Leading Moments
In a large city to the east of Elfrieden bears the current capital of Amidonia, that being Van. Though one might expect robustness and fervor to be bustling throughout the city, the normal reality was a far-cry from the truth. For one, the entire city structure was built with a very practical application, and while not inherently a bad thing, this practicality extended to limit costs as well. As such, the entire city was filled with what could only be described as a gloom feeling due to the color scheme being very dull. However, in recent months, life started slowly crawling back into the city. Just not for the reason that many would expect, and certainly not the case for a certain young girl.
The young girl was walking through the capital donning a cloaked hood along with a simple skirt, not unlike what you would find on the average commoner. Trace amounts of soot marred her youthful face, and if the hood were to be pulled back, it would show her black hair being done in pigtails. The young girl, who looks no more than fourteen years of age, was walking down the street, looking at the city in one of its rarer forms. The more important thing she was doing, however, was listening to the people.
"Finally, the king will retake our lost lands."
"It's about damn time. I'm sick of knowing that those Elfrieden bastards have been harvesting those lands for so long. And what's worse is ever since that damned Demon Lord's Domain popped up, we've been unable to make any moves."
"Eh, fuck 'em. Thanks to that idiot king not signing that Humanity Declaration, nothing is stopping us from just taking everything that's coming to them. Lord knows they deserve it."
"Do you really think it will be that easy? I mean there's still the Three Dukes to consider…"
One of the men scoffed. "Didn't you hear? Apparently, they haven't sworn loyalty to the new king yet. Can't say I blame them either, considering that he's just a whelp. Almost feel sorry for the guy."
"Eh, don't bother. At the end of the day, him and the other two are just stupid Elfrieden dogs. Besides, even if they are fighters, what can they possibly do against our army?"
"Good point. It's only a matter of time before their heads get paraded around their own capital."
Conversations like these were being had around the city, and the young girl could only sigh at them. While the points they were making were true, at least on the surface level, she had access to plenty of extra information that sorely begged to differ. For one, in less than a year, the new king had already solved the food crisis, which in her mind, spoke levels about his competency and efficacy. This brought her to her second point, which was that even though the Three Dukes seemed to be at odds with the new king, with how efficient he's been, she wasn't confident that was the case. In fact, she was assuming the worst, that being the new king was putting this all on for show to goad Amidonia into attacking.
The new king not signing the Humanity Declaration only served to cement this idea. After all, if someone is that good at leading, why wouldn't they make every effort possible to protect their country from all threats after practically having a golden opportunity lay in their lap? Things just didn't add up in her mind, which is why she was so concerned over the matter of war. But perhaps the heaviest thing on her mind…
Julius and Father are too blinded by their rage to see any other end. And it doesn't help that this city is only encouraging it.
The two people she harped her thoughts about were her elder brother, Julius Amidonia, and her father, King Gaius Amidonia. The young girl, Roroa Amidonia, was strictly in the anti-war category, but she knew that the other two were far too engaged in this path to seek anything else.
If only they could see the other problems in this country. Van is one of the few cities in the country that isn't suffering too heavily from the food shortage. The rest of the country on the other hand…
Remembering that genuinely made her sick to her stomach. The food shortage hit Amidonia harder than it did for Elfrieden due to a lack of workable land in their country, and since Amidonia is land-locked, this meant that the food trade suddenly became far more expensive, which forced Amidonia's economy into shambles. However, these few choice cities were conveniently sheltered from the grim reality of what lies beyond their borders. People had to sell off their own children just to survive, and a disturbing amount of people defected due to the conditions in the country. However, this wasn't exactly easy, as border security was quite fierce in Amidonia, and not that many countries were thrilled at the thought of taking in more people who weren't refugees from the Demon Lord Domain. On top of that, due to a hefty amount of propaganda, the people who didn't see the core problem in the country saw their solutions in the form of taking over Elfrieden, which just ultimately made a vicious downwards spiral.
Shaking these thoughts from her head, she continued down the road, seemingly without a direction in mind, before stopping at a tailor store. Inside, there was a friendly looking older gentleman with silver hair slicked back over his head. His face was wrinkled, yet still looked vibrant, and his silvery-blue eyes had many stories to tell about the sights he's seen. Donning a traditional butler-style suit, and he was what many would consider the gold standard for service.
"Hello, princess. What has you in such a sour mood today?"
"I told you not to call me that in public, Sebas! And besides, what do you think it is? This country is headed on a one-road way to destruction, and no one seems to either notice nor care. At least not anyone in power does anyway."
"That does indeed sound troublesome," came the flat reply. "The King seems to have more than a few stubborn bones in his body, and Julius deeply respects his father for that. Though I can assure you-."
"Yeah, yeah. He wasn't always like that. I've heard that story about a million times by now."
From what she has heard 'about a million times by now,' was how different her father used to be, at least before her mother died. From what people told her, her mom died when Roroa was very young, which would certainly explain the lack of memories that she has of her. However, the point that Roroa was referring to was that Gaius was far less ambitious in his war efforts when she was around. Certainly, there was the occasional skirmishes that would happen between Elfrieden and Amidonia, but he wasn't anywhere near as gung-ho as he is now.
"Well," began the princess, "I guess that kind of forces my hand. Hmm." She looked deep in thought before clasping her fist on her hand and said, "Come, Sebas. We have a lot of work to do. But first, we need to get a few people."
Without waiting to see if he was following, or even listened, for that matter, she swiftly turned around and, with a purposeful stride, walked out of the building. Sebas could only sigh, but the peculiarities of his master were something that he had come to admire. After all, even despite this dismal setting, she was still able to keep her head up and formulate a plan of action. Such things, he felt, were amazing character traits.
While Roroa was dealing with her own problems, another person was having a nasty issue with the current state of affairs. Castor Vargas, leader of the air squadron, was full of angst as he was sitting in his office, his leg bouncing up and down quite vigorously. Castor, for better or worse, wore his emotions on his sleeve, and this spoke levels as to what he was currently thinking.
Largely due to his loyalty and friendship to Duke Carmine, he planned to go against the king with him, not really thinking things through on his end about exactly how such an event would go down. While he was exceptional when it came to leading soldiers, his flaws really started to show when it came to managerial things like this, which is why he always left this to his wife, Accella, and his right-hand man, Tolman. However, due to Excel essentially forcing Castor to divorce his wife, this meant that she had to leave his dukedom along with their son. While this eased his mind in knowing that they would be out of this mess, this also meant that he was now pressured to take on a more present role in leading the city.
"Nothing?"
A weathered man with orange-auburn hair and green eyes responded. "Nothing, sir. We still have received no message from Duke Carmine."
"Still?!" He loudly exclaimed. "The king's decree is tomorrow! Surely, he knows that! What could he possibly be thinking by not communicating with us?!"
While there were a few flaws to point out in Castor Vargas, perhaps none were more prevalent, nor more detrimental, than his emotional immaturity. While it was hard to fault him for being loyal to his friend and choosing to go against the king, the fact that he hadn't even considered a plan that was his own, nor really thought for himself, has led up to this situation where he is in dire straits right now. Essentially, he bet everything on Duke Carmine, and he was now in a place where he found his trust wavering quite a bit.
Tolman, on the other hand, had a much more level head. There was a good reason as to why he was placed in charge of the territory that Castor ruled over. "Perhaps Duchess Excel's worst fears are coming true. There may very well be the chance that Duke Carmine wishes to take the throne for himself."
Initially, Castor would have thought that idea absolutely ridiculous, and even still harbors plenty of doubts to that end, but it would be a lie to say that his resolve hasn't wavered even in the slightest.
"I'm… I'm certain he wouldn't do that… Why would a man so loyal to the country suddenly betray it?"
To that end, Tolman didn't have a concrete answer. Though he was prepared to give a response, Castor interrupted his train of thought and said, "Forget it. Please give me some time alone. I need to gather my thoughts."
Tolman simply bowed in response and promptly exited the room. Once the door closed, Castor spoke to the air and said, "I know you're out there. Come inside."
After a sigh was heard from outside the window, what came into view was a beautiful woman who was nearing nineteen years old. Sharing the same horns, hair color, and wings as Castor, she stood at a slightly above-average height and had a warrior's feel to her. Castor's daughter, while she inherited his dragonkin features, no doubt got her looks from Excel's side of the family. As a father, he was initially worried that no end of men would try and court her, but ever since she showed her prowess in battle, he was now worried that no man would ever be able to court her, since she prefers to settle any relationship matters with a duel. Certainly not unusual, but uncommon, nonetheless.
"I thought I concealed my presence enough."
"Perhaps if you moved from that spot, you might have fooled me. Remember, Carla, I can hear your wings flap whenever you land or fly."
This caused her to be a bit miffed, but she knew better than to try and argue with him about matters like these. Besides, there was a far more urgent matter that she needed to straighten out. Taking something out of her knapsack, she promptly presented her father with a series of letters, punctuated with a "Here."
Upon reading only a couple, Castor put his hand on his forehead and said, "So Liscia truly supports the new king, huh?"
"Everything points to that. Liscia is like a sister to me, and I would know if she were lying or being forced to write these. Even through a letter, I can see her true feelings."
He clasped his hands over his mouth and sat there for a few seconds. Afterwards, he said, "Carla, it isn't too late to go with Duchess Excel. At the very least, you won't be involved in this affair."
"Well, why not just join the new king? Everything seems to be pointing to the fact that King Albert fairly ceded the throne to him."
"I know, Carla. It's just…"
Carla didn't need to hear the rest of those words. In fact, she knew all too well what he was thinking. His friendship with Duke Carmine is certainly part of it, but the main thing is the trust he has in his character. Of course, his military achievements truly are something that will no doubt be inspirational to many, but more importantly than anything, he always had both a plan and a reason as to why he would do anything. That was what Castor was betting on, as it had not let him down in all the years that he had known him. This was also what made his current actions so jarring, and heavily complicated Castor's predicament.
Even if he did decide to ally himself with the new king, could he really take up arms against such a close friend? Was that something he had in himself?
In the end, Castor simply decided to go with what his original plan was, which was to trust that his friend had a plan. Was it stupid? Absolutely. But at the very least, they wouldn't cross blades.
Seeing Castor seemingly make up his mind, Carla decided to speak. "If you wish to fight alongside Duke Carmine, then I will do so as well."
"Carla!"
Though his outburst was certainly understandable, one look at her eyes were enough to tell him that there was no force on this planet that could make her back down. Her stubbornness, perhaps her most prominent character trait, was something that seemed directly taken straight from Castor. While he admired it at times, he also wished that she would choose her fights more carefully. Although, he understood that he was in no position to lecture her.
He heaved a sigh and relaxed his shoulders, reminiscing about simpler times. "You know, whenever you, Liscia, and Mio were together, you three were always such troublemakers. I swear that you're all cut from the same cloth."
"Ugh, please don't compare me to Mio. That girl is so bull-headed that you would need a battering ram to get through to her."
Castor couldn't help but break a smile at the comment. "Have you had any luck in contacting them?"
"No, and I find that quite odd. I find it even more odd that no one seems to be ablet o contact them. Any letters that I write are simply returned to me. I can't imagine that Duke Carmine would be the kind of person to censor his own wife and daughter from just basic correspondence."
"Hmm." Castor seemed to be deep in thought, before eventually deciding to just not worry about it right now. While the matter of his wife and daughter were certainly worrisome, he had his own skin to worry about, as well as that of his daughter's. With this on his mind he said, "Well, I should get some rest. Tomorrow is going to be quite the day for me, so I want to be prepared for it. You should get some rest too."
"Hmm? The sun has barely started to set though."
"Starting tomorrow, we won't be able to have these moments anymore. Best to enjoy them while they last."
"Hmm. In that case…" Pulling up a chair, she continued, "I'll rest here."
Bridging his nose at his daughter's antics, he set aside anything that he was planning on doing and the two simply talked amongst themselves. After all, Castor was right. Moments like these would most likely not happen anymore.
"Ugh."
Silence.
"Uuugh."
More silence.
"Uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuughhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh."
{…}
"C'mon, at least give me something. Something to do."
{Master, this situation is entirely of your own doing. You're simply reaping what you sow.}
"Aren't you supposed to, like, help me through this stuff?"
{Notice. No signs of danger or hostility detected. No action required.}
Rimuru simply grumbled in response. This situation was, as Ciel said, entirely of his own doing. Souma was busy receiving lectures from Liscia about how warfare was waged in this world, and while he could have joined, it simply didn't seem appealing to him, so he politely declined. Knowing that they couldn't really force the man to do it, especially since Testa already had ample knowledge of warfare in this world, they honored his answer and the two made their way into Souma's bedroom/office. Hinata had been dragged by Aisha to continue her training, and again, while Rimuru was extended the invitation, he wasn't taken by the idea of training others to fight right now. Testa had been much in the same boat as Hinata, only rather than being dragged away by Aisha, she had been asked to help with a certain theorem of magic. While she wasn't completely thrilled by the idea, the applications of magical devices did interest her somewhat, so she went to join the researchers. Again, while Testa did offer an invitation to join, he politely declined. Additionally, his normal teaching at the daycare was also being taken care of by plenty of the maids, who, with completely good intentions, asked him to take a day off, as he pretty much has been teaching without a single day off for almost four months straight.
All of this led up to this current pitiable state that he found himself in. That being a slime practically half-melted on the bed, with his eternal partner not putting up with his bull. Perhaps it wouldn't be that bad if he had not stayed in the room for almost six hours quite literally doing nothing. Other than the occasional complaint, the room has been completely silent.
"Can you at least tell me the time?"
{Mid-afternoon.}
"More specific, please."
{2:03 P.M. Well past the time any functioning adult would consider starting their day.}
"I can live without the sass, thank you very much. I'll have you know that I did in fact want to rest today. I just didn't think that it would be so boring."
This was a half-truth. Yes, he wanted to rest, but he wanted to rest with someone. But since he didn't really voice exactly what he wanted, the other two simply left to do their own thing, leaving him to rest by himself, which was just mind-numbingly boring if there was no entertainment to be had. Yes, perhaps he might be able to get away with playing some video games, as he had a plethora of consoles to choose from ever since he gained the ability to traverse worlds, but that was surprisingly easier said than done. Maintaining such a low level of electric output via magic was difficult to do for prolonged periods of time for him, and Ciel simply refused to budge to help him out.
Of course, he, for an incredibly brief moment, had the idea to have sex with Ciel to pass the time, but at the present moment, voicing an idea like that may as well be as effective as putting out a fire with gasoline.
Although, to be honest, he wasn't even sure why she was in a funk with him. He's been like this before, and she was never this harsh when dealing with it, so what changed this time? Unless… "Ah. Are you perhaps also bored out of your skull?"
{Negative.}
That sounded oddly curt.
"If I had to guess, you wanted me to join Testa so that you could get your hands on one of those magical tools to experiment around with."
{It's called research. And of course, I would like to do research on a subject that I know little about, especially since we are in a world that has a magical system that has elements I still don't understand.}
This was, again, another half-truth. Ciel certainly understood the magical aspects of the world quite easily. In fact, even Rimuru would be able to understand it without Ciel's help if he studied it for a couple of weeks. The main thing she was struggling to understand was the application of dark magic. She still hadn't entirely figured out how Elisha's dark magic was structured, nor how dark magic in general really worked, as it didn't work in the same way that skills worked back in their world.
Rimuru just heaved a sigh. Her eccentricities certainly haven't slowed down in the least since her ascension into a manas, but he certainly wished that she would understand that those hobbies of hers certainly aren't going anywhere anytime soon. While it would be infinitely easier if she could inhabit a body, that option just unfortunately wasn't very viable in the world that they were in. Or rather, since Ciel adamantly refuses to take any form other than her master's unless it's for emergencies, she simply can't roam around on her own.
However, the main thing that was on his mind was to get her out of her funk. Yes, he could simply order her to do so, but that would create more problems than it would solve. Ultimately, he decided on a compromise. "Alright, alright. How about this: We'll go examine the summoning circle again. But absolutely no summoning others. Sound good?"
That really defeats the purpose of examining the summoning circle. Why would you analyze something while refusing to use its main function? These were the thoughts that were running through Ciel's mind when he posed this question, but she figured that it was certainly better than nothing, and hell, it may even yield some results. With those thoughts in mind, she replied, {That sounds acceptable.}
With that ordeal settled, he now asked about the more pressing issue for him at hand. "Games?"
{…}
With a very reluctant sigh, she brought out one of his more favored video games, the latest Dragon Quest, and properly powered it up. One of the main reasons as to why she was often reluctant to have these so on hand for him is that when he started, it was at least a good eight hours before he would finally put the game down, at least for games like these. This was also one of the reasons as to why any batteries that Rimuru prepared would 'mysteriously' not work for the consoles he had at hand.
In any case, it alleviated the boredom for him, and for her as well, as despite how much she may protest these sorts of things, seeing him happy was quite infectious to her, and often everyone around him. Thus, the day came to an end, and with Hinata and Testa joining him, albeit after the game was put away, the three had an enjoyable night before going to sleep.
Souma's brain was currently fried from all of Liscia's lessons, and normally, he would be sound asleep at this time, but there was something major that was on his mind. In fact, it has been on his mind for quite some time now, but more so than ever today. That being the ultimatum that he declared to the Three Dukes. Certainly, he had more than enough time to prepare, but now that the event was tomorrow, his nerves have seemed to have caught up to him. Liscia, for her part, was doing everything she could to support him, but she had arguably an even rougher time than Souma processing all of this. Duke Carmine's betrayal was something completely out of the blue for her, and knowing that she would be confronting him tomorrow, going over all the questions she wanted to ask, put a toll on her.
Currently, the two were in bed, and though the two have gotten more used to sleeping with each other, that didn't make the early August heat any more bearable. Fortunately, Liscia had ice magic, and she would coat the room in a thin layer of ice, much to Serina's dismay, though at the very least, it got rid of much of the heat in the room. Though she didn't really understand the transference of heat and exactly how the ice made the room cooler, she just took his words at face value, as this was something that she had been doing soon after she discovered her aptitude.
"Liscia?"
"Hmm?"
"Are… are you prepared to face him tomorrow?"
Liscia practically snorted. "Of course not. There are so many things that I want to ask, that I want to get to the bottom of, but…"
"But…?"
"I think the biggest reason I want to know is just 'why?' Why would he do something like this?" She collected her breath for a moment. "You know, when I graduated the military academy, he was so happy for me that he picked me up like I was a child again." She paused, smiling from the recollection. "I can still remember the joy in his eyes, the sheer giddiness he had from me passing. The funny thing was, too, is that he, like my parents, didn't want me to join the academy." She paused again, this time the smile removing itself from her face. "I am now about to see that same man go down in history as this country's biggest traitor."
A silent nod was all that Souma could come up with. Liscia had told him plenty of stories about Duke Carmine in the past, almost all good ones, save for the very few times he would scold her, and one of the consistent points across all this was his stubbornness. Once he set his mind to do something, very little, if anything, could persuade him otherwise.
Eventually, after the two continued talking for a bit, they were finally able to get some shuteye. Albeit, not for long.
A couple of hours after dawn, the two woke up and began mingling with the usual crowd, though tension was quite palpable, at least until a certain trio walked in.
"Jeez, you two look like you had a rough night. The heat finally getting to you?"
"I could ask the same about you." Souma replied. Although, if he was honest, it was a nice break from the silent pressure that he was struggling to keep at bay. "I imagine you know what we're doing today, but do you have any tips?"
"Eh, these things usually just kind of work out." Came Rimuru's nonchalant reply. "I don't tend to worry about anything beyond my control."
God, I wish I could have that sort of mindset. "Does this normally work for you?"
He just shrugged in response and said, "I'm still alive, aren't I? Besides, and I hope you will take this to heart, you aren't alone in this. You have plenty of people to rely on. If I were you, I would use them more."
What he opted to leave out was that Rimuru often left the more menial and mind-numbing tasks to his subordinates, particularly those of the demons. Though he had no trouble throwing around some responsibility, he did take issue if it landed on him.
"Thanks, I guess? I still can't help but feel the pit in my stomach, though."
"Well, we have a couple of hours before it starts. Let's get something to eat. If you wind up throwing up, at least you'll have something that comes back out."
Souma gave him a look of exasperation, but food did sound good right about now. Sure enough, having a full stomach calmed his nerves, quite a bit more than he expected if he were being honest. After setting everything up, he sat in his throne with the Jewel Voice Broadcast in the room along with a receptor, and three screens quickly appeared. Today's outcome may very well set the stage for whether this country gets to see prosperity for the next few years, or devastation. Taking a page out of Rimuru's book, he opted to not worry about the future, but rather just making sure he got the best he could out of this meeting.