50 – A perfectly calm morning with no red flags whatsoever

After breakfast, Rishia went to take Mina, Nina, and Bahamut out to play.

It seemed like she was the one who made Mina and Nina the penguin onesies... and since she was also the only one in the house with at least a half-way normal mindset and mental health, I entrusted her with the kids for the moment.

That left me, Lia, Sylvia, and Mein in the kitchen after breakfast to talk.

Lia snacked on an apple and said, "What's next, Naofumi-dono?"

Mein caught Lia's change in addressing me and said, "Naofumi-dono? Not Goshujin-sama now?"

Lia took another bite from her apple and nodded. "We aren't Naofumi-dono's servants. We're family." She paused and blushed a bit. "...But calling Naofumi-dono Onii-chan feels weird."

I immediately crossed my arms. "Nope. That title is NOT allowed."

Lia nodded. "Yes. It feels... um. Not right? A bit... what's the word? Icky?"

Mein slowly nodded. "...Right." She looked over at Sylvia and said, "But you're still calling Master Naofumi like usual, huh?"

Sylvia shrugged. "Master is Master. And Master taught me everything I know now on how to fight, live, and survive. So he's a master in teaching too, not just a master who I serve." She paused. "...Although I never really served Master anyway. He's stubborn. Always doing everything by himself and lying about needing us to fight when he was just doing it to make sure we were able to protect ourselves..."

I looked amused and said, "You know I'm right here."

Sylvia nodded. "That's why I'm saying it, Master~"

I blinked, feeling a bit of deja vu. Then I had a sense of foreboding. "...I should not let you meet Atla."

Sylvia tilted her head. "Atla?"

"Don't worry about it. But for now." I placed my elbows on the table and laced my fingers together. "Let's talk strategy... since us four are the main party anyway."

Mein raised an eyebrow and said, "You're not including Rishia?"

"Honestly, Rishia's too nice and like not broken to talk about all the bullshit going on and righteous executions we'll be doing. She's the party babysitter pretty much."

It was convenient. Rishia already had a doting and caring nature, and I conveniently now had kids who needed a proper mother(?) figure to make sure they didn't pick up my bad habits and mannerisms.

I'd clearly failed twice already with Sylvia and Lia, so it would be nice if that didn't happen again.

...Mostly because I would never hear the end of it from my parents.

'Speaking of my parents... I wonder if it's alright back home?'

I DID just up and vanish. And that's assuming I wasn't dead and summoned here as a soul and plopped in a body.

Either case scenario...

Mm...

Well, maybe World War 3 would end unexpectedly and abruptly.

'I'll worry about it later.'

Couldn't do anything about it now anyway.

The immediate situation mattered more. And speaking of that immediate situation...

"Let's talk about the Waves."

===

Back in Melromarc, Mirellia was walking down the streets of the capital with Melty. Both because it was necessary to show that she still cared about the people who remained... and also to get a feel for how her people looked at her.

But surprisingly...

"Good morning, Your Majesty!"

"Oooh! Her Majesty is walking among us! Here, have some fresh bread!"

"I told them! That Utter Trash tricked Her Majesty! It wasn't her fault!"

...The overall atmosphere was light.

'What kind of sorcery is this?'

Mirellia numbly took the offered bread, subtly casting a magic spell to check for poisons. But seeing there weren't any, she tucked it in her bag with a brief thanks before moving along.

Everywhere she went... down the main street, the town plaza, the various marketsquares...

Although there weren't many people... and although there weren't any adventurers at all, likely because they were concerned about reprisals and retribution...

Nobody cursed her name. Instead, everywhere she looked, both herself and Melty were met with concern, sympathy, and praise.

And after an hour of that, Melty finally spoke up, looking stunned and genuinely concerned. "M-Mother. Do you think Sir Naofumi cast a spell on the citizens as well...?"

"That is Lord Naofumi, Melty. He is the ruler... or rather, Leader of Libertas at the moment, so be sure to use his proper title. But..."

That thought did cross Mirellia's mind.

Considering what Naofumi had done to Malty, it was well within his capabilities.

...And Mirellia would be lying if she wasn't terrified that Naofumi would find her too troublesome to handle and warp her mind as well.

Or Melty's.

Thankfully, although Naofumi had dubious morals, he still had a bottomline. As long as you weren't actively positioning yourself as his enemy, and as long as you didn't actively oppress or enslave others, he would leave you be.

...Unfortunately, that meant three out of the four countries surrounding Melromarc, and potentially most of the world, automatically crossed that bottomline just by existing.

Mostly because slavery was practiced even in Siltvelt and Shieldfreeden, albeit with humans instead of Demi-humans.

...And if they thought that Naofumi would hold back just because he once was their precious 'Shield Hero' they would be in for a rude awakening...

As for the reason why Mirellia only considered three out of the four countries...

Well.

That four once included Zeltoble.

But as Naofumi so kindly dumped on her lap last night with that information packet, Zeltoble had ceased to exist, and its former people were either a) 'processed', b) undergoing screening to become citizens of Libertas, or c) fleeing for their lives to other countries.

Of course, that didn't mean the number of countries surrounding Melromarc had decreased. After all, Libertas had been raised by Naofumi within a week, and considering how quickly he was developing it, calling it anything but a country would be foolish.

But in any case...

Mirellia shook her head and finished her thought for Melty. "...This is not mind magic or mental manipulation." Mirellia let out a wry smile as she watched her loyal and devout citizens looking back at her with concern. "...This is simply public relations management and extremism on an unimaginable scale."

It was a simple solution, but one that couldn't normally be done.

Normally, if a person was fed up with their ruler, they had no option but growing resentment until that reached a threshold where revolution or working with enemy nations became inevitable.

And after everything that Mirellia had allowed to happen, intentionally or not, the normal outcome should have been her head or outside nation forces ripping Melromarc apart from within.

But Naofumi had stepped in.

And he had stepped in with an extreme show of force.

First, by freeing slaves and oppressed citizens, showing he was a man who valued personal dignity.

Second, by eliminating corrupt nobles with flashy magic, showing that he was a man of action.

Third, by raising Libertas within the span of a week and making it self-sufficient, showing that he could perform miracles.

But fourth, and most important, by refusing to claim kingship over the people of Libertas, instead just making himself a nice plot of land and a mansion while ensuring all the other people had enough supplies to survive as well as enough land to develop their own lives.

In short... in the most dramatic way possible, he had provided a third option for the citizens who were against Mirellia.

Rather than fanning the flames of revenge or resentment, Naofumi had provided the winds and lands of a new beginning, even going so far as to escort them all there.

And by removing those people, the ones who did remain had reaffirmed their loyalty to Melromarc and the royal family.

Now, even if an outside agent tried to incite the citizens...

"Knights! That one is from Siltvelt! He just spoke of treason against Her Majesty!"

"W-What? Aren't you upset!? She caused all of- GAH!?"

...They weren't just ignored, they were hunted.

Mirellia reflexively reached for a fan to hide her face. But then she remembered that she had thrown them all away. So instead, she hid her smile with her hand.

Because she couldn't help but appreciate the irony.

The Wise King who should have saved Melromarc and who *had* saved Melromarc in the past had damned it.

But the one that Melromarc's citizens called a Devil and heinous criminal had gone out of his way to stabilize and save it when he could have let it burn.

And the greatest irony of all?

Naofumi didn't do it because it was 'right' or 'correct.' He didn't even do it because he felt sorry for Mirellia or Melty.

No.

He had simply helped Melromarc stabilize itself because it would have been too troublesome dealing with the anarchy that came if it collapsed.

"Mother?" Melty tilted her head, looking at Mirellia. "Why are you smiling?"

"...I'm just amused, Melty." Mirellia chuckled. "Good men... in the end, they end up becoming bad men once they obtain power."

That had been proven with that Utter Trash. Even a Wise King and competent ruler like himself had become broken down and clinging to authority when he had a taste of it.

"...But powerful men can choose to do good out of convenience. And when they do, it is a truly good act."

Yes.

Even if Naofumi had ulterior motives for saving Melromarc... the fact was that he DID save Melromarc.

And since he made his motives clear, Mirellia didn't have to worry about him changing his mind about it either.

But even if he did change his mind...

'That man already put his sights elsewhere.'

Mirellia still didn't know what Naofumi was looking towards or what his intentions were. And she knew that her role in all of this was to just keep a stable center for him to build his grand ambition, whatever that may be...

But at the end of the day, that meant that Melromarc lived. And that meant that, while changed, Melromarc's core remained.

Like he said.

...If he had taken it for himself or gone out of his way to solve the issues with force, Melromarc would have forever been painted with Naofumi's colors.

But since he left and took the ones who admired him with him, the only ones left in Melromarc were those who cherished its history and royal family.

...Which made Mirellia curious.

Because Four Bray was also a land of deep history.

Logistically, it should be better to just stabilize it instead of conquer or raze it to ash.

But knowing him...

Mirellia giggled.

"Mother?" Melty frowned. "...Are you sure you are well?"

"Ah." Mirellia shook her head. "Apologies, Melty. Just..." She giggled again, feeling light. "...I'm looking forward to seeing a certain pig's homeland and the bloodline of 'heroes' be turned to ash."

Schadenfreude at its finest...

That prince Takt had declared war on Melromarc, no doubt intending to pillage it just like that pig king who approved the war in the first place.

But if they thought Melromarc was just a pearl there for the taking...

Well.

They'd find out that something worse had already claimed it and deliberately left it alone.

Like putting a fence around a rose growing in the wild...

Hm.

"...Perhaps I should take up poetry?" Mirellia continued walking down the streets, humming to herself. "I do need a new way to pass the time since Lord Naofumi is handling international relations so splendidly..."

===

While Mirellia walked down the street, feeling on top of the world...

Melty couldn't help but wonder if she needed to plot with her mother's personal Shadow to give her a proper rest.

Because, as far as Melty could tell, her mother had CLEARLY lost her mind...

'Maybe it's from losing Father and the stress... Mother loves Filorials, does she not? Maybe I should try and get one for her as a gift...'

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