Suarkou: A member of the Twin Angel Race.
Suaruriu: A member of the Twin Angel Race.
Suarlou: An angel and the mother of the Suar sisters.
Gol: A beastman boy currently living in the Demon Kingdom Royal Capital.
Sil: A beastman boy currently living in the Demon Kingdom Royal Capital.
Bron: A beastman boy currently living in the Demon Kingdom Royal Capital.
Mettora: A member of the Post-Age of Gods Dragon Race currently enjoying newlywed life in the Six Dragon God Kingdom.
Yuri: The Demon King's daughter.
Crim: The recently born daughter of an Ancient Devil? She can summon the Multi-purpose Humanoid Mobile Heavy Equipment known as Siegfried.
Zabuton and her brood had entered hibernation, and winter finally settled over the Village of the Great Tree.
To start with, I had some celebratory news. Pregnancies were confirmed for five High Elves, four Mountain Elves, two beastkin girls, and three of the Civil Official Girls. Well, you know... they were my children. It was a wonderful development.
Furthermore, the two angels Suaruriu and Suarkou were also pregnant. Their mother, Suarlou, was absolutely ecstatic at the prospect of having grandchildren. She had been waiting for them for quite some time, after all. However, since they hadn't even been born yet, I felt it was a bit premature to be discussing education policies. Let's focus on wishing for a safe delivery first.
On a separate note, a group of unmarried angels had recently been stationed to work in my immediate vicinity. I could definitely sense someone's deliberate intent behind that move.
Next, regarding the news of Gol’s two wives. They had both successfully given birth—to a boy and a girl. In truth, they had been born about six months prior. Not at the exact same time, but about a month apart. I had received reports of their safe delivery, but I still hadn't had the chance to see them.
Traveling with newborns is difficult, but there was more to it than that. The wives' families were the House of Count Pugyal and the House of Count Glitch. Wet nurses, butlers, and maids—all hand-picked by both houses—were guarding the children with ironclad security. The infants weren't even allowed to leave the mansion grounds in the Royal Capital. While I thought it seemed a bit overprotective, Frau and the Civil Official Girls insisted it was only natural.
Apparently, it was customary to keep children hidden until their formal presentation to ensure that rivals didn't grasp any potential "weaknesses." I didn't see how a newborn could have any "weaknesses" to exploit, but...
"He used to wet the bed as a child—I wonder if he’s grown out of it yet?" "Come to think of it, he was prone to tantrums. Is he still that way?" "Haha, I remember how he used to hide behind his nurse's skirts. How nostalgic."
Supposedly, if people saw a child before their education was complete, they would be subjected to such comments for the rest of their lives. Even if the remarks were about infancy, a fact was a fact. Considering the risk of being dogged by such stories even as an adult, parents worked desperately to keep them under wraps. I see.
"Of course, blood relatives like grandparents, cousins, or faction members are the exception," Frau explained. "They’re introduced early to establish legitimacy. However, since Count Pugyal and Count Glitch are involved here... if we were to invite you and have a chance encounter, things might become a bit 'troublesome.'"
The "troublesome things" referred to the intricacies of noble social obligations. If I were there, people would likely start asking me for all sorts of favors. With a stranger, a flat refusal would suffice. But with relatives, it’s much harder to say no. It wasn't that the petitioners were simply being shameless; they would also listen to our requests in return, so it was a system of mutual benefit. The real problem arose when subordinates got involved.
"The Count is a relative of the Village Head of Village Five, isn't he? To be honest, a company in our territory is desperate for some of the village's seasonings... could you do something about that?"
If a subordinate said that, the Count couldn't just say, "No can do." Such a response would make people suspect he had a poor relationship with the family his daughter had married into. Worse, if he were judged to lack the influence to make requests of his own connections, he might lose his standing and leadership. To avoid that, he had to navigate these waters carefully, ensuring that any request he did make was actually granted. ...What a headache.
However, the consensus was that as long as we hadn't met face-to-face, he had a valid excuse. After all, asking a favor of someone you hadn't even been formally introduced to would be considered a breach of etiquette, specifically because they were relatives. Such things were only supposed to happen after the formal presentation.
Personally, I was willing to put up with a bit of socializing just to see Gol’s children. But I didn't exactly want to wade neck-deep into the noble society of the Demon Kingdom. Furthermore, Frau and the Civil Official Girls had warned me that once I dipped my toes into those waters, there would be no coming back. Specifically, they meant the social season. I’d be invited to so many events that I wouldn't have a single moment for field work. That sounded like a nightmare.
Thinking about those stories made me worry about Gol... and not just him, but Sil and Bron as well. Since I, as their father figure, didn't participate in noble society, I wondered if the burden of all that socializing was falling entirely on them. Apparently, whenever Gol and the others were pressured to invite me, they had been calling in the Demon King as a proxy. ... I mean, I wouldn't have minded if they called me. But also, a huge thank you to the Demon King for acting as my stand-in. I’m sorry for the trouble.
Anyway, back to the point. I’d heard from Gol that he wanted Ramrias and me to see the kids. At the same time, I’d heard that since he didn't want to drag us into noble drama, it might be impossible for a while. Things never go quite as planned. Well, I’d been sending gifts that wouldn't cause a stir, and I’d been receiving return gifts as well. I’d just have to trust that they were growing up healthy. By the way, Ramrias had actually slipped away to see them in secret.
One more piece of news. Mettora, over in the Six Dragon God Kingdom, had conceived. More celebratory news. And apparently, determined not to be outdone by Mettora’s pregnancy, the members of the Post-Age of Gods Dragon Race within the kingdom were working overtime. I didn't think it was something that needed to be a competition. Maybe they just wanted to have children in the same age group to raise together. That thought made me want to support them, but seeing the haggard state of the dragon men... well, I, uh, sent over some stamina-boosting ingredients. Garlic, mountain yams, that sort of thing. Regardless, it’s a good thing for couples to be so close. Yes, indeed.
With winter upon us, Yor suggested we conduct a test firing. We had a promise, after all. Since she was taking good care of Crim, we decided to test the Sun Castle armaments we’d picked up at the auction. The arrangements... were all handled by Yor. She was extremely efficient.
Initially, we planned to fire from Village Four, but since the Floating Garden was now orbiting the village, it was hard to clear a line of fire. We decided to launch from the ground instead. It was a stroke of luck that we did it before the snow got too deep.
The main event of the test was the All-weather Base Defense Cannon Daedalus, which I’d seen before. In addition, there was something else they had successfully activated... what was it? A cannon with a short barrel—it looked a bit stout, maybe even comical? Then there was Unit No. 2 of the Multi-purpose Humanoid Mobile Heavy Equipment, also known as the Artie Horse, named Benze. That was the one I’d noted looked like a gorilla. A massive boxy launcher was mounted on Benze’s shoulder... a missile pod, I assumed. It looked like it was going to be a flashy show, but who was going to pilot it? Ah, Yuri. Wait. Crim was going to fire from Siegfried, too? That was fine, but I told them to be careful of accidents.
The test site was on the north side of the Hot Spring Area. We planned to fire toward the North Mountain from there. Of course, the goal wasn't to level the mountain, so targets had been set up just in front of it.
A crowd gathered. Nearly everyone from the Village of the Great Tree, Village One, Village Two, and Village Three was there. It’s not like there’s no work in winter, but they weren't about to miss a festival. However, transportation was a bit of a logistics nightmare. Seeing the sheer volume of people, the residents of Village Four decided to watch from the Sun Castle above. I felt a bit bad for them. I’d already sent food and sake up there in advance, though.
Wait. Couldn't we have used the Universal Ship or the Airship to bring the Village Four residents down? The Universal Ship was busy ferrying the Giant Race from the Northern Dungeon, and the Airship was occupied with the Lamia Race from the Southern Dungeon. They had to make several round trips. We had to think about the journey back, too.
Also, the Demon King showed up as a spectator. Since Yuri was participating, he said he couldn't bear to miss it. Beezel, who had brought the Demon King, was also there, but instead of sticking by his boss, he went over to hang out with Frau.
The test firing began. The impact was incredible. The targets were being obliterated one after another. The crowd roared with cheers. It looked like some of the targets were moving on their own to get in the way of the shots, but I figured I shouldn't worry about that. Yor didn't say anything, so I decided to ignore it.
When the test firing concluded, I had some thoughts... It was a decent saturation attack, but having seen the Dragons lay waste to the Elf Empire's island... it felt a bit lacking in raw power. Also, I think it was a mistake for Lu and Tia to show off their massive magic spells right afterward. The armaments of Village Four were completely overshadowed. But Yor looked happy, so I called it a win. Crim did a great job, too. Yuri looked a little miffed because the accuracy of the missiles fired by the Benze she was piloting wasn't great.
"If it had been Unit No. 5 Hanasaka instead of Unit No. 2 Benze, I could have hit more of them..."
The Demon King and Frau were desperately trying to comfort the sulking Yuri. Unfortunately, Unit No. 5 was currently dismantled for maintenance. We had to give it a thorough once-over before sending it to Urza.
Once the test was over, we held a banquet. Since we weren't in the Village of the Great Tree, partying through the night was out of the question. We’d have to break up before the sun went down. I took some time to socialize with the Death Knights, the Lion Family, and Ashura. I hadn't spent much time at the Hot Spring Area lately. I needed to make the most of the opportunity.
Frau’s Demon Kingdom Noble Lecture
Everyone makes mistakes when they’re babies. There isn't a child in the world who doesn't fail. However, it’s a massive problem if those failures are brought up even after you've become an adult. That’s why, fundamentally, children are hidden until their presentation—their social debut. In reality, there’s an unspoken rule to act as if nothing that happened before the debut ever occurred, but a weakness is still a weakness. On a darker note, this is also a countermeasure against poisoning. Children will put anything in their mouths, after all. Even if you don't serve poison directly, if it’s just left nearby... Because of that, outsiders aren't invited, and the children aren't allowed to leave.
However, keeping them hidden causes other problems. If the parents are absent for some reason, people will start to doubt if the child is truly the heir’s offspring. To counter this, it’s necessary to have face-to-face meetings with relatives and trusted subordinates before the formal presentation to ensure everyone knows they exist. Of course, selecting those people is its own challenge... (Showing the child to high-ranking nobles is an option, but that gives them an opening to interfere in the family's succession. It becomes a situation like, "I'll vouch for your kid’s identity if you do this for me.")
Well, in the end, it comes down to character. And then, strength. If you’re strong enough, most problems simply solve themselves. That is the noble society of the Demon Kingdom.