Chapter 376

Chapter 376: Last Run, and Goal.

As if making up for the time lost, the [Trirain], carrying the two of them, continued its explosive progress.

They blew through the birdlime zone straight on. The Ferzen king, who was still struggling, could be seen on the monitor for an instant. He's still not giving up?

And for the kitten zone, since the trick was already revealed, it didn't count as an obstacle at all. They blew through the illusionary kittens and continued forward.

"Nyanya! The new [Trihalan + Strain] hybrid is making astounding progress-nya! However, it's still a great distance off from the leading three-nya! And as for those three, they've finally entered the last area in the obstacle course-nya!"

That last area is a region with "?"-marked panels spread out here and there on the course.

As there's quite a bit, if you try to drive while staying away from those panels, you would lose quite a bit of time.

As I was looking at the way the panels were arranged while floating high up using [Fly], I could understand the trickiness of this trap.

And more than anything, everyone else probably still vividly remembers the explosion trap I ate at the very beginning of this course. Even if it had been made with illusion magic, and the vehicle was simply blown off by magically generated wind so there was very low damage overall, the explosion was flashy in appearances nonetheless. There's no way they wouldn't get cold feet if they think about how a similar trap may be among the ones in front of them.

"Ah, also, there's lucky panels mixed into them, so going over one or two may bring you unexpected joy… Says here-nya. Really now-nya…"

Would there be anyone who would drive over one just because of that, though. Judging from past experiences, that just sounds fishy as hell. I don't think anyone normal would… Ah, Nia went for one.

"Nya!? The [Red Cat] halted on the spot-nya! This is… Apparently, it's 60 seconds of stop time- nya!"

"Ugaa—aa!"

Nia screamed while clawing at her head. A miss, huh. Rather than going all out on a bet, it's definitely more accurate to say that she just found it too troublesome.

Lapis-san's [White Bird] cleared the traps with clever maneuvers. Following that, Rosetta and Monica's [Silver Star] also got out of the area while carefully avoiding the trap panels.

The [White Bird] was the first one to get out of the trap area. However, the [Silver Star] in second got out pretty quickly as well; there's almost no gap between the two.

While occasionally bumping into each other, the two vehicles ran through the obstacle course's clear gate.

"Now, we only have the last stretch to the final goal in the south area, where the race started- nya! It's the last run! Who will the winner be-nyaa!"

A fierce dead heat unfolded between the two as they headed towards the goal. The goal in question is right in front of the audience seating; as such, I dropped back down to the ground and waited for the two vehicles together with the rest of the audience.

The two ether vehicles passed through the final corner, and appeared in our view. They're even—wait, no, is the [White Bird] slightly ahead!?

Perhaps, the disadvantage of having two riders is showing its effect here.

The two are charging straight towards the goal gate! The very last dead heat! Once they cross the gate, the entire race would end, after all.

And an instant before the [White Bird] and the [Silver Star] was going to cross the goal!

The road surface in front of the goal suddenly dipped down into the ground and formed something like an underground carpark entrance, and the two vehicles disappeared under the goal just like that.

"...... Unya?"

The audience, me included, stared at the slated ground right before the goal with blank looks.

Eh? What was that? They kind of disappeared downwards like one of those magic pitches you see in baseball though.

The course returned to normal as if nothing had happened, and behind me, the sound of Professor Babylon laughing with a *fuh* can be heard.

"Well, that'll teach them to not lower their guard until it's actually over. They say negligence is one's greatest foe, and also darkness lurks—owch owie owwh, Touya-kun, bullying a young girl might lead to you awakening to a strange fetish you know, stop it—"

"You're noisy."

I grinded the professor's head with my two fists. To put that kind of trap at the very end. Isn't that completely unrelated to testing the vehicles' performances and just a prank in bad taste!?

"And, where did Lapis-san and the others go!?"

"If they head straight down the underground path, they should come out from the other side of the goal. It hurts, so could you let me go? I think something might leak soon."

I don't know what it is that might leak, but for the moment I let the professor go.

Nyantaro, who was listening in from the side, snapped back to attention and picked up his mic again.

"E, to. For, for the moment, it seems that the two are alright-nya. Ooto! And while that was going on, the [Trihalan + Strain] had already made it to the final trap area-nya!"

When I followed Nyantaro and looked up at the monitor, sure enough, the figure of the [Trirain] pressing forward while dodging the panels could be seen.

"Alright! Sixty seconds!"

And Nia was finally free from the trap's penalty too. And right when I thought that, she immediately drove onto the panel directly in front of her. Is she that much of an idiot!?

"Ooooooh!? All the panels in the trap area disappeared-nya!"

"Oya. She found the clear panel. And there's only one of them too; quite the luck."

While rubbing her head after I'm done grinding it, Professor Babylon muttered. So she really did put in a lucky panel… I completely thought it was a lie.

The [Red Cat] and the [Trirain] rushed through the now-barren trap area in a straight line.

Passing through the obstacle course's clear gate, the two continued pressing on towards the final goal.

"Nya!? The [Silver Star] and the [White Bird] appeared from underground on the opposite side of the goal-nya! The [Red Cat] and the [Trihalan + Strain] had also rounded the final corner, and entered the last straight before the goal-nya!"

This is…! The [Red Cat] and the [Trirain] from the side of the course, and the [Silver Star] and the [White Bird] from the opposite side. With the goal gate right in the middle, the four (well, five if you count the [Trihalan] and the [Strain] separately) ether vehicles rushed towards it.

Only one of them who crosses that gate can be first place. Who would that be…!

"Gooooooooooooooooooooooaaaaall!"

The vehicles, two on each side, crossed path with each other in front of us. Dr. Elka waved a checkered flag at the goal.

"Wh, which… Who was the winner?"

"The four of them crossed the gate at almost the same time…"

"What's the final decision!?"

The audience was confused, but I could see the instant the first vehicle crossed the goal with my eyes. Karen nee-san could probably see it too.

"I'll put the footage up on the monitor-"

With the still image that Dr. Elka placed on the monitor, everyone was able to see the ether vehicle that made it to first place, albeit with a truly small difference. It's quite the unexpected outcome…

"The first place is, the [Red Cat]! Nia Vermouth—!"

"Yeahhhhhhh!"

While still in the [Red Cat], Nia raised both her hands up in triumph. Oi, drive with your hands on the steering wheel.

The few people in the audience who are related to the [Red Cats] were also making noise and celebrating their chief's win.

The rest of the audience also sent applause to the winner and the other participants, but one of them, the Strain queen moved next to me and asked me something with a low voice.

"Your Majesty the Sovereign King. It's a bit late, but by [Red Cat], could that be, um…"

Giku.

Oh snap. The [Red Cat] are wanted people in both Strain Kingdom and Holy Kingdom Alent. Do I have no choice but to play dumb here!?

"… S, saa, what could you be talking about?"

"… I see. I thought they were related to a group of chivalrous thieves who punished corrupt nobles and the like. Seems like it was a misunderstanding on my part."

She's smiling, but something tells me this person definitely sensed something… Crap, I messed up… Should've at least told her to change her vehicle name.

On a side note, second and third place went to Lapis-san's [White Bird] and Rosetta & Monica's [Silver Star] respectively; they passed through at almost the same time, though. And fourth would be Crown Prince Rupheus and Princess Berlietta.

I went towards the [Trirain] and called out to the two of them, who had just alighted.

"It was a shame, wasn't it."

"Not at all. While there is some regret about not being able to claim first, I'm happy about simply being able to finish the race. It was a very fun experience!"

"Me as well!"

As I looked at the two of them who replied with smiles on their faces, I felt glad that I invited them to this race. And somewhere in the middle I even felt that I might've done something unnecessary, too.

"Princess Berlietta."

"Yes?"

The crown prince looked towards the princess by his side, and kneeled down on the spot.

"You are a wonderful woman. After this experience, I believe that I can get along well with you. Please come to Trihalan. I want you to support me."

"… Yes."

Princess Berlietta took the crown prince's hand in her own while blushing. Eh, what is this development.

"Ara ara. Seems like everything's wrapped up nicely, isn't it."

"Seems like it. Whew, with this I feel my shoulders becoming lighter already."

The Strain queen and the Trihalan emperor looked at each other and nodded. Is it like that?

I don't really understand but I guess it's something like acknowledging each other after clashing? Both of them had a favorable first impression of each other, anyway.

And like that, the race ended, and we transitioned to an outdoor party.

We'll be preparing various cuisines for everyone at a special venue set up on the beach. As we had already made plans for this, various royal chefs from countries in both worlds are here to provide local delicacies.

It was a spur-of-the-moment thing I thought up, thinking that it would be interesting to taste all the different cuisines as well as become good entry points for everyone to know more about each other; and it worked out surprisingly well.

Crown Prince Rupheus and Princess Berlietta, who announced their engagement, received congratulations from the various leaders assembled. In a sense, since this let their faces be remembered by the other countries, this was a great opportunity.

"It's great how it all ended well, isn't it."

"True. If it's those two, I feel like they'll do well together even if they fight from time to time."

While looking at the happy-looking couple from another table, I replied to Yumina's words. Although they might fight with each other in the future, if it's those two I think it'll be fine.

"Still, to think the event organiser is the first one to retire; that's rather embarrassing isn't it, eh?"

"Gu… I couldn't help that, okay?"

As I was pouting at Elze's teasing words, one of my fellow retiree, the Ferzen king came to me.

"Oh, good work out there. A pity for the both of us, eh, Brunhild sovereign?"

The Ferzen king ended the race still stuck to a bunch of birdlime, and retired like that. Although, apparently after being rescued he got over it quickly after taking a bath at the villa. The person in question then sat down on the seat directly in front of me.

"The race was quite interesting. It also showed me lots of possible improvements. It's fun to think about how ether vehicles would develop after this."

"Hearing that you enjoyed it is good enough for me."

"Right. Also… The people in this world aren't so different from us after all."

While saying that, the Ferzen king turned to look at the young couple some distance away. That reminds me, the person in front of me is also in an engagement right now, isn't he.

Ah, right. The Ferzen king was slated to become my brother-in-law in the future… Once I'm married with Luu, and he is married with Luu's elder sister, Elishia-san, it'll happen. I was trying to not think about that.

"That aside, there was a message from my home country a while ago. It's about Horn Kingdom."

"Horn Kingdom?"

That country that's on the brink of civil war? If I remember correctly, they're split between the king's grandson's faction and the king's brother's faction. Since Ferzen is a neighboring country of Horn's, if anything happens, they might get notified as well.

"You know about how both factions have approached us Ferzen for cooperation, right? So far, we've maintained our neutrality and tried to convince both sides to talk it out. And apparently, they've finally agreed to hold a conference with representatives from both factions, with Ferzen as the witness. That conference would happen three days from now."

I see. So they'd talk it out with each other with Ferzen as a mediator. If this goes well, the coming civil war may be avoided.

"I would very much like for you to participate in that conference, actually. To be honest, I've felt something was off about this whole situation all the time. The previous king of Horn was a wise ruler. I cannot help but doubt that someone like him would leave smoking sparks behind like this. There must be something deeper to this."

The deceased previous king had apparently told his younger brother that he would take the rights of succession away from the crown prince, who was on bad terms with the king, and give it to him; on the other hand, he had also apparently told the prime minister that he wanted his help to make up with the crown prince.

That's two obviously contradictory claims there. Either the previous king told a lie to either one of them, or one of them had lied themselves. Well, we can't rule out the possibility of the previous king being unstable in mind and having frequent changes to his thoughts though.

There's also the strange rumor Tsubaki-san's reports indicated. The existence of Yulong's intelligence division, [Kurau]. If they had become subordinates to either the king's younger brother or the prime minister, things could get really troublesome.

"I understand. I shall participate in that conference as well. It's my wish for the Horn Kingdom to resolve its current problems and participate in the two-world conference in the future as well, anyway."

"I see. That helps. I can rest easy knowing that you'll be there."

After saying that, the Ferzen king left our table.

Fumu. If it's to see through some lies, it may be good to borrow the power of Her Eminence the Ramissh Pope. She who holds the [Mystic Eyes of Sincerity], with the power of seeing through lies.

With her, we should be able to quickly understand which one between the king's younger brother and the prime minister was lying. The Keeler polygraph made by the professor would've worked too, but given the situation it's probably best to proceed with the subtler option.

I left to look for Her Eminence the Ramissh Pope, who's probably seated at another table, to ask for her cooperation.