ACT 1
Yuuto concluded his campaign against the Panther Clan, and returned home in triumph to Gimlé, his capital.
By this time, the heat from the sun’s rays was growing stronger by the day, and it seemed that the summer season was just about to begin.
“Sieg Reginarch!! Sieg Reginarch!!” The citizens all cheered fervently, their voices reverberating throughout the city of Gimlé.
One could feel the very air quivering with each cheer.
It was so loud, it was enough to wonder if every single person in the whole city was shouting at the same time.
Mitsuki was standing at the entrance to the palace, waiting eagerly in anticipation of Yuuto’s return.
“Oh, it sounds like he’s back,” she said happily. “Yuu-kun really is loved by the people of this world, isn’t he?”
Mitsuki had black hair, an incredibly rare trait in Yggdrasil. But that was only natural, for she was Japanese, born and raised.
At first glance, Mitsuki seemed like a meek and mild-mannered girl, but in order to be together with the boy she loved, she’d been willing to come with him across time and space to the world of Yggdrasil. She had quite a bit of backbone.
Standing next to Mitsuki, a little girl responded with zealous pride. “Oh, he really is! At school, everyone is always talking about how their dream is to exchange the Oath of the Chalice with Master Yuuto!”
This adorable young girl of twelve with hair cropped just above her shoulders was Ephelia.
She had originally been captured and sold as a slave, but Yuuto had purchased her, and now she served as Mitsuki’s personal lady-in-waiting.
“Wow, really?” Mitsuki asked. “Oh, by the way, have you gotten used to your new school?”
Thanks to Yuuto’s fondness for her, and his desire to have a test case for a new mandatory education system for children, Ephelia had been attending a school in Iárnviðr. After Gimlé had been designated as the capital of the new Steel Clan, she had transferred to a new school here.
Yuuto had told Ephelia that it was fine to stay with her biological mother back in Iárnviðr, but the usually-timid girl had insisted on coming with them.
She was close in age with the twin girls from the Claw Clan and seemed to get along particularly well with them, as Mitsuki often saw them playing together. Perhaps Ephelia hadn’t wanted to be separated from them, either.
“Yes! Everyone has been so kind to me!” Ephelia smiled widely and nodded.
Mitsuki had heard from Yuuto that the girl had encountered some light bullying at her previous school, but looking at her bright expression now, it seemed there was no need for worry on that front.
“I see. That’s good to hear,” Mitsuki replied.
She had also come to be very fond of this honest, diligent girl, and cared for her a great deal, so it was a relief.
“Oh! It looks like he has arrived!” Ephelia shouted.
“Huh?” Mitsuki turned to look towards the palace gates, where a single chariot had appeared, pulled by two dark brown horses. It was noticeably more extravagant than a normal chariot, embellished in various places with pure gold.
The black-haired young man riding in that chariot car dismounted, and as he did so, the dozens of people waiting at the palace entrance to meet him all dropped to one knee.
The only one left standing was Mitsuki, and her eyes met his.
The young man—Yuuto Suoh—casually waved to her.
“Hey, Mitsuki, I’m back! I know it’s been almost two months. Sorry for being away for so long.”
“No, it’s all right,” Mitsuki replied. “I understand how it is. Good work out there, and welcome home, Yuu-kun.”
“Thanks.” Yuuto smiled happily.
At first glance, Yuuto gave off the impression of a cheery, mild-mannered person, but there was also something more: a heavy, commanding presence about him.
It wasn’t as if he’d become a completely different person. His features were still those of the boy she’d always known. And yet...
Why’d you have to go and grow up so fast on your own? Mitsuki thought.
Yuuto had become so much cooler, and now it felt like everything he did sent her pulse racing. It seemed unfair.
“Oh, that’s right,” Yuuto said. “You remember that promise from before?”
“Huh?”
“The one about having a proper wedding when I got back.”
Mitsuki’s face went red, and she gave a small nod. “...Yes, I remember.”
Yuuto stopped smiling, and with a serious expression, he took Mitsuki’s hand and got down on one knee.
“I’ll ask once more. Mitsuki Shimoya, will you marry me?”
As he finished speaking, he gave a mischievous little wink.
That jogged Mitsuki’s memory. Thinking back on it now, she’d once told him a long time ago that she really loved this sort of dramatic proposal style.
He must have made sure to remember that, all this time.
Yuuto really was unfair.
This was all far, far too wonderful.
She was overwhelmed as feelings of happiness, love, and nausea welled up within her.
“Sorry, so—mmph!” Unable to suppress it, Mitsuki flung off Yuuto’s hand and pressed her own hands over her mouth, dashing away at breakneck speed.
Yuuto and all the other people left behind could only watch, dumbfounded, as she ran off.
Suffice it to say, the fact that the Reginarch’s marriage proposal had been outright rejected was the hottest topic of discussion throughout the palace that day.
“Ohh... oh, I’m sorry. I’m sorry I brought shame on you, Yuu-kun...”
Lying in bed, Mitsuki repeated her apologies over and over, large tears in her eyes.
Don’t become a burden to Yuuto. She had sworn that to herself deep in her heart, but now she had humiliated him in a very public way. She just couldn’t forgive herself.
Yuuto, on the other hand, just waved a hand dismissively. “Ah, really, it’s fine, okay? You’re sick, so there wasn’t anything you could do about it.”
He didn’t seem to care about what happened in the slightest.
What a big-hearted husband I have... Mitsuki found herself falling in love all over again.
“Well, more importantly—oh, uh, I’m not talking about you being sick, I mean the bringing-shame-on-me stuff,” Yuuto said. “Anyway, the more important thing for me is your answer to my proposal, you know?”
“Of course it’s ‘Yes!’ If you’re really okay with having me, then please let me marry you!”
“Okay.” Yuuto smiled gently, and stroked Mitsuki’s head. “Then first, you’ve gotta rest and get better.”
A feeling of warmth, of security, spread throughout her.
“Ooh... mmph!”
And yet, as if to spite those warm feelings, a wave of nausea overtook her, and she had to cover her mouth again.
“Hey, you all right?!” Yuuto shouted, and quickly held out an earthenware pot.
Mitsuki was grateful for the gesture, but the idea of vomiting right in front of the boy she loved was something her pride as a girl just wouldn’t allow.
Thankfully, she was able to hold it back this time, and the queasiness eventually subsided.
“Maybe you ate something that didn’t agree with you,” Yuuto said, furrowing his brow with a pained expression.
He probably felt a personal connection to this situation, since he’d suffered a lot from digestive troubles back when he’d first come to Yggdrasil.
“Mm, is that what it is, I wonder?” Mitsuki murmured. “My stomach doesn’t really hurt, though.”
“Hmm.” Yuuto tilted his head, seemingly deep in thought. Then he put his hand on Mitsuki’s forehead. His hand was a little cold, which felt good. “You’ve got a bit of a fever. Well, I’m sure you probably just caught a cold or something.”
“Ahh, that might be it.” Mitsuki nodded. “It happens a lot when the seasons change, after all.”
“Right, so then, make sure you eat something nutritious and get plenty of sleep. That’s the best thing for a cold.”
“True.”
Mitsuki had no objections, and so she decided to take Yuuto’s advice and devote some time to rest.
Though she was sick, her symptoms weren’t all that major, and so both she and Yuuto assumed she’d get better right away. However, in spite of both their expectations, after three days her condition hadn’t shown any signs of improving.
Her light fever continued, and if anything, the frequency of her bouts of nausea only increased.
She had no appetite, and couldn’t even keep most food down.
Naturally, at this point, it seemed like it could be something more serious, and Yuuto grew worried. Disconcerted, he called on Felicia for help.
This was a world where everyone believed that illnesses were caused by things like possession by evil spirits.
Priests and faith healers were the ones who filled the role of doctors.
Felicia was a priestess who could use galdr song magic and even seiðr, the more complicated ritual spells, and she also had a wide knowledge of medicinal herbs and their applications. In this world, she was as prestigious and effective a faith healer as one could ask for.
In the past, she had regularly gone on trips to visit the sick in their homes. She had personally taken care of Yuuto when he was sick many times, as well.
Of course, as Yuuto was a person from the modern world, he’d always been slightly reluctant to rely on her for medical issues because her practice was not based in science, but this was no longer a situation where he could afford to be like that.
Felicia measured the strength of Mitsuki’s fever, checked the back of her throat, and asked her some questions.
When she was finished, she turned to Yuuto, and with a radiant smile, said, “Congratulations, Big Brother! As your younger sister, and as a member of the Steel Clan, it is my heartfelt honor to be able to celebrate this with you.”
Mitsuki knew those words could only have one meaning. She reflexively placed a hand to her abdomen.
Meanwhile, Yuuto hadn’t put it together yet.
“Huh? What do you mean? Does that mean she’s not sick, then?”
Of course, he’d been summoned from the modern world to Yggdrasil during his second year of middle school, right in the middle of a very sensitive period of learning for young boys. Mitsuki realized he likely hadn’t had much exposure to knowledge about sex and related topics, either.
Felicia laughed, and shook her head. “Tee hee! Oh, you may rest assured of that. Rather, this is an occasion for rejoicing! I cannot declare it with absolute certainty yet, but I believe that Big Sister Mitsuki is with child.”
Back in their bedroom, Mitsuki held up the pregnancy test kit to show Yuuto the “positive” indicator. “Yeah, it looks like I really am pregnant.”
Back in Japan, her mother Miyo had secretly taken her aside and given it to her, telling her she’d need it eventually. Mitsuki had never imagined she would end up using it this early, though.
Yggdrasil’s medical standards were less than great, especially when compared to the modern world.
After all, this was a world where the commonly accepted way of thinking was that evil spirits caused illness.
When Felicia had pronounced her pregnant earlier, even that couldn’t have been considered much more than an educated guess on her part. But this was different.
“By the way,” Mitsuki added, “I heard the accuracy of a positive result is around ninety-nine percent.”
If a test from modern Japan confirmed it, then it was pretty much safe to assume it was for certain.
“...I see,” Yuuto replied. Sitting on the bed, he looked like he wasn’t totally there.
That stirred up feelings of anxiety in Mitsuki. “Um, could it be that, maybe, you didn’t want children?”
“N-no, of course not,” Yuuto stumbled. “I’ve always wanted to have some, someday. It’s just... I always thought of it as something much farther down the road, and I never really got myself ready for it, like, in terms of resolve, or, you know.”
Yuuto was now the ruling lord of many clans as the Reginarch, and known for his unflappable character, so his stumbling response right now was a bit of a rarity.
Apparently, this really was out of left field for him.
“I mean,” Yuuto fumbled, “I’m just some stupid kid only barely about to turn seventeen next month—is it really all right for someone like me to become a parent? Can I really be a good father? It’s like, I can’t stop worrying about that now.”
Yuuto’s face looked so intensely serious that Mitsuki could barely keep herself from laughing. “Pfft!”
“What the hell?! What about that is funny?!”
“But, think about it, Yuu-kun, you’ve already got dozens of children, right? You’re already a successful parent!”
“Hey, that’s a completely different thing, and you know it! And you know how they say, ‘Children are raised by parents, but they belong to society.’ If I’m gonna be a father, I’ve got this, like, real serious responsibility, a duty to make sure the kid grows up to be a good person.”
“Ahaha!” Mitsuki couldn’t hold back the laughter anymore.
It seemed Yuuto wasn’t opposed to having this child, to say the least. In fact, he sounded like he was totally ready to raise one. That fact alone made her gleefully happy.
“Hey, quit laughing already!” Yuuto’s expression grew more and more sour.
He often came across so much more grown-up nowadays, but this expression of his was still somewhat childlike.
Knowing that it was a side he only showed to her made it all the more adorable.
Mitsuki raised one hand to gently cradle Yuuto’s cheek, and she looked into his eyes. “Yuu-kun, you’re thinking too hard about this! It’s all way more simple than that. It’s about whether you can love this child or not. That’s what’s important.”
“...Is that really how it is?” Yuuto asked haltingly. He seemed to have trouble finding the confidence to believe her.
Until quite recently, Yuuto and his biological father, Tetsuhito, had been trapped in the worst sort of relationship, and for a long time.
That past of his was probably what was filling him with so much anxiety and doubt.
And so, Mitsuki nodded strongly, and said, “Yeah, that’s really how it is, Yuu-kun. In truth, there’s also the problem of whether you can support a child financially, but in your case, there are no problems there. So, there’s only the one question. So? Can you love this child?”
“Of course I can!” Yuuto shouted his answer immediately, without any hesitation.
That was enough for Mitsuki.
She wanted to offer her new child all the love she had to give, and she wanted Yuuto to love it, too. That wish was now granted, so Mitsuki’s worries vanished.
“Thank you,” she beamed. “I love you, Yuu-kun! ?”
“Me, too.” He smiled.
“The fact that you didn’t say the words yourself is so very like you, Yuu-kun.” Mitsuki pouted, making her dissatisfaction very clear.
“Oh, shut up. It’s embarrassing!”
“Bzzt! Wrong answer. You need to say it. I said it, didn’t I?”
“Ugh, give me a break. You’re gonna have to settle for this!” Yuuto grabbed the back of Mitsuki’s head, and pulled her to him.
He kissed her, barely more than a peck on the lips, and then turned his face away.
He was beet red.
“...Okay, I’ll settle for that,” Mitsuki replied softly, looking down with her own face flushing a bright red.
He’d managed to shut her up with a kiss.
Yuuto really is unfair, she thought.
The next day, Mitsuki was out taking the garmr puppy Hildólfr for a walk. Just as she was passing by the inner courtyard, a loud voice startled her.
“Hey, what are you doing out walking around like that?!” The voice was calling down from above, reprimanding her.
Of course, there was only one person living in this city allowed to speak to Mitsuki in such an unreserved, rough tone.
She glanced up to see Yuuto leaning over the terrace railing, looking down at her with a very worried expression.
“It’s not just your body anymore, Mitsuki,” he insisted. “Moving around so much is...”
“Ahaha! You’re worrying waaay too much. This isn’t an illness, okay? And I’ve heard from my mom that walking around is actually recommended.”
“R-really?!”
“Yep, really. Plus, the air outside is more refreshing, and it’s keeping my nausea from flaring up as much.”
“W-well, okay then, but don’t push yourself too hard, all right?” Yuuto relented, but he was in full “worry-mode” at this point.
Mitsuki smiled to herself. He was definitely going to be one of those fathers obsessed with the safety of his child.
She called up to him, “Oh, more importantly, Yuu-kun, are you done with work for the moment? If you are, do you want to come down here and spend your break with me? We can eat together.”
Mitsuki understood well just how incredibly busy Yuuto was due to the responsibilities of his position. That was why she tried not to get in the way of his work.
Despite how much she longed to see him during the day, she didn’t barge in on him in his office. But if he was out on the terrace overlooking the courtyard, she figured he must be taking his lunch break.
“Yeah, that sounds good,” Yuuto nodded. “All right, I’ll have everything brought down there.”
“Great. Then I’ll be waiting for you!” Mitsuki waved to him, and he disappeared back into the building.
“Now then,” she said, turning to Hildólfr, “how about we play for a bit until Yuu-kun gets here?”
She took out a dog toy made from a rope, one she’d hand-fashioned herself.
The young garmr’s tail began wagging furiously. Lately, playing with this had become Hildólfr’s favorite thing to do.
Mitsuki held the rope toy up, pulled back her arm, and shouted, “Go get it!” Then she hurled it with all her might.
Hildólfr kicked the ground with great force, and dashed off after the toy. He ran with incredible speed.
In practically the blink of an eye, he had already fetched the toy and was bringing it back.
He dropped it at Mitsuki’s feet, and then sat down obediently to wait.
“Good boy. You did such a good job.” As Mitsuki praised him, she gave him a treat, some chicken meat she’d gotten from the kitchen beforehand.
She waited to make sure he was finished eating it before she picked the toy up again, and gave it another throw.
This time, the pup caught it in mid-air, and was practically prancing as he brought it back.
“Wow, you’re so amazing! Here you go, your treat.”
“Woof!” Hildólfr barked happily in response.
Even though his species was feared throughout the Bifröst region as ferocious, predatory beasts, he was completely tame and friendly to humans.
This was surely owed to the pup’s foster mother Sigrún, and to the thorough obedience training she had put him through.
“Okay! One more time!” Mitsuki picked up the toy and gave it another throw.
Hildólfr dashed after the toy as before, but then abruptly took a sharp ninety-degree turn, running in another direction entirely.
Yuuto was now in the courtyard, and Hildólfr raced over to him, running in circles around his legs.
“Mm? Hey, hey, cut it out already,” Yuuto objected. “You’re making it hard to walk.”
The pup stopped in front of Yuuto and lay down on his back, showing his belly.
It was a pose of submission.
Aside from his foster mother Sigrún, Yuuto was the only person Hildólfr had ever done this for.
The term “lone wolf” might be part of popular culture, but in actuality, wolves were by their nature pack animals with a strong instinctive sense of hierarchy.
Hildólfr had picked up on everyone else’s behavior towards Yuuto, accurately recognizing him as the leader of their “pack.”
Mitsuki found herself feeling a little jealous.
“Fine, fine, I just have to pet you, right?” Despite his supposed grumbling, Yuuto was smiling kindly as he crouched down and began rubbing the pup’s belly.
Hildólfr’s eyes closed in an expression that seemed positively filled with joy.
After about twenty seconds of this, Hildólfr suddenly got up and, as if in payback, leapt up onto Yuuto and began licking his cheek.
“Uwah, hey! Don—ugh! Hey, c’mon!” Yuuto began to sputter in protest.
Despite being a puppy, Hildólfr was already around the size of a fully-grown large dog. Yuuto couldn’t stay on his feet, and toppled backwards. This apparently brought him into a better position, as Hildólfr eagerly began licking him all over the face, tail wagging all the while.
Clearly, the garmr loved Yuuto a lot.
By the time Yuuto finally got free, his face was all wet and sticky.
“Uugh... that was horrible,” he moaned.
“Tee hee, but you never once commanded him ‘Off,’ did you, Big Brother?” Felicia teased him with a knowing giggle.
Hildólfr was extremely well-trained to follow standard commands.
He would have backed off immediately if Yuuto had said “Off” in the correct tone.
The fact that he hadn’t showed that, regardless of Yuuto’s grumbling, he’d enjoyed the bonding and affection.
It was so sweet that Mitsuki giggled.
“Ma-Master, please take this.” Ephelia handed Yuuto a wet towel.
The young girl was out of breath. Apparently she had foreseen this situation during Hildólfr’s first jump upon Yuuto, and she’d run as fast as she could to go get a towel for him.
“Ah, thanks, Ephy.” Yuuto took the towel and began wiping off his face. “You’re so thoughtful, as always.”
“Oh, not at all,” Ephelia said, embarrassed. “I’ve been a serving girl for about a year now, so I need be able to do this much as a matter of course.”
“Huh, that’s right. It’s only been a year since then. Wow, it feels like so much longer...”
Passing the used towel back to Ephelia, Yuuto seemed a little emotional as he murmured thoughtfully to himself.
Mitsuki hadn’t heard about everything that happened, but knew the basic details. Yuuto had fought war after war, with the Horn Clan, then the Hoof Clan, then the Lightning Clan, then the Panther Clan. Then, right in the middle of fighting the Lightning-Panther Alliance, he’d been forcefully sent back to modern Japan, and as soon as he managed to make his way back to Yggdrasil, he had to go straight into fighting the Lightning-Panther Alliance again as they invaded. And after that, he’d been out fighting a campaign to track down and subjugate the Panther Clan, until just a few days ago.
It had been a year filled with constant war, and for Yuuto, it must have been the longest year of his life.
“Hee hee, indeed, a lot has happened, hasn’t it?” Felicia said, and cast a meaningful glance at Mitsuki.
More specifically, at Mitsuki’s belly.
“And now, we are truly blessed, for Big Sister Mitsuki is with child!”
“Urk!” Simultaneously, Yuuto and Mitsuki both tensed up.
In Yggdrasil, pregnancy before the age of twenty wasn’t rare at all; it was pretty normal, in fact. However, from the standards of modern Japan, common sense said that it was way too early.
It wasn’t easy for either of them to brush off the norms and values they’d been raised with. And so, they’d both reflexively felt shame when the subject was brought up.
“Oh, it is truly so wonderful!” Felicia rhapsodized. “Now the future of the Steel Clan is assured!”
“You’re getting way too ahead of yourself,” Yuuto insisted. “Besides, Yggdrasil doesn’t do passing on power through bloodlines.”
“Oh, but this is Big Brother and Big Sister’s child we are talking about. There is no chance at all such a child will not be talented!” Felicia seemed strangely filled with confidence as she declared this.
This is one of those situations where the aunt is more obsessively supportive than the kid’s own parents, Yuuto thought with a wry smile.
“All right already, geez,” he said aloud, changing the subject. He gestured to the table nearby, which servants had covered with an array of food. “Forget about that for now, and let’s eat something.”
Mitsuki loved cooking, but she loved eating other people’s cooking just as much.
She happily ran over to the table, exclaiming, “Wow, it looks so delici... mmph!”
Unfortunately, as the scent of the fresh bread hit her, she was forced to cut herself off and put her hands over her mouth, turning away and putting some distance between herself and the table.
Once she couldn’t smell the food anymore, the nausea settled down.
“Hey, you okay?” Worried, Yuuto ran over to her side.
“Uhh, y-yeah. It’s just that I couldn’t handle the smell of the bread, for some reason.”
“Wait, what? But you love freshly baked bread!”
“I know that, but... ooh... right now it’s just no good.” Mitsuki shook her head vigorously.
It wasn’t just that she didn’t like the smell. It was as if at the moment the scent reached her her whole body started rejecting it. An intense nausea welled up each time.
And this was with the smell of something she’d always loved.
Yuuto stopped and pondered, looking up into empty space as if trying to remember something. “Ohh, wait, I think I’ve read about this—during pregnancy, your preferences and sense of taste can change, or something like that.”
Even though Yuuto’s schedule kept him constantly busy, apparently he’d wasted no time in trying to do some research for her benefit, likely sometime late last night. It made Mitsuki really happy knowing that she was so important to him.
Yuuto addressed the servants. “I’m really sorry after the work you’ve done, but please take away all the bread. Feel free to share it among yourselves and with the other staff.”
“Whaaat?! B-but, that’s not fair to you...” Mitsuki was initially a bit taken aback, but Yuuto shook his head.
“I’m not here to eat bread. I’m here to share a meal with you.”
A line like that left her with nothing to say in response. She quietly nodded.
“How about this soup, then?” Yuuto started to pass her some stewed meat and vegetable soup.
The fragrant, savory smell reached her nostrils. Mitsuki frantically began waving her hands at him to take it away. “Ugh, sorry, that garlic smell really makes me feel sick!”
“Garlic’s no good either, huh?” Yuuto furrowed his brow more seriously this time. “That’s gonna make things a bit rough.”
Mitsuki had spent three months living in Yggdrasil now, so she understood what Yuuto meant.
To the people of the Wolf Clan and Horn Clan, garlic was as much a part of everyday food culture as miso and soy sauce were to the Japanese. It was used in most of their recipes.
If Mitsuki couldn’t handle garlic now, that would make her unable to eat quite a lot of the food here.
“Umm, do we have anything that’s sour?” Mitsuki ventured. “I feel like I might be able to eat that.”
“Ohh, I remember reading something about that on the internet, too. But still, sour foods, huh... There aren’t really a lot of those here. Japanese-style pickled plums are out of the question, obviously. Sour citrus fruits aren’t really a thing here, after all.”
“Oohh...” Mitsuki whimpered.
Pregnancy was a simple thing, but also so complicating.
It was something that had been experienced and overcome by innumerable women through the ages, since the dawn of humankind. And yet the sacred act of bringing new life into this world was not something that came easily or cheaply.
Joy wasn’t the only thing it was going to add to her life.
Mitsuki was now quickly coming to grips with that truth, in the hard way.
“The sun is pretty strong today,” Mitsuki said. “It really feels like summer’s here. Oh, Ephy, what’s the word in your language for the sun?”
Yuuto and Felicia had returned to their work, and so Mitsuki was taking Hildólfr for a walk with Ephelia, who had returned from her daily classes.
Lately, Mitsuki had taken to asking Ephelia the Yggdrasil names for different things as part of her daily routine.
“Sól, my lady,” Ephelia replied.
“Hmm, sól, I see... there we go.” Mitsuki quickly jotted down the word and its meaning on a sheet of memo paper she carried around with her.
Mitsuki possessed the ability to cast galdr song magic, and with the galdr spell Connections, she could speak to and understand the people here without any difficulty from the language barrier. However, casting the spell many times in one day was pretty draining.
There were also times when, as a side effect of the spell, things she was thinking to herself but intended to leave unsaid were also communicated along with her words, which caused its own problems.
And so, Mitsuki had decided to start studying in her spare time so that she could learn the Yggdrasil language as quickly as possible.
“Then, how about the moon?” Mitsuki asked.
“That would be máni.”
“Máni, I see. And if I remember right, ‘beautiful’ is fagr or fagra. So since my name means ‘beautiful moon,’ in your language it would be Fagramáni, then. Heh, that sounds a little weird.”
“Not at all, my lady. I think it is a lovely name.”
“Hee hee, thank you.”
As the two of them continued this light conversation, they spotted a familiar face as they passed by the courtyard.
It was a red-haired girl with upturned, willful eyes. She was wearing a leather sack at her waist that seemed to be loaded down with something.
“Hey there, Ingrid!” Mitsuki shouted.
When Ingrid realized who was calling to her, she responded casually with a wave of her own. “Ohh, it’s the missus. Good to see ya.”
The two of them had seen plenty of chances to talk, and whenever they exchanged old stories about Yuuto, they really found a kindred spirit in each other. So at this point, they exchanged greetings and spoke to each other easily, like old friends.
“What are you doing out here?” Mitsuki asked. “Are you on break?”
“Yes. There was this design diagram Yuuto showed me, you see. He showed me a copy on that thing—it’s called a ‘smartphone,’ right? Well, on the smartphone the picture’s pretty small, and it makes my eyes hurt.” Ingrid sighed, massaging her temples with her fingers.
At first glance, Ingrid looked like any normal girl you might see living in town. But she was actually an Einherjar of the rune Ívaldi, the Birther of Blades, and a certifiable genius when it came to designing and creating things.
She was the one who always took the ideas and inventions Yuuto came up with, and then turned them into the physical tools and weapons the clan used.
Yuuto was now praised as a legendary ruler, even a god of war, but none of that would have come to pass without this girl’s diligent work. She was as indispensable to Yuuto as his own right arm.
“Ahaha! The screen size is just something you have to get used to, I think,” Mitsuki said.
She was honestly pretty curious about this new design Ingrid had mentioned, but she wisely chose to let it pass without comment.
She’d heard from Yuuto that the things Ingrid was in charge of were all top-secret.
She would just be causing trouble for the girl if she started asking questions about them.
“Oh, by the way, I heard you’re expecting?” Ingrid added. “Congratulations!”
“Thank you.” Mitsuki lightly bowed her head.
“I’ll make sure and forge a small blade for you as a protective charm.”
“Really?” Mitsuki perked up. “I’d love that! I’ll make sure and get you a nice present too, when it’s your turn!”
“Wh-whaaat?! M-me? I... I’m not really...”
“What? Wait, are things still awkward between you and Yuu-kun?”
“......Yes.” After a long pause, Ingrid nodded once, her face crimson.
Yuuto and Ingrid had spent the last three years as friends, treating each other no differently than two guy friends might do.
In Ingrid’s case, she’d developed romantic feelings for Yuuto pretty early on, but Yuuto had been too oblivious to catch on to that.
Plus, Ingrid had always known that Yuuto was in love with someone else, and she was also afraid of ruining their friendship by trying to push things further, so she’d always kept her feelings suppressed.
...That was, until about three months ago, when an offhand conversation had led to everything being revealed to Yuuto.
“Even today, I saw him for the first time in forever, and I was so embarrassed, I couldn’t even look the guy in the eye...” Ingrid admitted. “I was so tense, I was stiff as a board, and I couldn’t talk or act normally at all. I mean, I know things can’t go on like this, but... ughh...” She trailed off into something between a sigh and a groan.
It seemed things hadn’t improved this whole time.
Ingrid would always get flustered, and then couldn’t even hold a conversation with him.
As previously mentioned, Ingrid was the one who had made it possible for Yuuto to introduce his future technology into Yggdrasil, and she was an absolutely vital and irreplaceable part of the clan.
If the two of them continued on in this fashion, unable to interact properly, then it would be no exaggeration to say it might endanger the prosperity and safety of the Steel Clan as a whole.
Mitsuki was the mother of the Steel Clan now, and she couldn’t leave this problem unaddressed.
She decided she was going to have to be the one to step out of her comfort zone a bit, and went with the first idea that came to mind.
“Umm, I know it kind of can’t be helped, since you deal with a lot of classified stuff, but maybe the problem is that being alone with him is what’s making you so tense? Why don’t you include me next time, and the three of us could just relax and spend some time together?”
If the two of them alone ended in awkward silence, then a third person might help bridge the gap in conversation.
In the end, that might be something they just had to learn to get used to, just like with the smartphone screen.
“Ah...! Please do!” Ingrid jumped at Mitsuki’s offer without a second’s pause. Her desperation was enough to make Mitsuki flinch back a little, but she kept her composure.
“All right,” Mitsuki said. “Then I’ll set up a date as soon as I can, okay?”
“Thank youuuu!” Ingrid was already tearing up as she took Mitsuki’s hands and squeezed them tightly. She must have been struggling even more than Mitsuki had imagined.
I’ve got to do something about this! Mitsuki told herself with renewed resolve.
“Still, Yuu-kun is so clueless,” Mitsuki said. “Treating you no differently than a male friend all this time. I can’t believe him!”
“Right? Right? I mean, in the first place, he...”
For a while after that, the two girls enjoyed some heated conversation at Yuuto’s expense.
After parting ways with Ingrid and starting on her walk back to her room, Mitsuki soon spotted a short, cute girl, her hair faintly tinged with red.
“Oh, it’s Linnea,” she said.
The girl was indeed as young as she looked, but she was also the patriarch of the Horn Clan, and the second-in-command of the Steel Clan, a talented individual of considerable status.
Mitsuki hadn’t had much contact with Linnea until now, and so they had rarely spoken. But she’d heard from Yuuto about her incredible skills in planning, organization, and domestic politics.
During the Steel Clan’s recent campaign against the Panther Clan, she had single-handedly directed and organized all of the logistics. And when the enemy had begun a scorched-earth strategy of burning their own villages, her efforts had ensured food for the refugees in addition to the Steel Clan armies.
Right now, her accomplishments were a hot topic within the walls of the palace in Gimlé.
Even now, she seemed to be busy giving instructions to some laborers.
Mitsuki figured it would be a bad idea to interrupt her work, but walking past her without even a proper greeting would be rude in itself. So she tried to be unobtrusive.
“Good day,” Mitsuki offered, trying to be nonchalant.
“Huh? O-oh, Mother!” Linnea suddenly looked at Mitsuki in surprise, and gave a polite bow. It seemed she hadn’t noticed Mitsuki approaching her at all. “It is fine to see you on this day. I have heard the news from Aunt Felicia that you carry Father’s child. As his sworn daughter, I humbly offer you my most heartfelt congratulations.”
Linnea’s greeting and her congratulations were stiff and formal, portraying a sense of distance.
That was perhaps understandable, considering the circumstances.
Linnea was another girl who had fallen in love with Yuuto. When faced with the woman pregnant with the child of the man she loved, it was hard to imagine that she could be relaxed or friendly with her.
“Huh?” Suddenly, Mitsuki was distracted from these thoughts by the scene in front of her. By how familiar it was.
Within a wooden partition, the laborers were using shovels to fill the space with a gray, mud-like mixture.
Then they were using a tool with a flat bottom like an iron, smoothing out the surface of the mixture until it was flat and level.
“Is that... concrete?” Mitsuki asked incredulously.
Around ten years ago, a rather large earthquake had struck Mitsuki and Yuuto’s hometown of Hachio, and for a while afterwards, workers mixing fresh concrete for repairs had been a frequent sight. That was why Mitsuki recognized what she was seeing now.
“Ah, so you are familiar with this as well, Mother?” Linnea asked, intrigued. “Is a vast array of knowledge common to all of the people from the land beyond the heavens, then?”
“Umm, I’m really not that knowledgeable, so I’d rather you don’t get your hopes up,” Mitsuki said. “I can tell that it’s concrete, but I’ve got no idea how it’s actually made or anything.”
“It is actually a rather simple process. We need only take finely-ground limestone and volcanic ash, and mix in water and gravel in the right proportions.”
“Ohh, so that’s what the ingredients are,” Mitsuki said, impressed. “I never knew.”
Incidentally, the ingredients and process Linnea was describing was not that of modern-era concrete, but something known today as “Roman concrete.”
Roman concrete is tremendously superior to modern concrete: Not only is it twice as strong, but compared to modern concrete’s average lifespan of fifty to a hundred years, Roman concrete lasts for several thousand.
Perhaps the most surprising thing about this material is the very fact that it was indeed being created and used as far back as ancient Rome.
“Hm, then what about the Norfolk crop system and the iron-refining process?” Linnea asked.
“Hey, I said don’t get your hopes up!” Mitsuki exclaimed. “Pretty much the only subject I know my way around is Japanese cooking.”
“I see... So then, even in the heavenly realm you hail from, Father is a special case.” Linnea was nodding to herself in satisfaction, as if her conclusion only stood to reason.
“Umm, I don’t know, I think he was actually pretty ordinary,” Mitsuki answered.
“Ordinary?!” Linnea’s eyes went wide. “Someone as great as Father?!” It was as if Mitsuki’s remark had shocked her to the core.
“Uh huh,” Mitsuki said. “Though of course he’s always been special to me. But he was never especially good at schoolwork or studying, or anything like that.”
As she said this, Mitsuki found herself thinking back to old times, and growing a little nostalgic.
Indeed, Yuuto had once been a completely ordinary boy.
And now, he was effectively a king: a great hero who had led a small nation on the brink of destruction to become an influential superpower.
Mitsuki had been living here in Yggdrasil for almost four months now, and she still wasn’t used to that discrepancy.
“I cannot believe it...” Linnea murmured, dumbfounded.
It seemed that she, like Felicia and Sigrún, was an ardent believer in Yuuto as something larger than life.
“Well, that’s because I’m only talking about what Yuu-kun was like before he came to this world,” Mitsuki said.
“Huh?”
“During these last three years, Yuu-kun has worked so hard. He really has.”
Whenever Yuuto had purchased a digital book, he had done so using Mitsuki’s account, so naturally Mitsuki had seen what he was buying.
It was a long, steady line-up of difficult-looking books.
Thinking of how he would have had to read those texts over and over in order to fully understand them, she had nothing but respect for him.
“When I finally got to see him in person again, and watch him as he worked, it felt like I hardly recognized him,” Mitsuki said. “He’s grown up so, so much! It made me feel left behind, in fact.”
“Ha ha ha, it is true that Father’s growth as a leader is remarkable,” Linnea chuckled. “I have been desperately trying my hardest to catch up to him, and I also feel as if I have been left behind. It also seems as if he grasped upon some new strength during the two months he was back in the land beyond the heavens. His dignified air and commanding presence have reached new heights.”
“Mm... you know, there’s something about that that bothers me, though,” Mitsuki said. “It’s like, he’s got this resolve, but it seems... I don’t know, tragic, or something.”
“Tragic, you say?”
“Yeah...” Mitsuki nodded, frowning.
Considering Yuuto’s current power and his nation’s growth, this comment seemed completely out of place.
Mitsuki was worried for him, about what burden he might be shouldering in secret, but she didn’t intend to interrogate him about it herself.
Mitsuki looked Linnea straight in the eyes and smiled. “I’d like for you to keep that in mind, okay? And if it’s possible, please be there for him and give him the support he needs.”
For a moment, Linnea was dumbstruck, caught totally off-guard.
But she soon replied, “Forgive my rudeness, but isn’t it your role as his wife to support him in that way?”
Her tone was a bit sullen, and a little sharp around the edges.
“Oh, I’d like to do that more than anything,” Mitsuki replied. “But if we’re talking about his burdens as Reginarch Yuuto, I don’t think it’s going to be possible for me.” With a wry smile, she shrugged her shoulders.
Frankly, Yuuto in his role as a ruler of nations was too difficult for Mitsuki to deal with.
Of course, she accepted that aspect of Yuuto and loved him all the same. But it was an aspect of him that she couldn’t fully understand—that she shouldn’t fully understand, in her mind.
She felt that if she ever came to see things just as he did, it would mean losing something about herself that was precious and irreplaceable to him.
“I can cook delicious food for him, and always be there for him with a smile,” she said. “That’s about all I can do. But I think there are times when that’s exactly what he needs—to be able to stop being Reginarch Suoh-Yuuto, and go back to being just Yuuto, the boy from Japan.”
Politics and military affairs could be a dirty business. Even Mitsuki knew that much.
And she knew that Yuuto didn’t like having to deal with the bloody side of his duty.
Eventually, there would be a limit to how much tension he could handle.
She wanted to be able to help him forget about such things, even if it was only for a few moments at a time.
And she also firmly believed that she was the only person who could do that for him.
Mitsuki looked Linnea straight in the eyes, her gaze containing the conviction of that belief.
After a few moments of the two staring each other down, it was Linnea who broke the silence with a long sigh.
“...I understand what you mean. There are times when I, too, am weighed down by my responsibilities as a patriarch, and wish I could return to being just an ordinary girl.”
“I see...” Mitsuki nodded. “So that’s how it is for you too, then.”
“However, Father in his role as the reginarch is still Father! To rule is to know loneliness. If you, as his wife, cannot understand his hardship, then I feel sorry for Father.”
“Yes, I think you’re exactly right. And that’s why I’m telling you that I want you to be there for him.” Mitsuki looked meaningfully at Linnea, with a lonely smile.
Linnea gasped, and then asked, very hesitantly, “Are you saying... that you will give me Father, in his role as the reginarch?”
“Yes, I am. As a patriarch, you would be far better than I would at seeing things from Yuu-kun’s perspective, understanding what troubles him, and supporting him the way he needs.”
Just as there were times when one wished to forget working life, there were times when one needed someone who could truly understand the difficulty and pain of that work. Unfortunately, Mitsuki believed she just wasn’t capable of the latter. She was still too new to this world, and too ignorant.
Linnea swallowed, and then asked, “...Are you truly all right with that?”
Mitsuki gave a wry chuckle, and scratched the back of her head. “I mean, I’m not really that okay with it... but the burdens Yuu-kun has to bear, they’re way too big for someone like me to be able to support him by myself. Oh... actually, maybe even with you and me together, it still might be a little too much to handle?”
“That is true.” Linnea nodded slowly. “I don’t think I alone am enough to support Father through his burdens as the reginarch. Perhaps Aunt Felicia would also be a fitting person for the role?”
“Right. I think she might be absolutely necessary, in fact,” Mitsuki said, nodding.
Felicia more than anyone knew and understood Yuuto’s schedule, and she accompanied him everywhere.
Naturally, she was always the first to notice when he was tired or in poor health.
Mitsuki absolutely wanted to make sure she formed an “alliance” with Felicia going forward.
“If I may be frank,” Linnea said suddenly, “I have only ever known you from the pictures Father showed me, and I have always been jealous of you. But I’ve never felt as jealous as I have today.”
Mitsuki couldn’t think of anything to say in response. It felt like it would be wrong to apologize, or express sympathy.
Linnea stared hard at Mitsuki’s face for a moment, then broke out into a bright smile. “But now I understand that there could be no one more suited than you to be Father’s true wife.”
“Ah...! Thank you very much!” Mitsuki quickly bowed her head in gratitude.
Linnea was the second-in-command of the Steel Clan. She was the leader of Yuuto’s child subordinates, and central organizer of the affairs of the clan. Being judged worthy by someone like her made Mitsuki sincerely happy.
“Mother, your way of thinking on this matter has left me with nothing but heartfelt respect for you,” Linnea said. “And so, would you please consider exchanging the Oath of the Chalice with me?”
“...Hwuh?”
“Huh, and so now you’re going to be exchanging the Oath of the Sibling Chalice with Linnea?” Yuuto asked.
The sun was setting low in the western sky, and Mitsuki was relaying the events of her day to Yuuto, who had come back from work.
The events of her day were all trifling things compared to the work of the reginarch, nothing he would have reason to care about.
He was so busy, and he surely had to be tired, but he still listened to her stories with interest, actually paying attention and chiming in here and there.
It was unimportant, idle conversation, but to Mitsuki, it was the most enjoyable and most important time of all.
This was the time when she had Yuuto all to herself.
“Uh huh.” Mitsuki nodded. “She said we’ll have a proper assembly for the ceremony, and that she’d arrange for it soon.”
“Wooow, you are seriously making your way up the social ladder, you know...” Yuuto sighed, shaking his head. He seemed genuinely impressed. “Linnea’s great at knowing how to use people’s talents, and she’s also a great judge of character. For her to acknowledge somebody as worthy of respect after such a short time, that’s a pretty big deal.”
Mitsuki giggled. “Are you boasting about me, or about yourself, Mister Suoh-Yuuto? Linnea’s eyes are always glittering with admiration when she looks at you.”
“Hey, in my case it’s only ’cause of the cheats I use!”
The two of them continued on like this, joking and teasing each other a bit, until there was a knock at the door, and a voice called out, “My lord, we have brought your supper.”
Several female servants, Ephelia among them, entered the room, carrying in the food.
“Ngh...” As the food was laid out in front of Mitsuki, she once again felt the waves of nausea welling up, and she turned away.
For tonight’s supper, she’d arranged to have some easy-to-digest rice porridge, made using some of the white rice she’d brought with her from Japan. But it seemed her body was going to reject even that.
At this point, this was starting to feel like a serious illness.
“I know it’s gotta be tough, but if you don’t at least eat a little, your body’s not going to hold out,” Yuuto said, worry in his voice.
Mitsuki felt just as much the same, but no matter what, it was like her body was rejecting everything.
Still, food was a precious commodity in Yggdrasil. She couldn’t allow herself to be wasteful. She resolved herself to force some of it into her mouth, if she had to. But just as she was about to...
Knock, knock.
There was another knock at the door.
“Big Brother, Big Sister, may I come in?”
“Oh, Felicia,” Yuuto said. “What is it?”
Felicia entered. “I was hoping to give these to Big Sister Mitsuki, if it is all right,” she said, and deposited a dish in front of Mitsuki that held what looked like a mountain of small red grains or seeds.
They didn’t look like anything Mitsuki recognized.
“What is this?” she asked.
“It is pomegranate.”
“Ohh, so this is what pomegranate looks like.”
She had heard the name of the fruit before, but it was her first time seeing it. That was normal for a modern-day Japanese girl, even one raised in a rural town. She wasn’t familiar with foods that you wouldn’t find on the shelves of a typical Japanese grocery store.
“The actual fruit is larger, similar in size and shape to a red onion,” Felicia said. “These are the edible seeds inside it that have been cut out and prepared.”
“Huh, really!”
“I was speaking to an acquaintance who has children, and she mentioned that many of the women of this region eat pomegranate during pregnancy. Normally, they are harvested later in the year, but it so happened that, by coincidence, I saw some southern-grown pomegranate for sale as I was walking around the bazaar.”
There’s no way that sort of thing happened by coincidence! Mitsuki thought, but she kept quiet.
Mitsuki knew what must have happened, even without asking. Having heard that pomegranates were good for pregnant women, Felicia must have scoured the marketplaces all over, searching for some. That thoughtfulness filled her heart with happiness.
“Thank you very much, really,” Mitsuki said, and scooped up some of the pomegranate seeds with a spoon. She tentatively placed the spoonful in her mouth.
“Ngh! Mmm...!” Mitsuki couldn’t help squeezing her eyes shut and waving her free hand.
It was intensely sour.
But right now, that was exactly what she needed.
It wasn’t the citrus-like sour of a lemon, but an incredibly tart taste, like a sour berry.
“It’s so good! This is really, really delicious, Felicia!” Mitsuki exclaimed.
“That is so wonderful to hear!” With an elegant smile, Felicia gave a little bow of her head to Mitsuki. Every one of her movements and expressions was beautiful.
To Mitsuki, who was aware that she was still very much a kid in many ways, Felicia seemed like such an adult. She found herself feeling a little envious.
“Thanks for going to all the trouble, Felicia,” Yuuto said with gratitude. “You really helped us out. I knew I could count on you.”
“Oh, thank you so much! I am not worthy of such praise.” Felicia reacted to Yuuto’s praise with a smile that was so full of pure joy it was practically bewitching. She looked as if she might start humming a little tune any second now.
She’d had such a grown-up air just a second ago, and that had all been washed away like nothing.
All from a single remark from Yuuto.
I knew it, Mitsuki thought. Felicia really does love Yuu-kun from the bottom of her heart.
One look at the woman’s smile was enough to make that all too clear.
Just as Mitsuki was starting to feel a small pang of anxiety in her chest, Felicia spoke up, breaking her out of her thoughts.
“Oh, and I brought these dates as well. Please try some, Big Sister.”
Felicia held out a second dish. This one held a pile of fruit that looked to Mitsuki like raisins, only much larger.
“These are made by drying out the fruits from the date palm trees that grow around here, right?” Mitsuki asked.
“Yes,” Felicia replied. “And, since olden times, it has been said that if a woman eats six of them every day, she will give birth to a healthy child.”
“Ohh, interesting. Six a day, huh?” Mitsuki grabbed one of the fruits and took a bite out of it.
It had a sweet flavor that seemed to spread throughout her mouth, reminiscent of the dried sweet persimmons she had eaten back in Japan. The sweetness was a little too strong for her taste, but thankfully it wasn’t enough to cause any nausea.
“Ah, it doesn’t go down as easily as the pomegranate, but I think I can eat this, too,” Mitsuki said. “I am sooo glad we finally found something I can eat!”
Mitsuki gave a long sigh of relief.
The situation had been getting so hopeless for her as of late, that the thought that she might possibly end up starving to death had even crossed her mind once or twice.
“Hee hee! I am grateful that I could be of service to you. ...Ah, Big Sister. If it is all right with you, might I be permitted to touch your belly?”
“Oh!” Mitsuki smiled, and nodded. “Yes, of course you can!”
She giggled to herself, remembering that just last night, Yuuto had made the same request.
Even in a totally different place and era, it seemed that the questions asked of a newly-expectant mother were pretty much the same.
The baby hadn’t started moving or kicking at all yet, but apparently people still wanted to feel her belly anyway.
“Inside here is Big Brother’s...” Felicia murmured to herself. She gently, tenderly stroked Mitsuki’s belly.
For Mitsuki, it was as if she could also feel Felicia’s love for Yuuto communicated through that touch.
Suddenly, Felicia stood up, her eyes blazing with determination, and she announced, “I have made my decision! From today onwards, I shall begin training to become a midwife!”
She grasped Mitsuki’s hand, squeezing it tightly, and continued.
“Big Sister! I implore you, please allow me to be the one to deliver your child!”
“U-umm...” Mitsuki couldn’t respond at first. It was such a sudden jump in the conversation that it left her struggling to catch up.
Felicia seemed to draw a hasty conclusion from that, for she immediately slumped her shoulders sadly, as if she’d been forcefully pulled out of a happy dream back into reality. “No...? ...Ah, right, of course, it is your first childbirth, after all. Rather than someone like myself, of course you would rather have a midwife with much more experience...”
She must have really wanted to be the one to do it.
“No, it’s not that,” Mitsuki interjected hastily, shaking her head. “I was just a little surprised, that’s all. In fact, I’d love to ask you to be the midwife. If I could choose anyone to do it, I’d want it to be you, Felicia.”
“T-truly?!”
“Yes.”
“Thank you so very much!” Felicia’s bright smile returned, and she let out a giggle. “Tee hee hee! Oh, I am so looking forward to it now. I wonder what sort of face the baby will have? Will it be a boy, or a girl, I wonder? If it is a boy, it will surely look just like Big Brother. Ohh, I can hardly wait until the day we meet...”
Felicia was fully back in high spirits and talking excitedly, caught up in a dream-like reverie as her imagination ran away with her.
It was clear beyond a shadow of a doubt that she was indeed truly joyful from the bottom of her heart that Yuuto was having a child.
“Hee hee, it’s much too early to get so excited, Felicia,” Mitsuki said, with a wry smile. She quietly sighed to herself in relief.
Felicia wasn’t just Yuuto’s adjutant. She was more than that to him.
From the very first days of Yuuto’s life in this place, when everyone else was calling him useless, she had always supported him with devotion, doing everything she could for him. She was someone precious to him, someone special.
She was precious to Mitsuki, as well. For that first month after Mitsuki came to Yggdrasil, Felicia had been a lifesaver, an irreplaceable ally and friend who had taken care of her and helped her in so many ways.
Perhaps Felicia had only been doing all of that for Yuuto’s sake. But even if that were true, she had been that kind and caring to the lover of the man she longed for—something few people in this world were capable of.
And so, Mitsuki loved Felicia.
If possible, she wanted for them to become close friends; true friends.
More than anything, she was filled with a simple happiness knowing that Felicia gave her full blessing to this pregnancy and was truly happy for her.
Mitsuki gently placed a hand on her own belly, and whispered softly, “You have nothing to worry about, little one. Everyone here is waiting for you with open arms.”
“My lord, regarding Fort Waganea... it came under a fierce assault by the Lightning Clan, and has been seized! The commander of the forces there, Lord Kurtz, is said to have been killed in the fighting.”
“Hm, is that so?” The Flame Clan patriarch’s response to his messenger’s panicked announcement was cool and detached. He remained calmly seated, his chin resting idly against one hand.
The patriarch looked to be somewhere in his late thirties, a man in the prime of his life. He also had dark black hair, an extremely rare trait in Yggdrasil.
His voice was low and quiet, dispassionate, even. But when he spoke, it was as if the air in the room around him froze over instantly with tension.
All of the other people gathered here were among the highest-ranking captains and officials in the Flame Clan, but even all of those fierce veterans went pale, and beads of cold sweat began running down their faces. They could only stand there in silence, swallowing silently, their eyes locked on their lord and master’s every little movement.
Murmuring to himself, the Flame Clan patriarch slowly raised his chin from his hand, and sat up straight. “That Lightning Clan child... He has managed quite the showing.”
He had acted in accordance with the agreement made with the Steel Clan, using his forces to draw the Lightning Clan army’s attention to the border and keep them occupied while the Steel Clan was conducting its campaign against the Panther Clan. He had only intended to hold his forces here to keep the Lightning Clan in check. But the Lightning Clan army had not only charged right into a defending force twice its size, they’d actually managed to win. It was admittedly a little surprising.
“So,” the patriarch mused, “his reputation as a warrior without equal is, it seems, no mere exaggeration.”
The soldiers of the Flame Clan army were not conscripts from the families of peasant farmers. They were all experienced, career soldiers who had undergone extensive training, and who were always in either active or reserve duty.
And Kurtz, the commander who had been in charge of the army at the border fortress, was a renowned general, perhaps even among the five strongest in the clan. He had provided enormous, impressive results on the field during the war with the Wind Clan.
And yet in spite of those things, this was the result.
Happy over the nostalgic gifts he had received, the Flame Clan patriarch had acceded to this alliance on a whim, but it had now ended up being quite the expensive exchange for him.
“The Steel Clan has already concluded their campaign against the Panther Clan, and so our part has been played. And, yet, I find myself simply unable to abide an injury unanswered...” One corner of the Flame Clan patriarch’s mouth curled slowly upward, forming a bemused smirk.
This man had so far destroyed and annexed three whole clans and their territories, the Wind Clan among them. However, from his perspective, this world’s civilization felt quite primitive, its people’s weapons and military strategies far behind those of his homeland. Frankly, conquest had felt boring.
And now this unexpectedly fierce opponent had appeared; someone who had been able to completely break through the Flame Clan front lines, whom thier patriarch had equipped with longspears of terrifying length to create an impassable barrier of death. Someone had defeated his “Wall of Spears” strategy, and from the perspective of his position as patriarch, it was horrible news... but the Flame Clan patriarch instead felt his heart begin to pound with excitement.
There was a bam! as the Flame Clan patriarch stood up with such sudden force that his foot slammed against the wooden floorboards.
“Send the call to all armies to assemble!” he shouted. “We shall hunt this tiger! And I will command the troops myself!”
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