Chapter 0684 A Fresh Breeze

Translator: Jay_Forestieri

Editor: Tseirp

“Kabui Somar-san is such a forceful person...”

“Give it up, Ryo. I already have.”

Ryo and Abel were on the deck of the Lone Dark, heading back to Purri, the royal capital of the Suje Kingdom.

As always, they were seated in ice chairs, with coffee set on an ice table... Incidentally, on deck, Andalusia and Feiwan were, naturally, sunbathing as well.

“He put on such immense pressure to make sure we met with Queen Iliaja.”

“Yeah... about as much pressure as Alexis puts on when he gets serious.”

“Marquis Heinlein? The Prime Minister’s full-force pressure must be terrifying, too.”

“There’s no point resisting the pressure of people who’ve been through that much experience.”

Ryo and Abel both let out small sighs as they pictured Kabui Somar and Marquis Heinlein.

Yes, the two of them had been persuaded by Kabui Somar and were now heading to the royal capital of the Suje Kingdom, Purri.

To meet with Queen Iliaja.

“At this point, there’s nothing we can do. We’ll be a little late getting back to the Knightley Kingdom, but let’s just enjoy this new journey.”

“After traveling all over the Eastern Countries like this, being delayed a little on the way back feels like a rounding error to me.”

Both Ryo and Abel were quick to switch gears.

Just then, the very Kabui Somar who had strong-armed them onto the Lone Dark appeared.

“If the two of you are present, Her Majesty will be especially delighted.”

“We didn’t get much of a chance to talk at the Kwebasa conference the other day.”

Abel answered, recalling the joint conference of the Eastern Countries held in the autonomous city of Kwebasa.

“Come to think of it, Lord Protector, weren’t you on the Rainshooter before? Like when you came to the Komakyuta Principality. But this time, and when you came to Darwei as well, it was the Lone Dark, wasn’t it? Has your flagship changed?”

“No. When we met in Darwei, the only ship and crew that could sail as far north as Kwebasa were the Lone Dark and its crew. Besides, I have the feeling that the Lone Dark is somehow under some kind of mysterious protection.”

“Protection?”

At Kabui Somar’s words, Ryo tilted his head.

“Even when we’re in danger, we can somehow get out of it... Of course, that is thanks to the crew’s daily training. But many of those who live at sea have had experiences that cannot be explained by simple logic alone. Myself included.”

“Luck definitely exists, though. Whether for people or ships.”

Abel nodded at Kabui Somar’s explanation.

For those in a position to lead others, in a position where they hold people’s lives in their hands, they cannot rely on unscientific things like ‘protection’ or ‘luck’. At the same time, they cannot completely ignore them either.

Because human lives are at stake.

“I was unlucky, and that’s why my subordinate died”... nobody wants to say something like that.

“Whether it’s protection or luck, if it helps things go well, I want to use it. I want it to protect us... That’s honestly how I feel.”

Kabui Somar said clearly, even with a smile.

Ryo looked at that expression with a kind of dazzled admiration.

To be able to say something like that plainly in front of a third party means that person has a broad spirit.

Ryo understood that.

Compared to the workings of the world, the sphere of human influence is very small.

Kabui Somar’s words were the words of someone who understood that, and still kept striving anyway.

Because he had continued to strive as a matter of course, he could honestly say that he wanted protection and luck to lend a hand as well.

Needless to say, that is on a completely different level from someone who simply does nothing and expects luck to solve everything.

After Kabui Somar left, Ryo said to Abel:

“There are times in battle too, right? When luck is good, or when the tide is on your side.”

“There are. I don’t know why it happens, or why such things happen, though.”

“Someday... yes, maybe in a few hundred years, or maybe in a thousand years... there may be some ‘factor’ discovered or identified that can explain that kind of thing scientifically... logically.”

Ryo said this with a grave nod.

Seeing that, Abel shrugged and said:

“Sometimes, Ryo, you say some really interesting things.”

“How rude! Not sometimes—I’m always trying to say interesting things!”

“Yeah, that’s a completely different meaning.”

After a while, two people came by.

“It’s been a while, Your Majesty Abel... no, Abel-dono, Duke Rondo.”

Indeed, Captain Gorick knew that Abel was the king of the Knightley Kingdom, and that Ryo was Duke Rondo.

When they met at the Rondo Manor in Darwei, he had even ended up walking with his right hand and right foot moving at the same time, like he’d forgotten how to walk normally...

“No, Captain, please just call me Ryo.”

“And I’m just the adventurer Abel.”

Ryo and Abel made their request with wry smiles.

Captain Gorick went back to calling them “Ryo-san” and “Abel-san” as before, but this time there was someone else—someone who was acting very differently from before...

“Ryo-sensei! I’m a fan—if it’s all right, may I have your autograph!”

Said the ever-composed Deputy Captain Lena.

What she pulled from her inner pocket was apparently the always-carried portable edition of ‘The Hungry Swordsman Abel II’, looking like a paperback.

“The second volume? It’s been published?”

“Yes! It’s my favorite book.”

Apparently, it was the second volume of ‘The Hungry Swordsman Abel’, published based on the manuscript Ryo had once entrusted to Kabui Somar.

Ryo took the pen offered along with the book and quickly signed his name.

After becoming the premier duke, he actually found himself signing things fairly often.

Of course, compared to King Abel or Prime Minister Heinlein, it was a tiny number... but still.

Deputy Captain Lena held the signed book close to her chest, deeply moved.

“Thank you so much! I’ll treasure it forever.”

With that, she offered a brief greeting and hurried off toward the stern.

“Uh...”

Ryo was so surprised by how quickly she left that he was the one left stunned.

“I think it’ll probably be stored in Lena’s treasure box.”

“Treasure box?”

Captain Gorick explained with a wry smile, while Ryo and Abel tilted their heads.

“Lena has a treasure box in her shared room with Susie. It has waterproof and moisture-proof features made with alchemy... It seems she keeps precious things in there.”

“I see.”

Ryo looked surprised, but also pleased.

To have his signed book cherished that much was, for a novelist, the very definition of a reward.

With the captain and deputy captain gone, another authority figure came to Ryo and Abel.

This person was one of the most important figures on the Lone Dark—the one who made life aboard the ship so much more colorful.

“Looking forward to it again today, Chef Susie!”

“Since today is Friday, dinner will be curry.”

“Oh!”

Indeed, aboard the Lone Dark was the female chef Susie, who possessed superb cooking skills.

“Yay, Abel. It’s curry!”

“Chef Susie’s caaurry is delicious.”

Even now, Abel still pronounced it as ‘caaurry’.

Ryo and Abel both knew that curry was sometimes served in the Suje Kingdom Navy.

And not just any curry—delicious curry!

“Just being able to eat this means there’s a reason to be aboard the Lone Dark.”

Ryo looked absolutely delighted.

That night, over that curry meal, the two encountered an old mentor who had come out from the engine room.

“The chief engineer’s job is tough, isn’t it?”

“Gunno-san, it’s been a while.”

“Oh, Abel-san, Ryo-san. My apologies for greeting you so late. No, more importantly— you’ve become really fluent in the Eastern Countries’ language.”

Chief Engineer Gunno had taught the two of them the language of the Eastern Countries.

It would not be an exaggeration to say that thanks to this man, their travels through the Eastern Countries had gone smoothly.

No matter how much gratitude they gave, it would never be enough.

“Thanks to you, Chief Engineer.”

“Because of that, we never had trouble communicating wherever we went.”

Both Abel and Ryo thanked him from the bottom of their hearts.

And so there was a joyful reunion with the familiar crew of the Lone Dark...

Ten days later, the Lone Dark entered Purri, the royal capital of the Suje Kingdom.

“You two, come with me to the royal palace.”

At Kabui Somar’s words, Ryo and Abel followed him.

As Kabui Somar entered the palace, one man hurried toward him. 𝓯𝙧𝙚𝒆𝙬𝙚𝒃𝙣𝙤𝒗𝓮𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

“Rockday! I’ve met some astonishing people. If Her Majesty meets them too, she’ll surely be delighted.”

“Your Excellency, a very troublesome person is here to see Her Majesty.”

Kabui Somar spoke cheerfully, while Rockday wore a plainly troubled face.

Watching the two of them from behind were two other people.

“Isn’t that the guy Abel stabbed through and blew a hole in his stomach?”

“Admiral Rockday, yes. You’re exactly right, Ryo, but the way you said it is kind of unpleasant, isn’t it?”

“Then would ‘the admiral-magician who stabbed Abel through the stomach and legs with stone spears’ have been better?”

“That’s also true, but it makes me feel even worse than before, so it really sucks.”

“Selfish Abel...”

“That one’s better.”

What words people can accept differs from person to person...

In a corner of the royal palace stood the Lord Protector’s office.

Its master, Kabui Somar, Admiral Rockday, who was said to be his right-hand man, and the guests Ryo and Abel were all seated.

“So, Rockday, who is it that has come to see Her Majesty?”

“It is Prince Hendrawa, the second prince of His Late Majesty.”

“He was alive...?”

Kabui Somar let out a small sigh.

Rather than being relieved that he was alive, he looked more like someone who had just realized things had become troublesome.

“The second prince of the previous king means he is Queen Iliaja’s older brother?”

“Yes. He should be thirty-one years old now. When the former first prince reached eighteen and became crown prince, he was sent as an adopted son to a small state in the southern part of the continent.”

“I seem to remember hearing that because his mother’s status was not very high, his position in the Suje Kingdom would have been difficult even if he had remained here.”

Abel asked.

Ryo, sitting beside him, was nodding vigorously with an air of great importance.

That was because Ryo had been the one to tell Abel that story before.

“You are correct. However, the country where he was sent as an adopted son was absorbed by the neighboring Ghegish-Lu Federation two years later.”

“Ghegish-Lu Federation...”

Ryo murmured.

It was a country that came up again and again around the Atinjo Grand Duchy in the southern part of the continent. He had, at last, remembered it.

“It seems he was sheltered by the Ghegish-Lu Federation for a long time.”

Admiral Rockday added.

“More than ten years? I’m sure the Federation also went through a fierce civil war during that time, right? I heard it is now effectively under the control of the Atinjo Grand Duchy.”

“Yes, that’s true... but that part is still under discussion, so I do not know the details.”

Rockday also shook his head slightly at Abel’s question.

“Is the talk being held in the office?”

“No, in the Foreign Affairs Conference Room.”

“Foreign Affairs Conference Room? That’s the kind of room used for diplomatic-level meetings, isn’t it? And Her Majesty ordered you to escort him there?”

“Yes.”

At Kabui Somar’s question, Admiral Rockday nodded.

“Was Prince Hendrawa accompanied by people from the Ghegish-Lu Federation?”

“He is.”

“Then Her Majesty must have predicted that this was not merely a visit to see her after a long time, but that he would make troublesome demands backed by the power of the Federation.”

After thinking for a moment, Kabui Somar muttered that, then stood up.

“Please excuse me.”

With that, Kabui Somar left the room.

The three remaining people.

One of them, the admiral, kept glancing around as though he wanted to say something.

But it was probably hard to say in front of the two guests...

“What is it, Rockday?”

Abel prompted him.

“Ah, no, how should I put this... this is the Lord Protector’s office... it would be fine if His Excellency were here, but, well, His Excellency has gone out...”

“Hm?”

“Abel, you really want him to spell it out.”

Rockday chose his words with obvious difficulty, Abel tilted his head, and Ryo came to the rescue.

“Admiral Rockday wants to say that he’s hungry and wants to go get a meal.”

“No, that is not it.”

Admiral Rockday immediately denied Ryo’s words.

Abel silently shook his head.

“Let us move to another room.”

Rockday decided to say it directly.

“Ah, because this is the Lord Protector’s office, there are also classified documents and such here.”

“If a dangerous element like Abel saw them, it could become a serious problem.”

“Hey, Ryo is the one who’s more dangerous, isn’t he?”

“I’m a magician whose motto is safety and security, you know? I can’t be compared to a reckless swordsman.”

Ryo said this with inexplicable confidence.

Abel silently shook his head again, and Rockday wisely rose without a word and began to move.

The room Ryo and Abel were shown to was a very large conference room.

At the front, there was a fairly large oval table, and at the back of the room they had entered, numerous conference desks and chairs were lined up.

Probably, the important people at the front would discuss matters while looking at documents laid out on the oval table and papers posted on the walls, and then give instructions.

Meanwhile, at the back of the room, detailed information would be collected and analyzed... and then passed forward promptly.

Of course, at the moment, there was no one there besides the three of them.

“It looks like a crisis management center.”

Ryo muttered that to himself, and Abel heard it—but since he had no idea what it meant, he said nothing.

“It looks like a crisis management center.”

Ryo repeated himself...this time, however, his voice was louder than before.

Still, Abel said nothing.

“Crisis mana—”

“I can hear you.”

By the third time, Abel finally had no choice but to respond.

“It’s because you keep ignoring me.”

“No, not ignoring you exactly—I just don’t know what this ‘curaishish something’ is, so I can’t say anything about it, can I?”

“If you don’t know, I think you should just ask honestly. If you pretend to understand and bluff your way through, you’ll get hit with a nasty backlash later.”

“Is that so... Then what is this ‘curaishish something’?”

Abel, who was also a very honest and decent guy, asked honestly.

“It’s a place where important people gather and give orders when a national-level crisis occurs. Since it’s built on that assumption, information is easy to collect... but...”

Ryo explained up to that point, then his voice grew smaller.

“Yes, the desks and chairs are there, but... at best, it’s just a conference room, right? The way you describe it makes it sound like they’d have special alchemy tools and everything prepared too.”

“Exactly...”

The crisis management center Ryo had seen had a giant monitor and forty smaller monitors built into the front wall, and on the desks were dozens of computers and fixed-line telephones...

“The absence of a giant monitor can’t be helped, I suppose.”

Ryo muttered with a slightly disappointed expression.

Rockday had been listening silently to their conversation from right nearby.

Then he noticed the door at the front of the conference room opening, and several people entering.

He tilted his head.

The people who had come in were putting documents up on the walls and placing a large map on the oval table.

“Looks like the meeting is about to start.”

“At last, the crisis management center is kicking into action!”

Ryo nodded with a strangely determined expression.

Of course, Ryo had no responsibility here.

Naturally, he had no idea what the meeting was even about.

“That’s odd. There wasn’t supposed to be any meeting scheduled for this room today.”

Rockday kept tilting his head.

Naturally.

He had confirmed there was no meeting scheduled before bringing the two of them here.

Since Rockday himself still had no information, he walked over to one of the people preparing things and asked:

“What is this preparation for?”

“Yes, Admiral. By order of the Lord Protector, we are preparing for an emergency meeting.”

“By His Excellency’s order? Did he say what kind of emergency meeting it would be?”

“No, not in detail. We were only told to prepare a map of the kingdom’s main territory and information on the major cities. Other departments also received separate instructions, so I believe this is something fairly large-scale.”

At the answer from the person he had questioned, Admiral Rockday again tilted his head.

Preparations for something continued steadily.

After a while, the Lord Protector Kabui Somar entered the room, spotted the three of them, and walked over.

“Actually, Prince Hendrawa has demanded the throne of the Suje Kingdom.”

“Huh?”

Kabui Somar stated it bluntly, and Ryo and Abel both let out equally absurd, bewildered voices.

Rockday’s face twisted in silence.

Perhaps he had been considering this possibility.

“He claims that since Queen Iliaja is the sixth princess of the previous king and he is the second prince, he is the rightful heir to the throne.”

“Backed, of course, by the power of the Ghegish-Lu Federation, right?”

“Yes.”

At Abel’s confirmation, Kabui Somar nodded.

“How does that stand legally in the Suje Kingdom?”

“The highest priority is the will of the previous king. And His Majesty commanded, by royal decree, that Princess Iliaja be placed on the throne as queen.”

Kabui Somar was the one who personally delivered that handwritten decree to Iliaja.

“Has that been made public?”

“Partially. It has been announced that Princess Iliaja will take the throne by the will of the former king. However, since other princes and princesses have died, the decree itself has not been made public.”

“I see. So Prince Hendrawa is exploiting that point. Well, I suppose he can simply be rejected, but that isn’t what this meeting preparation is for, is it?”

Abel glanced at the documents being prepared for the meeting and said that.

“Yes, exactly.”

Kabui Somar nodded, then continued.

“What does it mean to make a demand for a throne that will never be accepted? Why did he come to the palace with that demand despite knowing it would never pass?”

“If Queen Iliaja were to die at this time, they would have no choice but to place Hendrawa on the throne.”

“We concluded that the Federation has already landed enough forces on the mainland to make that possible.”

“So this is a countermeasure meeting.”

“In fact, we have already conducted searches at several promising locations, and have found and detained what appear to be the operational units.”

“As expected of you.”

At Kabui Somar’s words, Abel nodded in admiration.

“Eh? So that means the Ghegish-Lu Federation has landed forces on the mainland for the purpose of killing Queen Iliaja?”

“Yes.”

Ryo’s eyes widened as he confirmed it, and Kabui Somar nodded.

At that moment, the front door opened and a woman entered.

“Your Majesty!”

Everyone who had been preparing the conference room immediately dropped to one knee.

“No, please continue your preparations as you were.”

Queen Iliaja said that gently, and then walked toward the back of the conference room.

“Abel-san, Ryo-san, it’s been a while. I’m sorry I can’t properly receive you.”

“Don’t worry about it.”

“Please devote yourself to the affairs of state.”

At Queen Iliaja’s words, both Abel and Ryo nodded in reply.

Things have priorities.

And those priorities change depending on one’s position.

For the queen, the top priority was not rekindling old ties but dealing with the urgent matters facing the country.

After bowing, Queen Iliaja returned to the front of the conference room.

Kabui Somar did the same.

After seeing them off, Admiral Rockday remained with Ryo and Abel... but he was obviously fidgeting.

“You’d like to join the meeting too, wouldn’t you, Rockday-san?”

“Go on.”

Ryo and Abel urged him with smiles.

“S-so you think so? Sorry, I’ll just go check it out for a bit.”

With that, Rockday went to look over the information laid out on the oval table at the front of the conference room and then took command of the information review process.

Within minutes, the conference room had begun functioning.

Information came in from all over the royal capital.

Rockday and the others reviewed it and quickly fed the necessary information to the oval table.

The information was reflected immediately.

The Lord Protector, Kabui Somar, gave instructions on troop deployment.

As the highest decision-maker, Queen Iliaja made the final judgments.

To Ryo and Abel’s eyes, the organization looked like it was moving incredibly smoothly.

“We were not told to leave this room. Right in front of us, top-level state secrets are flying back and forth.”

“True. The fact that we weren’t kicked out was probably deliberate.”

“Deliberate?”

Ryo tilted his head.

“To show us this scene on purpose.”

“For what reason?”

“As an appeal that everything is all right.”

Abel answered with half a smile.

“The Suje Kingdom is functioning properly. That, with me and Ryo cooperating, the newly enthroned Queen Iliaja and the executive government are handling the governance of the nation well.”

“Oh, I see.”

Ryo nodded at Abel’s explanation.

“Anyone involved in administration has to constantly be aware of how they themselves are seen, and how things appear to others.”

“That’s because they’re paid from the people’s tax money?”

“That too. But also because of the gaze from outside the country.”

Abel answered Ryo’s question with a wry smile.

“Those at the center of the state have to be aware of how their own country appears to other countries, or to people from foreign lands.”

“So they must not be looked down on by other countries.”

“Exactly. They must not be seen as easy prey. At worst, being seen that way could lead to their country being attacked. In a proper nation, the goal is to make neighboring states think, ‘That country is hard to attack, so we should leave it alone’...that is the most effective way to avoid being dragged into war.”

Abel said this with a slight frown.

Three years ago, the Knightley Kingdom had failed to do that.

It had allowed the Empire to think, “If we attack, we might be able to win”.

Of course, the Empire was the one at fault for attacking.

That was a given.

But that was the opinion and view of ordinary people.

Those at the center of the state must not allow their own country to be seen as weak.

This is not something that can be fixed by just one department.

The country and every department that makes up its administration must act with that awareness.

Otherwise...

They get dragged into war.

It goes without saying that the side that invades a neighboring country does so because it believes it can win.

Then how do you prevent that?

The best way—and the only real way—is to make them think, “We can’t win”.

If they think they can’t win, they won’t attack...

“Will our Knightley Kingdom be all right?”

“Honestly, I don’t know.”

“Eh...”

Abel answered bluntly, and Ryo frowned hard as he looked back at him.

“Right now, the kingdom doesn’t have its strongest asset.”

“Strongest asset? King Abel?”

Ryo asked, tilting his head.

“No, you, Ryo.”

“Huh?”

“The strongest force without question is Ryo, the Duke of Rondo.”

Abel looked straight at Ryo and said it clearly.

“But still... national strength is not necessarily only military strength. Besides, it’s not like a country absolutely has to defend itself alone, right?”

“An alliance, you mean?”

“Yes, exactly. Well, even alliances aren’t guaranteed to last...”

“True. An alliance is, after all, just an alliance. It is made not for the other country, but for one’s own country. Once it no longer benefits one’s own country, it ends. Nobody can really blame that.”

“Exactly. You have to make sure the benefit doesn’t disappear. And that’s where national strength other than military power comes in.”

“Ah, absolutely.”

“If the other country has the economic power or scientific and technological power that your own country needs, then they’ll hesitate to dissolve the alliance. That’s why the people at the center of state affairs must never slack off, without exception.”

Ryo said that firmly.

“The power of a country is not only military power.”

“Right. Economic strength, scientific and technological strength, and maybe even culture... maybe the power to transmit ideas, too. A country that others in foreign lands long for... that too is a kind of national power.”

“Like how the people of Lulu Island came to admire the Suje Kingdom and wanted to come under its protection.”

“Exactly.”

At Abel’s confirmation, Ryo nodded firmly.

“Becoming something like a vassal state, or making an alliance—there may be similarities there.”

“A completely equal alliance simply doesn’t exist.”

At Ryo’s words, Abel nodded.

In practical terms, when it comes to alliances between countries, there are almost no alliances between completely equal nations.

Looking at history around the world, that is rarely the case.

Usually, a clearly stronger nation takes the lead.

“So the relationship between the Grand Duchy and the Ghegish... whatever Federation is probably similar to that.”

“The Ghegish-Lu Federation. Probably even on paper it would be listed as an ‘alliance’, not a ‘vassal state’.”

“In that case, I can also make sense of this Federation movement.”

Ryo said that, then continued.

“From the Federation’s perspective, they want to keep the Suje Kingdom under their umbrella so the Grand Duchy won’t discard them.”

“They’d want to retain enough power that they can’t be underestimated. If they keep the Suje Kingdom under their control, they’ll have the strength not to be unilaterally cut loose by the Grand Duchy.”

“Politics is really difficult.”

“I completely agree.”

Neither Ryo nor Abel was particularly good at politics...

“Actually, I was thinking we might need to reactivate the Nio Operation.”

“Nio?”

“The one where Abel and I stand behind Queen Iliaja and glare at everyone menacingly. But...”

“That won’t be necessary.”

“Yes, it doesn’t seem necessary.”

“Unlike that time, when no one was on our side, there are now many powerful allies.”

Abel and Ryo looked toward the front of the conference room.

Centered around Queen Iliaja, everyone was working together to solve the problem.

“It’s different from back then.”

“It sure is.”

“The princess has grown into a queen.”

Abel said it plainly.

Ryo nodded silently.

The Suje Kingdom—one that even the islanders of Lulu, who had never even visited it, felt admiration toward.

Its political center was filled with a fresh, revitalizing atmosphere.

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