Chapter 321: Kidnapper, and the Second Imperial Prince.
Chapter 321: Kidnapper, and the Second Imperial Prince.
“First, please look at this.”
Saying that, I projected a certain video from my smartphone into the air.
“Oo…!”
“This is…”
The people inside the darkened room with its curtains drawn, which included His Majesty the Primula King, Dr. Elka and Fenrir, the Grand Chamberlain, the Prime Minister, the Knight Captain as well as the escorting knights, swallowed their breaths collectively while looking at that video.
What was shown in it was a fierce three-way battle between monsters made of crystals, similar golden monsters, and giant armored knights.
“The crystal monsters are the Phrase, and the golden monsters the variants born from them. Right now, our world is being invaded by them. Well, we did manage to repel them every time so far.”
I looked around at the people within the room as I spoke. I’ll leave aside whether they will believe or not, and only speak of the facts for now.
“And, as a matter of fact, these monster have also began to appear in your world. Eventually, they would be arriving with a force that exceeds tens of thousands.”
“Is that the truth?”
“It is. It might be rude of me to say this, but the only thing in this world that can stand up to those monsters are the Legacy golems.”
I feel bad for the king, but it can’t be helped even if I say a lie here. When the two worlds are eventually joined together, that would become the truth anyway.
“Assuming that is the truth, what do you… No, what does Your Majesty the Sovereign King wants from us?”
“I want this country to support my efforts to defeat those monsters. Over in my world, more than 90% of all countries have already banded together in an alliance and stand together to face the invaders. If the countries in this world can also do that…”
“Are you telling us to join forces with the God-Kingdom!? They are exactly the invaders to us right now, you know!”
DON! Came the sound of the tough-looking knight captain, who looks to be in his forties and grew stubbles, smacking the table with his fist. The flaming red hair he had leaves a strong impression, and overall he gives off a clear feeling of being a martial-type.
“Well, it certainly is difficult for enemies to become friends immediately. At the least, we have to reach a stage where we can negotiate with the other side.”
“If the other side doesn’t want to listen, then there’s no point to holding talks anyway. It will develop into military conflicts eventually.”
The prime minister, who looks unhealthily thin, followed with his opinion. That person feels like he has given up somewhere. It might be unavoidable in this situation to feel that way, but still.
“That’s right. Then all we have to do is slap them across the face a few times, and make them hear our side out by force. It’s a simple talk.”
“Oya? Are you perhaps thinking of crushing that God-Empire or whatever?”
“Nono, why would I do that? It’s too troublesome. What should I even do with it once I’ve crushed it?”
The professor next to me said something like that lightly while snickering. Although the prime minister showed a startled expression at those words, he soon returned a bitter smile.
“You speak as if you can actually defeat the God-Empire…”
“But I can, you know? I don’t know what your definition of ‘defeat’ means exactly, but if it’s only a country like that, then it’s easy to annihilate them. To me, the management issues that come after that is the far more difficult and troublesome part, to be honest. I really don’t understand what’s so fun about conquering other countries…”
That’s my serious thought on this matter, in a lot of ways. I’m already having trouble with the small Brunhild, and to expand that further… I don’t want to imagine it. I must be cautious over in this world so that I don’t get made into a king here too! (Note: Hmmmmmmmmm… *sips tea*)
“S-so Your Majesty the Sovereign King is capable of saving this country from the God-Empire’s invasion?”
“I am. However, the Frame Gear… The armored giants you’ve seen just now, since they’re not supposed to be used against human opponents, I won’t be using them.”
“Then how would you stop the advance of the God-Empire’s army!”
The knight captain roared in a loud voice again. The prime minister and the knight captain, from some time ago their attitudes towards me can’t really be said to be appropriate against the king of a country…
Well, I can understand them not believing me easily if I just straight up told them “I’m a king from another world”. Ah, His Majesty the Primula King chided the knight captain.
See, he got angry. It’s bad for a retainer to do something that smears dirt on his lord’s face, you know.
I got back onto the topic at hand and asked a question towards the king.
“Who’s the commander-in-charge for the invasion force of the God-Empire?”
“I believe… That it’s the second imperial prince of the God-Empire. Right, Prime Minister Beroa?”
“Yes. The second prince, Listin La Trihalan.” (Note: I die a little bit inside every time I see new names.)
Hoho, the second imperial prince you say. That’s just perfect.
“Well then, let’s capture that second imperial prince. If we use the second prince as a hostage, we should be able to force them to negotiate, no?”
When they heard that, everyone aside from the professor had their mouths hanging open and their brows raised high. What are those “What is this person even saying?” eyes for, you guys.
I know that I’m suggesting for us to become kidnappers, but… (Note: uh, no Touya. Not that.)
“He can use transfer magic, you know? Going into the enemy base and coming out with the general is a piece of cake for him.”
The professor next to me explained. Well, it’s something like that. It sounds like a cowardly tactic, but it’s the simplest one. Annihilating the soldiers of the other side will just leave me with a bad aftertaste. It’ll be a disaster to the prince either way, to be honest.
“If, if that’s possible then it’s true that the God-Empire would withdraw its troops…”
“I’ll say one thing in advance, though. Our side will only demand for the cessation of hostilities upon capturing the second imperial prince. I’d like for you to not take advantage of that, and ask for land or ransoms from the other side. And of course, we must also guarantee the safety of the second prince.”
I just want to end this war, not destroy the God-Empire, after all. I won’t allow any selfish acts, in any case.
“But then, what if the God-Empire army invades again after we returned the second imperial prince to them?”
“Of course I’ll make some suitable threats to them when handing over the second imperial prince. Like, next it’ll be the emperor, or something.”
I sound like a villain from somewhere, but it’s too late to try to keep appearances up anyway.
“… Your Majesty the Sovereign King is quite forceful, aren’t you.”
“It’s better than increasing the number of bodies right? Back in our world, the situation has already progressed to the point where countries can no longer fight between themselves. And unfortunately, this world is approaching that point, too. The country that doesn’t work together with others will only face destruction.”
I returned some thorny words to Prime Minister Beroa. Well, no matter what country, I wouldn’t just sit by and watch them be destroyed, but still. As long as they aren’t completely incorrigible…
“Well then, what does Your Majesty the Sovereign King want us to do?”
“Once things calm down, I’d like for you to form an alliance with our country. Well, since we don’t have any influence in this world, you might not look very kindly upon us.”
“No, you have my trust on that point. In the first place, my lineage came from that side as well. I don’t doubt the existence of the other world. There’s also Dr. Elka’s recommendation to consider, too.”
Fumu. “On that point”, huh. It seems like I still don’t have their full trust, but that’s fine for now. I suppose that while they believe my talk of being “a person from another world”, when it comes to “a king from another world” they would still be a bit suspicious.
“Map display. The location of the battle between Primula Kingdom and Trihalan God-Empire.”
“Acknowledged.”
Together with the voice from the smartphone, a map of the entire Primula Kingdom appeared in the air, and slowly began to shrink down.
Reben, is it. That’s the city currently being attacked: the Fortress City Reben. The God-Empire army is enclosing it from three directions.
It’s called a fortress city, so it shouldn’t fall easily, but if the God-Empire throws in Legacies on top of its Soldat golems, the outcome might become shaky.
“Search. Trihalan God-Empire’s second imperial prince.”
“Searching… 23 found.”
“That’s a lot of second imperial princes…”
I scowled at the map when I heard the result. That’s basically the number of people there whom I would go “that could be the second imperial prince” upon seeing them. As usual, this searching magic is lacking in precision…
“Do you know any physical traits of the second imperial prince? If there’s a picture that would help a lot.”
“There’s no pictures, but… His age is 19, has blonde hair and is apparently quite good looking. There’s also something about him being sickly. He should also be wearing a crest belonging to the Emperor’s family on him somewhere.”
A blonde ikemen… Those born prince-types sure are envious. I asked to see the design of the Trihalan God-Empire’s Emperor’s family crest while feeling a bit dispirited.
Two swords crossed on top of a double-headed lion, huh? When I searched again while keeping that image in my head, the search result was narrowed to just one person.
That’s likely the God-Empire’s second imperial prince, I suppose.
“Well then, I’ll be gone for a bit.”
“Ah, is it ok if I tag along?”
The professor who was next to me suddenly said that.
“Eh? … Well, it’s fine.”
For a moment, I thought it’d be troublesome, but it’s true that leaving the professor alone here is a bit worrying. In a lot of ways. Let’s take her along.
The distance and direction… Are like that. Alright.
“[Teleport].”
I transferred myself and the professor in one go to the Trihalan God-Empire army’s camp.
Since I managed to grasp [Dimensional Transfer] which is the same type of magic, the precision of my [Teleport] had gone up further. If it’s within a certain distance, it’s movement is perfect.
In front of us is one young man who opened his eyes wide at our appearance. I suppose he must be the second imperial prince, Listin, then. He’s blonde, too. His appearance is completely one of those delicate prince-types that appear in shoujo mangas.
Within the tent, there’s also two other women who appear to be maids.
“Wh-who are you!?”
“For now, I guess we’re representatives of Primula…? And are you Imperial Prince Listin?”
Reacting to my words, the prince drew the sword at his waist and took a stance.
“An intruder! Get out!”
“Oops. [Prison].”
Since I didn’t want it to become too troublesome, I set up a protective field around the three of us.
Soldiers rushed into the straw-looking tent and tried to slash at us, but all of them were stopped by an invisible wall, and couldn’t reach our location.
“Yaaa-!”
The second imperial prince pointed his sword at us and came forward. I lightly dodged his strike, grabbed his wrist and activated [Paralyze]. Seems like his swordplay is nothing significant. After I released him, the prince slowly slid to the ground.
Seeing that, an elderly knight shouted towards us.
“You bastard! What do you intend to do to Imperial Prince Listin!?”
Ah, so he really is the prince, huh. If I had gotten the wrong person that would complicate the situation quite a bit…
“Please stop your invasion of the Primula Kingdom. Until then, we’ll be keeping guard over the imperial prince in your stead. I promise you that I shall return the prince to your side safe and sound when the Trihalan army pulls out of Primula entirely.”
I gave my demands to the knights who had entered the tent. The eyes of the knights who are gnashing their teeth while looking here are a bit painful, can you spare me that? No? Ok.
“Exactly the lines of a villain.”
“Shut it.”
While chuckling, the professor bent down to look at the imperial prince’s face. Since [Paralyze] only robs a person of their movements but leaves their consciousness fully intact, he had obviously heard the talks earlier, and could see the professor who is gazing at him.
“… Oya? Hee… Hoho… I see… Considerably interesting.” (Note: I’m not reading ahead, but somehow I can tell where this is going.)
The professor murmured while patting the imperial prince here and there. Since she’s doing something like reverse sexual harassment, I dragged her away from the prince. If she caused a separate problem due to that, I’ll be troubled, you know…
“Touya-kun. For the moment, why don’t we bring those maids over there to act as the prince’s caretakers? We can’t leave everything to Primula’s side, can we?”
Hm. She has a point.
“May I ask the two person over there to come over here as well? I’d like to request them to act as the imperial prince’s caretakers.”
The two maids answered my request and moved towards me. When I changed the setting of [Prison] to allow the two maids inside, they suddenly slashed at me using daggers that appeared in their hands out of nowhere.
Well, I expected that much. I parried their strikes calmly, and sealed their movements with [Paralyze] just like the imperial prince. I have at least the awareness that no normal maids can be in the middle of an army camp, you know.
“Well then, we’ll be taking the imperial prince with us. If your side retreats from Primula, we will return the prince unharmed.”
“You’re saying the truth…?”
“Without a doubt. I won’t let anyone from Primula touch even a strand of the prince’s hair.”
I answered the question of an elderly knight who, even among the knights gathered around us, is directing an especially intense glare at me. Is he perhaps something like a teacher to the imperial prince?
For now, that’s all the things I need to do here.
I used [Teleport] again, and transferred us and the [Prison] altogether back to the conference room in the Primula Kingdom’s castle that we were in earlier.
The Primula group started making a fuss when we suddenly showed up. The reason, obviously, wouldn’t be me, but the three people currently rolling on the floor that had teleported together with me.
“Your, Your Majesty the Sovereign King… These people are…”
“Ah, the second imperial prince of Trihalan God-Empire.”
While explaining to the Primula King, I took the sword hanging by the prince’s waist. Gotta get rid of any weapons on our captives, after all.
I passed the sword, which had the Emperor’s family crest on its side, to the Primula King. With this, it should clear any suspicion that he’s a fake.
I’ve asked the professor to handle the maids. Even though I’ve told her not to sexually harass them, she started rubbing her chests halfway, so I dropped my iron fist on her head.
“You can hear me, right? This place is within the royal castle of Primula. I’ll set you free in a moment, but please do not start acting violently, ok? I’ll make sure the Primula side doesn’t do anything, either.”
The second imperial prince moved his head a little when I said that to him. Seems like he understands. I cast [Recovery] on the prince to remove the paralysis.
When the imperial prince realized he can move his body again, he stood up from the ground. It was then that I realized the prince was surprisingly short in stature.
“… Are you not a person from Primula Kingdom?”
The imperial prince asked me while looking over here with wary eyes. Well, I’m a kidnapper, so it’s to be expected.
“I am not. Just someone who wishes to stop this war. Which is why, I will not forgive the Primula side either if they were to try and harm you.”
“… I am also the same in wishing to stop this war. If the fighting can stop with this, I’ll gladly receive the humiliation of being a prisoner.”
Ara. Surprisingly, a calm guy who can listen to reason, this prince. While I was thinking that, the professor tugged at my coat lightly. What is it?
With a small voice, the professor told me something. Eee!? What is that!?
I stared hard at the imperial prince in front of my eyes. Now that she said it, it really is… But then why?
(Note: fucking called it. *slams coffee cup on table*)
“Your, Your Majesty the Primula King. For now, can you arrange a room for the imperial prince? I will explain the situation to him.”
“Mu. Yes, that’s right.”
The Primula King who was looking at the imperial prince’s sword in his hand ordered some knights nearby to guide us.
Since the prince and the two maids still had [Prison] activated around them, nobody here can touch them directly. They probably understood that as well, so the three of them followed the knights obediently.
Me and the professor followed them out of the room as well. After this, the Primula side should have a meeting to discuss what happens after this… Is the general meaning of the words I told them, but to be honest, I was thinking hard on what to do after this.
I entered the room the imperial prince was guided to, and expanded the [Prison] to cover the entire room while also adding a sound-blocking setting. It could be bad if the talk after this is heard by others, after all.
“Well then, I’ll introduce ourselves again. I’m the Sovereign… No, I suppose that part is fine. Mochizuki Touya. You can just think of me as a magic user. And, this here is Professor Babylon.”
“A magic user…! I see, so the mysterious happenings since back then were all magic. I’m convinced.”
“Right. I’ve made this room into a place where nobody can enter, and where sounds cannot escape. As such, I’ll ask this now. Could you perhaps not be an imperial prince… But an imperial princess?”
The breath-holding face before me acts as the answer to my question. So it’s exactly like what the professor said… Eh, really…
- Pixel