Chapter I: The Beginning Of The Festival
“The overlord is coming...?”
“Yes... Him and his stupid face...” Sakura pouted, as was usual whenever her father came up.
He’d cry if he saw you like that, you know?
Their father-daughter relationship was as one-sided as ever.
“I should warn my mother... Tell her to hide...”
“No, no... Come on now... Let’s not treat him that way. You need to at least meet him.”
“Hmph...” Sakura quietly sipped her tea. The overlord was a little... overbearing, that was true... but I didn’t want to cause any trouble with him. He was just the typical doting dad, really.
“As for me, I’m fine with my brother coming, but... my grandfather may cause trouble...” Hilde let out a little sigh.
Oh... The old man’s coming too? He was the only person in the world other than me who’d reached gold rank as an adventurer.
He’d probably go tame if I showed him some swimsuit photos or something... He’d be a lot easier to deal with than Sakura’s dad.
“My elder brother will be coming to escort Ieyahsu-sama, he will. It has been a while since I have seen him, it has. I look forward to it!” Yae smiled to herself, seemingly content. Her brother wasn’t just here as a guard, since he also planned to participate in the tournament. There were also several Eashen fighters coming to test their mettle.
“Man, this festival sure got out of hand quick...”
“I think it’ll be fun, don’t you? Oh yeah, Auntie Lana and our cousin Emma are coming over, too.”
“Not your uncle?” I remembered that Elze’s uncle was pretty nervous when it came to being around members of higher social class.
“He won’t be coming. I’m pretty sure he’d faint where he stood and never get back up if we brought him somewhere as fancy as a castle.”
I agreed with what Linze said. It was a shame but it was how it was. Hell, he’d probably get unlucky enough to bump into the emperor of Refreese, his own ruler. He’d probably have a heart attack.
Things were going to be super busy on the opening day, that was for sure... Especially for me. I dreaded to think of the number of times I’d have to cast [Gate]. Still, it probably wouldn’t take too long... I just needed to arrange to meet each world leader in a designated spot.
Members of the alliance participating were:
Belfast
Regulus
Refreese
Mismede
Ramissh
Roadmare
Lestia
Lihnea
Including Brunhild, that amounted to nine nations in total.
Then there were the countries that weren’t part of the alliance, but we were still well-acquainted with. These nations included:
Eashen
Xenoahs
Palouf
Felsen
Elfrau
Ryle
Hannock
Seven in total.
Lastly, there were the nations we didn’t really have anything to do with:
Egret
Horn
Nokia
Three in total.
The world as we knew it was composed of these nineteen nations.
Technically, there was also Palerius island, as well as the tribes from the Sea of Trees, but they weren’t areas that were formally recognized as nations. There were also still people living in the fractured remnants of Yulong and Sandora, but those places weren’t really countries anymore either.
Ultimately, representatives from every nation in the world would be gathering in Brunhild... To be honest, I was kind of worried. I’d definitely overdone it here. Still, there was no going back.
I just hoped everyone could have some fun.
Guess I’ll give it my all, then! This is pretty hype!
The day had finally come.
I’d been going from country to country in order to pick up the relevant VIPs.
The nobles and royals had gathered in my castle, and for the most part, they seemed to be getting along. Some of them had never met in person before, so it was a bit of a casual chance for them to get to know one another.
They were made to disguise themselves, so at a glance, they’d look like nothing more than regular people. That being said, they still stuck out a little bit in the way they carried themselves. It was only natural due to how they’d been brought up, and I didn’t think it’d be a huge deal. Still, they definitely had something in them that just made them look regal.
“Grand Duke... How does this badge work, exactly?”
The young king of Palouf spoke up as he pinned a little star-shaped badge to his chest. He was dressed in plain clothing, which made him look like a regular little kid you might see walking around any regular old town in the world. He really did look completely unremarkable...
“You just need to channel a little bit of your magic into the star. The spellstone inside will turn from red to yellow, alright? Then, your appearance should change to the disguised form. Like this, see?”
“But, Your Highness... Ernest doesn’t look any different to me at all.”
The young king’s sister, Lucienne, tilted her head slightly. His badge had indeed turned yellow, while hers was still red.
“That’s because you’re wearing a badge, too. People wearing badges won’t see the illusions, so they can know who they’re talking to. If you remove your badge and look at the king of Palouf, you’ll see what I mean.”
The princess followed my instructions and removed her badge, her eyes widening in shock as she looked over at her brother. He likely looked like a complete stranger. I was also wearing a badge, so the disguises didn’t work on me either.
“The star also has a protective function, so listen carefully. If you pour extra magic into it, it should turn green. While the badge is green, it will be able to sense if you’re in danger. Should you come to any harm, no matter the cause, the badge will warp you back to your guest room in this castle. Please make sure the star remains green throughout the festival, and don’t take it off, either.”
We’d given badges to the guards charged with protecting their heads of state, as well. But those guys had been instructed to keep their badges yellow, since they’d end up being warped away from any danger if it was set to green. There’d be no point in them being there if they couldn’t protect their monarchs.
Those participating in the tournament, like the Beastking, were asked to keep it set to green outside of matches. There weren’t any matches on the first day, so that much was fine. Jutaro and Lyon weren’t exactly high standing citizens, so they didn’t need the disguises, but they still received badges so they could tell who everyone else was.
“Ah, right, please take this little guy too...” I called a small white puppy out of a summoning circle. I didn’t want to give out smartphones to people who weren’t in the alliance, so everyone in that category got a familiar to follow them around instead.
“If anything happens, just talk to this guy. He’ll be able to contact me. He’s also a lot stronger than he looks.”
“Thanks! Oh, he’s so cute!”
The king of Palouf squatted down and gently pet the puppy’s head. The puppy responded by happily wagging its tail. It wasn’t actually a dog, it was a wolf pup. More specifically, it was an infant Snorra Wolf from the frozen wastes of Elfrau.
Rachael, Duke Rembrandt’s daughter, was standing across the room from us. She was carefully looking at the Snorra puppy with curious eyes. It looked to me like she wanted to play with the puppy like the young king was, but she didn’t want to approach because I was there. Damn... I really did go overboard with her... Guess I can’t blame her.
I said goodbye to the Palouf party and made my way across the room. Rachael immediately walked over to the king and his sister, and they started playing with the puppy. It went just as I’d expected...
I’d finally finished explaining everything to the royalty in the room, at the very least. Some people had returned to their guest chambers, but for the most part, everyone seemed to be getting along. They were probably taking advantage of the fact that they could freely talk to foreign nationals in a relaxed environment.
I left the rest of the royal greetings to Yumina and Lu before opening a portal to the Silver Moon Inn in the castle town.
I entered the dining room and found Elze and Linze eating their breakfast amongst many others. They were seated next to their Aunt Lana and her children. There were seven in total, including Emma. Emma was the eldest daughter, and she was around my age. The entire family was eating breakfast together, except the eldest son, who was independent enough to go off on his own.
“Ah, Touya. Is everything sorted?”
“For the most part, yeah. How’re things here?”
“Things are fine, yeah. Nobody here needs any disguises, so it’s been pretty chill.”
I nodded to Elze and then greeted both Lana and Emma. There were a few people from Reflet eating their meals too, like Barral from the weapon store, and Simon from the general store. I waved to them and they returned the gesture with smiles.
All our invited guests were going to have their food and board covered by the national treasury. Most of the people staying in the Silver Moon were people we’d asked to come.
“Hmm... Where’s Dolan? I don’t see him anywhere.”
“Ah, Dolan is helping Micah in the kitchen. The inn is totally booked, so there were some staff shortage issues...” Linze explained the situation to me.
Geez, I guess things really are getting busy around here... I wonder how it’s going in the other inns.
“When does the festival start, again?”
“Around eight. So, about an hour from now. We’ll do a formal opening ceremony, greet all the guests, and then put on some mock battles in the northern training field. We’re gonna try to make it flashy and all that.”
“The northern field... Are you gonna use Frame Gears?”
The northern training field was different from the standard field our knights typically used. It was a more spacious area far away from the castle, and we used the area to run Frame Gear field tests. For the most part, only authorized people were allowed to access the field due to how dangerous it could be. We’d installed a powerful barrier on the northern field to prevent any damage from spells or bullets from escaping a certain area. Our testing often had a... large area of effect, so the barrier was necessary to ensure that no bystanders ended up hurting themselves. Frame Gears were kind of too massive to keep secret, so they could be seen training in the field from a distance.
During training hours, a lot of the townspeople had started coming to watch the Frame Gears clash. It had become a bit of a regular thing for them, and they seemed to like it a lot. That was why I thought a Frame Gear demonstration would be entertaining enough for our international visitors.
“After that, we’ll do the first baseball rounds. Both stadiums are hosting two games, one in the morning and the other in the afternoon. That means today we’ll get four matches in. Those games should decide who’ll advance to tomorrow’s games.”
“Have we decided who’s playing against who yet?”
“Nope. We’ll be doing a lottery draw to decide that in a bit.” There were only eight teams, so it wouldn’t take long. The lottery was actually one of the events I’d chosen to pad out the fun a bit.
Brunhild’s team was led by Logan from the knight order, but I didn’t really have much to say about the team in general. It wasn’t especially strong, nor was it particularly weak. Really, it all depended on who we ended up getting as an enemy... since all the other teams seemed to have more specific strengths and weaknesses. Either way, it would probably be fine so long as everyone enjoyed themselves.
I handed out a few discount coupons to Lana and her kids. They could be exchanged at the festival stalls for 50% off select purchases. Then, I waved goodbye before warping off to the schoolhouse.
“Whoa! What the heck?!” I stared in disbelief at the crowd of cats gathered in the schoolyard. There were tri-color cats, spotted cats, black cats, white cats, tiger-striped cats... Cats as far as the eye could see. And they were all staring at Mr. Mittens... He stood atop a mandarin box, holding his sword skyward.
“My dear furry friends! Today is a day for meow and you! The very peace of the town rests in our paws! Begin the paw patrol, my feline eyes and ears!”
“Meow! Meow!”
“If you see something suspicious, then keep tabby-tabs on them, got it?! If anything happens, run to the nearest guard and bring them to the incident! Then, get meowwta there!”
“Meow! Meow! Meow!”
“The cats that fight for the sake of mankind! Mankind that gives its lifeblood to the cats! The heavens cry! The earth cries! The cats cry! They shall bear witness to our kitty-cat chivalry! Glory awaits those that work hard today! One dried tuna for all, I say! One for all!”
“Meooow!”
The cats all scattered in various directions, dispersing into the town. His leadership was certainly... incredible. It was almost too good to be wasted on cats, honestly. Then again, the dried tuna probably had something to do with that.
“Ah, meow liege. Here to purruse the area?”
“Well, I guess. But it looks like you’ve got everything taken care of here.”
“But of course! I am the purrfect guardian for both this town and milady’s mother! For I am Mr. Mitt— Uh... D’artagnan!” Wow... He actually got his own name wrong. That’s kinda funny... Oh right, I gotta warn him.
“The overlord of Xenoahs might want to visit Fiana while he’s here...”
“I already got the litter scoop from the princess! Should he behave insolently in front of Lady Fiana, I have permission to slay him where he stands!”
“Isn’t that a little much?!”
That’d cause an international incident, Sakura... Forgive the old guy already. I’m seriously starting to feel sorry for this guy. He just wants his daughter’s love... Sheesh.
I kindly asked Mr. Mittens not to murder the overlord, lest political destabilization emerge as a result.
I sighed quietly and checked my smartphone. Doctor Babylon had sent me a mail, so I decided to return to the castle. Things seemed to be progressing smoothly enough.
Once I made it back to the castle, I found Kohaku, Kougyoku, Sango, Kokuyou, and Luli waiting to greet me.
“My liege, we’re sending out our own subordinate animals to keep an eye on the streets as well.”
“Gotcha. Lemme know if anything weird happens.”
Kohaku sent out dogs and mice, Kougyoku dispatched several tiny birds, while Sango and Kokuyou dispersed many tiny snakes into the urban sprawl. They’d be extra security for us. Obviously, we couldn’t make much use of Luli’s subordinates, since she governed dragons. Luli herself would take to the skies, allowing a bird’s-eye view of any incidents in town.
I passed through the castle gate and noticed a group of people from Ramissh heading down the road into town. Her Holiness the Pope was among them. I guess some of the foreign envoys are already checking the castle town out...
The pope noticed me and began to approach, there was a priest walking with her. Oh! I know you... It’s Phyllis!
After everything that went down in Ramissh, Phyllis became a cardinal. She was also the only person aside from me and the Pope herself who had met God Almighty.
The two of them had their star-shaped badges on. I was pleased to see that both badges were green.
“G-Grand Duke... Do you know when He will be arriving...?”
He...? Ah, that can only mean one person... God Almighty! I’d informed her a little while ago that he was going to descend for the festival, and she ended up getting a little panicked about it. Thankfully, she’d calmed down a bit since then... But not completely, it seemed. There was nothing I could do about that.
“I don’t think he’ll be coming down today. He contacted me recently, so I think he’ll be here from tomorrow on. Don’t worry so much, I’ll let you know when he’s here.”
“D-Do you think he remembers me...?” Phyllis turned to me and sighed slightly. She looked concerned.
“He will, you know? He isn’t senile just yet, you know?”
“Wh-Whoa! Don’t just appear out of nowhere like that, Karen!” I jumped as my annoying sister appeared from nowhere to answer Phyllis. You need to stop doing that! I’m gonna have a heart attack, you scared the pope and Phyllis, too!
“I’ll be opening up a consultation office in the church today, you know? I can’t wait to solve people’s problems! I’m gonna show them my skills!”
Hmm... That sounds great and all, but the way she’s putting it is making me uneasy... I quietly hoped she wouldn’t cause any issues.
“Well, let’s head off! The lost lambs need us, you know?”
“A-Ah, wait, Lady Karen!”
“A-Ah, s-sorry, Grand Duke! W-We’ll see you later!”
Karen grabbed Phyllis and the pope and started dragging them toward the town. Their guards started to hurry after the three, clearly confused. I wonder if it’s alright to treat a foreign representative like that... Damn it, Karen. You’re technically royalty here, act a little more like it!
I didn’t worry too much, though. They were incredibly safe so long as they were around her. That girl was scary when she wanted to be.
A few more groups headed into the castle town, and it was finally time to begin.
The clocktower in the middle of town struck eight, and Babylon launched several fireworks into the airspace above.
Sousuke, who was positioned in the clocktower, began to play his violin, sending out a tune across the entire town. He was playing the Pomp and Circumstance Marches by Edward Elgar.
I’d heard that the song was known as The Land of Hope and Glory in the United Kingdom, and was beloved there to the point where many regarded it as their second national anthem. It was somewhat funny to me that such a song was now being played in another world.
Personally, I wished for Brunhild to become a “Land of Hope and Glory” of its own... I smiled quietly, then approached a microphone connected to the clocktower speakers. It was time for the festivities to officially begin.
The first day was well underway.
Business was booming, the mock battle between the Frame Gears went swimmingly, and the streets of the castle town were now bustling with life.
There were all kinds of stalls lining the streets, and wonderful smells were mingling in the air. I wanted to try some festival food...
We had guards from the knight order patrolling and watching out for crime, and a few Belfastian and Regulusian guards were here to enjoy the festivities too. On top of that, we had Mr. Mitten’s cats, and the subordinate animals of my Heavenly Beasts scattered around. Security was all but guaranteed.
I didn’t really have any need to do any patrolling myself, so...
“Guess I’ll enjoy myself a bit!”
“That sounds good to me. The world leaders have their badges and guards, so we can take it easy...” Leen was walking by my side, wearing her usual gothic lolita outfit and wielding a black parasol.
The others had gone to join their own families... Sakura was a little bit irritated when the overlord tried to talk to her, though. She was probably trying to keep him from visiting Fiana. That guy was really hopeless.
Leen had offered to spend some time with the beastking of Mismede, but he wanted to walk around on his own for a bit, so she decided to accompany me instead. Leen was fairly well-regarded in Mismede, so she’d invited some friends over to the festival, but they hadn’t arrived yet.
Paula was toddling along behind us as well, but she occasionally got held up by excited children who wanted to poke and prod at her.
“Hm...?” I glanced over to the stage by the clocktower and saw a swarm of attractive young women fawning over Sousuke.
...Are you doing an impromptu piano concert or something?
“He’s certainly amazing... I’ve never heard a melody so beautiful in my life.”
Even Leen seemed enraptured by the music. I wondered if the bewitching nature of his music was his own brand of divinity... He was wearing pretty gaudy clothing, almost like a court musician... Actually, he basically was our court musician, when I really thought about it...
He was playing a French tune on his piano, a fairly simple melody.
Though, as plain as it was, it went without saying that Sousuke’s skill surpassed mine by leaps and bounds. It certainly came naturally to him, but that wasn’t too surprising... He’s a god... If he wasn’t a god, I’d totally be better, I swear!
I wanted to keep on listening to his song, but we just walked past him and headed to one of the stadiums.
There were four matches to be played today, two in each stadium. Two in the morning, and two in the afternoon.
The matchups were like this:
Stadium One
Morning: Brunhild vs Lestia
Afternoon: Mismede vs Refreese
Stadium Two
Morning: Belfast vs Roadmare
Afternoon: Regulus vs Lihnea
Seemed simple enough to me.
After the mock battle earlier, we’d hosted the lottery that determined who would be playing against who.
We were up against the Knight Kingdom of Lestia... Their team was offensive-focused, but that didn’t necessarily mean they had a lot of heavy hitters. They were the kind that slowly ramped up points to maintain an advantage.
Logan said he was confident that Brunhild’s batters were more well-rounded and capable than Lestia’s.
The first match was already underway when I got there. The score was still evenly matched at 0-0. They were up to the second inning, and Lestia had just finished pitching.
I looked into the stands and saw the beastking with Mismede’s team, and the emperor of Refreese with his team as well. They were keenly watching the proceedings.
Mismede would be going up against Refreese after this, and the winner would go up against whoever won here. It made sense they’d survey the game.
I looked down into the stands and saw the knight king of Lestia sitting a little bit away from third base. Hilde was sitting to his right, and their grandfather was sitting to his left.
On Brunhild’s side of the stands was old man Naito. He and his men were enjoying some beers and laughing to themselves.
People who worked in the knight order and the castle were given one day during the festival off in order to enjoy themselves. I wanted them to take it easy for a while, after all. There weren’t a lot of opportunities for them to have fun like this on vacation days, so I let them seize it when they could. But obviously, not everyone could take the same day off, so they had a rota that meant some staff was off during day one, some during day two, and so on.
The only events on the first day were the baseball matches, so the people who got that day off probably drew the short straw... Still, I was glad to see that they were enjoying themselves.
“Ah, milord. Patrolling?”
“Just looking around for now. Everyone enjoying themselves?”
“Aye! This is a festival in a town that we ourselves built, you know? Of course we’re having fun!”
Usually, the old guy didn’t do much to stand out, but he seemed to be in unusually high spirits. We probably had the booze to thank for that. Naito was in charge of construction and agricultural developments, so he was probably really proud of what Brunhild had become.
I built the foundation of this place, but they were responsible for building on that and modeling it. The town wouldn’t have made it nearly as far as it had without them. No, the entire country needed them.
I aimed a grin at them, ordered myself and Leen some popcorn and drinks, and we spent some time enjoying the match together with Naito and the workers.
“What a shame...”
“Yeah... If only we’d gotten that last point...”
Lestia had won against Brunhild with a final score of three to two. It wasn’t like Brunhild was a worse team or anything, it was just the way the match had gone... Sometimes victory was just circumstantial.
The players had tried their best, so I decided to bring them some snacks and drinks afterward.
The match between Belfast and Roadmare at the other stadium had ended in a win for Belfast. Apparently, their tactical play was superior across the board.
Mismede vs Refreese and Regulus vs Lihnea would be later on in the day. Then, the final matches between the winning teams would come the day afterward.
As we walked through the town, we saw the Palouf entourage eating in a corner café. The young king was there, as was his sister, Duke Rembrandt, and his daughter Rachael. They looked to be enjoying their lunch.
I unfastened my badge for a moment and looked over at them. Their disguises made them look just like a regular old family. I was glad to see the illusions were functioning properly. Leen was also wearing a badge, but we had no need for the disguise functions, so ours were inactive.
“Yo, you guys eating?”
“Ah, Grand Duke! Yeah, we’ve walked around a lot, so we were taking a break...”
I greeted them, and the young king offered us some nearby seats. Rachael was sitting opposite the young king. She held the Snorra pup in her hands and looked just about everywhere except for me. She definitely hated my guts...
“What are you guys gonna do this afternoon?”
“We were planning on seeing the Lihnea match. We’ve yet to acquaint ourselves properly with baseball, after all...” Princess Lucienne spoke up, smiling softly. They were probably asked to show up by King Cloud. I was glad to hear that things were still going well between them.
“We had a stroll this morning and certainly found no shortage of distractions... The time had passed by before we even noticed it, actually! This is a wonderful town. There’s much Palouf could learn from it...” Duke Rembrandt looked out into the streets as he spoke. I was extremely happy to hear that he thought so highly of the place.
“That being said, we found a place that was quite the money sink... It ended up being rather... unfortunate.”
“Ah...”
Duke Rembrandt grinned at the young king, who suddenly turned a little red. I wondered what he was talking about.
“Ernie here got rather addicted to the capsule toy machines in the market district... He turned them many a time. We had a lot of money, but Father still ended up telling him off because other people wanted a chance to use it, too.”
“I really wanted to get the Shining Count toy, that’s all...”
Rachael glanced toward something on one of the nearby chairs, and I saw a paper bag full of capsule toys. Seemed like he really did overdo it...
Wait, she just spoke to me! Did she forgive me already? I turned back to look at her, and she immediately averted her gaze. Geez, come on...
“Did you manage to collect them all in the end?”
“Uhm... I didn’t manage to get Grimgerde...”
“Oh? My Frame Gear?”
“Huh?”
The young king looked over at Leen with a puzzled expression on his face. I explained to everyone at the table that Leen was the pilot of Grimgerde, and they all looked on in surprise.
She might have been six-hundred-and-twelve years old, but she still resembled a young woman. She probably didn’t match up at all to the image in their heads. Grimgerde had unleashed a ton of destruction during the mock battle after the opening ceremony, so they probably thought the pilot was someone a lot scarier.
People knew that Leen was court magician of Brunhild, and the former clan matriarch of the fairies, as well as the fact that she was my fiancée... But not many people seemed to know that she was also a Frame Gear pilot.
“Darling, don’t you have one of those?” Leen quickly prodded her fingers into my side as she asked me that question.
“Oh, yeah... But, I mean... Ah, whatever...” I kind of wanted people to get the prizes the proper way... but he’d poured a lot of money into it, so I didn’t feel too bad letting him have this one.
I opened up [Storage] and took out a small black Grimgerde figurine. Leen then took it and handed it over to the young king of Palouf.
“Here you are. Make sure you treat it well.”
“Oh, thank you so much! Now I have them all!”
“Ahaha, not quite. We’ll be adding Lu’s Waltraute and Sakura’s Rossweisse next month, so the set will have new additions...”
“Ah...”
The young king frowned a little at my words, which made everyone giggle softly. Probably shouldn’t tell him that Lu’s Waltraute has four variants... There are the attacker, booster, caster, and defender types... It’ll be hard to catch them all...!
Olba would probably open a branch store in Palouf eventually... If he was patient, I was sure he’d finish the set.
We weren’t just adding Frame Gear toys to the collection either, there were new Behemoths going into the lineup too. Specifically, the Heavy Kong, Grand Boar, Power Bison, and Needle Rat from Palerius Island.
Still, I wondered if there’d end up being more of a demand for vinyl Behemoth figures, or scale model plastic Frame Gears... I wasn’t really sure if we had the kind of tech to mass-produce stuff like that... Especially since we’d need glue. This world didn’t really have plastic, so that might be an issue. Then again, magic beast bones were roughly similar in composition.
Hmm... But if we can do that, maybe we can figure out how to use magic to produce them more easily...
As I continued to sink into thought, Leen jabbed me in the side. Ack! Fine, I’ll save business thoughts for later.
After we finished our meal, the Paloufean group decided to head off to watch Lihnea’s match.
Alright, where should we go next...
“Ah... Uhm...!”
I turned my head to the sudden voice and saw Rachael looking down at the ground. She was tightly clutching the Snorra puppy to her chest. I wondered what she wanted...
“I-I’m sorry... About the other day... I... I understand just how far I have to go, now...”
Oh my... This is a far cry from the smug little girl I spoke to recently. Looks like she’s been thinking things through. Actually, now that I look back on the day, she’s been acting more awkward around me than hateful... Guess that makes sense...
“...It’s alright. Just remember that you can’t ever assume yourself to be the best. There are many people in the world who can surpass you in a lot of different ways. Even I have people that I can’t match in certain fields, and I lose to them every day.”
“Wh-What?! Really?!” It would be more apt to call them gods rather than people, but still... I wondered when I’d actually be able to win. I was probably a thousand or so years too early...
“I... have to protect Ernie... Even though I thought I was unbeatable... I still lost to you, so I’ve been thinking more about just how strong I actually am...”
She was starting to sound more and more miserable, and she let her head hang in shame. Huh... Guess she’s the one lacking in self-confidence for once... Geez...
It wasn’t like she wasn’t strong. Her opponent was just an overpowered matchup... But I couldn’t say that to her, since she wouldn’t take it as sincere.
I was at a loss for words, but Leen suddenly opened her mouth.
“If you become strong, you’ll be able to protect the king of Palouf, that much is true. But any strong knight could do that, couldn’t they? You need to think harder, young lady. There’s something only you can do.”
“H-Huh...?” Leen’s words prompted Rachael to raise her head.
“A king’s life is a life of hardship and struggle. Sometimes it can be hard to face those things alone. That’s why you need to be his rock. Sure, his advisors can support political and military matters, but you must be there to support his heart. You need to stay by his side, to worry alongside him, laugh alongside him, smile with him, and be there for him. You don’t have to protect him with raw strength alone. You can become his support by being there for him on a personal level. That’s something only you can do. You can become a shield that protects the heart of the one that matters to you... Just like me.” Leen smiled and took my hand.
O-Oh geez, how embarrassing... Paula suddenly put her hands to her own face as if she was blushing. Damn it, Paula, your mime skills are too good!
“Can I really do that...? Can I become his shield...?”
“A good woman can be just that for her man. She can become an irreplaceable person in his life. If you ask me, you’re the only one who can do that for him. I’m sure of it... Only you can support the king’s heart, and walk by his side. Don’t lose hope.”
“...O-Okay!” Rachael smiled up at us both and ran back to rejoin the others from Palouf.
She certainly made a speedy recovery... I grinned a little as I saw her cling to Ernest’s arm.
“That was some interesting advice you had for her there.”
“Well, it wasn’t entirely my idea... It was just me telling her what your sister told me, Darling...”
So this was Karen’s doing... No wonder it sounded so sappy... But man, she really has a way with words. It’s actually a little scary, honestly.
“So, where shall we go now, Darling?”
“Ah... My arm...”
Leen tugged at my arm as if to guide me down the street. I was seriously embarrassed...
“Hmm? You don’t want to lock arms with me, Darling? I may not be proficient at clinging to you... Do you think you’re the only one shy here? I’m the one summoning the courage to take the initiative... Shouldn’t you play along?”
“Ahh... I guess you’re right. Hm... There’s gonna be a puppet show in a little while. Wanna go see it?”
“As you wish, Grand Duke!” Leen smiled and gave a wink to accompany her half-joking response, and we walked off into the crowd.
The second day was well underway.
The baseball finals and the shogi placement matches were going on during this day. In the morning there’d be the semi-final matches with Lestia vs Mismede at stadium one, and Belfast vs Regulus at stadium two. Then, in the afternoon, the winning teams would face off against each other in the final match.
There was also going to be a third-place match around lunch. We made sure the teams didn’t get worn out, though. There were plenty of stamina potions on hand from Flora and the alchemy lab.
The shogi matches were going to be going on from morning until night. We’d had a startlingly large number of participants, more than we’d scheduled for.
Shogi did have time limits to the moves, but the rules were overly complicated. I decided that we’d just give each player a maximum of two minutes to make their turn.
We were able to enforce this through the use of magic shogi pieces that turned grey after one minute, and then black after two. It was pretty simple.
If they played the turn before the piece turned black, they’d be safe. Otherwise, they’d forfeit.
We also had an hourglass to show players exactly how much time they had left.
Honestly, I wished for the tournament to go on a proper schedule, but there were way more participants than we’d anticipated. Shogi was a game that cared not for age or gender, so all kinds of people decided to give it a try. I was sure that there’d also be people who would want to draw out their turns as long as possible so they could think.
Either way, the preliminaries would be concluded today, and the winners would end up going against each other and the special players I’d invited on the third day.
The hall room was crowded with participants and spectators alike when I arrived. A few of the invitees, like Dolan and the young king of Palouf, were already keenly observing some of the matchups.
I personally didn’t care all that much about shogi, so I was content just to walk around a bit.
One of the participants had intentionally flipped the table over when he was about to lose, but we had specialized shogi boards that recorded the positions of each piece. His attempt was completely in vain... Disqualified, of course. Some people really had no manners at all.
Old man Naito was in charge of overseeing these matches, but he was clearly hungover from his partying the previous night.
“Yeah... Pretty sure he’s still a little drunk, actually...”
“It still seems that everyone is enjoying themselves, it does. Look over there, an older man is happily playing with a younger opponent, he is...” Yae pointed over toward what was probably a grandpa and grandson playing a match of shogi together. From the looks of things, the kid was giving the old man a serious run for his money.
“Oh, that reminds me, Yae... Is it fine for you to be away from Jutaro?”
Yae and Hilde had ostensibly signed up for security detail with their families, so I was curious why Yae was here instead of walking around with her brother like Hilde was with her own.
“My brother will be working hard in the tournament tomorrow, he will. That is why he has been training in the grounds since this morning, he has. I do not wish to bother him, so... I... I thought I would join you today, Touya-dono...” Yae blushed slightly as she interlaced her fingers together. I certainly had no reason not to go along with her, so I was flattered.
“Alright, should we check out the baseball stadiums? It should be about time for the teams to be decided.”
“A-Ah... W-Well, in that case... could I go and change my clothes first, could I? I would like to meet you at the Silver Moon, I would...”
“Huh? Sure, I guess...?”
Yae nodded and began making a beeline for the castle. I didn’t really think there was a need for her to change... But she was probably self-conscious about being sweaty from her morning training.
I started heading toward the Silver Moon, but stopped when someone tugged hard at the hem of my coat. I almost tripped over.
Just as I turned around to complain, I noticed it was the tiny little boozehound gremlin... Suika. Just what the hell did she want?!
“...Just what are you doing?”
“Touya brooo... The god of alcohol needs your helppp... Money... Money me now... I need money... Karina took my booze! Gimme money! It’s a sin not to get smashed during a festival! Auuugh!” Suika started to loudly grumble as she clutched on to me.
Let go already! Your nose is running! I figured since she was the god of alcohol she could make her own booze out of nothing, but that wasn’t the case. Since it required divinity, she wasn’t allowed to do that down here. As far as her powers went, she had advanced analysis allowing her to identify any booze she drank, and she also had the ability to remain sober no matter how much alcohol she ingested. She didn’t really have much in the way of practical powers, it seemed.
Then again... I wonder if she can use the drunken fist style... That’d be scary...
“Don’t you have a magic cup that can produce infinite liquor? It’s one of your sacred treasures, isn’t it?”
“Don’t gimme thaaat! That cup can only make sacred wine! I’m sick and tired of drinking iiit, aaagh! I don’t wanna drink that! I wanna drink the different stuff in this festival! There’s stuff from all over here! C’mon! C’mon!” Suika started stomping her feet like a child. I could understand her feelings, but I wished she acted a little more adult... She was supposed to be a divine being, after all. Did she have no pride as a goddess?
They said that you couldn’t win an argument against kids or drunks, and sadly she was both.
Ah crap... People are looking at us...
I sighed quietly and squatted down so my eyes were level with hers.
“You can drink after the festival is over. If you stay sober and help the maids out, we’ll arrange it so you can drink some varied stuff afterward, alright?”
“That’s all you had to say, Boss! I’ll drink nothing if it means I can get what I want later! Promise! I’m going sober from now on!”
It was honestly a little weird to see someone who resembled a child talking about going sober. But frankly, it was whatever. I was just glad she wasn’t gonna be annoying anymore.
“Alright, then. Is that fine? Just... take this with you for the time being, okay? It should tide you over.” I opened up [Storage] and took out one gold coin, and a bag of beef... Or rather, dragon meat jerky. Then, I passed them over to Suika.
The one coin would be enough of an allowance for her, and I was sure she’d spend it on booze. Cheap or pricey, alcohol was alcohol to her.
According to Suika, even the taste didn’t matter all that much. She said that even bad booze had its own nuance and flavor, which was something I couldn’t wrap my head around. I was honestly curious about why she wanted to savor the various drinks at the festival when she’d probably tried them all before anyway, but I couldn’t be bothered to give her the time of day. Still, with that much, it’d be fine for her to last the three days. At least that way I didn’t have to worry about her hounding me again.
“Woohoo! Thank youuu! Thanks so much, Big Bro!” Suika gave me a quick peck on the cheek and toddled away rapidly in the direction of the liquor store. Buying her affection sure didn’t take much...
After leaving her behind, I headed on to the Silver Moon, which was far more crowded than usual.
It was just before noon, and the dining hall was absolutely packed with diners. The guests were being kept waiting even longer than they were on the first day... It was probably understaffed because Dolan had gone to watch the shogi matches.
It wasn’t usually so busy, so just a couple of wait staff were enough to handle the crowds on an average day.
I poked my head into the kitchen and saw Micah desperately working on dish after dish. She was clearly fighting her own war in there.
“Hey there. Need any help? Pfft.”
“Ah, come in, come in! I’m really busy, sorry! Could you take this order to table three, please?!”
I had actually been joking when I said that, but it looked like she’d seriously taken me up on the offer. She immediately thrust a tray of soup, meat, and fried veggies on me. What, seriously?! There’s no way I can say I was kidding now... I’ll look like an asshole! I took out the order to table three, lining up the dishes in front of the guests. As I finished up there, another diner raised their hand and waved me over.
“Hey there, get us a tato stew, a veggie salad, and a grilled polo.”
“Huh? Ah, right... Tato stew, veggie salad... Grilled polo. Got it.”
Alright, that’s the order memorized... Wait a second. I’m not a waiter, damn it!
I returned to the kitchen and gave the order to Micah. She then handed me another tray and sent me back out.
Wait a second, damn it! I tried to speak up, but I was silenced by the intensity of her gaze. She was practically screaming at me with her eyes. If this was a warzone, then Micah herself was a terrifying warlord.
Not even I could stand up to her in this place, grand duke or not.
I sighed in defeat as I took the next order out to the designated table, internally lamenting my own fate.
“Milord?! What are you doing...?”
The voice came from Lanz, one of our knights. He’d just walked into the room and spotted me. Oh, is he here for lunch? Or maybe he’s here to see Micah... Either way, this is my out!
“Lanz! I hereby give you a royal order!”
“H-Huh?! Y-Yessir!”
“For the rest of today, you need to work here at the Silver Moon! You’re under command of Micah! I’ll let the knight order know. You need to take orders and carry out dishes. This is a vital duty, Lanz!”
“Huh? But... Ah... Yessir!” Lanz gave a salute and then dashed into the kitchen. I was pleased to see how dutiful he was. Made sense, since he was from Lestia and all.
Almost immediately he came out wearing an apron, carrying dishes to tables and taking as many orders as he could.
Don’t think badly of me for this, Lanz... Just use it as a chance to get closer to Micah.
I didn’t want to be used for waiting tables anymore, so I hightailed it out of the Silver Moon and left Lanz to his fate.
I waited near the entrance for Yae and sent a text to Lain about what Lanz would be doing for the rest of the day. It seemed like he wasn’t really needed for training or anything, so it was all good.
Dolan’s gonna be busy tomorrow too... Micah should definitely post a part-timer notice in the guild or something... That’d probably get her some extra hands.
“I-I am sorry for making you wait, I am.”
“Ah...” I turned to the voice and saw Yae. She was wearing a beautiful yukata, and her hair was tied up.
Her yukata was light purple and had flowers printed up the side, they were morning glories. She wore geta sandals and had a blue obi tying it all together. In short... she looked stunning.
“Y-You said this would be a festival, did you not? So I asked my mother to have my brother bring it, I did... D-Do you like it, do you?”
“Ah... It really suits you, Yae. I don’t know if I can put it into words, but... you look great...”
“A-Ah, is that so, is it?”
There were other people wearing yukatas in town today as well, that was because Brunhild had a lot of immigrants from Eashen living in its land. In this world, yukatas were traditionally worn during Eashenese celebrations.
However, Yae looked the most at home in her yukata of anyone else I’d seen all day. I’m probably biased since I love her, though...
“I had to leave my katana behind, I did.”
“Well, that makes sense...”
A katana and a yukata... It wouldn’t have looked all that good if she’d gone for a more boyish look this time around. I was glad Yae had opted to be more girly, rather than looking like a lordless samurai.
“Do not worry, do not. I am concealing a dagger in my bosom.”
Of course she is.
“Alright then, let’s head toward the stadium. The finalists have probably been determined already, come to think of it. The consolation match is probably going on.”
“Ah, very well... A-Ah... Touya-dono...? May we hold hands, may we?” Yae nervously held a hand out to me, and I took it with a firm grasp. We were both clearly embarrassed, red flushes on our faces, but we happily continued on through the town.
I honestly had no idea that this event would attract so many people. According to the day one report, a bunch of people had set up tents outside town because they couldn’t get accommodation. We probably needed more inns if we were gonna do this again.
We’ve got a lot of accommodation as it is, so... maybe we should just have special inns that are only open during the festival period?
We arrived at stadium two in time to see the ongoing consolation match that would determine third place. The results of the qualifier match were being displayed on a large signpost.
“Stadium one’s winner is Mismede, and stadium two’s winner is Belfast...”
“That means the consolation match is between Lestia and Regulus, it is.” That seemed about right. We entered the stadium to find the match at its third inning. The score was still zero on both sides. Regulus was up to bat.
Just as we sat down, a cheer erupted from the batter’s box. I looked up and saw the white ball soaring through the sky. Oh, it’s heading this way...? Oh, it is! Oh, it landed.
Laughter and joy rang out through the stadium in a flash. It was a spectacular home run!
The batter raised his arm into the air as he walked the bases. Regulus had a lot of heavy hitters, probably the best ones in the entire world.
The score was now at zero to two. The match seemed like it was just getting into the swing of things, and it felt like the other team could make a comeback. We both decided to watch the game for a while...
In the end, Regulus continued to hold a two-point lead and Lestia just couldn’t catch up.
Thus, third place had been determined.
All that was left now was the final match between Mismede and Belfast in stadium one.
“I wonder who will win, I do.”
“Mismede’s definitely better in terms of physical strength, but they’ll need more than that to win. Belfast has a pretty well-rounded team. They have a decent offense, defense, and speed.”
The audience began filing out and heading over to stadium one, it seemed like most of them were planning to hit the final match too.
We went that way as well, bumping into the Belfast party on the way. They were wearing their badges and probably looked like regular people to onlookers.
Yumina was speaking to her father, who had apparently been at the shogi hall until recently.
“You’ve come to see the finals, right?”
“Yes, but I did want to keep on watching the shogi... Touya, my lad... Next time we do something like this, please adjust the schedules better. It’s been a rather hectic day for me.”
I nodded quietly toward the king. Frankly, you should be thankful I managed this... It was a last minute plan I pulled outta my ass!
Seemed like the king of Belfast wanted to see as much of the shogi as he could due to the fact that he’d be participating on the following day.
Duke Ortlinde stayed in the shogi hall, since he’d be participating in the next day’s tournament round as well. I wondered if Sue would get bored of hanging around him and seek us out...
Yae and Yumina were chattering together when suddenly...
“Uncleee! Touyaaaaaa! Oh! Yumina and Yae too!” Sue came charging toward us at full speed, accompanied by the Ortlinde family butler, Leim. She scuttled up my back like a bug and held on tight.
She definitely showed her more childlike side when she acted like that... Still, it was adorable.
“So you came after all... Did you get bored of watching shogi?”
“Yes, I did! It was just people doing boring stuff and clapping! Father was just watching the game board and mumbling to himself the whole time. No fun at all...!” Sue puffed out her cheeks and pouted. She was certainly more action-oriented. It was probably annoying for her that shogi was more of an analytical game. Either way, her joining us was fine by me. I was fine with us all checking the baseball out.
Sue descended from my back and turned her attention to Yae.
“That’s so pretty, Yae! Is that a key mono? Uh... Kim oh no?”
“This is a yukata, it is! We wear them during festivals in Eashen.”
“It’s certainly beautiful, though... Shall we all prepare yukatas of our own for the next festival?”
“I like that idea, Yumina! I wanna wear one, yeah!”
“Then I will learn more from my mother, I will. This one was made by her, it was. Linze-dono may be able to help in that regard, as well.” I idly listened to their girl talk as we walked toward the stadium.
The final showdown was about to commence.
They dashed. Second base... then third... and a reckless charge for home plate!
The ball was pitched like a laser beam as it hurtled its way toward the catcher. Mismede’s runner was contending with Belfast’s catcher, and it was looking close as hell...
A cloud of dust was kicked up between the two as the runner slid toward home base... The entire crowd was ripe with tension, falling silent as they waited for the call. The silence was shattered by the referee’s voice.
“SAAAAAAFE!”
A cheer burst out from the crowd. The Mismede players ran off the benches and began to lift up the runner who had managed to reach home plate.
The finals had been in a fierce tie for the last nine innings, with scores trapped at one each side. But now Mismede had finally brought it home with a final score of two to one.
Thus, Mismede had won the world’s first international baseball tournament. Belfast came in second place, with Regulus in third.
Confetti and silver tape streamers were launched overhead, celebrating the team’s victory.
Man, that was a great match... Both teams really gave it their all.
Thunderous applause rang out into the stadium, drowning out any other sound. After that came the awards ceremony.
I was the leader of the host nation, so I presented a commemorative trophy and shield to the team captain, and then medals to the other players.
I worked off a system similar to the Olympics, in that the type of medal differed based on rank. Third place received hihi’irokane medals, second received mithril medals, and first place received orichalcum medals.
Usually, in the Olympic Games, the participants would receive a cash bonus from the host nation, but I left that up to their home countries this time.
The trophy and medals were all engraved with “First International Tournament” on them. Even if there were nations that didn’t participate, it was still the first one... I was hoping that more countries would participate in any future celebrations like this.
The audience was still excited, and they continued to lavish praise in the form of a standing ovation to the participants. I decided that as a special bonus, the winning team would be allowed to celebrate their victory in Brunhild Castle. I’d bought food and alcohol out of my own pocket, and decided to treat them to a lavish feast. I hoped that they wouldn’t pop the corks off the champagne or anything... I didn’t want the room becoming a mess. Then again, I didn’t think this world had that kind of custom, so it would probably be fine.
Thus, the baseball tournament came to a close without any major incident.
It was almost four in the afternoon, and the shogi placement matches were still in full swing.
Yae, Yumina, and Sue tagged along as I headed back to the shogi hall.
There weren’t as many people in there as there were in the morning. Most of the winners and losers had probably already been determined.
“Oh, Father!” Sue quickly singled out Duke Ortlinde and headed toward him.
“Well, seems Mismede won the baseball tournament, hm? Word already spread here.”
“Bit of a shame for Belfast, indeed.”
“Well, there is meaning in both victory and defeat, Brother. Second place is more than enough reason for us to be proud of our homeland.”
The match really could’ve gone either way, and everyone watching the finals knew that as well. It was a well-earned victory and a close match.
“And how are things here?”
“Rather well, I must say. There are some formidable players in the running here... Frankly, people I’d rather avoid matching up with, even.”
It was interesting to hear him express concern like that. Including the invitees and the people who had passed, there were a total of thirty-two participants in the third day’s games.
Provided all went smoothly, a winner would be determined by the evening... Still, I was curious about how the pressure of playing several consecutive rounds would affect peoples’ performance. It would’ve been good to increase the time between matches a little, but we had way more participants than I had expected... They’d just have to put up with it.
Our plan was to use a screen to broadcast the matches, so more people could get to see it. I’d be helping Monica and Rosetta out with the screen installation before the matches started.
It was gonna be tough work, but it had to be done. My smartphone began to vibrate, so I took it out of my breast pocket.
“Ah, please excuse me...” I waved off Yumina and the others before using [Teleport] to reach a church on the outskirts of town.
“S-So he’s coming tomorrow?! Wh-When?”
“Midday, I think. Could be sooner or later though, it really depends.”
I was talking to the pope about the message I’d received on my phone. Her breathing suddenly became ragged and unhinged... She was really freaking out. She gonna be okay? She’s pretty old, so I’m scared she’s gonna have a heart attack or something... Isn’t she like... sixty, at least? Well, it’s not like I’m gonna ask... That’d be rude.
“Wh-What shall we do, Your Holiness?”
“Calm yourself, Phyllis. There’s nothing to be gained by getting ahead of ourselves...”
The templars accompanying them had no idea what we were going on about, so they just kind of stared blankly for a bit. Only Cardinal Phyllis understood the implications of what was being discussed, which caused her to lapse into an anxious set of motions. I guess it made sense. I was the outlier here for treating a visit from God Almighty so casually.
Karen muttered to herself as the two Ramissh ladies fussed with each other.
“This is kind of strange, you know? The god of worlds coming down into the mortal realm... That hasn’t been observed in millions of years, you know?”
He came down once already, though... Well, technically that was more like an avatar... so it would be more appropriate to say that the last couple times I encountered him in this world, it was just a portion of him... His power must be seriously immense.
I didn’t know if he was going to do the avatar thing again, or actually hop into a human body and come down like the other gods did.
“I-I hope we don’t upset him... If we wound up being responsible for the apocalypse, I...”
“That’s not gonna happen. He takes a non-interference policy, remember? Please don’t get worried about him coming down, he’s just here to relax a bit.”
I tried to calm Phyllis down before she got ahead of herself again. I wondered if she’d really be alright... She definitely wasn’t behaving how I’d expect a cardinal to behave.
“Besides, my sisters and I are gonna be here, okay? Nothing will go wrong.”
“A-Ahh... Actually, that whole matter with the servile god is still up in the air, so... I hope he’s not mad at me, you know?” Karen sighed and folded her arms.
He might be... It was your job to take care of that NEET god, wasn’t it? And now he’s gone and gotten himself absorbed by that wicked godbeast, and he’s completely out of our hands...
They might’ve been able to help me defeat it during the last encounter, but Karen wound up making her and Moroha late to the rendezvous...
The wicked godbeast hadn’t done anything since then. That was good news in some regards, but it was also concerning. The weak Phrase constructs were coming through here and there and were typically defeated by high-ranked adventurers.
But yeah... I was dawdling too much. I really needed to find a way to repair the world boundary.
It was technically possible, I was sure of it. The Reverse World that Old Man Palerius was studying was likely the key to it all.
My current running theory was that one of the Gollems from the Reverse World might have been brought to this world by one of Palerius’ experiments... And it might’ve had some kind of special power.
It was possible that by using that power, Palerius could’ve repaired the barrier. But I had nothing but a hypothesis to go on, there.
As I pondered to myself, I suddenly heard a loud noise... Like an animal yowling in the distance. Is that a cat?
I turned around and saw dozens of cats stampeding towards the church. Wh-What the hell?!
They continued to meow over and over again as they leaped at me. It wasn’t as if they were attacking me, it felt more like they were trying to get me to follow them... But to where? I used a [Gate] to grab Kohaku from the castle. She could understand the cat’s language, after all.
The cats immediately calmed down in the presence of the White Monarch.
“So, what’s up?”
“Ah... It seems that Mr. Mittens is engaged in a duel... They’re asking that you stop him and break up the fight.”
“That cat’s having a duel?! With who?!”
“...The overlord of Xenoahs.”
“So you’re capable of using teleportation as well?”
“Ah, yes. That I am. I can use most forms of magic.”
“That certainly seems fitting with Touya’s family...” Wouldn’t surprise me if he has all attributes and next to no magical power limitations... Actually, he probably has no limits at all.
“Ah... World G—ramps... Gramps. Did you see Karen already?”
“Gramps? Aha... Gramps... I like that. Ah, Karen? Karen... Ah, yes! Of course, I know who you mean. She is my grandchild too, after all. I have yet to talk with any of them, but I am sure we will soon.” Yumina and Lu gave each other a curious glance. Given how he was acting, that seemed fair.
They knew I was from another world, but they probably had no idea that this guy was the god to end all gods.
“I was thinking of looking around town for a little while after I talk a little with the pope today. How does that sound?”
“What about the church?”
“A-Ah, well! That’s fine! We’ll be open later in the afternoon, too!” Phyllis nervously replied, while the pope nodded her head repeatedly. I wondered if they’d actually be fine... The two of them were certainly tense.
I wondered what they’d talk about...
When the world had only just been created, spirits and magic were already around.
They acted as limbs to the gods, forming the world’s contents and bringing forth many aspects of nature.
The spirit of the water filled the world’s oceans, while the spirit of earth created the land and soil. The spirit of fire caused volcanoes to erupt, while the spirit of wind caused hot air to blow around the atmosphere.
The spirit of the forests raised trees and dense woods, while the spirit of light brought illumination to the world. The spirit of darkness brought night, and the peace of silence.
From the miraculous feats of these spirits sprung forth creatures linked to the primordial aspects of nature, and the world found itself populated.
Fairies, Heavenly Beasts, holy spirit trees, and so on... It was said that among the last of these creatures to be born were humans, along with demi-humans such as beastmen, dwarves, and elves.
The god of this world, satisfied with his creation, ascended back to heaven and left it to the newly born people.
This world was a paradise for the people to make all their own, so he thought better than to remain.
“But why did god return to heaven?” A little boy sitting on the front row asked a question after hearing Shinnosuke’s sermon.
“Because he believed that we should make this world into our own. If you rely on god to save you whenever there is strife, you cannot forge your own path. A child must become independent of his parents to become an adult.” In short, gods couldn’t interfere with the mortal realms of their own creation. That’s exactly why I couldn’t be reborn into my old world. My world didn’t have any method to bring back anyone from the dead, so it could only have been seen as a miracle.
If I’d died in this world, then resurrecting me might’ve been a possibility. After all, there were magical ways to resurrect people here. The death risk was much higher on average.
“The lord god on high has entrusted us all with this world. I am sure he would be happy to know that each and every one of us is trying our hardest to make this world a better place.” God Almighty looked over the crowd of people attending his sermon. He was wearing a priest’s robe that he’d borrowed from the pope.
“Do unto others as you would want done to you. Do anything you can, no matter how little. That alone is enough. Kindness is a solid foundation. All are equal in the eyes of god. Men, women, children, adults, princes, and paupers. We can all live full lives. That would make god happiest.” He bowed to the crowd before leaving the front area.
Huh... So the spirits really helped the gods form the world? I’ve only met that one in the forest and the spirit of darkness in Ramissh... I didn’t realize they were that powerful.
Did they lose their power over time, maybe? Or maybe they lost the power to shape the world after the gods didn’t need them to? They don’t seem all that primordially mighty now, at least...
Especially the spirit of darkness... I beat him pretty easily. Then again, apparently spirits are immortal, so he’ll probably come back eventually.
“Thank you for the sermon. It was fascinating...”
“Ah, not a problem at all. Typically I only have conversations with other gods about their difficulties, so it was nice to talk a little.” Elias and Phyllis were already gushing over god’s sermon.
“No, it was truly amazing! Thank you so much, we’ll ensure that future generations chronicle the tale and take it to heart!”
“Well... You may do as you wish, but I do not think it was all that interesting...” God Almighty smiled softly towards the pope. You know, old man... You probably don’t realize it but you’ve basically just given this world a solid creation myth.
“Where are you headed after this, gramps? I was thinking of introducing you to the others.”
“I am not quite sure... I was going to ask if you could let me stay here for a night, so I could meet the others this evening. For now, I would like to look around town. Could I get someone to guide me?”
“I’ll do it, you know?!” Karen suddenly appeared as if out of nowhere to butt in on our conversation. What did I say about you gods and your instant transmission nonsense? Just show up normally for a change!
God Almighty smiled toward Karen, apparently completely unbothered by her sudden appearance.
“It’s been quite a while, my dear. Are you in good health?”
“I get to have a pretty fun day-to-day thanks to you, you know? I’m gonna show you around, so don’t worry about it... How about you stop intruding on Touya’s date, grandpa?”
“Hmm? Ohh... I see. I did not realize I was intruding. Please forgive me, my children.”
“N-No, it’s fine...” Lu and Yumina both turned red in the face, waving their arms in a flustered panic.
Still, I was thankful that Karen was taking care of him now. Even if something happened, they’d be more than enough to look after themselves.
Plus, it went without saying that Phyllis, the pope, and the Ramissh guardsmen would be accompanying them as well.
Yumina, Lu, and I all left the church and headed towards the shogi hall. The first set of games had just ended, and the second rounds were all beginning.
There were a lot more people there than there were in the morning and a lot of people who’d already finished their games. The monitor displayed the names of the winners and losers.
“Uhhm... Aha, looks like things are coming along...” Barral and Simon from Reflet, the emperor of Refreese, and the doge of Roadmare had all lost their matches. Everyone except the Reflet citizens had pseudonyms listed, though.
“Ah, my father has been defeated...” Lu muttered to herself after noticing her dad’s name up there.
If I recalled correctly, his enemy was the king of Palouf. It seemed like the kid was kicking ass.
I looked around and saw two people sitting on some chairs in front of a monitor. They were the leaders of Regulus and Refreese.
We approached the group.
“Good day. Shame about the bad luck.”
“Oh, Touya! I actually had quite a bit of fun. I’d like to hold a tournament like this next year...”
“It’s a shame that I lost, but I managed to learn a bit about my own shortcomings. I won’t lose next time.” The two of them didn’t seem to mind their losses, so I was glad.
I looked to the monitor and saw a silver general tile being moved across a table. The monarchs both let out mixed tones in response to the sight.
“Who’s this?”
“It’s the match between the king of Belfast and the king of Palouf. It’s a rather interesting battle.”
Huh... I see... It kinda looks like the king of Belfast is having a tough time. No wonder he managed to beat the emperor of Regulus. I looked carefully as the young king moved his silver general piece...
“Isn’t it gonna get taken by the king of Belfast’s rook?”
“No, this is a tactical invitation. It’s a move that could be a trick, or destroy the balance of the game. If you don’t look with a keen eye, it could be seen as reckless...” I looked back at the monitor after the emperor of Regulus spoke. Man... I really can’t follow this at all...
The speed at which people in this world improved tactically was actually pretty incredible, but this was also a world that lacked much in the way of entertainment. That meant they could focus on their individual failings with little distraction, and keep on going until they overcame them.
Their enthusiasm was something to be envied, really. I was already completely outclassed by the top players in this world.
It seemed like the shogi tournament was still going to last a while longer than we’d expected... So we decided to go and see the combat tournament in the meantime.
In the arena, six fighters were mercilessly clashing against each other.
They were attacking, rolling, defending, dodging, slashing, thrusting, and jabbing at each other. One after another, they collapsed to the ground.
Any fallen participants were immediately teleported out of the arena where our trained medical staff could get ahold of them.
We had a lot of things installed in the combat arena to protect the lives of the participants, the teleporter was only one such method.
The last two participants standing clashed their blades. One was an adventurer with a greatsword, and the other was an Eashenese man wielding a katana.
I recognized the Eashenese man. It was Kokonoe Jutaro, Yae’s brother.
We’d supplied the weapons for the tournament, but that didn’t always help. Even with a blunted edge, a greatsword could inflict debilitating wounds or even death.
Well, so long as the death wasn’t instant we’d be able to help the person recover. Plus I trusted Moroha as referee to stop the match before anything lethal happened.
Jutaro kept on nimbly dodging the blows from the greatsword.
The greatsword guy was the one who seemed to be putting the most pressure on his foe, but Jutaro was clearly looking for gaps. Just as I’d expected, he took advantage of a lull in his opponent’s movements to lunge forwards.
He danced like lightning and struck his katana into the chest of the greatsword guy.
The man fell to the ground with a resounding thud and teleported out of the battlefield.
“Match over! The winner of the G Block is... Kokonoe Jutaro!” The audience went crazy with clapping and cheering as Moroha announced the victory.
Jutaro bowed his head before heading off towards the participant waiting room.
“He didn’t even break a sweat...”
“My brother is skilled, he is.” Yae proudly grinned and nodded towards Yumina’s statement.
Yumina and Lu had accompanied me to the arena, where we’d met up with Hilde and Yae.
The preliminaries were going well. Half of the winners had already been determined. There were so many participants that we ended up going for a battle royale structure.
“Did the knight king... Did Reinhard already qualify?”
“My brother was part of the A Block, yes. He’s downstairs in the waiting room watching the other matches.” Hilde pointed down to where the winners were all socializing.
Oh, right... I guess Yae and Hilde’s brothers might end up fighting each other... Which one should I cheer for? I can hardly cheer for them both...
“Anyone we know qualified as well?”
“Commander Gaspar, General Leon, and Baba did!” Dang, even the old guy did... I hope he doesn’t overdo anything.
Still, it wasn’t too surprising. The guy was a member of Takeda’s Elite Four. I was sure he could even give Reinhard a run for his money.
“Ah, Touya... Look...”
“Hm?” I looked over and noticed a familiar face amongst the participants of the H Block.
It was a girl with slightly darker skin and pointed ears, with scales on her body here and there. She had two draconic horns pointing out of her head, and a thick tail around her back.
“Ahh... I didn’t know Sonia was here.” She was a draconic fighter, an adventurer. A friend that we’d met back during the Pruning in the Sea of Trees. She also helped us out against the heavenly emperor of Yulong a while back as well.
Apparently, she continued dungeoneering across the world as an adventurer, and she’d even been to Brunhild’s dungeon islands a few times. I wasn’t too surprised she was participating, since she started traveling the world in pursuit of martial prowess anyway.
That probably meant Rengetsu would be participating too. He was the staff-wielder with the bald head. If I recalled correctly, the two of them were traveling companions who had similar philosophies on battle.
I was remembering them fondly when the match began, and the arena immediately turned into a veritable melee.
Sonia smacked an ax-wielding man with her gauntlet, almost knocking him out of bounds immediately.
Just as he was about to recover from the staggering blow... A second, invisible impact sent him crashing out of bounds. He was disqualified immediately.
This was part of Sonia’s power... And what a fearsome power it was.
In the end, Sonia was the winner of the H Block’s warriors, and she carried on to the main contest. Leon from Belfast fought very similarly to her, but I had a feeling she might have been even more skilled than he was...
Either way, victory had a lot of factors to it beyond mere skill.
“I wanted to join as well, I did...”
“As did I...”
“C’mon you two... Don’t get sad. We’re needed here for the important act of keeping people safe, got it?” Yae and Hilde seemed downtrodden, so I put on a smile and reminded them of how important they were.
That was my outward reason, but in all honesty, I was worried about letting them participate in a tournament like this... I wouldn’t let Elze do it, either.
They had the blessing of various gods shining on them, after all. I didn’t want first, second, and third places being dominated by Brunhild. The event might’ve been seen as boring, or even rigged if that happened.
“Seems like the tournament’s going fine, anyways... Let’s look around a little more. Oh, maybe we could visit Sakur—”
Just as I was suggesting to the others about something to do, one of my summoned beasts deployed a telepathic message to me.
“...Sorry, something came up. I gotta bounce.”
“Huh?” I was unable to answer their confusion as I used [Teleport] to leave the arena.
I landed in a back alley so I wouldn’t cause any attention, before coming out into the main street.
I pushed my way through the crowd and saw a man wearing a black bandana. He was being followed by one of Kohaku’s subordinates, a little mouse. That’s how I knew it was the right guy.
I stood in front of the bandana-clad man.
“Somethin’ wrong, jackass?”
“Yes. Please return the thing you have in your pocket.”
“No idea what you mean.”
“The stolen purse. Hand it over.” The man clicked his tongue and sneered, before pulling out a knife and pointing it right at me. What a moron he was... He’d have had a better chance if he tried to flee.
He lunged, so I dodged the knife and grabbed his hand before twisting it and holding it upwards. I bent his arm backward, which caused him to squeal out in pain and reflexively lose his grip on the knife. It fell to the ground alongside him when I let go.
“H-Hey, you bastard! The fuck?!” You’re the one who started it. I sighed as the little mouse pulled out the purse from the man’s breast pocket. It was made of very fancy material, certainly a pay grade above this ruffian’s.
According to the mouse’s message, he’d swiped the purse from a traveling trader. I was the closest one to the area, so I was fine to deal with it.
Some of our knights heard the fuss and came over to arrest the guy.
The man immediately started kicking up a fuss and tried to frame it as if I’d stolen his purse, but I used [Recall] to project an image of his crimes into the air, directly from the memories of the little mouse. Once he realized I was the grand duke of Brunhild, all his protests fell silent.
The knights then took the thief along with them. Then I ascertained who the purse actually belonged to in the first place. There was a lot of money in it, so I needed to be sure it got back to its rightful owner.
I used the mouse’s memories again to find out who the victim was.
I opened up my map and easily found the guy, he was in front of a stall just a little bit down the street.
I headed down there and saw a plump-looking trader arguing with an older woman. The mouse’s memories were in black and white, so I didn’t realize just how blindingly red and gaudy the merchant’s clothes were. No wonder the thief thought this guy was an easy target.
“Whaddya mean you have no money! Were you trying to dine and dash...?!”
“I-I wasn’t! I just... I must have lost my coin purse, or maybe I was pickpocketed!” Welp, better deal with this before it gets any worse... It could go south.
“Excuse me. Is this your coin purse?”
“Hm? Ohh! I-It is!” I handed it over to him. Thank goodness.
I explained the situation to the woman who ran the food stall, and she happily took the payment from him.
“Thank you so much! You really did save me...” The man bowed to me. I was actually pretty curious about him.
His red clothes were really interesting, as was his turban. He was a plump fellow but he seemed in decent shape for a man who must have been in his forties. All of that combined, along with his black beard, kind of gave off the image of a stereotypical Arabian merchant. But more than any of that, what caught my eye was the color of his skin.
His skin was a darkish red, even darker than Sonia’s. He was just... Reddish, it was bizarre. It made me want to ask...
“Excuse me, sir... Could you be one of the Red Fol... Er... Of the Arcana Clan?”
“Oh? You know of my people?” I knew it... The ancient clan that revered the color red... The people that sealed a Phrase beneath Belfast’s old capital, and left behind a message... The ones that visited Elfrau a long time ago, too... I knew this guy was related to them!
After hearing the story from Elfrau’s queen, I tried to find them, but I hadn’t had any luck.
I had no idea what a person from the Arcana Clan would look like at a mere glance, after all. My magic wouldn’t be able to find people I only had a vague idea about.
I noticed an amulet around his neck that resembled a Celtic coat of arms. That could’ve been a clue... It was certainly something tangible I could use for my [Search] spell, provided it was a family emblem or something.
“Ah... Well... If you’re from the Arcana Clan, then can you answer a question for me?”
“Hm?” I used [Storage] to pull several printouts for him. They were photographs of the letters I’d found on the wall beneath Belfast’s capital, during the first incident in which I encountered the Phrase.
It was my hope that he’d be able to read the lettering. I handed them over and he looked them up and down with a raised brow.
“These... These are words passed down in the Arcana Clan for years and years... There’s almost nobody in the world who’d be able to read these.”
“Damn... So you can’t either...”
“That’s not what I said at all, actually. My grandmother was a priestess of our people in the olden days, and she taught me the words. I’d say that around five people exist nowadays, myself included, who can read them.” That’s not many... Apparently, the letters were only used for the most important of texts, so they weren’t utilized often enough for them to have been well-preserved. That made sense, even if it was a shame.
“Uhh... Let’s see... It says... Our people, the Red Folk, record this history. The glimmering monsters spilled forth from the pit and made sacrifices of our people. As the city was about to fall into ruin, two tiny knights were summoned by our venerable leader. A Black Knight, and a White Knight. Through time and space itself, they launched the glimmering beasts. They repaired the pit and returned from whence they came. We left a glimmering husk here so that, should this incident ever repeat... This corpse may stand as warning. Do not allow life to spill back into its husk, lest it rage once more...” I was mostly confused by what I’d heard.
The glimmering monsters were clearly the Phrase, and the pit they came from was probably a tear in reality.
But... I had no idea who these Black and White Knights were supposed to be... Also, that warning about not giving life to the husk was moot, since I ended up doing that back then.
“Where did you find this?”
“In some ruins beneath Belfast’s old capital city.”
“Fascinating... It was said in my clan that some of our people separated and migrated in that direction... These words were likely left behind by them.” The Phrase had invaded Belfast over a thousand years ago. They probably left this message behind to warn the next generation... But then why was it buried and forgotten...? It was possible that they were just following instructions and gradually over time the information was lost... But the ruins were used specifically to house a dead Phrase, to seal one in there... That wasn’t the main matter of concern, though.
What was written in the ruins was likely true, at any rate. The Phrase had invaded the capital and caused a major catastrophe...
Then they were saved by individuals who seemingly drove the Phrase back.
The Black and White Knights... They were the key to all of this. I wondered if they were a duo who had been called from the Reverse World... Or maybe they were literally just two knights.
The mystery was still in pieces, and I had no idea what most of it meant. It seemed like I had no choice but to go back to the Reverse World for more clues.
“Thank you so much, you really helped.”
“Not at all, really. That money was vital to my operations in this country, so it would’ve been a heavy loss. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.” Apparently, the Red Folk, the Arcana Clan, had been nomadic until they finally settled on an island between Hannock and Xenoahs.
Apparently, the clan lived in harmony with the demonkin who were native to that island.
The merchant, who was named Polunga, left the island as a young man and became a wandering merchant. He’d been traveling the world ever since. His purpose in Brunhild was to acquire unusual goods that you couldn’t get anywhere else.
In order to thank him a little more, I introduced him to Olba Strand’s company. That place dealt in oddities a lot, after all.
I said bye to him after that, but I was still thinking about what he said...
“Two knights... Hmm...” Man, I really have no idea what it was talking about. Guess I can’t do anything with that info for the time being.
“Ah, hey! Touya!” I turned around and saw Yumina and Lu pushing their way through the crowded streets.
“Good job finding me.” I hadn’t teleported that far away, but the two tracked me down pretty fast. I asked them how they knew where I was, and they just kind of glanced at each other with an awkward expression.
“Well, how do I put this... Lately, I’ve just sort of... known? I’ve just sort of had a vague idea of where you are. Lu has, too...”
“It’s a little vague, yes... But I have a small idea in my head of where you are at all times... It’s the same for the other girls, I believe...” Wait, what! When did you all get mental Touya detectors?! Is this because of my divinity? I guess it would only make sense for abilities like that to get stronger over time... Kohaku and the other Heavenly Beasts can do something similar.
Still... I’m not sure if I’m keen on having them know where I am at all times... Isn’t that a little awkward? What if I was having an affair?! N-Not that I would, haha... “Where’s Yae and Hilde?”
“They were more interested in the tournament. Elze joined them as well.” They were the mighty trio of my household, so it made sense they’d spend a lot of time together.
Elze, Yae, and Hilde made up the fighter clique... Linze, Leen, and Sakura made up the mage clique... So that meant that Yumina, Lu, and Sue must have made up the royal clique... But then again, Hilde and Sakura were royals too.
We headed off to the storytelling event that Sakura and her family were hosting. Apparently, a group of street performers had joined in to entertain the kids with re-enactments of the stories. I also took care of a few troublemaking drunks.
The overlord was there, reading to the children with a... Frankly terrifying visage. Several of the children were crying. Sakura berated him for upsetting the kids... I had no idea why he thought putting on a creepy voice was a good idea.
I didn’t want him to notice us and keep us held up, so we swiftly moved on back to the shogi hall.
We arrived to find all four monitors displaying the same image. It was the final match.
“Ohh... It’s the king of Palouf, and he’s up against Dolan!” A lot of the people in the audience were surprised.
It was the king of Palouf, Ernest Din Palouf. He’d registered under the fake name Ernie Palous.
Thanks to the badge he was wearing, the audience saw him as someone completely different, but he still had the appearance of a child to them.
The idea of a ten-year-old boy beating several adults and advancing to the finals? No wonder they were all so shocked.
“That kid really is a genius... Rachael is one thing, but together they’re incredible...” I looked through the crowd and saw Rachael watching his game. The Paloufean guards were there too.
Rachael had a tense look on her face, she was totally enthralled. Now and then she’d turn to Duke Rembrandt and ask for an explanation of what was going on. She seemed worried about the boy.
Meanwhile, the young king was focused entirely on the game. Whether that was because he knew she was watching or not remained unknown.
His opponent was Dolan, owner of the Silver Moon in Reflet, he was glaring down at the board with narrowed eyes. His expression was scary even on a good day. Scary enough to make a little kid run away crying.
His pieces were greyed out, meaning his time was almost up. He quickly extended his hand and moved a silver general diagonally to the right.
The boy furrowed his brow at the sudden motion. Dolan grinned as he flipped the hourglass over. The colors of the pieces returned to normal, and it was the boy’s turn.
“Who’ll win...?”
“Mm... It looks like Dolan’s winning.” I spoke my thoughts to Lu, but I wasn’t entirely certain of them. The tide of the battle could’ve been turned quite easily.
The audience quietly exchanged their opinions on the matchup as the time limit continued to tick downwards.
The two of them were exuding an aura so intense that even those who knew little about shogi couldn’t help but be drawn in.
The colors of the pieces began to shift, signaling the approaching end of Ernest’s turn.
He moved his hand, bringing his horse diagonal.
His pieces reverted back to their regular colors. He flipped the hourglass and stared Dolan down.
Dolan’s expression turned downright grim. It seemed as if the young king was backing him into a corner... But I also wasn’t sure.
Yeah, I really can’t follow the match, I should hire a commentator next time.
Dolan moved his piece, but he was clearly stressed out by the move. The atmosphere was so tense that nobody in the audience raised their voices at all. Nobody cheered for either side... They simply watched the two locked in mortal, psychological combat.
“...I resign,” Dolan sighed in defeat, causing the Paloufean audience members to cheer out in joy.
King Cloud of Lihnea quickly joined in on the clapping alongside Ernest’s older sister.
Rachael burst into tears, leading her father to softly comfort her. She was probably extremely relieved that Ernest won... The pressure must’ve been too much. The boy himself slumped back in his chair with a drained expression on his face. He did everything he could, and now the mental fatigue was hitting him... He was just a kid, after all.
Dolan folded his arms, frowned, and closed his eyes.
It was a shame he was defeated, but he still got second place. He was extremely talented and probably learned a lot from the event.
“...The beginning of next year.”
“H-Hm?” Dolan opened his eyes and began murmuring towards the young king. The king suddenly leaned forwards and tried to fix his posture.
“We’ll hold a shogi tournament in my hometown at the beginning of next year. Wanna participate? Won’t be as flashy as it is here... But we can settle our score then...”
“A-Ah, yes! Of course! I will!” Dolan then extended his hand, which the young boy quickly grasped.
Dolan... You might not be aware of this but you just invited the king of an entire nation to Reflet.
Either way, it seemed the two of them had formed an unbreakable bond, one unaffected by age or social status. He’d probably need the badge for the Reflet tournament, too.
The war was now over. Now all I had to do was handle the award ceremony... I would be handing over a shield and medal to the winners, just like the baseball tourney.
The grand champion was Ernie Palous, who was secretly King Ernest Din Palouf. Second place went to Dolan from Reflet. And third place went to a guy whose name I already forgot. He was a commoner who just tried his darndest.
Each of them smiled with the medal around their necks. The king of Palouf’s medal was made of orichalcum. He gazed at it with stars in his eyes.
He was clearly happy. The medal was tangible proof that he won on his own merit, and hopefully, it’d be a source of confidence for the kid.
“Congratulations.”
“A-Ah, thank you! I’ll treasure this for the rest of my life...” He was almost on the verge of crying.
The award ceremony wrapped up and everyone started to leave the stage. Just then, Rachael ran up towards Ernest and almost bowled him over with a massive hug. That was amusing.
“You did it! You did it!! I knew you could, Ernie!”
“Hh... R-Rachael, y-you’re... Squeezin...” The boy began to gasp for air as his face turned blue, Rachael continued to squeeze him in sheer joy. I couldn’t tell if the scene was heartwarming or mortifying, but I was happy he had someone who cared for him that much.
The shogi tournament was over, which only left the fighting tournament. Then the festival would end with a closing ceremony.
The festival seemed to have gone without a hitch. Amazing, when you considered how quickly I’d slapped it all together.
And... Right on cue, as I was quietly cheering about how things had gone well... My smartphone began to vibrate.
It’s Relisha... Why do I have a bad feeling all of a sudden?
I picked up the call.
“Oh, ‘sup?”
“Grand Duke, it’s Relisha. We’ve detected a large-scale Phrase emergence event. It’s in the eastern territory of what used to be Yulong. They number up to a thousand, but we haven’t detected any Upper Constructs.” That was bad news... But it’d been a while since we’d heard anything from the Phrase.
“Are there any nearby population centers?”
“The closest town is Feihang, around fifty kilometers away... But nobody lives there, it was abandoned when Yulong collapsed. Those that do live there would only be outlaws.”
“When are they coming out?”
“Tonight, approximately five hours from now.” Tsk... That’s annoying... So like 10 pm at night, huh...
If it was five-hundred to a thousand of them, and there were no Upper Constructs, then thirty Frame Gears would do fine. Based on the battles so far, even with numbers of up to a thousand, the Intermediate Constructs only made up like ten or twenty percent of the forces at most.
If we rolled out a group including the girls and their Valkyries, the fight would be easy enough.
I finished up my conversation with Relisha before calling Rosetta and Monica. I told them to prepare for a small-scale deployment.
Come to think of it, this is the first night-time battle against the Phrase... Doesn’t the Storehouse have something we can use to help out...? I guess I’ll speak to Parshe about it...
Seemed like I had a long night ahead of me...
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