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Do you still need to discuss matters after he's compromised this much? Even Neia felt that it would not be strange for the Sorcerer King to rebuke them. But—

"Very well. However, taking too long will cause me problems, and moving around is troublesome. You don't mind if I wait here, do you?"

Neia could not help but be surprised by the Sorcerer King's largesse.

"Thank you very much. Then, we shall quickly discuss things. I pray you will be patient, despite the disservice we do you."

"That's fine. Go talk it out."

The two of them rose to leave, and then they returned with surprising swiftness. No, they had already reached the conclusion from the beginning.

"Forgive the delay, Your Majesty."

"Oh no, go ahead and discuss more, it's fine. Well then, how goes it?"

"Yes, our conclusion is that we will abide by all of Your Majesty's terms."

"I am not asking you to obey me. I am simply making a trade. Well, that doesn't matter. Now then, while we should put it in writing, I lack the necessary equipment and stamps. Let us discuss this later... You don't mind if I use the Kingdom's writing, no?"

"There are people here who can read it, so it is fine. Then, may I trouble you to introduce us to the person who is on par with Momon?"

"Ahh, he is standing before you right now — in other words, myself."

Silence filled the room once more, and Neia and the others were unable to speak as they stared.

After blinking several times, their brains finally regained the ability to function.

"Your Majesty is as strong as Momon?"

Remedios's words made Neia freeze in place, but there was a man who had made a move because of these words.

"Please, please wait a moment, Captain. There's something else we need to ask His Majesty before this."

Gustavo turned to the Sorcerer King. "Ah, will it really be all right if Your Majesty leaves your nation and goes to the Holy Kingdom? I do not know how much time that will take."

"That will not be a problem. Unlike Momon, I can use teleportation magic, So long as I can find your base, I can move between it and the Sorcerous Kingdom at any time."

"B-But, even so, surely having the ruler of a nation come in person is just too—!"

"After listening to me, did you not think that I would be coming in person? I did say I intended to defeat Jaldabaoth and bring the maids under my control, you know? It would be too much of a stretch to do all that from the Sorcerous Kingdom. In addition, with regards to Captain Custodio's question, I am stronger than Momon."

"Then, there should be no problems with that, Gustavo."

"Of course there's problems with that! Your Majesty! This jest of yours is really quite vexing for us!"

The Vice-Captain clutched his gut as he shouted that.

"This is no jest. Nobody other than me can defeat Jaldabaoth. In addition, I will be going by myself. I will not bring an army with me. Therefore, I came alone in order to discuss the matter in private with you."

"But if Your Majesty sustains an irrecoverable injury from Jaldabaoth, that would be very bad for the relationship between our country and the Sorcerous Kingdom!"

"It, it is as Gustavo says. Your Majesty, are there truly no problems in that respect?"

"None at all."

"But—"

"—Gustavo! I'm still talking. Don't interrupt me!" After holding out her hand to stop Gustavo, Remedios bowed deeply.

"Then, we will be in Your Majesty's care."

-x-X-x-

The air in the room calmed, as if a storm had just passed — and indeed, it had — but Gustavo's shout echoed off the walls.

"What are you thinking!? Recruiting a king! The king of a country! To fight Jaldabaoth and whatnot!"

Neia agreed with him.

He might not operate by common sensibilities, but this was simply senseless.

Amidst all this, Remedios spoke quietly.

"Say, don't you think that it doesn't matter what happens to the undead?"

The room fell silent once more.

"...You have a demon, and you have an undead being. We won't be harmed regardless of who gets wiped out. Don't you think?"

Gustavo's eyes went wide. This was not acceptance of his Captain's opinion, but shock at what his Captain had just said.

"Both of them are enemies of mankind. Then ideally, it would be best if both sides destroyed each other... that said, we won't just sit back and reap the profits. Even if the Sorcerer King is wounded unto death by Jaldabaoth, we will not take advantage of his plight. However, that is all."

Remedios's voice grew louder.

"...Captain. If the Sorcerer King, who controls so many undead, is destroyed, then when these undead are freed, will it not cause an incredible amount of havoc?"

"When the time comes, the Kingdom, the Empire, and the Theocracy will cushion the blow. Of course, we will do our best to aid them as well, but the Holy Kingdom has been too badly ravaged by Jaldabaoth. Until our country recovers its strength, all we can do is cheer them on... From that point of view, our country stands to gain the most from a clash between Jaldabaoth and the Sorcerer King..."

"—Captain!" Gustavo's face was stone as he spoke. "How is this justice?"

"It is. It's all for the sake of our nation. It is to save the people who suffer the most. It isn't like I hope that the seeds of suffering will spread to other countries. I also wish for the victory of the Sorcerous Kingdom as it assists the Holy Kingdom."

Who is this? Neia thought as she looked at Remedios, who was saying all this in a calm, even tone.

Was this really the captain of the paladins of the Holy Kingdom, Remedios Custodio?

Neia was not too clear about her situation. After all, she had always been looking at her from afar. However, she felt that this was a completely different person from the Captain she had heard of.

"Gustavo, you don't object, right? If you can accept this, then we ought to consider our next move."

"Our next move, you say?"

"...We have to think about how to properly make use of the Sorcerer King."

A chill ran down Neia's spine.

Why am I hearing a conversation like this? Neia thought. No, she was not alone. Peering around, she saw that the paladins standing near her all had the same expression on their faces. Neia must have looked the same way too.

"Gustavo, do you have any ideas?"

"No, no, not at all. Shouldn't we think about what we should do after bringing the Sorcerer King back with us?"

"Well, if the Sorcerer King isn't all talk, and he really can fight Jaldabaoth, how about retaking the capital? And then we can ask him to defeat Jaldabaoth right after that."

"...That would be bad. His Majesty has said that he intends to defeat Jaldabaoth, claim the maids for himself, and then return to his country. Therefore, we ought to leave defeating Jaldabaoth for last in order to reap the greatest benefits... If we follow your suggestion, Captain, we won't have the strength to defeat the leftover demihumans."

"Then what do you propose?"

Gustavo paused to think, and then he made a suggestion.

"Let's increase our numbers first. In other words, we need to rescue our captured comrades from the camps."

"I see! An excellent idea. After all, there are important people we need to rescue."

"You mean the members of the royal family, right?"

Remedios agreed with an Ah.

Although the Holy Queen had already perished, they had not received news that the entire royal family was dead. If one of them was still alive, perhaps they could use them as a figurehead, and perhaps gain the full cooperation of the southern nobles.

"Also, the nobles we can rescue will surely appreciate their liberators."

Most nobles had not expressed their approval of the Holy Queen, and by the Captain's reckoning, there was nobody there who liked her. However, there ought to be some northern nobles with blood ties to the southern nobles. If they did them a favor, they ought to be able to better make a formal request to the southern nobles.

Remedios looked at Neia.

"Squire Neia. Go accompany the Sorcerer King. Make sure you sway him to our side for our sakes."

"Hah? Haaaahh!?? Please, please wait! I can't possibly serve a king or something as a squire!"

"All you need to do is work hard on it, no?"

"This isn't a matter of working hard!"

Usually, she would have agreed immediately, but now she was desperately trying to refuse. This was not something she could casually accept. There must be something wrong with Remedios's head.

"Th-That's right! Captain," Gustavo chipped in. "If we don't have someone of appropriate status to serve as his handmaiden, it'll be taken as an insult to His Majesty."

"...How many other women are there in the Liberation Army?"

Those women who could not fight had long since fled to the south. However, that was not to say that they did not exist. The Liberation Army still had a few women among them. Gustavo was about to name some of them when the Captain cut him off.

"We need a woman from the paladins. If I gave orders to a woman from the priesthood, what do you think the temples would do? My sister's no longer around, you know? Also, the person for this duty should be chosen from people who are present and who have heard my thoughts. Can we force this onto a third party?"

So instead you're pushing it onto me, right, Neia thought, but did not say.

"In that case..."

Gustavo looked at the Captain.

"I need to be fighting on the frontlines, you know? Also, do you want me to go accompany the Sorcerer King? Or should we yield all authority to the Sorcerer King?"

"Even if we're using him, we can't just go out and do that, right? There'll be problems with trust, and if the Sorcerer King sees that we have no fighting power and decides to conquer the Holy Kingdom while he's at it..."

After seeing the tongue-tied Gustavo, Neia realised the fact that their allies might end up turning on them.

"—Understood. While I might not be sufficient for the task, I will work hard and do my best."

"Ahh. I'll tell you this first. Your mission is make the Sorcerer King more easily usable. Flatter him and keep him in a good mood."

This was no longer just an impossible request. It was just plain absurd. She had no confidence that she could do such a thing at all. However, no matter what she said, Remedios would not change her mind. Neia hung her head in resignation.

"Understood! I will do my best to achieve that aim, and I hope I can count on the aid of everyone here."

"Good. If there's anything, just look for me or him (Gustavo)."

Even as despair filled her heart, Neia was surprised that she was actually feeling a little elated.

His Majesty, huh...