Chapter 98

Day 2 of Return: Reigning
The king and central figures of Fractalia were gathered together, indulging in narcotics.

… Facing this scene, Marylia thought for about three seconds before clapping her hands with a sharp smack.

“I could just bury them here, but since we’ve gone through all this trouble, we should do it properly. Now, everyone! Restrain the people here and take them away!”

Marylia, ruthless as always, decided that dethroning the king without first gaining the people’s consent would be unwise. The citizens must be properly informed of what their king was doing here before deciding whether he should be executed or otherwise punished.

… Yes. Execution should be considered.

“This country—there’s no way I can leave it in your hands anymore.”

Someone who cannot make rational decisions cannot be allowed to sit at the pinnacle of the nation.

Marylia reaffirmed this conviction.

The king and his men were restrained and taken away. They resisted the entire time, but Marylia paid them no mind as she escorted the king back to the throne room.

“Alright, let’s get some fresh air in here… Open the windows! If we open all the ones leading to the balcony, we should get a decent breeze.”

When the Iron Golems pulled open the large windows, a gentle wind drifted in.

At the same time, a breathtaking view was revealed.

“… How beautiful.”

While the king and his men screamed and struggled, Marylia momentarily forgot everything as she admired the scene.

Beyond the wide-open windows, the sky was tinged with the hues of dusk. The gentle apricot-colored light cast long shadows over the capital of Fractalia, giving it an air of quiet repose.

She could also hear the voices of the people—angry shouts and curses directed at the king. Their words were far from elegant, yet they carried a raw strength. They sounded like the last embers of life still burning in this nation, refusing to be extinguished.

There was also a faint, charred scent in the wind—perhaps something had caught fire during the riots. Well, as long as it hadn’t escalated into a large-scale blaze, it wasn’t a problem. She had left some Iron Golems stationed outside the castle gates. If the fire became an issue, they would take care of it.

“… Fractalia.”

Marylia once again felt the presence of her beloved homeland. Having been away for so long, she now found it only beautiful, only nostalgic.

But—

She could not afford to wallow in sentimentality forever. For the sake of her dear, beautiful homeland, the evil infesting it had to be eradicated.

“Now then, Your Majesty… Can we have a little chat?”

Marylia turned to the king, now completely restrained.

… Earlier, in the underground chamber, he and his men had been basking in the haze of what was likely narcotics. But after being left alone for a bit in the fresh air, they seemed to have regained some semblance of reason.

“Y-You… Who the hell are you…?”

“Oh my, Your Majesty. Surely you haven’t forgotten the face of the person you personally decorated with honors—only to later banish at the behest of an enemy nation?”

It seemed the king didn’t recognize Marylia. This disappointed her more than she had expected. If at least he had possessed the resolve and sense of responsibility to acknowledge his actions, she might have understood…. He had chosen to execute his own country’s hero just to curry favor with a foreign power. If he had done so fully understanding the gravity of his decision, then perhaps she could have accepted it.

But Marylia no longer felt the need to berate her oppressor as a victim. She was simply, as a citizen of this country, deeply disillusioned by the king’s utter incompetence.

And so—he had to be removed.

She would not allow this parasite to destroy her beloved homeland, Fractalia.

“I am Marylia Odeil Typhon. Do you remember now?”

Marylia stepped forward. From the king’s perspective, her face must have been shrouded in backlight from the open windows. But she could clearly see his. His fear was evident. And then—his face twisted as if recalling something.

“D-Damn you… What do you want?! Why are you doing this?!”

The king tried to back away, but being thoroughly restrained, he could do little more than squirm like a worm.

“Well, let’s see… I suppose my wish is for my beloved homeland to be at peace.”

Marylia took another step closer, looking down at the king.

“P-Peace?! You dare speak of peace after destroying it yourself?! You demon!”

The king glared up at her, cursing. His face was a mess of fear, desperation, and—above all—madness. His gaunt cheeks, his missing teeth, his bloodshot, clouded eyes… Not a single feature belonged to a sane or competent ruler.

“… So, you decided to have me executed because I’m a demon who destroys peace?”

“Of course! O, Great God, grant us peace, grant us salvation… Deliver us from this demon…”

The king’s words, muttered as if in prayer, sounded more like a curse. And prayers uttered by the insane would not be heard by any god.

“It’s impossible for everyone to simply survive together in peace. Praying won’t make it so. After all, not everyone even wants peace in the first place. And then there are those who may desire peace but lack the ability to bring it about. Like you.”

“I-I only wanted my people to live in peace…!”

“And yet, many of them died.”

The wind blew in again through the open windows—cold, autumn air. As she felt its nostalgic, cherished touch, Marylia smiled faintly.

“If you truly want a peaceful world… then wouldn’t you have to make the savage ones ‘desire peace’ first?”

“Make them… desire peace…?”

“Yes. It’s quite simple, isn’t it, when you think about what must be done to change someone’s mind?”

She smiled as she looked down at him.

The king was momentarily blank-faced, but then—realization dawned. He nodded in understanding.

"Oh, of course, by discussing—"

"No. You make them shut up by beating them up."

When Marylia said that, the king froze in stunned silence.

Marylia laughed merrily. The answers she had received were so foolish that she found them downright amusing.

"What do you even do by discussing? How do you reconcile the opinion of 'Do not invade our country' with the opinion 'We want to invade your country'?"

"That can be resolved in various ways! By easing trade conditions, by providing resources... If we can meet the other country's demands in another form—"

"So you'll just do whatever they say? If someone says, 'I'll hit you,' how much would you give to avoid being hit? And when you can no longer give, what will you do then? Or do you think just saying, 'Stop!' will make them stop? But that’s not how things turned out, was it?"

Marylia stepped closer to the king and smiled sweetly. She couldn't help but laugh.

"In that case, the only option is to beat them into submission. Because they are beasts."

She had, to some extent, hoped for a counterargument from the king. But he utterly betrayed her expectations.

"Or, if you think that’s too barbaric and cruel… then I think turning them into golems would be a good idea. If they obey properly, there will be peace. Yes, just like you now... a convenient puppet that moves with drugs."

The king, a puppet of Baltoria, was no longer human. Not only had he lost the way of a king, but even as a person, he had strayed too far. And for those who had forsaken their humanity, an appropriate end was only fitting.

"N-No... Drugs? That’s not—"

"Well, maybe that’s what they told you at first. But you realized it along the way, didn’t you? Or, if you truly never noticed, then that itself is a reason you should not be here."

The king opened his mouth to make some excuse. But… Marylia had already had her fill.

Yes, she had enough.

From the king who had betrayed her, his loyal subject, and exiled her, she had already heard all she needed to hear.

She had held a faint hope that he had some reason behind his seemingly foolish actions. But there was none.

In that case, this was the end.

"I'll turn your corpses to ash, knead them into clay, and bake you into golems."

"C-Corpses? Golems? W-What are you saying…?"

Marylia smiled sweetly… and turned to the Iron Golems.

"Do it."

—And so.

"Everyone! The king’s head is ours!"

Marylia stepped onto the balcony of the throne room, waving to the crowd gathered before the castle gates.

For a moment, the people fell into silence… Then, they erupted in cheers!

"Lady Marylia!"

"Lady Marylia!"

"The Saintess who saved our country!"

"No, a Goddess had descended upon our land!"

The people praised Marylia, rejoicing in the long-awaited sight they had been hoping for.

Everyone was delighted.

The kind bakery lady who had been good to Marylia. The children she had played with in the square. And her dear comrades—knights who had fought alongside her—all raised their voices in joy.

Marylia watched the scene, smiling as she waved.

To be welcomed back like this was truly a joy.

To be needed by someone, to have her presence bring happiness to others—Marylia found that incredibly gratifying.

… However.

Among the cries of "Lady Marylia!" were also "Saintess" and "Goddess!"—which was fine. Marylia simply thought, "Oh my, they must be drunk on the excitement."

But when "Her Majesty the Queen!" began to mix in, even Marylia started to think, "Oh dear…?"

As she hesitated internally, the voices grew louder:

"Your Majesty the Queen!"
"You are the rightful ruler of Fractalia!"
"Our hero should be the ruler!"

The sheer number of voices made it impossible to ignore.

And at the same time, Marylia thought—”This is probably already hopeless."

"… Everyone!"

She raised her voice. The crowd instantly fell silent.

Looking at their reaction, Marylia couldn't help but think, "They're like golems..." but now was not the time for that.

"I was able to return to Fractalia thanks to all of you. Thank you for welcoming back someone who was banished."

First, she expressed her gratitude. Holding the hem of her dress, she gracefully and deeply curtsied.

Her elegant and modest demeanor drew murmurs from the crowd:
"What a wonderful lady."
"Ahh, how beautiful…"

"And thank you for protecting this country in my absence. Because you all were here, this nation… Fractalia… is still alive today."

At her continued gratitude, some knights shed tears. Their struggles had finally been rewarded. Their desperate fight in a decaying nation, even sinking to the level of pirates, had not been in vain.

"Baltoria is destroyed. The undead soldiers controlled by its necromancy are gone. So, for now, Fractalia is safe."

At Marylia’s declaration, the crowd roared. Many had witnessed the Baltorian soldiers turning to dust before their eyes, and now the whispers began—

"It was Lady Marylia's doing after all!"
"The Saintess’s power of purification!"

And then—

"… But to prevent something like this from happening again… we must rebuild this country, now that we have lost our king."

Though slightly nervous, Marylia showed none of it. She smiled warmly and spoke.

"That’s why… I think I should become the monarch. Will you all accept that?"

At that moment, the crowd exploded with joy.

"Queen Marylia!"
"The new ruler, King Marylia!"

As she took in the scene, Marylia thought—"Ahhh~ I’ve done it now~…"

Yet, as always, her rational mind merely sighed, "Might as well accept it, ehehe," with a distant, resigned smile.

So, Marylia simply smiled and waved to her people.

What do you think about this chapter?