17-2 The Teleporting Gale

For that reason, I decided to proceed with “space development” for the time being.

If things had come to this, I had to go diagonally above anything those people expected.

Originally, I had planned to borrow Yamamoto-san’s strength and develop all kinds of snack series made by a professional Japanese person.

The cheese fish sausage had turned out wonderfully.

Damn you, Empire.

I ordered Jolly to summon several excellent spirits and instructed them to carry out a certain training.

Then I teleported to the grand temple in the royal capital and asked the Ross High Priestess Jessica for her cooperation as well.

The rumors of war had clouded her beautiful brows too.

But during that time, the spirits were once again sucking away my mana as they pleased.

Jessica, enraged with a powerful sense of déjà vu, was yelling at them, but today I would let them drink.

I soothed Jessica with the Demon King’s smile and scattered mana toward the spirits with affection.

I wanted the spirits’ cooperation this time too, after all.

For the time being, I devoted myself to developing magical satellites.

This was the crown prince’s office in the royal palace of the neighboring Kingdom of Hyde.

There, Crown Prince Sid was having tea with Prince Michael.

Crown Prince Sid brought up the main topic while sipping his tea.

The “Nobleman of Ice and Snow” did not seem particularly flustered.

“Our intelligence people have also become sensitive to talk of war. If Albatross falls, we will be next. Unlike Albatross, we are not separated from the Empire by a great river, and in fact, the roads leading to our country are beautifully maintained. Those people are also targeting our ports. How is that wild troublemaker doing? He has been targeted plenty of times before, so there is no way he will simply stay quiet and withdraw. His base may be targeted again as well. Sacred Elion-sama is there too. Not only our country, but the various nations of the continent are also on edge over those circumstances.”

“I did stir him up before coming here. Though he also left something like this behind. Thanks to it, we were able to hold such a speedy meeting.”

Saying that, Michael showed him the teleportation bracelet.

Crown Prince Sid appraised it and groaned without thinking.

“So that is the teleportation bracelet. How nice. Please give one to Milene too. It would be reassuring if my family had a means of escape in an emergency.”

“In that case, you should bring up seafood. If crab is the price, one or two teleportation bracelets would be nothing.”

“Crab?”

Even the crown prince of a maritime nation looked puzzled.

Considering the thing he wanted, it was only natural.

“Yes, crab. According to legend, our founder, First King Yamato, once used magic at sea and desperately caught crab, leaving the first queen dumbfounded. For Rare Visitors, crab is not something that can be dismissed as mere crab. How should I put it? It is treated like the ‘jewel of the sea.’ After all, the Rare Visitor he recently protected is apparently a professional chef. I hear that Spirit Demon King’s eyes are changing color over it.”

“I understand. I will think about various things. Regarding this matter, I believe Father is also considering many things. More importantly, about sending reinforcements…”

Michael’s next destination was the Kingdom of Silas.

It had originally been related to Albatross by blood, and calling the two brother nations would not have been an exaggeration.

The current king had only recently succeeded the throne, and he was Michael’s cousin who had married into the royal family.

Moreover, they were the same age, so they had a relationship without any stiff formality.

As expected of cousins, they resembled each other closely.

It was said that when they were children, they looked so similar that unfamiliar people would mistake them for one another.

“Hey, Michael. It’s been a while. Not since my enthronement ceremony, I think.”

“Yes, Louis. I’m glad to see you. When I’m doing this kind of work, meeting someone like you, who I don’t have to be careful around, lets me relax. If possible, I would have liked to take a vacation and come visit without work involved.”

“Hahaha, I feel the same way. Sometimes I envy you. I can’t understand the mind of anyone who would willingly want to become king. Still, a teleportation bracelet, huh? I’m jealous. I’d like one for our royal family too.”

“Well, he dotes on my younger brother quite a lot. This is Emilio’s future home after marriage, so if you work hard to keep him in a good mood, who knows? At the very least, I think he would let Emilio have one. I’ll ask him sometime.”

“Hmm, what does he like?”

“Seafood, without a doubt. Long ago, our first king is said to have raced across the sea in your country while shouting ‘Tuna!’ and chasing fish…”

“Hmm, many of his anecdotes are rather intense.”

“You say that as if it has nothing to do with you, but you are one of that person’s descendants too. My father and your father are brothers, after all.”

Then Michael continued speaking.

“It seems he still has not obtained tuna. Recently, a Rare Visitor who is a professional chef arrived, so he is fired up. His kindergarten events are also packed, so he is angry at the Empire for coming to interfere with everything. This time, he may do things thoroughly. Even if he seems like that, normally he restrains himself because it is peacetime. Under normal circumstances, it would not have been strange if the enemy second imperial prince had been beaten to death by him in a rage. After all, even the children he lovingly raises have been dragged into this.”

“Even with that, huh? I hope the Empire does not touch the Demon King-sama’s reverse scale. It would be troublesome if the fallout reached other countries too. I’ll think about the tuna.”

“Yes. Now, the bottleneck in receiving reinforcements from Silas is…”

The next place Michael arrived was Zaid, the land of the grassland people.

It was a country on the opposite side of the Empire from Albatross.

Contact had been sent from his own country’s embassy.

In order to deceive the eyes of the Empire, they had arranged to meet inside the Albatross Kingdom’s embassy.

Though that embassy itself was a “mobile embassy” in the style of the grassland nation.

Otherwise, it would not be able to chase after the moving royal court and would not function as an embassy.

“Hello, Crown Prince Ecude. It has been a long time.”

“Oh. Lord Michael, it has indeed been a long time.”

Crown Prince Ecude was equivalent to what one would call a crown prince, but he would never call himself that.

“I am with the people. We are the people of the grasslands, the people of horsemen. Where the people are, there is the nation, and we royals exist for the sake of the people.”

That was his position.

Apparently, his family had been that way for generations.

Perhaps because of that, his speech was somewhat rough.

It seemed to be a matter of not being able to stand on ceremony when he existed together with the people.

Depending on the country, that attitude would also get on people’s nerves, leading them to be called “grassland barbarians.”

However, Michael viewed it favorably.

That was plainly expressed in his attitude, bearing, and every word he spoke, and it would surely be conveyed to the other party as well.

After all, there was no malice in the Zaid people being that way.

Rather, because they had no hidden sides, they were easier to like than some strange countries.

And among those strange countries, a portion of the Albatross Kingdom itself was included.

It was the sort of thing where one wanted to say, “Please spare me from people like our late Duke Bighton or the Empire’s Duke Beckenheim.”

For Zaid as well, the relationship between the Empire and Albatross was no trivial matter.

If, by some chance, the two were to join hands, it would affect the very survival of their country.

They absolutely had to avoid the disastrous development of Zaid being attacked one-sidedly by the Empire.

For Zaid, it was welcome that the excellent imperial crown prince had withdrawn and the foolish second imperial prince had pushed himself forward.

To begin with, that Empire was their sworn mortal enemy, so deciding to support Albatross from behind and earn a favor was as easy as eating breakfast.

Of course, that naturally would not be free.

Magical technology approaching that of Founder Yamato was something they coveted intensely.

From Zaid’s point of view, there was nothing bad about maintaining good relations with the Albatross Kingdom.

However, security was their greatest concern.

And now the other side was saying they wanted to create a debt over that very matter, so from Ecude’s perspective, it could only be said that he could not stop laughing.

This time in particular, the newborn child of Sacred Elion, who would bear the next generation, was involved.

Because of that, even diplomatic relations that would normally immediately draw interference from other countries could not be criticized by anyone this time.

With such an unexpected windfall, as though loved by heaven itself, the crown prince’s humming would naturally be in fine form.

In his excellent mood, he even personally poured wine into Michael’s cup.

In order for the two of them to speak frankly and directly, Michael had also sent the embassy staff away.

All of this had been brought about by Michael’s diligent work ethic and sincere spirit, as he properly understood Ecude’s honest temperament and what he was likely to think.

Good grief, now it depends on how much that wild troublemaker will do.

Tomorrow will finally be the mining nation of Eldoa.

That place alone is truly a headache.

In any case, the hardworking prince steadily laid out his formation.