......You think the new title isn't popular?
I-I want new readers too! I worked so hard coming up with a title that would attract new readers!!
......Alright, let's make it a longer title then!
Seventh Generation~There Are Seven Ancestors and They're Annoying, but They Give Me Advice on Skills and All Sorts of Things, and They're Practically Useless, but We'll Have Fun Adventuring and Build a Harem~
This way, new readers and points will come pouring in!
"There Are Several Reasons Why Wars Are Fought on Friendly Terms"
Inside the Jewel.
The Fourth Generation had prepared a blackboard and proceeded to explain things to me. Having only ever experienced all-out wars up until now, I just couldn't quite wrap my head around friendly wars—or wars with a rulebook, so to speak.
This explanation was directed at a clueless me like that—.
"To put it simply, it's when you want to fight—or rather, have to fight—but don't actually desire the other side's territory. Well, each land has its own various reasons, so they just keep on fighting."
"...So if we remove those reasons, they'll stop? But both sides seemed plenty motivated."
None of them looked like they were fighting on friendly terms. Besides, the border regions that served as battlegrounds couldn't exactly be pleasant, could they?
Then, the Third Generation spoke to me.
"Well, every place has its own reasons, even if they're all different. But they're fighting quite frequently, so it's not population adjustment."
There was a limit to how many people a territory could support. Land was finite. Even if you cleared new land and could support more people, eventually you'd hit that wall.
When that happened, you had no choice but to seize someone else's land. But seizing land also meant you now had more territory to manage.
"What exactly is the goal, then?"
When I tilted my head, the Fifth Generation answered with a look of distaste.
"That's what we need to find out. Well, from a quick glance, Galleria looks like the easiest one to infiltrate. They're the ringleader of the surrounding lords—could even call them a collection of small nations. Even if we hired someone to do it, the neighbors probably wouldn't complain."
I looked anxious.
"That's the thing, though... would I even be able to serve as an official?"
As if to reassure me, the Seventh Generation laughed.
"Don't worry, Lyle. You're young, and you've already proven yourself. What lord or country wouldn't want you?"
To that, Mireia chimed in from the side.
"Well, people who are too capable tend to get resented, too. But there's no need for Lyle to serve anyone directly."
"...Huh?"
When I looked surprised, the Fourth Generation nodded as well.
"Obviously. You can't serve in both countries. If you tried something like that, I'd have you executed, frankly."
The Fourth Generation walked to the blackboard and wrote down the names of Galleria and Rusworth, then wrote the names of my companions—Novem and the others.
"Let's decide who gets posted where. In this scenario, Lyle takes a support role."
"So the argument is: my companions are the ones serving, so I'm not technically pledging loyalty to two masters? It sounds like a stretch, if you ask me."
The Fifth Generation, as usual, looked thoroughly disinterested.
"It's fine. They won't be serving forever. The point is to pull both countries into the Zayin-Rolfis alliance. The smaller surrounding nations can be handled through diplomacy afterward."
The Fourth Generation grew animated as he laid out the plan for me.
"First, we embed someone in one side. They make a name for themselves there... but this time, not through battle."
Seeing me listening with a serious expression, the Fourth Generation looked pleased.
"Mainly, we want results on the domestic front. That throws off the balance between the two countries. Once that happens, the side that panics will have no choice but to try to break the deadlock. That's when we send people to the other side as well."
As I listened to the Fourth Generation's explanation—
"Domestic affairs take time, though. Even if we get our foot in the door, wouldn't it take at least several years, or close to a decade, before anything comes of it?"
To my comment like that, the Fourth Generation shook his head.
'There's no time for that. That's why we're using letters of introduction this time. Using Zayin's, Rolfis's, and Baim's letters, we'll break in and yield results early on. Well, from what I can see, it'll be Galleria.'
We'd improve the domestic situation of one country, and approach the panicked other side. I was curious if that would work, but we had our own trump cards as well.
Mireia clapped her hands and stood up from her chair.
'How wonderful! Just the fact that a group with connections to Zayin, Rolfis, and Baim is cooperating puts the other side in a dire strait. They'll panic. They'll think, 'Finally, they're coming after us for real!''
The Fourth Generation looked very amused.
'Exactly! The more they panic, the larger the gap we can exploit. For that, we need information. Based on that information, we'll send the optimal personnel to both countries. If we can't get them from the outside, we just break them down from within.'
I don't know why... but I felt a bit sorry for the two countries targeted by the Fourth Generation.
Just then, as if remembering something, Mireia said:
'That's right. Ryel, shall we go see Lyle-kun? It's been a while. He might be feeling lonely.'
I looked at Mireia with a flat stare.
"...That guy feeling lonely? Besides, I don't really want to talk to him."
'Don't be difficult. Come on, let's go.'
My hand was taken by Mireia, and I was led to the room of my memories.
'I was lonely, Mireia-chaaaaaan!!'
As soon as we entered the room of memories, Lyle flew towards Mireia.
Without meaning to, he was positioned to dive into her chest, and his hands were making indecent movements. He was in a child's form, but this was definitely crossing a line.
'Oh, my apologies.'
With a sharp *thwack* sound, she had shot down Lyle with a hand chop. He fell to the floor, twitching, then wobbly stood up.
'...You don't have to be so shy about it. Following Novem, I hereby bestow upon you the title of 'Iron Wall'.'
"Well, I'm glad. Then you'll tell me all sorts of things today as well, won't you?"
It was the space where I had once lived.
Lyle prepared chairs for Mireia and me, then sat down on the bed herself.
"Now then, what should I talk about… I did ask you to return my body before, but you're not going to do that, are you?"
"Return it to you? That's not even possible — you're practically a different person by now. I'd stop being me, and that's a bit much."
When she heard my words, Lyle said, "How cruel." But she looked a little pleased.
"Well, as long as you can beat Ceres with that, isn't it fine?"
That remark, that confidence — I asked Lyle.
"Could you beat Ceres?"
It was slightly humiliating to ask something like that, but I couldn't help it. Mireia looked at me as though she wanted to say something, but in the end she didn't say a word.
Lyle answered with full confidence.
"I wouldn't lose. But I wouldn't win either. That's all I can manage under the current circumstances. After all, Ceres took everything she could take from me. Well, I was the genius of House Walt — a prodigy the likes of which had never appeared since the family's founding — so I suppose it's only natural that people were jealous."
I regretted asking a serious question of Lyle, who kept giving such ambiguous answers.
Mireia was giggling softly.
Sighing, I pressed on.
"So, will you return my memories?"
Lyle let out a fearless smile.
"Hmm, what should I do? Besides, I don't think it really matters to you, what with you giving my body back and all?"
As I moved to stand up from the chair, Lyle closed the distance in an instant and touched my forehead with her index finger.
"If you're planning to fight me, I'd advise against it. Even if you say things were taken from me, I still know how this body moves. You can't beat me."
Not as much as Ceres, but I still didn't like my chances against the being before me. When I made a frustrated face, Lyle went over to Mireia...
"Mireia... carry me."
"No. Come back when you've got a purer heart."
"I'm only honest about my desires, but I absolutely have a pure heart! So please carry me! I want to use those breasts as a pillow!"
Thinking this guy was the worst, I moved on to my next question.
"What do I have to do to get you to return the memories that were sealed within me?"
Lyle turned toward me.
"...Memories, huh? Well, even if I were to return them, let's have a contest first."
"A contest?"
"You and me fighting is out of the question. It wouldn't be a contest. So... how about we invite your lovers into the Jewel? All of them. We'll settle it there. I'll keep the specifics of the contest hidden. If you refuse, I absolutely won't hand over the memories, and if you let your guard down, I'll be taking your body."
I thought to myself.
"Why would I need to introduce everyone to a perverted brat like you... You!"
Before I knew it, Lyle had moved onto the bed and was striking a pose.
"Obviously! Because I want to grope those breasts and that butt! Now, hand over your lovers for the sake of your memories!"
I responded immediately.
"Like hell I'm going to do that, you idiot!"
The rebuilt cottage had turned into a reasonably large house.
Next to it, a small hut for Porter had been built — basically a giant version of a doghouse. Monika's affection for Porter was starting to scare me a little.
At the location I'd decided to use as my base, a large Porter had arrived, loaded with Valkyries.
Rauno had also gotten off the large Porter, looking tired.
"You're way too demanding. Asking me to work the second I get back — what's with that? And the difficulty is way too high, too."
Rough beard, messy hair. Rauno had every right to complain.
"We're in a hurry too. So, beyond Redant Fortress... how was Banseim?"
At my question, Rauno let out a sigh.
"Banseim has officially taken over governing the former neighboring country. The one who moved in is some general named Broa Cadel, dispatched from Central. Not Central's elite — he apparently scraped together soldiers from the provinces... but he seems to be governing without major issues."
A Central general, posted far away from Central, the capital of Banseim. Normally, this would mean ——
'Demoted, perhaps? But if he's governing smoothly, we can't afford to let our guard down.'
The Seventh Generation was on guard.
I wondered whether it was even worth worrying about, but Rauno went on to say something equally cryptic.
"I can't tell if he's competent or not. You could write it off as just being posted to the provinces, but I'd rather not assume a man who rose to the rank of general is incompetent. His subordinates seem quite fond of him."
There was a hint of personal sentiment in his voice, making me wonder if something had happened between them in the past.
"He won't be making any moves for a while?"
"He can't, no. Monster attacks are on the rise, and he has to deal with those while governing the territory. I thought he might lean on Baim for help, but it seems like he's keeping his distance. I'd like to dig deeper, but the client is changing the plan."
He was being snide about it, but given the situation, my priorities came first.
I needed to bring both Galleria and Rusworth over to our side — no matter what.
"I do apologize for making unreasonable demands. I just want to wrap things up on our end as quickly as possible."
Rauno looked at me.
"Well, you can't neglect a client who pays well. Oh, and consider this a freebie —"
"What is it?"
"Some people in Baim who felt wronged by you are starting to make moves. The Trace family is watching quietly for now, but something could happen soon. You're the brother of the future queen who's been causing a ruckus in Banseim, right? The higher-ups in Baim might just decide to cut you loose."
I kept silent after hearing that.
The reason I kept silent was—
'Oh, this is shaping up nicely. It'll depend on how Baim moves next, but if Fidel is also laying low, maybe the provocation worked?'
'We've got the money and equipment together, so I'm full of gratitude for everything you've done!'
'Well, they'll probably just cut us off normally. The question is how much we can squeeze out of them before that... Anyway, as long as it's not the worst-case scenario, we're on track.'
'The merchants of death and the Guild both need to take a hit once. That said, it'd be best if Baim remains.'
'Ah, or how about we prepare a new city? Let's crush the current Baim for the sake of the future. We need to reduce their territory and restrict their city functions.'
It was because the Jewel was enjoying itself. The bad part was that these guys were acting while knowing they were going to be thrown out.
Originally, for us—no, for the Successive Heads, the worst pattern in the relationship with Baim was "Baim throwing their full support behind me."
Being subjected to that was apparently a huge problem for the Successive Heads. The scenario they hated most was one where Baim accurately recognized the threat of Ceres and fully cooperated with me.
If they were to offer full support, then even if I won, I wouldn't be able to take a strong stance against Baim. Because even if I did, I would have to brace for considerable resentment, or so I was told.
Therefore, this current situation was exactly as planned for the Successive Heads.
For the Third Generation.
'Now then, let's table the Baim issue for now. Right now, it's Galleria and Rusworth. If we can bring these two nations to our side, we'll have the scale to mobilize tens of thousands of troops. It's not enough to fight Banseim, but it's important that Lyle has a military force available.'
Whether they would truly cooperate when fighting Banseim was questionable, but these people surely had a way to make them participate.
I thought they were reliable, yet it was something to consider whether I could keep relying on them like this.
"What's wrong?"
Rauno-san, seeing me silent, looked at me with concern.
I gave a wry smile.
"It's fine. Well, even if we're thrown out, we'll manage somehow."
Then Rauno-san scratched his head.
"...I guess so,"
was his reply.
Third Generation: "The pattern we hate the most is—"
Fourth Generation: "when Baim gives us his full support!"
Fifth Generation: "If that happened—"
Seventh Generation: "It would've been a real problem. There was even a chance Laiel could've become a puppet."
Mireia: "That's why I reluctantly stirred everyone up. There was nothing else I could do!"
Laiel: ...I can't let them fool me. They were enjoying themselves. They were having just as much fun as when I harass Mireia-san.
Laiel: "You're all the worst!"