Chapter 28:
When you are given immense power, doing things on the justification of ‘because I can’ becomes something not ridiculous, but a partly valid excuse. After all, if it takes little effort and carries no risk, why not? After all, floating on a cloud where I am right now, I’m hardly hurting anyone.
“So, you think that Yuuki has kept Shizu in a coma deliberately?” I questioned, anger bubbling beneath the question as I stared up at the stellar vista above me.
“Yes. Although, his reasons for doing so I’m not sure of.” Susuru responded, his telepathic communication revealing he was feeling similarly about this issue.
I sighed, looking at the drifting wisp of vapour that made up the blanket of clouds I was standing on, “He didn’t kill her because keeping her alive gives him more leverage. She is helpless right now, so he can threaten to kill her if we move against him. The entire situation around her is controlled, so he can even relocate her and we would be none the wiser.”
“Whoa, who said anything about killing? Do you really think he would go that far?” Susuru’s voice was panicked, surprised, “Isn’t that too much of a stretch? We aren’t even sure that it’s him!”
“I’m glad you are the way you are, Susuru.” I told my friend, getting a feeling of confusion in return, “You can have enough faith in people for the both of us.”
“Ahaha.” Came the awkward laughter in response, “I just think getting ahead of ourselves would be a mistake. There might be a good reason for Yuuki to be acting the way he is.”
“I wouldn’t hold my breath. It’s better in these cases to be prepared for the worst and then be pleasantly surprised.” I explained, to an agreeing hum.
“Either way, what do you think we should do about this?” He asked, causing me to place my chin on my hand, sitting down on the bed of clouds as I stared up at the beautiful night sky above.
“Did he agree to let you examine Shizu’s kids?” I asked.
“Yes. He seemed to be genuinely happy when I said I could maybe fix their issues.” He responded.
I snorted, of course he would. Susuru might be willing to give people the benefit of the doubt, but I was not that naive. Yuuki was glad for Susuru’s help, because those kids were assets. Right now, their strength was a non-issue due to it degrading their bodies. However, should Susuru fix that and allow them to live fully, then it would stand to reason that the one who controlled their lives could only benefit from the influx of strong, grateful assets.
I didn’t like thinking in this way, but my people had made me their King. If I fell for ploys or let people scheme against me, it would be a very poor way to repay them.
“It’s a shame you told him I used to be human.” I mused, “I could have just busted Shizu out of there and then pretended to not care about the kids to throw him off.”
“Sorry about that again.” he apologised, to which I waved him off.
“Don’t worry about it. It’s not that big of a deal and I wasn’t hiding it very well anyway.” It was always annoying when your opponent got information that they didn’t need to work for, but I could deal with it, “More importantly, I have a plan.”
“Oh? What is it?” He asked, curious.
“Try and get some time away from the city, then give me another message. I’ll give you something that will let me sense it from far away, then you can plant it on Shizu in case they move her. Deal with the kids’ issues, then tell Yuuki that I won’t make the trip to the capital to investigate Shizu, so you’ll take her with you when you leave. It’s better if we act like we trust him and aren’t in a panic.” I explained.
He wasn’t fully onboard, “Are you okay with just leaving Shizu like this for so long?”
“Of course not.” I responded, “If I could, I would already be there with you and busting her out. But Yuuki holds too many of the cards and we don’t know what he wants. If we nab Shizu, he could retaliate by targetting the kids. I doubt she would be happy that we put them in danger to save her. Great Sage, your skill, said she’s stable at the moment, right?”
“Yes.” Susuru responded, “But what if that changes? What if they, I don’t know, start to poison her or something?”
“You’ll pick that up in time. I trust you.” I responded, getting a burst of embarrassed pride at that, “I know it’s not perfectly safe, but I honestly think this is the best way to go about things. Giving Yuuki enough rope to hang himself with. If he does nothing, then we don’t have to worry about it, but if he does anything, then we have an actual justification to act.”
“I get it.” He sighed, “But I don’t like being reactive when Shizu is in trouble.”
“Sorry. Any other plan I can think of has a much higher chance of going wrong.” I responded, “I’m counting on you Susuru. Let me know the moment anything goes wrong.”
His words were filled with resolve, “I won’t let you or Shizu down.”
“I know you won’t.” I smiled, feeling as the mental connection dissipated.
I leant back, my body making contact with the clouds below me as I stared up at the sky. Contrary to expectations, the cloud was not soft and did not feel like much of anything, aside from a vague feeling of dampness. No, what was holding me up, what I could feel thrumming all around me, was my magic.
It was what allowed me to float here, so above the world, staring at the majestic beauty of the stars and constellations breaking up the inky blackness of the void.
I had so many ideas, so many things to try. Telekinesis was something that I wanted to look into further, my odd power over space something that called for further investigations. The Fusion reactor of Magic that used to be Veldora still thrummed within the Void, it’s secrets still stubbornly refusing to yield.
Speaking of the Void, Astral Step was still eluding me. I could now move within consistent ranges, but affecting things I should have passed through like Void Spirit did was still something that I needed to explore.
There was more I was looking forward to trying. Chronosphere, Black Hole, Time Lapse and more. The way I interacted with this world, it’s Magic, was not usual. I was using ideas I was familiar with from my past life as inspiration, but as shown with Laguna Blade, it allowed me to gain insight into more magical discoveries than just copying the spell itself.
Then there was the Ancient Devil that wanted to meet me. I have been looking into Demon Summoning, but I am going to have to speak with Lucifer in order to finalise the ritual that would be required.
I sighed, eyes tracking the shining shimmer of stellar dust, “So much to do…”
---ARARAR---
“Arrogance. Arrogance and madness.” The King scoffed after the report of his Chief Magician, Razen, “I would expect such things from up-jumped Monsters, but for Dwargon to agree and treat them as peers? What inanity possessed them to do such a thing?”
“Greed can blind even the most steadfast.” His son mused, “Their agreement with this new ‘nation’ in Jura is mostly a trade agreement, not an alliance or a defence pact. If Razen’s report is true and the Monsters are creating a road through that dangerous forest, then the profits that even a temporary operation of that route could bring would be enormous.”
“If I may, your Grace.” Reyhiem, Archbishop of the Western Holy Church coughed into his hand, “I have news from my homeland regarding these Monsters and their leader, Rubick.”
“The one who calls itself the Grand Magus?” The King asked, getting scoffs and shakes of the head at the title.
“The very same.” Reyhiem confirmed, “Luminous, our most gracious God, has declared that nation to be heretical and a threat to humanity. This has yet to be made public, as the Church does not wish to alarm the faithful until they are ready, but if a nation would offer to aid us in expunging the taint of theses beasts from the land…”
“The Church would be very grateful, I expect?” The king asked, greed colouring his tone.
“Exceedingly so, your grace. These roads that the Monsters are building, for instance. They would need to be purified and inspected, of course, but afterwards stewards that would watch over them in the name of Humanity would need to be found. Who else but the virtuous, pious people that ended the great threat could we turn to?”
A Merchant who had been generous to the Royal family, thus earning his seat at their table, shifted at those words, “A route through Jura? If we controlled both that and our own trade routes…”
The King instantly realised the implications. With both ways to Dwargon and the east under their control, they could levy tariffs and tolls on all merchants passing through, manipulating the traffic of almost the entire Western Nation’s trade through those fees. As it stood, with the only stable route under their control, they had to be careful with their fees, as to not invite their neighbours aggression. However, with two different routes and the backing of the Church...
“Falmuth will always answer when the Faith calls upon them. Luminous has watched over us in her generosity for generations, we would be glad to pay her servents back in any way.” The King responded to the Archbishop, who smiled.
“I am glad to hear it. I will tell my superiors, they shall send Paladins and Templars to aid you in this holy quest. More than that, I have good news my King.” He bowed, even as he remained seated, hand over his heart, “Hinata Sakaguchi, the Shining Blade of Humanity, has personally requested to participate in this extermination. With her on our side, out path has surely been blessed by Lady Luminous herself.”
His words sent a ripple through the gathered men. Hinata, the Blade of Luminous, the strongest hero that the Church possessed. Her strength was spoken of in hushed tones, each great miracle she performed more ridiculous than the last.
It was said that if an entire country stood against her, that country would fall.
“I am glad to hear that Lady Hinata will join us.” The King laughed, his voice tight with emotion and relief as he raised a glass, the liquid inside splashing as he did so, “To Victory and Prosperity, To Humanity!”
“To Humanity!” The rest cheered, raising their own glasses, as they all thought that the spoils was as good as theirs.
---ARARAR---
Hanako bustled around the kitchen, knowing where everything was almost instinctively. Of course, she was the one that set this entire kitchen up, but that was beside the point. To be honest, she realised that doing such a thing for Lord Rubick was a bit redundant, as he didn’t really need to eat, but they wanted to make him comfortable in any way they could.
Knowing he used to be human, they worked with Susuru to build him a perfect house, based on what the slime remembered of their old world.
Apparently, their world was divided into several distinct nations, much like the Western Nations here. Although, their nations were on opposite sides of the globe, so what Susuru viewed as comfortable might not be the same for Rubick. Still, they attempted to do their best and their Lord had stated that he appreciated it, so it was not in vain.
Their tale of how their two nations, the Netherlands and Japan, were almost as far apart as possible made the two even more amazing in her eyes. She could barely get along with other Ogres from the other side of the Forest, yet Susuru and Rubick understood each other and got along so easily.
It made her a bit jealous.
She shook her head, chasing away those thoughts.
As she moved through the room, going from counter to counter and ensuring that the meal was perfectly taking the shape she had imagined, she was unable to stop her mind from wondering once again. This time, back to what Lucifer had told her, back when she asked for advice on relationships. The Demoness had been rather enlightening, if a bit cold and analytical.
Essentially, Her advice had boiled down to two things that men wanted most in the world; to be needed and to be respected. The one sure way to ensure that a man’s love died for you was to make him feel unneeded or disrespected. They required that their efforts were seen, appreciated and necessary.
There was some other advice included, such as ensuring that should she want something from him to explain it clearly and promptly, not allowing it to fester or be lost in misinterpretation. That one had stung, considering that was what she had been doing up to this point.
Still, what was she supposed to do? It took all her bravery to muster up the courage to kiss him, actually explaining what she felt for him… She could already feel herself dying from embarrassment.
She had decided to focus on the other aspect of her advice, to give her a way forward. That was not easy to figure out, as it was rather vague and difficult to apply. Make Lord Rubick feel needed and respected? Was that a joke? Of course they needed him! The very thought that they didn’t respect him was laughable as well, something which she explained to the smug white-haired demon.
Then came the question that led her to her current position in the middle of preparing a feast fit for a king.
‘Ah, you need him and respect him as a servant does their Lord, that is true. However, what about a woman does her man, hmm?’
With that, the demoness had considered the conversation over, no matter what questions the Oni Princess had thrown at her. Instead, she was content to let Hanako stew with that question and its implications.
So, she had thought about it. Of course Claszureme needed Rubick, he was their leader, their King. However, that all hinged on his titles and strength. The respect those things garnered was real and deep, but it probably didn’t feel personal to their Lord. They appreciated his protection and his mercy, how he was so kind and gentle to them, giving them names and working so hard to improve their lives.
However, none of that appeared to be difficult to him. Part of the awe he generated was due to the effortless way he did his great feats, but what did that mean for him?
He likely thought it was nothing special, something he was expected to do. He didn’t realise just how out of the ordinary he was, how incredibly generous.
What did that mean for her and her interest in him? Trying to put herself in his shoes was difficult, as the difference between them was vast, but she thought that she managed to get at least an outline of his likely thoughts.
What she envisioned was not encouraging. Her father had attempted to sell her to Rubick in return for his protection, something which the man had refused, instead providing his aid to them in return for nothing. She was taken by that amazing act, but that paled in comparison to what happened next.
When the Orc Lord arose, rather than leaving them with names and letting them fend for themselves, he had gone out and confronted the beast in person, putting himself on the line for them. Something which had proven beyond a doubt to her what his character was. That is why she had kissed him, as she could not imagine ever feeling so deeply for anyone else.
But how did Rubick see the action? So soon after her attempt to buy his protection, he likely viewed it as her being overcome with gratitude or with hero worship, idolising him as a saviour for her and her people. That was true, of course, but that wasn’t what had been going through her mind at the time.
She had wanted to express her feelings to him, before he went off to confront the Orc Lord. Just in case. The thought was absurd now, of course, the idea that Rubick could lose was almost insane. However, she hadn’t known the outcome for sure at the time.
Unfortunately, her embarrassment made her choose a way of doing so that could easily lead to misunderstandings, that was not perfectly clear. She had observed Rubick, spoken to Susuru and come to her own conclusions.
Lord Rubick was prone to thinking deeply, about everything. It meant that he was a careful and wise ruler, but it also meant that he could overthink certain matters when not presented with the full facts. That was why she had decided on this plan of attack
Rubick had once expressed an appreciation for her cooking, so she was going to give him a lot of it to show her appreciation for how hard he worked for them. Then, she would express her feelings to him, clearly and without hiding anything, to ensure that he didn’t draw the wrong conclusions.
She nodded to herself, resolve battling with mortification. She was committed. It was something that would happen.
If only she could fight down this accursed blush.