第９６８堀：展開と疑問 (Part2)
"Hehe, Firia. Aslin wants to know what Yuki and the others are thinking. Right, Aslin?"
"Yeah. I’m wondering why Brother went out of his way to bring Princess Parphil along. That person has lost her country and her family; her head is completely filled with sorrow and rage. No matter how you look at it, bringing her here now will only hold Brother and the others back. Don't you think so too, Firia-chan?"
"Ah, that is certainly true. That princess is currently fuming. So, if things stay as they are, the negotiations will likely fall apart. But there is no way Brother doesn't realize something so simple. That means he must have anticipated the princess's anger."
Firia-chan isn't actually unintelligent. It’s just that she doesn't think deeply about things that don't interest her. Basically, she pours her entire existence into blacksmithing and crafting tools. And it seems Labyris-chan is the same in that regard...
"Naturally. I think Yuki has some goal in mind by having Princess Parphil sit in on the meeting. Well, I suppose it’s also partly because he wants to acknowledge her feelings."
"Brother would do that. He’s very kind."
"Brother is veeery kind."
That much is certain. Brother would never simply use people up and discard them. He always frames his help as being for the sake of "future good relations" or the like, but he does it simply because he wants to help. He just doesn't say that out loud, instead working hard to come up with all sorts of excuses. After all, even I was saved by Brother. I didn't know anything, I was just small, and I couldn't do a single thing—there wasn't a single reason for me to be welcomed as a member of Weed. Yet, Brother and everyone else welcomed me as family and stayed by my side all this time.
"Ah, I see. Brother wants to teach her. He wants to show Princess Parphil that she still has things that are important."
"That’s likely it. There are things remaining. That what she has left isn't just hatred and anger... Ah, I see. Yuki wants Princess Parphil to calm down for the sake of the future."
"That makes sense. If we leave her as she is, she’ll probably run wild and charge in on her own eventually. To prevent that, we need to have her face the cause of her pain and talk it out properly. Especially since that first encounter was... well, it was a disaster."
"True. That initial meeting with Hein was just awful."
Yeah. It really was. Princess Parphil seemed to be thinking about what she was saying to some extent, but it was completely meaningless. If things continued like that, the princess would surely end up like Seraria-onee-sama, charging into the front lines of battle. That would be bad for so many reasons. If that happened, it would only cause Brother more trouble.
"So, second point. I think you heard it from Taizou-ojisan, but he asked if we’d noticed anything about this land having more magical energy than other places, right?"
"Hmm. I don't really feel anything in particular. If anything, thanks to the Zrable Great Empire diligently thinning out the population, we haven't encountered any monsters outside of the sea."
"Yupia-chan is amazing. There were absolutely no monsters on the road."
"Right? I didn't notice anything about that either. Like Firia-chan said, thanks to Emperor Yupia’s solid governance, we didn't see any monsters."
That’s right, the second mystery. The state of this land, which should be rich in magical energy. But I don't feel anything, and I don't understand it.
"Well, we haven't really investigated it thoroughly yet, though."
"But Aslin, you feel a sense of unease about it, don't you?"
"Yeah."
"What is it?"
"Umm, well... it’s not so much unease as it is worry, I guess?"
"Worry?"
"You know, back when Brother and the others were at the Lancer Magic Academy on the If Continent? There were those magic energy pools where strong monsters were being born deep in the forest, remember? And on the Rogari Continent, there was the Great Monster Outbreak. I’m wondering if that’s happening here too. Those things are caused by massive monster culls or wars, right?"
"!?!"
The moment I said that, Labyris-chan and Firia-chan turned pale and immediately started contacting Brother via Call.
"Yuki! Can you hear me? Contact Show immediately!"
"That’s right! Yupia-chan and the others might be in big trouble!"
Huh? I thought they had adjusted for things like that... but I wonder? Now I’m starting to get worried too! But for now, I have to properly monitor the Hein fleet. So, I’ll leave the communication to Labyris-chan and Firia-chan, and I’ll focus on doing my own job.
Aslin, leading an army as a general! There is no one better at commanding monsters! Well, it’s unclear if it will actually come to a battle. And are there truly signs of a Great Outbreak?