Remedios remained silent, while Neia thought those things.
No.
How could she say anything? There was nothing Remedios Custodio could promise.
What would happen if they did manage to drive Jaldabaoth off?
Naturally, the next holy king would ascend to the throne, but there wasn’t much chance that person would treat the paladins with much respect. If it was one of the nobles from the south they didn’t get along with, there was a chance members of their order might even be locked up.
If that happened, then Remedios wouldn’t be able to keep whatever promise she made here. In the end, this delegation was a group of regular people of unstable standing in society who came to beg for any kindness they could find.
She couldn’t guarantee anything. It was nearly impossible for a single person to bear the weight of an entire state. Only a monarch could do that.
“Excuse me, Your Majesty, King of Darkness. My name is Gustav Montagnés; I serve as Commander Custodio’s deputy. Please permit me to speak in her place.”
The King of Darkness gestured with his jaw that Gustav should continue.
“Thank you. We are unable to promise the sort of thing Your Majesty desires. Even if we manage to retake the Sacred Kingdom’s territory, rebuilding after Jaldabaoth ravaged our country will take an awfully long time, so I doubt we would be able to turn over anything we might offer you here in a timely manner. But I would like to make one appeal to you, and that is regarding how dangerous Jaldabaoth is.”
“Hmm… Go on.”
“Your Majesty. He appeared this time with a subhuman army that he didn’t bring with him to the Re-Estize Kingdom. If we don’t slay him now, there’s no telling what he’ll prepare by the next time he reappears.”
“So what you’re saying is that now, while he’s in front of us, is our chance to kill him—that we should nip this trouble in the bud—right?”
“As you so wisely perceive, Your Majesty. With that in mind, could you not please send Sir Momon?”
“I see. That makes sense. Certainly, Jaldabaoth should be destroyed.”
“Then—”
When a look of joy was about to come over Gustav’s face, the King of Darkness began to thrust a fist out, but then stopped and clacked his staff.
“But I can’t send Momon. Even if we manage to exterminate Jaldabaoth, I can’t have our domestic politics destabilized in his absence. So how about this? If you can buy a little more time, we can stabilize our situation. Then I can send Momon over—if he agrees, of course. You mentioned before that you could still put up a fight, right?”
“Th-that’s true, but…how much later would he come?”
“Hmm… Albedo, what do you think?” The ruler turned to the prime minister, who had been standing by at his side the whole time.
“The fact that the number of subhumans in our nation is likely to increase may delay any estimate we could make. To allow for that, a few years. Hmm, yes… I think after five years our problems will be solved.”
“There you have it. So will that work for you?”
Five years, Gustav rolled the number around in his mouth and shook his head slightly. “It’s a bit long…”
“I see… I suppose we need to think of your country’s needs. This is a favor being asked by a friendly nation after all.” He emphasized the word friendly. “We’ll do everything we can to cut that time down. So, Albedo, how long would it take if we stripped it down as far as we can go?”
“In that case, perhaps we could make do with three years. But we may risk some turmoil in the Nation of Darkness.”
“Well, that can’t be helped, I suppose. It’s to save our friends. We should spill a little blood here, too…metaphorically speaking.”
He said it as a joke, but no one laughed.
“…Ahem. Now then, how does that sound? We’ve shortened the time by two years.”
The Nation of Darkness had compromised by shaving two years, but three was still far too long. There was no telling how much damage would be done during that time or if the Sacred Kingdom would even be able to maintain itself as a country. It wasn’t tenable. But if they said that outright, even the offer of sending Sir Momon after three years could be taken off the table.
Still, the chance to save the Sacred Kingdom was right in front of them.
This was the moment they had come all this way for. It was worth risking their lives.
Prepared to die if necessary, Neia inhaled and said, “My humble apologies, Your Majesty, King of Darkness.”
“…Who are you?”
“I’m a squire in the Sacred Kingdom’s Paladin Order. My name is Neia Baraja. I realize it’s rude of me to ask this, but couldn’t you send Sir Momon any sooner?”
The King of Darkness seemed to think it over.
“Neia! What’s a squire doing petitioning a king?!”
Neia thought only one thing when Remedios scolded her like that.
Please wait a little longer to cut down your insolent squire.
“Okay, sure. Neia, you said, right? Then when should I send him?”
“If you could send him as soon as possible, that would be much appreciated.”
“You’re asking me to send him, knowing it will cause damage to the Nation of Darkness, yes?”
“Yes, Your Majesty!” Neia bowed.
She had already resigned herself. If this upset the King of Darkness, she would simply pay for her mistake by having the commander execute her.
She closed her eyes so the sword could come down at any time.
“Your Majesty! Please forgive my squire’s impudence! We have absolutely no intention of causing damage to the Nation of Darkness!”
“Oh, don’t worry about it. It’s natural for someone from one country to not mind what harm may come to another if it means saving their own… Hmm. Albedo. Do you think we could manage it in two years?”
“I think that would be very difficult.”
“I see. Still…make it happen.”
Neia’s eyes had been downcast, but she looked up at the king in spite
