Ch.738What Are They Doing, for Goodness’ Sake? They’re Not Children Anymore.

Ophelia was nowhere to be seen when I returned to the reception room after finishing my conversation with her. Everyone else had already gathered.

“There you are, Haschal.”

“It’s been a while! Are you hurt anywhere?”

Demian looked somewhat tired, while Millia, in stark contrast, was overflowing with energy.

“Sister!”

“You’re here, miss? What happened to Ophelia? Why are you alone?”

Lena greeted me cheerfully while Leonore glanced behind me and tilted her head in confusion.

“Al…alcohol… give me alcohol…!”

“Please just give up… Haschal said no alcohol until after the discussion is over.”

Perneisia displayed all the symptoms of late-stage alcoholism while Hush scolded her.

“Don’t underestimate the sword of Landenburg…!”

“Think I’ll lose…?! The Champion of the steppes never yields…!”

Nigel and Jahan were engaged in an arm-wrestling match, their faces flushed red with intensity. Something must have happened while I was away. Everyone was acting as they always did.

“Why are those two like that?”

“Just their usual antics. They were arguing about who would be stronger under equal conditions—a Master or a Champion—when Nigel, true to his warrior nature, provoked Jahan into settling it with strength.”

“And Jahan accepted?”

These idiots. They’re not ten-year-olds, for heaven’s sake.

“Jahan initially refused, calling it childish, but then Nigel just had to say something like ‘Are you afraid?’…”

“Ah, then he had no choice.”

No man except a Buddha or a eunuch could resist such provocation. Since Buddha doesn’t exist in this world and Jahan isn’t a eunuch, he had no choice but to take the bait. Though he’d be utterly humiliated if he lost.

“Who do you think will win, miss?”

Leonore asked in a suggestive tone as she sat on the sofa watching me observe the arm-wrestling match.

…Who would win?

[Obviously Jahan. Look at the difference in their builds. No matter how obsessed with training your knight is, how could he overcome such a weight difference without the help of Karma?]

Hersella declared with absolute certainty that Jahan would win. Well, Nigel looked quite formidable to me too…

“I wouldn’t know. How could I possibly tell who’s going to win?”

I deflected with a slight smile. If I took either Nigel’s or Jahan’s side here, it would only create an even bigger mess.

“How boring.”

Leonore clicked her tongue in disappointment and shrugged. As I suspected, this woman was fully prepared to enjoy the chaos that would ensue. Good thing I didn’t fall for it.

—-

The arm-wrestling match between East and West, a battle of pride, ended inconclusively when the table cracked under the pressure.

Neither man had the nerve to continue their pride battle after splitting in half what was clearly an expensive table left behind by Isabella.

“Next time, for sure…!”

Both Nigel and Jahan gritted their teeth, clearly disappointed by the inconclusive result and dreaming of the next opportunity.

Anyway, thanks to that, I was finally able to explain why I had gathered them all.

The story about the conflict between races regarding the subjugation of Nidhogg, and about my ascension to queenship.

“Queen?”

“What kind of madness is that?”

Nigel and Leonore asked in shock.

Since the others also wore expressions that seemed to ask what I was talking about, I carefully explained the whole situation to them.

“—That’s how it is. It’s still just a plan for now.”

“Queen… come to think of it, Haschal was a princess, wasn’t she?”

Millia nodded as if somewhat accepting the idea.

Princess, huh? I certainly held a similar status in the past. A position I abandoned when I fled to the Empire.

“So we’ll become ‘the Queen’s Knights’? Sounds like a fairy tale I read as a child.”

Demian smiled slightly, lifting the corner of his mouth. It must be a fake smile.

Though he’s pretending this fulfills some childhood dream… that’s just a mask mimicking human emotion.

In his head, there’s probably only the simple information: “Haschal’s status has risen. My status has risen too.”

“I like it.”

…Or not?

I’m not sure. These days, I can’t tell if Demian’s acting skills have improved or if he’s gradually developing actual emotions. Even with my keen eye, I can’t distinguish whether that’s an act or genuine feeling.

“So Lord Haschal will finally ascend to the position of Khan! Congratulations!”

“Not Khan, but King. Landenburg or Median are western territories.”

As Jahan clenched his fist in excitement and offered congratulations, Nigel calmly corrected him.

“What nonsense. Since Lady Aishan-Gioro Haschal has risen to a position ruling over all people, she should naturally be called Khan!”

“She would be Queen Median. Or Queen Landenburg. If you’ve fled to the Empire, it’s customary to follow western law, ‘former’ Ka’har Champion, Jahan.”

These two are going to fight again. Khan or King, why does it matter so much? They’re just different words with the same meaning in different languages.

“That’s enough. What matters is that I’m establishing my own country, not what title I’ll have.”

I intervened before their argument could escalate into an emotional fight and continued with my explanation.

—-

Perneisia was the only one who showed interest in the matter of the Dragon Lord.

For the rest of the group, the fact that I would be establishing a country and ascending as queen was dozens of times more shocking than the news about facing a fairy guardian.

“A guardian… this has become troublesome. Or is it actually fortunate…?”

Perneisia muttered quietly with a truly complex expression, forgetting even her usual alcohol complaints. Rather than seeming pleased at the opportunity to fight the fairies of Alvheim, she seemed perplexed by the situation.

Well, I understand. Unlike before, she currently couldn’t even stand against a fairy guardian, let alone fight one.

The Perneisia I met after a long time had lost the aura that once rivaled a hero-class knight, weakened almost to Minea’s level.

She must have lost most of her power when the World Tree’s blessing was withdrawn.

After she fought against Nidhogg that appeared in the archipelago and summoned high-level spirits to fight spectacularly, the elders of Alvheim must have realized she had betrayed the fairies and sided with the Empire.

Therefore, Perneisia could no longer be an asset. At least not in the fairy way.

So she must feel perplexed. The opportunity for revenge against Alvheim that betrayed her had finally arrived, but she no longer had the power to exact that revenge.

Her remaining options were either to learn magic the human way and grow as a mage, or to find external means to supplement her severely weakened physical abilities.

…Should I ask Asha?

Revealing core dwarven technology to other races is taboo, but… a fairy who wants to burn the World Tree might be quite an interesting existence from the dwarves’ perspective.

To the point where helping her fulfill her wish might be worth considering.

I made a mental note to discuss this matter with Asha the next time we met, imagining a fairy equipped with mechanical armor and wielding a sniper rifle.

—-

After finishing all the explanations, I dismissed everyone who was still struggling to process the shock and implications, then headed to my room with Lena.

“Sister, if you become queen, where will we live?”

“Well, probably in Landenburg territory. Leopold wouldn’t want me to neglect border defense either.”

The Median territory is good land, but it’s unsuitable as a national capital.

Unlike the Landenburg territory, which developed with a semi-independent governance structure as a border county and prince-electorate, the Median territory was literally just a vast piece of land—an ordinary noble domain.

It lacked any foundation for establishing a country. It didn’t even need a private army, so the only military presence there was the Rose Cross Knights.

Therefore, Landenburg was likely to become the capital of the new kingdom. Leopold had subtly indicated his preference for this as well.

Well, that works fine for me too. Since it borders Ka’har, I can respond immediately if they try anything crazy again.

“I see…”

“What, sad about leaving the archipelago?”

I chuckled and patted Lena’s shoulder. She’d grown too tall for me to comfortably pat her head.

“Of course not! I don’t have any close friends here. Landenburg would be better actually. There are many sisters of the Church of Saulite there.”

“Oh… that’s good then.”

I awkwardly scratched the back of my head. I wasn’t sure whether to feel sorry that she had no friends in the archipelago or be glad that she could leave for the East without emotional attachments.

—-

Three days passed like that.