Steel Nation Gandiris?

　As I recall, it's a country located east of the Galdio Empire and south of the Holy Kingdom of Arendt. I haven't been there yet, though. I see, the two crossed hammers are the national flag of this country.

Gandiris, the land of steel, is blessed with many mines and can produce a variety of minerals, so it is also known as the 'Mining Kingdom' or the 'Land of Steel'. It also trades with our Galdio, and most of our country's golems are made from Gandiris minerals.

　A mining state. In order to manufacture golems, precious minerals such as orichalcone and adamantite are needed. I don't know if there are orichalcone golems and the like on the western continent, but if there aren't, the mines that produce them would be a veritable treasure trove.
　I wonder what the relationship is with Arendt and Galdio. It's never really come up in conversation.
　His Majesty Emperor Galdio answered my questions.

''We are neighbors, so we have a certain amount of contact with each other, but....... It's hard to say if it's a friendly country or not. We've been at war with each other on many occasions.

　Wow. The previous emperor was a thing, right?　It's said that he joined forces with Isengard and invaded the Leve Kingdom as well.
　So to the current Emperor Galdio, his mother's grandfather to His Majesty the current Emperor Galdio, and to the boy Lucretion, who is the Leve frontier count, he's not related to him by blood, but he's his paternal grandfather? He's already been registered as a demon, but he was a man of great ambition....
　I'm both impressed and dumbfounded, and then His Majesty Emperor Galdio's troubled voice arrives in my ears, hmmm.... What's the matter?

I still don't understand...
What?
''No, because I think the king of Gandiris was more of a laid-back person, and he wasn't the type to plot too much. Well, I suppose there are secret agents in every country, but...

　Oh, well. We also have a secret agent knight led by Tsubaki-san and the others. And they're participating in this party, you know? And this party.
　It's a good thing that you're not the only one. I'm sure there might be a few of them in Belfast as well.
　Information is our weapon. Even if you're not a scheming type, I think it's a necessary thing to do in order to protect your country.
　I don't know if the king ordered it or not. Even if the king doesn't give the order, a good vizier might be able to make a move.

'It wasn't sabotage or assassination or anything like that, perhaps it was simply to gather information. And the anthropomorphic golems don't have that kind of power. But there is a victim in the form of Miss Imelda, so we can't very well look after her.

　No, even if he doesn't have the power, he can, for example, poison someone or sabotage them if he wants to. But if you say that, I'm talking about the possibility of that for anyone at the party.
　Else turns her attention to Miss Imelda's golem lying down.

''Hmm.... But I don't think she had any intention of being that rough with him, this girl.
What makes you think that?
'Because he could have killed the real Miss Imelda in secret, couldn't he?　If you disappear after the party is over, it will mean you're missing. If you don't kill her, you're going to have to ask yourself, 'Who was that Miss Imelda?' anyway. That's what it was supposed to be. It would have been after the party was over.

　Hmmm, I'm not sure if you're saying that. You didn't mind finding out that there was a replacement?　It would certainly be more convenient for something to kill him and bury him somewhere else, right? You don't want to kill him... or were you under orders not to?　
It's not impossible, is it?
　King Lefries turns to Emperor Gardio.

'So how do you plan to deal with Gandiris?
It's difficult to say. The testimony of the frontier count Levee from the Magical Eyes of Remembrance alone doesn't tell us much. There's no physical evidence that Gandiris was involved.
'I'm sure it was the flag of Gandiris, wasn't it?

　I'll have to check with the Leve Frontier Count again. If I'm wrong, I'll be flirting with a completely unrelated country.

There's no doubt about it. I've seen it many times since I was a little girl. I'm sure that the flag was in the room, but just because I saw the flag, it doesn't mean that I saw the people of Gandiris. But...
Can I get you anything else?
'The voice. I heard a faint voice, but it was a woman's voice. 'Emperor Galdio,' 'Disturb,' 'Get rid of it...'...
What...?

　Eliminate Emperor Galdio!　Does that mean you want me to assassinate him?
　It's not uncommon for the king to be targeted by assassins from other countries. I've also been the target of assassins several times. But just as there is an assassination squad, there is a squad that protects the king from the shadows. It is not possible to kill the king of a country so easily.
　Especially in a situation like this. Even now, Emperor Galdio has a strong knight and golems at his side.
　Perhaps, but I think Leafy's maid in the corner of the infirmary is no ordinary person. I don't think the impotent pseudo-golems can manage it, though.

'Does Gandiris have a female overlord?
'I don't think he was there for as long as I can remember. .... but it still feels strange to me. The woman may be from Gandiris, but she may not be related to the King of Gandiris at all.

　Hmm. I don't understand. Is this an assassination attempt after all?　At least keep Miss Imelda locked up?　I mean, you caught the guy who did it.

"Hmm. You can't even protest to Gandiris on this one. I think we need to find out what's going on out there.
'Yes. It could be a sign of some kind of civil war or something, and I'll arrange it right away.

　At any rate, we're going to keep this pseudo-golem at home. To be more precise, though, it's in the custody of the Elka Technician. Maybe we can find out what else is going on with him if we look into the details.
　We sent Engineer Elka, Dr. Babylon, and Miss Imelda's disguised Golem back to Brunhild, and then we returned to the party.
　On the surface, the party went on as if nothing had happened, and the participants returned home with mixed results, some fruitful, some not.
　I was curious about what happened to the Princess Liliel who was the cause of this party, but, well, we'll hear from His Majesty the Emperor soon enough.
　I can't expect much from that figure who was flipping through her phone at the party, though.
　Having a daughter is tough........ As someone whose fate is already sealed with having eight daughters, it's no one else's business.
　I return to Brunhild, feeling the hardships of having an unborn daughter.


　　　　　　　　　　◇ ◇ ◇


Why don't I ask for your name in there?
Ugh......... It's not that I didn't think about it, it's more like I was completely out of it........ And besides, I don't know if you'll be able to tell me about it........

　Sitting in front of me, Princess Lirielle was clutching the handkerchief given to her by that black mask that she said helped her while lying on her back. Besides the Princess, the only people in the room are me, Yumina and Linse. I didn't expect this kind of consultation when I was summoned to come here, without telling His Majesty the Emperor.
　Since we wear masks at the ball, we don't know who the person is even if he or she likes it. Therefore, if they liked you, you would secretly tell them your real name and make a connection with them later.
　Of course, if they don't like us, they won't tell us their name, and since telling them our names is like saying 'I like you', we can't just tell them our names with a smile. They'll make fun of me as a soft man or a slut.

''Fuyao-san, can't you do something about it?''
I can't help it...

　Linse pleads with me, and I ponder what I should do.
　The only clue is the black mask, right?　When we distributed the masks to each country, we distributed them evenly, so there are black masks in every country.
　Even if you don't include women, there are still many black masks.

'Oh, but Mismid and Xenoas and........ Beastmen and demons will disappear, right?　I heard there was no tail or horns or anything like that.
Actually, that's what I'm talking about. I've been giving some people the type of thing that can erase their tails and horns if they want. I also give them a black mask of that type...

　When I responded to Yumina's words, the smile that came to my face changed into something indescribable. No, there are various troublesome issues if you find out that they're Mismid, Xenoas, or even the Dragon Race 《Dragonute》 of the Martial Kingdom Lase by appearance. People who don't care about it don't care about it, though. It would have been good if I could retract my horns like Sakura or the prince of Xenoas.

'In the meantime, there's a record of who wore the black mask, so I'm sure it's not impossible to find them.... It's going to be a luster killer, this........

　I look at the list of participants that I have recorded on my phone and I'm a little dismayed. I don't know if they would answer me honestly if I asked them. There may be a variety of circumstances on the other side as well.

Are you really going to look for them?
I want you to find him. I need to see you again. Or else...!

　Tightly, clutching the handkerchief in her hand tightly, Princess Liliel looks down. Are you that preoccupied........

''Otherwise, I wouldn't be able to move forward with my manuscript because I'd be worried about it!　I managed to finish it this time, but I'm feeling kind of fuzzy and uncomfortable!　It's not good to interfere with the writing process!　We need to get out of this situation as soon as possible!

　Oi. I don't know if it's okay to be brave or not.
　I beckoned Yumina over to me with a little beckoning and asked her to come over to me, hiding my voice to ask her the important question: "Does this mean that this is the case?

"Does this mean 'that's what it means'?
I guess so. I've never seen Sister Lili like this before. I don't think I know what I'm talking about.

　That delusional runaway princess is a b*tc*... I don't understand. Whose words were those of "A little bit of hope is enough to make love blossom"? It's quite a troublesome beginning.

'He is the one who helped me. It's natural to be curious about him. You just can't be sure if this is love or not yet, can you? I've never heard anything about Lili-sama's flirtations.''
Yeah. You're a childhood friend, you know what you're doing.
I understand. I've been there.

　She is my wife who smiles mischievously at me when she says that. No, in Yumina's case, it was her father, His Majesty the King of Belfast, who saved her.
　I suppose it shouldn't be the same as our time, but the fact that the other party is the princess of a country is similar?
　I search for the black mask users from the list of attendees on my phone and exclude the women from there. Let's see, thirty-eight people in all........ That's still a lot.

Let's start with what we can find out for now...?
So you'll start with Brunhild.
Yeah. There are three of us. Knights Rushed, Karon, and Nikola, the second-in-command?

　Lucheed is a young man of the vampire tribe and from the demon kingdom of Xenoas. He's an eccentric guy who has a weakness for blood, even though he's a vampire. He's an old-timer and early member of our Order.
　He's a bit of a pushover, but he's a gentle young man. Even though he's a young man, he's a vampire, he's over sixty....
　Karon is a young man from Belfast, and his family is a medicine man. Perhaps that's why he knows a lot about plants, and within the Knights, he's mainly given his strength to develop agricultural land. He seems to be a favorite of his uncle Kosuke, and he seems to have received a small amount of the "Blessing of the God of Agriculture".
　The "blessing" in this case is not a special ability like Yumina and the rest of the "family", but rather a normal talent.
　Nicola-san is, needless to say, the deputy leader of the Brunhild Knights. He's from Miss Mido, a fox beastman.
　Huh?　Nicola-san was also a mask for species concealment, I think.
　Anyway, let's ask her alibi.................... I'm not looking for a culprit.




"Lucheed and Caron are both clean...
What's a white?

　Yumina tilts her head and asks. I don't know, I'm in a detective mood.
　I couldn't tell the two of them, Luchede and Karon, directly about Princess Liliel, so I asked them, 'A woman was saved by Black Mask-san, and she's looking for that person to thank her for her help. She might lie and answer, 'It's me,' but then you can ask her about the handkerchief. Well, I don't think there's anyone like that in our Order.
　As a result, Rushed was dancing with a woman he knew at that time of the day, and Caron was preoccupied with a rare meal of leafy greens.
　Of course, they were masked, so there was no testimony from the people around them, and we have to take their word for it, but if it's true, they weren't the ones who helped the princess.
　If the person who rescued her says "I don't know", there's no way to confirm it....
　That's right, if you ask them to use Dr. Keeler Polygraph, the lie detector, or His Holiness Pope Ramish's Magical Eye of Truth and Falsehood to detect lies, they'll be able to understand it immediately. It's not like I've done anything bad, and it's not something I want to expose that much.
　........It's a pain in the ass. I guess we should use [Recall] on everyone after all and search their memories.......

No, you can't. You can't use 【Recall】.
I don't think you're in the right place.

　Linse nailed it. Muu, sharp. Well, [Recall] can't read it to the memories I don't want to give him, so it's impossible if he refuses to give it to me. I can read it if I strengthen it with divine energy, though. ........No, I won't do it, right?
　We came to the Knights' training grounds to talk to the last one, the deputy commander, Nicola-san. Everyone is working hard in training today. They're digesting the hellish menu set up by Morobane Sister.
　In the beginning, I often saw everyone lying dead, but recently I haven't seen many of them. I think that's how good they've gotten.
　 However, it's difficult because the skills required for adventurers and knights are sometimes different, though. We don't have training like 'treasure chest trap release' in the knights' group.

'Hey, that's not Fuyu Yoru. What's going on?

　Else approached us as we came out to the training ground. She is sitting on a bench and wiping sweat off her face with a towel. Even if you become a queen, this kind of thing doesn't change.

The first thing to do is to ask Nicola-san for something. Is she here?
The Deputy Commander?　If you're the XO, here you go.

　A wooden spear and a wooden sword crossed at the end of Else's point.
　Nicola-san's wooden spear, which was thrust out with the spirit of a cleaver, was lightly avoided and played by the wooden sword from below.
　Just when Nicola-san stopped moving slightly, Yae, who packed the range of the long spear in an instant, cleaved off her body like a lightning bolt.

''Gu........!

　Gulp, Nicola kneels down in front of me. Mu, is it okay?

That's it. Can you stand up?
Yes. Yes, I'm fine.

　Judge Hilda replies briefly to Nicola as she gets up.
　Ms. Nicola is not weak by any means. Yae is a bit strange. Even that Yae can't be a handful for Morobane sister, so no one in our knight's group can increase in size. According to my uncle Buryu, it seems that 'as long as you are comparing your strength with someone else, you are second-rate'.

''Then next!　Ready!
Nice to meet you!

　As Nicola-san steps back from in front of Yae and the others, the knights who had been waiting behind her take her place.
　Nicola-san returns to the bench, wipes sweat off with a towel and drinks water from her own water bottle. I'm sorry to say that I'm tired, but I called out to Nicola-san.

'Do you have a minute?'
'This, Your Majesty. How may I help you?

　Stopping him from getting up, I asked him if he had any idea what he was talking about, not mentioning that he was the Princess Liliel.

''No, I don't know of any,''
'Oh, yeah...'

　Hmmm. I thought it would be easier if it was one of us, but I guess it didn't work out that way.
　So it's a bit of a hustle and bustle........ It's a hassle.
　By the way, it seems that they are not participants from Princess Liriel's place, or in other words, from Leafreth. It's a good idea to have a good idea of what you're looking for when you're looking for it. The mask's effect can't be disguised as a body shape.
　It's a matter of course. I'll ask the kings of each country to introduce their black masks to me, and then I'll check them out one by one....

Speaking of which..... Strange....?
What?

　Else, who is sitting on the bench, overhears my mumbles and asks me.

''We're talking about this kind of topic, but sister Hanakoi hasn't shown up....... Normally, it's up to you, big sister!'' And then he's going to suddenly appear behind you...
Do you have something to do with your sister-in-law, Hanakoi?

　Yumina replies with a bitter smile, but it's sweet. It's too sweet. Originally, that person was the one who initiated this ball, right?　Why haven't you mentioned this interesting story (for your sister Hanakoi)?
　I saw that there is a good reason why the love gods don't bite on love stories. Could it be that........this love is fruitless.......?
　The ball called for single people who were not married to each other to participate. It was basically voluntary, but there may have been some people who were forced to participate because of orders from above.
　Some of them might have been forced to participate even though they already had a girlfriend or something. If that's the case, then it's a bit harsh.... Am I the one to tell the princess that?
　No, it hasn't been decided yet.... I hope it won't be a problem.
　With a heavy heart, I called His Majesty the King of Belfast with a heavy heart.




'Wiped out?　So no one ever remembered it then?
Yeah. They don't know. Huh....

　I leaned back limply on the couch. As I told Leanne, I had asked all the black masks who attended the ball, but none of them had come forward. That means that the person who saved me didn't want to lie to me and come forward.
　More and more, I think this is out.... I'm not sure if it's a good idea to force a person who doesn't want to do so to pull a job they don't want to do.

"What with the anthropomorphic golems, why do these troublesome things keep coming up one after another...
'I have a feeling that a darling who isn't holding onto trouble isn't a darling. That's the way it is, and you should accept your fate.

　I feel like I'm being unreasonable. I don't want people to sound like troublemakers.
　But I wonder what I'll do. I have a feeling that if I say, ''I don't understand. I have a feeling that if I say 'I'm sorry,' this story will end there, but the feelings of Princess Liliel are in limbo.
　
　But that's not for me to decide. It's up to Princess Liliel herself to decide.
　I want to help her as much as I can, but....
　I've been leaning back against the sofa, and a ringing tone is emitted from my bosom. Hmmm, who's that at a time like this?　You don't want any more trouble, do you?
　I took out my phone and looked at the name of the incoming call and it said 'Ariati Tis Arent'.
　 Rumored to be the fiancée of His Majesty Frost, the new King of the Ice Country Zardonia.
　Well, I gave her a mass-produced smartphone, didn't I? I'm doing a favor for His Majesty Frost and His Holiness. I've never received a phone call before.

"Yes, hello. Is this Mr. Ariati?
'Oh, yes. 'Are you His Majesty the King?　I'm sorry to contact you on such short notice. To tell you the truth, there is something I would like to discuss with you...
Pfft.

　Leanne, who was sitting across from me, blows out her tea. Apparently I was making a funny face when I heard those words.
　No, because this is going to be troublesome again......... 　Leanne is pulling and shaking, but I ignore her at this point.

'Oh, no, it's nothing. 'So?　What on earth is this all about?
''Well, actually, there's someone who would like to meet His Majesty in private. That person is Gandiris.

　What?