Homecoming

The expedition army's return home began.

First was Casalia Kingdom's army. Fifty thousand soldiers led by Reyas traced the path back to Casalia.

Among them, a small number had expressed their desire to transfer to Ogress, and their requests were granted.

They were mainly young soldiers who had distinguished themselves in battle. Ria bestowed noble titles upon them—both the men and the few women among them.

Carlos was one of them. For him, who was about to marry a half-elf, Ogress—where the social hierarchy wasn't as rigidly established—would be a more comfortable place to live.

Next were the ogre and beastkin forces. The ogres, having thoroughly enjoyed the war, returned to their homeland with the bones of their fallen comrades on their backs.

More problematic were the beastkin. Ria granted noble titles to those among them who desired it.

This applied regardless of whether they were in Ogress territory or the former Cordova territory.

Beastkin who had been oppressed for many years suddenly becoming nobles—there was certainly opposition from the human side.

However, this policy was one of Ria's fundamental principles.

The establishment of the Nyan-Nyan Mofumofu Kingdom.

Could there be anything more important than that? No, there couldn't!

Opposition to Ria's policies could still be crushed through military force at this point.

Strike while the iron is hot. Her policies were swiftly made known throughout the land.

Half of Manesh's army would also return home for domestic security purposes.

What was painful was that all the golem soldiers had to return to Manesh for maintenance.

Even though that was the only place with the facilities to service them, it was still a significant loss in terms of military strength.

However, looking at the remaining troops and their level of training, it could be said to be sufficient.

Manesh's army, which had achieved victory after victory, and the disciplined former Cordovan army.

Naturally, rebellions occurred.

But these rebellions that broke out immediately were something Ria didn't consider a problem at all.

The policies Ria had put forth, particularly those concerning law, invited massive opposition.

Cordova had practiced racial discrimination for many years and had codified it into rigid laws.

Now that was gone.

The beastkin they had looked down upon just yesterday now sat beside them in meetings.

Setting aside reason, she could understand why some found it unbearable.

But Ria crushed such nobles through sheer force.

The fools who rebelled at a time when Ria's authority and military power were at their peak were, in the end, not her enemies at all.

Ria used the rebellions to essentially sweep away the domestic opposition.

Of course, there were also opponents who hadn't acted rashly, but those who operated on reason and self-interest were actually easier to deal with.

This policy of Ria's to abolish beastkin discrimination was particularly warmly welcomed among the beastkin. In many villages, stone statues of Ria were erected, and they would remain there for many years until worn away by wind and rain.

The day came for Ria herself to leave Cornada as well.

She had to return to Manesh and take care of the accumulated government affairs.

This meant temporarily parting ways with her companions.

First, Maal was going to visit her home, and Irina would accompany her.

Since they had no horse, Ria lent them Rudolph.

Gig was also returning to the ogre village.

Apparently the Ogre King would specially spar with him to see how much he had grown.

He also needed to return for the funeral rites of the fallen ogres.

Shizuna would also be returning temporarily, traveling with a caravan heading to Jaeburg.

As expected, there was no way she could avoid explaining to her family that she had become a queen's wife.

She looked quite depressed about it.

Carla and Serge would be staying in Cornada.

The reasoning was that if something unexpected happened, these two could handle it.

Indeed, with Serge's spacetime magic, instant communication would be possible.

And considering Carla's combat strength, she could likely handle any rebellion immediately.

Of course, Ria was operating under the assumption that no such events would occur.

Ria's remaining companions would return to Manesh together with her.

Carlos, who would officially become an Ogress knight and be ennobled as a baronet, and Lulu, who would be having a wedding ceremony before that.

Thinking about it, Ria had known Lulu since before she had lost her murder-virginity in this world. The fact that someone who felt like both an older and younger sister to her was getting married filled her with deep emotion.

She considered doing the whole "I won't hand over my daughter!" act, but seeing the two being so affectionate with each other despite their embarrassment, she decided not to be a wet blanket.

Fio continued to work as Ria's secretary.

Since she had made the promise, she needed to properly marry her, but she wondered if she should do the whole "Please give me your daughter!" thing.

She would need to return to Casalia for that, so it would have to wait a while longer.

Speaking of marriage, she needed to find a bride for Matsukaze too.

It would depend on the horse's own preferences, but being such a fine steed—and Ria's beloved horse at that—many brides would surely gather.

In fact, wouldn't more come than even some royalty or nobility could attract?

What's this, so the word "harem" was meant for Matsukaze all along?

Carla called out to Serge, who was watching Ria's receding figure from atop the castle walls.

"Are you sure? About not going with her."

"Well… what about you, Carla-sama?"

"I have things I must do."

Carla wore her usual gentle smile.

That was true. Handling administrative duties as Ria's representative, going around to heal the injured and sick—there was plenty of work that only Carla could do.

And Serge also had things that could only be done here. If another rebellion occurred, the transport of supplies wouldn't go smoothly without him.

"Returning to Manesh means dealing with Guinevere-sama's work, which is exhausting, so I'll stay here, watch Carla-sama's treatments, and study magic."

"I don't mind, but…"

Carla placed her hand on her chin in thought.

"That's rather formal."

"Eh?"

"You call Ria 'Nee-chan,' yet don't you find it odd to keep adding '-sama' when speaking to me?"

Actually, Serge calling Ria 'Nee-chan' was a privilege specially granted to him when he was elevated to baronet.

Therefore, no one could stop Serge from calling Ria 'Nee-chan.' However, Carla took a different approach.

"Shouldn't you call me 'Onee-chan' as well?"

This unexpected attack left Serge stunned.

Ria was Nee-chan. More Nee-chan than Nii-chan—she was Nee-chan.

Carla-sama was Carla-sama. The only ones who called her by just her name were probably Ria and Guinevere.

Hardly any cabinet ministers didn't call Carla-sama "Carla-sama," and even those who didn't still used "Carla-dono."

This was a matter of one's caliber as a human being.

"Um, well, since you'll be teaching me magic… maybe Shishou or Sensei…"

In that instant, Carla's expression was filled with sadness.

"T-then, Carla-san. Please let me off with that."

"… Understood. That will do."

Serge felt relieved, but then he noticed something about Carla he had never seen before.

Had the tension broken now that the war was over?

Or had she become anxious about being separated from Ria and the others?

Either way, living with Ria and the others had brought about a change in Carla.

Carla's life in Cornada was orderly.

Early in the morning, before sunrise, she trained in swordsmanship and magic.

After eating a surprisingly hearty breakfast, she would receive citizen petitions or endlessly stamp documents with her seal.

Lunch was light. Apparently so she wouldn't get sleepy.

In the afternoon, she patrolled the city and visited orphanages and hospitals.

At night, she would usually accompany Serge in magical research, though sometimes she was called away for emergencies.

As for Carla's reputation—well, this goes without saying, but it was extremely good.

After all, there was her beauty, her character, and her healing magic.

Her relationship with the temple, which had initially seemed likely to turn hostile, was smoothed over by having her perform her treatments at the temple.

Such a person was naturally called things like the Silver Saint or the Last Angel to Descend to Earth, but she herself flatly stated that she was an atheist.

"To begin with, the other continents were supposedly destroyed because of the gods' foolish war."

She casually mentioned some rather important history that Serge didn't know about.

"Eh? Other continents?"

"Due to the gods' war, not only humans but all living things died. It's said that the very few humans who survived drifted to Krasil Kingdom, the Seven Cities Alliance, and the demon territory."

This was already over three thousand years ago, so the details were unclear.

At that time, this continent was also on the verge of destruction, but according to legend, the Saint Emperor Ryuke Shifaka put an end to the fighting.

By cooperating with the divine dragon and some of the gods, and destroying the other gods.

"Heh～, but I've never heard any of this before."

"That's right. It was a story sleeping in the forbidden library of the magic academy."

Now that the imperial capital had vanished, that was probably the only place where this history remained. Or perhaps it survived in the memories of elves.

Serge felt he should have asked Dark Dragon Valis more about various things.

"But hey, is it really okay to tell me stuff like this?"

"Serge, you should eventually go to the magic academy. There, you should be able to make use of your knowledge from your previous life."

When Carla said it, it sounded almost like a prophecy.

Indeed, Serge had hoped for an environment where he could train alongside rivals. While he was surrounded by many strong people, their strength was too different in nature, and most of the time they weren't much use as reference.

"Yeah. Once this city stabilizes a bit more, I'll go to the magic city."

Yes, at that time, Serge certainly thought that.

But his wish would be granted for entirely different reasons.

The occupation policy was proceeding smoothly.

Small-scale rebellions occasionally broke out in the provinces, but they were easily suppressed by the dispatched armies.

Cornada was peaceful.

That is, until the serial murder case occurred.