第２４３掘：生贄と悪巧み (Part1)
Chapter 243: Sacrifice and Schemes
I got carried away.
Don't expect this pace to last.
Behold, a formation that breaks all conventions!
And remember! He was here too!!
Sacrifice and Schemes
Side: Yuki
"Pfft!"
The boy before me burst out laughing.
But it didn't stop there.
"Hahahaha! Hii, my stomach hurts! Wh-where is this from, some light novel's opening?! K-kkyya, my stomach, hii, ahahaha...!!"
This boy, rolling on the luxurious carpet in fits of laughter, is an ordinary boy, yet he is the king of the newly established Kingdom of Ranx and a hero.
He's known in some circles as the Hero King.
What, is this some kind of GaoGaiGar?
We met during the trouble at the Weed Founding Festival, and he's my only acquaintance from Japan.
His name is Taiki Nakazato.
He too was summoned to this other world as a hero, endured the days of being exploited, and finally overthrew the oppressive royal family.
However, to rebuild the country after the king's demise, he became its ruler.
Because of that, we can't visit each other officially.
We're both important figures in our respective countries, after all.
Well, officially.
Taiki-kun is generally an otaku, but he's not stupid.
So, I've told him that I'm actually the Dungeon Master and about the mana depletion issue.
In fact, he readily accepted my protection and is delighted with his invincible status within the dungeon.
If this were known externally, it would appear as though he had defected to Weed, but I've managed to conceal it, so there's no problem.
But enough about that. The reason I'm visiting the king of a nation incognito is to discuss his enrollment in that academy.
And, being a Japanese otaku, he's laughing his head off as one of the few who understands such things.
"Another trope, I see."
"Lord Taiki, uh, what's so funny?"
"Your Majesty, that's rude to Lord Yuki. Honestly, Lord Yuki came to consult with you, and you're just rolling around laughing?"
Then, two people approach the hero-king who is still in hysterics.
One is named Airi, and she is Taiki's wife.
Airi was the daughter of the innkeeper who looked after Taiki when he was a convenient hero, secretly gathering money.
Given the status of the new Kingdom of Ranx, he couldn't marry a noble's daughter.
Since he stood up against the oppressive royal family of Ranx out of righteous indignation, if Taiki-kun's wife were a noble, it would be suspected that the noble's will was involved, which would be unfavorable for the new Ranx.
Therefore, he could only marry someone who appeared to be an ordinary person.
Well, in the future, due to relations between countries, he might take a noble's daughter as a concubine, but his main wife had to be an ordinary person.
The marriage proposal to Airi is known not only in Ranx but throughout all the countries connected through the dungeon.
A love story where the Hero King humbly bowed and pleaded for marriage.
To put it briefly, the story of how he was looked after since he arrived in this world, with embellishments, became a love story.
The other person is named Ruth, and he is the captain of the Royal Guard of this country.
Ruth has been with Taiki-kun since he was summoned, and fought alongside him as the hero's attendant until the founding of this new Ranx.
In fact, I think his own talent is immense, as he helped a lot in realizing Taiki-kun's knowledge.
But precisely because of that, he was dissatisfied with the old Ranx regime. He offered advice several times but it was not accepted, and he became isolated as a noble, and was made the hero's attendant as a way to get rid of him.
Taiki-kun says that the former royalty probably wished that he would go on adventures and wars with the hero and die off quickly.
Well, he's a reliable person, so it would have been fine for him to become the King of Ranx, but for popular support and international relations, being the hero Taiki is more convenient, hence his current position.
Now, I need to bring the hero who's still rolling with laughter back to his senses.
"I will definitely come to pick you up."
"Wha-?!"
My mere whisper had this effect.
"I've come to fulfill my promise."
"St-stop!! Wait!! I've already stopped laughing!!"
These are famous lines from a certain love story.
You can see it at the Weed theater, and my wives watch it and torment me by making me say those lines.
Yes, even imitating it causes me pain, so the damage to the original person is as you can see.
"Please, stop it!! I'll do anything you say!!"
"Hm?"
The Hero King prostrating himself. This is something that cannot be shown to the people of foreign countries.
By the way, "Hm?" is not my line.
It's from his wife, Airi.
This is definitely not a gay story.
And Airi's eyes were those of a predator.
"Alright, I'll stop. I want to get to the main topic too."
"Haa, Yuki-san, that threat is unfair."
"It's your fault for laughing so hard. Ah, but you'll do whatever I say, okay?"
"Eh!?"
"Do as Airi-san says. Taiki-kun might be embarrassed, but it's an important line for Airi-san."
"Thank you, Yuki-san!! Taiki-sama, please take your time later, okay?"
"Hah! You planned this!! You planned this, Yuki-san!!"
Taiki-kun immediately plays along with the gag.
"You were a good friend, but your father is the problem."
I reply, and we both grin and shake hands.
However, only Taiki-kun and I can understand this. Airi, Ruth, Ria, and Jessica can't.
It's something that only fellow otaku can appreciate.
I'm happy that we can pull off this gag even in another world.
"Um, why are you shaking hands?"
"Who knows?"
Airi and Ria look puzzled.
"What is it? Is it some kind of Japanese-specific code?"
"I'm sorry. I don't really understand either."
Jessica and Ruth try to find some deep meaning in this conversation.
"So, what's the main topic? Isn't it just a report about enrolling in an anime or light novel-esque academy?"
"Well, if it were that simple, it would have been a funny story, but even from Taiki-kun's perspective, don't you think an event is likely to occur?"
"Sure, if it were a normal Japanese enrollment, expecting an event would be pointless, but this is another world, and the new continent has decreasing magic power, so there are few people who can use magic. In that context, enrolling in an academy that gathers elites and is based on meritocracy is itself a flag. It's exactly as expected, right?"
"Yeah, I guess..."
At this point, it's already a flag.
However, my wives, Airi-san, and Ruth are all tilting their heads. They don't understand.
Well, it's understandable.
"Even if your student life goes smoothly, such a troublesome place would be a top priority for those who intend to annihilate the people of the new continent, wouldn't it? You'll end up involved anyway. It might be luckier to go before the literature is burned, don't you think?"
That's right.
The Holy Sword users seemed to have Enaria as their starting signal, but from now on, they might disperse and attack various countries.
And I don't think they'll leave this academy, where old literature and skilled individuals gather, untouched.
So, going there is already decided.
"So, is the main topic to list all the events you can think of? Though I don't think we can prevent them."
As Taiki-kun says, if there are expected events, we can sense them and avoid them, or preemptively eliminate them.
As far as we can manage.
Yes, I alone cannot handle it.
And some events are unavoidable, regardless of our intentions.
"Unforeseen events are unavoidable, and let's see, if it were me, I'd play the role of a wall or aim for dispersal."
"That's what I figured."
For things that cannot be prevented, the only option is to offer a sacrifice to evade them.