by Dojyomaru
To sum it up briefly, it was, “Surround them with everything we’ve got.”
If I wanted to avoid letting monsters escape, I should have worked with the other countries to divide the labor, but the forces of the union were in the middle of one last struggle to distinguish themselves.
It might not have been impossible, but they weren’t in a position to coordinate closely with us at the moment.
What we could do was do our best to encircle the enemy, and finish off as many monsters here as we possibly could.
The important thing was that the monsters didn’t escape as a pack. If few of them escaped, and they were split up, sending a request to the defense forces of each country and the adventurers’ guild would be enough to handle them.
“We just have to play our role,” I said. “Which, for me, is staying put in the main camp, and that’s about it. If I try to go out to the front, I’ll just be causing undue trouble.”
“It really is a mystery,” Yuriga said. “Without showing strength or ferocity, it’s a wonder the soldiers are willing to follow you, you know that?”
“Now listen, you. Don’t you think the way you’ve been talking is a little rude?” Naden glared at Yuriga. She was letting off a little of her ryuu intimidation, so an ordinary child might have burst into tears just looking her in the eye.
However, Yuriga stared Naden right in the eye and said, “Come on! People will submit to someone stronger than them, but if you show even a moment’s weakness, they’ll leave you. When my father died, I watched as a number of clans left the House of Haan or plotted to betray us. Those clans were all obliterated by my brother when he took over, of course.”
Being hit with such a heavy topic as if it was nothing, Naden was at a loss for words. “Yuriga, you...”
It seemed it wasn’t just Fuuga; Yuriga had lived a different life from the one most people lead, too.
“People must be brought together and led with strength,” Yuriga insisted. “That’s what my brother is always saying.”
The steppes of Malmkhitan were like the Union of Eastern Nations in miniature. There were a variety of small and medium-sized factions vying for power, unifying and then splitting up once more. In a world like that, he likely did have no choice but to unite them through power. No one could say that it was a mistake to do so.
“I’m sure ruling through might was the right way to do things in Malmkhitan.” I crouched down in front of Yuriga, meeting her at eye level as I spoke. “But the world is more than just the steppes or the Union of Eastern Nations. Values are formed by the nature of the region and shared history, so it’s more complicated than that. There’s a nation ruled with religious authority, and a nation united by the monetary bonds of mercenary contracts. There’s a country like the Gran Chaos Empire which raises the flag of ideals to confront the Demon Lord’s Domain, too.”
“...I don’t really get it.”
“Oh, um... Well, maybe this wasn’t the best conversation to have with a thirteen-year-old.”
“Don’t treat me like a child!”
“That’s such a line a kid would say.”
“Grr...” Yuriga ground her teeth.
I wasn’t being very adult in the way I was treating a kid, huh?
But still... Hearing her story, I felt a little bad for her. Feeling unable to leave her alone, I wanted to offer some advice, but if it wasn’t going to get through to her, there wasn’t much point.
Now then, how could I say this...?
“I know... If you get the opportunity, you should come to my country. That way you’ll meet all sort of people, and come in contact with the differing lives they lead. If you do that, I’m sure you’ll encounter value systems that are different from your own.”
“Hmm... Is that how it is?” Yuriga asked.
“That is how it is.”
Yuriga didn’t seem entirely convinced, but she eventually nodded. “I’ll at least keep it in mind.”
Then, at that moment, a cheer rose up from the battlefield. The encirclement of the monsters had just been completed.
The huge monsters like the zombie rhinosauruses were being defeated by a focused attack from the temsbock cavalry led by Fuuga and Durga, as well as the wyvern cavalry led by Hal and Ruby.
Massive lightning arced all over, and intense flames blew about wildly.
The monsters attempted to flee when they saw the huge ones going down, but the encirclement was already complete. The vast majority either threw themselves at the soldiers in the formation and were killed, or were crushed by the encirclement with nowhere to go.
It was a one-sided trampling.
What had once been so many writhing monsters turned into lifeless corpses, and eventually the sound of screams and death cries vanished from the battlefield.
The thick clouds that had covered the sky scattered, and when it was dyed red by the setting sun, the soldiers cheered. “Hip, hip, hurray!”
That was the cry that heralded the end of the monster wave.
◇ ◇ ◇
It was evening on the monster corpse-littered battlefield, with the skies dyed red.
With the extermination of the monsters complete, I had the forces of the Kingdom of Friedonia set up camp while I rode Naden and returned to Wedan Castle with a select group of my companions. That was because I had to return Ichiha and Yuriga to their respective guardians.
We set down in the courtyard like when we had come yesterday, and Duke Chima, also like yesterday, greeted us with a broad smile.
“Ohh, Sir Souma! Thanks to the Kingdom of Friedonia, the monsters are eliminated, and my country freed from the crisis. I don’t know how to thank you.”
I could only smile wryly as Duke Chima took my hand and made an exaggerated show of gratitude. There was likely a heaping helping of lip service in what he was saying, so I was just listening to hear what he would say.
“We just relied on our numbers to let us make the last push,” I said hesitantly. I didn’t want him to inflate what I’d done too much. “It’s nothing compared to the efforts exerted by those who’ve been fighting all this time.”
Yuriga, who was beside me, crossed her arms and nodded in agreement. “It’s true, Sir Souma just sat in the main camp and watched the battlefield.”
“Mrrgh, there you go, saying that again, Yuriga...” Tomoe protested, but Yuriga just looked away peevishly.
“Hmph, well, it’s true, isn’t it? On that point, my brother Fuuga really distinguished himself on today’s battlefield. You saw, didn’t you, Tomoe? The way that huge zombie rhinosaurus got fried. That was absolutely my brother’s shot.”
“I saw, but... that’s what my teacher would call rash courage, you know?”
“No matter what kind it is, courage is courage! He’s brave and strong! Truly a king among kings!”
“Mrrrgh... Weak kings can be great, too. Lord Albert and Big Brother can both make decisions for everyone.”
There may have been sparks flying where Tomoe and Yuriga’s eyes met... but they were just kids, so it only looked like they were having a staring contest.
“Now, now, Tomoe, Yuriga, both of you calm down.” Ichiha got between them and tried to mollify them both.
With his sharp eyes, Duke Chima spotted the boy doing that, and, “Ohh!” he exclaimed with the smile of an affable middle-aged man. “It seems our once shy Ichiha has become fast friends with your little sister! They’re so close in age, I might have expected they would grow close quickly!”
“Ahaha... Is that how it works?” I laughed wryly.
Could Duke Chima not see Tomoe and Yuriga glaring at one another with teeth bared despite their closeness of age?
Even if they were just kids, the friendship between Ichiha and Tomoe might get the duke a connection to our kingdom... was what I was sure he was thinking.
I should have expected as much from a man whose diplomatic acumen had allowed his country to maintain its independence in a region rife with wars between smal
l and medium-sized powers. He wasn’t to be underestimated.
“I’m grateful to your little sister for getting along with Ichiha,” Duke Chima added.
“Ahaha...”
I knew I probably shouldn’t get too deeply involved with a crafty fellow like him, but now that I knew how skilled Ichiha was, I couldn’t treat the man too poorly. Although, if he knew I was so interested in Ichiha, he might try to use that.
For now, I had no choice but to mask my inner feelings with polite laughter.
Then Duke Chima took my hand again and said, “Tonight, we will be having a little banquet to celebrate this victory. I will be carrying out the conferment of awards there, so I would very much like for you to attend, Sir Souma.”
“Oh, right. I will be participating,” I nodded.
Duke Chima nodded with satisfaction at my response and took Ichiha back inside the castle with him. When we were about to return to our room, too...
“Oh! Big Brother,” Yuriga said looking up into the sky.
When I looked up, a big white tiger was in the process of descending.
It was Fuuga and Durga.
Durga must have gotten covered in monster blood, because his white fur was stained dark red in some places. When I was looking up at the massive Durga, Fuuga poked his head out over the side.
“Hey, I see you people are back, too.”
“Yeah,” I said. “It sounds like you really did a great job out there.”
“Well, yeah. When the forces of Friedonia showed up, I suddenly found all my prey had gone missing, though. I wanted to go wild a bit longer, but, what can you do...? Oh, right.” Fuuga jumped down from Durga, bringing his face close to mine. “Hey, Souma. You’ve got a flying mount, too, don’t you? That black one.”
“...Uh, yeah. Though she’s not so much my mount as my fiancée.”
“Fiancée...? Well, whatever. Why don’t we have a little talk up in the sky? Let’s have a heart-to-heart, as fellow rulers.”
Before I could even respond, Aisha cut in. “As His Majesty’s bodyguard, I cannot allow that!”
Fuuga tossed his bow and quiver of arrows to Yuriga, thrusting his crescent blade into the ground. “It’s just small talk. We’ll leave all the weapons here. My rock-rending blade, Zanganto, too.”
Was that weapon that was like the Green Dragon Crescent Blade called Zanganto? From the sense of weight it had when it was thrust into the ground, it certainly did seem like it could split rock.
“Besides, even if it is just the two of us, that strong dragon will be there, too, right?” Fuuga asked. “If I try something, she can fly off, or attack me, or whatever.”
“But...” Aisha still had a look of uncertainty on her face.
I could understand her unease.
This was Fuuga. Even unarmed, he could easily kill me. Aisha was thinking that, if he should try, Naden might not be able to defend me alone. That was just how much caution Fuuga warranted.
But that was exactly why it wasn’t a good idea to let him realize we were cautious of him now.
“It’s fine, Aisha,” I said. “I’m sure he just wants to talk.”
“Sire...”
“Aisha.” Juna softly laid a hand on her shoulder. Then she whispered something in her ear. I couldn’t hear what it was from here, but knowing Juna it was likely, “Let’s leave this to His Majesty.” She was persuading her for me.
Though reluctant, Aisha backed down. “...I understand. Madam Naden, I ask you do everything you can to take care of His Majesty.”
“We’re leaving His Majesty in your care, Naden,” Juna agreed.
“Roger that, Aisha, Juna.”
Then Naden took on her ryuu form, revealing that massive body in front of Fuuga.
In her ryuu form, Naden was about thirty meters long, so even with her feet on the ground, she was bigger than Durga.
Looking up, Fuuga let out a whistle of admiration. “Whew... She’s big! I thought it seeing her at a distance, but she really makes an impact up close like this! Is she strong, like I thought?”
“I am,” Naden said in an intense tone. “So if you’re intending to harm Souma, I won’t hold back.”
Fuuga laughed the threat off. “She speaks directly inside your head? I thought she looked weird, but I guess she’s like the dragons I’ve heard of that way. I get it, dragon girl! If I act strangely, you can crush me with those big jaws of yours!”
I could only be amazed by the guts it took Fuuga to say that without any fear when faced with a ryuu. Did this man know no fear?
Naden looked at him with her golden ryuu eyes. “I’ll do just that,” she said in a grave tone.
Durga may have become cautious about the sudden appearance of a ryuu, because he was emitting a low roar. Somehow we had ended up with the looming potential of a dragon vs. tiger showdown.
In order to change the general atmosphere, I clapped my hands. “So, we were going to talk, right? Let’s get going.”
I hopped on Naden’s back, and we danced up into the sky. Fuuga and Durga raced after us.
Naden swam through the air, and Durga leapt through the sky, the dragon and tiger moving through the skies of Wedan side by side. We climbed high up, so we could see the Dabicon River, the border between the Union of Eastern Nations and the Demon Lord’s Domain.
That was when it happened.
“Hey, Souma. How does this country, the Union of Eastern Nations, look in your eyes?” Fuuga suddenly asked.
“...What do you mean?”
“I mean, don’t you think it’s hopeless? In an area with all these small and medium-sized countries, they’ve had a history of repeated unification and rifts, alliances and betrayals. Just like my country on the steppes. On top of that, because of all these messy marital alliances, they’re all hopelessly intertwined. When you’ve got relatives all over the place, no one is going to get serious about unifying the country.”
Fuuga practically spat those words out. Then he sat cross-legged on Durga’s back, resting his elbows on his knees and his face in his hands.
Those eyes which looked down on the land below were thoroughly cold. It was as if he were regarding the country itself with scorn.
“They finally managed to bring it together in the Union of Eastern Nations, but it hasn’t fundamentally changed at all. Look at this demon wave. If we’d united to fight as one, it would have ended more easily, but when each country’s self-preservation and self-interest get involved, we can’t work together. If the forces of the Kingdom of Friedonia hadn’t come to relieve us, it would have taken longer to wipe them all out, and maybe even some of the medium-sized countries would have fallen. That’s why I’m grateful to you.”
“You’re being awfully forthright about that,” I said, surprised. I had never expected words of thanks from Fuuga.
However, thinking back, Fuuga’s actions had shown a tendency to be true to his feelings. Because he was forthright, he didn’t show fear in the face of other kings, and he could be straight about his affection for Madam Mutsumi. The forthrightness must have come from a strength that let him not be concerned about how others saw him.
While I was reflecting on that, Fuuga grinned. “If you people hadn’t turned up, who knows how long this battle for Wedan would have dragged on? Everyone was just fighting on their own, greedy for the potential rewards to go to themselves.”
“Don’t act like you weren’t involved,” I said. “That included you, too, didn’t it?”
“It’s fine when I do it. Even if I do whatever I want, I still contribute the most.”
“It’s all in how you put it, I guess...”
But the fact was, he was right. Even if he did whatever he wanted, Fuuga got results.
Still, if others acted the way he did, there was no guarantee things would go the same for them. Fuuga’s results were largely a product of his inborn aptitude.
Come to think of it... the men who’d picked a fight with Tomoe had been hurt, too. These were people wh
o, judging by the size of their attitudes, were reasonably high-ranking figures in their country getting injured. Normally, they wouldn’t need to go out on the front lines that often. Could this have been Fuuga’s influence, too?
Perhaps the commanders from other countries had been pulled in by Fuuga, acting recklessly to get results like he did. Then, because they couldn’t do it like him, they’d gotten badly hurt, or even died.
Could it be that many commanders from the petty states had died or been injured in this series of battles?
When that thought occurred to me, a chill ran down my spine. For the umpteenth time, I felt the wariness of something I couldn’t identify welling up again.
With no way to know what I was thinking, Fuuga carried on talking. “So, on that note, I had a thought during this demon wave. The Union of Eastern Nations has to be united in the true sense of the word. Like when my old man conquered the steppes.”
Fuuga clenched the hand he had stretched out in front of him into a tight fist.
“In a time when we have the Demon Lord’s Domain to our north, the Union of Eastern Nations can’t do anything as it is. Even as the empress they call a saint waves the flag to bring the nations of mankind together in the west, and a young king rebuilds a decrepit old country into a new powerhouse, the union can do nothing. We can’t even stand upon the stage of this era. That’s galling to the people who live in this land.”
I listened silently.
The stage of this era... Did Fuuga want to rise up on to it?
What role did he intend to play there? Who was he trying to become?
“That’s exactly why someone has to truly unite it.” Fuuga stood on Durga’s back and spread his arms wide. “To unite the Union of Eastern Nations. It will take the resolve to smash everything first so it can happen. Like I said, this country is hopelessly intertwined by alliances and blood relations. To unify it, all of that must be destroyed, cut off, and returned to a blank slate. It will take the resolve to do it no matter what the means, and no matter how much blood must be shed.”
