A tea party began in a “cage-like garden” within the Imperial Harem.
The attendees were so distinguished that one might question if that was a fitting name for the gathering.
And the atmosphere was so tense that the word “enjoy” felt utterly out of place.
“It was precisely one month ago that the dog Your Majesty mentioned, Dazzlo, was sent to the Demon World,” Third Princess Anri of the Hanzibal Empire stated, her smile and resolute demeanor unwavering even amidst the suffocating tension. She strategized internally about how much information to reveal.
Her objective was to end this futile war and prepare for a future, meaningful conflict.
“His expression at the time was quite a sight. I couldn’t help but laugh when he repeatedly asked if it was a joke.”
As she relayed the story of his bewildered, dog-like reaction, her mind was working on something entirely different. The crucial key to this situation was deciding what information to share, when, and in what order, along with selecting the most suitable options. It was nonsensical that they had to fight amongst themselves when a clear enemy resided across the sea. She had been acting in secret based on this conviction, but finally, her father, the greatest obstacle, had discovered her plans. That in itself was fine; being exposed was part of her calculations.
“Enough with the pleasantries. Get to the point,” the Emperor commanded.
“My apologies. Then, let us begin with the reason, shall we? The reason why Dazzlo was sent to the Demon World.”
She spoke with a slight increase in verbiage, just enough to avoid suspicion, buying herself time to think and continuously organizing information in her head.
“Thirty percent was for information gathering, another thirty percent for securing combat power, and the remaining forty percent was sheer curiosity.”
How much should she explain to convince her father, the Emperor, and her uncle, the Prime Minister, who silently listened to her account? And, more importantly, could she conceal her true objective? The casual, fact-based conversation was nothing but an irritating noise to the Emperor. He could cut through it with a single stroke, and time-buying would be difficult. She would not use falsehoods in her methods; she must not. If she did, these two would exploit any such lie without mercy. She, possessing blood from both sides, understood that falsehoods were a foolish strategy. Therefore, silence was the best defense. But instead of remaining silent, the crucial point was how to navigate the conversation without contradictions and allow certain details to pass unnoticed. She had to hide a treasure chest in an obscure side path, feigning naturalness as if it were invisible to the adventurers who sought it.
“…”
She did not find the silence in response to her words bothersome. She was aware that she was loved as a child by her father, but as the Emperor, he faced her not as a daughter but as a single woman.
“The trigger was Dazzlo’s research papers.”
Disgorging information and achieving understanding would bring about the end of this exchange. Such a surprisingly anticlimactic relationship.
“A dungeon used in an ancient war. Not many such dungeons are still in operation. It is said that the depths of the remaining dungeons connect to the Demon World.”
However, she believed this was the Emperor’s correct course of action in this particular situation. Conversely, if she were to sit in this seat as a private individual, she would undoubtedly be desperate to distract them by any means necessary. This opportunity, while a crisis for her, was also a chance.
“But that is only known to the Hero who reached the dungeon’s deepest part, and it is understood as such because that Hero defeated the Demon King.”
The Emperor and the Prime Minister were the leaders of the war faction. While there were powerful nobles among the moderate faction, they were clearly inferior to these two. It would be different if she herself were the leader, but her objectives did not align with those of the moderate faction. The actions of the moderate faction, advocating for peace, were merely a process for Anri; she could be described as a different kind of war advocate, believing they should prepare for the next Demon King’s invasion. Therefore, she needed to persuade these two to change their stance on who to fight. Yet, she understood that convincing and persuading them in this meeting was impossible. Thus, she decided to plant a seed of doubt here.
“Every single book I’ve read, the content in that regard is consistently the same.”
Anri smiled, remarking, “It’s strange, isn’t it?”
“There are no other witnesses; only the sole surviving Hero conveys this information.”
Most young lords and ladies could elicit agreement with a mere smile, but this was not effective against the battle-hardened Emperor and Prime Minister, veterans of the noble society’s battlefield.
“Therefore, I decided to confirm if it was true. If the dungeon’s depths truly connect to the Demon World, and if the Hero’s legend was accurate. I had Dazzlo research it. That was approximately ‘two years’ ago.”
It was a smile solely to conceal her own emotions. And a deliberate prelude to mentioning the two-year span.
“Around the time I began preparing to instigate this war.”
“Yes, precisely.”
“From your perspective, you acquired a convenient alibi.”
“Yes, that is correct, Uncle.”
In war, victory or defeat is decided in the preparatory stages. Provisions, soldiers, strategy. Everything must be moved to anticipate all possibilities. For her, this was an unparalleled opportunity. The moment Anri sensed the movements of this war, she created the flow within it that was necessary for her. For an Elf, two years is not a long time. But for her, the days leading up to the results felt like an eternity. And then…
“This is the only time I felt that two years was a long time. When I heard the results from Dazzlo, I was so overjoyed that I felt I could fly to the heavens. Knowing the significance of the dungeon’s existence was truly…”
With a smile, this time imbued with a different meaning, she continued.
“Chilling.”
Her smile, distinct from a sneer, transformed from a bright, sunlit radiance to a cold, pristine smile that evoked a windswept snowy plain. The Emperor and the Prime Minister sensed something indescribable.
“What happened? No…”
Emperor Lujiana, following his intuition that he must know its true nature, posed a question to his daughter.
“What did you learn?”
He asked.
“A truth.”
In response, Anri dropped her smile and emotions, facing the Emperor with a blank expression. A shiver ran down his spine. The great adults felt fear from a young girl who had not yet reached adulthood.
“It is commendable not to neglect your footing, but if you only look at your feet, you will not notice the raised sword, Your Majesty.”
Although she did not show it on her face, Anri, containing her emotions, returned to her smile with a soft chuckle and began to disclose the information she possessed. She paid no attention to the tea prepared on the table by the attendant, nor noticed that it had grown cold. The atmosphere within this cage was completely under the control of the princess, and that moment…
“Now, let us continue our story.”
It seemed that time would continue for a while longer.
***
Meanwhile, in the Demon World.
“Oh, yes, yes, yes, yes.”
The sight of an adult who could be called an old man vigorously petting the chin of a bear-like magic beast was, to put it plainly, abnormal.
“Ah, why is that? At first, when the Princess with a smile told me to go to the Demon World, I thought she was joking, but now that the environment is set up, it might not be so bad after all.”
The workshop he had remodeled and built in the depths of the dungeon had become his residence, complete with food, clothing, and shelter.
“The monsters bring me food, I can bathe using magic, and these clothes have automatic cleaning and repair functions, so I don’t need to wash them at all. If anything, I thought boredom would be my enemy, but if I think about it calmly, I can spend an infinite amount of time contemplating the theory of magic.”
Dazzlo, engrossed in the luxuriant fur of the bear that had become fluffy from the brush he had made himself, was muttering to himself, completely unaware of his employer battling her father back in the Imperial Harem. He was finding solace in animal therapy to ease the fatigue of his work.
“When I’m tired, can’t I just pick out a magic beast with good fur and be healed by it? Huh? Isn’t this heaven, except for the lack of women?”
Having always responded to the Princess’s unreasonable demands, Dazzlo had been sent on a long-term assignment to enemy territory for the first time, away from her. To his surprise, he discovered that the enemy territory was quite comfortable.
“If I think about it calmly, this is another world. Unless considerable preparation with extremely rare materials is made, coming here is almost impossible. If countermeasures are taken, one can hide even further. Huh? Did I escape the clutches of that wicked woman?”
He let out a satisfied sigh, hugging the real bear and enveloped by its fluffy, animal warmth. He grasped his current situation and considered whether he could just abandon his work and live here permanently. To some, the scene looked like a pathetic old man leaning against a giant bear plushie, prompting sideways glances.
“…”
But for him now, that was irrelevant. He was desperately trying to devise a plan, clinging to the possibility of escape and aiming for its realization.
“…”
As soon as he remembered his employer’s beaming smile, his body began to tremble. The bear magic beast, now his familiar, looked at him in confusion, but he was beyond that.
“No. I can’t relax even in another world when dealing with that Princess. Even if it were the ends of the earth, I would find any means to locate this place, and then face her retribution. I can see that whole sequence playing out.”
With onomatopoeic sounds rumbling in his head, the giant Anri standing with a smile was a symbol of terror for Dazzlo. Due to a certain situation in the past, he owed her his life and was absolutely obedient. In other words, she held his weakness. However, as an employer, she was exceptional. He received his pay, and his salary was more than sufficient. He was merely asked to perform to the best of his ability, not exploited beyond his limits. Furthermore, he felt the cold stares of the attendant maids piercing him during his personal moments. For those with peculiar fetishes, it might be a rewarding workplace, but for Dazzlo, who lived by the motto of earning money with ease, it was not a particularly good place.
“Haa, are there any jobs that just involve being pampered like this?”
After one last comforting pet, Dazzlo gently released the bear magic beast. Upon his separation, the bear magic beast, its role fulfilled, departed from the scene.
“It’s troublesome, it’s troublesome! But if I slack off, it’ll be worse later, so I guess I should get to work.”
Stating the same important point twice, Dazzlo switched his mindset. Dungeon reconstruction.
“Sigh, this is hard to build.”
This was the task Dazzlo was currently undertaking. He was trying to prove a theoretically possible technology. A crystal stood majestically at the center of the workshop. Approximately five meters in size, it absorbed ambient magic and was steadily accumulating immense magical power. If this were completed, one could say that his employer’s objective would, in a sense, be achieved. If time were on his side, that would become a reality.
“If only nothing would get in the way, it would be fine, but that’s not how it works, is it? I really need to start gathering information seriously, or the next report will be a pain.”
The fortress was about forty percent complete. However, it was not yet perfect. This was why the ancient dungeon had changed its appearance, with familiars operating in an organized manner to patrol and guard it.
“Um, the nearest town is three mountains away, but the closest possible location would be problematic if I were discovered. So, at least three more mountains away would be preferable.”
While researching, Dazzlo took out a map created by his familiars and pondered which town to visit for information gathering.
“The larger the town, the greater the persecution of humans. But using costly techniques like face-ripping is too troublesome, and familiars can’t easily enter large towns…”
After much deliberation, his final conclusion was.
“Sigh, it’s troublesome not having any collaborators.”
Ultimately, he had to act himself.
“I’m not very confident in my communication skills, but I suppose it can’t be helped.”
After gazing at the map for a while, he took a pin from his desk.
“First, let’s secure some talent that can blend into this world.”
And he stuck the pin into the designated location.
“It’s far, but I have no choice. It’s a prime target for an ambush as a diversion. My target will be a Dark Elf village.”
Ironically, it was the same Dark Elf village that Jiro and his companions had visited. Dazzlo chose it as his first target.
Today’s word: It’s nearly impossible to grasp the workings of unrelated companies.
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*The first volume of the novel is published by Hayakawa Bunko JA. It was released on October 18, 2018. The e-book version was released on October 31st of the same year. Volume two will be released on December 19th. The third volume was released on February 20, 2019. The content has been revised and expanded from the version posted on Shousetsuka ni Narou, including unpublished interludes. Please check out the new releases!
A comic adaptation is being serialized in Kodansha’s “Young Magazine The Third.” We hope you enjoy that as well.
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