Once Shabon and Kishun were sent back to their inn, Liscia, Hakuya, and I headed for the castleâs strategy room. When we arrived, the commander-in-chief of the National Defense Force, Excel; her second-in-command, Ludwin; the general of the National Land Defense Force, Halâs father Glaive; and finally Castor, the captain of the island-type carrier Hiryuu, were there. The highest authorities in the Kingdomâs National Defense Force had gathered.
I put up a hand to stop them as they were about to stand and greet us, then took a seat myself.
âSorry. Did we keep you waiting?â I asked.
Playing with her fan, âNo, no,â Excel shook her head, âIâm sure it couldnât be helped, considering our unexpected guest. You have my sympathies.â
âAhaha... Itâs true, I didnât expect Princess Shabon.â I could only laugh weakly. âThis despite thinking I was preparing for every eventuality, and eliminating all risks to the plan. Why is there always some unexpected trouble that comes along...?â
âThatâs just how people are. Not everyone will act the way you think they will. We each have our own feelings, interests, and beliefs. What we place the most importance on among them differs, so of course there will be people who donât do what we hope they will. Isnât that right, Castor?â
â...Please, donât make me answer that, Duchess Walter.â
Excel gave him a mischievous smile, and Castor looked like he had just bitten into something unpleasant. During Georg Carmineâs farcical rebellion, Castor had opposed us, prepared to martyr himself for his friend Georg, despite Excelâs attempts to persuade him not to. Well, that was partially our fault for keeping him in the dark, so he wasnât alone in his responsibility for that.
Excel snapped her folding fan shut. âNow, sire, what will happen to our plan?â
âIt will need some fine-tuning, Iâm sure, but the overall outline wonât change.â I looked to Excel and Castor as I spoke. âExcel will act as the commander-in-chief of the fleet dispatched to the Nine-Headed Dragon Archipelago and will ride aboard the Albert II. You will also take command in the expected naval battle, so Iâm counting on you there.â
âUnderstood.â
âCaptain Castor will manage the island-type carrier Hiryuu.â
âOhh, itâs finally being deployed in battle, huh?â Castor said excitedly, and I nodded.
âBecause I donât think we can afford to hold back. The second and third carriers, Souryuu and Unryuu, werenât ready in time, unfortunately.â
âI canât wait. What equipment should we load on the wyverns?â
âWeâll load them with the Little Susumu Mark V Light (a Maxwell-type propulsion device), but we arenât anticipating an air-to-air battle. Donât use them if you donât have to.â
âUnderstood!â
I nodded to the two of them, then turned to Glaive next. Since he was a general in the army, he wouldnât be involved in a naval battle like this one. I had him come here because I had another mission for him.
âGlaive. Your son Halbert and his wife Ruby will be aboard the Hiryuu, but I want you to take a force north, and guard the border with the Union of Eastern Nations.â
âThe Union of Eastern Nations... Youâre sure? Not the Nine-Headed Dragon Archipelago?â
Glaive seemed dubious, but I gave him a big nod.
âThe reports from Julius and the Black Cats indicate something fishy is going on there. Mainly involving Fuuga Haan of Malmkhitan.â
âBy Fuuga Haan, you mean the one who took back a portion of the Demon Lordâs Domain?â
âThe very same. Because of that accomplishment, his fame inside the Union of Eastern Nations seems to have risen massively...â
On top of being an amalgamation of many medium to small states, the Union of Eastern Nations was also a complicated mess of marriages and alliances. There had been no way for any of them to grow larger before now, but... then Malmkhitan, led by Fuuga, appeared. He welcomed the refugees back into the land he reclaimed from the Demon Lordâs Domain. In turn, the refugees tried to rebuild their villages, towns, and countries, but it proved impossible for them to counter the threats of the Demon Lordâs Domain alone. In their situation, they couldnât declare independence, and had no choice but to turn to the man who had reclaimed their territory for protection.
Basically, Fuuga had gained the countries and people whose land he reclaimed along with the territory. Because of that, Malmkhitan was now the largest country inside the Union of Eastern Nations. When people inside the union saw how Malmkhitan had grown, they were excited. Perhaps they could be the country to break out of their defensive posture, and confront the threat of the Demon Lordâs Domain. Maybe the Union of Eastern Nations could become the equal of the Kingdom in the south, or the Empire in the west? There were apparently more and more people inside the Union of Eastern Nations who thought that way.
âThose of the union found their hope in Fuuga; believing he might shatter the status quo, and open up a new world for them.â
âAnd... What do you think?â Liscia asked, but I could only shrug.
âIf youâre asking whether I think thatâs bad or good... I donât know. For people like us on the outside, it may just look like theyâre projecting their ideals onto him, but they may feel differently. I doubt it bothers Fuuga. Because theyâre all praying for his rise. With the people lifting him up, heâll feel like the times are pushing him to act, and may eventually start to think his actions are the will of Heaven. And so, a great man is born.â
âNow that you mention it, the Lunarian Orthodox saint said, âLiving the way others want you to is wonderful, and something to be proud ofâ... or something like that.â
âOh... She did, yeah. Iâm impressed you remember, given how long ago it was.â
âWell, that was the day we, um... You know...â Liscia trailed off at the end there.
Oh! Come to think of it, that was our first night together. The reason I was even able to cross the line with Liscia was seeing Mary acting as a saint. Personally, I thought I wanted to be a person, and to be loved as a person. But I doubt Fuuga even worries about which he is.
âSo, is this man, Fuuga, the one acting suspiciously?â Glaive asked, a serious expression on his face.
âOh, no, no.â I waved my hand back and forth. âWhatâs suspicious is the people around him. Hakuya, explain, please.â
âAs you wish. According to reports from Sir Kagetora of the Black Cats and Sir Julius of the Kingdom of Lastania, there are more and more people inside the Union of Eastern Nations who view Sir Fuuga as dangerous. Let us call them the anti-Fuuga faction.â
âHm? But wasnât His Majesty just saying that people there view him as some sort of great man?â
âYes,â Hakuya nodded in agreement. âItâs true that Sir Fuuga is seen as a great man by some in the Union of Eastern Nations. However, that is exactly whatâs earned him the ire of some of the kings and lords who belong to the union. Retaking territory from the Demon Lordâs Domain is an incredible feat, and all the credit has gone to Fuuga. They canât be happy to know that their own subjects love, fear, and respect Fuuga even more than their own rulers.â
âItâs a case of, âThe nail that sticks up gets hammered down.â I guess thatâs true in any world...â
âIs that a proverb from your world, sire? I think itâs quite apt,â Hakuya said, sounding impressed, and then moved on. âMost likely, from here on the Union of Eastern Nations will be divided between those who support Sir Fuuga, and those who oppose him. The opposition will use the historical connections they have built between countries and drag many states into a war to contain him.â
âI guess thatâs going to be his ultimate test, huh...?â
âYes. Conversely, if Sir Fuuga wants to declare his supremacy, the current state of the Union of Eastern Nations, with its intricate web of marriages and interests, must be irritating to him. You could say these two factions are destined to collide in the not so distant future.â
âWho has the upper hand?â Liscia asked, but Hakuya shook his head.
âI couldnât say. Itâs fifty-fifty. In terms of numbers, the kings and lords should hold the advantage due to their ability to pull in more allies, but Sir Fuuga should have the fame and momentum heâll need to overcome that disadvantage now.â
âSo either side could win, youâre saying? Do you agree, Souma?â
âWell... It will be troublesome no matter which side wins, but Fuugaâs the one I donât want to fight. Heâs got the vigor to kick reason to the curb. So, if weâre going to prepare for the worst possible outcome, we should work under the assumption Fuuga will win.â
âWill you assist the anti-Fuuga faction, sire?â Excel asked.
âNah. Iâm not going to do that,â I replied, firmly rejecting the idea. âMaking an enemy of Fuuga is making an enemy of the people who idolize him. Hero worship is like religion. In the same way that weâd have to watch out for a rebellion by followers of Lunarian Orthodoxy if we picked a fight with the Lunarian Orthodox Papal State, if weâre hostile to Fuuga, weâll have to be cautious of his worshipers, too. Itâs one thing if he invades us, but if we act against him before heâs shown us any hostility, weâll be condemned for getting in the way of a great man, and trying to rub out the hope of mankind. If we do that, weâll have trouble ruling our own country.â
âYouâre right... That does sound troublesome. Even the difference in power between our countries doesnât seem like it would help there.â
âI know, right? Until people can clearly see that Fuuga is a threat to this country, we wonât take action against him, and we canât. We have his little sister Yuriga here as well. We have to act wary, but friendly.â
Liscia frowned. âSouma. If things in the Union of Eastern Nations get nasty, will the Kingdom of Lastania be all right?â
She must have been worried for Roroaâs brother, Julius, who was in the Union of Eastern Nations.
âJulius knows the dangers of opposing Fuuga. He probably wonât join the anti-Fuuga faction. If things get dicey, Iâve told him to take Princess Tia and her folks, and flee here to the Kingdom.â
âI, for one, am anxious about letting Sir Julius return to the Kingdom,â Hakuya raised his objections. It was a reasonable opinion, but I decided to be selfish here.
âIf he cares about Princess Tia, Julius wonât harbor any ambitions towards us.â
â...I understand. If you say so, sire.â
âSorry. Oh, but weâve gotten pretty far off track. So, anyway, Glaive, you guard the northern border.â
âYes, sire. Consider it done.â Glaive put his hands together in front of him and bowed his head. That was more or less all of the orders.
Now it was just a question of what I was going to do until the fleet set out.
âYouâre goinâ to the Nine-Headed Dragon Archipelago Union?!â Roroa shouted incredulously.
That was the immediate reaction I got once I gathered my five wives, Tomoe, and Ichiha in the governmental affairs office.
Liscia apparently was in agreement with Roroa. She looked worried.
âI know you, Souma, so Iâll assume you havenât gone insane, but you are going to explain why, right?â
âOf course,â I replied with a nod. âEveryone here understands the situation in the Nine-Headed Dragon Archipelago, right?â I asked, looking at each of them, and everyone nodded.
Everyone here knew about the unidentified massive creature attacking the archipelago, and why people from there had been fishing illegally in our waters. I was careful with keeping our plans a secret, so only a select few were privileged with this information. Not even Hal and Ruby, who were scheduled to be aboard the Hiryuu, had been told yet. Ludwinâs assistant Kaede was on maternity leave, so there was no way for the two of them to find out through her this time. The vast majority of our soldiers believed that they would only be facing the Nine-Headed Dragon Archipelago Unionâs fleet.
âTo be frank, it sounds like the unidentified massive creatureâI believe they call it Ooyamizuchiâis going to be more trouble than the Archipelago Unionâs fleet. Weâll be setting sail in roughly a week. I want to gather what information I can on the creature before then.â
âAnd thatâs why youâre going to the Nine-Headed Dragon Archipelago, Souma?â
âYeah. Because thereâs a sea between us, itâs hard to get information from them. Looking at Shabonâs actions, it seems like they have trouble gaining information on us, too, though. Take a look at this.â I spread out a rough map of the Nine-Headed Dragon Archipelago on the desk. âThese two islands that are the closest to the one we used as a dock when building the Hiryuu are the domain of Kishun, who came here as Shabonâs bodyguard. Theyâre also the closest to National Naval Defense Force HQ in Lagoon City. Negotiations have opened up these islands for our use.â
The two islands, one large and one small, ruled by Kishun were collectively known as the Twin Islands. The larger was known as Big Island, and the smaller as Little Island, though people from outside the islands called them Big Twin Island and Little Twin Island. These two islands were close enough together that you could swim between them, so Kishunâs mansion was on Big Island.
âWeâll use the ship Shabon and Kishun came in to travel to Big Island in secret. Because thereâs a risk of someone seeing us if we use one of the Kingdomâs ships or with Naden. I donât want it known that Iâm staying there. I intend to use Kishunâs mansion as a base of operations and gather information on Ooyamizuchi. To that end, Iâd like to ask Tomoe and Ichiha to come with me.â
âUs as well?â
âI-If thatâs your order, Iâll follow it...â
They both seemed bewildered.
I was asking them to follow me to a country that we had deteriorating relations with, so I couldnât blame them. I didnât want to bring two children into such a dangerous place if I didnât have to, but I absolutely needed their abilities to investigate Ooyamizuchi. Tomoeâs ability might let her understand Ooyamizuchiâs thoughts. Ichiha might use his monster identification system to identify Ooyamizuchiâs parts and come up with a valid method of attacking it. He had already come up with a number of potential compositions, and with more information, they would only get more precise.
Excel was formulating a plan based on them right now.
âHowever, you would be sneaking into a country that we have deteriorating relations with, would you not? Then there is also this monster being to consider. Is it not dangerous?â Aisha looked concerned, but I stuck to my guns.
âIf I decide itâs getting too dangerous, we can hop on Nadenâs back and come home. I donât have to care if anyone sees me once weâre high-tailing it out of there. You can cross the sea without the Hiryuu, right, Naden?â
âSure. Just leave it to me.â Naden thumped her chest with one hand proudly. I nodded.
âThatâs why I intend to go with a small group, so itâs easy for Naden to carry us in an emergency. Iâd like Naden, Tomoe, and Ichiha to come with meâwith Aisha and Juna, who knows a lot about the sea, as my bodyguards.â
âYes, sire. Understood.â
â...Me, too?â
Aisha instantly accepted it, but Juna took a little longer to respond.
âHuh? Is there something bothering you?â
âOh, no, itâs fine. I understand. Iâll go there to protect you.â
âIâm gettinâ jealous of all of ya. I always get stuck holdinâ down the fort at times like this.â Roroa pouted, but I had another task in mind for her.
âIâd like you to stay in the capital and keep in contact with Julius in the Kingdom of Lastania.â
âWith my brother?â
âThereâs something fishy going on inside the Union of Eastern Nations. It feels like the Fuuga and anti-Fuuga factions are about to collide. Iâve asked Glaive to lead a portion of the National Land Defense Force to the border for now, but depending on the situation, they may need to take action.â
â...Youâre sayinâ my brother and Big Sis might be in trouble?â
âIâve told him to take the Lastanian royal family and run if things get too dicey. If it does come to that, having you on hand to deal with it is the best way to make sure things work out.â
Julius was difficult enough for our country to deal with as is, after all. There were sure to be people wary of letting him into the country. In order to keep those voices in check, it was best to have Roroa, the third primary queen, mediate.
âOkay.â Roroa nodded, seeming to understand. âIâve gotta do what I can for my Big Sis. Iâll keep in close contact with my brother.â
âBy all means. And let me know if anything happens. Depending on the situation, I can come right back.â
âRoger that.â
âHey, thatâs myâwait, isnât everyone stealing my favorite line too often?!â Naden objected. It was just too easy to use, you know?
âBut without you in the castle, I wonât have any work to do,â Liscia said, bringing a finger to her lips thoughtfully.
Recently, Liscia had been acting as my assistant while Carla, one of the other maids, or occasionally Lady Elisha was looking after Cian and Kazuha for us. If I wasnât in the castle, she had no one to assist, and that left her with a lot of nothing to do. I think it would be fine for her to kick back and relax, but diligent as she was, Liscia couldnât stand to have too much free time. But that said, I couldnât take her with me.
Cian and Kazuha were still only one year old, so we couldnât take our eyes off them. It wasnât possible for both me and Liscia to leave their side for days at a time, and there was no way I was taking them to the dangerous Nine-Headed Dragon Archipelago.
âDo you want to take the kids to your fatherâs domain, maybe?â
âThat would be nice, too, but... Canât I go to the island where the Hiryuu has its dock? With the children.â
âWhat? To that island?â
âI was thinking it would be good to let the children experience the roar of the sea and see how big it is.â
âUh, I donât think itâs the season for swimming.â
It was still only January, andâ Hey, wait, theyâre still babies, so they canât swim at all, huh? Besides, in a world with massive sea creatures like this one, the idea of swimming wasnât all that widespread. It was probably only the people who lived by the waterâs edge who could swim freely whenever they liked. I know Parnam is inland, and it would be good to let them feel the immensity of the sea from a young age. But still...
âSince itâs the closest island to the Twin Islands, itâs also close to Ooyamizuchiâs range, you know? I know thereâs a lot of open sea between us, but we canât rule out the possibility of that thing coming to our shores, so Iâm worried about you and the children being there.â
Hearing my explanation, Liscia sighed in exasperation. âWhat are you talking about? That island is where the fleet youâre sending to the Nine-Headed Dragon Archipelago is gathering, right? Even if the monster did come, the National Naval Defense Force would give it a violent welcome.â
âWell... Yes, thatâs true, but...â
âIf it gets dangerous, I can run away in a wyvern gondola. Besides, when you go to the Nine-Headed Dragon Archipelago, youâll be taking a broadcast jewel with you to keep in touch with the fleet, right? Youâll have to send back the information you gather, after all.â
â...You understand me well.â
âIâm your wife. Besides, if Iâm on the island, youâll be able to see the childrenâs faces when you make your regular reports.â
âUrgh... Oh, geez, fine. I give, I give,â I said, raising my hands in surrender. âYou can go to the island. But be careful, will you?â
âI know. Make sure you come home safely, too, Souma. The children will be waiting.â
âOf course I will.â
With that, our policy was decided. Okay, letâs go to the Nine-Headed Dragon Archipelago.