In a Different World with a Smartphone (LN) - Volume 5 - Chapter 4

Chapter IV: Improving the Duchy 

“I wanna soar through the sky!” 
“That’s a little, uh...” Leen and I sat on the balcony. As she sipped her black tea, she raised an eyebrow at my statement. 
I’d been thinking about what happened in Ramissh a few days prior, and also what had happened during the coup before that. Both of those events had involved airborne enemies, and it’d make a world of difference if I was freely able to fly around on their level. 
Sure, I could just summon a Griffin and ride it around, but flying myself was way cooler than just fighting atop the back of a mythical beast. That’s why I decided to ask Leen if she knew anything about it. 
“I mean... you can make yourself leap through the sky using wind magic, but... You wouldn’t be able to soar or fly freely, nothing like that. It’s more of a spell for blasting people away, so you’d just be using the knockback. Less flying, more being blasted away.” 
“Hrmph... in that case, isn’t there a Null spell or something?” 
“It’s possible. But it’s not a Null spell that I know.” Hrmph... I guess fairies wouldn’t need flight magic, so none of them bothered memorizing which spell that might be. 
I quickly considered another angle as well. Null magic was personal magic. It’s not like most people would be able to use it, even if it was shared. That’s probably why looking into it would end up being fruitless. 
Guess I’ve got no choice, then. I’m gonna have to look through those dusty old magic books. I’d bought a ton of encyclopedias about Null magic from various bookstores, and gotten them together in the castle’s library. The books had records of Null magic from all over the world, and from various periods in time. But, since it was a comprehensive list, the spells ranged from useful... to absurdly useless. One of the spells allowed you to make ants walk in a straight line. I couldn’t even think how anyone discovered that, or why. “Touya, bruv... you’re really gonna look through all of this?” Renne was free, so I asked her to help out. But after looking at just one book, she seemed intimidated. I guess she had a point... 
The worst thing about all of these books is that they were all published independently of each other, and at different points in time. Therefore I saw a lot of repeated spell names in each book. [Gate] was apparently pretty well-known. It was listed in every one. 
“Yep, I think so. Gonna scour them all. Let’s have Lain and Cesca help us out later on.” Renne sat on a chair and began to look through the books. While we were ostensibly searching for magic that’d allow me to fly, I also asked her to keep an eye out for any spell that might seem useful as well. 
I thought maybe the spell would be called [Fly], or [Flight], but even if I invoked those names, nothing happened. I wasn’t entirely sure why that was the case, but it was probable that I needed to fully understand the effects of the spell before I could visualize and use it. 
I wondered now and then, but my power felt more like a copy ability than anything else. I replicated magic that already existed, and made it my own. I never really created my own. 
I decided thinking about stuff like that was a bit pointless, though. As I flipped through the books, I found some interesting spells now and then. Like [Taboo] a spell that censored certain words and made it impossible to speak them. That was interesting, but I didn’t know exactly how useful it’d be. For example, I could forbid the use of the word [Fireball], and that might prevent my enemy from casting that spell, but it looked like the effect was limited to one word per person. 
“Oi bruv, what about this one?” 
“...Nope, don’t need that one.” What Renne had found was a spell named [Mosaic]. I wasn’t sure about it... Apparently it was a kind of spell that interfered with the visual spectrum and allowed you to blur certain objects in people’s field of view, but... all it made me think of was something sexually obscene. It confused me, because mosaics were supposed to be a pattern-based art form! I had no idea why it created that kind of effect. 
Other spells included [Silence], a spell that made things quiet. [Speaker], which made everything noisy... and [Shield], which created an invisible barrier to defend the user. 
Luckily it hadn’t been a complete waste of time, I’d found a few useful spells. [Silence] didn’t actually prevent spells from being cast, like I’d thought it might. It just made the chanting inaudible, they could still be cast even under the effects of the spell. 
Regardless, we still hadn’t found what we were looking for to begin with... 
“Oho.” My hand stopped on a certain page. 
[Levitation]. It was a spell that allowed objects to float. But it seemed to only make things float within arm’s reach of the caster. I figured it’d be around two meters, then. Meaning it’d be a useful spell for carrying stuff, but I already had [Storage] for that anyway. Then again, I couldn’t use [Storage] on living creatures, so it could end up being useful after all. 
“[Levitation].” As a test, I decided to use the spell on the book. The heavy old tome started floating up in the air. Whoa, it really is floating! I tried moving it around in the air. Yup, it can move, but... As I’d expected, it couldn’t move any further than my own reach. 
I applied [Levitation] to Renne as another test, but it looked like she couldn’t move freely in the air. She motioned like she was swimming, but only budged a tiny bit. I wondered if propelling her with a fan or something would work... Renne seemed like she was having fun, but it wasn’t really something you could call flying. She couldn’t go beyond two meters, and she was crawling at a snail’s pace. But seeing her did make me wonder if I could enchant it into a rug and make a flying carpet like in Arabian Nights. “I guess I’ll memorize this one for the time being.” The magic seemed like it had potential, I just had to learn how to apply it properly. 
When the afternoon rolled around, Cesca and Lain came to help us. With the power of four, our speed was increased considerably. After just two hours, Cesca finally found it. 
“[Fly]. The method to propel oneself with magic. Indeed, this must be it. It seems that the spell consumes a considerable amount of magical power, but I doubt that’ll be an issue.” According to the book, the person who originally used this spell could freely fly for a maximum of three minutes. But apparently when it was over, he came crashing toward the ground. I doubted that’d be an issue for me, I had the convenient power of teleportation portals, after all. Three seconds were enough to regain enough magic to create one. 
Either way, I’d have to test it out. That was the first step. 
I arrived at the training field and began to concentrate my magical energy. Renne, Cesca, Lain, Nikola, and Elze were all watching me. The latter two took a break from their training to come over and watch. Old man Yamagata and company also came over. It was a little distracting. But regardless of the attention, I had to focus. 
“[Fly].” My body suddenly began to float about one meter above the ground. It was awesome. My body turned without me actively willing it, so I figured it was operating on my most basic thoughts, like moving a limb. I decided to try going up a little higher, but the moment that thought entered my mind, I shot several meters up in the air! Uwaaah! The fine-tuning left much to be desired. It kind of felt like I was operating one of those RC Helicopters, but without a controller. After a while, I was up way too high for comfort, though. I’d tried seeing how high I could go, but had to stop when the air became so thin and cold that I started losing feeling in my limbs. I thought I was gonna suffocate! 
The next test was working out my maximum speed. But again, I had to stop. The wind on my face was extreme, way too extreme! I had to close my eyes and fly blind for a while. 
Hrmph... maybe this’ll be tricky to deal with. Should I use [Shield], maybe? I put up a barrier, and it worked as a makeshift windscreen. Yup, that works. 
After that, I decided to try turning around. I started zig-zagging, stopping suddenly, nosediving, somersaulting! It was actually really fun. Alright, let’s try three spinning somersaults! 
I got a little carried away... 
“...You tried spinning around in the air and you’re surprised you got queasy?!” 
“I-I don’t really have an excuse.” I was completely exhausted, lying down beneath a tree with my head on Elze’s lap. I’d calmed down some, but the incident itself was still a little extreme for me. 
I didn’t even know why I’d done it, I hated riding stuff like rollercoasters. High-speed stuff like that definitely wasn’t my scene. Come to think of it, the Great Gau River ride left me feeling kinda seasick, too... 
For whatever reason, [Recovery] didn’t alleviate queasiness like this. When Baba got drunk on sake, I tried using that spell on him as a sort of field test. It sobered him up right away, which I found hilarious. Then again, I guess being drunk on sake and dizzy on motion sickness are two different things. Incidentally, old man Baba started drinking booze right after he sobered up. 
“Were there any other problems?” 
“Nah, it was pretty much fine. I did get super cold when I went way up high, though...” Come to think of it, I could probably use [Warming] to negate the cold. But the atmosphere’s way too thin up there, and it’s not like I was looking to explore space anyway. 
I raised my head and sat up properly, I didn’t intend to use her as a lap pillow forever. Hm, stuff like this has gotten less embarrassing lately. We probably look like one of those annoying lovey-dovey couples at this point, huh... 
“Hey, Touya... Do you think you could use that magic on me? Would I be able to fly then?” 
“No, I don’t think it’s possible. I can’t use my magic in that way. You can’t put [Boost] on Linze, right? It’s the same thing.” 
“I guess so...” Elze let out a sad sigh. I think she wanted to fly with me. 
“You should be able to fly if I hold you in my arms, though.” 
“A-Ah, that’s... p-pretty embarrassing.” Elze turned beet red and looked down nervously. So lap pillows are fine, but being held isn’t? I don’t get the criteria here! 
“You might be able to fly by my side if I used [Levitation] as well, but you wouldn’t be able to fly freely in that case.” I tried to make Elze float using one of my newfound spells. She was caught by surprise and tried to flail around, which was a little funny. After she calmed down, I tried levitating her around. As expected, she stopped around about where my arms could reach. 

“[Fly].” I used my flying spell after that. As I rose, Elze rose with me. I’d figured it out. I’d be able to raise people up and down based on my own location in the air. So long as I paid attention, I could use [Levitation] to make people fly alongside me. 
I took care to maintain everything, and flew up to the castle balcony. Yup, no problem! Elze staggered around and put her hand to her chest, letting out a sigh of relief. 
“That was scary! I-I’m still not used to it. M-Maybe I don’t need to fly after all...” Heh, that was amusing. But I could understand. Her movements were beyond her control, and if she fell from that height she’d definitely die. 
That aside, my mission was complete. This new spell changed the game for me. Creatures like the Manta Phrase no longer had air superiority over me. 
“I’m gonna go fly again.” 
“Okay, don’t get sick this time.” Elze waved me off, and I circled the castle a few times. After that, I flew across the highway. Looking down on the town from above, it was easy to see it’d been expanded considerably. It was quite an emotional sight, if I’m honest. 
Still, it did look more like a shopping district than a full town... I touched down in a back alley, where I’d noticed a few children playing with spinning tops. 
“Uwaaah?! M-Milord?! Wh-What a surprise!” 
“Did you just come out of the sky?!” 
“Th-That’s amazing!” It was a little heart-warming to see the kids look up to me. I didn’t want them to revere me too hard, though. 
“What?! Do you dare think a goddamn sorry is enough? After treating a customer like this?!” A crude male voice echoed from across the street. I looked over from where it came from, and there seemed to be a commotion going on in a coffee shop. 
Two large men stood on the shop patio. They looked like military-types. More importantly, they were hassling a waitress. 
“Lookie here! There’s a goddamn cigarette butt in my food! How can you expect me ta pay for that?!” 
“You better compensate us, bitch! What if we ate it?! What if we got a tummy ache?! Good thing we’re so goddamn attentive, understand?!” Those guys were assholes. They totally looked like crooks. I had no doubt they were lying. 
I walked over to the shop and spoke to the waitress. 
“Something wrong here?” 
“A-Ah, these two gents say there’s a cigarette butt in their food, but... Nobody who works here actually smokes, so I don’t understand!” 
“Hear that, boys? Sounds like you’re mistaken. Sure neither of you dropped it in the food by mistake?” The waitress stood behind me, and I puffed out my chest. The two men glared daggers at me. 
“Huh? What’s it ta you, fuckface? You looking down on us, brat? Who the hell’re you?” 
“Yeah, you little shitbird. Want a first-class ticket to paintown? Step right up, bitch.” The two men loomed in closer as they cracked their knuckles. Well. Let’s have a little fun, then. 
I touched the men on their arms, pushed them, and they fell back easily. They flew away from the shop and landed in the middle of the road. 
“Ghuh!!” 
“Aghagh!!” They flew pretty easily, but that was because I’d reduced their weight with [Gravity]. Neither of them seemed to understand what had just happened, but they charged at me regardless. One brandished an axe, the other held a broadsword. 
“[Slip].” 
“Augh!” 
“Eek!” The two men went tumbling down. Then, I used [Gravity] to keep them down. They were completely immobilized by their own increased body weight, so I strolled over, grinned, and squatted down near them. 
“A-Augh... h-how...!” 
“I’d really appreciate it if you didn’t cause trouble in my country. I can’t really overlook things like this, given that I kind of run the show around here. Understand?” 
The two men looked at each other in shock, their expressions shifting in fear. The surprise coating their faces acted as proof that they understood who I was. Bah, these guys are a real pain in the ass. What should I do with them? 
Actually, we don’t have a prison or anything yet, do we... Guess I should take this opportunity to set one up. 
I took out several iron pieces from [Storage] and created a decently-sized prison room. After that, I applied a few enchantments, and a [Program]. Then, after stripping them of their gear, I tossed the two men inside. 
I called it a prison, but it was just an iron box with one see-through wall. There were no bars, either. I wasn’t a monster, though. I’d put airholes in the ceiling! 
Now, let’s begin the punishment! The moment the door closed, the two of them began to scream and yell. At least, it looked like that’s what they were doing. I’d soundproofed the cell. The two of them were running around the interior of the prison, clutching at their ears and roaring in what looked like extreme discomfort. Despite the commotion going on in there, not a single sound leaked out. I’d enchanted the cell with [Silence] after all. 
“M-Milord... what’s going on in there?” 
“Mm, just a little crash course in white noise.” 
“Err, noise?” 
“There’s a sound blaring in there at a similar frequency to nails coming down a chalkboard, and a fork scratching against a plate. Over, and over, and over again.” 
“O-Oh goodness me...” The waitress slinked back a little, a dash of fear clouding her eyes as she looked at me, and then the floor. What’s her problem? 
Eventually the guardsmen came running over. I set it so the sound would stop when the door was opened, so I handed the key over to them, placed the jail in a good position, and told them to let the guys out whenever they felt it appropriate. 
Seeing that commotion made me realize that there was a lot more to work on in my country. I definitely need to improve defenses and public order infrastructure... Maybe I should finally get around to establishing my knight order. 
I flew off toward the castle, pondering my next course of action. 

“...And that’s why I think we need to establish our knight order.” Everyone sat around the conference table, but only Kousaka stood up after I made my case. 
“Given our current national interests, I believe I have a reasonable plan set out, then. For our knights, we shall start with thirty ex-Takeda troops. They were originally our subordinates, so we’ve already vetted them extensively. Fifteen of Baba’s men, fifteen of Yamagata’s. On top of that, we will integrate ten former Takeda ninjas, commanded by Tsubaki, to create our intelligence corps. In addition, we should take sixty new recruits, giving us a nice round one hundred. What are your thoughts?” Sixty new recruits sounded good to me. The town wasn’t especially large, so it sounded like a good start. 
Aside from myself, the conference room was occupied by Baba, Yamagata, Naito, and our chief ninja Tsubaki. Lain, Nikola, and Norn were also present. Kousaka, Naito, and Tsubaki weren’t really knights, but it made sense to include them on military matters. 
“So what are the qualifying traits we want in a recruit?” Old man Baba spoke up with a question, to which I replied immediately. 
“Well, let’s see... I’ll reject anyone with a criminal background right off the bat. Sex doesn’t matter. Race doesn’t matter. Neither social standing nor age matter, either.” 
“Isn’t that a tad broad? Won’t we get a swarm of candidates in that case?” Yamagata had a point, but I decided that taking a ton of applications gave us a better chance of finding talented people. 
The mission here was to separate the wheat from the chaff, and find the diamonds in the rough. 
“Who’s going to be the commander, anyway?” Naito raised his hand and let out an innocent enough question. Oh, I never thought about that. I cast a cursory glance over at Yamagata and Baba. “I’m sorry, my boy, but... I won’t be taking that role. Squad captain’s more than enough for me.” 
“Same here. It ain’t in my nature to take such a demanding job.” Welp, it was worth a shot. I had hoped that one of them would accept, since they had served as generals for Takeda and all, but... I guess they’d had enough of that life. Well, that just leaves... 
“I’ll have to pick one of you three, then.” 
“Wait, us?!” Lain’s rabbit ears perked up rapidly. Norn and Nikola just stared, dumbfounded. I didn’t know what they were so surprised about. The wolf, rabbit, and fox trio were formal knights of my kingdom, after all. 
“Well, there’s nobody else.” 
“B-But we can’t be commanders, that’s impossible!” Lain waved her hands in a fluster all of a sudden. The two behind her nodded in unified agreement. 
“Well, I mean, in the case of emergencies you three band up with me anyway, right? I just think it’s necessary to have a commander while I’m absent. Plus, it’s only a company of one hundred.” 
“That’s true, but...” Having a commander was necessary. Even if it didn’t have that many members, I needed to maintain a hierarchy. But the issue was which of them to choose. They were all talented, but all had their drawbacks too. 
Nikola was stoic and serious, but generally inflexible. Norn was a people person, but very reckless. Lain was an exemplary all-rounder, but she was dangerously reserved. 
“Look, for now let’s have one of you be the commander, and the other two can be the vice-commanders. Alright?” Nikola immediately raised his hand. 
“Lain should be the commander, then.” 
“Y-Yeah, I agree! Lain’ll do great!” 
“Wh-Wh-What?!” Lain was betrayed by her closest comrades! She glared right at them. But she was outvoted two-to-one, so I was completely fine to go ahead with it. 
“U-Um, please, you two...! Isn’t Nikola more suited for the role than I?!” 
“Nah, you’re much better for this. Norn’s careless, so she’d make a sloppy commander. She likes to slack off, too. I’m kind of a strict person, so I don’t think I’d treat people especially fairly. Inflexibility is not a trait you want at the head of an organization. They say a carrot and a stick is needed to drive something forward, but I’m just a stick. I’d say that you’re the carrot we need, Lain.” Hm, lemme look at this objectively here... This case kind of reminded me of the Hijikata Toshizo, vice-commander of the Shinsengumi. He was known as the Demon Vice-Commander because of his attitude. So while Kondo Isami took the role as the Shinsengumi’s commander, Toshizo simply stood by the wayside and sternly enforced the rules. A guy like that was definitely best at the side-lines, growling and staring. 
“Very well, then. Lain’s the new commander.” 
“Sounds good to us!” 
“Wh-What?! Please wait a moment!” All three of them had grown considerably stronger over the last few months. Yamagata and Baba had really put them through the wringer, and the results were showing. They’d even trained often with veterans from both Regulus and Belfast. They all had valiant personalities, and they were naturally talented in the physical arts just by virtue of being beastmen. 
That aside, putting Lain at the top of my knight order was a convenient social move, as well. She was a beastwoman, so that was two birds with one stone. With Lain as the commander, everyone would know at a glance that Brunhild was a progressive country that did not discriminate based on sex or race. 
“Please don’t worry so much. Even if the title is commander, right now it’s only comparable to leading a small platoon. Don’t get worked up, you’ll be fine. Your two vice-commanders will be supporting you fully as well.” 
“Yessir.” 
“You got it!” Nikola stood stoic and serious, while Norn gave a bubbly response. Lain just sat down on her chair, staring blankly and quietly babbling. Her rabbit ears were drooped down in resignation. 
It felt a little awkward, but I’m sure she’d do her best. I also decided to support her in every way possible. 
All that was left was to create leaflets and fliers, then distribute them. I was sure that putting them in places like the guild in Regulus and Belfast would be more than enough. 
We all decided to host the interview itself after a month. 
And then, one month later... 
“Huh?” 
“Allow me to repeat myself. Over a thousand candidates are here to fill up the sixty available positions. It is both unexpected and unprecedented.” Kousaka repeated himself, but I still couldn’t wrap my head around what he said. How had we attracted that many people? Sure, we’d thrown out fliers all over the place, but over a thousand, really? There were more applicants than citizens! 
“How did this happen?” 
“Your Majesty... you are the sole Silver-ranked adventurer in Belfast. You squashed a military coup in Regulus. You slayed a Dragon in Mismede! These people were naturally drawn here due to your great deeds. Word of mouth is powerful. But of course there are likely spies from other nations mixed in amongst the candidates as well.” That made sense enough. It was still better to have a ton of candidates than no candidates, though. “How do you plan on processing them, then? And what about the criteria you’re looking for in a knight?” 
“Hrmm, I’m not actually sure about the best course of action. I still haven’t got that figured out.” I didn’t know the first thing about interviewing this many people. 
“Well, Your Majesty... it depends on the kind of individual you want to prioritize within the ranks of Brunhild. Frankly, if you think strength is all that matters, why not have them all brawl until there are only sixty left? Hohoh...” Easy for you to say. Well, if they’re thuggish or crude I don’t want them working here. I guess the ideal I’m looking for in a knight is someone who looks at the citizens and sees them as the priority. Good-hearted people with dutiful attitudes. I’m sure a lot of people will have come along with different expectations, but I’m not gonna budge there. 
Still, interviewing each candidate one after the other is gonna be a pain. What should I do... 

“Applicants for the Brunhild knight order, please come over here. Line up in an orderly fashion.” The desk was at the castle gates. I had the applicants come one by one to write down their full name, their sex, their age, birthplace, race, and personal statements on a document. After that, Lapis would give them a numbered badge. Then, that same number was stamped on the back of their hand. The actual interview was scheduled for two days afterward. 
The badges were to be worn on the chest, or anywhere where it was easily visible. Wearing them was mandatory. 
The badges were secretly the first part of the test. I’d informed every citizen of the town to record the badge number of anyone that gives them a tough time or a poor impression. I asked them to put down the reason for the concern, and the nature of the harassment. 
A smart applicant would probably realize the meaning behind the badge to begin with. 
This wasn’t a test to find those with the right qualities, but more of a test to root out those with the wrong qualities. Those who were inconsiderate, those who didn’t think about the badge’s meaning, or the people they were going to be protecting? I didn’t want those people anywhere near my country. 
I used [Mirage] on Tsubaki’s subordinates to make them look like demonkin and beastmen, then I had them wander around the town. I wanted to see if anyone would actively discriminate against them. Because those were the kind of people I wanted to kick out. 
About a third of the candidates were demi-human, so naturally if I employed them I wanted them working alongside people who wouldn’t discriminate or look down on them. It’d be a pain in the ass if I had people who were like, “Wow, you’re okay for a beastman,” as well. Friendly discrimination was still racist. 
I summoned one hundred cats and sent them into town. Their mission was to report in to me about the situation. 
“Meow... there’s a certain fellow hassling a merchant! He’s badge number six hundred and eighty-five.” 
“Meow, there’s a group of drunkards making a hassle in a restaurant. The barkeep’s trying to keep the situation under control, meow! They’re badges number eighty-two through eighty-five!” 
“S-Some rude son of a meow threw a rock at me... He’s badge number two hundred and fifty-eight!” I was surprised that so many reports were coming in so soon. It was pretty hard for me to take note of all of that alone. I decided to ask Kohaku for help. Kohaku was the Monarch that governed land beasts, so that tiger would have no issue receiving telepathic messages from the cats either. Renne and Laim came to help me record everything. 
Over a thousand applicants had shown up, so Micah’s inn was beyond its limit. In the end, most of the applicants had to camp in the plains outside town. Thankfully there was no dangerous wildlife in the region. 
A huge variety of people had shown up, though. I disguised myself with [Mirage] and went to check out the town. There were a lot of female adventurers, probably because I’d mentioned that sex didn’t matter. A lot of beastmen and demonkin showed up as well, mostly gathering in groups of their own. 
I decided to reject humans that were racist against beastmen and demonkin, but I also decided to reject beastmen and intelligent monsters that were racist toward humans as well. It was true that they might’ve all had personal circumstances that made them feel that way, but my country had no room for discriminatory people, bleeding hearts or not. 
With that initial wave over, the worst of them would probably be singled out and removed. But the screening still had to occur. 
My idea of using [Paralysis] on all of the candidates and letting those with high magical resistance pass to the next round was vetoed. I guess it didn’t have much to do with knighthood. It didn’t really let me know if the person was good or bad, either. 
I decided to rely on Yumina’s Mystic Eyes for that little detail, but resolved only to include her after I’d narrowed down the candidates considerably. 
Things were definitely about to get busier. 

It was screening day. The people whose ticket numbers had been recorded by Tsubaki’s subordinates and the cats were not allowed passage through the castle’s gate. Of course, some people were hanging around, but most had gone home in low spirits, grumbling to themselves about what they could do to help their country. Thus about fifty people had been rejected, which left about nine hundred and fifty people. But only about a twentieth had left. That wasn’t enough. 
Applicants gathered within the training ground in the castle. I stood on the hastily constructed stage alongside Lain, Norn, Nikola, Baba, and Yamagata. Elze, Linze, Yae, Yumina, Lu, and Tsubaki all waited in the wings beside the stage. 
I used my Null spell [Speaker], which caused the sides of the stages to shine as magic formations headed toward the galleries. 
These two magic formations, about thirty centimeters in diameter, floated up into the sky as another smaller formation appeared by my mouth. Anything I’d say into this one would stream out of the larger formations at a magnified volume. 
“First, allow me to welcome you all to the Duchy of Brunhild. I am Mochizuki Touya, the grand duke. We are about to proceed with the screening to see who will join my royal knight order. But let me be frank with you all, we do not pay much. As knights you will not only defend this duchy, but you will have numerous other roles to fill as well. As you can see from the beastmen behind me, your race or social position will do you no favors here. I would ask only those who agree with what I’ve said to remain here.” I declared as such, and the applicants began to mutter amongst themselves. Eventually several of them left through the castle gate. Well, I didn’t expect everyone to stay after that. If they didn’t agree with what I’d said, then I’d much rather have had them leave immediately. 
“In that case, I will now have you all show me your strength. Please head out through the gate, and do a lap around the castle moat.” A puzzled expression came over the crowd’s faces at my latest declaration. The distance around the castle was about two kilometers. They were likely thinking it was too small a distance to test strength. 
“It also matters not if you come first or last. I wish you to take this at your own pace. Those who find this too hard and wish to give up are to remove the badges they’re wearing. You’ll be teleported back here and allowed to leave. With that said, let’s begin!” As the applicants began to file off, I cast my magic. 
“[Gravity].” 
“Argh?!” Everyone collapsed to the ground under their newfound weight. 
“I used weight magic on you all. Please complete the course under these conditions. If you wish to give up, simply do as I said earlier and remove your badge. You will then be teleported here.” The applicants began to stand up one by one, and then walked slowly out of the gate. They weren’t quite going at a snail’s pace, but it was far slower than standard walking speed. 
I hadn’t made them so heavy that they couldn’t move, so they should still be able to walk fine. It’d take an incredibly amount of strength though. I’d also sent the ninjas to keep an eye on everyone, in case anyone tried to get sneaky, or accidentally fell into the moat. 
“So their position doesn’t matter?” 
“Hmm... Well I’ll take it into consideration, but this isn’t a test to simply see their physical strength.” I answered Laim’s question. I’ll certainly be able to work out how strong they are from this. But that isn’t what I want to know. 
“If this isn’t a test of physical strength, then what is it?” 
“A test of will.” 
“Their will?” How serious they can be, in other words. Anyone who gives up immediately wouldn’t be any use to us. Those would be the first people to give up when the going gets tough. And that could put us all in danger. 
After a certain amount of time had passed, I intended to send relief to those who haven’t returned. But anyone who gives up before that would be instantly disqualified. Anyone still striving for the goal at that point would be considered a successful applicant, and move on to the next stage. 
I explain all this to Laim as people start teleporting in, having given up. That’s way too soon! At least put some effort into it! 
I removed [Gravity] from them, and used [Refresh] to restore their strength before quickly sending them home. Hm, how many are left... 
Wow, we started with nine hundred and fifty, but we’re already down to four hundred and fifty?! That means half of them have given up already! 
The people in first place were all beastmen and demonkin who had naturally enhanced strength, but that wasn’t too important here. As long as a person had the mental strength to continue without giving up, they’d pass. Whatever their reason for giving up, be it that they were merely window-shopping for a job, or just realized their own lack of strength, that was irrelevant to me as well. I appreciated their efforts, regardless. 
After a certain amount of time elapsed, I used recovery magic on everyone who was still struggling. I also cast it on anyone that managed to make it through the goal. 
Now, for the next test. 
“Next we’ll move onto the practical skills examination. You may use whatever weapons you prefer. Any who manages to land a hit on me within thirty minutes will have passed. I shall be using this wooden sword. You may begin.” I declared the start and picked up my wooden sword, but not a single person charged toward me. I was thinking about how weird it was that they weren’t doing anything, when eventually someone timidly spoke up. 
“U-Uh, what order are we meant to attack you in?” Ahh, so that’s it. 
“That doesn’t matter. You can all come at me at once. Give it everything you’ve got, by all means.” They might’ve thought I was mocking them, because they all begin to charge me at once, specialized weapons in hand. 
“[Accel].” I used my acceleration magic to slip between them, and start hitting the unprotected applicants with my sword. Given the huge number of people, they kept on surging toward me. But I just kept on dodging, hitting out when I got the chance. 
I made a point not to attack anyone who held a firm guard. During this test, Baba, Yamagata, Elze and Yae were judging the participants’ skills. If they were determined to be above a certain level, then their number would be recorded. I felt bad for the people who I could clearly see weren’t at that level, but I hit them anyway. That meant they’d failed. 
Occasionally an attack would come my way, but [Accel] made it a trifling matter to deal with. Eventually, half of the people had fallen, with the rest still standing raggedly around the field. 
“That’s enough. Time!” Laim announced the test’s end. And with that, everyone collapsed to the ground. That also reminded me, I happened to see a few people I recognized during the brawl. 
I glanced over to the two of them, collapsed on the ground. Ha! Wow, it’s Rebecca and Logan. 
They were the two adventurers I’d met in the Rabbi Desert. Last I heard they were still guarding the reading cafe back in Belfast. I wondered what had brought them here. The two of them noticed my staring and gave me a small wave. I wanted to talk to them, but there were a lot of people around. I wouldn’t want them knowing that I knew any of the applicants. They might start thinking I was giving people special treatment. 
I cast recovery magic on everyone, and took the notes from Baba and the others. 
“I’ll now read out the results. Those whose numbers I read out will come this way. If I do not read out your number, I apologize, but you have failed. Please leave through the castle gates. I will now begin. Numbers three, fourteen, twenty-one...” Now only one hundred people remained. The people I attacked obviously failed, but so did the ones who didn’t try to attack me. This was their chance to show off their own abilities, so that only makes sense. 
In addition, both Rebecca and Logan ended up passing. And, since I wasn’t the one who decided that, it wasn’t like I gave them special treatment or anything. 
We sure have narrowed it down... Now there should be few enough for the interview phase. 
We took the successful applicants into the castle, and headed toward the knights’ barracks. Leaving the applicants in one room, we began preparing the adjacent one for the interviews. The ones leading these interviews were to be myself, Laim, Yumina, and one more person. I’d called them to the duchy, because their aid was imperative. 
“Sorry for making you come here. Your help is much appreciated.” 
“Oh no, this is nothing. I already owe you far more than I could ever repay.” Her Eminence the Pope smiled as she answered me. I’d contacted the Ramissh Theocracy beforehand to ask for help. Her guards, several holy paladins, were waiting at the back of the room too. We were going to perform these interviews using the pope’s ability to see through lies, and Yumina’s ability to see one’s true nature. 
Her Holiness was a bit of a celebrity, so I used [Mirage] to disguise her appearance. When I did so, she asked me to make her look young. Since she’d look like a different person I didn’t think it really mattered... But a woman’s heart could be complicated and fickle, I guess. 
“Very well, call them five at a time.” Nikola left the room, and came back with five applicants. Two beastmen, and three humans. I advised that they sit in the chairs in the center of the room. 
“If you could all state your names, age, and birthplace, from left to right please.” Laim and I began to ask rather inoffensive questions as Yumina checked out their true natures. 
Every time we asked a question, Her Holiness either clenched or opened her left hand. This was a signal we set up in advance. If she opened her hand flat, it meant they were telling the truth. But if she clenched her hand into a fist, then they were lying. I continued to ask questions as I observe this. 
It’s not that telling a lie will get you immediately disqualified. There are things people don’t want to talk about, and things that could be dangerous if revealed. But I cannot place my trust in someone who would lie about everything and anything. 
Nor did it mean that people who truthfully answered question such as “What’s more important, you or your country?”, “What would you do if you were rich?”, and “Could you calmly dispose of a traitor?”, would immediately pass. 
When the interview was done we allowed the five applicants to leave the room before Yumina started to speak. 
“We should reject the people third and fifth from the left. I believe they had malicious intent in their minds.” 
“They did indeed tell many lies. They had wonderful poker faces, however.” 
“Poker faces...? Ahh, you mean the technique where you stop your opponent from reading your expression during card games.” For now we decided to cross those two people off the list, and had Nikola call in the next five. We’re gonna have to do this twenty times? What a pain in the ass... 
“Ahh, I’m exhausted...!” We were finally done with the interviews, which meant my head could come crashing down on the desk. Fighting against a lot of people was far easier, if you asked me. 
We ended up dealing with a few people who casually lied with smiles on their faces like it was nothing. It kinda freaked me out. Still, it seemed that the ability to discern lies from truth was actually a bit of a burden. 
“I try my best not to invoke it too often. Sometimes it’s best not to know.” Her Eminence certainly had a point. If you went through life seeing through everyone completely, you could end up mistrusting people in general. I hoped I hadn’t made her overdo it a bit. I decided to treat her to dinner later as an apology. 
After we rounded off the disqualified candidates, there were sixty-four applicants remaining. It was just a little bit more than expected, but I was fine to accept all of them. 
Thirty-seven men, and twenty-seven women. It was actually more women than I had anticipated. Though, it was probably because the knight orders in other countries didn’t allow females to join. My poster had specified that sex, creed, or race was irrelevant, so naturally a few talented ladies made their way to my duchy. 
As it happened, Rebecca’s reason for coming to Brunhild was precisely that. Logan also came along, stating he was looking for steady work. I asked if they were planning on getting married or something, but they both yelled at me in surprised unison. Apparently he was seeing someone else. Talk about awkward... 
Twenty-two of the candidates were beastmen and demonkin. I could understand so many beastmen coming in, because my commanding trio were also beastmen, but the number of demonkin definitely threw me off. 
Demonkin were a species that were typically bipedal and similar to humans in appearance. But even if they were generally considered demi-human, they were much closer to conventional monsters for the most part. Members of their race included vampires, lamias, ogres, and alraunes. They’re fully capable of communication, and are just as intelligent as humans, though they tend to keep their distance from mankind. 
As you’d expect, there’s a lot of prejudice and discrimination against demonkin across the world. Several countries even actively oppress members of the species, including the Ramissh Theocracy before their reforms. 
The interviews with the demonkin were especially strict and thorough due to the potential distrust or ill will toward humanity. But the five of them that passed all were approved wholly by Yumina’s Mystic Eyes. Her Holiness the Pope also determined they were all honest and true individuals. They all genuinely wished to live amongst humans, so I passed them. They were a vampire, an ogre, an alraune, and two lamias. 
As an aside, the vampire candidate looked like a stereotypical vampire, but he seemed to be fine without drinking blood. Apparently, amongst vampires at least, blood was seen as something similar to how humans see booze or cigarettes. Some enjoyed partaking, but others just had no interest or even actively disliked it. The vampire who joined our ranks stated that he was quite uncomfortable around blood, actually. It was pretty jarring, given my image of vampirism as an insatiable hunger. 
I began wondering just how my royal knights were going to end up looking. There were a few details like squad arrangement to go over, but we certainly had quite the diverse cast of characters making up my ranks. I didn’t mind, though, it seemed like things would be more fun that way anyhow. 

I created a second barrack due to our sudden increase in troops. Men and women didn’t need to share accommodation, either. Though I provided the barracks for them to live in, I’d also be fine with them staying in the town if they paid for it themselves. 
I also took some advice from old man Baba and built an underground training facility. 
“For the time bein’, these three’re the commander and vice-commanders, right? How’s it gonna look to the newbies if they see Yamagata and me beatin’ them around?” He had a point. The three of them were definitely strong, but they still weren’t tough enough to hold a candle to the old men. If the new recruits saw them getting roughed up by Yamagata and company, they might lose confidence in Lain and consider the old men more suited to lead. That’d be bad! 
Therefore we decided to create an elite-members only exclusive training facility, deep underground. As they poured into the place, which was basically just a gym with a training field attached to it, they all looked around in glee at the inventions I had placed within. Like children, they ran over and used the exercise bike, the treadmill, the barbell weights, and so on. They’d end up suffering extreme muscle fatigue if they overdid it. They weren’t toys! 
Now, I had a few things to do that day. The duchy was being well-managed, so I decided to finally address a few things in my personal life. 
Even though it was long overdue, I decided that today was the day... To tell the parents of the girls I’d proposed to that we were engaged. 
It was already settled in the case of Yumina and Lu, but I hadn’t told Yae’s family, or Elze and Linze’s, either. 
I was already acquainted with Yae’s mother and father, but Elze and Linze’s biological parents were dead. I knew that their uncle and aunt were living in Refreese though, they lived in a farming village and had raised the twins there. 
I decided to meet with Yae’s parents first. I whipped up a portal, and the two of us found ourselves in Oedo. 
“Been a while since I’ve been to Eashen.” It felt a little funny to me, since roughly half of Brunhild’s citizens were Eashen natives. We passed through the gate of the Kokonoe dojo, and Ayane, their maid, came to greet us. 
I was brought through to see her parents, Jubei and Nanae. I told them straight-up about my engagement. To my surprise, they didn’t respond with much other than a silent glance between the two. 
“See? It is as I said it would be.” 
“I suppose you were correct. Very well, and thank you. Please take care of our Yae as you would your other brides, Touya-dono.” They bowed their heads to us, and we returned the gesture. I was kind of pleased it went so seamlessly. I half expected it to turn into a “If you want my daughter, then best me in battle!” kind of a situation. 
“But, I must confess... I did not expect you to become nobility, Touya-dono. Nor did I expect my Yae to marry into a monarch’s house... life certainly is full of surprises!” Jubei let out his honest feelings. I felt mostly the same as he did. I couldn’t have foreseen this happening a year ago. 
“Excuse me, Touya-san. Would you perhaps take us to this Brunhild? I wish to see where my daughter will be spending her life.” 
“Hm? I don’t see why not, but bear in mind we aren’t very well-developed just yet.” I didn’t mind if Yae’s mother was interested in her daughter’s home, so I obliged. We waited for Yae’s brother to return home, and I took them all with me. Ayane came along as well, as she’d never seen any place outside of Eashen before. 
“Welcome hooome, your Hiiighness.” 
“Welcome home!” Cecile and Renne came to greet us at the castle entry. Yae’s family began to look around at the castle’s interior, their heads craning to stare at everything. 
“This is Yae’s family. They’ll be looking around for a while, so please take good care of them.” 
“Oh myyy, Lady Yae’s familyy... This waay, please. I’ll shooow you to your quarteeers.” Cecile guided them off to their rooms, one-by-one. I decided that we’d stop to have lunch in the dining room, and then take them for a tour around the town. Then again, there wasn’t really much to see there. Yae’s brother, and her father, would probably prefer to check out our training grounds. 
As I expected, they did! I went with the two of them, while Yae went to the castle town with Ayane and Nanae. 
The fresh recruits of my knight order were practicing with deadly zeal. I was kind of pleased to see it, because the only thing I’d seen on the training field previously was Lain and the others being beaten to a pulp by old men. 
After a short while of observing, Jubei and Jutaro said they wanted to participate in the training as well. That was only natural; they were the direct family of Yae, after all, and she was a sword nut. 
I flagged down Yamagata and called him over for a mock battle with Jubei. I thought that a showdown between a former member of the Takeda Elite Four, and the swordsmanship instructor of the Tokugawa house would be something to behold indeed. 
As soon as the battle began, everyone was captured by the stunning display of swordplay. Even Jutaro, who was standing right next to me, stood enraptured by the dancing blades. 
I watched the two clash for a while, before calling it prematurely. It’d be better for the pride of both men to call it a draw, anyway. 
After the battle ended, the knights all clamored around Jubei and begged him to teach them swordplay. I was pleased they were all so eager to improve. 
Yamagata then caught the attention of Jutaro, who challenged him immediately. The boy couldn’t resist the opportunity to face off against a former member of the Takeda Clan’s Elite Four, after all. 
He wasn’t on his father’s level, but Yae’s brother certainly put up an incredible fight against old man Yamagata. He was definitely stronger than Lain and the vice-commanders. But he’d been raised with a blade in his hand, and had experienced war as well. If that wasn’t natural talent honed through experience, then what was? 
The two of them joined the knight recruits and began to practice, which left me with some time to kill. I thought about leaving them in Yamagata’s care and heading back to take care of some other stuff, but I had some apprehensions about abandoning what were effectively my brother and father-in-law. I decided it’d be too cold to leave immediately, so I waited around a bit. 
As I sat down on the bench and watched them clash, Rebecca walked over to say hello. 
“Got some free time, Touya? Oh, er... I mean, my liege, right?” She spoke with a grin plastered on her face. I didn’t really mind what she called me, but she should definitely try to act formal with me around other people. 
“I didn’t expect you to come here at all, Rebecca. Why was it that you came, again?” 
“I had aspirations to join an order of Royal Knights. But a woman has little to no chance of joining an order without noble blood, or friends in high places. I started adventuring to hone my skills, then jumped at the chance when I saw the notice about indiscriminate hiring here.” That made sense enough to me. There were a lot of women amongst the applicants I’d had. Apparently Logan tagged along after Rebecca invited him. But they had no idea that I was the one at the head of the country. 
“Will didn’t come, then?” 
“He’s stuck in Belfast’s knight order, I think. Vice-Commander Neil has taken a real liking to him. Plus, Wendy lives over there, so there’s no way he’d leave.” According to Rebecca, Wendy was still working in Moon Reader, so Will would frequently take guard jobs there. 
It was a little late to consider, but I had no idea what was going to happen with that cafe. Would it being owned by the leader of a foreign country be a problem? Well, I had no doubts the King of Belfast would be fine with it either way. 
I had them send over reports on revenue, expenditures, and monthly proceeds through a Gate Mirror. I also delivered them new books every month. It was all being managed very well, and seemed to be quite popular. It made me wonder if I’d have to consider setting up a second branch in Brunhild. 
“A-Also... I have a request of you, Your Highness...” 
“A request?” 
“Yeah, see... there should be some equipment that allows one to recognize us as members of the Royal Knights, right? Like a distinctive armor, shield, or blade. Don’t you think we should have something like that? Something iconic?” Rebecca blurted out her proposal, blushing slightly. She raised a point I hadn’t considered, we definitely didn’t have anything unified or distinct. Brunhild’s knights would be easier to recognize if they had a piece of gear that made them stand out. 
“Hmm... you’ve got a point, Rebecca! It’d be super convenient if citizens could recognize you as a member of the knight order at a glance.” 
“For reals, right?!” Rebecca grinned, clapping her hands together. Seems I’d hit it right on the head. She looked way too excited, though. I guess she had always dreamed of joining a knight order, though. Plus a stereotypical knight looked very cool and distinct, I figured she wanted to have that kind of image. 
“Hmm... then let’s give it a try.” 
“Wait, right now?” I took a lump of mithril out of my magic storage, completely ignoring the bewildered Rebecca as I did so. 
I used another of my trusty spells to start shaping it properly. I made an armor plating typical of fantasy anime and games, since I wanted it to have a bit of a different feeling to the armors commonly found in this world. 
I made a breastplate, set of shoulder pauldrons, greaves, and neckbrace. I had Rebecca put it on, and then adjusted the size to fit her form. I formed it in such a way that let her have free movement, but also gave the outfit a feminine feeling. Lastly, I made a helmet with a transparent visor and a wide field of view. 
I had to make sure it didn’t hinder movement, so I had Rebecca go through various motions while wearing it. It was mithril, so it shouldn’t have had much weight to it. 
“This is amazing! It’s like I’m wearing a sheet!” As Rebecca bounded around in the armor a little more, I took a Phrase shard from storage and shaped it into a blade, a shield, and a scabbard. I then charged the items with a small amount of my magic. I also made sure part of the sword’s core structure was made of mithril. 
The amount of magic I poured into the sword and shield made them harder than mithril itself. I made sure it wasn’t as sharp as Yae’s Touka, though. Didn’t want anyone stealing it and causing absolute chaos with an impossibly sharp blade. 
I finished it up by using another nifty spell to reduce the gear’s weight. And, just like that, I had created a crystal sword and shield. 
It was possible to make armor using the Phrase fragments too, but then it’d be see-through, so I decided against it. I added straps so the shield would be worn on the back, and the sword at the waist, and then it was done. 
“So, how is it?” 
“Amazing, really!” Rebecca triumphantly held up her shield and thrust out her blade. The glimmering quickly caught the attention of just about everyone else, and soon we were surrounded. 
I caught Logan amongst the onlookers, and called him over. Then I used him as a base and took feedback from the other knights to create a male variant of the armor. After that, I went to the workshop and mass-produced the armor for everyone to wear. 
Only the base shape was mass-produced, though. I had to apply the enchanted effects myself. Luckily, I had [Multiple] to do it all at once. 
I set it so the armor intelligently adapted to fit the size of the person wearing it. I also added a crest in the image of Brynhildr, the Germanic shieldmaiden my gun and country were named for, on to the shields. 
I made special, unique-looking armors for the commander, vice-commanders, and squad captains. Then I had to create custom-fit armors for the demonkin members of my army. The vampire guy was fine to wear the regular model, though. 
It was their on-duty gear, so it would be best if they didn’t use it for practice. Their blades were made of Phrase shards, so their magic power would end up depleting if they used it wastefully, and that wouldn’t be good... 
I returned to the training grounds with the armor in tow. Everyone rushed ahead, desperate to be the first to get their hands on the stuff. They all smiled and began touching at the metal. When they were all fitted in their matching armor, they definitely gave off the feel of a proper group of royal knights. 
In later years, due to their swords and shields, Brunhild’s knights would come to be known as the “Order of the Crystal Blade.” But that’s a story for another day. 

Ultimately, I was relieved to have the full support of Yae’s family, but now I had to go and visit Linze and Elze’s family. 
“H-Honestly there’s no need...” Elze was hesitant for some reason. It seemed that Elze and Linze had sent a letter off that roughly explained the situation. They said they were engaged to the same man, that the man was the ruler of a country, and so on. 
Their uncle, who was the younger brother of their mother, owned a farm in a small village called Colette. The village was in the Refreese Imperium, close to Belfast’s borders. Elze and Linze lived there until they were twelve years old, when they left in pursuit of independence. Apparently they didn’t want to burden their aunt and uncle with too many mouths to feed. 
The people of this world sure are independent... In my old world, there are people who leech off their parents well into their twenties... and some that would act as though that was normal. 
In any case, if they’d already explained the circumstances, I wanted to at least go and greet the family. I asked them if they’d like to use [Fly] with me and blast off, but they said it was too frightening. Geez, after all the trouble I went through to learn this spell, too... 
In the end, I just bit the bullet and used [Recall] on Linze to see Colette village, and then we all went there through a [Gate]. 
I could see what looked to be an orchard off in the distance. There were red fruits dangling from the trees. 
The area very much felt like the countryside. There was a big fence erected around the perimeter, though. 
I wondered if wild boars came along and ruined crops or something... There was a large house with a red roof in the distance. It was very big, and had a well-aged, rustic feel to it. 
“Been a long time since we’ve been here...” 
“It hasn’t changed a bit.” We wandered over toward the red-roofed house, while the two girls stared at the scenery. There was nostalgia clouding their eyes, so I figured this must be the place. 
Two people were tending the field in front of the house. One of them, a man, raised his head and peered over at us. He was wearing a stereotypical farmer’s straw hat. 
“What...? Elze? Linze?!” 
“Yo, long time no see, Uncle Joseph!” 
“It’s been a while, uncle.” Elze and Linze raised their hands to wave at him. The other person who was tending the field, a young woman, raised her head as well. 
“Elze, Linze?! Well butter my biscuit, you’re home?!” Her face blossomed into a beaming smile. She charged across the field and pulled the twins into a big hug. Her hair was long and brown, all tied up into a braid. She only seemed to be about twenty... Is this seriously their aunt?! “Heya sis. We’re home!” 
“We’re home, Emma. It’s nice to see you again.” 
“Geez Louise, you two never came back even once. Even after ya promised to!” Elze must’ve realized that I was very much left out here, because she parted from the embrace. 
“Touya, this is sis. Her name’s Emma, though. She’s uncle’s daughter, and our cousin.” Cousin? Hm, I see... She does kinda look similar to them... I wonder if Elze and Linze’ll grow up to look similar to her. 
As I got lost in thought, Elze and Linze’s uncle removed his straw hat and strode over. He had beady eyes and white hair, he looked to be around fifty years old as well. He gave off the vibe of a simple country bumpkin, but not in a bad way. 
“Ah, I’m happy y’both decided ta come back a bit. Everyone’s gonna be real happy. Who’s this nice lookin’ fella with you, anyhow?” Their uncle looked at me, then Linze, then Elze. He crooked a brow. 
“We sent that letter, didn’t we? This is Mochizuki Touya. H-He’s uhm... ah... h-haha... h-he’s our uh... f-f-future hu... huh...!!” 
“He’s our fiance.” The two turned beet red as they gave my introduction to their uncle. Geez, you two... if you start going on like that you’re gonna make me blush as well! 
“...Oh. The letter... right. So this feller’s from that Duchy of Brunhild that everyone’s been gabbin’ on about these days?” 
“Indeed. I am the grand duke of the Duchy of Brunhild. My name is Mochizuki Touya. Touya is my given name. I’m indebted to Elze and Linze for their kindn—” 
“Wh-Whaaaat?!! Oh my goodness me...!” Their uncle suddenly dropped to the ground and prostrated before me. What the hell? I only reached out for a handshake. 
“Ahhh, damn it. This is exactly what I thought was gonna happen...!” 
“...Typical.” Elze and Linze looked at each other with wry smiles. They let out little sighs. Their uncle refused to budge from his prostrated position, he looked like he was quivering, even. I didn’t really know what to do, when suddenly Emma started to speak. 
“Pops here is pretty uncomfortable and weak-willed when it comes to nobility an’ such. Apparently somethin’ happened when he was a kid so he gets like this whenever there’s someone of a higher status nearby.” What, wait... don’t just brush it off! This is beyond “uncomfortable!” He’s clearly concealing some kind of traumatic event! Seriously! I’m concerned about what happened to this guy when he was little! 
“Y-Your Most Esteemed Highness, Sir Mochizuki Touya. I am so privileged and emboldened by your presence in my humble home. I am so sorry, I don’t have anything to amuse you with, but I respectfully ask that you keep calm... please don’t punish us for our transgressions.” This is... weird. Really goddamn weird. Does he think I’m some kind of ticking time bomb? I turned my head to Linze and Elze, raising a brow at them. They just kind of shrugged and did nothing. Little help, guys? 
“Oi, dad. You’re offending him. Get up already.” 
“O-Offending him?! I-I’m so sorry, milord! Please forgive me, have mercy!” He rocketed to his feet with a boundless energy and began to talk in a fluster. Now I understood why Elze was so reluctant to bring me here. This guy was something else. I decided not to torment him any further, and moved aside to talk with Emma. 
“Sorry... I came here to introduce myself to the family, but is he going to be alright?” 
“Don’t sweat it. Pop’s just like that. Everyone’ll be real happy to meet you, honest. Come meet momma an’ the others, too.” The others? I was caught off-guard by what she said, and before I could process the meaning... 
“They were telling the truth! Elze and Linze’re home!” 
“Welcome baaack!” 
“Hurray!! The sisters’re back! It’s Linze an’ Elze!” Whoa... The rambunctious little tykes came flooding over and embraced the twins. One... Two... three... six little kids! Two boys and four girls, it looks like. 
I stared on, dumbfounded, while Emma gave a little laugh. 
“These are my brothers and sisters. Going from oldest to youngest, there’s Sheena, Allen, Kurara and Kirara, Allan, and Reno. They all have an older brother, who’s just a bit younger than me, his name’s Aaron. But he left for the big city a while back.” Eight kids, for reals? That poor uncle... It now made sense why Elze and Linze decided to leave so young, they must’ve felt like they were further burdening an already bustling household. Just thinking of the food expenses this place must’ve had made my head spin. 
Aside from Allen and Allan, they were all girls. Kirara and Kurara looked like they were twins, too. Back in my world they’d say that a family with twins typically had a lot of twins in it. I wondered if the same was said in this one. 
I looked over toward the house, and a stout, chubby woman came sauntering out. 
“Well I’ll be damned... is that Elze and Linze?! Get over here, you rapscallions!” 
“Auntie Lana!” 
“Yes, it’s us. We’re home, Aunt Lana.” Elze and Linze both ran up to the woman and gave her a big hug. It was their aunt, apparently. She was a chubby, portly woman. But she exuded a lot of character. 
Lana patted the two on the head with a warm smile, then she turned to me. 
“You must be Touya, then. You’re exactly as the two described you in their letter... you certainly seem quite a good man! Ohoho, the two of them certainly described their beloved fiance quite well.” 
“A-Auntie Lana!” 
“...Keep that secret, we mentioned so in the letter.” The two of them turned beet red as they voiced their irritation to their aunt. I was curious about what it was they’d written, but opted not to pursue it. I had a feeling it’d just get me in trouble. 
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, I’m Mochizuki Touya. Touya’s my given name.” 
“My name’s Lana. I’m the twins’ aunt. You’re rather humble for royalty, aren’t you?” 
“Ahaha... well, I can’t really afford not to be. I haven’t exactly been noble for long, anyway.” Unlike her husband, Lana seemed a bit more confident. She was really friendly and quite the chatterbox. I wondered if this was a case of polar opposites attracting. 
“I was nervous when I heard that the two of them would be marrying into royalty, but it seems my fears were unfounded. I can see it in their eyes that you’re a good man.” 
“Thank you for your kindness.” Lana’s words put me at ease a little. Just then, a little boy who looked to be about seven years old (I think his name was... Allen, or something.), tottered over and tugged at his mother’s apron. 
“Mommy... is that man royalty?” 
“Sort of, sweetheart. He’s the grand duke of Brunhild. A country far away from here.” 
“Wow... is he strong? Can he beat up the Thunderbears?” 
“...Thunderbears?” I recalled them as being magical beasts that fired lightning from their bodies. They were a monster usually assigned to Blue Rank guild members, so they were two tiers lower than my Silver Rank. 
“Are there Thunderbears around here?” 
“Ah, there’ve been some alleged sightings lately. They say that lightning strikes have been firing out in the dead of night lately, up in the mountains. The crops have been damaged by the occasional fire, so the villagers in the area pooled their money and put out a quest in the guild.” I didn’t even consider that there’d be problems like farms being collaterally damaged. That sounded like an issue that could become pretty dire if it went unchecked. Not only that, but if the monsters were close enough to damage the fields, then it’d only be a matter of time before people started getting hurt, or worse. I wondered how many monsters there were. I remembered hearing that they were solitary animals and didn’t group up much. It was likely there’d just be a couple of them, and maybe some cubs. 
However, I’d heard about a special type of Thunderbear that had a strange set of spines running along its back from head to tail. It somehow used this to command other Thunderbears. 
If one of those things was involved, it could easily create a large group of Thunderbears. In that case, the quest would immediately jump to a Red Rank, which is a far cry from blue. 
“When exactly did you submit the quest to the guild?” 
“Three days ago. We don’t have a guild here, so we forwarded the request to the nearest large town, Senka. We’re fairly sure the quest should be available in the guild by this time tomorrow.” Assuming the quest was received and accepted the following day, it’d still be another three or four days until the adventurer who took it actually arrived in the village. I decided to strike while the iron was hot, and prevent further calamity. Contacting the guild afterward would be fine, surely. 
“I’ll take care of your Thunderbear problem.” 
“Your Highness, really? Are you sure you’ll be alright?” 
“I’ll be fine. Despite my appearance, I’m a Silver Rank adventurer, after all.” I took out a small silver card from my pocket and showed it to Lana, who looked positively dumbfounded. Naturally, I wasn’t going to take the reward money from the village, either. I decided to defeat it quickly and get outta there. 
“Do you want us to come, too?” 
“No. You and Elze have a lot to discuss with your uncle and the others, so I’ll tackle this one solo.” I declined Linze’s offer and floated up into the air with my flight magic. The children looked up at me, gasping in amazement and putting their hands over their mouths. With their wonder backing me, I turned toward the mountains and flew away. 
After landing up on the mountains, I pulled out my smartphone and ran a search for Thunderbears. There were more than I was expecting. Too many. More than you’d expect for a regular gathering, anyway. It made me believe without question that a specialized Thunderbear should be around there. 
Though, despite the likelihood, there was no way to be certain. With the number of bears up here, the village was actually pretty lucky to only be slightly damaged. The damage to the farmer’s fields wasn’t as bad as it could’ve been, that was for sure. Plus, nobody had actually been attacked by a bear, either. The surrounding wilderness was probably full of small animals, berries, and nuts, so the Thunderbears didn’t need to forage in civilized lands. 
“Alrighty, let’s get this over with...” I ran a target lock on all the Thunderbears in the area. But then I paused. The resources from the Thunderbears would go to waste if I killed them all with a mass spell. 
Thunderbear pelt was quite valuable, as I recalled. Their liver was also an ingredient in a fast-acting and potent medication. Their meat was a little tough, but wasn’t entirely awful either. If I burned them all up with a spell, I’d probably lose their pelts entirely. That wouldn’t be economically intelligent of me. 
I decided that the best way to kill them was with a bladed weapon, because stabbing them would damage the fur the least. Then I changed my mind, and decided it might be smarter to poison them, or perhaps suffocate them, or cause them to go into cardiac arrest. I didn’t think my paralysis spell was strong enough to induce heart attacks, though. 
“Confirm the number of Thunderbears in the region.” 
“Calculating... Twenty-three bears. Cubs included.” Cubs or not, I couldn’t afford mercy. Didn’t want to run the risk of the little guys growing up and causing havoc. I felt slightly uncomfortable, but... that’s life. 
It’d probably be best to shoot them right in the hearts, one by one, huh... I figured it’d only take about an hour to end all of their lives. As I pondered the best way to effectively take them out, I popped open a portal to the first bear.

“Hrmph... That was quite the hassle...” The specialized Thunderbear was a lot tougher than I expected, and didn’t really give me much room to attack it. I couldn’t aim anywhere except for the heart, so I had to dodge a bunch of lightning bolts that fired at me from all angles. It was really tough to avoid, but I ended up defeating it in the end. I put it in [Storage] with the rest of the bear corpses. 
And, just like that, the mountain was free of Thunderbears. Now all I had to do was head to the guild. Firstly, I needed to exchange the raw bear parts for money. And secondly, I had to inform them that the quest set by the town needed to be cancelled. Though, it probably wouldn’t be a cancellation, since the quest likely hadn’t even reached the guild board yet. 
“Uhh... what was it called, again? Uhh... Right, Senka. The town of Senka.” I looked it up on my map. It was due west. 
I triggered my flight magic and began heading there immediately. Truly, it was among my most convenient of spells. If I was on the ground, I could probably reach the same speed with [Accel Boost], but this method was easier. That being said, [Fly] was slightly slower and didn’t increase my thought processing in the way [Accel] did. Both spells had their pros and cons, it was just up to me to employ them at the right times. 
As such idle thoughts rolled around my head, I eventually saw a town through a clearing of clouds. It was Senka. 
I’d cause a fuss if I ended up landing in the middle of town, so I landed just a bit outside of the place. Then, after confirming the location of the guild on the map, I headed right into the bustling streets. 
The guildhouse in Senka was considerably smaller than the one in Belfast’s capital, but the interior was actually quite nice. The quest board, as usual, was up on a far wall with several jobs posted. I gave it a sidelong glance before heading to the reception desk. 
“Welcome! How may I help you?” 
“I’d like to sell some materials I’ve harvested from some monsters. Also, there’ll be a quest coming in from Colette village tomorrow. I’d like to cancel it.” 
“I don’t quite understand.” The receptionist eyed me suspiciously, so I presented her my guild card and explained the situation. She was surprised to see a Silver Rank, but believed my story. 
After that was dealt with, I lined up the Thunderbears outside and had them check the quality. I set aside two Thunderbear corpses to bring back to the village as evidence, as well. 
“Th-This will take us a little while, is that alright?” I didn’t mind, there were a lot. It was just one of those things, it’d be unreasonable to complain. I decided to kill time by looking around the guild. Making my way over to the quest board, I browsed a few requests. 
“Hm... A Mega Slime... in a cave to the east, huh.” All the girls in my party loathed any species even remotely similar to Slimes. I’d fought many a monster and demon since I came to the new world, but slippery slimy monsters like Ropers and Slimes were ones we rarely encountered. 
As I idly browsed through jobs, someone came through the guild entrance. Many adventurers were coming and going, so I didn’t think much of it, but... then I did a double-take. 
“Well then, if it isn’t Touya. What brings you here?” 
“Ende...?!” It was him. The monochrome boy. With his pale complexion, his snow-white hair, his signature white scarf and his dark outfit... 
“What are you doing here, Ende?” 
“I should ask you the same, shouldn’t I? I just got back from wiping out a King Ape that was rampaging in the area.” Ende smiled wryly at me, and gave his answer. I knew what he was talking about. They were a large, monkey-like monster. They weren’t very intelligent, that was for sure. At least the ones I’d fought hadn’t been. 
“No, those details aren’t important. There’s a lot I need to ask of you, Ende.” 
“You have something to ask me? I mean, go right ahead, but please give me a moment. I need to turn in the quest, after all.” I watched Ende go to the reception desk and hand his guild card over. It was red. After pocketing his reward, we went to a corner area in the guild and sat down. 
“What did you want from me, Touya?” 
“The Phrase. I want to know what they are.” Ende looked like he was deep in thought, but eventually started to talk. 
“Regarding the Phrase... there are things I can tell you, and things I cannot tell you. Are you still fine with that?” 
“...That’s fine. Just tell me what you can.” Ende leaned forward in his seat and began to talk to me. 
“You may find this hard to believe, Touya. But the Phrase are not entities native to this world. It would be more appropriate to call them visitors that came to this world from another.” 
“Visitors? They’re a little hostile for that, aren’t they? Seem more like invaders to me.” 
“I don’t think calling them invaders is quite apt. They have no invasive intentions. The only reason they’re in this world is to find their leader.” 
The Sovereign Phrase. That’s what Ende told me last time. That it was the goal of the Phrase to locate their leader. 
“Then why are they killing people?!” 
“...Please understand that from this point, there are details I’ll have to exclude. The thing that keeps a Phrase alive is the core. So long as the Phrase Core is intact, the creature will not die, and it will slowly absorb residual magic from the atmosphere until it can eventually regenerate its body. The Phrase are here to find the Sovereign Core. Because that core is somewhere in this world. They’re killing humans in an attempt to find and reclaim it.” 
“But that doesn’t make sense. What does finding the Sovereign Core have to do with killing people?” 
“The search is precisely why they’re killing people. Because the Sovereign Core is inside the body of someone living in this world.” 
That sounded insane to me. The Sovereign Core was actually inside a person? 
“It’s not only limited to humans, either. It could dwell within a beastman, one of the demonkin, any creature with a reasonable degree of intelligence could be housing the Sovereign Core. It’s currently in a dormant state. For all intents and purposes, it’s in a state of near-death. While the Sovereign Core is dormant, it latches on to a lifeform’s body and gestates within it, waiting for the next stage of its life cycle. The Phrase noticed the ‘waves’ being pulsed out by the dormant core, and that’s why they know it’s in this world. But they can’t discern the exact position, because there are too many noises drowning the signal out. They can’t hear the noise of the Sovereign properly over the sound of the beating of its host’s heart. Therefore, they slaughter humans with reckless abandon, all in the name of clearing the obstructive noise.” 
If what he was saying was true, that was insane! The Phrase would just keep killing until they eventually plucked their leader from a corpse. 
“Just what the hell are the Phrase?” 
“Originally, they were beings that evolved and lived on another world. But, after some time, their leader disappeared. Since then, they’ve been traveling across worlds in pursuit of the Sovereign Core, in order to regain their leader. The Sovereign has its own intentions and agenda, as well. They’re coarse, and unrefined creatures. Their methods are brutal, I know. But you have to understand, they aren’t acting out of malice, but raw instinct.” 

The situation reminded me of bee and ant hives, and how the colony moved according to the Queen. They were definitely gathering here like something was attracting them. But I wondered what Ende meant when he said that the Sovereign had an agenda. “When the Sovereign Core crosses to a new world, it will infest the body of someone who lives there. Little by little, it will absorb the life force and magic from that person, and then warp into a new host when its previous one reaches the end of their life. This process repeats until the Sovereign Core has absorbed enough power to travel to another world.” 
“...So that’s it? The Phrase come here seeking the Sovereign Core, killing indiscriminately in the process, and then they’ll follow the core to the next world along after it leaves?” 
“That’s about the gist of it, yes.” That was absolutely insane. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. They were like locusts moving from crop field to crop field, draining it of life. They recklessly traversed worlds, harvesting the people within and moving on. To make matters worse, they didn’t even seem aware of their destruction. They were just doing it because it was their job. It wasn’t even a case of good or evil to them. They were just running on instinct. 
“...Ende, you said you were hunting for the Sovereign Core as well. Does that mean you’ve killed humans?” 
“Don’t be silly, now. I wouldn’t want you to get the wrong impression. I’m simply waiting for the core to finish its cycle and transition to the next world, and then I’ll follow. Don’t lump me in with the monsters.” Ende’s intentions were completely confusing to me, I couldn’t get a read on him at all. I wondered if he was perhaps some kind of guardian assigned to the Sovereign Core... That didn’t change the fact that the Sovereign Core being here was the reason why everything was going wrong, though. 
“What was that thing about the boundary of the world?” 
“Hm... that’s a bit of a stickler to explain. Let’s try to think of it like a staircase. Each step is connected to the step immediately above and below it, right? You can take one step no problem, but going ten steps at a time isn’t possible, right? You can consider the height between steps to be the gaps between worlds. In order to get ten steps higher, you have to go up all the steps between the one you’re on and that ten-step goal... though you might be able to skip a step or two along the way. Worlds right next to each other have common features, but worlds far apart are vastly different. But that aside, usually there’s a barrier in place that prevents beings from crossing to other worlds. So you shouldn’t even be able to make a single step.” I felt like I understood his explanation for the most part. There were common features between my world and the world I now lived in, so they probably weren’t too many steps apart. 
“I might’ve mentioned something like this, I don’t remember... but the boundary is not like a wall. It’s more of a translucent membrane. Small and harmless things generally go unregistered and can pass through freely. That is the reason why the Sovereign Core expends all of its reserved power to travel, letting it float through in its death-like dormant state. It’s an ability only the Sovereign can make use of.” That made sense enough to me, at least with the information I had. I wondered what it physically felt like, to pass through to another world in your own body... 
“It shouldn’t normally be possible to break through the boundary line, but... making a rip is possible, and an individual creature could force its way through. If that happens several times, eventually the rip will get bigger and bigger, until the boundary falls and can no longer do its job, allowing anything to spill out. That’s what happened five thousand years ago.” That was the Phrase Invasion that Doctor Babylon had told me about. She said the world was on the verge of destruction... Now it all made sense. 
“Back then, the boundary line was somehow repaired, and the threat of the Phrase vanished. The remaining Phrase were all vanquished, and this world was spared the fate of many others. I also aided in hunting the remnants.” It was then that I knew Ende was not human. He was absolutely not an ordinary person, and he spoke so lightly and familiarly of events that transpired five thousand years ago. 
But his words made me wonder just what it was that had restored the boundary line, it seemed Ende wasn’t sure either, and that made me all the more curious. 
“I thought I’d be able to take it easy a while, but things started getting noisy again. The boundary line barrier is starting to come unfurled again. It’s barely holding, but it’ll only be a matter of time before the high-tier Phrase break through it. I can’t tell you if that’ll happen in a year or fifty years, though...” 
“Ende... are you an ally or an enemy of humanity?” 
“Hm... I wonder about that one. I’ve been hunting the Phrase, but it’s been more of a way to kill time than anything else. If the boundary breaks down, I might sit it out and let nature take its course. That being said, I don’t much feel like being an ally of the Phrase.” I couldn’t understand Ende’s intentions at all, much less his motivations. I decided to let it go, because at the very least he wasn’t sleeping with the enemy. 
“I have something I need to take care of, now. Can we consider our chat concluded?” Ende stood up and made for the exit. 
“...Just one last question. Ende, who or what are you?” 
“Me? You can just call me a ‘drifter.’ See you around, Touya.” Ende walked out of the guild, leaving me only with those words. 
The Phrase’s mission, the Sovereign Core... the Boundary Line... 
I learned a lot of crazy stuff from Ende that day. When the reality of the situation set in, I realized that things were actually pretty dire. Five thousand years ago, the crisis was averted because the boundary barrier was repaired... But what about this time? Could the Phrase even be stopped? They were clearly going to kill humans indiscriminately in their search for the Sovereign Core. It’s not like this world had much in the way of opposition for them, either. We didn’t have any of the advanced technology that the world had back then, so if they appeared in waves we’d be completely screwed. 
As these uncertain, uncomfortable truths milled around in my head, I received my money from the receptionist and left the guild. 

“And that’s the situation. Do you know much about it?” 
“No, I cannot say that I do. As I said earlier, I am not always keeping an eye on all places. But there are indeed races that travel across worlds. Naturally I do not interfere with those species, either. Though, it would be another story entirely if another God was causing trouble or something...” On my way back from talking to Ende, I tried calling up God to ask about what I’d discovered. But, as I’d expected, he didn’t really know anything at all. As usual, the people of this world would have to solve their own issues. 
The situation was by no means dire just yet, but I knew that I’d have to start making preparations should the worst come to pass. 
I reasoned that the most efficient way to deal with the issue would be using the power of Babylon. Doctor Babylon had prepared a final weapon, the Frame Gear, for the final clash against the Phrase. I had a feeling that the weapon would be necessary if I wanted to repel their resurgence. 
That course of action left me with two methods. I had to either procure the blueprints from the storehouse, or the product itself from the hangar. 
As I recalled, the parts of Babylon remaining were the hangar, the library, the storehouse, the rampart, the tower, and the research laboratory. I had a one in three chance of getting the one I wanted if I found them at random. 
“I should probably start picking up the pace of my search, huh...” I flew back to Colette village as I pondered my next course. 
“A Frame Gear, sir?” After returning from the village, I immediately went up to the workshop to talk with Rosetta. The Doctor had created the Frame Gear, so I was certain that Rosetta had to at least be slightly familiar with it. 
“Yeah, how do they work exactly?” 
“Just about anyone can operate it, sir! The proficiency is determined by both the pilot’s magical affinity, and their personal affinity for the Frame Gear model, sir! That being said, it’d be a challenge to get it to move very well without any training, yessir!” 
Makes sense... That means if I can mass-produce them, we’d definitely be looking good. I mean, she raises a fair point about the individual skill of the pilots, but... we’d definitely be able to repel the Phrase if we had a giant robot army to oppose them. 
“Mass production of the Frame Gears would prove difficult, sir!” 
“Huh? Why’s that? Can’t we just copy it in the workshop?” 
“The amount of materials needed is pretty crazy, I won’t lie. On top of that, creating a single, very basic model Frame Gear in the workshop would take an entire day at least.” 
That sucks... A whole day for one robot? That’s only thirty Frame Gears in a month. I mean, thirty giant robots is definitely a lot, don’t get me wrong, but... According to the Doctor, there were like tens of thousands of Phrase during the attack back then! I don’t feel so good all of a sudden... 
“How many robots were in the hangar when you lost contact?” 
“Let me think... I must confess, sir. I was not involved with the other Babylons as much as my own. But, as far as I understand it, there should be seven completed Frame Gear models within the hangar.” 
“Seven, seriously? How did they plan on taking out the Phrase with so few...?” 
“We were about to begin mass production of the Frame Gears, sir... but the Phrase vanished just as soon as we had drawn up plans to build a second and third workshop.” Rosetta spoke up, disappointment evident in her voice. 
Huh, so there were plans to make the workshop bigger? Well, that at least explains why there aren’t many Frame Gears. The crisis resolved itself entirely before they even had a chance to start responding properly. 
All I could do in the meantime was gather the necessary materials. As I exited the workshop, Cesca and Flora came walking over from the alchemy lab. The two of them carried a basket that held several medicine bottles. 
“What’s that, medicine?” 
“Uhuhu... these are some general-use medicines for colds, headaches, stomach aches, and other common ailments, see? There wasn’t much in the way of medication in the castle, so I whipped up a batch, you see?” Flora, still clad in her nurse outfit, answered cheerily. 
I’m still not used to seeing this kinda thing outside of a hospital... 
So she was making medicine. Even with my restorative magic and utilities like [Recovery], there was still stuff I couldn’t quite relieve. 
Wait a second... 
“Flora, do you need the alchemy lab to make medicine?” 
“Heavens no. This is just regular medicine, you see? I don’t need such complex facilities for this. I used the facilities here to refine them and increase their potency, see? I can still make them the regular way, but they’d be less effective and it would just take me a little longer.” That meant other people should be able to make use of the alchemy lab facilities too... If we could produce medicine, then that was another export we’d be able to use for trade. 
Headaches, digestive problems, sinus blockages... these kinds of issues affected people the world over. Selling remedies probably wouldn’t make us obscenely rich, but it would definitely help us race in some extra income. I decided that we should dedicate some resources to harvesting the raw materials for the medicine, so that they could be refined within Babylon. 
I told Flora my idea, and then instructed her to teach some of Tsubaki’s subordinates about how to refine the ingredients and make the superior medicine. They were ninjas, so they obviously would’ve had a basic medicinal knowledge already, so I picked out the most medically inclined of them and assigned them to the alchemy lab. With that, we were ready to begin mass production of refined medicines. 
I headed back to the castle with Cesca and Flora, and immediately went to see Leen so I could consult with her about what Ende had told me. 
If we wanted to get technical, Leen was only the ambassador to my country from Mismede, but I considered the Phrase to be an issue that transcended national borders. 
“...So there’s a Sovereign Phrase... an invasion from another world... and a world boundary, you say?” Leen sat back in her chair, letting a heavy sigh escape her mouth. She was clearly surprised. Paula stood next to her, arms folded. 
“I’ve lived a very long time indeed, but this is the first I’ve heard of such things... Usually I would ask you to stop joking around, but... the evidence here is overwhelming, so I’ll unhappily concede that you’re telling the truth.” 
“Well, there’s always the possibility that Ende fed me a bunch of lies. I’m still trying to figure out if that’s the case.” 
“Regardless, there’ll be people that won’t believe it even if it is true... Right up until the Phrase begin tearing their families apart, that is.” 
She was right. There’d definitely be some who, even if they acknowledged that the Phrase existed, would only view them as a new species of monster. We’d only met three types, after all. The Cricket Phrase in the ancient ruins, the Manta Phrase in the Rabbi Desert, and the Spider Phrase in the Sea of Trees... Ah, there was also the snake one that Leen and the soldiers had encountered in Mismede. 
It was possible that there were more Phrase in the world that Ende had killed already, though. 
If we sat around twiddling our thumbs then we’d be dead the moment the boundary failed. We’d need to make preparations before it was too late. 
Those preparations currently hinged on searching for the remaining Babylon pieces, and collecting the raw materials required to build a Frame Gear. 
“We’ve been trying to find information on ancient ruins, that much is sure. Please allocate more resources to the hunt. I’ve found many structures, but most of them are just abandoned buildings without anything of note within them. It’s somewhat disheartening to constantly fail, understand?” Whoops... right... in the end, only Leen’s subordinates had been sent out to look. I should probably actually send some guys out to do that too. 
After bidding goodbye to Leen, I went to visit Kohaku and the other beasts to ask if there’d be a creature suited to summon for scouting operations. 
“If you assk me, it ssshould be the oness that fly up in the sssky, no? They’re very fassst, and can go to a great many placess.” Kokuyou made an interesting proposal. I hadn’t considered summoning birds for the hunt, but they were definitely versatile enough. 
“Master, it would take quite some time to contract with each and every bird individually. Might I recommend forging a pact with the one that governs the entire race instead?” 
“Hm. Sango... You’re proposing our liege summon that one?” Kohaku cut in on Sango’s speech. I wondered just what they were referring to. “The Flame Monarch. The same as us, a monarch with wings. One that controls fire. If you summoned and successfully contracted with the Flame Monarch, you’d have thousands of birds immediately at your disposal.” 
I see... Kohaku’s the leader of the beasts, Kokuyou and Sango collectively lead reptilian creatures... They can summon and control monsters of this type without any real problem, and generally make use of them. That power is mine by extension. Though the control doesn’t stretch to magical beasts like Thunderbears or King Apes. 
So basically, it’s the bird version of that. 
“What kind of person is the Flame Monarch?” 
“Despite their moniker of roaring fires, the Flame Monarch is kind and calm. Of us, they are the one with the noblest character.” Kohaku began to speak well of the bird, but Kokuyou suddenly butted in with a sly grin. 
“Are you ssssure? I’m fairly certain that I’m the one with the bessst perssonality here, sweetie.” 
“Be silent. You’re quicker to boil than a pot.” 
“You take that back, bitch!” Just like that, Kokuyou was brought to boil. What an apt comparison. 
After the two of them calmed down, I decided to call upon the Flame Emperor. 
I drew up the summoning circle in the courtyard and began to focus my dark magic. Eventually, a black mist began to form in the air around us. Kohaku and the others began to channel their own magic into the fog. I focused my magic even further, and the misty fog became thicker. 
“Thee who governs the scalding summers, and the roaring flames. Thee who governs the shores of lakes, and the southern winds. I implore you, present yourself before me.” The fog began to swell with tremendous magical power, and a cylinder of roaring fire emerged from the magic circle. The vortex blew all the fog away, and eventually dispersed to reveal a huge, red bird. 
It was about the size of a horse. It looked almost identical to what I could only describe as a Phoenix. This was the Flame Emperor. 
“Ah, it’s you fellows. How nostalgic, it has been some time.” 
“Indeed it has, Flame Emperor.” 
“Long time no sssee, flamey baby.” 
“A flashy entrance as ever, Flame Emperor.” The Flame Emperor’s voice sounded a bit like a gentle young woman’s. She definitely seemed calm and regal, without being aloof. Kohaku might’ve been right about her. 
 

“Was it you that summoned me, boy?” 
“That’s right.” 
“This man is our lord, Mochizuki Touya.” The Flame Emperor made an expression that I assumed was bird for ‘surprised.’ But, after some time spent gazing at me, she closed her eyes. 
“So be it. As the master of the White Monarch, and the master of the Black Monarch, I know now that you will likely qualify for any challenge I give you. Let us make a contract. I will become subordinate to you, there is no need to test you, for you have already passed. Mochizuki Touya, my liege... grant unto me a name.” 
What...? That sure went smooth. She doesn’t want anything from me? That’s a first. But I’m definitely not gonna complain about it. Kohaku was right about you, lady... you’re the best of the lot as far as character goes. 
I still had to think of an name, though. I had Kohaku, Sango, and Kokuyou, and they were all named after precious stones, so... I knew what I had to do. 
“Kougyoku. That’s the name I’ve chosen for you. It means Ruby, a crimson stone. How about it?” 
“Kougyoku... I’ll readily accept it, then. From hereon, that is my name.” With a poof, the Flame Emperor transformed herself into a small bird, around the size of a parrot, and landed on my shoulder. That size was much more agreeable to me. She wasn’t likely to cause chaos as a tiny bird. 
At any rate, I decided to actually do what I had set out to do to begin with. 
I loaned Kougyoku’s power and summoned about a thousand birds at the same time. They were all different size and species, but I sent them all off to the four corners of the sky regardless. 
I telepathically ordered them all to inform me if they came across any suspicious-looking ruins, monuments, or facilities. I hoped from the bottom of my heart that they’d find something, and fast. 
It was all up to them at that point, all I had left was my hope. 

Some time had passed since I’d sent out my avian scouts, but none had reported back with anything of note. The boundary of the world was on the verge of tearing, and there was nothing I could do... 
Even though God managed the worlds, he definitely had it rough. I hated that some people had the audacity to blame him for being inattentive. If you have a big collection of books and a bug starts eating through one of the pages of one of them, how would you know until you checked again? It’s not like he could keep an eye on a specific page just in case there might’ve been a bug nibbling at it. 
“Can’t you use your search magic to look for that Sovereign Core, Touya?” Once again I sighed toward Elze. 
“How many times do I have to tell you? I can’t find something that I haven’t seen, especially not if I only have a vague grasp on what it actually is. If I even knew its shape or size or something it might help me form a mental image, but it’s inside a human to begin with, so there’s no way of me working that out.” My search spell definitely wasn’t accurate. It depended on my subjective criteria, after all. Let’s say there were two people in front of me. If one was a woman, and the other was a man who had used magic to disguise himself perfectly as a woman, the search spell would still list him as a woman. 
If it was a guy who had poorly disguised himself as a woman, it would judge him as a man, though, because that’s what I’d see him as. That being said, it would sometimes slip up and judge a woman as a man if she had a particularly strong jawline or mannish features... 
In other words, it only searched by my own standards. Also, a strong enough magical barrier could negate it. I could search for things that were “similar,” but... How would I even know what was similar to the Sovereign Core to begin with if I have no initial frame of reference? If I walked over to a rock and asserted to myself, “This is the Sovereign Core,” then I’d probably get results for that term all over the world wherever there were rocks like that one. 
“At any rate, it’s not like I can take care of it that easily.” I muttered quietly as I used my reshaping spell in the middle of the training grounds. It’s not like I could do anything, so there was no point moping. Instead, I focused on reshaping the leather in my hands. 
“Milord, what’s this?” Before I’d noticed him there, Logan was talking to me. He had a wooden training sword in one hand, and was wiping his face with the towel he held in the other. He was, of course, referring to what I held in my hand. 
“This is a glove, Logan. I was thinking of teaching the children in the town how to play baseball.” 
“A... glove?” 
“For catching, I mean... bah, here, I’ll just show you instead.” I took out a ball I’d made earlier, threw it against the castle wall, then caught it in my glove when it bounced back. I hadn’t worn a baseball glove since I was in elementary school, but the feeling still... fit like a glove. 
“This is how you play, see? You gotta catch the ball. Usually the game has nine players facing off against another nine, though.” 
“Huh...” I made another glove and gave it to Logan. We tried to play a basic game of catch. He missed the first few times, but quickly got the hang of it. I’d noticed it a few times, but the people of this world were definitely quick on the uptake. 
The other soldiers started looking at us with envious eyes as they finished up their training. Sensing that, I had the ball and glove copied in the workshop and the copies were distributed to everyone. Vice-Commander Nikola smiled wryly, but their training was done for the day so he couldn’t do anything. I still felt a little sorry, for some reason. 
I started counting up the amount of people there were. We had enough for baseball, so I decided to ask if they wanted to play. They might even end up finding it fun, I hoped. 
I took everyone who had free time along with me, and I created a baseball field to the west of the castle. I constructed the bases, a batter box, and a pitcher mound. 
I crafted new bats, mitts, and protectors for everyone, then taught everyone the basic rules of baseball. I didn’t actually know the rules that thoroughly, though, so I made a point to consult the final details on my smartphone later. 
For the time being, I decided just to wing it and take the position of referee. The game finally began, and I watched them go at it. 
To be blunt, it went terribly for the most part. There were a ton of strikeouts and dead balls. Nobody ran properly, and ended up walking to the bases. But, gradually, they began to get the hang of it. They started hitting the ball properly with the bat. They were finally displaying the finesse I’d have expected from experienced swordsmen. And, as the offense grew, the defensive players began to shine as well. 
They kept screwing up to begin with, sure. There was a lot of fumbling around and falling. But, through trial and error, they gradually improved their form. I was pretty surprised by how well they ended up doing, but then I remembered these men were all soldiers at near-peak physical fitness levels. These guys were very proficient athletes. 
I popped open a portal and called the children from the town over. I’d decided that the soldiers had begun playing well enough to deserve a proper audience. I briefed them on the rules as I made some spectator stands for them to sit in. 
“You hit it, go for it!! 
“Run!” 
“Do your best, team!” The kids got into the spirit of the game and began yelling and cheering. The Knights began to cheer on their respective teams with newfound vigor. 
“What’re you doing, dumbass?! Throw it to first base!” 
“Look up at the ball, put your hand up!” 
“Switch places, switch with me!!” The knights, for the most part, were actually jeering at the enemy teams. I wished they were a bit more childishly innocent, like the kids. 
I didn’t really go into the rules too deeply, so people started making blunders here and there that I wasn’t entirely certain about. I had to learn more about it later. 
“Well, just so long as they’re having fun...” As everyone got absorbed in the action, I started finishing up the stadium. I finished an outfield fence, a scoreboard, and a net to catch any stray balls. I was quite proud of it, when all was done. 
It was getting dark, so it was about time to call it a night. I left the baseball equipment with the knight order and told them they were free to play in the stadium when they had time to kill. As for the kids, I made smaller equipment for them to play with when they visited. I didn’t make any special facility for them, or anything. There was more than enough land for them to play amateur baseball on. 
The next day, off-duty knights began making frequent trips to the stadium in order to play. They’d already split off into several teams, from the looks of things. They were even setting up little leagues. Their teams had the names of monsters, like “The Griffins” and “The Salamanders,” which made me think that the people of this world really weren’t all too different from the people of mine. 
Whenever there was an issue with the rules, people would come and consult me about it. But every time they did that, I had to look it up on the internet. I decided to cut out the middleman and just make a rulebook, but there were a few problems. 
I could use one of my spells to transcribe the text into paper, but that also left the issue of converting Japanese into this world’s language. Not to mention the fact that I’d need to sift through everything to remove confusing words like “America” or “Major League,” I didn’t want people getting really muddled. 
Eventually, as the regular townsfolk began showing an interest in baseball as well, they all started to come up and watch the games be played. Some of them started joining in after a while as well. And, sensing the opportunity to make a pretty penny, the Mismedian merchant, Olba, negotiated with me for the sales rights to baseball and baseball accessories. 
I agreed to the deal, since I didn’t really see a reason to decline. He would produce them elsewhere, and a percentage of the profits would make their way back to my country. It was very much a similar deal to the one we’d made about the spinning tops. Back then I wasn’t sure about the widespread appeal, but the spinning tops had become a hit with kids in several nations, so it was possible I was about to begin a baseball craze too. 
At the monthly alliance meeting with the other western national leaders, the loud cheering from the station caught the attention of the emperors and kings. The moment I showed them the source of the excitement, they fell head over heels for baseball. 
I offered each national leader a set of baseball equipment, though it was more fair to say that they all bothered me for some. Each country created a national baseball team. And, just like clockwork, the game became very popular. Baseball as a sport became a casual activity in almost every developed nation. Who could’ve seen that one coming? 
When people had free time, they’d band together with their friends and form teams, and then they’d play against other teams. Their family members and other friends would watch them play. It seemed like cheerleading was starting to naturally catch on as a consequence as well... It didn’t look like professional baseball leagues were far off, if I was honest. 
I never quite expected it to blow up to the extent that it did, but Olba told me it was his intention and anticipation from the beginning. 
“I had no idea it’d be this successful...” 
“Your Highness, it’s something you began, so naturally it would be a smash hit. If you’ll pardon the joke.” Olba answered me with a small chuckle. He was right. I’d completely forgotten how devoid of entertainment this world was. There wasn’t really much variety in general life, let alone sports. That was honestly a little sad, if you asked me. It made me wonder if I’d be able to sell anything if I marketed it as a “fun game.” 
“Now then, if you have yourself any other bright ideas... please do not hesitate to ask my company for assistance in sales and distribution...” 
“Mm, well, I actually have a lot of ideas right now. But I’m not sure if they’ll all sell...” 
“Ohoho... How very interesting...” I saw a devious glint in Olba’s eyes just then. That was probably his senses as a trader. I decided to make use of that keen eye. 
“But, that aside for a minute... I’m going to need metals. Copper, iron, silver, mithril, orichalcum, and hihi’irokane... Can you use your trade connections to get these at decent prices?” 
“Metals, eh? Well, I think there’s a particular trader who can get me these on the cheap, yes. How much do you need?” 
“I need them indefinitely, for now at least. From now on, please use my cut of the profits from any inventions I give you to purchase these materials for me.” I decided to start preparing well in advance for the Frame Gear, that way even if it needed a ton of materials it shouldn’t be a problem. I decided to start stockpiling. I wasn’t sure I’d be able to get enough materials to make a Frame Gear if I only focused on gathering materials alone. 
“It seems you must have a sufficient reason, then... I’ll begin searching for the relevant materials. Color me intrigued.” 
“Thanks for your understanding. So then, on to the goods. They’re called the yo-yo, the hula-hoop, the hopscotch, and the ball-and-cup.” 
“I’ve never heard of these before. Can you tell me more?” I made a yo-yo and tried to use it in order to show Olba how it was. The plastic types were the best, but I had to make one out of wood. I ended up crafting the other toys too, and demonstrated them all to him one by one. 
With that, I’d secured the funds to acquire materials for the Frame Gear. I felt a little bit awkward using sales proceeds of other people to fuel my project, though. I decided to kill a Mithril Golem later on to make myself feel better, it probably wouldn’t be much of a challenge compared to the first time I went up against one, though... 
At any rate, things were starting to look up.