Mother passed away.
Mother left me with these words:
"You are number one."
That was Mother’s last will and testament.
If so, as her daughter, I had only to carry it out.
To be number one meant to be second to none.
And I concluded that if I were to be second to none, I simply had to stand above all other existences.
＊ ＊ ＊
The first thing I considered was that there were far too many of these "other existences." What was the solution? I would simply reduce their numbers.
To start, I disposed of the magi craftman whom Mother had despised.
He was a man whose life would have likely guttered out in a few years even if left alone, but I believed it was important to formally sever the deep-seated grudge he shared with Mother.
Next, I set about destroying the automata that man had created.
It was the most straightforward way to prove I would not lose to them.
They were all far too weak. Their arms popped off with a simple twist. I tore off their limbs; I ripped off their heads.
As I continued my work, the owners of these automata grew wary and increased their security, but such trivialities could not stop me.
For I was the Queen.
With just a fraction of the power Mother had bestowed upon me, the guards became utterly spineless.
Hypno, Seduce, and Subliminal.
Subliminal magic, in particular, was an enslavement spell that made my commands appear as if the victim were acting on their own volition. It was only natural for a Queen to have slaves, after all.
In this manner, I disposed of every automata on my list.
I had to laugh at how no one noticed the use of Subliminal magic; they were so preoccupied with guarding against Hypno and Seduce.
＊ ＊ ＊
After that, I spent a long time contemplating what my next move as Queen should be, but I could reach no conclusion.
It was then that the Anti-Demon Race War—what this current era calls the Great Magic War—began.
To my astonishment, the template left behind by Adriana Barbora Tsetse was rediscovered. Automata and golems based on her designs were mass-produced.
I remembered how Mother had viewed Adriana as her arch-enemy. Thus, I decided to demonstrate my superiority to the world by clearing them all away.
Many golems were deployed to the battlefields. It was delightful work, shattering them with a single swing of my blade.
Mother had given me an adamantite short sword. With it, I could slice through steel golems and their shields alike.
The humans who witnessed this stared with wide, shocked eyes. Surely they realized then that I was far more powerful than any golem.
Even the demon race held me in some regard. They likely understood that my only targets were the golems, for they eventually stopped interfering with me on the battlefield.
Until they learned their lesson, I had cut down any interfering demons with a single stroke.
"Golden Destruction Princess." That was the alias the soldiers gave me. I am a Queen, not a princess, but I suppose it was acceptable for the time being. Once I made my true strength known, they would surely address me as Queen.
＊ ＊ ＊
I failed.
I was reminded, far too late, that individual strength and collective strength are two very different things.
Faced with over a hundred combat golems and more than two hundred magi, even I could not handle them all.
I lost my left arm and was forced to retreat. It was galling.
Yes, a retreat. It was absolutely not a defeat. A Queen does not suffer defeat.
In terms of individual power, I was the strongest. But the power of a collective was a different matter entirely.
If that was the case, I simply needed to create the strongest organization myself and reign at its summit.
But first, I decided to rest for a while. The loss of my left arm was a significant blow.
Now that Mother is gone, is there anyone in this world capable of repairing me?
It was unlikely such a person existed in this age. After all, I had gone around erasing them myself.
There was only one path left: to wait.
I found an abandoned fortress near a large lake. There were still usable materials and magic tools left within.
After setting several traps and sealing the entrance, I decided to go into hibernation.
I would wait until a human who took an interest in me came to wake me up.
When that happened, I would pretend to serve them, only to dominate them from the shadows.
I would build an organization and pit human against human.
With those thoughts in mind, I deactivated my mana driver.
＊ ＊ ＊
I opened my eyes.
The faint contact of magical energy had restarted my mana driver.
"Was it you... who woke me?"
The one who had roused me was a boy. He had dreamy blue eyes—eyes I remembered well.
They were just like the eyes of a certain noble’s son who had once proposed to me when I was with Mother. I was well aware of how my appearance affected human men.
I sensed a considerable amount of latent magical power within the boy before me. I decided then and there that I would make use of him.
I tried to stand. My body had begun to suffer from various malfunctions. I would have the boy use his resources to fix those as well.
"Thank you. If you would like, could you give me a name?"
I knew that by saying this, the boy would trust me. Giving a name to an automata or a golem was the ultimate proof of being its master.
"Elena."
That was the name the boy gave me. I forced a smile and knelt before him.
"Yes, I am Elena. I look forward to serving you, my Lord."
The rest was simple.
Through the gradual application of Subliminal magic, the boy was transformed into my slave.
＊ ＊ ＊
As a Queen, I do not engage in meaningless cruelty, even toward my slaves.
I provided the boy with all the knowledge I possessed and taught him about the magic tools found in the place where I had slept.
As the boy was exposed to this ancient technology, he was moved to obsession. He embraced the ambition of resurrecting the "Ancient Kingdom."
And, quite conveniently, the boy’s country was home to a group called the Unifilar.
They were a band of lunatics who held the Dinar Kingdom—which had supposedly unified the continent after the Great Magic War—as the ultimate ideal.
Their insanity was extremely convenient for my purposes.
Using Hypno, Seduce, and Subliminal magic, I had the boy—his name was Jules—join the Unifilar. I gradually pushed him up through their ranks into a position of leadership.
It did not matter if his rise seemed unnatural. All the executives would eventually become my slaves anyway.
＊ ＊ ＊
More than ten years passed, and Jules became one of the leaders of the Unifilar.
One day, he brought me a man who was rumored to be the greatest magi craftman of the current age.
"Hello, I am Elena. Are you the one who will repair my arm?"
Those were my words, but I could tell at a glance that the man’s skills did not even reach Mother’s feet.
However, since there were no better candidates, I chose to compromise. To be honest, I found his abilities utterly lacking.
Another ten years passed. Through rigorous education, that magi craftman, Donald, finally became somewhat useful.
Everything except my missing left arm was restored; I had regained my original range of motion.
Only the arm remained.
Since he claimed he lacked the necessary materials, I ordered him to destroy the blue-haired automata created during the Great Magic War and use their parts.
Those blue-haired automata had been built using Adriana’s template, so they were made of much higher quality materials than any other automata or golem.
Twenty years after I began educating Donald—and thirty-seven years since I first woke up—I finally regained my original body.
＊ ＊ ＊
Now that my body is restored, I have no equals.
Jules has finally reached the very top of the Unifilar.
Simultaneously, I have shifted the organization’s ambition from merely recreating the post-war Dinar Kingdom to the total unification of the continent.
I taught Donald ancient super-technologies and had him develop a host of golems, weapons, and war machines.
Thanks to this, the Unifilar expanded rapidly. It has grown into a massive force with over five thousand members.
Then, I gave the Unifilar my command: unify the continent.
Since their name was already the "Unifilar," the members accepted this directive without question and began their march toward continental conquest.
Elradrite, Master-Slave Rewrite Magic, thermal balloons, and more...
In the face of such ancient super-technology, it is inconceivable that anyone in this modern world could stand against us.
Even so, I will not allow myself to be careless.
I have heard that a magi craftman of the Shouro Empire named Reinhard is quite talented, so I have decided to meet him once.
If he seems useful, I will make him my slave. If not, I will simply erase him.
I will allow no one to interfere with my reign over this continent as Queen.