Two months later, it was finally the New Year.
　As usual, I've added a year to my age to become 24 years old. It's a fast one.

　One more year and I will have reached the halfway mark of fifty years.
　Time is a terrible thing.
　However, I can't complain too much about the fact that the country was able to expand so far at the age of twenty-four.

　Julia is the same age as me, twenty-four years old. Tetra is twenty-two years old.
　Both of them are at the peak of their female lives.

　And by climax, I mean the summit of the mountain and after that........
　That is a promise I don't care to make.

　I can't speak for others either.

　Until just a little while ago, I was still in a childish mood, and my selfishness and indiscretions were still noticeable, but recently I'm showing a lot of composure.

　She's become a genuine adult woman, you could say.

　Our children have grown up a lot, too.
　Our eldest son, Ankus (Tetrachoko) and daughter, Fiona (Julie), are now six years old, and our second son, Marcus (Julie), our second daughter, Sofia (Julie), and our third daughter, Flora (Tetrachoko), are now three years old.

　Since they were counting years, their ages in Japan would be about five and two years old.
　No, Marcus, Sofia and Flora were born a few months before the New Year, I believe...

　Birthday - a few months - New Year (last year) - one year - second New Year (this year)

　　One year old, two years old, three years old.

　So, does that make it a year and a few months?
　The counting year system is easy to understand because we all age at the same time... but there's too much variation in the same age to be difficult to understand.

　Oh, by this theory, I'm twenty-two or three years old.
　In Japan, I'm about the same age as a university graduate.

　What, I'm still in shape!

　And when I think back on it....

　Well Your Majesty, I need to talk to you about...

　Alice came into the office.
　Alice, who usually sticks to the heavens to escort me around.

　That's just walking on the ground, which is quite an unusual occurrence.
　Furthermore, to open the door to the office room and enter. Normally, he'd appear from above.

　To the extreme, it came with a consultation.

　What is it?
　Harbinger of a cataclysmic event?

　What's the matter with you, Alice? You look so serious.
　Well, I think I might have made it.
　What?
　...baby.

　Oh, I see....
　Yeah, well, that's...no mystery.

　"You don't want to be corrupted, do you?
　'That is, of course. If it's your baby, but....
　'You can have the baby. Don't worry, there are plenty of top-notch sorcerers in the country. She has nothing to worry about. If you want, we can threaten the fairies with a birthing spell or something. We're not gonna ask you to get an abortion. The woman you love conceives your child. I couldn't be happier.

　Alice's face lit up as I smiled and said that.

　'Yes, I'll do my best!

　Well, I've got a lot of catching up to do.




　Hmm.
　Huh.

　Alice is now pregnant.
　When I reported this to Julia and Tetra, they looked at me with zit eyes.

　'Um, are you mad?'
　No, I was just wondering if I'd finally gotten knocked up.
　You can do it. You're d*mn right.

　Those two didn't seem to be particularly angry.
　.........Well, as for Alice, I've got permission from both of them, so it might be natural.

　'By the way, how will Alice's children be treated?　Do you recognize it?
　Or do you want a side-kick?
　'I'll recognize you, but I won't be upgrading you to a side room. I'm sure the backlash will be strong.

　Because of the lack of marriage legislation in the Adelian peninsula, there is no clear distinction regarding the status of wives and children.

　However, it is customary to make the following distinctions.

　Official wife. First in line of succession. The child is the first in line of inheritance.

　Side room: legitimate wife. However, she is only next in line to the official wife. The child is entitled to the inheritance, but the children of the legitimate room take precedence. (In the case of the Tetra, as a result of negotiations with the Lossies, they have virtually no claim to the throne at all. However, it still exists as a matter of custom).

　Concubine an unofficial wife or a woman in a male-female relationship. She is treated as a servant, vassal, or attendant of the legatees, both in and out of the home. Their children have no inheritance rights and are called bastards to distinguish them from the children of the legate's entourage.

　That's about it.

　In my case, the legitimate room is Yulia. The side room is Tetra. My concubine will be Alice.

　Needless to say, there's a big difference in status between the side room and the concubine.

　Alice's birth is not very flattering, so it's difficult to move her up to the side room.
　Well, if it's in my power, it's not impossible to do it, but.......but when I think about the meaning of having Alice as a member of my side, there is only a drawback.

　If she becomes a side room, Alice will have to behave in society as my wife.
　That would be quite painful, and she might even be able to throw dirty words at me.

　Alice herself doesn't seem to be too particular about being a side room or concubine, so there is no moving up.

　''Acknowledging, you mean bastard... well, maybe it's necessary.
　Yes, it's important.

　Surprisingly, Julia and Tetra seemed to have a soft spot for Alice's children.
　A bastard child of the king would be a vassal who would never betray the king, so he would be welcomed by the main or side chambers unexpectedly.

　He would be trustworthy to his own children because he was a sibling to them, and he would also have no inheritance rights, so he would not be an enemy or a competitor.
　As a future vassal, he will be a very good person.

　.........If Alice is made a side vassal, will there be two Alice abusers?

　Julia and Tetra are originally friends, and since they seem to be on the same page, their rivalry has been basically lulled, and it could be said that they are more of a rival than an enemy.

　I haven't known Alice for very long.

　If Alice were to become a member of his side and her child was given the right of inheritance, she would definitely become an enemy.
　So it's a common enemy for both of them.

　I know that both Julia and Tetra are very kind, personable and rational, but at the same time they are 'human' and 'female'.

　They are not saints by any means.

　If Alice becomes their enemy and the target of their torment, the joint effort will bring Julia and Tetra even closer together...
　So it's a strong, undeniable story.

　Well, I don't know if there's going to be any torment or not, but there's no doubt that the two of them will rapidly grow cold in their attitudes towards Alice, and there's no doubt that they'll say one or two sarcastic things directly.

　Yeah, it's best to remain a mistress, after all.




　Three days after the confirmation of Alice's pregnancy, three days later.
　That person came to the palace again.

　It's been a long time, Your Majesty, King Romalia. I've completed what you asked for.

　I am Ayesha, the tribal chief of the desert.
　Ayesha bowed briefly and then approached my side, taking a box wrapped in a red cloth that was held by her subordinate who was standing behind her.

　''Please go ahead and check it out.''
　Yeah.

　I take the cloth and the first thing I see is a beautiful jewelry box.
　Glitter, gold and silver, rubies, and granada scales glistening.

　'I made it out of leftover materials. It's a special service. Now, please open the box.

　I opened the jewelry box in anticipation.
　Inside was a beautiful crimson gemstone.

　It's a size bigger than a chicken egg.

　I carefully take the ruby in my hand.
　It's so beautiful that I sigh.

　'Why don't you give it a name?
　Well I guess I'd call it 'Blood Tears of Hydra'.

　Well, he died before he could cry.

　Now for the next one.

　Ayesha now brings out a large box.
　I opened the wooden box as I was prompted.

　As I expected, there was a set of armor sets inside.

　Just in case, the size matches my size.
　But.........I think I should stop wearing it after all.

　I feel like I'm going to be cursed by Granada.

　''Now.......can I see the last sword?''
　Yes. Yes.

　Ayesha presented me with a long, stick-like object wrapped in a red cloth.
　I peeled off the cloth and picked up the sword that appeared.

　It was housed in a very simple scabbard.
　It doesn't weigh much different than a normal sword.

　At the very least, it is a commonplace longsword just from seeing it housed in its scabbard.

　Slowly, he pulled the sword out of its scabbard.
　A beautiful steel with a woodgrained pattern emerges, revealing a beautiful steel.

　'I'll have to try it out to see if it works.
　I thought you might say so, and I have a test run of Dragon Damascus steel for you.

　Saying that, Ayesha brought out an iron rod with a radius of about ten centimeters.

　The same quality dragon Damascus steel as the sword His Majesty used before, by the way. This steel rod is something we have seriously forged, and its strength is impeccable.
　Are you sure you want me to cut it up?
　''Yes, I also want to know how sharp the best sword we've struck is. Well, it may not be able to cut. After all, this steel we prepared for the test cut is also of the highest quality, and we put our souls into forging it.

　Ayesha's eyes like that had a sparkle in them, and she wanted me to try it out as soon as possible.

　'You haven't tried it, have you guys?'
　I would never use your sword without permission.

　I see, you are right.
　I instructed my servants to prepare a platform and have them fix a dragon Damascus steel cylinder on it.
　I pull out my sword and stare at the cylinder.

　........Can it cut through such a thick dragon Damascus steel?

　Suddenly uneasy, I look at the sword made of Granada's heart metal.
　It's not thin by any means, but as expected, it's not as thick as a cylinder.

　Wouldn't it be like a certain Z-sword?

　........Well, if it breaks, it's no wonder it broke.

　I vigorously slashed at the Dragon Damascus Steel Cylinder.
　Like butter, the Dragon Damascus Steel Cylinder was ripped in half.

　........This is great.

　''After all, as I see it.......there are no two swords in the world that are equal to that sword. It is the best and most powerful sword.

　Ayesha said proudly.

　'If I had to name it, it would be the Dragon Slayer (Dragon Killer).

　Well, I didn't kill him with this sword.

________.

　"Dragon Killer.

　Also known as "The Witch Killer.

　The sword was broken with the heart metal of Hydra, which was defeated by Emperor Almus.
　It is made of dragon Damascus steel, an alloy of Damascus steel and heart metal with a grain-like pattern.

　It was later passed down to the emperor Marx, and since then it has served as a symbol of his succession to the throne.

　Later, witches took advantage of the civil war to rob the emperor, and it disappeared from his possession for a time, but it was successfully reclaimed and returned to the Julius Caesar family.

　Afterwards, it was destroyed in half due to various circumstances, but as a result of being restored and strengthened by the best blacksmiths of the time, it was nicknamed the "God Killer".

　It is a sword that has defeated the Empire's enemies on numerous occasions, and is a symbol of the Empire's military might and territorial expansion.
　It is a symbol of the Empire's military strength and territorial expansion, and is renowned as the "Holy Sword".

　However, in the first place, the Romarian Emperor himself rarely stands in the front line.
　On the contrary, many Romalian emperors did not even stand directly on the battlefield.

　........That's why this sword has slashed more enemies within than those outside.

　Also known as 'Julius Slayer' or 'Caesar Slayer'

　Therefore, it is also called the "Magic Sword" or "Curse Sword".

　The sword is a symbol of the history of the Romarian Empire and the light and shadow of the House of Julius Caesar.