“It’s not as if I was trying to get you to submit to me; I just wanted to strike a deal, but that’s fine. Now then, we should really get this in writing, but I don’t have any stationery or my seal on me. We’ll do that later… Does the Re-Estize language work for you?”
“There are people who can read it, so that’s no problem. Then, Your Majesty, who is this person as strong as Sir Momon?”
“You’re looking at him. It’s me.”
Silence reigned again, and everyone’s eyes nearly popped out of their heads.
After blinking a few times, their brains started to work again.
“Your Majesty is as strong as Sir Momon?” Neia froze solid when she heard Remedios say that, but one man had already leaped into action.
“H-hold on, please. Commander, there’s something else we need to ask him first.” Gustav turned to the King of Darkness. “Is it really all right for you to leave the Nation of Darkness and come to Roebel? We don’t know how long this will take.”
“That’s a nonissue. Unlike Momon, I can use teleportation magic. Once we reach your base, I’ll be able to go back and forth.”
“B-but still, a king coming personally to help us seems—”
“Did you listen to what I said and think I wouldn’t come? I’m going to defeat Jaldabaoth and take possession of his maids! I highly doubt I could manage that from all the way over here. And to answer your question, Commander Custodio, I’m more powerful than Momon.”
“Then there’s no issue, right, Gustav?”
“There’s nothing but issues! Your Majesty, we can’t handle jokes right now!” the deputy barked, holding his stomach.
“I’m not joking. There’s no one else who can fight Jaldabaoth and win. And I will go alone. I have no intention of bringing an army. That’s why I came to talk to you in secret.”
“If you were to sustain an injury that couldn’t be healed, the relationship between our two countries would be ruined!”
“—is what Gustav thinks, but do you foresee any problems like that, Your Majesty?”
“Not at all.”
“B—”
“Gustav! I’m talking. Stay out of my way!” Reeling back in the hand she had thrust out at him, Remedios bowed. “Then please do assist us, Your Majesty.”
•
In the room with an atmosphere like a storm had passed—well, in a sense, one certainly had—Gustav exploded.
“What are you thinking?! He’s a king! How could you ask him to come fight Jaldabaoth?!”
Neia agreed.
This went so far against common sense.
But Remedios murmured, “Hey, do you actually care what happens to an undead?”
Everyone fell silent.
“…It’s a demon versus an undead. No matter which one is destroyed, we don’t lose anything. Am I wrong?”
Gustav’s eyes widened. Not because he accepted her position, but because he was shocked.
“They’re both enemies of humanity. The best would be if they were both annihilated…not that I’d actively aim for that. Just, if the King of Darkness happens to sustain a life-threatening injury in the fight, we won’t help him. Simple as that.”
Remedios’s words sound strangely loud in the quiet room.
“…Commander. Don’t you think that if the King of Darkness were to perish, all the undead he commands would go free and create an unholy uproar?”
“When that time comes, it’ll be the Kingdom, the Empire, and the Theocracy that will bear the brunt of it. We would support them, I’m sure, but the damage we’ve sustained from fighting Jaldabaoth is too much. I’d like our neighbors to tough it out until we recover some of our strength… When you think of it that way, we stand to gain a lot if they kill each oth—”
“Commander!” Gustav shouted with a stern look. “Is there any justice in that?”
“There is. For our country. It’s to save the people who are suffering the most. It’s not as if I want to sow misfortune in foreign lands. I do actually want this king who supports us to win.”
Watching Remedios say that softly, Neia thought, Who are you?
Was this really Remedios Custodio, commander of the paladins of the Sacred Kingdom?
Neia didn’t know her that well. Mostly she had only seen her from a distance. But from what she had heard of the commander, she felt this was someone different.
“Gustav. Are you done objecting? If you’re on board, then we need to move on.”
“To?”
“…We need to think about how to milk the King of Darkness for all he’s worth.”
A chill ran up Neia’s spine.
Why am I hearing this conversation? she wondered. No, she couldn’t have been the only one. Glancing around, she saw all the paladins wearing the same expression. Neia probably had the same look on her face.
“Any ideas, Gustav?”
“N-no, ma’am. First, though, what should we do once we’ve brought the King of Darkness back?”
“If he’s not all talk and really is as powerful as Jaldabaoth, how about retaking the capital? Then we can have him take out the demon right then.”
“…No, that’s the worst idea. The King of Darkness said he would defeat Jaldabaoth, take his maids, and return to his nation, so in order to gain the most out of this, we should save killing Jaldabaoth for the very end… If we do what you propose, we have no way of defeating the subhuman army that will be left over.”
“Then what should our strategy be?”
Gustav thought for a moment and then made a suggestion. “First, let’s gather lots of allies. We should free the people imprisoned in the camps.”
“Aha! That’s a good idea. There are some people I want to rescue.”
“The royal family?”
“That’s right,” replied Remedios.
The Holy Lady had been killed, but there were no reports that the rest of the royal family had died. If they could save even one of them, that person could be raised as a symbol to gain the full support of the southern nobles.
“And I’d likes to save whatever nobles we can, too.”
Most of the nobles hadn’t been very friendly to the Holy Lady, so Remedios didn’t care for them. But there had to be some northern noble with family ties
