Kays Translations
Just another Isekai Lover~
Chapter 121
“Excuse us. We have brought the former King of Golda, along with the individuals necessary for this report.”
Remiya entered the audience chamber first, announcing our purpose as a prelude.
From the lack of presence felt beyond the doors, I surmised that this audience—or rather, this meeting—was extremely closed.
…Presumably, the people inside had been informed that someone from Golda would be brought, but likely none of them knew it was the former king except for those present in this inner chamber.
“…Still-dono, please enter first.”
“Oh? I go first, do I?”
I was ushered into the audience chamber first.
A space I had entered countless times in my memories.
And there, as expected, were the familiar faces: Cres and Kokuri of the Thirteen Knights, and unusually this time, Bark, the head of the General Guild, was also present.
I walked a few steps along the red carpet and stood before the queen—not kneeling, not bowing, just standing calmly.
Why should I lower my head to anyone other than my master?
“Is that not disrespectful, before Her Majesty?”
“Ah, my apologies. I am unfamiliar with such formalities.”
I deflected Cres’s scolding with a lie and studied the queen’s expression.
Suspicion, doubt, and anxiety. Even in this victorious situation, she carried genuine concern.
…A good queen. But also a weak one. If she had wielded her military power sooner, perhaps fewer lives would have been lost in this war.
“One other person associated with the brigade, Same, is absent, so we have brought Melt, who also has connections to the brigade.”
Melt approached in her usual cheerful manner and knelt with a slightly awkward air.
“Still, copy me, okay? Like this, like this!”
“Hmm… I’ll pass on that.”
Melt whispered to me while I remained standing.
…Now I understand why everyone dotes on her.
“And lastly… we have brought the former King of Golda.”
Finally, the former King of Golda was brought in.
Shackled, dressed in crude prisoner clothing, he nevertheless walked with the dignity of a king, ‘standing beside’ me as if to assert his rank.
“Oh my, shouldn’t you be kneeling?”
“Eek!”
“Shall I disable your legs again?”
“Hiiiii!”
He hastily knelt—he truly has a talent for theatrics.
“…What is your name?”
The queen called to me as she observed this interaction.
“Hmph… Let’s borrow the knight’s words from earlier: ‘Is that not disrespectful?’ If you ask for someone’s name, shouldn’t you give yours first?”
“Ah! You—!”
As expected, Cres was furious, but Remiya quickly restrained him.
“Indeed, your point is valid. My name is Elstia Amaldi Lendia. Haha… how many years has it been since I last introduced myself?”
“Well, how courteous of you. My name is Still. A humble missionary and priest of a small faith. And… I am a good friend of the former King of Golda here.”
As I introduced myself, the kneeling former king shook his head violently from side to side.
After this thinly polite introduction, Remiya finally began speaking.
“Your Majesty… Our victory in this war is assured. However… it is possible that we may have lost something far greater.”
“…Hmm, speak.”
“…The trust of the brigade in Same may have been severely compromised.”
“Fufu… Hahaha! You report that first!? Hahaha!”
I laughed unexpectedly at the flow of the conversation.
However, it seemed those present truly feared the deterioration of relations between the brigade and our master, Same.
Distorted. For a state to fear one individual so greatly… Yet this is also the accumulation of our master’s achievements.
Not something to laugh about lightly.
“Huh? Huh? What? Did we do something to anger Same?”
“Fufu, it’s hard to speak in that posture, isn’t it, Your Majesty? Shall we have her stand?”
“Ah… yes.”
“Thank you, Your Majesty.”
Now… it’s time.
Remiya hesitated to continue.
…Then fine. Shall I speak?
“Remia? If you don’t mind—”
“Your Majesty… Sir Silent, dispatched by the brigade, has been killed.”
Ah, how unfortunate, she interrupted me.
“Eh? Nonsense! That can’t be! Silent can even defeat the strongest dungeon master, you know?”
“…Remiya, continue.”
“Yes. Both the former King of Golda here and Still-san have witnessed it.”
The former King of Golda, still kneeling, began laughing.
A mixture of joy, frustration, and a hollow bravado.
“I see… so that was it! So it was you who unleashed Silent, Queen of Lendia! Though I lost the war… my hero was stronger! Silent… the consequence of betraying my country!”
“Former King of Golda, restrain your tongue. You have no permission to speak.”
“Hmph, I am to be executed anyway, what is there to fear now?”
It was amusing that this fool of Golda did not change his posture even when threatened by Remiya, so I left him be.
Now, let me provide some clarification.
“It seems you are unaware. That extraordinary man, Silent, was an otherworldly hero summoned under the orders of this former King of Golda. My, my… I had my eyes on him too… I never imagined he would be killed by another hero.”
“Silent… an otherworldly hero…?”
I see. Remiya had yet to hear the full details from this fool.
“I also wanted that man, but he had already joined an organization calling itself the ‘Brigade’. Even so, I could not give up, so I waited for my opportunity.”
Then, I recounted the details from Silent’s assault on Golda Castle to his defeat by Isaka.
Naturally… weaving in the false episodes of the promise I had supposedly made with him.
“…So you watched Silent get killed in silence?”
“Yes… that’s right. Honestly… I never expected him to lose. To something so trivial as an ‘experimental subject’.”
“Yes! Yes, you! Everything went wrong because of you! Who are you?!”
“Oh my, you’ve regained your spirit since letting go, haven’t you?”
“!”
“Very well. Your Majesty, it seems that this war may have been orchestrated not by the King of Golda, but by a mysterious man claiming to be his friend.”
I will explain—the culmination of all the information I have gathered and what my master observed.
“The origin is unclear. However… Golda was given knowledge of ‘powerful summoning magic and dungeons’ by someone. As part of experiments, this knowledge was presented to the Golda King, who harbored disdain for his country, prompting him to begin ‘beast modification experiments’ that involved summoning otherworldly heroes while simultaneously attacking our nation.”
In my assessment, those experiments to enhance the beasts seemed to involve infusing specific monsters with the power of the land—similar to the energy concentrated in a dungeon core—to see whether they could serve as vessels.
And to verify the preliminary results of those experiments, they decided to try the same procedure on a hero.
The fake Elkud Church Guild offered up the accessory crucial to the experiment, which was then placed on the hero somewhere within this country.
Only then would the enhancement experiment activate, channeling immense power into one of the heroes.
Most likely, this wasn’t so much about confirming the experiment as it was intended to shake Lendia.
Even if they couldn’t bring the monsters directly into Lindblum, this method allowed them to create a disturbance in a location of great significance—inside Lindblum, outside the aristocracy.
Even if the direct damage wasn’t extensive, it would still serve as enough of a shock.
However, the effects were far smaller than expected, so it never became public knowledge.
This, no doubt, was thanks to my master’s interventions.
I concisely relayed this flow of events to the queen.
“And for the final stage: involvement with artificial dungeons. This is my conjecture, of course. I believe their goal was to acquire fragments of a natural dungeon core and use them for their own experiments. In fact, the otherworldly hero who killed Silent had gained immense power through those experiments.”
“…Is that true, former King of Golda?”
“…I don’t know the details. But as a fact, my hero obtained immense power. They intended to use it as leverage to invade and take revenge on you…! And then—!”
The fool glared at me insolently. But truly, if Silent had been defeated and that young man had penetrated this country, Golda would have won the war, and countless more victims would have fallen.
And all that sacrifice would have been absorbed by that young man, making him an even more powerful entity.
…Well, in reality, Silent’s life was never in any danger.
He was simply used as material to stage a fake death, playing into my plan.
And—
“Yes! Indeed! That otherworldly hero who defeated even that monster Silent, likely absorbing the dungeon core’s power and the life force of thousands of people! Unfortunately, I claimed all the results of that research for myself! Your Majesty, behold! My faith and power surpass both Silent and any puppet controlling a nation! That young man perished by my hand! And this is the proof of that experiment!”
I presented the fragment of a core, probably originally intended for this country’s artificial dungeon, that I had extracted from the young man’s chest, all while behaving gleefully like a madman.
“See here! This war was probably instigated to drain the lives of thousands into this crimson gem! I don’t know the ultimate objective, but that ambition was crushed by me! Now, Queen, how do you respond? You allied with some brigade and received the dungeon core, right? Now it’s my turn! How will you deal with me, the new faith, the new power? Support me and help this faith, and I will spare no assistance to your country!”
I demanded that she acknowledge me, my faith, and the organization I represented. To recognize this unknown individual and choose to share destiny with me.
But—
“Shut up!!!! Quiet!!!!”
A voice interrupted this mad performance, coming from right beside me.
“I’ve been listening and… why is everyone saying such weird things?! Silent can’t be dead! Silent will come back! There’s no way he could lose to anyone!”
“Hmph! Queen, why allow such a beast here!? I’ll explain once more to this fool: Silent was defeated and killed by our hero Isaka!”
“Former King of Golda? I suggest you refrain from discriminating against beast-people in front of me. It’s unpleasant.”
I needed to silence her for just a moment. I could not allow the climax of my scene to be interrupted.
Kill the throat. He can still breathe, can’t he?
“K…ha…”
“Now, Melt. Unfortunately, Silent was indeed killed. I saw it with my own eyes. He had a sword driven deeply into his abdomen, and as he tried to escape, the hero drove the sword even deeper into his back. Silent then fell from the upper part of the castle, on the brink of death. Well… perhaps he was buried in the rubble in a near-death state, but…”
Now, there is no one to continue these words.
Ah… as expected, I will step forward.
“This man… prioritized the promise over rescuing Silent-sama. He secured the upper echelons of Golda, and… along with Silent, who might still have survived… utterly destroyed Golda Castle without leaving a trace… countless corpses were reduced to mere stains on the earth… This man harbors that much power… he is dangerous.”
“Fufufu, don’t praise me too much, Remiya-san. And so, Melt-san, I’m afraid Silent has indeed returned to the earth. Please accept that fact, won’t you?”
For someone who wasn’t there, there was no material to dispute this claim, even if she wanted to deny it.
“…So… Still killed Silent?”
I felt the faintest murderous intent emanating from her. Perhaps because I was the only one to vent her anger at.
“No? The hero must have killed him, right? Well, perhaps he might still have been alive, but I merely fulfilled Silent-san’s wish, captured the kings, and completely destroyed the castle.”
“…The hero… Still killed him?”
“Yes, I killed him and took the core. Fufufu… it seems to contain extraordinary power… perhaps the mastermind will come to reclaim it someday.”
Most likely, her species had been judged a potential obstacle, which is why her clan was annihilated. Otherwise, it makes no sense.
Why should I feel fear from someone like her?
I clenched my slightly trembling fingers tightly, crushing even this emotion.
“Yes… enough. I’ll go home now.”
I could not explain this feeling. Why was I suddenly relieved? Why do I feel… now—
“Wait. You’re affiliated with the Brigade, aren’t you? You need to listen carefully until the end, and then explain to… that Same-san, right?”
That name must have been the trigger. Not Silent, but Same—the person she had the longest connection with.
A scream-like plea echoed throughout the audience chamber.
“I’m not leaving!!! If Silent is dead!! He won’t come back!!! No one will come back!!! Everyone, everyone! No one will come back!!! You know nothing! Everyone knows nothing!!!! It’s all over!! It’s all finished!!”
Yes, that’s it. Silent dying meant, in her mind, that all transformed forms would vanish. At least, that’s what she believes.
In reality, who knows? But she thinks that Same, Sheele, Seira, Hash… no one will return to her.
Even Shizuma, my master and the origin of all things.
“Is that so, Queen? Did you hear that? It seems this country is fated to be completely abandoned by this so-called ‘Brigade.’ How about it? Perhaps you should ask for my cooperation? You might gain as much power and wealth as me… all it takes is a little help for my faith, you see?”
“I refuse. Your contributions in this battle are remarkable, indeed. But I neither trust nor rely on you. Please leave.”
“…Oh? Very well. Placing loyalty in someone who will never return is a form of faith too. I shall respect your faith. Then, I will take this with me, shall I?”
I slipped the fragment of the core into my pocket. This alone will not be given; I will take it myself.
“Then, I shall take my leave. Ah, yes. Shall I return this fool’s voice?”
“…Please.”
“Very well.”
I struck his throat. Coughing and writhing on the ground, I gave the fool my final words.
“Apparently, Queen, you do not intend to execute him. I hear Silent demanded that his life and death be entrusted to you. Your Majesty, perhaps you should imprison this fool for now? Maybe someone from the Brigade who will no longer return will come in Silent’s place?”
“…I see. I will remember that as a final warning. Farewell, Stil.”
“I seem to have become quite disliked, haven’t I?”
With that, I turned on my heel.
Glancing at the girl—now back to her childlike fox form—I left her a parting gift.
“Fufufu… for a crying child, a candy. Here, take this.”
I pressed a favorite tin of candies into the arms of the girl, still covering her face and crying, and departed the audience chamber.
It was finished. All schemes were now directed at me.
Even the man who hadn’t spoken a word would now be aware of me.
It is not certain, but that man Bark… it is highly likely he knows something.
“The moment one loses the support they believed in… how fleetingly beautiful it is… though, unexpectedly… my heart does not leap…”
I left the royal palace. Without heading to the south gate, I ran at full speed, cutting through the forest on my own feet.
Somewhere, I wanted to rest. Alone, in a place where no one would come, I wanted to sleep.
Why is my heart so unsettled? I need to confirm that for myself—