Gacha Kingdom Building

Yesterday I made my move against Marin.

Knowing how important Celly is for her I used their relationship to force both of them to become my citizens.

The most I could offer them was a different fate for Celly who was to become a slave or be sentenced to hanging if we were to take her back to Licerce as the pirates' captain.

While there was a non-zero chance that Marin could protect her by buying her and using the Kingdom I could guarantee her safety by hiding and protecting her there. I could also deal with the biggest problem of Isabella's witnessing the whole deal by simply convincing her to turn a blind eye.

With this, we decided to pretend that Celly was never on that ship.

Of course, there was a price for both of them.

In this case, I wanted both to swear loyalty to me and accept a [Special Role] within the Kingdom that would basically strip them of most of their rights, almost ensuring they would never be able to disobey me.

This was an easy choice for Celly considering her alternatives, but not so much for Marin.

As long as she was willing to let Celly face the consequences for her actions there would be no reason for her to accept such a bad deal, but...

It was clear to us where Marin's values lie. While she might look carefree, she's an honest and caring person who rises to the occasion.

Especially for her friends.

Since it seemed like even among such a group she values Celly the most, there was a high chance of her doing something against us to save Celly.

Because of this, I had to act before a fight ensued.

Forcing them like this is not how I would have preferred things to go, but it was better than having her as an enemy.

I also felt that with time they would understand that I had no ill intentions.

Still, all things considered, the mood on Marin's ship didn't change too much from how it was in the previous days.

Celly's addition as a crewmate instead of a prisoner helped out quite a bit with things since she's as carefree as our captain.

She ended up fishing using her magic, which lit up Claire's competitive spirit as she was already wanting to test her magic against Celly's.

Together, the two of them might've caught enough fish to leave the local fishermen without a job this season.

Surprisingly, it also ignited Ellie's competitive spirit, something I wasn't really expecting as she's usually quite calm.

But the thing is... Throughout our whole voyage, Ellie had managed to catch the least fish even though she probably spent more time at it than anyone else.

Seeing Claire catch so many in a single moment must've struck a cord in her. Even if she's not as prideful, there's still some there.

Still, this didn't do much for her. If anything, it seemed like after getting serious about it her performance deteriorated even more.

Funnily enough, even Isabella managed to get ahead of her.

Neither were doing well but I'm always glad to see Isabella getting a good result despite her bad luck.

Marin: "..."

Miwen: "...Something wrong?"

Marin was understandably quieter than usual, but while I was sitting on a stair watching the girls she left the helm and sat by my side.

Initially, she didn't say a word, but her gaze was fixed on me and her intentions were pretty clear.

Marin: "I thought you would have done something to us by now."

Miwen: "I won't. I'm plenty satisfied with what I have already. As long as you two remain citizens you can rest assured. I won't do anything against you, and you can do whatever you like."

Both Marin and Celly accepted being my citizens under the condition that I wouldn't touch the other.

It was pretty cute to see them worry about each other like that but it also made things easy for me since I wasn't planning on trying anything of the sort, especially against their will.

Marin: "...So you say, but it only makes me wonder what you truly want from me. I mean, as a citizen of this country you wouldn't need to recruit me to your side. As long as I remain the North Fleet's Admiral, my power will serve this country."

Miwen: "..."

Marin: "But that's why you had to bring me to your side, right? You're not loyal to Terith, are you, Mr. Butler?"

Miwen: "I gotta stop you right there. I'm not loyal to Evretis either if that's what you're thinking."

While I am technically their butler, that's just a formality so I can be close to Isabella. Whatever happens to Terith or Evretis is none of my business and I am not making any plans to support them.

Marin: "I see... Then what about the princess? Are you also planning on turning on her?"

Marin understood why I made the distinction when I asked her to stop serving Terith to serve me.

While she imagined it might've been in the name of Evretis, my total disregard for them probably made her rethink.

Miwen: "...Do you care about her?"

Marin: "...I feel a little guilty. She's not like the rumors said."

So she feels like she was being lied to about Isabella...

I couldn't help but feel a little proud about that. Isabella's behavior had changed so much that by living with her for a few days Marin had completely dispelled the first impression she had of her.

Miwen: "...I'm not sure what you are expecting, but... I'll do what I can for her."

She is one of my priorities in this world. But the things I can do for her are limited.

Especially with the world working against her.

Marin: "See? That's what bugs me. You are definitely not trustworthy, but... You seem genuine."

Miwen: "You'll get used to it."

I was glad that Marin was showing some of her affection for someone else.

Throughout this whole ordeal, my biggest worry was that she would start to hate the girls as well since they helped me with my plans.

Thankfully, it seems like that didn't happen.

It also looked like she was going to forgive me eventually as long as I didn't mess with her too much.

As such, I decided to mess with the other girls, as usual.

And so, a few days later, we made port in Cobierzh.

The city we landed in was as cold as Licerce, but that was a given considering it was also part of the North Lands.

That was to be expected though... Cobierzh's territory consists of even more cold regions than Terith, almost the entire country is covered in snow and ice.

Perhaps because of that their people were much more used to living in the cold, and even their capital resided in a city close to a mountain not that far from where we landed.

We left Marin and Celly back at the ship so that they could hold the fort for us, and we took a carriage ride to Cobierzh's capital where we planned to meet their queen.

However, Isabella seemed a little anxious about it.

Since both Sabrina and Edmond had business in Cobierzh, she worried that her presence could affect their assignments.

Thankfully we didn't meet Sabrina, but we did meet Edmond in the capital.

He had been talking with Cobierzh's queen, Lyra, for a few days, trying to set up an alliance between Terith and then.

It seems that the talks between Cobierzh's queen and Terith's royal family have been ongoing for some time.

Both fear Hamperlon due to its high population and the tendency for conquest it has shown over the last few years.

However, Cobierzh's situation is a little less worrisome since Terith's territory acts as a barrier spanning from the north to the south.

Because of this, one side is way more desperate than the other, leading to an imbalance.

From what I heard, the sentiment in Terith's capital is that Cobierzh's queen has been taking advantage of their country.

Of course, I could only know for certain once I talked to her, but that turned out to be harder than I expected.

Even though we were travelling with Isabella who has a high status as nobility. Lyra had almost no time for us.

Normally this would've been seen as rude, but she had the perfect excuse in Edmond, who outranks Isabella and was consuming most of her time.

And to make things worse...

Sabrina: "I wasn't expecting you here! I thought you had gone to Licerce?"

Isabella: "Yes, but..."

If getting a meeting with Lyra wasn't hard enough already, Sabrina came to the city with the same intention.

Since she came from Volan she had to traverse the mountains to come to this city, which made her arrive a little later than us.

However, now that she was recognized as a Saint she was the highest priority for any nation, even Edmond fell a little behind in comparison.

Miwen: "Speaking of which... Why did you come here? I thought you were sent to Volan?"

Sabrina: "Right! And I'd like you to know I've been officially recognized as a Saint! As for why I'm here... Well, I have some questions for Queen Lyra."

Miwen: "Regarding...?"

Sabrina: "Saint's business!"

I see...

Even Gabriella thought Sabrina was a little strange, but I'm still surprised to see that she was telling the truth in her report.

Well, how she wastes her time is none of my business, but... I may be able to use her a little.

Miwen: "Say... Wouldn't you like to do me a favor? I'll owe you one."

Sabrina: "Eh? Of course! We are friends, right? You can count on me!"

Are we?

It feels like lately Sabrina and Isabella have been drifting apart quite quickly.

She's also dragging Edmond and his friends with her too.

But whatever. As long as we get what we came here for, what she asks in return won't matter too much.

Sabrina: "I see, I see... Sure! I can arrange a meeting for you guys as well! But in exchange... I want to show you a spot at the academy! I think you'll like it quite a lot!"

From her description, she was talking about the old gazebo. It is somewhat hidden behind a small hill out of the way for the students but it holds special meaning in the game.

Whenever one of the heroines brings another character there and they spend time alone, their relationship grows immensely, almost as much as an event would reward them.

The thing is... At least in the game, both Isabella and Sabrina are only meant to discover that gazebo after returning to the academy.

Again, Sabrina seems to be slightly ahead of schedule...

I wonder if she knows the significance of bringing me there as well or if she just honestly wants to share a relaxing afternoon with me in a nice place she found.

In any case, thanks to Elizabeth's protection I didn't have much to worry about, so I readily accepted it.

I noticed this made Isabella a little worried though, but... I could always reassure her later.

And so, thanks to Sabrina, we were able to cut the line and the day for our meeting arrived.

The discussion was going as expected.

My business with Lyra was simply to establish an alliance and have her establish a trade route with Licerce as a gesture of goodwill between the two nations.

Not that different from what Edmond was going for, and thus, I met the same barrier.

Lyra: "Licerce... I don't believe that city has much to offer..."

Right. There's an imbalance if only one party stands to gain.

But you can hardly call it an alliance if one party is just taking advantage of the other as well.

Terith is too big to become Cobierzh's subject. When negotiating, they expect to be on equal terms, but that is hard considering how much worse their situation is when it comes to the threat of a war.

But well... That only applies as long as Terith is the only one in fear of the future.

Lyra: "What do you mean by that?"

Miwen: "On our way here we fought against an increasingly high number of monsters..."

This could be attributed to Isabella, of course, but... She was with us ever since we left from Licerce's port.

It didn't make sense for the number of monsters to increase the closer we got to Cobierzh.

That's simply not how her luck works. As much as I hate to admit it, that thing is fair in the fact that it is evenly spread.

The time and place don't really matter.

In a way, it helps in making things more

In a way, it helps make things more consistent and more predictable.

Now, if that happens to break, it must be due to another reason, like the Labyrinth underneath the academy which allowed her bad luck to cause several monster encounters.

As for the reason why Cobierzh is suddenly facing a problem with monsters, well...

It's the same reason why the girls haven't been able to complete the three semesters at the academy, no matter who they play with.

Reaching that stage is practically impossible with Isabella, but... There's no point in reaching the final days with Sabrina as well.

While she is able to gather all the characters, that game is simply unfair.

There's no way for them to survive the last day at the academy, because...

Miwen: "The North Dragon has woken up, right?"

Lyra: "...!"

That thing is as fearsome as Melissa had told me.

It's no wonder it mobilized the entire Snow White Wolves tribe back in the day.

Hell, according to Elizabeth, even Nissa and the mages who founded Rodky also faced against that beast.

And even with all of that... They didn't manage to kill it.

The monster went into hiding, thanks to someone's Gift, some of his wounds never healed, but... It did regain enough of his strength to cause terror on the continent once again.

In the game, the first country to fall to it is Cobierzh.

Supposedly followed by Terith in a matter of days.

We can't know for sure though since it's an unwinnable battle.

The girls have tried everything, but Sabrina's party is simply not strong enough.

Even if they use the strategy of equipping items that grant resistance to cold or ice-related attacks, the only ones who can withstand more than a hit from that thing are Lennard and Edmond.

But even they only last about two hits with Sabrina's protection.

And they are utterly unable to damage the dragon.

Well, there's not much anyone can do against a monster with a level that goes beyond 300.

At least not anyone from this world.

Miwen: "If you accept our terms, I can have someone face that dragon for you."

Lyra: "Hahaha! Are you out of your mind, boy?"

Miwen: "Bring your Royal Knights and commanders. I'll prove my words."

The battle that ensued was held in secret.

The only ones who knew about it were Lyra, Isabella, and me.

As well as the participants, Cobierzh's Royal Knights and Elizabeth.

While their levels were high and they were experienced, the result was obvious.

They didn't stand a chance against Elizabeth.

Miwen: "Alright, Liz. Do you think you'll need anyone's help?"

Elizabeth: "Rest assured, Your Majesty. I alone shall suffice."

Miwen: "Right... I'm sending Skuld and the other Valkyries with you then."

Elizabeth: "Then I shall be... Eh?"

Liz is a bit too thick-headed when she meets an interesting opponent.

I doubt she would be willing to back off from the challenge, and worse yet, instead of trying to defeat the thing, she might first try to recruit it, leaving her vulnerable.

However, with Skuld and the others around, she'll have to keep her guard up to protect them.

That girl would never accept such a failure as losing one of my trusted citizens under her watch.

Hopefully, the Valkyries are strong enough to shackle Elizabeth without being a nuisance during her fight.

And well... It would be nice if Skuld learned a bit about lightning magic from Elizabeth as well.

Miwen: "Maybe I should send Angelica as well?"

Elizabeth: "That... Could be interesting."

With that decided, we executed plan C.

It meant we would lose a lot of the Kingdom's power for a while since I wouldn't like to interfere with Elizabeth's fight, but at the same time, we got Lyra to agree to an alliance with Isabella.

She also kept her end of the deal and started negotiations for trading with Licerce, effectively allowing us to finish Isabella's assignment once and for all.