.255

“Amelia?” I read out again, stunned. “Huh? Is it...really her?”

“Most likely,” Lardon answered.

“How do you know, Lardon?”

“Amelia...Twilight, was it?” From her tone of voice, she sounded like she was enjoying this turn of events. “That’s one of the three names you frequently chant, yes?”

“Y-Yeah...”

Amelia, Emilia, and Claudia were my three favorite songstresses. I always chanted their names for my aria because thinking of them lifted my spirits. Needless to say, Lardon—who was always by my side—had probably heard me utter their names more times than she could be bothered to count.

“Such a request coming from Parta, and at this timing? No doubt they found the woman herself after investigating you.”

“R-Really?”

“Indeed. At the very least, Parta wholeheartedly believes her to be the right person.”

“Oh, wow...” Amelia... The real, actual Amelia, in the flesh? Wait, d-does that mean... “Does that mean I get to meet her?!”

“If you wish, yes.”

“O-Oh...” I was lost for words. This is too good to be true. Can I really...?

Lardon chuckled. “You seem to be misunderstanding.”

“What?”

“While you are worried whether you are allowed to meet her, the other side must be hoping and praying—begging, even—for you to do so.”

“What? B-Begging?! Why would she—”

“Settle down. I am referring to Tristan, not that Amelia woman,” Lardon clarified. “Cornered like a mouse, that fool must have placed all his bets on that woman. He will likely make her ask you for mercy on their behalf.”

“Oh... Oh, I get it.”

“Hmph... Your mind is duller than usual. The result of being outside your expertise and being so thoroughly dazzled, hmm?”

“S-Sorry...”

“No matter. I find it amusing. I’m reminded that, in some way, you are still a human after all.”

“Uh-huh...” Unsure of how to respond, I ended up just clamming up. Lardon sounded like she was having fun, but somehow that just made me feel twice as embarrassed.

“In any case,” she continued, “he deals an amusing hand at an amusing timing. Humans always exceed my expectations only when dealing such cunning moves.”

“What should I do...?”

“Why not go meet her?”

“Huh? Can I really?”

“This is your country. Do as you please. You could even have her perform a song for you.”

“A song...for me?!”

“Oh? Do you not want her to?”

“N-No, that’s not what I...” I trailed off, then gulped. “Amelia...singing for me?” Just imagining it made me quiver.

“Or perhaps you could share the experience with the monsters as well,” Lardon added.

I gasped. “W-With everyone too...?”

I could see it now. Much like other countries, my palace had a terrace that overlooked a public plaza. I hardly used it myself, but now I imagined Amelia standing there in front of a huge crowd, singing for everyone...which gave me a new idea.

“I’d need a spell to amplify her voice... But no, her voice sounds best unaltered. I should just clear out every other sound instead.”

I closed the Liamnet and swept my gaze over the room. Everything was still and quiet, but if I just strained my ears, I could pick up many little sounds—from the hustle and bustle of the city outside the window, to the flow of the air around me. These were the sounds of “silence.” To give Amelia’s singing voice the spotlight it deserved, I needed to come up with a spell that would erase this ambient noise.

I raised my hands and clapped once, the crisp sound lingering in my ears as I fell into thought. The best way to prevent noise was to obstruct it with something—like a thick blanket, for example. When indoors, shutting the doors and windows also closed out external sounds.

“Should I surround the plaza with a barrier of some sort, for a similar effect? No, everyone inside would still make noise...”

Simply blocking out sounds wouldn’t do; erasing them entirely was more realistic. With a spell called Silence, I could render people—or any living being, for that matter—unable to speak, but that wouldn’t get rid of ambient sounds.

Once again, I clapped my hands. The force of my palms meeting created a faint brush of air that hit my face—and that finally gave me an idea. After mulling on it some more, I decided to test it out.

“Contract Summoning: Liam.”

A figure appeared before me: my clone, a perfect copy of me. We looked each other in the eye, then with a nod, we raised our identical hands and clapped at the exact same time with the exact same intensity. The crisp sounds overlapped perfectly, melding into one louder clap.

With another nod, we clapped once more, with mine being louder than my clone’s. Then we did it again, but with my clone clapping louder than me.

I nodded. “Good. One last time, please.”

“Got it.” My clone nodded and clapped again.

I created a small draft of wind with my magic—similar to what I felt against my face earlier—and clashed it against my clone’s. His clap produced a much quieter sound than before.

“This works,” I concluded.

My clone nodded, his eyes twinkling like mine. “Sounds can cancel each other out.”

I had successfully discovered a way to cancel out sounds. Ironically, in my excitement, I failed to register Lardon’s amused voice in my head:

“Ha ha... Yes, you had best do as you please, for you will wind up absorbed in your magical exploits one way or another—and that is why everyone will continue to follow behind you even so...”

.256

The next morning, I sat face-to-face with Dyphon in my room.

“An experiment?” she echoed, curiously tilting her head.

I nodded. “I made a new spell, and I was hoping you’d help me test it out...”

“Okay!”

I blinked. “Oh... Are you sure? I haven’t even told you what we’re going to do...”

“Of course! You’re basically just gonna cast the spell on me, right?”

“Well, yeah...”

“Then I have no reason to decline,” she said, her voice bright and peppy.

“Okay... Well, that’s a huge help, actually. I’d love to hear your unbiased impression on it.”

“Sure. All the more reason for me not to ask about it, then!”

“Thanks. All right, you ready?”

“Mm-hmm.” Dyphon closed her eyes and tilted her face upward, a small smile still on her lips.

Lardon scoffed. “What a risqué expression... It’s as if she’s waiting for a kiss.”

Come to think of it, she was right. But if Dyphon had heard that... Well, I could already see where this would go, so I just pretended not to hear that remark. Instead, I focused on casting my new spell on Dyphon:

“Noise Canceling.”

Magical light embraced the girl’s body. Slowly, she opened her eyes and looked around the room with an intrigued hum.

“Notice anything different?” I asked.

“I can hear your voice really well!”

“No, er...” That’s not what the spell does...

Dyphon giggled. “Sorry, I’m just messing with you. This spell cancels out all ambient sounds, right?”

“Ah. Is it working properly?” She figured out the spell’s effect even without prior explanation, which meant that my spell was working as intended. I mentally clenched my fist in triumph.

“Uh-huh! Thanks to that, I can hear your voice really well! It sounds different from usual, but still just as wonderful!”

“What?” I narrowed my eyes. “What do you mean, ‘sounds different from usual’?”

Dyphon shrugged. “Well, there’s no ambient noise.”

“Hmm...” I cocked my head. My spell, Noise Canceling, erased ambient sounds, so voices shouldn’t be affected. I made this spell for everyone to hear Amelia’s wonderful singing voice, so that was the last thing I wanted to happen. I had to get to the bottom of Dyphon’s remark.

Dyphon hummed. “Hmm, how to explain...”

“Think of it as soup,” Lardon piped in.

“As soup...?” I parroted.

“Ugh. She’s butting in, isn’t she? Give me a second... Soup, soup...” Grumbling, Dyphon poked her temples with her fingers. “Ooh, I got it! Darling, imagine rice wine!”

“Rice wine? Not soup?”

“Rice wine will do!” Dyphon insisted, huffing indignantly. “When it’s just freshly brewed, it’s still a little cloudy, right?”

“R-Right...” Succumbing to her pressure, I decided to imagine rice wine instead of soup.

“Its taste only improves after some filtering and distillation,” she continued. “Well, it’s the same here. Normally, we hear your voice along with a little ambient noise, but thanks to this spell, I get to hear it in its clearest form!”

“Oh, I get it!” I snapped my fingers. “Then that means...her singing will sound better than ever before!”

“I don’t know who you’re going to use this for, but yeah, probably.”

“I see... Whew.” I understood what she meant now, and that eased my worries. So I’ll get to hear Amelia’s vocals in their purest form, without any ambient noise or other sounds mixed in... Wow, I’m so happy!

Dyphon hummed. “Well, I like that I can hear your voice clearly, but now I pick up on some unnecessary stuff too.”

“Huh? Like what?”

“Without ambient sounds, I can hear a bit of the conversation next door.”

“Oh, right...” After all, this spell was made to create absolute silence to highlight voices. This meant that voices from elsewhere—like from the room next door—would also be more audible than usual.

Once again, I fell into thought. Noise Canceling was fine as it was; it was complete as its own spell. I might just have to prepare some additional measures once Amelia came over.

Around noon the next day, I stood in front of the palace, awaiting Amelia’s arrival.

The road leading out of the palace connected to the city’s main road, and along it came a carriage bearing the crest of the Duchy of Parta. Since they were for all intents and purposes emissaries of the grand duke, I asked the monsters to steer clear of the main road for today. Fortunately, they did as I asked, so now a single carriage trotted slowly through the wide path, enjoying a smooth ride all the way to the palace.

Incidentally, the carriage was escorted by a minimal number of armed soldiers—with my permission, of course. This much was hardly a threat to us, and I didn’t want to deprive Amelia of any bodyguards or servants for her journey.

Scarlet stood beside me as I waited anxiously. Without prying my gaze from the approaching carriage, I asked her, “A-Amelia’s inside that carriage, right?”

“Yes,” Scarlet replied. “That is what I’ve been told.”

“Okay!” In just a bit, I could finally meet Amelia. My heart was pounding in my chest. In fact, I could almost feel my spirit ascending from all this excitement.

Suddenly, I was struck by an idea. I cast my newest spell, Noise Canceling.

Scarlet raised an eyebrow. “Master?”

I cleared my throat. “Ah, well, I’m just...”

During yesterday’s experiment, Dyphon had overheard the elven maids talking in the next room over. In a similar manner, I figured I could use this spell to hear Amelia’s voice from within that carriage. I was about to meet her anyway, so this was just an advanced treat... Or I suppose you could call it eavesdropping too.

Anyway, I brushed off Scarlet’s curious gaze and strained my ears. With all ambient noise canceled out, only voices were left to my hearing, and with enough focus, I managed to pick up those from within the carriage.

“You must curry the Monster King’s favor. No matter what.”

“Mm...”

“And don’t even think of trying anything funny. I’m sure you know that your parents’ lives are in our hands.”

“I... I understand.”

I froze up on the spot. What I heard from that carriage...was the last thing I had been expecting.

.257

The carriage slowed to a halt before me. The guards set down a small platform, and out came a woman in her mid-twenties. Her features, from the soft curve of her lips to the gentle slope of her eyes, made it clear that she normally sported a kind expression, but right now her gaze was somber and her gait restless, so much so that I had to stop myself from wincing.

Her name was Amelia Twilight. She mostly looked the same as I remembered, although it was clear that she had aged a bit since then.

She meekly approached me and stopped once she was close enough to shake hands. The man behind her—an official, I would guess, from the way he was dressed—wordlessly urged her on.

“It is a great honor to be in your presence, Your Majesty,” she said with a bow. “I am Amelia.”

I watched her silently for a moment. Her bow was prim—the sort you’d expect to see from a noblewoman—but her movements were awkward and unpracticed. The man behind her watched her like a hawk from start to finish; it was clear as day that she had been forced into this.

“Welcome,” I said simply. “I’ve prepared a banquet for you.”

Amelia gulped. “Before that, Your Majesty, I would like to speak with—”

“We can speak after the banquet. It might not be as lively as human celebrations, but I’ve instructed my vassals to give you the warmest welcome they can prepare. I hope you enjoy.”

“But—”

“Then we shall kindly accept your offer,” the official interjected. “Right, Amelia?”

I recognized his voice—this was the guy who had spoken with Amelia inside the carriage.

“But I—”

“Would it not be rude of us to turn away His Majesty’s generous hospitality?” Although he technically asked a question, the sharp look he gave her left no room for refusal.

Amelia visibly shrank back, wilting like a flower. “I understand...”

I nodded. “Allow us to guide you. Reina?”

“Yes, Master,” said Reina, smoothly appearing beside me.

Actually, she had been there from the very beginning; she’d just been suppressing her presence before I called. This was a technique that had been trending among the elven maids recently. They said, and I quote, “We want to suppress our presence so that we won’t get in your way unless needed!” and had even been competing to see who could do it best.

It seemed Reina had made good progress on that front; Amelia and the man both looked surprised by her “sudden” appearance.

“I’ll leave them to you,” I told her. “Serve her well. She’s a state guest.”

“Of course, Master.” With a nod, Reina—along with a few more elven maids who seemingly appeared out of nowhere—guided Amelia and the duchy’s entourage into the palace.

Finally, only I was left in the palace yard.

“You did well holding back and simply repeating my words,” Lardon said.

I held my breath. “I...didn’t mess up, did I?”

“Not at all. The man monitoring her is a small fry, as I expected.”

With that, I finally let out a sigh of relief.

The moment I’d learned that the Duchy of Parta was likely holding Amelia’s parents hostage, the blood had rushed up to my head all at once. I’d been so close to charging into that carriage and grabbing that man by the throat, and I might have done just that had Lardon not stopped me. Despite my boiling rage, I’d known it was a smarter move to do as Lardon said, so I’d held myself back and tided through the greeting by repeating Lardon’s words.

“That brief interaction must have lowered their guard significantly,” she continued.

“Really? Why?”

“The Duchy of Parta sent that girl to curry favor with you, no?”

“Er... Well, yeah, they did.”

“Well, you just declared her a state guest. With Human Slayer out of the picture and no time limit to work with, they likely want to take as long as they need to thoroughly get on your good side. Being declared a state guest must have sent them over the moon.”

“Oh...”

“Also, rest assured—as long as nothing goes awry, then that girl’s parents should be safe for as long as she is here. Until negotiations break down, even.”

“Okay...” I could definitely take Lardon’s word for it. But just as I was breathing another sigh of relief, her chuckling caught my attention. “What’s so funny?”

“Ah, I was just thinking... Humans truly do become fools when cornered. I could never have come up with a worse move to make myself.”

I cocked my head in confusion. “What do you mean?”

“Parta found that girl to curry favor with you, but doing so by taking her parents hostage is the worst way they could have gone about it. After all, has it not completely backfired on them? You were terribly enraged.”

Enraged... Yeah, I guess I was. I simply couldn’t forgive them for taking Amelia’s parents hostage and forcing her to do something against her will. Lardon wasn’t wrong; even now, anger was swirling and festering in my gut. “What do we do now?”

“That would depend on you,” she answered. “Do you wish to save her parents yourself? Or are you open to leaving it to others?”

I tilted my head. “Hmm? You think I should go myself?”

Lardon chuckled. “Would that not make you look cooler to her?”

“Huh? Why would I need to make myself look cool? We need to save them—that’s all that matters.”

“Then I shall take up the task,” Lardon decided as she emerged from within me, taking her usual form as a young human girl. “Although I would like to borrow a few of your familiars.”

I nodded firmly. “Do whatever you need to do. What about me?”

“Oh, anything will do. Why not enjoy her songs while you wait? The more fun you have, the less likely they are to suspect anything.”

I nodded. “Got it.”

With an amused huff, Lardon disappeared. I spun on my heel and followed after Amelia and her entourage.

As I’d declared prior, the day was dedicated to welcoming Amelia. Our country was rich as could be thanks to all the business we had with Bruno, and I made full use of it to give Amelia the grandest welcome we could offer.

Unfortunately, she was restless all throughout and didn’t seem to be truly enjoying herself. But whenever the official leaned over and whispered something to her, she would force a smile and act like she was having fun. The sight of it irked me to no end, but I didn’t forget Lardon’s instructions. I simply continued acting oblivious so they wouldn’t suspect a thing.

As for asking her to sing... Well, I just couldn’t bring myself to. I held too much respect for her as a singer to demand it of her in this situation. Was that a bad move on my end? I would’ve asked Lardon, but she wasn’t with me at the moment.

Then, come nighttime, Amelia suddenly appeared in my bedroom wearing nothing but her lingerie...and a forlorn, heart-wrenching expression on her face.

.258

In the palace was a certain room that was not quite like the rest. It used to be an ordinary bedroom until Liam renovated it so that it could contain Paithon’s special fog, and now it served as the dragon’s own bedroom. Paithon made good use of this room, for unlike the free-spirited Dyphon, she spent most of her time sleeping in one place.

This room was the only place in the entire magic city wherein one of the three dragons personally resided, so it was known among the citizens as the Dragon’s Hall. Moreover, since the room was filled with fog when Paithon was asleep, whoever opened the door during this time would be welcomed by an eerie view akin to that of a gloomy forest, earning the room yet another name: the Forest of Slumber.

Tonight, the forest claimed another soul.

“Aaargh! Let me go!”

Paithon was physically dragging Dyphon into her room. Dyphon’s attempts at shaking off Paithon’s grip were met with equal resistance—and since Dyphon always suppressed her power so as not to inadvertently damage the palace, she could do naught but scream and thrash as her fellow dragon pulled her into the room.

“You can’t go,” Paithon said with her signature listless voice.

“Can’t go, my foot!” Dyphon snapped. “That woman is trying to assault my darling! Don’t stop me!”

Moments ago, Dyphon had spotted Amelia entering Liam’s room. Of course, she was well aware of the girl’s circumstances; with her superior physical capabilities, it was a matter of course that she had overheard Parta’s entourage threatening Amelia. As a dragon, she need not even cast any spells to hear everything going on within the palace grounds.

“Don’t worry,” drawled Paithon. “She doesn’t...want to.”

“I know, I heard them! She was threatened, right?”

“Mm-hmm...”

“Then that’s even worse—now she has to see it through!” Dyphon was especially agitated because she knew that Amelia had no choice but to take this to the end. Normally, she would be right to assume so.

But Paithon insisted otherwise. “It’s okay... He won’t bite.”

Dyphon scoffed. “How do you know that? Doesn’t he like her?”

“No... She’s a god.”

“Huh? What’re you saying? She’s just a human girl.”

“That’s not...what I meant.” Paithon lazily shook her head. “She’s like a god to him... Humans look up to gods.”

Dyphon pouted. “I don’t get what you’re saying, but it still doesn’t sound good.”

“A human told me before...that they don’t care about the gods’ personal lives. They don’t need to...”

“You’re not making any sense!”

“It’s okay... Just watch.” Paithon turned her gaze in the direction of Liam’s room. Her eyes were deep and murky, yet her gaze was firm as if she could see right through the walls. “This is something...we are all familiar with.”

My mind blanked out.

Huh? What in the world? What’s going on?

Amelia is...in my room? At night? In her lingerie?

Uh... Why?

“Oh? I see they’re employing some underhanded tricks.”

I narrowed my eyes. What do you mean?

“It’s simple,” Lardon explained. “You, the king of this nation, are particularly fond of this beautiful, youthful girl. Does it not make sense then that they would demand her to seduce you with her body?”

I sucked in a sharp breath. Once again, all my blood rushed to my head. I was bristling with such rage, I could almost feel steam rising from my head.

Amelia looked close to tears, and no wonder. First they took her parents hostage, and now they were forcing her to seduce me. It had taken a little nudge from Lardon, but finally, the reality of the situation sank in.

“Ame—”

“She is being monitored,” Lardon warned.

I swallowed my words. After a short pause, I decided to take a step closer. The girl flinched, her shoulders tensing up, but she took no time at all to gather her courage and look me in the eye.

I met her gaze head-on and gently tapped her shoulder. And then—I cast a spell.

“Time Stop.”

Amelia blinked, clearly caught off guard. “Huh?”

Right away, I summoned my item box and used some meteorites to maintain the spell. “Please listen to me, Amelia. I know everything.”

“Every...” Amelia gasped. “N-No, don’t! I’m—”

“Being watched, right? It’s okay.” Keeping one hand on her shoulder, I stuck my other into my pocket and took out a single coin. Then, I raised it between our faces and let go.

Amelia stared wide-eyed as the coin lingered in the air instead of falling straight to the ground. “What...?”

“I can’t quite explain everything, but right now—in this ‘time’—no magic or apparatus will function.” My gaze hardened as I watched her face warp in shock. “I’m aware of the situation you’re currently in. Please, rest assured—I will save your parents, no matter what.”

“Wh-Why would you...”

“It’s true that I adore you,” I continued. “But I’m also just a human...and I can’t forgive them for taking advantage of you like this.”

“R-Really...?”

“Yes— Urk!”

“Wh-What’s wrong?”

“Nothing...” I gritted my teeth and forced a smile.

My head spun for a second there. I was continuously feeding the spell with my stored meteorites, but the torrent of mana passing through my body was by no means a light load to process. Regardless, that hardly mattered right now.

“So please, don’t worry,” I told her again. “You can leave everything to me.”

“C-Can I...really?”

“Of course. I swear on my life.”

Amelia’s bottom lip trembled as she finally wrung out a heart-wrenching “Please...help me.”

With a nod, I finally undid Time Stop. The coin between us fell with a quiet clink before rolling over the floor. Amelia’s gaze snapped to the ground as she pursed her lips. She must have understood that we were no longer truly alone.

“It seems you used up quite a bit of mana for a lengthy conversation,” Lardon mused. She likely picked up what had happened from the leftover mana in the air—that much was easy enough for her.

Now, if only I could wrap up this situation just as easily... It was all well and good that Amelia now knew I was on her side, but we still had to trick her observers.

“Fret not. Just repeat after me, as always.”

“Thanks.”

Amelia blinked. “Huh?”

“Nothing.” I shook my head. “Human girl, I applaud your resolve.”

Amelia frowned in confusion, but only a beat later she understood that I was putting up an act. “Th-Thank you...”

I continued repeating Lardon’s words. “However, before I enjoy your offering, I would like to cleanse you of the outer world’s filth. Reina, are you there?”

A short while later, a knock sounded from my door, and in came Reina. “You called, Master?”

“Yes. Take this girl and cleanse every nook of her body. Then, bring her here again tomorrow.”

Reina paused for only a moment, then bowed without asking any questions. “Understood,” she said. It seemed she also understood the truth behind my words.

Reina led Amelia out of the room, and I was left alone once more. “Thank you, Lardon,” I said right away.

Lardon grunted. “I would say we have bought one full day without arousing any suspicion. What will you do now?”

“No, this is enough.”

“Hmm?”

“One night is enough,” I said, feeling my blood turn cold as ice. My mind was clearer than ever before. Right now, I felt like—no, I was sure that I could do anything.

“Hmph. It seems a single human, when enraged, can very well be just as terrifying as a dragon.”

.259

“Now then...what exactly are you planning?” Lardon asked.

“I’ve got something in mind... Right now, I think I can—no, I’m sure I can do it.”

“Oh? I’m looking forward to it.”

With a nod, I got right to it. For starters, I took in a deep breath, then slowly exhaled to clear my mind and gather my focus. This was the sharpest my mind had ever felt since I first started learning magic.

Then I tried to pick up Amelia’s presence. There was quite a bit of distance between us now, but I could still sense her—or more importantly, her mana. For this plan, I needed to view her not as a living being but as a cluster of mana.

Once I had a good grasp of Amelia’s mana, I swiftly expanded my senses outward—so swiftly, in fact, that I’d encapsulated all three neighboring nations in the blink of an eye. Just as I did with Amelia, I viewed every single person as a mana cluster, studying each one intently and feeling my way through them all.

A minute passed. Finally, I found two matches.

“Found them,” I muttered.

“Oh? Where are they?”

Opening my eyes, I did an about-face and pointed toward the wall. “Eighty kilometers in this direction. It seems they’re safe... Thank goodness.”

“How did you know?”

“Each person’s mana is unique,” I explained. “I’ve noticed this for a while now.”

“Indeed. People describe them as colors or wavelengths, among others.”

“Right, though they feel more like wavelengths to me. Anyway, I expanded my senses and looked for wavelengths that matched Amelia’s the most. I figured parent and child would have many similarities.”

“You expanded your senses...?”

“Yeah... Why? Is there something weird about it?”

Lardon paused. “You expanded it...to eighty kilometers away?”

“Hmm, not exactly,” I said. “I just expanded it to include the entirety of Parta. But I figured expanding in a circle was most efficient, so I included Jamille and Quistador too.”

Lardon chuckled. “You always do the most absurd things.”

I smiled. “Just this once. I won’t stay in peak condition like this forever.”

“Naturally. Then are you going to save them now?”

“Nope, no need.”

“Hmm? Why not?”

“Because...” I held my hand up in the air. A few meters away, a magic circle lit up and a pillar of light emerged from the ground. When the light subsided, an elderly man and woman appeared in the middle. “I’ve already recovered them.”

Lardon fell silent. After a short pause, I heard her let out a laugh—a light and airy laugh, like it had been startled out of her. This was the first time I’d heard her react in such a way.

“What’s the matter?”

“Good... Yes, very good. The way you so easily exceed my expectations... It’s marvelous,” she said. “How did you do it?”

“I just reached out and grabbed them. I know it was a little rude, but I couldn’t be picky in this situation...”

“Your understanding of it is even instinctive rather than theoretical... Wonderful.” Lardon chuckled, sounding more pleased than ever before.

Meanwhile, Amelia’s parents were anxiously looking around the room.

“Wh-Where are we?”

“And...who are you?”

“I’m sorry for startling you,” I told them. “You must be Amelia’s parents, yes?”

“We are... But who are you?”

“Ah... You’re safe now. I will bring you to Amelia later—with guards, of course.”

“Did you save us?”

“So, our daughter must be safe too!”

When I nodded, relief washed over their expressions. I refrained from introducing myself; I could only see things getting more chaotic if I told them that I was Liam.

I called Reina over to bring the elderly couple to Amelia. They were a little hesitant at first, but eventually they decided to trust us and followed Reina. Once they were gone, I resumed my conversation with Lardon.

“I’ve been faced with surprise after surprise tonight.” Noticing the confusion written all over my face, she elaborated, “You see, I had even been preparing to have a debate when we went to save her parents.”

“A...debate?”

“Tristan is probably indignant about the matter, since we dragged in his family first.”

“Um... Oh! Oh, that’s right.” Following the past Lardon’s advice, I had held Tristan’s family hostage by casting Human Slayer on them.

“I was expecting him to say, ‘You shouldn’t have done it if you weren’t prepared for me to do the same thing,’ and so I had been thinking of how to retort, but...” Lardon chuckled. “It seems it was all for naught.”

“Er... S-Sorry?”

“No, do not apologize. I enjoyed myself tonight. Besides, this solution was very much like you indeed,” she added, a pleasant tone to her voice. “In this situation, humans would normally think of exchanging hostages or threatening their enemy, but you skipped over it all and simply took them back with magic. Truly, it was a choice only you could have come up with.”

“Oh, um...” Is she...complimenting me? I’m not so sure... But whatever.

I’d successfully retrieved Amelia’s parents, and that was all that mattered. So, just like Lardon had done with her debate preparations, I decided to cast my thoughts aside and move on to the next step.

.260

With a nod, I dispelled Noise Canceling and sank into the couch with a sigh of relief.

I had been listening to Amelia’s conversation with her parents through the walls. Amelia had asked them, “Are you both okay? I’m so sorry...” to which her parents responded, “We’re fine, dear. But what about you?” Once I’d confirmed they were all fine, I decided to stop listening in.

At the very least, we were past the worst part of this whole ordeal. Amelia and her parents were within my domain, and I had no intention of letting the Duchy of Parta lay their hands on them ever again.

My heart swelled with resolve, giving rise to my motivation to craft a new spell to protect them. I came up with seventeen spells just off the top of my head—but no, that wasn’t enough. I couldn’t just stop there. I had to take more thorough measures to ensure their safety beyond a shadow of doubt, so I scrapped them all at once.

“I’ve no objections there,” Lardon piped in, “but now that you’ve ensured their safety, is it not high time to impose a penalty on the offenders?”

“Should I?”

“Of course. Have you any requests?”

“Hmm... I want to make it so they never think of doing something like this again,” I decided. “I’m not sure how, though... Sorry, am I pushing everything to you?”

Lardon chuckled. “You are the king of this nation. A simple command is more than enough. You may leave the rest to me.” She emerged from within me, manifesting as a young human girl.

“You’re going personally?”

“The rougher, the better, after all. Although whether I will need to step in personally has yet to be seen.”

Rougher, hmm? No objections here. “All right. It’s all yours.”

With that, Lardon took her leave, leaving me in the room to my own thoughts.

Right, where was I...? The simplest spell I could come up with was something that would activate once certain conditions were met and would teleport Amelia’s parents to me—just like I did earlier.

Er, would it be rude to just summon them like that? But where else could I send them that’s safe enough...? I racked my brain for a better alternative, but this technically wasn’t about magic, so nothing came to mind. I thought about sending them to the dragons, but who knew if they would be up to protecting them?

As I was struggling to come up with more ideas, a quiet knock cut through my thoughts.

“Come in,” I called.

Nothing happened.

“Hello? It’s not locked.” I stared at the unmoving door in confusion. I thought it was one of the elven maids, but they would always come in right after I responded. I wasn’t left wondering for too long, though; just a beat later, the door finally opened, revealing—

“A-Amelia?!”

With an elegant gait, she slowly entered the room and stopped a short distance in front of me. Then she bowed her head. “Thank you very much for saving my parents.”

“Whoa! R-Raise your head, please!” I jumped from my seat and flailed my hands around in a panic. Who could stay calm when their idol suddenly bowed to them?

“Thank you,” she said again.

“No, actually, I should be apologizing! I... I dragged you into this whole mess...”

“This isn’t your fault...” She slowly looked up with a fragile smile. “I mean it.”

I gulped. “Amelia...?”

“I had been planning to cooperate even if my parents hadn’t been taken hostage.”

“R-Really?”

“Yes. When they first approached me, they told me that the Monster King was threatening the duchy, and that I was the only one who could dissuade him.”

“O-Oh... I see...” Embarrassment and confusion swirled in my mind, but Amelia wasn’t done talking.

“I thought then: ‘Me, save our country?’ But if I could be of help, then I was glad to do so...” Amelia sighed. “But I grew afraid...because I would be facing the Monster King.”

“Oh...” I awkwardly cleared my throat. It definitely wasn’t the friendliest-sounding title. Besides, I knew Amelia very well—she had no means of defending herself. Even the best singer in the world was no more than a frail woman. Who could fault her for hesitating when told to meet the Monster King?

“I asked them for some time to think it through...and that’s when they took my parents hostage.”

I gulped, then lowered my head. “I’m really sorry.”

“Lord Liam...?”

“I got you involved in this mess... They took desperate measures because I cornered them too far.”

I heard Amelia sigh. “Please, raise your head. Even if that’s true, I believe you do not need to feel responsible for their response to your actions.”

“Amelia...” Still, I felt like the guilt was eating me from the inside out.

“Lord Liam, you...”

“Hmm?”

“You are very different from what I’ve heard.”

“Am I?”

“Yes. I’ve always known you as...a heinous fiend.”

“Oh, well... I am the Monster King.” I had no reason to deny it. I was even starting to feel proud of that title, thanks to my companions.

“Lord Liam...”

“Wh-What is it?”

“Is there anything I can help you with?”

“Help...?”

“I’m not sure how much help I could be, but if I could mediate—”

“I-In that case, I want everyone in this country to hear you sing!” I accidentally spoke over her, but what else could I do—sit back and say nothing when my favorite songstress just volunteered? I’d be a fool to do so, especially since I’d always been hoping for a chance to share Amelia’s wonderful voice with the monsters in this country.

Amelia’s eyes grew wide, like she hadn’t been expecting such a request. She fell silent for a while before she finally opened her mouth again. “You are really...a very strange person.”

“A-Am I now?”

“You really only see me as a singer.”

“Th-That’s not true! I think you’re an amazing person, and I really look up to you! A wonderful songstress!”

“That’s not what I meant.” Amelia giggled, and for the first time, I heard a tender yet playful chime to her voice. “Very well. If that is your wish, then I shall sing to your heart’s content.”

Around the same time Liam and Amelia were having their conversation...

Gylai, a town in the Duchy of Parta, had gone up in flames. Not a single scream pierced beyond the roaring inferno. In the sky, a single dragon—Dyphon—looked down on the measly humans.

In no more than an hour, a town of ten thousand people had been annihilated beyond recognition.

.261

Dyphon soared in the skies of Gylai in her dragon form, scowling at the city now devoid of any life. Beside her was a young girl. Appearance-wise, the two couldn’t have been further apart, but this girl was actually Lardon, a fellow dragon and a being no less powerful than Dyphon.

Lardon observed the blazing ruins with an impassive hum. “You killed them all,” she said plainly.

“Obviously,” said Dyphon.

“You were even more thorough now than when you were made a fool of.”

“Obviously,” Dyphon repeated with a roll of her eyes. Neither the gesture nor her speech suited her large form, but at present none were left to point it out. “The humans can do whatever they want to me and I won’t even blink. But make a fool out of my darling? Oh, I’ll make them regret everything.”

“That reminds me of something a human said once,” Lardon mused, ignoring Dyphon’s irritable glare. “‘Those greenhorns can say whatever they want to me, but I’ll never forgive them for bad-mouthing my senior.’”

Dyphon just ignored her. By Lardon’s example, Liam would be her “senior,” but she cared not for such human hierarchies or Lardon’s analogies. All that mattered to her was that she was devoted to Liam and Liam alone.

“Now, what will that fool do next, I wonder...?” Lardon mumbled.

“Hey,” Dyphon called, frowning. “Why did you ask me to do this?”

“Hmm?” Lardon turned to her, looking a little startled.

The two of them were not friends by any means. Far from it, they were rivals and enemies. Without Liam, they would be at each other’s throats and attempting to take one another’s lives once more. This was evident from the way they regularly interacted and even the tense air between them now.

“I simply thought the task was best in your hands,” said Lardon.

“What? Are you messing with me?” Dyphon shot the girl a glare. Sparks emerged where their gazes met, and the air grew a touch heavier than before. “You know either of us could have dealt with such a puny town, no sweat.”

“Of course—if the goal was simply to destroy it.”

Dyphon narrowed her eyes. “What do you mean?” she asked, reining in some of her hostility.

Although Dyphon was indeed as impulsive and short-tempered as she seemed, she was also without a doubt one of the three divine dragons, a being beyond human logic that had lived three lives while retaining all her memories. Her childishness was all on the surface, for deep inside she contained wisdom and knowledge beyond what humans could ever hope to achieve. Naturally, she understood that there was meaning behind Lardon’s words.

“I have two reasons,” Lardon began. “One is that your feelings for him are much more passionate, hence you would show less mercy.”

“Obviously. I love my darling.”

“The other reason is the differences in our personalities. In truth, I am not as meticulous as the humans may think, nor are you as careless as you seem. Imagine this: Had I been the one to take on this task, would I have truly massacred this town?”

“You?” Dyphon scoffed. “You probably would’ve missed ten or twenty of them.”

“There were around ten thousand, hmm? Then yes, I would have indeed missed that many.” Lardon nodded. “But you—I knew you would not let a single one go, not even a toddler who survived under the rubble.”

“Naturally.”

“I thought it best to truly annihilate this town. You agree, yes?”

“Are you mocking me? There’s a huge difference between one and zero.”

“And that is precisely why I brought this matter to you,” Lardon finished. “The fact is that they made a fool of Liam, and you are not one to show them any mercy—even if I were the one to ask it of you.”

“Ugh... You piss me off,” Dyphon spat. Her hostility resurfaced, choking the air with intensity that would have knocked any human unconscious. “Gosh, I can’t stand you! Just you wait—I’ll turn you into mincemeat the moment darling cuts ties with you.”

“Rather shameful of you to make promises you cannot keep,” Lardon shot back.

Dyphon’s eyes blazed with anger. “Oh, you are so dead.”

However, instead of returning her threat, Lardon simply chuckled.

“What? What is it this time?” Dyphon growled.

“Oh, nothing. I was just pitying the humans... Ah. Of course, this”—she pointed at the ruined town far below—“was simply Parta reaping what they sowed. I feel no pity for them, but... You see, Liam is a human, so he will live for another hundred years at most.”

“Duh. That’s just how humans are. What’s your point?”

“And our relationship will not fatally sour for so long as he is alive.”

Dyphon rolled her eyes. “Oh, stop rambling, will you? You’re so annoying. Gosh, why doesn’t darling ever get tired of you?”

“Do you want me to skip to the conclusion? Very well, then. What do you think will happen once a century’s worth of repressed animosity explodes?”

“You’d blow up into smithereens,” Dyphon deadpanned.

“I meant to say that the battle that ensues between us would be the biggest we’ve ever had,” said Lardon.

Dyphon simply huffed dispassionately, but despite how she acted, she wasn’t actually confident that she could beat Lardon. She agreed with Lardon’s assessment regarding their “biggest battle yet,” but she found it unpleasant that Lardon had remained so calm even in the face of her anger. However, with nothing to retort, all she could do was feign disinterest and remain silent.

“I somewhat pity the humans who will be dragged into the chaos,” Lardon finished.

After a short pause, something finally came to Dyphon. In a complete flip from her earlier mood, she let out a pleasant hum.

Lardon watched her with a wary gaze. “What?”

“Do you wanna know how we can prevent that battle from getting too big?” she crooned. “It’s easy: Just make darling the king of this world. Fill the land with his bloodline... Oh, wait, you wouldn’t be able to do that. I guess you can propagate his life’s achievements instead?”

Lardon scowled.

“I’d only care about our kids, but you’d also look out for... What’s the phrase humans use? Ah, right—you’d probably look out for every ‘proof that he lived.’ Then you wouldn’t be able to go all out.”

Lardon shot the dragon a hard look before letting out a chuckle.

“Tch. What is it?”

“Ah, well... I just realized I could have him prepare countermeasures beforehand.”

“Countermeasures...?”

“Indeed. I could ask him to, say for example, prepare something that could withstand both of our full force.”

“Oh...? You know, you’ve got some good ideas in that head of yours every now and then.”

Lardon chuckled. “Would this mark the first pleasant discussion we’ve had in several millennia?”

“Uh-huh. I’ll make the request to darling. You can start saying your prayers.”

“Hmph. Ha ha...”

“Hee hee...”

Intense bloodthirst filled the skies above the human town that once was.

Alas, these two had failed to understand—or rather, it had simply never occurred to them—that had Tristan or Parta’s nobles witnessed this brewing animosity between the two dragons and learned that Liam alone could subdue them, then they would have gotten on their knees that very second.

In a way, even the dragons were not all-knowing. Thus, they had simply retaliated against Parta’s transgression as any human would think to do—with pure and unfettered violence.

.262

Amelia and I stood in the palace’s grand hall with Asuna and Jodie. Unlike Scarlet, who was frequently out of the country for diplomatic work, these two spent most of their time here in the city.

“Let me introduce you,” I said to them. “This is Amelia. She’ll be staying here for a while.”

Asuna hummed. “Ooh, so this is her?”

“Huh? You know about her?” I asked. It sounded like she already did.

“I mean, you always say her name when you need more mana to cast a spell, right?”

Amelia looked at me wide-eyed. “You...say my name?”

“Well, when casting large-scale magic, you can chant your favorite things to kind of gather your focus or lift your spirits...” I explained, frantically trying to hide how flustered I actually was.

“Ah, I see... And so you used my name.”

That was when I realized: Wasn’t it all because I’d been chanting her name left and right that Tristan found her and took her parents hostage? I immediately hung my head in shame. “I-I’m really sorry!”

Amelia simply shook her head. “I wasn’t blaming you, Lord Liam. I didn’t mean anything bad by my remark.”

“But still, I want to apologize...”

“If I recall correctly,” Jodie piped in, “she’s your favorite songstress, yes?”

“She is,” I affirmed.

“What kind of songs does she sing?”

“Ooh, I’ve been meaning to ask that too!” Asuna crowed.

I hazarded a glance at Amelia, and she responded with a graceful smile. “It may not be to your liking, but I would gladly perform for you.” She fixed her posture and took in a deep breath.

Seeing that, I found myself straightening my back too—certainly a lot more stiffly than her, though. Jodie chuckled at my awkward display, while Asuna laughed and told me I was overreacting, but I wasn’t in the mind space to reply to them.

Amelia slowly opened her mouth, and soon her singing voice filled the grand hall.

Feeling like I’d just awoken from a trance, I swiped the back of my hand over the corner of my eye. I didn’t even know if I had cried throughout Amelia’s performance, but not once had I walked away from her singing without feeling terribly emotional—and sure enough, the back of my hand was now moist with my own tears.

Meanwhile, Jodie was sitting on the couch still as a statue and silent as a mute as a constant stream of tears trickled down her cheeks. Asuna, on the other hand, was sobbing and sniffling unabashedly beside her.

The sight filled me with a strange sense of superiority. Amelia’s voice had moved them to tears just as it had moved me, but I had discovered her first. It was strange to feel smug over something like this, but that was just how humans were, and I was one of them.

Amelia finished her performance with a small bow. “It was nothing special, but...”

“Far from it!” I insisted. “You’re not known as Sorrow’s Mistress for nothing. You’ve even improved since the last time I heard you!”

“Pardon me for asking, but where did you hear me sing, Lord Liam?”

“From outside the walls when you were singing in a landlord’s mansion.”

“Oh...” Amelia blinked, looking a little confused. “You listened...from outside the walls?”

“Huh? Oh, uh... I just so happened to be there...”

This had happened in my past life, before I’d taken over Liam. But as Liam the noble or Liam the Monster King, it just didn’t make sense for me to have coincidentally passed by the outer walls of the landlord’s mansion where Amelia had been invited to.

“A-Anyway, what do you two think?” Left with no decent explanation, I could only attempt to change the topic, however blatant it might be.

Jodie didn’t respond. As the eldest among our companions—besides the dragons, of course—she was normally the most composed of us all. But now, she was too moved to utter a single word.

On the other hand, Asuna had already snapped back to her senses. “Wow... Just wow! This is my first time feeling so emotional from a song!”

I nodded with a smug smile. “Right?”

Eyes sparkling, Asuna whipped her head to face Amelia and asked, “Say, can you read people’s minds?”

I cocked my head. “What...?”

“You see, the song was gradually drawing me in deeper and deeper, and just when I thought, ‘Oh no, I think I’m gonna cry’—that was when the saddest part hit!”

“Er... So, you’re saying she sang that way because she could feel your emotions?” I hummed. “I don’t think that’s—”

“I think so too,” Jodie suddenly piped in while wiping away her tears with a handkerchief. “In fact, I’d be surprised if that weren’t the case.”

Asuna giggled. “I know, right?”

“Oh...” Well, if they both had the same thought, then it can’t just be a coincidence, can it? “Hm, but...”

“What’s up, Liam?”

“But then that would mean...Amelia read your emotions, waited for them to reach their peak, and then intentionally dropped the saddest part at that timing, right?”

“Of course. Right?” Asuna turned to the songstress herself, who was simply wearing an awkward smile, before swiftly turning her attention back to me. “Is there something on your mind, Liam?”

“Well, you see, I’ve been tinkering with a sound-related spell recently, so I’ve been thinking of sound like...a magic spell with a wide area of effect.”

Jodie hummed. “I suppose you’re right. It travels to its source’s surroundings and ‘affects’ everything equally.”

“Well, I think it’s impossible for such a spell to fine-tune its effects based on the reactions of each target within its range.” I’d actually racked my brain over and over but failed to come up with anything realistically feasible.

“Um, I am quite ashamed to say this...” Amelia muttered, head hung and cheeks flushed in embarrassment. “But it’s not quite what you’re imagining.”

“How so?”

“Well, I—”

“Wait,” Jodie interrupted. As we stared at her in surprise, she kept her eyes on Amelia. “What you’re about to say—is it some sort of trade secret? Perhaps the trick to your performance?”

“Huh?” I gaped at her, then whipped my head to check Amelia’s response.

Although she wasn’t saying anything, her expression was all the answer we needed.

“What?! N-No, no, you can’t do that, Amelia! It’s such a big secret...” I knew Amelia’s singing better than anyone, and I had no doubt that there must be some sort of amazing technique to it, so I desperately tried to stop her from revealing it.

“No... I’m okay with sharing it with you, Lord Liam,” said Amelia with a gentle smile. “I believe what you were getting at earlier was that every listener feels differently at each point in the song, hence it is impossible to sing in a way that perfectly caters to every person’s experience at the same time... Am I correct?”

“Exactly!”

“You would be right—I do quite the opposite. How do I put this... I lay out the groundwork with the earlier portion of my song, then gradually bring everyone just one step before the peak—and then I drop the song’s climax at once.”

“Oh, I see...” I nodded slowly, then froze. “Wait... That’s still incredible!” It definitely sounded possible, unlike Asuna and Jodie’s hypothesis, but it was still a terribly difficult and high-level technique. But she explained it like it was nothing... Wow, I’m becoming her fan all over again!

Asuna sighed. “You’re so amazing, Amelia.”

“I get why you adore her, Liam,” Jodie said.

“Yeah!” I grinned.

“Oh, by the way, why did you call us here?” Asuna asked. “You didn’t bring us here just to listen to Amelia’s song, did you?”

I shook my head. “Oh, no. You see, Amelia’s parents are also here...”

As I brought them up to speed on the latest events, Asuna grew indignant while Jodie’s smile started looking more and more ominous. After being moved to tears by Amelia’s song, they couldn’t forgive what had been done to Amelia’s parents all the more.

“So they’ll be staying in town for a while, but they must be scared in a city full of monsters... I was hoping you two would keep them company.”

“Leave it to us!” Asuna crowed.

“Yes. We will take care of them,” Jodie promised.

I grinned. “Thanks, you two.”

“Thank you so much,” Amelia said with a deep bow.

I breathed a sigh of relief. “We can finally move on to preparing for your performance... Amelia, is there anything you need me to ready for you?”

“Hmm... A zither, I suppose.”

“A zither... Oh, right. You use one!” I remembered the day I overheard Amelia’s singing. Most of my attention had been drawn by her voice, but I could recall an instrumental accompaniment. “All right, then... What kind do you need?”

“I believe most use a seven-string zither,” Jodie recalled.

However, Amelia slowly shook her head. “Eighty-eight.”

I blinked. “What?”

“I would like an eighty-eight-string zither, please.”

My jaw nearly dropped to the floor. I’ve never heard of an instrument like that before!

.263

“That kind of zither exists?” I blurted out, stunned.

“Yes,” Amelia replied. “After experimenting here and there, I found it to be my best option.”

Asuna’s eyes grew wide. “Huh? Does that mean you invented it?”

“Invented?” Amelia smiled awkwardly. “Oh, it’s nothing so grand...”

Despite what she said, I was plenty impressed. I knew it—Amelia’s the best!

Jodie hummed. “So you can’t sing without that zither, then?”

“Oh, that’s not it. I still can, of course. It would just—”

“No, it’s necessary!” I declared, speaking over her. “With it, you can sing the way you always do, right?”

“Well... Yes.”

“Then we definitely need it for the performance!” I cast her a sheepish look. “Er, you wouldn’t happen to have brought it with you, would you...?”

I wasn’t hopeful, but I tried asking anyway. I had no idea what an eighty-eight-string zither looked like, but I knew one thing for sure: It wasn’t the type of instrument you could just carry around in your bag. I thought back to the day Amelia came to this city, and she certainly hadn’t had any noticeably large luggage with her.

“No,” she said sadly. “I was brought here with nothing but the clothes on my back...”

“Whaaat...” Asuna drawled, disappointed.

I frowned. “But why...? If they brought you, then they should have also—” I froze mid-sentence as a memory resurfaced in my mind: Amelia standing nearly stark naked in my room one night. That’s right, those guys brought her here to seduce me... They wouldn’t think to bring her instrument here. “Urk... Ahem.”

Jodie tilted her head. “What’s wrong, Liam?”

“You’re making a weird face,” Asuna pointed out.

Jodie and Asuna were utterly clueless as to that portion of the story, while Amelia was forcing a smile with an awkward look on her face.

Naturally, I dodged the topic and pushed onward. “Er... Oh, right! Why eighty-eight? Is there something wrong with the, uh, seven-string one that Ms. Jodie mentioned earlier?” Eighty-eight is an oddly specific number, so this should be a perfectly natural question to ask!

“No, not at all,” answered Amelia. “It’s just that zithers can produce a broader range of sounds with more strings.”

“Ohh...” I nodded. More strings meant more options—even I could understand that. “So, that seven-string version that Ms. Jodie said most people use—it can’t produce a lot of sounds?”

“I wouldn’t say that. It ultimately depends on how you play it.”

“Hmm...?”

“Well... May I give you a demonstration?”

“Oh, sure.”

Amelia reached out and tapped the table twice. “This is what it sounds like when I tap the table with my fingertip. And this”—she tapped the table twice again—“is what it’s like with the pad of my finger.”

“They sound different,” Asuna observed.

“They do,” I agreed, nodding.

“Yes. As you’ve observed, the same table can produce different sounds depending on how it is tapped. And if something else is pressing down on the surface...” Amelia spread her palm over the table then tapped the surface with her fingertip once more.

“Oh, it’s different again!” said Asuna.

I cocked my head. “It... It is?”

“Just by a teensy bit. You can’t tell, Liam?”

“N-Not really... Is it different?”

“It is! Right?” Asuna turned to Amelia.

Amelia nodded. “Indeed, and zithers work the same way. Plucking and pressing can further expand the types of sounds produced by the instrument. You can choose to pluck the strings with either the tip or pad of your finger, as well as whether or not to press them. Even with just seven strings, you can get four options for each.”

“So, twenty-eight options in total...”

“Exactly. Why, you could even adjust your strength when pressing, so your options expand even more.”

“Oh, wow...” I was impressed. I had no idea instruments were so...nuanced!

“Er...” Amelia muttered, looking a little embarrassed. “Although I am ashamed to admit this, I’m not dexterous enough to make use of such techniques, so I made up for my shortcomings by preparing more strings. With eighty-eight strings, I can play all the notes I want just by using my fingertips. Since I sing while playing the zither, I had to make the latter an easier task for myself.”

“Oh, I get it!” I nodded, finally understanding. Her explanation was very clear and simple.

“Liam, don’t be deceived,” Jodie said out of the blue.

I looked at her in surprise and found a playful grin on her face. “What? Deceived...?” From the corner of my eye, I could see that Amelia was also looking at her in shock. Utterly confused, I urged Jodie on with my gaze.

“It’s true that her way is much simpler than what she explained earlier...” Jodie shook her head. “But don’t forget—that means she can handle all eighty-eight notes. After all, she wouldn’t have included strings she couldn’t use since she invented the instrument herself, right?”

I gasped. “You’re right!”

“If it were me...” Jodie began clapping her hands to a leisurely beat while singing a lullaby—a gentle tune, perfectly suited to Jodie. After just one stanza, she lowered her hands with a smirk. “I can only produce one other note while singing.”

One other note... Is she referring to her claps? She was playing it up a bit, but I got her point. Amelia was plenty amazing for handling eighty-eight different notes while singing. I myself could only cast sixty-seven spells at once without an aria. Not that I can really compare to Amelia to begin with... But anyway, I was starting to understand better just how impressive it was to master eighty-eight strings.

“Also...”

“Is there something else?”

With a nod, Jodie began tapping the table like Amelia did earlier.

Tap-tap, tap-tap, tap-tap...

“Could you tell that the sounds varied?”

“I could.”

“Well, I was trying to tap them all the same way—with my fingertip. But sometimes, I ended up tapping them with the pad of my finger instead.”

“Oh... I can see that happening.” I gave it a try myself.

In the meantime, Jodie continued, “Consistency is a skill in itself. All the more while singing.”

“Wow... I knew Amelia was the best!”

“Th-That’s not true...” Amelia muttered. “I just make sure to steel myself while singing, and it just works out...”

“You steel yourself...?”

“Yes...”

I frowned. “But then that means...the zither takes up some of your attention when you perform.”

“Well, yes... Of course.”

Well, that’s no good. I brought my hand to my chin and fell into thought. I loved—and I mean really loved—Amelia’s voice. No matter the song, no matter how she sang it, I welcomed it with open arms. But if I could just make a selfish little wish, then I would love for her to put all her heart and mind into just singing, with the bare minimum attention diverted to her accompaniment.

Ideas raced in my mind, rapidly forming and taking shape.

Amelia looked at me strangely. “Lord Liam...?”

Finally, all the pieces fell together. I had a new plan: “We can just make your plucking consistent with magic!”

“What do you—”

“Amelia,” said Asuna, cutting her off.

Amelia turned to her. “Yes, Asuna...?”

“This is how he is—this is Liam.”

The two girls looked at each another, one grinning proudly and the other frowning in confusion. All the while, I’d already fallen back into thought as I brainstormed how to make this new spell.

.264

After pondering for a while, I stretched my arms out in front of me.

“Ooh, what are you doing?” Asuna asked, though it sounded rhetorical. She seemed more eager to see the next step than listen to me harp about it.

“Just watch,” I told her.

With my palms facing down parallel to the table, I spread my fingers apart and kept them as straight as I could. Then, I emitted mana from my fingertips—starting from my left pinky, then my ring finger, my middle finger, and so on until I finally ended with my right index finger and thumb—and used the mana to tap on the table as weakly as I did physically earlier.

Once I finished doing that with all ten fingers, I started again with my left pinky and did another round, then another, and another...

“You’re tapping each finger with a different amount of force... Is that right?” Amelia asked.

I nodded, casting a glance over my shoulder. “Yes. So you noticed.” I had to constantly remind myself to watch my speech around Amelia, all the more now since Jodie and Asuna—whom I usually spoke casually with—were around.

“I can tell from the sound,” she explained with a meek nod. “You seem to be keeping it consistent every round too.”

I nodded. “Exactly.”

“What for?” Asuna asked.

I turned to her and answered, “Because I’m trying to find a way to keep the tapping force consistent. The reason I assigned each finger varying intensities is because—”

“—that proves that you’re capable of keeping it consistent, right?” Jodie finished.

I nodded. If I could repeatedly tap ten fingers at ten levels of intensity, then that was all the confirmation I needed that I had perfect control of my strength.

“May I ask why?” Amelia asked.

“You added eighty-eight strings to your zither so that you could play a wide variety of sounds even if you tap—or rather, pluck them the same way, right?”

“Yes.”

“Then my first order of business is to get that plucking strength down pat. I won’t get anywhere if I don’t keep it consistent, right? Also...” I shut my eyes and withdrew my left hand while keeping my right outstretched. Then, I curled in all my fingers save for the index finger, like I was pointing at something. Focusing on my fingertip, I gently lowered my hand and traced a line of mana over the table.

“Wow,” Asuna marveled. “It looks like you’re drawing with water!”

With that remark, I knew that I’d cleared the first stage of this next step. I repeated the gesture nine times. When I opened my eyes, ten faint strings of mana were drawn over the table.

“What’s next?” Asuna asked.

“Try touching it. It won’t hurt.” I chose Asuna to demonstrate because she was the most inquisitive—as well as the most fearless—in this group. Of course, I could’ve demonstrated myself, but since I was developing this new invention for Amelia to use, I decided to leave this to Asuna.

Asuna curiously cocked her head but readily reached out to the leftmost string. Suddenly, there was a quiet snap in the air—the kind you’d feel after touching a doorknob in winter.

“Whoa!” Asuna hurriedly drew her hand back just as the string disappeared.

“It doesn’t hurt, right?”

“Huh? Oh... You’re right.” She’d drawn her hand back in surprise, not pain. Blinking widely, Asuna looked at the strings again and tried touching the next one.

Snap! Once again, the string disappeared along with a quiet sound.

“Wow, it really doesn’t hurt!”

“Try the others as well,” I urged.

“Okay!” Asuna went ahead and touched one string after the other, filling the air with the same snaps from before.

Once all ten strings were snapped, I turned to Amelia. “Did you notice anything about the volume of those sounds?”

“Yes. They were the same as earlier.” Whether she knew because of our earlier discussion or because she could precisely determine them, Amelia answered swiftly and easily.

I nodded, relieved by my apparent success. What I’d done was essentially seal a sound into some mana, such that it would be released the moment someone touched it. This was an application of a technique I’d devised not long ago, when I sealed a spell within a manastone alongside our manastone deposit.

“That settles the framework. Now I just need to make sure it lasts longer.”

“Um... Would that not be difficult?” Amelia asked.

“Not at all. We only need it to last for one song, after all.”

Naturally, I was speaking relatively—this wouldn’t be harder than when I’d secured a semipermanent source of mana for our entire city. Compared to that, making this one last for a single song was a walk in the park.

Now, it was one thing for an instrument to break during the performance, but swapping it out with a new one between songs? That wasn’t such a big deal. It was even less of a problem since it would be my honor to support Amelia’s performance. With me here, everything would be fi—

I shook my head. No, I can’t take this lightly. After all, when else would I ever get the chance to assist my favorite songstress in her performance? A steely resolve formed within me. I’ll make this a success, no matter what it takes!

“Let’s see, what else?” I hummed. “For the structure—would this do?”

I drew line after line with my mana over the table, all with the same length and thickness at nearly the same distance from one another. Asuna and Jodie soon picked up on what I was doing. Asuna even began counting for me partway through.

Finally, once all eighty-eight lines were complete, I turned to face Amelia and urged her on with my gaze. She quietly positioned herself in front of the table and let her pale, slender fingers dance atop the strings. Her movements were so fluid and well paced, I felt like I could already hear the song playing.

Finally, Amelia withdrew her hands and looked at me. “I think this will do.”

“All right. Then I’ll move on to the next stage right away: preparing a prototype.”

I breathed a sigh of relief. Looks like I’ll be able to prepare a replacement instrument for her. This might be quite the presumptuous assessment, but it was even looking like—

“Wow, Liam,” said Jodie. “This looks like it will be much easier to play than an eighty-eight-string zither.”

“Yeah,” I agreed with a nod.

Her remark filled me with a great sense of achievement. After all, my number one goal here was to make it easier for Amelia to perform so that she could pour all her heart and mind into singing. Excitement swelled in my chest as I wondered: Could I actually hear a much better performance than ever before? As her fan, there was nothing more I could ask for.

However, soon the cruel truth would find its way to me—that my “perfect” instrument...was actually a fatal mistake.

.265

Later that night, I returned to my room and continued working on Amelia’s new instrument. Lardon had also returned, so we were filling each other in as I worked. She seemed terribly pleased that she’d managed to get Dyphon to act for her.

“That’s...kind of surprising,” I remarked.

“What is?”

“Your personalities. I never would’ve expected Dyphon to be more meticulous than you.”

“Ah, I suppose. But that is simply how she is now.”

I cocked my head even as my fingers continued tapping the mana-lined table in front of me.

“Allow me to give you an example,” said Lardon. “You are walking outside, when suddenly, you step on a bug—one just big enough for you to feel beneath your sole.”

“Uh... Okay.”

“If you struggle to imagine that, then perhaps think of stepping on a dog’s feces instead. How would you feel then?”

“Oh, well... It would feel unpleasant.”

“Indeed. However, would you then proceed to dedicate all your attention to checking the ground for bugs or feces whenever you walk outside?”

“No, not really...” Come to think of it, I’d stepped on bugs or dog poop several times in my life now, but it never made me walk any more cautiously than I already did.

“This is the same,” Lardon said. “We dragons far surpass humans, and we live for much longer as well. As Dyphon said, I would hardly notice if ten humans in a town of ten thousand managed to flee.”

“And she would?”

“Of course. She is newly reborn—very young.”

“Oh, that’s right...” Among the three dragons, Dyphon was the only one who’d died and been reborn twice. Naturally, she was much younger compared to the current Lardon and Paithon. But... “Would that make her notice humans more?”

“Indeed. Moreover, with how infatuated she is with you, she would go the extra step to ensure the town was truly annihilated.”

“Hmm...” Was that what infatuation did? Well, I had heard people say that no force in the world was more formidable than a maiden in love, but were they “formidable” in the sense that they could annihilate an entire human town? I wasn’t so sure anymore.

“That concludes my side of things. Now, more importantly...” Lardon trailed off; I could tell she was eyeing the table lined with my mana. “Regarding your new project—would it not be better to check her instrument in person?”

My hands froze over the table. “Huh? In person...?”

“Indeed. Of course, I’m certain you are working in the right direction.”

“Then why...?”

“Because there is a big difference between seeing the instrument in person and not. To quantify... Let’s say you could make a hundred improvements at present. But what if you could come up with a hundred more after seeing the instrument for yourself?”

I pondered on her words for a while, then slowly nodded. I hadn’t thought of it that way, but she was right. If I could gain a hundred more ideas just from seeing the instrument in person, then in what world would that be a bad thing? After all, one hundred was good, but two hundred was even better.

Thanking Lardon, I stood from my seat and deployed a magic circle.

The next morning, I called Amelia to a parlor room in the palace and placed her zither in front of her.

She stared at it in surprise. “Is this...my zither?”

“Yes.” I nodded. “I’m glad I got the right one. I suppose there’s no mistaking the one and only eighty-eight-string zither in the world, but still...”

“How did you...?”

“Well, I couldn’t teleport to a place I’ve never been to before, so I used Contract Summoning to send my clone over there and have him place it in our item box. Then, I took it out here.”

“T-Teleport? Contract...?” Amelia stuttered in confusion.

Did I explain it badly...?

Before I could say anything else, however, Amelia continued, “My apologies... I just wasn’t expecting you to be able to retrieve it for me.”

“Oh, well...”

Frankly, she had every right to be surprised. My gaze fell to her eighty-eight-string zither. Naturally, it was huge—it had to be, to sport so many strings—but it was also nearly the size of a king-sized bed. I was no musician, but even I could tell that it was massive for an instrument.

“Seeing it up close, it really is huge,” I remarked.

“Indeed. It is certainly much larger than most instruments.”

Now I was more sure than ever: “It must be difficult to play something so big.”

“It certainly is.”

I knew it. It must be hard for her. Lardon said that I might find a hundred more ideas after seeing the zither in person, but all it did was affirm my belief that my magically crafted instrument was much easier to play, and by a large margin at that.

“If I may...” Amelia stood before her zither, gently brushing her hand over it before she began to play. Eighty-eight strings sang in harmony with Amelia’s voice, filling the room with a mesmerizing melody.

At first, I was overjoyed. I loved Amelia’s voice, but I had only ever listened in on her performances from outside the venues. This was my first time seeing her actually perform in front of me.

And it was at that moment that my confidence in my newest invention was crushed to bits.

To play her humongous zither, Amelia needed to make equally broad movements. Her motions were so graceful, so beautiful, it almost seemed as if she were dancing. Dance and song—both were the essence of Amelia’s performance. I might have known a hundred things about her singing, but today I learned a hundred about her dancing.

An indescribable shock hit me, along with a wave of embarrassment. I was ashamed of myself for acting all smug about “making it easier” for Amelia to sing.

Seeing her before me now, I felt like I was falling in love with her all over again.

.266

“Lord Liam?”

“Ah!”

How long had I been staring in a daze? Before I knew it, Amelia had finished her performance and was standing in front of me with a terribly worried look on her face.

Startled, I jolted back a step and blurted out, “S-Sorry!”

“Not at all...” Suddenly, Amelia’s expression scrunched up. “Was my performance unsatisfactory?”

I gasped and desperately shook my head so hard, I wondered if it might fly right off my neck.

Amelia stared at me wide-eyed, stunned by my extreme reaction, but at least her expression softened in relief. “Then what is the matter?”

“I was mesmerized—that’s all!”

I heard a stifled chuckle in my head—quite the rare reaction, coming from Lardon. My cheeks flushed in embarrassment, making my face red all the way to the tips of my ears.

In the corner of my eye, I saw Amelia watching me. She looked a little confused...but also a little awkward. Somehow, I had a feeling that I was making her uncomfortable.

Unable to bear the embarrassment, I called the giants over to carry Amelia’s zither to her room in the reception hall. I managed to send her away too by saying it was best for her to accompany them, given they were handling her precious instrument.

Finally left alone in the parlor, I breathed out a heavy sigh in an attempt to release at least some of the embarrassment pent up in my chest.

Lardon chuckled. “You looked like no more than a fan back there.”

“I’ve never been anything else,” I said with a petulant mumble. What else would I look like if not a fan?

“Is that so? Then I pity that girl all the more.”

“What? Why?”

“For you turned out to be no more than a fan of hers. You, the heinous villain that the grand duke wanted to fend off, even if it meant taking her parents hostage. She must feel terribly awkward about it all.”

“Urgh...” She was absolutely right. “So I’m just causing trouble for her again...”

“Fret not. Awkward as she may feel, I doubt she sees you in a bad light.”

“O-Oh...” I sure hoped so. “But anyway...I failed. I failed miserably.”

“That was your first time seeing her perform, hmm?”

I nodded. Until now, I’d only ever listened to her from outside her performance venue...but I didn’t need to tell Lardon that.

“You were captivated.”

“Yeah... But that doesn’t matter anymore.” I sighed. “I didn’t even know what her performance usually looked like, yet I was acting all smug and saying I’d...h-help her out, or whatever...” My voice grew smaller and smaller as the embarrassment resurfaced.

“How amusing. Especially since I’ve been with you for quite a while now,” Lardon mused. Sensing my confusion, she added, “I suppose you could say that girl is the first to ever corner you to a magic-related failure, hmm?”

“You’re right... I’m really ashamed.”

“I was joking, you fool.”

“Huh?” I was alone in the room and Lardon was inside me, but I cocked my head as if she were right in front of me.

“To begin with, there was no problem with your magic theory.”

“My theory...?” I was completely lost, unable to understand what she was saying.

“You wanted to develop something that would make it easier for her to play her instrument, and what you created did just that, yes?”

“Well... Yeah, it did.” I nodded meekly.

Certainly, it wasn’t a failure in that sense. My true failure had been my naivety in acting like I knew Amelia’s performance and making unnecessary revisions to it. Had anyone else wanted to play an eighty-eight-string zither, though, then my magic would’ve still helped them have an easier time about it.

“In other words, your magic is not a failure. You simply lacked information.”

“And that means...?”

“Oh? You’re quite dull, hmm?” Lardon teased. “After seeing her performance, you realized that your ‘improvements’ to her instrument were actually an unwelcome favor, did you not?”

“No, it was just straight up disrespectful...”

“Very well. In any case, you’ve come to that realization. Now, is your goal not to let the monsters of this city hear her best performance?”

“Oh... So I just need to find a way to support her real performance?” I hummed. “But...it’s already so perfect as it is. What else can I even do?”

“I suppose you’re struggling to understand because this isn’t directly related to magic.” Lardon chuckled. “Would you like to hear my thoughts?”

“S-Sure...”

“Her song and performance are exceptional, yes—even I acknowledge that. She is a very talented singer and performer.”

“Yeah!” I nodded gleefully. Hearing Lardon praise Amelia made me really happy.

“However...” she continued. “She is no craftsman.”

“Huh?” I blinked. “Oh...!”

Lardon hummed. “She invented her own instrument, but instrument crafting is far from her specialty.”

“You’re saying the eighty-eight-string zither is low-quality...?” I mumbled. That might have been true. In that case, I... “Wait, no.” I firmly shook my head and stopped myself.

“Hmm? What’s the matter? I’ve no doubt its craftsmanship is third-rate at best.”

“But what if Amelia made it that way on purpose? If I just go ahead and make my own plans without consulting her, then I’ll just be repeating the same mistake.”

Lardon was silent for a while, until she finally let out a thoughtful hum. “You did well to notice that. I must reflect as well.”

.267

“And that’s what brought me back here,” I finished, once again sitting in front of Amelia the following day. “So, what exactly is the eighty-eight-string zither to you? Is it already at its best? Or do you think it can be better?”

Amelia gracefully bowed her head. “I thank you kindly for your thoughtful consideration.” Before I could ask her to raise her head in a flurry, she continued, “I made my zither through small and incremental adjustments whenever the need for improvement arose.”

“Oh...” I nodded. In my head, I heard Lardon hum.

So her zither was the culmination of many improvements over her years as a singer. In which case, a newer instrument wasn’t necessarily better—I didn’t need to be told twice. Looks like I nearly got carried away again.

I slowly bowed my head. “I’m truly sorry for—”

“However,” Amelia said, suddenly speaking over me.

My words caught in my throat. I froze for a moment, then slowly looked up at her.

Once again, she was wearing an awkward smile. “I am no match for the experts,” she said. “Although I’ve only ever tested a professionally crafted seven-string zither, I could already tell that it produced sounds far more beautiful than the instrument I’d crafted myself.”

“Oh...”

Lardon hummed. “It seems you got a little ahead of yourself, in a different way this time,” she mused.

Ugh, I totally did. I didn’t hear her out till the end... I really need to watch myself. With an extra layer of caution, I straightened my back and decided to just ask her as directly as possible: “Amelia, would you prefer a better eighty-eight-string zither? You can answer me honestly.”

Amelia quietly met my gaze, and I looked back resolutely. To avoid any more mishaps, I needed to hear the answer from Amelia herself—and I also waited patiently, giving her all the time she needed to think. Finally, after studying my eyes for a while, she seemed to have come to a conclusion.

“Yes,” she answered, nodding. “If I could have a better-quality instrument, then I believe I could give you a better performance as well.”

“All right! Then you can leave it all to me!”

Later on, in my private room, I sat face-to-face with Bruno. Between us was a table, upon which the maids had set up an ordinary tea set. Bruno just so happened to be in town, so I filled him in on recent events and asked him for his advice.

“I want to make the best zither for Amelia,” I told him as I finished my explanation.

“Hmm, I see. An eighty-eight-string zither... It would have to be custom-made, then.” His formal speech was as impeccable as always. Bruno paused for a while, caressing his chin in thought, then continued, “Although I am unable to determine which parts need special attention, I can bring up at least one with certainty.”

“And that is...?”

“The strings,” he answered. “High-quality zither strings are a must. Of course, that begs the question of what exactly makes high-quality strings...”

“Hmm... Do you have any idea?”

“I do.” Bruno nodded. “For zither strings, thread harvested from a silkbear is considered the highest quality.”

“Silkbear...? You can make strings out of bear fur?”

Bruno shook his head. “No. The strings are made from their cocoons.”

“A bear’s...cocoon?” My eyes swirled in confusion. “Are we talking about the same ‘bear’ here?”

“Yes, I believe we are. Silkbears form cocoons just as silkworms do.”

“W-Wait, really?”

Bruno nodded. “Yes. They follow a very unusual behavioral pattern. They sleep through ninety—no, ninety-five percent of the year.”

“That’s some really crazy hibernation...” I deadpanned.

“Indeed. Because of this, they are known by many other names, such as ‘lazy bears’ or ‘the big bums’...” Bruno cleared his throat. “I digress. Please disregard what I just said. In any case, silkbears—like silkworms—create a cocoon to sleep in. These threads are the best material to use when making zither strings.”

I hummed, intrigued. I never knew about this animal. How fascinating. “So, do I just need to catch one?”

“Yes... However, there is one problem.”

“All right, let’s hear it.”

“Silkbears may be unique, but they are still bears. When they sense an external threat, they break their cocoon and flee,” Bruno explained. “That they flee is not the problem—it is the fact that they break their cocoon. A broken cocoon naturally means—”

“Lower-quality strings,” I finished.

Bruno nodded. “You would need to somehow procure the threads without disturbing the bear, but at present, there is no established surefire method of—”

“No problem,” I said.

Bruno blinked. “Huh? Do you...have a suitable method?”

“Sure do.” I looked around, and my eyes landed on the tea set on the table. This’ll do. I used my item box to store it into another dimension. Then, I took it out right beside me. “I can just move the sleeping bear like this.”

“Goodness! What an ingenious idea, Your Majesty!” Bruno exclaimed with sparkling eyes.

Sounds like this’ll work. “Then, could you locate one for me?”

“Of course!”

With Bruno’s help, I finally took the first step to making the best zither for Amelia.

.268

Early afternoon, I visited Amelia’s room in the reception hall and took some time to fill her in on my upcoming plans.

“So, I will be leaving for a while to look for a silkbear.”

“I... I see.” Amelia slightly hung her head. I tilted mine in confusion.

Oh... Could she be worried about being left behind in a nation of monsters? Gasping, I hurriedly added, “While I’m gone, Reina will take care of you. She’s far more skilled than I am when it comes to looking after others, so rest assured.”

Doesn’t that sound like an excuse? As I was groaning inwardly, however, I noticed that Amelia looked a little...guilty. At the very least, it didn’t seem like she was worried about what I’d thought she was.

Suddenly, she lowered her head to me. “I’m causing you so much trouble, Lord Liam... I’m terribly—”

“Not at all!” I exclaimed, startling her mid-sentence. “Oh, sorry... But really, that’s not it at all!”

“Lord Liam...”

“I’m simply doing this because I want to. I’m no expert on this matter, but I’m sure you always need a lot of things to put on your best performance—like the stage or venue, and whatnot. Well, I’m just trying to do the same thing!” I didn’t want Amelia to think that she was causing me trouble, so I ended up rambling to no end.

Naturally, Amelia stared at me in shock, and I realized that, once again, I’d just made things awkward. However, her expression turned a little bitter as she said, “Actually, you are in the minority. In fact, you are the first person to go this far for me.”

“The first...? Wait, really?”

“My clients usually make me perform on an improvised platform in their mansions.”

“What? That’s so rude!” I blurted out, so stunned that it came out a little shrill.

“Lord Liam...” Amelia looked me in the eye, her gaze much firmer and resolute than I’d ever seen. The clarity in her gaze nearly made me stumble. “Thank you very much.”

“H-Huh...? No, no, I haven’t done anything to be thanked for yet. In fact, I should be the one thanking you...”

Amelia giggled. “Well, I suppose I could say the same thing, then. After all, I haven’t performed yet, have I?”

That was the first time I’d seen such a sly and playful smile on her face. The sight of it made my heart skip a beat. As I felt my pulse racing, I muttered, “I-I wasn’t talking about your performance...”

“No? But what else could I possibly be—”

“You made me realize that...” I trailed off as the sentence failed to form in my head.

This whole ordeal really taught me a lot, and I was sure that the lessons I learned would come in handy in the future too. If I were to exaggerate a little, I could even say that it helped me grow as a person. But I didn’t want to start rambling in front of her again, so I was trying to think of how to word it... I just couldn’t find the right words.

“Shall I summarize it for you, then?” Lardon suggested.

Yes, please, I said in my mind. At this point, parroting Lardon’s words was a pretty regular occurrence for me.

“As long as I know my goal, then I can always change my means.”

As Lardon took the lead, I was impressed by how well she had summarized my jumbled thoughts. At first, I had been fixated on replicating Amelia’s eighty-eight-string zither with magic. However, my end goal had always been to witness Amelia’s best performance—and when I realized that magic was unnecessary for that goal, I learned to change up my methods.

I made sure to add my own comment as well: “So, Amelia... Thank you. Really.”

In response, Amelia simply cast her gaze downward with flushed cheeks.

Later that night, I flew through the sky toward San Nenzi, where, according to Bruno, I could find some silkbears.

“I find it somewhat amusing that you are going in person,” Lardon remarked, a pleasant tone to her voice.

“Really?” I raised an eyebrow, not quite understanding. “Didn’t Bruno say that there was a high risk of the bear breaking its cocoon?”

“Indeed. Hence, no ordinary person could possibly transport it. I understand that.”

I nodded. There wasn’t much else to it, really. “So, why do you find it amusing?”

“It is amusing when you think of how human authority figures normally act. Earlier, do you remember that girl’s expression when you said you would fetch the silk yourself?”

“Amelia’s expression? Well... Her red face turned even redder,” I recalled. “But why?”

Lardon chuckled. “You ask me?”

“You don’t have an answer?”

“I do. But it is not my area of expertise,” she said. “Regardless, you need not worry about it. Where a human would normally order their subordinates, the Monster King chooses to go himself—that must have conveyed your sincerity to her.”

I finally understood what Lardon meant. Well, there was nothing bad about Amelia knowing I was being sincere. “We’d better make sure to bring that silk home, then.”

“Indeed.”

San Nenzi was a vast old-growth forest filled with lush vegetation and overgrown canopies. The trees blocked out what little moonlight could have illuminated my surroundings, and it certainly didn’t help that I’d flown here at full speed and got here without waiting for daybreak.

The spooky atmosphere would’ve been enough to chase anybody else away, but I had my magic.

“Night Vision!”

This spell, contained within my very first Ancient Memoria, could help me see better in the dark. In fact, my surroundings now looked as bright as an open-window room in midday.

“This’ll do,” I said.

“Are you not going to start a light?” Lardon asked.

“I don’t want to risk alerting the bear. I don’t know if it’s sensitive to light, but better safe than sorry.”

Lardon simply hummed in response. With all that said and done, I proceeded into the forest and followed the intel Bruno had provided to the silkbear’s location. My surroundings were as overgrown as a jungle, and I was also taking care to silence my steps, so it took nearly an hour—but I finally found it.

There was no mistaking it. The silk itself looked like the ones made by silkworms, but the size of the cocoon was enough to fit two to three people, almost like a closet.

That has to be the silkbear’s cocoon, I thought as I held my hand up and carefully—silently—cast my spell: Another World. Magical light enveloped the cocoon and successfully abducted its inhabitant.

“Nice!”

“It’s been a while since you used that spell,” Lardon remarked. “Were you not going to use your item box?”

“Well, it’s a living thing. Besides, we’re doing this to make a zither for Amelia, so...” I stumbled over my words, failing to find the right ones.

“You don’t want to give her a bloodstained instrument, hmm?”

“Yeah, that’s it! Though I wouldn’t say ‘bloodstained’...”

Lardon chuckled. “You struggle much for your idol. Some instruments are made using animal skin to begin with.”

I chuckled dryly. I could tell from her tone of voice that she was mostly just teasing me, though I did concede that it might have been weird of me to be so particular about this. Anyway, what’s done is done.

I slowly approached the now-empty cocoon. “Time to get to work,” I muttered to myself.

However, as I brushed my hand over the silk, I realized that it was as tough as steel—the last thing I would have expected to feel from biologically formed silk.

.269

I patted the cocoon a few times. Gently at first, but once I felt how strong it was, I gave it a few knocks and slaps. “Oh, it’s really tough,” I remarked.

“What a strange, contradictory creature... But I suppose that is why it is the way it is,” Lardon mused.

“What do you mean?”

“It breaks its cocoon and flees the moment it senses an external threat, yes? Yet it has such a sturdy cocoon. At the same time, it makes sense for it to build such a sturdy home if it is so cowardly.”

“Oh... You’re right. That is contradictory.”

“So, what will you do now?” Lardon asked.

“It wraps its silk around like a silkworm, right?”

“Indeed. Will you undo the threads?”

“Yeah... I definitely want to harvest them intact. Gotta be careful.”

I began circling the cocoon while dragging my hand along the surface to check for any frays I could start from. Not long after, my efforts were rewarded—I found a thread sticking out around the top. It was so tough that it was more like a nail sticking out of a plank than a frayed thread, but it still had some elasticity to it. I gave it a quick flick, and it jiggled a bit.

“Heh. That’s funny.”

“You can tell it’s good material for instruments.”

“Really?”

“Yes. Although, given my lack of expertise, I cannot tell where it stands in terms of quality.”

I nodded in agreement. Lardon was far more knowledgeable than me in many things, but she wasn’t an expert in instrument crafting. Still, we knew what instruments looked like and had even seen Amelia’s up close; it was clear that this thread would be well suited to making a zither.

“Now we just need to untangle this.”

Lardon hummed. “How? Will you boil it as done with silk thread?”

“No, I’ve already got an idea of where to start.”

“Oh? And where is that?”

“The silkbear,” I answered. “It breaks the cocoon and flees when it senses danger, right? That means...” I gave the cocoon a light knock with the back of my middle finger, and it produced a dull metallic sound. “The silkbear can easily slice through this tough thread like paper.”

Lardon chuckled. “True. But there is simpler proof.”

“Hmm?”

“How else would it emerge from hibernation if it cannot break its own cocoon?”

Right, there was that too. I nodded. “So it’d be faster for us to ‘ask’ the bear directly. If I had to wager a guess, I’d say the secret lies in its hands—er, its front paws?”

“It could also spew a unique substance, no?”

“One that can melt the cocoon in an instant? Sounds awesome, but I sure hope you’re not right.” Such a dangerous substance would be pretty tricky to handle. Well, I guess I could re-create the effect with magic...

In any case, I held up my hand, ready to take the bear out of Another World—but just then, a thought struck me and my hand froze midair. “Another World... Item Box...”

“Hmm? What’s the matter?”

“No...” I muttered. “We were working from the wrong premise. There was no need to fixate on just that...”

“I’m not quite sure what you’re talking about...” I could hear a smirk in Lardon’s voice. “But go ahead and do what you must.”

“I will!”

Hidden between the trees a short distance from the cocoon, I summoned Another World where I’d been just moments ago. A bear emerged from the pocket dimension. It looked just like any other bear, with white fur littered with specks of black—a very monochrome color pattern.

The silkbear looked around, then found its cocoon and began circling it. It poked the cocoon with its nose, giving it a curious sniff.

“It must be wondering how it got outside its cocoon,” Lardon mused.

I couldn’t even nod in response, too afraid to make any sound. I just continued watching, until finally the bear touched its cocoon and parted those steely threads like a curtain. I had to hold back a gasp.

The bear slid into its cocoon. Fortunately, the opening it created was now facing my hiding spot, giving me a view of the silkbear’s head. It seemed to be lying down already.

Then, it opened its mouth and spewed out a white thread toward the entrance.

The sight of a bear spewing out silk threads nearly made me balk, but I quickly got hold of myself.

Now’s my chance!

I held up my hand and summoned my item box. The location? Right in front of the silkbear, so that it captured the threads it was spewing out! More and more silk gradually accumulated within my dimensional storage.

“Oh? I see... Instead of undoing the threads, you simply retrieved them before they formed part of the cocoon... Very clever.”

I nodded. My goal hadn’t changed; I simply took a step back to give the overall picture another good look. It was a mindset that would help lead me to quicker and more efficient solutions, and I learned it all thanks to the incident with Amelia.

“Not bad,” Lardon praised.

.270

Today, I met up with Bruno in his residence in our city. We sat face-to-face in the main hall, which, much like the rest of the interior and exterior, gave off a very simple and modest impression—an intentional design, according to Scarlet. I felt like there was no need to go that far, but I doubt telling Bruno would change anything, so I just kept that thought to myself.

In any case, our gazes were currently fixated on the pedestal in front of us—or more specifically, the neatly folded silkbear threads atop it.

“Would this be enough?” I asked him.

“Most likely,” Bruno replied. “I know nothing of the eighty-eight-string zither, but this ought to be enough to supply two hundred strings for an ordinary zither.”

“Sounds good, then. I can always go back and grab some more if you need it,” I said as my mind wandered back to the silkbear. I already had an established method to harvest its threads, so it was a simple matter to head back and fetch another batch. “So, Bruno, what else do we need?”

“I can only speak for ordinary zithers,” he slowly preluded, “but after the strings, wood is the next most important material.”

“Wood?” I echoed.

“To craft the zither’s base.” He called out toward the door, “Bring it in!”

The door immediately opened, and a servant came in pushing a trolley. On it was a zither with seven strings.

“Is that...an ordinary, seven-string zither?” I cast Bruno a glance and saw him nod. “This is my first time seeing one... Ahh, I see. So the strings are stretched over this wooden...base?”

“Correct, Your Majesty. The wood of this base is a vital material when crafting a zither.”

“It does look important, but why exactly?” I cast him a curious gaze.

Seeing the instrument itself, I could easily tell that the base was an important part of it, just as a central pillar would be to a whole building. That might not be the best example to make, but still, I didn’t quite get the logic behind its importance. I wanted to check if we could still consider alternatives or even possible improvements.

“I would say the biggest factor is the reverb,” said Bruno.

“Reverb...?”

“Yes. I believe wood from a thunderstruck tree is most apt.”

“Huh? Thunderstruck...? What kind of tree is that?” The unfamiliar word left me puzzled.

“Apparently, it is not the name of a specific tree species,” Bruno explained. “Sometimes, a sapling is struck by lightning but survives and continues to grow. Trees of this nature are called thunderstruck trees.”

“They still grow even after being struck by lightning?”

“Rarely, but yes.”

“It is not as unusual as it may seem,” Lardon piped in as I was humming in intrigue. “Sometimes, life grows where only scorched earth remains. Humans see this as a sign of hope, do they not?”

“Oh...” Yes, I’d heard stories like that before. I’d never witnessed it myself, but I got the picture. So some trees can grow against the odds... “So why is that type of wood better?”

“The wood undergoes a change due to the lightning strike, which produces a good reverb that, er...sounds better...” Bruno’s voice got softer as he spoke.

“You don’t know,” I observed with a light laugh.

He wilted. “My apologies...”

“No, no, it’s all right. If it were me, I wouldn’t have understood a whit.”

“Thank you...”

“Anyway, that’s the best material we can use, right?”

“Yes, according to many craftsmen and musicians.”

“Then let’s get our hands on some of that wood. Since we don’t really understand how it works, we should just procure the material as is.”

Bruno bowed. “I will start looking right away. However, it may take some time...”

“Is it difficult to find?”

“Yes,” he replied with a wince. “The material is greatly favored by only the top artisans and musicians, so demand is usually low. Moreover, the sapling would need to grow for a decade before it can supply enough wood for the base. That is enough time for people to forget, and for any external signs of the lightning strike to be weathered away...”

“Oh, I see...”

“Still, I will look for one as urgently as possible and get back to you within the next few days!”

I fell into thought. I knew I could trust Bruno, but there had to be a better way. Eventually, I came up with an idea: “Let’s just make one!”

“Make one...?”

“Yep. If we can’t find the tree out in nature, then we can just make it ourselves.”

“Er... But how exactly...?”

“Bruno, could you prepare some saplings for me? Maybe ten, for starters.”

“Understood.” Confusion lingered on his features, but Bruno wasted no time jumping into action. He swiftly left the room to gather some saplings for me.

In under an hour, Bruno prepared ten saplings and even planted them all in his garden for me. “Will this suffice?”

I nodded as I stood in front of all the saplings. “Let’s test it out first. Not like we have anything to lose.”

Bruno still looked perplexed, but he took a step back and let me do my thing. Lardon, too, sounded curious.

“What will you do with these?”

“I’ll start with this—Lightning!” I cast a beginner lightning spell on the saplings. The spell was simple, but with my mana, it scorched the saplings in no time. I feel a little bad for them, though...

Lardon hummed. “Then?”

Neither Bruno nor Lardon seemed surprised; they must have been expecting this much since I’d suggested we make a thunderstruck tree ourselves.

“Next is this—Dust Box!” I then stored the trees inside.

Bruno gasped. “That’s...!”

“Oh? I see now...” Lardon muttered.

“That’s right. Time goes by faster inside this space, and it’s always filled with soil and moisture so trash degrades faster,” I explained. “And since one year passes in one minute...”

I waited. Ten minutes passed by in no time at all, and I opened up my dust box and took out the ten saplings. Nine of them had withered away and died, but one still stood tall and proud.

“Nice, it’s all grown up. Will this do?” I asked Bruno.

He approached the tree and gave it a light knock with the back of his middle finger. I couldn’t tell if there was anything special about that sound, but Bruno’s eyes instantly lit up as he exclaimed, “Amazing work, Your Majesty!”

From his reaction alone, I knew that I’d succeeded in making a thunderstruck tree.

.271

Bruno and I stood in a parlor room in the palace where we set up the thread and wood I’d prepared for Amelia’s zither. After giving them one final once-over, I turned to Bruno and said, “I’ll leave these both to you.”

“I shall fulfill this duty to the utmost of my abilities,” he replied, his eyes blazing with vigor. “I will bring these materials to the best craftsman there is, even if it will cost me my life.”

“Uh, I don’t think you need to go that far... Ah, hang on.” I averted my gaze from Bruno for a quick second to cast a spell.

Soon, I could hear loud and harried footsteps getting closer to the room.

Bruno turned to the door with wide eyes. “What...?”

“Wow, that was quick,” I muttered, looking just as shocked. “It hasn’t even been ten seconds since I called them.”

Just as I finished speaking, the door slammed open with a loud BAM—leaving cracks on both itself and the wall it crashed against—and in came two of my top monster executives, Gai and Chris.

“Master, you called?” said Chris.

“There must be a task only I can accomplish!” Gai bellowed.

This duo was always full of energy, but today it felt like they were practically bursting with it as they eagerly leaned over me. Of course, I’d long grown used to it, but the boisterous pair clearly caught Bruno off guard.

“Now, now,” I told them. “Let’s settle down, shall we?”

Chris turned to glare at Gai. “Yeah, meathead! Settle down!”

“Foolish boar woman. You are much noisier than me!”

“What?!”

“Grrr!”

Gai and Chris began growling at one another, their faces so close that their noses nearly touched.

Glad to see they’re still getting along, I mused to myself. “Can I speak now?”

Chris gasped and swiftly turned her attention to me.

“But of course, milord,” said Gai as he did the same.

“I want to assign you two as bodyguards.”

“Bodyguards?” Gai asked.

Chris tilted her head. “For your brother?”

“To be precise, for these.” I pointed at the thread and wood beside Bruno. “Bruno is going to bring these to a craftsman and have them processed for me, then bring them back... Er, right, Bruno?” We haven’t exactly fleshed out that part of the plan, now that I think about it...

Thankfully, Bruno swiftly answered, “Of course, Your Majesty.”

“Great. Anyway, I want you two to escort him and these materials.”

Chris frowned. “So I’m going with him?”

“You can take along whomever else you need.”

“But Master, I’m more than enough for this task! I don’t need some dumb meathead or anyone else!”

“Well—”

Gai tutted. “Such shallow thinking, boar woman.”

“What did you say?!”

“Milord has entrusted us both with this task and has even given permission to take more personnel. Do you not understand what that means?”

Chris turned to me, wide-eyed. “What? Is it that important?”

I nodded firmly. “It is.”

“Okay! Then I’ll be sure to protect it!”

“We shall not allow anyone to lay a single finger on these materials,” Gai swore.

“Thanks,” I told them. “You too, Bruno. It’s all yours.”

“Thank you very much, Your Majesty. With Mr. Gai and Ms. Chris with me, I can rest assured for the journey.”

Finally, I sent them off on their way. Assigning both Gai and Chris as escorts was a little over-the-top, especially since I could always procure more silkbear threads and thunderstruck wood if I wanted, but it was best to save ourselves from any unnecessary detours. Gai and Chris, as well as the giants and wolfmen under them, should be more than enough to ensure Bruno got to where he needed to.

Now, on to my next course of action...

I left the palace and once again visited the reception hall. When I got there, I asked a maid to call Amelia to a parlor room so I could update her on her new zither’s progress. I told her all about how I gathered the materials and sent Bruno on his way to craft the new instrument.

“So I believe it should be done in the near future,” I said, wrapping up my report.

“Thank you very much, Lord Liam. I don’t know how I could ever thank you...”

“No, no!” I waved my hands in a flurry. “Like I said, I’m simply doing this because I want to.” I wanted to make Amelia the best instrument for my own satisfaction. If anything, I felt somewhat guilty—but also incredibly grateful—that she was letting me do this.

“Still... Thank you.”

“Oh, uh... Well...” Feeling a little awkward, I decided to change the topic. “Is there anything else?”

“Anything else...?”

“I want to hear your best performance. Is there anything else you need for that?”

Amelia fell silent, simply staring at me with a clear and unreadable gaze.

“I-Is there something on my face?” I reached up to pat my cheeks in embarrassment. I didn’t feel anything...

“This may be a rude request...”

“Not at all!” I exclaimed. “What is it? I’ll do whatever I can within my power!”

“I would like to...stay by your side,” Amelia said.

“Huh? Stay by my side?”

“Yes. I would like to accompany you for an entire day. Of course, you need not pay me any mind. In fact, you may ignore my existence entirely.”

I frowned. “But why?”

“I apologize...” Amelia lowered her head. “I cannot answer your question now, as it might affect the process. I will explain after my performance.”

“All right.” I readily assented to her request.

I had been ready to hear out her request even if it was a hundred—no, thousands of times harder than this. Letting her accompany me for a day was no sweat at all. I had to wonder if this even counted as a request.

Not to mention, as Lardon always said, I was hopeless when it came to matters unrelated to magic. How could I even begin to imagine what Amelia needed to perform at her best? So I decided to trust her and simply do as she’d asked.

It wasn’t until much later that Amelia told me the reasoning behind her request. The day had long passed by then, yet I couldn’t stop myself from getting flustered all over again.

.272

The sky was painted in red as darkness began to encroach on the city. Under the setting sun, Amelia and Liam stood in front of the entrance of the reception hall.

“Good night,” said Liam.

“Have a good night, Lord Liam,” replied Amelia with an elegant bow.

Liam reciprocated the gesture, still looking as awkward as ever, then he turned around and went on his way.

Amelia lingered by the entrance and watched Liam walk away. Monsters immediately flocked around him—it was clear they’d only been holding back until now because of Amelia. Adorable slimes bounced around him as fairy flosses gathered in droves, along with many other types of monsters who eagerly crowded around their king.

Amelia watched on in silence. That was far from the Monster King she’d heard so much about. Of course, Liam’s followers were monsters, and he was their king. However, in her eyes, Liam looked more like a shepherd with a flock of animals all dearly attached to him.

The sight left a very warm feeling in her chest. She thought back to everything she had seen of Liam today. Then, she began to formulate—

“Hey, got some time?”

“Huh?” Flinching, Amelia pried her gaze from Liam and spun around.

There stood a girl who had seemingly come from inside the reception hall. She propped her hands on her hips and held her head up high, but strangely, that haughty stance looked completely natural to her. Instead of feeling offended, Amelia even thought the confidence looked good on her.

“You are...”

“Dyphon,” said the girl.

“Dyphon...”

The name sounded vaguely familiar. After sifting through her memories, Amelia finally recalled the information that the grand duke’s official had shared with her when they dragged her here. Dyphon was one of the three dragons of the Tri-Draconic War—a living legend.

“Ah... Lord Dyphon,” she hurriedly corrected herself.

Amelia had been told to be on the lookout for her, but it still took her a moment to link the girl standing before her to the fearsome dragon. She was, if anything, an unbelievable beauty.

Amelia’s job brought her into frequent contact with the upper class, which was rife with beautiful women. With their wealth and authority, nobles typically looked for beautiful women to continue their lineage, and it was for that reason that nobleborns tended to be physically attractive. Even then, Amelia had never seen anyone as stunning as Dyphon.

Amelia couldn’t help but stare in confusion as she struggled to reconcile the image of this beautiful girl with the fearsome dragon of legends.

Suddenly, Dyphon jutted out her bottom lip and demanded, “Are you targeting my darling?”

“Your...darling?”

“Darling is darling,” Dyphon grumbled as she cast her gaze over Amelia’s shoulder.

Amelia followed her gaze—Liam’s figure had gotten smaller and more distant than earlier. She was still struggling to keep up amid her confusion, but Dyphon’s behavior gave her enough to go on. “Do you like Lord Liam?”

“Obviously,” Dyphon scoffed. “My darling’s the coolest.”

“I see.”

“So? Are you targeting him?” Dyphon asked again.

This time, Amelia heard the question loud and clear. Her face scrunched up into a grimace.

Dyphon narrowed her eyes. “Well?”

“I am not,” Amelia answered.

“You’re lying,” said Dyphon right away. “It’s clear that you’re falling in love with him.” Her voice was firm and unwavering, as if she wouldn’t accept any denial or rebuttal.

Amelia looked at her wide-eyed, impressed that a dragon could be so sensitive to the nuances of human emotion. She softly nodded. “You are correct. Right now, I am in love with him.”

“See?”

“However,” Amelia added, “it is for my work.”

“What?” Dyphon narrowed her eyes. She had already been in a horrible mood from the moment she came to interrogate Amelia, and that response certainly didn’t help. The brewing bloodlust in her eyes sent shivers down the songstress’s spine. “What is that supposed to mean? Make some sense, unless you wanna die.”

Amelia fell silent, closing her eyes and looking inward. Once she’d ruminated over the feelings in her chest, she once again looked Dyphon in the eye and answered, “I always do this.”

“What? What do you mean?”

“For my work, I often sing for another person, and every time, I think of that person as my lover. I make sure to fall in love with them...and to put those feelings into my song.”

“What...?” Dyphon scrunched up her nose. “Every time? Why bother?”

“Because that is the only way I know.”

Dyphon stared at Amelia, but the songstress no longer faltered. Dyphon was a little frightening, yes, but through their conversation Amelia could see through the dragon’s feelings.

Amelia had asked to stay by Liam’s side so that she could fall in love with him, just as she did with all her clients—as actors did in a romance play with their fellow actors. She was grateful to Liam, and so she wanted to do what she could for him, to heed his request and to give him her best performance yet.

To that end, she tried her hardest to fall in love with Liam—at least until she went up onstage and sang for him. This was “the best” that Amelia could offer.

Since Amelia was currently in love with Liam, she could also tell that Dyphon was jealous—that Dyphon was a maiden in love, fighting over the boy of her affection. The moment Amelia realized that, the fear faded from her chest and made way for the courage to stand against her.

“You’re lying.”

However, Dyphon’s response once again caught her off guard.

“What?”

“You’re actually falling in love with him,” Dyphon said plainly.

“Huh...?” Amelia blinked widely, unable to comprehend.

“Do you take me for some ignorant kid? Sorry, but I’m not so bored as to butt heads with someone I didn’t think was seriously after my darling.”

Dyphon insisted that Amelia, for all her proclamations, was actually, truly in love with Liam.

Amelia, frozen speechless, completely blanked out. She hadn’t even noticed. But now that Dyphon had laid it all bare, she finally realized it—the truth behind the budding emotions in her chest.

.273

Early in the afternoon, I once again met up with Bruno in one of the palace’s parlor rooms. As I settled into one of the generously padded couches, I realized that this—as well as the table between us and many of the expensive furnishings in this city—had all been procured by Bruno.

“What may I help you with today?” asked Bruno.

I shook away my idle thoughts. “Actually, I was hoping to ask you for some advice regarding the venue.”

“The venue...?”

I nodded as I looked him in the eye. My desperation was probably clear in my gaze. “I tried asking Lardon, but she said she wasn’t an expert in this matter.”

“Ah, but how could I possibly know something that even the divine dragon—”

“Oh, no,” I interjected, figuring he was about to put himself down as always. “It’s because she doesn’t know anything about human entertainment.”

“Entertainment, hmm...” With a nod, he fell silent and waited for me to continue.

“I want everyone in the city to attend Amelia’s concert, but for that we’d need a venue, wouldn’t we? We can’t just hold it inside a house... The plaza in front of the palace isn’t big enough for everyone either.”

“Yes, I agree.”

“So, I tried making one in an empty plot of land outside the city, and it looked something like this...”

I took out some fist-sized stones from my item box, cut them into twenty-five thin slabs with a spell called Slicer, and set them down on the table between us in a five-by-five square.

“Of course, this is just a miniature example,” I clarified. “I’ve never made a stage or a performance venue, so I’m stumped. Lining up a bunch of slabs was the best I could do...”

I let out a dry laugh. The stone slabs I made outside the city were much bigger, and I’d arranged four hundred of them in a twenty-by-twenty formation. However, all I’d succeeded in making then was a huge platform. I guess it kinda looked like a stage, but...

“Even I can tell that this isn’t the type of stage Amelia should perform on,” I told Bruno. “So, I tried asking Lardon for advice, but she said she didn’t know a thing about how humans construct entertainment spaces.”

“Ah... My, my...”

Bruno looked like he was stumped on how to respond, so I simply continued, “It may be surprising for a divine dragon to not know something, but it made sense when she explained it. Anyway, I decided I was better off asking an expert. I figured you might know someone.”

“As presumptuous as this may be...I have some knowledge regarding this matter.”

“You do?” I asked in surprise.

He replied with a nod. “It was unlikely for me to inherit the Hamilton house, so I directed my attention to the performing arts instead.”

Just as I was curiously cocking my head, Lardon explained, “By focusing on his hobbies, he was making an implicit show of his lack of interest in the succession dispute. A clever hand.”

Ahh, I see. I nodded.

Bruno continued, “At the time, I learned that, broadly speaking, there are two options when constructing a performance venue: to make the sound bounce well, or not at all.”

“Okay...” I could somewhat understand what he was saying. Basically, our choices were on extreme ends, and which we selected would depend on our needs. “Which is better?”

“It depends on the type of music and song. The biggest difference is the reverb.”

“Reverb...” The word didn’t click right away for me, so I could only parrot it in confusion.

“Reverb,” Bruno repeated. “No matter how good the reverb, the sound will always gradually get quieter. Given that, there are some types of music that are best performed in structures with good reverb.”

“I see...”

“Plays, for example, prefer less reverb because the sound must always come from the front. With good reverb, some sound would echo from the back as the actors speak onstage, making for an uncomfortable experience for the audience.”

“Wow... You sure know your stuff, Bruno.”

“Thank you very much.”

I fell silent as I thought back to all the performances I’d heard until now. Among them, which did I enjoy the most?

“I liked the reverb,” I decided. “I’d like everyone to hear that kind of performance too.”

“Then we shall proceed with that in mind.”

“Uh-huh. Do you know someone we can entrust this to? I, uh... I doubt you’re an expert in the construction side of this too.”

“You are correct,” Bruno replied. “I know a firm of skilled artisans. I will call them over right away.”

“Thanks.”

That was another item off my checklist. A performance venue that could fit ten thousand monsters—this would surely become quite the large-scale project, but it was worth it if it meant everyone would get to hear Amelia’s best performance.

I knew next to nothing about construction work, but surely they’d need a lot of manual labor. That I could help with by speeding things up with my magic.

We’re one step closer to experiencing the best concert of our lives!

.274

In the Duchy of Parta stood the grand duke’s residence, where Tristan was currently holding yet another meeting with Scarlet.

Alas, the dignity of the grand duke was nowhere to be seen. Day after day of mental fatigue left his cheeks hollowed and eyebags heavy. The luxurious chair he sat on did nothing to hide his exhausted slouch; had the chair not been there, he clearly would have slumped lifelessly to the ground. His subordinates behind him weren’t faring much better.

On the other hand, Scarlet looked as alert as could be. Her back was straight, her eyes were full of vigor, and her lips were set into a stern line. While the grand duke of Parta had been reduced to an exhausted mess, the princess of Jamille held her head up high with all the dignity of a royal.

Naturally, Scarlet was the first to speak. “I am expecting a favorable response today.”

“P-Please, could you not ease up the conditions by just a bit?”

Scarlet’s only response was a cold and icy glare. Behind the grand duke, his subordinates watched on with unease written all over their faces. This had become their routine every meeting.

“As it is now, the people of my country will not be able to live,” Tristan pressed on.

“Hmm. I do pity the citizens of the duchy.”

Tristan’s eyes lit up. “Then—”

“Yes, I pity them...for their misfortune of being born under such an incompetent lord.”

“Wha—?!” The short-lived hope faded from Tristan’s eyes, and once again his face paled.

“Grand Duke, you seem to be misunderstanding.”

“Misunderstanding...?”

“You designated us as a nation of monsters. Do you truly believe that monsters have sympathy to spare for humans?”

“B-But you are—”

“Do you think I am unaware that you speak of me behind my back, calling me a woman who sold her soul to the monsters?”

“H-How did you...?!” Tristan choked on his words, and his subordinates also watched on in horror.

Scarlet’s expression remained impassive, save for a faint sneer as she pierced Tristan with an icy gaze. The truth was, she hadn’t heard of any such slander—her earlier statement had been no more than a bluff. However, Scarlet was clever enough to know how humans—especially those in power—tended to behave. That they slandered her for her affiliation with the monsters was hardly difficult to imagine. Tristan had fallen completely for her bluff and unknowingly exposed himself.

Pressure and panic were evident on the expressions of the grand duke and his retainers. After all, they had been caught secretly bad-mouthing the other party at the negotiation table. Tristan was the most flustered out of them all, but soon he gritted his teeth and shot Scarlet a desperate, fiery glare.

“Enough is enough,” he growled. “There is a limit to my patience.”

“Oh?” With her lips still curled into a cold smile, Scarlet returned Tristan’s gaze with a glint of amusement in her eyes. “And if you’ve reached that limit, what of it?”

“Obviously, these negotiations will break down!” Tristan slammed his fists on the table and shot to his feet. “I might have let my guard down before, but never again!”

“Y-Your Royal Highness?!” cried one of his subordinates.

“Our nations will go to war, and all of it will be upon your shoulders! Are you okay with that?!”

Scarlet remained utterly unfazed at this sudden burst of anger. “Grand Duke, you seem to be misunderstanding yet again.”

“What?!”

“Another war... Yes, I would love that.”

Tristan visibly froze. “What...?”

“My master and the divine dragon may be offering you mercy, but I do not possess such benevolence. I wish to eradicate those who dared to make a fool of my master.”

“E-Eradi...?”

“Wh-Why go so far?” cut in one of the subordinates, stepping up in place of his speechless sovereign.

Scarlet hummed. “Is it so strange? I can forgive slander upon myself with a smile, but disrespect upon my master’s name...does not deserve the same mercy. Am I wrong?”

“Urgh...” The subordinate fell speechless as well.

Although she stood on the monsters’ side, what Scarlet just spoke of was a very human emotion. Surely, there were many who would agree—a slight to oneself was one thing, but to do it to those they cared about was another entirely.

Scarlet’s cold gaze trailed over each person’s face. Once she saw that they understood her point of view, she continued her merciless barrage.

“I wish to eradicate those who dared to make a fool of my master, yet my master’s orders are absolute. However, humans are imperfect beings, and we are subject to failure—and when we fail, we must redeem ourselves. I sincerely implore you to render these negotiations null and void, for only then can I seek out redemption...by ensuring this country’s utter and thorough demise with every hand at my disposal.”

Words failed Tristan as Scarlet mercilessly cut him apart with her own. In the end, he could only manage to squeeze out, “Y-You must be insane...”

“You seem to be misunderstanding,” said Scarlet for the third time. Her lips curled into a smirk, like a predator who had all but caught her prey. “I have sold my soul to the monsters, have I not?”

With that, Scarlet dealt the finishing blow to everyone in that room. Succumbing to her unrelenting presence, the grand duke and his subordinates were left with no other option but submission.

In three days’ time, the Duchy of Parta officially announced their unconditional surrender to the nation of Liam-Lardon.

.275

We began our construction work right outside the city. With the craftsmen Bruno brought in the lead, the giants were tasked with manual labor, the noble vampires were assigned the more dexterous work, and the other races were also given jobs that made the best use of their strengths. All together, we worked to make the best venue for Amelia’s performance.

My current task was to observe the stage from various angles to spot and eliminate any potential problems beforehand. I moved around the venue and racked my brain while listening to Lardon’s input.

“There will be over ten thousand monsters on the day of, yes?”

“That’s right. I want everyone to be here.”

“What of your national defense?”

“Leave that to me. I’ll summon myself to stay near the border.”

“Ah, your clone?”

“Yep. We might run into something unexpected here too, after all.”

Lardon simply chuckled in response. However, after being around her for so long, I was starting to learn how to differentiate her laughs—and this was how she laughed when she was actually laughing at something else.

“What is it?” I asked her.

“That spell is well-made, but your clone is not as strong as you,” she pointed out.

“Oh, yeah. Maintaining the clone is also an issue. Taking that into consideration, I’d say the clone only has around sixty percent of the caster’s overall strength...” I trailed off and fell into thought.

Lardon chuckled. “Getting the itch to improve it now?”

“Yeah. I have a few ideas in mind, but they’re all gonna take some time...” I sighed. “Well, that’s usually the case when improving preexisting spells.” It might even be faster to just start from scratch.

“This reminds me of something a human artist once said.”

“Hmm?” I raised a brow; Lardon sounded serious all of a sudden. Why’s she talking about an artist?

“If a seventy-point work of art takes one unit of effort to make, then to raise it to an eighty-point work would require an additional ten units of effort. However, to elevate it to a ninety-point work would call for a hundred more units of effort,” she explained. “To reach ninety-five points, one would have to pour in a thousand units of effort, and even then it may never be enough. Most could never reach ninety-nine points even if they were to exert ten thousand units of effort.”

“Ohh...” Somehow, I could actually relate to that. “It sounds like reaching a hundred points is entirely up to luck...”

Lardon chuckled. “You say the same thing as the artist. Indeed, there are things in this world that can be accomplished with one unit of effort, while there are also things that can only be done after dedicating one’s life to exerting hundreds of thousands more units of effort.”

“I feel like I understand.”

“It seems you can relate to the maestros, then.”

“Maestros?” So she was talking about maestros? “Wait, actually—this isn’t even what we were talking about.”

“Indeed. It seems we’ve digressed quite a bit. For national defense and against humans, sixty percent of your strength should suffice. More than that, I simply found it amusing that you wanted your full power for the concert.”

“Naturally. It’s Amelia’s concert,” I pointed out.

Lardon chuckled. “Indeed it is.”

What’s so funny about that? I wondered, though it was probably pointless to ask since I wouldn’t understand. I decided to forget this matter entirely and brought my attention back to the venue.

A thought came to me, dragging my gaze upward. Although still no more than a skeletal frame, the ceiling was gradually taking form. Light slipped between the beams, making the venue look like an open-air stage. In my mind, I formed an image—a simulation—of the performance day itself, and came to a sudden realization.

I made a beeline for the stage at the very center of the venue, where Amelia would be surrounded on all sides by the audience. This stage was the first to be constructed, so despite its elaborate design, it was ninety percent complete.

I climbed onto the stage, summoned my item box, and stuck my hand inside. “I guess this’ll do,” I muttered as I took out several wooden poles. I set them up in front of me, then cast Light to manifest an orb of light before me. It illuminated my face—but it also cast a shadow over my body through the poles.

“This isn’t good...” I grumbled. “Amelia’s zither will cast a shadow over her. I almost missed this.”

“Hmm... It certainly doesn’t make for a very appealing presentation.”

“I need to do something about this.”

“Why not shine a light from all directions? That should get rid of the shadows.”

I decided to give it a try. “Light, elevenfold!” I illuminated the stage with multicasting and successfully eliminated the shadows, but... “This is too bright. What if it causes problems for Amelia?”

“Then what else do you suggest?”

“Hmm... Amelia Emilia Claudia.”

“Oh? Are you going to add more lights?”

Instead of answering Lardon’s question, I went ahead and cast the spell: “Light, a hundred and onefold!” Although I summoned tens more lights—hence the aria—each one’s intensity was diminished to a hundredth of the original. Still, the sheer quantity was still enough to light up the entire stage and get rid of any shadows.

“Oh? Impressive,” Lardon remarked.

“Hmm... I think I’ll compile this into a single spell.” As it was now, I needed to chant an aria to cast Light 101 times, but I should be able to use it without one if I could just make it function as one stand-alone spell.

The image of over a hundred—no, countless faint lights began to take form in my mind as a new spell.

.276

With a new goal in mind—a fairly challenging one, to boot—I steeled myself with a deep breath and gathered my focus. Soon, my surroundings faded away, leaving me alone in my head with my thoughts.

First things first, I wanted to get a grasp on what I was trying to achieve. For that, I cast Angel’s Feathers, summoning four snow white bird wings on my back. They stretched to twice my armspan, painting an incredibly glorious image—especially since there were four of them instead of the conventional two.

But that was all this spell had to offer. I suppose it also granted me flight, but frankly speaking it wasn’t much compared to simply casting flight magic. One thing this spell did better than flight magic was looking flashy, but that never really mattered to me, so I hardly used it.

I only cast it again because I wanted to revisit a singular spell that could summon multiple things at once. It’s not all that rare, actually. With that confirmed, I undid the spell, and the wings disappeared from my back.

Next, I gathered my focus to visualize multiple lights. I imagined specks of dust you sometimes saw in the air, but smaller, and as particles of light. I tried manifesting one—and it worked. The speck of light floating in front of me was reminiscent of the fireflies you’d see on a summer evening, but much smaller and fainter.

Now to visualize forming four of these with just a single spell. By multicasting rules, I couldn’t cast four spells at a time. But the spell I used earlier summoned four wings instead of the conventional two, meaning it was possible to include four things into a single spell.

“Hrgh...”

Unfortunately, it wasn’t as easy as it seemed, but that was just par for the course when it came to crafting new spells. I used multicasting—an easy thirty-one casts, to start with—as I attempted to craft a spell that would summon four lights at once. None of it succeeded, though, so I tried again and again and again, and it wasn’t until I’d made over a thousand attempts that my spell finally reached completion.

Needless to say, this mission wasn’t accomplished just yet. If all I wanted was to summon four lights, then I could’ve just used my multicasting to cast the spell five times. My goal was to make a spell that would manifest as many lights as there were specks of dust in the air.

In any case, now that the spell itself had taken form, my next step was to start improving it—to slowly add more and more lights into the fray. Slowly, the lights grew in number—from four to five, then five to six. At each stage, the number of failures and retries grew exponentially.

Mana wasn’t a problem—after all, the spell itself was simple and the mana cost was minuscule. No, my bigger problem was that each batch of failures slowly but surely demoralized me. I’d succeeded in manifesting four lights in around a thousand tries, but five lights took me three thousand, and six lights took me ten thousand tries. I was currently attempting to reach seven, but twenty thousand tries in and I still wasn’t getting it.

This is so discouraging... Am I doing something wrong?

The gloom shattered my focus, and my surroundings gradually faded back into view. Overhead, construction on the ceiling was well on its way. Bright light seeped in between the beams and illuminated some parts of the venue, but that didn’t mean the other spots were pitch dark.

“Hmm...?”

That caught my interest. Sunlight wasn’t hitting those spots directly, and the venue didn’t have any other light sources at the moment—so how was the rest of the room still bright? Come to think of it, wasn’t this always the case? For example, it wasn’t necessarily all that dark even on cloudy days.

Light came from the sun—I knew this. But how was it that everywhere, even spots that weren’t under the sunlight, was just equally dim?

“Wait... ‘Equally’?”

Something about that word nagged at me. Everywhere is equally dim... Equally... With this new hint, I slowly organized my thoughts and finally figured out how to phrase it: I wanted a bright cloudy day.

There were no shadows on cloudy days, or if there were, they were negligible. With that type of lighting, everyone could see Amelia. No zither—or any other object, for that matter—would cast a shadow over her on the stage.

The problem was...I just couldn’t figure out why the rest of the venue was still lit up even when not directly hit by sunlight, no matter how much I racked my brain.

So I tried a technique I’d learned just recently: approaching it from a different angle. If I could figure out why it was bright despite the lack of sunlight, then maybe I could compare it to a scenario where it was dark despite the presence of sunlight.

I slipped into focus once more, searching for anything that hit the mark. But there was just no such—

“Wait... There is,” I muttered in realization.

The seemingly impossible scenario rang a bell—but which bell exactly, I couldn’t recall. When was it? When did I encounter such a thing? I’m sure I’ve seen something of this sort... My mind jumped from memory to memory as I struggled to associate these vague recollections with a specific instance. Sunlight... Brightness... Heat... Heat!

I hit the jackpot and finally remembered—and this time, I instantly knew what to do.

Turning my gaze to the incomplete ceiling, I flew between the gaps and up toward the sky. I ascended, higher and higher, until I no longer needed to consume mana to stay afloat.

Once again, I’d come to the height where I left some blue ant beads—where I was no longer pulled to the ground, and where the sun’s rays still reached. The light of the sun illuminated my body. When I raised a hand, it cast a shadow over me, so there was no mistaking it.

Despite that, my surroundings were dark. Sunlight exists, yet this place is dark... The complete opposite of a bright cloudy day.

And I knew one thing that made this place different from the surface.

“Is it because...the air is thin up here?”

The moment those words left my mouth, I had a feeling that I’d finally understood.

.277

I’ve got a hint—it’s worth a try.

Last time, I stayed up here for quite a while to test out a few things, but this time I flew right back down—farther and farther—until my surroundings started to look brighter once more. There, I summoned my item box and began stuffing it with air—something I wouldn’t normally do—and flew back up to the darker heights.

Up here, it was pretty hard to breathe, but that was the last thing on my mind when I was so close to preparing the perfect lighting for Amelia’s concert. I resummoned my item box and unleashed all the air I’d stuffed inside.

Whoooosh! The air howled as it was released from containment and instantly dispersed into the surroundings. For a second, I feared I’d failed, but my worries were unfounded—my item box replenished the space with air faster than it could disperse.

Once the air around me had become denser, my surroundings also grew brighter.

“It was the air,” I whispered in awe.

With that confirmed, my next question was: Why did the air make the surroundings brighter?

Dust came to mind—the little specks of dust I would sometimes see indoors, and the image that I visualized for my spell earlier. Could it be that something in the air is influencing the light?

After some thought, I decided to cast a spell: “Shrink.”

This spell made me smaller—smaller, and smaller, and smaller—until I could observe the world on the same scale as these specks of dust. As I shrank, so did my view of the world gradually shift. By the time I was much smaller than one of the specks of dust that slipped out of my item box, I almost doubted that I was still looking at the same world I’d been living in all this time.

Most important of all, I found that the air was filled with something much smaller than dust—something that usually looked transparent to me in my original size. It looks like...mist? Or fog? Upon closer inspection, this fog seemed to be shining faintly—no, actually it was reflecting light!

I swiftly undid my spell and grew back to my original size. The world looked normal again, and the area around my item box—which was still unleashing air—was as bright as earlier.

“I get it now... Those tiny particles in the air are reflecting light.”

How is that even possible? No, wait... It is possible. Come to think of it, mirrors weren’t the only things that could reflect light. Anything similar could do the same. In the village I used to live in, snow would pile up in the winter, and the days where the sun was out would be especially bright...because light was reflecting off the snow! It was no mirror, but it could reflect light just fine.

It made perfect sense for all these tiny particles to do the same; the reflected light was much weaker because of their size, but there were countless of them to compensate. If I could make plenty of these things that can reflect a lot of light...

No, no. I should approach this differently. I had a feeling that I was on the cusp of a breakthrough. This feeling fueled my brain and sped up my thoughts.

Earlier, I’d tried but struggled to make many little light sources. However, there were already countless of these light-reflecting particles in the air. All I had to do was amplify their effects—after all, it was worlds easier to influence multiple targets than to make them all from scratch! Roughly put, this would function as a wide-area spell.

I slowly descended back to the surface. At this height, the pulling force of the surface had no effect—this was why I could leave my blue ant beads here to begin with—so initially my descent was slow and gradual, giving me lots of time to think of this new spell.

This one would be much easier than the last. After all, it’s just a wide-area amplification spell.

Some time after, I finally slipped back between the beams of the venue and landed on the stage. Once my feet were firmly on the ground, I held my hand up and cast my new spell: “Reflection Lens, thirty-onefold!”

Thirty-one casts was all it took to complete this simple spell. Magical light expanded around me into a magic circle, bestowing its effects on the air around me.

The next moment, the venue became much brighter. There was no direct spotlight, nor shadows cast over the ground. All I had done was amplify the effects of the tiny particles that were reflecting the light seeping in between the beams.

“Yes!”

Although I’d deviated from my initial plan, I still attained the results that I wanted. I clenched my fist in victory.

Mission accomplished!

.278

Now that my spell was finally complete, I breathed a sigh of relief. It had been quite a trip back and forth between the surface and the sky. Beads of sweat dotted my temples, so I reached out to wipe them—

“Here you are.”

—until someone offered me a towel.

Ah, just what I needed. It must be one of the elven maids... Actually, the timing was so impeccable that it could only be Reina. I accepted the towel while turning to face her.

“Thanks— Huh?”

My hand froze. Handing me the towel was not Reina or even an elven maid—it was none other than Amelia!

Naturally, I turned stiff as a statue as my thoughts screeched to a halt. Amelia handing me a towel was the last thing I was expecting to see here.

“Is something the matter, Lord Liam?” she asked with a small tilt of her head.

“Huh? Oh, uh... N-Nothing,” I sputtered lamely.

I had no idea what she was doing here, but she was kindly offering me a towel to use. I cast aside all other thoughts and just accepted it for now, using it to wipe my sweat.

“Oh, th-thank you!” I blurted, nearly forgetting to say so amid my confusion.

My awkward display drew another stifled laugh out of Lardon. Too embarrassed to acknowledge it, I instead decided to ask Amelia, “Wh-What are you doing here?”

“I was watching you,” she replied.

“M-Me?”

“Yes. As we discussed the other day...”

“Oh, right...”

Just recently, Amelia had stuck by my side for one full day. Apparently, it was necessary for her performance. I had no idea how, but this wasn’t the first time I was clueless about something, and I could rest easy following the lead of a professional like her. If she said shadowing me was important to the show, then it was.

Was she doing the same thing again today?

“H-Have you been watching me?”

“I have. I was hoping to learn more about you... Was I being a nuisance?”

“N-Not at all! If it’s necessary to you, then by all means!”

“Thank you very much,” she said with a smile. “I’ve realized all over again just how amazing you are, Lord Liam.”

“Am I...?”

“You were thinking about magic, weren’t you?”

“Oh, well... Yeah. I was making a new spell.”

“You were so focused on your work that you couldn’t even see your surroundings. Truly like a master craftsman.”

“R-Really?”

“Yes. I sincerely respect you.”

I fell speechless. Was I hearing things? Amelia... Amelia just told me that she respects me. The shock left me an utterly confused mess. “Wh-What did you just...?”

“Your earnest and single-minded effort toward your craft is truly worthy of respect.”

Again, I couldn’t find the words. Was I finally losing it? Did my ears break down? Still, asking her to repeat herself any more than this would be rude, so I decided to change the topic. “Is there anything else you need, Amelia?”

“Hmm? What do you mean?”

“Well, I’d like to prepare whatever I can for you. If you still need anything else, then please feel free to tell me now.”

“Er... May I?”

“Of course. Tell me anything,” I affirmed.

I said I’d do whatever was needed to make her best performance a reality, and I meant every word. Anything I could solve with magic, I would; anything else, I could ask for Bruno’s help. My resolve was firm and I wouldn’t go back on my word, so I braced myself for whatever Amelia might ask of me. But...

“In that case, could you stand right in front of my stage during the performance?”

“Stand...in front?”

I never would have expected that. It was such a simple request that the resolve brimming within me wilted instantly.

“Yes. I would like you to watch me from the very front.” Amelia paused, her gaze searching. “Is...that a no?”

“Of course not!” I exclaimed. “I can definitely do that for you. It’s just... Is that really all you need?”

“Yes. This is very important.”

“Okay... I-If you say so. I guess...I should stand at the very front, where the most important guests usually stay? Is that right?”

“Yes. Thank you very much.” Amelia bowed deeply.

Is this really enough for her? Still, she seemed incredibly serious about this. I had to see it through.

After a brief discussion with Amelia, I parted ways with her and watched her leave the venue. Soon, I was left alone on the partly constructed stage.

“You consented to it. Were you not planning to patrol the border that day?” Lardon asked.

“I’ll make it work,” I replied firmly.

I still had to think about how, but for Amelia, I’d definitely make it happen one way or another. Since I had no clue as to why she wanted me there, I couldn’t just make a half-baked effort and leave my clone to attend the concert—it had to be me.

So, how should I go about this? With a new puzzle on my hands, I once again fell deep into thought.

.279

Along the edge of the promised land—or, simply put, our national border—was a red wall I’d made with magic. Recently, other countries had taken to calling it the Redline. I came here today to test out a few things.

I held out my hand and cast my new spell: “Air Mine!”

Magical light condensed into a single point until it was no bigger than a grain of sand, but the light was so dazzling, as bright as red-hot metal, that it looked much bigger than it really was.

“Good,” I muttered under my breath. For the finishing touch, I poured in a bit of my mana until the dazzling light vanished. Picking up a pebble from the ground, I tossed it to where the grain had been, and then—

A huge explosion rattled the air, kicking up a cloud of dust that swallowed me whole. I was ready for it, though. My barrier was already up, so I took no damage.

In the middle of all this dust, I clenched my fist in victory. The on-site experiment was a success.

“A trap, hmm?” Lardon said as the dust finally cleared.

“Yep. I made it based on the blue ant beads.”

“Why make a new one?”

“To increase the chances of success.”

“Oh?”

I recognized that tone of voice—it was the tone Lardon used whenever her interest was piqued. That short hum was all I needed given the time we’d spent together.

“Making the blue ant beads float, setting up a trigger, then making them fall—that’s one step too many. It’s much simpler and far more precise to just install something right here to explode when touched.”

“It seems you sacrificed some power for it, though.”

“I can afford it,” I said with a shrug. “The blue ant beads are overkill. Not every enemy is as strong as you, Lardon.”

Lardon chuckled. “I suppose not. This is enough to send a human flying.”

“And what we lack in quality, we can make up for in quantity—Air Mine, thirty-onefold!” Thirty-one glowing grains manifested in the air before me and disappeared almost at the same time. I nodded conclusively. “There’s strength in numbers.”

“You speak the truth,” Lardon affirmed.

“Next up...”

I summoned my item box and took out a small bundle of cloth about the size of my fingertip. Then, I set it down on the ground and stabbed it open with Needle. A dense fog came bursting forth from within.

“What is that?” Lardon asked.

“Paithon’s fog,” I answered. “It’s from one of the pillows I gave her. Breaking it will cause the absorbed fog to leak out.”

“Oh? So you prepared this?”

“I always carry them around.” I took a pillow from my item box and showed Lardon. “I store them in my item box when she’s done using them. I’ve been putting off coming up with a way to dispose of them... Turns out they’re pretty useful.”

As I spoke, the fog continued to spread, but at this quantity, it was harmless.

Actually, I stand corrected—Paithon’s fog was always harmless. It was only a threat because Paithon produced it endlessly in her sleep, and that could be for months at a time. Succumbing to this fog just once would force anyone to sleep alongside Paithon, and while the divine dragon could sleep for months like it was no big deal, the same couldn’t be said for humans. Without any external care or means of replenishing liquids and nutrients, the victims were bound to die long before Paithon ever awoke.

So this trap I was setting up using the fog wasn’t a threat. Without Paithon around, all this fog did was send people on a quick trip to dreamland, and that was enough for me. Or rather, my goal.

“Amelia’s concert will last half a day at most. It’s the perfect chance to make use of this fog.”

I’d been setting up these midair bombs and fog traps all to fulfill Amelia’s request. Setting up a half-day security measure wasn’t too tall a task, so I was testing out two at once.

“Hmm... Is there a need to set up both?”

“Recent experience tells me yes,” I replied. “Remember when the city ran out of mana? That was one problem I never would’ve foreseen. This time, I want to prepare a backup from the start. We can never guarantee anything a hundred percent, but we can still get as close as possible by stacking backups and contingency plans.”

“Hmm... How surprising.”

“What is?”

“Your words are exceedingly similar to what a rather impressive human once said regarding risk management,” she explained. “He spoke of getting as close as possible to certain success by preparing multiple countermeasures.”

“Really?” So I came up with the same thing as someone who had impressed Lardon. That gave me a boost of confidence.

“However, that human failed,” Lardon mused.

“What? Why?”

“Because he applied that logic to everything he did. He prepared backup upon backup upon backup, placing too immense a burden on his every move.”

“Oh...”

That made sense to me. Stacking backup plans brought us closer to a hundred percent guaranteed success, but sooner or later, you had to ask yourself: “How many is too much?” Applying this mindset to anything and everything would naturally call for twice or thrice as much work. It made sense that a human would crumble under all that pressure.

I shrugged. “Well, I’m doing it just this once, so it’s all good.”

“Indeed,” Lardon agreed.

This was a onetime thing—all to fulfill Amelia’s request and to ensure that her concert would proceed safely and peacefully. For a onetime performance that would last no more than half a day, there was no such thing as too many precautions.

“I have nine more measures in mind, so eleven in total.”

“Very well. What’s next? Show me what you have in store.” Lardon sounded excited to see all the things I’d come up with.

.280

Evening had come, but I was still hard at work near our border. At present, I was looking up at a stone statue of Lardon—I’d made it on the spot.

“Is this supposed to be me?” Lardon deadpanned.

I couldn’t really blame her. Looking up at it from way down here—right by the statue’s feet—it hardly resembled her. I could imagine she was rolling her eyes right about now, but she also sounded faintly amused. At least she doesn’t sound mad...

“I guess it doesn’t really look like you,” I admitted with a bitter smile.

“I would like to think I’m a bit more visually pleasing than this.”

“For sure. I tried my best, but I guess I’m no artist...”

“Why did you make this?”

“As a bluff,” I answered. “To make it look like the divine dragon is keeping watch.”

“Aha, I see. Then this is acceptable. You need it for only half a day, after all.”

Fortunately, she seemed to approve of my plan. And she was right—this idea had come to me because we only needed it temporarily. As shoddy as my work was, it still looked like Lardon from afar, and that was enough.

“Were you inspired by scarecrows?”

“That’s right.”

Lardon chuckled. “Now, if only your enemies were no smarter than pigeons and crows...”

“Hah, I wish... I’m really just borrowing your reputation as the divine dragon.”

“Of course. Use it as you please,” Lardon said in amusement. “In that case, why not add a human figure atop my head?”

“A human? What for?”

“Though interpretations may vary, what would most humans assume when they see that I’ve allowed a human on my head?”

“Uh... That it’s me?” I blinked. “A scarecrow of me? Will that even work?”

“Are you not thinking too little of yourself, Monster King?”

“Hmm...”

That gave me pause. Setting aside how I thought of myself, it was a fact that the human nations called me the Monster King. Personally, I would’ve been much happier being called the Magic King, but anyway... I suppose a scarecrow of the divine dragon and the Monster King together would be a bit more effective than just the former alone.

“All right, then. I’ll make a statue of myself on your head,” I decided.

“Just a human figure should do. Nobody can tell from a distance.”

“That’s true.”

Lardon’s advice was sound. I couldn’t make a statue of myself on the spot anyway. Maybe if I took my time with it... But that was effort I wasn’t willing to dedicate to just one among eleven safety measures, not to mention that this scarecrow had no actual tangible effect. I’d rather give my all for the more certain measures I was preparing, especially since all I needed was for these to hold out for half a day.

“Huh?”

Just then, I spotted something—a carriage—approaching from the city. It kicked up dust as it ran along the unpaved path.

“A carriage? Is it Bruno or Scarlet?”

Hardly anybody used a carriage in this country. After all, monsters typically had their own means of getting from one place to another, which were usually much faster than a carriage. This was true also for the few humans like Asuna who had enhanced physical capabilities thanks to Familia.

Therefore, only Bruno and Scarlet used carriages around here—Bruno because he didn’t live here, and Scarlet because she was a former princess. I’d placed my bets on the approaching carriage being either one of the two, and... It was Scarlet who stepped out, proving me right. She was dressed in formalwear, so she must have just come from negotiations with the Duchy of Parta.

She approached me, stopped a few steps away, and performed a prim bow. “Master, I’ve returned.”

“Welcome back,” I greeted. “How were the talks?”

“You may peruse all the details here.” She offered me a document with both hands. “To summarize it verbally: The Duchy of Parta has agreed to a complete and unconditional surrender.”

“Ohh...” I took the document and gave it a quick scan, but the contents were too complex for me. Instead of the paper, I turned my gaze to Scarlet and asked, “Does this mean everything went as you and Lardon planned?”

“Yes,” she replied.

“Nice. Thanks, you two.”

“It is my honor.”

“Then these measures are unnecessary now, no?”

“No, I’m continuing. We already know that they’re not past launching surprise attacks. We can’t let our guard down just because they’ve surrendered.”

Lardon chuckled. “I suppose not.”

During our brief conversation, Scarlet had been studying the stone statue behind me. “Is this...the divine dragon?”

“Yeah, it’s a statue of Lardon...” I trailed off. “But she just scolded me about it. She said it doesn’t look like her at all.”

“It looks as imposing as I imagined,” Scarlet remarked.

“Really?”

“Of course.” Scarlet nodded firmly, confident in her answer. “This statue matches with the image I’d cultivated of the divine dragon while studying about the promised land from various texts and documents.”

“Oh, well... Huh?”

Scarlet tilted her head. “Is something the matter?”

Something clicked in my head when I heard her mention the promised land. The promised land was what this territory—where we’d now established our country—was originally called. These days I simply referred to it as “our country” or “the magic city,” so it had been a while since I heard it called the promised land... Now, it reminded me of something.

“Master...?”

“Why the sudden silence?”

“Well, speaking of the promised land...” I turned to Scarlet and met her perplexed gaze. “Would it be possible for us to...seal it up again?”

Scarlet blinked widely. “What?”

“Oh...?” Lardon hummed, amused. “Would you go that far? Ah, I suppose you would.”

“That sounds like a yes,” I told her.

“Indeed it is,” she replied firmly.

.281

Lardon had replied with great confidence that it was possible to reseal the promised land. However, she immediately fell silent and didn’t follow up with anything.

“Huh? Lardon?”

Actually, I could also pick up a slight sense of guilt and hesitation from her. Lardon had possessed—no, it would be more accurate to say that we were coexisting within this body. Although I couldn’t see her expressions, I had learned to pick up on her emotions after all the time we’d spent together.

“Hmm... This is an oversight on my part. Apologies.”

“What do you mean? Is it difficult to reseal?”

Beside me, Scarlet turned wide-eyed and flustered. She couldn’t hear Lardon, but from my words she could tell that things weren’t looking too good. She hardly interrupted at times like these—when Lardon and I, the divine dragon and her master, were talking—and seemed to be holding back the urge to ask. Thus, I decided to try including more context as I spoke.

“No, it is not difficult. It’s no easy feat, of course, but it should prove little challenge to you. After all, you can freely use space-time magic and divine magic yourself.”

“If it’s not a problem of my abilities...then is it something else?”

“Yes. You see, that seal was a byproduct of our war.”

“So it’s a byproduct of the Tri-Draconic War...”

“But something had slipped our minds—our sense of time.”

“Your sense of time...?”

“That is to say, we experience time differently than humans.”

“So you experience time differently than humans. What about it?”

“Simply put, once the seal is put in place, it cannot be undone for another few decades—no, an entire century.”

“It stays sealed for a century?!” I exclaimed in shock. Scarlet—who’d been keeping up with the conversation through my context—reacted similarly. “Is it really impossible to undo before then?”

“It should be...” Lardon sighed. “You may be able to force it open, but I cannot make any promises. In that time, nobody will be able to enter or exit the land. That girl does not wish to be bound to this place, does she?”

I shook my head. “Of course not.”

Basically, if we resealed the promised land, then we’d all be on lockdown for an entire century. It might not be that big of an issue for me or the monsters, but Amelia wasn’t a citizen of this country—we couldn’t just lock her in here with us.

“This oversight was born of our lack of human sensibilities. I apologize.”

“No, Lardon, it’s not your fault. Actually, this is making me want to study the seal in detail now.”

Lardon chuckled. “How very like you. In any case, this means the seal is unusable at the moment.”

“Yeah, well...” I shrugged it off.

I was planning to study it more closely after Amelia’s concert, once we’d sent her back home. A spell made by Lardon, immense enough to seal this entire land—I was so curious to figure out how it worked.

But that was for after we got this done.

“Pardon...” Scarlet, who’d been holding back this entire time, hesitantly spoke up. She took the chance to chime in now that she sensed our conversation was over.

“What’s up?” I asked her.

“Perhaps we could try to recreate it...?”

“Huh? What do you mean?”

Scarlet looked me straight in the eye. “I suppose you could call it...a bluff. You see, I vividly remember the day I first came to this promised land with you.”

I hummed. The first time I came to this place was with Scarlet after she’d told me about it.

“When I close my eyes, I can still recall that scene like it was just yesterday...”

“Really?”

“Of course. It left a very striking impression on me. There was nothing there, but I remember thinking, ‘This isn’t the sort of place a human can just waltz into.’ If we could recreate that appearance, then would it not function as a bluff?”

“Ah, I see... Since we only need it to work for half a day.”

“Yes.”

We both nodded. This was the kind of advice only Scarlet could give me. After all, she was the only one who came with me to the promised land that first time.

“Spirit Summoning: Salamander.”

I brought forth a fire spirit and ordered it to light a fire a short distance from us. The heat warped the scenery behind it.

“A heat haze...” Scarlet muttered.

“This is the first thing that came to mind,” I told her. “Anyway, if all we need is to make it look different, then there are many ways to go about this. Thanks, Scarlet.”

Scarlet smiled and bowed deeply. “I am honored to have been of help.”

Making this land look like it did back then... I don’t even need half a day. Let’s get this done in a jiffy!

.282

“Magic Screen!”

The spell I cast from outside our national border layered over the Redline, instantly transforming the reddish view of the vast plains into an enormous bottomless pit. It looked just like it had when I first came here.

Er... Does it? We’d lifted the seal almost immediately back then, so I couldn’t really recall it in much detail. Fortunately, Scarlet was right here to provide me with a second opinion.

“Was this how it looked?” I asked.

“Impressive, Master. It’s as if I’ve been sent back to that day.”

I nodded. With Scarlet’s agreement, I could rest at ease—

“I may be nitpicking,” Lardon interjected, catching me off guard, “but it looked less like a pit and more like just pure darkness.”

“Like pure darkness...?” I turned back to Scarlet. “Well, that’s what Lardon said. What do you think?”

“Er... M-My apologies,” said Scarlet with a glum bow of her head. “I’m not quite certain as to the details...”

“Me neither.” I shrugged. “I remember there was a huge and dark pit... That’s about it.”

“Indeed. I did say I was nitpicking,” Lardon reiterated. “As a bluff against humans, this is more than enough.”

“True. No point in improving it. I’d be better off directing that effort elsewhere.” I shook my head. “If only I could already make photographs back then...”

A photograph was a product of the Liamnet—“a drawing made with light”—that recorded the caster’s view at the moment so it could be revisited at any time. If I had used that back then, I could have perfectly re-created the promised land’s appearance. But oh well—what’s done was done.

“Human memory is fickle,” Lardon mused.

“Yeah, we forget easily. I should take more photographs.”

“That would be good.”

“In that case, I shall take photographs of Ms. Amelia’s performance for you, Master,” said Scarlet.

“All right.” I nodded. That was for the best, considering how quickly we humans forgot... “No, wait... Photographs? That’s not right.” I shook my head. “I’d rather remember how her performance sounds.”

“The sound...? Oh!”

“You get it, right? Amelia is a songstress. I’d rather her singing voice remain in my memory.”

“You are most correct, Master. Sounds are also harder to remember than sights.”

“True.”

I could whip something up using the existing feature in the Liamnet. This idea hadn’t come to me till now, but I’d been working so hard to make this the best performance ever. If I could revisit these memories through the Liamnet, then what more could I ever ask for?

Back in the city, I met up with Bruno in one of the palace’s parlor rooms.

“That is all the intel that I have gathered,” he said, finishing his report. “From this, we can surmise that there is a ninety-nine percent chance that the performance day will be met with no external interruptions.”

“Hmm...”

Layering our borders with traps and countermeasures was just one step; I wanted to cover all my bases to prevent any unsavory accidents during the performance. Scarlet had the Duchy of Parta covered, and while Bruno didn’t actually have any power to hold any forces back—whether physically or politically—he was capable of gathering intel from routes inaccessible to both me and Scarlet.

“My apologies, Your Majesty... I wish I could report to you with a hundred percent confidence.”

“It’s fine, Bruno. Even I can’t be a hundred percent sure of something.” That was precisely why I was preparing all these safety measures. A perfect hundred might be impossible, but we could still get as close to it as we could.

“Your intel is a huge help. Thank you. Really.” I bowed deeply. I was genuinely grateful for Bruno’s intel. Anything that would bring us closer to witnessing Amelia’s finest moment onstage.

“It is my honor, Your Majesty.”

“Say, Bruno, would you like to attend the concert too?”

“May I?”

“Of course. You can just watch the recording afterward, but attending the concert in person is probably a more valuable experience.” Naturally, I was speaking for myself too. Just overhearing Amelia’s singing had left such a huge impact on me—what more if I could attend it properly? I just wanted to share the experience with Bruno too.

But his reaction was a little surprising. I’d been expecting him to thank me again, maybe say “It’s an honor” like he had earlier, but instead he suddenly had a contemplative look on his face.

“What’s wrong?” I asked him.

“Is that a spell of yours, Your Majesty?”

“What is?”

“You mentioned a recording that could be watched afterward.”

“Oh, that? Yeah, via the Liamnet. I’ve already prepared it, actually.”

Bruno’s eyes narrowed sharply. “Could that...be taken outside?”

“What?”

“I mean to ask if the recording could be viewed and listened to outside this land as well.”

“Well, yeah... Back during the war against Parta, I revised the Liamnet to make it usable outside.”

“What about without the Liamnet?”

“Without the Liamnet?” Bruno’s barrage of questions made me furrow my brows. What in the world was he trying to ask here? For now, though, I decided to just answer. “You’re asking if the recording can be viewed outside our country and without the Liamnet?”

“Yes.”

“Hmm... It should be possible, if I replace the Liamnet with Ancient Memoria.” Both theory and practice dictated it was possible, so I responded with a confident nod. “What’s on your mind, Bruno?”

“Perhaps...” Bruno muttered. “Perhaps we could...commercialize it.”

“Commercialize...?”

“We could make a magic item—a recording of Ms. Amelia’s greatest performance. There will surely be hordes of potential buyers.”

I stared at him in shock. That idea had never come to me, but it sounded like music to my ears. The thought of showing off Amelia and her wonderful singing to the rest of the world was beyond tempting.

.283

“All right, Bruno... Give me a moment.”

“Is there something I may assist with?” he offered.

“No, it’s fine. I’m just going to check with Amelia.”

“Hmm? With Ame—er, Ms. Amelia...?” He furrowed his brows, confusion written all over his face.

Honestly, I was confused as to why he was so confused. “We need to ask for her permission if we want to do things with her performance.”

“I believe you need not... Ahem. Your generous consideration is truly inspiring, Your Majesty.”

“It’s just the right thing to do, though...”

I smiled awkwardly. He praised me for doing the obvious...

Admittedly, I wasn’t short on praise from all the people and monsters around me, particularly for my magic. Sometimes I felt bashful, but other times I accepted it in stride. After all, I understood that magic was a miraculous power, and it wasn’t easy to wield it the way I did.

But asking Amelia for permission was no feat—it was just the obvious thing to do. Being praised for it left me embarrassed and puzzled.

Ultimately, I decided to forget all about it as I went out to meet Amelia.

Amelia had been a little startled by my sudden visit, but she welcomed me with open arms. The two of us now sat in the reception hall’s parlor room, furnished and decorated with a perfect balance of luxury and comfort.

I wasted no time cutting to the chase. “I want to sell your photographs and voice.”

Amelia blinked. “My...photographs?”

“Ah, that’s right... Sorry, I forgot to explain.” I cleared my throat. “Do you remember the spell Liamnet?”

“Liamnet... If I recall correctly, it’s a spell for sending letters, yes?”

“Yes, but it’s not just for that.”

Amelia looked a little surprised. “Really?”

The Liamnet was deeply ingrained in life here in the magic city, so I’d made sure Amelia could use it—though it seemed she’d been making do without it even after living here for a while. Well, she has lived her entire life without it.

“Allow me to demonstrate.” I used the Liamnet to display a photograph in the air between us. This had been taken by one of the elven maids and shared with the entire city, so I should be free to use it here.

“Is that...a portrait of you, Your Majesty? It’s very well-made...”

“This is a photograph—a drawing made with light,” I told her. “You can roughly think of it as a spell that saves the scenery at a specific moment.”

“Wow... I’ve never heard of such a spell.”

“We also have moving photographs.” Seeing her curious gaze, I went ahead and displayed a different picture—one of me sleeping in my room.

“Hnnn... Full power... Gooo...”

Gosh, my sleeptalk is so embarrassing...

“Wh-What is this...?”

“It’s me in my sleep,” I answered. “After I made this spell, I realized that I never knew what kind of sleeper I was, so I decided to test it out on myself.”

“Oh, I see...” Amelia giggled. “I suppose you would never normally know how it is by yourself.”

“Exactly.”

Our gazes met, and we both burst into laughter.

What a strange feeling. I admired Amelia, so much so that my nerves always got the best of me whenever I was in front of her. But now, here I was, having such a silly conversation with her.

“I never knew magic could do all this. I’m impressed, Your Majesty.”

“Yeah... I made this myself, so it makes sense that nobody has ever heard about it outside this country.”

“You made it yourself? Goodness... That’s even more impressive.”

“Er... Y-Yes.”

Embarrassment washed over me. Being praised for my magic always made me both bashful and proud, but all the more if that praise was coming from someone I admired. Still, I was happy. I’d always thought that magic was amazing, and it made me twice as happy that Amelia agreed.

But I couldn’t just drown in this giddy feeling right now. I had to steer this conversation back on track.

“S-So anyway,” I continued, “I would like to sell this.”

“Ahh, right...” Amelia nodded slowly, recalling the main point of this discussion.

“I want to store your performance into a magic item so that anybody can listen to it from anywhere in the world.”

Instantly, Amelia’s eyes blew wide. She fell speechless.

Uh-oh. Was this a bad idea after all? But I really wanted to share Amelia’s amazing voice with people around the world. It was still too early to back off—there was still room to convince her.

“Of course, you’ll—”

Suddenly, Amelia bolted from her seat and looked down at me.

My mouth clamped shut. Oh no! Did I make her mad?

But before I could blurt out an apology, Amelia bowed her head—so deeply, and so sincerely, that I was left at a loss for words.

.284

“A-A-A-Amelia?!”

The sight of Amelia bowing her head so deeply threw me into a panic. This wasn’t the first time she’d done this, but the last time—when I’d saved her parents—at least warranted it to an extent. Now, though? What reason could she have to bow to me again? If anything, I was the one asking her a favor.

“Er, well... For now, p-please raise your head...” I said to Amelia as my head spun.

She slowly straightened her posture, her clear gaze locked onto mine.

“Uh... Amelia?”

“I usually perform for people of influence,” she began. “They would call for me, and I would sing for them like a caged bird. I have always wanted to sing for more people, but I had neither the means nor the permission to do so.”

“Permission...? Whose?”

“My clients... The people of influence. They wanted to maintain my worth.”

I cocked my head. “What does that mean...?”

So people of influence paid her lots of money and called her to their mansions to perform especially for them—that checked out. That had been the exact scenario I’d overheard her singing from.

But I didn’t really understand what Amelia meant by “permission.” Why would she need their permission to do what she wanted? I tried asking Lardon in my mind.

“I don’t know for certain...” I could hear a smile in her voice. “But this is sounding like quite the amusing development.”

After all our time together, I could tell from just her tone that she was actually exasperated—so exasperated that she was actually amused, just in a cynical way.

I’ve got a bad feeling about this. I quietly waited for Amelia to continue.

After a short and hesitant pause, she said, “According to them, my value will drop if I just sing anywhere and everywhere.”

I blinked. “Pardon...?”

Singing freely...decreased her value? What was that supposed to mean? My mind struggled to comprehend, so I tried thinking of it in terms of magic. Well, casting magic costs mana, and having little mana means weaker magic, so maybe...

“Is that because singing everywhere would expend your stamina—er, your vocal cords more?”

Amelia quietly shook her head. Apparently, I was off the mark.

“Then what...?”

“The more accessible I am, the lower my value... That is, my value as a songstress solely for the wealthy.”

“Er...” Sadly, her explanation wasn’t really helping me understand.

“Ha ha ha ha ha!” Suddenly, Lardon burst into laughter, but I could tell it was because she’d heard something absurd. Something ridiculous.

“Honestly, I don’t quite understand,” I admitted and watched Amelia wilt a little. “But, Amelia, it sounds like you’re not happy with that. Am I wrong?”

Amelia’s breath hitched, the sadness creeping in on her expression washed out by shock. The sight of her bowing her head to me was burned into the back of my eyelids. Why would she have gone that far, had she not been so discontent with the status quo?

Amelia met my gaze, but after a while, her eyes turned downcast. Her voice was weak. “No... I am not happy with it,” she admitted, confirming my suspicions.

“Then it stops here.”

“What?” Amelia whipped her head up to me in shock. “R-Really?”

“Only if you want, of course.”

“L-Lord Liam, do you...” Amelia gulped. “Do you not want to, er...monopolize me?”

“Not at all,” I answered easily.

Amelia stared at me, agape.

Her reaction perplexed me. She asked me if I wanted to monopolize her, and I didn’t, so I answered no—that was all there was to it. What was so shocking?

“Pffft...” I could hear Lardon stifling her laughter.

Was my answer strange...?

“Fret not,” she said before I could ask. “Your answer amuses me, yes. But for the girl, that was the right thing to say.”

If you say so... In any case, I was really out of my element here. Nothing seemed to be making sense to me, so I decided to push the conversation forward. “What should I do? No—what do you want to happen, Amelia?”

“What I want to happen...”

“Yes. Tell me anything. As long as it’s possible with magic—”

I clamped my mouth shut. Magic was a wonderful and miraculous power. All this time, I had placed full and unwavering trust in it, but before my greatest idol my confidence wavered for a second.

But no longer. My next words came out with ease, firm and sure.

“—then I will grant your every wish.”

Was I being a bit too over-the-top? Amelia stared at me, eyes wide and jaw dropped, too shocked to even speak.

.285

Amelia hung her head, then she hesitantly looked up at me and asked, “May I really...?”

“Of course.”

“Then...” Amelia pursed her lips, hesitation marring her features. But it soon gave way to a bout of courage and a look of resolve. “I want more people...to hear me sing.”

“Understood. Leave it all to me,” I answered right away.

Amelia’s eyes grew wide yet again. She mustn’t have been expecting me to make the promise so readily.

I called Bruno within the day, and he came over in a hurry. An elven maid had reported to me that he’d rushed over so quickly that she felt bad for his poor horse, but by the time Bruno appeared before me he looked as composed as ever. He hardly looked like someone who’d just raced here on horseback.

“What do you need from me today, Your Majesty?”

“Well, I just wanted your advice on a certain matter.”

“Of course. I am all ears.”

Amelia had been shocked that I’d assented to her wish so easily, and now I knew how she felt. Bruno’s as reliable as ever, I mused as I went on to explain what I’d talked about with Amelia.

He listened quietly all throughout, then asked, “What may I help with?”

“Well, about the concert we’re preparing... I was wondering if we could hold it in other countries too,” I said. “I can always sneak in and prepare whatever we need with magic, but I want to know if the concert itself is feasible.”

Bruno fell silent for a while. “It’s...not impossible,” he said hesitantly.

“Is it hard to get ready right away?”

“Yes... Firstly, such a large-scale concert is unprecedented. Similar events such as circuses and competitions do exist, so I suppose holding the concert should be possible.”

“Then, why can’t it be held right away?”

“Because songs are a form of art that has been monopolized by people in power. It is hard to say whether the commonfolk would seek it out of their own volition,” he explained. “The citizens of this nation would gather with a word from you, Your Majesty, as would the people of Parta considering they are essentially under your rule now. You could easily coerce them into joining. However, as for the other nations...”

I wilted. “So, do I have to give up on the idea...?”

Suddenly, I heard Lardon chuckle. “You are like a different person whenever you’re outside your element.”

“Huh? What do you mean?”

“I’m telling you not to jump to conclusions. Think back to what he said—it’s not impossible, yes?”

“Oh...” I turned to Bruno with a gasp. He looked serious and thoughtful, not cornered and pressed. “What do we need to do to make it possible, Bruno?”

“I would need your full cooperation, Your Majesty.”

“Of course. Anything.”

“Very well. In that case, I would need you to invent a spell—no, a magic item that can store and replay sounds.”

“Hmm? Just sounds?”

“Yes.”

“And it has to be an item, not a spell?”

“Correct.”

I nodded. “All right, then.”

A magic item instead of a spell... Yes, that made sense to me. Our goal here was to hold a concert in other countries, so a magic item that anyone could use was much better than a spell that needed to be learned. I wasn’t sure why he wanted it to store just sounds, but I trusted Bruno. He must have his reasons.

“I’ll start with making a spell,” I decided.

“Thank you. You may call me again once you—”

“I can do it now.”

“Huh?”

Rummaging through my memories, I recalled that a similar function was already in the Liamnet—I could actually just export it from there. Nice and simple.

The next step was to craft the spell. For this, I multicasted to my maximum capacity. Though I refrained from chanting an aria, it still turned out to be a bit overkill—since I was working from a preexisting feature, I didn’t even use up all my spell slots in the end.

I held my hand up and cast the new spell: “Phonograph!”

A whirling disc of light manifested in the air before me.

“Is...this it?” Bruno asked.

“Yeah. Watch.”

The disc froze, then began spinning the other way.

“Is...this it?”

“Yeah. Watch.”

Our voices played from the glowing disc, exactly as we sounded just a moment ago.

“Ohh! This is exactly what we need!” Bruno turned to me with sparkling eyes. “To have completed it in an instant... I should have expected no less, Your Majesty.”

“It was already in the Liamnet,” I told him. “So, will this do?”

“Yes.”

“Next, I’ll turn it into a magic item. Should be easy enough... But what will you do with this?”

“We will store Ms. Amelia’s song, then sell it as a product.”

“Sell it...?” I raised an eyebrow. “Will that help us hold a concert in other countries?”

“It will.” Bruno nodded, looking even more confident than usual.

I decided not to ask and just nodded back. “Then it’s all yours.”

After all, Bruno was talking about commercializing and selling—clearly not my area of expertise, so there was no need for me to know the details. Seeing him so confident, I felt it was much better for me to just trust him and let him do his thing.

.286

“If you’re going to sell it, I’ll need to make a lot, right? How many?”

“I suppose we can start with a thousand.”

“What?” A lot of our business with Bruno involved the products of my magic research, so I knew the quantities we usually dealt in. A thousand was definitely on the larger side. “Do you really need that much?”

“Yes.”

“He also said that it’s just the start,” Lardon reminded me.

I gasped. “And that’s just the start? You’ll need more down the line?”

Bruno nodded. There wasn’t a trace of hesitation in his gaze—just confidence and resolve.

“Why so many?”

“This may be rather presumptuous of me, but I believe your final goal must be to popularize Ms. Amelia and her songs. In which case, we may end up dealing in tens of thousands eventually.”

“Oh... Right. You’re right.” Suddenly, a thousand didn’t seem like so much. In fact, that sounded just about right.

“The quantity is important, of course, but...” Bruno paused, seeking permission with his gaze.

“You can speak freely,” I told him. “I’ll do anything for Amelia. No need to dance around your words.”

“Understood.” Bruno bowed deeply. “If your goal is to make Ms. Amelia more famous, then I believe this magic item should be one that every household can own. Every family should be able to listen to it whenever they wish, without having to rent or borrow.”

“I see... That’s definitely for the best.”

“With that in mind, an appropriate price must be set. It must be affordable for every household—ideally as cheap as a single coat.”

“All right. Leave it all to me.”

The business was all in Bruno’s hands. My specialty was magic—and it was time for me to get crafting.

After Bruno left the room to begin his preparations, Lardon asked, “Will it work out?”

“I’ll make it work.”

“If worse comes to worst, your brother could help out too.”

“No, I can’t make him incur a loss from this. He’s lending me a hand—I need to make this a viable business.”

“Then you will have to come up with something. This is outside my expertise as well... If I recall correctly, it is difficult to make a product cheaper, yes?”

“Normally, yeah.”

I recalled my memories of my past life, when we would harvest crops every year, pay our taxes to the lord, set some of the crops aside for ourselves, and sell the rest to merchants. The last step was the hardest because we always butted heads with the merchants—we wanted to sell it for high, and they wanted to buy it for low. The merchants would be selling it to their customers, so there was a limit to how high the price could go, but we couldn’t accept anything too low either as we also needed funds for seeds and fertilizer.

Those annual negotiations were a literal struggle for survival, so it was deeply imprinted in my memories. Making a product come cheap was a tall task—normally, that is.

“Normally?”

“Yeah. This time around, we’ve got our hands on the cheapest raw material.”

“Oh? And what is that?”

“My mana.”

Most magic items were made using precious metals like mithril, while some were made using bloodsouls. But bloodsouls were actually just condensed mana, meaning it was possible to make magic items with just mana—and with just my mana, I could make the items as cheap as Bruno wanted, totally free of cost.

All I had to do was invent the item—and that was just business as usual for me.

“Ha... Ha ha ha ha ha!”

“Hmm?” Lardon suddenly burst into laughter. Unusual, coming from her. “What is it?”

“Ah, very interesting...in more ways than one.”

“Uh, how so?”

“Making a magic item with just mana... That certainly wouldn’t ‘cost’ you in the traditional sense. A most amusing idea, as is your capability of executing it.”

I let out a small chuckle. I loved magic and its power to bring about miracles, so this type of praise always made me happy. “What else?”

“Ah, this one amuses me even more...” I could hear a smile in her voice. “Your sense of self-worth is far too low. You are the Monster King, ruler of over ten thousand monsters. Only you would call your own mana a cheap material!”

Once again, Lardon’s pleasant laughter rang brightly in my head.

.287

Thanks to our dealings with Bruno, our town was now lined with many human shops and establishments. Bars and taverns were always bustling with business, but some places weren’t as favored by the monsters.

One example was the chic little sidewalk café I was currently in. Under the awning, I watched as the streets flowed with passing monsters. Not a single one seemed interested in checking out this place.

This was just what I needed at the moment, though—a place with just the right level of background noise—to make my final adjustments on the magic item on the table in front of me.

Just then, Sli and Lime spotted me and came bouncing my way.

“Lord Liam, Lord Liam!”

“We love you!”

The two slimes who could send hunters home crying were nowhere to be seen. Right now, they were just like a pair of puppies asking for head pats. I obliged with a soft smile. Only once they got their fill did they seem to notice the magic item on the table.

“What’s that?”

“Your magic?”

With a nod, I activated the magic item. This item contained the effects of the Phonograph spell, made by condensing my mana like a manastone. The item slowly faded away—

“What’s that?”

“Your magic?”

—while perfectly replaying the slimes’ voices.

Not that I could hear it; I was just assuming. A while back, I’d made a noise-canceling spell for Amelia to make sounds clearer to the listener. Following that same principle, Phonograph only replayed sounds for the target. This was why I came to this café—to test it out with all the background noise from the streets.

After the magic item fully disappeared, Sli and Lime began bouncing in excitement.

“Wow!”

“Wow, wow!”

The thing about Sli and Lime was that they were very childlike both in temperament and vocabulary, so they tended to skip over the “why” or “how,” instead voicing their excitement and praise first and foremost. Well, I guess they were also just used to all the things I got up to with my magic.

As I watched the two happy slimes, I condensed my mana to craft another Phonograph. “Looks like it’s working as intended.”

“Indeed. Else these two would not have reacted as such.”

“Now all that’s left is to make tons more...”

“No... I’m not quite sure about that.”

“Hmm? What do you mean, Lardon?” I asked as I resumed petting the slimes.

“The spell itself is functioning perfectly. I would have expected no less of you. Even I could not hear the sounds.”

“Then what...?”

“Recall your brother’s words. He wanted it to be as easy to purchase as clothing, yes?”

I thought back to our conversation. “Yeah, he did say that.”

“In essence, the goal is for people to be able to listen to it for cheap—and that is not the case if the product disappears after it’s used.”

“Oh...” I groaned as realization dawned on me.

Lardon was absolutely right. A product became a lot pricier if it couldn’t be reused. Since I’d taken inspiration from our city infrastructure’s backup system, I ended up also making this item a onetime use without much thought.

“People should be able to enjoy it multiple times, like a book or a painting.” I nodded. “Thanks, Lardon. I’ll fix it up right away.”

Following Lardon’s advice, I revised the magic item to make it reusable. This cost me a lot more mana, but that was a nonissue. It wasn’t like I was going to ask myself to pay up.

I wrapped up in no time and held the revised product with a satisfied smile. “Done!”

“Are you done?”

“Let’s play!”

Sli and Lime had kept quiet as I worked, but now jumped at the chance to invite me to play. I activated the magic item again.

“Are you done?”

“Let’s play!”

Sli and Lime jiggled happily—they must have heard their voices. This time, the item didn’t disappear.

Perfect! Now all that was left was to produce a thousand of these and hand them over to Bruno.

“Huh? Oh, hey, Liam!” The sudden voice came from Asuna. She jogged to me from the street, her long ponytail swishing behind her. “I hardly see you out in the city. What’s up?”

“Oh, well, you see...”

I filled her in on what I was up to—that I was inventing a magic item for Bruno and testing it out here where there was tons of background noise.

Asuna listened till the end, then nodded. “Wow, I see... But isn’t that kind of a waste?”

“Yeah. That’s why I revised it—”

“No, that’s not what I meant,” she interrupted, catching me off guard. “Not the item itself, but the fact that only the user can hear it. Don’t you usually want to share the things that make you happy? For example, if I found a really delicious cake, I’d tell Ms. Jodie all about it, and she’d tell me to buy it. And then we’d each try a bite! But we can’t do anything of the sort with this magic item.”

“Oh...” She’s got a point. Guess it’s time for another revision—

“To begin with, Liam, wasn’t your goal to share Amelia’s singing with more people?”

Before I could get to work, my vision went white. Like lightning striking from the skies, Asuna dealt me a devastating blow from out of nowhere.

“Hah... Your mana is immense, but your experience is still lacking, it seems.”

My mind was so blank from the shock that I failed to register Lardon’s amused remark.

.288

“You’re right... I do want to share it,” I mumbled.

“Right?”

I nodded. “Thank you, Asuna. You were a huge help.”

“You’re very welcome.” Asuna giggled. “Oh! But doesn’t that mean you’ll have to prepare another spell entirely? Is that okay...?”

“Oh.” I smiled. “Yeah, it’s all right.”

“You sure?”

“Of course. It’s easy. Actually, this is much simpler than making it audible to only the target.”

“Oh, that’s true!” Asuna nodded. It wasn’t hard to understand since hearing sounds and voices was a part of everyday life.

“Give me a second.”

Without waiting for Asuna’s response, I began to revise—rather, revert Phonograph to its initial form. After all, making the sound audible to only the user was a feature I added. Initially, the sounds simply replayed out loud.

“Done!”

“What? Already?!”

“Yeah. I told you it was easy.”

“Still, isn’t this too fast? Didn’t you make a different spell?”

I shrugged. “It’s no biggie.”

“Wow... You’re really incredible when it comes to magic,” Asuna marveled with sparkling eyes.

“Try saying something.”

“Okay! Um... Liam is amazing! A magic genius! A super magic genius!”

I winced. “Er...”

“What’s wrong? Is it a bust?”

“No, uh... It’s not...” I was just embarrassed by what she said, and since the spell wasn’t a bust... I steeled myself. Asuna’s cheery voice replayed out loud.

“Okay! Um... Liam is amazing! A magic genius! A super magic genius!”

“Oh! I can hear it!”

It looked like we both did. “I’m glad it works.”

“Uh-huh! Now we can share and recommend stuff... Uh...” Asuna trailed off, losing all her vigor.

“What’s wrong?”

“Uh, Liam... Could you play it again?”

“Hmm? Oh, sure.” With a nod, I obliged and her voice played in the air once more.

“Okay! Um... Liam is amazing! A magic genius! A super magic genius!”

“Like this?”

“Yeah... Say, could you make it usable in the old way too?”

I hummed. “Well, I could just make them two separate spells. The earlier version doesn’t serve my current purpose, but it’s not bad to have it prepared just in case.”

“Precisely,” Lardon agreed.

Actually, I should’ve thought of that from the start. Some spells were exceedingly similar to others, yet they had all been created and continued to see use to this day because there was a demand for them.

For example, my goal was to share Amelia’s voice with a lot more people, so it called for the initial version of Phonograph, but there were surely situations where you didn’t want anyone else to hear the recorded sound, like... Uh...

“Listening to secret messages.”

That was Lardon for you. She came up with the perfect example while I was still racking my head. The idea of storing and replaying sounds was inspired by the Liamnet’s letter-sending feature, so there was no better example than secret correspondence.

Hmm... Secret correspondence, huh? In that case, there was still much room for improvement. After all, what if someone stole the item and heard the message intended for someone else? I could make it so the sound could only be heard by the specified individual, or maybe—

“Save that for next time, magic geek,” Lardon interrupted.

Whoops. Nearly spiraled into my thoughts again, I realized with a chuckle. Lardon was right, though. I had to save that for next time and focus on the task at hand: spreading Amelia’s name. Those extra features weren’t needed right now—I could get back to it eventually.

After stashing those plans away for another day, I noticed that Asuna seemed to be pondering deeply about something. “What’s the matter?” I asked her.

Her gaze fell to the prototype on the table. “Say, uh... Is this the version that’s only audible to the target?”

“Yeah, it is.”

“Can I have it? And, um... Can I store your voice into it?”

“Well, sure... But why?” I cocked my head in confusion. Not only could I not understand the point of her request, but I was also puzzled to see the ever peppy Asuna being so fidgety. Her cheeks were also slightly flushed.

“O-Okay... Could you say, ‘You’re so kind, and so cute. I want to hug you’?”

“Huh? But why—”

“Just say it! Please!”

“Uh... All right.”

“Oh, and if you could whisper it, that’d be great...”

“Got it.” I held the magic item and did as Asuna asked. “‘You’re so kind, and so cute. I want to hug you.’ Will that do?”

“Y-Yeah... Thanks, Liam! I’ll take this with me!” Face flushed, Asuna held the magic item and left looking really happy.

“What was that all about?”

“Who knows?”

Lardon and I watched her leave in confusion.

.289

“Will this do?” I asked as I handed a Phonograph to an elven maid.

She cradled it preciously to her chest and squealed out, “Thank you very much!” Her gleeful gaze never once left the magic item as she exited my room with giddy steps.

I watched her, a little perplexed but no longer all that curious. After all, this was already the umpteenth time someone had come to me with this request.

After Asuna asked me for a Phonograph, she apparently told the elves all about it and they all began asking me for the same thing. It came as a bit of a surprise since the monsters of the city never begged me for stuff. It was far from a tall order, though, so I swiftly granted them their wish—and by the time I realized it, I’d already made nearly a hundred Phonographs. I had no clue why they all wanted one so badly, but part of me was already getting used to it.

“I wonder what’s up with them all?”

“I’ve no clue,” Lardon said. “Based on their reactions, it must be a feminine proclivity.”

“Oh, now that you mention it...” That sounded about right. They were all blushing nervously yet smiling in delight.

Lardon chuckled. “This might not be my place to say, but you truly are dull to the subtleties of the human heart.”

“How can you expect me to understand girls...?”

“She might know something.”

“Ah...” From her tone, Lardon must’ve been referring to Dyphon.

Perhaps the dragons’ relationships really were beyond repair. From how they talked about each other, it was clear that even living in the same town did nothing to improve their impressions of one another. They hardly even called each other by name, though fortunately, this posed no problem to me. Since Lardon and I had been together for so long, I could figure out who she was talking about just from the nuances in her speech.

In any case, Lardon was probably right. There were many I could ask when it came to understanding a girl’s heart, and among them, Dyphon was the most likely to give me a straight answer.

Before I could head out to look for her, however, the door to my room opened quietly with neither a knock nor a call from the other side. This instantly ruled out the possibility that it was an elven maid—and most others, for that matter—so it came as no surprise to me when Paithon slunk into the room the next moment.

“What’s up, Paithon? You need something?”

“Mm-hmm...” She looked as listless as ever as she slowly made her way to me. Finally, she stood before me with a languid gaze and said, “I want that thing too.”

“That thing...?”

“The thing everyone wants.”

“Oh... The Phonograph?”

Paithon nodded.

I furrowed my brows in confusion, and from Lardon’s perplexed grunt I could tell she felt the same. We’d just hypothesized that this whole thing had to do with a girl’s heart, but now here came Paithon—the last person I’d expect to care about that sort of thing—asking for the same thing.

After a short moment of consideration, I decided to ask for her reasons. “All right. I’ll make you one now. But Paithon, why do you want one?”

“A lullaby...”

“A...lullaby?”

“The girls listen to it at night... They say a handsome man’s whispers help them sleep well...”

“Ohh... So that’s what they’ve been using it for,” I marveled. I never would’ve thought of that. Well, this explained all the demand... Does it really help with sleep, though...?

“So I want one too,” Paithon repeated.

“Okay, okay. I’ll make you one, just give me a second. Any special requests?”

“None... Just the same.”

“Got it.” I went ahead and made her a Phonograph too.

I heard Lardon scoff. “As if she couldn’t sleep all year round already.”

With an awkward smile, I pretended not to hear her. Once the magic item was complete, I handed it over to Paithon. She accepted it, looking as listless as when she first came, then quietly left the room.

“Anyway...” I sighed.

“So they were listening to it in their sleep, hmm? How surprising,” Lardon mused, taking the words right out of my mouth. “Quite the unexpected use for the item.”

“Tell me about it,” I agreed.

“I can imagine the demand is much higher than usual in this city.”

“True.”

Lardon and I finally understood. I was terribly dull when it came to matters outside magic, while she was knowledgeable on the world but not so well-versed in human emotions. In an amusing turn of events, this matter just so happened to be outside both of our expertise.

But now that the mystery was solved, I was ready to get back to working on Amelia’s performance—until Bruno suddenly visited me in a flurry. Although he hadn’t forgotten to inform me ahead of time and knock before entering, it was very unlike him to be in such a rush.

“Please, allow me to conduct business with that magic item!”

Much like everyone else, he had come here seeking this magic item.

.290

“I don’t mind, but...”

Bruno’s desperation perplexed me. He already monopolized all my magical products and the profitable businesses of our country. I would gladly do the same for this magic item, and Bruno should know that as well.

So why the rush?

“What’s wrong, Bruno? You’re acting a little strange.”

“Ah... M-My apologies for the unsightly display.”

“It’s fine. Did something happen?”

“Yes, well... There are two reasons,” he began. I listened intently, curious as to what could have shaken him so badly. “First, my instincts tell me that your new spell could produce immense profit for us.”

“Really?”

“Could you look out the window, please?”

“Huh? Sure.” With a nod, I followed his instructions—and there, I immediately spotted what he wanted to show me. Parked in the palace’s front yard were a fleet of wagons, one after another. I threw a look at Bruno behind me. “What are those?”

“Earnest payment,” he answered. Sensing my confusion, he explained, “Simply put, this is an expression of how much demand there is for this product.”

“Wow...” I muttered in awe.

My gaze naturally wandered back to the wagons outside. All that money for a single transaction of just one product? When I thought of it that way, it had to be our most valuable good to date—probably around twice as valuable as the last.

“Is it that popular?”

“Yes. Women, especially those of the upper class, are very fond of actors and poets. It stands to reason that they would love to have something similar to what you are giving out to your familiars.”

“I see...” I got the picture, but I still had to ask, “Was that really all it took to sell this much?”

“There is actually one more reason.”

“Figures.” Having gotten a good look at the money, I turned back around to fully face Bruno, then paused when I realized that his face was flushed. “What’s wrong, Bruno? Is it hard to say?”

“Well... I suppose it is,” he admitted with a wince. “Your Majesty, are you familiar with the concept of ‘proactive ignorance’?”

“Proactive ignorance...?” I sifted through everything I knew, but nothing rang a bell. I asked Lardon, but she came up short too. “No clue. What is it?”

“I suppose you wouldn’t know, Your Majesty, because you have yet to be wedded.”

“Do you learn about it when you’re married?”

“Yes. To be precise, if you are married and the head of a noble house...”

“Oh, right. You’re the head of your own house now.” We’d each started out as the fourth and fifth sons of the Hamilton house, but Bruno married into another family, became their head, and operated many profitable businesses.

Bruno nodded. “Pardon the unsophisticated topic... You see, married noblewomen are typically granted full freedom so long as they do not partake in any physical infidelity.”

“Physical infidelity...?”

“Like bearing another man’s child,” Lardon supplied.

Ah, that makes sense. Lineage and blood ties were important to nobles. I knew that a noble’s partner—especially the wife—was prohibited from cheating, but this was my first time hearing it put in these terms.

“Hence, married noblewomen are fond of forming relationships with their knights, who foster spirits of self-sacrifice and dedicate their all—emotionally, and not physically—to their ladies.”

“Oh, wow...” I understood what he was saying, but I still struggled to wrap my head around it.

“And,” he continued, “proactively ignoring these relationships is considered a virtue among family heads.”

“Oh!” When he repeated the word in these terms, it all fell into place for me.

“To nobles, permitting emotional infidelity is a virtue...as is putting on airs financially. These founded the concept of ‘proactive ignorance.’”

“Ohh...” What a...fascinating world they lived in.

“Hence, for me, incurring losses from this business will actually boost my repute among the nobility.”

“What? So you want to lose out?!”

“Yes.”

“Uh...”

“Human nobles conjure up the most bizarre rules,” Lardon mused, sounding rather exasperated—and frankly, I couldn’t help but agree with her.

.291

After pondering for a while, I finally nodded. “All right, then. When it comes to business, I don’t even know left from right, so I’d rather leave it all up to you.”

“Thank you very much!”

“Anyway, setting that aside... How about the matter with Amelia?”

With a gasp, Bruno sprung from his seat and flung his head down in a frighteningly deep bow. “My sincerest apologies!”

“Why? Is there a problem?”

“No, not at all. I would just like to apologize for bringing up my own matters before making my report.”

“Oh, no need to put yourself down for that. Could I hear the report, then?”

“Of course!” Bruno sat back down. “Firstly, boosting Ms. Amelia’s fame is a must. Though I myself have heard of her, I believe she is not as well-known among the commonfolk as you would like, Your Majesty. So, I plan to play her songs in restaurants and taverns in my domain.”

“In taverns...?”

“Yes.” Bruno nodded firmly. “Stage performances are rather common in such venues, so this arrangement is not entirely new to the people. This will be our first step in boosting her familiarity among the populace. Thus, I would like to be entrusted with the magic items.”

“All right...” I hummed. “Could you come with me for a sec?”

Bruno looked a little perplexed by the sudden request but readily nodded anyway. “Understood.”

From there, I took Bruno to the reception hall and set up a meeting with Amelia in one of the parlor rooms. The three of us sat together as I filled Amelia in on Bruno’s plans.

When I finished, I turned to Bruno for confirmation. “Did I get that right?”

“Absolutely. A perfect explanation, Your Majesty.” Bruno got up and lowered his head. His bow was just as deep as earlier, but his movements were much calmer and more elegant.

I stared at him in confusion. Isn’t this a bit much?

“It’s because that girl is here,” Lardon explained. “He is boosting your prestige in her eyes.”

Now that she mentioned it... This sight wasn’t new to me. Before I became a noble, I’d see this sort of sycophancy whenever I went out for drinks.

Instead of replying to Bruno, I turned straight to Amelia and asked, “What do you think? If you dislike the idea, then we can think of another way.”

“Not at all.” Amelia slowly shook her head, rose to her feet, and lowered her head as well.

“A-Amelia?!” Seeing my idol bowing before me sent me into a full-blown panic. Why do people keep bowing to me today?!

“Thank you very much for your kind consideration. I’ve no objections.”

“O-Okay... Then it’s all yours.” Just barely collecting myself, I turned to Bruno and passed the baton to him.

Thankfully, he was much more composed than I was. “Understood. In that case, Your Majesty, I would like to request for several magic items containing Ms. Amelia’s songs. I shall place these in my planned locations.”

“S-Sure.”

“Ms. Amelia... No, Your Majesty.” Bruno turned his gaze from Amelia to me, catching me a little off guard. “I would like twenty units to start with. I humbly suggest they all be prepared at once, so as not to burden Ms. Amelia with multiple performances.”

“Oh, of course. We should definitely make this as easy as we can for her.” I was grateful that Bruno was so considerate.

I spread my hands and unleashed my mana. Bruno wanted twenty units, but I decided to make a bit more using my usual multicasting method. With the cheapest raw material—my mana—gathering at my hands, I crafted twenty-three Phonographs in no time.

I nodded in satisfaction. I’d done this countless times now, so crafting this many at once was a piece of cake.

“Thank you, Your Majesty. I swear upon my name and life to safely deliver these magic items to where they must be.”

“You don’t need to swear on your life...”

“I certainly do.” Bruno looked dead serious, more so than usual. “Your Majesty, you are the only human who can craft a magic item with pure mana. Without a doubt, this item is a luxury good, the likes of which a noble house can only own one of at a time.”

There he goes, exaggerating things again. Lardon could make this thing in a jiffy too, couldn’t she?

“I am not a human,” Lardon pointed out in amusement.

Oh, right... I guess he did say that. Well, if we were limiting it to humans, then I guess it was fairly impressive?

Unlike me, however, Amelia was thoroughly stunned by Bruno’s explanation. She looked at me in awe. “Yet you made so many...in an instant? Wow...”

For some reason, Bruno looked terribly smug at her reaction.

.292

“I’m afraid this may come across as rude...” Bruno turned to Amelia with a firm gaze, making her flinch and tense up. “But Ms. Amelia, I believe you have yet to understand how extraordinary His Majesty is.”

“I-Is that so...?”

“Yes. Had you known, then this would not have been enough to surprise you. When it comes to magic, His Majesty has long transcended human limits.”

Amelia’s eyebrows shot up. “Really?”

“Of course.”

Amelia whipped her head to me with a wide-eyed and questioning gaze.

I responded with a strained smile. Praise from Bruno was nothing new, but it felt like he was really putting his back into it today. “Bruno, aren’t you exaggerating a bit?”

“Not at all. Your magic is superb, Your Majesty. Although this is just my speculation...” His eyes narrowed. “You only crafted about twenty of this magic item, yes?”

“Yeah? What about it?”

“Then that must mean you haven’t exerted your full effort.”

“Well...” Multicasting twenty-three spells was far from my full effort. If I were to use my full capacity, plus an aria, then... “I could probably make 101.”

Amelia gasped. “Five times more?!”

“Oh, uh...” The quantity was five times as much, but in terms of effort it was a lot more. Of course, I was too embarrassed to point that out myself—but before I could brush it off, Bruno got the jump on me.

“No, I believe it is more than five times,” he told Amelia.

“What do you mean?”

“The difference between cooking one dish and cooking five simultaneously is not a mere matter of exerting five times more effort, no?”

“Ah... Surely, it must need ten times more effort,” Amelia agreed.

“Precisely.”

Amelia turned to me again. The awe in her gaze grew each time she looked at me. I...really didn’t know how to feel, seeing my idol look at me this way.

After racking my head, I finally figured out how to put an end to this conversation. “More importantly, Amelia, could you sing a song for us? Just once will do—I’ll record it on all these units at the same time.”

“Oh, of course. Er...” She hesitantly turned to Bruno.

Bruno immediately bowed. “I shall wait outside. I would be loath to disrupt the recording with other sounds.”

“Thanks. I’ll call you when we’re done.”

I was relieved that Bruno volunteered himself out of the room. For some reason, he was stopping at nothing to place me on a pedestal today. As if the shower of praises wasn’t enough, Amelia’s gaze of adoration made me feel extra awkward—but at the same time, Bruno praising my magic made me really happy, and I couldn’t bring myself to deny him... My mind was a terrible mess from it all.

“Pardon me, then.”

I watched Bruno leave the room with a bow to us both, then quietly breathed out a sigh of relief.

After stepping out, Bruno turned back to face the room before shutting the door with both hands on the knob, as shutting it while facing away was simply against etiquette.

“Good,” Bruno muttered under his breath.

“What is?” asked a voice behind him.

Bruno spun around in a flurry. There stood Lardon, the divine dragon, in her human form. Despite her youthful appearance, the pressure emanating from her was immense.

Bruno desperately plastered a smile on his face. “Ah, I apologize. I hadn’t noticed you were there, Lord Lardon.”

“I was not,” the dragon replied curtly. “I only came here after you.”

“A-Ah, I see...” Bruno felt cold sweat run down his back and a weightier burden rest on his shoulders. To hear a dragon say that she’d come chasing after you was quite the nerve-racking experience. “D-Do you perhaps have some business with me?”

Lardon nodded. “I noticed you were praising him more than usual today.”

“Yes...”

“Ah, fret not. I feel no ill will from you. Otherwise, I would have erased you right here and now.”

“I thank you for your understanding...”

“He noticed what you did as well, so he might ask me about it soon. But I’ve no answer for him—I’m rather dull as to the intricacies of the human mind, you see. Now, he wouldn’t mind my lack of an answer, but I am personally curious too. And so I come to you.”

“Is...that so?”

Bruno breathed out a sigh of relief. He knew she was telling the truth. After all, why would such a powerful dragon need to deceive a measly human? Thus, he decided to answer honestly:

“I did it to push His Majesty to greater heights.”

His answer only left Lardon more perplexed than she already was.

.293

“What does that mean?” Lardon asked.

“If I may speak as a lowly human,” Bruno began, “I believe the ‘heavens’ must not be gazed upon directly.”

Bruno had called himself a “lowly” human both to humble himself and to extend his point—though his clever wording did not interest Lardon. After some thought, she said, “Do you mean something must stand in between?”

The idea hadn’t come to Lardon initially, but all Bruno had to do was give a single remark before she understood his point. This was the difference between the divine dragon and Liam: One was transcendent on all fronts, while the other had single-minded devotion to magic. However, Bruno kept this thought to himself—he had no need to aimlessly flatter Lardon now.

“To gaze upon them directly is to feel a sense of closeness,” he went on. “But if people were to look up to someone else, then learn that this person furthermore looked up to the ‘heavens,’ the gap between them widens considerably. Then they would come to revere the heavens that much more.”

“I see... I did not think of that. I suppose humans are fond of such hierarchies and structure.”

“Indeed. We humans speak of deriding greater existences yet secretly look up to them at times.”

“Hence, you thought to place someone of great renown between him and the masses?”

Bruno bowed. “Precisely.”

Lardon could take his life with a flick of her finger, but Bruno showed her no excessive humility. If the respect he showed to Liam could be quantified at a hundred percent, then his respect to Lardon was at a slightly lower ninety-five. At the end of the day, Bruno served Liam. Lardon was important to Liam, which warranted an appropriate level of courtesy, but nothing more.

Bruno suspected that Lardon was well aware of this. Perhaps those obsessed with status and power would have been enraged by his behavior—but not Lardon. She likely didn’t care about such superficial etiquette to begin with. Regardless, he maintained his outward stance of full and devoted loyalty to Liam in order to indirectly enhance his worth in their eyes.

It was this kind of shrewdness which allowed Bruno—despite his lack of combat ability—to presently face Lardon on equal ground.

“And that role...goes to that girl, hmm?”

“Correct. If marketed properly, a songstress like her could easily serve as that ‘person of great renown’ to the masses,” Bruno affirmed. “Fortunately, Ms. Amelia seems rather fond of His Majesty. Even if she discovers my intentions and grows to detest me for them, I believe she would be willing to aid my cause.”

“So this is why you’ve been so cooperative,” Lardon mused, her lips curling into a smile. “I’d been thinking you were simply impressed by her talent as well.”

Bruno shook his head. “I am a merchant. We can only judge the arts by their value, not their skill.”

“Oh...?”

“Take painters, for example. Most paintings increase in value after the painter’s death, and only then do merchants come flocking. If merchants judged purely by skill, then they would have gathered much earlier on while the painter was alive.”

“It’s all about the money, hmm?”

“Yes. The value in Ms. Amelia lies in her prestige as a songstress whose voice captivated the Monster King. Of course, he had been captivated long before...”

Lardon chuckled. “Indeed, he had. It would be quite the contradiction to the image you are trying to build up.”

“But it would still stand.”

“Ahh, humans... Such interesting creatures.”

Bruno recognized that look in her eyes. That was the look of someone who’d learned something new. Much to his fascination, it seemed even a dragon revealed some very human expressions when taking up a human form.

“Are you going to use the feelings of love budding in that girl?”

“No,” Bruno said plainly.

Lardon raised an eyebrow. “Oh? I thought you were a merchant, no?” Bruno had struck her as the type to mercilessly use a girl’s heart if he deemed it necessary.

“His Majesty is astoundingly charming. Simply by being himself, he captivates the hearts of all the ladies around him,” Bruno explained. “I believe it would be most effective for Ms. Amelia to develop those feelings naturally, with no external influence.”

“I see... So you’ve even considered that. It seems you trust him quite a lot.”

“Of course. His Majesty has never proven me wrong for doing so.” There wasn’t the slightest hint of hesitation in Bruno’s words.

Lardon chuckled, looking genuinely pleased. “Very well. I understand now.” Curiosity satiated, Lardon left as suddenly as she’d appeared. Bruno figured that she must have returned to Liam’s body.

“She is much fonder of His Majesty than I’d thought,” he mumbled thoughtfully. “Hmm... What a miraculous relationship.”

After staring at the door for a while, Bruno turned around and walked down the hallway like nothing ever happened.

.294

At long last, the venue for Amelia’s performance was completed. I made my way out of the city and to the newly constructed venue for the final checks. I tried to be thorough—going up the stage, walking around the audience area, testing the sound quality from different positions with magic—and soon, I confirmed there were no standout issues.

“We can finally hold the concert,” I said to myself with a hand on my chest, relieved that the construction was finally over.

“Your Majesty...”

Suddenly, I heard a voice behind me and spun around—Amelia was standing right there with an apologetic expression.

“Amelia?! How long have you been there?”

“Reina contacted me earlier...”

“She did?”

Lardon chuckled. “Thoughtful as ever, that elf.”

Among my three executives, Reina was certainly the most prudent. She must’ve known that I’d want to inform Amelia of the venue’s completion after checking things myself.

“Perfect timing,” I said. “Take a look, Amelia—the venue’s all ready. I’ve looked over everything and it all looks good to go, but don’t hesitate to tell me if it’s lacking in any way for you.”

Amelia fell silent, just staring right at me. The guilt on her face grew more prominent.

“Amelia?”

“You had to do all this for me...”

“No, I did all this for myself,” I assured her. “I want to show you off to everyone. That’s all.”

“Show me off...?”

“You see, after living with monsters for a while, I realized that they don’t have a lot of entertainment,” I explained. “Now, I wouldn’t call myself an expert in recreation, but they’re far worse than me. They never had any such culture to begin with. They know that humans sing, but they only have the vaguest idea of what a song is. So, I want to show them—through you.”

“But even so, it didn’t have to be such a grand undertaking...” Amelia muttered guiltily.

“Hmm... I met Lardon at a fairly early stage,” I began. “Oh, I suppose I could say the same for my teacher...”

“Er... What do you mean?”

“I’m not quite sure how to put it into words... Truth be told, I can use magic the way I do now thanks to all the talented people I met earlier on. They showed me how marvelous it can be. Without them, I might not have been as impressed. I might’ve even dropped it altogether eventually.”

Amelia’s eyes grew wide. “Are you saying...you want me to fulfill that role?”

I nodded firmly. “Exactly. Amelia, you’re an incredible songstress—the best person I can ask of this favor.”

“But—”

“I mean it!” I insisted, speaking over her yet again. “You’re incredible. Really, you are. You must know that the monsters of this country, through their Familia contracts with me, have become rather humanlike. So, I want you to be their introduction to songs and music... Please.”

Amelia solemnly closed her eyes. All the guilt finally faded from her expression. “I understand,” she said quietly.

“Thank you!”

“Your wise words have resounded deeply in my heart. If I can be of any help, then I shall gladly cooperate.”

She was putting herself down again, but she said loud and clear that she would cooperate. With that, all our boxes were finally checked.

I’d set up over ten traps and measures to prevent any intervention from human nations. Scarlet had the diplomacy side all covered. The venue was built, sounds were all set with my magic, and we’d even prepared the best instrument for Amelia. And most importantly, Amelia herself was ready to give her all.

I’d been spending my days stacking up brick after brick for this performance, and finally every piece was snugly in place. All that was left was to hold the concert—and I had a feeling that everything was gonna turn out just fine.

I can’t wait!

As excitement came over me, I noticed that Amelia had been staring at me this entire time. The look on her face was...new. I wasn’t quite sure how to interpret it. She was silent, but her gaze was firm. “Is something the matter, Amelia?”

Slowly, she opened her mouth and said, “I wish I could have met you earlier too, Your Majesty.”

Her words left me incredibly bashful.

.295

Concert day was finally upon us.

My entire morning was spent patrolling our border along the Redline in several laps through the sky. By the time noon had come and the sun was directly overhead, Lardon finally asked me, “How long do you plan to keep this up?”

“Until everyone’s settled in the venue,” I answered without skipping a beat. I’d already decided to see this through to the end.

“All the monsters, hmm?”

“Yeah. Our human residents too, plus Dyphon and Paithon... All our citizens, basically.”

“Then you will enter last?”

“Yep.” I’d already prepared tons of traps and countermeasures along the Redline, but I was still patrolling just to be safe. “Think of this as my last measure. I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if something slipped past me at the last minute.”

Lardon chuckled. She sounded rather pleased, even a little playful.

“What is it?”

“Oh, I was just wondering... If I could go back in time, then there is something I would have liked to try.”

“And that is...?”

“Destroying everything you prepared and rendering all your preparation for naught.”

“Oh...” Well, that explained the mischievous undertone to her voice. I gave the hypothetical scenario some thought. “Hmm... It probably won’t turn out the way you’re expecting.”

“Oh? Why is that?”

“Well, you must be expecting me to react the way I did when I first found out about what Tristan did to Amelia, right?”

“I am,” Lardon replied swiftly.

When I first met Amelia, I learned that Tristan had his subordinates coerce her into seducing me. I could understand their line of logic, but they’d chosen the worst person to take advantage of. Naturally, I was enraged—but Lardon ruining the concert wouldn’t be quite the same thing as that.

“I got mad back then because they forced Amelia to do something so absurd, and against her will too. But this concert is something I asked her to do. A favor, basically. If you ruined it, I’d be the only victim here.”

“Hmm... I suppose that makes sense.”

“Right? So, sure, I’d probably get a little mad...but that’s all.”

“I understand now.” Lardon huffed. “It seems I truly am dull to the intricacies of the human heart... Perhaps even prone to misunderstanding completely.”

“Are you now?”

“It has been very evident to me as of late.”

“Ohh...” Honestly, I was more curious about the intricacies of Lardon’s heart. She said that she could hardly understand humans, but far from being frustrated, she seemed rather amused by that realization.

My aerial patrol continued for a while longer. I circled the border from the sky, over and over, until finally I received a message via the Liamnet. I slowed to a halt and hovered in the air as I opened it up.

“Master,” came Reina’s calm voice, “our entire population has settled into the venue.”

“Everyone’s there,” I told Lardon. “It’s time to go.”

“Are you not going to prepare one last measure?” she asked.

“Oh...” That was an option. I’d already prepared so much, but it was always better to be safe than sorry.

After giving it some more thought, I asked Lardon, “What do you think?”

“Hmm? Although I am none the wiser as to how humans think...you’ve already prepared plenty, so I suppose I will be the contrarian and say there is no need.”

“All right. Then I won’t.”

“Are you certain?”

“Your judgment is sounder than mine, even if you are just being a contrarian.”

Lardon chuckled. “Ah, now you make me feel responsible for the choice.”

I flew back toward the city then zoomed straight past it, making a beeline for the venue on the outskirts. The air was hot with excitement, even from the outside. Instead of landing back on the ground, I flew directly into the entrance, through the hallway, and emerged into the large concert hall. Then, I made my way to the VIP seat right in front of the stage. It was only there that my feet finally touched the ground.

Amelia’s eighty-eight-string zither was ready on the stage. All that was left was for her to step up beside it.

“WHOAAAAA!!!”

Before I could take my seat, however, the venue suddenly erupted into cheers.

But why? Amelia hasn’t even gone up on the stage yet...

It didn’t take long for me to realize that this venue was filled almost entirely with monsters, and they were cheering for me. I appreciated the sentiment, of course, but Amelia could never get onstage if they kept making all this ruckus.

I raised my hand, gesturing for them to quiet down.

Will this suffice? I wondered for a second, but it was a needless worry—the entire venue turned deathly silent the next moment. I could hardly believe that there were over ten thousand monsters—plus a few humans—in this venue. My ears were even ringing now.

For some reason, Lardon chuckled.

Before I could even ask her what was so funny, Amelia quietly walked up the stairs and stepped onto the stage.

.296

As the venue was overcome with pin-drop silence, Amelia slowly made her way to the center of the stage. Standing before her zither, she then turned her gaze toward me.

Our eyes locked.

I felt like she was trying to convey something to me through her gaze—something clear and firm, far from the guilt and timidness she had shown me before.

Slowly, I nodded. Was this the right response? I wasn’t quite sure—I’d just done it as a sort of signal for her to start.

A gentle smile formed on Amelia’s lips, and she finally sat in front of her zither. Her hands gracefully reached toward the strings—but before plucking any, Amelia took in a breath and began to sing.

Caught off guard, I turned stiff in my seat. Her voice was more beautiful and more mesmerizing than any tune an instrument could hope to play.

“So she begins her performance a cappella,” Lardon mused.

Her melodious voice—pure and unaccompanied—struck right through me like lightning, numbing my brain and sending a shudder through my body.

Finally, as the enthralling opener came to an end, Amelia took the quickest of breaths before setting her fingers on her zither and continuing the song with accompaniment.

I had no words for what came next.

Her sweet voice. The perfect instrument. This venue made just for her.

All of these came together to give me the most overwhelming experience of my life. In this dreamlike haze, none of the simplistic words my mind could muster would have done her performance justice.

I hardly remembered anything after that. Only the raw and unbridled emotion, carved directly into my soul and resounding deeply in my heart.

Later that night, the streets of the nightless city were filled with more cheer and vigor than usual. Drinks were passed around, lively chatter melded in the air, and monsters and humans alike made merry together.

I’d only ever seen celebrations of this caliber during the harvest festival or a saint’s birthday. This one, however, was a consequence of Amelia’s concert. Her stunning performance naturally boosted everyone’s moods, leading to this lively postconcert party.

Meanwhile, away from all the merriment, gazing at them from a terrace in the palace, was me.

“Are you still out of it?” Lardon asked.

“Lardon... No, I’m back now. Uh, mostly. I’m still in bliss, though...”

“I’m afraid I can’t quite relate... From everyone’s reactions, it must have been quite the performance.”

“Yeah, that was...perfection. All my preparations were totally worth it.”

“Hmm... So, what now?”

“Huh?”

“I am asking about that girl.”

“Well... Don’t ask me. It’s up to Amelia what she wants to do.”

“Oh? You’re certain about this?” For some reason, Lardon sounded genuinely surprised.

“What do you mean by that?”

“Hah... So you haven’t noticed? Well, well... This is rather amusing.”

“What?” I was only getting more confused by the second.

It sounded like she’d noticed something that she was also expecting me to. The answer probably lay somewhere in the concert. Had I missed something obvious? Frowning, I retraced my memories...but unfortunately, nothing really came to mind.

“How surprising. I never would have thought that would slip past you.”

“What did? Explain it to me.”

“I ask you again: Did you not notice anything...related to magic?”

“To magic...?” That cleared my mind a bit. If this thing I’d failed to notice was related to magic, then Lardon’s disbelief made a whole lot of sense now. “Sorry... I really have no clue.”

“Hmm... Was that song truly that mesmerizing?”

“What was it? Can you tell me?”

“Very well. It was your mana.”

“My mana...?” I directed my attention inward, to the mana circulating within me. Nothing was amiss—it was the same as usual.

“Not now,” Lardon said. “When you were listening to the song.”

“Something happened to my mana during the song...?”

“Indeed.” Lardon huffed. “It seems you truly didn’t realize... Very well. While listening to that song, your mana was amplified.”

“What?” My eyes blew wide in shock. “You mean...that happened while she was singing?”

“Correct. It was as if you’d chanted an aria. And so I’d thought you’d be considering stacking the effects of your aria and that girl’s song by now.”

My jaw dropped. I was dumbfounded beyond belief.

.297

I made my way to Amelia’s greenroom backstage, where the monsters’ muffled cheers could still be heard all the way from the main hall.

“Thank you very much!” I exclaimed the moment I stepped inside, bowing from my waist at a near right angle.

“Your Majesty...” Amelia slowly stood from her seat where she’d been catching her breath and returned the gesture, though her bow was a lot more graceful than mine. “I am the one who should be thanking you for preparing this stage for me. I never imagined I could perform for so many people and even monsters.”

“That’s always been my goal.”

“Yes... It certainly has. I really...” Amelia trailed off, her voice dissipating like a wisp.

She was probably about to express her gratitude, but then why the hesitation? Regardless, Amelia had a soft and relaxed expression on her face...like she was really happy and satisfied. That was all I needed.

“Please get some rest,” I told her. “After that stunning performance, I’m sure the elven maids will be especially motivated to look after you. Feel free to ask them for anything you need.”

“Thank you... What are your plans after this, Your Majesty?”

“Well...” I hesitated.

“It’s not like you to hold back when it comes to magic,” Lardon said. “Why not just ask for her cooperation, like you usually would?”

“Amelia’s tired. We don’t have to do it now,” I grumbled. Lardon was right—it wasn’t like me to hold back. But how could I be so shameless as to ask this of Amelia now?

And speaking of things that weren’t like usual...

“Were you...talking with the divine dragon?”

“Huh? Oh, yeah.” I slowly nodded.

Lardon frequently piped in while I conversed with others. The citizens of our country and our associates, like Bruno for example, would normally just back off until we were done talking. But Amelia wasn’t from here, so her cutting in took me by surprise.

“Does she desire something of me?” Amelia asked.

“No, not her... It’s actually me, but...” I trailed off, much like Amelia had earlier but for a different reason entirely. Still, it seemed she heard the bulk of my statement.

“You desire something of me, Your Majesty? Please, ask away.”

“But...”

“I would like to be of help to you.”

“See? The girl says so too. Refraining any more is no longer consideration—just self-righteousness, no?”

“Urgh...” Lardon might have been right. Giving up, I turned to Amelia. “The truth is, my mana was amplified while I listened to you sing.”

“My song...boosted your mana?”

“An ordinary person wouldn’t understand,” Lardon chided. “Explain how an aria works first.”

That completely slipped my mind. Amelia wasn’t familiar with magic, so she wouldn’t understand what I was talking about without a brief explanation.

“You can cast a spell as is or chant an aria beforehand,” I began. “The latter allows you to amplify your mana for stronger spells. Er... Think of it as the difference between a standing jump and a run with an approach.”

“Ah, I see. It sounds similar to how we clear our throats before singing.”

“Uh... I guess so?” It did sound similar, but I couldn’t give her a confident answer when I knew next to nothing about singing. “Anyway, Lardon told me that my mana was amplified while I was listening to you sing. It had the same effect as an aria.”

“Oh my...”

“So, er... I want to try casting a spell with an aria and while listening to you sing, so I was thinking of asking you after you’ve gotten some rest, but Lardon...” I trailed off nervously. “She insists I do it now. She knows I can’t stand not knowing when it comes to magic...”

That wasn’t exactly what she’d said, of course, but that was pretty much what she’d meant.

Once she thought I was done talking, Amelia nodded with a solemn expression. “It would be my honor, Your Majesty. If I can be of any help to your magic endeavors, then by all means.”

“Huh... Really? Aren’t you tired...?”

“The thought of singing for you takes all my exhaustion away.”

“Does it...?”

“Mind over matter,” Lardon supplied. “A common phenomenon among humans.”

Oh, that made sense. I’d only ever heard of it before, but if Lardon was right—which she probably was—now I was also going to see it happen up close. In that case...

“Very well, then. Please lend me a hand,” I said, bowing deeply to Amelia.

“Of course!” Amelia’s voice was bright and chipper, not a hint of fatigue underneath it.

Some time later, the venue was finally vacated. Invigorated by Amelia’s performance, the monsters had swiftly returned to the city to hold an after-party in celebration, leaving the venue completely silent. Regardless, the heat from their cheers and excitement lingered in the air, prickling my skin and lifting my spirits.

Amelia and I stood side by side on the stage.

“For starters... Magic Missile, forty-one rounds!”

Forgoing an aria, I unleashed magic missiles toward the center of the venue. Arrows of mana rained down on one specific point, causing a loud explosion.

I turned to Amelia. “The number of spells I can cast at once will increase along with my mana. At base, I can multicast forty-one spells. With an aria, it’s ninety-seven—no, a bit over a hundred.”

“Then, with my song, you could easily surpass a hundred,” Amelia surmised. “I understand. In that case, allow me to sing for you.”

“Thank you.”

Amelia walked over to her zither. Just as she had during her concert, she brushed her fingers over the strings and began to play a tune. After a brief overture, her silky voice filled the air, mingling with the harmonious notes and producing a most mesmerizing melody. With the magical sound enhancement I’d installed into this venue, my ears were blessed by the best music to have ever existed.

Her splendorous performance deeply moved me. But this time, I made sure to keep my wits about me. This was an experiment, after all, and Amelia had gone out of her way to help.

I looked inward and found exactly what Lardon had described—my mana was amplified the same way as when I chanted an aria. Now, it was time to put it to the test. I never could have brought myself to do this during the concert earlier, but now I had no need to hold back.

I held my right hand out and chanted, “Magic Missile, ninety-seven rounds!”

From my palm came nearly a hundred magic missiles, once again converging into the same spot as earlier.

“Ohh!” My eyes sparkled in excitement. I hadn’t chanted an aria, but I managed the same number as if I had, all thanks to Amelia’s song.

Naturally, the experiment wasn’t over just yet. After seeing this, who wouldn’t want to try using it along with an aria?

“Amelia Emilia Claudia...”

I chanted an aria as Amelia’s song continued to fill the air. My mana swelled, my spirit was lifted...and I felt myself surpass my limit as easily as hopping over a roadside pebble.

A hundred and one... A hundred and three... A hundred and nine...!

I counted my rising mana under my breath as I grasped my new, rising limit. Finally...

“Magic Missile, 199 rounds!”

An enormous rain of arrows blasted through the air. It was the greatest number of magic missiles I’d ever unleashed to date.

Amelia’s “Love”

Ding dong!

A magical chime rang through the house. To the owner, Amelia, the sound was quite a change from the door knocker she was accustomed to, as was having an entire place to herself.

“Coming!” She rushed to the front with light steps and opened the door. Outside was a giant carrying a box on his shoulder.

“Apologies for the wait, Lady Amelia. I’ve brought your groceries for the week.”

“Thank you! C-Come on in.” Amelia hurriedly stepped aside.

The giant had to duck his head just to cross the doorway—naturally, as they were much larger than humans despite their similar forms. He was also incredibly burly. Amelia couldn’t help but tense up.

The giant set down the box in the kitchen, then swiftly returned. “I shall take my leave now.”

“Th-Thank you very much.”

Amelia saw him off, then once the door was shut, she breathed a sigh. “I need to get used to this...” she muttered with a grimace. Her whispers echoed emptily through the halls of this large, spacious house.

Magic City Liam was populated almost entirely by monsters. Contrary to common perception, however, the streets were lively and filled with vigor. Most might assume that Amelia would stand out as a human, but that would be yet another mistaken assumption—none of the monsters saw her any differently as she strolled through the streets.

“Lady Amelia, when’s your next concert?”

“We tried asking Lord Liam, but he said that it’s all up to you!”

“I wanna hear you sing again!”

Far from it, they were all incredibly fond of her. From the beautiful elves to the most frightening monsters, everyone approached her with bright and friendly smiles.

“O-Okay...” Amelia strained her lips into a smile, desperately hiding her befuddlement as she responded to their greetings.

They were all so amicable that she couldn’t help but wonder: Were they actually just humans in costume? But that couldn’t be.

“Whoa, would ya look at that!” marveled a monster as he looked up at a translucent panel floating in the air.

Naturally, the others gathered curiously around him. “What is it?”

“Take a look at the latest topic,” he said.

“Latest topic, latest topic... Oh! It’s Sli and Lime!”

“Their bounties went up, see?”

“Three hundred coins, S-rank targets... Wow!”

A crowd began to gather as the air was filled with chatter. On the panel were two adorable slimes bouncing and jiggling about. Without the supplementary text, nobody would have suspected them to be such high-paying bounty targets.

Only in a nation of monsters could a rise in bounty be cause for celebration. It should have made sense to Amelia by now, yet still, it boggled her mind.

“Everyone is so bright and cheery...”

“Is it so strange?”

Amelia turned toward the gentle voice beside her and found that she recognized its owner. It was Jodie, one of the few humans in this city.

“Ms. Jodie...”

Jodie’s smile was as gentle as her voice. “Still struggling to adjust?”

“Huh? N-No, not at all...”

“It’s not so strange, is it? Especially once you know why they are all so happy about it.” Jodie giggled as she watched Amelia tilt her head in confusion. “It stems from the one thing that brings all these monsters together: Everyone loves Liam.”

“Ah...” Amelia slowly nodded. She’d had much to think about throughout her time here, and among them was the realization that everybody in this city loved Liam. It hadn’t come up explicitly at any point in conversation, but nobody would deny it anyway.

“Everybody loves Liam, and at the same time, he is just a bundle of joy and positivity. Naturally, they all grew to emulate him.” Jodie’s smile deepened as she looked Amelia in the eye. “You can relate, can’t you?”

“Yes, I... Huh?” Amelia blinked, then gasped. Instantly, she realized what Jodie meant by her question. She had seen right through Amelia’s feelings for Liam. “W-W-W-W-Wait—” she stuttered, as flustered as a maiden in love.

Before she could even come up with what to say, Jodie smiled and said, “There are all sorts of love, no?”

“Huh...?”

“Take Gai, for example.”

“Gai... What?!” At the mention of the giant, Amelia’s thoughts steered toward an unbelievable direction—

“Or like Sli and Lime.”

“Ah... Ahhh.”

Just like that, her rampaging thoughts were swiftly extinguished. She finally understood what Jodie meant.

“See? There are all sorts of love, aren’t there?”

“Yes...”

“But the most important thing of all,” Jodie continued, “is that whatever the form, nobody will ever condemn your love for Liam. So don’t worry, okay?”

Amelia hung her head. “Okay...” She realized that she had just been comforted. This woman felt like a patient and caring mother.

“In any case, you have a rough road ahead of you,” Jodie mused.

“Huh? Wh-Why?”

“Nobody will condemn you, but your rival is Lord Dyphon.”

Amelia grimaced. Her rival—her love rival—was Dyphon. Even if she was free to pursue her feelings for Liam, an immense wall loomed before her. However, a maiden in love was not to be underestimated. A powerful rival was no reason for Amelia to back down.

“I will give it my all,” she declared with burning resolve.

Jodie giggled. “I’m cheering you on.”

This was no more than a small conversation in one corner of Magic City Liam. Most people would know this place for its incredible magic, but not many outside its borders were privy to the citizens’ one point of commonality: their broad and all-encompassing love for Liam.

Afterword

Light novels are written by humans to depict human lives.

Hello, everyone! It’s nice to meet you, or maybe it’s “long time no see” for some? I’m Nazuna Miki, a Taiwanese light novel author. I sincerely thank you for picking up a copy of I’m a Noble on the Brink of Ruin, So I Might as Well Try Mastering Magic: Volume 8.

Thanks to your continued support, we were able to push out the eighth volume. This book focuses on Amelia, one of the three songstresses whose names Liam uses in his aria. Putting in every possible effort for someone you respect and admire is a trope I’ve loved dearly from the series YAWARA!, so for this volume I’ve melded it with this series’ main concept of Liam resolving everything with magic while facing challenges but no real obstacles. Once again, it’s the same as previous volumes. So, to longtime readers, you can bring a copy to the register without any worries. To new readers, you may feel free to pick up the book from the first volume.

Lastly, my words of thanks:

To Kabotya the illustrator, thank you as always. Amelia looks amazing!

To my editor and TO Books, thank you for publishing volume 8! Thank you, thank you!

And to all the readers, I offer you my most heartfelt gratitude.

I now set my pen down while praying that this volume will sell well so I can bring you the next one too.

Sincerely,

Nazuna, January 2024