—South Baim.
A little past midday, Erhard showed up at the Guild. He'd finished the job he'd been assigned and come back to file his report.
The task had been a patrol around the South Baim area. Most of the soldiers had been deployed elsewhere, so to make up for the shortage, adventurer requests had been posted at the Guild as well.
Lyune was at the counter handling reception. When she spotted Erhard, she waved.
"Good work out there!"
"Yeah, done and done. Hey, has any news come in? We've been gone a while, but I haven't heard a single rumor."
Rumors — about the war in Central, of course. He'd picked up bits of baseless gossip, but nothing accurate had reached Erhard's ears.
Gathering intelligence had never been his strong suit. That was one of his party members' jobs.
But even that member hadn't managed to pin down any reliable information yet. Was the war still going on? Had they won? Had they lost? Erhard had been wondering the same thing.
"No, I'm afraid nothing's come through yet. The Valkyries, was it? They rounded up every last one of them, so it seems there's no way to get word out."
Erhard handed the documents over to Lyue and stroked his chin.
"I see. Well, it's probably not the kind of thing that wraps up quickly, but still — it's hard not to worry."
A battle that would decide the fate of the continent — or so they said. But in practical terms, it was a war happening far away.
The people around him were concerned, but they still went about their daily lives.
While Lyue was chatting with Erhard, Marianne came rushing into the Guild, breathless. The staff members and adventurers inside all turned to look.
Marianne caught her breath, then broke into a wide grin.
"We won! The allied forces won! They defeated the Kingdom of Banseim! Some of the troops are already heading back — that's how the news finally reached us! Apparently, a force has already arrived in Lufence."
Hearing that, the atmosphere inside the Guild brightened in an instant. When Lyue threw her arms around him, Erhard was startled, but he hugged her back anyway, swept up in the wave of relief all around them.
Marianne watched them with a delighted smile——.
In the royal castle of Lufence, a Valkyrie had been dispatched to Lianne.
It was not Number Thirty-Four.
Though the black hair and face were the same, Lianne could tell the difference from the subtle variations in hairstyle and clothing.
Number Thirty-Four would never come to meet Lianne. And if a Valkyrie carrying a wooden box and letter appeared before her, she would immediately notice the difference.
Lianne rose from her chair and walked over to the Valkyrie. She accepted the wooden box and letter that were offered to her.
The letter, however, was from her family at Fonbeau. Setting it aside for the moment, Lianne opened the wooden box. Inside was a knitted pink cord. It was the one she had given away.
"…Even with all this coming back, it's meaningless. That child was a fool right to the end."
The Valkyrie standing before her — her sister — nodded.
"Yes, she was a fool. But she fulfilled her duty. Please praise her for it. And this — she held onto it like it was something precious. I believe she didn't want it to burn together with her. She left these final words… 'I have prepared the Chick's outfits. Please look in the dresser.' That's what she said."
Lianne was laughing. Laughing — or was it something else? — she pressed both hands against her stomach. Then she approached the dresser where Number Thirty-Four must have hidden things and opened it.
Inside, there was everything from baby clothes to children's garments, all laid out.
"What a truly foolish child… worrying only about things so far in the future…"
Lianne's tears fell onto one of the garments. Wiping them away, she opened the letter from Fonbeau. It contained words of concern for her daughter.
At the same time, it stated that the position of official wife had been decided in favor of Novem. Lianne was laughing.
The Valkyrie grew worried seeing Lianne like that.
"Don't throw yourself away. And Number Thirty-Four also—"
"—Throw myself away? I don't have time for such things. Besides, I've received that child's final message. Well, the seat of official wife has been taken from me, but I am still one of the concubines. The chance of turning things around from here isn't zero. Well, I do intend to make haste for Central, though."
The Valkyrie spoke.
"The fact that she prepared all those outfits — that was her message?"
Lianne wiped her tears and turned to face the Valkyrie, and spoke.
"Yes, she was thinking about the child — about wanting to see the little one's face. It was a request to hurry up and show her the child — the chick's face, as she put it. She won't be able to see it herself, of course. But you'd want to see it, wouldn't you?"
At that, the Valkyrie before her straightened her posture.
"—I am Number Seven-One. I belong to the faction that supports Lianne. Please, allow me to take on this task!"
Lianne smiled at the Valkyrie, who spoke with a sharp, determined expression.
"Good. I look forward to working with you, Number Seven-One. Now then, first I need arrangements made to move this dresser. Handle it with care. And prepare everything for the journey to Central —"
"About that — Central has been reduced to a pile of rubble. The mobile fortress was destroyed as well, so they say a new capital needs to be prepared. They've apparently already found a location."
Lianne let out a sigh. There was no time for sorrow.
"How much did they think the mobile fortress cost? Well, if we won, I suppose that's that. There will be plenty more to recover going forward. In that case, perhaps we should prepare a bit before heading out. It'll be busy. But… a new capital, you say? That does sound interesting."
While Lianne showed her enthusiasm, she also quietly burned with competitive fire toward Novem.
"Besides, perhaps I should genuinely aim to receive his favor. After all, I want a child soon."
The Valkyrie nodded repeatedly in agreement —.
—North Baim. Adele's office.
Adele had received the documents explaining the victory report and the current situation, and she was clutching her head.
"The capital of Central reduced to rubble… The mobile fortress blown apart and wrecked. How did it come to this?! The capital of Central had so much history! And the cost of that mobile fortress was astronomically high! That's exactly why I never liked those weapons!"
Before Adele, who was on the verge of tears, the Valkyrie looked thoroughly unmotivated. Adele was not Raial's bride. In other words, she would not bear Raial's child.
As a result, she was a low-priority target for the Valkyries. The Valkyrie idly toyed with her long black hair as she let out a sigh.
"…Rather than that, could you hurry up with the preparations? I was told they need more civil officials, so they wanted me to call you in, Adele."
Adele slammed both hands repeatedly on her desk with a bang, bang, bang.
"Why do you have such an attitude?! And what do you mean 'as long as we win'? That's ridiculous! There should have been a victory with fewer casualties —"
"Ah, that was genuinely impossible, I'm afraid. Well, I've compiled the report here, so please give it a read."
What Valkyrie took out of her bag was the report from this battle. A single sheet of paper, densely covered in tiny text.
And not a small amount of it, either.
"...Don't you have a summary?"
Valkyrie said, sounding thoroughly unmotivated.
"We beat Ceres. Agrissa showed up and Novem lost to her. Novem confessed to her Master and surrendered, and that's that. Oh, apparently there's some thread about a golden dragon being the mastermind or the real threat or something."
Adele slammed her desk again, bang, bang.
"More detail! That tells me absolutely nothing!"
Valkyrie let out a drawn-out "Ugh" and looked truly put-out —.
"Urban development? As a maid, what kind of maid would I be if I couldn't handle something like that? Leave everything from site selection to design to me. I'll prepare a city befitting the Chicken, just you watch —"
"Honestly, I'm fine with prioritizing functionality. But, y'know, I don't think it should look too shabby — something with a sense of dignity would be nice. Gold leaf and such would be tough on the budget, but if it can look luxurious, that'd be the way to go."
Around us, numerous tents had been set up. We'd come outside and gathered around a large table, and we decided to place the city at the location Monica had chosen.
Monica was all jokes as usual, but the spot she'd picked was indeed a fitting location for a city. If there was a problem, it would be the hassle of groundwork and foundation work.
Flood control and everything else — there were reasons why no city had been placed there before. However, in a sense, we had all the specialists we needed right here.
Novem looked at me and nodded.
"Shall we make it a plan that considers not just Lord Lyle's era but future development as well? For that, the foundation is crucial. Leave it to me. I've lost most of my power, but I, Novem, will present a city to Lord Lyle —"
"Something like that isn't really good, is it? We've got tons of soldiers, and I want to give them jobs. Besides, all the other armies have gone home, and we're stuck with over a hundred thousand on our own."
Novem was saying something reminiscent of how Septem's coddling had ruined people, and Miranda watched her with amusement. Novem cleared her throat deliberately.
"We really need to think about the postwar period. There's the food issue too, but keeping soldiers with nothing to do is rough. And then there was that golden dragon —"
"The Legend Dragon."
When I corrected the name precisely, Miranda did the same. I wanted them to remember the name properly — it was a pity, after all. At any rate, it was positioned as the powerful enemy who had stood in their way at the very end of this battle.
"Right, the Legend Dragon's Magic Stones and materials — it'll take time before their value becomes widely known, so there's the money issue too."
Damian, pushing his glasses up with one finger.
"The materials themselves are incredible, I'm sure. But figuring out how to use them — that's still a ways off, isn't it?"
Raterta Grandpa, examining a portion of the materials he'd brought along as well.
"...Honestly, only one showed up, so how come there's this much material? It's enough for three or four, easy. Well, give us some time to work with them, and I'm pretty sure I can figure out what they're best suited for with Damian."
Damian didn't seem particularly motivated.
"Seriously, from my perspective, this wasted time is a tragedy. I want to be chasing after the ideal woman — so why am I getting dragged into urban development like this?"
I spoke to Damian.
"Because a portion of the materials we distribute will become your research budget. I need you to find uses that would make someone willing to pay top dollar for them."
Damian grinned.
"Leave it to me. This is for my research budget, after all. This is an important matter for me too, you know!"
Having talked him around, I gazed up at the sky. The weather was nice today, too.
Without thinking, my right hand reached for the Jewel and gripped it, but there was no response. It really had returned to being nothing more than a blue stone.
Would the Jewel someday revive? Or was it better for it to remain just a stone from now on?
...No good. I still felt like I could hear the voices of the Successive Heads at any moment.
That was when I noticed Shannon watching me.
"Lyle, you look lonely. Oh, but even if you deny it, I — the great Shannon — can see right through you! After all, these eyes I inherited from Great-Grandmother Mireia can see through anything!"
Seeing Shannon strike a sharp pose, I couldn't help but laugh. There was no time to feel sad. Everything would only be over when I died.
Until then, I had no choice but to keep walking. No choice but to keep moving forward.
"Well then, let's get the groundwork on the new city done right. It's for the future. After that... as long as it has sufficient functionality, it'll be fine. I'd like to declare the founding of the nation in some form before spring is over."
I still can't let my guard down. Some army could be timing an attack for right about now. I want to believe there are no fools that stupid, but getting wiped out by one would be no laughing matter.
Just then, Monica looked my way.
"Oh, hey, Chicken. Apparently Lianne from Lufens is bringing tools and materials needed for the new city's construction. How wonderful. It seems she's congratulating you on having your primary wife decided."
Monica was smirking ear to ear.
I looked away. Whenever the topic of the primary wife came up — well, Empress, technically — every gaze in the room zeroed in on Novem.
Novem rested her cheek against her hand and tilted her head slightly, shooting provocative looks at everyone around her. Miranda reacted almost instantly, so I made my retreat alongside Shannon.
"Hey! You need to do something about this!"
"You idiot! The only thing I can do is make sure nobody actually explodes! Once they explode, that's on them! I'm not the kind of man who picks fights he can't win!"
As I fled with Shannon, we ran into Aria and Eva at our destination. What an unusual pair — I was thinking that when I realized the two of them were deep in conversation.
Since they were speaking so seriously, I peeked at them from behind cover.
"The First Generation's wife? Oh, she was something else, I'll tell you that."
"Tell me more! Please! I have a duty to compile the songs of our lineage. I could tell after seeing it — House Walt is fascinating! So I want to know even more. Honestly, if only Lyle had opened up about everything sooner…"
It seemed Eva was seriously researching my family's history. The fact that someone as prone to exaggeration as Eva was this earnest about it was a little unnerving.
Beside me, also hiding, Shannon spoke up.
"Now that you mention it, Clara was thinking hard about something too."
Clara was making moves as well. That thought made my stomach sink. If Clara and Eva ended up fueling some kind of strange rivalry, I was in real trouble.
Then Shannon looked at me.
"It must be tough, having so many wives. And there are even more now, right? Well, keep at it. Oh, I'm one of them too, but as long as you make sure I can take it easy every day, I won't complain about anything else."
I pinched Shannon's cheek.
"Hey, I might consider the second half of what you said, but what do you mean there are even more?!"
As Shannon struggled to pry my right hand off her cheek.
"B-because! Everyone kept saying they couldn't compete with Novem on their own! Ludmilla's been in contact with the king of Jampere, and there have been other inquiries too, so Laiel already knows about..."
I released Shannon's cheek, and she stumbled backward on wobbly legs.
"Oh, absolutely not. There are already over ten of you! Are you stupid? You're all stupid, aren't you?! You all secretly hate me, don't you?!"
At that, Shannon broke into a smirk.
"Oh, did you finally figure it out? That's right... What we're after is to watch Laiel's spirit worn down to nothing as he wastes away!"
"I-I knew it! You really hate me that much?!"
While we were making a racket, Vera came over to us. She didn't seem the least bit surprised after hearing our conversation.
"You two certainly get along. Anyway, I need to head back temporarily—could I borrow Clara? We've got cargo to transport, and I'd like to use Clara's convoy."
I turned to Vera.
"As long as you leave me half of her. I'll need her here too. But still, this really drives home how much it hurts to have lost Porter."
In terms of pure travel speed, Porter had been incredibly fast. With tires custom-made for every wheel and a magical ore-powered engine... We had lost a precious companion.
Shannon's eyes glistened with tears.
"Uuuuh, Porter... I miss how comfortable that cargo bed was."
We'd been living inside tents ever since. I, too, missed Porter's cargo bed. Vera looked at us, both clearly upset.
"Well... she was a long-time partner, wasn't she? For me, I suppose it would be my ship? If that's the case, I'll be heading back for a bit—is there anything you'd like?"
That was when it hit me. I turned to Vera with a smile.
"I want kindness!"
That's what I said. These awful wives of mine were out there scheming to increase my harem. I think it's perfectly fair to ask for some kindness. Vera's expression turned serious as she pondered.
"Kindness... Like someone nurturing and tolerant? If it were a woman like that, would you be willing to accept her?"
"Huh?"
As I stood there in confusion, Vera explained.
"Oh, no, it's not that. I don't want that, either. But the proposal came up that if the Guild is to be formally placed under the country's management, it might be better to send someone over to oversee things. You know, since Lyle's reputation as a womanizer is so strong..."
That was a misunderstanding. A complete misunderstanding. There were many women around me. That much was true, but the impression the world had of me felt completely disconnected from reality.
"Please, decline the offer."
Vera nodded.
"Understood. I'll let Father know. Well, I'll be picking out the souvenir myself, so look forward to it."
As Vera walked away, Shannon tugged on my trousers.
"What is it?"
"You are going to be in serious trouble. You need to tell everyone right now, before it becomes irreversible."
I thought so too. Clenching the Jewel in my hand, I could almost hear the Successive Heads' exasperated yet amused voices.
"Got it. I'll tell them right away. Now, let's head back."
"No way. Go back by yourself."
With a grin, I dragged Shannon along as we headed toward the battlefield where Novem and Miranda were.