I'm terribly sorry to have kept you waiting.
Since I started posting on Narou, I've been struck by the worst misfortune I could imagine.
That misfortune is this: several chapters' worth of drafts and settings I had been working on inside my computer, along with other novel-related files, were all deleted — and I hadn't made any backups.
I expect the effects of this will linger for some time, so please bear with me.
"Oh my... So the Finance Minister desires forces that would throw away their own lives, does he..."
In response to Lord Zain's words, Grandpa answered as if to keep him in check. He was smiling, so depending on how you looked at it, it might have seemed like he was half-joking — but more than half of it sounded like genuine anger.
"Grandpa, calm down.
At least
hear him out to the end."
I pacified Grandpa for the time being and turned back to face Lord Zain.
Lord Zain's expression didn't change one bit. He looked back and forth between me and Grandpa, then continued.
"I chose my words poorly. What I want isn't so much combat-oriented as
guard-oriented
equipment. We managed to prevent this incident, but next time, the royal family themselves could be the target. We do have guards of our own, but I'd like a contingency card for worst-case scenarios. I'm not talking about anything on the level of the scorpions those two carry. Of course, I want some degree of fighting capability, but I have no intention of deploying them as part of the military's forces.
Strictly
personal-use assets."
He didn't seem to have any intention of incorporating them into the army, but —
as a formality,
that was probably all it was. That's what I gathered from Lord Zain's words.
"They say it's for escort duty, but isn't the Royal Family's own dedicated escort sufficient?"
In response to my question, Lord Zain immediately—
"Insufficient."
He answered so quickly that most of the people in the room were taken aback.
"When you hear 'escort for the Royal Family,' Tenma, what do you imagine?"
"Royal guards. Then private retainers, and after that, trained butlers and maids like Kurif and Aina... something along those lines, I suppose?"
Those three types were what came to mind right away. There might be others, but probably not many.
"Right, roughly speaking that's about it. In some cases they also hire adventurers, but that almost never happens with the Royal Family. Among those three, the Royal Family uses royal guards the most, but the vast majority of them are assigned in order to His Majesty, the Crown Prince, and the Crown Prince's heir. For lack of a better way to put it, what's left over comes to us. So there aren't many, and they aren't always in constant attendance either. The same goes for private retainers and butlers—it's hard to find people who meet the criteria for serving alongside the Royal Family, and assembling enough to cover every member is quite difficult."
He paused there and finished his tea.
"Tenma, do you know how many members the Royal Family currently has?"
At Lord Zain's words, I thought for a moment and then—
"Ten people?"
That was my answer. I wasn't really sure where the line was for who counted as royalty, so I had simply tallied the people I had personally met so far: the King, Maria, Caesar, Izabella, Tida and Luna, Lord Zain, Mizaria, Lord Lyle, and Ernest.
"Well, that's
roughly
correct. Now then, how many hold succession rights to the throne?"
"Everyone except Maria, Izabella, and Mizaria—that makes seven... wait?"
It was only when I said it out loud that I realized how few that was. At this rate, if anything happened, the Royal Family of this entire country would be wiped out.
"The correct answer is fifty. Seven is obviously far too few. And those forty-three succession holders outside of this room, in a certain sense, are even more troublesome than the Reformist Faction—people you must be more wary of than any enemy."
"Zain, let me take over from here."
It was the King who took over the conversation. He seemed somewhat reluctant to speak, but after a brief pause, he slowly opened his mouth.
"In my father's time — the era of the King before last — those called royalty easily numbered over a hundred. My uncles and aunts also numbered more than ten,
or so I've heard.
"
At that final "or so I've heard," the atmosphere surrounding Ernest — who had been as quiet as the air itself until then — shifted ever so slightly.
"This is a bit of a tangent, but do Tida and Luna know what my uncle Ernest here is called?"
Even as I thought it was a strange topic to suddenly bring up, I tried to recall the form of address Luna had used before.
"I believe it was 'Grand-Uncle'... hmm?"
"Ridiculous, isn't it? My own grandchild calling my uncle 'Grand-Uncle.'"
Normally, it should be Caesar-sama and the others — the King's children — who called Ernest "Grand-Uncle." I wasn't sure what you'd call a great-grandfather's brother, but either way, the situation seemed a little strange.
"I was adopted by my elder brother, the previous King. So it gets a bit complicated, but nothing is technically wrong."
Since younger brothers being adopted by elder brothers had happened in Japan's past as well, my questions about Ernest were cleared up. But what really bothered me was the King's use of the past tense when referring to his uncles and aunts — phrasing that suggested even the King himself didn't have a clear picture.
"I was born as the youngest child of His Majesty the King before last... but even I don't know the exact number of my siblings. They seemed to increase and decrease in places I didn't know about."
Ernest spoke about something outrageous as casually as anything.
I glanced at the King and the others to see if it was really okay to say something like that, but they didn't seem particularly concerned. If anything, rather than the royal family members, it was everyone except Grandpa and Baron Mustang who looked shaken.
"Well, it's something that's fairly well known among people of a certain age."
Baron Mustang, who hadn't been shaken, explained the situation to me, but separately from that, I was surprised that the three future prominent nobles hadn't known about it.
The three of them were muttering things like "Never heard that," "First time hearing it," and "That no-good old man!"
...Lion really didn't seem like a noble at all.
Well, setting those three aside, the ones I was curious about were Tida and Luna. The two of them also seemed to know what Ernest had said, listening calmly. Although, in Luna's case, it was entirely possible she simply didn't understand...
Observing the two of them while lost in those thoughts, our eyes met — they must have noticed I was watching.
Tida gave me a small nod, but Luna tilted her head... That settled it.
"Well, that's the story — Zain wanted one of Tenma's golems. Though if I had to guess, his real reason isn't our safety but rather for the sake of dear, dear Mizaria."
When the King made that teasing remark, everyone turned to look at Zain at the same time, and he averted his gaze as if trying to escape their stares. For just an instant, the face I caught a glimpse of was flushed bright red — so the King was right, apparently.
"Then it makes sense why you'd suddenly bring something like that up. If that's the case, I understand. For Mizaria's sake, there's no helping it. However, building them from scratch would take time, so let me modify some of the medium-sized golems I already have on hand. Would three per person do?"
Medium-sized ones were roughly the same size as a person, and I went through them to select the ones that had been made relatively recently.
Naturally, I couldn't bring all of them out here, so I presented just one as a sample, and the King and the others looked rather troubled.
"Tenma. How much are you selling each one for? For something of this caliber, you could easily get over a thousand gold coins per unit."
One gold coin was worth ten thousand G, so that was ten million G per unit — over a hundred million in Japanese yen. Times thirty units, that was three billion yen... Incredible. I still had over a hundred left in my bag, and as long as I had materials, I could make more myself — I'd be filthy rich overnight!
No, no, I didn't really need that much money, though...
"Ugh... It's not that I can't produce them, but it's going to be tight. Should we limit it to one per person..."
"No, that won't be nearly enough. I don't need one myself, so you can allocate mine to the others."
"Not much time left for this old man, after all."
Ernest responded to the King's muttered comment, and Grandpa jumped in with a jab of his own. And so began their usual exchange of insults — a familiar scene. It almost felt nostalgic.
"Fine, Tenma. We'll take thirty. The price is three hundred million G — ten million per unit. However, paying the full amount upfront won't be possible, so how about three annual installments of one hundred million G over three years, plus twenty percent interest, making it one hundred twenty million? If you have any other requests, we'll do our best to accommodate them."
As if cutting through the atmosphere that was about to devolve into a mess (thanks to a certain pair of old men), Maria proposed her payment terms. I would have been fine with offering a discount, but with non-royal people present, it was difficult to bring up — so I was glad Maria had made the offer, though I thought the terms were perhaps a little too favorable.
"I already know the performance of those golems, so I consider that price to be an absolute bargain. And Tenma, you're only selling those golems to us, right?"
She must have read my thoughts, because Maria spoke to me with a smile. Overwhelmed by that gentle pressure, I nodded my head up and down, and then she turned toward Baron Mustang and Albert with a bright grin.
He didn't voice it, but he had surely imbued his look with the sentiment of "Don't even think about asking me to sell you golems too."
Upon seeing Maria's smile, Baron Mustang shrugged in acceptance, and the three of them nodded like nodding dogs. Behind Maria, for some reason, even the King and the others had straightened their backs and were sitting up neatly (with a few exceptions).
"That's why we need a proper contract drawn up... Oh, Luna looks like she's about to pass out. Isabella, Tida, Luna, you three should retire now."
"I'm so sorry,
Mother-in-law.
And
Father-in-law,
I'll take my leave."
"Pardon me."
"Excuwse me..."
Once the three had left, Kurif immediately began writing the contracts. He produced multiple completed contracts in no time, and after the King and Maria reviewed them, they were handed over to me and Grandpa.
However, when I examined the contract, I noticed that my conditions section had been left blank.
I was about to look up and ask about the blank when, for some reason, Kurif proffered a pen to me.
"Tenma, write whatever conditions you'd like in that blank. You can include as many as you want."
He was being awfully generous, but with Maria watching me in this situation, I didn't have the courage to just scribble down whatever I pleased—
a whole bunch
of demands.
So after thinking it over for a moment,
1. All relevant parties, including myself,
and the associated personnel
when involved in problems related to nobility,
to the extent possible,
provide assistance.
2. If anything were to happen to me, the Royal Family shall take responsibility for the protection of Jeanne and Aura.
3. If I have just cause, even if I sentence someone who has harmed me, that person shall be treated fairly regardless of their position.
I added these clauses.
To be honest, it wouldn't be a problem if the third one was rejected. But the first and second ones were reasonable enough, and considering the current situation, I wanted them to agree.
"Hmm... my dear, this."
"Oh... there's no problem with this. Very well."
The third clause seemed to be accepted without issue as well, and the King signed the contract.
Caesar-sama and the others also went through the contract, and upon reading the third clause, they shared wry smiles.
"Wait... doesn't this apply to us too?"
Lyle, who had been peering over at the contract in Zane's hands from the side, muttered under his breath.
He was right — if there was just cause, even if the King himself was the target, the sentencing would have to be carried out fairly... at least in theory. But that was something that could never actually happen.
For instance, if I killed the King, no matter how cruelly he had treated me, they would find one excuse or another, and I'd be punished under charges of treason or something similar.
Moreover, in this case, the one who would judge whether there was "just cause" would be the King or Queen who agreed to this clause — so what I considered just cause would hardly carry any weight.
For that reason, this wouldn't easily apply to other high-ranking nobles. Strictly speaking, what was needed was an additional line: "provided, however, that this applies only to nobles who may be punished at the King's discretion."
Knowing them, they would probably have no qualms about using this as justification to replace the heads of rebellious noble houses...
That said, clever nobles and high-ranking ones would probably be able to read the King's intentions, so the mere existence of this clause should give them pause about messing with me — or rather, I'd appreciate it if it did.
Still, even if this only kept the lower-ranking nobles in check, things would be considerably easier going forward. Mostly for my own peace of mind... ever since I came to the Royal Capital, I'd lost count of how many times I'd felt like going on a rampage over noble-related business.
"Well, that wraps things up. Come on, Tenma, let's head home and get some sleep!"
Grandpa saw me slip the contract into my bag and stood up with a stretch.
"Sure."
I was ready to take it easy myself, so I agreed with Grandpa. Perhaps because the pressure from Maria-sama had let up a little, my voice came out more cheerful than intended, but nobody seemed to notice.
Because there was someone even happier than me.
That person hogged all the attention in the room for a while before Aina dragged them outside. An all-nighter and lecture mode were now officially on the table... Well, hang in there, Aura.
"Tenma, you really saved us this time. It's going to be noisy for a while, but we'll publish this contract right away and shut everyone up. Just sit tight until then."
I nodded at the King's words and was about to leave the room when I heard two groans. The groans came from Jeanne and Amour — their legs had gone numb from sitting seiza, and they could barely move.
As I approached, wondering what to do—
"T-Tenma, help—" "Tenma, carry me!"
Amour cut Jeanne off, throwing both arms wide to grab me, but her numb legs couldn't push her up, and she ended up diving face-first into the floor.
"Ahh~ I'll carry the young lady, so you deal with Jeanne, Tenma."
Branca sighed at Amour's antics and picked her up off the floor where she was flailing around.
When I say "picked up," though — he didn't sling her over his shoulder or anything like that. He grabbed the back of Amour's collar and lifted her, just like you'd carry a kitten.
"Funya!"
Amour let out a short, squeaky yelp as Branca carried her out of the room, her body swaying back and forth.
"Tenma, this is really embarrassing, you know..."
"Deal with it. There was no other way to carry you."
"Uuu..."
Jeanne must have been truly mortified. She covered her scarlet face with both hands as she slowly proceeded down the hallway—
Transportation
. . .was being transported.
"How pitiful, but there's nothing to be done about it."
"Indeed. The way the young lady is being carried is rather embarrassing, I'd say... though she herself doesn't seem to mind it one bit. So instead, all the attention falls on Jeanne, who's blushing the whole time... A vicious cycle."
"Snoreee~"
Branca's exasperated remark was met with a sleeping snore from Amour, who had fallen right back asleep the moment she was picked up and was now being slung over a shoulder like luggage.
"Well, don't worry about it. Besides, you keep saying all that, but you're actually enjoying this, aren't you?"
"I-I mean, it does feel nice... but it feels nice!"
Blushing while floating in midair — that was Jeanne. That's right, Jeanne was currently being carried in someone's arms. And not just any carry — a princess carry, every girl's dream, perhaps?
The only catch was that the one doing the carrying wasn't me.
"Slarin, make sure you don't drop Jeanne or bump her into anything."
True to my words, the one carrying Jeanne was Slarin, who had grown her body to roughly two meters in size.
As for why Slarin was giving a princess carry — when they'd first tried to get Jeanne to stand, the numbness in her legs was so severe that even the slightest vibration nearly brought her to tears.
After much deliberation, I decided to ask Slarin — who seemed best equipped to absorb vibrations while carrying —
Transportation.
— of Jeanne. And just as I'd predicted, Slarin was transporting her without causing her any distress.
Since Slarin was carrying Jeanne horizontally, from an outside perspective it looked exactly like a princess carry. And with the added bonus of being spotted by people passing through the palace corridors...
Jeanne was blushing over the whole spectacle, but since she couldn't walk on her own and knew she was
getting help
from Slarin, she couldn't bring herself to protest too strongly. On top of that, since Slarin's body was composed almost entirely of water, she was like a living waterbed — a masterpiece that far surpassed anything from her previous life in both softness and comfort.
In truth, I've personally experienced how comfortable sleeping in a Slarin bed can be on nights spent outdoors or during stiflingly hot evenings, so I fully understand just how nice it is.
Ignoring Jeanne, who was blushing and acting all bashful, we followed Kurif's lead to the entrance, then each climbed into our respective carriages and headed home.
By the time Jeanne got into her carriage, she had mostly recovered, though her face remained red for a while yet.
"Hey, Tenma. Was it really okay to leave Aura behind?"
Namitaro, who had at some point crawled into my bag, brought up Aura's name even though she wasn't here.
"Well, I suppose it's important for sisters to have some time apart from time to time... probably."
"Hmm... I still feel a little sorry for her, though..."
Grandpa seemed to feel some sympathy, but I shook my head.
"Could you say that to Aina's face when she looks like that?"
"Absolutely not. Even I was scared."
Grandpa's sentence ending was a bit creepy, but I shared his opinion. You'd be better off charging headlong into a flock of wyverns than trying to object to Aina with a Niō and a Hannya housed within her body... Come to think of it, I've been having too much meat lately. Maybe I should cook something for once in a while...
I was being a bit avoidant of reality, but I didn't miss the fact that both Jeanne and Namitaro were nodding in agreement. Especially the moment Jeanne's face shifted from the red of embarrassment to the blue of pure terror — I witnessed that clearly.
In Jeanne's case, one wrong step could have ended with her still sitting beside Aura, so in a sense, Jeanne ought to be grateful to Aura.
With that, the carriages pressed onward, and the moment we arrived at the manor, I slipped straight into my bed.
However, Aura didn't come back that day, nor the day after. She finally returned two days after her audience with the King.
When she did, Aura was utterly exhausted with her cheeks gaunt. Apparently, Aina had made her do everything from cleaning to laundry to etiquette and all manner of manners lessons from morning to night, and combat training was squeezed in between it all as well.
Beware the 'Aina's Boot Camp'! Perhaps it'll become a trend in the Royal Capital in the future... No, that's not going to happen, is it. Aura was completely useless for a good several days after that...