In Another World With My Smartphone: Volume 11 Premium Page 18

  “...Then you wish to wage war in the Sea of Trees?”

  “War? What part of this is war? This is fun. It is sport. They’re just a small gathering of tribal savages. Do you think my Magic Beast Knights would fall to creatures like them?”

  “The reigning tribe of the region has a friendly relationship with Brunhild. Do you wish to wage war on us as well?” The king’s brow twitched slightly, he stopped caressing the slave and leaned forward in his chair.

  “Don’t speak so confidently, boy. Your little grand duke seems to have a big head, but we won’t buckle so easily. Those giant warriors of yours mean nothing to us, you hear? You had best not rouse the sleeping serpent, understand? Sandora is no country that will lay back, chest heaving as you violate it. There are many superb assassins in our service, understand? Should I wish it, the grand duke’s head will roll around on the ground, and I will kick it like a ball.” Everyone in the vicinity laughed heartily at his words. These guys were really hopeless...

  Everyone in this court was rotten to the core. They clearly never had any benign intentions to begin with. I honestly envied their ignorant self-confidence. They clearly had no idea what was going on in the outside world.

  The king of Sandora snapped his fingers, and all the slaves in the vicinity drew their weapons.

  Lanz and I stood up, and the guardsmen that brought us in also drew their weapons.

  “Just what is the meaning of this?”

  “Hm? As far as I know, no envoy ever came to Sandora. We don’t have enough slaves after Astal was destroyed, understand? We can get uninitiated slaves from other nations, and train them hard for about a month. We’ll take you, and simply claim you never arrived. We have the best trainers available, after all. We’ll break everyone under us.” I stared, dumbfounded, at the obnoxious laughing king. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing here, or how readily he was admitting it.

  So they really had been kidnapping people from other nations. It was exactly as the other world leaders had told me. This country was messed up, and it was my mistake to even expect anything from them...

  I hadn’t lost my temper or anything, but no way in hell was I going to keep treating someone like this with respect. I decided that their behavior meant I really had no reason to hold back.

  I was a bit annoyed, since I just came to Sandora for information and didn’t really expect this kind of treatment.

  “...You really are a dumbass.”

  “Huh?!” I used [Storage] to produce a finely-crafted armchair that matched the king of Sandora’s throne in terms of quality. Then, I parked my ass on it and crossed one of my legs over the other, then I rested both arms on the rests.

  “I said, you really are a dumbass. You know? What a joke. Alright, everyone. Guess it’s a war, huh? Let’s wrap it up, then. If they want a fight, we can give them a fight.”

  “You bastard... Don’t you understand your situation?” The king stood up and glared down at me.

  Heheh... Getting angry, lardass? Your face is all red.

  “I have a full grasp of the situation, buddy. I have a full grasp of you, and your country. I can see a dumbass king and his dumbass advisers. The fish in the sea know not the land, get it? There’s a whole world that you bubble-living idiots are clearly unaware of.”

  “Kill them!”

  “Not even gonna listen to me talk? Wow.” The warrior slaves charged toward us, but were hastily stopped by an invisible barrier. Obviously, I’d erected a [Shield] in advance. Idiots.

  “Wh—?! You wretch, Robin! Just who are you?!”

  “That’s just an alias, friendo. You can call me Mochizuki Touya, grand duke of Brunhild. Nice to meet you, lard— Uh... Lord Abdul of Sandora. Now, what was that you were saying about taking my head?” I dispelled my [Mirage], reverting my hairstyle, hair color, and eye color. There was no need to hide it after they tried to kill us.

  “Wh— Th— What?! Grand Duke?! Impossible, why would... Why would a world leader venture this far...?!”

  “I started out as an adventurer, you know? I’m the type of guy who likes to roam around. You could take a leaf out of my book, fatty.” The pigman king started grinding his teeth together as his brow furrowed. The pipe in his mouth almost snapped. The warrior slaves looked at him, then me, then slowly started backing off.

  “Idiots! If he’s really the grand duke, then this is a prime chance! Bring me his head!” The warrior slaves and his soldiers came at me again, only to be repelled by my defensive spell.

  “Tsk... Then how about this?!” A mage in the backline attempted to channel a [Fire Arrow] spell at me, after wisely noting that physical attacks were ineffective.

  “[Reflection].” I nonchalantly bounced it back at him. The Fire spell hit both the mage and two retainers at his side, taking them out for the count.

  “You’d attack me even after knowing who I am? Then, this really is a declaration of war, eh?”

  “Idiot. Once we kill you here, we’ll cover it up and do what we want!” The king of Sandora started jeering at me. He was a complete moron. All I had to do was summon a [Gate] and I could be gone before another roll of belly fat jiggled on his wobbly gut. I wasn’t going to, though.

  “I’ll ask you once more. Is this a declaration of war?”

  “My magnificent country has both war slaves and the magical beast knights! They are my magnificent soldiers, who will fight to their last breath! With Sandora as your enemy, you’ll never recover! Never!”

  Christ... This guy really is a moron.

  “Sorry, but Brunhild has no need to make Sandora its enemy. I’ll just take care of you, instead.”

  “Excuse me?” He glared at me in confusion.

  I leaned back in my chair and waved my hand in his general direction.

  “[Apport].” A Submission Collar appeared in my hand all of a sudden. The slave girl, who was now hiding behind the throne, suddenly brought her hands up to her neck in disbelief. I was holding the collar she was just wearing. The king looked as if he couldn’t believe his eyes.

  “What?!”

  “These Submission Collars... I’ve done my research. I see that they read the magic wavelength of a high authority and respond to it. In other words, all the Submission Collars are tuned to your magical wavelength, right?” I calmly explained the situation as the warrior slaves tried to break the barrier again. I was staring the king down directly as I spoke.

  It was pretty obvious, in the end. The slaves obeyed their masters, but if someone gathered a large number of slaves, they could’ve always tried to stage a coup or a revolution.

  That was why the king of Sandora had the contingency plan in place. His magical wavelength was in all of the Submission Collars, allowing him to control anyone wearing them.

  He probably did this through use of a magical artifact that was handed down the Sandora royal family, or something.

  After all, if the power couldn’t be inherited, then the new ruler of the country couldn’t rule over the slaves when the old king died. It couldn’t just be blood-related, either, or else anyone with royal lineage would have control.

  What it amounted to was an ability composed of two parts. An artifact that allowed someone to exercise control, and a biorhythmic wavelength that belonged to the royal family.

  “In other words, you’re the slave master that rules over this country. Right?”

  “...Correct. What of it? On my command, all the lowly slaves in this nation will bare their fangs and rip you to shreds. Surrender now, and I may yet let you live.” The ability was definitely terrifying. It was a good thing that the mass production of the Submission Collars was only a recent development, or it could’ve ended with him having control of many people all over the world.

  People would enslave other people for profit, without realizing that they were simply adding more numbers to the king of Sandora’s army. A new world order, composed entirely of slaves... That was likely his lazy plan the entire time.

  But I wasn
’t going to allow it.

  “So what happens when your control gets overridden, hm?”

  “Excuse me?” I’d been fiddling with my smartphone for a bit, targeting every collared person in Sandora with the [Multiple] spell. There were so many that it took a long time to sort out, but my preparations were finally complete. I had no reason to waste any more time with his words.

  “[Cracking].”

  ◇　◇　◇

  The Null spell known as [Cracking] was a spell that completely overwrote elements related to artifacts and their primary configurations.

  For example, think of someone that had an artifact that looked like a bathroom faucet. If they turned the handle, water came out by magical means. I could use this spell to either prevent the flow of water entirely, cause a massive gush of water to come out of the faucet, or just make it a miserable trickle.

  It was a magic that I discovered in Babylon’s library. If I used it in conjunction with my [Analyze] spell, I could easily pinpoint the exact functions of an object, and modify them to my will.

  This did, however, exclude things I couldn’t comprehend due to lack of knowledge. I had to take care not to tweak anything unnecessarily complex, lest I cause a major issue.

  Even the Submission Collar was a bit much for me. I couldn’t nullify the effects it had like absolute obedience, or forcing people to move.

  What I did manage to do, though, was delete the magical wavelength and replace it with my own. I’d experimented using the collars I’d gotten from the slavers back when they were on my island.

  In layman’s terms, I changed the owner of all the slaves in Sandora.

  More specifically, I transferred ownership of all the slaves in Sandora from the king... to me. Which meant...

  “What are you fools doing?! Off with his head!” The battle slaves turned their blades to me on his order, and then stopped in their tracks. They suddenly glanced at one another, somewhat confused.

  That was only natural. They weren’t moving by force, after all. Their lurch toward me was just their own muscle memory reflex. They realized they didn’t have to do it at all.

  “Come on! Cut them to ribbons!” The king of Sandora started screaming and shouting at them, snarling even. But the slaves didn’t respond at all. They merely brought their hands up to their necks, as if to check for their collars. They were still there, but they no longer restrained them.

  “What... What is this...?”

  “Filthy pissants! Obey me!” The retainers in the area also began looking around uneasily.

  “They won’t obey you, fatty. Slaves with those Submission Collars won’t accept orders from anyone other than the one designated as their master. And, as of a few moments ago, that master is me.”

  “N-Nonsense!”

  “About two-thirds of Sandora’s population are slaves, right? That means I have control of the oppressed majority. Do you want me to put it into simpler terms, you idiot? I own your country now.”

  “Wh... What...?!” The king of Sandora sat there, stupefied. But then he began attempting to channel magical power into a golden bracelet on his wrist. I got the feeling that the bracelet was the artifact he used to register ownership.

  It would be no use for him, though. Try as he might, I was the one with all the control. His orders would reach slaves further away, but I saw no reason to tell him that.

  “Nonsense...! The Slave King’s Bangle can access every Submission Collar in the world! I-It can’t be overwritten... U-Unless... Unless you’re part of my family line...?”

  “Don’t be so damn disgusting, you bastard.” The thought of being related to this slimy lardass sent shivers up my spine. No way in hell would I be related to a pigman like this.

  The warrior slaves glanced between me and the king, seemingly unable to grasp their situation.

  “Now, slave ladies and slave gentlemen. I won’t be giving you any orders today. I promise to release all of you from your captive bonds, provided you aren’t criminals. If you were brought from outside of Sandora, you’ll also be free to return to your homes.” I stood up from my chair and addressed the armed men around me. They’d already dropped their weapons. Some of them were crying.

  “W-We... We’re really free...?”

  “I promise you, yes. You’re really free. I won’t let this nation keep you bound anymore.” I spoke to the slaves around me with an understanding smile on my face. One by one, they began to murmur amongst themselves. Pretty much all of them were crying at this point.

  “F-Freedom... a-at last...?”

  “We’re slaves no more...”

  “...A-A normal life... for all of us...?”

  “Back to my home... to my family...”

  The trembling men began to wipe at their eyes. They probably had a massive buildup of emotions welling inside them.

  “My slaves... No... How...?!”

  “[Apport].”

  “Huh?” The gaudy ornament on the Sandora king’s wrist suddenly vanished and found its way into my hand.

  Nice, got me a Slave King’s Bangle.

  “G-Give me that back!”

  “Nope, you don’t need it anymore.” I grinned at the wobbling bastard as I dropped it to the ground and sliced it to bits.

  It fell into two clean pieces. The slaves didn’t need to obey the bearer of it anymore. It was true that there were still many slaves with individual owners out there, but I planned on releasing them one by one anyway.

  “You wretch! How could you?! Who gave you the right to come in here and judge my culture! Who gave you the right to impose your morality upon my people!”

  “Look who’s talking, pig. Who gave you the right to impose your slavery upon the people of this land, and others’ lands?”

  “Ughgh...!” The slaves around me suddenly turned their attention to the king, and the tears in their eyes gave way to unbridled fury. Their lives were stolen away, their dignity as people were robbed from them. Their anger was a natural outcome.

  At the same time, a large amount of noise came from the outside. I heard the roaring of wild animals, and a series of thuds as various things fell to the ground. It was about time for that to begin.

  “What was that... What’s that sound?!” The retainers flew into a panic, unable to understand what was going on. The robe-clad man who had brought us to the room charged in through the door, clearly in a panic.

  “Your brilliance, it’s awful! The magical beasts under the control of our knights have gone on a rampage! They’re not obeying at all!”

  “Wh-What did you say?!” That was only obvious, too. Enslaved people would still have their wits about them. They had their collars around their necks so they’d still know to be cautious. Animals were a different matter entirely. They were released, so they were just doing what was instinctive. It made me wonder if they could ever be tamed in a non-forcible way.

  “Didn’t I tell you? The Submission Collars are mine now. They only obey me, and I’ve given no command.”

  “Hgngh...!” I did issue one silent command, though. I told the creatures not to harm anyone, and to get out of the city. Nobody else knew that, hence the frenzied panic.

  “You bastard... You... You bastard! Silence, silence damn you!”

  “I asked you over and over, didn’t I? I asked you if you wanted to start a war. I’m a pacifist, but that doesn’t make me foolish or naive. If you hit me, I will hit back. You declared war on us, fatso. When will you learn? When will you learn that your actions have consequences?”

  “Shut up, shut up, shut up!” The king of Sandora glared at me, fire in his eyes. All I had to do now was arrest him and find out where the collars were being made.

  I took a step forward to begin doing that, when... The slave girl, who had still been hiding behind the throne, unsheathed the gaudy blade by its side and drove it deep into the side of the fat man’s neck.

  “Whhh...” I heard a squelch, and then a stupid sounding wheeze. And then, I watched a fat
pigman-like head soar through the air in an arc.

  I blinked and it had happened, it was all over in a few seconds. I could’ve perhaps intervened with [Teleport], but I barely had a chance to register what she was doing. Even at the last moment, my body refused to move. I didn’t have any will to save him. In the end, I might have just allowed him to die.

  I shrugged my shoulders slightly and watched as his head flew over and landed by my feet.

  “Augh, gross!” I reflexively kicked the head away from me.

  Ah, crap! I didn’t mean to disrespect the dead or anything, it was just a gross head! I was surprised! Anyone that gets a head thrown at them would be surprised, right?! The flying head rolled to a slow bounce and hopped on the ground, landing by the prime minister.

  “Eeek!” He was overcome by horror and collapsed on the spot. The king’s body then slumped forward as blood gushed from its neck stump.

  A whole body’s worth of blood made a glopping sound as it flowed out of the king’s neck.

  I was just looking down at my shoes, which were now completely ruined by the sticky red liquid coating them.

  Aw maaan... I didn’t even get to use [Slip]... This time the guy I would’ve used it on ended up dying without me doing anything. I wanted to hit him at least once, but I figured a kick on his severed head was good enough as a middle ground.

  “Alright, now that’s over with... [Paralyze].”

  “Hngh!”

  “Gwaugh!” I used a paralyzing spell on the retainers and the prime minister, preventing them from moving. Then, I asked the former slaves to help me tie them up with rope.

  The slave girl, who had already fallen to her knees as if exhausted, slowly turned toward me.

  “...Thank you. Thank you so much... I... I finally managed to avenge my sisters...” I wondered what she meant, so I asked her. It seemed that she and her sisters were adventurers, but during a mission in Regulus they were attacked by slavers and captured.

  She and her sisters were extremely beautiful, so they were brought to the king as pleasure slaves. They were brutally treated as his playthings, but both of her sisters somehow managed to upset the king. He had them slowly tortured until they mentally broke and then died. She went on to say that she had gone on living, waiting for the opportunity to take vengeance on the one responsible for something so heinous.