episode_0139

Tap, tap, tap. As the carriage door opened, I squeezed my eyes shut as the sunlight poured in.

“Coleman!”

When I opened my eyes after enduring the sunlight, my mother and father came running from the distant mansion.

The two hugged me tightly.

“Where on earth did you go? ”

“… I’m sorry.”

“My face has become half!”

“You man, stop. Coleman. I’m so glad you’re safe… ”

I also patted my parents on the back in despair.

After that, people continued to congratulate me on my return.

“Mr. Coleman. I was really worried. I wonder if I’ll never come back… ”

“Well, it’s a good thing that I came back like this.”

“Senior. Congratulations on your return.”

Not only Cleo, Graven, and Angela, but also countless people patted me on the back and welcomed me.

When there were too many greetings to handle, Lilac stepped forward, hung up appropriately, and led me to a quiet room.

“… I didn’t know you would worry so much.”

“You didn’t know that? Of course I’m worried, Coleman.”

“No, rather than not knowing… ”

It would be correct to say that I didn’t have time to think about that.

Lilac tapped and placed her forehead against mine.

“Coleman. You too are part of this world.

There are many people who will be sad when you disappear, and there are many people who will miss you.”

I am also part of the world.

“Do you know how long everyone has been looking for it?

Your parents searched everywhere to find you.

As soon as he got the clue, he came running towards me… ”

“That’s how you found it.”

She nodded.

“Everyone stopped me from going, so I went to look for it by myself.”

“Why?”

“… I told you that when we met. If you weren’t ready, I was going to let you go.”

I took a deep breath awkwardly.

“Coleman. from now on… Don’t be like my mom.

As if this isn’t your hometown, don’t go into hiding and say you’ll solve it on your own.”

“… yes. I will.”

A few days have passed since I returned.

Surprisingly, I didn’t hear anyone complaining about me.

No one would argue that if I hadn’t made this game, Athena wouldn’t have used it.

but…

“Why are you doing that?”

“No. just… I’m trying to organize things a bit.

If you challenge a duel anyway, models will pop out of thin air, so there’s no need to have a real model.”

As I was walking around the Knizia mansion, I found Mina Karsic neatly putting her models into boxes.

“Wouldn’t it be better to sell it even used?”

“No one really wanted to buy it.”

“… I see.”

Mina sighed.

“I don’t know. Actually, I don’t want to throw it away either.

Anyway, there were a lot of really happy moments over the past two years.”

She closed her eyes for a moment, as if remembering winning the romantic contest.

“But… I don’t think I can play this anymore.

I keep thinking about it. Seeing my father and sister die so helplessly.”

“… ”

“What. Not everyone thinks like me.”

Senior Mina turned her head and pointed her chin out the window.

Graven and Cleo are practicing sparring.

Although he has a serious expression, there are occasional moments of laughter.

“… Actually, there are many people who enjoy swordsmanship or magic.”

“Yes. I kinda… I might be picky.”

That’s not it.

Even though there were so many gamers, there were few cases of friendly battles taking place inside the mansion.

More and more people are no longer able to enjoy games as games.

I took a deep breath and entered the central conference room.

“The Crown Princess must hurry up and hold the coronation ceremony.

That is the only way to establish the authority of a government that has fallen to the ground!”

“Calling yourself emperor when you haven’t even been able to recapture the system will only invite ridicule!

Elevating Her Majesty the Crown Princess to the throne is a declaration that the uproar is over, not a magic spell to end the uproar!”

“When did I do that-”

Fierce debate today as well.

Lilac’s eyes, which had been weighed down by fatigue, came to life as soon as she saw me coming in.

That’s a good thing. Because I can at least give her some energy in this dark situation.

“For now, let’s postpone that topic to the next meeting.

What is the situation in each place?”

“The initial confusion appears to have calmed down.

There is no overt mob rampage, and the militia or local nobles are keeping order. but… ”

Assistant swallows saliva.

I also guessed what he was saying.

Local forces armed with knowledge of the rules of the romantic era are becoming warlords.

If it goes on like this… It is the second coming of the imperial civil war of 10 years ago.

“Before that happens, the Provisional Government needs to quickly show that it has the situation under control.

The developer of this game, Mr. Coleman Cantor, is also here, so if we promote it on a large scale… ”

“What effect will that have-”

I was fed up with the atmosphere of boring bickering again, but-

The meeting ended with a figure appearing outside the window.

“That… ”

“Dean?”

Academy Dean Russell Corvus lightly landed in the garden and walked towards this direction.

———————————————————————————

“Thank you for your hard work on the long journey.”

“No. On the contrary, Your Majesty is going through a lot of hardships… ”

The Dean and Lilac exchange formal greetings in the reception room.

“Is the academy okay?”

“Huh.”

The dean sighed at my question.

“With the barrier prohibiting violence covering the world, students no longer stab each other with swords or magic. No, it was already fading away due to the romantic era… ”

“But doesn’t the opposite happen?”

“… okay. Nowadays, duels in the age of romance come at a very heavy price.

Before that, I thought miniature games were just play, but now that things have changed, the meaning of the game has changed… ”

I nodded.

A story that is not much different from what I have seen and heard so far.

But I don’t think the academy dean would have come all the way here just because of that.

As expected, Dean Russell took a pause while drinking his tea and then spoke forcefully.

“Milton’s location has been discovered.”

“Yes?”

Milton and Athena opened a barrier and disappeared into thin air.

As if there were no more regrets in this world.

“Near the imperial palace… I could feel the waves of his magic power.”

“The imperial palace?”

Do you want to feel like a winner?

But after thinking about it for a while, I realized it didn’t make sense.

“Wait a minute. Hasn’t the provisional government been in place for quite some time?”

“That’s right. I worked at the imperial palace for about a month.

I had to leave before long.”

“Then how could Milton be around there?”

When Russell snapped his fingers, a diagram began to be embroidered with silver magic in the air.

“The problem of extra dimensions is the most difficult of all magical phenomena… ”

“Hmm. Dean. Can’t it be done simply?”

“… To put it simply, Milton is probably currently protecting the subspace he created.

And the entrance to sub-space will be in the imperial palace.”

hmm. If that’s the case, it’s consistent with the phenomenon we saw.

But why in subspace…

“No way… ”

Lilac snapping her fingers.

“In order to maintain this barrier, do I have to remain in subspace and manage it?”

“That’s my guess too. I can’t say for sure, though.”

“If so.”

I took a deep breath and spoke.

“I guess I can break this barrier by dueling with Milton.”

“That… Go?”

“Certainly, now that violence is banned, even Milton has no choice but to participate in the duel of the Romantic Age.

But will that really work? ”

“No, I’m sure.”

Lilac’s eyes widen at my firm words.

“Lilac, do you remember what your sister and mother said back then?”

“Uh… I thought they would kill His Majesty, but they just killed him… ”

“Not that. There is a spell you memorized at the end.”

I change the genre of the Aeorid Chronicles.

Not a romantic fantasy, but a miniature game battle.

She declared that she would change the genre of this story.

I don’t know the rules for miniature game battles, but in fact, it’s probably almost the same as card battles.

And in card battles…

“As long as this world follows the rules of game battles, you can’t just risk your life.

The fate of the world could also be decided by a duel in the era of romance.”

“That is… Is it like this? Can you demand that the barrier covering the continent be dismantled?”

“Yes. Of course, in the current situation… It might not be easy to get to the imperial palace.”

At my confident words, Lilac and Dean Russell exchanged a look.

“It might be worth a try. I will let you know after discussing it with my subjects.”

“I will also go back to the academy and prepare. We will provide non-violent magic support.”

“Then the person who will face Milton is… ”

“That’s me.”

Lilac put her hand on my shoulder.

“Coleman. You don’t necessarily have to do it.

There is Graven, and there is Cleo… ”

“No. That’s what I’m doing. I want to do it.”

Because they called me into this world.

You have to make them pay.