Volume 5 Chapter 2 (1/2)

The middle of the 2nd month, 1,547th year, Continental Calendar

“Ohh! Why Your Majesty, welcome and thank you for gracing us with your presence.”

When I pa.s.sed through the door into the Jewel Voice Broadcast studio that we had set up in the castle, a well-built middle-aged n.o.bleman welcomed me with an exaggerated flourish.

This was Moltov Juniro, the father of Ivan Juniro, who played Silvan, the Kingdom of Friedonia's first tokusatsu hero.

“Hey, Moltov,” I said. “How are things going on the program?”

“Sire, we've been doing our best to follow the example you set.”

The truth was, the other day, partly because his son's Silvan had become so popular, I had decided to go all the way and appoint Moltov as the director of broadcast program production. I'd done that because I wanted to be able to keep the programs in production even when I was busy.

Moltov, like his son Ivan, had an ability that made it so there was no need for special effects, so I'd decided that would make him a good pick for the position.

Moltov stroked his beard and said, “Well, this program-making business is deeper than you might think. There are things the people want to see, things that they don't want to see, things that we want them to see, things that we don't want them to see… It's quite difficult to strike a proper balance.”

Moltov groaned in consternation.

I was relieved to see him taking his job so seriously. “Do you want to quit?”

“No! I appreciate the challenge!” Moltov responded with a lively smile.

Somehow, I felt that that was a better look for him than when he was trying to foist his daughter Siena off on me.

On that subject, Siena, who was now appearing alongside her brother Ivan as a supporting heroine (something similar to **ckle in St**nger), had said with a gentle smile, “I believe my father has found his purpose in life. There are a limited number of ways to rise in stature as a n.o.ble. You can distinguish yourself in the military or administration, or you can become a maternal relative of the Royal House. Those have always been the only ways, so he had been wholeheartedly pursuing them. However, Your Majesty, you taught my father something: the joy of creating a broadcast program to entertain the people. Thank you so much.”

Sigh… She was such a good daughter, I almost had to doubt she was actually a blood relative of that boisterous father and son.

Anyway, let's get back on topic.

Like Siena had said, Moltov was enthusiastically working on creating broadcast programs.

I extended my hand to him. “I have great expectations, Moltov. If you keep developing your craft, I'm sure eventually I'll be leaving a jewel in your care.”

“My word! You'd give me a jewel?!”

“Yeah. I'd want you to use it not for public broadcasts, but to open your own broadcasting station.”

In other words, making him a private broadcaster. If all we had was a public broadcaster, there were limits to the number of programs that could be produced, after all. In order to make such a thing happen, there would need to be further advances in technology, and the appropriate laws would need to be put in place, so it couldn't happen right away. Still, it was best to start preparing for five, ten years from now.

Moltov gave a jolly laugh. “You'll be giving me my own independent station, huh! The dreams are endless!”

“Yeah. So, work hard for it.”

“Leave it to me!” Moltov thumped his chest proudly. “By the way, sire, what were you doing here today?”

“Oh, yeah, that's right. I think Juna was supposed to be around here somewhere…”

“If you mean Ms. Juna Doma, she is currently shooting the educational program.” Moltov pointed towards the studio.

It just so happened, Juna was currently in the middle of a live broadcast for the educational program. The song she was currently singing and dancing to was a children's song from the other world with a slightly Asian style. The way Juna looked as she danced with the strings wrapped around her sleeves fluttering was just like a celestial maiden. It made me want to pray, “Close the pathway through the clouds.”

Eventually the broadcast came to an end. Juna noticed me and rushed over, still in her stage outfit. “What's going on, Your Majesty? I didn't think you were planning to come here today, were you?”

“Well, no, I wasn't, but… I had a favor I wanted to ask of you.”

“Of me?” Juna asked.

I nodded. “For about three days, starting tomorrow, I'm going to be away from the castle to meet with someone. I'd like to have you escort me.”

“I don't mind, but… you're leaving the capital unattended for three whole days?” Juna tilted her head to the side, looking slightly perplexed. “With all due respect, won't the government's work be impeded by your absence?”

“Oh, that should be fine. That thing I had Genia developing is complete now.”

“What… am I supposed to say…?” Juna was at a loss for words.

I had waited for Juna to get changed, then we'd gone to the office. Now she was looking at the thing I had been talking about.

Yeah… I could understand.

I had put in an order with Ludwin's fiance eand self-proclaimed “overscientist,” Genia Maxwell, to have her develop a certain thing for me.

My ability, Living Poltergeists, could imbue objects with a part of my consciousness; could make them float; and could allow me to see them from an overhead view; but it was only effective within a range of a hundred meters or so. If I had a pen doing paperwork in the governmental affairs office, I had to stay within a one hundred meter radius of it at all times. Because of that, during the time just after the handover of the throne when things had been really busy, I'd never left the capital for more than a day unless there was a crisis.

Also, as you already know, this ability's effective range could be ignored if the target was a doll; but, unfortunately, dolls weren't able to write very well. It was easy to write when I was controlling the pen directly, but for some reason, it was unusually hard to do it when I had a doll holding the pen. It was like using a remote control to operate a robot arm that was holding a pen. It took an awful lot of focus, and what I wrote still ended up looking like chicken scratch.

I couldn't have messy writing on important doc.u.ments. There were a lot of doc.u.ments where it could cause major problems if they were misread.

In the end, even though dolls negated the range limitation of my ability, that hadn't changed the situation which was keeping me from leaving the castle for an extended period of time. I'd known that if I'd had a machine that could write letters, I could do my work from a distance, and that would let me leave the castle without worries.

That was around when I'd discovered the highly capable Genia.

She had used dragon bones as a basic frame, combining them with various mechanical and organic parts to create the mechanical dragon, Mechadra. I'd figured, Maybe she could create a doll that moves like a human hand.

With that thought in mind, I'd made the order, and just the other day, Factory Arm #1 (named by yours truly) had been completed.

From the side, it looked like an arm had bizarrely sprouted from an L-shaped platform. In simple terms, it was like a prosthetic arm or a manipulator. However, it was strangely realistic and human-like in a way that was creepy and off-putting. That much was evident from Juna's reaction to seeing the thing.

Oh, Genia, why did you have to make it so realistic?

Well, I'd experimented with using Living Poltergeists to control Factory Arm #1. The artificial arm moved smoothly, grasping the pen and writing letters on a piece of paper.

…It was twice as creepy in motion. So this was the “uncanny valley,” huh?

“When the bureaucrats see this thing doing work, they're always scared stiff,” I said. “Oh, and when the maids bring tea, they often scream and faint.”

“I completely understand how they feel.” Even Juna's smile was twitching a little as she said that. It did look like something out of a horror story, after all.

“In any event, now that I can have Factory Arm #1 do work for me, I'm able to travel outside the capital,” I said. “I'm already having a number of them made.”

“Having a whole bunch of them moving… I don't even want to imagine what that looks like,” Juna said sounding apologetic, but I agreed with her.

The arm dolls, in an empty room, writing endlessly. Even imagining it was grinding away at my SAN stat.

Juna shook her head, trying to put the image out of her mind so she could get things back on track. “But, sire, why do you want to have me with you as your partner? Wouldn't the princess, Aisha, or Roroa do just as well?”

“Hmm… Considering who I'm dealing with this time, I want you to lend me your strength,” I said. “I think for the others… they'd be no match for her.”

“Her? Who are you talking about?”

“National Defense Force Commander Excel Walter.”

“…I see. Grandmother, huh? That's why you want me.”

Juna seemed satisfied with that explanation. However, she soon c.o.c.ked her head to the side quizzically.

“But, sire, Grandmother has been your ally all along, hasn't she? When you say they'd be no match for her, is there some reason you would be taking a stance against her?”

When I saw the worried look on Juna's face, I said, “Oh, that's not it,” and shook my head. “The reason we're leaving the capital for three days is to survey the progress on a project I've had Excel working on; but aside from that… I've heard that Marx recently made contact with Excel.”

“The chamberlain? Now why would he do that…? Was it for something important?”

“Oh, no, nothing that important. He didn't seem to be making any secret of it. He was just getting her advice on some things, but… it's what he was getting advice about that worries me…”

“…And what do you think he was getting advice about?”

“It seems… it had something to do with a ‘s.e.xual instructor' for me.”

The moment I said that, Juna winced a little.

s.e.xual instructors were a custom of the upper cla.s.ses in this country. (The knights, the n.o.bility, and higher.) When a man came of age, an “experienced woman” would be dispatched. To ensure that he wouldn't embarra.s.s himself when he took a wife, she would teach him, well…”bedroom etiquette,” and other such things.

It was standard for those lessons to be taught at a desk like a health and physical education cla.s.s, but there were some houses that included “hands-on learning.”

I scratched my head awkwardly. “I'm turning twenty this year, and I've got beauties like Liscia, Aisha, and you by my side. I guess they thought that, as a healthy young man, if they just left us alone, I'd lay my hands on at least one of you eventually, so it never came up before. But because I've taken so long, Marx has gotten impatient, and he's been saying that maybe some education is needed. It seems Hakuya agreed with him on that.”

“I see… So that's what it was.” Juna nodded, her expression still twitching.

This country's Royal House was on the verge of extinction due to the succession crisis that had broken out upon the death of the king before the last one, so Marx was always badgering me to “hurry and produce an heir.” While the wedding had yet to take place, I was already betrothed to Liscia and the others, so it apparently didn't count as premarital s.e.xual relations in his mind. That was how bad the shortage of royals in this country was.

“And so, the two of them turned to Excel, who's five hundred years old and has a bounty of experience when it comes to romantic affairs,” I went on. “‘We don't have a good woman for the job in mind,' they said. When they did…”

“…I have a bad feeling about this.”

“…Excel raised her hand and volunteered herself.”

“The nerve!” Juna shouted, something she rarely did.

It seemed that, when she imagined her betrothed (even if that was still a secret) possibly having relations with her grandmother, she couldn't maintain her composure. She showed a mixture of panic and anger.

She can make expressions like that, too… That's kind of refres.h.i.+ng, I thought.

Incidentally, when Marx had come to her for advice, Excel had said, “Oh my, in that case, why don't I teach him for you? I have a decent amount of experience in that field, after all. If you'd like, I can even handle the practical lessons personally, you know? I come from a long-lived race, so it's not that likely that I would get pregnant. Hee hee,” with a laugh that made it hard to tell just how serious she was.

According to Marx, giving the lie to her mid-twenties appearance, her eyes had had the glint of a snake that had found its prey.

…I suppose she wasn't from the sea serpent race for nothing.

When I told Juna that, she pressed a finger to her temple, looking worried. “I've heard about this from Aunt Accela.” That was Excel's daughter and Carla's mother. “When she was still a young girl, Grandmother would tempt the men who fell in love with my aunt and tease them.”

“Wow… That's pretty awful…”

“No, she only did it with the ones my aunt had no feelings for herself. It was to make them give up on having an illicit affair with her daughter, but… my mother once told me, with an exhausted look on her face, ‘I never wanted to have to see cla.s.smates who had tried to woo my mother and been shot down.'”

Well, no, I don't imagine she would have. Thinking about it, Castor had initially

approached Excel, hadn't he? Had she been cold to him because he'd gone after her first? It was definitely true that she was a breathtaking beauty. If I hadn't built up a resistance to that by being around Liscia and the others, I might have been at risk of falling for her myself.

“So, now that you know what's up, I'd like to ask you to accompany me,” I said. “Can I count on you for that?”

“…I understand. I will do my utmost to protect you, sire.” Juna saluted me, her face filled with resolution.

Protect me from what?… Yeah, the answer to that went without saying.

Juna looked to me as if she wanted to say something, but she was having a hard time saying whatever it was and she looked away. I wondered what it could be, so I waited for her. Juna seemed to resolve herself, then opened her mouth and said, “Um… About the issue you're having, well… Wouldn't it be solved if you just laid your hands on one of us? It could be the princess, or Aisha, or Roroa, or even… um… me…”

When she said that with her face looking down and her eyes upturned, it hit me hard, but I gulped and restrained myself. If Marx had his say, this might be exactly the problem.

“I'm… uh… not ready to be a father yet,” I said. “Listen, I love all of you, of course, and I'm definitely interested in doing that sort of stuff with you, but… when they tell me I absolutely have to make a baby, I'm hesitant. With me as I am now, with this country as it is now, I question if I can make all of you, and the children to be born, happy.”

“I see…” Juna looked a little disappointed, but she quickly covered it with a gentle smile. “That's very much like you, sire. I can feel how much you care for all of us.”

“Of course I do!”

“In that case, I will be looking forward to it when you're ready.”

Juna's smile was so wonderful that I hugged her tight. She seemed surprised, but she didn't resist.

She was soft and smelled good.

I wasn't ready yet, but… I could do this much, at least, I figured.

(Y)

A few days later — Lagoon City

Lagoon City was the central city of the Walter Duchy.

It was located in the northeast of Friedonia, and as the name would lead you to a.s.sume, it was a city built in a lagoon. Because of the high heat and humidity, it was built much like Venice in Italy, and there were ca.n.a.ls running everywhere in the city.

When I looked at this city, it reminded me of a certain iyas.h.i.+kei manga I had read a long time ago, but unfortunately there were no cute girls acting as gondoliers here. Instead, I could see burly men loading and unloading cargo from little boats all over the place.

It was winter now, so the men were bundled up tight; but if this had been summer, they'd probably have all been practically naked. (Like, wearing nothing but a loincloth.) Even the thought of it was suffocating.

I was there, watching the scenery of Lagoon City from inside a carriage with Juna.

“Were you born here, Juna?” I asked.

“No, I was born a little further to the northwest, in a small port town near the border with the Union of Eastern States. It's not as lively as it is here, but we do catch lots of delicious fish there, you know?”

“Oh, yeah? I'd like to go there someday.”

“Yes, I hope you will.”

While we were having that pleasant chat, the carriage arrived at Excel's manor.

At Lagoon City, the Navy's stronghold, there was a base, but there was no castle. That was because they didn't antic.i.p.ate the city being besieged by a land-based force. It reflected the fact that the Navy was able to show its fullest power at sea, and if this

land were ever invaded by a foreign enemy, they would simply board the s.h.i.+ps and eliminate the enemy, city and all, with coastal bombardments.

The sea serpent race loved this land more than anyone, and if they couldn't have it, no one could. They were pretty yandere when it came to their feelings for this land.

When we rode onto the grounds in our carriage, I saw that Excel was standing in front of the manor, awaiting our arrival. Her blue hair shone in the sun, her beautiful face peering out from behind it.

Like always, Excel was so beautiful, you could tell even from a distance. You could really tell she was Juna's grandmother. (Though there were few people whom the word “grandmother” would have suited less.) The blue outfit she was wearing that was like a kimono crossed with a dress looked good on her.

When I looked over, Juna had a grim look on her face.

“Juna? What's wrong?” I asked.

“That kimono…”

“The kimono?”

“It's Grandmother's favorite. It seems… caution may indeed be warranted.”

“Um… Technically, my only goal here is to survey a military facility…”

When I said that, alarmed, Juna wrapped her arm around mine, holding it tight, then looked at me with a serious expression. “Sire, when you are in front of a sea snake, you never show an opening to strike. If you do…”

“If I do?”

“You'll be gobbled up.”

“…”

…I didn't know exactly what that was supposed to mean, but I made a mental note to be careful.

(Y)

When we disembarked from the carriage, Excel met us with a smile.

“It's been too long, Your Majesty. Welcome to Lagoon City.”

I knew what Juna had said, but for now, she didn't seem any different from usual. I tried not to make my wariness evident, responding in a friendly tone. “We haven't seen each other since I appointed you as Supreme Commander of the National Defense Force, right? I'm glad to see you're in good health.”

“Hee hee! Oh, sire, you do love pus.h.i.+ng off major duties onto this old lady.” (She seemed to be fine with calling herself that.) “But thank you. I hope you've been well, Juna.”

“It's good to see again, Sea Princess.” Next to me, Juna gave a graceful bow.

Excel had been called “Sea Princess” in the former Navy. It was probably similar to addressing her as “ma'am” for them.

But Excel shook her head. “Juna, you've been discharged from the Navy. You will be marrying His Majesty, even if it is as a secondary queen. The only positions we have relative to one another now are the ones we have as family.”

“Sea… No, I understand. Grandmother.”

Yeah. This was a good scene, one that brought across their bonds as family… or so I thought.

“Hee hee hee. So, Juna, that means you and I are equals now.”

…What was that? Had I imagined that she'd stressed the word “equals” there?

Also, when she heard the word “equals,” I thought I noticed a vein rise on Juna's temple. “…Hee hee hee. Whatever do you mean by that, Grandmother?”

“You see, the key to not getting tired with a life that goes on for too long is to always take an interest in someone or other.”

“Is it now?” Juna asked. “By the way, do you have an interest in His Highness?”

“He's the first hero we've had since the first king, after all. I find him fascinating.”

Excel was smiling. But I sensed a strange pressure behind that smile. Juna was responding with a similar smile of her own.

…What was this atmosphere? I really wanted to get out of there.

“Anyway, do you mind if we go inside?” I suggested. “There's no need to stand out here, surely.”

“Hee hee! I'm sorry about that,” said Excel. “Please, come right this way.”

In any case, with the formalities (?) out of the way, we were led into the building.

Inside it was like a cla.s.sy Western-style manor. The furniture on display wasn't excessively gaudy, instead melting into the relaxed atmosphere. Even I, who was by no means artistic, could appreciate Excel's good aesthetic sense.

Eventually we were led to a room bearing a plate that identified it as the parlor.

There was already one person in the parlor, standing at attention.

That tall man, who was wearing the uniform of a non-commissioned officer in the Friedonia National Naval Defense Force, had bat-like wings and a lizard-like tail. The man saluted me, then began preparing tea.

Even once we had seated ourselves and he'd finished distributing tea to everyone, that man continued to stand behind Excel, waiting for orders.

I ma.s.saged my temples. “If he's just going to stand there, it's going to bother me too much not to think about it.”

“I did tell him he could just act like normal,” Excel said with a wry smile.

The man standing behind her was Castor. He had formerly been one of the three dukes and the General of the Air Force. He was also Carla's father.

Having been held responsible for defying his king and stripped of his post, he had been forced to retire and leave the family heads.h.i.+p to his young son Carl, while he himself had been put in Excel's custody.

Incidentally, the one acting as Carl's aide was, at the man's own request, the former steward of the House of Vargas and current General of the National Air Defense Force, Tolman.

Anyway, from what Excel had told me, she was working Castor hard as a rank and file soldier of the National Naval Defense Force.

Perhaps becoming a defeated general had stripped him of his stubborn pride and made him more meek. Or perhaps he was simply making a show of acting only as a rank and file soldier of the National Naval Defense Force out of stubbornness.

If he met them on the streets, he bowed even to those who had been ranked far beneath him until just recently, and when it was his day on cleaning duty, he cleaned all of the toilets on the s.h.i.+p.

I thought this about Carla, too, but the members of his bloodline tended to be far too loyal to the positions they found themselves in.

“…This is an order,” I said. “Sit down, Castor.”

“Yes, sir! Pardon me, sir!” Castor finally took a seat.

Good grief.

“Also, it kind of creeps me out, so drop the excessive formality,” I added. “Unless we're in public or there are other subordinates around, I want you to talk normally when it's on a personal basis. That's an order, too.”

“Yes, sir… But…”

“Castor, does a non-commissioned officer defy his king's orders?” Excel demanded.

“…Understood.” Castor reluctantly acquiesced.

Whew… Now we can finally have a relaxed talk, I thought.

“Anyway, it's been a while, Castor,” I said. “How's life in the Navy treating you?”

“Quite well, sir. I have already grown accustomed… I've gotten used to the smell of the sea. Also, um…”

“Hm? What's up?”

“How is Carla doing?” He seemed concerned for his daughter who was now my slave.

Well, he was her father, after all.

“Relax. Carla is… Uhh, she's getting along fine.”

“What was that pause?! What was that ‘Uhh' for?!”

“No, I'm sure she's doing great and all, it's just…”

If I recalled, back in the castle right now, Carla would be…

(Y)

Meanwhile, in the studio back in Parnam Castle…

“Bwahahahaha! Silvan, today I end you! Get him, Wheel Monster Dialgon!”

“Dialgoooon!” (Moltov had taken over playing the monsters from Aisha.)

“Curse you, Miss Dran and Dialgon! I will protect peace in this country!”

(Y)

“…Yep. She's (probably) doing fine. Physically, she's the very picture of health. I know she's a slave belonging to the Royal House, but I haven't laid my hands on her or anything like that.”

Now, as for her being mentally fine, I wasn't so sure. I mean, Serina was always toying with her…

“You haven't done anything to her… When I hear that, I'm actually more worried.”

“Hm? Why does that make you look so depressed?” I asked.

“Because if you had laid your hands on her, I'd think that would make Carla safer.” Castor let out a little sigh. “I've heard from d.u.c.h.ess Excel. You're the kind of man who values his family, and you'd do anything to protect them. In the time since I was left here, I've come to hear rumors of what you do, and… I hold the same opinion. That's

why I figure that if Carla became pregnant and you recognized her as family, nothing could make her safer.”

Not so that he could become a relative of the Royal House, but so that his daughter would be safe. It made me think about how complicated a father's feelings were.

But…

“I have zero intention of taking Carla as my queen.”

He was silent.

“Still, Liscia would be upset if anything happened to Carla,” I said. “I'd rather not have to see Liscia sad. I can guarantee you I won't do anything too bad to her.”

“You won't…? I'm relieved to hear that. Please, I ask that you take good care of my daughter.” Castor bowed his head deeply.

I'm sure he took on that more formal tone at the very end because it was a sincere, heartfelt request. With the way Excel had been treating him, maybe it had helped him to grow somewhat as a human being. (Well, as a dragonewt, actually.)

I looked over to Excel. “So, Excel, do you think we can use this guy?”

“Hee hee! I've prepared him well. As you would expect from a man who once led armies, he learns quickly. The way things are going… I'd say it's possible.”

“I see… Well, let's go then.”

Having finished that exchange which only the two of us understood, Excel and I rose to our feet. When they saw us suddenly stand up, Juna and Castor's eyes went wide.

“Um, sire? Where are we going?” Juna asked me with a blank look.

I smiled wryly. “Did you forget already? Our plan for the day is to survey a military facility, remember?”

“Oh, now that you mention it… That's right.” Juna's cheeks flushed red with embarra.s.sment.

Her mind must have been preoccupied with staying on guard against Excel. When she was embarra.s.sed, she actually acted her age. It was really cute. I wished I could just watch her forever, but I had king things that needed to actually get done.

“Now then, first order of business…” I turned to Castor, who looked like he had no clue what was going on. “For now, let's put a blindfold on Castor.”

(Y)

With Castor blindfolded, we got onto a wyvern's gondola, then traveled an hour or so, including the time transferring over to a s.h.i.+p midway.

When we finally reached our destination, I said to Castor, “Okay, you may now take off the blindfold.”

“…Why do you sound so high-handed?” Castor grumbled.

Even as he grumbled about it, Castor took off his blindfold. When he did, he found himself in the middle of the woods.

The only ones there were Juna, Castor, Excel and me, and the only thing in sight was a bunch of trees.

“What are we doing in a place like this?” Castor seemed dubious, but then he suddenly seemed to realize something and furrowed his brow. He asked me, “Is this… an island or something?”

“Oh…? Why would you think that?”

“I can smell salt water in all directions. We're near the sea, right? We did get on a boat in the middle of the trip, after all.”

“…Perceptive,” I said.

Even though he had been blindfolded the whole time, he had managed to immediately figure out that we were surrounded by the sea. That was impressive. I could see Excel had trained him well.

That's when I noticed that Juna was dumbfounded by what she was seeing.

“What's the matter?” I asked.

“Oh, no… It's just, on the way here, I've seen a lot of incredible things…” Juna said a little embarra.s.sedly, realizing I'd caught her with her guard down.

Ohh… Come to think of it, I never had told Juna about this place, did I? I had been leaving it totally in Excel's hands, after all.

Seeing Juna like that, Castor looked even more suspicious. “Just what is this place supposed to be?”

“Hm? Well, to put it in the simplest terms I can… It's our secret weapon, and a testing ground for a type of troops, maybe?”

“Secret weapon?” Castor repeated.

“It's faster to just show you. Come this way.” I started walking and led the way for everyone.

When we had walked a little ways, we came to a clearing. It was a meadow covered in short gra.s.s.

There was nothing high up, so the blue sky spread out over our heads. When I looked up to the sky, there were wyvern knights flying in formation.

I pointed up to those wyvern knights. “Castor, what do you think when you see that?”

“They're very… fast, huh…” Castor said, narrowing his eyes as if it were bright. “Too fast, if anything. That's not a speed wyverns can fly at. Are they using magic or something?”

“Well, when it comes to magic… you could say they're using it, in a way, yes. But, if they used magic to create a tailwind, do you think they could still fly in formation like that?”

“…No, not possible. If they were accelerating themselves with magic, they'd be less synchronized.”

Like Castor was saying, people had varying skill levels when it came to magic. Even if they used magic of the same type, the power, range, and cost depended on the person. That was why, even if we gathered a bunch of people with the same ability to

manipulate wind, they probably wouldn't be able to fly in neat formations like that while accelerating with magic. So that speed didn't come from magic, it came from technology.

“I want you to look at the back of their saddles,” I said.

“They've got something attached there,” Castor noted, looking where I'd told him. “Is it those rings?”

If you looked closely, yes, on the back of the wyvern knights' saddles there were two rings; one on the left, and one on the right.

I answered him while still looking up at the sky, “What you see there on the back of their saddles is a miniaturized, light-weight version of the Little Susumu Mark V.” (The Maxwellian Propulsion Device.) “When equipped with those, wyverns can fly faster and with a greater cruising range than ever before.”

(Y)

It had happened on the day when Ludwin took me to see Genia's dungeon laboratory.

They'd shown me Genia's inventions like the Little Susumu Mark V and Mechadra, and while I'd still had some concerns (especially about what I was going to do with Mechadra) on my way home, I had been confident that I'd found the key to bringing a revolution to this country. That was when a certain idea had occurred to me.

“…Hey, Genia. Can this Little Susumu Mark V be ma.s.s-produced? Also, could you make it smaller and lighter?”

“Hm…” Genia answered after thinking for a little while. “It's really an issue of whether I can secure a source for a certain special metal, but if that can be taken care of, ma.s.s production is possible. Now, as for miniaturization and making it lighter, you do realize the output will scale down with that, right?”

Metal, huh? This had been before we'd absorbed Amidonia, so getting that metal would have been difficult in light of the poverty of mineral resources in the kingdom…

Genia tilted her head to the side quizzically and asked, “What were you going to use them for?”

“Well, they suck in air and blow it back out, right? In that case, I was thinking we could fix them to the wyverns' bellies, or maybe the back of their saddles.”

“Oh?! I see! I hadn't thought of using it like that!”

There were three types of creature used in a manner similar to airplanes in this world: wyverns, which were in wide usage; griffons, which only the Empire had succeeded in breeding; and the dragons of the Star Dragon Mountain Range. If I were to a.s.sign them a grade of S, A, B, or C to their flight speed, turning, and cruising range, it would look like this:

[Wyvern] Flight Speed: B, Turning Ability: C, Cruising Range: A

[Griffon] Flight Speed: A, Turning Ability: S, Cruising Range: C

[Dragon] Flight Speed: S, Turning Ability: A, Cruising Range: S

…Well, more or less.

If you look at these stats, you can see that wyverns are like bombers, able to fly long distance but not strong in a fight; and griffons are like fighters, not able to fly long distances, but strong in a fight. The dragons were strong in all categories, but they were far less numerous than the other two, and they were sentient, so they couldn't really be controlled. There was apparently a country up north that had a contract with the dragons, but they were an exception among exceptions.

In other words, though I wanted to avoid this at all costs, if we went to war with the Empire, our wyvern cavalry would be no match for the Empire's griffon cavalry.

However, if we could make a miniaturized, light-weight version of Genia's propulsion device and attach it to them, what then? Wouldn't it raise everything except for their turning ability? If we could make it:

[Wyvern (With Propeller)] Flight Speed: B (S), Turning Ability: C (C-), Cruising Range:

A (S+)

Then, even if they couldn't fight griffon cavalry in close combat, they might be able to compete using a hit-and-run style of fighting. That was what I was thinking.

That said, I hadn't been able to secure a source of that special metal, so the idea had had to go on hold for a time. However, with Roroa foisting Amidonia on me later, things had changed.

Though Amidonia's food self-sufficiency rate was low, it produced a wealth of valuable mineral resources outside of just iron. That happened to include the special metal.

With a stable supply of the necessary metal, I had once again asked Genia to develop a miniaturized version of the Little Susumu Mark V that the wyverns could be equipped with.

(Y)

“And so, she developed the Little Susumu Mark V Light,” I concluded.

The ma.s.sive Little Susumu Mark V had been made smaller, lighter, and able to be installed on the back of a wyvern's saddle. The reason there were two rings was that, with only one, it pulled in riders who got in front of it. In order to prevent that, the rings were positioned to the left and right. Incidentally, when they weren't in use (when the rider wanted to focus on tight turns, or the wyvern was flapping its wings itself), they could be closed like clam sh.e.l.ls. In contrast, when the device was in use (for high-speed, long-range flights), the wyvern could keep its wings fixed in the open position, focusing only on creating lift.

With the invention of the Little Susumu Mark V Light, our country's wyverns were, as I had hoped, able to outmatch the Empire's griffon squadrons on everything except turning speed.

When he heard that explanation, the former General of the Air Force, Castor, was deeply impressed. “It's an incredible invention, yes, but… couldn't you have done something about that name?”

That was the one thing that disappointed him. I could relate.

“I did at least register it as the Lightweight Maxwellian Propulsion Device,” I said.

“Yeah, I think that's better.”

That was when I noticed Juna had a gloomy look on her face.

“Hey, what's wrong, Juna?” I asked.

“Um… are you planning to fight the Empire, sire?” Juna asked worriedly.

Oh… Having heard my explanation, maybe she would think that, huh. It was true, I was using the Empire as my imaginary enemy when developing weapons. You should always prepare for an enemy stronger than yourself, after all. But…

“For as long as Empress Maria of the Gran Chaos Empire stays true to her ideals and stands strong, I don't think we'll have a problem,” I said. “I have no intention of fighting against the Empire as it exists now, either.”

“…You don't?”

“Nope. But… no one knows what the future holds. There's no guarantee the Empire will stick to its current policies, and it's possible that another major power other than the Empire may someday rise up to face us. I don't want to take a naï veview of things, and then be left scrambling when that time comes. That's why, at all times, I need to a.s.sume the worst possible scenario.”

For that, doing things that were like tearing down a stone bridge and replacing it using the newest techniques was just about right. Machiavelli said a prince must always be prepared for changes of fortune, after all.

“You're a.s.suming the worst possible scenario… I see,” Juna said, and then said no more on the subject.

I was sure she was still feeling uneasy, but in the end, she trusted me. Liscia and Aisha could be the same way sometimes. Roroa was the only one who wouldn't feel uneasy, and would actually help fuel me.

Honestly… they were all too good for me.

Castor asked, “Earlier, you said this was a testing ground for secret weapons and types

of troops, right? I understand the weapon part, but what's this about a secret type of troop?”

“If you want to know that, we're going to need to walk a little further,” I answered.

I started to walk, leading the group to our next stop. While we progressed through the open field, the gra.s.s suddenly stopped, and the bare ground was exposed. That spot where red clay had been laid down was like sports ground. However, there were no bases for baseball, or goals for soccer. The only things there were were two tents to ward off the sunlight, and one anti-air repeating bolt thrower.

Inside the tent, the fox-eared mage who was now Ludwin's second-in-command, Kaede Foxia, was deep in conversation with a bunch of people who looked like researchers and engineers.

When we approached, Kaede noticed us, too.

“Why, Your Majesty, and d.u.c.h.ess Excel, too. Welcome,” Kaede said and greeted us with a smile.

“Long time no see,” I answered. “Have you guys been doing well?”

“Yes. Hal and I are both doing well, you know. Oh? Is the princess not with you today?”

“Yeah… This lady here is my partner for today,” I said to her in a whisper, putting my hand on Juna's lower back and giving her a little push.

Juna took a step forward, then gave Kaede a slight bow of her head. “It's nice to meet you. I am Juna Doma, formerly of the Navy.”

“Oh, my! You're the Prima Lorelei, aren't you?! I'm a fan, you know! Please, let me shake your hand!” Kaede held Juna's hand with both of her own and shook it up and down. “I never would have known you were in the Navy… Huh? Didn't His Majesty just say you were his partner…?”

Kaede blinked rapidly, then looked at me.

I had said she was my partner, thinking it would be okay for Kaede to know we were engaged, but it was a little embarra.s.sing having to explain it in my own words. When I looked, Juna had turned a little red, too.

“Um, er, well… That's how it is,” I said at last.

“…I get it,” Kaede said. “So that's how it is, huh?”

Looking at both our faces, Kaede, clever girl that she was, connected the dots immediately.

Lowering her voice a little, she asked, “Since it hasn't been announced yet, I a.s.sume this is still a secret, right?”

“I'm glad you pick up on these things quickly,” I whispered back. “Juna's incredibly popular, after all.”