Chapter 23 - Frozen... Let it Go...

Why do I suddenly feel regret when trying to help these people?

 The saying "You will understand the meaning of life when you die" is true.

 Believe me, I have felt it. But that was before I death...

 Now, death is my best friend.

 Thanks to Chiyuki, we are now good friends and quite close.

 Well, I also stopped counting when I died in my sleep.

 Now look at this, the capital of the Flora Kingdom is being attacked by something unique. It is a Familiar in the form of a burning Stone Golem. Judging from its shape, this is a familiar summoned by a high-level magician.

 But, for other magicians. It is just a child's toy for a beginner magician.

 "Ugh! So ugly! Even my Familiar magic is not this ugly!" Mercedes' comment, but it invited curiosity from the people who were guarding us.

 Their innocent faces looked confused by those words.

 "Master Karl, may I interfere in this matter?" Mercedes asked.

 As a small note, I have seen a magician fight before. Unlike knights who rely on their sword skills, wizards' battles involve irrational events about magic stuff.

 For example, a giant stone wall rising out of nowhere and forming a castle is nothing compared to a group of skeletons attacking a military camp.

 If you fight a wizard, the most effective way is to find the wizard and kill him. However, since wizards are generally cowards, finding them is a bit difficult.

 But! That doesn't mean they can't be found. If their opponent is a wizard of the same rank or higher, they can find each other. Bringing Mercedes to my side was the right decision.

 "Please.." I said while looking at Mercedes.

 Like a child who was allowed to buy and crush a toy, Mercedes then summoned her familiar, a giant ice bird. It came while bringing cold air with every flap of its wings.

 Fighting fire with water is basic logic, but...

 This sudden temperature change is painful!

 Doesn't Mercedes know about this simple law of physics?

 I could see from a distance, several objects that were starting to disintegrate due to the sudden temperature difference.

 The capital of the Flora Kingdom slowly experienced a sudden blizzard. At least, now I understand how terrifying this Mercedes magic is.

 "Emm.. Mercedes.." I made a little sure about what Mercedes was going to do.

 "Um, what is it, Master Karl?" Mercedes replied.

 "I just want to know, what are you going to do?"

 "Of course, fighting these disgusting fleas!" shout Mercedes while looking angry at something.

 "Master Karl, do you know about this mocking? This is an insult to a high-level Familiar! Familiars should be cute! Not these disgusting creatures!" shout Mercedes again but using a small force to increase her magic output.

 "O-Oooh.. Y-Yes.. keep up the good work Mercedes."

 "Un!" Mercedes nodded her head.

 Honestly, this was the wrong decision. Letting Mercedes show her strength was a big mistake.

 That was proven by her giant ice bird Familiar hitting the golem Familiar with a thick pillar of ice. The problem was.. around them was a group of people wearing strange robes.

 The robes looked like the symbol of a neighboring kingdom. For some reason, I started to feel worried about this incident.

 "Mercedes, just to make sure.. they're not dead right?" I asked.

 "It depends if their bodies are strong or not. This condition only makes them sleep frozen. But if they're weak, well… just think of it as accidentally dying, hehe.."

 Wow! What answer is this? Accidentally dying and intentionally dying are two different conditions for dying.

 "Onii-sama, look at this!" Chiyuki called out to me.

 I could see a ball floating towards me. When I caught it, I could feel the coldness of the ice.

 "Onii-sama, so ice can become like this."

 I looked back at Chiyuki and watched her play with the frozen witch's body. It looked normal, it's just that…

 Kreeeek...

 The crisp sound of the broken hand was very loud.

 "Onii-sama!!!" I could see Chiyuki's expression as she was very happy with her latest discovery.

 She was still a little girl full of curiosity.

 But.. breaking a frozen hand was a bit strange.

 Now, I realized about this ball. Behind the coldness of this ball, I saw a frightened expression on a bluish face.

 "Oh, this is a head?" I said in question tone.

 I accidentally dropped it and the frozen head broke.

 "Oopss.. Sorry," I accidentally said this.

 However, when I looked back at Chiyuki. She looked at the frozen witch and hit her head.

 Oh! Shit!

 Unintentionally, I gave Chiyuki inspiration about breaking a frozen body.

 Well, from a distance I could see Chiyuki happily breaking a frozen body.

 I don't know what happened, but Mercedes who was staring at them just kept quiet and looking at me with glacing expression.

 "They're the culprits?" I asked Mercedes.

 Mercedes just nodded.

 "Want to kill them?"

 Mercedes nodded again.

 "Go ahead.."

 "Eh, is that okay, Master Karl?"

 "Well, I can feel that you have a grudge against them. As long as there is an opportunity, why not take advantage of it?"

 "Thank you, Master Karl."

 Well, at least... this time it's not just Chiyuki who is busy destroying these freezing bodies.

 I'm a little relieved if it's not just Chiyuki who is having fun.

 Unconsciously, I looked at the people who were guarding us. I could feel their expressions of fear when they saw the two figures destroying the frozen bodies.

 "Don't worry, we are only defeating enemies who are taking advantage of this situation," I said to calm them down.

 [...]

 "Um, so? This situation happened because our King hired a wizard from a neighboring kingdom just to be on guard. However, things changed after one of our nobles started insulting them. It feels like our kingdom is filled with idiots?"

 Our father could only lower his head weakly after realizing the root of this problem.

 Several hours had passed and unexpectedly the Flora Kingdom entered a war phase with a neighboring kingdom. And it happened because of their stupidity.

 The wise choice this time was to leave this stupid kingdom. I was sick of dealing with these idiots, if only this trial was carried out quickly then a ridiculous incident like this wouldn't have happened.

 Who's to blame?

 Of course Duke Flora!

 They would add an unreasonable decision like "Duke Flora will go to war because we lack troops" would happen.

 I can guarantee 100% that it will happen.

 And.. before this ridiculous problem gets bigger.

 We hurried home for the second time with a little difference from before.

 Our father left an official letter stating, "Duke Flora is abandoning his noble status and the private territory of the Duke Flora family will become a separate territory from the Flora Kingdom."

 The official letter contained an explanation such as, "We are fed up, please take care of your own mistakes, Bye!"

 Well… this is the procedure for leaving the noble status in style!

 Even if they don't reply, we will consider the threats in our territory as enemies. Our former king, and our former fellow nobles, are no exception, we have our territory to guard.

 In other words, we will be the third party if there is a riot or as observers who enjoy the situation.

 Ah, not really. We just want to have fun without caring about the responsibilities as nobles, or the troublesome things related to the royal system.

 Sometimes, being the owner of an independent territory is very satisfying. Moreover, we have prepared for this scenario long before.

 In the middle of our journey home. There was a symbol of a neighboring kingdom that seemed to be preparing to invade the Flora Kingdom Capital. Seeing the symbol of Duke Flora coming from the opposite direction, they prepared to attack us.

 "Ugh, I hate taking care of these people. How about you take care this fellas, Karl?" My father suddenly asked about the situation.

 "Well, it can't be helped, right? Besides… our position is being attacked, right? Why don't we counterattack?" I replied.

 Normally, we would panic with the difference in number of troops. However, with the complete weaponry in the Remi-class. This kind of thing is just a temporary toy and a suitable target for our wolf girls squad.

 Ah, that's right! Why not use them to simulate breaking through enemy defenses?

 I immediately took out our magic communication equipment, several wolf girls seemed to have prepared their positions. It seemed that Chiyuki's training had left an impression on them and for some reason they seemed excited.

 Suddenly, I felt a familiar feeling. Like… I've experienced it before.

 "Onii-sama" Chiyuki suddenly called out to me. Her gaze had now turned blood red and she began to stare at me.

 Oh, I almost forgot about this sensation. It turns out Chiyuki entered her abnormal mode.

 I shook my head, "This is dangerous! Just sit back and let Dad do his thing today."

 "Eeeeeh? Why?" Chiyuki pouted a little seeing my refusal.

 Unlike our Dad who was very happy to hear it. He seemed more excited than usual.

 "Karl, shall we use that method?"

 "That's okay, it's more effective than killing them with our current ammunition."

 "Okay! Gaaaaassss!!" like someone who was driven by adrenaline. Our Dad immediately sped up his vehicle and hit one by one the soldiers who were blocking our way.

 Not to forget, we did a little improvisation by sprinkling white phosphorus smoke. Our vehicle did shake a little, but the rhythm of these people's pain became a beautiful melody of death and it was quite entertaining for Chiyuki. She was no longer gloomy but fell asleep soundly hearing the screams of the dying people's remaining breaths.

 I didn't mind this though.

 But I felt a little sorry for the people who would clean this Remi-class vehicle.

 They would be shocked to see this vehicle covered in red paint and bits of skin stuck to it.

 Or something worse like body parts stuck in it.

 Well, that can be thought of later.

 The important thing is, we're back from this ridiculous incident.

 Who wants to deal with this ridiculous war, let the idiots fight each other.

 After all, it was an old tactic to attack when the kingdom was in chaos.

 But, this gave me a little idea. If they were attacking the Flora Kingdom, then their defenses were just as weak as this, right?

 Well, there's no harm in giving them a little surprise, right?

 "Father, do you want to send a souvenir for our guest?" I asked.

 "Huh? What are you talking about, Karl?" my father asked in question tone.

 [...]