Part 2
The kingdom of Oriana, destroyed by the Black Beast, was rapidly being rebuilt with the help of the Shadow Garden.
Alpha squinted as she watched the sunset from the royal castle.
“So——are you ready?”
She asks the girl behind her.
There was a beautiful girl there with honey-colored hair. She was Rose Oriana.
“Will I be forgiven?”
Rose said with shaken eyes.
“You won’t be forgiven. Many of the people still hold a grudge against you.”
“As I thought, I……can’t be a king. It will only bring chaos to this country.”
“In normal times, that might be true. But not now. If you know what this country is going to become, you know there is no other choice.”
Alpha looked back and turned her strict eyes to Rose.
“You know that the alliance between the Kingdom of Midgar and the Kingdom of Oriana has been broken. The Holy Church has officially declared the Kingdom of Oriana a heretic state. Oriana’s trade is severely restricted and will soon dry up. Eventually, the neighboring nations will be ordered to defeat the Kingdom of Oriana. I don’t know how many countries will move, but there’s nothing this country can do about it, because it doesn’t have a proper military force. It will be destroyed.”
“Heretic Nation …… How did this happen?”
Rose clenched her fists and looked down.
“The cult is afraid. This country……”
“Why do they fear this small country?”
“They are frightened lambs. That’s why they’re afraid of the sunlight.”
“What do you mean?”
“Eternal life is a symbol of mankind’s desire. Those who have it in their hands fear more than anything else that it will be taken away from them. If they ruled the world and stood out in the open, there would always be someone who would try to take it away from them. That is why they hid. They chose to hide their eternal life so that it would never be taken away from them, and to rule the world from behind the scenes using the Holy Church. That is how they have feared the sunlight.”
“The frightened lambs……”
“But the hostility between the Kingdom of Oriana and the Diabolos cult has connected the front and back sides of the world. If the Kingdom of Oriana is left unchecked, the Diabolos cult will eventually be dragged out into the open. They are afraid of that.”
“…… So Shadow Garden takes advantage of that, doesn’t it?”
Rose turned her stern gaze on Alpha.
“Yes. We use the Kingdom of Oriana. That’s why we helped you.”
“With the power of the Shadow Garden, you should be able to defeat the cult. Why did you make the Kingdom of Oriana involved?”
“Because then the Diabolos cult will not be destroyed.”
“…… Eh?”
“People will die. Nations perish. But religions never perish. It does not end when we defeat the Diabolos cult. That is what religion is. As long as there are those who believe in it, it is eternal.”
“No way……”
“Do not underestimate the cult. If you make enemies of the cult, the people will cut your back. The people who believe in the Holy Church, and even the priests, are mostly good citizens. The cult uses the Holy Church to incite the people to kill. No matter how powerful Shadow Garden is, it cannot kill all the followers of the Holy Church in the world. That is why we need the Kingdom of Oriana. To bring the evil entity called the Diabolos cult to the surface and break the relationship between the Holy Church and the Diabolos cult.”
“How do you cut them off?”
“Let the Holy Church cut off the cult. What the people believe in is the Holy Church, not the Diabolos cult. By making it clear, the Diabolos cult will become the common enemy of the world. For that reason, we must win. The surrounding nations will eventually come to defeat the Kingdom of Oriana. There, we must win. We shall win and proclaim to the world. That the world’s enemy is the Diabolos cult.”
“That’s why you want me to be king.”
“We need a state to stand in our place on the front side to destroy the cult. The battle between the Kingdom of Oriana and the Holy Church is a proxy war between the Shadow Garden and the Diabolos cult. If you are ready to be king, we will support you from the shadows.”
“…… Will I be a good king?”
Rose looked down and squeezed the words out.
“You are not a king in times of peace, but a king in times of emergency. The qualities necessary for a king in times of peace are kindness, which endears you to your people and enriches your country. But in times of emergency, it is different. The quality needed for emergencies is strength. The strength to achieve your goals despite the pain, sacrifices, and resentment of your people——”
Alpha looked at Rose with her beautiful eyes.
“Rose Oriana, you shall be a strong king.”
“The Strong King ……”
Rose chewed on those words.
Repeating it in her mouth, but not out loud. And what came to mind was her own weakness.
“I am weak ……”
“Only those who know weakness can become stronger.”
A single tear ran down Rose’s cheek.
“If there is anything I can do for the Kingdom of Oriana and the people Otou-sama left behind …… I will protect this country, no matter how much they may hate me. I ……”
Rose wiped her tears and looked up.
Then she pulled out a thin sword and placed it against her long honey-colored hair.
“I …… don’t want to end up weak.”
Saying so, she pulls her thin sword.
Her cut honey-colored hair fluttered in the wind.
“I will be a strong king”
Rose’s hair had become shoulder-length.
“As long as you are prepared for that, I swear that Shadow Garden will never betray you.”
Alpha smiled gently.
She then called the Number 664 and Number 665. They were both dressed in maid uniforms for some reason.
“Put these two at your side. The one you are familiar with would be better.”
“Thank you very much.”
“You don’t have to be so formal. You and I are equals. You will be a strong king, won’t you?”
“Yes…… Ah, yeah, I will be a strong king.”
Rose said, sounding unaccustomed to it.
“Kusu…… Number 666-chan, you’re so cute.”
“Well, that’s good to hear. If you had talked to me about it, we would have worked it out a lot quicker.”
Number 665 and Number 664 said so in a small voice.
“Thank you, both of you.”
“You’re welcome~”
“I-I’m your squad leader, so don’t forget that.”
“Understood, Squad Leader.”
Rose gave them both a gentle smile.
“I’ll communicate future plans through Number 664 and Number 665, and you’ll need to provide them with a front registry and position. You still need to keep the connection between Shadow Garden and the Kingdom of Oriana under wraps.”
“You two will be hired as my maids. As soon as the family register is ready.”
“Do that……Looks like someone is here.”
At that moment, the door to the room opened and a girl with indigo hair entered.
It is the third seat of the Seven Shades, Gamma.
For some reason, Gamma was dragging a girl.
“Alpha-sama, are you here?”
“Ara, Gamma also came to the Kingdom of Oriana.”
“Considering the future, we have closed the Mitsugoshi Trading Company in the Kingdom of Oriana. As a replacement, we are doing the groundwork to enhance our Shadow Garden location.”
Gamma said, lowering her voice slightly.
“As expected of Gamma, I really appreciate you working so fast.”
“What about Princess Rose?”
Gamma looked at Rose with a sideways glance.
“She’s prepared to walk with us.”
Alpha also looked at Rose and Rose said.
“I look forward to working with you.”
Gamma responded to Rose’s greeting with a silent bow of her head.
“Alpha-sama. I have two reports, but would it be alright if I talk about them here?”
Gamma seemed concerned that Rose was here.
Rose sensed that she was not yet trusted.
“I’ll prepare another room——”
“——I don’t mind.”
Interrupting Rose’s words, Alpha replied.
“Are you sure?”
“Yes. I don’t mind.”
Saying so, Alpha looked at Gamma and Rose.
I don’t mind. What about you guys?
That is what Alpha is asking.
“…… I don’t mind either.”
“Me too.”
Gamma and Rose replied.
“First of all, the equipment that Beta recovered in the Demon World the other day.”
“It’s about “Notopasokon” and “Taburetto”.” (TLN: Laptop and Tablet)
“I had Eta check everything. Eta, explain it.”
Gamma said so and called out to the girl who had been dragged.
“Supii”
Cute sleeping breaths are escaping from the girl.
“Hey, Eta, wake up!”
Gamma grabs Eta’s shoulders and shakes her violently.
Eta’s head, rocking back and forth, bumped against Gamma’s nose.
“Pegya!”
The impact woke Eta up.
“Hmm?”
She is Eta. She is the Seventh of Seven Shades and mainly focuses on the study of Shadow Wisdom.
“…… Where is this?”
Eta looked around absentmindedly.
She was a small elf.
Her long, dark hair is bedraggled by her sleeping habits.
“C-Come on, tell Alpha-sama about that thing!”
Gamma says, holding her nose from bleeding.
“Report ……? Ah~, about notopasokon”
“R-Right.”
“Etto, report!”
Eta looked at Alpha sleepily.
“Notopasokon and other things that use electricity, everything was broken. I disassembled it and examined it, probably due to the electromagnetic radiation when it crossed the gate.”
“Is it possible to fix it?”
“At the moment it’s impossible. But we’ll figure it out in time”
“That’s so……It can’t be helped, I guess we’ll just have to wait and see. That Beta, all she brings is things that run on electricity.”
“Not so. The technology used is extremely high. Even if we can’t operate it, we can learn a lot of different technologies.”
“Is that so? Well, that’s good. But Beta must have been depressed, right.”
“She was wailing.”
“Is that enough to make her cry?”
“No. She was depressed, so I mixed her tea with some pills to make her feel better.”
“…… So?”
“Suddenly she took off her clothes and started crying. Cause unknown, interesting.”
Eta twisted the edges of her lips into a grin.
Alpha let out a big sigh.
“…… Next month’s research funding will be drastically reduced.”
“Eh, why!”
“I told you that you shouldn’t experiment on human subjects without permission. You should reflect on that.”
“Eh~, sacrifices are always made in the development of the Shadow Wisdom.”
“Not ‘eh’. Then, report back when you find a technology that could be applied in this world.”
“Eeh.”
“And there was one more thing that she brought back with her.”
Alpha’s eyes narrowed quickly.
“Thing …… Aa. That person from the otherworld has just woken up. I don’t understand her language, so now she talks to Beta. Her name is Akane.”
“Akane …… What else did you find out?”
“I think her body is almost the same as a human’s. But I don’t know the details yet. If I’m allowed to experiment on humans, we’ll know soon enough.”
“Leave it to Beta until things calm down. Don’t do anything weird, absolutely.”
“Yea~.”
Eta nodded reluctantly.
“I understand Eta’s report. So, what’s the second report?”
Alpha spoke to Gamma.
“The second one is about Zeta in the Kingdom of Midgar. Has there been any report from Zeta?”
“No. Good grief…… She never reports back to me at all.”
Alpha let out another sigh.
“Before coming to the Kingdom of Oriana, I came to see how things are going, so I’ll report.”
“Thank you, Gamma.”
“The Fenrir faction is on the move. They seem to be kidnapping students from Midgar Academy. Since we have recovered most of the demon possessions, they seem to be having a hard time unsealing.”
“So, what about Zeta?”
“That’s…… She is not moving yet.”
“Not moving?”
“Yes. Although she should have grasped the movement of the Fenrir faction.”
“That girl has a lot of selfishness in her behavior, but she is definitely talented. I wonder if something happened.”
Alpha said a little curiously.
“The Fenrir faction, though in decline, has long controlled the underworld of the Kingdom of Midgar. And Fenrir was one of the first Rounds. They should never be underestimated.”
“The credit collapse must have caused enough damage to the Fenrir faction. I thought there was little left in the way of strength and funds, but …… I wonder if that’s the underlying strength of the original first Rounds.”
“I think someone should send support. I know there is Delta in the Kingdom of Midgar, but I don’t think those two can cooperate.”
“Right……”
Alpha said vaguely and looked at the scenery outside.
“I am busy preparing the base and Eta has her hands full with research. Beta has to deal with the person of the otherworld and paperwork …… Is Epsilon the one who’s free? There are a few other Numbers……”
“No need.”
Alpha said as she looked into the distance.
“But…… Is it okay?”
“Don’t worry. She will be fine. She has always been like that.”
Gamma thought this was an optimistic view, which was not like Alpha.
“I have a bad feeling about this.”
“…… I still remember the day I first met that girl. I had never seen such sad eyes, like she hated everything in the world. In order to heal her emotional wounds, I welcomed Zeta as a family……She has changed.”
Alpha turns and looks at Gamma with her blue eyes.
“So, it’s okay……Because we’re family.”
Alpha smiled. It was a gentle smile that encompassed everything.
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