—Under a dim, overcast sky.
Central, blanketed in falling snow, was the capital of the Banseim Kingdom, yet strangely quiet. Few young people walked the streets. Young men in particular were scarce. It wasn't simply because the snow kept people indoors.
The number of lights spilling from buildings was also sparse. This was supposed to be the main avenue of the Royal Capital, yet several shops had shuttered their doors and posted notices.
It must have been freezing outside the window, but it didn't concern Ceres as she watched from within the room. Using a Mana Tool for heating, the interior was warm. The rapier in her left hand had a hilt and sheath ornamentation reminiscent of a staff.
From the yellow Jewel embedded in the hilt, a voice was directed at Ceres, who was peering out the window with a smirk.
'Repeated wars, heavier taxes on top of that, and now you can watch the insects laboring for you wither away. How does it feel?'
Unlike the blue Jewel that Laiel possessed, the yellow Jewel contained only a single consciousness. It bore the records of Aggrissa — the one who had inherited fragments of Septem's memories and dragged the continent into hell.
"It's immensely entertaining. But watching them deteriorate this much in such a short time…"
Ceres lowered her head, wearing a sorrowful expression. Her golden hair fell in loose waves, concealing her downcast features. Lustrous hair, and sorrowful blue eyes — yet the corners of Ceres's mouth slowly curled upward, forming a vulgar grin.
"…They really are insects. Calling this the capital of Banseim and yet expecting to destroy me with just this? I want them to entertain me more."
Agrissa was somewhat exasperated. Not with Ceres's current appearance, of course. After all, Agrissa herself had once been called a beauty capable of toppling nations. She was a being who had inherited Septem's painful memories and wielded power for her own sake.
'It's far more amusing to torment them slowly, bit by bit. Well, you're still young, so it's fine to cultivate a bit more composure. Still, it is rather enjoyable watching Banseim fall like this.'
Watching Central lose its vitality day by day was entertaining for Agrissa as well. After all, they had once been adversaries — and not only that.
Banseim had served under Agrissa. In other words, it was a regional Landed Nobility that had once pledged loyalty to her. They had reaped her benefits, then turned traitor the moment the tide turned against them.
When conversing with Agrissa, Ceres used a room on the castle's uppermost floor. No one else was allowed inside — just the two of them, enjoying their exchange.
Ceres smiled and spoke as though something had just come to mind.
"Oh, that's right. Father will be returning from the fiefdom soon. I should prepare a welcome. Mother will stay by my side, but Father has his duties, so he can't remain with me forever."
At her age, it was the period when one typically found one's parents burdensome, or openly despised one's father. Yet Ceres held affection for both her parents alone. Agrissa was the same.
'Ah, yes. Your father is a busy man, after all. My father was a minor Court Noble, but he did everything he could for me… I drove my siblings away since they were nuisances, and even after entering the inner palace, I repaid him by granting him various positions.'
Her parents were special — but her siblings were not. It was a feeling shared by both Ceres and Agrissa. And all of it was influenced by the goddess's memories.
"A party, right? And I need to prepare gifts… Oh, and I have to arrange a new dress for Mother too!"
The way Ceres spoke so cheerfully looked less alluring and more like that of a child. Just then, a knock sounded from the door. When Ceres gave permission to enter, it was Bart, an Automaton.
He was a butler-type Automaton with the appearance of a handsome young man. His red hair and blue eyes were strikingly beautiful. Any stranger who saw him would surely mistake him for a human.
"My lady, Baim's Eastern Army has been defeated. It was a crushing loss. The Royal Guard was annihilated as well. Captain Bread reportedly lost his life. The death toll is in the tens of thousands."
Upon hearing this report, Ceres smiled at Bart.
"Is that so? But right now, I couldn't care less about things like that. Wins and losses are inevitable — that's what Father always says. What matters is that Father is coming to Central! To see me! So we need to throw him a grand welcome. Bart, make the arrangements."
She showed absolutely no interest. Bart wore an expression of exasperation. If he said something like this to anyone else, torture would begin on the spot. But Bart was an Automaton. He was competent at his work, and for Ceres, he was a favorite toy.
"I anticipated as much, so the arrangements are already made. However, the treasury is in a rather difficult state?"
Between the lavish lifestyle and the large-scale wars, Baim's treasury — despite being a great nation — was in terrible condition. But Ceres didn't care.
"More importantly, it's Father! The Father who works so hard and kills all those insolent insects who won't obey me — we have to welcome him in grand fashion!"
To Ceres's words, Bart replied.
"This will affect Baim's ceremony, you know. His Majesty the King and the rest of the royal family are all eagerly awaiting your participation, my lady."
Ceres tilted her head.
"Huh? I'm not going to that. Why would I do something like that when Father is coming to visit? Unbelievable! And tell Rufus he is absolutely not allowed into my bedroom!"
Bart shrugged. He countered Ceres's words.
"You've never once let him into your bedroom, have you? Not to my knowledge, and I've heard it was the same before me. You keep your favorite right there in your room, yet you say something like that so easily."
Ceres adopted an angry expression. It was a calculatedly cute look of displeasure. Because Bart was an Automaton, even his impertinence was tolerated.
"Because… once I took that woman out of the picture, I lost interest in him."
From within the Jewel, laughter could be heard.
"The fun is in the taking. That's certainly a common story. Though, there is something even I want to take right now no matter what… and that, I could keep by my side forever, it seems."
Ignoring Agrissa's voice, Ceres cheerfully left the room, saying she was going to hold a party for her parents——.
"The taking part is fine, though…"
It was the Third Generation who spoke those words from within the Jewel.
In the Kingdom of Rufens — one room in the castle where repairs were steadily progressing had become my office. It used to be used by General Broa, but he'd shoved the work onto me with some excuse about needing to train soldiers.
The mountain of documents before me consisted of reports from Rufens and Baim, along with complaints from Adele. Not enough manpower. Merchants won't listen. Residents are stingy with money — complaints like that, at this point.
I was sitting there looking at those documents, but there wasn't even Monica in the room. Governing Baim, split into North Baim and South Baim. And then Rufens on top of that — the overwhelming shortage of personnel made me want to hold my head in my hands.
The Seventh Generation, of all times.
"Well, normally you'd conquer territory thinking that territorial disputes and such can be settled after victory, when you have more people. If you have a solid retainer group, you could gather manpower through family connections and manage governance, but…"
Because I'd carelessly acquired such large territories, the manpower shortage had become critical.
"…So the aftermath of taking is even harder?"
Once one fierce battle after another came to an end, there was so much to do — postwar affairs, new governance, and more. Besides, Baim was land that had been dominated by merchants and the Adventurer's Guild — it wasn't the kind of territory where there was a normal ruling class in place.
The door opened, and there was Lianne, carrying additional documents with two Valkyries in tow. She had a smile on her face, but she also looked a little tired.
"Come now, Lord Laiel… here's your next batch. Please process them quickly."
The Valkyries began creating new mountains of paper, one after another, on the desk that had been prepared for setting down documents.
"Oh, by the way, this one is urgent."
Lianne placed a small pile in front of me as she said this. When I looked up at her, she seemed to guess what I wanted to say and opened her mouth.
"Let me just say, I've already gone through these myself. I've excluded anything unnecessary, so this is the reduced count. If you've become a ruler, you understand that this level of responsibility and duty comes with it, right? …Also, if you intend to rule the entire continent, the workload won't be limited to this. You should start preparing efficient methods of governance now."
I could only nod at Lianne's words. From within the Jewel, I could hear the voices of the Third Generation and the Seventh Generation.
"As expected of a princess who knows how to govern a kingdom. She must have all sorts of know-how."
"Seriously speaking, we're facing a severe manpower shortage in the rear—rather, on the practical side of things. Lyle, once you take over the continent, you'll need to come up with a system of governance you can hand down no matter what."
Governance by a hero—there are perks, not least the fame that makes things easier. But as generations pass, problems inevitably arise.
"...If things stay like this, I'm going to end up suffering the same hardships as the First and Second Generations at the same time."
The First Generation, who built a village from nothing.
The Second Generation, who tidied up the village the First Generation left behind and set it on a path for those who would follow.
The Third Generation spoke with admiration.
"You caught on quickly. If those two were here, they might have given you some surprisingly interesting advice. Well, that's not something we could pull off, though."
Lianne made a puzzled face, so I told her "It's nothing" and tried to dismiss the subject. But Lianne wouldn't budge.
"Now that you mention it, before I was let in here, I heard something. Apparently there's quite a gap between Lyle before and after his growth? I heard a rumor that you'd made a move on the former Saint—"
"W-What?! Who told you that?! And I haven't made a move on anyone..."
Lianne's gaze drifted to the Valkyries, who had put down their paperwork and were tidying up the office.
"You two!"
The two Valkyries brought their hands to their mouths.
"Master, we were just playing pretend. Playing pretend. We were issued maid uniforms and got a little too excited, so we just blurted out some gossip out loud. Lianne happened to be there, and no one else was around."
The expressionless, black-haired, red-eyed Valkyrie used the core of a maid-type Automaton that had originally been one of Monica's sisters. Because of that, she seemed to have a strong attachment to maid uniforms.
Lianne snorted with laughter.
"When you suddenly started gossiping in my room, I wondered what on earth was going on. Apparently, it's a notice for everyone, though. Quite convenient, isn't it? This is actually a significant advantage—if you station Valkyries at various locations, you can get your hands on information right away."
I sighed upon hearing that.
"It only works because of me, though. Even if I could put this to use for governance, it would only last until my generation. That's why I'd like to find a way to govern without relying on it, if possible."
The Automatons were capable, but they had their limitations. Currently, communication with far-flung parties was only possible by using my Skill, Connection—without it, interactions like this would be impossible.
Also, the number of cores was fixed, and even if we could mass-produce them, the current count was the maximum—even Damian couldn't create new cores.
Lianne looked at my face and nodded several times.
"It's good that you're thinking about what comes next. Of course, that's all talk for after we've won. But still, this isn't the time to be focused solely on military strength. We'll need to prepare bureaucrats who can handle administrative work. Given the shortage of personnel, it might be worth looking beyond the nobility. Right now, supplementing with numbers matters more than finding talented individuals."
I reached for the urgent documents and skimmed through them.
"Understood. Go ahead and push forward with the education program. The fact that you're telling me this means you've already made preparations, right? Just check with me first before moving forward from now on."
Lianne had a slightly surprised expression.
"...You're no fun. I was planning to catch you off guard. Oh, right."
I looked up, wondering if there was more, and Lianne's expression turned serious.
"I haven't asked who you're going to take as your primary wife. Could you settle that sooner rather than later?"
My jaw dropped and the documents slipped from my hands, when I heard the Third Generation's cheerful voice from within the Jewel.
"That's right! I've been waiting for a conversation like this! Only the Fourth Generation would get excited over mundane work scenes, so I've been waiting for this kind of topic!"
The Seventh Generation also spoke in a serious tone.
"So the plan is to break the stalemate of mutual restraint—by none other than the princess of Fonbeau... I expected the Galleria or Rusworth, or perhaps the Queen of Kartafus to make a move. I let my guard down. It feels like a bomb was thrown from an unexpected direction."
The Third Generation seemed to feel the same.
"Me too. I thought this kid would start moving once she'd built up a decent faction. Well, I don't mind if things get messy, but no assassinations, got that? Rael, keep a close watch on that."
No, wait—wasn't that basically saying anything was acceptable short of killing? More to the point, had those two gotten used to this by now, because they actually seemed to be looking forward to my romantic entanglements.
...These guys were the worst.