Ten days had passed since the battle.
They said the war would end in the not-too-distant future.
At the same time, he had sent a messenger to the home country.
It was probably a report on the initial victory, the acquisition of the hostages, and the ceasefire proposal.
It would be retroactive approval, but the current Kingdom of Siluone didn't have the military strength to fight a total war.
As long as Pax wasn't a complete fool, he shouldn't complain.
Well, the fact that there was no reply yet was slightly concerning.
Inside the fortress, people were talking enthusiastically about that battle.
My and
The excitement hadn't died down yet.
Whether it was thanks to our battle performance, or thanks to repelling the attackers...
The soldiers' attitude toward me had softened.
They had always treated me with courtesy before.
But their expressions had been stiff, I thought.
Now, they had started smiling at me and approaching me with bright expressions.
Perhaps I had gone from being an unfathomable magician to a comrade-in-arms.
At the very least, not a single person blamed me for the one who had been caught in the
Their attitude, combined with...
and
I was able to convince myself that I hadn't done anything wrong or bad.
Looking back, I had worried too much.
This was another world, and I was
I had made a god my enemy in order to protect my family.
I should have been prepared that a day like this would come eventually.
It was a flimsy resolve, but the decision itself was firm.
But probably, no matter who asked me from now on, I wouldn't participate in a war again.
That place was another world—no, it was a whole different world.
Also, I'd probably keep killing to a minimum from here on.
Worrying over every little thing was exhausting.
I had decided: when I didn't have to kill, I wouldn't kill.
Taking mental damage by agonizing for days after every kill simply wasn't worth it.
Anyway, let me pull myself together.
For these ten days, I had been on alert, but nothing happened.
Both my mana and my mental state had fully recovered.
I was in peak condition.
The set of Magic Armor was right beside me, and my vigilance was thorough.
If the Death God were to attack me now, it would have made more sense to strike during the audience.
As expected, the Human God had nothing to do with this incident.
Just as
This was an event that occurred even in that diary.
Without me there,
or for some reason, I hadn't been summoned at all.
What a pointless worry.
Well, I wouldn't go that far.
There had still been the possibility that
In any case, the war was over.
There was no enemy nation targeting the Kingdom of Siluone.
I'd talk him into it and head back to Sharia.
I didn't want to leave him at Pax's side.
---
"Mm...!"
I stretched in the morning sunlight.
It hadn't been confirmed that the Human God was uninvolved, but since he hadn't done anything up to this point, I could safely assume the likelihood of a trap was extremely low.
Thinking that, I had slept soundly for the first time in a while.
And nothing had happened while I was sleeping.
So it really wasn't a trap.
With a somewhat refreshed air, I decided to head to the nearby river to wash my face.
I could have used Water Magic, but... this was more about the mood.
At the river, the fortress soldiers were busy washing their faces and brushing their teeth in small groups.
"Oh, it's Lord
"Thank you for keeping watch every night!"
"Wow, I thought that doll was one of Lord
Before I knew it, I was surrounded.
I was popular.
This might have been the first time I'd been fawned over like this day after day.
Still, the soldiers of Siluone—men and women alike—wore matching light brown shirts and shorts off duty.
And apparently, they didn't wear bras when they slept.
The archer girl, Pozze, who had hugged me—the contours were visible.
A feast for the eyes, truly.
"I was wondering what all the commotion was about, and it turned out to be you, Master."
He wore the same outfit as the soldiers.
Nothing princely about him.
His lanky build and lack of muscle made him look like a NEET.
"Lord
But the moment he appeared, the soldiers immediately dropped to one knee.
"Carry on with your washing."
"B-but, Your Highness..."
"What's the point of putting on airs in this getup? I'm just a groggy mess fresh out of bed, same as all of you."
I didn't know the details, but with a large-scale battle, there were bound to be all sorts of troublesome tasks to handle.
Incidentally, the corpses left on the battlefield had been left alone at first,
but within a few days, bandit-looking figures appeared from nowhere, stripped the equipment, burned the remains, and vanished.
Apparently, there were people in conflict zones who specialized in that kind of work.
A profession—like fallen-soldier scavengers or something.
As I recalled all this, I knelt beside
"So, how's the ceasefire agreement going? Think it'll get finalized?"
A light jab before the real persuasion.
If the ceasefire was settled,
The war would be over, after all.
"Yes. We received a reply yesterday.
They still seem hesitant, but we should be able to finalize it for now.
At the very least, this should prevent an invasion for three years."
The soldiers let out an "Ooh" at
Ah, I probably shouldn't have brought this up here.
But it was good news, so I supposed it was fine.
Three years, though.
Meaning, in the unlikely event that the northern nation of Biesta hadn't given up on invasion despite this devastating defeat—
This crushing loss would presumably cost the current commander his position. So who would replace him?
Where would the depleted forces be replenished from?
With what righteous cause would they break the ceasefire agreement they'd already signed?
Various factors intertwined, and the result was three years.
A minimum of three years.
In reality, it would probably take even longer.
"But three years is fine. That should give us enough time to rebuild our forces."
I see. It was a stalling tactic as well.
Indeed, buying that much time would be more than sufficient.
"Think that Pax king will go for it?"
"Of course he will."
I didn't understand it, but perhaps he had some kind of plan.
In any case, this meant the war was really over.
It felt anticlimactic.
"Good. Hopefully, peace will come soon."
"Yes, indeed..."
Well, his role was limited to wartime, wasn't it.
Now, how to persuade him.
"
The second jab.
It had accidentally come out sounding like a death flag.
If he said something like "I'm planning to propose to my lover," I wouldn't know what to do.
If he said he'd already bought flowers, I wasn't confident I could protect him from that.
"Well, I suppose I'll return to the capital for now and receive His Majesty's orders.
Or I might be assigned to this fortress permanently..."
"You mean, stay in the country?"
"...Hmm? That's the natural conclusion, isn't it?"
Well, yeah.
It was the expected answer.
But still—hadn't
The Magic Armor wasn't finished.
The Automaton research was still mid-stream.
The plan to sell dolls with
Did he have no lingering attachments to all of that?
No, that was impossible.
"
"What is it?"
"Once the ceasefire is signed, why don't you come back with me to the Magic City of Sharia and keep making dolls like before?"
It came out sounding like a proposal.
I hadn't bought flowers.
But well, you could say it was close enough to a proposal.
Not that we'd be getting married or anything.
It was like asking him to abandon his country and choose me.
Expressionless.
The cheerful atmosphere from earlier was gone, as if it had never existed.
This was bad.
He was going to refuse.
I had failed.
I had blurted it out without warming up the mood first.
This wasn't good.
The air was screaming "rejection."
I was a man who could read the room, and I knew it.
Au, au.
"Master, I can't really—hmm?"
"Oh?"
That was when the fortress suddenly grew noisy.
The sound of horses galloping—clatter, clatter—could be heard.
This fortress had no cavalry.
Who was running those horses?
As I looked around, a single rider came around the fortress wall.
"Hmm, a messenger from the capital, perhaps?"
At
"Most likely, Pax has sent a reply regarding the ceasefire agreement."
"What if it says something like 'Don't come back until you've destroyed the enemy nation'?"
"Well, with Master here, I suppose it might be possible..."
He was joking as he waited for the horse to approach.
As it drew closer, I realized the rider looked familiar.
That was someone I knew too.
"Ginger?"
Ginger was riding the horse with a desperate expression.
Something must have happened.
When Ginger spotted us, she turned the horse and headed straight for us.
The soldiers formed a wall to protect us.
Immediately,
"That's my royal guard! Clear the way!"
At
When
"Ginger, what happened?"
"Pant... pant..."
There were no visible wounds, but... she was clearly exhausted.
She had probably been riding the horse for a day and a half straight.
"Th-there's been an uprising in the capital, Ratakia.
Former General Jade has risen up with the Eleventh Prince as his figurehead.
He's led his army and surrounded the royal castle..."
Ginger squeezed out those words, then lost consciousness.
"The Eleventh Prince? That's ridiculous—the Siluone royal family only had ten males... Ginger! Explain in detail—hey!"
"Calm down,
I stopped
For now, we carried Ginger to a room.
---
The Eleventh Prince, Haruha Siluone.
Three years old.
A child born to the former King Parten Siluone late in life.
His mother was a farmer's daughter, someone who would not normally have been permitted to marry into royalty.
Therefore, Haruha's existence was not officially recognized.
Under the official pretense of being employed by a regional lord, he and his mother had been given a small estate in a quiet corner of the Kingdom of Siluone, where they lived in seclusion.
The number of people who knew of his existence was said to have been extremely small.
The former King Parten Siluone.
The minister who had arranged the estate.
And the mother's own brother—General Jade.
Two of those three had since died in Pax's great purge.
The one remaining was General Jade.
He had sworn loyalty to the former king.
Despite being of common origin, Jade had been recognized for his extraordinary military talent and elevated to the rank of general.
Thanks to Jade becoming a general, his family had been able to live comfortably without fear of starvation.
It was a tremendous debt of gratitude.
When the king had taken one of his sisters as a consort, Jade had offered her willingly to repay that debt.
When the coup d'état broke out, Jade had been stationed at Caron Fortress.
At the time, Caron Fortress had nearly a thousand soldiers.
Jade had taken five hundred of them and marched toward the capital, Ratakia.
But by the time he arrived, it was already too late—the king had died.
Reports of the entire royal family having been slaughtered were waiting for him.
The capital's defensive force at the time had been two thousand.
Jade's forces, supplemented by reinforcements from regional lords along the march, had swelled to fifteen hundred.
Looking at numbers alone, Jade's military genius might have made a battle possible.
Looking at numbers alone...
His army, with so many commanders, had split in two.
Because Pax had promised the regional lords that their current treatment would continue.
Among the lords who arrived in a hurry, some harbored ill feelings toward the former king, others had been swayed by cowardice, and still others agreed with King Pax's way of doing things.
Seeing the scattered nobles, Jade realized he couldn't win.
He surrendered to Pax and showed his submission.
Of course, there was an ulterior motive behind Jade's actions.
His sister.
And her child—the Eleventh Prince, Haruha Siluone—he had confirmed that they were alive.
For now, he would endure.
He swore to use Haruha as his banner and avenge the former king's unfinished will.
After that, Jade began working beneath the surface.
Secretly gathering those dissatisfied with Pax's rule, strengthening his military force.
Organizing a rebel army, eagerly awaiting the moment to strike.
He had favorable odds.
And the time had come.
When the northern nation showed signs of invasion and Pax began dispatching forces northward to meet them...
The coup and Jade's defection had already weakened the Kingdom of Siluone's military.
There would be no reinforcements from the Dragon King Kingdom.
While it was unclear how things would turn out, Siluone would likely be at a disadvantage against the northern nation.
If the strategically valuable Caron Fortress fell, Pax would have no choice but to send his prized "Death God" northward.
That was what Jade had calculated.
His miscalculation was the return of the Third Prince,
And not just his return—he had come back with
If
But
Jade's calculations had been thrown off.
Caron Fortress had repelled the enemy in a historic victory, and the "Death God" had never been deployed.
The forces that had been depleted would eventually recover.
Jade didn't know what Pax planned to do with the forces gathering in the north, but it was likely they'd be redeployed near the capital.
There might never be another opportunity.
That was what Jade had concluded when he decided to launch the coup.
He used the soldiers he'd gathered and hidden, seized the capital, and laid siege to the royal castle.
That was the rough outline of the incident, as Ginger had explained upon waking a few hours after arriving.
Ginger had been in the city and had escaped the capital during the chaos of the rebellion.
She had come straight to
---
"When I left the capital, the king appeared to be holed up in the castle with only a small force... but I don't know the current detailed situation."
Ginger concluded in a voice she kept deliberately calm.
It seemed Pax was holding out in a siege.
Several days had passed since the rebellion broke out.
It wouldn't have been surprising if Pax was already dead and the castle had been captured.
But the "Death God" was part of his remaining forces.
Conversely, it wouldn't have been surprising if the entire rebel army had been annihilated.
If Pax wanted to escape, breaking through the siege lines shouldn't have been difficult.
Why was he sitting there under siege?
Too many unknowns.
For now, I should carefully assess the situation—
"I see. Then let's head to the capital at once."
Ginger looked visibly relieved at his attitude.
But her expression froze when she heard his next words.
"If His Majesty has escaped, bring him here to Caron Fortress for protection.
If for some reason he hasn't been able to escape,
I'll enter through the secret passages known only to the royal family and rescue him."
"W-wait, please!"
Ginger forced herself upright.
She desperately tried to stop
To her,
"Don't worry. Ginger, you just rest here."
"No, that's not what I mean... You're going to side with King Pax?"
Her voice was filled with disbelief.
What are you talking about? his face said.
"Of course I am. Besides, I don't even know what the Eleventh Prince looks like, let alone whether he was even born of my father's blood.
For all I know, his very parentage is questionable."
There was some logic to that.
General Jade, who despised Pax, could have fabricated a puppet.
With the fact that his sister had become one of the king's consorts, there was no shortage of lies he could spin.
But Ginger's brows furrowed into an inverted V.
Her expression said she couldn't understand.
"Siding with King Pax, rescuing him, and then what?"
"What comes after is, naturally, up to His Majesty. If he tells me to suppress the rebel army, I'll do so."
"How can you... Why would you help someone like him?!"
Anger.
"Someone like him? Ginger, who exactly do you think you're speaking to?"
"I know it's disrespectful! But Lord
"What did he do?!"
"He took my family—my family—as hostages!"
Come to think of it, that had happened too.
It was so long ago I'd almost forgotten.
But for the person involved, it was an unpleasant memory.
Just as those who had been bullied never forgot—
"Taking the family of his own royal guard hostage to force compliance... I don't believe he's a king worth protecting!"
It was the sort of thing you'd want to tell the lords of the Edo period in my previous life.
But if I remembered correctly, in this country, the royal guard served as a barometer of a ruler's power.
The more royal guards you had, the higher your position in the line of succession—or something along those lines.
They weren't mere subordinates or retainers.
Taking hostages to force compliance might be considered taboo.
"Very well, then Ginger. Let me ask you in turn... Why do you protect me,
"That's because..."
"I once sold you out. That's not the act of a king worth following. So why do you still follow me?"
The reason Ginger's family had been taken hostage was because
Why did this person keep sticking with
Oh right, he'd received a favor from
"Because, Lord
But that wasn't what Ginger said.
Well, this was a conversation about royal worth, so "Because your mother asked me to" wouldn't exactly work.
"Pax, too, was a man of cunning, wasn't he?"
"His Highness Pax is 'cunning,' not 'wise.' Acting on impulse without considering the consequences makes him nothing more than a fool..."
"So am I, a fool obsessed with dolls. I'm no different from Pax."
"That's not the same."
Ginger looked up at
"Lord
You were intelligent and strong, and you feared that would lead to assassination,
so you deliberately played the fool... Isn't that right?"
There was some truth to it.
He had deciphered the ancient text on the complex Automaton, and he had built the Magic Armor.
This time, he had quickly grasped the situation and was fast to assess the state of the battle.
He could see ahead.
Even if someone said he was playing dumb, there was enough groundwork to believe it.
Of course, his love for dolls was genuine too—it wasn't all an act.
He simply didn't actively show his intelligence in public.
"...I have always been a fool. I simply want to do as I please."
"Then let's return. In the Magic City of Sharia, Lord
"That won't do. Dolls only move when they're manipulated."
"What... do you..."
Ginger turned to me at that point.
Her eyes pleaded, as if to say, "You say something too."
She was right—Pax had done unforgivable things.
He had captured Lillia and
He had even punched Lillia.
I hadn't been furious about it at the time, but looking back now, it was the kind of scene that made my blood boil.
"Hey,
"Master..."
"I know Pax may have changed a little after going to the Dragon King Kingdom, but he's not the kind of person you should risk your life to serve."
"Even you, Master... As I've said before, I belong to my country. The country is the king. When the king is in peril, it's my duty to rescue him..."
"'Wars with other nations are my duty. I've been kept alive for that, and tolerated for acting on my own for that.'
You said that once, didn't you?"
He remembered every last word.
"The king, whether it's Pax or that Eleventh Prince, shouldn't matter to you either way, right?
Your job isn't to clean up the squabbles between royals.
And once the ceasefire is signed, the war with the northern nation is over.
You've fulfilled your duty splendidly. Am I wrong?"
"Master..."
"It's okay to be done now, isn't it?
Go back to Sharia, do what you love, live your life.
Let's go home together. Come on."
"Hmm."
Then he looked at me quickly.
"It's a tempting proposal... but I can't do that."
"Why not?"
I needed to stay calm.
Persuasion had to be done calmly.
Raising my voice wouldn't make the other person change their mind.
I knew my reasoning had holes.
Saying "my job is done, so bye" wasn't how it worked.
I understood that.
I knew.
But even so, shouldn't he be able to make that excuse and come home?
"Hear me out."
"To be honest... I'm not entirely sure myself."
You don't even know why?!
No, calm down.
Patience. Patience.
I needed to gently draw it out of him, untangle it.
"...
"I suppose so?"
"Well, obviously. He killed all the other royals."
No matter how free of grudges
With those skeletons came paranoia.
"Even if you went to rescue him, he might send the Death God after you, wondering what your real purpose was."
"........."
"And after the rescue too.
No matter how much you help Pax,
he would never truly trust you from the bottom of his heart.
Because he has things to hide.
Someday, over some trigger, you'll be killed.
That's no place for you."
He just looked at me with a stony expression.
"You once said that if the country told you to die, you'd have no choice but to die.
I understand dying in war.
But being killed by Pax's paranoia? That's just wrong.
You'd be contributing nothing to the country."
"......"
As if weighing my words, he slowly drew a breath.
When he slowly exhaled, his eyes opened halfway.
"Even so, he's still my brother... my last blood relative."
Brother.
Blood relative.
With those two words, I was instantly rendered speechless.
I had nothing left to say.
And yet,
"I've never said such a thing before, so you might wonder why I'm saying it now...
But Pax is my brother."
His face was devoid of any emotion.
None of his usual theatrical gestures, shouting, or laughter—nothing.
Today,
"..."
I couldn't help but let out a sigh.
If this was
When someone invoked their brother, their family—I couldn't strongly oppose that.
I could understand why
If it were me—
If
I would never forgive it.
But what if, between the two, or with both of them, my connection had been extremely thin?
What if the surviving one had been manipulated by some great force?
What if they were trying to move forward despite their mistakes?
I would try to stop them, but I would also help them.
"I understand."
I knew that.
Whether the "brother" reason was true or false, I couldn't tell.
But he had gone so far as to use his blood relative as a shield against me.
He had no intention of budging.
It seemed I couldn't bring myself to drag
What I could do was protect
That was the extent of what I could support.
"Honestly, I was prepared to get on my knees and beg if that's what it took to bring you back. But if this is how it is, I'll stick with you a little longer."
"...Thank you. If you actually cried and begged me, Master, even I would waver."
"Then I should've just done that from the start."
"Just kidding."
As for
The
After all the effort of getting permission from Pergius, securing Ariel's cooperation, and having
The sense of loss was real, given how long we'd spent preparing.
But it was okay.
If
then there was nothing more to say.
It was just how it had to be.
Pax and
But relationships could be built from here.
Apologize for the past, forgive each other, ask for forgiveness.
Take your time and slowly cultivate the relationship.
Mistakes could be corrected.
I thought Pax was a terrible person.
But even he could change—and he already had.
Nobody was beyond change.
"Please..."
Ginger had gone pale.
Come to think of it, she hadn't seen Pax since he became king.
In her mind, Pax might still be the same as he always had.
The hateful Pax from before.
"I'm sorry, Ginger.
If that's how it is, I'll respect
Well, in a situation like this, I doubted Pax would remain king.
Either way, nothing would start until we actually went to Pax.
For all we knew, just showing up to help might make Pax see
"That's how it is, Ginger. Don't make a fuss."
"Ah, w-wait!"
Ginger rolled out of bed.
Without even getting to her feet, she clung to
Ginger pleaded desperately.
"I understand that Lord
"Speak."
"If the king—if King Pax tells Lord
The words were clumsy.
They must have been words that came out on instinct.
But I understood what Ginger wanted.
She wanted
That was all there was to it.
"Hmm, but that's..."
"I understand. Ginger. I'll make sure to bring
I answered in
No matter how much guilt
dying would accomplish nothing.
If their relationship truly broke down beyond repair,
I would take responsibility and bring
After all, sticking with
I would see it through.
That much, I would not forget.
"Thank you, Lord
Ginger bowed deeply to me.