Fight to the Death! The Audience Chamber

We had come to the royal capital, but it seemed the audience would take some time.

Perhaps they were caught off guard because we arrived in no time at all by car.

Even so, we'd made quite a few detours—we'd even exterminated goblins.

I thought we would finally be granted an audience with His Majesty the King, but there was a bit of a dispute.

There had been an argument over whether the beastfolk and Bell would be allowed into the audience chamber.

But when I stubbornly insisted that we would return home if everyone wasn't allowed to attend the audience together, my request was accepted.

"Boss, you don't have to go that far for us, you know?" "That's right, nya." "Nyaa."

"What are you talking about? I told you before—we're family, aren't we?"

The beastfolk were deeply moved by my words—and of course, I hadn't lied.

But it was also true that I needed their strength in case anything went wrong.

The royal family might make some unreasonable demand, after all.

Even if we had to flee, having the beastfolk carry Anemone and Primula would greatly increase our traveling speed.

If that happened, we could probably shake off any pursuing knights or the like.

In any case, the more fighting strength we had, the better.

We lined up and followed our guide into the castle. We walked along a somewhat dim, long stone corridor covered by a red carpet.

In my original world, every place was brightly lit and filled with light, but this world was full of dim places.

That was no different even inside the castle, the pinnacle of this world, so to speak.

Bell followed silently right behind me, her black fur gleaming.

When I looked at her face, she seemed to be saying, Don't worry. Leave it to me.

Everyone walked in silence, but Nyamena seemed restless and fidgety.

"What's wrong, Tiger? Are you scared, nya?"

"Who says I'm scared?!"

"Still, it may be unprecedented for beastfolk to enter the audience chamber. What do you think about that, guide-san?"

The person walking ahead of me was a young man wearing a deep-green robe that completely concealed his body.

"Who knows? However, if my memory serves me correctly, beastfolk have never entered the audience chamber before."

"There you go, Nyamena. You can brag about this at the tavern."

"Nobody's going to believe me. They'll just call me a liar."

"That's right, nya—nyahaha."

Well, Nyamena was probably right.

"Even Primula looks nervous."

"Naturally. Appearing before His Majesty is a responsibility even my father has never been entrusted with."

"That means you've gone one step beyond your father, Primula."

Unlike her, whose face tightened at even that joke, Anemone was as unfazed as ever.

Rather than being fearless, she might simply not understand how serious this was.

I whispered to her.

"Anemone—for safety's sake, I'm giving you this metal to use as a magic catalyst."

"Okay."

"If things come to the point where you need to use magic, don't hold back. Hit them with everything you've got."

I gave her an aluminum plate. It was a small silver-colored plate with a rubber cord threaded through it so she could tie it around her wrist.

The long corridor ended, and when a large double door with impressive decorations opened, a grand hall greeted us.

The ceiling was as high as the atrium of a building. Windows had been set into it to let in light, and sunlight streamed through them.

Thick pillars stood at regular intervals to support the high ceiling. In the center was a broad, brilliant-red carpet running all the way to the throne at the far end.

Along either side of the carpet stood knights in full plate armor, as well as people who seemed to be nobles dressed in gaudy, multicolored outfits embroidered with gold thread.

But there was one person among them who caught my attention. She wore a long dress with a wide neckline. A gold ornament encircled her waist, and a long slit running up the side of her skirt reached above her hip—she was a mage.

There were many other men and women, young and old, who seemed to be mages, though their clothes weren't quite as flashy.

They were probably guards for the nobles or something—but I had a bad feeling about this.

"Why are there so many nobles gathered here?"

Well, if they had to coordinate the schedules of this many people, it was only natural that preparing the audience would take time.

But now that we had come this far, we couldn't just run away. I'd gone to the trouble of getting the beastfolk admitted to the audience too.

We proceeded through the glittering ranks of nobles and reached the middle of the hall. The nobles' murmurs rose around us.

"Is he the mage?" "He doesn't look like one..." "His Majesty is going too far by allowing beastfolk and animals into the audience chamber."

They were saying whatever they pleased. Well, that was probably how the upper classes saw things.

Normally, these exalted people had no connection whatsoever with commoners like us.

Even so, it felt as though the king was farther away than he should have been...

His Majesty the King sat upon a tall golden throne, wearing a red mantle with white decorations and holding a scepter topped with a large jewel. With his mustache and beard, he looked every inch a king. Beside him sat a woman on a throne just as tall.

She wore a white dress with a low neckline, and her golden hair was tied up at the back of her head with gold and silver ornaments.

She looked to be in her mid-thirties—and even from a distance, it was obvious that she was beautiful.

That must be the queen who was frightening when angered...

We all knelt and bowed deeply.

A man who looked like an official then stepped in front of us. He was tall, with black hair slicked back and a black uniform.

He raised both hands and shouted at the murmuring audience.

"Silence, everyone!"

Once the hall had fallen quiet, the man looked at me and raised his chin slightly.

Ah, I see how this works.

"By invitation of His Majesty the King, I have come: Kenichi, a mage from the frontier, and his family."

"That mage, Kenichi, will now fight a match before His Majesty."

"Huh? Hey, wait a minute!"

The nobles and knights around us all moved away at once.

"His opponent—the brilliant new star of the royal capital, Melissa Rana Nasturtium-sama!"

"Oooooh!"

Cheers rose from all around us. I see—so this was why so many people had gathered. They were nothing more than bored spectators who had come to watch a spectacle.

Damn it, they were treating me like a sideshow.

My opponent was a woman wearing a long black dress, just as my bad feeling had predicted.

Her white breasts nearly spilled from the low neckline, and slender, long legs peeked through the slit. Her brown curls fell all the way to her waist. She was young—about eighteen, perhaps.

If this weren't such an infuriating situation, I would have liked to admire her figure at length, but this wasn't the time for that.

She was young to be standing among the nobles in a place like this, so she must have been highly skilled.

But wait... Did she say Nasturtium? Wasn't Nasturtium the name of the noble family the old woman in Astrantia had once been involved with?

Could this woman be that old woman's granddaughter? Had the old woman been this beautiful when she was young?

She used to boast that she had been called the flower of the academy, so she probably had been.

In that case, the old man who ran the tool shop in Dahlia might have been quite a handsome man too.

"Ha-ha-ha! I heard that an incredible mage was coming from the frontier, so I came out of curiosity—but you're just an old man!"

"Sorry for being an old man!"

"And after bringing your family all the way to a place like this, you dragged them into it too. What a stupid man!"

"Our family is a single fighting force. That girl is a fine mage too."

In reality, all I could do by myself was operate heavy machinery.

"How ridiculous! Relying on a child like that!"

As I wondered what to do in this sudden situation, the female mage began chanting something.

'Answer my wish, dark kin. Pass black judgment upon the enemy who opposes me.'

The female mage's breasts jiggled as she chanted that suspicious spell, and a luminous pattern appeared before us—some kind of magic circle, I supposed.

Then, as though the gates of hell had opened, a gigantic creature emerged from it.

It was a huge lizard with four sturdy legs and a long tail. Its hard-looking scales stood on end as it glared at us, its red eyes shining.

"Oooooh!!"

Cheers rose from the spectators around us.

But this was bad! I could tell at a glance. This thing was dangerous.

"Summon K○matsu-san!"

"Boss! That's a lesser dragon!"

At Nyamena's shout, a huge yellow piece of heavy machinery appeared with a ground-shaking rumble.

"So this is a lesser dragon!"

"Ooh!!" "What is that?!" "Is it a summoned beast?"

Even the opposing mage seemed surprised by K○matsu-san. Everyone stared upward with their eyes wide and mouths agape.

But that brief moment of mutual astonishment ended.

The lesser dragon opened its enormous mouth wide.

"Boss! It's going to breathe fire!!"

"Anemone!"

I grabbed Primula's hand and shouted as I put one foot on the heavy machinery.

"Mmm! High Protection!!"

A glittering transparent wall appeared at the last possible moment, pushing aside and blocking the flames spewed from the gigantic monster.

The blazing fire roared toward us, but of course it never reached us.

"What?!"

The female mage who had summoned the monster seemed shocked by Anemone's High Protection as well.

"High Protection?!" "That commoner's child can use such advanced magic?" "Unbelievable!" "Impossible!"

Whether they could believe it or not, what had happened before their eyes was a fact.

But perhaps the flames had carried farther than expected—several lower-ranking nobles and knights who had not hired mages were caught in the fire and became human torches.

The upper-ranking nobles snickered when they saw it. So this was what nobles of the privileged classes were like.

It was the worst. Count Asclepius, who ruled Dahlia, and Viscount Eupatorium of Astrantia had seemed reasonably decent, but the closer I got to the royal capital, the more the nobility resembled the aristocrats I'd imagined.

If that's how they wanted to play it, I wouldn't hold back on my counterattack either.

I tossed Nyamena the pressure-cooker bomb I'd taken from my Item Box and handed Myaree a compound bow.

"Nyamena! Go around the barrier and throw this at it! Myaree, provide support!"

I pushed Primula behind the driver's seat and gave the beastfolk their orders. Anemone climbed onto my lap.

The girls took their weapons and circled around both sides of the monster with their renowned speed.

"Take this, nya!"

The arrow Myaree fired struck the lesser dragon in the eye.

"Gwoooaaargh!"

The monster, its entire body covered in hard-looking scales, let out a gut-wrenching roar as its eye was pierced.

Nyamena swung the black handle of the pot and tossed it into the mouth of the monster, which was baring its sharp white fangs.

Nice control!

"Anemone!"

Anemone sat on my lap in the heavy machinery's seat and immediately began chanting a spell.

"Explosion (small)!"

With a tremendous boom and a cloud of white smoke, the pressure cooker exploded, scattering shrapnel and nails at the speed of sound.

"Eeeek!!"

Primula's scream rang out from behind the driver's seat as the roar and vibrations shook her.

The fragments flying toward us stopped against a barrier Anemone created.

The beastfolk seemed to have slipped safely inside the barrier too. As expected of our party, our teamwork was perfect.

Those iron pellets also claimed many knights as victims. They had enough power to easily pierce thin plate armor.

The lesser dragon had taken the explosion head-on, but it was still alive, despite having lost half the area around its mouth.

At that moment, Anemone's High Protection vanished as particles of light.

"No! It's impossible for a lesser dragon's body to be damaged by a single Explosion!"

The female mage was making a fuss, but it wasn't magic—it was a physical attack using explosives.

Judging from the woman's words, monsters must have resistance to magic, meaning a single Explosion normally wouldn't inflict much damage.

Once I confirmed that the monster was still moving, I started K○matsu-san's engine with Anemone on my lap.

It roared and belched black smoke as it raised its steel arm to a height of nine meters.

"K○matsu Attack! A furious blow that resists this world's absurdity! The opponent dies!"

At my shout, I swung the iron claw down onto the half-dead monster's head.

The lesser dragon's head slammed into the floor, and bright-red blood and brain matter sprayed from the bucket's claws embedded in its skull.

"Take that! One more!"

The raised arm came crashing down again, and a dull metallic clang rang through the audience chamber as it bit into the stone floor.

Red, viscous matter spilled across the entire floor, and the giant lizard finally breathed its last.

When Bell approached the mountain of flesh, she began sniffing it intently. Perhaps she wanted to eat it.

Behind the lesser dragon, the female mage sat in a daze, stunned by the defeat of her prized summoned beast.

I stepped on the foot bar and drove the heavy machinery forward, its tracks shredding the red carpet beneath us.

Then I stored the lesser dragon's corpse in my Item Box—and the spectators cried out in astonishment again when they saw it.

I passed in front of the female mage, scraping the paving stones with a rattling grind, and moved the heavy machinery in front of a thick pillar before raising its long arm again.

The beastfolk and Bell, who had followed me, were watching our surroundings. Anemone had used a powerful spell, but perhaps because of the aluminum I'd given her, she still seemed to have plenty of mana left.

"Seize them!"

Knights gathered around the heavy machinery.

"I'm swinging the arm! Myaree, Nyamena! Don't get hit!"

I called out to the beastfolk hiding in the machinery's shadow, lowered the bucket until it was just above the floor, and spun the vehicle around once.

"K○matsu Grand Spin! The punishment of being torn apart by a chariot, sending anything blocking my path to hell! The opponent dies!"

The armored knights knocked away by the steel arm rolled helplessly across the floor.

I had no grudge against them, but once they tried to kill me, I had no choice but to fight back.

At that moment, a mage among the spectators fired an arrow of light at K○matsu-san.

But a black shadow crossed in front of the driver's seat where I sat. It made a huge leap and knocked the glowing arrow away in another direction just before it struck.

"Bell! You saved me! Thanks!"

She bounded straight into the spectators, bit the neck of the mage who had used magic, and pulled him to the ground.

"Grrrr!"

Still holding the man's corpse in her jaws, Bell threatened the other mages. She was probably telling them that if they used magic, they would lose their lives too.

"Are Anemone and Primula all right?"

"...Yes."

"I'm perfectly fine."

Once we'd eliminated the opposition, I raised the arm high again.

Then I searched Shangri-La and bought a megaphone. It was a handheld, cone-shaped one, and I switched it on.

"Testing, testing. Today is fair weather, today is fair weather. The red water strider, a-i-u-e-o. Ahem—His Majesty the King! Thank you very much for this splendid and elaborate hospitality. Since you have put my family in danger, I am furious, so I have decided to use the power of my summoned beast to bring down this audience chamber and flee. And then—once I have successfully escaped, I shall use all the knowledge and strategy at my disposal to bring this country down and drag it into hell!"

Ignoring the nobles' uproar, I put my hand on the lever and was just about to bring the arm down when—

"Wait!"

When I looked toward the voice, I saw Her Highness the Princess.

"I understand what you are saying. Even if they are royalty, there is no justification for summoning someone merely for amusement and turning him into a spectacle! And your beloved family was placed in danger. It is only natural that you should be angry."

In reality, I was the one who had dragged them into this—but without their help, the lesser dragon would have roasted us alive.

"Trying to placate me won't work, you know?"

"Wait... Even if you manage to escape this place, you will never be able to live a peaceful life again."

"That too is simply part of life."

"That may be acceptable to you, but what about your family? You said your wife was a merchant, did you not? Her family back home will not be able to live in peace either."

Damn it, that was underhanded. The nobility really was rotten. Primula's voice came from behind the driver's seat.

"Kenichi—even if anything happens, neither my father nor I will blame you."

That might be true of Marrow-san and Primula, but if the Marrow Trading Company were dragged into this, nearly a thousand people, including their extended families, would be left destitute.

Of course, their families would resent me too... Hmm.

Anemone nodded as well, but something seemed strange about the beastfolk.

"The situation can be settled easily if you accept one condition."

"What condition?"

As soon as I asked, Nyamena's tiger-striped form clambered up the heavy machinery and wrapped her arms around me.

"Nyamena?! What's wrong?"

"Fuuuuuu!"

Drool dripped from her mouth, and her bloodshot eyes were completely unhinged.

"Hey, what's wrong?!"

But Nyamena ignored me and bit down on my neck.

"Ow ow ow ow! Hey, wait, wait!"

"Kenichi! This smell means it's that time of year, nya!"

Myaree's voice came from beneath K○matsu-san. Did she mean that? Was this the time when beastfolk went into heat once a year?

"Ffh fh fh fh!"

Nyamena kept gnawing on my neck and wouldn't let go.

"Ow! Myaree, what am I supposed to do?!"

"Kenichi! Alcohol, nya! At times like this, make her drink until she's drenched in it, nya!"

I hurriedly searched for alcohol on Shangri-La. Brandy, her favorite, would probably do.

When I pressed the purchase button, two bottles of brandy dropped out.

"Here, Nyamena! It's your favorite drink!"

At the sight of the alcohol, Nyamena released my neck and began chugging the brandy straight from the bottle.

Then she threw away the empty bottle, staggered on top of the tracks, and fell beneath the heavy machinery.

Myaree caught her. If you chugged an entire bottle of brandy that was around forty-five percent alcohol, of course you'd pass out.

"What a troublesome tiger you are, nya."

"Is she all right?"

"Probably, nya."

Phew. Why did this have to happen now...?

I spoke to the princess, who was staring blankly beneath the heavy machinery.

"Um, Lilith-sama. What was it you were saying again?"

The princess had been interrupted at an unfortunate moment and seemed to have lost her motivation, but she regained her composure.

"Enough!! Mage Kenichi, become mine!"

"I refuse."

The princess was stunned by my immediate refusal and crouched down. The nobles and knights murmured again.

"You refused right away?! Surely you were supposed to think about it or hesitate or something?!"

Apparently, the princess had not expected me to reject her offer.

"I refuse to become a toy of the royal family."

"Hmm... As expected, you are not someone who can be handled easily. Then listen to one small wish of mine as a woman!"

"A wish?"

The princess continued when she saw my suspicious expression.

"Surely you do not intend to refuse the modest wish of an innocent young maiden?"

"Are you really calling yourself a young maiden? Well, I suppose I will hear you out..."

"My birthday is coming up soon! Depending on your gift, I shall ask my father to settle this matter and, under His Majesty's authority, have you and your family pardoned."

Pardoned? My family and I hadn't done anything wrong. It was self-defense—but in a world where royalty could call black white, anything could become a crime.

Besides, there had been casualties among the mages and knights.

Royal authority would probably be necessary to settle this peacefully—but this entire incident had been caused by their little game. What a nuisance...

"It seems to me that I have nothing to gain from this..."

"That is not true. In addition to your pardon, the authority of His Majesty will prevent all the other nobles from interfering with you."

That meant the relatives of the dead nobles and knights would not be permitted to seek revenge either.

"I see... But a gift...?"

"Your Item Box is filled with things I have never even seen before, is it not?"

"Are the things I have sold you and the food you have eaten so far not enough, Lilith-sama?"

"Indeed, they are not. Things of that sort already come to me as tribute from the nobles..."

In other words, she wanted something spectacular that she could show off to the other royalty and nobles.

Honestly, I shouldn't have had to play along with this farce...

"Well?"

"Very well."

"Oh, how exciting. I wonder what you will produce. By the way, jewelry will not impress me. I doubt anything could compare to the jewelry handed down through my royal family."

When she said that, I felt like trying to beat her with jewelry.

How about a brilliant-cut diamond? No, Primula had certainly been surprised when I'd shown her cut glass, but she hadn't been utterly astonished...

What about jewelry made with ultra-precise craftsmanship? A precision watch like Breguet's Marie Antoinette? But if money were no object, something like that might be possible in this world too.

Jewelry that money couldn't buy in this world...

I searched Shangri-La for jewelry—but then I found something that fit the bill.

It certainly seemed like something that could exist in this world, but even if you piled up as much money as possible, you probably couldn't buy one.

The price on Shangri-La was 3.5 million yen—this was the price because it was genuine, not an imitation.

I got down from K○matsu-san, walked over to the princess, and held out what I had bought.

It was a necklace made of many glittering, round beads with a slightly blackish hue. But the princess's expression grew increasingly tense as she looked at it.

"W-what is this?!"

The princess froze in shock when she saw my present.