So much for a nation of liberty. As soon as they sensed things weren’t going their way, they tried pulling all kinds of shifty stuff. At any other time, I might have just continued the war and rolled right over them, but Trash stated that it wasn’t the time for such conflict, and we had to obey him.

Thanks to all that, Shieldfreeden stopped making ripples for the time being, but I didn’t think we could really trust them going forward.

It was also decided that the defeated nations of Faubrey and Shieldfreeden would pay some serious reparations to Melromarc and Siltvelt. Almost all of that money was already earmarked to be used to fight the waves, for the sake of world peace and all that jazz. It wasn’t hard to imagine the path that Shieldfreeden would be forced to walk in the future. Even after peace was achieved, Melromarc and Siltvelt would surely continue to demand money from them for all sorts of arbitrary reasons.

Just as I had started to think about exactly who we were facing—the enemy force that included Takt and Kyo and the one behind the waves—a seriously injured Ethnobalt had been found in my territory.

Ethnobalt had proceeded to inform us that some terrible stuff was going on over in Kizuna’s world.

I wasn’t sure whether to consider this good timing or bad, but after Raphtalia had been captured in aiding our escape from Takt’s first trap, she had ended up escaping to Kizuna’s world via a katana vassal weapon summons. This meant we needed to head to Kizuna’s world to get Raphtalia back, and we were currently in the middle of those preparations.

Before that, though, I should finish explaining the situation in Faubrey. Putting together the pieces of everything that had happened so far, I realized Takt had executed everyone in the royal family who had stood against him. Any left alive had lost their authority due to having backed the losing side. Trash, of the Faubrey royal bloodline himself, had declared that as a hero he’d support the nation. The result of this had been Melty—Trash’s daughter and next in line to be queen—getting the proverbial tap on the shoulder. Melromarc, now with Melty at the helm, had just become a major player on the world stage.

“Hooray for Queen Melty!”

The massive coronation for Melty was held in Melromarc. Not only the people but also the full coalition army was in attendance, celebrating the event. The envoy from the hostile nation Siltvelt was that old genmu guy. He was also among the well-wishers, heartily clapping his hands.

The coronation itself took place on the castle terrace, which could be seen from down in the square. As one of the heroes, I was also in attendance.

Trash, master of ceremonies for the coronation, was waiting for Melty to arrive in the throne room with crown in hand.

“The coronation of the queen of Melromarc will now begin,” Trash proclaimed. Melty had changed into a gorgeous dress that looked incredibly hard to walk in and was shuffling her way toward Trash. She then stood in front of the throne and bowed her head to Trash.