Devour the Holy Knight's Power!

We had returned to the royal capital and were standing before His Majesty the King in audience.

The people in the castle seemed grateful that we had cleared away the landslide and reopened the highway, but they were apparently arguing over the fact that they had subsequently granted asylum to Akira and the others.

Despite all those problems, they intended to praise us and reward us for reopening the highway and rescuing the princess.

What concerned me was the look on the queen's face when she said that. She looked as though she were testing me again.

Seeing that, I suddenly wanted to make the arrogant royals squirm, so I demanded a reward that could only be called unreasonable.

"Then I would like to have Her Highness the Princess."

Everyone in the audience chamber began murmuring at once.

"W-what insolence!" "The arrogance is simply outrageous!"

Hearing the ministers' words, I raised my voice.

"I have heard that the previous Holy Knight married into the royal family as his reward. If so, I have the right to marry into the royal family as well."

I wasn't seriously saying that I wanted to do anything like this. It was merely harassment.

"Ugh!"

My words must have struck the ministers where it hurt. They were completely at a loss for words and stood frozen.

"Holy Knight?" "What is a Holy Knight?" "What are you talking about?"

The knights around us had apparently failed to follow the conversation, so they looked at one another in confusion.

As I had suspected, the fact that the princess had used the power of the blessing to make me a Holy Knight had been kept secret.

"Oh? It seems the common folk have not been informed. In that case—shall I explain to everyone how the Kingdom was founded and the role the Holy Knight played?"

"Wait! Wait!" "You mustn't!" "Stop!"

The chancellor and the ministers began panicking. At their level, they apparently knew the truth about the nation's origins.

The royal guards could probably keep a secret, but if rumors spread among this many lower-ranking knights, controlling them would be impossible.

It was no wonder the important men were panicking.

The audience chamber was in an uproar, but the queen stood there silently. Had she shut down completely? She did not move at all.

Then the princess came running over, her white dress swirling around her.

"You! You said you didn't want to become a toy for the royal family!"

"Yes, I have no desire to become a toy for the royal family, but making the royal family my toys is a Holy Knight's duty."

"You intended to do this from the beginning...?"

"Haha—who knows?"

"Then you intend to do all sorts of things to me that cannot be spoken aloud? Like in those naughty books?!"

"Of course. I'll examine every inch of your body and make you my toy."

The queen began twitching as she listened to the foolish conversation between the princess and me.

"And then you'll impregnate me at the end, won't you? You'll make my belly swell, won't you?"

"Well—that depends on how things proceed from here..."

"Kenichi!"

The princess came running over and threw her arms around me.

A great commotion rose from the people in the hall as well.

I had absolutely no intention of making a move on a member of the royal family, and I had only been carried away by the moment. Still, if the princess did not reject the idea, perhaps this sort of life would not be so bad.

I had been looking straight ahead, but just as the princess hugged me, someone hugged me from behind as well.

"Lilith! I'm going to have Kenichi's baby first!"

"What are you saying, Anemone? Given our ages, I should obviously be first!"

As the three of us stood tangled together, black mist suddenly burst from the queen's body while she watched in silence.

"What the?!"

――UNFAIR――.

The queen's mouth had definitely formed those words. In the next instant, her body seemed to twitch, and the blade of a longsword stopped beside my neck.

She had probably drawn the sword from her Item Box.

As soon as I understood what was happening, something was dragged out of my body, and an intense hunger assaulted me from within.

The blade had probably been stopped by the Holy Knight's power, and the energy in my body had been drained as payment.

"Mother!"

I grabbed the princess and Anemone, who were trying to shield me, and leaped backward. Then I took bananas and energy bars from my Item Box and began eating them.

I didn't know whether that would be enough in time, but I had no choice but to eat and replenish my energy.

Tension ran through the knights in the audience chamber, and Akira and the others behind me also entered combat formation, keeping everyone around us in check.

"H○ace summon!"

Primula and Annerose-san climbed into the vehicle I had taken from my Item Box.

"Bell, stay with them!"

"Nyaa."

"Anemone, protect Primula and the others!"

"What about you, Kenichi?"

"I'll manage somehow with the beastfolk! Akira! Watch our backs!"

"Leave it to me! Clementina, don't charge in, all right?!"

"I know! Do I look that foolish to you?!"

"What makes you think you don't? Sensei, I'm counting on you too."

"Sigh... Wherever we go, it seems to be much the same."

Seeing us desperately deal with the situation, the queen let out a high laugh.

"Hohoho! I thought your head had been sliced off in one blow, but it really is true that you became a Holy Knight!"

Damn it. I didn't know why she had targeted me, but she had certainly gone for the kill. There was no way that had been anything but a serious attack.

I wasn't going to hold back anymore.

I answered the queen while eating a banana.

"Munch, munch—Your Majesty the Queen! You said before that if I got angry, I was allowed to strike back, right?!"

"Oh? How amusing! You intend to fight me?"

"Of course I do, you fucking bitch!"

I threw the banana peel I had been eating at the queen's feet.

"You insolent fool!"

I took weapons and a large polycarbonate shield from my Item Box and handed them to the beastfolk who had come up beside me.

I had not even seen the queen approach. Against a monster this fast, even bringing out heavy machinery would probably not be enough.

Heavy machinery could be useful for mowing down a large number of random soldiers, but my opponent was only one person.

"Myaree, Nyamena! Just like we practiced!"

"Got it, nya!" "Leave it to me, boss!"

"Hohoho! You think a few beastfolk can stop me?!"

"Before that, I have one request!"

The queen seemed surprised by my sudden request. She stopped and looked at me in astonishment.

"What is it? Speak."

"Please do not send the knights against us. I do not want to increase the number of deaths."

"Haha—you have nerve. Did you hear that, knights? Do not interfere! Anyone who enters my reach will be cut down without question!"

The queen looked around at the knights with a confident expression. However, Myaree and Nyamena began applying pressure from both sides.

"Mother! Please stop!"

I pushed the princess back as she shouted. She would only get in the way of the fighting.

"Hmph!"

Nyamena must have gotten too close to the queen's reach, because the upper part of the large shield she was holding was sliced clean off.

That sword had cut a polycarbonate shield in half—something a large beastman had only managed to scratch when he struck it with all his strength.

"Whoa!"

Nyamena hurriedly leaped backward, and at the same time the queen's attention was briefly drawn away by Myaree's feint from the right.

"Chance!"

I took bear spray from my Item Box and sprayed a yellow mist at the queen.

Because it spread out, it should still be effective even from a short distance away.

"Is that your secret weapon?!"

The queen easily dodged the yellow mist I sprayed—or so I thought...

She stepped on the banana peel I had thrown, slipped, and ended up doing the splits with her legs at a hundred-and-eighty-degree angle, completely losing her balance.

"Eek!"

I sprayed the bear spray at the queen, who had let out a somewhat cute cry.

"Take this! Eat it!"

The mist shot forcefully from the can and struck the queen in the face, turning it yellow as though someone had painted it.

"Aaaagh! Cough, cough, cough, cough!"

No matter how skilled she was with a sword, she could not fight properly in this condition.

To make sure, I sprayed her with the bear spray again.

"Aaaagh! Hiiieee! Cough, cough!"

The queen, dyed yellow and streaming tears and mucus, thrashed about on the floor before beginning to vomit there.

"Whoa, that's nasty!" "I never want to get hit by something like that, nya!"

"I sprayed a poisonous mist, so don't come any closer!"

"Got it, boss. My nose is starting to hurt too." "Nyaa!"

Once I confirmed that the beastfolk had moved back, I took a stun gun from my Item Box.

Just as when I had used bear spray at the inn, Natural Heal was working, so I seemed unaffected myself.

However, I had sprayed so much that my eyes hurt badly.

I approached the queen and pressed the black stun gun against her. Blue-white sparks flew as electricity coursed through her body.

"Gah!"

The queen stopped moving instantly. I grabbed her under both arms and lifted her high into the air.

Ordinarily, there was no way I could lift a woman so high. This must have been another effect of the Holy Knight's power.

"This is the Holy Knight's power—the source of the royal family! Take this!"

As I began using my power, the queen I held overhead started thrashing about.

It was incredible that she could move this much while being shocked by the stun gun.

"Hiiieeeeeee!"

No matter how much she struggled, there was no way she could use her full strength in this condition. The queen arched her tall body backward and began twitching and convulsing.

"Aaaaaaahhhhhh!!!"

Along with the queen's scream, fluids sprayed from every opening in her body, dripping onto the floor and forming puddles.

Akira stopped the knights as they moved to rescue the queen, who continued screaming in such an indecent state.

"Knights, don't move! Your feet are covered in oil! One fire spell and you'll all be burned to a crisp!"

As expected of someone with extensive combat experience—he had already taken precautions. I had no idea how he had done it, but the entire huge hall was covered in oil.

When the fluids pouring from the queen's body finally ran dry, a loud voice rang out through the audience chamber.

"Stop this at once!!!"

I turned toward the voice and saw His Majesty the King standing there with a bright-red face.

Until then, the queen had directed everything while the king remained a mere figurehead, but he came over to me and held out his hand.

He probably wanted me to hand over the queen.

I silently handed her over as requested, but when the king tried to lift her in his arms, he fell on his rear and gave up.

The king called for the maids. Several women came running, lifted the queen between them, and disappeared through the rear door.

The knights surrounding us looked around in confusion, clearly unsure what they were supposed to do.

Afterward, the king spoke with the chancellor and the ministers. When they finished, the chancellor came over and announced to everyone,

"Everyone, quiet down! His Majesty the King has given his order. No one is to lay a hand on the guests here! Anyone who disobeys will be sentenced to death! This is a royal decree!"

Hearing that, the knights returned to their original positions, but because the floor was covered in oil, one after another slipped and fell.

Wearing leather-soled shoes or iron armor on an oiled stone floor would certainly make it easy to slip.

Akira laughed when he saw that.

"Hahaha! You need more training!"

"Akira, you saved us. Sorry things turned into this mess."

"Don't worry about it. We're even. Still, what happened? What did the queen take issue with?"

I had no idea either.

"Who knows? I thought I heard her say 'unfair,' but..."

"Unfair? What the hell does that mean? More importantly, did you see it? His Majesty had a tent pitched in his crotch!"

"Huh? Really? I was only looking at his red face..."

"You think he's going to do it with the queen now that she can't move?"

Akira made an obscene gesture with his hands.

"What? No way!"

"Some people have that kind of fetish, you know."

"They do?"

According to what the queen had said, the king's, well, equipment had been useless in front of her.

Now that it was erect, did he think this was his chance? Was that really what was happening? I had no idea.

"Man, our Emperor is quite a handful, but this queen is something else too."

Akira had a point. I had absolutely no idea how things had ended up like this.

While I was talking with Akira, the chancellor came over.

"Your Excellency! We can go home now, can't we?"

"Ah, please wait a little longer. His Majesty the King wishes to discuss your reward in person, so we ask that you remain a while longer."

"Ehhh?"

"Please, I beg you."

The chancellor bowed his head.

"I do want a reward, but there aren't going to be any more troublesome incidents, are there?"

"I stake my honor on it—"

"By the way, was this farce planned from the beginning too?"

"No, absolutely not! It was supposed to end with an ordinary discussion of your reward, but..."

"The queen's sudden madness?"

"That is the only way I can describe it."

Judging from the chancellor's behavior, the whole thing had clearly been completely unexpected.

"Could the reason for her madness have been the unreasonable demand I made?"

Just then, the princess interrupted.

"How can you call it an unreasonable demand?! It is only natural for Kenichi to ask for a reward! In fact, one princess is hardly enough!"

"Your Highness, please do not make things more difficult for His Majesty the King."

The chancellor was caught between everyone on all sides. I felt sorry for him. I had nothing against the man himself.

"I don't care! If Father refuses to acknowledge it, then I shall leave the royal family entirely!"

"Please do not make such a rash decision."

The princess seemed to be extremely furious after what had happened.

"Sigh... I don't understand any of this, but perhaps we should return for now..."

"Yes, let us do that."

"Will you not discuss matters with the members of the royal family, Lilith-sama?"

"I have become yours, so call me Lilith! Besides, I have nothing left to discuss with those Round Table Conference people!"

Judging from the princess's behavior, the argument must have been intense. No matter how much they had argued, the power of the blessing had already been used, and I had become a Holy Knight.

It was too late to tell me to quit being a Holy Knight. That was impossible.

"Those old fossils even doubted my chastity!"

"So they think I've already laid hands on Lilith-sama?"

"Exactly! And no -sama, either. Call me Lilith!"

The knights surrounding us looked dissatisfied, but now that the chancellor had declared it a royal decree, they could hardly disobey.

We began packing up and brought Primula and Annerose-san out of the H○ace.

Primula was in a bad mood when she got out of the vehicle. It was probably because of the princess, but the princess herself immediately spoke up.

"Primula—didn't you say that once Kenichi became a Holy Knight and was granted his title, a noblewoman or royal would be assigned to him as his principal wife?"

"T-that's true, Your Highness, but..."

"You should call me Lilith too! I am of the same status as you now."

"Even so..."

She was clearly having trouble accepting it.

"Well, Kenichi, shall we head back?"

"Yeah, let's do that."

"Sorry for all the fuss, everyone! Oh, and please clean up the oil we spilled on the floor, hahaha!"

The knights could only grit their teeth at Akira, but cleaning it up was their job.

Cleaning up after the important people was the duty of the underlings.

"By the way, Akira, how did you spread the oil so neatly?"

"Heh, that's easy. I applied golem technology."

"Oh, I see."

We had done something like a landslide by gathering and moving earth, and apparently he had done the same thing with oil.

He had gathered the oil he created inside a golem core and made it run across the floor.

As expected, Akira had plenty of practical combat experience.

Besides, this could be applied in other ways too—like sprinkling water around and then electrocuting people.

Anemone could not use electric magic, but we could use a stun gun or batteries instead.

We could connect the vehicle batteries available in Shangri-La in series. They had enough power to weld metal, after all.

In fact, there was even an illegal fishing method that used batteries to send an electric current through a river and catch fish.

When I tried to store the H○ace in my Item Box, Akira stopped me.

"Why don't we drive it through the castle corridors?"

"What? The corridors are certainly wide enough, so I suppose we could drive through them, but—"

"Hahaha—then let's try it!"

Akira was laughing uproariously, but even though I was tired from the battle, walking all the way back to the rear courtyard did seem like a bit of a chore.

I opened the sliding door and had everyone climb into the H○ace.

"Are you sure this is okay?"

The H○ace Commuter had eleven seats, so we could just barely fit everyone inside.

It was cramped, but getting to the rear courtyard by car would be quick.

We opened the audience chamber's large double doors, and I drove the vehicle forward, black smoke billowing from its diesel engine.

"Yahoo! Go, go, go!"

Akira was in full "Woohoo!" mode.

The castle corridors were wide and high-ceilinged, with stone floors. There was plenty of room for the H○ace, but the corners were a tight fit.

Akira had spread oil across the floor, so some of it must have gotten on the tires, making them slip a little.

There were problems, but driving was still incredibly fast! We reached the rear courtyard in no time.

"Yeah! Driving a car through a castle is a pretty rare and valuable experience."

Akira was certainly right, but...

"Most people wouldn't even think of trying it, would they?"

"Not usually. But come on! This is another world!"

I didn't think another world had anything to do with it, but never mind.

Bell got out of the H○ace and began patrolling, disappearing into the back of the garden.

Seeing that, the beastfolk followed after her.

We set out tables and chairs in front of the house and relaxed.

Akira and the others took tables and chairs from his own Item Box as well.

The chancellor had guaranteed that we were safe now, so presumably everything was fine.

However—

"How did this happen?"

The words slipped out of my mouth, and Akira reacted.

"Yeah, right? Why don't you ask her herself?"

"The queen?"

"Who else?"

"Hmm..."

I asked the princess too, just in case, but—

"I don't know! All I can say is that she truly went mad! At our discussion yesterday, everyone had agreed that you should be rewarded for the great deed of reopening the pass."

"Did I do something wrong? Hmm...?"

"She was difficult by nature, but I had thought she was not unreasonable... Yet she became somewhat strange after hearing rumors about you in the royal capital."

"What? It goes back that far? Lilith-sama—I mean, even Lilith doesn't know, so how could I?"

Naturally, everyone else could only tilt their heads in confusion as well.

I was tired, so I slid down out of my chair.

The ground was hard, so I took an air mattress from my Item Box and lay down on it.

Then Anemone and Lilith climbed on top of me.

"I always sleep with Kenichi!"

"I have the right to sleep with him too."

"Mmph!"

While the two of them glared at each other on my stomach, Bell returned with prey in her mouth.

It was the blue bird we had eaten here before.

"Nyaa."

"Oh! You caught some prey for us? Thanks."

Myaree and Nyamena were holding prey as well. When had they caught it?

"Butcher the birds and prepare them. Let's have fried chicken today."

"Oh! Sounds good. That crispy brown stuff goes great with booze." "It's delicious, too!"

However, Akira reacted to the mention of fried chicken.

"Fried chicken?"

"Want some?"

"I do, but—you couldn't prepare enough for our group too, could you?"

"If ready-made food is fine, I can get some."

I bought Osaka ○sho fried chicken from Shangri-La—1.2 kilograms for 3,500 yen.

"Here you go."

"○sho, huh?! Then do they have fried rice too?"

"Give me a second."

The same page also had fried rice in bags—ten bags for 3,000 yen.

"Here you go."

"Seriously?! Then if it's ○sho, they have to have gyoza too, right?"

"Gyoza...?"

I searched for it—and there it was: 150 pieces for 3,500 yen.

"Here. That makes one Imperial silver coin altogether—10,000 yen."

He gave me a silver coin.

"Oooooh! Sensei! Warm these up with magic!"

"You made the fried chicken, Akira, but is this food too?"

Reiran-san peered at the fried rice and gyoza.

"That's right!"

Apparently he had run an okonomiyaki restaurant in the Empire, but he had made fried chicken as well.

"You sold fried chicken too?"

"Yeah. Meat's expensive here, so each piece cost around 400 to 500 yen. But it sold. Eventually nobles even invited me to their homes to cook for them."

There had been an event where nobles tried commoners' food, and Akira had been invited to a noble's mansion for it.

"How did they like your cooking?"

"They loved it. But that's where I met Brünnhild. You never know where life will take you."

I never would have imagined that his meeting with the Emperor of the Empire had happened under circumstances like that.

"Your life really has been full of twists and turns."

"Fried chicken and gyoza? That calls for beer!"

Akira took beer from his own Item Box and began drinking.

He also snacked on fried chicken and gyoza.

"Ahhh! Delicious!"

He closed his eyes and shook his head in bliss.

"You call this bizarre stuff food?"

"Shut up, Clementina! Go eat grass or something!"

"I shall try it. No, I must eat whatever Akira-sama eats."

Even as she said that, Annerose-san picked up a piece of fried chicken.

"It's delicious!"

Of course it was. Fried chicken was popular enough to sell even from a roadside stand, so the people of this world would enjoy it too.

"Akira, pile the garbage in one place. I'll dispose of it."

"Okay."

Anemone had been watching Akira and the others eat, and now she tugged on my shirt.

"Kenichi, I want to eat that too."

"Then let's have dinner a little early. We'll put the birds they caught in my Item Box for now."

I bought the same set for Anemone that I had bought for Akira, emptied everything onto large plates, and had Anemone warm it with magic.

"Warm!"

The magically heated food soon began sending up hot steam.

"Hey, boss—I want some ale too..."

Since Nyamena wanted ale, I brought some out for her.

"Yay!" "Kenichi is too soft on Tigress, nya!"

Everyone ate fried chicken and gyoza. Those who could eat rice also ate the fried rice.

"Kenichi, what is this fluffy rice dish?"

Lilith was staring at the fried rice.

"It's the grain you always eat, fried in even more oil."

"Oh—munch, munch. This is delicious too!"

She really would eat anything. Eating fried rice made me crave soup, so I took some from my Item Box and passed it around to everyone.

It looked like we were done with ready-made food for the day, and I was beginning to relax when Lilith started eating the fried rice at an incredible pace.

My family and Akira's family were enjoying their meal together, but suddenly everyone's movements stopped.

Lilith stood frozen with a spoonful of fried rice in her hand.

"Hm? What's wrong, everyone?"

"Hey, Kenichi."

When I began turning toward Akira's voice, someone suddenly hugged me from behind.

A sweet scent mingled with the smell of mustard, along with the warmth of a body pressed against mine.

"Holy Knight-sama—"

"Whoa! The Queen?!"

The person hugging me was the queen in her white dress.