Quite a few months had passed since communications with the Rosaria Empire's mainland had been cut off.
I, Charlotte, was writing an incident report.
A banquet was underway in the Chronos Palace dining hall.
I wanted to finish this report quickly and go join them.
I, too, had grown fond of them.
The man known as Leo Kamishiro made no sense to me.
He was supposed to be a Jester, just like me.
And yet... his power was on such an unfathomable level that it was hard to believe we were both ESP users.
A monster.
He was undeniably a monster.
And yet... you could actually reason with him.
The title "Friendly Devil" was not just for show.
He didn't tell lies.
He didn't make you take a loss, either.
If anything, Chronos was the side that gave.
And yet... in every single situation, he shrewdly secured profits for himself.
It had been the exact same story during the recent war with the Corpse Eaters.
Taking a cold, calculating view of it, one could even argue that Chronos had used its king as bait to wipe out the annexed regions' independence faction in one fell swoop...
With this new legend of victory over the Corpse Eaters, Chronos was sure to unite as a single nation.
No, perhaps I was overthinking it.
King Leo was not that kind of person.
Faced with his monstrous negotiating skills... I couldn't even bring myself to be angry anymore.
The man himself was fundamentally a good person, but...
Even so, he was far too shrewd.
I suppose there really are people blessed with multiple talents...
Hmm...
Now then, the time for the king's vote of confidence was drawing near in Chronos.
In reality, the faction seeking to oust the king had been completely wiped out by the war.
It had turned into a tug-of-war between King Leo, who called himself a "hired store manager," and the citizens of Chronos, who refused to let their king slip away.
Even in conservative opinion polls, King Leo's approval rating was well over eighty percent.
The opposition seemed to consist of a tiny minority in the occupied territories.
Or rather, the sheer absurdity of granting voting rights to citizens of occupied territories in the first place...
Yet even the Parcion citizenry seemed to overwhelmingly support King Leo.
Just as King Leo himself admitted that he was "bad at tactical-level troop operations," he had crossed quite a dangerous bridge this time as well.
The royal opposition and the democratization faction were eager to pounce on that.
"Explain the massive casualties suffered by the Parcion Army!" they demanded.
King Leo himself frankly apologized in response to their criticism.
"Please don't make me handle tactical-level troop operations when I'm bad at them," he stated.
And then he went on to add:
"I'm just no good at viewing soldiers as chess pieces instead of human beings!"
That right there was probably why he was so popular.
"They have lives and jobs. They don't actually want to fight wars, either!"
That's the reason right there.
That's why he's so popular!
And so, having finished my incident report, I headed to the dining hall.
There was the king, grilling corn.
"Yo, Charlotte. Want some?"
"U-Umu."
He handed me some grilled corn.
What in the world happened to royal dignity?
"Hmm-hmm-hmm♪ Yakitori, yakitori~♪"
He seemed to be making yakitori as well.
"Leo-kun, the grilled rice balls are done~"
"Got it, Nina-san, hand them out please."
"Okaay♪ Here you go, everyone~"
I had grown used to this bizarre sight by now.
King Leo, Emperor Veronica, and their companions were always like this.
Normally, when people belonged to the same organization, they would shrink back in the presence of power, and friendships would fade, but...
Even my own former friends were nothing more than subordinates to me now.
This relationship was likely maintained only because King Leo had virtually zero intimidating presence.
...Is this... actually possible?
Can this really work?
This has moved way past the realm of mere personal virtue, hasn't it?
"King Leo, how are you able to remain friends with your subordinates?"
"Probably because I'm just a hired store manager who's gonna get kicked out someday?"
"No, that is impossible."
"Maybe because we're war buddies?"
"Normally, you never see the folks from your unit again once a war is over."
Statistics proved this as well.
Even with comrades who crossed the line between life and death together, it was rare to stay in touch after a war.
Bonds forged under the extraordinary conditions of a battlefield were not things that could be sustained in peacetime.
"Then I guess it's just that everyone else is a great person? I'm basically good-for-nothing, after all."
I was so dumbfounded that words failed me.
This man was an anomaly of human charisma.
"Well, I'm completely dependent on everyone... I gotta be grateful."
"Just give up already."
As I stood there trembling with my mouth agape, Emperor Veronica, holding a child in her arms, spoke to me.
"No matter what you say, it is useless. You would do best to think of him as that kind of creature. Trying to comprehend it is an exercise in futility."
"Ah-ooh."
Towa-chan looked over at me.
What an adorable face...
King Leo was quite well-featured himself, but...
"Abububububu!"
The moment she spotted the corn, her demeanor transformed completely.
She began aggressively demanding, "Give it to me!"
"H-Hey! Cease that at once! You cannot eat this yet!"
"Abubububububu!"
Her gluttony was enough to make one genuinely worried.
However, that face was a total trap...
On the inside, she was the spitting image of King Leo.
"S-Stop! Someone!"
"Y-Your Imperial Majesty!"
Seeing Emperor Veronica in distress, a wet nurse hurried over.
She took the child into her arms to soothe her.
"Abububu!"
Even so, Towa still tried desperately to get her hands on the corn.
G-Good grief, what an appetite...
No, she wasn't supposed to be eating solids yet, but... to act like this despite having such a sweet-looking face...
And next came Ark.
The child of Claire, the Chronos Empress Consort.
"Abubububu!"
"S-Someone stop him! Ark has escaped!"
This one was making a break for it.
He took after King Leo so much.
He was crawling at a terrifying speed.
"Abubububu!"
He took a sharp turn, sliding across the floor to shake off his pursuers!
Drifting... seriously?!
King Leo averted his eyes.
"...What's gonna happen once we give him a bicycle and his range expands?"
King Leo murmured to himself.
...What really would happen?
And then came the main event.
The children of Lady Ren, who had already learned to move around quickly.
"Meow!"
"Nya nya nya nya nya!"
"Lady Ren's children have started playing tag with Kinako! We can't keep up with them!"
They had begun playing tag with the cat.
The Beast Race of the Galactic Empire had small bodies, but their motor functions developed many times faster than those of the normal species of humans.
I had heard this was so they wouldn't fall prey to dangerous predators, but...
Even so, weren't they a bit too fast?
"Meow!"
"Nya nya nya nya nya!"
"Kinako, stop! Kina-chan, I'm begging youuuuuuu!"
"Abububububu! Kikikikiki!"
"Lord Arkkkkkk! Please wait!"
"Lady Towa! I told you, you cannot eat that!"
"Abubaa! Aboo! Abaaah!"
I looked over at King Leo.
"I-It is good that they are so energetic..."
He offered a strained smile while breaking out in a cold sweat.
It was not good at all.
I was left to agonize over the sheer disparity in performance between our respective Jesters.