side:ユキ
落ち着け、落ち着くんだ。
冷静にならなくては。
「驚きなのも無理はありません。ですが私は魔王だったのです。その証明のしようはありませんが」
いえ、俺鑑定できますから、魔王ってわかりますよ。
いや、それより、真面目に間違いじゃないか、確認させよう。
「デリーユ。レーイアとザーギスを呼んでくれ。大至急」
「そうじゃのう、わかった」
デリーユも驚いていたのだろう。
「レーイア!? ザーギス!? 二人がここにいるのですか!?」
流石に生きているとは思わなかったのか、驚いて声を上げている。
「ええ、リリアーナ・レストン殿。二人はこちらで......束縛?」
「どうでしょう、農業指導と技術開発でしょうか?」
「特にはしてないですね。魔族と事を構えたくありませんでしたし、ウィードの事も知られたくありませんでしたから」
「どういう事でしょうか?」
うん、なんと言っていいのかわからん。
とりあえず、なぜここに連れて来たのか経緯を話す事にする。
・妖精族の里をザーギスが潰した
・要請できた俺達が捕縛した
・レーイアが来て、ザーギスごと殺そうとした
というより、随分前の話で俺自身も思い出すのに多少時間がかかった。
なんでまた、今頃、魔王本人が来てるんだ?
「リリアーナ様!!」
「魔王様が来られたと聞きましたが」
二人が丁度入ってきた。
「レーイア、ザーギス!! 無事だったのですね!!」
リリアーナは感極まった顔で二人に怪我がないか確認している。
「ああ、間違いない。リリアーナ様だ。今代の魔王様だ!!」
「二人には申し訳ありませんが、私はすでに先代になりますが」
「どういうことですか!?」
レーイアが驚いて、食ってかかる。
「落ち着け、レーイア。簡単だ、強硬派が台頭してきたのですね?」
「ええ、ザーギスの言う通りです。今まで何とか、抑えてましたが、貴方達二人が行方不明になって、更に、人の国で魔王にロシュールの姫が暗殺されたと私が突き上げを喰らいました」
あ、ちょっと待て。
「なぜだ、リリアーナ様がそんな事をするわけない!! 誰よりも和平を望んでいるのに!!」
「なるほど、魔王様。私達が戻らない事を利用されたのですね?」
「はい、私が、姫の暗殺を指示し、後始末に二人を暗殺したと言われてしまいました」
「そういう事か。和平を推す魔王様が私達四天王を利用して、強硬に和平を押し進めたと言われ、強硬派が適当に因縁をつけて来たんですね」
「ええ、ですが、彼等が嵌めたはずなんですが、全く証拠が挙がらず、貴方達二人の四天王も行方不明。完全に流れは強行派が持っていきました」
レーイアとザーギスには今回のエルジュにまつわる話は全くしていない。
一々国際問題の機密を関係のない人に話す理由はないしな。
まあ、さっきの話を纏めてみよう。
エルジュの事で間違いないだろう。が、原因はリテア。
魔王が強硬派が暗躍したと言っているが、証拠が出るわけがない。
ただ、結果を利用しただけなのだから。
魔王を追い落とすいい材料になったわけだ。
これは俺が、3国の国力削りを避ける為、ウィードが発展するために、提案したこと。
3国を陥れようとしたのも魔王と言ったわけだが。
ほぼ俺が原因。
元ならリテアが原因。
やっべー、色々な意味でやべーよ。
「私が邪魔になったのか魔王の座を降ろされたあと、暗殺されかけまして、命からがら、魔族と結んでいるという噂のあるウィードへ来た次第です」
なるほど、ある意味でランクスの馬鹿姫は役に立ったわけか、あの宣言がなければリリアーナ魔王はどこに逃げればいいのかもわからず殺されたのかもしれない。
そう考えていると、リリアーナ魔王は居住まいを正し......。
「ウィードはもとロシュールの姫、セラリア様が治めていると聞きます。謝って済む問題ではありませんが、国の宝、妹君のエルジュ様を奪ってしまった事をここに深くお詫びいたします。本当に申し訳ございませんでした」
......やっべー罪悪感で一杯になるんですが。
エリスとデリーユも顔をひきつらせつつ、俺と同じように、やっべーって顔してる。
「ですが、私の首を落とすのは、まだやめていただきたいのです。私はまだ伝えるべき事があるのです」
ひぃぃぃぃ、彼女殺される事前提に話してる。
「私がここに来た理由は、3国同盟がなされ、私を代表とした和平派を追い落とした強硬派が、少しでも敵勢力を減らそうと、つい一か月前にルーメル国へ進軍いたしました。なんとか、ルーメルへ援軍を、そして、各国へ通達をお願いしたいのです!!」
拙い、そうか、そういうことか!!
ルーメルと連絡が取れなかったのは、伝令兵を暗殺されていたからか。
「彼等は、各国が同盟されるのを恐れ、各個撃破を狙っていましたが、今回の事で3国が一気に同盟を組んだことで、焦りを感じ、ルーメルを孤立させ、今回撃破することに決めました。私は何とか止めようとしたのですが、すでに権威は地に落ちており......。もう、ルーメルでの戦端は開かれているはずです。私が逃げたこともバレています。人と話なぞできるとは思っていないでしょうが、少なからず進軍を急ぐはずですだから......」
当然だな。少しでも可能性があるなら、放っておけない。
魔族としても、少しでも早く落とさないと、自分達が危ない。
「どうか、どうかお願いいたします。少しでも流れる血を減らしてください。私の命一つで、多くの命が救えるのなら、喜んで断頭台に足を運びましょう。だから、どうか!!」
「お話は分かりました。丁度ウィードには現在交易の関連で王達が滞在しております。大至急に呼びかけ、対策を練り、行動に移しましょう。特にウィードに関してはご心配なく。私達は必ず動くと約束しましょう」
「あ、ありがとうございます!!」
「では、リリアーナ様はお休みください。お話を聞けばかなりの旅路だった様子。まだまだ、リリアーナ様から聞かなければならないことも多いのです。ですので、少しでも体力を回復してください」
「これからは、各国の王を交えての話になります。どうなるかもわかりません。リリアーナ様をいきなり出せば処刑してしまえと言われる可能性もあります。ですが、私達はリリアーナ様を今失うわけにはいきません。だからこそ、今は休んでください」
「......はい。よろしくお願いします」
「デリーユ、リリアーナ様を庁舎の客室へ。レーイアは付き添いを頼む」
「わかったのじゃ」
「任せてくれ」
二人はリリアーナを支えて会議室を出ていく。
「エリスは大至急代表に招集かけてくれ。現在進行中の事は部下に任せて、とにかく来いと。それと、部下に今回の事の箝口令を発令」
まずは嫁さん達とナールジアさんに話を通しておかないと、大混乱するだろうな。
「ザーギスは代表の説明に付き合ってくれ、そのあと各国の王への説明もな」
「わかりました。面倒ですね」
ん、何か忘れてないか?
「あ、リーア」
勇者様がいたよ。
あわてて、隣の部屋に飛び込む。
「リーア、大丈夫か?」
そう言ってリーアを見ると、マジックミラー越しに向こうの部屋をボーっと見つめていた。
「リーアはどうしたんだ? なにか問題はなかったか?」
「いえ、取り乱す様な事はなにも。ただ、黙ってリリアーナ魔王様の話を聞いておられました」
一緒にいた部下に話を聞いても不思議な回答を受ける。
「彼女、は、本当に、魔王なのですか?」
「貴方と同じ暖かさを、感じ、ました」
「ああ、そうですね。あの優しさと、愚直さは参謀に似ている所がありますね」
「性別の問題ではありません」
「何も言ってないぞ」
「顔を見れば分かります」
と、そこはどうでもいいんだよ。
問題はこれからリーアを関わらせるか、それとも旅館に戻って大人しくさせるか。
どっちをリーアが選ぶにしても、俺がリーアに割く時間は減る。
トータル的にリーアの心が安定しそうな旅館引きこもりをおすすめしたいんだが。
「どうする、リーア? 一緒に......」
「一緒に、います。私は、貴方の護衛で付き人、だから」
最後まで俺が言う前に、リーアにさえぎられる。
「あっはっはっは。参謀、彼女にここまで言わせたのです。最後まで一緒にいてください。これはいい付き人ですよ」
そう言って部下が笑う。
あーもう、問答は時間の無駄か。
「わかった。一緒に来てくれ。だけど絶対無理はするな」
「はい。いつまでも一緒にいます」
......この問題だけの事だよな?
そう思いつつも、皆にどう説明しようか悩んで、次の会議室へ足を運んだのだった。
Side: Yuki
Calm down, calm down.
...I need to calm down.
(Liliana)[You needn't be so worried you know. Though I claim to be the Demon King, it's not as if I can prove it though... ] 
No, since I have the Appraisal skill I can say for certain that she is the real Demon King.
That's not the problem though... I mean, is this some kind of huge mistake or ridiculous joke? Either way, I need to get a grip ASAP.
(Yuki)[Delille. Call Zergis and Raia for me immediately.] 
(Delille)[Yes, understood.] 
Delille was also pretty surprised but managed to keep a cooler head than the rest of us so she was still able to calmly listen to me and carry out my instructions.
(Liliana)[Raia!? Zergis!? Are the two of them really here!? Are they safe?!] 
When she heard their names, Liliana couldn't help but let out such a surprised voice.
(Ellis)[Yes, Liliana Reston. They're here. The two of them are... restrained and working for us right now, I guess?] 
(Yuki)[What was it again? They were helping with overseeing our agricultural resources and aiding our research and development efforts, right?] 
(Yuki)[Of course not. Look, I don't want to stir up any unnecessary trouble with the Demons, and Weed still needs to stay under the radar. Torturing them was out of the question.] 
(Liliana)[What do you mean?] 
Right, how much do I explain here...
Well, let's just start with how those two got here and how things ended up like this.
*Zergis attacked the fairies' village.
*I was asked to save their village, we ended up defeating and capturing him.
*Raia then came and tried to dispose of Zergis but was captured instead too.
It was hard to recall all the things that happened so far back in detail, so explanations took a while, though I think I still managed to relay all the key points.
More importantly, why is someone like the Demon King here all by herself in the first place?
(Raia)[Liliana-sama!!] 
(Zergis)[I heard that Demon King-sama had come. ] 
The two of them barged in at the same time.
(Liliana)[Zergis, Raia!! ...You're really safe!!] 
Liliana carefully looked the two over with concern and tears in her eyes, which only made them both feel even more self-conscious about the whole thing. They couldn't help having very apologetic looks on their faces the whole time either.
(Raia)[Of course she is! There's no way she isn't our generation's current Demon King!!] 
(Liliana)[I'm sorry to the both of you, but I've been replaced...] 
(Raia)[What do you mean by that!? What happened!?] 
Raia flared up in almost hysteric surprise.
(Zergis)[Calm down, Raia. This is only my guess, but it is very likely that the opposition got the upper hand on her and seized power. Is that about right?] 
(Liliana)[It's just as you've guessed, Zergis. I was able to hold them back until recently, but the two of you went missing... And then, rumors of 'the Demon King had a.s.sa.s.sinated a Princess of Roch.e.l.le' started circulating.] 
Oi, wait a minute.
(Raia)[...What!? Liliana-sama would NEVER do anything like that! You want peace more than anyone--so what the heck!?!?] 
(Zergis)[I see, Demon King-sama. They abused our absence then?] 
(Liliana)[Yes, the rumor goes that I ordered the a.s.sa.s.sination and had you two go and carry it out...] 
(Zergis)[...So that's how it is. They used the story about the Princess' a.s.sa.s.sination to call your talk of wanting peace a lie and manipulation, coupled with the fact that two of the Big Four went missing--the hardliners then used all that as justification to remove you from the throne...] 
(Liliana)[Exactly. And even though they didn't have any proof whatsoever, the fact remains that two of the Big Four did go missing. The rest was just a matter of conveniently using the circ.u.mstances to their advantage.] 
Neither Zergis or Raia have heard the truth about Herge either.
d.a.m.n. This isn't the time to be worrying about keeping state secrets or international incidents!
Well, to sum up what was said.
There was no mistake that there was an attempt on her life, but the ones behind it were Ritea.
The hardliners' made many claims denouncing the legitimacy of Liliana's policies as Demon King and cast doubt on her, but without any solid evidence they couldn't do more than talk..
That was a natural outcome though.
That became the perfect excuse to move against and remove the Demon King.
This was what I suggested in order to help Weed's development and avoid a major conflict between 3 of the 4 major powers.
The Demon King made the perfect scapegoat at the time and was enough to rally the other countries together with the focus on subjugating the Demons and not each other. Since the blame for Herge's a.s.sa.s.sination was dumped onto the Demon King instead, backed the Demons further into an already desperate corner.
Almost all of the blame falls back upon me as the trigger.
Ritea may have been the root cause, but there was no denying that my decisions helped lead things to this point..
Things were looking bad, and in a lot of very serious and dangerous ways too...
(Liliana)[After the hardliners moved against and removed me from the throne, I was nearly a.s.sa.s.sinated. Though I was heavily injured, I managed to make it into hiding. After that I somehow made it here to Weed since I'd heard the rumors of it being connected with the Demons.] 
I see... then in a sense, Rankus' Princess and her ridiculous declarations actually ended up helping us out this time. Without her yapping, Liliana may not have had anywhere else to turn to for safety and finding her in that situation was only a matter of time. She really might've died...
While I was caught up in those thoughts, Liliana sat up and fixed her posture.
(Liliana)[I've heard that Weed is being governed by Roch.e.l.le's 2nd Princess. While this isn't exactly the best place for it, the fact remains that Roch.e.l.le's 3rd Princess and national symbol of hope, Herge, died due in part to my inability to properly manage this situation. For that I can only offer my deepest apologies--From the bottom of my heart, I am truly sorry.] 
........I could barely hold it together as I was being crushed by my insanely heavy sense of guilt for all this.
Ellis and Delille also had complicated looks on their faces too....
(Liliana)[But, I can't give you my life just yet, now isn't the time. There's still something I must tell you. ] 
c.r.a.p! She totally came here prepared thinking we'd want her executed too!!!.
(Liliana)[The reason I came here was because of the Anti-Demon Alliance and because of all the Human countries I figured Weed would be the most likely to hear me out. I've heard that the hardliners, who left the pro-peace faction, have decided to march against the Humans and reduce whatever numbers they can and in any way they can. They've already started campaigning against Rumel! What I came here to request was both for reinforcements to be sent to Rumel as well as to get in touch with the other nations in the Alliance and inform them about this situation!!] 
Dammit! So that's what happened!!!
I thought it was strange... Since they should've learned of Weed's value in helping them grow, I'd wondered why they didn't attend--They couldn't! Rather than refusing to answer any of the messengers we'd dispatched to Rumel... in all likelihood, the messengers had been killed instead.
(Liliana)[The hardliners were already afraid of this alliance happening in the first place, so when they stopped going at each other and joined forces, they'd gotten impatient and moved to attack the lone Rumel with a surprise invasion. I did my best to stop them, but by that point, my authority as Demon King had all but disappeared... Either way, the war with Rumel is already underway. Regardless, they know that I have escaped and must have guessed that I will move to interfere, so their attacks are only going to become more intense from here on out ] 
Naturally, if there was even the slightest possibility to act, they couldn't very well not take it.
They were Demons yes, but the problem was that they couldn't afford to not act and turtle up either--since things were desperate on their end as well.
(Liliana)[Please, please I humbly beg of you. Even if only a little, help keep the bloodshed to a minimum! If my one life can be used to save countless more, than I will gladly offer you my head! So, please!!!] 
(Yuki)[I understand. The leaders of the 3 nations are connected to Weed through our trade agreements, so we will contact them quickly and set up an emergency conference to discuss countermeasures. You have my word that we will do everything in our power to persuade them and that Weed will move into action personally! ] 
(Liliana)[Th-thank you... so very much!!] 
(Yuki)[Then Liliana-sama, please rest. Your journey here has been a taxing one after all. There is still a lot more we need to hear from Liliana-sama so please, try and recover your strength, even if only a little.] 
(Yuki)[For now we have to meet with the leaders of each country and I don't know what will happen in the future as a result of that. Liliana-sama, there's the possibility you'd be executed if you casually go out now. And we can't afford to lose Liliana, especially now. That's why you should just focus on getting some rest and preparing for the future.] 
(Liliana)[...... Yes. Then.. I'll be counting on you.] 
(Yuki)[Delille, take Liliana to a room in the Government Building. Raia, I want you to escort them] 
(Delille)[Understood. ] 
(Raia)[Leave it to me. ] 
The two left while supporting Liliana.
(Yuki)[Ellis, send an emergency call to all the Representatives right away. Make them leave whatever they're doing now to their subordinates and come straight here. And place a gag order on the subordinates too. ] 
It would be a major problem if I didn't properly explain things to my wives and Naruja.
(Yuki)[Zergis, you'll stay with the Representatives and help with the explanations. After that, we'll have to meet with the leaders of each country. ] 
(Zergis)[Very well. Everything has gotten rather complicated, hasn't it?] 
Hm, was I forgetting something?
(Yuki)[Ah, Leia!] 
It was the Hero of Love.
I rushed over to the next room in a panic.
(Yuki)[Leia, are you okay?] 
When I looked at Leia, she was staring at the other room through the magic mirror.
(Yuki)[Is there anything wrong with Leia? Were there any sort of problems?] 
(Guard)[No, nothing so far. She just silently stood there staring and listening in on the Demon King. ] 
While asking the guard about Leia's condition I heard something very strange...
(Leia)[That woman, was she really the Demon King?] 
(Leia)[...She gave off the same warmth as you.] 
(Guard)[Ah, that's true. There were some similarities with the joint chief, like that radiating kindness and naivety. ] 
(Guard)[That has nothing to do with gender though... ] 
(Yuki)[....But I didn't say anything! ] 
(Guard)[It's written all over your face... try looking at yourself in a mirror, you'll see what I mean.] 
But enough about that! That isn't the issue here!
Would all of this negatively affect Leia somehow? Then, should I have her return to the Inn then?
Whichever path Leia chose, the time I have to spend with her grows ever shorter...
Personally, I wanted Leia to return to the Inn and give her a chance to sort out her mind and heart about all of this...
(Yuki)[What do you want to do Leia? Stay together, or..... ] 
(Leia)[I'll stay together with you. Because I'm your escort and your attendant after all. ] 
Leia interrupted me before I could finish.
(Guard)[Hahahahaha. This girl here actually interrupted the joint chief. Please stay with her forever. She's a really suitable attendant for you. ] 
The man said as he laughed.
Oh well, talking with him is a waste of time anyway.
(Yuki)[I understand, you can come with me. But don't overdo it. ] 
(Leia)[Yes. We'll stay together forever. ] 
......Wait, was that her problem here?
With that on my mind, as well a how to explain everything to my wives, we quickly made our way to the Government Building.
Hisshou Dungeon Unei Houhou
必勝ダンジョン運営方法　相手に合わせる理由がない
https://www.novelupdates.com/series/hisshou-dungeon-unei-houhou/
Adventure Comedy Drama Ecchi Fantasy Harem Mature Psychological Romance Seinen Slice of Life Tragedy
Adapted to Manga Aggressive Characters Aristocracy Beastkin Beautiful Female Lead Clever Protagonist Dungeon Master Dungeons Early Romance F*llatio Game Elements Gore Loli Love Interest Falls in Love First Male Protagonist Management Multiple POV Nudity Obsessive Love Overpowered Protagonist Polygamy Pregnancy R-15 Reverse R*pe S*ave Harem S*aves Strategist Strong Love Interests Succubus Sword And Magic Transported to Another World Yandere
https://ncode.syosetu.com/n7891ca/
雪だるま