Chapter 487 – The Queen's Resolve

“——A Verdugal duke who governs the nearby seas, along with princesses from various nations. This is quite an impressive gathering.”

First, Princess Stephania and the other two, along with the duke, completed their self-introductions, after which I similarly introduced myself.

“Pleased to make your acquaintance. I am Theodore Gartner, the Otherworld Ambassador from the Kingdom of Verdugal.”

“Your Majesty. He is the magician who repelled the Sea King’s Familiar.”

“Oh…”

When Weltes spoke, Queen Eldorene’s eyes widened.

“Hmm. Even for a magician blessed by spirits, to defeat those creatures in the sea… Indeed, I can sense an astonishingly refined magical power.”

…The Water Guardian Queen, I see. She seems to be perceiving the quality of my magical power.

“Your Majesty. Theodore-dono, well… he overwhelmingly defeated the Sea King’s Familiar in normal close combat, barely using any magic.”

“Huh?”

At Weltes’s explanation, Queen Eldorene made a puzzled expression. Then she tilted her head slightly and asked,

“Is he not a magician?”

“I am a magician. It’s just that close combat is my specialty.”

“I see… Hmm.”

Queen Eldorene didn’t seem fully convinced by my response, but since the self-introductions weren’t finished yet, she appeared to decide against asking further.

Queen Eldorene looked at the two who hadn’t introduced themselves yet… with even more seriousness than before, seemingly sensing something vaguely from their magical power.

Claudia looked at me, so I nodded. Then they too introduced themselves.

“I am Claudia. Theodore’s fiancée, and sometimes called the Moon Goddess Shuas.”

“I am Marl. I am called the Water Spirit King.”

At these words, Queen Eldorene, Rovisa, and Weltes all froze. Rovisa and the others hadn’t heard about Claudia yet.

If they could perceive the quality of magical power and infer various backgrounds, it was better to tell the truth rather than try to deceive them poorly.

After a moment, Queen Eldorene shook her head.

“From the peculiarity of your magical power, I thought it would be something considerable… But you two, shouldn’t you be worshipped by many on the surface?”

“That’s true. But I’m not really cut out to be a goddess.”

“Likewise. I too was originally just an ordinary spirit.”

“Well, that… I can somewhat understand.”

Since she originally rose from a Water Guardian to become queen, she probably could relate to much of what they said. Queen Eldorene nodded with an expression that showed more understanding than when I introduced myself.

“But in that case, Theodore-dono’s peculiarity stands out even more.”

“About that, it would take a long time to explain——”

For the sake of letting them know about the surface situation, it would be necessary to briefly explain some things. It would also serve as an explanation for the work of the Otherworld Ambassador and our reasons for cooperating with the queens.

“Battles with demons, the Moon Goddess of the labyrinth… and an Otherworld Ambassador. I see.”

“So that’s why we have reasons to cooperate with Your Majesty. I won’t deny that there are benefits for the surface people. I myself want to avoid the chaos in the oceans.”

“…Hmm. Regarding your motives, I understand from what you’ve said so far. I never thought in my reign I would welcome such distinguished guests from the surface.”

“Speaking of which, I heard you avoid contact with the surface…”

When I asked that, Queen Eldorene took on a slightly thoughtful expression. Depending on the reason, it could be a deeply rooted issue… but for cooperation, we would need to discuss it.

“For you who call yourself an Otherworld Ambassador, this must be a matter of interest. But I have no intention of saying it’s because we’ve been troubled by surface dwellers. There are cases where sea dwellers kidnap surface dwellers too. In other words, it’s to avoid unfortunate events for both sides. We punish such unruly individuals in our country as well. In that regard, your country likely shares the same principles.”

“I see…”

In short, it means such people exist, whether on land or sea.

Many countries prohibit the buying and selling of friendly monsters as slaves, and the Adventurer Guild also instructs against such practices. Similarly, in the Mermaid Queen’s country, they likely issue notices to refrain from selfish contact. Actually, since trade with sea dwellers does occur, it means they permit it if there’s a legitimate reason.

“And also, this isn’t about good or bad, but because half of us share the same form, many young mermaids become interested in surface dwellers. In some cases, it might even become romantic… but our living places are different from yours, aren’t they? In past cases, failures were more common. We don’t prohibit such things entirely, but we need them to think somewhat calmly.”

…I see. Come to think of it, Aianos’s residents also seemed quite interested.

But as a practical matter, one side would need to adapt to the other’s living environment. Whether using the Humanization Spell or using magic to live underwater, some degree of hardship would be necessary.

Even if those issues were resolved, the surroundings would likely look on with curiosity, and there would probably be parts that don’t work out well.

This too… would be the same from the surface perspective, just like with criminals.

“Our feelings toward the surface aren’t that complicated. It’s mutual, after all. That’s why… your offer of assistance this time is truly appreciated. Would you be willing to lend us your strength?”

Saying this, Queen Eldorene bowed her head deeply.

“That was our intention from the beginning.”

“A magician who single-handedly defeated the Sea King’s Familiar, along with the Water Spirit King and a goddess. Having you fight alongside us would be immensely reassuring. To be honest, we expected that subjugating the Sea King and his kind and recapturing the capital would require considerable sacrifice. It’s shameful to admit.”

Hmm. So they started moving before the seal was broken, planning for subjugation and recapture.

“Are the Sea King’s forces still small in scale, then?”

“Considering the number of stone statues I saw deep in the seal. But… our weapons are ineffective against them, so the difference in numbers isn’t decisive. We needed to consider other countermeasures.”

Other countermeasures, huh.

“…If you’re thinking of pushing them back into the trench and resealing them, I would oppose that.”

When I said this, Queen Eldorene’s eyes widened, and Rovisa and the others looked surprised, half-rising from their seats. Just as I thought.

If they had a plan to push them back into the trench, that would mean they could win. In that case, it would be the final stage. Recreating what happened last time would be the quickest method.

Whether gathering forces or anything else, it was probably also about buying time to prepare the military strength needed to recreate that method and build the situation.

“…You see through us, it seems. But… if we don’t do that, making many risk their lives would be too cruel. What am I if I don’t risk my own life?”

Queen Eldorene’s expression grew somewhat stern.

“I understand your feelings… but if we can subjugate the Sea King and his familiars, that shouldn’t be necessary.”

“You think you can do it? No, I don’t think you’re conceited, but… Even if it were possible, I would never ask a surface dweller to risk their life for sea dwellers.”

“Honestly, if they’re on the same level as the familiar I fought, no matter how many come, I wouldn’t feel threatened. The problem would be… the Sea King, as expected. This one alone is anticipated to be far superior to the others. If I judge that we can’t win in battle, I’ll consider sealing, but… even then, I wouldn’t choose a method where someone has to risk their life. I would like to hear the outline of your strategy. Against that, we’ll gather our magical technology and propose revisions.”

When I said this, Queen Eldorene looked astonished.

“That’s quite… unreasonable. To rephrase your words, doesn’t that mean you’ll push through against opponents you can beat? Have you always gone to battlefields like this, repelling high-ranking demons one after another?”

Queen Eldorene shook her head. She looked down tiredly, but soon, while still looking down, her shoulders shook as if amused. Then she raised her face and smiled.

“I see. Interesting. Then instead of sealing, let’s consider properly defeating them, taking into account your available forces and technology. After all, we do outnumber them.”

“Thank you.”

“By the way… can we talk to that one? It seems the water is fixed so we can’t be heard.”

Queen Eldorene looked toward the shark man packaged at the back of the room. Well, it’s like a water version of an anti-eavesdropping spell. If water doesn’t transmit vibrations, it doesn’t transmit sound either.

“What do you think? It probably wouldn’t be strange if he woke up around now. This seal can’t be broken from the inside by physical strength, so it’s relatively safe.”

“It seems so. Well then…”

When I removed the cover from his face, the shark man was already awake. He looked around dazedly, saw me, and bared his fangs.

“Y-You…! Wh-What did you do…!?”

He tried to move his body, but since I’d sealed his physical abilities, he could only move his head left and right. Well, no need to explain how, so I’ll stay silent.

“…Hmm. A Sea King’s Familiar, I see. You’re probably thinking of capturing the queen and trying to obtain the Water Guardian’s power. That way, the Sea King can increase his own familiars who delight in evil.”

“Wh-What…!?”

At Queen Eldorene’s words, the shark man showed agitation. Seeing his reaction, Queen Eldorene laughed, and the shark man made a face like he’d messed up.

“Don’t tell me, you’re the queen——”

Just as he started to say that, I covered his face with the cover to block sound. He’s probably making a fuss under the stone, but well, if no sound can be heard, it shouldn’t be a bother.

Hmm. So he became agitated because his purpose was guessed while he couldn’t grasp the surrounding situation.

Well, this guy seems completely like a muscle-brained martial type, so it can’t be helped that he’s weak against these indirect approaches, but Queen Eldorene is quite skilled at shaking them up too.

Anyway, from what I’ve heard so far, it seems there exists some method to prevent the next generation from losing their reason, even if environmental magic power is contaminated by evil energy, etc.

By utilizing or stealing the queen’s power, it becomes possible to increase companions who only possess the abilities of vicious monsters and delight in destruction.

In short, for the Sea King to expand his influence, he absolutely needs to capture a queen or Water Guardian.

Anyway, both the previous time the Sea King was lured out and the foundation of Queen Eldorene’s current strategy probably take advantage of that very point.

The queen’s aim and the Sea King’s purpose——. There are parts I’ve managed to grasp, but… before discussing what comes next, should we first have everyone from the Sirius come here?

It also serves to let the queens understand the forces we possess, and it seems unlikely they would be rejected by the mermaid kingdom.