It was rare for mercenaries to receive such recognition. The fact that it was coming from a cute princess made it hit all the harder. This was going to be a moment to remember for them.
“She’s asking you all to kneel,” Mitsuha translated Princess Remia’s words.
Divine soldiers kneeling at a human might’ve been offensive from a religious standpoint, but this would be ignored because it was part of a ritual. They weren’t actually swearing loyalty to Princess Remia. The mercenaries saw themselves as ordinary men rather than as divine soldiers, so they kneeled without hesitation. Showing respect to a royal princess was just common sense.
“Now bow your heads,” Mitsuha said.
The mercenaries did as she asked. An attendant handed Princess Remia a sword. She drew it from its sheath and handed the scabbard back to the attendant.
Normally, a mercenary would react to a stranger walking toward them with a bare blade by leaping backwards and drawing their guns─they were, in fact, armed with two concealed pistols─but they did nothing of the sort. Mitsuha had warned them that this could happen. In truth, she arranged this with the princess beforehand.
Princess Remia approached the Wolf Fang captain, who was on the far right of the front row, and tapped his shoulders with the flat of the blade. She proceeded to do the same with the nineteen other mercenaries. Some of them were trembling as if they were overcome with emotion. It absolutely would’ve been a touching experience for anyone who knew what that gesture meant on certain parts of Earth.
The mercenaries were being knighted. Knighthood was a minor noble title that wasn’t hereditary like a baron and above were, but by the same token, it meant it had to be earned through one’s own accomplishments rather than through one’s birth.
Even those born in an era without an obvious class system had a deep fascination and respect for it. Mercenaries were considered lower-class workers who knew any job could be their last, and they’d just become knights in another world.
Well, not really. This was just a little performance I asked Princess Remia to put on. I explained that on Earth, there’s no greater honor for someone who achieved something great than to receive this gesture from a monarch…and that this would be a way for her to thank the divine soldiers without spending a single coin.
The ritual for awarding peerage is actually different in this country. Tapping a blade against a person’s shoulders has absolutely no meaning here. In Princess Remia’s mind, she’s just honoring them with a kind gesture that happens to resemble the knighting ritual on certain parts of Earth. But the mercenaries aren’t actually being knighted.
It’ll make them happy, and that’s good enough. They’re never coming back here anyway, and I doubt any of them will expect to receive a noble’s pension.
They saved a country in another world by overwhelming the enemy force with their modern weapons, and then were thanked and knighted (or so they believe) by a cute princess. Talk about a teenage boy’s dream.
The rest of the celebration proceeded according to Princess Remia’s plan. The mercenaries were happy to be there too. The nobles and military leaders of Dalisson would be convinced of the princess’s strong alliance with the Lightning Archpriestess and the divine soldiers, making them unlikely to ever oppose her. Everyone knew about the pull Viscountess Yamano had in the royal family of Zegleus, the leader of the Great Alliance, not to mention her command over the divine soldiers and their mysterious weapons and sky boats. No one dared to pick a fight with her.
It was time for one final touch.
What’s that? Am I going to attend the celebration party? No way! I’d rather drown myself than attend a party full of conniving nobles and soldiers who all have something up their sleeves! The mercenaries wouldn’t have anything to do other than eat because of the language barrier; I couldn’t interpret every single conversation between them and the nobles and soldiers who’ll bombard them with questions if I tried.
That’s why we’re leaving right after this ceremony. I’ve already coordinated that with Princess Remia, of course. She’ll be the star of the evening, which she fully intends to take advantage of by bragging endlessly and winning political points. We’d just get in the way.
“Farewell, everyone!” Mitsuha put her arm to her side and gave everyone a little wave.
Her one regret was that she wouldn’t get to see the chaotic reaction in the audience chamber after she jumped herself and the mercenaries away, but disappearing right before the political leaders’ eyes was an effective way to emphasize the miraculous powers of the Archpriestess and the divine soldiers. It would also prove that the divine soldiers could appear anywhere, any time to punish wrongdoers. No guard, however skilled, could protect someone from that.
A divine soldier could materialize in your bedroom, at the dining table, in the bathroom… They could emerge behind your back and slit your throat before you even realize what happened.
I’m sure their imagination is running wild, tittered Mitsuha.
…Okay, jump!
“My work there is done,” Mitsuha said.
There were a few reasons the empire forged ahead to invade Dalisson: the military leaders’ desire to make up for the failed invasion of Zegleus, the financial officers’ desperation to save the floundering economy, the royal family’s need to save face, and the nobility’s expectations.
The invasion on Zegleus caused significant damage to the Aldar Empire. The imperial army didn’t suffer a lot of casualties during the battle outside the capital, but they lost a lot of soldiers as they were retreating. The local counties’ armies and the monsters who believed they’d been deceived had done most of the battering. A handful of nobles were taken prisoner to be used for ransom. Some were even captured by the very mercenaries they hired. Those noble families lost a fortune paying the ransoms to recover their lords and heirs.
The biggest factor was that the Aldar Empire was a dictatorship. So were the kingdoms of Zegleus and Dalisson, but their monarchs couldn’t risk angering the nobles by abusing their authority. By contrast, the emperor had ultimate power. Attempting to admonish him or preach to him or reprimand him could result in severe punishment. If the emperor wanted an invasion, no one could argue against it.
The empire turned their eyes to the Kingdom of Dalisson because it appeared to be in political turmoil. The king was ill, his young daughter was ruling in his place, and several military leaders and nobles had just been executed for treason. From an outsider’s perspective, it certainly looked like easy picking.