I Shall Survive Using Potions! Volume 6 - ebook

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CHAPTER 42: STATUS CHECK

There I was, in His Majesty the King’s office, which was smack-dab in the middle of the royal palace, having forgotten that I had sworn to the Goddess that I would never again set foot in here. I have to provide a logical explanation for this...

“It’s been a while, Your Majesty. I know I made a solemn vow that I’d never come back here, but I’m sure glad I made sure to ask Celes for an exception for emergencies and other important situations!” ”

There, problem solved!

“Ah... Right...”

It seemed the king was a bit embarrassed about crying to his older brother in front of others, and his face was slightly red.

Roland treated the king with indifference, but I didn’t have anything against the guy. He was the king of this country, after all, so I was going to interact with him accordingly. I mean, I didn’t want any rumors going around that the Angel had more authority than His Majesty the King.

...I had already given up on claiming I wasn’t the Angel long ago.

“So, what’s the situation in the Kingdom of Brancott?” Roland asked as he pushed the king, who was clinging onto him, with no small amount of annoyance on Roland’s part.

“Yes, let me explain. Please take a seat,” The king said, gesturing toward a sofa for guests and sitting down himself.

As his guests, we weren’t allowed to sit down before he did. That is, unless we were kings from other countries ourselves. But if we had actually been foreign monarchs, we wouldn’t have been greeted in a room like this.

A maid brought us some drinks, then the others were dismissed, leaving just our party and the king.

Once everyone else left, Roland’s younger brother Serge — the king — explained the details to us. According to him, it was all just as we had been told by the royal guard. The king of the neighboring kingdom of Brancott had suddenly passed away, causing an all-too-familiar contest for succession. Normally, it would have gone to that annoying first prince Fernand, but the second in line, Ghislain, was also vying for the throne.

They were both children of the princess consort, so there weren’t any issues like the first prince’s mother being of a lower class while the second prince’s mother was the daughter of a marquis, or anything like that, but instead it seemed like the selfish and greedy second son just wanted to take the throne and supplant the hard-working and honest first son. I had only ever seen Fernand as a stalker who caused me problems, but he was actually pretty respectable about things that didn’t involve me. That was pretty surprising...

So anyway, there was no official successor appointed because of the previous king’s sudden passing... Well, there wasn’t really a need for one, because everyone assumed the first prince would take over... But some folks decided to use that as part of their plot to appoint the second prince instead.

Their reasoning went like this: “The first prince has displeased the Angel, so if he becomes king, we’ll lose the protection of the Goddess and our kingdom will crumble.” Some idiot had made up that rumor and started spreading it around.

Not to mention, there were self-proclaimed high priests in the royal palace, in an entirely separate hierarchy from the priests of the Temple of the Goddess. They’d been making connections through bribery and had joined the second prince’s faction, hoping to put the easily-manipulated boy on the throne for their own benefit.

The Temple of the Goddess hadn’t accepted these shady newcomers, but stayed silent because they couldn’t deny that the first prince had displeased the Angel...

Then there was the previous king’s demise. Word was that he had seemed healthy but had then suddenly died of an illness, which could mean he was poisoned...

The first prince should have been the crown prince in the first place, and considering the fact that he was more suitable and better-liked than his younger brother, the succession should have been a smooth process. And yet, the second prince’s faction had started firing off unsubstantiated claims that the late king had appointed the second prince as his successor, then launched a sudden attack on the first prince’s faction — which denied their claim, of course — and took the royal palace by force.

Fortunately for them, the first prince and his confidants had managed to flee by using a hidden escape route that was only known to the royal heir, and he’s been missing ever since.

“A pretty common story...” I said.

“Indeed,” Roland agreed.

“Meanwhile, there are brothers who try to push the duty of being king onto each other because they’d rather not deal with it...” I noted.

“Hahaha...” the king replied, shoulders drooping at my words as he chuckled listlessly.

_Welp, you never know what’ll happen! Gotta keep your chin up!_

“So, the second prince, Ghislain, is currently in control of the royal palace, but it seems no one believes he is the legitimate heir, not even those who are trying to put him on the throne. Everyone is either staying silent out of fear of being purged then and there, or are otherwise trying to benefit from backing the winning horse. They will surely crumble as soon as the tides turn. Therefore...”

“They want to take out their greatest threat, which is you, the first prince...” I replied.

“Indeed. If that happens, the line of succession would technically devolve onto the second prince. Though, whether an usurper who murders his father and older brother has the right to succeed the throne is another matter altogether...”

Of course, someone like that had absolutely no right to become a ruler. Even if the first prince was out of the picture, someone else of royal blood should take over instead. The late king had a daughter, and his younger brother had children too. It wasn’t as if there were no successors left if the second prince was to be disinherited. And it wasn’t as if the second prince could just massacre all of the other successors, their collateral lines, and everyone else related to the royal family.

Then Serge began to fill us in on the response status of his own country.

“I’ve dispatched the Four Walls to the eastern border. I determined that the Kingdom of Aseed to the south and the Aligot Empire to the west were less of a threat, so the arrangements there are the same as usual. Though, that said, I haven’t extracted any soldiers from those regions, just in case.

“The remaining forces of the standing army and the conscripts have been sent to the eastern border as well. The Kingdom of Aseed has also gathered their forces along the border they share with the Kingdom of Brancott as well as on the side closest to us. They’ve agreed to cross the border and send us reinforcements as soon as we request it.”

“Perfect. We can’t make the first move, so all that’s left now is to wait for them to declare war or cross our border without warning.”

“Yes. We will be intercepting the enemy’s attack, so the battle will take place on our territory. It’s a shame that our land will be ruined as a result, but there’s nothing we can do about that...”

It seemed that he had taken care of what needed to be done, despite his initial lack of self-confidence. Though, really, I didn’t think Roland would have left him to be king if he was completely incompetent. I sympathized with him, considering that he was always being compared to Roland, but he probably would have been a fine king even if Roland had never been in the picture.

“There’s no such thing as a younger brother who’s better than his older brother!” as someone used to say...

Anyway, the Kingdom of Balmore couldn’t take any action until Brancott did something first, so they had to cede the initiative out of necessity. They couldn’t be the ones to spark the war, but Serge was right that they had to take on the giant disadvantage of the battle taking place on their home turf. They didn’t really have a choice in the matter, considering that the Kingdom of Balmore had their position and reputation to consider.

...But none of that had anything to do with me. The enemy had used my name for personal gain, put words in my mouth, and attacked Layette and myself. It was an undeniable fact that they had already declared war on me. In fact, you could even say they had launched a surprise attack on me _without_ a declaration of war. So I had the right to strike back, right? Me personally, I mean.

“Okay, we’ll be going now!”

“Huh?” Roland, Francette, and the king all said, looking at me with wide eyes.

“I mean, we just came here to drop off Roland. We did what we came here to do, so we’re leaving. Is that an issue?”

“Whaaaaaat?!?”

What, did they think I was gonna help them with their war?

“I have no intention of helping one side of a mortal war .”

“...” Roland and the king were stunned into silence and looked at me as if they hadn’t expected this at all.

Francette was surprised at first when I announced I was leaving, but didn’t seem too caught off-guard when I explained I didn’t intend to help in their war. Emile, Belle, and Layette were as cool as cucumbers, of course. It seemed that Roland was the only one who didn’t understand me at all.

After all this time we had spent together... And he was supposed to be the smartest one here, too... It just went to show that smarts and the ability to understand people weren’t one and the same.

And so, I left the rather conflicted-looking Roland and the king behind and headed back to the residence of the Eyes of the Goddess.

...Indeed, I wasn’t going to provide any help for their war. This was _my_ war, after all. I’m not helping _them_ because _I’m_ the real combatant here. I’ll be the one attacking Brancott, not the other way around.

That was fine and all, but... Why was Francette following me instead of staying behind? And with such a happy smile, too...?

“I’m home!”

_Thud thud thud thud thud thud!_ came the sound of feet down the stairs, as several voices all piped up in unison.

“Welcome home!!!”

I had returned home for the first time in several months. Though, really, this place felt like it actually belonged to the orphans and I was just staying over... But it wasn’t as if I was just laying around and slacking off. I simply tasked the orphans with cooking, cleaning, laundry, making a living, and everything else to cultivate their independence! That was why they were able to live on their own without me or Emile there.

Not only had I taught the girls how to do house work, but I’d also instructed the boys, too. I wasn’t so anachronistic that I’d only taught the boys how to go out and hold down a job while teaching the girls to do housework! Though I guess that was actually considered a standard practice rather than an anachronism in this world...

That said, I had been sure to teach them to take care of themselves without depending on others, regardless of their gender. I wanted to make sure they could support themselves on their own before they found marriage partners, and I didn’t want them to end up being scumbags who dumped all of the housework and childcare on their wives after getting married. As a result, they all ended up being fine young kids. Each of them grew up to be capable of doing housework for me.

_I’m the one who raised them!_

I had already let them know about my return with the sound resonance crystal set, so while they were happy about my return, they weren’t all that surprised. If I had suddenly come home without giving them a heads up, they might have wet themselves like overly excited puppies. No, seriously.

I wasn’t gonna have them report to me on what I had missed in my absence. I’d been keeping in touch and getting info in real time with the crystal set, after all. Even though I had told them many times that they didn’t need to report so frequently, the kids were so eager to talk to me that they took every opportunity they could to chat about whatever.

Telling me that onions were a copper coin cheaper at the vegetable shop in Brancott’s royal capital wasn’t really useful information...

Anyway, I was back home for the first time in a while. I decided to lie on the ground and have the kids step on my back. It actually felt really good...

“Gueh!”

_I just made a weird noise. Wait..._

“Quit it! You’re crushing me! Belle, you’re way past stepping on my back already! Anyone who gets too heavy gets relieved of stepping-on-my-back duty. Off you go!”

Belle stepped off of my back, looking a little sad. I really couldn’t compromise on this, even though she was making those puppy-dog eyes. If I left her to it, she’d snap my spine in two.

As Belle moved away, an older but smaller child moved in on the now-vacant spot on my back.

_That’s right, Belle, blame your own body for growing so much... Especially your boobs! That’s why you lost the privilege of stepping on my back!_

“Gagh! D-Don’t jump on me! And not three of you at once!!!”

My insides were about to burst out of my mouth!

And so, I spent my time being a degenerate for a while...

Come to think of it, even if I was gonna deal with the enemy, it was better to have them cross the border, both in consideration of this country’s situation and in terms of dishing out divine punishment.

Picking a fight with the Angel was reason enough to get back at them, but if they invaded the country where the Angel lived, that would make them seem all the more villainous. Plus, if they crossed the border and fulfilled the conditions to activate the secret alliance with the Kingdom of Aseed, it would make things more convenient in the long term.

And so, I had Francette take care of gathering information from the king and focused on spending time with the children (leaving all the work for others to do and basically lazing about)...

Oh, and I introduced Layette to everyone as a new member of the Eyes of the Goddess.

She was with us all this time, but a girl her age should have been living with the other kids here. Such a young child being among all these adults by herself wasn’t a good environment for her. Not to mention, we were about to head into battle...

I couldn’t bring her with us. So, I had to have Layette live here with the others as a member of the Eyes of the Goddess. I was going to miss having her around for emotional support, but I couldn’t drag her around for my own selfish reasons. I had to endure! I could come back to see her any time...

Then I educated the children on various topics before bedtime. The thing is, they were all good, honest kids who revered me as a goddess, but...they were a bit too dependent on me. They should be able to stand on their own without me, but not one of them wanted to leave.

The oldest of them, Emile, was currently sixteen and would be seventeen soon. The youngest one, excluding Layette, was Belle at twelve years old. I mean, they were all old enough to find work as live-in apprentices, craftsmen-in-training, hunters or military cadets.

In other words, they were at the age to be considered a normal member of society who had lost their parents at a young age, and a few of them, like Emile, were already of age. They weren’t just orphans anymore. An ex-orphan with no guarantor or connections would normally have had a hard time getting hired anywhere, but no employer would turn down someone who had lived with me and been taken under my wing. If they tried, they could have gotten hired at any major business they wanted. Maybe they could have even found work as servants in a noble household.

...So why hadn’t they gone out into the world already?! In the four years before I left on my journey, I taught them so much during our before-bedtime discussions! Cooking, reading, writing, math, the workings of society, how to make money, common scams — not to scam others, but to avoid falling for them, of course. Plus, some basic chemistry, physics, medical science, and more...

I even told them all sorts of stories so they wouldn’t get bored. Mainly stories from Japanese manga and anime, along with some mythology and folktales from Earth... They probably thought these were true stories from my world back then, but they had to know they were make-believe stories by now.

Anyway, I gave them enough training to get hired at most places. So why had none of them tried to leave this orphanage?! I get that it was easier to save money because they didn’t have to pay rent and food was cheap here, but they couldn’t live together forever. They would all eventually have to find a lover or get married.

...Wait, Emile and Belle better not get all lovey-dovey in front of everyone here! That may be fine by society’s standards, but not mine! Such insolence wasn’t gonna fly in my book!

_Haah... Haah..._

In any case, I had given them this house, so if they wanted to live here until they got married to cut down on living expenses, that was totally fine.

But why did they insist on working at places where they could commute from here? Even if they had to find live-in work or go someplace far away, they had to consider their future... Why couldn’t they just think of this place as a home they could return to? There was no reason to stay here all the time. Or maybe this home that I bestowed on them was more like a curse binding them here...

“Hey, why don’t you kids try to find proper careers with future prospects instead of working as messenger boys, store clerks, or nursemaids? I know you’re all capable of...”

“You’re the one that taught us that all occupations are equally honorable, Kaoru!”

“Urgh...”

“There’s all sorts of baggage that come with regular employment, like excessive responsibilities that are disproportionate to the salary, human relations, and expectations of unpaid work or work on holidays. And women have to deal with harassment from superiors who abuse their positions of power...”

“Urggh...”

Damn, they sound just like permanent part-time employees... And I’m the one who taught them all this... This was bad. Really bad.

“Don’t you guys want to become independent soon? I don’t intend on living here forever, so I was thinking of moving on... And if you all move out, I could sell this place and divvy up the money to help you all on your fresh new starts.”

Yes, if I could just sell this place off, they would all fly freely off into the world. And once this current incident was resolved, I planned to go on another journey right away. I did plan on staying a legal resident of this country, for the record. I was just going on a journey, and as long as I was considered an inhabitant of this city, it would make it easier for me and avoid all sorts of trouble later on.

If I wandered around on my journey without being registered anywhere and people found out who I was, they would probably get pushy about having me live in their country. Plus, I’d feel bad if this country became known for being abandoned by the Angel. So I would continue living here in a formal, legal capacity, but that didn’t mean I had to leave this house here if no one was living in it. And the kids would end up being stuck in this house if I did just leave it here, which would be a huge waste of talent.

If these kids went out into the world and put all their knowledge and education they had gotten here to good use, it would make this country — no, the world — a better place. Maybe just a little bit…

It would also lead to their own happiness, and I would have a small part in doing something good for this world, which would make me kind of happy too.

Wait...they seem pretty shaken by what I had said...

“D-D-Do you mean...”

“Are you going back to the heavenly realm, Big Sis Kaoru...?”

“Y-You’re leaving us?”

_Oh no, they’re about to burst into tears! ...Actually, some of them are crying already!_

But I couldn’t just baby them here. I had to give it to them straight, here and now.

“I can’t just live with all of you here forever. I...”

“Wh-Wh-What is it?”

They were on the verge of tears, but I declared without mercy: “I’ll get married and live a life of my own some day...”

“Oh, we’ll be fine for a while, then!”

...What was with their relieved smiles?! How incredibly rude...

“Oh, but I need to manage my own world too! Just like Celes...”

Indeed, I was generally known as a friend of the Goddess Celestine... Most people continued to call me the Angel, no matter how desperately I denied it, though. And so, I was supposed to be a normal human girl who was loved by the Goddess, but some people, like these kids, Francette, Roland, House Adan, and a few others, thought of me as a goddess of another world. So this explanation was fine for them.

“That’s why I need to leave soon...”

“...”

The children went silent. It seemed like they wanted to stop me but considered that I may have important work as a goddess, or maybe they were worried that the citizens of my world were in trouble without me.

They looked like they were about to cry again, but they seemed to understand they couldn’t be selfish here and said nothing. And I understood I had to be firm here. If I coddled them out of sympathy, nothing would change. I had to keep my emotions out of this...

“Do you think people who try to keep the Goddess for themselves and rely on her without trying to live by their own abilities deserve the Goddess’s blessing?”

I ignored the sobs as I turned my back and walked toward my room.

...I was the one who wanted to cry!

“...”

I woke up the next day and went into the living room to find the kids hanging their heads at the dining table. They all had red eyes. And yet they had prepared breakfast, including mine, of course.

I sat down and thanked them for breakfast, then they mumbled listlessly in response...

“Sheesh, who died?! Get a grip! Remember what I taught you all? Be cheerful during mealtimes! Even if you’re sad or in pain, be energetic and happy when you eat, even if you have to fake it! Otherwise, you’ll just make the food taste bad and feel even worse!”

Usually, the kids at least forced themselves to smile when I gave a pep talk like this, but they all still looked like the world was ending.

“B-But...”

“I just can’t...”

“Urgh... Waaah...”

This was hopeless... I had to do something or they were gonna end up as empty husks...

“Do you think someone who doesn’t try to live by their own abilities deserves my blessing?”

“But if we do become capable of living on our own, you’ll leave us...”

That was a good point... I had already left once, but maybe they thought I was going on a journey to find a husband, and I was going to come back once I did. They had said they would continue to protect this house and wait for me, and Emile and Belle had left with me. Maybe they were afraid I could leave for good next time.

Hmm... There wasn’t really anything I could do here...

Chapter 43: The Battle Begins

Three days have passed.

During that time, I went to make excuses to Achille’s older brother’s wife. I told him that I wasn’t lying around and making the children do all the work because I was lazy, but I was doing so intentionally to foster their ability to take care of themselves and be self-reliant...

She asked me if I was telling the truth, so I told her to look at my eyes. She stared at my face...and then said, “You’re lying!”

How did she know?!

Anyway, I made up an excuse and got outta there! Next, I went to visit Maillart Workshop.

Of course, I saw my replacement Lolotte every day (come to think of it, why was she at the house every day even though she’s supposed to be living and working at the workshop?), but I had to find out what was up with Achille’s whole “inviting Lolotte to be his lover” thing. So I marched over there, and Achille suddenly prostrated himself in a gesture of total submission.

...Did he think I was gonna kill him or something? Was it because of my scary eyes? Hey, shaddap!

Well, I suppose things were different when he was just the third son of a viscount, but it would be difficult to take in an orphan as his lawful wife now that he was a big-shot baron. It would have been one thing if Lolotte could have been a concubine whose child would be born as an aristocrat, but if she was going to be a throwaway lover with no rights, and if her child would end up with no claim to their inheritance or any status as an aristocrat, it would be pretty rough for her despite having married into a wealthy family...

It was possible for her to become a foster daughter of a noble family just for form’s sake, but there weren’t a lot of aristocrats who would take in a commoner orphan, even if temporarily and only on paper. Unless they were really desperate for money and offered a big payout in return, that is...

I mean, they would probably accept with reluctance if I had personally requested it. But I didn’t think it was quite right to force someone to do something they didn’t want to, especially if it could affect their house’s reputation.

No, I knew there was a way. I could accept the title Roland had prepared for me and adopt Lolotte myself. I wouldn’t have minded having her as a step-daughter at all, and no aristocrat would turn down my daughter, adopted or not, to take in as their lawful wife.

It was the perfect plan... That is, if you ignore two issues with that.

First, I had no intention of becoming an aristocrat. I didn’t want any unnecessary duties or burdens on my shoulders, and I definitely wasn’t cool with being bound to this country.

The other issue was that this would be far too much favoritism. The Eyes of the Goddess had just happened to meet me at an early stage, and they received much more preferential treatment from me compared to other orphans. There were so many orphans in the royal capital...no, in this entire country. It wasn’t like I could help all of them. I had just happened to meet them by chance and they had just happened to help me out, so I took care of them for a bit to repay them. Arranging for one of them to become the lawful wife of an aristocrat was way too much.

Lolotte needed to get through this on her own and make her own life decisions using the hand she was dealt. It wasn’t for me to butt in. So...

“...Well, good luck!”

With that, I patted Achille on the shoulder, said my greetings to Bardot, the owner of the workshop, as well as the others, then left after having a little chat.

After some time, Francette returned from the royal palace with some intel.

“It seems the Brancott army has begun mobilizing. There are many aristocrats and military commanders who oppose this move, but they couldn’t refuse orders from their king and superiors out of fear for their jobs and lives...”

No surprise there. They’d be lucky if the punishment had just stopped there, but their whole family could have ended up getting slaughtered if they didn’t do as they were told.

The first prince wouldn’t have done anything so stupid himself, but the second prince knew he wasn’t as well-liked as him and had taken the throne by force. But if he knew the first prince was still alive, he’d surely be desperate to crush his opposition with all his available force...

And even though this would just result in him losing even more popularity, those who were putting him up on a pedestal weren’t doing anything to stop him.

Not surprising, really. It was convenient for them if the prince took out the people in his way, and they’d only put a target on their own backs if they tried to stop him. If they truly were just in it for their own profit rather than for the country or its people, there was no way they would put themselves in danger for no reason.

“When will they arrive at the border?”

“In four days. They will likely be close to it on the evening of the third day. They should camp the night there, then cross the border in the morning.”

Yeah, it wouldn’t make sense to enter enemy territory in the evening and camp overnight there.

“Then let’s get there by the morning of the third day, just in case. We should depart tomorrow morning, I think.”

There were all sorts of factors at play, like the time it would take for their spies to report, but it takes time, logistically speaking, to move fully equipped armies. I had nothing to carry, thanks to the Item Box, and they couldn’t possibly compete with Ed’s potion-augmented speed, so I’d have plenty of time to get there.

“What about the royal army?”

“They were already prepared to mobilize, so they’re ready to go at any time. Of course, there were some troops who had already been deployed, so once the army regroups with them, the combined force will likely engage the enemy about a day’s march away from the border. That area is a barren wasteland, with no residents nearby, so it’s an ideal battlefield.”

Yeah, no one was stupid enough to start a fight in a granary. Oh, but I guess it wouldn’t matter if it belonged to an enemy, unless victory was guaranteed, and you knew you were going to claim that territory afterward.

“Okay then, time to sleep for the big day tomorrow!”

“...”

Ah, the kids were listening from behind me and looked pretty concerned...

“Why do you look so worried? Do you think mere mortals can do anything to me?”

“...”

Well, I suppose they couldn’t help but worry, even if I was a so-called goddess. So...

“Don’t worry, on the off-chance that something does happen to me, this body is only temporary. Even if it gets destroyed, it won’t have any effect on me. Worst-case scenario, this little vacation of mine will end a bit quicker than planned, and I’d just go back to my own world. I probably have a lot of work waiting for me...”

_Oh no, it had the opposite effect! They got even gloomier... On the other hand, Francette and Emile look pretty pleased! Francette is one thing, but I’m not taking you, Emile!_

“Whaaaaaat?!” Emile and Belle screamed in shock when I told them I wasn’t bringing them with me.

Of course I’m not! Emile may be a hard worker, but his skill level is only somewhere between that of a common foot soldier and a veteran soldier. He wasn’t strong enough to guarantee survival on the battlefield. As for Belle, she wouldn’t even qualify as a disposable sacrificial shield.

I mean, there’s no such thing as guaranteed survival no matter how strong someone is. You could always get struck by a stray arrow, surrounded by enemies, or who knows what else. Even Francette had suffered a fatal wound in the war against the Aligot Empire four and a half years ago... This time, of course, we weren’t going to fight like we had back then.

But I had to appease them somehow, or they would insist on tagging along...

_All right!_

“Why would I want to waste my most reliable trump cards on a chaotic battlefield? I want you guys to protect everyone here and prepare for the worst. In other words, stay on standby here and prepare to protect me during the last stand for the royal capital.”

“Yes!” Belle and Emile replied enthusiastically.

...They were so easy.

The day before the Brancott army was expected to cross the border, we calculated the distance the invaders would travel from the border in a day (including their support troops), anticipated that the Balmore royal army would be deployed in the wasteland there, and moved even farther ahead. ...Basically, we snuck around without greeting the royal army.

I hadn’t brought the children with us, of course, and the king was back at the palace instead of at the front lines.

Roland was a bit farther behind us and leading the main forces. It was probably a veteran general giving out the actual directions, so he was more of a leader figure.

So it was just me here, along with...

“Why are you here, Francette...? You’re supposed to be Roland’s guard!”

“What? But you granted me the title of Einherjar, the Guardian of the Goddess, that one time.”

“Urgh!”

...I had just been going with the flow then, but I _did_ remember saying something like that.

“B-But you’re a noble and a knight, and it’s your duty as Roland’s guard to...”

“I am a liaison officer.”

“Huh?”

“A liaison officer.”

“Whaaat?”

“A liaison officer.”

“Whaaaaaa!”

...Damn! Oh well.

Unlike Emile, Francette was an upstanding adult, even from my point of view as Kaoru Nagase the Japanese woman rather than the Kaoru of this world. She was around thirty, and has lived much longer than me, too... As such, she could make and take responsibility for own decisions. Yes, Francette didn’t need me doing this and that to protect her. She should be the one protecting me.

And so, the number of forces charging into the middle of the Brancott army came to a grand total of two people.

_“What about us?”_

Oh, my mistake. Two people and two horses— Ed, and Francette’s beloved horse.

_All right then, time to rock!_

“But let’s have some tea for now.”

“Yes!”

We had arrived early, just in case, but the enemy wasn’t expected to arrive until tomorrow afternoon. And so, we decided to pull out a tent, beds, chairs, a table, and a tea set, and wait for them to show up.

_Some time past noon the next day..._

The Brancott army could be seen in the distance. Of course, both the Brancott and Balmore army had sent out preliminary troops to scout ahead, so each of the factions must have known each other’s positions.

We quickly packed up the tent. Surely they would completely ignore two young girls and their horses just standing there without giving them so much as a second glance. They wouldn’t bother trying anything with a harmless lookout or two at this point.

And so, we watched as the two armies closed in as each other and waited for the right timing.

The Balmore army waited for the enemy as the Brancott army moved in, closing the distance between them to about 700 to 800 meters, which meant there was still plenty of time before they started firing their bows at each other. I hopped onto Ed and charged in between the two armies from the side. Then...

_Booooooom!!!_

The “nitroglycerin-like substance” made a huge explosion up in the sky. Yup, it was that same, familiar stuff I used before. It came in a gourd-shaped container and spawned with two types of chemicals that would mix and cause an explosion right away.

The entire Brancott army froze immediately. Now was the time to bust out the loudspeaker-type potion container.

“TO THE USURPER’S REBEL ARMY, WHICH PLOTS TO INVADE THE COUNTRY THAT THE GODDESS CELESTINE HAS BESTOWED UPON HER FRIEND, I SAY THIS: YOU SHALL FALL STRAIGHT TO HELL!”

_Boom! Bam! Bang!_

Glass balls containing something like nitroglycerin rained down from the sky and exploded one after another. They each landed a bit in front of the Brancott army, but weren’t causing any damage. Physical damage, that is.

“Wh-Whaaat?! But they told me the Angel abandoned Balmore! I thought the Kingdom of Balmore was no longer loved by the Goddess!”

“I was told the Angel supports Lord Ghislain’s claim to the throne! They said this is a holy war and the Goddess is with us! So why is the Angel on their side and we’re treated as the rebel blasphemers?! That’s not what I heard at all!”

“They tricked us! We were lied to by those usurping, blasphemous bastards! I don’t wanna go to hell! I don’t want my family to get struck down by the Goddess!”

“Hell no! I didn’t become a soldier just to get killed as an enemy of the Goddess and go to hell! I just wanted to fight for my family, for my country, for justice! I just wanted to protect everyone’s happiness!!!”

It was complete chaos. Some men cried and screamed as they clung to their commanders, others tried to retreat, while others threw their weapons to the ground... No one was concerned with fighting a war against Balmore anymore.

There wasn’t a single loss of life, weapons, or resources. And yet, the Brancott army was wiped out psychologically before the battle even began.

“OPEN THE WAY.”

_Fwssh!_

I gave the order through the loudspeaker-type potion container, then the sea of people parted, opening a straight path through.

_...Who am I, Moses?!_

Anyway, the soldiers all fell to their knees, and I walked through the newly-created path with Francette, who was all smiles. Oh, and we were each riding our horses, of course. But man, Francette sure seemed thrilled whenever I did Goddess-like stuff...

In any case, we kept moving forward. With that done, the soldiers should turn back and retreat from here. It was a good thing the battle had ended without any needless casualties on either side. The soldiers were simply following orders, but it wasn’t as if they had strongly believed in their cause this time.

If they understood everything that was going on and were still dead-set on killing the enemy and seizing their riches for their own country, without any intention of listening to the other side, I would have had no choice but to give them a harsh reality check. But if they knew who I was and could be convinced through a simple explanation, that was fine by me.

“Destination: Aras, the royal capital of the Kingdom of Brancott. Let’s go!”

“Yeah!”

“Breeehehehe!”

I glanced behind me and saw the Balmore frontline soldiers just standing there, having done absolutely nothing...

Yeah, I was glad I couldn’t really see their expressions because they were somewhat far away.

_My bad!_

“Lady Kaoru, what shall we do next?”

Now that she was back in her own country and I was acting as a goddess, Francette was back to addressing me as “Lady Kaoru.” Oh well.

“We should be able to head straight to the capital with the method we just used. I’m sure the Balmore army and Brancott army will follow too... And if we move forward normally without rushing too much, post horses should deliver their reports before we get there.

“The first prince, who should be hiding somewhere and keeping an eye on the situation, the men of his faction who had no choice but to reluctantly follow the second prince’s orders, and the original priests of the Temple of the Goddess in Brancott...they should all have heard about what just happened by the time we get there...

“So, we’ll be marching right in through the front door after giving the other forces enough time to gather, march in, and join us.”

Francette grinned, but then she looked a little worried as she brought up a question.

“Um, Lady Kaoru. I will have a chance to be of use to you, won’t I?”

_...Not my problem!_