Waking up in the morning sun, a sandy beach, brought King Dowburn back to reality. After all, that series of events was not a dream, it seems.
　When I tried to stand up to wake up the body creaking around running around yesterday, I felt discomfort in my right leg with a metallic sound called a jerk.

''What is this........''

　His right leg was shackled and a short chain, about fifty centimeters long, extended to his right foot. And at the end of it was King Zardaniah, sleeping on the beach.
　I'm not sure if it's a good idea, but I'm sure it's a good idea.

''Nuh...?''

　It is the same as the one before it.
　It's not long before Zardaniah stands up and turns his grim face to Dauburn.

"What do you think you're doing?
I don't care!

　They grab each other by the chest and shout at each other. Of course, as expected of the two of them, they don't think this is what the other did. They simply wanted someone to vent their frustration to.

''Do you want me to stay with you at all hours?　It makes me want to puke!
'That's my line!　If you don't like it, you'll drown in the ocean and die quickly!
"You're dead!

　After a childlike argument, another struggle began.
　When King Dowburn's fist, which was mounted first, struck King Zardonia in the face, strangely enough, King Dowburn, who released his fist in the opposite direction, was blown away.

''Gubey!''

　But when King Zardonia saw King Dauburn rolling at his feet, he sensed an opportunity and kicked his opponent in the stomach with his unchained right foot as a form of reciprocation.

''Gufff!

　The moment he kicked her, the King of Zardonia, on the contrary, fell down, holding his stomach. The pain hit him as if he had been kicked by someone else.

''Goooooooo.......''

　Looking at the cowering King Zardonia, King Dauburn had a terrible imagination. No way, he thought, he kicked King Zardonia, who was holding his stomach, and as he kicked King Zardonia's back, he felt a pain as if he had been kicked in his own back and collapsed forward.

''Ugigi........''

　There's no doubt about it, he's sure of it. He doesn't know why, but King Zardonia's damage is coming back to him.
　King Zardonia was about to attack his fallen self again when King Dowburn held up his hand to stop him.

'Stop!　If you attack me, it will come back to you!
What do you know about it, huh?

　The moment King Zardonia's kick exploded into King Dauburn's neck, the one who had released the kick fell over on his side.

'Fool. What I taught you in kind.''
Goooooooooo.......what do you mean by that?
I don't know, but that boy must have done it. When I hit you, the pain comes to me. When you hit me, the pain goes to you. He's using some weird magic...!

　King Dauburn slaps and touches his cheek with his hand. The sensation is there. The other side doesn't seem to feel anything.
　After a certain amount of pain, do they send you back to them?　And he clenched his fist and punched it over his cheek.
　Gun!　I heard a sound that echoed in my bones and caused pain. When I looked ahead, I saw King Zardonia clenching his cheeks and moaning.

It's a good thing that you're not the only one.　What are you doing now?
Settle down. This is a bit of an experiment. I think the pain from hitting them is going to go to them... ouch!

　King Dauburn's right arm was in great pain. He looked at King Zardonia in front of him and saw that he was pinching his own right arm as hard as he could.

'It sure seems like the pain is flying. No, this means that we share the sensation of pain, buh-uh!

　A painful blow to King Zardonia's right cheek. King Dauburn had slapped himself on his right cheek.

"What are you doing?
Shut up!　How dare you!
You were the one who did it first!

　They grabbed the chest and were about to hit each other, but their fists stopped on the verge of hitting each other. Immediately after that, both of them thought what they were thinking and hit themselves in the face with their own fists.

''Gahaha!''

　The pain of hitting himself and the pain of flying from his opponent, twice as much, hit them both.
　The two of them collapsed on the sandy beach, but they quickly got up, glared at each other, and then shook their fists at themselves again.

''You little bastard!　That's it!
"You bastard!　Stupid!

　The morning sun was illuminating the most surreal scene of self-inflicted pain.


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'........Fuyu-kun, are they dumber than monkeys?
Wait a minute. This is unexpected, even for me.

　I hold my head in my hands at the sound of the doctor's heartfelt dismay.
　We chained each other up so that we would have no choice but to cooperate with each other, but there was no point in hurting or even killing the other person in the blink of an eye.
　So I put a 'curse' on them to share their pain. If you hurt the other party, it will come back to you. If you kill the other person, you might die too. If you do it that way, you will think carefully and carefully about your actions.
　I didn't expect him to attack me and myself as well.

''Mostly, why are these two hitting themselves?　You could probably hit them with this already.

　The doctor is right, with that one, hitting yourself hurts, and hitting the other person will return the pain to you. 　If you hit yourself, you're sure to damage your opponent.
　Surprisingly, it doesn't look like I'm thinking.......at all.......
　I looked at the good old men who kept hitting themselves in the monitor and sighed a single sigh.


　　　　　　　　　　◇ ◇ ◇


Huh, huh, huh....
Zay, zay, zay....

　The pain all over their bodies was too much for them to bear, and they lay down on the sandy beach in a large figure, staring with misty eyes at the sizzling, burning sun.
　As they laid down, the pain disappeared. In fact, Fuyao had secretly cast a recovery spell on them, but the two of them would never know about it.
　A grand sound came from their bellies, guuuuuu........ They hadn't eaten anything for a long time now. They had to eat for good reason or they would starve to death with hunger.
　They both slowly pulled themselves up and stood up.

'Let's catch some fish in the sea...'
Let's go find some nuts in the woods and...

　We mumbled to each other and then glared at the other, and then humph!　And then they turned their faces away.
　Then, back to back, King Dauburn and Zardaniah slumped to the ground as they tried to make their way toward the sea and the forest, respectively. It is not a good idea to have a good time.

"What are you doing?
I could say the same thing.

　Head shot!　I shout at him, shouting at him as we bump into each other.

"You really want to get in my way........
You!　Do you think you can catch fish in the ocean that easily, anyway!
That's why the rivers are frozen all year round in this country. Ever since I was a little boy, I have killed many fish with a harpoon in the river of the oasis. If I was good enough, I could catch a fish or two...
A harpoon?　Then where is that harpoon!

　Muggy, said King Dauburn, choking on the words of King Zardonia's return. There is no harpoon in the area.

How are you going to catch fish without a harpoon, rod or hook?　Grab it?　Can you grab a swimming fish by the hand?
No....

　As expected of King Dauburn, he had never caught a fish with his hands before. King Zadonia was right; without tools, he would never have been able to catch a fish. They are right.
　King Dauburn's face is twisted in frustration. King Zadonia sees this and tries to push him further.

'In the first place, how do you plan to eat the fish after you've caught it?　You're just going to sit there and chew on it?　Building a fire is not so easy. It would be much easier to find nuts, fruits and wildflowers that grow naturally. That's why people who are always boiling in the heat all year round...
Muu Muu Muu...!　But you can't just walk into the woods and expect to find something to eat!　In the first place, you're the one who can decide what you can and can't eat!

　Uggh," the King of Zardonia choked up this time. Being born into a royal family, he could not make such a decision. Many of the meals are prepared by the cook, so you don't even know what shape the ingredients were in. If it was fruit, for example, he would know.
　But this was the same with King Dauburn. In fact, he knew very little about it, too. They were both naive kings.

"How can you tell me to go into the woods with that? "If you're not careful, you could end up eating poisonous plants. I don't mind if you die, but I don't want the boy's magic to take me with you.
'If it's a nut or a fruit, I can tell some difference!　You'll never know if you don't go!　Or you're going to starve to death here!
What the hell is...!

　Guuuuuuuu.........
　As he was about to retort, King Dowburn heard the sound of two bellies, his own and his opponent's, in his ears.
　The two of them fell silent, and humph!　They turned away from each other and walked into the forest, keeping pace with each other.




'There's no doubt about it. That's a Pasimo nut.
'Pasimo berries for sure. I've eaten some from Arendt.

　As they walked through the forest, they finally found it and looked up at it. It was a large tree with red berries on its branches. Pasimo is a fruit that can be found relatively anywhere. But it doesn't grow as well as it should in the scorching heat and extreme cold of Dauburn and Zardonia.
　The pashimo is a delicious, colorful fruit. But even if you want to pick them up, they are too high to reach.

Do you want to throw a stone?
No kidding. I don't know if it's going to hit that little fruit. It's doubtful they'd fall off even if they did.
So....

　They looked at a thick tree that looked easy to climb and then at the chains of their own tethered feet.
　Normally, even a child could manage to climb this tree. But if two people climbed it at the same time, the difficulty level would increase.

''We'll just have to do it,''
Hmm.

　With a fierce, self-assertive belch, the two of them headed for the Pasimo tree. Somehow this was the first time the two of them had tried to work together, but they didn't seem to realize it.
　They climbed up the tree, putting their feet in the hollow of the solid trunk and reaching up. For some reason, the chains don't feel heavy, so they don't get in the way. As for the 'weight,' though.

'Whoa!'
What the hell?

　King Dowburn slipped and fell from the tree. Naturally, King Zardonia, who was chained up, also fell as collateral damage. Twice as much fall damage hit the two of them as their own and the other's.

'Watch out!　Look at your feet!
Shut up!　I know!

　They complained to each other but soon clung to the trunk of the tree again.

'There. Put your feet up there.
Come around this way once. It's not safe out there.

　We climbed up the tree a little at a time, talking to each other. Finally, they reached the branch where the pasimo fruit was growing.
　The branch deflects under the weight of the two of them and makes a squeaking sound. There are two adults on it. It's not unreasonable.

'Hey, wait, be careful,'
I know. Don't talk about it...

　As King Dauburn was about to reach for the pasimo fruit, there was a cracking sound, a branch snapped off, and they both fell.
　The two men were in agony from the pain of falling from two stories high. But in front of them were four pashimo berries from each broken branch.
　They picked one up in each hand, wiped the dirt off with their clothes, and quickly took a bite of the skin. After the crunchy texture, a fresh and sweet taste spread over their tongues.

''Delicious....''
Um....

　After that, we continued to eat Pasimo nuts in silence, and in no time at all, we both ate two Pasimo nuts.
　I was so hungry that I thought they tasted really good.
　If you look up, you can see that those delicious looking fruits are still growing.

Not enough!
Yeah.

　They stood up and stepped back to the Pasimo tree.


　　　　　　　　　　◇ ◇ ◇


You're right, I did help with that one.
Otherwise, it would have been pointless to replant the pashimo tree there. The branches will have to come back later.

　The doctor and I sigh as we watch the two men struggling on the monitor. It's been a long time since we've been here. I hope they can grasp the situation a little better.
　I scratched my head as I looked at "it" on the desk in Babylon's Laboratory 2.
　On the desk was a small box about thirty centimeters long and forty centimeters wide, and inside was a miniature of an island. It wasn't a miniature, though; it was more of a diorama.
　In fact, this was the island they were on. It's a combination of space-time magic and ward magic to create a pseudo-world.
　There's an artifact similar to the storehouse, and I was once trapped inside one of them with all of us. It was difficult at that time...
　Of course, we've made sure it's safe, and we didn't put anything dangerous in it.
　I'd like them to get along without anyone interfering, but, well.

How are the princes doing?
No problem. We are making steady progress. From the beginning, only the king and a few of the old nobles wanted a war. The people's support is leaning towards the princes.

　Currently, the king is missing in Dauburn and Zardonia, with Prince Akeem and Prince Frost acting as the king respectively.
　It's only that they are missing, though I've informed the people that they are ill. Of course, I've told the two princes about the situation. As expected, I thought they might object to it since it would be like taking their parents hostage, but they accepted it rather easily.
　The Holy King of Arendt, who was present, said that it's not uncommon for people to cut off the king who is not in the best interest of the people, even if they are their parents, but I'm afraid of that too.
　 Yeah, that would be more constructive.
　The two princes immediately negotiated a peace with their neighbors and offered a truce. There were accusations from the old nobles who were preparing for war, but the princes had the weaknesses of those nobles and so on, and they were soon forced to shut up.
　Apparently the princes had been investigating privately for a long time, and the old aristocrats had done everything from pinning weapons and armor for the war to diverting food, and the more wars they fought, the warmer their own pockets were. The old aristocrats were not just hating the other side and trying to fight, either.
　So the only people who were fighting each other for that reason were the two kings.
　It's so vain to be a naked king, isn't it? I'll be careful too.