In Another World With My Smartphone: Volume 4 Page 13

  “The Regulus emperor? In my capital? Today is just one surprise after the other, isn’t it...?” I couldn’t really say anything about that. Everything other than the queen falling pregnant was kind of my fault anyway... Well, not kind of. It was all totally all my fault.

  “So, the emperor wishes to meet with you, Your Highness. What do you wish to do?”

  “The emperor wishes to meet, does he?” The king slouched slightly, lacing his fingers together with a sigh. He pondered for a while, then stood up as if he’d made a final decision.

  “There’s no point in running from this. I’ll open up negotiations with him.”

  “Alright, let’s go to my house.” I used [Gate] to bring us directly to the emperor’s temporary room.

  The emperor, who was laying in bed, was initially startled by the sudden appearance of my portal. He was even more surprised when we passed through it. The two monarchs locked eyes and, after a short while, the emperor averted his gaze and bowed his head.

  “Please excuse my sorry state, O king of Belfast. I have brought trouble for your nation, it would seem.”

  “Fret not, O emperor of Regulus. I’ve heard the circumstances from Touya, and I know you are not to blame.” The king sat on a chair at the bedside. A high-level political discussion was clearly about to take place. I left the room. It was best to leave the two royal families to sort this out.

  Carol stood guard outside the door. She was initially surprised when she saw me come out of the room, since I’d entered through a [Gate] and all. I figured she’d get used to it, so I didn’t mind too much.

  “Don’t go inside, the emperor is having a political discussion with the king of Belfast.”

  “You what?! When did that happen?!” Carol suddenly spoke up in surprise. She had a habit of overreacting to the tiniest things.

  Suddenly, my eyes drifted toward her sword, and I was reminded of something. It was that crest on her blade’s guard. I couldn’t shake the feeling that I’d seen it before. Now where did I... Oh, right!

  “Excuse me, Carol? What does the emblem on your sword there mean?”

  “Hm? You mean the Rillettes family crest? What of it?” She let me look at it up close. It was definitely the same one that I’d seen before. The one that Renne had on her.

  “I’ve seen this crest somewhere else before, Carol. On a pendant.”

  “What?! Was it a wind spellstone?! Tell me, now! Where’s the owner, where is she?!” Her eyes suddenly grew sharp and focused, and Carol began marching toward me with passion in her tone. She clearly had her reasons, but I didn’t know them yet, so I decide not to mention Renne to her.

  “The owner died of an illness. I’m sorry, she was sick.”

  “Oh... I-I see...” In response to my words, Carol faltered and the strength seemed to drain from her body. The person must have meant a lot to her.

  “The owner of that pendant was my elder sister. When we were younger, our stubborn and strict father expelled her from our household.”

  Her older sister, huh...? No wonder she seemed so desperate. Hmm... does that mean Renne is Carol’s niece? They don’t exactly look alike. Carol is blonde, but Renne has auburn hair. I wonder if she took that from her dad’s side.

  “Is the Rillettes family a noble house in the Regulus Empire?”

  “The house isn’t especially affluent or anything, but we’re descended from one of the Twelve Blades of the Empire.”

  “Hm? What’s that?”

  “I doubt the people of Belfast would know much about it, but the Twelve Blades were the people who supported the first emperor and helped found the nation to begin with. Kir Rillettes the Twinblade was one of those men, and he’s my ancestor. But the descendants of the Twelve Blades are really just nobles in name only these days...” Carol let out a small laugh as she spoke.

  So they’re noble, but they’re still impoverished and largely obscure... Even Laim didn’t even know what their crest was.

  “So my elder sister passed away... Our father fought with her until the day he died, and they never reconciled their feelings... On his deathbed, he named it as his biggest regret... I can only hope they made up on the other side.”

  “Ah, er... well, about your sister... She has a daughter, which means you have a niece. The girl’s actually here, right now...”

  “......Say what?” Carol was at a loss for words. She just stared. I wasn’t too surprised. After all, it must’ve been a lot to take in.

  Just then, in a case of terrible or excellent timing, Renne came charging through the hall.

  “Oi, Bruv— Touy— Er, Sir! Dinner’s ready!”

  “Ah, thanks, Renne. I’ll get it soon.” Renne gave a short bow to Carol and myself. Carol followed the girl with her gaze, until she turned the corner. Then, she returned to looking at me.

  “That’s your niece. Her name’s Renne. Before I hired her, she was living in the slums and picking pockets.”

  “What...?!”

  “She had to do what she could to survive. Her dad was an adventurer who never came back from a particularly difficult mission. But even though she was on the edge of poverty, she still treasured her mother’s pendant above all else.” Carol looked over at the spot where Renne just was.

  “...Would it be fine with you if I spoke to the girl?”

  “Right now? I can call her, if you like.”

  “No, not while the empire is in such a state. I want everything settled first. I’m glad she’s here, actually. It seems to be a safe and happy place for her. But I would like her to meet my mother. The girl... her hair is reddish, and her eyes are different, but she looks almost the spitting image of my sister.”

  Carol’s mother... So that’s Renne’s grandma, right? I hope they get to meet each other soon.

  As I thought about that, Yumina appeared in the hallway.

  “Touya, my father and the emperor are asking for you.”

  “For me?” What do they want? I deliberately left the room to avoid being roped into this!

  The emperor was seated on his bed, seemingly relaxed. The king looked equally relaxed on the bedside chair, as well. The two of them seemed quite calm, given the situation. I wondered if negotiations had finished already.

  “Touya, about earlier today...”

  “Hm? What about earlier?” I didn’t understand what the king was getting at, since a lot had happened today already.

  “Is it true? The king here says that you had some kind of plan. A plan to defeat General Bazoar.” The emperor chimed in to clarify what the king had meant. Oh, that.

  “Well, yes. I’m pretty sure I can defeat the general. I can probably take all power away from the army, too. I feel like I could take back the capital in less than a day. Probably tomorrow, honestly.”

  “Excuse me?!” Everyone, aside from Yumina, stiffened with shock. Yumina proudly puffed out her chest as if to say “That’s my man!” to the room. Heh... they’re growing a little.

  “I’m curious. The members of the army that joined the coup... Do you intend to punish them all?”

  “Not to the same extent. The general’s execution is inevitable, as he’s the mastermind, but I think I’ll simply banish the soldiers that joined the coup.”

  Dismissing them, not a bad call... Pretty fair, really. It’s close to half of their standing army force, so it’s not like they can’t recover those numbers over time.

  “Display map. Regulus Empire. Heart of the Empire.”

  “Understood. Displaying map.” A map of the empire’s capital was projected in the middle of the room.

  “Wh-What is this...?”

  “A map of our capital...? This detail is incredible...!”

  “This is one of my Null spells. Do you like this?” Lu and the emperor seemed extremely surprised and impressed. The king was quite shocked, as well. That was weird, as I could’ve sworn I’d shown him before.

  “Run search. Royal Knights in blue. Standing Army in red.”

  “Unde
rstood... Search complete. Displaying.” A red wave painted itself across the map of the capital. It felt like there were more people than there were last time I checked. They were likely called in from other towns across the country. In one corner of the castle, there was a concentrated cluster of blue points.

  “What’s this?”

  “It’s the underground dungeon. The remaining knights are likely there, but this can’t be right. There are so few of them... Did they flee? Or, were they killed...?” The emperor clenched his fists. He was understandably frustrated. Lu suddenly spoke up and asked me a question.

  “Uhm, Touya...? Could you please look for my brother?”

  “Well... yeah, I think I can do that, but... Does he have any distinguishing features? Something that would let me notice him right away as the crown prince.” The search function was based on my subjective perception, after all. It could find members of the army because I viewed people in military uniform as “members of the army.”

  But because of that, I can’t exactly search for people I’ve never met or seen before. It’d be good if he had something that made him stand out. Like how Yae’s brother had a scar on his cheek.

  “Something distinguishing...? Um... well, he has silvery hair, but...” Lu was thinking pretty hard. The emperor smiled a little as he saw her trying hard. I guess he didn’t stand out too much, after all. So there was nothing else for it. I just had to enter her memories.

  “Lu. Can I have your hand for a moment?”

  “Hm? Yes... ah...” I grasped her small hand in mine. Lu’s face suddenly turned a beet red, so I spoke up and tried to get her to calm down.

  “Close your eyes and picture your brother for me. The most recent memory of him you can muster.”

  “Y-Yes...” I pressed my forehead against Lu’s as she concentrated. Taking a memory from the emperor probably would’ve been easier, but I didn’t want to push my head against another guy. It just made me think of the Refreese princess. She’d surely have a field day with a concept like that.

  “A-Ahh?!”

  “Concentrate, now.”

  “Y-Yes!!!” Honestly, Lu was pretty cute when she was flustered, but it wasn’t the time for that. I focused my energy and cast the spell.

  “[Recall].” A vague face began to appear in my mind, and the image gradually grew more clear. His hair was a faint silver, but it wasn’t especially distinct... His face, on the other hand, was extremely gentle. “Wait... if this is the crown prince... then I’ve met him already.”

  “What?!” Everyone in the room yelled out in surprise.

  There’s no doubt about it. When the capital was under assault... I saved a young knight from a group of soldiers. And... that was the crown prince, apparently. Was he trying to escape in disguise?! Ah crap... I just left him there in a bed!

  “Search. The empire’s crown prince.”

  “Understood...... Search complete. Displaying.” A green pin fell down on the map of the capital. It was moving around, which meant he must have been alive. That was a relief.

  “He’s alive, then... Where about is this?”

  “That’s the home of our empire’s western general, Romero. Wonderful, it seems my son is safe.”

  He’s safe? But he’s with the army... Just as I thought that, the emperor gave a chuckle. He then spoke up like a true mind-reader.

  “Not every division of the army operated under General Bazoar. General Romero was a strong opposing force to Bazoar’s proposed plan to use demons to bolster our troops. He likely got a handle on the situation and offered refuge to my son.”

  I see... So not every soldier blindly follows Bazoar. Guess that makes sense... He’ll be safe there for now, but I don’t think we have a lot of time left.

  “Then we’ll head to the capital tomorrow morning.”

  “W-W-Wait a moment! Are you sure that’s alright? The opposing army is massive, and they have the ability to call down demonic reinforcements!” The emperor flew into a panic and tried to stop me. I understood where he was coming from. If it was a normal person, I’d definitely have my doubts, too. But I had no intentions of losing. It was a similar situation in Eashen, as well.

  “I’ll work it out, don’t worry. I have companions I trust, after all.” I glanced over at Yumina, and she gave me a firm nod. The emperor also seemed to be relieved by our confidence in one another.

  “Tomorrow morning, then... Will you take me with you?”

  “Are you sure about that? It’ll be dangerous. It’d probably be safer to wait here.”

  “No, I have to see this through with my own eyes. It’s the very least I can do as the nation’s emperor.”

  Hmph, if he’s gonna be like that... Well, I can’t just leave him here after that, but I can hardly put him out on the front lines either.

  “Let’s have Belfast’s Knight Order serve as the emperor’s guardsmen. I wish to see Touya in battle, myself.” The king put forward an offer, and the emperor gratefully accepted. I guess things might be fine after all, then.

  I decided that the following morning we’d head to the capital, along with the emperor and a group of Knights.

  I used a [Gate] to see the king back off to the palace, then left the emperor’s room.

  I went out on to the terrace and called over Kokuyou, Sango, and Kohaku. I had to ask them some questions about summoning magic. I wasn’t going to just go in with these guys, after all. I needed to call in reinforcements.

  “So what you’re saying is... while the summoned beast is completely random, if you contract a high enough being from a certain family of creatures, then you can freely call upon any lower-level creature in that same family?”

  “That’s correct. As my contracted lord, you can summon almost any kind of brutish beast, typically ones with fangs or claws.”

  “And in our case, you can summon any beasts with shells or scales.” Kokuyou and Kohaku explained their specializations to me. In effect, as an extension of my ability to call on them, I could call on any four-legged mammal or reptilian creature. To command such power... they really were worthy of their Heavenly Beast status.

  “It would be best if you could contract with the master of each family. That way, once you’ve granted their leader a name, the entire tribe would be at your disposal. The practice isn’t just limited to demons, after all.” Kokuyou chuckled slightly as it spoke.

  Well, I’ll give it a try... Er... what should I go and summon?”

  “If I might suggest one... Cerberus has excellent combat potential.”

  Oh, I recognize that name. Cerberus is the guardian hound of Hades, right? Large, black, and three heads, if I recall correctly. I don’t see any harm in summoning him...

  That afternoon, I summoned countless beasts. I summoned one, I named it, I summoned another, I named it... Frankly, I ended up naming them pretty randomly by the end. I hoped they’d forgive me, but wasn’t like I had a stockpile of names ready or anything...

  After that, I went to bed early. I needed to be prepared for the next day.

  Just like that, the next morning came. I stood atop a roof in a corner of the empire’s capital.

  I took out my smartphone to confirm the time. It was eight in the morning. I tried to open up a portal straight to the castle, but it didn’t work. I wasn’t surprised. They knew I could teleport, so it was only natural they’d erect a barrier to counter it.

  I was accompanied by Elze, Linze, Yae, Yumina, Kohaku, Kokuyou, and Sango. His Majesty the King of Belfast, as well as His Highness the Emperor of Regulus were there as well, accompanied by General Leon, Deputy Commander Neil, Lyon, and some other members of the Belfastian Knight Order. And, even though I didn’t want to bring her, Lu was here with Carol as her personal guard.

  I told everyone other than my core party to wait here for the time being. I also left a [Gate] open by them, just in case we needed to perform a tactical retreat. It was programmed to close one minute after someone went through it, in order to prevent the enemy
army from invading through it. I didn’t think it’d come to that, though.

  “Now, for the declaration of war... Uhh... Video playback. In the sky above this city.”

  “Understood. Playback initiating.” A great big screen was projected across the sky over the empire’s capital. It was about two hundred meters across. It was definitely big enough to see at a distance, I didn’t think it’d be appropriate to have such a large screen at close range, anyway.

  I also included a loud audio track alongside the video, since I had to be sure that everyone below paid attention. The music I chose was Wagner’s “Ride of the Valkyries.” I reduced the volume of the backing music and faded in the audio from the video that we had recorded earlier that morning. The emperor appeared on the video feed.

  “People of the Empire’s Heart. I am the Regulus Empire’s ruler, Zephyrus Loah Regulus. The situation is this. The standing army has staged a violent military coup. Please accept my most sincere apologies for the carnage caused in their name. I intend to quell this rebellion once and for all, so please stay safe until then. Be at ease, and rest easy. As I speak, my warriors make steps to retake the city from the insurgents. Remain within your homes.”

  “Goodness, is that what I sound like?” The emperor turned to his daughter, seeming quite surprised. I shouldn’t have been too surprised he reacted this way. Few people in this world had heard their own voices, after all.

  “Now, this is a message for the army staging the coup. I have my faults, I will readily admit that. And so, I will let your voices be heard, but this is not the way to get my attention. I will offer you one chance to surrender. If you remove your uniforms now, you will be pardoned. But for those of you who are still clad in your military uniforms by the time I count to ten... Well, I assure your my judgment shall be swift. The countdown begins now. One... two...” A smaller screen was projected in front of me, showing the uniformed soldiers marked in red on the map. The city was packed full of them, but one by one their numbers dropped. It seemed that many of them were listening to the emperor, and discarding their uniforms.

  “The men who remain in their uniforms... are we to attack them?”