Airships were gathering in the royal capital from all over.

　Rushing into the royal palace was Greg, who was as battered as Chris was.

　He is greeted by Brad, who is also injured.

　Greg confirms the situation to Brad.

'I brought as many as I could from my parents' house!　What about you guys?

　Brad gives a thumbs up and says it was a success.

'It's a success too. But I don't know what the Duchy - the Dukes of Fan Oth - are doing. We couldn't bring all our forces to bear.

　Greg is chagrined.

He can't help it. But, look, we've got a lot of people here.

　The sky from the palace is full of airships.

　They are trying to cover the sky.

　Even now, they are gathering one by one.

　You're not alone.

'You're just in time, Greg,'

Hey!　More importantly, how about you?

　When asked, Zilk was not as ragged as the two of them.

　But his hands were stained with ink.

　He was busy with paperwork.

''It's been a lot of work inside the royal palace. His Majesty has stepped down from the throne and yet the procedure is going on so uneventfully. Oops, let's not talk about that - if you need supplies and other things immediately, please pack up your documents. I'll distribute the supplies in the royal capital.

　Brad is surprised.

'That's very generous of you. I was prepared for the fact that we might not get a supply over here.

　The number of airships coming to the King's Capital was large.

　Because of that, he hadn't expected to get any supplies from the kingdom.

　Zilk smiles.

''There were some officials who were thinking of putting out at this stage, though.'' --I kept them quiet. In addition, I've finished convincing those who were skeptical. It wasn't easy to convince them.

　Greg wanted to ask what the hell he had done, but Zilk was giving him a nice smile, so I stopped him.

'Totally, you're the scariest guy I've ever met.

　Where the three of them were, a woman came in.

　She was Clarice, a graduate of the academy.

　She was the daughter of a minister, and her family had strong connections to those in the civil service.

　Like Zilk, she was busy with paperwork.

''I don't know what the three of us are doing together. More importantly, Leon-kun - no, "Leon-sama" is back. Chris is on his way to pick him up, but is it okay for the three of them to stay here and relax?

　When they were told, Greg and the others rushed to meet them.

　Clarice, who was watching them off, seemed a little happy.

'Not at all - I didn't expect you to climb up to this level of quicksilver.

◇

　When Einhorn comes to King's Landing, a large fleet is waiting for him.

　Airships making their way to Einhorn in the air.

　The number of them is surprising.

'Where on earth did you scrape them from?

　Luxion says.

'You have over 1,200 ships. It's still increasing. There are airships coming towards us.''

　It was spectacular.

'--Angelica has made good on her promise, hasn't she?

'Yes. I--I guess I didn't believe in Angier.

　I didn't think I could do this much - I didn't think I could.

　Apparently, Angier is more awesome than I thought.

''Master, if the kingdom can come together, our chances of winning will increase greatly.

How long?

We'll reach 50 percent, sir.

That's great.

　Fifty percent of all this collected?

　Is it a lot or not - or maybe it's a lot.

'You're thirty percent, and the kingdom fills the other twenty percent?

'If you can get me to take on the forces that are in the way of the Empire, our chances of winning will be greatly increased.

That's great.

" -- many will sink, but the odds will be better.

I don't want more dead people, friend or foe.

　I didn't want to make this decision.

　But Luxion dismisses my thoughts.

''The Master is still mistaken. It wasn't the Master who got them involved. It was the Master who was involved in their battle.'

　I feel more like I've gotten involved, though.

''It's a force that is absolutely necessary for the Master to win.

　I spill my guts to Luxion.

'It's me. I didn't think the kingdom would ever cooperate.

"Yes.

'And the royals are terrible, with Roland at the top of the list. Ah, but not Milene, I guess. Erica's a good girl too.

''--I see. I'm curious about your reputation for Milene, though.''

'The aristocrats are a terrible lot too, so I thought they'd decide to be opportunistic or side with the Empire.

There has been such a move.

So how is it that you have all this firepower in here?

"The result of Julius and his men's actions. 'Do you forget?　Their family is a great nobleman of a prestigious family. And they have convinced my parents' family to do so.''

　Since the nobles of the nobility followed, did other nobles follow suit?

They're really useful, aren't they?

It's amazing.

　When Einhorn came to the airship depot in the royal palace, the one waiting there was Angier.

　He was waving his hands wide in the air towards us.

''Master, Angelica is waiting for you.'' --and Angelica has made good on her promise.''

　I knew immediately what Luxion was trying to say.

　He's probably asking me to admit it.

'I know,'

　As soon as Einhorn landed on the depot and the ramp was ready, I made my way to Angier.

　Angel runs up to me and jumps on me.

　He hugs me tightly, and I put my hand on his waist.

　Angel's voice was in tears.

'Don't worry about me. You should at least call me.'

　Was it too much for him to hear from me?

　It's kind of nice to know that someone is thinking of me this much.

　Angier moves away from me a bit and looks at me.

'Forces are gathering in the royal capital from all over.

Yes.

'I'm sorry, but we can't move the Fraser family or any of the other nobles defending our borders. Still, we've gathered this much strength.

　Where were so many forces preserved?

　I'd like to tell you that you kingdoms should be more serious from the beginning.

Elijah's family is in trouble.

　Erica's fiancé, Elijah, is the heir to the Marquis of Fraser, who is in charge of the border.

　His family home is the guardian to the Holy Kingdom of Rarshell, so he can't move it.

I'm sure you'll find it hard to move it. But Elijah has convinced his family to support you. He has declared his full support for you.

　It looks like Elijah's guy is doing well.

　If I win the Empire, I'm sure Elijah is a candidate for the next king.

Well, thank goodness for that.

　This will be a relief after it's over.

　He's been abolished, but he's also got Julius - and his brother Jake, who ran to a man.

　So the kingdom will continue.

　Ange wraps his own arm around me and walks away.

'Leon, there's a duke who wants to talk to you.

"The Duke?

　Huh?　Who could it be?

◇

　A room in the royal palace.

　When I rush in there, I find my master waiting for me, who had finished preparing tea.

　The master smiled.

''Mr. Stallion, don't open the door roughly.

　Master, who was the same as usual - no, the duke urged me to take a seat.

''Why didn't you tell me, Master!　I didn't know my master was royalty--and a duke.

'He's a duke in name only. He has no authority.

　I had some idea that he was a man of high status, but I didn't expect him to be a duke.

　Not many people besides me would have known about him.

　In the academy, everyone thinks of their master as little more than a lecturer in manners.

　From the attitude of the other teachers and so on, I somehow thought that his status must be high.

　But that's about it.

　I didn't expect him to be a duke.

　My teacher sat down to face me across the table from me, and then he told me a lot of stories.

'There was a lot going on over the succession to the throne long before Mystarion was born. It was around that time that I gave up a lot of things, along with my last name and my middle name.

　It seems that the prior king's brother - the master who was the king's brother - gave up his name and position and handed over the throne to Roland.

'It would have been nice if my master had become king.

　I couldn't help but let my true feelings spill out.

　If my master was a king, surely there would have been no problem.

''I ran away from the throne. If I had inherited the throne, I'm sure it would have been more difficult than it is now. I don't regret my choice then. But I do - I do regret a few things now.

　Master's regret.

　It was me - with all the incidents that had happened so far - and me.

'I regret that I relied too much on the Mystarion.

Was it too much to ask of me?

The Duchy of Fan Oth, and the Republic, and the Civil War - a kingdom that should have been able to pull itself together.

　Come to think of it, the only time my master ever pushed me was in the Principality War.

　He didn't force me then either.

''I know I'm not in a position to say that I escaped. Mystarion, please help us.

　Master bows to me.

'Lift your head, Master.

　Master slowly raises his head.

　I drink the tea Master has prepared for me.

　--“It’s good.

'I am, Master. I've already decided to fight. Even if you don't ask me--even if you don't want me to, I'll fight.

　The way my master looked at me was somewhat sad.

'Doesn't the Mystarion want to escape?'

　I thought about running away with the people I care about, but I can't seem to do it myself.

'I seem to be more responsible than I thought I was.

　In his usual tone, he put his forehead on his master's folded hands.

'--I'm going to have to burden the young man again, aren't I? I knew it, but it's hard. Sometimes I wish I were, for once.

　I guess he's talking about me and Roland.

　I don't think you need to worry about Roland, though.

　He deserves to suffer.

　I just want him to go with me.

　Master looks up.

"I will support the Mystarion in any way I can.

　It's a hundred man power if the master is willing to give me a hand.

　I'll get out of my seat.

Thank you. And the tea--it was delicious.

　After all, I couldn't be like my mentor, could I?

　Master tells me.

'It's about time you finished preparing for the audience room. Everyone is waiting for the Mystarion.'

　You've been agitating in front of a lot of people, every time.

'I'm not much of a public speaker, though.

　When he said this, his master was a little surprised - and then immediately smiled.

''Mr. Stallion is very good at jokes, too, isn't he?

　--No, I mean it.

◇

　The audience room.

　The aristocrats were lined up in front of me standing in front of the throne.

''How did you get this many people here?''

　Beside me - a place like offstage - Angel was waiting for me.

　Julius is also there.

　Among the lined up nobles, there are also my father and my brother.

　I also saw a glimpse of the seniors who graduated from the academy, and Elijah is also looking at me with a nervous look on his face.

　I took a deep breath and then spoke.

'We gathered for the formation ceremony and whatnot, but I'm not going to give a speech to inspire everyone in the first place. I didn't think we were going to get together in the first place, so I didn't have a speech in mind.

　The buzzing audience room.

　I continue, unconcerned.

"But this is how far we've come in terms of strength. The kingdom is not so bad after all.

　If I spat at them, I'd hear them whispering and muttering bad things about me.

　These guys aren't cooperating with me because they like it, either.

　But those guys - Greg and the others glared at them and kept them quiet.

　I don't know how he did it, but I heard that he returned as the heir to his family's family.

　And it looks like he's going to join the fight against the Empire.

　Not so long ago, these guys were tricked by women, and they were always talking in vain, but they've grown up.

　I straighten my posture.

I didn't expect it, honestly. I thought I was going to have to figure it out on my own again. So... let me tell you something.

　That's the last time I'll be doing this anyway.

"I know some of you may be suspicious of what's going on, but the fact is that the Empire is actually attacking us. You know that they're working on their own accord, don't you?

　Not many people are convinced when they are told that this is a race for survival.

　It's like an exception to the rule if it's Angel and others who heard about the situation from Luxion, but Julius and others who were convinced after hearing about the situation from Marie.

''The Empire is strong. They even brought out a trump card. I'm not going to be able to do it by myself this time. --I'm not going to be the only one.

　Head down.

　The audience room was silent for a moment, and then a different murmur spread out from earlier.

　Normally, the person standing above me should not bow his head so easily.

　I know that, but there was no other way for me to show my sincerity.

　The aristocrats, who had been bracing themselves to be agitated as usual, were surprised by my attitude.

''Do you think it's going to snow unseasonably tomorrow?''
Isn't it raining spears?
'I don't think anyone is going to believe me if I tell them that the Duke of Baldfalt has bowed out.

　Nobles laughing.

　I looked up in surprise at this attitude.

　Then Zilk, who was in line, shrugged his shoulders.

''I've explained it to you well in advance. You're always a bit of a tightwad, you know.''

　I didn't want you to tell me that, but you're certainly not always stuffy.

　That's why I have to go through this kind of hardship.

　Among the nobles in line, there was Count Motley--a noble of Vince-san's faction, too.

''Lord Rion--No, Lord Rion, let's not underestimate him. We too have willpower. Do you think we are afraid to risk our lives for the sake of our future child?

　Am I telling you not to be a fool?　Then - it's so dependable.

　Just as I was thinking this, Count Motley fell to his knees.

''And this life--let's leave it in the hands of Master Lyon.

What?

　They all fall to their knees while I'm surprised.

'You are mistaken, sir. They don't rely on us, they rely on you.

　Even the nobles and knights in the audience room fell to their knees before me.

　Count Mottley says.

''Once again, we would like to ask you to come over here. Once again, we ask you to help us for the sake of the kingdom. That is our wish.''

　I was expecting a flurry of abuse, but on the contrary, the nobles asked me to lend them my strength.

　What kind of persuasion did Zilk use?

Get up.

　The highborn rise to their feet at my command.

　Some of them look unhappy, but others have a glint in their eyes.

　I knew they weren't all convinced.

　Still, they seemed to be willing to lend a helping hand.

　I look around the audience and say thanks.

''Thank you. This gives us a chance to win--

　Then a soldier jumped into the audience room.

''The fleet of the Dukes of Fan Oth is approaching!　Reports are coming in that the Republic fleet is also on its way!

　Tension ran through the audience.