Chapter 29

The small castle of the capital of Ratestwood.

In the throne room of the castle reclaimed from Noblewood, the half-elves, who were equivalent to the high-ranking officials of Ratestwood, were trembling.

Despite being able to return to their reclaimed castle after a month, there were no smiles on the faces of the half-elves. The half-elves, who lined up to form a passage, leaving the throne empty, were all overwhelmed by extremely complex emotions.

Of course, they felt gratitude. It was a joy that their captured compatriots were rescued and the Noblewood soldiers who disturbed the peace were eliminated. They should offer pure gratitude to those who accomplished this on behalf of Ratestwood. However, despite understanding this logically, the hearts of the half-elves were being overwhelmed by a sense of awe rather than gratitude. The power they had witnessed—the military strength of the country called Alkymira—was simply too overwhelming.

"Commander Wendl, what will become of us from now on?"

One of the younger half-elves asked Wendl with an anxious tone. He could understand the feeling. After all, the army that had crushed the Noblewood soldiers like ants was, in fact, a group of monsters.

"I don't know. It would be a stroke of luck if we could at least get a part of the capital... but it's probably an impossible request... We will likely have to continue a meager life in the villages..."

After all, Ratestwood did nothing in this battle. They merely watched as the monster army reclaimed the capital. To demand "hand over the reclaimed land" now would be not just reckless but suicidal. Naturally, a heavy atmosphere hung over the half-elves.

"Whatever decision his country makes, we must follow it."

Reifa said in a monotone.

"At least the threat of Noblewood is gone. If the threat is limited to the beasts living in the forest, it's the same condition as the early days of Ratestwood's founding. We can start over from scratch."

"Reifa-sama..."

"He kept his promise. He rescued the captured people of Ratestwood and eliminated the Noblewood soldiers who threatened us. What more could we ask for?"

Without looking at anyone, Reifa continued to speak, her eyes fixed on the void.

"From now on, we can only entrust the fate of Ratestwood to the mercy of Herian-sama. Since the agreement has already been fulfilled, any rash actions would only disrupt the situation. It's already a miracle that he moved his powerful country for us."

It was a calm judgment. Unlike the agitated subjects, she appeared composed. However, Wendl knew. He knew that Reifa's father had been fed to a fairy dragon, her mother, the former queen, had been killed and displayed, and her only remaining relative, her sister Lirifa, had been lost. He had received a full explanation of these events before coming here.

Wendl had been in charge of the education of the princess sisters. Among the subjects, he could be considered the one closest to them. Therefore, when he heard that Lirifa had died, he was overwhelmed by an indescribable sense of despair.

If he felt that way, how much more shock and sorrow must Reifa, his relative, have felt at the loss of her sister? The thought of it made Wendl's chest ache as if it would tear apart. Yet, Reifa showed no signs of grief and continued to wear the mask of a queen.

Wendl had taught her to be that way. Nevertheless, the correct way of being for a royal seemed unbearably painful to him.

...Could he somehow offer himself to gain forgiveness?

With Lirifa gone, Reifa's existence was indispensable to Ratestwood. It would be shameless to try to swap the reward after the promise was fulfilled, but Wendl couldn't just stand by and do nothing.

...In the worst case, he would negotiate with the king to sell himself along with Reifa. Reifa would oppose it, but if she had to live in disgrace, it would be better to die as a comfort to him.

Just as she secretly resolved, a loud voice echoed from the door of the throne room.

"King of Alkymira, His Majesty Herian Edda Elsineau, is entering."

At the herald's announcement, those gathered in the throne room stiffened. The door opened with a sound, and a young man dressed in a black cloak with exquisite designs appeared with a regal presence.

The young man, accompanied by a female wolf beast, walked through the kneeling half-elves and steadily approached the throne.

When he reached the front of the throne, Herian spoke to Reifa, who was kneeling close to the throne.

"Are you not going to sit, Reifa Lim Ratestwood? This is the throne of your reclaimed castle, after all."

"Yes. I do not have the right to sit on the throne. That place is for you, Your Majesty. Furthermore, I will fulfill my role as a representative of Ratestwood for this negotiation, but I am no longer Reifa Lim Ratestwood; I am just Reifa. Please treat me as such."

"...I see."

Herian sat on the throne. At the same time, several lines of text appeared on the tactical virtual window.

- All enemy forces within the territory have been eliminated.

- The self-army's control rate within the territory exceeds 90%.

- The throne has been successfully seized.

With the fulfillment of the three conditions for forced control, the virtual window displayed the words "Control Complete" in golden light. This meant that the capital of Ratestwood was now completely under the control of Alkymira.

"...I hereby announce to the entire army the completion of the Ratestwood citizen rescue operation and the end of the battle due to the complete destruction of the enemy forces. —This is our victory."

In response to the king's declaration of victory, the monsters roared in joy. The first war in a different world, and a battle where the king himself led the entire army, resulted in a complete and overwhelming victory. Although the battle turned out to be unexpectedly easy, the great victory after the uncertain situation of starting the war with unknown enemy forces caused the monsters to erupt in jubilation.

"Then, let's proceed with the post-war processing."

With a preamble, Herian began the main topic.

"First, about the contract we made and the treatment of Ratestwood."

"Yes. As promised, I will offer myself to you—"

"No, that matter will be reset. There was a significant breach of contract."

"Eh?"

Reifa looked up, taken aback. She pondered if she had made any mistakes, but could not think of any. She glanced at Wendl, but he shook his head frantically. Then, what breach of contract was he referring to? Reifa thought hard, but could not find an answer.

"The request from your country was 'to rescue the Ratestwood citizens who were recently captured.' However, Alkymira... I could not fully fulfill this request. Some could not be rescued. In other words, I failed to completely fulfill the contract."

Reifa's delicate ears twitched slightly.

"...Are you talking about Lirifa? But she might have already... by the time we made the contract..."

"That doesn't matter. The request from your country was 'to rescue the Ratestwood citizens who were recently captured.'"

Therefore, I cannot accept the compensation, Herian stated plainly.

"...No, that cannot be. Not only did you rescue many citizens, but you also eliminated the threat of Noblewood. It would be impossible to receive such benefits without offering anything in return."

"...Is that so?"

"Yes."

"...I see. However, I cannot simply accept the compensation. My country has its pride and considerations."

A heavy sigh echoed in the throne room. Wendl, who had been watching the scene, decided that now was the time to interject. But he couldn't. The piercing gazes of the king and queen pinned him in place.

—Do not interfere.

Receiving this clear message, Wendl had no choice but to remain silent. He fully understood that this was no longer a situation where he could speak.

"One of my subjects was very rude."

"Rude? What do you mean? I don't understand what you are saying."

"...I am grateful for your mercy."

"I will repeat, I don't understand what you are saying. Therefore, I have no reason to accept your words of gratitude. ...Shall we continue the conversation?"

Herian forcefully returned the conversation to its original flow.

"'I will do whatever you ask. I will fulfill any request you have'... When we made the contract, you clearly said this. Was there any falsehood in those words?"

"No."

"Are you sure?"

"Of course. I swear by the name of the Sacred Tree."

"...To me, those words have lost all value."

Although his tone was sarcastic, it was true that the 'oath by the name of the Sacred Tree' had no value to Herian. Reifa looked at the floor thoughtfully and then raised her head again.

"Then, I swear by my sister's name... Lirifa's name. I will not go back on my word. I will fulfill any request you have, by my sister's name."

Herian's eyes wavered.

"By your sister's name...?"

"Yes."

"...Then I will believe you."

Herian nodded sternly.

"I will make one request to you. By fulfilling this request, I will accept the compensation. Are you prepared?"

"Yes."

"Then, here is my request: 'As Reifa Lim Ratestwood, ascend to the throne of the Kingdom of Ratestwood and govern the capital and its villages according to your discretion.' —That is all."

Reifa was taken aback by these words. The half-elves, who were standing in the room, also raised their heads in surprise, forgetting their manners, and stared at Herian.

Leive, who was about to say something, was stopped by Herian raising his right hand.

"What is it? I don't hear your acceptance."

"B-but, that..."

"You said you would accept any request. I have made my request. This should be the end of the matter. Or do you intend to tarnish your sister's name?"

"I would never do such a thing!"

Refa's denial was reflexive, and she suddenly changed her expression. But it was too late. The words had already been exchanged. Reifa had handed a blank card to Herian, and Herian had written his request on it and returned it. Now, Reifa had no choice but to accept the card.

"I accept your request. I deeply and sincerely thank you for your mercy—"

Reifa bowed deeply and said.

"Words of gratitude are unnecessary. This is the result of a fair transaction."

"Even so—still, I thank you. From the bottom of my heart, I thank you!"

The half-elves, who finally understood the content of the contract between the king and queen and the salvation of Ratestwood, all showed signs of joy. Some even shed tears of joy, as if a tension had been released.

—Finally, we are saved.

Such a voice, though not spoken, seemed to echo in the air.

"Then, let's continue the discussion about the completion of the contract. It would be inappropriate to discuss the future while the contract is not fully fulfilled."

"...What do you mean?"

Herian raised his right hand and snapped his fingers. In response, the door to the throne room opened with a sound. Several injured individuals, missing various body parts, entered the room.

"I swore to the queen of Ratestwood that I would save every single one of them."

However, in front of Herian, there were still injured individuals who had not fully recovered. They had only been rescued from the clutches of Noblewood. Their missing body parts were painful to look at, and they were far from being in a healthy state. In other words, it was difficult to say that they had been "fully saved."

"Completely fulfilling this contract is now impossible. However, I would like you to accept our apology by immediately providing relief to these individuals here."

"...In other words..."

"Right now, I will restore them to a fully healthy state. At the very least, I must save those who have been rescued, or all my efforts will be in vain."

Reifa was speechless with shock, unable to count how many times she had been surprised.

Restoring missing body parts was an ancient lost magic that had been forgotten for a long time. According to the common knowledge of this world, it was only possible for a few high-level mages to restore missing body parts immediately after the injury. However, once the body parts were lost and the wounds had healed, it was impossible to do anything.

Despite this, the king of the monsters had casually stated that he would restore them to a fully healthy state. However, it was too late to