Arc 25: Daydream Believer
Chapter 245: The Cleaning Up, and a Sigh
All members of the [Golden a.s.sociation] had been arrested, their hideouts destroyed, the submaster of Mystic chamber of commerce and industry caught, thus ending the organization completely.
As we were catching them, all the members were told the true contents of [Sanctuary]. They were then taken without resistance since they were probably filled with a sense of hopelessness and emptiness. It was as if they realized that what they’d been doing was meaningless as well.
However, they were now paying for their own mistakes since it was their violent rampages that produced lots of sacrifices. I didn’t’ feel any sympathy for them.
As for their crimes, those who had committed heavy crimes received the death penalty. Those whose crimes were relatively light received a 50-year sentence to the mines.
The problem was in regards to the production of the iron machine soldiers, Galzerd’s Magic Division and Bowman’s Magic Artisan Division took charge of their production separately, and it looked like it was impossible for the two to a.s.semble a proper working sample even if they worked together.
No, the two people wouldn’t produce “a proper working sample” even if they did work together.
Bowman had already disappeared with public execution through guillotine, and Galzerd would soon follow with his own death penalty as well. There was supposedly engineers and technicians doing their part in the production, but even they had already been arrested. In other words, anyone who had knowledge of the process of creating an iron machine soldier wouldn’t appear in public anymore.
That is with exception of several people from our household.
「Inferior goods are inferior goods, but I’m impressed on how clumsily he managed to b.a.s.t.a.r.dize my frame gear」(Regina)
「I agree. How could they have made something as crude as this? It’s within a domain that I couldn’t even think of」(Rosetta)
With saying things like that, two little kids from our country looked at the wreckage of the captured iron machine soldiers and utterly criticized them.
You know, Bowman’s vengeful spirit may come out if you two, Professor and Rosetta, criticize those iron machine soldiers too much. Well, I’ll purify him with [Banish] if he does though.
As a precaution, every wreckage of the iron machine soldiers that had been destroyed in battle was collected here. I didn’t want to investigate a forgery of the iron machine soldiers if it would ever occur, just because they would’ve been stolen this time.
Ferzen was also thankful for being able to sweep away those disturbing elements. In return, my bad reputation in Yuuron seemed to have risen again even more than before.
I’d properly hidden my real ident.i.ty that time, but the place where Yae’s Schwertleite and Hilda’s Siegrune had defeated the iron machine soldiers was perfectly seen by outsiders. They’d thought that [The Silver Oni warrior] was related or was a collaborator of Brunhild.
The people from the capital who were threatened by the heavenly lord were happy with the outcome but by no means were they thankful. They’d probably taken it as [The other side did it without permission].
No, it’s not like I had acted with the intention of helping people of Yuuron or something in particular, so it’s fine by me but… It’s kinda depressing, you know? It’s not like I wanted to be thanked for my help, but how should I say it, that feeling is still there.
The possibility for Yuuron to be revived had mostly disappeared this time. Foreign aid and backing were required for them to revive as a country, but there were no countries that wanted to lend a helping hand. Honestly speaking, the neighboring countries were more grateful for them to collapse like this rather than for them to revive.
The food supply in the central area was already not enough, the circulation of goods had become difficult, so people were already gradually moving to the towns or villages in the vicinity of the neighboring countries.
Unless that town was going to rely on foreign countries to continue existing, it wouldn’t be long before they would likely be taken over by the surrounding countries like Hanock, Rodomea, Ferzen, Horn or Nokia.
It’s only the demon country of Zenoasu that’s maintaining their non-interference policy, but this wasn’t new. Also, people from Yuuron hardly went that way because it was necessary to get a little used to the food culture of Zenoasu a little beforehand.
It’s not like there were capitals close to Zenoasu, to begin with.
A lot of things happened, but I could now say that one of my concerns disappeared.
This was the time when I wanted to relax a while, but there were still many things to do…….fuuu.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>+<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
「And, what will everybody do from now on?」(Touya)
I asked Sonia-san, Rengetsu-san and Jesty-san, who were staying at [Silver Moon] in the castle town, on what they planned to do from now on. Their revenge had been completed, so I didn’t think they were going to go on a trip soon.
「We’re adventurers originally. Also, it’s said that there are labyrinths in this country, so we’ve been thinking of making a base of operations here and earn some money for a while」 (Rengetsu)
Both Sonia-san and Jesty-san nodded to what Rengetsu-san had said. This will be helpful, so I’m thankful for having skilled adventurers here.
Just in case, I’d told them to keep quiet about the events in the capital Heiron. Well, I believed they wouldn’t carelessly say anything about them killing a heavenly emperor even if it’s a pretense.
Honestly, I’d been thinking of inviting them to the knight order of our country, but I didn’t say anything about it because the three of them didn’t seem to like serving any country.
I parted from the three and took a stroll through the castle town after a long while.
「Oya, Your Majesty. Are you alone?」
「I have some delicious apples here. How about you one, Your Majesty?」
「You~r Majest~y! Let’s play with some spinning top (beigoma) together!」
Townspeople from all walks of life greeted me. I guess I can’t travel incognito, but it’s fine though.
However, I have a feeling that the word [Your Majesty] has become a nickname of sorts for some reason. It’s not like they are making fun of me, so I don’t mind it. I understand it since it’s something that has been born due to familiarity.
Brunhild Dukedom had only this town. Therefore, this town itself could be called Brunhild as well. It would definitely be called [Capital of Brunhild] if this town became even bigger than before.
I tried going to the farming zone to the east of the town. There’s an excellent paddy field present in the area, and rice planting had already started since it was the only place that was similar to the rural areas of Ishen. The water mill was inviting the same atmosphere as well.
「Everything seems to be alright in here」(Touya)
「Ah, Your Majesty. Did you decide to visit?」(Laqshe)
Shortly after, I called out to Laqshe, the Alraune who’s taking a break under the shade of a tree. Though she’s a member of the knights’ order, she was mostly working as an agricultural farmer.
There was no existence closer related to agricultural work among the demon clans than this woman from the plant lineage. She was the right person in the right place, so she had therefore been exempted from training and other similar activities.
The knight order of our country had about a hundred members, but around 40% were non-combatants. They were engaged in other areas: from the development of the farmlands like what Laqshe did, to office jobs workers, intelligence agents, construction workers, and so on and so forth.
It’s not like they’re weak despite being exempted. They were still competent people who had managed to pa.s.s that examination, and they’re still doing their own independent training since it was likely they would be wielding their words during emergencies.
「We’ll be able to harvest a large amount of rice in autumn~」(Laqshe)
「I’m looking forward to it. Now, all that’s left… Is there anything that’s insufficient?」(Touya)
「Ummm, let’s me see. I guess I’m a little worried because it didn’t rain much these past few days. A-ha-ha. Even if I say this to your majesty……」 (Laqshe)
「Oh Rain descends, Pure Blessing, Heavenly Rain」 (Touya)
The sound of water pouring down resonated accompanied by the rain itself just as my magic power hit the sky even though there were no clouds in the sky. It’s only falling down on the farmlands, and it didn’t reach the town proper. I’d previously made a mistake with regards to the power of the spell, but I’d apparently gotten it right this time.
The farmers working on the fields were puzzled due to the sudden downpour and the cast [s.h.i.+elds] above their heads. It seemed they were convinced when they saw me and decided to sit down in a nearby hut until the rain stopped.
Laqshe then said something with a tone of giving up to me who had made it rain.
「……good grief…… Is there anything that his majesty can’t do?」 (Laqshe)
「There are a lot ~. Isn’t that why I’m having everyone help me out?」 (Touya)
I know that I can’t do much just by myself and that I should ask people for a helping hand whenever I can. It’s impossible for me to do everything by myself.
In fact, it’s not me but everyone in the town who are working hard like Naito-ossan, Kousaka-san, and Laqshe that are running this country. I have been thinking that my duty is to protect the environment where everybody can work and have a piece of mind.
Thus I won’t forgive anyone who intended to harm this country. Similar to Yuuron who had suddenly picked a fight without discussion, I won’t hesitate and will repay them back tenfold than what they’ve done.
Well, it’s not like I did anything in the case with Yuuron… was what I believed. Although one could say that unfortunate accidents had piled up.
The rain stopped, and I then left the farming grounds.
This time, I decided to go see the school that was just recently made. There were no students yet, but Fiana-san, Sakura’s mother, and the two teachers who had been employed the other day were cleaning the cla.s.srooms.
Those two teachers were a female human in her early 20s and a male elf. The man looked young because he was an elf, but I’d been told that he’s more than 200 years old. Nevertheless, he’s still younger than both Rin and Professor. It’s complicated so I couldn’t joke about that…..
As for their names, Miette is the female teacher while Raysiel is the male, I think?
Miette had initially studied in a school in the Regulus Empire, but she had apparently wandered into this country.
Raysiel was a magician and a former adventurer, so he had been recommended by the guild master of the adventurers guild, Rerisha-san.
I had Yumina confirm their personalities using her magic eye just in case, and they weren’t bad human and elf respectively. Both of them were gentle.
Even so, I thought I needed to greet the three people, but I’d suddenly noticed a lot of cats gathered in the corner of the school grounds.
「What is that…?」(Touya)
Having climbed on top of something that looks like a cardboard box, Nyantaro was talking to the cats with mixing gestures.
「NyanNyanNya! Nyaaa, Nyan, Nyanya! Nyan Nya Nyan Nya, Nyaaaa!」(Nyantaro)
Is that cat language? I had utterly no idea what they were talking about since they were speaking in a language I didn’t understand.
「What are you doing, Nyantaro?」 (Touya)
「Like I said I am d’Artagnan ~nya! I am gathering information about the town from these subordinates of mine ~nya!」(Nyantaro)
Subordinates you say? Since when did you become the boss of the town cats? I guess, there’s Kohaku right above you though.
「What are you going to do with the information you’ve gathered?」 (Touya)
「I’m checking whether there are suspicious people in town ~nya! This school is my territory, so I’m going to protect mother-sama and this school ~nya!」 (Nyantaro)
I don’t remember making it your territory though, but gathering information from this number of cats will really be helpful, I guess. What Nyantaro had said was certainly right. If there’s a suspicious person, these cats would likely be able to discover that person quickly.
「I guess this is fine. If anything comes up, make sure to report it to Sakura」(Touya)
「Roger ~nya」(Nyantaro)
Nyantaro isn’t my summoned beast, so only Sakura can telepathically communicate with him. If he reports any suspicious activity to Sakura, that report should then come to me through a phone call from her.
I was absentmindedly thinking of things like those when my smartphone in my pocket vibrated and rang. A phone call, huh? The letters [Incoming: Professor] showed up after I took out my smartphone. I~have~a~feeling~this~will~be~something~unpleasant…….
「Yes, he-h.e.l.lo……」(Touya)
『Touya-kun, Touya-kun! In the end, I believe the next one should have a variable frame that can transform from a fighter form to a human form……』(Regina)
『Master Master! More important than that, the next one should be a super battles.h.i.+p that is capable of transporting frame gears…』(Rosetta)
『A parts and B parts……』 (Regina)
『If Sakura-dono’s frame uses songs as oscillation waves, then…』(Rosetta)
Annoying!
I heard the loud voices of Professor and Rosetta coming from the smartphone, so I instinctively removed it from my ear. Ah~ As I’ve thought. It was wrong to let those guys see shows similar to a robot anime…. You guys are just doing whatever you want, aren’t you? Haa…..
Well, I’m also a boy, so I can understand their feelings. Maybe perhaps I should say that I’m a little drawn back when a girl is crazy about stuff like that. After that, they’ve persistently asked about the mecha setting of the anime, so I’d felt slightly tired.
Explaining everything in detail would allow the possibility of a nuclear fission device, which shouldn’t exist, to be invented. I couldn’t do anything but to explain it to them, so I had to make the explanation ambiguous around the part about nuclear technology. It’s scary if they went and made it after I’d explained everything to them in detail.
Hearing the voices of those two from my smartphone even after removing it from my ear, I once again sighed in resignation.