Genjitsushugi Yuusha no Oukoku Saikenki

Though we were treating Ichiha as an exchange student from the Duchy of Chima, he had recently accepted an offer to become my retainer.

The method of identifying monsters by their parts which he was studying would also be useful in studying demons when we inevitably met them. Thats why I wanted to combine his abilities with Tomoes, since she could talk to demons. But it was still a top-level secret that Tomoe had talked to a demon before. If this information leaked to another country, wed be looking at instant instability. In order to prevent that, only I, my family, and a select few among the upper echelons were informed of it. Naturally, a foreign exchange student like Ichiha couldnt be told.

Anyway, I addressed Ichiha, who was now my retainer, Ahem... Now, Ichiha. Lets see what you have for me.

Y-Yes, sir!

I looked through the bundle of papers Ichiha had given me. I had asked him to produce a document regarding something specific.

...I see, this is well-done. Every page is full of information. This should prove to be very useful, I said with a nod.

Tomoe and the Monster Research Society people helped, too.

Hakuya, have this copied and distributed to the relevant people immediately.

Understood.

Well done, Ichiha and Tomoe. You may leave now, I said to Tomoe and Ichiha after handing Hakuya the bundle of paper.

Yes, sir.

Well be going now then, Big Brother.

Once I saw that they had left the room, I turned to Hakuya. It looks like preparations to send the fleet to the Nine-Headed Dragon Archipelago are moving forward smoothly.

Yes. Because weve prepared for a long time, with careful planning. Hakuya replied with a cool expression.

I crossed my arms and leaned back in my chair. Careful planning... huh?

Hm? Is there something that bothers you?

When you plan things out in advance, something unexpected always happens, right? During the war with Amidonia, I made Castor mistrust me and he rebelled. Then, when it was over, Roroa came along and upended everything. All these things happened that we never saw coming.

...Thats true.

I rested my head on the palm of my hand and looked out the window. I had bitter memories of the unexpected events that happened in the war with Amidonia.

Heres hoping something unexpected doesnt happen again.

...Dont say something so ominous. Hakuya let out an exasperated sigh.

And sothough Im not sure if this conversation tripped some flag and led to ita few days later, Castor sent two unexpected people to us from Lagoon City.

The United Kingdom of the Nine-Headed Dragon Archipelagoa union state situated in the sea east of us. The name came from a legend that a Nine-Headed Dragon had once gone on a rampage there. The interesting thing about that was that my weird translation ability was rendering the dragon in that name with the same kanji as an eastern dragona ryuu, not a western one. I guess it was something like Yamato no Orochi, not King Gidora, that went wild there, huh?

Was that just a legend? Or was it a monster? Or perhaps one of the Old Ones that the Mother Dragon, Madam Tiamat, had mentioned? It wasnt clear.

Though it was similar to the Union of Eastern Nations in that it was an amalgamation of island states, this place had a much longer history. Remnants of royal families who had been run off the continent; oppressed minority races; people driven out after losing in political struggles; and criminalsthis country was founded by people left with no place to go on the mainland. Maybe because of that, there werent as many members of the major races, like humans, there.

The sea serpent race that Excel belonged to had once owned an island in the archipelago, but lost it due to war, political strife, or calamity, and came back to the continent where they settled in Lagoon City. There were apparently a lot of unusual races like that in the islands. They had a history of races with nowhere to go but their one island fighting over territory at sea, and constantly warring to preserve their islands independence.

I dont know if it was because their country formed that way, but they were violent by nature, and every island was fiercely independent. I guess you could say they were rebellious spirits?

Now, the head of the largest island, Nine-Headed Dragon Island, was accepted as the overall chief of the Archipelago Union, but the chiefs of each of the other islands governed individually. If their king was a shogun, the island chiefs would have been his daimyos. If the Nine-Headed Dragon King tried to step in and dictate how an island should be ruled, the islanders would resist it.

You may wonder why the Nine-Headed Dragon King was considered to be the chief of the Archipelago Union, but it was in order to oppose foreign forces. Back in the time when the Gran Chaos Empire had more steam behind it, there was a sense that they might manage to unify the continent. If the Empire were to invade the Archipelago, no individual island could take them on. Because of that, the King of Nine-Headed Dragon Island, which had the largest population, brought the islands together to form the Archipelago Union, and created a system that would let them overcome the divisions between the islands to fight as one.

The formation of this union was an exception for the fiercely independent people of this country. Conversely, if not for the threat of foreign invasion, the islands would never have fought together.

In the time since the Union was formed, the islands had mostly stopped fighting each other, and a prosperous system of trade developed, but they were still strongly rooted in their customs (which I think its fair to say were bad customs).

Lets take this story back to the present now.

The daughter of this Nine-Headed Dragon King was Shabon, who now stood before me, and her bodyguard was Kishun. In their country, it was customary to address people by full name, as if the two names were one. Also, like in Japan and China, the family name came before the given name. So, in this example, Shabons name was actually Sha Bon.

These two had shown up with no forewarning. I had nothing but a bad feeling about this.

I am indeed King Souma A. Elfrieden of Friedonia. Let us get right to the point, Madam Shabon. Why is it that you have come to my country without any advance notice? You were taken into custody by one of our patrol ships, too. This could easily spark a diplomatic incident.

Shabon deeply bowed her head. I apologize for our many transgressions. Please, forgive us. I simply had to meet with you, Sir Souma. I would very much like for you to listen to what I have to say to you.

Listen... you say? What could she have to say to me now, at a time like this? You are, of course, aware of the tensions that exist between my country and yours, correct?

Of course. Shabon raised her head and nodded.

Is King Shana involved in this?

...No. Father has nothing to do with it. I am here of my own volition.

So youre acting on your own, then...?

Ahh, damn it. That confirmed this was trouble. Even as I clicked my tongue internally, I looked at Hakuya who was standing beside me, and he had a look of exasperation on his face, too. Aisha, meanwhile, was staring Kishun down with a look that said, If you intend to harm His Majesty, youll not get off unscathed, and she was totally ignoring the conversation.

I asked Shabon a question, Do you understand the current situation, Madam Shabon?

Yes. And that war approaches, Shabon answered with lifeless eyes. Our countrys ships have been fishing illegally in your waters, threatening the livelihood of your own fishermen. And those illegal fishing ships are officially guarded by Fathers... the Nine-Headed Dragon Kings fleet. Even though you have repeatedly sent letters protesting it.

She paused. But before I could respond, she continued.

And in order to break out of this deadlock, you have decided to make war on our country, right? There are emissaries from the Empire urging all of our island chiefs to join the Mankind Declaration, but the fiercely independent chiefs wont choose to do that. In fact, if a foreign threat is coming, they will work with the Nine-Headed Dragon King to meet it. In the near future... there will be a great war at sea to decide which of our countries is greater, Im sure.

Well, that was more or less the answer I expected.

If you know all that, then why are you here? I said with a sigh.

Shabon looked straight at me, eyes still lifeless, and said, Please, use me as your tool.