Book 8: Chapter 35

Thanks to the Intelligence Group’s efforts, Ichika’s report from when she arrived in the Canal Kingdom reached Vermudol in no time.

It was because of this report that Vermudol had Sancreed and Rokuna come to his office.

「…A fragment of the God of Water Akila? What is that? Sounds like a big deal if it has something to do with a god.」

「Philia also sent something of a shadow of herself as well. It was similar, but that shadow didn’t seem to share any consciousness or memories with its creator. The most that could be said was that it just held some kind of connection…」

Sancreed nodded to Vermudol’s words.

「I sort of understand what you’re getting at, but I don’t think I’d be able to send out a fragment of myself that easily.」

「Don’t worry, I wouldn’t be able to do that either. Only people who have the power and free time to play around with could manage something like that.」

「I know I said I wouldn’t be able to, but I think I can guess how exactly something like that would be managed」, Vermudol thought to himself.

While Philia’s 「shadow」 and Reina resemble each other, they’re most likely different things.

Philia’s 「shadow」 didn’t have a physical body. That was the biggest difference. It meant that Reina had the proper 「soul」 to manipulate such a body.

Since she had a soul, she was an existence that was similar to the God of Water Aklia but still her own person.

Considering that Philia is the one managing the flow of life, it was possible that Philia did have a hand in Reina’s birth, but… at the very least, it’d be difficult to think that Reina would just unconditionally side with Philia.

「Well, we can think about that some more later. For now, what should we do? It seems like they want us to meet them.」

「I suppose we must meet them, then.」

Vermudol responded with a heavy sigh in response to Rokuna.

Reina definitely knows where the Aqua Sword is, and they’d be able to strengthen Sancreed’s sword with that.

No, it wasn’t just the matter of strengthening his sword. It was very likely that the 「collection of the gods’ powers」 that was referenced in the Hero Legend was talking about how the gods would grant their swords to be absorbed into the base form of the Holy Sword.

What’s more, Reina is currently in the Canal Kingdom. Seeing that the Canal Kingdom worships the God of Light Raidolg, they’d have to go there eventually anyway.

They originally avoided any interactions with them due to fear of causing any unfortunate misunderstandings during their civil war, but since they actually received a request for their audience, there shouldn’t be any problems.

If there were to be a problem, it’d be how much they could trust Reina.

「According to Ichika, it’s supposedly unlikely that it’s a trap set up by Reina.」

「I don’t know about that. She’s an acquaintance of Ichika’s, right? Her judgment might be a little

skewed because of that… More importantly, what about the so-called top dog of that country?」

「As of right now, the tentative leader of the country would be Princess Celis. While she does have the right qualifications, she isn’t very confident about herself, which would affect her judgment. She seems to be seeking emotional security from Reina, and because of that, she appears to be unconsciously attempting to figure out Reina’s intentions.」

Rokuna made an uncomfortable face as Vermudol read from Ichika’s report.

She was both impressed at seeing how Ichika was still calmly observing the situation despite meeting an acquaintance of hers again after so long, and upset at herself for thinking that she’d be excited and slacking in her duties.

Understanding that there would be no issues with Ichika’s report, Rokuna expressed her next concern.

「That Reina girl won’t necessarily be in the Canal Kingdom forever, right? Once she leaves, is that weak-willed princess still going to hold a friendly relationship with us?」

「Well, while that certainly is a concern, we could think of that as an opportunity as well.」

「What do you mean by that?」

「It’s simple. Princess Celis is desperate to find someone she can trust.」

According to the report, Princess Celis was surrounded by betrayers, which caused her to constantly doubt those around her.

After losing anyone she could trust, she fell further into doubt, and Reina is the one person that’s preventing her from falling apart.

In other words, the one thing Celis wants more than anything is 「trust」. If they can convince her that the Zadark Kingdom is trustworthy, then they could avoid any chance of betrayal to a certain extent.

「You say that, but I don’t think it’ll be that easy. Friendly relationships on paper exist even between the Four Great Nations. Especially St. Atlis Kingdom. You’d think they’d be concerned over the Canal Kingdom’s current state, but they were told not to do a single thing about it. I think that pretty much shows how little their written promises mean to each other.」

The Four Great Nations made a contract known as the 「Perpetual Peace Treaty」.

After overcoming the threat of Demon King Shukulous in the past, they signed a contract under the idea that the members of humanity should deepen their relationships with each other and aim for a goal of further peace and development.

Following the Four Great Nations, several other countries also signed the treaty, and thus the members of humanity were united as one entity. It was decided that they would help each other in times of need.

But upon looking at the current state of the continent, the Demi-Human Rejection Argument had caused widespread tension and the relationship between St. Atlis Kingdom and the Jiol Kingdom had especially worsened after the Jiol Kingdom partnered with the Mazoku.

As Canal Kingdom’s civil war continued, they spread a message to the other countries stating that they were not to interfere. The Cylas Empire was also keeping neutral about the matters of the other countries.

This meant that that the countries did not legitimately have any sense of trust towards each other. In fact, it was possible that this lack of trust is exactly what caused this current state of the continent.

Despite having declared something like perpetual world peace, as time passed, the environment changed as well, as well as the people. It’d be difficult to find anyone who would still follow such a promise given the current state despite not having any hand with the initial signing of the treaty.

「You’re right. Promises are weak. Humanity itself is likely well aware of that.」

Even if they had a debt to repay, they would betray at a moment’s notice if they had to. Vermudol was well aware that this was humanity’s nature, especially after the incident with Borkio.

But even so, they had a need to develop at least some level of a friendly relationship with humanity.

Gramfia’s final moments were a testament to what would happen if humanity continued to misunderstand the Mazoku.

「Trust… is something that is built over actions. And if those actions are performed during a state of crisis, they are all the more effective.」

「Right. But what exactly do you plan on doing?」

Vermudol smirked in response to Sancreed’s question.

「It’s really quite simple. The Zadark Kingdom just has to support Princess Celis.」

「That’s…」

Rokuna began expressing her concern after thinking about the implications of that.

「That definitely would prove to be effective. However, it’d be a bit foolish if you… or rather, the Zadark Kingdom interfered with the civil war. The people might claim that you tricked the Princess to take over the country and make it a puppet state.」

「She has a point. King, this isn’t like what was going on with the Jiol Kingdom. How exactly do you plan on supporting the Princess?」

Rokuna and Sancreed’s concerns were valid.

If the Zadark Kingdom were to support the Celis with their military, there was no doubt that they would gain a valuable ally.

However, at the same time, they’d create significant political concerns about the Canal Kingdom. The Zadark Kingdom’s actions would be seen as an intervention. Vermudol understood that this is why they told the other countries not to interfere.

If the Zadark Kingdom were to interfere, there was no doubt that St. Atlis Kingdom would declare that Mazoku were invading the country.

「Hmm? It’s simple. We aren’t only going to help them out in the war. We’ll help out with how they can maintain peace from now on in a way people won’t have any complaints about as well.」