NOVEL WEB Chapter 297 (Self Edited) – Asking about the Situation
Chapter 297 (Self Edited) – Asking about the Situation
The Demento Kingdom.
It was probably the name of the newest country that had just been founded in recent years, and as it could be noticed at the time based on its name. It was a country for the Demons that was founded by the Demon.
However, strictly speaking, it wasn’t yet officially recognized as a country at this time. Although some small countries including Radeus recognized it, most countries didn’t recognize it as a country.
There were still many things that weren’t sufficient even though they called themselves a country. The only thing that could be done was the minimum, including laying the groundwork to the surroundings. Still, there might be some chance of being recognized as a country, but… well, Soma didn’t care about that. It was the role of the king and the people of the country to care and manage if there were problems.
By the way, the King should be Iori obviously. It was said that the person himself wasn’t essentially qualified. It seemed that he wanted to withdraw and became a NEET after all preparations were done, but that wasn’t allowed. Perhaps, he was working hard wholeheartedly by this time.
In addition, the fact that the King was Iori meant that his daughters, Aina and Steina, who was adopted, would be princesses, but since the country hadn’t been officially recognized, they couldn’t use that title in general. Soma wouldn’t mind if they wanted to exercise the privileges, but… in other words, the relationship between Soma and Aina and others hadn’t changed so far. It might not be necessary to mention it at this time though.
Anyhow…
“Hmm… I knew immediately that you must have come from there, and you came here on an official business, right? So, what really happened?” (Soma)
He had heard that there were various behind-the-scenes movements due to the founding of Demento. It was natural from the start. Some of the countries opposed it radically to the point of moving their armed forces.
The Holy City was in a neutral position, not in favor of the founding of Demento, but not against it. It seemed that this was because the Holy City wasn’t a country in the first place, so it couldn’t be for or against it, but… there was no doubt that its influence was very strong.
Radeus was in favor, but after all, it was a small country. Although it had a certain amount of power in terms of strength alone, it was almost nonexistent in terms of national influence.
And when it came to the relationship between countries, there were many things that couldn’t be helped by the armed forces. If they came to ask the Holy City for arbitration or anything like that, there were certainly some troubles. In that case, even for Soma, it wasn’t unreasonable not to cooperate, but…
“Aah… yeah, I’m grateful about your concern, but… it’s actually the opposite.” (Aina)
“Opposite, you say?” (Soma)
“The reason I came here is because… of Hildegard-san.” (Aina)
“Hmm? Me?” (Hildegard)
“Ooh? You… what did you do?” (Soma)
Hildegard shook her hand in a hurry as he squinted at her.
“No, wait a sec, Soma! Let me try to remember… hmm… could it be because of ‘that’?” (Hildegard)
“I think something has come into Hildegard-san’s mind now. I wonder if you are jumping into a wrong conclusion. By the time I was told that, I had already reported it to my country. It was urgent, so I even used a magic tool.” (Aina)
“…I haven’t heard anything, but as far as I’ve heard, it’s very urgent and should be reported.” (Soma)
“Yes, I did that because I thought so, but I told you that you were jumping into a wrong conclusion. If I do it badly… I will almost certainly ask the Holy City for a fight, you know? But I can have two magic tools for emergency purposes, so I have no choice but to return it immediately. I didn’t have time to think about anything extra, so I did things hurriedly. I didn’t consider it too much at that time, but when I think about it, it makes me quite angry….” (Aina)
“As expected, you were angry after all?” (Soma)
“Well, there’s a good reason for this, right!? I mean, it’s not really my responsibility…!” (Hildegard)
“I’m not really angry, you know. I’d be happy if you could give me the details later.” (Aina)
“I-I promise! Bastard… because of them, my dignity is…!” (Hildegard)
Soma was wondering whether Hildegard had forgotten that she had been told no matter what she did, there was nothing that could be done to something that didn’t exist in the first place. However, he didn’t dare to say anything.
More importantly, he was more interested in Aina’s story.
“Hmm, I understand that you went back to Demento, but why are you coming to the Holy City? Was it after doing something because of Hildegard?” (Soma)
“Well, it’s barely related, but not too much. Just barely…” (Aina)
“I’m going to prostrate later…” (Hildegard)
“…I wonder if that will make me feel better.” (Aina)
Aina didn’t seem to be angry, but somehow the matter was serious and difficult. Soma wondered what happened, so he was going to listen.
“Well, somehow it worked out, but… what I mean is what’s coming after that.” (Aina)
“That is…?” (Soma)
“Yes… that letter.” (Aina)
“…I see.” (Hildegard)
With Hildegard nodding on the side, Soma convinced and nodded as well. He finally got it. In other words, Aina was here because–…
“Are you trying to clarify the position of your country?” (Soma)
If it was an ordinary country, it wouldn’t be necessary to send an envoy if it wasn’t too much of a business, but it was a country that had just recently founded and it hadn’t been officially recognized. Furthermore, the Holy City and the empire, which were too influential, might collide. It seemed that it couldn’t be helped to take some kind of action.
“Yes. By the way, I would like to ask you one thing related to that. Is the empire correct?” (Aina)
“What are you asking about?” (Hildegard)
“Is it true that the Holy City is sheltering Soma? Well, to be more exact, I want to know what is your viewpoint on this matter.” (Aina)
“Aah… is it from an envoy viewpoint?” (Soma)
“Yes. If they are sheltering you, you can introduce me to them, you know? If it’s impossible, I’ll do it as per normal, but I feel much better if you can do that.” (Aina)
“Hmm…” (Soma)
Soma didn’t know how much he could help, but at least, he could definitely introduce Aina to them. And there was no reason not to do it.
It was a country that his old friend founded, and now, this friend of his came as an envoy. Actually, there would be only reasons to help.
However, that was that…
“How should I say it… there’s something happening every time I try to visit the Holy City, isn’t it? Thanks to that, I have never been able to tour to the end.” (Soma)
“Well, that is who you are. If you want to do something, it’s inevitable that something will happen.” (Hildegard)
“That’s an unpleasant inevitability.” (Soma)
“Eh…?” (Aina)
“Aah, don’t mind it. It has nothing to do with you, Aina. Anyhow, if it’s an introduction, I can do it in a little bit later. I can only introduce you, so I can’t guarantee if there will be any advantage.” (Soma)
“I’m not going to ask too much. After all, the other side is the Holy City. So, it’s more than enough to be introduced.” (Aina)
“Hmm, is that the only thing?” (Soma)
But anyway, if that was the case, he should head to the shrine for the time being. Aina would want to talk as soon as possible and Eleonora was busy. It wasn’t always possible to introduce Aina immediately if he tried to do that.
Of course, Aina knew about that, but… well, Eleonora seemed to be really busy all the time, and that was the current situation. Thinking about when he would be able to introduce Aina, Soma and the rest started walking toward the shrine.