit odd,” Dece said.

As would be expected of a party leader, Dece knew how to listen to others. When he thought an opinion was worth listening to, he was open-minded enough to follow the advice of others.

Dece spoke to Juno, who had her hands behind her head, her fingers interlocked.

“Juno. I’m counting on you to be thorough with your scouting. From here out, keep an eye out for more than just monsters or animals.”

“Roger that!”

With those words, Juno climbed up into the tree again, then jumped away.

After watching Juno go, Dece said, “Febral, go tell Augus and Julia up at the front everything you told me. I’ll stay here and guard the rear.”

“Roger.”

As he watched Febral run off towards the head of the party, Dece let out a sigh. Here’s hoping this quest stays this good until the end…

That was Dece’s fervent hope.

— 32nd Day, 9th Month, 1,546th Year, Continental Calendar.

King Souma’s war, which began on this day, came to be called the Three Front War because the battle took place in three locations at the same time, or the One Week War due to its brevity.

Because of its incredible importance to both the Elfrieden Kingdom and the Principality of Amidonia, there are many historical idioms that came from this war. The expression “Lord of Altomura” was one such historical idiom.

It happened in the city of Altomura, in the southwest of the Elfrieden Kingdom.

It was a walled city in the middle of a grain-producing region, but Altomura was now besieged by a force of 30,000 troops from the Principality of Amidonia. Altomura had a garrison of only 5,000, and the city would surely fall in a matter of days if the enemy troops chose to press the attack. Even so, the new king had sent his forces to fight the rebellious General of the Army, Georg, so he was unable to send reinforcements.

Everyone must have believed the fall of Altomura was only a matter of time. However, with the Amidonian force laying siege to the city making no move to attack, a strange silence fell over the area.

Why had this situation arisen?

This was the work of one man. Right now, that middle-aged man was in the main camp of the principality’s army, bowing and scraping before Prince Gaius VIII. The man was thin and scrawny, with an easily-cowed look about him.

His name was Weist Garreau.

He was the lord who ruled over Altomura and all of the area around it.

Weist, who had a manor in Altomura, should have been the one heading up the effort to defend the city, but now, of all things, he was here prostrating himself before Gaius VIII.

Gaius sat on a camp stool, the Crown Prince Julius at his side. Then, still seated on his camp stool and glaring down at Weist, Gaius spoke.

“I see… So Altomura will open its gates to us without resisting.”

“Y-Yesh! We have no intent of resisting the forces of the Principality of Amidonia!” Weist answered, the words catching in his throat a little.

Gaius narrowed his eyes. “…Let us hear your reason.”

“I don’t need a reason. It’s impossible to defend against a force as massive as yours! Altomura is a city built on the plains of a grain-producing region, not terrain that can be easily defended. Our only defenses are the castle walls anyway, and we only have a garrison of a few thousand. In a situation where there is no hope of reinforcements from the capital, if such a massive force were to attack, the city would fall swiftly and inevitably!”

Gaius glanced to Julius, and Julius responded with a silent nod. He could see no contradiction between Weist’s words and their own understanding of the situation.

Having decided that there were no lies in his words… “Hmm,” Gaius grunted. “And so you say you wish to surrender to us?”

“Y-Yes. If defending ourselves is impossible, we are left with no choice but to cling to your mercy.”

When he heard Weist’s words, Gaius grinned wickedly.

For Gaius, Weist’s surrender was a godsend. He had dispatched troops to take advantage of the discord within the kingdom, but if the kingdom were to unify under either Georg or Souma, the weaker principality would be at a disadvantage. In order to prepare for a situation like that, Gaius would like nothing more than to take the city without suffering the loss of any troops.

“Very well,” he said. “Then open the gates at once.”

“P-Please, wait for a short while.”

Gaius’s brow twitched with displeasure. “Why?”

“C–Currently, the castle is divided between one faction that doesn’t want to fight and another faction that wants to resist to the bitter end,” Weist explained. “There are those in the resistance faction who say that ‘The Amidonians will kill us all even if we surrender,’ and some among the faction that don’t want to fight suspect that is the case, too.”

“I see… and are you one of them?” Gaius asked.

“P-Perish the thought! I am here to beg for our lives. I must never doubt the man I am negotiating with!” Weist hastily explained, breaking into a cold sweat as he did. “I–I trust you, but it’s an opinion that some in the castle hold. That is why, first, I have come to your camp to hear your thoughts, Your Princely Highness.”

Gaius thought deeply about Weist’s words. While he saw nothing wrong with them, still, was it wise to trust this man?

While Gaius was thinking, Julius, who was standing next to him, interjected.

“Even without persuading those in the castle, we can take Altomura at any time.”

“Yes. I am already well aware of that,” Weist replied to Julius, showing him the same obsequience. “However, there are many fools who do not understand that. Surely, His Princely Highness would not wish to lose any of his soldiers due to those people’s foolishness. If you will guarantee us our lives, I will go and bring everyone in the castle around to the same point of view.”

As Weist’s head bounced up and down like a grasshopper, Julius felt nothing but disgust for the man.

Are the nobles of the kingdom all so peace-addled? Julius thought. It must be because there were no great wars during the reign of the last king. Perhaps it is little wonder that a fierce general like Georg would give up on this country.

While Julius was thinking that, Gaius slapped his own knee. “…Very well. If you open the gates, I will guarantee the safety of everyone in the castle. Return inside at once and convince your people.”

When he heard Gaius’s words, Weist thanked him as he rubbed his forehead on the ground. “Th-Thank you! I will excuse myself at once!”

As soon as the words were out of his mouth, Weist quickly left the main camp. As he watched the man scurry away like a mouse, Julius asked Gaius a question.

“Was that all right? He didn’t seem like that important of a person…”

“Hmph. Once he opens the gate, we will be the ones in control.” Gaius wore an evil smile. “I have no use for a little mouse that flatters his enemies. Once he has outlived his usefulness, I will part his head from his body and use it to decorate the gates.”

“…I see.” Julius backed down, seemingly satisfied with the answer.

When Gaius rose from his camp stool, he sent orders to his generals, saying, “When the gates of Altomura open, enter the castle and occupy it at once.”

The 30th stratagem in Thirty-Six Stratagems says, “Make the host and guest exchange roles.”

It is most often referred to in the context of a weaker force overcoming a stronger one, but it can also refer to making the defender (the host) trade places with the attacker (the guest). Being the defender is advantageous in war, so it is desirable for the attacker to create a situation where he can fight defensive battles even on campaign.

The battle currently taking place in the outskirts of Randel, the central city of the Carmine Duchy, could have been said to be an example of the later meaning of the 30th stratagem.

— 32nd Day, 9th Month, 1,546th Year, Continental Calendar — Red Dragon City.

Ever since Souma had issued his ultimatum, the lord of Red Dragon City, Castor Vargas, had been incredibly busy. Because he had chosen to support Georg Carmine using only his personal troops from Red Dragon City, there was the risk that Red Dragon City itself would become a battlefield.

Castor was aware that this had all come about as a result of his own pride. He couldn’t let the people of his domain suffer for his pride.

Because of that, he ended up having to do the work of evacuating the citizenry to other cities himself. Normally, Castor left these sort of tasks entirely to his steward Tolman, but this time he did the work by himself. He thought this might be the last time he had the chance, so he was trying to fulfill his duties as their lord.

Inside the governmental affairs office in Red Dragon Castle, his castle in Red Dragon City, Castor asked Tolman a question. “How is the evacuation of the citizens going?”

“It is already complete,” Tolman replied. “Now, the only people remaining in Red Dragon City are a unit from the Air Force and those connected to the House of Vargas.”

“I see… I’m glad to hear that,” Castor said, leaning back in his chair, a look of heartfelt relief on his face. “Maybe I shouldn’t say this, but it’s a load off my shoulders. Without that burden to carry, I can act as an individual warrior.”

“Truly, those were words a lord must never speak.”

“I was never cut out to be a lord anyway,” Castor said. “Though I inherited the Air Force and my subjects from my old man, I never had a gift for management. When I think about what it would have been like without you and Accela, the very thought of it frightens me.”

Castor looked up to the ceiling.

“When I think back now, I realize that King Albert was carrying so much more, and with that timid personality of his…And now, that new king, Souma, is carrying that burden. He’s pretty impressive, for a kid his age. I can see why the princess was willing to cut her hair to walk alongside him.”

Liscia had cut her hair as a show of determination towards Georg, but when Castor had seen it, his heart had been moved. Castor had always had a simple personality, so straightforward expressions of emotion like that really hit him hard.

Seeing Castor like this, Tolman asked him in astonishment, “You’ve changed your view of him now, after all this time?”

“Yeah. I have…You’re right, it took me far too long,” Castor said, recognizing his own fault.

It was too late to turn back now. He had no intention of trying, either. From here on out, he would face Souma bravely. Even if he was defeated, he would show the king the pride of a long-serving General of the Air Force.

“We have received requests from Air Force units around the country saying they wish to side with you, Master…” Tolman began.

The Air Force was home to a lot of ruffians who felt that might made right, so a brave and fierce commander like Castor got a lot of respect from his subordinates. However, Castor waved his hand at the idea.

“Tell ’em all to take a hike. I’m not letting them join me in my stubborn pride.”

“…I thought you would say that,” Tolman said, looking at his awkward master with resigned dismay. “Now then, master. What do you plan to do now?”

“I’m not gonna do anything,” Castor said. “I’ll just wait here for Souma.”

“You won’t go to join Duke Carmine?”

“I can’t leave Red Dragon City sitting empty. Besides, I wouldn’t mind fighting alongside Duke Carmine, but I’ll have to pass on riding alongside a bunch of corrupt nobles. I couldn’t stay true to my pride like that.”

For Castor, the outcome of this war was secondary. Win or lose, live or die, he thought only of fighting in a way for which no one would be able to laugh at him.

“I will wait in this land for Souma to come,” he said. “If he comes with a great army, I will fall gloriously in battle. If he underestimates me and only sends a small force, I will chew them to pieces. That is all.”

“Ah, but will things go as you’ve planned…?” Tolman said, looking down to the documents in his hands. “According to reports from our scouts, a force of 10,000 from the Forbidden Army has headed towards the Carmine Duchy. It is unclear whether King Souma is accompanying that army, but I do not believe they have any forces to send at us.”

“You’re saying he’s gonna ignore me?” Castor asked.

“We only have one hundred knights, so I believe ignoring you would be an option.”

“Ha, not a chance,” Castor dismissed Tolman’s concerns with a laugh. “The 40,000 strong Army led by Duke Carmine, or 100 knights from the Air Force? Which sounds like the more difficult opponent to you? On top of that, if he defeats me, we have a rule in place that says the entire Air Force will side with Souma. For Souma, the best course of action is to strike me down, then to lead the Air Force into a final battle with Duke Carmine.”

“However, the fact of the matter is that King Souma has no spare troops at his disposal…”

“I dunno about that. The new king’s a shrewd one, and I hear his right-hand-man, the Prime Minister, is sharp, too. They may come up with some method we would never have thought of,” Castor said, smiling in anticipation. His expression was like that of a mischievous boy excited to see whether his prank was going to work or not.

When he saw Castor eagerly awaiting some scheme by his enemies, even though he might soon be in a serious crisis, Tolman held his temples. “Master, I simply cannot understand that sense of yours.”

“Ha ha ha, you don’t really need to understand it. Actually… Tolman, don’t get involved in this battle,” Castor said, suddenly taking on a serious expression.

Tolman was shocked into silence, but after a moment he regained his composure. “…Why is that?” he asked. “I am prepared to serve you to the very end, you realize?”

“If something happens to me, and then you die, too, who’s gonna lead the Air Force? Besides, I’m concerned for Carl, who I left with Duchess Excel,” Castor said, wearing a somewhat lonely smile as he did. “Duchess Walter has sided with King Souma. Even if something happens to us, I’m sure she’ll have Carl, who I’ve cut ties with, inherit the House of Vargas. But Carl’s still young. Accela can’t handle things all by herself. That’s exactly why I want you there to watch over Carl. You know the House of Vargas well, after all. That’s why… no matter what happens, you have to survive. That’s an order.”

“…You do give cruel orders,” Tolman said, wearing a bitter smile with a tinge of loneliness. However, he quickly took on a serious expression. Standing with his back straight, his feet together, he saluted. “I have most certainly received your order.”

“…I’m counting on you.”

As the master and servant were having this exchange, Castor’s daughter Carla rushed into the room, out of breath.

“Father! Souma’s forces have appeared!”

When he heard those words, Castor stood up, full of vigor. “He’s here, huh! So, how big’s this force he’s leading?”

How many troops Souma had brought would determine whether Castor would be able to show him his pride. Was it 5,000, or 10,000? Castor had hoped for a large force, but Carla’s next words made him doubt his ears.

— 1st Day, 10th Month, 1,546th Year, Continental Calendar — Red Dragon City.

It was the morning following the battle where wyverns had flown through the skies and battleship cannons had roared.

Liscia and I were eating breakfast with Castor’s daughter Carla in the governmental affairs office at Red Dragon Castle.

Aisha stood behind the exhausted Carla, her hand ready on the hilt of her great sword, as if to say, “If you make any suspicious moves, I am prepared to cut you down at any time.”

It occurred to me that Aisha was still my “self-proclaimed bodyguard.” Given her accomplishments in the battle for Red Dragon City, I thought it might not be a bad idea to formally create a title like Captain of the King’s Personal Guard for her.

…Well, it could wait until after the war.

Having captured Castor Vargas and taken control of the Air Force, we were staying in Red Dragon City while we waited for the Air Force to gather. Right now, Hakuya, who had arrived after the battle, and Tolman must have been busy calling up those who had yet to respond and organizing those who had already gathered.

I’d had Castor shipped back to the capital along with a number of rebellious wyvern cavalry.

They would have only gotten in the way if we had brought them all with us, and Castor was wearing the slave collar. That collar had a spell attached that would make it tighten if he did anything untoward, and in the worst case would decapitate him. As long as he wore that slave collar, no one would try to seize him during the transfer.

Incidentally, Castor’s daughter Carla was the only one I’d had stay here, and I was keeping her close at hand. That was because I figured having a visible hostage would help to nip any unwanted resistance from the Air Force in the bud. I had a slave collar on her, too, and Aisha was keeping a watchful eye on her from behind, so she probably wouldn’t be able to do anything she shouldn’t.

I didn’t know if it was because of that, but her violent temperament from yesterday was all but gone, and Carla was resolutely silent. To make up for her taciturn friend, Liscia was being even more talkative than usual.

“Carla may not look it, but she’s actually the caring type,” she said. “She has a lot of integrity, so no matter how much she dislikes something, she’ll always help out when she’s asked. I think she’s a great girl.”

I said nothing.

Everything she said was all about selling me on Carla’s virtues. She had been talking about nothing but Carla’s many charms as a woman for a while now.

We were sitting in the office of the man who had been the enemy commander until yesterday, eating boxed meals we had brought from Parnam (this having been enemy territory up until yesterday, I was being careful not to get poisoned), while my fiancée and future primary queen recommended that I take the daughter of an enemy general, who was now wearing a slave collar and sitting next to us, as a secondary queen. It was quite a bizarre scene.

By the way, to explain the difference between primary and secondary queens, in this country primary queens were those whose children had the right of succession, while those who did not were known as secondary queens.

It was possible to have any number of primary or secondary queens (ranking within the two categories would be expressed as 1st X Queen, 2nd X Queen… and so on), however, in order to become a primary queen, a woman had to be born to the gentry, nobility, or higher.

Conversely, any person of any class could become a secondary queen. If one didn’t care about appearances, even a slave could be made into a secondary queen.

“O-Oh, and you know what?” Liscia went on. “When Carla strips down, she’s got a killer body. Maybe you can’t tell when she has armor on, but she’s way more stacked than I am. Dragonewts are long-lived, too, so she’ll always be young.”

“What are you saying, Liscia?!” Carla suddenly burst out.

It seemed that once Liscia started spilling the details on her proportions, even Carla wasn’t going to be able to stay quiet. And yet, Liscia snapped back at her, even angrier than Carla was.

“Carla, just be quiet! Hey, Souma, Carla’s an attractive woman…”

“…Liscia,” I said that in a somewhat stern tone, making Liscia inhale sharply and then go quiet. When I saw that worried look on her face… it hurt my heart. I didn’t want to make her look like that. I scratched the back of my head vigorously. “Liscia, I can see what you’re thinking. But have you properly considered the risks?”

She went silent.

No primary queen would ask her king to take a secondary queen. Yet Liscia, the 1st Primary Queen, was eagerly suggesting that I take Carla as my secondary queen, because she was trying with all her heart to save her.

The officers and soldiers of the Air Force who had followed Castor were under suspicion of participating in the rebellion, regardless of whether they had taken part in the battle or not. But of course it wouldn’t be possible to punish all of them as rebels, and so, formally, I was going to have to treat them as “having only acted under the orders of the General of the Air Force, Castor, and a number of high ranking officers,” under the condition that they come under the command of the Forbidden Army.

Because of that, Castor would have to bear responsibility.

As Castor’s daughter, and having taken part in the fighting herself, it was seen as a certainty that Carla would face the same judgment as her father when the war was over. As things stood, their execution seemed inevitable.

Because Liscia thought that, she was trying to push Carla into the royal harem.

In this country, the king had a lot of power. In principle, there was supposed to be an independent judiciary, but if the king exercised his powers, it was possible to shield a criminal from prosecution. Liscia was trying to convince me to like Carla so that I would work to keep her from going on trial. But that… was not something that should be done lightly.

“Where might is master, justice is servant,” I said. “If a king doesn’t uphold the law, the people the law protects will lose their respect for that king. If we don’t act logically, we ourselves will pay the price for it later. You must understand that, right, Liscia?”

“Well, yes… But…”

Of course, I was sure Liscia knew that. Still, she couldn’t let her friend go without saying something. Honestly… being a king was such an unpleasant role.

“Still, I…” Liscia began.

“Liscia, there’s no need to beg for my life,” Carla said as Liscia was still searching for the words. “You sent letters again and again, asking us to pledge our allegiance, yet we chose to refuse. I followed my father knowing this could happen if we lost. I’m only getting what I deserve. I consider myself to be a warrior. Now that it has come to this, I will not regret losing my life.”

Carla seemed to have already come to terms with her fate. I felt like I could understand why she and Liscia were so close. Her personality was similar to Liscia’s, earnest and stubbornly unyielding once she made up her mind. That was why all I could do was sigh.

“I wish you had directed that determination into something that wouldn’t make Liscia sad.”

“There’s nothing I can say in response to that,” Carla said. She added in a discourteous tone, “Don’t you dare… Urkh!”

“Carla?!” Liscia cried.

In the middle of her sentence, Carla groaned in pain. The slave collar had tightened. It looked like this item wouldn’t tolerate any disrespect towards the master. It seemed pretty harsh.

Some seconds later, once she was released from the pain, Carla turned to Liscia, who was looking at her with concern, and said, “I–I’m fine.” Then, looking back to me, she bowed her head. “True, I wasn’t as polite as I could have been. Let me rephrase that. King Souma, I ask that you not sadden Liscia the way I have.”

“…I know,” I said.

As we were talking, Hakuya and Tolman entered the office. Tolman stood before me, giving a military-style salute before beginning his report.

“Your Majesty, we have finished calling up the Air Force.”

“Good,” I said. “Well, then… let’s get going.”

I rose from my seat and gave everyone their orders.

“Hakuya, I’ll have you handle the cleanup here. Also, use this place’s jewel to get in contact with Excel while she’s staring down the Amidonians in Altomura. Tell her she only needs to hold out until this evening.”

“By your will,” Hakuya bowed.

“Tolman, lead a unit from the Air Force to bomb Randel in the Carmine Duchy,” I continued. “However, your only targets should be the anti-air repeating bolt throwers on the castle walls and Randel Castle itself. Don’t you dare drop even a single gunpowder barrel on the people’s houses! If anyone is found to have killed a civilian, I’ll see to it that they will face punishment after the war. Do I make myself clear?”

“Yes, sir! I understand!” he said firmly.

“Liscia and Aisha, come with me,” I added. “We’ll join up with Ludwin and his group.”

“Okay,” said Liscia.

“Understood, sire,” Aisha agreed.

Good. After giving orders to the others, I turned to look at Carla.

“Carla, you come with us, too.”

“I can’t have that much value to you as a prisoner at this point,” Carla said. “Please, just throw me in a cell somewhere,”

She seemed to have no strength remaining, but I shook my head in silence.

“You should see how this ends. See just whose strings you were dancing to.”

“Huh?” She looked startled. “What are you talking about? Nobody was making us dance…”

“Oh, no, you were dancing,” I said. “After all, we were, too.”

“What?” Carla asked, giving me a dubious look, to which I responded with a sigh.

“It’s not like we have a complete grasp of the scenario. Still, if we play our roles in it out to the end, I think we’ll start to see. We’ll see just who it was that wrote the script for this battle.”

— The same day, a few hours later, in the city of Randel in the Carmine Duchy.

There was a relaxed atmosphere on the castle walls surrounding Randel, the central city of the Carmine Duchy. The Army and Forbidden Army were engaged in hostilities, but that battle was being fought entirely at the fortress the Forbidden Army had built near Randel.

Because of that, there wasn’t so much as one arrow flying over the walls of Randel.

“Sure is boring…” one of the Army soldiers muttered to himself.

One of his fellow soldiers happened to overhear and looked at him with a frown. “Hey, we’re at war with the Forbidden Army right now, you know.”

“That’s what they tell us, but… all the fighting’s going on over by that fortress, isn’t it?” he complained. “Is there any point in us being on guard here?”

When he said that, another of his comrades laughed heartily and said, “What’s wrong with boring? Would you rather be on the front line against the Forbidden Army?”

“I–I never said that.”

“If anything, I’ll bet the guys on the front line wish they could trade places with us,” the other soldier continued. “If they resist the Forbidden Army, suddenly they’ll be being called rebels and part of a rebel army. On top of that, I hear there are a number of Army soldiers being led by Sir Glaive Magna, who parted ways with Duke Carmine, mixed in with the enemy. Who would want to fight against men they once ate from the same pot as?”

“You’ve got that right,” another soldier said, joining in on the grumbling. “I’ve heard talk that the Amidonians are on the move down south, too. What are the king and Duke Carmine thinking?”

“When you look at it that way, nothing beats guarding the castle walls,” the second soldier said.

“…You could be right,” the soldier who had been complaining at first said, starting to sound convinced. That was when it happened.

“Hey, look at the sky in the east! Something’s coming!” someone shouted.

Hearing that, they all turned to look at the eastern sky.

When they narrowed their eyes, it was true, they could see what looked like a swarm of mosquitoes in the sky to the east. For a moment, they thought it might be a flock of birds, but there were too many. There had to be close to a thousand of them.

As the swarm closed in, they realized it was the Air Force’s wyvern cavalry.

As soon as that became clear, a wave of relief washed over the soldiers.

“…Good. Duke Vargas is our ally.”

“The Air Force is coming to support us!”

“If they are, then the battle’s already over. That fortress of theirs will fall easily under aerial bombardment.”

Everyone nodded sagely in agreement.

…Yes, the end of this battle was most certainly near. However, that end was to be precisely the opposite of what those soldiers expected.

The Air Force passed over the fortress built outside Randel where the Forbidden Army were holed up, then dropped barrels filled with gunpowder on the anti-air repeating bolt throwers on the walls of Randel.

The wyvern cavalry flew over the walls of Randel. Their leader Tolman looked down as an explosion rang out, flames flew around, and black smoke rose. Their targets, the anti-air repeating bolt throwers, had been blasted away without a trace, along with chunks of the wall where they had once been.

The gunpowder barrels used by the Air Force were similar in design to the fire arrows pirates had used during the Sengoku Period to sink enemy ships. To explain it quickly, they were like firework shells.

The time it took for them to explode could be adjusted with the length of the oil-soaked rope used as a fuse. Once the fuse was lit and the bomb dropped, it would go off after the set amount of time. They weren’t like incendiary bombs, which explode with the force of the impact, but the Air Force could adjust their fuse length based on the altitude they would be dropped from, so they could be used in a similar manner.

Incidentally, because the gunpowder from those barrels that failed and impacted the ground would scatter, then be set off by the gunpowder barrels that succeeded, the extent of the damage inevitably grew.

How many Army soldiers have died in that blast now… No! Tolman shook his head, forcing down the depressing feelings that were welling up inside him. I will not ask for forgiveness. This is for my master and the princess.

In order to lighten the situation Castor and Carla would both surely find themselves in after the war, he needed the Air Force to achieve as much as possible here. As if trying to raise his own morale, Tolman shouted orders to the rest of the Air Force.

“The bolt throwers have fallen silent! We will now begin the bombardment of Randel Castle! Do not, under any circumstances, allow your bombs to fall on residential blocks! By the pride of our Air Force, we cannot allow any more needless deaths!”

“““Yeahhhhh!”””

The men and officers cheered in response to Tolman’s words.

And so, a formation of wyvern cavalry began the aerial bombardment of Georg Carmine’s castle in the center of Randel.

— At the same time, outside Randel.

It was around the time that the wyvern cavalry being led by Tolman began their bombardment of Randel’s castle walls.

A wyvern carrying a gondola containing Liscia, Aisha, the captive Carla, and myself descended to the fortress where Ludwin and the others were holding out. It was dangerous to land at a fortress that was under attack, but the Army had withdrawn in surprise when the bombardment at Randel had begun. Thanks to that, we had been able to enter the fortress quite easily.

When we stepped out of the wyvern’s gondola, Ludwin, Hal, and Kaede were there to greet us. While they all showed signs of exhaustion, I was relieved to see they were completely unharmed. While they had only been defending themselves against a siege for a day and a half, I knew unexpected accidents could always occur.

I bumped fists with Hal. “I brought the Air Force, just as planned.”

“Well, we held out against the Army for you, just as planned,” he said.

We both proudly boasted about what we’d accomplished.

“It was only a day and a half,” I said. “If you hadn’t been able to hold out that long, I wouldn’t know what to do with you.”

“You idiot,” he snorted. “The enemy even brought out cannons, you know? If the dark elves hadn’t come to support us, we might have taken serious losses.”

“I see… I’ll have to reward those reinforcements after the war,” I said. “Anyway, I’m glad to see you’re doing fine.”

“You, too, Souma,” he said. “You’re weak, so don’t push yourself too hard.”

“And you, Hal, you’re strong, but you never think. I worry you’ll charge in blindly and get yourself killed.”

For some reason Hal and I went from crowing about our own achievements to pointing out each other’s faults.

Liscia, Alicia, and Kaede watched us, rolling their eyes.

“What’re those two doing?” Liscia muttered.

“Well, perhaps you could call that a kind of manly friendship?” Aisha suggested.

“It’s just Hal’s burning sense of rivalry towards His Majesty, you know,” said Kaede.

The girls just said whatever they wanted to about us. Carla was the only one who didn’t know what our relationship was like, so she just stood there blinking.

“That man… He’s a little too friendly with the king, isn’t he?” she asked.

“Officer Halbert has been given permission to treat him like a friend. Basically, he’s the same as us,” Liscia explained to her.

Then Ludwin knelt before me and gave his report. “Sire, we have successfully constructed and defended the fortress, as ordered.”

“You have served me admirably,” I said. “I will see to it that you and your troops are duly rewarded for your effort after the war.”

He addressed me in a formal tone, so I responded in kind. Seeing me suddenly shift into that self-important tone, Hal and the others grinned, but I did my best to ignore it. Time was precious right now.

“Ludwin, get the troops together and prepare to move out,” I ordered.

“Yes, sir! Then, are we attacking Randel?”

“No… The battle here is already over.”

“Huh? What do you…”

“I have a report!” The next moment, a soldier of the Forbidden Army was rushing up to us.

He looked incredibly flustered. He came at us so fast that Aisha and Ludwin both nearly drew their swords.

The soldier practically threw himself to the ground in prostration before me, then raised his voice to say, “The white flag has risen over Randel! O-Our forces are victorious!”

Slightly before that, there was an uproar in Georg Carmine’s castle over the sudden surprise attack. There were many different rumors flying back and forth in the castle.

Had Castor Vargas betrayed them?

Had the king and Castor Vargas been colluding behind the scenes?

No, wasn’t the one who had plotted all this, in fact, Excel Walter, that capable woman and veteran of many battles?

…That was how it went, with various theories bandied about, but no one guessed the truth: that Souma had pulled a trick that had let him defeat the Air Force in a single day.

The ones who made the most noise about these events were the ones who had exhausted their personal troops in the battle against the fortress yesterday and who had been removed from the front line today, the corrupt nobles who had been resting in Randel Castle. As soon as they found out that the large explosion had been due to an aerial bombardment by the Air Force, they rushed to the governmental affairs office, where Georg Carmine was doing the work of governing despite the ongoing situation.

“Duke Carmine! What are you doing, taking things so easily during this crisis?!” one of them exclaimed.

“The Air Force has betrayed us! We must come up with a plan of action at once!”

“Give us your orders, please! What are we to do?”

As the nobles worked themselves into a frenzy and shouted all manner of verbal abuse at him, Georg’s wolf-headed lieutenant, Beowulf, who was here at this very moment to report on the bombing, furrowed his brow in anger. He was about to draw the sword at his hip to respond to the affront, but…

“Beowulf,” Georg addressed him.

“Yes, sir!” He stood at attention.

Georg asked him in a calm tone, “What is the extent of the damage from the aerial bombardment just now?”

“Sir,” he said. “The bombardment on the castle only blasted away a portion of the roof and towers. Fortunately, there were few casualties. However, we’ve lost every one of the anti-air repeating bolt throwers on the castle walls. The soldiers assigned to guard the walls are in a state of panic and confusion.”

“I see…”

Georg showed no sign of a change in his expression at Beowulf’s report, but the nobles who were listening went ghastly pale. The loss of the anti-air repeating bolt throwers meant the loss of any ability to oppose the wyvern cavalry. The Army now had no means to stop the Air Force’s bombardment. In other words, even if they attempted to hold out inside the castle, they would be one-sidedly bombed to death.

Georg stroked the beard that had merged with his mane. “In short, everyone in this castle is now their hostage.”

“Yes, sir. That would appear to be the case.”

When he heard Beowulf’s response, the corners of Georg’s mouth rose as he said, “Then this battle is our loss.”

He accepted his defeat so easily that the corrupt nobles did not understand what he had said for a moment.

They had lost.

The moment they managed to process that, their faces all turned red or blue and they rounded on Georg.

“Wh-What are you saying, Duke Carmine?! We’ve not lost yet!”

“Indeed! The army is still practically unharmed! There is ample opportunity to turn things around!”

“If we have no anti-air repeating bolt throwers, we need only retreat to a city that has them! Let’s plan our comeback and face the king and the Forbidden Army there!”

“…You would have me abandon Randel?” Georg said with a tone of exasperation as he looked at the nobles who were saying they would resist to the last. “What is a ruler if he casts aside his subjects? If a lord flees and deserts his people, surely the people of another city will never accept him.”

“What are you saying?!” one of the nobles exclaimed. “Subjects are those who have no choice but to obey the victor! Even if they’re discontented for a time, so long as you win in the end, they will yield to you on their own!”

“Indeed! Platitudes are only worth something if we live! First, we must think of a way to survive!” another cried.

As he listened to the nobles who, even now, were only concerned with their own well-being, Georg let out a sigh.

“In the end, the only ones you fear for are yourselves. Ah, but now I recall, you people were like that from the beginning. Honestly… in the short time since we last fought a foreign enemy, I never would have expected our roots to rot so badly. As I thought, in order for the new buds to flourish, first the rotting leaves and branches must be cleared away.”

“Duke Carmine? What are you saying…?”

The nobles were bewildered by the sudden change in Georg’s demeanor.

Georg paid them no heed, ordering his lieutenant, “Beowulf. Do it as we planned.”

“…Yes, sir,” Beowulf said.

When Beowulf raised his right hand, suddenly soldiers rushed into the room, swords drawn, and surrounded the nobles. With twenty to thirty soldiers holding them at sword point, the nobles who were unable to move finally realized they’d been deceived by Georg. They were stripped of their weapons and forced into slave collars one after another.

“What is the meaning of this, Duke Carmine?!” one of them exclaimed.

“You wouldn’t, Duke Carmine! Do you mean to turn over our heads to beg the king to spare your own?!” another one screamed.

“Th-This isn’t fair!” a third one shouted.

“Curse you! This is dirty, Georg Carmine!”

When he heard the nobles still talking like that, Georg sighed once more in disappointment. “I take offense at the suggestion that I am anything like you people…Take them away.”

The bound nobles were led out of the room by the soldiers.

Some tried to resist, but having already been forced into slave collars, their master Beowulf merely willed for the collars to constrict, knocking them unconscious.

Even once the door was closed and they were out of sight, they could still be heard cursing Georg foully from the corridor. After a little while, those voices faded and at last Georg returned to his seat. Then, exhaling deeply, he asked Beowulf a question.

“What has become of their personal troops and the Zemish mercenaries?”

“Sir, they are being detained by our forces as we speak.”

Hearing Beowulf’s response, Georg nodded in satisfaction. Then, as if casting off the stern mask he had worn all this time, a gentle smile came to his face.

“I have done as I sought to. Now, I have no regrets in this world.”

In contrast to Georg, who looked bright and cheerful, Beowulf bore a look of agony.

When he thought of what he had to do now, it must have weighed on him heavily. Georg understood how Beowulf felt, so he gave the order as calmly as he could.

“Now then, Beowulf. Could I ask that you do the same for me?”

“…Yes, sir.” He showed a moment’s hesitation, but Beowulf wrapped a slave collar around Georg’s neck, as well.

Even though he was receiving a death collar that would force him into absolute subservience to his new master, Georg wore a calm expression, like he might when asking his wife to adjust the fancy bow-tie he intended to wear to a wedding reception. With the slave collar wrapped around his neck, Georg now gave his final order as General of the Army.

“Dispatch a messenger to deliver our surrender to the Forbidden Army and place yourself at His Majesty’s command. All of the men and officers, with the exception of the corrupt nobles and their troops, acted only under my orders. I bear responsibility for all their crimes. From here on… I leave things to you and Glaive. Do I make myself understood?”

“…Yes, sir. I will do so at once.” Beowulf saluted him and left the room.

After watching him go, Georg opened the bottom drawer of the office desk.

Inside was a bottle of wine from the year Princess Liscia had been born. It had been given to him by the former king, Albert, with the request, “No matter what should happen, I want you to protect my daughter.” He had held onto it dearly ever since that day.

After Liscia’s graduation from the officers’ academy, during the time when he had kept her at his side, he had often told her, “On the day of your wedding, I intend to drink myself into a stupor with this wine” with a laugh.

Her marriage… huh, he thought. Not being able to see the princess on her wedding day is my one regret, but if I think of this as the greatest wedding gift anyone could offer, it doesn’t feel so bad. As for this wine… I will have to ask someone to see that it makes its way to that young king. Though, as he is the man who stole the princess from me, I am somewhat loath to do it.

With a self-mocking laugh, he imagined Souma and Liscia standing next to each other on their wedding day.

Will the king himself enter this castle, I wonder? I would dearly like to meet him in person and to talk just once.

That was Georg’s wish, but what came instead was a messenger.

“Reporting! King Souma did not enter Randel and has already departed leading the Forbidden Army to the west!”

…was what his report said.

Then, right after that, he also reported that orders had arrived saying, “Once the army is reorganized under Beowulf and Glaive Magna, they are to follow after the Forbidden Army at once.”

When he received that report, Georg’s eyes went wide for a moment.

— Evening, 1st Day, 10th Month, 1,546th Year, Continental Calendar — Near Altomura.

The Amidonian army had agreed to break their siege at the request of the lord of the castle, Weist Garreau, but when noon came, there was no sign of Altomura’s gates opening.

The sovereign prince of Amidonia, impatient with the current state of affairs, ordered that the siege be resumed. Then, once the encirclement was complete, he gave the order for an all-out attack. However, having broken the siege of the city, it took a considerable amount of time to encircle the city once again. It had grown close to evening by the time the task was complete.

“Curse you…” Gaius swore. “To think I’d be played for a fool by a petty man of no significance like Weist.”

Sitting on a stool in Amidonia’s main camp, Gaius tapped his foot impatiently. When they saw him like this, it put all of the officers and men standing at his side on edge. They knew if they did anything to set off his short temper now, it might cost them their heads. That naturally caused a heavy air to fall over the camp.

In the middle of it all, the crown prince, Julius, did his best to pacify Gaius.

“That just means a petty nuisance did as petty nuisances do,” he said. “He’s making a futile attempt to buy time. We’ll just have to ensure that we crush him this time. What is there to be so irritated about?”

“…Hmph,” Gaius said. “Yes, his struggle certainly has been in vain.”

He seemed mollified by Julius’ words, but continued:

“It’s too late for them to beg for their lives now. I’ll destroy that country town by the time the sun goes down. When that time comes, Weist, I’ll hang your head from the castle gates, but not before I torture you until you beg for death!”

“…I believe that would be appropriate,” Julius said.

Unlike Gaius, who had let the blood rise to his head, Julius wore an icy expression. Still, uncertainty was beginning to take root in his mind. He sensed a suspicious presence on the other side of those walls. Had Weist truly just been buying time with no hope of winning?

As he was contemplating that, a single Amidonian soldier rushed into the main camp. “I–I have a report! A woman has been spotted on the walls of Altomura!”

“A woman?” Julius asked.

As he listened to the soldier who bowed low as he gave his report, Gaius raised an eyebrow. “Just who is she?”

“Well… according to one commander who recognized her, she is Excel Walter, Admiral of the Elfrieden Navy,” the soldier said.

“Did you say Excel Walter?!” Gaius doubted his own ears. “You say that one of the three dukes was inside that castle?!”

It was hard to believe. The King of Elfrieden, Souma, had issued his ultimatum to the three dukes only a few days ago. Certainly, Admiral Excel Walter had sworn loyalty to him there, but by the time the spies had delivered that information to them, the armies of the Principality had already besieged Altomura.

Her base of operations was Lagoon City on the northeast edge of the Kingdom, while Altomura was close to the southwest edge. No matter how quickly she traveled, it should have taken three or four days to travel that distance. If Excel had been in Lagoon City when the ultimatum was issued, she couldn’t possibly have gotten inside Altomura.

“Why?! Why is Excel there?!” Gaius screamed.

Unlike the bewildered Gaius, Julius looked as if things suddenly made sense to him. “…Most likely, Excel was in communication with Souma prior to the ultimatum.”

The identity of that sensation which he hadn’t been able to put a name to… the one that he had been feeling from Altomura. Had it been Excel’s shadow?

The moment he realized it, Julius figured out the enemy’s ploy and turned pale. If Excel and Souma had been secretly in contact, it was possible the other two dukes had been, as well.

If that ultimatum was a farce…!

That was where Julius finally realized the enemy’s true aim.

“Father, prepare to withdraw posthaste! We’ve been lured here!” he shouted.

Julius took a knee before his father, regretfully offering that advice. Gaius blinked at the sudden suggestion of retreat. “Lured here? What do you mean?”

“Most likely, Excel was in Altomura when she took part in the meeting where that ultimatum was issued,” Julius said. “We have a Jewel Voice Broadcast jewel in our country, just like they do, and it certainly wouldn’t be impossible to transport one.”

“Why would she need to do that?” Gaius asked.

“To keep us pinned down at this city, I’m sure,” Julius said bitterly. “The enemy’s target is…”

It seems that in later years, many dramatizations of this era have depicted Souma Kazuya as a wise and courageous ruler. They depict him as a ruler who took to the battlefield, as slaying many powerful opponents in single combat, as having confounded enemy armies with his ingenuity, and as having brought happiness to the people with his excellent policies.

However, the historians dispute that appraisal of him.

To begin with, in all his life, Souma only fought enough foreign wars to be counted on one hand. He had very few opportunities to show that sort of military prowess. Nearly all of the achievements he is remembered for were actually accomplished by those who served under him.

As for the ingenuity that let him toy with his enemies, there is no proof that he came up with any of those ideas himself. In the era in which he lived, there were many people, foremost among them being the prime minister, Hakuya, who were masters of such ingenuity, so Souma may only have been implementing the best plans offered by such people.

Certainly, he had many excellent policies, but it is questionable whether he led all of his people to happiness.

From time to time, there were signs that Souma’s position caused him suffering. If all of his policies had been having their intended effects, he likely wouldn’t have suffered so. Thus, Souma’s abilities were not so great as the dramatizations depict. That was the consensus reached by historians.

…However.

Even with that said, there are few who claim Souma was not a great ruler.

Another point of consensus among historians is that “Souma was good at gathering people and using them well.” Souma had no great abilities himself, but he was a genius in how he placed capable people where they were needed, and could deploy the necessary number of troops to where they were required.

The event that first spread Souma’s name across the continent, his victory in the war with the Principality of Amidonia, was largely a result of this gift. He had a firm grasp of what he was and was not capable of, and was able to delegate the things he couldn’t do himself to others.

It could be that this is the most important quality for a ruler.

“They’re more stubborn than I expected…”

As I watched the battle develop from the main camp of the Elfrieden Kingdom’s army, I was surprised by how good a fight the forces of the principality of Amidonia were putting up.

It was 55,000 kingdom soldiers in high spirits vs. 25,000 exhausted principality soldiers. The outcome should have been apparent to anyone, but the forces of the principality were holding out well. No, maybe it was that our forces weren’t fully able to attack.

First, the kingdom’s and principality’s wyverns were dogfighting in the skies above. Because they hadn’t been hit by the ambush at Goldoa Valley, the Principality of Amidonia’s wyvern unit was the most energetic unit in the principality’s army.

There were fewer than 500 knights, but if they stayed on the defensive, even the Elfrieden Wyvern Cavalry, who boasted twice their numbers, would struggle to attack them. If we could seize air supremacy, that would decide the outcome of the battle, but it didn’t look like that would happen for a while.

In the end, the battle had been left for the forces on the ground to decide.

The kingdom’s army had deployed in the crane wing formation. In the center was the Royal Guard led by Ludwin, plus a total of 20,000 troops, including 10,000 from the troops that reported directly to me in the Forbidden Army and 10,000 from the Army. In the left wing there were roughly 15,000 Army troops led by Glaive (Halbert and Kaede were in this unit as well). Lastly, in the right wing there was a force of roughly 15,000 troops led by Liscia which consisted of Army troops and auxiliaries from the dark elf village.

I wanted Liscia to stay in the main camp, but she said, “This is the final battle. Let me do what I can, too,” and forced me to let her have her way.

Partly because she was currently the only person who could still keep the confused forces of the Army together, I hesitantly accepted it.

She had been something like an idol during her time with the Army, after all. Thanks to Georg’s training, there was also no issue with her ability to command troops. I made the decision figuring that she would meet little resistance.

I did, at least, send Aisha with her as a bodyguard, though. She was a princess, after all, and I didn’t want her being too reckless.

Anyway, since I was in the main camp, to the rear of the central force led by Ludwin, the only person I had to talk to was Carla, who I was keeping close at hand as a hostage.

While Carla was a hostage, her hands and feet weren’t bound with chains. She was wearing a slave collar, so it would strangle her the moment she attempted to flee or harm her master. It was supposedly safe leaving her like this. It seemed to me that if she just seized a sword from one of the guards or stabbed me with those sharp claws of hers, she could kill me pretty easily, but… I guess that was just how the collar worked. Then again, Carla didn’t seem to have any intention of harming me anymore.

I tried talking to her. “So, what do you think? I thought they’d break more easily.”

“…No one goes to war wanting to lose,” she said. “They’ll desperately try to avoid defeat.”

“Yeah, I guess they would.”

Maybe Carla had gotten bored just standing by my side, because she responded surprisingly easily. As a former commander of the Air Force, she must have had a better grasp of the situation than I did.

They’re being stubborn because of their inferior numbers, huh. That could be a little troublesome, I thought.

“Our left and right wings, which is to say the units under Liscia and Glaive, don’t look like they’re moving that much,” I said. “If they were a bit more proactive about encircling them, don’t you think they could wipe them out?”

“…If you think that, why not send a messenger on a fast horse with that order?” asked Carla.

With the tone she used, it was like she was asking “Is that your final answer?” It made me stop to think about it a little. However, I couldn’t come to any conclusions.

“…I don’t know,” I said. “My knowledge of war is purely theoretical, so Liscia should know far more about commanding troops than I do. Rather than open my mouth when I shouldn’t, I’d better leave the decision-making to those in the field.”

Carla laughed a little. “Ha ha ha. That’s probably a good idea.”

It looked like that was the right answer.

“Carla, do you know the reason?” I asked. “Care to fill me in?”

“It’s the number of troops the enemy has,” she said.

“The number of troops?”

Carla pointed towards the battlefield. “I only know what I’ve heard from listening in, but those are the 30,000 troops that laid siege to Altomura, right? They were ambushed while they were withdrawing, too.”

“Yeah, that’s right.”

“It doesn’t look like their numbers have decreased that much, considering all that’s happened.”

“Hm? Now that you mention it…”

With such a large force, it was hard to tell anything at a glance, but they looked to be about half the size of our own force, which had 55,000 troops. I guessed they had around 25,000 troops.

It was true that, considering that they’d been ambushed by Juna’s marines in Goldoa Valley, it didn’t look like they had taken many losses.

“Did the ambush not achieve anything?” I wondered.

“No, from what I see on the battlefield, there are varying levels of morale in the different units of the principality’s army. They likely made up the troops they lost to the ambush by taking in conscripts from cities along their route here. That would be why some of them appear to have low morale.”

“I see…”

Countries in this world generally had standing armies.

In a world where there are giant animals that, from a person back on Earth’s perspective, might as well be monsters running rampant, it was necessary to have troops that could be mobilized at any time. In Elfrieden, the Army, Navy, Air Force and the troops that were under my direct control in the Forbidden Army were standing troops. Of course, in times of need, levies could be raised from the common people. In our case, most of the personal armies of nobles other than the three dukes were made up of levied troops.

After the war, I planned to create a unified army which would incorporate the various nobles’ forces as well, but I intended to release the people from military service and have them return to their towns. Right now, raising productivity was a more urgent concern than a decline in military power.

Naturally, the army the principality used to invade us would also be made up of a combination of standing troops and levied troops. They must have raised all the levies they could by now.

So, after the ambush, the levies they’d raised must have come from those they couldn’t have conscripted before.

For instance, they might be the elderly, the feeble, or even adventurers who had happened to be in their domain. (The adventurers’ guild offered a contract that allowed countries to conscript all adventurers who were in their territory in a time of crisis. In return, the country needed to pay a fixed sum to the guild every month, so I had already terminated that contract.)

Carla was pointing out that they couldn’t have high morale if that was the case.

“If you leave people like that alone, they’ll eventually break on their own,” she said. “On the other hand, if you encircled them, it would risk causing them to unite as one. That’s why both Liscia and Glaive are waiting for them to break ranks and flee.”

“I see,” I said. “So I was right to let my field commanders make the decision.”

I realized that, in a situation like this, rather than pretending to know what I was doing and making pronouncements from on high, it was better to trust the people in the field and leave it to them. I had capable people out there, after all.

“I’m just a figurehead, so I should stay back in the main camp, twiddling my thumbs,” I said.

“I think that’s a problem in its own way…” said Carla. “You are the king, aren’t you?”

“There’s only work for a king before and after the war,” I said. “Other than that, well… If it comes to it, maybe I can offer up my own head and beg them to spare the lives of my troops and commanders.”

When I said that, Carla’s eyes went wide. She looked at me as if she was seeing something completely unbelievable.

Huh? Why was she looking at me like that?

“Did I say something strange?” I asked.

“You… Aren’t you afraid to die?” Carla demanded.

What was she talking about?

“Of course I’m scared to die. I’m not suicidal.”

“Still, just now, you said you’d offer your head up if it came to that, didn’t you?” she asked. “Have you already accepted that?”

“Huh? Ah… I guess I did. That’s weird…”

Carla was right. Now that she mentioned it… it was weird.

Why had I said I’d offer my head up like it was completely natural?

I knew it was something expected of a king. Power was concentrated in my hands as the representative of this country, so I had to bear just as much responsibility. That was what it meant to be king.

But why did it feel “natural” for me to do it?

I mean, I’d always been… a bit of a coward, hadn’t I? I valued my life, didn’t I? I’d taken the throne and worked so hard at internal affairs in order to avoid being handed over to the Empire, hadn’t I?

It happened around the time that Souma and the others were fighting the final battle in Amidonia.

The prime minister of the Elfrieden Kingdom, Hakuya Kwonmin, was in Red Dragon City sorting things out in the aftermath of the war. Because Souma had had to leave to fight the principality before he could do any real work on the process, Hakuya was handling it on his behalf.

While he was the prime minister, he was also a bureaucrat, so for Hakuya this was his battlefield.

In Castor’s governmental affairs office, the only sound was the scratching of Hakuya’s pen.

It was quiet in the castle. The master of the castle, Castor, had already been transferred to Parnam. The majority of the Vargas family servants had turned to Castor’s wife, Accela, who had been left with Excel, and they had departed for Lagoon City. Because of that, the only ones in the castle were the guards and a small number of bureaucrats.

Tap, tap.

There was a hesitant knocking at the door.

“Come in,” said Hakuya.

“…Excuse me. I brought some papers for you,” Tomoe said as she entered the room.

Tomoe would soon be departing for Amidonia to negotiate with the rhinosauruses. Still, they couldn’t very well bring a child like Tomoe to the battlefield, so she would be staying with Hakuya until things settled down.

Hakuya stopped writing, and his cheeks loosened just a little. “That’s kind of you. You don’t have to do this for me, you know?”

“No… I wanted to do something to help, too…” When Tomoe said that, her tail drooped, but her wolf ears perked up and moved around restlessly.

Seeing Tomoe acting like that, Hakuya smiled wryly despite himself. “Are you worried about His Majesty and the others?”

“Ah!..Yes.” Since he had been on the mark, Tomoe’s ears flattened down. “At times like this… I can’t do anything.”

“You could say the same of me,” Hakuya said, patting Tomoe’s head as he took the documents from her. “We worked hard to refine the plan. Between Duke Carmine’s plot and Duke Vargas’s opposition, there were a number of events we hadn’t predicted, but things are going well for the most part. You needn’t worry. I am sure His Majesty, the princess, and everyone else will come back safely.”

“…Okay!” Tomoe was encouraged by Hakuya’s perfect composure, and she gave him a cheerful response.

That was when it happened.

A single soldier rushed into the office and said, “I have a report! His Majesty Souma’s army intercepted the Amidonian army near Van and successfully routed them! It was a major victory for our side!”

He was reporting their victory in battle.

Tomoe smiled.

Clatter.

When he heard that report, Hakuya jumped to his feet so quickly that he knocked his chair over. His face showed signs of his excitement, a rarity for the usually-subdued Hakuya.

Tomoe stared blankly at him.

When Hakuya noticed that, he awkwardly cleared his throat.

“…For an advisor, even if he has some reservations about his own plans, he must never let that show. It wouldn’t do for him to stir up uncertainty,” he said, the words sounding like he was just trying to hide his embarrassment.

Tomoe suppressed a laugh, giving her mentor, the Prime Minister, a firm salute. “Yes, sir. I toooootally understand.”

When Tomoe, the honorary little sister of his master and also his pupil, gave him a response like that, Hakuya sulked a little.

The black-robed prime minister, who was famed for his cleverness, couldn’t keep up that image in front of his adorable student.

Before entering Van, the capital city of the Principality of Amidonia, I gave an order to the entire army.

“We will now enter Van, but this area is already under the rule of the Elfrieden Kingdom!” I announced. “Therefore, the people who live within are already citizens of the kingdom! Killing, harming, raping, or robbing them will absolutely not be tolerated! If anyone should violate this order, regardless of their social stature or the severity of their crimes, I will have that person decapitated and their head put on display! Understand that now!”

Once I had given that order to the entire army, I secretly called Ludwin aside and gave him a note I had prepared. Ludwin accepted it with a puzzled look.

“What is this note? A list of people’s names?” he asked.

I nodded, then said in as calm a tone as I could manage, “Ludwin… find the five people whose names are listed here, decapitate them, and put their heads on display above the gate. However, make the reason for it ‘because they attempted to enter and loot the houses of a resident of Van.’”

“Wha?! What have these people done…?”

“It was a gift from Georg that came to me through Glaive,” I said. “They’re from the Army, but when they were in the Carmine Duchy, they broke into a private residence, engaging in pillaging, rape, and murder. We would just be executing them later anyway, so I’ll render judgment on them here to set an example.”

“…By your will.” Ludwin meekly bowed, then took his leave.

Soon there were five heads lined up near the gate to Van. Next to them was a sign on which the charge against them, “attempted pillaging,” was written. It helped enforce discipline in every soldier who passed through the gate. As a result, the forces of the kingdom not only didn’t engage in arson, looting, or violence, they didn’t even fight back when those who couldn’t accept their defeat threw stones at them.

That, despite expectations, ended up inspiring awe and fear in the Amidonian people.

Once the roads were confirmed safe, I myself entered Van.

This time I traveled not in a carriage, but on horseback. It seemed that, as the victor, it wouldn’t do for me to ride inside a carriage.

While I had finally learned to ride a horse recently, I still wasn’t very good at it. Well, Aisha was holding the reins for me, so it would probably be fine.

As my horse and Liscia’s moved forward side by side, I looked at the streets of Van.

The Capital of the Principality of Amidonia, Van.

The militaristic Principality of Amidonia had built this military city as a foothold towards their invasion of the Elfrieden Kingdom, and as a front-line base to defend against invasions by the kingdom. On top of that, because of their unique mentality of not wanting to lose to the kingdom at anything, its scale was comparable to that of Parnam.

When I first entered Van and saw that mishmash of practicality and vanity, I had one strong impression.

I want to re-district this place…

The civilian residential areas were crowded, the roads were complicated, and the layout made me want to call it a “labyrinth city.” Even though we were heading towards the castle, we kept turning left and right, and just couldn’t seem to get there.

There were mansions that looked like they belonged to nobles here and there in the residential area. When I saw they were higher up than the commoners’ residences, I finally understood the layout of the city.

The layout had probably been designed so that, in the event of a battle, any soldiers who broke through the gate would get lost in the labyrinth city, while the defenders would use the nobles’ mansions as fortresses from which to attack.

…I dunno, it just made me think: Did you really have to go that far?

This city layout would be hard on the enemy, but it was no kinder to the residents. It was inconvenient for getting around, and I was worried about how fires would spread with the buildings crowded together so tightly. The fact that this city seemed to be designed around a policy of decreasing accessibility made my head hurt.

At this point, I had no choice but to rework the entire city. There weren’t many cities that would benefit this much from improved infrastructure. When I thought of the mountain of administrative work that was no doubt waiting for me… I couldn’t help but get depressed.

“Souma? What’s up?” Liscia asked.

“…No, it’s nothing.”

“Hm?”

“Look, you can see the castle now,” I said.

While I dodged Liscia’s questions, I braced myself for what was to come.

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:

To all of you now holding this book. If this is our first meeting, it’s nice to meet you. If you are one of the people I interact with on Pixiv, thank you for your continued patronage. I am Dojyomaru.

First, I would like to apologize for not being able to properly greet you all with an afterword at the end of How a Realist Hero Rebuilt the Kingdom volume one. I only barely managed to fit that long “Enriching the Country Arc” within my page limit, so there was no room left for an afterword. Because of that, I would like to borrow this space to do what I should have in volume one and thank all of the people involved with this book.

First, I would like to thank Fuyuyuki for providing such wonderful pictures. The schedule was tight, but you still managed to finish enough pictures for us. Thank you. My editor and I were both talking about the illustration of Tomoe in the middle of volume one, saying, “Huh, this is really good.”

To that same editor, I would like to thank you for supporting me when I get discouraged so easily. It’s because of you that I’m here where I am today.

And finally, to everyone who pointed out typos or missing words in the web novel version; to the proofreaders, to the designers, to my friends M and K who celebrated my debut with me; and, more than anyone, to those of you who’ve continued to read my novel on Pixiv despite my many mistakes, as well as those of you who bought the book, I offer my heartfelt thanks.

…Yeah, I should have said all of that in the first volume, huh.

I know I’m nothing special, but I hope you’ll stick with me for a long time.

In fact, as I’m writing this afterword, I have no idea how many pages it will be. My editor said “Make it two pages, please,” but it feels like the book might grow another page during proofreading. If that happens, this entire second page may be cut. Because of that, I prioritized saying the important things first.

Now, on this page which may be cut, I’d like to talk idly about this volume.

For those of you who remember the “Subjugation Arc” which makes up this volume in the web novel version, you may find yourselves wondering, “Was this character always like this?” Opinions may be divided on the changes, but I thought it was the right way to lead into the world I’m currently reworking.

Various characters worry about various things, take various actions, and through the influence of that… the world takes shape. I may be inexperienced, but that is the sort of story I hope to write.

This has been Dojyomaru, writing this as a typhoon approaches.

How a Realist Hero Rebuilt the Kingdom: Volume 2

by Dojyomaru

Translated by Sean McCann

Edited by Emily Sorensen

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.

Copyright © 2016 Dojyomaru

Illustrations Copyright © 2016 Fuyuyuki

Cover illustration by Fuyuyuki

All rights reserved.

Original Japanese edition published in 2016 by OVERLAP, Inc.

This English edition is published by arrangement with OVERLAP, Inc., Tokyo

English translation © 2017 J-Novel Club LLC

All rights reserved. In accordance with the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, the scanning, uploading, and electronic sharing of any part of this book without the permission of the publisher is unlawful piracy and theft of the author’s intellectual property.

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Ebook edition 1.0: May 2017