ED: I added ‘(Sera)’ and such at the end of lines where it wasn’t clear who’s saying them. In Sera’s case especially, you can usually tell it’s her by the specific words she uses, but unfortunately they don’t translate into English.
Also, I added Character Lists for Parts 3 and 5, and re-edited Chapters 60 and 61 last week. I’ll re-edit the rest in the future, since they still need some work. Somehow, there are even spelling mistakes, despite my using autocorrect, both in google docs, and then in the editor, when uploading the chapters…
Translator: Rihn
Editor: Zioming
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Chapter 88 – Invasion and Looting
Author’s Notes: Part 6 officially begins. And so, this chapter is mostly talking.
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In the dining room of my Kastal mansion, I was pondering while eating breakfast that was as always delicious. What was I pondering on, you ask? Well, it was: Where should we go next?
“Now then, where to go…?”
“Jin-sama, is something the matter?”
Maria, who heard my murmur, asked. I thought my voice was pretty quiet, but she could somehow still hear it.
A: She doesn’t want to miss even a single word from Master.
Ah, right… Maria really doesn’t waver…
“…No, I was just thinking about where we should go next.”
“Eh? Aren’t we going to the Crimson Empire? Haven’t you been saying that we’ll go there for a while now, Master?”
“That’s right. It has already been quite some time since you’ve declared so, Master.”
As Mio and Sera pointed out, one of the potential future sightseeing destinations on my list is the Crimson Empire.
It has already been more than three weeks since we’ve met Rouge and her group close to the 30th floor of Estia’s dungeon, and have consequently decided to visit the place. The reason for this is that we’ve learned of the Crimson Empire’s plan to attack the Estia Kingdom, but with the Demons acting behind the scenes right now, it is hard to believe that they would actually go through with it anytime soon.
As such, we should still have plenty of time before the deadline, and with there being other things we want to do first, it’s only natural that we would alter our plans somewhat in order to accommodate them. In fact, I’ve been very busy during these past three weeks that we’ve spent touring the Atto Union and the Dragon Newts’ Hidden Area. …Why did it have to be so busy?
“But I’d also like to visit Izumo…”
“Oh yeah, there’s that too! That wonderful-sounding Japanese-style country.”
“Um, I’m also interested in it…”
Izumo is a country located far to the East of the Dragon Newts’ Hidden Area, and, in a word, it’s your template eastern country (as explained before). It’s a country whose clothing style, food culture, architecture, and many other aspects of life are very similar to Japan during its Edo period, so visiting it will probably feel like travelling to the past, rather than to a different world.
To be honest, I am much more interested in visiting Izumo, than going to the Crimson Empire right now, and, as you can hear, both Mio and Sakura seem to share my interest in it. But still, I don’t think we should put off the Crimson Empire’s matter for too long, hence why I’m currently torn between the two.
“I don’t really care which way you go, but if you’re going sightseeing, you are going to take me for a ride, right? You will ride me again, right?”
The Sky Dragon, Blue (human form), who was sitting near me, taking full advantage of her position as my personal mount, joined the conversation. By the way, it’s forbidden for Dragon Newts to be in their dragon form while inside the mansion (except for Dora), since they’d get in the way too much. (ED: Author calls her a ‘Sky Dragon’ here, so I’ll just go with it as well. ‘A Dragon Newt whose dragon form is a Sky Dragon’ would be way too long after all…)
“No, there’s no way I can bring a Sky Dragon to a sightseeing trip, right? Blue will stay at home.”
Almost no one in this world tames dragons. Some people have managed to tame a Wyvern, a low-ranked wind dragon, but that’s about it. As such, if you were to ride around on a Sky Dragon, which is a higher-ranked dragon species, you would obviously stand out. That’s why she has to stay home. Sorry.
“Eh… Even though I finally became a mount… Suddenly, I’m staying home…”
“There there~”
Blue sagged in her chair, disappointed, while Dora, who was sitting next to her, tried to console her. Blue is so specialised in being a flying mount, that she’s pretty much useless in her human form, so there’d be little point in taking her along this time.
“Uuu, thank you. I guess I would have preferred being a pet…”
“Dora won’t give up her spot~”
Dora is actually pretty feisty when it comes to defending her position. Well, Sky Dragons are actually huge, so you can’t make one a pet anyway. At best you could use it as a bed. Ah, I already made that joke…
“Fufufu, Unlike thee, I can accompany Master at all times. This proveth that I can be of more use to him than thee.”
Elle, the Ancestral God Dragon, who is living in the mansion while materialised, agitated Blue.
“W-what the hell! Y-you haven’t done anything useful yet! I’ve already proven myself as Master’s mount!”
“Mmm, if it’s actual results thou are talking about, then it’s harsh… W-well, I’m sure I’ll be able to turn things around in no time.”
“Hmph! Master is all-powerful! You won’t have any chance to shine!”
“I have a feeling that the same could be said of thee…”
Blue and Elle keep instigating each other, but I don’t think they actually dislike one another. If anything, I get the impression that they’re fighting over turf because their positions overlap.
“Ugugu….”
“Mmm…”
“You two really do get along.”
While looking at the two of them growling, Sera seemed to have the same impression as I did.
“That’s not the case!” x2
“Isn’t the fact that your responses are in unison, the best proof?”
“…” x2
It seems that they both were so wary of overlapping their lines again, that neither said anything. I don’t know if she did it on purpose or not, but thanks to Sera, the arguing stopped for now.
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A: Master, excuse me for interrupting, but I have an urgent matter to report.
Alta’s report must have reached the other members as well, as they all stopped talking. What is it? It’s rare for Alta to say it’s urgent. Please continue.
A: Yes. The city of Liraluka has been captured by the Eludian army. At the same time, it seems that the Kingdom of Eludia has declared war on the Kastal Queendom. How would you like to proceed?
“…Huh? Come again.”
It made so little sense that I couldn’t help but speak out loud. The city of Liraluka is a border town between Kastal and Eludia. In that sense, it would be relatively easy to attack it, but I don’t understand why Eludia would attack Kastal in the first place.
A: I think it would be better to hear the details from Sakuya, the Queen of Kastal.
Well, Sakuya is definitely a party to this. We can’t ignore it, so let’s go pay her a visit.
“I believe you’ve all heard what Alta just said, and so, I’m heading to meet with Sakuya right away. Sorry, but we’ll have to save Izumo and the Crimson Empire for later.”
“That’s right. I don’t know what happened, but Kastal is one of Master’s favourites after all.”
As Mio said, I like Kastal a lot. To the extent that I would be willing to help them (with or without pay) if they were to fall victim to unreasonable violence…
Immediately, we transferred to the ‘Portal’ we had set up in Sakuya’s office. Where is the privacy of a queen of a country…?
“Ah, Onii-chan! Everyone else came too! Did you hear the story from Alta!?”
“Yeah, I heard, so calm down. What the heck happened? Explain it to me from the beginning, as best as you can.”
After we transferred, Sakuya noticed us and rushed over in a panic. She seemed to have heard the same report as we did. She also looked somewhat tired.
“Right, got it. …I think it all started back when we refused to become one of the hero-supporting countries. It seems that the Eludia Kingdom was quite perplexed by this, as they did not expect for Kastal of all places, who has a history of supporting heroes, to reject their proposal. And since we border them, they probably expected a lot of support from us, which is why they were so persistent in trying to solicit us.”
Hero-supporting countries are ones that have signed a treaty to receive the Heroes’ protection from the Demons, in exchange for providing them with various kinds of aid. Kastal is a neighbour of Eludia which houses the Heroes, and was once closely tied to heroes, so they must have been certain they would also sign. (ED: The Kastal Queendom’s Royal Castle, the Greatsword and Greatshield used by Sera, as well as many other magic items found in Kastal were all created by a summoned hero of the past. There are also records of said hero being accompanied by another summoned hero, as well as clues that point in the direction of said second hero being Asai, one of Jin’s two best friends, as mentioned in Chapters 58)
However, as it happened, Kastal did not become a hero-supporting country for two major reasons. Firstly, because they distrusted the Eludia Kingdom, which had conquered a small neighbouring country right before summoning the Heroes. One might even say that they intentionally used the achievement of summoning them, in order to silence all the countries that might object to them doing this. Frankly speaking, it didn’t make them look very trustworthy. And as for the second reason, it was because of my existence. I promised Sakuya that I would defeat the Demons if they were to attack, and I have already proved my ability to do so, so it was decided that there was no need to rely on the Heroes, when it wasn’t even certain that they could actually be relied upon for this matter.
“That certainly caused the relations between our countries to deteriorate somewhat, but the real problem came some time after that.”
“So, while I was exploring the dungeon?”
Something must have happened while we were conquering the place.
“Yes, in that dungeon, …no, I guess it technically happened in the Estia Kingdom. Onii-chan, you killed a hero in that kingdom, didn’t you?”
“Ahh, that time we killed Kusakabe. Maybe that was bad?”
“But, it should have been officially announced that he was killed by Princess Cattleya of the Estia Kingdom, right?” (Sera)
To be precise, it was Cattleya who killed Kusakabe. We might have helped her get her revenge, but it was her and the Estia Kingdom who made the decision to pursue, and then eventually kill him. Well, even the part about whether you can actually say that we ‘helped’ her by raising her status with ‘Give and Take [Power of Life and Death]’ is probably debatable.
“Yes, there’s no doubt about it, but Eludia also disputes the part about the Hero harming the Prince and then the King. ‘There’s no way a hero would do such a thing. You guys killed the Hero, and now you’re trying to put the blame on him’ is what they’re saying.”
“Yet another self-serving interpretation.”
“Really, I think that country is much too selfish…”
Sakura and I were both stunned. Kusakabe left the Prince of Estia to die in the dungeon, and then stabbed the King after being found out. These are facts that I have personally confirmed.
“And so, Eludia told the surrounding countries: ‘We cannot forgive the Estia Kingdom for this’, to try and turn them against Estia. I was so irritated by their selfishness that I said to them: ‘An acquaintance of mine was also there, and they saw the Hero stab the king in a frenzy, after being accused of abandoning the Prince in the dungeon’.”
“Dora saw it too~!”
“Maria-chan, Sera-chan and I were also there. The only ones who weren’t there were Master and Sakura-sama.”
As Mio said, the four of them were all present when it happened, so it’s technically not wrong for Sakura to say she had an acquaintance there. Not to mention, Cattleya herself is now a friend of Sakuya’s…
“It was going to be bad for Cattleya’s position if I left it alone. I think it was after that that the Eludia Kingdom began to view Kastal as an outright enemy. I was also harassed in various ways, but I never thought it would turn into a war…”
“Why didn’t you tell Jin-kun about it…? He could have solved all of those things…”
“This is national management, which means it’s my job. I know I say this as someone who relies on Alta and Onii-chan’s subordinates a lot, but I thought it wouldn’t be good to rely on Onii-chan too much… The result is this though.”
Sakura, who is also Sakuya’s friend, asked, but Sakuya shook her head and denied it. I would like to add one thing though: Even I can’t solve all the problems on the national level, you know? …Well, I guess I could, by destroying the country that caused them.
“That’s true, but…”
“Yes, I understand what you mean Sakura-chan. In fact, I already thought that if things got to this point, I’d have no other choice but to ask for Onii-chan’s help… That’s why, Onii-chan, would you lend me your power? Please?”
Sakuya lowered her head to me.
“Yeah, from the beginning, that’s what I came here to do. Leave it to me.”
“Thank you, Onii-chan. So, about the compensation?”
The fact that you’re asking for my help means that you’ll have to pay for it in one way or another. Understanding this, Sakuya asked.
“That can wait until later. More importantly, please continue with the story.”
“Right, got it. First of all, it seems that the city of Liraluka has already received a lot of damage…”
“Do you know the specific damage and situation?”
“Alta told me all about it, so I do. Normally, it’s hard to contact such a distant place so quickly, but thanks to her, it’s been rather easy.”
“Useful as ever…”
If you travelled by carriage, it would take you a week to get to the royal capital, no matter how much you hurried.
“First, the Eludian army crossed the border from the Eludia’s side of Liraluka, and entered the Kastal side. They took over the Kastal side in no time, killing the inhabitants and looting as they went. After that, they sent an emissary with a letter of declaration of war to the Kastal officials.”
“If I remember correctly, isn’t a declaration of war supposed to be made before the war breaks out?”
At least, I remember reading somewhere back on Earth, that a declaration of war is made before the war starts. Well, it is possible that my memory is wrong, or that the rules are different in this world…
“That’s right, when nations go to war with each other, they are obliged to inform the other nation in advance.”
“Oh? That’s not so different from Earth then. Is this perhaps something introduced by past heroes?”
“Maybe, but wouldn’t there be plenty of other things they could teach, before teaching about such a dangerous topic…”
As Mio predicted, it is highly likely that various objects and ideas that originated from Earth were imported to this world by past heroes. Still, it would be much more useful to teach them things like how to make mayonnaise, than to teach them the proper rules for waging war… Well, Mio will get teary-eyed, and it’s not really the time, nor place for jokes, so I’ll just skip this one.
“But Eludia doesn’t seem to want to abide by it. They stuck the declaration of war on after the war had already started, and used that time to gain the upper hand. And it seems that they are going to insist in front of the neighbouring countries that they had properly declared war in advance. I mean, it’s true that the declaration of war itself has been issued, albeit after the fact, so…”
“That country really is garbage…”
Eludia’s share price, which was already at a point where most investors would sell to cut their losses, has somehow fallen even lower. At this rate, they will end up going totally bankrupt.
“Most likely, they will use the achievement of summoning the Heroes as a shield to push us around. Oh, yes, it seems that there are some heroes mixed in with the Eludian army.”
“Are heroes even allowed to participate in a war between humans?”
“They are not, but Eludia has found a loophole.”
“Oh? What kind of loophole?”
Well, there’s no doubt that it’s a good-for-nothing method.
“Heroes are allowed to be adventurers, you see. This way, they can use the Adventurers’ Guild’s resources, as well as hide their identity as heroes when needed.”
I’ve actually done the same thing myself. The title of ’Adventurer’ comes in handy for a lot of things… Ah, I can see where she’s going with this.
“Eludia took advantage of that. Instead of asking the Heroes to participate in the war, they sent out a request to the adventurers to participate, and the Heroes accepted it under their adventurer status.”
“Is that even allowed?”
“The question is not whether it’s allowed, but whether it’s not prohibited by the rules. In the first place, it has never happened before that a hero would participate in a war between humans…”
“It would be utter stupidity for humans to fight amongst themselves, when there are demons to worry about, wouldn’t you say?”
So, this ‘utter stupidity’, as Sera just called it, that didn’t happen before, thanks to people’s good common sense, did happen during this time’s summoning. Well, considering the kind of people at that school, that’s hardly a surprise…
“Furthermore, it had an additional effect of drastically increasing the number of regular adventurers participating in this war, because they all jumped at the chance to fight alongside heroes. From what I’ve gathered, nearly half of the Eludian army this time is made up of adventurers, and if we’re not careful, a number of them from our country might also end up joining them.”
The rules for participating in wars for adventurers are rather complicated, but in a nutshell, their participation is voluntary, and not compulsory. Or, in other words, it is left at their own discretion. However, while it’s not unheard of for an adventurer to become a military officer, most of the time they end up being stationed at the front lines, so the usual course of action is for them to flee before their city becomes a battlefield. Still, if you can somehow make them fight for you, then that’s certainly a nice side effect to have.
Incidentally, there’s an unspoken agreement not to touch the Adventurers’ Guild, even during war. This is because the guild is a neutral organisation that transcends national borders. Even in the midst of a war, if a country is judged to be detrimental to them, the guild may decide to pull out from that country entirely. It’s a practice that can be abused in a variety of ways, and in fact there are more complicated rules for it, but I won’t bore you with the details.
“In this world, heroes from another world are ridiculously popular. In turn, heroes born in this world, like me, aren’t even known to exist…” (Maria)
“I’m afraid that all the summoned heroes that I’ve met so far were utter scum. I don’t understand why they would be popular at all.” (Sera)
Well, they were Kusakabe and Sano of all people. Still, it’s not like the list ends with those two…
“But not all the Heroes seem to be working for Eludia.”
“What do you mean?”
“A non-insignificant number of them defected, saying that they do not agree with Eludia’s way of doing things. Those heroes have all moved to the hero-supporting countries in the north, so the only ones left in Eludia now are those who agree with their policies.”
I guess that means there still were some people with somewhat better sensibilities in that school. Still, to be abandoned by the very heroes they summoned, Eludia really is finished.
“How many people are left…?”
“According to the information gathered by Alta, about 200 heroes seem to still be cooperating with the Eludia Kingdom.”
Sakura’s question was answered by Sakuya. By the way, about 800 people were transferred from our school.
“So, only 25% of them support Eludia, huh? If only a small part of the Heroes follow them, then crushing them all won’t affect that many people. Good, good.”
“Wait, somehow we’re talking on the premise that Onii-chan will crush the Heroes, like it’s only natural… For the time being, they’re our trump card against the Demons, you know…”
“I don’t care. There’s no law prohibiting killing adventurers who participate in a war, is there?”
“No, but…”
I ignored Sakuya’s troubled words. If you are going to participate in a war as an adventurer, then you should also be prepared for the possibility of being killed as one. There’s no way I’d allow you to be treated as a hero only when it’s convenient to you.
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“Speaking of which, what is the Eludian army doing now?”
“…A small part of the army stayed behind in Liraluka to continue looting, while most of them are heading for Konoe, the City of Adventurers. I wouldn’t be surprised if they’re thinking that they can get the high-ranked adventurers there to come over to their side at the same time they invade it, or something.”
“I see, so they’re trying to get adventurers from Kastal as well.”
The city of Konoe is also known as ‘the City of Adventurers’, since there are many high-ranked adventurers there. Well, even without that, the quality of adventurers in Kastal in general is a few notches higher than in Eludia. And so, what would happen if they used the title of ‘Hero’ as a shield, and asked the adventurers to cooperate with them? Would the adventurers who were on the Kastal’s side turn against it in response to their request?
“It’s pretty tough. That’s why I’ve had to ask Onii-chan for help…”
“Oh, it was probably the right call, given the situation.”
If an army that uses high-ranked adventurers, on top of using heroes, were to attack, there’s no way the knights of the royal capital would be able to handle it alone. In that sense, you could say that this country is on the brink of death, which is why Sakuya had no other choice but to ask me for help.
“On the contrary, talking to Master is usually the best way to solve all your problems.”
“Un, it’s just as Mio-chan says.” (Sakuya)
It’s troubling that she’s relieved when I still haven’t done anything yet…
“So, after Kastal, it looks like they’re going to wage war on the Estia Kingdom next, likely, using the Hero whom they sent there before as a pretext…”
“Mhm.”
I see. They are not satisfied with just attacking the Kastal Queendom, which is related to the hero, Asai, but they also want to go after Estia, which was founded by Azuma, huh? Are they planning to trample all over the things left behind by my best friends?
My best friends’ legacy, huh? …Okay, I see how it is.
“I have decided. I will destroy the Eludia Kingdom.”
“O-Onii-chan, suddenly destroying it is going a little too far… It’s a major country, not to mention, they have heroes on their side, so it would be a problem if it is destroyed, looking from the perspective of the countries surrounding it. In my opinion, it would be enough to make them withdraw, and have them pay reparations…”
Sakuya rushed to stop me, but in my mind, it’s already a given that Eludia will be destroyed.
“I’m sorry, Sakuya. My mind is already made up.”
“Ah… It’s impossible to stop this.”
While I tried really hard to keep calm while saying this, it still made Sakuya shiver, and caused her to give up immediately.
“Sakuya-chan, aren’t you giving up too quickly?”
“Mio-chan, please don’t say something unreasonable. Onii-chan has already made up his mind…”
“Ah… You’re right. It is impossible.”
Looking at me, Mio also shivered.
Originally, I didn’t touch the Eludia Kingdom, which I hate, because it’s the country that houses the Heroes, who are in charge of fighting the Demon Lord. And yet, these heroes have decided to abandon their mission and join a war against humans instead. Is there any need for heroes who act like that? Is there any need for a country that uses heroes for such things? And to top it all off, they chose to wage war against two of my favourite countries. I have no choice anymore but to destroy that country.
If anything, shouldn’t I have made this decision earlier? If I had done so, there wouldn’t have been so many unnecessary sacrifices in Liraluka. Haah, I feel sorry for the city of Liraluka, but it’s still not too late to do something about it now.
…Speaking of which, how did Alta know what’s currently going on in the city of Liraluka? Did you hear from the merchant maids who happened to be in the area? (ED: The Maids are such a large organisation at this point, they have specialised divisions, like: merchant maids, cooking maids, adventurer maids, etc.)
A: I learned about the current situation from an adventurer slave who went to the city of Liraluka on a request. I had them infiltrate the city and hear the detailed situation from the surviving citizens. Also, the Chamber of Advanced Commerce does not dispatch maids to the city of Liraluka, as it could be beneficial to the Eludia’s side.
Certainly it would be difficult to benefit only the Kastal side of that city. No matter how we try to get around it, there will be a part of it that will benefit Eludia. Good decision! But it backfired this time.
A: Yes. Making the most of this time’s reflection, we will place even if just a spy maid there in the future.
I’m not really making an issue of it. But still, a ‘spy maid’… The definition of a maid is getting more and more broken.
“Ah, that’s right. I said I would destroy Eludia, but I’m not saying I’m going to kill every single person in that country. I’m only talking about the army, the heroes who took part in the war, and various parts of the royal castle.”
“Is that really something you have to point out? Isn’t that only obvious?”
Mio said, looking puzzled.
“Even if it’s Master, I don’t think he could actually kill everyone. No, I guess he probably could.” (Sera)
“I’d rather do it myself, than bother Jin-sama.”
“Maria-chan, let’s calm down a little. Master isn’t intending on killing them all, okay?” (Mio)
Well, if I wanted to, I could probably just pacify them without causing a single death, even if there is a whole army of them. But I don’t have the slightest intention of showing such consideration to Eludians of all people. I have no mercy, nor forgiveness for them any more. Today, the Eludia Kingdom has been designated as an enemy that I must destroy.
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“As for Kastal, how do you plan to deal with the Eludian invasion force?”
“To begin with, I think the adventurers are out of the question, since they won’t be able to keep their act together when pitted against heroes. As for the army… Even our elite soldiers, the Queen’s Knights, might not be able to maintain their morale when fighting them… Basically, no matter how I think about it, it’s pretty much impossible for us to deal with both the heroes and the army at the same time. Honestly, there’s nothing I can do, other than ask Onii-chan for help…”
It is said that a hero who has grown to a certain degree has a combat ability that far surpasses that of even an S-rank adventurer. I will leave aside the question of whether that growth is simply due to levelling up, or an enhancement gained through collecting Garbage [Blessing’s Remnants].
“According to Alta’s report, the Eludian army has about 20,000 troops, of which 10,000 are adventurers. In addition, it seems that about 100 of those are heroes.”
“What? When you said ‘army’, I was expecting it to be at least 100,000 strong, but it’s only 20,000? That’s not that many, is it?”
If it’s just 20,000, then I can handle them on my own. I can just use the ‘Parallel Casting’ + ‘No Chant’ combo, and destroy them with ‘Fireballs’.
“…Onii-chan, are you feeling funny?”
“Sakuya-chan, Sakuya-chan. The other day, we wiped out a horde of over 50,000 dragons with just the six of us. Do you think humans are stronger than dragons?”
Even the low-ranked dragons are too much for ordinary humans to handle. The higher-ranked ones can probably be defeated only by some heroes and S-rank adventurers.
“What is that!? I’ve not heard of this before! Mio, are you serious!?”
Come to think of it, I didn’t tell Sakuya that I exterminated the dragon horde in the Dragon Newts’ Hidden Area.
“I’m serious.”
“She’s serious.” (Sera)
“It’s true…” (Sakura)
“Hahaha… If people who can defeat 50,000 dragons are on our side, then a human army of 20,000 is nothing. ……Onii-chan, just how far do you intend to stop being human?”
“…”
Sakuya said something rude, but I can’t really deny it if I think about it calmly. Did I already quit being human?
“A-anyway, that’s why you don’t have to worry about the Eludian army. We’ll take responsibility and stop them ourselves. Actually, we might as well just destroy them while we’re at it…”
“Please do as you like. There’s no way I’ll be able to stop you anyway.”
Sakuya said as if she had given up already.
“Yeah, I’ll do just that. Now then, we’ve heard enough so I think it’s time we head out, but…”
“Hmm? What’s wrong, Master?” (Mio)
“Oh, I’m just thinking whether to go to the city of Liraluka, or after the Eludian army that’s on the move first. I can’t leave either of them alone.”
A: I would recommend going to the city of Liraluka. It will still be some time before the Eludian forces reach the city of Konoe, while the city of Liraluka continues to be damaged as we speak.
“…Is what Alta said, so I’m thinking we’ll liberate the city of Liraluka first. …So, who’s coming with me?”
I turned to everyone and threw out that question.
“Jin-sama, what do you mean by that? Do you mean we’ll be in the way?”
“No, that’s not what I meant. This time we’ll be taking part in a war between two countries. I don’t want to force anyone to go. Honestly, I even think that Sakura, and Dora in particular shouldn’t go this time around. I’m afraid we’re going to see some pretty grotesque things…”
Maria said worriedly, so I explained my thoughts to everyone. This battle is a war between Kastal and Eludia… Well, to be more precise, it’s a war of aggression from Eludia’s side.
Nevertheless, it would be harsh to ask someone like Sakura, who has relatively common sensibilities, to participate in a war all of a sudden. Similarly, from an educational standpoint, for Dora, it wouldn’t be the best idea to show her war from up close. Eh? What about me? Ahahaha…
“I will follow Jin-sama. Unless Jin-sama rejects me from the bottom of his heart, I will accompany you wherever you go.”
“Hahaha… I’m not as bold as Maria-chan, but I like Sakuya-chan and Kastal, so I’m going to follow Master to protect them. As for fighting other people… Well, I’m sure I can work something out.”
“Uuu, Mio-chan, thank you.”
Maria was as usual, while Mio said something surprisingly righteous, which caused Sakuya to hug her.
“I don’t think the people of Eludia care about the fields and crops, so I too will stand up to protect the fields of Kastal. I think I can play an active role in a war against people!”
“If you say so…”
Isn’t what Sera wants to protect a little strange? If you’re a hero, protect people… Well, I’ve gone up against a whole stampede of monsters for similar reasons, so I’m pretty much the last person who should be saying that.
But aside from that, how are Sakura and Dora, the two in question, doing? I turned to the two of them, and Sakura, noticing my gaze, pondered for a moment…
“Jin-kun, may I join… No, may I accompany you…?”
And what came out was something that I didn’t expect. Huh? You know it’s a war, right? You have a low tolerance for the grotesque, right? Will you really be okay?
“Since you corrected it to ‘accompany’ me, does that mean you don’t intend to join the fight?”
“Yes, I’m not ready to kill people yet… Much less go to war… But this time, the opponents are heroes… As a person from the same world, I don’t want to look away… So, I know I will be an inconvenience for you, but I want you to take me with you…”
Unusually for Sakura, she was looking at me with strong-willed eyes. If it’s something she has decided of her own will, then there’s no reason for me to stop her. Plus, I’m sure she can protect herself, so it’s not like she’ll become a nuisance if I take her along. …I’ll have Tamo-san escort her in secret, just in case.
“I understand, but when it comes to war, I can’t take it easy or be considerate, so be prepared to see some gruesome stuff, okay?”
“Ugh… Yes…”
When I reminded her of this, she became a little frightened, but she still agreed. I guess this means she’s serious. Sakura’s mental stability has improved a lot, huh? Good, good. Now, the next problem is Dora.
“As for Dora…”
“Dora is going with Master!”
“As expected… But you know…”
Isn’t it too early to show war to Dora? It’s not good for her education, right? However, it was predictable that Dora would want to tag along, even if I did tell her to stay behind. Should I stop her, even if I have to say it more forcefully?
“They are bandits, right?”
As I was worrying over this, Dora continued talking.
“Bandits, huh…? I guess it’s true that the current Eludian army is no different from bandits.”
They use surprise attacks, kill, and rob. They are definitely bandits. If anything, the fact that a country is backing them, makes them even worse than bandits.
“If it’s fighting bandits, Dora can go, right?”
“I see. I guess you could also look at it this way.”
“Well played, Dora-chan.” (Mio)
One of my policies for educating Dora is to bring her along when we’re exterminating bandits. Basically, I’m using bandits as a bad example for Dora to raise her properly (as a pet).
I’m doing it to try and teach her that those who live as they please, and indiscriminately spread malice to others, like bandits, will eventually pay the price.
As a side note, if you were to search for a good example of that, then you need look no further than yours truly. You see, I live as I please, and can even take away other people’s precious skills with ‘Give and Take [Power of Life and Death]’. Well, I don’t intentionally spread malice, at least.
Let’s get back on topic. If the Eludian army is no better than bandits, then why not take Dora along and show her the way they end up? To begin with, I don’t intend to shield Dora from seeing life and death. People die, and monsters do too. Running away from it will not solve anything, and I believe that it is never too early to understand that.
Thinking about it, the actual reason why I didn’t want to show war to Dora was because I didn’t want her to see anything too grotesque, but honestly, it might be a little late for that. I’ve shown her plenty of grotesque things during all the bandit exterminations we’ve done up till now. Plus, it looks like she has a pretty strong tolerance for the grotesque to begin with…
“Dora is right. What we are going to do is not a war. It’s just a bandit extermination. So there’s no problem if we take Dora with us.”
“Yay! Together with Master~!”
Dora hugged me with joy, so I stroked her head.
“I mean, it’s not like you can even have a proper war, when Master’s your opponent, right?” (Mio)
“That’s right. That much is clear from yesterday’s battle against the dragons.” (Sera)
“It’s going to be another musou game, isn’t it? Well, it might be a bit inappropriate since this time’s opponents are humans…” (Mio)
In a regular war, regardless of the numbers on each side, there would usually be casualties on both. However, in this war, I do not intend to let Kastal receive any more damage than it already has. As Mio and Sera just said, I intend to make it a one-sided musou game.
“That’s right. From here on it’s a musou game… It’s a war of extermination. Now that we have decided on the members, let’s quickly go to the city of Liraluka. The inhabitants may be suffering as we speak.”
“Ah, that’s right. Let’s get going.” (Mio)
“It is as you say. It would be a shame for the restaurants to be damaged, so let’s go quickly.” (Sera)
After completing our preparations, we transferred by ‘Portal’ to the city of Liraluka on the border between Kastal and Eludia.
**************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************
Author’s Notes: Crimson Empire? Elven Village? No idea what you’re talking about.
This time of year I can’t get any writing done because of hay fever. Oh no, my nose is running again…
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