Vol 2 Chapter 17 – The Astonishing Onslaught of a Woman

“Hm?”

After spending the night and coming back from Serina’s place in exchange for a battery, I felt the slightest sense that something was off about Lio II’s behavior.

“What’s wrong?”

“No… Lio II, doesn’t it feel kind of weird?”

“Does it?”

Because Lio II has a part of my consciousness built into it—and because it shares awareness with me—I’m the only one who can sense that discomfort. Yumeba doesn’t seem to pick up on anything.

(Is it just my imagination?)

In practice, it’s acting like usual—stuck to Yume II, moving without any obvious awkwardness.

(Well, whatever.)

Even if I call it “off,” it’s the kind of tiny, vague thing I can’t even put into words. If I stare at it too long, I lose track of what felt wrong in the first place—it’s that trivial.

“More importantly, what are you going to do with that?”

Since the war just ended, it seems Yumeba’s training with the Imperial Guard Knights is on break for a while, and she’s watching my next bit of work with open curiosity.

“This is a god-slaying bullet—made by compressing the souls I usurped from a god back then.”

“But the color is different, right?”

“Yeah. This one is a normal god-slaying bullet.”

I pull out one of the remaining three bullets from the God-Slaying Weapon 【Lucifer, King of Pride】 and line it up on the desk so Yumeba can see it.

For the record, the god-slaying weapon is bound to its owner’s soul, so it can’t go into a dimensional storage item box. And more than that… I can summon it whenever I want, and when I want to put it away, it can disperse into particles and store itself inside my body.

The bullets loaded into that god-slaying weapon were white.

“This one’s red and blue, huh.”

And the bullet made from the soul extracted from the god that had been residing in the other me was red and blue—no, more like dyed in vivid crimson and deep-sky azure.

“This is just a guess, but I think the capacity of power packed inside is on a completely different order of magnitude. Normally, it would’ve formed into a magazine loaded with fifteen rounds, but it had so much power that it got fixed into the form of these differently colored bullets instead.”

“Is that… amazing?”

“It’s amazing, but… it’s not very practical.”

Compared to two bullets that are too powerful, a full magazine that can kill a large number of gods is way more practical.

“But they’re such pretty colors.”

Yumeba picks up the crimson bullet and admires it, but…

“Your eyes are prettier, Yumeba.”

“……”

When I let that honest thought slip, she turned bright red.

What is this adorable creature?

First thing in the morning, Yumeba and I were all lovey-dovey, lovey-dovey, lovey-dovey—and before I knew it, it was already noon.

“Mmh. Why does time move so fast on days off?”

“…Because it’s fun.”

It’s a matter of perception—fun time feels short, boring time feels long.

And if time with Yumeba feels short to me, that probably means I’m genuinely having fun.

“Alright. Want to go out somewhere for lunch?”

Anyway, it’s a day off, so I invite Yumeba to go out—either around the Imperial Capital, or somewhere else via teleportation.

“Yeah♪ Oh—what should we do with this?”

She nodded happily, but then asked about the crimson bullet she was still holding.

“If you like it, I’ll give it to you. I still have three normal bullets left.”

“Thanks♪”

Yumeba isn’t the type to refuse a gift from me, so she accepted it without hesitation and stored it in her bracelet.

It’s a slightly dangerous thing to call a “gift,” though.

◇◆◇

The war was over.

And when the war is over, you get to go back to daily life—and back in daily life, Emilio and Yumeba were being lovey-dovey.

But that was their story. The people busy with postwar cleanup didn’t have a moment to rest as they worked.

The Emperor, of course—but even Crown Prince Friedrich was working without sleep.

“Your Majesty. What are we going to do about the massive debt we borrowed from House Saionji… and the rewards we owe them this time?”

“…I’ll deal with it later.”

“Rewards aside, the debt is close to one hundred platinum coins. With rebuilding the Alcian Empire being urgent, how exactly do you intend to repay it?”

“…I’ll deal with it later.”

The Emperor gave the same answer to Crown Prince Friedrich’s question.

“Father. Don’t tell me you’re saying I should ‘deal with it’ after I become Emperor.”

“……”

“Father? Why are you silent? Say something!”

“…I’m busy right now.”

“Faaatherrr—!”

“…In official business, address me as ‘Your Majesty.’”

Naturally, they couldn’t just default on their debt to House Saionji.

They could default on money borrowed from any other nation or noble if they had to—but the one debt they absolutely could not default on was the money borrowed from House Saionji.

“Fortunately, they aren’t obsessed with money. If we show the will to repay properly, they should wait. In the meantime, we rebuild the Alcian Empire—and rebuild our finances at the same time.”

“How many decades do you think that will take?! I’ll absolutely be Emperor by then!”

“…I have high expectations.”

“Starting my reign buried in debt—what kind of punishment game is that?!”

Normally, Friedrich was calm and composed, but between the postwar chaos and lack of sleep, he’d become short-tempered.

Well… even in peacetime, it’s questionable whether anyone could stay calm about this.

“Wouldn’t it be better to just hand the throne to Emilio?”

“That did cross my mind, but… we’ve already sent him as a son-in-law into House Saionji.”

“There’s no rule that the successor must be the Emperor’s biological child.”

“That idea also crossed my mind, but…”

Yes. Even if Emilio entered House Saionji and they only ever had a single daughter, the Emperor had considered the idea of appointing another prince’s child—still of imperial blood—as the next Emperor after Emilio.

“But I don’t think Emilio would accept it, and in the worst case we’d make House Saionji our enemy.”

“Ahh…”

If Friedrich spoke his honest feelings right now, they’d be: I don’t want to be Emperor.

He certainly had ambition. He joined the succession struggle, fought through it, and became Crown Prince with the intention of being the next Emperor.

But that was before the war against the allied forces.

Becoming Emperor of the Alcian Empire now was nothing short of a punishment game.

“What if we rewrite the pact with House Saionji and have them participate in wars of invasion?”

If House Saionji helped not only with defense but also with conquest, then yes—it would be possible to restore the Alcian Empire to its former state quickly.

“That would be the worst possible move. What they want isn’t a battlefield—they want a peaceful place to belong. They fight to protect the Alcian Empire as their place to live. If we force them into war, they’ll abandon the Alcian Empire without hesitation and leave to find a new place.”

But that would never happen, and if they were forced, House Saionji would easily throw the Alcian Empire away and go searching for their next refuge.

And of course… they wouldn’t wait for debt repayment, either.

“…An opponent with no ambition is hard to handle.”

“Agreed.”

All House Saionji wants is the status quo—no more, no less.

That kind of opponent won’t budge for money, rank, or women.

Well, House Saionji is a matrilineal house, so women are meaningless to them—and trying to assign women to their son-in-law would provoke their wrath instead.

“Then could we at least return Emilio to being a prince and have him participate in wars of invasion?”

“Do you think Yumeba would allow that?”

“…Not even remotely.”

Returning Emilio to being a prince would mean separating him from Yumeba.

There is no way Yumeba—who is basically a lump of love in human form, as a woman of House Saionji—would accept that. And if it were forced, she might go mad and destroy the Alcian Empire.

Not as a metaphor. The problem is that the current Yumeba is actually capable of doing it.

“In the end… that means we have to rebuild the Alcian Empire without relying on House Saionji.”

“That is what it comes to.”

““……””

Thinking about the long, harsh road ahead for the Alcian Empire, the two of them let out a heavy sigh at the same time.

◇◇◇

“Hn?”

For some reason, lately Lio II has started clinging to me a lot more than usual.

In the morning, waking up with a naked Yumeba in my arms is the usual, but lately it’s also been common for Lio II to be stuck to my face, too.

(I’ll do some maintenance later.)

It was still winter.

Mornings were cold, so while holding Yumeba tight in my arms for warmth, the two of us wrapped ourselves in the blanket and indulged in lazy sleep.

The Imperial Guard Knights’ training still hadn’t resumed, so Yumeba had the day off again, and since Yukina-san didn’t come to wake us, we could spend the morning relaxing.

《~♪》

At the same time, Lio II clung to me and sent a cheerful mental wave, but I was too busy enjoying this blissful moment—and more than anything, too sleepy—to bother thinking about why.

In the end, we lazed around until close to noon, and even after waking up we were still flirting while helping each other get dressed, so…

“…Huh?”

“What’s wrong, Lio?”

“No, I was thinking this morning that I needed to do something, but… what was it again?”

Whatever I’d thought of in the morning had completely slipped my mind.

“If it’s important, you’ll remember it right away, won’t you?”

“…Yeah.”

Well, if I couldn’t remember it, it probably wasn’t that important.

“Anyway, what do you want to do today?”

“Of course we’re going on a date♪”

“Yeah♡”

Ever since Yumeba went on leave, we’d been going on dates nearly every day.

Of course, not frantic, rushing-around dates—we’re talking relaxed dates, like taking a stroll around the neighborhood.

Besides, this world doesn’t really have any entertainment that would hook me.

If anything, it’d be the game apps on my smartphone, but even those aren’t worth ignoring Yumeba for.

So we were talking about where to eat lunch as we got ready to head out, when…

“S-tooooop, juuuust a mooooment~!”

““……””

We were stopped by Yukina-san, who had a serious face but was saying something completely ridiculous.

I feel like this woman is using the smartphone’s search function to absorb way too much Earth knowledge for no reason.

“…What? We’re about to go on a date, me and Lio.”

“I want to go on a date with Darling too, so could you stay home and watch the house today?”

“No.”

Yukina-san trying to force her selfishness through with a smile is impressive, but Yumeba’s instant answer is impressive too.

More specifically, the dense killing intent leaking from both of them is so intense I feel like I might pass out.

I mean, I feel like we could just go on a double date… but if nobody is home when someone comes to visit as House Saionji, I guess that’s a problem in its own way.

This mansion only has two lovey-dovey couples living in it—no servants or anything.

Yeah. If there were male servants, the two wives would have trouble seducing their husbands anywhere in the mansion. And if there were female servants, there’s no way the two wives would allow it.

In other words, it’s for the wives’ convenience.

“Fine. Then as a compromise—tomorrow. Tomorrow, we’ll go on our date, so I’m counting on you to watch the house then.”

“Mmh. Fine.”

And with a compromise that was obviously Yukina-san’s goal from the beginning, Yumeba agreed, and the killing intent between them subsided.

When it comes to a woman’s battle, it seems Yukina-san is a step—or two—ahead.

Well, I don’t hate spending a relaxing day at home with Yumeba either, so it’s fine.

So Yumeba and I ended up going out for our walking date.

Recently we’ve been on a fish kick, so we decided we wanted fish for lunch, went to a port town—one that wasn’t in the Alcian Empire—to eat, and then took a slow, relaxed walk along the winter seaside afterward.

For some reason, Lio II climbed onto my head, and then Yume II followed suit and climbed up there too.

“…It’s probably my imagination, but my head feels heavy.”

“Ahaha♪”

These two are flying with flight magic, so they shouldn’t be putting weight on me, but with two of them on my head, it feels heavy mentally.

Well, I’ll take it as a little spice to make the date feel more fun.

“Haa… winter seas really are cold.”

“Yeah.”

Naturally, the winter sea was cold, and our breath came out white.

I mean, something like this would be no problem if I used the heat-retention spell Warm, but I’m not going to do something that lame.

“Ah♡”

I wrapped an arm around Yumeba’s shoulders and pulled her close, and we shared body heat to warm each other.

If you ask me, this is the best part of a winter seaside date.

◇◆◇

“～～～♡”

Serina was sprawled across her bed in her room, writhing in blissful agony.

“…Ojou-sama.”

Seeing that, even Serina’s maid couldn’t help but agonize over whether this had really been the right choice.

“Ha-fuu♡ This is so intense…♡”

On the other hand, Serina looked unbelievably happy.

So what exactly did Serina do?

She is a lovestruck maiden of obsession and grit.

Did you really think that after she recovered her memories, she’d poured all her effort into nothing but breaking off her engagement with Yunix?

Yes. She also spent time honing herself.

Specifically, she traced the path Emilio had walked since the day they were separated in childhood.

Of course, the young Emilio had been training in magic in absolute secrecy, so she couldn’t trace everything—but Serina pursued his trail as far as she possibly could.

And the first thing she arrived at was the fact that Emilio used to meditate in front of the servants.

Back then, the servants apparently found his bizarre behavior unsettling, but there was no reason for Serina not to imitate it.

She sat in zazen meditation just like Emilio had, and with her astonishing concentration, she reached the “room” of her deep consciousness by her own power.

(This is… the scenery sleeping in the deepest part of my heart, perhaps?)

Just as Yumeba’s House Saionji is a ducal house renowned for the sword, Serina’s House Kairinin was a ducal house renowned for magic.

There was even a hidden reason behind the fact that Serina had once been successfully brainwashed in the past: Duke Kairinin’s magic had been exceptionally skilled.

Because of that, Serina’s room of deep consciousness was expansive from the start, overflowing with mana, and stocked with everything needed to train in magic.

Compared to Emilio’s early room of deep consciousness, it was paradise—so much so it could be called a cruel difference in talent.

(This… could be useful.)

From there, Serina’s training began—fueled by her effort and grit.

(But even if I work hard now, it’s impossible to catch up to Lio-sama in magic.)

By that point, Serina had already witnessed Emilio’s overwhelming power as a mage, so she gave up on trying to “follow him” almost immediately.

Realizing she couldn’t stand beside him using the same path, Serina searched for another way to stand alongside Emilio.

And what she reached was: Serina the alchemist.

Well, she insists it’s alchemy, but from a professional’s point of view it’s the kind of thing that makes you want to shout, “Where is the alchemy in this?!”—a technique so off-the-rails it loops back around into absurdity.

An analytical ability that allowed complete analysis just by permeating an object with mana.

A mana-construction ability that could perfectly reproduce whatever she analyzed.

And a reconstruction ability to “magically remodel” the analyzed object into whatever form she desired.

That was the new power Serina had obtained.

So. What did Serina do with that absurd pseudo-alchemy?

She completely analyzed Lio II.

By the intuition of a lovestruck maiden, she understood that a fragment of Emilio’s consciousness was embedded in Lio II. So she analyzed Lio II—and embedded a fragment of her own consciousness inside Lio II.

Let me be clear: this was an act far beyond what should be possible, even with Serina’s miraculous pseudo-alchemy.

Embedding a fragment of your consciousness into another material, with no practice? The probability of Serina succeeding would normally be astronomically low.

It should have been astronomically low.

But the obsession and grit of a lovestruck maiden punches probability theory in the face.

In just one night, Serina perfectly deceived Yumeba, and even made Emilio himself brush it off as imagination—an utterly flawless job.

It was truly a miracle, and could be called a divine feat on Serina’s part, but from Serina’s point of view… she was certain she could do it.

According to her, “A maiden in love is invincible, so it’s impossible for it to fail,” which is a completely nonsensical theory—but still.

In any case, through that chain of events, a fragment of her consciousness was embedded in Lio II, and by sharing Lio II’s awareness, she was writhing in bliss at the happiness of being with Emilio.

Fortunately, Serina doesn’t possess Yumeba’s abnormal possessiveness and abnormal jealousy. So while seeing Emilio and Yumeba being lovey-dovey gives her complicated feelings, the happiness of being together with Emilio outweighs it, and she didn’t consider it a problem.

“Now then… it’s time to deal with this side.”

“Ojou-sama. Are you truly going to do it?”

“Of course.”

What Serina aimed for next was to transplant the data of Emilio’s consciousness fragment—analyzed from Lio II—into the other Emilio she had secured, and create a completed copy of Emilio… commonly known as Lio-pi.

Her naming sense is questionable, but if this is completed, Serina will be able to interact with “Emilio” in a pseudo way, and she can also meet the real Emilio anytime through the fragment of Serina’s consciousness she planted inside Lio II.

Of course, whatever original personality remained in the other Emilio would likely be blown away—but in front of a lovestruck maiden, that was a trivial matter.

“Ufufu. My fun is only going to grow♪”

“……”

Serina’s maid felt utterly drained, in stark contrast to Serina’s delighted expression.

But she had known from the beginning.

Not only that Serina was a girl with grit hidden behind the mask of a duke’s daughter… but also that Serina’s true nature was, hopelessly—greedy.