Kays Translations

Chapter 27: The Ice demi-god

"--My dear people!”

　The voice of Emperor Friedrich is heard. The sound of his voice is profound and full of tremendous power. Even if it is just a human voice, it would run through the vast expanse of the hall, but amplified through magic, it becomes a loud voice and shakes the sky.

　Friedrich speaks to the people below. On this day, the people gathered were in a corner of the castle that had been specially prepared for this occasion, in a hall used for the emperor's speeches.

　A horde of people that would be troublesome to count, and the hustle and bustle of the lower ground that grew proportionately. However, as soon as Friedrich's loud voice resounded, it suddenly stopped.

"What a splendid thing. As expected of the Dragon Emperor."

“His Majesty is loved by the people.”

　Lute and Liselotte exchanged words in the shadow of Friedrich, who was speaking impassionately, in a position where the people in the hall below the balcony could not see them.

"Even so, I never thought you would prepare such a place for the unveiling..."

"It's to make the existence of a new demi-god widely known."

"I know. This is also a necessary act."

　Friedrich's current speech is designed to publicize the existence of Lute, the demi-god, in a big way. By publicizing the super power of Lute at home and abroad, Friedrich aims to revitalize the country as well as the country's domestic economy. And outside the country, the purpose is to check the neighboring countries, especially the most hostile country, The Republic.

　One more point.

“──With this, we are also husband and wife in name and reality, aren't we, sir?”

"It's still an engagement."

“The marriage is finalized, so sooner or later it will be."

　It was also the occasion for the announcement of the engagement between Lute, the Empire's new demi-god, and Liselotte, the Third Princess.

　──Lute first learned of these plans half a month ago. When Azure was appointed as his secretary, she brought along a document describing Lute's future course of action.

　The document briefly stated the following:

　Assigned Azure Milch Rembrandt as secretary to Lute.

　・The war with the Kingdom of Land ceases after the empire has acquired the entire region. Lute and his men, who had been captured by the Empire, were officially declared to belong to the Empire as prisoners of war because the Kingdom of Land refused to pay the payments that would have been incurred upon their return.

　・In accordance with the attribution, Lute will be given the rank of Grand Duke, a title reserved exclusively for demi-gods. In addition, Lute's subordinates will officially join the Grand Duke's command.

　・In order to strengthen the relationship with the Empire, the engagement between Liselotte and Lute is decided. When Liselotte turns 14, the marriage is formalized.

　・Upon her engagement, Liselotte is given a Duchess title and the name [Gascoigne]. From then on, she should act as the head of the Duchess of Gascoigne family, not as a Princess.

　・Upon his attribution and marriage, Lute will be given the intermediate name of [Sail] as proof of Imperial nobility. Also given the name [Coin]. Thereafter, he shall be known as Lute Sail Coin. After marriage, he shall be known as Lute Sail Gascoigne.

　・In conferring the dukedom, the territory of Sandelica, a coastal territory under the direct control of the Imperial Household, will be given to the duke. Liselotte, the head of the dukedom, will be in charge of managing the territory. Lute shall only exercise his power at his own discretion or in the event of a crisis in the territory or at the order of the Emperor.

　・The official schedule will be announced later, but please keep in mind that we will be preparing a grand unveiling to make the world aware of the existence of the new demi-god.

　And, well, that's pretty much what it looked like.

　As for Azure's appointment as secretary, Lute had no particular reason to refuse. All of Lute's subordinates were military officers, and they weren't used to such things as schedule management. 

Heinrich would be able to handle it without any problem, but he is also in an important position for Lute, so he does not want to assign him too many chores. In that sense, Lute feels that having someone on hand who is familiar with the Empire's way of doing things would be a win-win situation. He decided that it would be a good idea to have Azure as a secretary, given the fact that he would be receiving various instructions from the upper echelons of the empire.……Since all of them are ugly old men, there is also the aspect that he felt like asking for flowers.

　As for the Land Kingdom affair, it is not known how the two countries exchanged information, and Lute is not interested in the matter as long as it is over, so he is satisfied that that is the way it is. At best, he may have felt a sense of pity mixed with dismay for his former home, saying, "The empire must have rolled them over brilliantly. ......''.

　I had already heard about the Grand Duke's position, so I don't have any impressions about it.

　The marriage with Lieselotte.....it is so important that I gave up saying anything about it, since I could not refuse it from the point of view of the law.  It was important to the extent that Friedrich and Axia jointly urged me not to refuse if possible. Even without that, the blood contract called marriage is extremely significant amongst the nobles, so there was no option for Lute, who was a member of the nobles, to refuse. ……Even if the other party is a 12-year-old cat-clad princess. Even if they don't have any kind of romantic feelings for each other.

　Regarding the house and territory, he plans to leave it entirely to Liselotte, the head of the family, so he has almost no intention of intervening. Although there was a part called "coastal territory" that clearly relied on Lute's freezing power, for the most part Lute was willing to stick to non-interference. In any case, since he purposely avoided learning, Lute, who had no such know-how, and Liselotte, who was a princess but had received some education, had no doubt that Liselotte was the superior of the two. He's the kind of guy who prefers to step back gracefully rather than messing around with things and stirring up the situation…

Of course, there is also the aspect of taking into account Lute’s personality. However, more than that, the upper echelons of the empire must have placed Liselotte as the “head of the family” based on a similar decision.

"What can I say, ....... Now that I think back on it, it's brilliantly put together in a way that doesn't clash with me."

"That's only natural. After all, our country has come this far after repeated mergers and acquisitions. Negotiations are a thing of the past."

"I see. Now that you mention it, it's natural."

　This way, the expectations of the upper echelons and Lute's expectations intertwined, and as a result, it led to the present grandiose unveiling party without any particular complications.

“By the way, you were forced to become the head of the family for my own reasons. How do you feel about that?”

“It's no problem….On the contrary, I am rather excited that it is a good experience. In my country, there are quite a few daughters who aspire to be the head of the family, while other countries are not so fortunate.....whether or not they can actually become one is another matter entirely."

"Why is that...Oh. Axia-dono. I see. In this country, a female head of the family is a familiar thing."

　Remembering the female goddess who had gone to the limits of her eccentricity in front of him, Lute voiced his approval. In other countries, female heads of families are rare, but in the Empire, there is the precedent of the ‘goddess of fire’. It seems that she is now in semi-retirement, but she used to be the Grand Duke and the head of the Heisenberg family, and she is said to have been very successful. For that reason, it seems that the fact that she, a female, is the head of the family is relatively accepted in the empire.

“That being said, I'm actually looking forward to the time of the unveiling. I can't wait to introduce my wonderful husband to my people.”

"Isn't it a mistake for an ‘incompetent’ to be nurtured by my fiance'?"

"Oh.it's your job to be there, isn't it?”

"I see. Well then, let's get to work."

『──Come on, come! ! The Empire's new demi-god, the [god of Ice] who will make a pair with [god of Flame]! ! 』

　The time has come. The signal is given in the name of the emperor. The demi-god’s name was chanted.

　Lute walks forward. From human to divine realm. Lute walks, to stand alongside the emperor. Luto walks with shining blue phosphorescence and is clothed in divine supremacy.

　Well, here we are. The people below are looking up at us with dumbfounded faces. They are looking up at the absolute powerhouse, a being of a different caliber.

"----Watch."

　On that day, a blue demi-god descended on the empire, no, on the world.

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