Combatants Will Be Dispatched - Volume 7 - Chapter 5.7

7

“Whaaaaaaaaaaaaat?! Y-y-y-you slew M-M-M-Midgard?!”

When we return to the palace in triumph, Adelie greets us with an expression of utter disbelief.

“Yep. I’m told it’s the thing responsible for killing generations of kings in this country. So we’ve solved the problem for good.”

Adelie’s shifty-eyed confusion says everything we need to know about just how remarkable Belial’s achievement is.

“What were you doing, then? Did you know that someone had to die every time the stones were replaced? You’re supposed to be a hero; isn’t killing that thing your responsibility?”

“What are you talking about?! You told me to look after Princess Nadia! I was playing with her in the castle when the chimera came to pick her up, so...! Besides, Midgard isn’t supposed to be something people can kill!”

Oh, she’s been making herself useful in looking after Nadia, I guess.

“Even we’d avoided dealing with it directly, trying to manage it from a distance... W-what should I do? The death of the Primordial Dragon is going to have an incalculable impact on the world! ...I—I need to get going...”

Adelie looks dazed as she murmurs some tantalizing information while wandering out of the room, but she's not the priority right now.

We’re currently inside the throne room—

“Lydia, can you at least explain what’s going on?! Why was Midgard slain?! I thought you went to change out the sorcery stone!”

The princess, looking relieved now that the problem has been taken care of, is being interrogated by the prince.

“I’m saying that now that my objective is complete, I'm handing you the throne. Sometimes you're just a little too sentimental, so make sure you fix that... If you have a cynical person among your retinue, you should make them one of your close advisors.”

Seems the prince doesn’t know that the person exchanging the sorcery stone usually dies in the process.

And this tsundere princess doesn’t seem inclined to explain something that’s no longer an issue.

“Lydia! Do you really think you can throw the country into a whirlwind of confusion and just walk off the stage like that? And I have no cynical people in my retinue! The most cynical person in this kingdom is, without a doubt, you, my sister!”

She chuckles softly at Madia’s string of insults, then shrugs.

“Then, in exchange for giving you the throne, will you make me your chancellor?”

"Pardon...?!”

Lydia smiles in amusement, her teasing tone clearly enough to...

“...Lydia, are you serious about abdicating your claim?”

...tell the prince that she isn’t kidding.

The prince looks troubled and confused as he turns to face us.

“Even if I asked you what happened, I’m sure you wouldn’t tell me, would you?”

No, I don’t have any objection to just blabbing, but...

Well, the tsundere princess is putting her index finger to her lips with a smile, so I guess the nicest thing to do here is to say nothing.

As we stay quiet, Lydia gives us a weary smile.

“We now owe a lot to Kisaragi’s people. Our kingdom will be facing a great deal of challenges from here on out. After all, we no longer have the benefits of our proximity to Midgard. Like other lands, monsters will come back to our territories.”

“Yes, what a terrible headache this will be. What are we to do...?”

As the prince cradles his head with a troubled expression, Lydia chuckles.

“In the grand scheme of things, it’s not such a serious matter. It would have been one thing if this were back when the kingdom was founded, but with our current resources, we should be able to handle it. It’s not like the time of our ancestors, who wandered the land looking for a safe place to call home. Thanks to their efforts and those of succeeding generations, we now have strong walls and skilled soldiers...”

Lydia smiles as though a great burden has been lifted from her shoulders.

"There's no need to worry about monsters. I'm here, after all.”

At Belial’s remark, Alice lets out a sigh of admiration.

As I sit there hoping for an explanation.

“You know our line of work, right, Princess Lydia? What Lady Belial’s trying to say is this,” Alice says, then nudges me with her elbow, which instantly clues me into what she’s trying to say.

I repeat the words I once said to the Grace Kingdom.

“What Lady Belial is trying to say is this: Care to hire some Combat Agents?”

Lydia breaks into a happy smile at that remark, and the prince lets out a sigh of resignation and shrugs.

“Nope. Why are you trying to look cool? I’m saying I’m going to stay in this kingdom.”

Belial, not even bothering to read the room, starts going off on a ridiculous tangent again.

Having had my cool line ruined by Belial’s remark, I offer my objection.

“So what DID you mean, then? Don’t say you’re going to stay here as an advisor or guest!” I say, rather more harshly than needed, trying to hide my embarrassment.

“Why would I bother being a guest? I’m already the queen, aren’t I?” Belial asks, ridiculously, as though this were the simplest thing in the world.

As I’m trying to figure out how to knock this childish leader down a peg:

“......That’s true. Lady Belial hasn't returned the throne even after exchanging the sorcery stone,” Alice says almost to herself, resulting in Lydia and the prince both freezing in shock.

"...U-um, Lady Belial? Even as a joke, it’s a bit in poor taste, is it not? Lady Belial, you’re the hero who defeated Midgard to save us, aren’t you?”

"Hiyah!”

“Oww!”

“Lydia?!”

Belial suddenly slaps Lydia’s cheek at that question.

“What a terrible thing to suddenly do! Poor Princess Lydia’s all crying now!”

But Belial puffs out her chest as though to tell me that I'm wrong.

“You’re such a dummy, Six. Do you not know the whole thing about sticks and carrots? That was a stick for pretty much blackmailing you guys into working. It’s extracting a cost as an evil corporation.”

“Um, considering how much trouble Tiger Man caused, I think it would’ve been fine to just provide Princess Lydia with carrots. Also, be honest, you slapped her because she called you a hero, didn’t you?”

It's true that an evil corporation relies on its reputation, and that it’s important to make sure no one gets away with disrespecting it, but I wish she’d at least read the room a bit.

“L-Lydia, are you all right?! Why did you hire these ruffians...?”

Lydia holds back tears for a moment from the pain of Belial’s slap, but she’s evidently amused at the fact that her brother, who was her enemy just a few hours ago, is worried about her, and she begins to chuckle.

“See? Look at her, the stick worked, didn’t it?”

“No, I think she’s just a masochist.”

"I don't have such predilections! I just couldn’t help but chuckle because of the circumstances!”

Lydia then clears her throat and straightens her dress.

“Yes, you’re correct, I hadn’t properly apologized to Kisaragi yet. I apologize that, in my desperation, I used such awful methods to force you to work for me. But thanks to your help, my brother’s come around... I really do need to thank you.”

“Lydia! ...You seriously owe me an explanation later for suddenly giving up on the throne you were so fixated on, and with everything that happened with them.”

The prince, who looked so troubled by the events unfolding in the throne room, then turns to Lydia and offers her a weary smile.

“Hiyah!”

“Guh?!”

“Madia?!

I guess Belial really doesn’t like reading the room, because she slaps the prince this time.

“You really can’t go around just doing that, Lady Belial. Now what upset you?”

“The fact that they’re trying to bring this whole thing to a close like it’s a beautiful, touching ending. I told you. I’m the queen... But, well, I guess I'll give you the throne back, but in exchange, you’re going to become a vassal of Kisaragi. Make sure you pay your tribute.”

“W-wait, why would we ever listen to a demand like that?! Just who are you people?! You suddenly come in and cause all sorts of problems, then demand that we pay tribute?! Our country, the Grunade Kingdom, is a great power with a proud history! This is going too far!”

What the prince is saying is perfectly reasonable, but logic has no place when dealing with Belial.

“Proud history?! There’s nothing to be proud of, given it’s a history built on the sacrifices of people. Countries like that deserve to be destroyed. Hell, I’ll go and destroy them myself. After all, I'm a Supreme Leader in an evil corporation!”

"Wha...?!”

Belial smirks maliciously, prompting a stunned silence from the prince.

Despite the frightening statement from Belial, Lydia begins to chuckle.

“Vassalage, mm? Since you hold the throne, I suppose we have no choice. That, and if you really wanted to, you could easily destroy us, Lady Belial.”

“Well, vassalage isn’t all bad, you know. If you’re ever in trouble, just call us. It doesn’t matter how far away I am, whether it’s another continent or even another planet, I swear I’ll come and save you.”

Belial suddenly looks and sounds the part of a white knight, and Lydia blushes.

The thing about Belial is that even when she seems so unreasonable, she has that innate charisma to suck people onto her side.

“All right, guess I should give you a carrot to go with that stick.”

Belial then presses an object into the hesitant Lydia's hand.

“This is a tool called a digital voice recorder. When I go home, press the button here that says ‘play.’ Also, make sure you press that when all three of you siblings are in the same room.”

The prince tilts his head quizzically at Belial and Lydia’s exchange.

"Once you all listen to this recording together, question your little sister as to why she asked the Tiger Man, who came to steal the national treasure, to kidnap her as well.”

As I watch Belial say all of this with a malicious grin, I think about what’s probably contained in that voice recorder.