“Duke Carmine would never lose to that inexperienced king!”
“Duke Carmine’s been acting strange lately! If we start fighting amongst ourselves, only our neighbors stand to benefit! Amidonia wants to reclaim the lands they lost to Elfrieden two kings ago. And as for the Turgis Republic, with more than half their territory frozen, they want fertile land and a warm water port. If there’s a civil war, they’re sure to intervene. Duke Carmine must know that…”
Huh, it sounds like Kaede has a good understanding of the situation in the neighboring countries.
The country to the west of this one on the world map, the Principality of Amidonia, had seen roughly half of their territory stolen from them under the expansionist policies of Liscia’s grandfather. That was close to 50 years ago, but they were still eyeing this country for any opportunity to regain their lost land. For this country, it was clearly an enemy state.
To the south of Amidonia, on the southern edge of this continent, was the Turgis Republic, which, like Kaede said, was a frigid land that was mostly frozen.
When you looked at this world’s map, the further south you went, the lower the temperature dropped. I didn’t know whether that was because (speaking from a Japanese person’s perspective) this continent was in the southern hemisphere, or if their concept of north and south was reversed, or even if it was because of some mysterious magical effect, but the further south you went in Elfrieden, the colder it got, and the further north, the warmer it got.
Because of the kind of country they were, “Go north” was a national policy for the Turgis Republic.
However, of the countries they bordered, the Gran Chaos Empire was massive, so they could ill afford a conflict with them, while the mercenary state of Zem was their ally, meaning they couldn’t invade there, either. That narrowed their potential targets for northward expansion to Amidonia or Elfrieden.
In other words, both Amidonia and Turgis were like ravenous wolves, ready to pounce on this country at the soonest opportunity.
“What is Duke Carmine thinking when the neighboring countries have designs on our territory?”
“…This is Duke Carmine you’re talking about. I’m sure he has a plan.”
“Aren’t you going to think for yourself, Hal?!”
“The fact of the matter is, many nobles have given up on the king and they’ve gone to serve under Duke Carmine, haven’t they? His failure to keep them here is proof of the king’s ineptitude.”
“I don’t know if the new king is competent or not, but up to this point, I’ve seen no misrule under him! Besides, most of those nobles gathering under Duke Carmine are those who’ve lost rights under the new king’s finance reforms, or who were investigated for corruption and are discontented over having their assets seized, you realize?! Even if you restored their rights, do you really think that would make this country a better place?!”
When Kaede pressed him on it like that, Halbert’s gaze wandered. “I’m sure Duke Carmine is thinking this all through.”
“There you go, talking about Duke Carmine, again. Don’t you have an opinion of your own, Hal?”
“J-Just shut up, okay! What, Kaede, do you think you can see the future?! Well, I can!”
“I can!” Halbert lashed out defiantly, but Kaede answered him firmly. “I can see what’s coming! That man scares me. I’m sure that the new king will…”
“Okay, and stop,” I cut Kaede off, inserting myself between the two of them.
Both of their eyes went wide at the sudden intrusion.
I ignored Halbert’s surprised “Wh-Who do you think you are, buddy?!” with a smile to the Kaede who was sitting there with her mouth agape.
“If you keep running your mouth, I’ll use my authority to have you arrested, you know?” I said.
“You’re…!” Kaede seemed to have immediately realized who I was.
“Yes I am, so keep quiet, okay?” I said. “Honestly, I don’t know how much you understand, but if you talk so confidently about it in a place like this, it could harm the country.”
“I–I’m sorry,” she stammered. “But… what are you doing here…? You’re not here to seize Hal for his rebelliousness, I hope?! It’s not like that! Hal’s just a little weak in the head, he would never rebel…”
Kaede completely misunderstood what I was doing and started to make excuses. Who knows where the analytic ability she’d displayed earlier went, but she was desperately trying to defend Halbert.
“No, I don’t care what one single soldier thinks,” I said.
“Th-Then why are you here?” she stammered.
“Because I was suddenly given time off,” I explained. “I was just checking out Juna’s place.”
“I–I see…” Kaede was clearly relieved.
Halbert, on the other hand, had been glaring at me this whole time. “You punk, who do you think you are, butting into our conversation and then threatening Kaede?”
“U-Um, Hal? He wasn’t threatening me, you see…”
“Shut up! You be quiet, Kaede!”
“Yipe!”
When Halbert slammed his hands on the table and stood up, it frightened Kaede.
“…What good is frightening her yourself going to do?” I asked.
“I said, shut up!” He reached out, trying to grab me by the collar, when…
“Urkh!”
…he stopped halfway. In an instant, Halbert was surrounded by the three women who were with me.
Normally, being surrounded by three beauties would be a fantastic situation to be in, but… I wasn’t jealous of his position in the least. After all, Liscia had drawn the rapier from her side and was pointing the tip of it at Halbert’s neck, Aisha (who had left her great sword behind because it was too bulky) was holding his face in a claw hold, and Juna, still smiling, had a fruit knife pressed against his back.
Whoa… Their power levels are way too high…
“Wait, even you, Juna?” I asked, surprised.
“Violence is strictly prohibited in this establishment,” she said with a grin.
“Uh, sure…”
Having found himself in that situation, even the assertive Halbert was sweating. He couldn’t move an inch, so he glared at me in frustration through the gap between Aisha’s fingers. “You punk… That was dirty! If you’re a man, how can you hide behind a bunch of women?!”
“Complain all you like, but it’s kind of their job to protect me,” I said. “Actually, if I were to stand on the front line without bodyguards, I think that would be a bigger problem.”
When I said that, the girls nodded in agreement.
“If you understand that, I wish you wouldn’t stick your neck into trouble like this,” Liscia scolded me.
Uh, sure, sorry, I’ll be more careful.
Halbert’s irritated gaze stabbed into me. “…You punk, just who are you?”
“Hm… Allow me to respond with that great line from a samurai period drama. ‘Halbert, have you forgotten my face?’”
“Huh?”
“Why do you suddenly sound so full of yourself?” Liscia slapped me upside the head.
Aw, come on, I’ve always wanted to say it.
Then Aisha raised her voice and spoke on my behalf. “On your knees! Who do you take this man for?!”
Yeah, that’s another line I wanted to use. Wait, Aisha’s saying it?!
“You stand in the presence of the (provisional) 14th King of Elfrieden, His Majesty Souma!” Aisha declared.
It felt like I could hear that show’s theme music playing, but I’m sure I was imagining it.
Regardless, I gave the disappointing dark elf a light bonk on the head. “You’re too loud. We’re supposed to be incognito, remember?”