Genjitsushugisha no Oukokukaizouki - Volume 12 - Chapter SS1

Chapter 1: Uninvited Guests 

The calendar year had changed to 1549, and I welcomed the new year as the official king of the country. Today, Liscia’s room was filled with energetic voices again. 

“Hey, Cian, Kazuha, come here,” I called to Cian and Kazuha from outside their wooden playpen. 

“Squee! Daada, daada!” 

“...Daa.” 

The two of them came up to the fence and used it to pull themselves to their feet. The boisterous voice belonged to Kazuha, and the relaxed one to Cian. 

Kazuha immediately let go and toddled for a few steps before falling over. It was an impressive fall, but I was making her wear a backpack with a cushion (made by yours truly) that made sure she wouldn’t strike her head when she fell. She laid there, flailing her arms and legs like a turtle flipped on its back. 

Cian, meanwhile, tried to let go of the fence like Kazuha had, but kept getting scared and immediately grabbed it again. Once he finally managed to take a step, he instantly had his hands on the ground. Then he crawled over to Kazuha and put his hands on her body to help him stand up. 

He’s using his sister as a stepping stone? (He was not actually stepping on her.) 

Once he got up, Cian turned to me, and spread his arms as if he was saying, “Hug!” but one of Kazuha’s boisterous legs knocked him off his feet, and sent him tumbling onto his back like her. Cian was wearing the same backpack as Kazuha, of course. Now there were two babies on their backs, flailing around excitedly. 

“““Th-They’re so cuuuute!””” 

Aisha, Roroa, and Naden squealed together. 

The trio was so charmed by the baby duo that I could practically see the heart marks in their eyes. 

“Sheesh... What are they saying such an obvious thing for?” I commented. 

“How can you say that with a straight face, Souma?” Liscia gave me an exasperated look with her hands on her hips. Next to her, Juna had a small smile on her face. 

“I mean, come on, it’s a fact that the kids are cute!” I tried to make my case. 

“I know how you feel, but... aren’t you being too much of a doting parent?” 

“Now, now, Lady Liscia. It’s a fact that they’re cute.” Juna took the children by their little hands and helped them up. 

The way they sat there like little teddy bears was just so cute... I hated that there was no such thing as photography in this world. It was beyond cruel that I couldn’t leave a record of these adorable children’s growth. 

“The children are getting bigger and bigger,” Aisha said happily. 

The other day, Cian and Kazuha both turned one year old without ever getting seriously sick. They were both still small, but compared to when they were first born, they had certainly gotten bigger. Now that I was a parent, I had learned what a joy it was to see your children reach a birthday. It felt so many times more emotional than my own birthdays ever had. 

“Maa! Maa!” 

“Maa...” 

Cian and Kazuha raised their hands, as if begging us for hugs. 

“Oh, ya want a hug, huh? C’mere, Kazuha.” 

“Okay, I’ll hug Cian, then.” 

Roroa and Naden picked up and hugged Kazuha and Cian. 

By the way, though they couldn’t speak actual words yet, they had started using their voices to express their intentions. When they called me, they said, “Daa,” and when they were calling Liscia, they said, “Maa.” I thought “Maa” was probably supposed to be “mama,” but it seemed to mean women in general for them. 

Maybe that was because the other four got carried away with saying things like, “Mama’s here,” when they were playing with the children. Liscia’s response to that was, “But I’m the one who gives them milk...” and she’d puff her cheeks up. I think Aisha and the others apologized afterwards. Now that I thought about it, there was one other person who the children treated differently. 

Knock, knock, knock. 

“Come in,” Liscia said. 

“Pardon me.” Carla entered wearing her maid dress and bowed her head. 

When the children saw her... 

“Cawla!” 

“Cawla...” 

...the children said happily. 

Though it was a bit slurred, you could tell they were saying Carla. In fact, the first name our children learned wasn’t mine or Liscia, but hers. It seemed the two of them loved Carla. She had been with them constantly, even when they were still in the womb. And she’d also been at Liscia’s side since they were born, caring for them, and this was the result. Well, it was to be expected, but still... I was jealous. 

“To think they’d learn your name before the person who gives them milk...” Liscia’s cheeks puffed up again. 

With all our jealous eyes focused on her, Carla coughed to try and hide how awkward it felt, then said, “Master... I have a message from the Prime Minister asking that you come to the governmental affairs office.” 

“...Oh, it’s that time already, huh? I wanted to play with them a little longer, too...” 

“Just do your job, Your Majesty,” Liscia said sharply as I was looking at the children, still loath to leave. 

Urgh... I guess I have no choice. I had to do my job for the children’s sake, too. Cian, Kazuha, Dad’s gonna work hard. 

“Hurry up and go.” 

“Yes, ma’am...” 

Liscia practically ran me out of the room. 

I closed the door behind me, then slapped my cheeks to get myself in the right mindset. Okay, King Mode activated. Time to switch gears. 

When I reached the office Hakuya, Tomoe, and Ichiha were already there waiting. If the two of them were here, that meant that the thing I had asked for was ready. 

When I sat down in my chair, Ichiha somewhat timidly approached and presented me with a bundle of papers. “Y-Your Majesty, I brought what you asked for.” 

“Thanks, kid.” When I took it, Ichiha got a troubled look on his face. “Hm? Is something wrong?” 

“Umm, I’m one of your retainers, so could you not call me ‘kid’?” he said hesitantly. 

Huh? ...Oh! Right, right! I clapped my hands, as if I had just remembered. Tomoe smiled wryly, and Hakuya pressed a hand to his forehead and shook his head. 

“Sorry, Ichiha.”

Though we were treating Ichiha as an exchange student from the Duchy of Chima, he had recently accepted an offer to become my retainer. 

The method of identifying monsters by their parts which he was studying would also be useful in studying demons when we inevitably met them. That’s why I wanted to combine his abilities with Tomoe’s, since she could talk to demons. But it was still a top-level secret that Tomoe had talked to a demon before. If this information leaked to another country, we’d be looking at instant instability. In order to prevent that, only I, my family, and a select few among the upper echelons were informed of it. Naturally, a foreign exchange student like Ichiha couldn’t be told. 

I needed Tomoe and Ichiha to work in lockstep to study the demons. In order to be able to reveal Tomoe’s ability, Ichiha needed to be my retainer, not just a foreign exchange student, and to be prepared to live in this country for life. When Hakuya, Tomoe, and I tried inviting him to serve this country after graduating from the Royal Academy, Ichiha was quick to agree. 

“I wouldn’t mind that. With my sister no longer there, I have no lingering affection for the Duchy of Chima. I want to live here, in this country where people have accepted me for who I am,” Ichiha had said with a smile. 

With that agreement firmly in place, Ichiha was told Tomoe’s secret. I had made her tell him about it herself. Tomoe seemed unsure what he was going to think, and Ichiha was tense because I had told him we were going to reveal classified information that he absolutely must not divulge. 

“N-Nice weather today...” 

“Y-Yeah, it is, huh?” 

They had a rather awkward, but comical, exchange. I felt like we were at an arranged marriage meeting.

Anyway, I addressed Ichiha, who was now my retainer, “Ahem... Now, Ichiha. Let’s see what you have for me.” 

“Y-Yes, sir!” 

I looked through the bundle of papers Ichiha had given me. I had asked him to produce a document regarding something specific. 

“...I see, this is well-done. Every page is full of information. This should prove to be very useful,” I said with a nod. 

“Tomoe and the Monster Research Society people helped, too.” 

“Hakuya, have this copied and distributed to the relevant people immediately.” 

“Understood.” 

“Well done, Ichiha and Tomoe. You may leave now,” I said to Tomoe and Ichiha after handing Hakuya the bundle of paper. 

“Yes, sir.” 

“We’ll be going now then, Big Brother.” 

Once I saw that they had left the room, I turned to Hakuya. “It looks like preparations to send the fleet to the Nine-Headed Dragon Archipelago are moving forward smoothly.” 

“Yes. Because we’ve prepared for a long time, with careful planning.” Hakuya replied with a cool expression. 

I crossed my arms and leaned back in my chair. “Careful planning... huh?” 

“Hm? Is there something that bothers you?” 

“When you plan things out in advance, something unexpected always happens, right? During the war with Amidonia, I made Castor mistrust me and he rebelled. Then, when it was over, Roroa came along and upended everything. All these things happened that we never saw coming.” 

“...That’s true.” 

I rested my head on the palm of my hand and looked out the window. I had bitter memories of the unexpected events that happened in the war with Amidonia. 

“Here’s hoping something unexpected doesn’t happen again.” 

“...Don’t say something so ominous.” Hakuya let out an exasperated sigh. 

And so—though I’m not sure if this conversation tripped some flag and led to it—a few days later, Castor sent two “unexpected people” to us from Lagoon City. 

The two people that Castor had taken into custody had asked for an audience with me, the king, so he sent them here by wyvern gondola. When I received the report, I hurried to the audience chamber with Hakuya and Aisha. It would have been better if we’d been told in advance, but all of the messenger kuis were being pushed to their limit in preparing the fleet, and this was deemed urgent, so he only sent a wyvern knight ahead to notify us. Because of that, there wasn’t much time between being informed and their arrival. This was like finding out you had won an award when it already arrived in the mail. 

“Hakuya, about the report Castor sent us... Do you think it’s true?” I asked as we hurried to the audience chamber, having already changed into my formal uniform. 

Hakuya, who was also walking quickly, nodded. “Yes. They also provided something to prove their identity. I don’t think there’s any doubt.” 

“I see. Damn! Why now, of all times...?” 

“Tell me about it.” Hakuya had a gloomy look on his face. 

We had been working steadily towards a plan that we had refined and refined. Now, just when the fleet was almost ready to leave port, this sort of irregular event came our way, so I couldn’t blame him for looking that way. If these people were who the report stated, one mistake in how we handled them could make all that preparation meaningless. No matter what, that had to be avoided. 

“Nothing could be more trouble than this. Do you think the Nine-Headed Dragon King has a hand in it?” 

“I wouldn’t know, sire. You’ll have to ask them yourself.” 

“Geez... Aisha.” 

“Yes.” 

“I don’t know what’s going to happen. Be careful.” 

“Yes, sir! Leave your defense to me.” Aisha thumped her chest with one hand, the other firmly gripping the hilt of the sword at her hip (which was not her greatsword, because it was too unwieldy to use indoors). 

I caught my breath in the next room, and then the two of us entered the audience chamber. I looked at the bottom of the steps as I walked to the throne, and the two individuals mentioned in the report were kneeling there, heads bowed. 

Once I had sat down, I spoke to them, “It’s got to be hard talking in that position. I’d like you both to raise your heads.” 

“...Understood.” 

“Yes, sir.” 

The two of them stood up and raised their heads. One was wearing a frilly outfit that was reminiscent of an ancient Chinese court lady. She was a charming young girl with distinctive wavy emerald green hair. There was something like a fish’s fin on her ear, so it was clear at a glance that she wasn’t a human. Looking closer, what seemed like a dangling sleeve at her elbow was actually a thin, transparent fin, too. According to the report, she was a mermaid, and they were common in the Archipelago. Though her lower half wasn’t that of a fish, I understood why she was called that based on her appearance. 

The other one was a tall, thin beastman with white fox ears. He wore hakama pants, and though he had been disarmed for this audience, with a Nine-Headed Dragon katana at his side, he would have looked just like a samurai. His face had the same intelligent pretty-boy look as Hakuya and Julius, so if I made him dress up as an onmyouji exorcist like Abe no Seimei instead, he’d look the part. If someone told me he was an emissary of Inari the fox god of the harvest, I’d believe them. 

What caught my attention as I looked at the two of them was their expressions. 

The young man was doing everything he could to keep a serious look on his face that betrayed no emotion. This was the most common expression during an audience with the king. Even if he bore me ill will, showing it here would only hurt him, after all. As for the other one, the mermaid girl... I should just come right out and say it. 

Her eyes were dead. No, I’m not making a joke about her having dead fish eyes because she’s a mermaid, or anything like that. There was no life in her eyes, and though I’m sure she was pale to begin with, her pallor wasn’t good, either. If she was trying to hide her emotions with a serious face like the young man was, her feelings were dripping out. 

Tragic resignation—she felt so cornered that she was trying to give up on everything. 

If I met someone with this expression on the way to the forest around Mt. Fuji, or perhaps a tall cliff, I’d feel the need to stop them and say, “Don’t do anything hasty.” But here she was, standing before me. Even as she felt that way, there was a reason this was occurring. 

“Sir Souma A. Elfrieden, king of Elfrieden and Amidonia.” The mermaid girl put her hands together in front of her and bowed her head. “First, it is an honor to meet you. I am Shabon, daughter of Nine-Headed Dragon King, Shana, who rules the Nine-Headed Dragon Archipelago Union. The man with me is an island lord of the Archipelago Union, Sir Kishun, who has accompanied me as my guard.” 

“It is an honor to meet you. I am Kishun.” Having been introduced, the young man with white fox ears bowed his head.

The United Kingdom of the Nine-Headed Dragon Archipelago—a union state situated in the sea east of us. The name came from a legend that a Nine-Headed Dragon had once gone on a rampage there. The interesting thing about that was that my weird translation ability was rendering the “dragon” in that name with the same kanji as an eastern dragon—a ryuu, not a western one. I guess it was something like Yamato no Orochi, not King Gidora, that went wild there, huh? 

Was that just a legend? Or was it a monster? Or perhaps one of the Old Ones that the Mother Dragon, Madam Tiamat, had mentioned? It wasn’t clear. 

Though it was similar to the Union of Eastern Nations in that it was an amalgamation of island states, this place had a much longer history. Remnants of royal families who had been run off the continent; oppressed minority races; people driven out after losing in political struggles; and criminals—this country was founded by people left with no place to go on the mainland. Maybe because of that, there weren’t as many members of the major races, like humans, there. 

The sea serpent race that Excel belonged to had once owned an island in the archipelago, but lost it due to war, political strife, or calamity, and came back to the continent where they settled in Lagoon City. There were apparently a lot of unusual races like that in the islands. They had a history of races with nowhere to go but their one island fighting over territory at sea, and constantly warring to preserve their islands’ independence. 

I don’t know if it was because their country formed that way, but they were violent by nature, and every island was fiercely independent. I guess you could say they were rebellious spirits? 

Now, the head of the largest island, Nine-Headed Dragon Island, was accepted as the overall chief of the Archipelago Union, but the chiefs of each of the other islands governed individually. If their king was a shogun, the island chiefs would have been his daimyos. If the Nine-Headed Dragon King tried to step in and dictate how an island should be ruled, the islanders would resist it. 

You may wonder why the Nine-Headed Dragon King was considered to be the chief of the Archipelago Union, but it was in order to oppose foreign forces. Back in the time when the Gran Chaos Empire had more steam behind it, there was a sense that they might manage to unify the continent. If the Empire were to invade the Archipelago, no individual island could take them on. Because of that, the King of Nine-Headed Dragon Island, which had the largest population, brought the islands together to form the Archipelago Union, and created a system that would let them overcome the divisions between the islands to fight as one. 

The formation of this union was an exception for the fiercely independent people of this country. Conversely, if not for the threat of foreign invasion, the islands would never have fought together. 

In the time since the Union was formed, the islands had mostly stopped fighting each other, and a prosperous system of trade developed, but they were still strongly rooted in their customs (which I think it’s fair to say were bad customs). 

Let’s take this story back to the present now.

The daughter of this Nine-Headed Dragon King was Shabon, who now stood before me, and her bodyguard was Kishun. In their country, it was customary to address people by full name, as if the two names were one. Also, like in Japan and China, the family name came before the given name. So, in this example, Shabon’s name was actually Sha Bon. 

These two had shown up with no forewarning. I had nothing but a bad feeling about this. 

“I am indeed King Souma A. Elfrieden of Friedonia. Let us get right to the point, Madam Shabon. Why is it that you have come to my country without any advance notice? You were taken into custody by one of our patrol ships, too. This could easily spark a diplomatic incident.” 

Shabon deeply bowed her head. “I apologize for our many transgressions. Please, forgive us. I simply had to meet with you, Sir Souma. I would very much like for you to listen to what I have to say to you.” 

“Listen... you say?” What could she have to say to me now, at a time like this? “You are, of course, aware of the tensions that exist between my country and yours, correct?” 

“Of course.” Shabon raised her head and nodded. 

“Is King Shana involved in this?” 

“...No. Father has nothing to do with it. I am here of my own volition.” 

“So you’re acting on your own, then...?” 

Ahh, damn it. That confirmed this was trouble. Even as I clicked my tongue internally, I looked at Hakuya who was standing beside me, and he had a look of exasperation on his face, too. Aisha, meanwhile, was staring Kishun down with a look that said, “If you intend to harm His Majesty, you’ll not get off unscathed,” and she was totally ignoring the conversation. 

I asked Shabon a question, “Do you understand the current situation, Madam Shabon?” 

“Yes. And that war approaches,” Shabon answered with lifeless eyes. “Our country’s ships have been fishing illegally in your waters, threatening the livelihood of your own fishermen. And those illegal fishing ships are officially guarded by Father’s... the Nine-Headed Dragon King’s fleet. Even though you have repeatedly sent letters protesting it.” 

She paused. But before I could respond, she continued. 

“And in order to break out of this deadlock, you have decided to make war on our country, right? There are emissaries from the Empire urging all of our island chiefs to join the Mankind Declaration, but the fiercely independent chiefs won’t choose to do that. In fact, if a foreign threat is coming, they will work with the Nine-Headed Dragon King to meet it. In the near future... there will be a great war at sea to decide which of our countries is greater, I’m sure.” 

Well, that was more or less the answer I expected. 

“If you know all that, then why are you here?” I said with a sigh. 

Shabon looked straight at me, eyes still lifeless, and said, “Please, use me as your ‘tool.’”