第４４５堀：我儘姫今までと始まり (Part1)
Chapter 445: The Selfish Princess: The Past and the Beginning
Side: Bitz Ranks (It’s Bitz, not Bitch)
"Fufufu..."
A laugh bubbled up from within me, unbidden.
Finally, at long last, this moment had arrived.
...It had been such a long time.
Nearly three years had passed since I was driven out of my country by that piece-of-trash hero, Taiki.
The time to wash away that humiliation was finally upon me.
First, I would offer up Ranks—the country that abandoned me—and that ungrateful Taiki as blood sacrifices. Then, I would proclaim to the world with a loud, clear voice:
"I, the holy princess who summoned the hero, shall deliver the terror of a declaration of war upon the nations that treated me with such disrespect, and I shall herald true justice!"
The fools of the vassal states who cooperated with Taiki, the incompetents of Gartz who cut off my support, and that Yuki, the otherworldly being of Weed who is the great evil opposing the gods!!
They might be able to deceive other fools, but they cannot fool my mind's eye.
It is blindingly obvious that Weed is borrowing the power of a high-ranking god to do what they do.
Such barbaric acts are easy for me to see through, now that I have inherited the power of a Dungeon Master.
"Wait, Bitz. Won't it seem strange if a country is suddenly overrun by monsters?"
My collaborator and god, Nogosh, interrupted my pleasant mood with that question.
While his swordsmanship is indeed in the realm of the divine—far surpassing that of my lover—he is, unfortunately, lacking in the brains department.
"It will be fine. Ranks will fall due to an unfortunate disaster. A massive stampede caused by a dungeon that coincidentally opened within the country, spilling forth countless monsters. They won't suspect that we are behind it. If anything, they will assume it is the work of Weed. They have quite the reputation, after all."
"...I see. In that case, I suppose so. But is it truly alright to do such a thing?"
"Oh my, this isn't a sneak attack. This is retribution. Against Ranks and Taiki, who drove me out. A gift for a gift, a fist for a fist, and a sword for a sword."
"Hmm..."
It’s because he worries about things like that that he’s still stuck with a small country.
It is a simple proof that even if one has power, it does not mean one is suited to rule a nation.
Normally, I would berate him, but his swordsmanship is such that even the highest-ranking monsters I can summon are easily cleaved in two by him.
To defeat him, I would need to throw multiple monsters of an even higher rank at him simultaneously.
Therefore, for now, I must simply explain things in a way that keeps him placated.
"It cannot be helped. A great villain named Yuki is already backing Ranks. He has deceived a high-ranking god and is using them for his own gain. To stop him, we must bolster our military. To that end, we shall first advance the slaughter by monsters upon the surrounding countries as punishment for their complicity in evil, and in doing so, we shall gain DP. If we protect the refugees who flee to us, we will gather even more faith. It’s killing two birds with one stone. And besides..."
"Besides?"
"The 'Katana'—that supreme masterpiece you desired—will surely be obtained during the next attack on Ranks."
"Is that true!!"
"Yes. With this, you will be able to reach even greater heights, won't you?"
"Yes!! With this, I will never lose to that guy again!! Kamiizumi Nobutsuna, prepare yourself!!"
Phew, it seems I managed to deceive him.
However, this person Nogosh mentioned, Kamiizumi Nobutsuna... apparently, he unreasonably beat Nogosh to a pulp with a weapon called a 'Katana' some thirty years ago.
There are such unfathomable people out there, it seems.
It is still too early to let go of this pawn, so it is best to keep him fed and under my control for now.
"Well then, I have preparations to attend to, so if you'll excuse me."
"Aye. Be careful. You never know what might happen on the battlefield."
"Yes. Thank you for your concern."
With that, I parted ways with Nogosh and returned to my dungeon.
"Oh, welcome back."
"I have returned. With this, we can finally take back Ranks."
"That is good. But it seems there is no need for me to swing my sword just yet."
"You are the successor of Ranks. The time to swing your sword is when we behead the usurper, Taiki."
"I see. So the King herself will stand at the vanguard only then."
"Yes. That is why we were able to obtain a dungeon like this. It is the gods telling us to enact justice."
"Indeed. Our luck must not have run out yet; the gods must have told us to keep living."
Yes, this is truly the guidance of the gods.
That day, when I was driven from the castle and fleeing without a destination, I found a cave that had suddenly opened its mouth.
When we first fled inside, I never imagined it was a dungeon.
For several days, we lived in humiliation near the dungeon entrance until, suddenly, a golem from the depths of the dungeon spoke to us.
A stone golem, a magical creature composed of rock.
Defeating such a thing is a Herculean task.
Usually, it is a monster that requires siege weapons to defeat, and for us, who were fleeing with nothing, it was an opponent we could not possibly overcome.
But because it spoke to us, I judged that there was room for negotiation, and rather than being killed, I decided to hear it out.
As we talked, I learned that this was a dungeon and that the one speaking was the Dungeon Master.
At the time, I was trembling at the encounter with a Dungeon Master, who are often called natural disasters, but for some reason, he used the golem to provide us with a room, food, and supplies, and before I knew it, my hostility had vanished.
And perhaps because I am a woman, I was given the opportunity to speak with the real him—the Dungeon Master—exclusively.
My lover said it wasn't necessary, but I feared being kicked out of the dungeon if I refused, so it felt half-compulsory.
For my part, I didn't want to lose my current shelter at any cost.
With that desperate resolve, I met with the Dungeon Master. He told me that as a reward for my service, he would teach me how to use the dungeon and advised me to rely on Nogosh in the Sword Country, before he departed the dungeon.
He himself apparently wanted to return to being a normal person, saying he was tired of the mission of operating a dungeon.
Indeed, it is grueling to work for hundreds of years to alleviate the world's magical exhaustion, and he, too, had inherited it from his predecessor some two hundred years ago.
But for me, this was an unexpected stroke of luck.
With this, I had obtained the power of a Dungeon Master.