In Another World With My Smartphone_Volume 5 Read online

  “If you could all state your names, age, and birthplace, from left to right please.” Laim and I began to ask rather inoffensive questions as Yumina checked out their true natures.

  Every time we asked a question, Her Holiness either clenched or opened her left hand. This was a signal we set up in advance. If she opened her hand flat, it meant they were telling the truth. But if she clenched her hand into a fist, then they were lying. I continued to ask questions as I observe this.

  It’s not that telling a lie will get you immediately disqualified. There are things people don’t want to talk about, and things that could be dangerous if revealed. But I cannot place my trust in someone who would lie about everything and anything.

  Nor did it mean that people who truthfully answered question such as “What’s more important, you or your country?”, “What would you do if you were rich?”, and “Could you calmly dispose of a traitor?”, would immediately pass.

  When the interview was done we allowed the five applicants to leave the room before Yumina started to speak.

  “We should reject the people third and fifth from the left. I believe they had malicious intent in their minds.”

  “They did indeed tell many lies. They had wonderful poker faces, however.”

  “Poker faces...? Ahh, you mean the technique where you stop your opponent from reading your expression during card games.” For now we decided to cross those two people off the list, and had Nikola call in the next five. We’re gonna have to do this twenty times? What a pain in the ass...

  “Ahh, I’m exhausted...!” We were finally done with the interviews, which meant my head could come crashing down on the desk. Fighting against a lot of people was far easier, if you asked me.

  We ended up dealing with a few people who casually lied with smiles on their faces like it was nothing. It kinda freaked me out. Still, it seemed that the ability to discern lies from truth was actually a bit of a burden.

  “I try my best not to invoke it too often. Sometimes it’s best not to know.” Her Eminence certainly had a point. If you went through life seeing through everyone completely, you could end up mistrusting people in general. I hoped I hadn’t made her overdo it a bit. I decided to treat her to dinner later as an apology.

  After we rounded off the disqualified candidates, there were sixty-four applicants remaining. It was just a little bit more than expected, but I was fine to accept all of them.

  Thirty-seven men, and twenty-seven women. It was actually more women than I had anticipated. Though, it was probably because the Knight Orders in other countries didn’t allow females to join. My poster had specified that sex, creed, or race was irrelevant, so naturally a few talented ladies made their way to my duchy.

  As it happened, Rebecca’s reason for coming to Brunhild was precisely that. Logan also came along, stating he was looking for steady work. I asked if they were planning on getting married or something, but they both yelled at me in surprised unison. Apparently he was seeing someone else. Talk about awkward...

  Twenty-two of the candidates were Beastmen and Monsterkin. I could understand so many Beastmen coming in, because my commanding trio were also Beastmen, but the number of Monsterkin definitely threw me off.

  Monsterkin were a species that were typically bipedal and similar to humans in appearance. But even if they were generally considered demi-human, they were much closer to conventional monsters for the most part. Members of their race included Vampires, Lamias, Ogres, and Alraunes. They’re fully capable of communication, and are just as intelligent as humans, though they tend to keep their distance from mankind.

  As you’d expect, there’s a lot of prejudice and discrimination against Monsterkin across the world. Several countries even actively oppress members of the species, including the Ramissh Theocracy before their reforms.

  The interviews with the Monsterkin were especially strict and thorough due to the potential distrust or ill will towards humanity. But the five of them that passed all were approved wholly by Yumina’s Mystic Eyes. Her Holiness the Pope also determined they were all honest and true individuals. They all genuinely wished to live amongst humans, so I passed them. They were a vampire, an ogre, an alraune, and two lamias.

  As an aside, the vampire candidate looked like a stereotypical vampire, but he seemed to be fine without drinking blood. Apparently, amongst vampires at least, blood was seen as something similar to how humans see booze or cigarettes. Some enjoyed partaking, but others just had no interest or even actively disliked it. The vampire who joined our ranks stated that he was quite uncomfortable around blood, actually. It was pretty jarring, given my image of vampirism as an insatiable hunger.

  I began wondering just how my royal knights were going to end up looking. There were a few details like squad arrangement to go over, but we certainly had quite the diverse cast of characters making up my ranks. I didn’t mind, though, it seemed like things would be more fun that way anyhow.

  ◇　◇　◇

  I created a second barracks due to our sudden increase in troops. Men and women didn’t need to share accommodation, either. Though I provided the barracks for them to live in, I’d also be fine with them staying in the town if they paid for it themselves.

  I also took some advice from old man Baba and built an underground training facility.

  “For the time bein’, these three’re the commander and vice-commanders, right? How’s it gonna look to the newbies if they see Yamagata and me beatin’ them around?” He had a point. The three of them were definitely strong, but they still weren’t tough enough to hold a candle to the old men. If the new recruits saw them getting roughed up by Yamagata and company, they might lose confidence in Lain and consider the old men more suited to lead. That’d be bad!

  Therefore we decided to create an elite-members only exclusive training facility, deep underground. As they poured into the place, which was basically just a gym with a training field attached to it, they all looked around in glee at the inventions I had placed within. Like children, they ran over and used the exercise bike, the treadmill, the barbell weights, and so on. They’d end up suffering extreme muscle fatigue if they overdid it. They weren’t toys!

  Now, I had a few things to do that day. The duchy was being well-managed, so I decided to finally address a few things in my personal life.

  Even though it was long overdue, I decided that today was the day... To tell the parents of the girls I’d proposed to that we were engaged.

  It was already settled in the case of Yumina and Lu, but I hadn’t told Yae’s family, or Elze and Linze’s, either.

  I was already acquainted with Yae’s mother and father, but Elze and Linze’s biological parents were dead. I knew that their uncle and aunt were living in Refreese though, they lived in a farming village and had raised the twins there.

  I decided to meet with Yae’s parents first. I whipped up a portal, and the two of us found ourselves in Oedo.

  “Been a while since I’ve been to Eashen.” It felt a little funny to me, since roughly half of Brunhild’s citizens were Eashen natives. We passed through the gate of the Kokonoe dojo, and Ayane, their maid, came to greet us.

  I was brought through to see her parents, Jubei and Nanae. I told them straight-up about my engagement. To my surprise, they didn’t respond with much other than a silent glance between the two.

  “See? It is as I said it would be.”

  “I suppose you were correct. Very well, and thank you. Please take care of our Yae as you would your other brides, Touya-dono.” They bowed their heads to us, and we returned the gesture. I was kind of pleased it went so seamlessly. I half expected it to turn into a “If you want my daughter, then best me in battle!” kind of a situation.

  “But, I must confess... I did not expect you to become nobility, Touya-dono. Nor did I expect my Yae to marry into a monarch’s house... life certainly is full of surprises!” Jubei let out his honest feelings. I felt mostly the same as he did. I couldn’t have forese
en this happening a year ago.

  “Excuse me, Touya-san. Would you perhaps take us to this Brunhild? I wish to see where my daughter will be spending her life.”

  “Hm? I don’t see why not, but bear in mind we aren’t very well-developed just yet.” I didn’t mind if Yae’s mother was interested in her daughter’s home, so I obliged. We waited for Yae’s brother to return home, and I took them all with me. Ayane came along as well, as she’d never seen any place outside of Eashen before.

  “Welcome hooome, your Hiiighness.”

  “Welcome home!” Cecile and Renne came to greet us at the castle entry. Yae’s family began to look around at the castle’s interior, their heads craning to stare at everything.

  “This is Yae’s family. They’ll be looking around for a while, so please take good care of them.”

  “Oh myyy, Lady Yae’s familyy... This waay, please. I’ll shooow you to your quarteeers.” Cecile guided them off to their rooms, one-by-one. I decided that we’d stop to have lunch in the dining room, and then take them for a tour around the town. Then again, there wasn’t really much to see there. Yae’s brother, and her father, would probably prefer to check out our training grounds.

  As I expected, they did! I went with the two of them, while Yae went to the castle town with Ayane and Nanae.

  The fresh recruits of my Knight Order were practicing with deadly zeal. I was kind of pleased to see it, because the only thing I’d seen on the training field previously was Lain and the others being beaten to a pulp by old men.

  After a short while of observing, Jubei and Jutaro said they wanted to participate in the training as well. That was only natural; they were the direct family of Yae, after all, and she was a sword nut.

  I flagged down Yamagata and called him over for a mock battle with Jubei. I thought that a showdown between a former member of the Takeda Elite Four, and the swordsmanship instructor of the Tokugawa house would be something to behold indeed.

  As soon as the battle began, everyone was captured by the stunning display of swordplay. Even Jutaro, who was standing right next to me, stood enraptured by the dancing blades.

  I watched the two clash for a while, before calling it prematurely. It’d be better for the pride of both men to call it a draw, anyway.

  After the battle ended, the knights all clamored around Jubei and begged him to teach them swordplay. I was pleased they were all so eager to improve.

  Yamagata then caught the attention of Jutaro, who challenged him immediately. The boy couldn’t resist the opportunity to face off against a former member of the Takeda clan’s Elite Four, after all.

  He wasn’t on his father’s level, but Yae’s brother certainly put up an incredible fight against old man Yamagata. He was definitely stronger than Lain and the vice-commanders. But he’d been raised with a blade in his hand, and had experienced war as well. If that wasn’t natural talent honed through experience, then what was?

  The two of them joined the knight recruits and began to practice, which left me with some time to kill. I thought about leaving them in Yamagata’s care and heading back to take care of some other stuff, but I had some apprehensions about abandoning what were effectively my brother and father-in-law. I decided it’d be too cold to leave immediately, so I waited around a bit.

  As I sat down on the bench and watched them clash, Rebecca walked over to say hello.

  “Got some free time, Touya? Oh, er... I mean, my liege, right?” She spoke with a grin plastered on her face. I didn’t really mind what she called me, but she should definitely try to act formal with me around other people.

  “I didn’t expect you to come here at all, Rebecca. Why was it that you came, again?”

  “I had aspirations to join an order of Royal Knights. But a woman has little to no chance of joining an order without noble blood, or friends in high places. I started adventuring to hone my skills, then jumped at the chance when I saw the notice about indiscriminate hiring here.” That made sense enough to me. There were a lot of women amongst the applicants I’d had. Apparently Logan tagged along after Rebecca invited him. But they had no idea that I was the one at the head of the country.

  “Will didn’t come, then?”

  “He’s stuck in Belfast’s Knight Order, I think. Vice-Commander Neil has taken a real liking to him. Plus, Wendy lives over there, so there’s no way he’d leave.” According to Rebecca, Wendy was still working in Moon Reader, so Will would frequently take guard jobs there.

  It was a little late to consider, but I had no idea what was going to happen with that café. Would it being owned by the leader of a foreign country be a problem? Well, I had no doubts the King of Belfast would be fine with it either way.

  I had them send over reports on revenue, expenditures, and monthly proceeds through a Gate Mirror. I also delivered them new books every month. It was all being managed very well, and seemed to be quite popular. It made me wonder if I’d have to consider setting up a second branch in Brunhild.

  “A-Also... I have a request of you, Your Highness...”

  “A request?”

  “Yeah, see... there should be some equipment that allows one to recognize us as members of the Royal Knights, right? Like a distinctive armor, shield, or blade. Don’t you think we should have something like that? Something iconic?” Rebecca blurted out her proposal, blushing slightly. She raised a point I hadn’t considered, we definitely didn’t have anything unified or distinct. Brunhild’s knights would be easier to recognize if they had a piece of gear that made them stand out.

  “Hmm... you’ve got a point, Rebecca! It’d be super convenient if citizens could recognize you as a member of the Knight Order at a glance.”

  “For reals, right?!” Rebecca grinned, clapping her hands together. Seems I’d hit it right on the head. She looked way too excited, though. I guess she had always dreamed of joining a Royal Knight Order, though. Plus a stereotypical knight looked very cool and distinct, I figured she wanted to have that kind of image.

  “Hmm... then let’s give it a try.”

  “Wait, right now?” I took a lump of mithril out of my magic storage, completely ignoring the bewildered Rebecca as I did so.

  I used another of my trusty spells to start shaping it properly. I made an armor plating typical of fantasy anime and games, since I wanted it to have a bit of a different feeling to the armors commonly found in this world.

  I made a breastplate, set of shoulder pauldrons, greaves, and neckbrace. I had Rebecca put it on, and then adjusted the size to fit her form. I formed it in such a way that let her have free movement, but also gave the outfit a feminine feeling. Lastly, I made a helmet with a transparent visor and a wide field of view.

  I had to make sure it didn’t hinder movement, so I had Rebecca go through various motions while wearing it. It was mithril, so it shouldn’t have had much weight to it.

  “This is amazing! It’s like I’m wearing a sheet!” As Rebecca bounded around in the armor a little more, I took a Phrase shard from storage and shaped it into a blade, a shield, and a scabbard. I then charged the items with a small amount of my magic. I also made sure part of the sword’s core structure was made of mithril.

  The amount of magic I poured into the sword and shield made them harder than mithril itself. I made sure it wasn’t as sharp as Yae’s Touka, though. Didn’t want anyone stealing it and causing absolute chaos with an impossibly sharp blade.

  I finished it up by using another nifty spell to reduce the gear’s weight. And, just like that, I had created a crystal sword and shield.

  It was possible to make armor using the Phrase fragments too, but then it’d be see-through, so I decided against it. I added straps so the shield would be worn on the back, and the sword at the waist, and then it was done.

  “So, how is it?”

  “Amazing, really!” Rebecca triumphantly held up her shield and thrust out her blade. The glimmering quickly caught the attention of just about everyone else, and soon we were surrounded.r />
  I caught Logan amongst the onlookers, and called him over. Then I used him as a base and took feedback from the other knights to create a male variant of the armor. After that, I went to the Workshop and mass-produced the armor for everyone to wear.

  Only the base shape was mass-produced, though. I had to apply the enchanted effects myself. Luckily, I had [Multiple] to do it all at once.

  I set it so the armor intelligently adapted to fit the size of the person wearing it. I also added a crest in the image of Brynhildr, the Germanic shieldmaiden my gun and country were named for, on to the shields.

  I made special, unique-looking armors for the commander, vice-commanders, and squad captains. Then I had to create custom-fit armors for the Monsterkin members of my army. The vampire guy was fine to wear the regular model, though.

  It was their on-duty gear, so it would be best if they didn’t use it for practice. Their blades were made of Phrase shards, so their magic power would end up depleting if they used it wastefully, and that wouldn’t be good...

  I returned to the training grounds with the armor in tow. Everyone rushed ahead, desperate to be the first to get their hands on the stuff. They all smiled and began touching at the metal. When they were all fitted in their matching armor, they definitely gave off the feel of a proper group of royal knights.

  In later years, due to their sword and shields, Brunhild’s knights would come to be known as the “Order of the Crystal Blade.” But that’s a story for another day.

  ◇　◇　◇

  Ultimately, I was relieved to have the full support of Yae’s family, but now I had to go and visit Linze and Elze’s family.

  “H-Honestly there’s no need...” Elze was hesitant for some reason. It seemed that Elze and Linze had sent a letter off that roughly explained the situation. They said they were engaged to the same man, that the man was the ruler of a country, and so on.

  Their uncle, who was the younger brother of their mother, owned a farm in a small village called Colette. The village was in the Refreese Imperium, close to Belfast’s borders. Elze and Linze lived there until they were twelve years old, when they left in pursuit of independence. Apparently they didn’t want to burden their aunt and uncle with too many mouths to feed.