Chapter 493

Translator: Nat

–Aegir POV–

Before I knew it, Malt’s palace was surrounded by a crowd .

It was more than people simply gathering in front, the entire perimeter was packed .

「Your Majesty Celestina――!!」

「Uooooh――!! She looked at me!」

「Don’t be stupid, I’m taller than you by 5 cm . Her Majesty was looking at me!」

「Fool, that’s nonsense! Nothing here stands out more than my bald head . She was definitely looking at me!」

The populace was happier that Celestina returned more so than the fact they were freed from their occupiers .

「They are such easy-to-deal-with weeds . 」

Sekrit kicks down the sealed door and appears .

Guigue, who was caught off-guard, flies to the floor, hits his head and stops moving .

She walks forward with the intention to stand next to me, but she suddenly pinches her nose and takes a few swift steps backward .

My sense of smell was numbed from being in the sewers and fighting the monster so I’m not affected, but I guess I still stink pretty badly .

It can’t be helped since I practically dived into a mass of filth .

「Who is standing beside her? Who’s that shiny guy?」

「I think the volunteer soldiers mentioned him . Golden something……who cares, let’s wave more to Her Majesty . 」

「I’m jealous he gets to be beside Her Majesty . 」

The cheers gradually grow louder .

「Errr, ummm……」

Celestina, who was only waving back to the people, looks at me .

Does she want me to tell her what to do?

「Tell them about the details concerning your return . Why not introduce this bad-smelling man with some nice stories as well?」

Sekrit offers a suggestion on my behalf .

While she’s at it, she also sprays something on my head .

This scent……rose perfume? It must be undiluted since the scent is strong .

Celestina obediently nods and leans forward .

「Shh, quiet, Her Majesty wants to speak . 」

「I can’t miss hearing Her Majesty’s cute voice . 」

The cheering dies down and the city falls silent .

Celestina’s voice, which is by no means loud, can be heard clearly .

First, she apologizes for running away on her own .

Then she explains how when she heard about the citizens’ execution, she rushed out without a plan .

And she also explains how she was saved by the villagers who became volunteer soldiers――

She doesn’t exaggerate or use any flowery words .

Occasionally, she makes grammatical mistakes, reiterates herself when she feels what she said was weird, and bites her tongue and yelps, yet she continues to appeal to the people .

「Your Majesty, aah our cute Majesty, you have nothing to apologize for . 」

「You are here standing before us unharmed . That is all that matters and enough for a perfectly happy ending . 」

Hearing the populace reply reassuringly, tears start to well up in Celestina’s eyes .

But thinking that she can’t cry in front of everyone, she wipes her eyes with her sleeve and shows them her usual beaming smile .

「Y-your Majesty……waaah . 」

「Aah, I have no regrets . I can go to heaven . 」

Two men who saw the smile were deeply moved and fainted .

「Your Majesty, it’s about time for the introduction . 」

Monica reminds Celestina with a subtle gesture toward me .

「Ah yes! Err, this is my dear b……no . He’s someone who saved me……and……well-」

She is already finding it hard to think of what to say . Being as pure as she is, she must not be accustomed to deceiving others and lying .

Alright, leave the lying to dirty adults .

「I am Golden Lager . I am the knight of gold that appears when the kingdom of Malt is on the brink of a crisis . 」

There is silence once again . This time, it is an unsettling silence unlike when Celestina spoke .

It’s the silence that happens after a drunkard brags arrogantly in a bar and you want to say, “is this guy an idiot?” .

However I can’t stop here . It is the most unsightly to compromise in the middle of a lie .

「In order to defeat the wicked empire and liberate the citizens as per the contract with the lovely first queen of the Malt kingdom, I have guided the rightful queen of Malt to this land . Everything is like the legends of Malt told since ancient times . I am precisely that hero of salvation in those stories!」

Nailed it . The majestic tone was on point too .

If I shout a lie with this much confidence, it shouldn’t be any less convincing than the truth .

Murmurs begin to disrupt the silence .

「The first king of Malt, Pilsner, was a man, right? If I recall, he was entrusted this land as the representative of a great neighboring country and when that country fell into ruin due to internal strife, he had no choice but to become independent . 」

「The legend of Malt is about an old man who cut down a shining tree in the mountain and discovered a beautiful woman inside……right?」

「Does he have a screw loose? Someone this crazy can’t stand beside Her Majesty……」

Not good . They’re finding faults in my story .

I thought my version of events would be more likely, but do they really have nothing other than peaceful tales?

At this rate, I’ll look like the idiot who suddenly showed up in front of the people of Biado to toot his own horn .

「That is right!!」

Unable to watch idly anymore, Celestine chimes in .

「Dear b――this man indeed helped me and guided me here! He listened to the unreasonable request of my thoughtless self, supported this helpless self, and time and time again encouraged me and assisted me……until we arrived here!」

That part contains no lie so she can’t speak her mind without any hesitation .

Celestina takes a deep breath and raises both arms .

「Everyone, give an applause for the hero of salvation, Golden Lager――!!」

「I’m not sure what’s happening, but if Her Majesty says so, it must be right . Uoooh――!!」

「Same here, maybe there actually is such a legend after all . Hurray for Golden Lager――! Hurray for the hero!!」

The entire audience cheered me on .

Things worked out somehow because of Celestina .

「I want to thank this man, so I want everyone to listen to what I’m about to say . Um, right now he wants……」

Celestina turns to me .

「Umu, a bath . After that, I want women . 」

「Funyu . A bath and wom――」「Eei!」

Monica covers Celestina’s mouth before she could finish the sentence and then kicks my heel .

「Don’t make Her Majesty proclaim vulgar things!!」

My bad .

「Errr……seeing the smiles of the Malt people is enough……he says . 」

How disappointing .

Okay, time for the next speech .

Celestina looks at the South Yuguria soldiers and guards restrained by the citizens .

「I want you to set the soldiers free . The fight is over, return them to their families . 」

「This could be trouble . Let’s see what happens . 」

Sekrit brings her face close and comments excitedly .

Hm, she’s right .

After all, these are the same enemy soldiers who held the people captive and pointed swords at them .

It’s natural for the populace to be reluctant――

「Go on then . Be thankful for Her Majesty’s compassion . 」

「I don’t want to see you here again . All of us detest fighting . 」

The citizens untie the ropes with no shred of hesitation .

「……what?」

Sekrit wasn’t the only one in shock, the enemy soldiers looked back and forth between Celestina and the citizens unable to believe what just happened .

「Bye bye . Come without weapons next time . 」

The enemy soldiers unconsciously wave back in response to Celestina waving, then as if returning to their senses, run quickly to the gates .

「Your Majesty, there is still some enemies with weapons barricading themselves inside . 」

The people point to several areas among the city filled with Malt flags where South Yuguria flags are still standing .

「Funyuu . 」

Celestine turns to me again .

「It’s fine if they surrender . Otherwise, kill the men and rape the w――」

「What kind of savage things are trying to get Her Majesty to say!?」

Monica gets upset again .

「……umm, a song! Sing the song of peace that everyone knows!」

At Celestina’s command, the people advance on the resisting facilities .

The enemies sigh, intending to put up a final struggle now that there’s no hope, however the people don’t charge in or set the places on fire .

They simply surround the buildings and sing loudly .

「Let us lay down our swords and harvest the golden wheat, let us leave behind our bows and whisper words of love, let us stop fighting and drink beer together until morning……what a crappy song . 」

Sekrit, who was expecting the enemy’s annihilation, got into a bad mood .

Scattered arrows fly and injure a few citizens .

Even so, nobody throws torches out of anger . The volume of the singing just increases .

「They came out . 」

A group of roughly 50 enemy soldiers walked outside the facility .

While still singing, the people circle them and gradually walk in the direction of the gate as if leading the enemies away .

The enemy, thinking there’s no way to break through, doesn’t resist and allows the wave of people to push them toward the gate until they finally get driven out of the city .

When the last person left the city, cheers erupted .

After a truly peaceful and sweet ending, South Yuguria’s rule was finished .

「……」

Sekrit stared at Celestina in disgust, almost in a threatening manner .

I poke her cheek as if to tell her there’s nothing to be mad about .

「You’re filthy . Don’t touch me . 」

That inflicted a grievous wound to my heart .

Celestina addresses the public again .

「Everyone, fix your broken houses . Replant your trampled flags and also work hard to harvest your wheat!」

Each one of her sentences were met with enthusiastic cheers .

There are no contents in her speech .

Similar to Adolph, she doesn’t announce the order of priorities, she doesn’t include instructions that lead to efficient movements and she doesn’t provide an ounce of concrete support .

She is merely repeating words of encouragement .

Even from a perspective like mine, with no talent or experience or motivation in domestic affairs, I think the speech is pointless .

――nevertheless .

「I will……also do my best……to help out……unyuu!」

Celestina lifts a shovel left on the roof, and stumbles because it is heavier than she expected, but is quickly steadied by Monica .

A near-shriek comes from the populace .

「Aah, please stop Your Majesty! It’d be dreadful if you dropped that on your foot!」

「I will work for 16 hours in place of Your Majesty, so please don’t go overboard . 」

「That’s nothing, I’ll work 20 hours!」

「What!? Then I’ll work 25 hours!」

I feel a growing ambition rising from the people .

I’m sure reconstruction will proceed rapidly .

No matter how inefficient they work or how messed up the order of priorities is, as long as these people are giving their all, they can reverse everything .

「So this is the result not from binding them with fear or enticing them with money, but from lifting a single shovel? If other kings and feudal lords see this, they’ll want to claim this as a form of cheating . 」

Celestina continues waving her hand at the citizens who immediately get to work with