** Queen of the Night – Strategy Conference Room **

The preparations on the side of the Lev Magic Empire were complete. They had completed the analysis on the Kruvan Holy Kingdom, the Saint Knight Kingdom, and the Keith Gran Federation.

The Saint Knight Kingdom was offering support under the reasons “A knight does not abandon his neighbor” and “Pride”. They do not seem to be seeking a clear compensation.

While expressing support, Keith Gran Federation did not give any reason for their decision, but the Empire decided to welcome the representative from Keith Gran in order to keep Kruvan in check. The representative was waiting in the waiting room.

Two of the finest chairs inside the Queen of the Night were prepared for the meeting – they had no way of knowing that Lark had been napping on those chairs, though. The Emperor sat on one, while the other was prepared for the former Holy King.

In addition to the senior statesmen, the Emperor prepared five soldiers with “Heroic Gear”, which looked like an unconventional metal equipment reminiscent of an ancient work of art. On a side note, these Heroic Gears were inoperable due to unknown reasons, so it was prepared only as a bluff. The Heroic Gears which are operable, were used actively in the front lines.

「——From Kruvan Holy Kingdom, Duke Grenjido and Earl Sillys have arrived.」

「Umu.」the Emperor nodded.

All of it was prepared for this negotiation.

How to use Kruvan to capture the Red Gate? Will they move as the Empire wants? — That is the main point.

The double door to the room opened. An astonishingly large man, donning a thick chest plate, appeared.

His blue hair was glowing, indicating that he was the former Holy King, Duke Grenjido.

「Duke Grenjido has arrived at the behest of Her Majesty the Holy King of Kruvan Holy Kingdom.」

「I welcome your visit from the bottom of my heart, Duke. Please, take a seat.」

The Emperor offered the same chair as himself, but was surprised to see Earl Sillys who appeared behind the Duke and a girl who was clearly in her teens.

From the color of their hair and eyes, they seem to be parent and child. But no matter how high of a noble they might be, is it really appropriate to bring a child into a stage of diplomacy?

The girl, dressed in a chic lapis lazuli dark blue dress, carried herself dignifiedly. Furthermore, the girl’s facial features captivated even the Emperor who had become accustomed to seeing Anastasia, who is from the High Elf Royalty known for their beauty.

Her eyes gave off a feeling of intelligence more so than innocence. Her perfectly combed hair flowed inward to the contours of her face. Her healthy pink lips seemed slightly crimson.

「Your Majesty, I don’t think sitting on this chair will be a good idea.」

The Emperor finally came to his senses after being called out by Grenjido.

「..Meaning?」

「I would like to avoid being seen as the same stature as Your Majesty. I am a simple duke and a nobleman.」

「All right.」

This answer was expected, so when the Emperor gave a signal, a lower grade chair was brought in.

Grenjido is the “former” Holy King, so he does not want to be treated as one would the Holy King. The Emperor felt that it was his true feelings.

(Not the kind of man who cares about appearances, huh.)

It was also necessary to determine what kind of man Grenjido is in order to proceed with negotiations in an advantageous manner.

Grenjido noticed that the Emperor’s gaze shifted to his side.

「I am accompanied by Earl Sillys, who is in charge of domestic affairs in our country.」

「A pleasure to make your acquaintance, Your Majesty the Emperor of Lev Magic Empire.」

As Earl Sillys put his hand on his chest and bowed down, behind him, his daughter knelt a knee and bowed her head.

「Esteemed Duke, what about the child?」

「She is Eva, the daughter of Earl Sillys. I brought her along due to necessity.」

Grenjido’s lips curved into a grin.

「Let’s talk about that later.」

**

The Empire’s side explained the situation on the front line. It was Abba who did the talking. He began with an overview of the situation, progressed in a smooth chronological order, and within the span of 5 minutes, Grenjido and the others understood exactly what was happening currently.

「I understand. Your city was destroyed overnight and now you have no choice but to engage in ceaseless combat. I deeply sympathise with the Lev people.」Grenjido’s words, which he said with his eyes cast down, were quivering.

When they realized that it came from the bottom of the duke’s heart, several of the soldiers, armed with heroic gear, became teary-eyed. Even the chief of military affairs was choked with tears.

「The Holy Kingdom will cooperate as much as possible. I presume the ultimate goal is to block the Red Gate, but how will you go about it?」

「Indeed. We can’t observe what is going on with Red Gate because we can’t even get close to it at the moment. So we have drawn up a four stage plan. The first stage is pushing up the front, the second stage is analyzing the Red Gate with an observation team, and the third stage is researching the Red Gate. The 4th stage will be the blockade operation.」the Emperor said.

「I think that sounds appropriate.」

After that, a detailed talk about the front lines was held.

「By the way, I don’t think the Empire can thank the Holy Kingdom’s kindness until the country recovers from this crisis.」

「Of course. We are not going to ask anything in this situation.」Grenjido said clearly.

In other words, it is uncertain whether the Holy Kingdom will overcharge the Empire when it recovers to the original state.

「Thank you for your reassuring words. However, Duke, even you will not be able to march into battle without a prospect of reward, right? So, I would like to suggest.. how about our state-of-the-art airship, Queen of the Night, as a thank you?」

The words spoken by the Emperor caused the senior statesman, who had not been informed in advance, to look flabbergasted. And one of the soldiers with Heroic Gear unintentionally dropped his weapon.

「Well.. I am grateful, but are you sure?」

From Grenjido’s point of view, the Empire brought up the talks of remuneration first, and furthermore, promised something which the Empire of the past would have never agreed to. So it was natural that he was bewildered.

「If promising the Queen of the Night in advance will allow you to march bravely to the front lines, then it is a very cheap price to regain our country.」

「I see..」

Grenjido said, folding his arms.

「Alright. I will communicate it back to my country. I don’t think they will refuse.」

「Thank you.」

「——Actually, I was thinking of making this proposal after fighting in the front lines and getting a better grasp on the situation, but.. I have a request as well.」

The Emperor was wary of the word “request”.

Does he mean for the Empire to recognise the migration of the Lev people who have already entered the Holy Kingdom? Or does he want a mechanic who can operate “Queen of the Night”?

The Emperor waited for the Duke’s next words with caution.

「If we are able to push the front line closer to the Red Gate, please allow me to go in by all means.」

「........」

The Emperor wondered if he misheard the Duke. It was such an incomprehensible request.

「What.. do you mean?」

「If it is possible to cross over to the “Back World”, I want to cross it.」

「........」

When the Emperor looked at the Earl who was next to Grenjido, the handsome-looking Earl was grimacing.

The Duke was dead serious.

「..Why on earth would you do that?」

That was the only thing the Emperor could ask.

「To save our benefactor.」

Grenjido made a clear statement.

「That is the reason why I decided to come to the front line personally and also brought Eva, the secret weapon of our army.」

The Emperor remembered that there was a teenage girl who did not belong in this room.

Unlike her father, Eva did not have a bitter look, but rather, she listened enthusiastically.

「..That girl?」

The Emperor realized that he was just repeating what the other party was saying like a fool, but there wasn’t much else he could do in this situation.

「She has a special power that doesn’t depend on skill. “Magic Eye of Inspire” – it has the power to make the battle on the front line very advantageous towards us.」

「And I, like Duke Grenjido, wish to save a certain person.」

The girl spoke for the first time.

While sounding cool and intelligent, she was passionate when she mentioned “a certain person”.