RAW:
Just because the t.i.tle has the word (Part 1) doesn’t mean that I divided this chapter into parts, this is the full chapter. Chapter76 is t.i.tled “Arrival to the Kingdom (Part 2)”
This chapter is very long, about twice the amount I usually translate.
Please enjoy the chapter…
PLEASE TURN OFF READER VIEWI’M NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR WHATEVER YOU READ
Midgardztan is an elongated peninsular continent that became narrower at the northern end.
As for the shape of the continent as a whole, it was a combination of Italia peninsula and Boso Peninsula in the previous life. Only the scales were different. The size of the continent is estimated because there is no accurate information. Perhaps it’s slightly smaller than North America.
It looked long and curved like a serpent dragon’s tongue, but people usually call it 『Fur Boots』. Besides toes and heels, there seemed to be a fluffy middle part resembling a fur.
The Santamana Kingdom owned the territory from the heel of the shoe to the ankle and some part of the arch.
The northern part of Sonorat kingdom was in the state of internal conflict until recently, which was located on the lower half of the shin part. There’s a central plateau divided by some countries and small cities in the fur part. Going north from the middle part, there’s the Myoken Empire. (TL: the RAW says 北限帝国 – Hokugen Teikoku but Karuma suggested that I changed it into Myoken Empire. I think it’s a reference)
Finally, if you go even further north, there’s a continental bridge called Frostbite. The G.o.ddess said that the climate became worse near the Frostbite. It also coincides with the fact that when the G.o.ds came to this world, they created areas where humans could live. In other words, The flame spirit’s power exists as far as the Myoken Empire, but from Frostbite onwards, the flame spirit’s power suddenly declines. Therefore, it was said that only demons can live further north from Frostbite.
Next, about the western side of the continent, the south is filled with dense forest, the north is the mountain range, and human countries are built on the eastern side. On the west side, there lived many elves, dwarves, and beast men. There are also monster habitats and unexplored dungeons left unattended but the actual information is not clear for the people in the east.
However, for the moment, those things are irrelevant.
For the time being, we are involved in the Santamana Kingdom where we are and it’s royal capital called Monokans. Other than that, all we need to do is keep in mind about the political instability in Sonorat in the north.
That’s rightーThe royal capital Monokans of Santamana Kingdom.
We, the Chrebl family, are currently on our carriage to that city.
「Uwaa… It’s so lively」
「It’s the first time for me to see so many people at once」
Both of Melby and I reacted while inquiring the state of the kingdom.
My first impression about Monokans is 『It’s huge』.
Monokans is in the south-eastern part of the Santamana Kingdom in the south-eastern part of Midgardztan. Specifically, the sole of the shoe part narrowing toward the arch.
Just like Saroma Lake in Hokkaido, there’s a big lake connected to the sea in Monokans. There’s a huge island in the lake which called 『Old City』. It consists of the royal castle and n.o.ble houses under the rule of the king, Visgard the First.
Since there’s 『Old City』, there’s also 『New City』. 『New City』 is a city developed far outside of the lake and about 3 times as large as the old city.
By the way, there are no walls surrounding Monokans.
It’s because the castle walls are not necessary for the royal castle which is located in the natural stronghold on the island in the lake. Since it was created rather spontaneously right outside of the Old City, the New City wasn’t covered in walls as well.
Even when I entered Monokans, we saw guards but they didn’t check our belongings.
In other words, anyone can come and go freely in the new town.
In the first place, imagine the chaos if the guards trying to guard the whole un-walled city against newcomers. It’s just impossible.
(ED: I want to say something but I won’t)
(TL: Karuma, no Trump jokes!)
The castle walls were built long ago and still exist, but the city spread even more outside of the castle walls. It seemed that it couldn’t really be called a castle wall at this point.
We pa.s.sed the old castle wall and ride forward.
「Dad, I think there are good and bad things from the freedom of entrance and exit. What do they do when an enemy attacks?」
「In case of the Old City, the lake is a natural fortress so there’s no problem. However, people must leave the New City. Especially since n.o.bles only live in the Old City, there are not many reasons for the enemy troops to hara.s.s the New City’s residents. However, there’s a possibility of looting would take place so they are planning to build a wall. A great wall. The greatest wall of all that would surround the New Town」
Alfred-tousan answered my question.
「How many people live in Monokans?」
「There’s no accurate statistic, but it was said to be about 150 thousands. About 30 thousands in the Old Town, 110 thousands in the New Town, and about 10 thousand imperial armies」
In the carriage, there were Melby, Alfred-tousan, Julia-kaasan, and Elemia.
I tried talking to Elemia to calm her.
「Elemia, have you been to the kingdom?」
「…etto, I came here a few times… for my duties…」
In other words, did you came for a.s.sa.s.sination for 〈Yatagarasu〉?
I stepped on a landmine.
Apart from Dad, who came frequently to the Kingdom, Julia-kaasan, Elemia, and I were distracted by the beautiful landscape seen from the window of the horse drawn carriage. We quickly forget about the landmine I stepped on.
Eventually, we stopped in front of a huge gate.
It’s a bridge!
「Isn’t it big? In this whole continent, there are only a few bridges that were as ma.s.sive as the Monokans Goldengate Bridge」
Looking from the entrance, the Monokans Goldengate Bridge looked like a combination of Arc de Triomphe in Paris and Tower Bridge in London.
From the top of the tower, a strong chain is stretching over the opposite sh.o.r.e.
(TL: Literal translation is golden gate bridge. You know that I’m always open for suggestion)
「…Is the bridge suspended by that chain?」
I asked my father.
「That’s right, but it’s not all. They can also raise up the whole bridge」
「eh? Raising up a bridge that huge?」
I was surprised.
Even though the bridge was so long that you can’t see the opposite sh.o.r.e from the other end.
「Would the bridge break when it was raised?」
「Huh? you can do that with this world’s technology?」
「un…… sorry…」
Well, I admit that what I said was certainly rude.
「However, your doubt was reasonable. Indeed, we couldn’t really do it with our current technology」
「The bridge was originally an ancient artifact.
The tide was quite intense thanks to the ocean connected to the lake, so you can’t reach the other side using some half-hearted war vessels. So it’s impossible to reach the island once the bridge is raised」
「I don’t know the details, but it seemed that there’s a large mechanism in the bas.e.m.e.nt of the bridge tower which store the power of the tide. I heard that everything is moved not with magic but in a purely physical way. They say that it was raised and lowered once a day. They raised the bridge when the sun was set and lower it again when the sun had raised」
While my father explain, our carriage started moving again.
Since there’s no castle wall in the New City, is this how they check each person entering Old City?
While being sent off by the knight’s salute, the Chrebl carriage advance to the other end of the bridge.
「Uwaaa!!」
Julia-kaasan looked out the window and admire the view.
Even the calm and composed Elemia couldn’t contain her excitement.
「Because the lake is connected to the ocean, you can smell the scent of the ocean」
As my father explain, the smell of the sea was entering our carriage.
「It’s true」
Elemia sniffed the air while saying it in reserved manner.
「Eh? Didn’t you said that you have been here before?」
「At that time…… I was sneaking inside a merchant’s cart…」
I stepped into another landmine. Julia-kaasan glare gave me a chill.
Ugh…
But it’s not on purpose…
「Hey look! Something is over there!」
Melby pointed at something on the other side of the bridge and raised her voice.
As the horse-drawn carriage moves, another town could be seen from the distance.
Since there’s a natural castle wall which is the lake, the buildings look more elegant than the New City.
「Isn’t it pretty? Other than the bridge, this is the symbol of the royal capital, the Santamana Royal Castle」
Both Dad and Mom were looking behind their shoulders and enjoying the scenery.
Dad explained the building every now and then 「That is the mansion of the famous Marquis Sagastine. And over there is the mansion of …」.
Meanwhile, Elemia was staring at rope-like thing spreading next to the bridge, not the royal castle.
There are 2 ropes, one that gradually descends from the front to the back and the other that descends from the back to the front, making an X shape if looked from afar.
「What is that rope?」
「Heee… So it’s a ropeway?」
「In my previous life, there are things called ropeways that were made to transport people. It seems that in this world, it was used to transport things downwards. It uses height differences to transport things」
As I explained, a basket ran through the ropeway.
The basket wasn’t that big, it was about the size of a parcel.
Since the bridge tower was 50 meters tall, connecting a rope from the top of one tower to the lower end of the opposite tower seemed to function as a ropeway.
「The ropeway is used when there’s an urgent transmission. They can even use it at night when the bridge was raised」
「I don’t know, maybe it’s a message about us coming」
That makes sense, maybe they just informing that the Chrebl Family has arrived.
After we crossed the bridge, a knight approached us from the Old City and saluted.
My father peered from the carriage and the knight spoke.
「His Majesty the King is waiting. I’ll take charge of guiding you from here to the castle」
「If it’s alright with you sir, your family may come as well」
Eh? Us too?
My father seemed a little surprised as well, but there was no choice.
「…I understand」
「Pardon me, but I’d like to go inside the castle now」
「Very well, sir. Then I shall be your guide」
Lead by the knight, the carriage started to move again.
「…Since we were told that way, I can take Julia with me, but what about Ed, Elemia, and Melby?」
Dad asked.
「…I woul- no… I’d like to decline if possible」
Elemia declined.
Now if you think of it, Elemia wasn’t officially adopted by our family, so that would be better.
「I understand. But, can you please not to speak so formal with us?」
「I know it’s impossible to do it straight away, but please think of Julia and I as your parent」
「Mia-chan is really a good child」
Julia-kaasan embracing Elemia while saying so.
Iya, it’s not that she didn’t mind. She might possibly use brute force to embrace her.
「I always wanted a daughter~」
Speaking like that, I really don’t know how she made that conclusion.
My mom sent a gaze towards my father.
「…Nee, Al-kun. I wanted to give birth to a girl」
「*COUGH COUGH*」
Dad was choking while Elemia blushed and looked away.
Unexpectedly, Elemia was knowledgeable about s.e.x.
「Then I’ll wait here with Elemia. The conversation topic sounds complicated」
Melby says so.
It may be prejudice, but there may be n.o.bles who do bad things behind the scenes. It may be troublesome if they know about Melby.
「What about Ed?」
Dad asked me next.
「Of course, I’ll come. I want to see the King」
「Okay. But just in case, even in public, he must be referred as 『His Majesty the King』.
While dad was explaining common etiquette, our horse-drawn carriage arrived at the royal castle.
***
「Viscount Chrebl, traveling such distance must be tiring」
Inside the audience room, speaking on a decorated throne, the Santamana Kingdom’s ruler, Visgard the First.
I guessed his age is probably about 40 years old. His physique is quite athletic and his beard is shaved clean. He wore clothes like the Kings on those playing cards. It was a strong looking man with intense eyebrow and nose. Under his deeply carved eyebrows were his eyes which shine strong, gazing towards us parents and child during the audience in interest.
(TL: Another western stereotype in Asian countries. Westerners have strong looking nose and intense eyebrows. Just like westerner can’t differentiate Asians, us Asians can’t differentiate westerners because white people looked exactly the same)
「On this occasion, I summoned Viscount Chrebl to the Royal Castle in order to give the explanation on the matter of 〈Black Wolf Fang〉 and 〈Yatagarasu〉. Even so, since we have received the report in advance, you can do it later. I was tired after doing audiences so it couldn’t be helped」
After his words, some ministers who lined up on the left and right made bitter faces.
The audience room is maybe as big as a gymnasium. Even though it’s wide, the room itself seemed narrow. The ceiling is probably about 5 meters tall. The walls are made of marble-like stones and some painting were hung but it’s not too over decorated. Curtains were hung on the wall. The ceiling seemed to be covered with embroidered cloth. A red carpet was spread towards the throne.
The throne floor was about 1 meter higher than the other floor in the room. There are staircases on the both sides of the throne. The ministers were lined up on each of the staircases.
「The audience we are having today is to reward Viscount Chreblーoi」
When the king called, one of the servants handed over a tray with some kind of papers to the king.
「Fumufumu… In addition to protecting Ranzrack Fortress from 〈Black Wolf Fang〉, he counterattacked and taking Goleth’s head. After their leader was killed, 〈Black Wolf Fang〉 who was hurt by magic lost their coordination and was destroyed. Arrangement for the suppression of their remaining units was quick and accurate and resulted in a complete success of capturing many of them who ran towards Santamana…
Everything is nothing but excellent military gainsーoi」
「…Your majesty, Please stay serious…」
One of the ministers presented a complaint.
「Furthermore, when your mansion was attacked by the a.s.sa.s.sin group 〈Yatagarasu〉, even though they kidnapped your son, not only did you recover your son, you also uncovered the mystery behind the religious a.s.sa.s.sination group. You defeated their leader, captured all of their executives, and cornered 〈Yatagarasu〉 into their destruction.
Wahahaha, now this one is big!」
The minister tried to add something but he quickly gave up.
「Looking at this, I don’t know if you have good or bad luck.
Ah, I know. You have the luck to overcome troubles」
The king who laughed while saying such things looked more like a Leader of Thieves rather than a king.
Dad told me the King’s t.i.tle beforehand, but Santamana Kingdom’s King, Visgard the First, is clearly a person who speaks honestly without reserve. He was also famous as a friendly king who loved his 3 queens from the bottom of his heart.
「In addition, you were alternating crops to match the climate of each of your territory, which increased the grain harvest to 50%. Recently, there are also some who succeeded in growing cotton cultivation in Trenadette village, which becomes hot and humid during summer due to the seasonal wind.
「ahaha… I’m humbled…」
As expected from Dad, to be able to stand in that situation.
Or should I say, taking those emotional damage.
「After all, you son also played an active role as well」
「No, it’s David」
「David?」
According to what I learned from 【Appraisal】, I think David-niisan was a.s.sistant librarian in royal library. As an active imperial guard of Knights Order, there seemed to be opportunities to increase his achievement.
「Umu, Do you know the rumor about the slashing demon in the royal capital?」
Now I heard about the slashing demon.
In addition, it may be related to the other reincarnator, Kizaki Tooru.
「The slashing demon… Certainly, it sounds like a demon who would cut people up like raging wind, or an invisible midget running around with a knife.
「David-shisho finally revealed his true ident.i.ty.
「So the magic happened naturally?」
I feel like it’s not natural phenomenon at all, but magic is categorized as natural in this world.
「To be precise, the thoughts of people who were frightened by the rumor of a slashing demon interferes with excessive spirit power and unintentionally developed as magic.
「So what kind of experiment is it?」
「After spreading David’s hypothesis, we made a silver coin penalty to anyone who spread the rumor about the slashing demon」
If you convert a silver coin to yen, it’s roughly a thousand yen.
It’s a rather light punishment. It’s like a fine for the inconvenience of the rumors.
「As the result, this year’s report of slashing demon incident was reduced to less than a tenth.
David-shisho was awarded the t.i.tle 《Natural Phenomenon Scholar》 and some rewards. Eventually, he would be promoted into a librarian. Even among the librarian, he was the youngest one in the front line. We have finally reached the 4th cla.s.s victory」
…Somehow, I have a feeling that something uncomfortable just being said nonchalantly.
The library… I think David-niisan helped in the royal library as an a.s.sistant librarian.
What the h.e.l.l is library battlefront?
Despite my confusion, the story goes into a different direction.
「About Belhart, needless to say, the imperial guard of the Knights Order worked well.
…no」
The king cut his words there and gave me a meaningful look.
「Well, I’ll listen to the details later.
For now, would it better to promote you into a Duke?」
「pfft! *COUGH COUGH*…」
My father choked at the king’s words.
The n.o.ble rank in the Santamana Kingdom is roughly the same as in my previous life, which are: Duke, Marquis, Count, Viscount, and Baron respectively.
Rising to the top like that is way too far.
My father glanced at those ministers.
Either a good luck or bad luck, there are consequences in rising 3 rank at once. Many problem may surface if he accept it.
「I-I am truly grateful but to have an incompetent person such as I p.r.o.nounced duke sounds like a dream but– 」
「To dare to refuse the offer, insolence!」
A minister cried out behind the king.
So what now?
「What are you talking about? You are, without doubt, one of the most talented individuals in this country.
「P-please at least promote me into a Count」
「I am going to promote you into a Duke. Are you trying to deny my words? hm?」
Even though the king was smiling, it was clearly a threat.
Oh, what about the minister behind the King? He seemed to be impatient to say something.
「B-but your majesty, promoting a viscount into a duke is unheard of! There’s no precedent for it in history!」
「But it’s not necessarily good for Viscount Chrebl! Promoting to early will surround him with envy!」
「umu… You have a point. If you guys became envious, then who will throw me tsukkomi?
ーWhat do you think, Viscount Chrebl?」
「Yes. umm… Please forgive me in advance but please promote me into a Count.」
Dad said so with sweat running from his forehead.
「Wahahaha! 『Forgive me in advance』eh? Very well then」
「However, why did you said so while running a cold sweat?
How about this Take the Duke and Count and turn him into a Marquis?
Until a while ago, there was a rank of a marginalized warrior treated like a marquis, but it was abolished」
Marquis, noisy n.o.bles with honeyed-words.
Some n.o.bles stared at Alfred-tousan. Indeed, refusing this would be too disrespectful.
「I-I am truly… grateful…」
With a stiff face, he finally accepted the promotion into Marquis.
The ministers behind the king didn’t say anything this time.
「Obviously, a new territory will come with the promotion, but we’ll talk about it next time. I will also attach a t.i.tle.
Everyone, from now on Marquis Chrebl will also be known as the Lord Protector of the House Chrebl」
The way to gain a t.i.tle is numerous. If a king orders everyone to call a certain person with a name, the condition of 『Having a number of people acknowledging the name』 would be easy to complete.
Attaching t.i.tles like this didn’t cost money, so it’s certainly a good mechanism to reward someone for their achievements.
After that, my father gave a formal greeting and that ended the audition with the king.
***
Or not.
As soon as we left the audience room, the minister spoke to us.
Apparently, his majesty said that he wanted to have dinner with us.
It’s one or two hours before dinner so he guided us to a waiting room inside the castle and prepares some snacks. After about an hour, we were guided into a private dining room where the royal family take their meals. I felt nervous while waiting, soon afterward, the face I saw during audience came into the dining room.
Next to him was a refined middle-aged woman. From the outer appearance, this woman the queen.
When we stood up and try to say h.e.l.lo, the king told us that it’s fine to stay seated.
「You were from before, is he your new child」
The king suddenly turned his eyes on me.
I’ll introduce myself for the moment.
「My name is Edgar. I am honored to be able to meet the famous wise king」
I tried to lower my head a bit.
「Wahahaha… I’ll get embarra.s.sed being called wise. Well, it’s a fact, though」
「Please don’t get too c.o.c.ky dear」
His Majesty laughed happily while the queen landed a fist on him.
Both Julia-kaasan and I stared in amazement, but my dad just gave a bitter smile.
「…So, is this woman Alfred’s new…」
The queen shift her attention to Julia-kaasan and ask nervously.
「Yes ma’am, my name is Julia. Being a former-adventurer, there may be some impoliteness. So please excuse me」
Julia-kaasan gave her a gentle nod.
「Hee, isn’t she such a pretty wife. She certainly took Alfred out of the corner」
「I’m sorry I caused so much inconvenience at that time」
Alfred-tousan replied to both of them.
Kanan. So that was the name of my father’s ex-wife.
「Julia and Edgar might not know, but Alfred, Kanan, Eriza, and I went to the same military academy. We used to do a lot of mischief together. We would register to the Adventurer Guild using fake names and go to hunt monsters」
「Even though he said together, we were taking different majors. By the way, Vis was in the martial arts department, Alfred was in the war tactics department, I was in the magical department, and Kanan was in the divine department」
The king explained and the queen supplemented.
I see, so that’s why the king is so friendly to dad.
Visgard the First.
I have heard about him before. The king of reformation. Eliminating the complicated many territory disputes, establishing the gold-silver-bronze system with a royal decree, fixing the exchange rate between gold, silver, and copper. He was vigorously making progressive policies since he became a king.
「Well, the reason I invited you here, besides cheering you up, is because I wanted to hear about the 〈Black Wolf Fang〉 and 〈Yatagarasu〉directly.
Regarding my information source, I got full confidence in their reliability. But when I combine those information together, the one who took the head of the mercenary group’s leader and the head of Yatagarasu’s leader
… is that boy」
The king’s intelligence network. It was a quite excellent organization to be able to grasp information to that extent.
By the king’s words, dad and mom turned pale.
「It’s not that I’m threatening you, don’t make such a face.
「Yup」
The king stared right into my eyes as I said those words.
「Did you… come from a different world?」
AU: Since it became longer, I divided it into 2 stories and posted it one day ahead of the schedule. Sorry, it’s not the usual notice.
The next story is tomorrow (15/5).
ED: That’s another chapter done sorry it took so long a lot of stuff happened which delayed my chances to work on the chapter
TL: Sorry for the delay. Like I said, this chapter is quite long. You can ask me about the progress and everything there. I will also hear any complaints you have and I will forward any complaint you have to Shinku as well.
I need a number of people to join the discord before I can start a discussion about a project that I will start probably next year.
Then as usual:
Let’s play a game.
I did my best this time.
Now go find 20!