Silver Glorious=El=Bloodfallenheart.
The Saint’s representative, and a hero who has lived in the shadow of history.
That legendary figure is, at this moment, alone in a special guest room of Elgia Castle, letting out a sigh.
“Haah……I really don’t want to do this……”
Luna, still in her armor, sits in a fine chair with her head in both hands.
After finishing all of the first day’s schedule at the Battle Tournament, she met up with Nilva at the special viewing stand and was escorted directly to the royal castle that would serve as the venue for the dinner——and here she is.
“If Raios-san hadn’t made that needlessly sharp deduction, I could have avoided this whole exhausting event……”
Luna had used Nilva’s invitation as a tool to shake off Raios’s pursuit.
Her objective had already been achieved by the lunch break, and she could have made up some reasonable excuse and cancelled the dinner——but.
The Saint, whose core character is far too earnest, does not have the option of breaking a promise.
“Haah……I dread this.”
She heaves another sigh, she has long since lost count of how many today, when there comes a knock at the door and Nilva’s dignified voice follows.
“——Silver-dono, the dinner appears to be ready. Please let me know when you are prepared.”
“Yes, thank you.”
Inside the armor, Luna slaps both cheeks and pulls herself together.
(Hhh——switch gears, switch gears! It’s just going to eat a little dinner and come home, no need to overthink it!)
She opens the door and sets off with Nilva toward the dinner venue.
They proceed down a long corridor, climb a spiral staircase, descend a ramp, and turn right at a dead end. Then walk straight again, pass through a balcony, and climb the stairs to an upper floor.
“My, it is something like a labyrinth.”
“This is part of our countermeasures against intruders. The castle is deliberately built this complicated so it cannot be easily taken. We are nearly there, so please bear with me a little longer.”
Shortly after, Nilva stops before a certain room.
He straightens himself, and knocks slowly on the door.
“It is Nilva. Silver-dono has arrived.”
“Very well, invite them in.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
Nilva opens the door, and inside——
“Silver-dono, welcome. We are pleased to have you.”
——stands Magnus Jis Elgia, the thirty-eighth king of the Kingdom of Elgia.
“……Huh……?”
Just as Luna is completely frozen, the Holy Kingdom’s log house is enveloped in quiet.
“……”
Zel, the Holy Kingdom’s Deputy Chief Strategist, has been at his desk since early morning, barely stopping to rest, working without pause.
(Hmm……things seem to be progressing smoothly.)
In front of him are progress reports from Holy Kingdom, Godba Territory and Holy Kingdom, Kasorla Territory.
According to these, the borrowed name of ‘Holy Kingdom’ carries considerable weight, and the Empire and surrounding nations who had been eyeing the spoils were ultimately unable to lay a hand on the exhausted Godba and Kasorla territories……the post-war processing in both regions is proceeding without incident, and is expected to conclude very soon.
Going forward, in accordance with the original agreement, active exchange of personnel, technology, and resources with the Holy Kingdom is planned.
As the genuine work of nation-building advances slowly but surely, there is one pressing problem.
(……There are not enough hands.)
Building residences, clearing farmland, establishing defenses——growing a nation requires a great many workers.
The Holy Kingdom is, at its core, the Spedio borderlands, and the population of working-age adults is extremely small.
One option is to recruit laborers from Godba and Kasorla territories——but.
Both regions have only just been worn down by the recent war. Drafting their labor force with something close to force, without even giving them a moment to catch their breath, could easily breed resentment among the people.
(There is no shortage of people wanting to move, granted……)
As the ‘Saint’s heartland,’ the Holy Kingdom has been flooded with people from all over the world seeking to immigrate.
But naturally, accepting them carelessly is dangerous.
The Saint faction now draws attention from every corner of the world, and there can be little doubt that a considerable number of spies are mixed in among those immigration applicants.
Accepting new residents requires at minimum a basic background check.
“It would help to have safe, loyal labor that swears absolute fealty to the Saint-sama……. Hah, no such convenient thing could exist.”
Zel laughs off the foolish daydream and reaches for the next task, when the wall clock lets out a resonant toll.
He glances over——seven in the evening.
“Ah, already this late……”
He had been so deep in his work that he had forgotten to eat lunch, and his stomach is thoroughly empty.
Zel sets the work aside briefly and moves to the kitchen, selecting ingredients at random from the cold-storage box——the fridge, using ice magestones.
He briskly works a cast-iron pan and puts together a simple evening meal, then takes it to the wooden deck outside.
“A new moon tonight……”
He sits in the wooden chair and savors the freshly made stir-fried vegetables.
“——That was good.”
Having taken the edge off his hunger, he feels the cool night air against him and turns his eyes in the direction of the kingdom.
“The dinner at the royal castle should be starting around now……”
What comes to mind is the exchange from the other day.
[Saint-sama……are you sure it is all right?]
[What do you mean?]
[Nilva-dono’s letter mentions ‘a meal at the royal castle.’ Most likely at that occasion——]
[——It’s fine! A meal with important people is nothing, easy! After all, I am the Chief Strategist of the Holy Kingdom!]
The current state of the Kingdom of Elgia, plus a dinner specified to be held at the royal castle.
Taking these two points together, it is clearer than fire that the king will appear on the day.
His master had said she understood that, and that everything was under control——at least, he had believed so……
“……But is that truly the case……?”
Now, in this moment, a wave of unease crashes in all at once.
(Come to think of it, at the time I was somewhat swept up in the Saint-sama’s momentum……)
Does she genuinely understand the significance of this dinner?
Should he have pressed further then and explained the details?
(……No, the Saint-sama was brimming with confidence. I must not undermine her independence with my needless interference.)
Zel exhales a long breath and——
“——It is fine, yes, perfectly fine!”
——murmurs as if to convince himself, when a flash of memory from three hundred years ago breaks through.
[W-w-what do I do, Zel!?]
[Saint-sama, please calm yourself. Leave the aftermath to me.]
[Ah, ahaha……I did it again……!]
[What’s done is done. I will accompany you, so let us apologize sincerely.]
[Mmm……I don’t understand the complicated stuff.]
[Very well, allow me to hear it out on your behalf.]
No planning whatsoever, lurching from one thing to the next.
A Saint brain that starts smoking the moment anything resembling logic is introduced.
(……Is it truly going to be all right……?)
The color drains from him, and a dark cloud spreads across his inner sky.
“N-no……! The Saint-sama has grown! She is not the same as she was back then!”
The old bird tries with all his might to force his mounting anxiety down to the bottom of his stomach, and drains his glass of water in a single long gulp.
Meanwhile, the Saint-sama who is exactly the same as she was back then——
“Silver-dono, welcome. We are pleased to have you.”
“……Huh……?”
——has completely stopped thinking.
And no wonder, because she had taken the word ‘dinner’ at its literal face value.
When she tried to think of what might connect her, as Silver, to Nilva, the Leonard Theocracy affair came to mind.
They had not met since that commission, so she had assumed today would be something like a celebratory wrap-up of that matter——but.
Reality was different.
The dinner companion was not just Nilva but a visibly very important-looking elderly man.
(I feel like I’ve seen that face before……. This old man, could he be……)
A golden crown gleaming on his head, palace guards standing at attention behind him, an air of total authority——at this point, there is no avoiding it.
“Now then, please take a seat.”
“……Excuse me.”
She sits down across from the old man as directed.
Between them stretches a long table spread wide, laden from end to end with an extravagant feast.
“Allow me to properly introduce myself. I am Magnus Jis Elgia, the thirty-eighth King of the Kingdom of Elgia. It is an honor to meet you, Silver-dono.”
Magnus Jis Elgia, sixty-two years old.
One hundred and eighty centimeters, average build.
Medium-length pure-white hair.
Large indigo eyes, a lined face, a pure-white beard——dressed in the dignified robes befitting a king.
“……How do you do. I’m Silver Glorious=El=Bloodfallenheart. (Well……it really is the King of Elgia. I thought he looked familiar.)
The most lifeless introduction she has ever given.
Magnus reads ‘Silver’s quiet fury’ in that tone of voice, and slowly closes his eyes and bows his head.
“For the acts of my ancestors three hundred years ago——for their despicable deeds, I am truly sorry.”
“Your Majesty!?”
“Please, stop——!”
A king bowing his head is something that must never occur.
The guards raise urgent voices to stop him, but Magnus’s resolve is firm.
“My ancestors foolishly agreed to the execution of the Saint-sama. I do not believe this can atone for that. But without so much as a word of apology, I have no right to speak with the Saint-sama’s representative.”
He says this and bows even deeper.
To this sincere apology, Luna says nothing.
All of it is already in the past.
The king who had condemned her was three hundred years ago’s king, and no apology from his distant descendant will unsnarl anything.
What remains is only the result.
Only the fact that the world had betrayed her.
“……So then, what brings you here today?”
Silver prompts him, and Magnus slowly raises his head.
“As an intelligent man, Silver-dono, I believe you are already aware……. Our kingdom is currently in a critical state.”
And so he begins to speak.
“Our kingdom, since ancient times, has had poor relations between the royal family and the nobility, with each side pulling the other’s legs. In recent years that has grown markedly worse, and the parliament cannot even reach unity on anything. It is a shameful state of affairs.”
“I see. (The kingdom’s situation is the same as three hundred years ago……if anything, it looks worse than it was back then.)”
“Until just over ten years ago, we were still considered rivals to the Empire——but that nation, under Emperor Adrinus’s reign, has achieved a level of prosperity without precedent in history, and has now pulled far ahead of us. ……In the end, I was mediocre. I was not built to be a king. I thought of the people, served the people, lived for the people. But a leader without power cannot bring about reform. Everything I attempted was left half-finished.”
Magnus gazes at some distant point and pieces his words together haltingly, his expression a complicated mixture of regret and resignation.
Magnus Jis Elgia’s quality as a king is——middling, on the lower end.
No misrule, no great blunders.
But no great achievements either.
Just as his words say, a man who thinks of the people, serves the people, lives for the people.
Given a solid foundation, he would govern with stability.
But he is decisively short of what it takes to raise a kingdom that has already become a sinking ship.
He lacks the ruthlessness of someone like Adrinus——who orders executions before breakfast, condemns nobles over his morning meal, and treads over the span of a human life without a flicker of feeling.
His vessel remains, in the end, within the human range. It does not reach the domain of kings.
“With me on the throne as things stand, the kingdom has no bright outlook. So I have decided the time has come.”
“You are stepping down?”
Magnus gives a small nod.
“I have three children. However, one is far too consumed by self-interest, and one is blinded by money……it is not my place to say, but neither of them has what it takes to be a king.”
He shakes his head with a sigh, lamenting his inadequate heirs.
“It is my youngest, Alicia, who would be best suited as the next ruler. Let me say in advance that this is by no means a process of elimination. She is timid, but she has a gentle heart that cares for the people. And above all else, she has an extraordinary intellect rarely seen in any generation.”
“I see. (Alicia……that would be that blond princess who was kidnapped along with me at Howard-san’s mansion, wouldn’t it? She saw both my face and my strength that time……. Yes, I will absolutely make sure not to come face-to-face with her.)”
While Luna is making a firm private resolution, Magnus presses on.
“However, Alicia’s place in the line of succession is third. The throne would not normally pass to her. ——And so, Silver-dono, I have a request to make of you.”
“What is it?”
“If you would be willing——would you consider becoming Alicia’s guardian?”
This was the trump card Magnus had arrived at after thinking harder than he had ever thought.
With the Saint faction as the most powerful of all possible backers, Alicia would surely inherit the throne.
And becoming the guardian of the next king would give Silver overwhelming power within the kingdom.
Bringing a foreign dignitary into the heart of the kingdom’s politics is a drastic act that cannot escape accusations of treason.
But the kingdom is already a sinking ship.
If nothing is done, one of the inadequate heirs will inherit the throne, and the road to ruin is all that awaits.
If it comes to that, far better to hand real authority to the Holy Kingdom and have a brighter future.
After all, at the top of the Holy Kingdom is the ‘Sole Monarch,’ a Saint reincarnated from three hundred years ago.
With her deep wisdom and warm compassion, she would surely guide a crumbling kingdom back to the right path.
This is the reasoning Magnus had used to arrive at his resolve, and he has come to this meeting with an unshakeable determination.
(According to Nilva, Silver-dono is a sage who stands on level ground with Emperor Adrinus himself. Against such a man, to use many words——let alone to try to talk him around with a clever tongue——would be foolish. All one can do is conceal nothing whatsoever, and meet him with a sincere heart!)
Magnus is a straightforward man, and unlike Adrinus, he is not skilled in the art of persuasion.
So he does not dissemble.
Without relying on technique, he conveys what is in his heart as it truly is, and brings the conversation to a man-to-man exchange.
On the other hand, the Saint-sama, who has just been entrusted with this earnest request——
(……What is a ‘guardian’……?)
——has tripped over a hurdle well before the main substance of what is being said.
The word guardian is, it turns out, a little too difficult for her.
(F-for now……strike a thinking pose to buy time, and consult Zel when in doubt!)
(Our kingdom, even in decline, is still one of the four great powers. If you agree to my proposal, all of that is yours for the taking. There is certainly the ‘poison’ of the nobility to contend with, but the Saint faction has overwhelming military strength and can suppress them easily enough. This arrangement should be of benefit to your side as well……!)
With both sides’ thoughts moving in completely different directions, an enormous thundering sound shakes Elgia Castle.
The <Warning> magic set up around the royal castle activates, and a piercing alarm rings through the building, when——
“Hmm?”
——oblivious Luna tilts her head, while——
“What is this!?”
——Magnus is visibly shaken.
“Your Majesty, this area is not safe!”
“Please, this way!”
Receiving the guards’ suggestion, Magnus gives a reluctant nod.
“Silver-dono, please convey the matter we discussed to the Saint-sama.”
“Yes, I will.”
As Luna nods, Magnus is taken away by his guards to somewhere safe.
(Phew……. I’m not sure exactly what happened, but now I can finally go home……)
Just as Luna breathes a sigh of relief——Nilva’s voice catches her.
“Silver-dono, could you spare us a little time?”
“……Huh……?”
She lets her distaste show a little too openly, but this is not an atmosphere where refusal is a viable option.
“Well……just for a short while.”
“Thank you. This way, please.”
Shoulders drooping, she follows along behind Nilva for a while——and is led to the castle’s underground command center.
“Wh-what is this……!?”
It is a vast space, staffed by a large number of intelligence officers.
(There’s a lot of impressive things here, but……what’s that?)
The thing that draws Luna’s particular attention is the enormous three-dimensional tactical display installed at the far end of the room.
Reading her gaze, Nilva smiles gently and explains.
“That is a wide-area magical detection device fitted with a <Heaven’s Board> inside. A custom-ordered piece arranged through the Magic Nation of Kasorla——pardon me, Holy Kingdom Kasorla Territory. It does not cover the entire kingdom, but it encompasses nearly the whole of the capital.”
“I see, what a useful magical instrument. (This place feels like a secret base, it’s so cool……. Could we build something like this for the Holy Kingdom too? I’ll ask Zel about it sometime.)”
“Heh, I am flattered. Now, please take a seat.”
“Excuse me.”
Luna settles into a chair, and Nilva calls out to the intelligence officers.
“What is the situation?”
“Magical beasts appearing throughout the kingdom! The castle just now came under attack, but the Gifted Sword Saint, Owl Rustia-dono, has already dealt with it! Holy Knights are currently heading out for suppression throughout the region!”
“Simultaneous magical beast outbreaks all over……the Demon King’s army?”
“Just before the magical beasts appeared, the <Heaven’s Board> registered a Pattern Black magical energy reaction. Most likely summoned by a high-ranking demon.”
Nilva, called the ‘kingdom’s mind,’ reads the enemy’s intention with precision.
“……I see. The target is the Saint Academy’s students. They intend to bury them before the Saint-sama recovers her former power.”
The moment he reaches his conclusion, a change appears on the <Heaven’s Board>.
“A massive magical energy reaction above the Saint Academy! This magical energy volume……it could be one of the Eight Celestial Demons!”
As a ripple of alarm runs through the command center——
“As I expected.”
——Nilva smiles as if this is exactly what he had anticipated.
“The Eight Celestial Demons, is it. Very well, I’ll step out and handle this.”
Luna, in an unusually eager mood, rises smoothly from her chair.
She is not trying to save the kingdom from crisis.
(Take out the Celestial Demon, slip away in the confusion, and get home.)
Chief Strategist Luna’s perfect plan to get herself home collapses in the very next moment.
“No, please leave this to us.”
“Oh, is, is that so……? But the opponent is one of the Eight Celestial Demons——”
“——Not to worry. Please, allow us to show you the Kingdom’s military strength.”
“……I see……”
Nilva’s word alone, and the plan falls apart.
The Saint-sama sinks down dejectedly and settles back into her chair with considerable reluctance.
(But well, if they’re that confident, it’s probably going to be fine……right?)
The moment she thinks that, the faces of ‘battle-hardened veterans’ flash through her mind.
A great and well-respected noble——Howard Von Grazer, self-declared greatest mage.
The young prodigy of the Holy Knight Academy——Raios Reinhardt, the blind.
The kingdom’s adventurers’ guild strongest swordsman——Owl Rustia, the human sea anemone.
Every single one of the supremely confident people had been unbelievably weak.
(……Is it actually going to be fine?)
Luna, now uneasy, sends out a <Transmission>.
(——Zel, this might be an emergency.)
(Yes, your command.)
(It seems one of the Eight Celestial Demons has appeared at the Saint Academy. I’m stuck with Nilva-san and can’t move yet, so could you go protect Ro and Sarko-san and Wendy-san……?)
(Protecting your friends——understood. I am ready to move at any time, so please open the <Otherworld Gate>.)
(Got it.)
The moment Luna responds, a large door appears before Zel.
Its distinctly lopsided shape makes it immediately obvious at a glance that it was made by a master with catastrophically poor magical technique.
Transferring from the Holy Kingdom’s log house to the rooftop of the Saint Academy’s main building, Zel quickly surveys the situation and reports back.
(One of the Eight Celestial Demons and a large elderly man are facing off on the school grounds. Also, it appears the Saint Academy’s students are engaged with magical beasts inside the school building. Could you describe your friends?)
(Ro is the maid from the Spedio family, Sarko-san is the boss of Mount Maunt, and Wendy-san is the main heroine, I think?)
(……I see.)
Knowing the poverty of his master’s vocabulary, Zel asks for no further elaboration.
To grasp the master’s intent even so——that is what makes a first-rate retainer. That is how he sees it.
He fixes his sharp eyes and observes the students one by one.
(……Not that one. ……Not that one either. Hmm, that one……)
Among the crowd of female students, he locates one individual displaying a remarkable degree of leadership.
(Saint-sama, I have found a golden ringlet with the bearing of someone in command. Around her I can also make out two others: a refined girl with pastel pink hair, and a composed girl with an air of cool composure and black hair. Might these be your friends……?)
(Yes, those three! Do they all look all right?)
(Yes, none of them appear to have suffered any injuries.)
(Oh good, that’s a relief……)
Luna breathes out in quiet relief.
(I will wait on standby on the school building’s rooftop, ready to step in at any moment. Please contact me immediately if anything arises.)
(Thanks. I don’t want it to look like we’re taking the kingdom’s side too openly, so hold off on stepping in until the very last moment. Oh, but if the three of them are in real danger, don’t hold back.)
(Leave everything to me.)
<Transmission> cut.
(Right, then……I just need to find an opening and slip out quietly.)
Having left the scene in the hands of her reliable right hand, Luna watches the ‘Eight Celestial Demons suppression operation’ while quietly waiting for her chance to escape.