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The Marriage Ceremony and the Coronation is hurriedly about to be conducted.
Although I did take the Crown for King Rosyth, it’s not like I’ve officially become the king.
I still haven’t done the necessary steps such as asking the gods permission to be king.
That’s why we have to first formally hold the marriage ceremony. That’s the important thing. Unless we do that, the legitimacy of my succession cannot be secured.
All great clansmen from within the country plus important people from the surrounding nations have come to give their congratulations.
Even the second prince from the De Morgal Kingdom had come to give his country’s congratulations as well as a celebratory gift.
We still have to negotiate with them once all of this ends.
The Equus king too has come to give his gifts and congratulations bringing his third wife who had already gotten well.
To my surprise, the people from the Cretian colonial city-states such as in the Adernia Peninsula have also come to give us congratulations.
I didn’t think that the Rosyth kingdom was really that big of a country but…..
“That’s not it. The Rosyth Kingdom boasts the largest population amongs the polities in the southern Adernia Peninsula. It’s just that we’ve been embroiled in the succession problem as well as problems with powerful great clansmen, so we couldn’t project our power. Now, since the succession problem had been resolved, we’re on the process of rapid centralization of power.”
Tetra explains for me.
Certainly, the power balance in the Adernia Peninsula have been shaken greatly. By the war with the De Morgal Kingdom.
As for me, the most suprising thing is that the Rozel Kingdom had sent an envoy.
They’re a big country that controls the southern part of Galia and the northern part of the Adernia Peninsula.
Their population exceeds 3,000,000. To think that a country on that scale would purposely send an envoy.
The envoy was a black haired woman.
From her skin color and facial feature, you can see that she’s a person from the Far-east.
If you went east from Gallia where the Rozel Kingdom is located, you’ll find Germanis.
Germanis is a region that intermingles with equestrian tribes so there’s nothing strange even if a person from the Far-east comes.
It just left a mysterious impression.
The marriage ceremony is happening uneventfully.
Julia is wearing a pure white dress.
I was so sure, however, that she would be wearing a lavender dress matching her hair.
White too, howver, looks very good on her.
She’s as beautiful as a great work of art. Much like a great treasure for the world to see.
This time, Tetra would be doing the congratulatory address. It was Julia the last time, so it’s kind of a return gift.
“Do you two swear to believe in each other and aid each other no matter what from now on until eternity?”
“”We swear””
“Oh God of Heaven, Earth, and the Sky; Oh God that leads, helps, and watches over us from the whirls of chaos in this world; May you grant your blessings upon these two in marriage.”
Tetra pauses for a while, then, with her usual expressionlessness, says seemingly happy:
“May your love be blessed by the faeries. I pray that your love goes on for eternity…..Now then, your compact please.”
I pull Julia towards me, raise her veil, and give her a kiss.
As we separate, Julia makes a happy smile.
“I won’t let you go till eternity.”
“Me too.”
We kiss once more as the people cheer.
We begin the coronation immediately after the wedding ceremony.
While I’ll be using the crown and the scepter I inherited from King Rosyth, I had a new mantle for my personal use made.
Cloth, in contrast to the crown and scepter, ages very horribly. Therefore, it had been custom for a new one to be made for a new king.
When I was pondering about who shall make the new mantle, Ains offered his services.
The finished product was a purple mantle. It seems the color was called shellfish purple and I had to shell out an impossible amount of money for it. [TLN1]
However, I was quite pleased with it because it’s made with silk and doesn’t cause an unpleasant feeling when worn.
The coronation is an extremely troublesome program.
First, King Rosyth is slain. (In a dramatic sense)
Then, I slay that flat-faced mask wearing monster…….or rather flat faced clansman who killed King Rosyth. (In a dramatic sense)
Then, I take back King Rosyth’s royal crown and scepter then I handed them over to a goddess ((actress)).
I then face her and kneel, after which she puts the crown on my head and grants me the scepter.
Then she drapes the mantle on my back.
Finally, I shout:
“I, Almis Ars Rosyth, shall declare my succession to the gods as the 20th King Rosyth!”
With this, my coronation ends successfully.
By the way, the play/drama can be traced from the founding of the Rosyth Royal House 500 years ago when the first Rosyth King, with his companions, drove away his father’s flat-faced clan enemy.
In this connection, those companions were the first kings of the first six kingdoms such as the De Morgal, Fardam, Gilbed, and the Belvedere Kingdoms.
With the Rosyth Kingdom, there are seven kingdoms altogether.
When you consider that, the Rosyth Royal House has quite the long history, huh.
As for the play/drama’s cast, the first King was me; the father was the former King Rosyth; the goddess was Julia; the flat-faced clan were played by a part of the imperial guard and some great clansmen who were up for it.
In any case, it’s good that it ended peacefully.
At the same time I thought that, I feel the wind whirl up.
The people look up, scream, and begin running for their lives.
What in the hell?
I look up. There’s nothing there.
Did they see a UFO? I want to see one too.
“……..Almis. Behind you.”
Tetra points behind me.
I turn around.
The face of a falcon comes into view.
It has a body of a lion and a huge pair of wings growing from it’s back.
Its fur is a beautiful golden yellow color……it’s Griffon-sama!!
“I’ve come to give my congratulations. Here’s a gift. Send some liquor later.”
Griffon-sama drops a huge deer from his mounth and then points his blood-stained beak at me.
“Why in the…….”
“It was I who have pushed you into this after all. I’ve come to take responsibility. I’ve appreciated it for a while but, well, I still don’t understand the vows of coupling you creatures called humans have. Even though it’s a done story if you had just immediately copulated with that female.”
You’re to wild, the way you put it.
However, for Griffon-sama, surely it’s just a trivial matter, huh……
“It, it’s nice to meet you…..Griffon-sama…..”
“Yeah. I’ll entrust this man to you. He’s an idiot after all. Moremore, he’s an indecisive and troublesome fellow that’s forever troubled about things.  However, unexpectedly, if you just give him a little push, he’ll immediately break into action. Manage him wisely.”[TLN2]
I somewhat feel like I just got talked down……What’s painful is they’re the truth.
“Griffon-sama!!”
Ron and the others gather around Griffon-sama.
It’s been a long time since everyone saw him, so everyone’s delighted to have him.
“Oi, you brats. You lot are the direct subordinates of the flock’s boss. Therefore, your share of the earnings of the flock has gotten bigger. You owe me for bringing you up so give me some liquor and offerings.”
I was the one who brought them up though.
At the end, Griffon-sama turns to face me.
“You’ve publicly become the flock’s boss. Increase the amount of liquor and offerings you bring. Also, don’t be so stingy as to bring some once every new year. It should be once a month. Well, I’m not forcing you to, anyway.”
There’s no way I could disobey you, you know.
In your case, your wish is our command, right?
“Umm, did you come here this time for that?”
“N? Well, That’s a third of my reasons. Another third is I came to fulfill my responsibility for pushing Almis. The other third is……”
Griffon-sama puts his beak close to my ear.
“It’s more convenient for you this way, yes?”
The guests, showing expressions of surprise and fright, whispher to each other while looking at me and Griffon-sama frolicking.
The guests here are not only great clansmen, but also royalty from the other kingdoms and their envoys.
This would be enough for them to endorse the rumor that I am indeed the son of Griffon-sama. It has probably already spread around the Adernia Peninsula……
“Well then, I’ll be waiting for the liquor to arrive at the foot of that tree.”
Griffon-sama slowly walks towards the tree and lies down under it.
The guests back away from Griffon-sama as if evading him.
No, there’s a single person coming closer to him – the black haired woman from the Rozel Kingdom.
“Good day, Griffon-sama. It’s been a long time, yes?”
“N? Aa….it’s you….aa, 500 years ago, are you that young’un, Etzel’s wife?……”
“Yes. I’m happy to see you again.”
It’s a terribly interesting conversation, huh. That person and that creature.
“Say, Julia. Who is that woman? Do you know? They said some amazing things like 500 years ago, you know.”
“Yeah…….That person, yes. She’s famous so I remember her. That person’s name is Merlin. She’s the Rozel Kingdom’s prime minister as well as chief sorcerer. As the world’s oldest sorcerer with an age exceeding 500 years, she’s considered the founder of sorcery. She’s also the former sex-slave of the Great King Etzel who made an unprecedented great empire with his beginnings as chief of the flat-faced tribes. She turned witch and killed him.[TLN3]
Oh, really? What an amazing woman, huh…..
No matter how you look at it, she doesn’t look like she’s any older than around her late teens……Well, since she’s a great sorcerer, it’s no trouble for her to live for more than 500 years, huh.
I really want to join the conversation but…..
Once her greetings ended, Merlin immediately disappeared from Griffon-sama’s place.
She then headed straight for me.
“I humbly apologize. It’s about time I’ll excuse myself.”
Merlin leaves after an elegant greeting.
The coronation has ended, and everyone has gotten home.
The slaves are tidying up the trash generated by the banquet.
While looking at them, King Rosyth……..rather, King Emeritus Rosyth asks.
“Are you regretting this?”
“………I’m not. It’s necessary after all.”
If I had left things as is, then certainly a rebellion will occur – just like in Tetra’s case. Victims of war will just increase.
…….With this, I’ve become the same kind as King Ferrum, huh. That person did all the things just like me in order to rule the country, after all.
“I’ll end the bloodshed in the Adernia peninsula in my generation.”
“Don’t carry too much weight on your shoulders. You have retainers and wives depending on you. Please don’t forget that.”
I know, father-in-law. I also have you, yes?
“It finally ended, huh. I guess my role here is done, huh…..”
“What are you saying? I’ll still have you living. As my successor…..Father-in-law?”
Father-in-law turns frozen stiff and then falls with a thud.
“Someone!! The old king has collapsed!! Come help!!”
The sorcerers, led by Julia, immediately come rushing and carried the former king.
“Father!! Please don’t die!!”
Julia shouts while crying.
I wasn’t able to do anything……
“How are you still alive?”
“Asking that is a no-go. Did you want me to die?”
The former king playfully answers.
After that episode, thanks to earnest medical treatment, the King Emeritus’ life whas somewhat prolonged.
And here he is – living energetically.
Come to think of it, it seems like he’s more energetic than before.
“When I came to, I was in a flower garden. There was a river flowing where I saw my father. I was about to cross but my father told me ‘You still haven’t seen the face of your grandchildren, you know!!’  I was quite startled, yes.”
And because of that, you came back from Sanzu River, huh. [TLN4]
“Furthermore, my anxiety has been remove since the succession problem has been settled, see. I’ll be enjoying whatever short time I have left while looking forward to my grandchildren. Well, probably three years at most?”
In otherwords, you want me to give you grandchildren within three years? Haa…….
Wait a minute. Doesn’t it mean that if I give you a grandchild, you’d die, right?
A, He might, however, come back saying he still haven’t seen his great-grandchildren.
“Jeez, father……”
“Haha, sorry, sorry.”
Julia looks quite happy.
Well, isn’t this a good thing?
“Hey, Julia. What do you think about Regal DeBell’s unnatural death?”
“What I think?…..I believe it’s called Inversion of Divine Protection.”
Inversion, huh…..
I see, Divine Protection inverts, huh.
I have the same Divine Protection as Regal, in other words, if I played the wrong cards I might end up like that, huh………
“You didn’t manage to see anything with the ‘Divine Protection of Perception’?”
“Yeah…..that was the first time. Right now it’s visible, reliably. I don’t know what happened but…..it’s probably because the conditions were bad, yes? That’s why I wasn’t able to see.”
“Conditions, huh”
The fairy’s conditions, huh. I wonder what kind of conditions are they?
At the very least, we understand one of the conditions which is not being fun.
“So, what are the effects of inversion? It’s operational requirements?”
“Uhm….The effect is your body will be burdened by the number of people who recognize you as king. The conditions, it would seem, are to lose a lot of your dependents, to admit defeat, and to appropirately lose as great king.
“That’s not appropriate, no?…..In other words, it’s basically dependent upon the fairy, huh.”
How scary. It’s possible that could happen to me too.
“Hey, Julia. Is it possible that we could’ve missed other effects?”
“…….Let’s see. That’s a possibility. There are still a lot of bad conditions after all.”
“I see……then…….”
I pause my words and gaze at Julia.
“Is there such an effect where your thoughts could be overwritten and make you feel compelled to act as your dependents wished?”
“…….I see one right now. Yes, it seems there’s one. It appears that if I manage to apprehend such an effect, it’s seal can be broken.  If it’s hidden anymore than this, then it feels pointlessly defiant…..”
……There really is one.
From the beginning, I thought there was something strange that time after the war with King Ferrum and after my marriage ceremony with Tetra.
That time, if I recall correctly, I had thought there was no need for me to fight.
However, at the next moment, I was filled with a sense of duty that I needed to fight.
My headache that time was probably me being overwritten.
This is the biggest reason why I didn’t ask for advice from Ron and the others regarding my marriage with Julia. Even though I wanted to, I never was able to. If I did, the Divine Protection would activate, and I would probably be forcibly induced into becoming king.
However, right now, to become king was supposed to be my own intention.
Without fail, certainly, probably……
“How scary……….to become someone not yourself……..”
I snuggle up to Julia.
With this, I won’t be able to sufficiently ask advice.
“Everythings going to be fine since I’m here. Tetra’s also here. That girl probably already doesn’t fit the framework of a dependent, right?”
“Yeah, she doesn’t fit. Recently, I’ve come to understand how much loyalty someone has to me. Tetra has, rather than loyalty, feelings of love of the man-woman and husband-wife kind.”
Recently, I feel my physical abilities improve everyday may because the people are slowly recognizing me as their leader.
Regrettably, the number of “dependents” whose physical abilities are improving by receiving the influence of my divine protection are not increasing.
Well, one of the necessary conditions for becoming a dependent is to have loyalty for the master to the extent that you’d die for him.
There’s probably only a few people capable of possessing such serious loyalty.
Bolus, Bartolo, and Raymond all seem to hold some loyalty for me, so they contribute to the growth of my physical abilities.
Howver, they don’t seem to have loyalty that would increase their own physical abilities.
Or perhaps I should say, most humans are like that.
However, I won’t be able to ask them for advice, huh.
Considering the standpoint.
“Although I’m friends with Muzio…. He’s probably no good too. Let’s see….It seems to me that I’d be relying a lot on Julia and Tetra from now on.”
However, I need to polish my counter-measures.
My supporter’s wishes are not always limited to good things.
Supporters are beings that eventually turn radical.
I might get pushed into a disadvantageous war due to the secondary effects of the Divine Protection of the Great King.
I need people and an organization that would stop myself from such effects.
Would Bartolo and Raymond be able to stop me?
“Well, let’s think this over slowly. We have a whole lot to reform.”
We’ll move the power in this country from the great clansmen to me, the king.
To further advance the centralization of power, and also to attempt a balance of power, legal and administrative reforms are imperative.
“However, before we do all that, there’s something we need to do first, right?”
“Yeah. First, we need to make a successor.”
I push Julia down.
“Be gentle, okay?”
“Yeah, Relax. I’m quite confident in myself.”
Author’s notes:
And thus, the second volume ends.
There would be three chapters in the intermission.
The performance will start from here.
For plans, I am thinking of proceeding with a two-part organization consisting of three volumes for introduction and development and four volumes for turn and conclusion.
I plan to see this through.
It seems it would take some time until the consolidation of the Adernia peninsula.