CH 167

Under Camilla

***---***

When I returned to the boarding house and was thinking of lying down for a while until dinner, Hart, the liaison between Camilla and Diethelm, showed up.

"Wafuu, Goshujin-sama, Diethelm has arrived in Lastock."

"Ah, he's finally arrived. Unlike us, it takes time. Okay, I'll go check on him later. Thank you for letting me know."

"Wafuu, Goshujin-sama, pet me, pet me."

When I stroked its mofumofu belly, Hart wagged its tail happily.

After telling Amanda-san I was going out, I headed for the garrison in Lastock.

In the dining room for guests, the Camilla and Diethelm siblings, and the leaders of the factions that had been in conflict up until this point, gathered together.

Count Adan Langhain and Count Liebert Saruel were from the former First Prince faction, and Count Zephalos Gleisner was from the former Second Prince faction.

Duke William Drevis, a former member of the First Prince's faction, had returned home with soldiers preparing for Barshania.

In addition to those five, another five, Torvil Muurien, who was the First Prince's staff officer, Magdalos Eisler, the captain of the Royal Guard who was attached to the First Prince, Nathan Forst, who was attached to the Second Prince, Oswald Kirsch, who was attached to the Third Prince, and Jürgen Remmert, who was with Diethelm, were also present.

Ten people were seated facing each other, and the host's seat, the so-called birthday seat, was empty, but the table was set.

Once everyone had taken their seats, glasses of wine were poured, and Camilla stood up with one in her hand.

"Count Langhain, Count Saruel, welcome to the farthest city of Lastock. Thank you for coming to a place where there is concern about a maximum outbreak of monsters. I'm thinking of starting the get-together right away, but before that ..."

Camilla cut off her words for a moment and looked around the air.

"Maou-sama, if you're coming, please show yourself."

I wasn't good at that kind of pompous production, but I couldn't help but go out.

At the empty birthday seat, I put out a shield of darkness and stepped into the dining room.

"Good evening, everyone. Excuse me for showing such an appearance. Unfortunately, I had just come from handling the Griffon and didn't even have time to take a bath."

"Maou-sama, did you kill the Griffon?"

I shook my head as I answered Camilla, who asked me with a look full of expectation.

"No, I was barely able to drive it away."

"It can't be defeated even with the power of Maou-sama?"

"I'm not the only one. All of Volzard is its fighting opponent, and we finally drove it back. Four people have been killed so far. Didn't it show up here?"

"Yes, fortunately, it has not appeared, but we have strengthened the surveillance system."

"Yeah, it's better to hide yourselves and not think about subjugating it poorly."

"Understood, we'll evacuate quickly ..."

"Could you wait a minute?"

The one who interrupted Camilla's words by slightly raising her right hand and calling out to her was Magdalos, the First Prince's Royal Guard Knight and mistress.

Last time, she was kneeling before me as if following Diethelm, but she still wasn't convinced.

"I accept that Kent Kokubu-dono is an excellent dark-attribute magician, but with 2,000 Knights of the Royal Guard waiting here, we cannot accept the measure of devoting ourselves to evacuation."

"You, even though Maou-sama is giving you advice ..."

"It's fine. From what I've seen so far, even if the Griffon kills two people, it doesn't seem to kill more than it can eat, so if you want to fight that much, you can give it a try. Instead, evacuate the citizens so there will be no casualties. Also, even if there are casualties among the Royal Guards, I won't be responsible."

"Of course, I have no intention of asking you to take such responsibility. Please don't underestimate the Knights of the Royal Guard."

Camilla, who had an irritated expression on her face, tried to say something to Magdalos, who spoke arrogantly, but I held up my hand.

"I'm not here to talk about the Griffon today. Let's get down to business."

"As you wish. Maou-sama, please take a seat ..."

"Ah, right, right, first of all, I have no intention of becoming the King of Resenburg. That's why I'm asking you to sit in this seat, Camilla."

"Maou-sama ..."

I kept the surprised Camilla, and the members of the former First Prince faction who didn't even try to hide their dissatisfied expressions, from opening their mouths by raising both hands, and continued talking.

"People who belonged to the former First Prince faction may not know the details, but I was summoned from another world by Camilla. In other words, it was done as a result of Camilla thinking that she would pay the price for everyone who had not taken effective countermeasures against the progression of desertification."

The members of the former First Prince's faction, who had been complaining until just a moment ago, had their expressions turn sour.

"That summoning caused us a great deal of trouble and caused many casualties. And at this time, the compensation has not been completed. The reason I've been cooperating with Resenburg so far is to solve the summoning-related problems quickly. For that reason as well, I want Camilla to take full control of Resenburg and solve this problem as soon as possible. I would like her to hand over the throne to Diethelm after that."

Hearing that the throne would be transferred to Diethelm, Count Langhain and Count Saruel seemed to be satisfied, but Magdalos intervened again.

"I understand the gist of what you're saying, but what right do you have to intervene in Resenburg's succession to the throne?"

"Are you telling me not to interfere unnecessarily?"

"Of course. Resenburg will be decided by the people of Resenburg. There is no reason for outsiders to interfere."

"Is that so. If so, please prepare 65 corads of pure gold as compensation."

"Wh, what! 65 corads of pure gold!"

Not only Magdalos, but most of the people present were speechless.

"What's wrong? If you tell me not to interfere, please fulfill your obligation to compensate me."

"How can we accept such an exorbitant demand! Don't get carried away, brat!"

"Restrain yourself, Magdalos!"

Magdalos stood up vigorously, but received a sharp scolding from Camilla, causing her to tremble and stop moving.

"Camilla-sama, a brat like this ..."

"Didn't you hear me when I told you to restrain yourself?"

These days, it was easy to forget when she was drunk and lazy, but when she was serious, Camilla showed off an aura that made her feel like she's the royal family.

"Excuse me ..."

Overwhelmed by the atmosphere Camilla was creating, Magdalos lowered her head and returned to her seat.

"It seems that there are people who have misunderstood, so I will say it again. Myself and Diethelm have pledged allegiance to Maou Kent Kokubu-sama."

"Wh, what is that ..."

"Restrain yourself! My sister is in the middle of talking now. Or Magdalos, are you going to say that our story is not worth listening to?"

"No, I have no intention of doing that. I apologize."

Magdalos finally shut up after being reprimanded by Diethelm, but maybe she didn't like the fact that Alphonse, who was the First Prince whom she was the mistress of, was poisoned and the throne fell to another person.

After confirming that Magdalos had kept her mouth shut, Diethelm urged Camilla to continue speaking.

"Even when the people of Lastock were attacked by 200 Minotaurs, or a horde of over 10,000 Orcs, it was thanks to Maou-sama that we were able to survive. It was Maou-sama who uncovered Havre Calvine and the Prime Minister's plot, who stopped the invasion of Barshania, and who restored Diethelm's health. And the one who saved my life after being stabbed in the stomach was Maou-sama. I vowed to serve him with every last drop of blood in my body, down to every last strand of hair. If you don't like it, leave me. I will not stop you. I won't stop you, but in the face of a national crisis, the King who doesn't take any measures or me, as a Resenburg nobility, as a Royal Guard, who should you serve, think carefully and decide."

Camilla cut off her words and looked around the audience.

"Can I say something, Camilla-sama."

"What is it, Count Langhain."

"A little while ago, Maou-dono asked Camilla-sama to take full control of all the power and hoped for a quick resolution of the various problems, but when the problems are resolved, will you definitely hand over the throne to Diethelm-sama."

"I believe that if Diethelm is a good King who cares about his people, I will not cling to the throne."

"However, Camilla-sama, the amount of compensation we were just asked is an amount that can be said to be exorbitant. Will it not take a considerable amount of years to finish the payment."

"That concern is understandable, but I will discuss the amount with Maou-sama, and when the path to a solution is reached, I don't mind transferring the throne."

Count Langhain nodded and seemed to be convinced.

"Can I say something as well."

"I don't mind, Count Gleisner."

"We have received a promise from Camilla-sama that our territories would be assured, will that promise still be valid when Diethelm-sama takes over the throne?"

After hearing Count Gleisner's words, Camilla urged Diethelm to answer.

"How is it, Diethelm."

"Yes, if it's a promise that was exchanged with my sister for a valid reason, there's no reason to break it."

"Is that okay? Count Gleisner."

"It's fine."

After seeing that Count Gleisner bowed his head lightly, Camilla looked around the audience again, and after confirming that there were no objections, she began to speak.

"Until now, we have continued to live a self-indulgent life, relying on the land and property left to us by our predecessors. As a result, Resenburg was in danger. The progress of desertification, the outbreak of monsters, the rebellion of Havre Calvine, the invasion of Barshania. If these events had happened all at once, the country of Resenburg might have disappeared."

Just like Camilla, who stopped speaking, and looked at the attendees, I felt that there was a difference in the sense of danger they had.

In reality, Count Gleisner, who was attacked by Orcs, and the Knights of the Royal Guard, Nathan and Oswald, seemed to see the crisis as something real, but for the former First Prince faction who hadn't fought against monsters or Barshania, I felt that everyone saw it as a political dispute with Havre Calvine.

"It is no exaggeration to say that the person who saved Resenburg from an unprecedented crisis was Maou Kent Kokubu-sama. If Maou-sama hadn't been here, Resenburg would have been in chaos by now. However, that doesn't mean the crisis is over. It cannot be said with certainty that the crisis of the monster outbreak has completely passed. Havre's ambitions were not completely crushed either. And the progress of the desertification should be progressing while we are doing this. But, from now on, it's our turn to show Maou-sama the latent power of Resenburg. Prepare for the threat of monsters and crush Havre's ambitions. The petty factional fights of the past are over. Join forces under me, sweat together, proper together ... Those who have no objections should answer with silence!"

When Camilla cut off her words, the dining room was filled with silence.

Camilla exchanged glances with each of them, and she finally met mine, and she gave a big nod and held up a glass of wine.

"Glory to the Kingdom of Resenburg!"

"Glory to the Kingdom of Resenburg!"

Everyone in attendance spoke in unison, and everyone drank up the win in one breath.

Umm, I wonder if I have to drink too ... Diethelm ... Uu, he's been drinking a lot.

Eeehhhh, drink up.

Since it's wine that royalty and nobility drink, it must be of high quality.

The mellow aroma and fruity taste, combined with the richness of aging, made it so delicious that I was at a loss for words.

Then, as it flowed into my empty stomach, I could feel the heat welling up.

"Hohou, Maou-dono is quite a good drinker. What do you think, this wine is a specialty of our Gleisner territory. This one is from the 18th year, which is said to be particularly good."

"Is that so, I haven't drank much alcohol, but this is wonderful."

"Come on, have another drink ..."

"No, I still have to go back and proceed with the Griffon countermeasures ..."

"Hohou, is it enough to make even Maou-dono struggle?"

While saying that, Count Gleisner continued to fill my glass with wine.

No, today is not the time to get drunk, but ... it's hard to say no.

"Griffons are clad in powerful wind-attribute magic, so magic attacks are repelled and have little effect."

"What, how do you intend to challenge such an opponent."

"Basically, it's like using a strong non-magical attack and hitting the area where the wind-attribute magic is disturbed ... But, it's quite difficult."

With a toast as a signal, the attendants began serving the food.

It felt like a so-called course meal, and the dishes were so elaborately arranged that it would be gone in about two bites.

It was delicious, but it wasn't enough since I was hungry after moving around all day.

"I heard that Griffons swoop down from great heights and kidnap people, is that true?"

Since it was a monster that appeared only once every few decades, Count Langhain and Count Saruel asked various questions with deep interest.

"That's right. A body bigger than a Storm Cat attacks from a height that makes it look like a sesame seed."

"Then it will attack with ferocious force, won't it."

"That's right. In face, the first time and the second time, three people total were kidnapped without being able to do anything about it."

"How do you prevent it from getting prey?"

"After deploying multiple dark attribute magic shields ... barely ... it feels like."

The food was said to be prepared by a chef who was summoned from the mansion by Count Gleisner.

I was hungry, so I was a little dissatisfied with the quantity, but I guess it was the right choice in the sense that it didn't interfere with the conversation.

I couldn't bring myself to drink anything else, so I got my throat wet with wine while we talked, and I gradually started to feel better.

"Even so, Camilla-sama and Maou-dono seem to have a close relationship, was it that kind of relationship from the time you were summoned?"

"There is no such thing ... Just because the Evil Eye Crystal didn't shine, You can go wherever you like ... or something like that? At the end of the day, I was told to walk through the Devil's Forest alone, and I almost got eaten and killed by Goblins. It's truly outrageous ..."

"I, I'm sorry. At that time, I didn't realize the power of Maou-sama ..."

Now she's apologizing with an admirable look on her face, but, ah, I remembered that time.

"At that time, you really hated me ... At least when I asked you to give me some water, you said, sip muddy water and walk! I thought I'd make you cry someday. Also ..."

"I'm sorry. At that time, the summoning went well and I was in a strange state of excitement ..."

"Ah, that's right. The night I first met with Zephalos-san, she took a carefree bath, and after that she drank and got drunk."

"I'm sorry ..."

"Seriously, I, who has no direct relationship with Resenburg, even though I worked until midnight, you're so relaxed, what's with that?"

"Th, that is ..."

Camilla cut off her words for a moment, drank the wine from her glass, and then turned her gaze towards me.

What, what, aren't your eyes glazed over for some reason?

"That is, Maou-sama is bad too ..."

"Huh? What, what's wrong with me? I worked so hard!"

Hey, hey, why is Camilla drinking so much.

Hey, my glass is empty, quickly pour me some, Zephalos.

"Fuhaa ... It's bad, of course it is! I ... the Third Princess of Resenburg ... you stepped into the bathroom ... instead of touching my skin, you asked me to sign ... that's impossible!"

"Th, that was ... Count Gleisner wanted me to go and get your signature ... I couldn't make him wait! Huh?"

I wondered why Zephalos was reluctantly nodding his head.

"So tell me, my ... na, naked body in front of you, to have such a businesslike expression?"

"Eeehhh ... Wait, did you get drunk because of that? Even though I was working?"

"Maou-sama works too hard ... Even before this, you treated Flosche until you collapsed ... I took care of you for a while ..."

"That's right, you were drunk at that time! Even though I was working ... It's outrageous! Hey, you just announced that you're aiming to become the next King, so why are you getting so drunk?"

Look, isn't Diethelm freaking out with a worried look on his face.

"I'm not drunk ... or should I say, I wasn't drunk at that time, either. I carried Maou-sama to the bed and took care of you."

"Saying something like taking care of me, you were going to lick me with Mart-tachi ... hmm?"

Suddenly, there was a metallic sound, and a knife fell in front of me.

"Eh, Mart? What, what happened?"

When I looked at him, Mart was glaring at the knights with a black dagger that looked like a toy.

"That guy aimed at Goshujin-sama and threw it."

The target of its gaze was Magdalos, while Reinhardt pointed his beloved sword Gram at her.

Her eyes were filled with the regret of failing to kill me.

"What are you trying to do with Maou-sama!"

"Camilla-sama, don't let such a suspicious person steal your heart! I can't trust anyone who uses such monsters!"

"Shut up! You have no right to insult Maou-sama!"

Camilla slammed her glass on the table and stood up, letting out a bellowed shout.

"When I was struggling alone ... When I asked for help ... What did you do? Did you send soldiers? did you send materials to build the ramparts? Even a single rope, you didn't send anything to me!"

No one could argue with Camilla, who shouted with her hair disheveled.

"The one who saved the people of Lastock, that had been abandoned by the country and had no choice but to perish, was Maou-sama who hated us and we deserved to be his enemy. He even forgave the knight who tried to stab him to death, and told him to work to protect the people. He corrected my narrow-minded thinking and taught me how to make the most of people. He even said that he would lend me his strength so that I, who had made a big mistake, would be forgiven. I know I told you how Resenburg was helped. If you still insult Maou-sama, you ... you will be executed by my hands ..."

"Yes, that's enough!"

Camilla was so excited that she seemed to be about to go out of control, so I stopped her.

"Maou-sama ...?"

"He's suspicious, so kill him ... I don't like the way you do that, but I'm not going to take revenge just because of that. I wonder why it became such a dangerous story about execution or killing ... Magdalos."

"Wh, what!"

"Your thinking is too shallow! Too shallow ..."

"What the hell, brat! You're the one ... Uu."

Magdalos fell silent as Reinhardt pointed his sword at her.

"If I die, the footage of Havre's secret meeting with the Prime Minister will no longer be usable. Can you convict them without evidence? Doesn't the fact that Havre's forces entered the royal castle mean that the King and the Knight Commander have been captured, right? Can you turn the situation around?"

"W, well, if we tell the truth ..."

"Havre Calvine is not such an easy opponent. Right, Zephalos-san."

"That's right. Just as Maou-dono says, he's a difficult opponent."

"Then you have to use me. You can't trust me? You can worry about that later. Think more about what you should do now and what is important. Is it okay if Resenburg, of which Alphonse wanted to be King, is messed up? Is it okay to let Havre do whatever he pleases?"

Magdalos kept her eyes fixed on me and didn't answer.

"Ah ... I'm drunk, so I'm going home ... Well, everyone, thank you for your continued support. Uwaa, the floor ..."

"Maou-sama, it's dangerous ..."

"Fugaa ... Nn ... After all, it's outrageous softness ..."

When I stood up, my feet were 'Gunya gunya' and I fell into Camilla who tried to support me.(TN:Otomotopeaia for flabby/limp/squishy.)

"M, maou-sama, you should stay here tonight ... I'll be your night attendant ..."

"No way, I'm going home. I have to beat the Griffon ... Mart, Mirt, lend me a hand."

"Wafuu, leave it to me, Goshujin-sama."

"Goshujin-sama, you drank too much again."

"Nyahahaha, that's fine ... hey, Nero."

"Nyaa ... Goshujin-sama, you smell like alcohol, nya."

"Nyahahaha, everyone, let's go home."

When Nero showed up, the dining room seemed to be in an uproar, but I don't care, I don't care.

With the support of Mart and the others, I slipped through the shield of darkness and returned to the boarding house.