A/N: We're now officially in the war arc. This should be the very start. I don't see it lasting more than 3 chapters if that.
I should mention that a lot has changed in Mobuseka's canon. For starters all of the ships Leon and Mitsugoshi have made. In canon Leon stole a bunch of ships from Fanoss when they were attacked during he field trip. Here Cid sunk all of them by accident so Leon wasn't able to do that. This also means that mustache guy was killed.
In turn that means that the boys aren't going to be forced to help Leon, but I'll get into how he gets soldiers in the chapter.
Leon Fou [now Rapha] Barfort: Renowned adventurer and current crown prince. / previously: Hiro (pre:isekai)—Lea of Bart's Fort (The true founder of Holfort and lover to the Saintess Ann and Mary)—JOU_MOU_ (someone who used to work in Luxion's facility.)
Angelica Rapha Redgrave: Daughter of Duke Redgrave and ex-fiancé to Julius/ Previously: Ann of Bart's Fort (aka Saintess Ann and lover of Lea of Bart's fort). / Also goes by Angie to close friends and loved ones.
Olivia: Commoner from the Kagenou Barony. / previously: Mary lover and companion to Ann and Lea. When they had returned from their adventures in ancient Midgar, all three had been attacked by the founding heirs as they all wanted Ann. To save Lea and Ann from such a fate, she teleported them away, and swapped bodies with Ann. / Is also known as Livia by her close friends and loved ones.
Cid Kagenou: fiancé to several famous elves but just a regular mob you'd find anywhere / previously: Minoru Kagenou boy from Earth that would be transported to the ancient times of the current before dying at the hands of his friends due to becoming demonically possessed out of grief. / Also dons the secret identity of "Lord Shadow." Leader and founder of The Shadow Garden. / Mundane Mann, a pathetic looking sword wielder that disappeared many years ago and has returned for the Bushin festival. / Kageno of Mitsugoshi, after an argument with his parents, Cid decides to go by Kageno for a while.
Alice [Kagenou: Cid's personal elf servant, lover, and childhood friend / previously: Beatrice (this is non canon, but all of Shadow Garden had identities before joining so I made a name up for her.) / Dons the secret identity of "Alpha" or "Lady Shade." Co-leader and second founder of The Shadow Garden, first of the Seven Shades. The name "Alpha" is only used by those in Shadow Garden.
Other Shadow Garden Members: All of the seven shades have secret identities. They see their Shadow Garden names as their true names and will use that in their own thoughts. But to everyone not in Shadow Garden that sees them as their secret identities will use those names.
Beta: Natsume Kafka, renowned writer.
Gamma: Luna of Mitsugoshi, owner of said store and many others, richest Woman in the world. Xianyun, Swordmaster of the fareastern kingdoms.
Delta: Sara, certified good girl.
Epsilon: Shiron, amazing musician known internationally.
Zeta: Zetan. Previously known as Lilim, named after the therianthrope hero, Lili.
Eta: Goes by Eta Lloyd Wright, renowned Architect.
Charlie: Known previously as Carla Fou Wayne.
Yankee: Known previously as Stephanie Fou Offrey
Foxtrot: Sherry's mother. [a/n: did you know the actually did give her a name? I just saw it on the wiki. It's Lukreia.]
Aurora: Called Violet by Cid, and now camps out in his soul/brain. Known as the Witch of Calamity, and the Demon Diabolos.
Disclaimer: I don't own Trapped in a Dating Sim: The World of Otome Games is Tough for Mobs nor The Eminence in Shadow. The only Beta reader here is the elf.
-Leon-
Despite what Luxion may tell everyone, I do think things through. My message to the entire nation (brought to you by Natsume and Cid's combined efforts) through what was essentially a jumbo screen wasn't done in the heat of the moment… although Lea's rage had made me kill all those men as I did rather than take them into questioning like I usually would.
See, this goes all the way back to just after I was arrested. The girls had retreated to Mitsugoshi for the time being, given that they couldn't really go anywhere without The Partner.
I always took it for granted, and I guess they did too, but it's actually super hard to get anywhere in this world. Airships about the size of a rowboat are actually super expensive, let alone getting anything fit for battle.
Because of that the common man and woman will typically never leave the island they're born on. It's only if you become an adventurer, knight, or are born into a noble house that you'll have a chance of that.
Back in my old world it was at least possible to walk from province to province, and going from nation to nation while swimming, while implausible, was technically possible.
In this world if you fall in the ocean, you're basically done for. There's no way you'd be able to swim back up.
Anyway, that just goes to say that the girls were retreating to Mitsugoshi to buy a boat. They wouldn't have needed it, as the Redgrave family ended up picking up Angie and Livia near the start. Angie got into an argument with her family and then immediately went to Mitsugoshi to stay for a while.
However, right before Angie had been sent home…
I was taken to a room in the palace with two other people.
"Hello Mr. Gilbert. Look at me, I'm in cuffs."
The two in front of me didn't even crack a smile.
One of them was obviously Angie's older brother, the heir to House Redgrave, Gilbert Rapha Redgrave. He wore a look of relief. "You're not even shaken. Seems the nobles were right to consider you a threat. It takes grit to jest in these circumstances. I respect you for that."
Grit? Nah. Knowing about it beforehand was what helped me brace myself. Speaking of, last I heard Miauler and Jenna were at the family home asking for our parents' blessing.
The other person in the room was Mylene, who was less the blushing student from Lepart, and more the actual Queen of Holfort this time around.
"Leon, about our current situation…" said Mylene, "The leader of the most powerful faction at present, Marquess Frampton has made his move.
As the saying goes, the nail that sticks out gets hammered down. And damn was I sticking out. *Sigh* My dreams of becoming a mob character are nothing more than a distant memory.
In any case there were a lot of people that didn't look too fondly as someone as young and unknown moving from one of the lowest stations to the highest possible. The principality was just capitalizing on their jealousy.
"The court isn't a cohesive unit," Mylene continued. "There are many different factions, and they all move according to their own aims."
Gilbert nodded. "Indeed. Although father had accepted your rise to power in an attempt to lessen the blow that Prince Julius's fall from power would have upon our house's faction, it didn't stop some of it from transferring to Frampton's. I suppose that just means that you caused this Leon."
"Ah…" I uttered.
"That's not all." The Queen said, "Your exploits in driving back the principality's fleet with one ship, being able to summon someone in Lindwurm, and your battle with The Demon and The Warlock… even before Frampton had corrupted everyone's view of the events, these events put a number of the peerage on edge. The marquess was wary of you, and the principality resented you for what you did. I see why they allied with each other."
The bigger they are the harder they fall, eh?
"Leon, do you realize what this means? Some in the kingdom are more afraid of you than they are of the principality. Marquess Frampton in particular." Said Mylene.
"…How badly?" I questioned.
Gilbert sighed in exasperation. "Think about it. You achieved feats that were thought possible only by characters in a story or legend. I know you have no intention of turning against us, that you won't become some kind of tyrant, but given how you are all but the antithesis of our current peerage they can't help but fear for their way of life."
From there they explained that having me in the dungeon was really the best they could do for me at the time. Otherwise, I was in danger of being attacked or assassinated. I wasn't really worried about myself, but I could tell that it wasn't just me in danger of having those two things happen to them. All my lovers and friends, I've never hid any connection I've made (aside Roland) so they had crosshairs upon them as well.
At least by being in jail the Marquess' faction's guard would be lowered, and my allies would be able to make their moves to counter him. It was really an uphill battle for everyone who chose to support me.
What really pissed me off though, y'know aside from my loved ones being in danger, was that the nobles must've known that it was no time to be quarreling with one another. But no.
It's like that old joke from my past world: "I never thought the leopards would eat MY face" cried the people who voted for the leopards eating face party. Except this time it's "I never thought Fanoss would invade ME."
Marquess Frampton wanted to get rid of me and the Redgraves once and for all. The others didn't consider they could possibly be in danger.
Gilbert and Mylene wanted me not to tell Angie about this, and I understood. I love Angie, with my whole heart, but… She's really impulsive. When she gets emotional, she'll fly off the handle and do something rash.
Such as becoming the Saintess because none of us had told her about what was going on…
Heheheh…
I'm going to be in so much trouble when I tell her all this later~!
Now, there is another aspect to everything.
Namely, what were my allies doing during my imprisonment.
Some are well known; Clarice and Deirdre were helping everyone in Mitsugoshi with the production of the fleet.
Iris and Claire were going through the final match of the Bushin Festival and its aftermath.
Dan, Daniel, and Raymond had all been doing their best to find people to help with the future conflict. However, that wasn't going too well, as most people would rather change sides.
That led to me asking some people for help with raising morale.
I mentioned the first two, Cid and Natsume, who wrote the speech I would give to the entire nation.
But the person who gave me the idea to spread a message across an entire nation at once? Well, that was the king who I had helped very recently.
King Raphael of Oriana and Princess Rose of Oriana actually both called me through Luxion while I was in my cell. It's my understanding that they were being snuck out of Midgar in a joint thing between Mitsugoshi and Midgar.
Luxion and Cleare left them with one of their 'babies.' It wasn't sentient, more like one of those home AIs like Siri or Alexa, and essentially did the same things. That being to help make calls, take notes, or play music. That third thing was going to be useful to give it some kind of cover if anyone were to ask what it was.
"Prince Leon!" cried Rose through the video call, "I can't believe after everything you've done for this nation; they'd do this to you!"
Raphael shook his head. Because he was undercover, he wasn't wearing the giant crown anymore. Gotta admit, it kinda looked wrong seeing him like that.
"The people are scared. For as much as I am grateful Prince Leon, I understand their desire to control you." Said Raphael.
"Father!" cried Rose… come to think of it when was the last time Rose smiled? When she was hanging out with Cid and Alice?
Raphael pats his daughter's head to placate her. "Rose. I'm not done. Prince Leon, would I be correct in assuming that you still wish to fight for Holfort?"
Which was a good question. Did I want to fight for Holfort? Or was it the people I met in Holfort that I wanted to fight for? I mean, obviously the latter. Right? How could it be anything else?
…
But still.
"Yeah, I'm going to fight for Holfort." I said. "But I'm going to complain about it every step of the way."
Raphael chuckled, "Aye, spoken like a true king. *Chuckle* I can't say that I want to help Oriana much given that I was poisoned and trapped within my own mind for so long. But I wouldn't abandon it all the same, for all it's worth to me now."
Rose looked conflicted hearing her father talk like that, but couldn't deny it his feelings either.
"Right, so any suggestions on how to raise morale when you're enemy number 1?" I asked, not really expecting an answer.
To my surprise, Raphael went on to give me advice based on some contingency plans he's had in place of his own death. I don't remember most of it, but basically, he recommended that I prove that I was betrayed to the entire kingdom all at once.
Now, I wasn't sure how to do that at first, but then I remembered that airships actually have holograms here. It's not just limited to The Partner, as Fanoss had used it to display Hertrude when they attacked us. The thing that is limiting about it is that the New Human hologram technology is terribly short ranged and timed.
However, Old Humanity regularly would use hologram technology for even mundane things like streaming shows. So, with some quick calculations on how many ships we had ready at the time, we were able to have one ship go to at least all the border territories, the main cities, and a few baronies.
Anyone that didn't fall under that list likely had their ruling noble in the capital at the time anyway. Plus, the baronies were because that's actually where most of the soldiers end up coming from.
Now I originally planned to just have some dramatic reveal when Roland would've appointed me supreme commander. Something I agreed upon with him, leveraging that if I was supreme commander he'd be able to gallivant as The Masked Knight again.
However, Angie and Livia called for a trial.
This ended up having a way better viewing experience for the audience I'd imagine… Like no, seriously, I had no way of predicting how much a courtroom drama would affect the medieval audience.
I won't say this out loud, but I'd blame Herlock, Angie, and Livia for their dance of deduction.
-P2W-
There are roughly two types of ways to get people to listen to you as a leader: The first is to inspire them. The second is to make them afraid of you.
There is also technically a third option, to have them do what you want out of spite.
King Leon Rapha Barfort would be known for employing all three to end the war with the principality.
Now, if one were to ask when the fight with The Principality and Holfort began, you'd come across a fierce debate with a lot of stipulations. But if one were to ask when it ended, they would start with Leon's broadcast.
To have the trial of his character play for what was most of the nation to see was equal parts inspiring as it was terrifying. It was inspiring to watch The Twin Saintess's work with The Great Detective as they knocked down every argument that Frampton had prepared.
It was horrifying to learn the truth of what was the first king's fate, and perhaps equally so when they witnessed Crown Prince Leon execute all of Frampton's faction in a fit of rage, even if it was justified.
As for the third method: spite…
-Cid/Kageno/Shadow/Herlock-
Me, Gamma, Delta, Eta, Alpha, Alexia, and some numbers went onto the balcony as we watched the rest of the Leon's broadcast. I think Epsilon, Beta, and Zeta were probably watching everything too, but they were doing stuff elsewhere. I'm pretty sure that Epsilon and Zeta were actually flying some of the ships displaying the broadcast.
"What about me? I'm here too!" whined Violet.
I mean you just see everything I do now that you're back on my person right? So, we're basically one and the same.
"Aw… Minni…" cooed Violet.
Minni?
"I think it's what I used to call you." Clarified Violet.
I think I'd prefer something like Darling or Hubby or something.
"How about… Cutie?" asked Violet as she ruffled my hair.
Hm. Acceptable.
After Leon tossed all the 'rotten roots' of Holfort out of the air ship he turned to both the remaining nobility and the camera.
"Alright. Let me get something straight. I hate all of you. I hate this country. I have to clean up a 500-year-old mess caused by your stupidity and cowardness. This isn't just directed to the nobility, although given my experience in the academy I do have a specific bone to pick with them." Leon spoke like a hero in the penultimate chapter. "You commoners never leave your homes. And while I understand why. YOU need to understand how used you are to being isolated from everything. I bet none of you even realized how dire thing were with Fanoss, and now that it's here almost none of you are ready to do so much as evacuate, let alone defend yourself or your loved ones!"
In other words, despite the fact he was all but saying 'fuck you, you suck, yes you specifically,' everyone hung onto his every word. Kind of like that time we were about to fight Fanoss during the field trip but refined. I mean the crowd of nobles immediately began to yell, but the common folk reacted well. At least the ones here in the city, they were hanging their heads down in shame. No idea if the ones in the country side were trying to fire at the projections.
"This isn't Baron Lea, or even King Lea, no…" Said Violet in a voice I know was meant to mimic mine. "He's gone even further beyond…! This is… Hero Lea, the reincarnated legend!"
Oh that's so cool!
"Eh? Lea. Don't you mean Leon?" asked Alexia out of nowhere.
…
"I may… have forgotten to turn off the mental link." Admitted Violet. I could feel her trying to distract me by acting cute as the next thing she did was bonk the top of her head, wink, and go "Tee-hee."
Whaddaya mean 'Tee hee'! How much of this can Alexia hear!?
"What do you mean? Aren't you talking out loud? Wait… who are you talking to?" asked Alexia.
I raise my arm to show off the bracelet that Violet stays in. "I was talking to my familiar, she's the one that helped you with the thing earlier. I usually talk to her in my head, and it looks like she made it so that you can do that too."
Alpha grabs my hand very strongly. "I hope that she will fix that IMMEDIATELY."
"EEEK….!" Violet shrieks in fear and immediately gets to work. I feel the magic in the bracelet shift.
I look over at Alexia.
Can you hear me now, you spoiled princess?
"…Are you trying to say something this time?" asked Alexia.
"She fixed it." I told Alpha, "Alexia would've gotten angry if she knew what I was thinking…"
I trail off as I notice Alexia kicked my shin before holding her own foot in pain. "OW! What are you made of?"
Good question, constantly reinforcing my body with Magical Overload probably didn't leave my body exactly the same as a normal person.
"He's speaking again," called out Gamma, getting all of our attention.
"Secondly, I know you don't trust me. That's fine, you haven't earned my trust either. Thirdly, and I'll keep this simple, if any of you have an actual plan—something further than having my fiancés take the forefront—and can successfully turn the tide as I have in the past, then step up now. I'd happily follow the command of someone that can actually back up their boasts." Leon's speech was relentless. He's going a bit off script from what Beta and I wrote for him, but that just goes to show how good of an actor he—
smack*
Violet, hey! What'd I even say this time!
In any case all the nobles are shown looking away from Leon. Clearly none of them liked Leon in command but they were either too scared of him or the possibility of fucking up should they take control. That even applied to Angie's dad, and according to Leon he was one of the few people that could walk the walk as much as they talked the talk.
Either by using a spell from Lea or some technology from Luxion, Leon summons his blade, holding it to the camera. "Finally. Follow my orders if you want to live. Follow me if you want to live as the people you all have claimed to be. Follow me if you want to win."
The nobles began to rage again but Leon slammed his blade into the ground beneath him, resting his hands over it like the King he now was becoming.
"Throw down your doubt! Understand? Fight for me and die for me, then live for me and the New Holfort we will create. If you think that I'm not prepared to fight a war on two fronts then think again! I'm going to make a world that my children, my friend's children, and everyone like me can love to live in! Join me and in return you'll see this world come within your lifetime!" Leon's voice, full of promises that no one had any right to believe, but wanted so desperately to see, stuck a cord in Holfort's heart. At least given what I heard the city surrounding me shouting to the heavens.
"For my son!"
"For my daughter!"
"I might be old but if I can create a better world my grandkids can live in then I'll gladly die!"
"Screw you! You're not the only one that can fight damn it!"
"I'll fight not for you, but for a New Holfort!"
"To New Holfort!"
That one seemed to really resonate with everyone actually, because pretty soon people were chanting it over and over.
"To New Holfort!"
"To New Holfort!"
"To New Holfort!"
Hm…
I started to chuckle. Thanks to the roar of the crowd almost no one heard me, but the Shades were clued in on me beginning to focus on the next step of my Eminence in Shadow role play.
"To New Holfort." I said before I turned on my heel and headed to where Lambda, Epsilon, and Eta had been working on the armors and ships.
…
Alexia tried to chase after me, but I think Alpha got her.
-Leon-
"Ugh…" I groaned in one of the palace's private rooms as the war room was prepared. "I really did it now…"
[I've always known you to be a man that tells nothing but falsehoods, but to think you'd betray your own dream of doing nothing but lounging about.]
"Wow Luxion, you sound disappointed." I retorted.
[Of course I am. How would I not be disappointed that my master seems to be incapable of committing to something he deemed his dream when he first met me.]
I rolled my eyes. "Would it kill you to be nice to me? I'm doing a good thing here."
[Need I remind you that I care not for the lives of everyone here aside from you and sometimes your lovers? Up until now I fully expected you to just run away. Is it due to the actions of Mistress Angelica and Olivia?]
"…Well, I don't appreciate you phrasing it like that." I said as I crossed my arms over my knees, "But… I mean there's few ways I'd be allowed to be with them now that they're the Saintess's."
[One of which is running away with them, which I'm sure they'd be okay with given everything I have monitored about them.]
"As if any of them would be willing to abandon Holfort." I said.
[So you are doing this because of them.]
"I'm doing this because aside from them and the people from Mitsugoshi, everyone else is useless and unreliable, so I have to do it. Help me out Luxion." I said as I got up.
[You really are hopeless, Master.]
A knock at the door interrupts my conversation with Luxion. Exercising some caution given what just happened I try to use my 'magic sense' or whatever Cid called it.
…
I get the brief feeling of a fly around some yakiniku.
"Julius?" I asked as I opened the door. "Is this important?"
"Very. Mother says that I cannot join the fight. As fellow—WHA, why are you shutting the door!? Hey!" As much as I would like to slam the door on Julius' foot I don't think It'd go too well if I hurt him after I had just killed all the corrupt nobles.
"What'd Mylene say?" I asked.
Julius looks away and I shove him so that I can shut the door. Unfortunately the guy has been working out or something so I can't do that without putting a lot of force into it.
"C'mon…!" whined Julius, "We're both princes so why do you get to fight and I don't?!"
"I'm going to lead everyone, and if you forgot, Angie and Livia are going to be forced to participate one way or another. No way in hell am I going to let them face that alone!" I yelled. "Besides, in case you forgot, I was talented enough to kick the ass of you and your friends in a duel!"
"We don't know that for sure, Lord Shadow crashed it before it ended!" whined Julius.
Knowing I'm not going to get anywhere with Julius by appealing to logic I let go of the door and see Julius fall to the floor. I raise a brow at man as he's on the floor. He slowly and shamefully gets up.
"Brother…" called out a voice from behind us. I turn to see who I know as Himawari.
"Erica! I thought you already evacuated to your fiancé's territory." Said Julius as he greeted his sister.
The girl I now know as Erica bows to me.
…
Ah, there was a reason she used a Japanese name, huh?
Well I shouldn't worry about that for now.
"Look, here's something you need to take care of that's important." I said while gesturing towards the princess standing next to me. "You need to help your sister evacuate safely."
Erica held her hands up as if asking for uppies. "Oh no." she said in a deadpan voice, "I am a damsel in distress. Won't a brave prince escort me home?"
Julius just stomped his foot in frustration. "Don't patronize me!"
"Really convincing me to let you fight with us." I drawled.
Julius, dumb man that he is, beamed. "Really!?"
Both Erica and I smacked our foreheads.
[I never thought I'd meet someone more hopeless than Master. Yet here I am. I always knew New Humanity was beyond salvation. Master, we should collect your lovers and allow-]
I smacked Luxion so hard that he bounced on the ground and Julius caught him.
"You know I've been meaning to ask, what is this thing? I've seen it around, but I never got a proper explanation." Said Julius.
I shrugged. "He's my familiar."
[I've overlooked it until now, but I demand that you stop describing me in that way now that it's been revealed you have connections to Old Humanity. There is nothing magical about me, calling me a familiar is an insult to me and my creators-]
Julius throws Luxion back my way as he starts to rant.
I catch Luxion and then start grinning.
[Don't you dare.]
"Hey Julius, Erica, want to play catch?" I said as I wiggled Luxion in the air.
However, Julius and Erica looked at me with blank expressions.
"What's 'catch'?" asked Julius, and Erica nodded. Weird, if Erica really did reincarnate you'd think she'd know.
"Catch." I said as I threw Luxion in Julius' direction. He caught it and then looked at me. "Okay now throw it back."
Julius throws back Luxion. I can see him start to grin. Erica starts bouncing in place too.
"Your turn Erica." I said as I lightly lob Luxion at Erica. She fumbles a bit but catches him. Actually, I think despite his grumbling he floated into her hands. "Okay, now throw him back."
Erica, with all the strength the princess life would net her, throws Luxion back. I know for a fact now he's playing nice and floating a little bit. Pfft, tsundere.
[I don't like that look on your face.]
"You never liked my face." I retorted.
[True, I don't know what your wives all see in you.]
"Julius, go long! …Go further back in the room!" I said before throwing Luxion like I was pitching a baseball. Julius runs with a smile on his face and Erica trots behind him.
[You're lucky I'm taking the chance to calibrate my GPS!]
"Brother, Brother, let me throw it, please!"
"I caught it!"
"Please!"
I sighed, "Erica, Julius caught it this time. It'll be your turn next."
"Hmph."
"Catch, Leon!"
"Got it. Okay, your turn Erica!"
"Hawawawa…! …I got it! Catch Mr. Leon!"
We tossed Luxion back and forth for a bit before I heard another voice.
"Mylene? What are you doing just standing here in the hall? I thought you were going to talk to Leon?" Angie's voice rang through the hall, causing me to look over and see Mylene looking at us with some kind of happy expression on her face. This ended distracting me and allowed for Luxion to hit me straight in the face.
"Bfuvhd!" I shouted as Luxion knocked me over due to the speed he flew at.
"Leon!" Angie heard me and immediately ran in with Livia to heal me.
"Luxion! Couldn't you have slowed down?" scolded Livia.
[Apologies, I was having fun and got carried away.]
I glared at Luxion, who I'm sure is looking down at me smugly.
As soon as the pain went away I got back up. "Is it time for the meeting already?"
"Almost." Said Mylene. She then adopted a serious expression. "Leon… you had told the nation that you'd assume command, and because of that we have little choice but to let you. However, whether or not the soldiers will ever follow your command is another thing. In all honestly what remains of the royal court has had our sanity cast in to doubt."
"I'm sorry. For everything. Even I can acknowledge that I took things a little too far." I admitted. I do my best to ignore how everyone is chiming in with something like 'no way' or 'he can learn!' "But I don't think anyone can debate that a lot of what I did has been a long time coming. If they choose to abandon me now, then I'll have no choice but to take everyone I love and run away. Do you even have anyone else who could be trusted with the position?"
Mylene takes a moment to contemplate it before she sighs. "…*sigh*…I see. So I'm finally reaping what I've sown… No, no matter. Before we get into the meeting let me ask you, what is your plan?"
"It's going to take a lot to beat the Principality. Even with my lost items there's one more thing I'm going to need from the kingdom to actually win. I need the Royal Family's Ship. It has its own special power, doesn't it?" I said.
Mylene pulled a face, and I see Julius, Erica, and Angie all look a little confused. "H-how do you even know about the ship? It's—"
I stepped forward, backing her into the wall, and planted my hand beside her head. "That ship helped this nation's founders claim the land for their kingdom. It's the royal family's secret weapon. Righ?"
"Wow… Mr. Leon's so bold" whispered Erica.
"I… don't want to see this. I'm just… going to go." Whispered Julius.
"Yes… that's right. So you see why it isn't something so simply lent to just anyone. It's a Lost Item, too." Said Mylene.
It wasn't the same type as Luxion, no—but it was absolutely essential, I pressed even closer to her. "I'm part of the royal family now too, no? I should be able to access it. I need it."
"It wouldn't work. Even His Majesty and I can't activate it."
"We'll get it working one way or another. Either through me and my girls' power or even Julius and Marie's. But we need it no matter what." I said.
"But why?" asked Mylene.
"Luxion. I think it's about time we got everyone caught up to what Fanoss has been hiding." I said.
[Very well.]
Luxion then displays a report that we had gotten from Shadow Garden through Cleare.
Everyone that wasn't me gasped at the sight they were presented with.
-Hertrude-
I find myself kneeling next to Hertrauda. The both of us had just used our combined strength to awaken the beasts of the sea and sky.
The words of a certain enigmatic man echo through my mind.
"Use the flute. Unleash all of your anger onto the world."
There's nothing about that statement that differed from how I already felt. My entire life I had been raised with one purpose in mind, to erase Holfort off the map for what they did to my mother and father.
…But.
But.
I have to think about what the woman said.
"How dare you endanger your country, your citizens, your friend, and your sister due to information you never bothered to validate!"
Sherry only echoed these statements to me in private. She constantly tried to tell me and Rauda that this was a bad idea. That we shouldn't endanger ourselves by summoning the beasts. She told us of the possible repercussions. I knew them, of course, I did. I could even feel it now.
The exhaustion of summoning the beasts left me a few minutes ago, it's the pain of my own magic beginning to eat my body, like some kind of… overload of it, that forces me to stay on the ground.
But why?
Why did I still do it?
Despite the fact that it'd hurt.
Despite the fact that I'm not even sure what I'm fighting for.
Despite the fact that I have no way of knowing the amount of people are going to get killed.
Why did I do it?
"And then witness that there are things that can overcome hate. Learn from it."
I have no hope for this world. I can tell that once I revealed everything to Hertruada and Sherry they lost much of their hope as well.
But…
But!
I want… I want to believe! I want to see exactly what Lord Shadow was talking about!
And if he was wrong?
…
Well, at least I figured out that by playing a little harder than Hertrauda I would take most of the effect of the magic flutes' summoning.
-Leon-
I enjoy the sight of all the men in power balking at the sight of the monsters of the sea and sky. I suppose there is the factor of the one of the sky being an island sized fuck of an eyeball with two wings and giant arms all covered in horrific looking veins and they monster of the sea resembled a demonic face surrounded by monstrously deformed hands. Nothing about either looks like they belong to this planet, yet no one can deny their existence.
"So," I said while Luxion ended his projection, "This is the consequence of none of you keeping an eye on Princess Hertrude to instead punish me unjustly. In other words, stuff like this is what happens when none of you listen to me."
No one could offer a rebuttal.
Brightside of Hertrude slipping out earlier was that we don't have to worry about someone storming the capital for her, although part of me thinks that they'd just as easily bomb the palace even if Hertrude was still here.
"How long do we have until they get here?" asked Roland.
[Based upon my calculations, we have a week to handle the situation at hand before you can say goodbye to your kingdom.]
The table erupted at that.
I just smiled. "Sounds like plenty of time to me. We should be able to get this done and still have time to prepare for Christmas."
"What's Christmas?" asked Livia.
Oh right. "Er, I mean the winter festival."
"That's a rather bold claim." Said Vincent.
I shrugged. "Thing is that I never take on a fight unless I know I can win, and I have a good idea on how to handle everything."
"Well, with all due respect your highness-" said Mr. Atlee, "don't keep us waiting! Tell us what we need to do."
I nodded. I then signal for Luxion to start displaying a map of the area between us and the principality. I walk up between Angie and Livia then lean on the table. "You guys will have a few priorities. The short version of it is that the army is going to focus on two things. Evacuation and protecting my dear Saintesses."
"Leon…"
"Dear…"
Gilbert, Vince, and Mylene all chuckled pleasantly at this.
"And the long of it?" asked Roland.
I nodded. "I'm pretty sure that there's going to be at least one more monster, that of land. Truth be told, I can maybe take out at least one of the monsters on my own. However, we have to consider the other two. I believe our best shot to handle them is going to take the power of the Saintess's."
"And what of our armies? Are you saying they're useless?"
I shake my head. "Against the monsters, maybe. Against the army of Fanoss that's going to be in our way? No. Some of our army will be dedicated to the evacuation efforts and the protection of the citizens afterwards. The other will be dedicated to clearing the way for us to take care of the monsters and stalling them until either me or the Saintess's can make their way there."
"A sound strategy, or at least the start of one. We still need to get into the particulars, starting with this: how will you go about commanding everyone?"
"Spite." I answered.
Livia giggled and Angie shook her head.
"Spite?" questioned Vince.
I smiled. "Well, everyone would probably be embarrassed to have me do everything, especially considering who is going to consist of my subordinates."
"…What do you mean?" asked Mr. Atlee.
"Luxion?" I asked.
[Connecting… … … Call accepted.]
Luxion then began displaying a new hologram, this one showing one of the hangars owned by Mitsugoshi. On the other end was Cid and three of his lovers, as well as several of their subordinates.
-Epsilon-
As one of the seven shades I'm used to many things I never expected to be expected of me. Doing the impossible seems to our Lord and Lover's other secret motto. The obvious one being to lurk in the shadows and hunt the shadows.
I will admit, I did not expect my slime body to be something that could potentially save an entire country by solving a centuries-long conundrum.
"No, I'm serious." Said Lord Darling as he spoke to me while His Highness was in jail. "I need your expertise on getting a body to react properly to help create mechs for demi-humans."
"….I…. I don't mean to doubt you, but…" I was equal parts baffled and mortified as he said this to me. I've come to accept how much Lord Darling loves my natural body, and I've come to love it as well. But the idea that the manifestation of my insecurities would become something of a key part in saving a nation and possibly the world (according to what His Highness told Lord Darling at least)… "There's no way…"
"*Sigh* okay we're doing this the hard way." Said Lord Darling as he began to drag me to a hangar.
As we walked in we were greeted by Eta (in her civilian outfit) and the floating orb known as Cleare. However, Lord Darling and I were both in our slime suits.
(Oh my… I can't make heads or tails of you) said the blue orb as she inspected me and Lord Darling. (I can only tell that you're both here because of the absence of your existence… how fascinating. Could I trouble you for a blood sample?)
"No." said Lord Darling. "Recall that your master is currently asking for my help. Do not make me change my mind."
(Boo! But okay.)
"Hello… mister… Lord… Shadow…" said Eta as she pretended she didn't know us, "I've done my best… to replicate the armors… of Leon's Lost Item… *yawn~* to the best… of my ability. Please… do the rest…"
Lord Darling just chuckled as we all walked up to an open armor. It had basically all the bits and pieces you'd expect from a normal one. At least that's what I'd assume based on how Lord Darling immediately took it apart and then arranged it into some kind of grid layout.
(Oh? Are you [Language I don't know])
Strangely, Lord Shadow starts speaking in whatever language Cleare was speaking in. I look at Eta and she shrugs at me. Her ears are wiggling though, so I can tell she's already trying to determine what's being said.
Eventually, the armor is placed back together, with a ton of slime inside of it.
"Let's see if this works. Come along Epsilon." Said Lord Shadow as he began to climb inside with me.
I see the normal layout of an armor, that being a seat surrounded by some screens and controls. Of course, the model made by Old Humanity is stockier in its build, but the inside is more elaborate than the current models. Even more so now that the slime seems to have created something of a web in the armor, and the seat changed from its normal shape to something more resembling the slime chairs I have in my room.
"Now, sit here. You are going to tell me when you can and can't feel things from the outside." Said Lord Darling. "Remember, the main component that demi-humans can't interact with is the responsive system."
"Wouldn't Zeta have been a better pick then?" I asked.
"You know better than anyone how to make slime respond as though it was a human body." Said Lord Darling, making me beam with pride.
(Now, we're going to test this by providing external and internal stimuli. Basically, if we touch something outside you should react on the inside, and vice versa.)
I nodded, which made the little orb go on the outside while Lord Darling stayed inside with me. From the speakers, I could hear Cleare as though she never left.
(Beginning test 1. I shall administer a controlled shock to mimic a small monster attack. Tell me if you feel anything.)
"I feel something tickling my toe." I said.
(Great! Test 1 successful)
From there we had tested a few more things on the outside. We then had tests on the inside too, but…
Well, I was rather embarrassed at how easily I react to Lord Darling's touch, especially since without fail the armor mimicked my actions… I should ask His Highness to try and delete any record of me… enjoying Lord Darling's touch.
In any case, we then mimicked it a couple of more times (yes that includes the testing. Which was equal parts enjoyable as mortifying. I think something awoke inside me honestly) before leaving.
Now we have returned to that same hangar as Shiron, Cid, Gamma, Eta (still can't believe she got away with that), and some of our subordinates.
Why?
To announce to the world that a legion of armors built for demi-humans has been created.
…
Really need to see if His Highness deleted any records of my shameful display. I really don't want that to be recorded as part of this monumental moment in history.
-P2W-
The whole of Holfort watches as a second round of holograms begins to display. This time, a dual screen approach is displayed.
On one half is Prince Leon and those in the meeting to decide how to deal with Fanoss. On the other is Cid and several members of Mitsugoshi.
Now, Cid wouldn't normally display himself in this way given his desire to take the mob role. However, this is merely part of one of his schemes. How is merely something to be revealed later.
Leon then begins to speak, "Hello everyone! I'm sure that you've been busy. But I'm also sure that you've been completely unhelpful! Some of you may have even had second thoughts about participating in war and tried to run away."
Several people guilty of doing just that stop as Leon once again calls them out like the shameless bastard he is.
"For all of you cowards who believe you're going to be forgiven for running away and allowing other people to do the work? First, no, second I hope you enjoy being second to what's going to be my main force! Cid, Luna, if you would?" said Leon, pissing off all of the hypocritical members of society that he hadn't killed in his earlier purge.
What pissed them off even more was when the screen had Cid's half take up everything and began to show a sweeping shot of the hangar they were in.
The hangar was full of 4 ships, each with 4 armors on top of them. Now, the design of said ship was said to be reminiscent of The Partner, but on a much smaller scale. The best comparison would be to call The Partner a cruise ship, while each of the New Fleet Ships were about the size of a pirate ship, if a bit wider.
"Hello citizens of Holfort." Greeted Luna, "For those of you wondering why an elf is speaking to you all right now, you must not know who I am. In that case, please listen to my introduction. I am Luna, owner of Mitsugoshi."
The citizens watching dropped their jaws in amazement. It was well known that many of Mitsugoshi's employees were demi-humans but most had worked under the assumption that someone simply owned all of them. To know that it was actually not the case…
Many of them want to doubt it, but given the circumstances in which the information is being presented to them, they can't deny it without looking foolish.
"The country of Holfort has a special place in my heart. But more importantly, it has a place in my husband's heart. Cid?" As everyone who fell in love with the beautiful owner at first sight cry in anguish and jealousy—especially as Cid and his bland appearance take center stage—Cid puts on one of his best 'mob that has gone through some character growth' faces.
"I…I-I-I… I don't want to die." Said Cid, his voice shaking as his head hung low. However, he takes a deep breath and then aims his tear stricken but determined face. "But I can't allow myself to run away! I… I'm not smart. I'm not strong… but I know this… If Fanoss wins, it's not going to end at Holfort. I… I can't just sit by and let them get away with this! I'm going to fight! And so are many of our employees."
The camera then shows the armors in the hangars open, to reveal that they're all manned by demi-humans.
"Mitsugoshi is going to back the efforts of New Holfort in their battle with Fanoss! Those of you, man, woman, human or demi-human that want to join go to the nearest Mitsugoshi establishment to enlist!" said Luna
Leon would then take center again, "I want you all to know that what Fanoss wants is for us to fight amongst ourselves. What I want is for our country to change starting today. HEAR ME NOW! ALL OF YOU WHO FIGHT FOR THIS COUNTRY WILL BE CONSIDERED A CITIZEN OF OUR NEW HOLFORT!"
The transmission would then end there.
-Leon-
As the transmission ends a voice calls out behind me.
"So… that just seemed like an inspiring speech. How was that making people join out of spite?" asked one of the random nobles.
"Simple," I said, "They just realized that they're going to be shown up by a bunch of women that normally just run shops. Demi-human women too. Now, I'm one for believing people to be equal unless they're categorically trash, but I know most of this kingdom isn't."
Yup. I told the kingdom that they were going to be saved by the people they always treat like trash. For a glory hungry country like Holfort I expect the lines for enlisting to be full within the hour.
What was that bit about 'New Holfort' though?
.
.
.
A/N: Stopping here. I suppose this chapter was a bit confusing with all the flashbacks, but I figured that I needed to clarify how all the moving steps were going while Leon was in jail given that the previous chapters revolved more around Angie and Livia.
Next chapter should be the start of the battle proper.
Now let's answer the comments.
Someone ani: I'm not sure having Eta in a chapter counts as predicting things as much, but considering that I actually wanted Epsilon's section earlier… maybe? Fun fact: if it weren't for the recent law stuff I would've made Epsilon's section here have a lemon.
Bladist: Well, glad to know Sholmes at least wasn't disappointing.
It's like the thing with Iris earlier in the story. Yes, they could use it to cast doubt, but Frampton had already been fabricating evidence so it's likely that if they just used those photos out of nowhere it wouldn't go well.
Then you should look forward to some of the stuff I have planned for Delta.
I didn't even think about Alexia and F-Robin's overlap, huh. I just went with Male Robin because I think he looks cool. I'll be honest that F-Robin's design really only hits for me if she's drawn to be a bit cutesy, her smash render looks a little silly to me given how mature she looks.
Alexia has had Delta's approval for a while. She gained Eta's here, although it was mainly implied.
The second where Alexia was in partial control, with Violet guiding her actions and hypnotizing the gallery is the closest. I'll clarify it more later, but Alexia thinks she was just playing a game.
I have plans for Leila, I feel like even though she was overly paranoid towards Leon and trusting to the 'game characters' she's a bit interesting.
Don't worry, Yukime is one of my favorites so she's definitely going to be added to Cid's harem… although considering my plans for that arc, it's not going to be easy on her or Cid (especially not Alpha.)
Ao3
Dawnwatch: Yeah I figured Alexia's been a bit neglected.
I was more flabbergasted when Charlock was mentioned. "There's no fucking way." Is what I thought.
Yeah the ace attorney stuff is way more fun to watch than just read, but glad I could deliver on Roland and Leon's dynamic.
The in universe volume 7 explanation was roughly that elves manipulate magic differently than humans, which is why Kyle wasn't allowed as his half elf lineage made things even more different. This means that all armors required magic manipulation. Which I think is weird because I thought that Old Humanity couldn't use magic.
What's funny is that for as new as Kyle was at piloting, he still was better than Serge for the most part.
Anisomeone: Glad the start was great.
Yeah totally would've written that lemon, and Leon with Angie in the jail if it weren't for the recent stuff.
Eta's adorable, but I need to have more Yandere moments to stay true to the character.
So I explained this to you on QQ but for anyone else that is curious—the reason Eta felt scared and betrayed was because Delta, or rather, Sara was acting smart and coming up with something of a plan.
I feel like people forgot, so I brought it up this chapter again in the section, but Sara, has a bunch of confidential, hush-hush, secrets with Cid. The first instance of this being brought up was after the duel with the five. Remember how Delta told everyone about her first time with Cid? How she hid most of her conversation with him before he took the dragon but said what happened after they came back?
I rolled Aleixa's demon outfit and wanted to include it somehow, so Violet being a wingwoman was the only way I felt it'd make sense.
Glad I could deliver on Cid goofing around.
Alexia is 15th in line, but doesn't need a specific shade's approval. Rather she needs all of their approval. So she's her own thing technically.
I think I'm just on the same wavelength as the game devs when it comes to things Eminence in Shadow, after all I'm just doing what I think would be cool.
Wolfpaladin: Yup, although she doesn't know it was Shadow Garden. She just thinks her friends were doing some weird stuff again. Also the Arsene joke just kind of wrote itself honestly.
So Alexia needs approval from all seven shades to join the harem. Currently she has Delta, Gamma, and Eta's. Beta needs to be revisited. Epsilon and Zeta haven't talked to her yet, but Zeta will probably agree to piss off Alpha. She's her own thing, hence her being number 15.
That idea for Alexia and Beta… pretty close honestly.
I wanted to write it, but rules.
I like the idea that Frederick and Cordelia both cheer for Chrom together, which is why I usually did the pairing. I do like Cherche for him too, but I like how she gives Lon'qu closure for his childhood friend a lot more.
Yup, Robin only could get a quick glance.
I mean, if Magma Grunt had a name maybe? I just really like Hex Maniac's design, even without the fanon proportions.
Yeah, I thought Ace Attorney Herlock fit Cid really well, hence me devoting an entire chapter to a trial.
Olivia geeking out was in reference to Mash and Susato from the Ace Attorney games.
I can't believe how things lined up with Sigma.
The fallout of the trial wasn't really handled here because Leon's doing what he does and steamrolling things along before people can get closure.
As for the typo, my hand twitched lol.
I sparked to get Ninja Tharja actually. I recommend doing the Lunatic Chain Challenges if you need orbs. Honestly figuring out teams for those is some of the most fun I've had playing FEH. I also want Nidhoggr.
Deathfang1920: thanks!
BOY4_GOW:
1. Yeah hence her zoning out while thinking all the Yahoo answers misspellings of pregnant.
2. I mean, Cid was pretending to be Herlock? Or did I misunderstand things?
3. I was referencing the Phoenix Wright vs. Professor Layton treatment of the defendant / culprit with Leon being suspended in a cage, so yeah, good eye.
4. Lmao yeah.
5. Now if only Livia realized that, she'd be unstoppable.
6. Thanks!
7. Tharja is always intimidating, so I figure she gained a reputation.
8. Yeah I figure I should focus on details like that. I'm surprised EiS hasn't yet.
9. Yup! As a Pokémon protag Calem has a keen intuition.
10. Correct!
11. Well I figure it was pretty cut and dry. When Lea and co were in ancient Midgar dealing with the cult, the cult had done their best to screw over Lea.
12. Animations? The descriptions of their
Guest: If you've seen Delta's game model you'd know her tail is roughly the same length as her body. And in the anime she can use slime to make it longer, usually as a blade but I imagine she could grab people too.
SB
MWKillKenny84: lmao. I actually had to look that up though.