Prologue to the Post-war Period

The Gran Chaos Empire was in the west of the continent.

On this continent, if you excluded the Demon Lord's Domain, this state had the

largest territory. When it came to population, war potential, technology, and even

the quality of life for its people, it was a great empire to which no other country

could compare.

Even the Elfrieden Kingdom, which had the second-largest territory on the

continent, was insignificant compared to the Empire. If the kingdom wanted to

compete with the Empire, even after annexing Amidonia, they would still need to

double their strength.

In fact, that calculation only worked if they were fighting the Empire alone. If

they made enemies of the Empire's allied countries, too, there would be no room left

for them on the continent.

About the only area where the kingdom could compete with the Empire was in

how far back their histories went. The Empire was younger than the kingdom,

though only by a little.

It had happened towards the end of the Chaotic Period. There had been conflict

between the many diverse races of the continent, and many countries had suddenly

risen to power. Unlike Elfrieden, which was founded by the coming together of many

races, the Chaos Kingdom of the time was ruled by a single king. He centralized

power, concentrating it in the hands of the human race, and created what might be

called a dictatorship.

Especially in troubled times, centralized states are more powerful. This is

because the decisions made by a single individual are immediately reflected, so they

can make swift decisions and act immediately. By the time the Chaotic Period was

drawing to an end, the Chaos Kingdom stood head and shoulders above the other

nations on the continent. However, at that point, it was just one power among many.

The people back then would never have thought it would become the sort of massive

empire it was today.

The biggest revolution came around one hundred years ago, with the birth of a

heroic individual in the Chaos Kingdom.

Manas Chaos.

The person who would later come to be known as Emperor Chaos.

Manas was born as the second son of the King of Chaos, but he inherited the

throne when his father and elder brother perished in the war with the Euphoria

Kingdom, a country which existed in the northwest of the continent. When Manas

took the throne, those around him naturally expected a war of revenge against the

Euphoria Kingdom.

However, Manas not only didn't launch a war for revenge, he also took the King

of Euphoria's daughter as his wife, forming a marital bond between the two

countries. What was more, he went as far as renaming himself Manas Euphoria, so

those in the Euphoria Kingdom let down their guards.

There was some resistance to this in the Chaos Kingdom, but Manas was a

military genius and suppressed all of the dissenters.

As a military genius, Manas understood. Right now, the gap in power between the

Euphoria Kingdom and his own wasn't that large. If they were to fight in these

circumstances, the war would be drawn out and it would only succeed in exhausting

the country.

His plan was to first use the King of Euphoria, absorb the smaller countries

around them, and then, once the difference in power between them was

overwhelmingly in his favor, he would try to swallow the Euphoria Kingdom again.

In fact, Manas did absorb the smaller countries, and then, when the difference in

power between them was great enough, he invaded the Euphoria Kingdom, his

wife's home, and destroyed it.

However, perhaps out of some small feeling of regret, even after he destroyed the

Euphoria Kingdom, he didn't return to his former name of Chaos and continued to

use the Euphoria name. Even now, the imperial family of the Gran Chaos Empire

used the Euphoria name.

Even after destroying the Euphoria Kingdom, Manas continued with his wars of

invasion, and before he knew it, his country had become a large nation controlling

the west of the continent. This was when the Chaos Kingdom renamed itself the

Gran Chaos Empire.

The appearance of this massive country was a cause of great concern even to

countries that didn't neighbor it.

This happened some decades later, but in the Elfrieden Kingdom, the reason that

the king who was Souma's predecessor's predecessor had taken the path of

expansionism was out of fear over the existence of the Empire.

The world had already been transitioning towards an atmosphere of cooperation

then, but he must have wanted to strengthen his own country before the threat that

was the Empire closed in on him. However, lacking the genius of Manas, when that

former King of Elfrieden had seized half of Amidonia, his followers who were

unhappy about the exhaustion of the country that had come from his excessive

expansion assassinated him.

After that, the kingdom saw a succession war between his relatives (the three

dukes of the time didn't want to get involved, so they secluded themselves in their

duchies) which led to the near-elimination of the royal line.

In the end, the young girl who would later become Liscia's mother survived the

troubles, inherited the throne, and managed to make things settle down in the

kingdom by taking Albert as her husband.

Let's get back to talking about the Empire.

The Empire had become a great power and was even looking at unifying the

continent, but the core figure in all of this, Manas, had passed away at the age of fifty,

when he still could have done more. There were rumors of assassination, but the

truth is that it was illness. Not even such a great man could defeat illness.

With the death of Manas, the situation in the Empire began to look dubious.

When a country is built around a strong personality, it often fractures when that

strong personality is lost. There have been examples of this on Earth, too. There

were Alexander the Great's empire, the Mongol Empire, Qin Shi Huang's Qin

Dynasty, and more. The faster a country expands, the more likely it is to fracture

before three generations have passed. It was the same with the Gran Chaos Empire.

The second emperor, thanks in part to Manas's loyal associates still being alive,

ruled the Empire with a steady hand. However, by the time the third emperor

ascended the throne, those loyal attendants had passed away.

Partly because it was a country centered around humans, there were no vassals

of other races, such as Excel, who had served the royal family for generations. As a

result, the third emperor launched new invasions in an attempt to gain the support

of his retainers. He must have wanted to show people both inside and outside the

country that he could continue Manas's work of unifying the continent.

However, the war that had broken out sixty years ago had turned into a worldwide war, with many countries being exhausted as a result. The Empire was no

exception. With the unexpectedly high war costs ruining the country, it had damaged

the support it had been trying to build.

There were repeated civil wars in the Empire, and the third emperor died at the

hands of rebels during the fourth such war. Ironically, it was actually because of the

losses inflicted in the war that the third emperor started in on an attempt to carry on

the work of unification, one which caused the world to shift towards an atmosphere

of greater cooperation.

The fourth emperor, who had inherited an empire in disarray, abandoned the

expansionist policies and focused on domestic politics. It could have been called a

wise decision, but he was called too passive and was looked down on by the lords of

the empire.

When the fifth emperor took the throne, the Empire had already lost its

centripetal force, and it was thought it would soon break up. However, roughly ten

years ago, something completely unexpected had happened.

The appearance of the Demon Lord's Domain.

The sudden advance of these aberrant armies caused the Empire to lose the

former territory of the Euphoria Kingdom along with many of its other northern

territories. However, the threat was the same for all countries, leading to calls for

mankind to unite in the face of this situation.

And so, they turned to the largest, most powerful nation, the Empire, for

leadership. As a result, the Empire managed to avoid the threat of division.

They became the leading power in the alliance of mankind's nations, but, owing

to the fact that mankind wasn't working in unison at first, they were forced into a

hard battle against the monsters. Then, in a battle during the invasion that pushed

deep into the Demon Lord's Domain, mankind suffered a crushing defeat.

The fifth emperor was a man of culture, not gifted in the art of war. As a result of

the unfamiliar battlefield grinding him down, body and soul, he had passed away

five years ago.

The fifth emperor had no boys, so the one to inherit the throne was a girl who

was still only fourteen at the time.

That girl was Maria Euphoria.

Now, at the age of nineteen, she was the empress of the Grand Chaos Empire

("emperor" being a title for males, the position had been newly created.)

At the time, there had been many voices concerned that such a young girl was to

take the throne. However, once she did take the throne, she immediately put her

natural charisma to work.

She first changed the human-favoring Empire policies, employing those with

talent even if they belonged to another race. In peace time, the humans might have

pushed back against that, but this was a time of crisis with the threat of the Demon

Lord's Domain bearing down on them. Their positions and prestige were dependent

on their survival.

Her policies, which were suited to the current era, received the support of her

subjects.

Included in Maria's policies was the one said to be her greatest, the Declaration of

Mankind's Common Front Against the Demon Race (also known as the Mankind

Declaration).

In response to the encroaching threat of the Demon Lord's Domain, she called for

a common front between all mankind.

The Mankind Declaration with its three articles, "The acquisition of territory by

force between the nations of mankind is deemed inadmissible," "the right of all

peoples to equality and self-determination will be respected," and "countries that

are distant from the Demon Lord's Domain will provide support to those nations

which are adjacent to it and are acting as a defensive wall," was revolutionary in that

it not only established a common front against the forces of the demon lord, but also

made reference to stopping wars and forbidding racial discrimination.

Also, Maria gave her undivided attention to saving the weak. With her beautiful

appearance and the gentle disposition she greeted everyone with, regardless of their

background, she seized the hearts of the people.

At some point, the people naturally came to call her this:

The "Saint of the Empire."

◇ ◇ ◇

That Saint of the Empire, Maria, was now in her room in the imperial capital of

the Gran Chaos Empire with a gloomy look on her face.

It was a quiet night. There was something transient about the way she looked as

she stood next to the window with moonlight streaming in, not bothering to turn the

lights on. Her feminine, well-balanced figure was wrapped in a pure white dress, and

she looked beautiful with her wavy blond hair.

Who would have believed that she stood at the top of the most powerful state on

the continent?

As Maria looked through the glass at the moon shining in the night sky, she let

out another sigh. At that moment, there was a knock at the door to her room.

Maria corrected her posture, then said, "Come in."

Another young girl entered. "Excuse me, sister."

This girl was clad in a military uniform, and had a face that looked identical to

Maria's.

If there was a difference between them, it was that she tied her hair back in a

ponytail and that her eyes looked slightly more courageous. It was only natural that

they would look similar, because she was Maria's sister who was two years younger,

Jeanne Euphoria.

Jeanne stood in front of her sister, giving her a salute. "I, Jeanne Euphoria, will

head to the Amidonian capital, Van, as commander of the Army."

Jeanne had such a great gift for the military that she was called "the female

Manas," and despite being first in the line of succession, she also acted as the

commander of the entire Army.

Maria handled the administrative side while Jeanne handled the military. By

dividing the roles between these two sisters, they had managed to handle the tasks

which had made the previous emperor collapse from being overworked.

Incidentally, there was another sister who was one year younger than Jeanne, but

according to rumors she was a rare eccentric and not allowed out in public.

Maria looked at Jeanne apologetically. "Yes... You'll be meeting with that hero

king."

"...Yes," said Jeanne. "I don't like being used like this by Amidonia, but I suppose

we'll have to negotiate the return of Van, which is under occupation." Jeanne looked

as if she'd just bitten into something unpleasant.

A messenger from the sovereign prince of Amidonia, Julius, had arrived in the

imperial capital, Valois, just a few days prior.

"The occupation of Van by the Elfrieden Kingdom is a challenge to signatories of

the Mankind Declaration, which forbids the changing of borders," the messenger had

told them. "As the leading power of the treaty, we ask that Her Imperial Majesty,

Empress Maria Euphoria, use her power to take Van back from that country."

Of course, the Empire knew that the Principality of Amidonia had been the one to

initiate hostilities. When pressed on that point, the messenger had said, "That is

something the former prince, Lord Gaius, did despite Lord Julius's warnings to the

contrary. It has nothing to do with Lord Julius." The excuse sounded almost defiant.

When he spoke to them like that, Jeanne nearly drew the sword at her hip, but as

the one in charge of the Empire's military, she restrained herself. Then, despite

really not wanting to, she agreed to take over the negotiations.

Even if the principality was at fault, the Mankind Declaration had to be respected.

The Mankind Declaration was the embodiment of the Empire's prestige. It was a

bitter decision for Maria and Jeanne to have to make.

"I'm sorry," Maria said. "Making you go to all this trouble."

"What are you saying? I'm sure you're the one troubled most by this, sister. I

swear we'll make Julius Amidonia pay for this someday," Jeanne spat.

Maria could understand how Jeanne felt, but she told her in the calmest tone

possible, "It will be fine. The Elfrieden Kingdom's new king, Souma, is by all accounts

a wise man. I can't see him being so foolish as to fight with our country."

"Are you sure?" Jeanne asked. "We once demanded he be handed over to us..."

"True... He must have a bad impression of us."

Roughly half a year before, the Empire had requested that Elfrieden provide

subsidies for the war against the demons. If they couldn't do that, the Empire had

included a condition wherein they could carry out the ritual of hero summoning

which was passed down in their country, and turn that summoned hero over to the

Empire instead. As a result, the financially troubled Elfrieden Kingdom had chosen

to summon a hero.

Then the summoned hero, Souma Kazuya, had been given the throne by the king

and become the current King of Elfrieden.

There were many points that remained unclear, such as why the former king,

Albert, had handed over the throne so easily, but Souma had improved the health of

the Elfrieden Kingdom's economy and begun to provide subsidies.

Since then, the new king Souma had solved a food crisis, put down a rebellion by

the three dukes, and dealt with Amidonia, which had used the rebellion as an

opportunity to invade, by launching a counter invasion and occupying their capital,

Van.

A man who was close in age to Maria had accomplished all of that in a short time.

Even if he hadn't been a hero, she would want someone that capable for herself.

To be honest, rather than Julius who had acted arbitrarily, she would have

preferred to be on friendly terms with King Souma. However, because the Empire

had demanded he be turned over to them, it was assumed that there was no hope of

them forming a friendly relationship. However, Maria hadn't given up hope yet.

"From what I hear in the reports, I think Sir Souma is the type who will

understand if we talk to him," she said.

Jeanne, on the other hand, disagreed with her assessment. "You do? I feel the

opposite, sister. You and he are like oil and water..."

From all the reports Jeanne had heard about Souma, she felt like he was Maria's

polar opposite. For instance, Maria was trying to unite mankind in the face of the

threat from the Demon Lord's Domain, while Souma seemed to be thinking his

country needed to be able stand on its own two feet first.

Also, no matter how unpleasant things got, Maria respected the law and rules,

trying to act logically, like an empress should. Meanwhile, for Souma, when it came

to his powers as king, his subjects, and systems, his policy seemed to be, "If they're

useful, I use them, and if they're not, I don't," with his criteria for which was which

being decided by his own sensibilities. If a system wasn't in line with the facts, he

would change it, while if it was practical, he'd employ it even if no one had ever

looked at it before.

Maria acted according to logic, while Souma acted according to his feelings.

Jeanne didn't think the two of them would ever understand one another.

"To me, it feels like you two are facing in entirely different directions..." she said.

Maria was silent for a moment, then giggled. "Oh, but if we're both facing

different directions, don't you think we could eliminate our blind spots if we

cooperate?"

When she saw Maria's mischievous smile, even as her little sister, Jeanne thought

she was very cute.