“How have you been?”
“Why did you come empty-handed? Where are the snacks?”
“I… didn’t bring any.”
“What terrible manners! Ah, how disappointing! I even gave you fruit that’s practically my own flesh and blood! Ah! The child of someone who doesn’t know the meaning of gratitude!”
“…I’ll bring some next time.”
To think I’d get scolded the moment we met. I’d expected at least a word of thanks for saving her.
“You’d better do better from now on!”
“Yes, I’ll keep that in mind.”
“Hmph.”
For a moment, I considered bonking the little brat on the head, but there was no way I was picking a fight with a monster that could overpower even Mephi through sheer physical strength.
“If I’d fought seriously, she wouldn’t have stood a chance. The only reason I lost was because I was busy keeping your wounds from reopening.”
“You were actually planning to stop time just to beat up a kid?”
That would’ve been even more pathetic.
Honestly, it was less embarrassing to lose fair and square to a child.
No… come to think of it, challenging a child to a fight in the first place was already pathetic enough.
Mephi had simply taken on a battle she could never win.
It was the kind of fight where winning would’ve been a problem, and losing was a problem too.
There was no outcome that didn’t leave her worse off.
“Anyway… how have things been lately?”
“I think winter’s almost here. My lower back has started aching.”
“That’s not what I meant.”
And why was someone that tiny already complaining about back pain?
“I mean, have there been any problems? Intruders or anything like that?”
“Nothing at all! It’s been wonderfully peaceful!”
“That’s good to hear.”
The imperial family already knew about the World Tree’s existence.
Lobelia knew, and no doubt several high-ranking members of the imperial court did as well.
The question was whether they’d really leave it alone.
Sooner or later, it would grow so enormous that even Dietrich’s powers wouldn’t be enough to conceal it.
Once that happened, everything would become complicated.
Self-proclaimed adventurers would start poking around.
Others would sneak in hoping to steal branches, leaves, or fruit from the World Tree.
When that day came, the Misfits alone wouldn’t be enough to stop them all.
“There’s a good chance the imperial family will contact you before long.”
“Ahhh! That dreadful bloodline! They’re going to burn me again!”
“No. They’ll come to protect you.”
“They’ll oppress me and exploit me under the pretense of protecting me!”
“That’s right.”
I didn’t bother defending the imperial family.
Who would manage a tree this extraordinary for free?
Soon enough, the World Tree would come under the Empire’s complete supervision.
And honestly, I thought that was the right decision.
Leaving a being with this much power completely unchecked would’ve been far riskier than placing it under the Empire’s protection.
“So… what will happen to me?”
“Who knows? Even I can’t say for sure. But I’ll do my best to make sure you’re treated as comfortably as possible.”
“How comfortable?”
She was already wondering how comfortable she’d be?
Was that optimism… or was she just an idiot?
No matter how I looked at it, it was probably the latter.
Still, I’d rather think of it as the former.
“I don’t know the details either. Just remember this: the more cooperative you are, the more favorably the Empire is likely to treat you. That’s what I came here to tell you.”
If she attacked an imperial envoy the moment they arrived, she’d end up under strict control instead of protection.
“I see! Got it!”
“Oh, and by the way… I’m getting married soon. I’ll have four wives.”
“Wow! Then I bless you with the blessing of life!”
The World Tree showered sparkling light over my head.
Somehow, I’d expected her reaction to be different.
By human standards, I was a complete bastard.
But from the perspective of the guardian of all life, wasn’t someone with four wives practically exemplary?
“Please do your best to reproduce!”
“……”
Of course, that also meant she had a rather questionable choice of words.
I supposed that was my problem to deal with.
“So… what kind of blessing was that?”
“Fertility.”
“Ah…”
Well…
I supposed that might come in handy.
Better not think too deeply about it for now.
***
Several years passed.
At long last, Lobelia succeeded in bringing Johan D. Gospel into imperial service and entrusted him with overseeing the World Tree.
It was a logical appointment, given that he was the only person capable of speaking directly with the World Tree’s avatar.
For his part, Johan carried out his duties with quiet diligence.
However, Johan D. Gospel was, by nature, exactly the kind of man who should never be entrusted with power…
“We have to remove Count Johan!”
“……”
“I’ve heard he’s been cleaning out the break room’s snack stash! Honestly, what kind of noble stoops that low?”
“It’s calculated, I’d say. He knows something that trivial isn’t enough to warrant disciplinary action. Then he turns around and offers all the stolen snacks as tribute to the World Tree… which means he’s effectively pocketing the tax money that should’ve been used for those offerings in the first place.”
Johan was, in every sense, a corrupt noble.
Well… maybe not quite that bad.
“Questionably honest” would probably be more accurate.
Either way, he was still absolute trash.
“He throws his authority around, too.”
“Exactly. Just the other day, I saw him making a scene because he wanted to cut in line at the dining hall. That man seriously thinks money can solve everything.”
Lobelia pressed a hand to her forehead as she listened to her officials speak in unison.
The people gathered here didn’t hate Johan, nor were they acting out of self-interest.
Well… in a sense, perhaps they did dislike him.
But there wasn’t a trace of malice behind their words.
Only loyalty.
After all, every one of them had been evaluated by Abraham and personally selected by Lobelia herself.
Which was precisely why she understood what truly concerned them.
“Count Johan D. Gospel may be a hero of the war, but far too much power has become concentrated in his hands.”
It was Johan’s position they feared.
“He’s connected not only to young lady Ariel but also to the Imperial Research Department’s Chief Researcher. Then there’s the Master of the Magic Tower, not to mention the Prophet. They’re all in the palm of his hand.”
“In the palm of his hand? That’s going a bit too far, isn’t it?”
“My apologies. That was a poor choice of words. My personal opinion slipped in. Regardless, the network of power he’s amassed through marriage is simply too vast.”
To be fair, they weren’t wrong.
In a sense, Johan commanded a power base that rivaled even the Emperor’s.
That alone wasn’t necessarily a problem, however unsettling it might be.
The real issue lay elsewhere.
“We cannot trust Count Johan D. Gospel. Who can say with certainty that he will never harbor ambitions of his own?”
The problem was his conduct.
Johan’s everyday behavior gave the Empire’s senior officials every reason to be concerned.
He was the very image of a self-serving official.
The textbook example of someone who bullied those beneath him while groveling before those above him.
An inherently unlikeable man.
How could they not worry?
What if one day Johan misjudged the balance of authority between himself and the Emperor… and came to believe that he was the one who truly stood above?
“Your Majesty, you must not leave Count Johan D. Gospel unchecked. Even if Your Majesty enjoys a close relationship with young lady Ariel, there’s no guarantee he’ll remain an ally forever.”
“……”
“Even if he never betrays the Empire, it’s still dangerous for so much power to remain concentrated in one place. Even if he does nothing himself, someone around him may begin entertaining dangerous ideas.”
“Enough.”
After massaging her throbbing temples, Lobelia spoke in a calm but commanding voice.
“I’ll handle it.”
The weight in her voice silenced every official who had been passionately urging her to act.
She wasn’t dismissing their concerns.
If anything, it was obvious the Emperor herself had been wrestling with the same issue.
She simply needed time to think.
Pushing the matter further would only worsen the headache of the sovereign they served, so the discussion came to an end.
Lobelia let out a quiet sigh.
Even she had never imagined things would reach this point.
***
Julian who was an imperial official worried for the Empire’s future.
He was an incorruptible honest man, chosen by both Abraham and Lobelia. A man whose character was by every measure exemplary.
Even so, he understood that those who held power could not always be expected to remain spotless.
One could not force one’s own way of life upon others.
For that reason, Count Johan D. Gospel was someone Julian could tolerate.
Still, like the other officials, he couldn’t shake his concerns.
In Julian’s eyes, Johan himself wasn’t the problem.
True, he had a tendency to throw his weight around, but he always seemed to know exactly where the line was and never crossed it.
A man with that much judgment probably wouldn’t cause any real trouble.
The real danger lay elsewhere.
It was the people around him.
The power concentrated in Johan’s hands was simply too great.
That much was impossible to deny.
“What a difficult problem…”
Yet no solution presented itself.
The alliances forged through marriage were too strong to dismantle.
As long as no one fell out with one another, those bonds would never break.
In that respect, Johan was a husband deeply loved by his wives.
If anything, perhaps he was loved a little too much.
“I wonder how Her Majesty intends to resolve this…”
Imperial official Julian once again spent a sleepless night worrying about the Empire’s future.
Then, the following day…
“I shall marry Johan D. Gospel myself and bring his power under the imperial family.”
“Your Majesty… what a solution!”
“How can Your Majesty sacrifice yourself so willingly?!”
Moved to tears, Julian looked upon Lobelia’s decision with heartfelt admiration.
***
I found myself being forced into a marriage with Lobelia.
“What the hell is this?”
Even I, the groom, hadn’t known anything about it.
The announcement had come so suddenly that I didn’t even have the chance to protest before my wives beat the hell out of me.
“Isn’t getting beaten by Alice an every-night occurrence anyway?”
“That’s different.”
“This looked more painful.”
“That part’s true.”
Alice’s sadistic streak tormented me every night.
She’d actually started using things like whips, to the point where it brought tears to my eyes.
Unfortunately, I wasn’t into that sort of thing, so indulging her was… incredibly difficult.
Still, what could I do?
She was the woman I’d chosen.
The woman I loved.
Anyway, that wasn’t the important part right now.
“Your Majesty! Just what is the meaning of this?!”
“Well… have a seat first.”
I obediently sat down.
Lately, Lobelia had become even more intimidating thanks to all the stress she was under.
Or rather, her expression had grown fiercer.
She truly carried the bearing of an Emperor now.
“Are you aware of the rumors circulating about you these days?”
“Which bastard’s got the nerve?”
“Yes. That’s exactly the problem.”
“What did I do?”
“You needed to become aware of the position you occupy.”
“I’m an exemplary civil servant, aren’t I?”
“You’re a noble who smells like a fish that’s just about to rot.”
“And that’s a problem?”
I’d only ever operated in the gray areas, after all.
“The problem is that the smell draws flies.”
“Then the flies are the problem.”
“And what good does it do to swat the flies when the smell keeps attracting more?”
“What if we use me as bait and wipe them all out?”
“You’re attracting flies that didn’t even exist before. It’s simpler to get rid of the source.”
“……”
Get rid of the source.
In other words…
Get rid of me.
“You understand now, don’t you? Why you have to marry me.”
A fish that smelled like it was on the verge of rotting.
There were only two ways to deal with it.
One was to throw it in the trash.
The other…
“I’ll have to eat you myself.”
Consume it before it had the chance to rot completely.
“This situation is one you brought upon yourself, so don’t even think about defying me.”
Lobelia rested her chin on one hand and fixed me with an unwavering stare.
Like a predator locking onto its prey…
Her eyes had already marked me as something to be hunted.
Leave a Reply