A Sovereign King Prevails

by VKJer

What is life after death? Touya Mochizuki asked this question at some point in his life and he just never thought he'd get the answer because God accidentally killed him, now he's going to be reincarnated in a new world with his smartphone! (Touya/Harem) BAMF!Touya, Bigger Harem. Crossposted in AO3.

9. Chapter 9: Through Land And Sea

"Touya, look at this." = Normal speech.

'Touya, look at this.' = Thoughts/Telepathy.

(One hour later.) = Time skip.

~Yo, it's God.~ = Phone call.

"Come forth, fire!" = Chanting.

[Kingdom of Belfast] = Title/Place/Rank/Weapon Name.

{Gate} = Spell name.

=-=-=-=-=-X-=-=-=-=-=

"Pleased to meet you, my name is Laim, and effective today I'm your butler." The old man bowed. His suit was prim and proper, and he bore a striking resemblance to Leim.

"Old Laim has been taking care of my father for many years. He'll make a fine butler won't he?" Yumina remarked.

"Wait-! The King's butler?!" Touya's eyes widened. Now that he thought about it, this man was the same butler he saw in the Royal Castle during the King's attempted assassination, "May you explain why such a person would work here?"

"Certainly." Laim nodded, "As of today, I had stepped down from my duties as the King's butler and handed the role to my son, it just so happens that the Princess contacted me."

"I realized that spending my days serving the one who not only saved the King, but also my brother would be a life well spent." Laim finished.

"Younger brother…?"

"He works as the butler for Duke Ortlinde."

"Ah! Leim!" Touya exclaimed, the older man nodded and smiled, before he gestured to the two young women to his side.

"These girls were dispatched from the [Maid Guild] to serve you from here on out." The two aforementioned girls stepped forwards, introducing themselves to Touya and Yumina.

"My name is Lapis, it's a pleasure to meet you."

"I'm Cecile~ Pleasure to meet you~!"

Next came two people, a man and a woman.

"I'm Julio, the gardener." Julio bowed, he then gestured to the woman next to him. "Next to me is my wife, Claire."

"Hello, I'm Claire, the cook." She bowed.

"These two will be responsible for managing the garden as well as the kitchen." Laim informed, he then gestured to two more men, "These two will be in charge of gatekeeping and security of the mansion."

"I'm Thomas, previously worked as a Heavy Infantry for the Heavy Infantry Division." The taller man, Thomas, introduced himself.

"I'm Huck, I was a part of the Kingdom's Light Infantry Division." The shorter of the two, Huck, introduced himself.

"We swear on our honor, that we'll protect you." The two bowed, showing their respects to their new employer and master.

Touya sweatdropped at their enthusiasm, but nonetheless appreciated it, he asked them to lift their heads and they did.

"Is there any dissatisfaction with the recruits?" Laim asked.

"None, they all seem fit for the job, though I have to ask." Touya inquired, "Are you fine with working here? Wouldn't there be someplace you'd rather work than for some random adventurer?"

"No, I have already made up my mind, and please, Master, you are but no ordinary adventurer. Therefore, I look forward to working with you." Laim bowed once more, and Touya bowed with him, "Without further ado, Master, we shall go investigate the mansion before we begin our work, would that not be a problem?"

"Nope, go ahead and if there's anything you need, tell me." Touya shook his head and smiled, the rest of the newly recruited people bowed and left the room, leaving Yumina and Touya by themselves.

Touya let out a sigh of relief before flopping onto the nearest couch, Yumina giggled, sitting next to him, asking him what he thought of the recruits she was able to find for them.

"As I said, they're all good fit for the job." Touya said he sighed again, "Still, I can't believe you got the King's butler to work for me."

"Hehe~ As I said before, I had some people in mind. It just so happens that Laim was about to retire soon, so I thought I'd seize the opportunity." Yumina giggled, finding his concern to be admirable.

"You work fast…" Touya commented as he felt the couch shift, he opened his eyes and saw Yumina close to him, leaning on his shoulder.

"How are you feeling, Touya?" Yumina asked.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, how are you?"

"I…" Touya started but trailed off when he couldn't think of anything to even say, he hummed, racking his brain for a response but came up short, he sighed and just closed his eyes as he tried to take his mind off of the question.

Seeing his silence to her question, Yumina shook her head and came closer to Touya, snuggling close to him. He felt the shift and the added weight to his body but he kept his eyes shut. Despite that, he instinctively wrapped an arm around Yumina who accepted it, causing her to snuggle closer than she initially planned.

"It would seem you have a lot on your mind."

While he didn't say anything, Yumina knew he heard her and agreed, so she just left him in silence.

She recalled the last two months of her time with the party, from the first time she met Touya to where she is now, she thought back to the decision she made to marry Touya and how it changed her life for the better, she thought about to the days she spent with the party and how they were the best days she ever had.

She never felt like she lacked much before, being the First Princess has its upsides after all - but there was still that lingering feeling in her heart that something was amiss, that a part of her wanted but could never fully understand what it was. But now? She knew what she wanted, and who she needed.

Touya not only saved her father, but her as well, and for that, she was grateful, for she knew who she wanted to spend the rest of her life with.

But she shook her head.

She wasn't the only one who loved him and Yumina knew that.

Her mind wandered to the three other girls, Elze, Linze, and Yae, she knew that the three were in love with him, or in the process of falling in love with him, yet they shatter and deny such feelings. While she could understand why they were hesitant to let their feelings known - Mostly since she declared her intentions to marry Touya - Yumina still clarified to them that she had no problems with Touya marrying them as well.

Was it the fear of rejection? Perhaps, but Touya wouldn't seem to be the person to just deny their feelings, especially when Yumina can see that Touya's own feelings for them were boarding the lines of love as well.

So what was stopping them really? Yumina didn't know but she didn't care, she would use this as an opportunity to help them understand their feelings and finally have them confess.

She smiled, thinking of the future she will build along with the others with Touya as their husband.

She then recalled today's events.

Before meeting with the people Yumina recruited, she, Touya, and the others, all spent the day cleaning and exploring their new home. The task was a daunting one and had made several of them tired during it, but they still managed to come through and clean the mansion. Once they were done, the rest of the girls went downtown to the marketplace to buy food and materials.

Because of that, it left Touya and Yumina alone, and the Princess thought that it would've been the perfect moment to tell Touya that the new recruits would arrive shortly after - If you asked Yumina, the interview was a success, but seeing as cleaning the mansion and interview had tired Touya out considerably, Yumina was okay about him ignoring her.

Especially when she realized that he had fallen asleep now.

The faint sound of his snoring caused her to giggle, nevertheless, she let him snore, she snuggled close to him, feeling his warmth as she too let the sweet embrace of sleep take over her.

When the others came back, they were greeted with new faces, as well as the sight of Touya and Yumina sleeping peacefully on a couch.

=-=-=-=-=-X-=-=-=-=-=

(At the rendezvous point, in the Royal Capital, [Alephis].)

Gathering at the agreed upon meet up point which was just outside of the Royal Capital, Touya and Co arrived, dozens of men and women stood upfront, Olga and her sister Arma were there, standing in front of a line up of carriages along with a row of guards from both sides. The party greeted the convoy and proceeded to get acquainted with them.

"The soldiers from both kingdoms will be accompanying us on this journey. Let's get along with each other." Olga informed the newly arrived.

"I'm Garn, leader of this [Mismedeian Guard]." A tall and muscular wolf Beastman announced.

"And I'm the leader of the Belfastian side, Leader of the [First Order of Knights] of [Belfast], Lyon Blitz. At your service." A handsome blonde young man stepped up, he bowed and introduced himself.

"Lyon is General Leon Blitz's son." Yumina whispered to the party, "By the way, nobody in the convoy knows I'm the First Princess of Belfast except for Lyon and Olga of course."

"He has a son?" Touya whispered, Yumina nodded. When he took a closer look at the Knight, he did see the resemblance between the son and father, 'Though why do they have such similar names?'

"I wonder what the [Kingdom of Mismede] looks like." Elze wondered.

"I agree, thinking about it makes me want to travel around." Linze nodded, having a conversation between her and her sister.

Shaking his head, Touya let the girls talk amongst themselves, he approached Lyon who was ordering around his men, the knight noticed him and turned his attention towards him.

"Hello, how may I help you…?"

"Touya, Touya Mochizuki." Touya introduced himself, offering a hand, Lyon accepted and shook hands with him.

"Yes, Sir Touya, how may I assist you?" Lyon asked.

"Can you tell me how many Knights from [Belfast] are escorting us?" Touya asked, he was curious how many were joining them for the journey.

"Ah! Well. Currently the convoy is assigned with two squadrons of Knights, excluding me, that would be around a total of twenty Knights." Lyon informed him, he then pointed to Gain's group, "And if you're wondering about the Mismedian side, they have around fourteen."

"So in total, we have thirty-six people escorting the convoy?"

"That would seem so, yes." Lyon nodded, "Why do you ask, is the number of guards not to your liking?"

"What? No, I was just curious." Touya shook his head, "With this being an important journey, I wanted to know just how safe and protected we'll be."

"Oh, well. You're not wrong to be curious Sir Touya." Lyon smiled, huffing his chest up, "Rest assured! This convoy will be the most protected it can be! I swear on my name as Lyon Blitz!"

The adventurer chuckled at the Knight's enthusiasm, thanking him for the information, Touya then started going around the convoy, asking questions to the escorts and the like. He learned a lot of the beastkin after talking with them and asking what their traits were, especially since this was the first time he was able to take a closer look at them.

No, that time he helped Arma find Olga didn't count.

His endless curiosity landed him in the presence of a rabbit beastkin, the light purple color of her hair kinda reminded Touya of a certain bunny with light purple hair, but he brushed it off. Deciding that staring at her would be rude, he made his way towards the beastkin, she turned and faced Touya, curious as to why he was approaching her.

"Yes? How may I help you?"

"I was just going around, greeting everyone who is part of guarding the convoy, my name's Touya, Touya Mochizuki." He greeted, bowing slightly.

"I'm Lain, pleased to meet you, Touya." Lain bowed, returning the gesture.

The two proceeded to start a conversation, he asked her what her traits did, seeing as she had rabbit ears, she obliged, telling him that her ears gave her sharp hearing abilities making her a great scout. Nodding, Touya bid his farewells, thanking Lain for her explanation.

Going around, Touya met with Garn who was talking to Lyon about the route the convoy would go through and how long it should take. The two leaders noticed the approaching adventurer and gestured for him to come closer, they continued to discuss the routes, letting Touya in on their conversation and asked him if anything needed to be changed.

The adventurer shook his head and just accepted the route they chose, he wasn't an expert when it came to these things, so he let the two more experienced men handle the planning, saying his goodbyes, Touya met up with his party and they all went inside of their carriage, Linze and Elze offered to be the couchman for the carriage which he didn't mind - that meant that Yae, Yumina, Kohaku, Olga and Arma were inside of the carriage. Sally remained within his shadow, acting as his second pair of eyes in case anything went wrong.

He heard Lyon's voice shouting about their departure, he saw the escorts entering their carriages and some of them were saddling their horses, since the others were getting ready to disembark and he thought to do the same, he didn't want to be left behind after all.

As he entered his carriage. He saw Arma eyeing Kohaku, the divine beast returning the gesture as the two locked into a staring contest. Sighing, he diverted his attention from the two and looked around, he saw Yumina and Yae having a conversation with Olga about something, Touya couldn't hear what they were talking about but figured it wasn't something he should know nor did he care enough to do so.

He sat down and opened the bag he had on him, with the journey being long and his conversation with the two escort leaders, Touya had the foresight to make some games, like a spare shogi board and some cards he bought in the marketplace. Curious at what he was unpacking, the others inside of the carriage started gathering near him.

Touya smiled and layed out the rest of the things he packed. He gave a basic rundown on how to play and started a series of games within their carriage.

=-=-=-=-=-X-=-=-=-=-=

(Enroute to the Port City of [Canaan].)

It has been about two hours since they left the Royal Capital, the convoy was steadily making its way to the Port City of [Canaan], being the only Belfastian city that bordered the [Great Rau River] meant that they would have to essentially cross the massive river in order to enter Mismedian territory - The journey itself was calm and if they kept up the pace they'll arrive at [Canaan] by sunrise tomorrow.

That meant they had plenty of time to kill, which was why Touya packed the games - Right now, he was playing Shogi with Olga while Yae, Arma and Yumina were playing Concentration. The Eashen female already flipped a black card with an ace and was deciding which card was the pair.

"Um- It's this one!" Yae declared, flipping a card only to reveal that it wasn't an black ace and instead a red 4 hearts card.

"Too bad. The Correct pair is this." Yumina flipped a red ace and another ace, "And this one."

"You're right!" Arma exclaimed, watching with excitement as Yumina won the game.

"I-it's my loss…" Yae said, downcasted as she slumped into her seat.

"Looks like this just isn't your game, Yae." Touya commented, "Either way, this is my win. Checkmate."

"Ah-" Olga gasped as her king was taken, ending the match of Shogi and declaring Touya the winner, "Well, that is to be expected, I just started playing after all, my skills were severely lacking."

Her comment made Touya hum, seeing the two gloomy women, he decided to elevate their spirits, "Yae, how about we switch? You can play Shogi with Olga while I play some card games."

"Yes! Dolan-Dono taught me how to play Shogi back at the [Silver Moon Inn]!" Yae instantly shot up, Touya chuckled at her reaction as he stood up from his seat and switched with Yae.

She and Olga began to play Shogi, and for some reason they immediately got absorbed into their match, staring intensely at the board while they moved their pieces to capture their respective kings. Shaking his head, Touya shifted his attention away from them and turned to Yumina and Arma.

Touya stood next to the table and started collecting the cards, shuffling them as he explained to the two about the rules of Old Maid, "I won't be playing since this game can be played better with 2 or 4 players - instead I'll be the referee, here are the rules."

With a quick rundown of the rules, Arma and Yumina started to play a match of Old Maid, as the match started to come full swing, Touya kept his eyes on the table but eventually let his mind wander about. Various sounds were blocked out, leaving only his thoughts to be the only thing he would be hearing.

'I never thought this would be how my life would turn out.' He mused, as he turned his head towards one of the carriage's side windows. Out of the corner of the window was one of the escorts, riding on a horse as they trailed beside the carriage.

Now that he thought about it, this was the first time he would be stepping out of [Belfast], as most of his adventurers were mostly within the Belfastian territory. He wondered what kind of place [Mismede] was, as most of [Belfast] reminded Touya of Europe in its medieval days, perhaps [Mismede] would be the same? He didn't know and was excited to find out.

A smile on his face appeared - say what you will about him, he was still a teenager and at his peak of curiosity.

Turning his attention away from the window, Touya observed the two girls at the table in front of him. Yumina looked to be winning if the side of her mouth smirking was any indication, while Arma nervously sweated and was actively concentrating on her cards.

He turned his gaze onto Yae and Olga and already, the beastkin won her match against the Eashen as she slumped into her seat, a moody cloud over her head. Olga smiled brightly, offering a hand to Yae who begrudgingly accepted. Shaking the hand in good sportsmanship.

Touya sighed and shook his head, a slight grin on his face before turning his attention back at Arma and Yumina - The match of which ended in Yumina being declared the winner, Arma whined yet accepted her loss, congratulating the First Princess on her win, likewise, being the good person she was, Yumina praised Arma for being able to come close to winning as well.

The two shook hands, both parties were happy with the results, a stark contrast to Yae and Olga, Touya chuckled slightly before he gathered the scattered cards and started shuffling them, asking the girls if they want to play another round, though Arma shook her head, saying that he wanted to hear stories about their adventures.

Seeing why not, Touya agreed, he stacked the cards and placed them neatly onto the table, taking a seat, he began to retell the adventures.

"Okay, how about I tell the time where our party fought these weird crystal monsters."

=-=-=-=-=-X-=-=-=-=-=

(On the road, nightfall, enroute to the Port City of [Canaan].)

"And so, Puss in Boots became a noble and lived happily ever after." Touya concluded, cheers and hands clapping followed suit. The young man bowed to his audience.

Nighttime had caught up to the convoy, forcing them to stop next to the road and take a break before continuing the journey to [Canaan] come sunrise - in the meantime, Touya told some stories from his old world, ones that he found to be interesting, but he modified a few of them to fit the new world he lived in now.

"That was so nice, Touya!" Arma exclaimed.

"What a splendid tale, Touya." Olga praised, "Though, where did you learn it from?"

"Ah- My parents taught me it when I was younger, I loved it as a child." Touya informed, quickly answering, which wasn't false, his parents told him the tale of Puss in Boots as a bedtime story.

"Yes, Touya does know many other stories as well." Yumina added. Her comment perked up Arma as she turned to Touya once more.

"Really!? Please tell me more, Touya!" Arma exclaimed, stars in her eyes as she tried to persuade him.

"That's it for today, we'll save the rest for tomorrow." Touya shook his head, Arma pouted but understood why he wouldn't say anymore, it was gonna be a long journey, better to save some stories for later.

Just as the group that gathered around the campfire were about to leave, Lain shot up, her ears twitching. A hand fell on the hilt of her sword, ready to draw it out.

"There's several unknown people approaching our position." Lain informed the group, drawing out her sword, "They're easing their presence little by little, clearly targeting us."

Her announcement caused the group to tense up, all combat personnel drew out their weapons and took positions around the convoy. Touya and his party all readied their respective weapons, Sally stayed within Touya's shadow ready for anything in case a surprise attack happened or if something gets through.

"Who do you think they are?" Touya asked, gripping his yari tightly while a hand on his katana strapped to his hips.

"Must be a group of highway bandits. They usually come in great numbers…" Garn growled softly, "This will be messy."

Touya hummed, he moved his free hand away from the hilt of his katana and grabbed his phone from his coat's pocket, he opened up the map and input the keywords in the search bar, a second later red popups appeared, Touya took a quick head count and then frowned.

"Twenty to the north, eighteen to the east, twenty-four to the south and twenty-two to the west… eighty-four in total." Touya announced, the news lightly damped the morale of the escorts, they were definitely outnumbered, but their resolve quickly hardened as they heard the voice of their leaders.

"Do not be intimidated! We are the Knights of [Belfast]! We shall not yield to these bandits!" Lyon shouted, his voice echoing through the air, his Knights snapped out of their nervousness and prepared to have a fight on their hands.

"You're able to sense them?" Garn inquired, amazed that Touya was able to find out the exact number of bandits surrounding them.

"Yeah, part of my null magic." Touya answered, "Now, I'll try this, [Enchant: Multiple]."

Just like before, his phone glowed for a brief moment, afterwards a small icon appeared on the screen, Touya pressed and opened up what was inside, it gave him a function of null spells, now he could tap on the popups and active a spell which will automatically activate simultaneously, he locked onto the 84 bandits.

"Here goes, [Paralyze]!" He chanted. Suddenly, bright flashes appeared throughout the surrounding trees along with the pained groans of men and women.

"Damnit." Touya cursed, while his spell worked, it seemed like most of the bandits were smart enough to have a talisman or a mage in their ranks to counter the effects of [Paralyze], thankfully, it took out 14 of the bandits which left only 70 of them, "Careful! They look like they have some mages among them!"

As soon as he yelled, the bandits took this as their chance to strike. Numerous bandits emerged from the trees sprinting towards the convoy with their weapons held high, the escorts braced themselves and met the charge head on.

The sounds of numerous metal clanging reverberated throughout the night as were the war cries of both sides. Thankfully, none of the convoy's guards were gravely injured, owing to their superior training and equipment, though some were wounded from the clash.

Touya quickly chanted a {Cure Heal}, a wave of light washed overhead the convoy's guards, healing them of their injuries. With that, the guards charged in, meeting the bandits with a clash and slashing a number of them down. Touya winced when he saw the blood shed but tried to ignore it as he dodged the slash of a bandit trying to take advantage of his distraction.

He disarmed the bandit with a quick swing of his spear, Touya came up behind the bandit and chopped the back of his head, knocking him unconscious. Touya looked around and saw Elze easily handling a group of bandits by herself, next to her was Linze locked in a magical duel with the bandit mages.

To his side, Yumina was picking off bandits with her arrows, hitting them dead center but without killing them, her eyes helping her aim at the bandits with relative ease. Yumina nocked an arrow on her bow and let it loose, saving the life of a Mismedian who was busy dealing with a bandit. She once again took another arrow and aimed for a bandit mage that was trying to chant an AOE spell. Her aim was true and it interrupted the mage along with injuring them.

Over the corner of Touya's eye, he saw Yae rapidly going about, downing bandits with one slash of her katana. She was like a pink blur to any normal person as her speed and skill let her quickly deal with the bandits without them being able to fight back. Yae easily hopped over a slash aiming for her and retaliated with swing of her sword, the cut easily downing the bandit in one slice before she quickly zoned in on the enemy mages.

Three bandits stood in her way but she simply flipped over them and continued on her way, the bandits were quickly taken care of by the convoy guards as they didn't watch their backs. One of them however was able to react fast enough to the clash with a guard but was cut down before he could counterattack.

Back with Yae, the mages saw her rapidly approaching them and tried to quickly cast their spells in an effort to take her down, but she was just too fast for them to chant.

Fortunately for them, one of the mages was.

Yae's eyes widened as she quickly brought up her katana to block a sword from cutting her down, the impact of the clash pushed her back but so did her opponent, taking a few steps back, Yae's gaze fell onto the person in front of her, they had a black coat obstructing their body but she saw the grayish white skull mask they were. A sword was raised and aimed at her, the bandit charged, sword raised before slashing downard.

Yae blocked the attack and pushed them back as she immediately came about, swinging her katana yet the skull bandit was keeping up with her. The skull mask bandit stabbed their sword forwards, forcing Yae to lean to the left in order to dodge it and tried to gripple the sword arm and disarm the weapon, yet the bandit predicted such action and acted accordingly by sending a fist towards Yae.

She quickly abandoned her attempt at gripling and avoided the punch, backflipping away from them. Frowning at the situation, she changed her stance a bit before charging in once more. The skull mask bandit met her charge head on and tried to go for a quick slash from the right, Yae blocked it and used the sword as an anchor to guide her towards her opponent. Once she was in breathing distance, Yae slammed her fist towards their stomach, causing them to double over.

She seized the opportunity she made and quickly swung upwards, slashing her adversary and cutting the skull mask in half. The bandit fell backwards, defeated and gravely injured by the slash but before Yae could take a peek at who they were she was forced to dodge lest she be burned by a fireball sent her way.

As she recovered, Yae was treated with a horrifying sight, the person she had just fought a few seconds ago was now burning, their body aflame as the smell of cooked flesh entered her nose. Even when they were burning, there was no screams of agony nor was there a sound at all. Her nose wrinkled as she expressed a face of disgust. The culprit was none other than a bandit mage she was trying to take out of the fight.

Yae steered her nerves as she crouched down before sprinting off, her katana in o-gasumi position as she raced towards the mages, they tried to slow her down with spells but with her speed she wouldn't let them - the moment she was within range of a mage she thrust her katana into him. The blade ran through flesh and out of his back only to be violently ripped out just as quickly as it entered.

Yae left the man gravely injured as she went for the other mages, one by one, they fell as the Eashen samurai ruthlessly cut them down with no remorse, once she was done, Yae swiped her katana to rid the blood off it lest it rusts, she sheathed it back and looked around her. Bleeding out bodies of mages were littered on the ground around her, to the corner of her eye, Yae watched as the last of the bandits were dealt with.

She let out a long winded sigh before she proceeded to walk to the convoy.

Touya ran up to her, worried as he saw her basically kill a man, "Are you okay, Yae?"

"Yes, Touya-Dono, but I apologize for showing you this side of me." Yae bowed, silently cursing herself for getting a bit too carried away.

"...That's alright, Yae, I understand why you did it." Touya reassured her, while he wasn't a big fan of killing people, Touya understood why Yae did it, she was, after all, a samurai first and foremost. It wouldn't be a stretch to say she has killed someone at some point.

Yae nodded and moved towards the carriage, Touya watched her as she made her way there and lamented at what she was thinking right now, but he shook his head, there were still people injured to heal. Unknown to him, Sally emerged from his shadow and walked towards Yae.

He walked to the gathered wounded guards and asked them what their injuries were, other than a few gushes, nothing to major and it was thanks to his {Cure Heal} from earlier that they didn't sustain any major life-threatening injuries. Satisfied, he asked them if they needed him to heal them again and they all shook their heads, saying that he had done more than enough.

Nodding, Touya met up with Garn and Lyon who were kneeling down on a slain bandit. The two noticed him and stood him.

"Did you two find out about anything?" Touya inquired.

"Yes." Lyon nodded, his face frowning before he relayed the news, "Sir Garn and I have found who the perpetrators of this ambush are."

"Who?" Peaking Touya's interest, the young man asked.

"Laughing Coffin." Garn answered, holding up an arm of one of the bandits, tattooed on it was a half-opened coffin with a skeletal arm and an eerie face on it.

"Laughing Coffin?" Touya repeated.

"They are a group of international terrorists, murderers, and bandits. Their goals are unknown but they have been the suspects of multiple terror attacks throughout the world. Why they decided to attack this convoy we don't know but they were likely hired to stop us from ever reaching [Mismede]." Garn growled as he let the arm go, Lyon shared his sentiments and ordered his men to round up the wounded Laughing Coffin members and arrest them.

"...We will split a portion of the guards to bring these criminals to the previous town." Lyon said, "I'll have my troops handle it."

"I'm sorry for causing you this much trouble, Sir Lyon." Olga, who just came around to check on the three, bowed.

Lyon waved his hands and gave the woman an awkward yet assuring smile, "No- No problem! This is my duty after all! Please don't worry about it!"

Touya raised an eyebrow at Lyon's sudden mood change before grinning, so it was like that huh? He turned to Captain Garn, the beastkin met this gaze and nodded, knowing exactly what he meant and the two men left the two lovebirds by themselves.

As he made his way towards the carriage he saw Yae chatting with Sally, curious Touya walked a little faster to hear their conversation but stopped himself when he saw Yae smile, seemingly forgetting the dark mood she had prior. Smiling himself, Touya greeted the two and asked what they were talking about.

They stopped and stared at each other before smiling and told him not to worry about it, seeing as Yae's bright mood was brought back he decided not to dwell further into his question and just accepted their answer.

He entered the carriage along with Yae, Sally sunk into his shadow like she always does.

=-=-=-=-=-X-=-=-=-=-=

(At the Port City of [Canaan].)

It had been a day after the whole Laughing Coffin ambush, like he promised, Lyon sent a small detachment to round up the captured members and go back to the previous town. The journey to [Canaan] afterwards was uneventful to say the least, which was a good thing - After all, they just got ambushed yesterday, So it was a great sense of ease knowing the troubles ahead were dealt with.

Currently, the convoy was to spend the afternoon here before continuing the journey to [Mismede], The carriages went straight for the docks and were to be loaded onto ships separate from the convoy. As for the adventurers, they were at a marketplace of [Canaan] checking what was being sold.

"Now this is the southernmost town of [Belfast], the port city of [Canaan]." Olga explained as she walked through the various market stalls lined up, "From here, we will have to cross the [Great Gae River] to enter [Mismede], I'll go finish up the paperwork with any willing ship captain before we are to depart., in the meantime, you can check and see if anything here interests you."

With that, Olga split from the group, Garn accompanying her in case something starts getting heated but he was sure nothing will. The party waved goodbye to the ambassador and her guard before strolling deeper into the marketplace. Yae, Linze, and Elze split off from the group, saying that they would check out some stuff by themselves.

That meant only Touya, Yumina and Arma were walking together. Kohaku was within Yumina's arms as she carried the cute little tiger around. As for Sally? She was still within Touya's shadow. One stall caught both females' eyes and they ran towards it, Touya walked beside them as he wondered what was it that interested the two, when he got there he saw the two eyeing an assortment of earrings.

"There are so many to choose from." Yumina commented as she eyed the jewelry, though when she turned her head slightly from the corner of her vision she spotted Lyon at another jewelry stall looking at something.

"Touya, isn't that…?" Yumina whispered, Touya turned his attention to where she was pointing at and saw who it was she was referring to.

"Lyon!" Touya smiled, it looked like their resident Knight was looking for a gift, "Looking for a souvenir?"

"Huh!? Oh- Sir Touya!" Lyon stumbled as he tried to recompose himself, "W-Well- You see- My mother..! That's right! It's for my mother! I was wondering which one I should buy for her!"

"Is that so?" Touya chuckled lightly, then an idea came up in his head, "Right! Arma you can choose one thing here, it'll be your present to remind you of your time here in [Belfast]."

"Um…" Arma hummed as she eyed every jewelry she was looking at before her gaze fell onto one that had grapes on it, "This one!"

Touya bought the jewelry and gave it to the young girl, she smiled as she accepted it and put it on, the grape necklace greatly complimented her as she thanked the man who bought it.

"It really suits you." Touya commented.

"Hehe~ Thank you very much!" Arma exclaimed, her tail wagging excitingly.

"I wonder if Olga would like something like this." Touya said offhandedly.

"Hm… Big sis prefers designs with flowers." Arma placed a finger on her lips and pointed at one pink flower design, "Especially this, The [Elius Flower] is the one she loves the most, she often buys things that resemble it, like this one."

"I see…" Lyon mumbled, not knowing that he took the bait Touya set for him.

"Right then, Lyon, we'll go meet up with the rest at the docks." Touya bid his farewells, leaving the Knight to his own devices.

As he left, Touya took one last glance at him as Lyon was in the process of buying the hairpin that Arma suggested, a smirk on his face as Touya helped the young man in love buy the perfect gift for the one he was fancying.

"Well done, Touya." Yumina praised as they made their way to the docks, "Though, I would've liked it if you bought me something as well…"

"Ah- Well, it slipped my mind… Sorry." Touya confessed as he turned his head away from her. Yumina shook her head as a smile on her face appeared.

"Well, If I'm able to eventually receive a ring on my left ring finger, then that should be enough." She daydreamed, which got Touya to sweatdropped.

"That… I'll see what I can do…" He groaned, trying to hide his embarrassed face all the while Yumina giggled.

Arma on the other hand tilted her head in confusion.

The way to the docks didn't take too much time, once they were there, they saw everyone from the convoy there at the docks chatting with each other. Touya spotted the other three, Yae Elze, and Linze - He waved and they saw him and the others and waved back before they went back to their conversation. They saw further down the docks was Olga chatting with an older man, he was smiling and nodding at whatever the ambassador was saying and before long, they spotted the group approaching them.

"Ah! Arma! Touya! Yumina! Perfect timing! I finally finished chatting with the captain of the ship that'll take us to [Mismede]!" Olga shouted as she gestured for the three to come closer, "Come! I'll introduce you to the captain!"

"Good day, chaps, name's Quinn Westwood! I'll be yer Captain for the day." Quin introduced himself, "Rest assured I'll make sure you get to [Mismede] in no time!"

"Good afternoon Captain Quinn." Touya stretched out his hand and the older man accepted it, "Which one's your ship?"

"That one ova' there." He pointed at the largest ship at the docks, a carrack; the others who hadn't seen it were in awe of the big ship before their eyes, "Ain't she a beaut? Her name's [Ol' Isles], she's been with me through thick and thin. The pride of me and my crew."

"She certainly is a beautiful ship, Captain." Yumina nodded.

"Oh, shacks, thanks lil' lady, you make this old man's heart swell." Quinn smiled as he began to walk to his ship, "Come now! We gotta get a move on before the sunsets!"

Just before Touya could climb onto the ship he turned his head and saw Linze looking at the ship with a slight dread on her face. Elze tried to shake her out of it yet the younger Silhoueska wouldn't budge, too fixated on her attention on the ship. Wondering what got her to stand like a deer caught in headlights, Touya approached the twins.

"Hey, Linze, you okay?" Touya said, worried about her.

"Touya! Great timing! Help me out here!" Elze exclaimed as she brought him closer, "I need your help to snap Linze out of it!"

Raising an eyebrow, Touya raised his hand and began to snap his fingers in front of Linze's face, which worked - It was able to snap her attention away from the ship and onto Touya.

"Huh!? Wha-" Linze spluttered, trying to form a sentence as she snapped out of it.

"Like I said, are you okay, Linze?" Touya asked once more, the younger twin stared at him for a second before slowly nodding her head.

"Yeah, I was just thinking about my seasickness…" Linze confessed, shifting in embarrassment, "You think it's a bit silly isn't it?"

"What? No, motion-sickness is a common thing." Touya shook his head, at least it was back in his world, "Why would I think It'd be silly?"

"Well… I thought you'd think less of me because of it-"

"No I wouldn't." Touya interjected, while she has the right to be insecure about her condition, it didn't mean he'd judge her for it, "If you'd like, I can carry you to the ship."

His off hand comment caused the younger twin to blush up a storm, she immediately turned around and buried her face into her sister's chest to obstruct it from his view, Touya raised an eyebrow and before he could open his mouth, Elze beat him to the punch.

"Yeah, thanks a lot, Touya, I can take it from here." Elze giggled, stroking the top of Linze's head, "Go on, we'll catch up."

Nodding, Touya left the twins and went to board the carrack as Quinn barked orders to his crew while they readied [Ol' Isles] for departure.

=-=-=-=-=-X-=-=-=-=-=

(At the Royal Capital of [Belfast], [Alephis].)

Back at the Royal Capital, the King, Tristwin was in his quarters reading the countless paperwork that needed his approval and other state affairs that concerned his nation.

The old man sighed, rubbing his eyes after hours of reading and signing papers, he felt his wrists starting to hurt after extended use. He sighed once more and stood up from his seat. Hours of sitting had also hurt his back so he tried to stretch it out carefully.

Thankfully he wasn't that old yet, lest this would actually kill him one day.

He sighed as he heard his bones crack, feeling satisfied and the stiffness having gotten rid off, he walked towards the large window of his office, admiring the view. He sighed for the umpteenth time as he took in the view of the Royal Capital, even when he saw this sight countless times it has never once failed to leave him at awe. The beautiful sight to behold was made possible thanks to the contributions his father had made and by the continued efforts of his to maintain it.

And he would continue to do so until his very last breath, especially now, when Yumina's engagement and with the likely chance to win Touya's heart over, the young man would be crowned King in his stead.

Now, he just hoped he could live long enough to see his grandkids. Yumina was, after all, still a blossoming maiden.

However his musings were cut short by the sudden appearance of General Leon.

"Your majesty!" Leon yelled, he seemed like he ran all the way here from how much his brows were sweating and how hard he was breathing.

"General Leon? What seems to be the problem?" Tristwin inquired, his general as never one to be this tactless unless it was important.

"I- I come bearing grave news." Leon lamented.

Tristwin raised an eyebrow? If it was urgent enough to warrant having him in such a state, then it must be incredibly important.

The moment Leon announced the news, the feeling of absolute dread dawned on him. Once he finished, Tristwin could not help but collapse on his chair, trying to ease the headache all the while Leon tried to call out for him.

At that moment, the King prayed to his God, hoping he would make sure the others would get out safely, and most of all.

Protect the life of his daughter.

=-=-=-=-=-X-=-=-=-=-=

(At the [Great Rau River] on board the [Ol' Isles] to [Mismede].)

The river was calm this time of the year, the wind was strong enough to push the sails of the ship and the slight breeze was relaxing as well, the slow descent of the sun painted the beautiful blue sky into a warm and inviting orange hue, all and all, everything was perfect and nothing would intercept nor would there be any complications to the journey.

"All hands on deck! Protect the ship!"

If only it was that simple.

Quinn barked as his crew and the convoy guards went into battlestations. He didn't know why, but there shouldn't have been anything that would impede the journey yet he knew better than to tempt fate, thus he paid the price as his ship was now being boarded by pirates.

And not just any pirate, but by the infamous Pirate Captain who goes by the name of Grafi, he and his two ships were somehow able to sneak through the channel lines and ambush his ship along with its escorts, he muttered a silent prayer to those three sloops that were instantly vaporized by cannon fire.

But then it got him thinking, there were no pirates dumb enough to try to attack ships in between the borders of two nations, they would usually be near the coastline or at a designated trade routes. So why were they here?

'It doesn't matter, I just want them off my ship!' Quinn mused as he drew out his saber and locked blades with one of the pirates.

Touya shared the captain's sentiment as he was busy batting away pirates overboard. The young man frowned as he twirled his yari to keep three pirates at bay. While he was confident he'd be able to handle these grunts, he still had the nagging feeling that he was being set up.

However, his thoughts were interrupted when a pirate came up behind him and swung his sword, Touya positioned his spear's handle and blocked the incoming attack, he spun the weapon around and swung in a wide arc - Batting the pirate off the ship through sheer force of the impact, he spun his spear just in time to block three blades simultaneously and pushed them of his weapon. Touya swung his spear and swiped the three pirates off their feet, causing them to fall off the quarter deck.

He watched as they slowly got dogpiled by Quinn's men, Touya grimaced as he saw them get stabbed and die out bleeding but he knew that in Quinn's men's eyes, they forfeited their life the moment they started attacking their ship. Taking his gaze off the spectacle, Touya saw Yae slashing away at pirates with relative ease and it got him thinking about that question he once had about who would win, a samurai or pirate?

Well, in this case, it looks like the samurai's winning.

Seeing that Yae didn't need any help, he instead tried to look for Elze and Linze and spotted the twins were easily handling their own against multiple pirates, moreso thanks to Elze's quick reflexes and brawling style that she was able to change targets and hit back harder than they can and with her sister's magic supporting her, the two were nigh-unstoppable together.

Smirking, Touya turned his attention away from the two and tried to find Yumina, however.

He could not find her.

Dread began to creep up on him as he frantically tried to search for her, among the sea of pirates and guards fighting, he had not once spotted the lock of blonde hair that belonged to the First Princess.

He knew he left Kohaku to protect Yumina, Arma and Olga but then it dawned on him that maybe Yumina would come out and help out, something he didn't think she was reckless enough to do yet it looks like she did.

Every second he wasted on not finding Yumina, the more he panicked. And just as he was about to lose his mind, Sally yelled.

'Master! Snap out of it!'

Her voice seemed like the loudest thing there, despite the constant clashes of metal and the shouting of people. It was enough to get him to think clearly as he stopped and listened for Yumina's voice, everything was starting to be toned down until it was nothing but muffled sounds and then he heard her.

"TOUYA! HELP!"

Her cries snapped his eyes open as he rushed towards the source, and it would seem like the pirates there knew exactly what he was doing as they tried to stop him.

Keyword, tried.

Like a wrecking ball, he smashed through the crowd, caring not whether they were in the way or were just unlucky enough to be in his sights, he did not hesitate to swing his spear and flung them towards the deep waters. He jumped over a group that tried to slice him and responded in kind, using {Slip} to make them lose their footing, some were unlucky enough to fall onto their blades and stab themselves.

But Touya didn't care.

He kept going.

But for some reason a tall and muscular man who looked like the captain of the enemy pirates stood in his way, he brandished his giant flintlock that seemed to have an axe-like blade attached to the bottom while his right hand was replaced with a large golden hook.

There stood Pirate Captain Grafi.

But Touya had no time for this. He immediately sent Sally at him, the former assassin lunged at the man with her scythe, Grafi's eyes widened as he just narrowly saved his life by bringing up his hooked hand to block the blade. Sparks flew, painting the air and illuminating the two combatants, Grafi as he wore a pained expression while Sally held a crazed look before she used the momentum created by her swing to lever herself forward and kick him in the gut.

He fell backwards, which was aided by the added weight of the raven-haired female as they tumbled about and then she kicked off of her, sending him crashing towards a group of his men. Sally immediately stood over the downed men and with one swipe of her scythe, beheaded all of them in one fell swoop. She fixed her stance and brandished her scythe at the recovering Pirate Captain and readied to throw down with him.

She lunged first, swinging her scythe from the left which Grafi blocked by bringing his hooked hand up, but that was a mistake on his part as Sally used the curved blade of her scythe to reel in the Pirate Captain to deck him right in the face. He reeled back from the impact but a pained yell escaped his mouth as Sally was able to quickly get behind him and slash his back. He tried to aim his flintlock and pulled the trigger but by the time he turned around to do so, Sally was already gone.

Touya, for his time, cared very little and only spared a brief glance at the two before he continued moving onward.

Soon enough, he jumped off of [Ol' Isles] and onto the enemy vessel, where he was surrounded by many pirates. They all were surprised at the sudden appearance of the young man as he brandished his spear and aimed it towards them all.

"W-we got you surrounded!" One of them shouted, drawing out his blade as he aimed towards him and gestured to the people behind him, "Surrender and you may make it out alive!"

"All I am surrounded by is fear…" Touya brandished his spear around before slamming the butt down to the deck, the sound reverberating loud enough that it could be heard even on the [Ol' Isles], "And dead men."

His words sent a chill down everyone's spine on board the enemy vessel, emphasized even more when Touya's eyes shone dangerously, the onyx black orbs reflecting the fading sunlight off of it.

Time stood still, the hitched breathing of pirates cut through the silence, one even made a sound akin to a mouse squeaking. They were all deathly afraid of the young man who boarded their ship and for good reason.

However, one of them was not.

"Cease! Or I chop off her head!"

Touya snapped his head towards the source of the voice, and who he saw made him even angrier than he already was.

There stood, on the quarterdeck of the ship, was a man that he thought was rotting behind bars. Whose arm was sliced off by Sally when he stupidly thought to attack him.

There stood the son of Balsa, Benson.

"Benson." Touya growled, venom leaking into his voice, "Release her, now."

"Don't think you can just order me around you piece of shit!" The disgraced son yelled, bringing the blade he had near Yumina's neck a little closer.

She winced a bit, fearful of what was happening and could only hope for her fiance to save her.

"You take everything from me!" He snarled, "You took my title! My home! My money! My father! EVERYTHING!"

His voice echoed, even through the heavy fighting behind Touya, he could still hear the desperate man's voice. He scoffed, Benson in his eyes was nothing more than just a spoiled brat who got what was coming to him and now he was crying about it.

"I lost it! Everything I ever owned! Everything I should've had! Everything!" He yelled once more, desperation and anger leaking into his voice, "What gave you the right to take it away! To take it ALL from ME!?"

His mind in shambles as he tried to grasp a sense of reality, but failed and turned to the one thing he blamed as the source of all his problems. To Touya, and if he can't have anything, then neither would he.

Benson would make him pay! He planned all of this for months! Ever since he was able to escape his execution that fateful day, only for his father to sacrifice himself to give his son a chance to run and start a new life, but Benson would not. He could not start a new life when the man that took everything from him was still out there, alive and happy.

He would not let Touya Mochizuki live in peace while he suffered in silence, on the run from the authorities - Hiding in the dark like a rat scared of the light. Benson would not stand for it! Which is why he planned for this! Using all of his secret stash of money kept hidden away even from his father. He planned for this! He used every connection he had, every favor he kept, everything!

All for this one singular moment, this one moment to take away the one Touya loved, the one who should've loved him instead! And if he could not have Yumina's hand in marriage, then neither shall Touya.

Unfortunately for him, it did not turn out like he imagined it would.

Yumina's eyes meet Touya's, her wordless gaze was all he needed to hear.

Taking advantage of his panicked state, Yumina quickly raised her leg and stomped on Benson's foot. He cried out in pain but was interrupted by an arm elbowing him - the quick and sudden actions was just enough to get his grip on Yumina to loosen. She quickly took the opportunity and separated herself from Benson.

Everything moved in slow motion, Benson who tried to recover quickly to snatch Yumina again while she tried to create as much distance from him as possible. And in that instance, Touya did what had been the best option.

He lunged.

With the suddenness of his charge and assisted by the effects of {Boost} and {Heat Riser}, very little was able to react nor stop him before he could reach his target.

He aimed his yari directly towards Benson's head, the tip of the spear ripping through the skull and out the other end. Gray matter and blood splattered out the newly made hole in the back of his head. The body dropped to its knees as blood flowed out of both ends. Touya let go of the yari, letting the dead body to its knees.

There knelt the dead body of Benson, son of Balsa. His life ended with Touya's yari.

Some of the pirates were able to snap out of their daze and attack, trying to climb towards the quarterdeck only to be denied by Touya as he would not let a single one step foot. He drew out his katana and used it to deter them from even getting close. They all tried but soon enough they knew they were woefully outmatched despite their numbers advantage.

And then it got worse.

A body was flung towards the mast of their ship, cracking the reinforced wood. The body that slid down it was none other than Grafi's, but the key difference was his head was sliced clean off. He had died by the scythe blade of Sally, the former assassin's laughter could be heard as she threw the head onto the ship, showing the deceased form of the once great pirate.

The news of their boss being killed devastated the morale of Grafti's hired men turning the tide of battle into the allied forces' favor, seeing as the battle was lost, the pirates Benson hired were trying to flee but were quickly cut down or captured. Those that surrendered were quickly knocked out before they could do anything else.

With the collapse of their leader and the shattered remains were easily dealt with, all that remained were pirates who surrendered immediately, laying down their swords and kneeling to the floors, the remaining Belfastian and Mismedian escorts arrested them and Quinn's crew went around their ship checking it for any repairs.

Once the fighting died down, Touya ran towards Yumina, his mind racing as he made his way to his fiance. He immediately held her close to him and did his best to comfort her, she returned the embrace, feeling safe in his arms as she let the events that had transpired sink in. All he heard was the rapid beating of his heart as he held her closer.

The adrenaline of his anger had vanished, the reality that he took his first human life finally dawned on him.

Not even the voices of his other party members reached him.

=-=-=-=-=-X-=-=-=-=-=

And that's a wrap.

Chapter 9 marks the first chapter of Arc 2, The Mismede Arc. Here you can see I added a bit more things to make it interesting as well as expanding a few scenes. Now we have Laughing Coffin! The one from Sword Art Online, thought it'd be an interesting addiction when I was expanding the Bandit Ambush scene from canon.

Also, for those who're wondering about who Grafi and Quinn is, Grafi's a unit you can obtain in another gacha I played but I'm not telling, though kudos to you if you do. But if you really wanna know, I'll give you a hint - It's a game that collabs a lot with anime. While for Quinn he's an OC I made up just for this one segment, he'll probably never appear again beyond this one chapter and briefly again in the next chapter once the party reaches Mismede.

Adding to that, I originally planned to add another pirate-themed character here, but decided against it, too much going on and I just needed to emphasize that Touya wasn't gonna give them a chance to fight back either way so I scrapped the idea and just used Grafi alone.

And I think you noticed that Touya is more or less a lot more combat oriented than he is in canon, mostly since he doesn't abuse Slip all the damn time, that and I have him kill someone.

With that out of the way, this marks Benson as the first of many Touya will have to kill in order to protect his loved ones, especially once he becomes a ruler of his nation, he must make hard decisions for the benefit of his people.

On the topic of taking a life, With Yae being a samurai, it wouldn't be a stretch to say she has killed someone before right? I don't think it was ever explained in canon or it was and I never knew but I just wanna try that question out there.