Mushoku Tensei (LN) - Volume 22 - Chapter 3

Chapter 3:

The Politics of the King Dragon Realm

NOTHING IS EVER simple.

Imagine you have kid A being bullied by kid B. Okay, you beat up kid B and kid A is safe, right? But more often than not, that isn’t how it works. So long as everyone perceives kid A as the kid who gets bullied, everyone looks down on them. You end up with kid C and kid D picking up where the first bully left off. 

So! How to make kid B stop? First off: why is kid B bullying kid A? Do bullies even need a reason? Was there something about kid A that led to their being bullied? It does happen. I assumed that was the case for me in my past life, at least.

I thought the King Dragon Realm might be telling a similar story. Benedikte might be getting bullied due to the unlucky fact she had demon blood in her veins. I wasn’t gonna stand for it, if that was the whole deal. I’d beat the crap out of kid B.

But what if there was more to it? Maybe there was some outside cause that was stressing out kid B, and they took it out on kid A. If so, kid B might stop if you removed that outside cause. Removing it and then pointing out all the downsides of carrying on bullying kid A should be enough to make them stop actively seeking a target to bully. Hopefully, kid B was smart enough to see that.

So, the question became, what might the outside cause be? To find out, your intrepid hero ventured into the heart of the deepest jungle… No, okay, I just legged it to the training grounds to ask someone who knew the ins and outs of King Dragon Realm politics. Randolph said I’d find a man there called Shagall who could tell me what I wanted to know.

As you might expect, I’d heard about this individual from Orsted too. He was one of the top dogs in the whole of the King Dragon Realm: Shagall Gargantis, the General Paramount of the King Dragon Realm. He was a quarter elf and had a characteristically rough way of speaking, but he was decisive and a man of action. And he had a moniker: the Generalissimo. 

He was also the one who’d recruited Randolph—the Death God wasn’t interested at all, but Shagall barraged him with visits and offered him every favor under the sun to persuade him to take the post. The guy clearly had a good eye for talent. 

The chances that he was a disciple of the Man-God were low right now, for the record, but if the King Dragon Realm ever seemed in danger of falling, those odds would skyrocket. I guess he was a patriot.

“They’re an energetic bunch.”

“Sure are,” I said, looking out over the training grounds with Randolph’s letter of introduction clutched in my hand.

Someone who looked like a receptionist had told me that without an appointment, I’d have to wait until training was done. Zanoba was with me too, by the way. Eris wasn’t. I’d put her on bodyguard duty for Aisha and Julie.

The training grounds were oval in shape and about the size of a baseball pitch, ringed by tiered spectator seats like the colosseum. Down on the ground, soldiers in teams of six fought one another, their strategy dictated by their leaders’ orders. Shagall himself was sitting where he could see the whole scene. He watched the match intently while ordering a few underlings to take down notes. He held these military drills regularly in small groups to improve the skills of his officers. I wasn’t sure if it was because these officers were more suited to commanding armies, but individually they weren’t noteworthy combatants. Maybe there was something in there that they could use, though.

The soldiers crept through the training ground, hunting for their enemy as they weaved through the various obstructions. They used hand signals to communicate with their allies, then surrounded the enemy, staged a fake attack while pinning them down, then obliterated them.

“Ah, they’re reenacting the Battle of Zacharia,” said Zanoba.

“You can tell?” I asked.

“I’ve studied it. That man there, he’s the right flank. That was an army of water magicians who, unbeknownst to the enemy, were swapped out for fire magicians. All the enemy’s counter spells went awry and they won a crushing victory. A classic bait-and-switch strategy.”

“Wow.” Now that Zanoba had pointed it out, I had seen the right flank guy switch places with the rear guard guy outside of the enemy’s sightlines, then move to the left flank. The rear guard guy then met the enemy soldiers who pursued the right flank with magic… Only for the enemy to easily counter him with a spell. The subsequent attack sent him down.

They were fighting with real magic and swords, but they apparently had a similar setup of magic circles to the ones we used at University of Magic because his wounds healed right away. There must have been a rule where you were out if you were taken out, since he left right after that. After him another guy went down, then another, until in the end the general, surrounded by three enemies, surrendered.

“Guess they’re done,” I said. The team who’d taken down the general raised a victory cheer, and I heaved myself up, ready to go find Shagall. 

“I believe there’s more to come,” Zanoba said. As I started walking, another team entered the ring. I looked over at Shagall, who showed no sign of moving, then down at the new lineup. They appeared to be working in several teams. There was no tournament bracket listed anywhere, so I couldn’t guess how many more rounds were coming. They might keep going all day. It looked likely at this point.

What to do? The idea of waiting around wasn’t unpleasant, but I’d rather not waste time. Was there no way to wrangle myself an appointment? Randolph’s letter of introduction hadn’t gotten me any closer than if I’d shown up empty-handed. 

I wasn’t even sure if I was allowed to watch their drills. They could easily be a national secret or something. No one showed up to chase me out, so I assumed it was fine. But still.

“Hey, this seat taken?” said someone beside me. I looked around to find a man in his early forties with dark blond hair and patchy stubble. He had the air of someone who’d been a bit of a fop back in the day but was making an effort to show he’d pulled himself together. He seemed familiar, but I couldn’t place from where. Orstepedia was packed with information, but it didn’t have any pictures. I needed names to work out who anyone was. This guy was in the palace of the King Dragon Realm, so off the bat, I knew he was nobility or royalty—at minimum a knight. There was no way the royal family went roaming about without bodyguards, even within the palace, so…noble or knight. No sword, so probably a noble. No guards or attendants either, which meant he wasn’t a very important one.

“Be my guest,” I replied. “I don’t own it.” I decided to try talking to him for a bit rather than ask his name right away. If he was an important noble, he might get offended by my lack of recognition.

“I’ll join you, then,” said the man. He sat down, then looked out over the training grounds. “It’s a good exercise, right?”

“Indeed. I admit I don’t understand it very well.”

“That’s the King Dragon Realm’s signature training methodology.”

“Surely all countries use mock battles?” I pointed out. Not to rain on his parade, but they had a similar routine in the Asura Kingdom. Theirs was a bit larger in scale and slightly more complex, but the commanding officers drilled the soldiers hard with chess-board style setups.

“You think so?” the man said.

“What, is there something you do differently to everyone else?”

“There is. Take that man who’s playing the general of the Western Army, for example. He’s the eldest son of a provincial noble. Under ordinary circumstances, a man of his rank couldn’t dream of rising to such a station, and if he did, it’d only be to defend his own lands with his own soldiers.”

“Huh. Yet here he’s playing the general.”

“They have all the officers try each assignment, taking turns.”

A player rotation—got it. It was the same philosophy as putting players into positions they didn’t normally play. That way they could get the hang of the fundamentals while also learning how to play the position efficiently. Made sense to me. Understanding how a position works in theory was pretty different from doing it for real.

“I see. That must allow for everyone to find out what role they’re best suited to.”

“Precisely,” he agreed.

“And not just that,” I went on, “you can use it to uncover talent, like him.” The Western army was dominating the Eastern army before our eyes. This eldest son of a provincial noble was a damn good commander. This was hardly my area of expertise, but I could tell his orders were precise and he left no slack. His fighting style was steadfast and methodical—no surprise attacks or convoluted maneuvers. 

“In fact, in this country, assignments aren’t based on social rank.”

“Oh?” Even provincial nobles had a shot at becoming a general for real? Going to the trouble of searching out great talent then not using it was a colossal waste of time, to be fair. It was common sense to use that talent. Unfortunately, a lot of feudal societies were lacking in that regard.

“I bet the Asura Kingdom doesn’t do that, eh?” the man prompted.

“I doubt it,” I agreed. “Though I’m hardly an expert.”

A little while back, Ariel had let me watch the Asuran army run through a practice maneuver. Luke sat beside me explaining this and that. It turned out that in the Asura Kingdom all assignments were determined by your rank in the nobility. A Boreas Greyrat, for example, would be placed in the front right of the commander’s division. The positions were based on the assignments drawn up by the commander in the Laplace War—they’d been passed down as-is ever since. As you’d expect, the formations they used reflected the values of that period, dragged unchanged into the present day. Visually impressive and flashy as they were, they lacked any practical value. This sad state of affairs had come about, Luke lamented, because the Kingdom of Asura hadn’t participated in any major clashes since the Laplace War. 

Meanwhile, the King Dragon Realm could assign all its commanders to the roles that best suited them. Some commanders were best employed on the right wing, some charging the enemy flank. Other commanders fared best in a head-on confrontation, while others still knew how to use magicians to deploy magical attacks with pinpoint timing. They understood where their strengths lay, which allowed them to feel satisfied in their roles.

It was true. That wouldn’t fly back in the Asuran Kingdom. Luke told me that he wanted to improve things, but old traditions like that take a long time to change—no matter how old and unwieldy they might be, people will always push back with, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”

“Are you here to study our training methodology?” the man asked.

There was a sharp gleam in his eyes. Like he was searching for something. Was that what this was about? Did he suspect me of being a spy? It was glaringly obvious that I wasn’t from the King Dragon Realm, so I couldn’t blame him. Plus I’d made a bunch of comparisons with Asura without thinking. 

“No, my friend’s nephew is from here,” I replied, indicating Zanoba, who inclined his head.

“My name is Zanoba,” he said.

“Oho, I should have said earlier!” the man exclaimed. “I am Vio Pompadour.”

A Pompadour, huh? I’ve heard that name from Orsted. 

The Pompadours were one of the noble houses of the King Dragon Realm, a distinguished line of warriors who even appeared in the Epic of the North God. They were also closely related to the royal family, if memory served. I was pretty sure the king’s grandmother had been a Pompadour.

Whew, close one. He’s basically royalty. Good thing I didn’t say anything rude. 

The other thing about the Pompadours was that their likelihood of becoming disciples of the Man-God was around C-rank—the lowest of the lowest of the middle.

“A lord of the house of Pompadour! Please excuse my ignorance.”

“Not at all,” he said, brushing me off. “What was your name, by the way?”

“My most sincere apologies. I am Rudeus Greyrat. I am employed as the representative of Orsted the Dragon God, second of the Seven Great Powers.”

“The Dragon God, eh! I’ve reeled in a big fish. And you, Sir Zanoba—are you also a follower of the Dragon God?” he asked, turning to Zanoba.

Zanoba nodded. “Indeed, though, I am, um, of little importance.”

“He’s only saying that. He’s very powerful.”

“Strength is all I have to offer, I’m afraid.”

I didn’t mean physical power, dumbass.

The Zanoba Store had grown a lot—there were branches all over the world now. And money is power, as they say. I wasn’t exaggerating. 

“Two such esteemed individuals…” Vio said thoughtfully. “What brings you to the King Dragon Realm?”

“Um, well…” I began.

Hmmm. This is a tough situation to explain to someone who isn’t involved. This guy could totally be one of Li’l Pax’s would-be assassins. Better not reveal too much.

“His nephew, you know, was in a bit of a tight spot, so we came to help him out.”

“Is that so?”

“Then we got here and found there’s some political trouble going on, so we were wondering what we could do to pitch in. We thought we should get a handle on current events, and to do that, we were told to come here and talk to General Shagall—”

“You have connections with General Shagall? This nephew of yours must be someone quite important,” Vio remarked.

“Oh, no, the general just has a lot of friends,” I replied. Generalissimo Shagall was known as one of the people who’d shaped the King Dragon Realm into the powerful nation it was today. According to Orsted, he’d gathered up talent from the ranks of those who’d fallen out of favor and used them to build prosperity and military dominance. This training methodology on display was likely his invention as well. He was a popular guy. Connections everywhere. His circle was so wide, no one knew the full extent of it—so when I claimed that Zanoba and I were acquainted with him, it shouldn’t have sounded too fishy.

“Unfortunately, General Shagall is very busy, so we’re taking the liberty of waiting for him here,” I explained.

“I see.” Vio looked pensive for a moment, but then looked up and nodded. “A friend’s nephew is no better than a stranger in the eyes of most. It is admirable of you to come to his aid.”

He hadn’t said as much in words, but the skeptical vibes I’d been getting from him abated and were replaced by a genial warmth. The friendliness was sudden…but maybe he was satisfied now that he’d worked out what the strangers were doing here.

“Though I should warn you: I think today General Shagall means to keep going with the drills until sundown.”

“You don’t say.” I looked up. The sun was due south, meaning there were probably around another five hours of drills to go.

“How about you talk to me?” Vio suggested. “I may not look it, but I’m fairly knowledgeable about my country’s affairs. There are things I can’t go into, of course, but I can tell you about our current situation if that’ll help.”

“Would that be all right?” I asked. We needed to know about the present state of the nation. It didn’t have to come from Shagall. And a member of the House of Pompadour would know a lot about that. I wanted to hear Shagall’s perspective as well, but sitting here for hours was a waste of time.

“Our meeting was kismet, I’m sure. Only, if we’re going to talk, this place is… Well, shall we go somewhere we can talk more freely?”

And so, off we went to hear what Vio had to tell us.

***

Vio was actually a disciple of the Man-God. Zanoba and I followed him, unsuspecting, right into the jaws of a trap. It was a dire situation…

No, nothing so exciting! He took us by carriage to a restaurant a little way away from the palace—a pretty swanky joint.

I tried to stay on my guard, but even I had to admit that it felt a bit too obvious to be a trap. 

Vio talked a lot. Inside the carriage, he told us all about the sightseeing spots—stuff worth visiting near the palace. Then he moved on to the design of the distant palace, then the local legends about the street we were rolling along. He had the easy knowledge of a seasoned tour guide. I was impressed. 

This continued through our meal, as he showcased his exhaustive knowledge of the cuisine. The restaurant we were at served traditional King Dragon Realm cooking, as prepared by an incredible chef. The recent fad in the King Dragon Realm was for cutting-edge culinary innovation, so he hadn’t secured a job as a palace cook, but he was the best option around if you wanted a traditional meal. The first dish is this, the second is that, blah blah…

Honestly, I wasn’t enough of a gourmand to follow a lot of Vio’s patter. Even so, his pride and love for every topic shone. I could see the intensity of his love for his country, his patriotism. Wasn’t that great?

Nothing in his extended monologue related to what I needed. Alas.

“How did you find the King Dragon Realm’s famed cooking?” he asked.

“It was very good. I didn’t give it credit till now, I admit. Last time I came here, I wasn’t too blown away by what I ate.”

He laughed. “Not all chefs are of equal ability. You’re always going to strike out sometimes.”

This place, though? This place rocked. The King Dragon Realm’s cuisine revolved around fruit and vegetables. It was simple, but undoubtedly nutritious. My impression of health-conscious food was that it was all a bit bland, but this had been outstanding. Goes to show you how good ingredients can be transformed in the hands of a good chef. 

“Was there anything else you wanted to ask about?” Vio asked, satisfied he’d told us everything there was to know about his culture.

“Now that you ask… Could you, er, tell us about the political situation?”

“You want to know about politics?”

“Not national secrets or anything—random rumors and gossip would do.”

“All right. Let’s see… First of all, the King Dragon Realm is in a bit of turmoil at the moment. That started when the former king passed away.”

Oof, straight in with a painful topic.

The old king had been a disciple of the Man-God. That was why Orsted killed him.

“Yes, I did hear about that. May he rest in peace,” I, follower of Orsted, said. I didn’t even blush.

“After that, one of the King Dragon Realm’s vassal states was invaded, not just by one nation, but three different countries that came together for the attack. It appeared to have been orchestrated in the conflict zone to the north. They aren’t powerful nations, but three at once makes for a thunderous headache. As a matter of course, the King Dragon Realm went to the aid of its vassal state…but you see, there’s something off about how those three countries are behaving in the aftermath.”

“Off in what way?”

“They won’t retreat. After our reinforcements and provisions arrived, they defeated the enemy in battle, then pushed them back to the border. But now they’re fighting back hard. There have been attempts to negotiate a peace behind the scenes, but they play deaf to every envoy we send.”

“Perhaps they think that if the invasion succeeds, they can get at least some territory out of it,” I suggested.

“Considering the discrepancy in their power compared to the King Dragon Realm, it should be obvious how impossible that is, even if we are preoccupied with our own problems, and yet…”

When you thought about it, even if these three countries did invade one of the King Dragon Realm’s vassal states and occupy a chunk of their domains, the King Dragon Realm, the real heavy hitter here, was hardly going to take that lying down. They’d join the war in earnest, and depending on the circumstances it was perfectly within their power to wipe out the invaders altogether.

“All three of these countries?” I asked.

“Yes, all three.”

Okay, that is odd.

If it were a simple case of striking at the King Dragon Realm while they were weakened, I’d get it. But why keep fighting this hard even after the King Dragon Realm got back on its feet? If this had been the outcome they wanted, they could have straight-up invaded any time without waiting for a gap in the King Dragon Realm’s defenses. And three countries at once…

“Something smells off,” I agreed.

“Exactly. There’s also the possibility that if Shirone joins them seeking independence, they might conquer one of our vassal states.”

“Right.”

The biggest names amongst the King Dragon Realm’s vassal states were the Kingdom of Shirone, the Sanakia Kingdom, and the Kikka Kingdom, but there were a number of other smaller nations too. Their domains were small and their national influence limited; they were the kind of countries that barely avoided being subsumed by other countries by dint of the King Dragon Realm’s patronage. It was very possible such a country could be wiped out. If Shirone had added its forces to the attack while they were withstanding an assault from three other nations it’d be a serious bloodbath. I saw how some had ended up on the side of either killing Pax or handing him over to try and head off a potential invasion from Shirone.

“That aside…” Vio went on to tell us all sorts of things about the politics of the King Dragon Realm. A minister who’d had a daughter, then such-and-such noble’s son who’d become allied with something-or-other faction through marriage. Most of it was everyday small talk, nothing that sounded like it could be related to Li’l Pax. There was always a chance I was wrong, however, so I planned to look into it all regardless.

“Gosh, look at the time,” Vio exclaimed. I looked out the window to see that dusk had fallen.

“I’m afraid I have another engagement after this, so I’ll have to take my leave of you here,” he said.

“Thank you very much for your time today,” I replied.

“Not at all, the pleasure was mine. It’s not every day I get the chance to boast about my country. I greatly enjoyed myself,” Vio said, then he bid us farewell and left.

We went back to the training grounds, but Shagall had already gone home. Bad timing. Nothing I could do about it now, so we headed back to our lodgings. There, we met up with Eris and the others. The five of us crowded around the table and exchanged what we’d learnt.

“From what I hear, it seems like the Millis knight orders are throwing their weight around in these parts,” Aisha said.

She told us how a lot of knights from the holy knight orders were staying in town—soldier types in blue armor emblazoned with the Millis insignia, loitering all over the city. When Aisha asked around about them, she heard that they were known for their tyrannical behavior. They refused to pay for meals, got into fights with adventurers, and quarreled with the guilds. Yet for whatever reason there was a silent agreement between the knights and the guards of the King Dragon Realm that the guards wouldn’t intervene. This was causing tension with the citizens.

It scarcely needed to be said that if they were a significant presence, our chances of selling Ruijerd figurines here through The Zanoba Store were abysmal. Those knightly Order of Whatever types hated demons, after all. People were similarly dissatisfied about the rising prices of imported goods and increasing taxes.

“I found a building I think might work as a base of operations for the mercenary company,” Aisha went on. “What do you think? Am I good to go ahead with refurbishing it as an office?”

“For now, let’s get the teleportation circle and contact tablets set up. Standard procedure.”

I had a better picture of the problems plaguing the King Dragon Realm. Next, I’d report back to Orsted, then do some digging into what was behind it all. It didn’t sound like a Man-God plot, and this was a future that had been altered by my involvement, so I couldn’t rely on Orsted knowing anything about it…but hey, gotta keep the boss in the loop.

“How do you wish to proceed, Master?” Zanoba asked. “Should it come to it, I would happily take Lady Benedikte and the little prince and flee with them from this land.”

“No…no, I think we can probably work something out,” I said. I could handle the knights of Millis. And I had a little theory about what was going on with the three invading countries.

“You do? I submit to your judgment.”

Probably is the operative word, though, okay?