Evening had come, but I was still hard at work near our border. At present, I was looking up at a stone statue of Lardon—I’d made it on the spot.
“Is this supposed to be me?” Lardon deadpanned.
I couldn’t really blame her. Looking up at it from way down here—right by the statue’s feet—it hardly resembled her. I could imagine she was rolling her eyes right about now, but she also sounded faintly amused. At least she doesn’t sound mad...
“I guess it doesn’t really look like you,” I admitted with a bitter smile.
“I would like to think I’m a bit more visually pleasing than this.”
“For sure. I tried my best, but I guess I’m no artist...”
“Why did you make this?”
“As a bluff,” I answered. “To make it look like the divine dragon is keeping watch.”
“Aha, I see. Then this is acceptable. You need it for only half a day, after all.”
Fortunately, she seemed to approve of my plan. And she was right—this idea had come to me because we only needed it temporarily. As shoddy as my work was, it still looked like Lardon from afar, and that was enough.
“Were you inspired by scarecrows?”
“That’s right.”
Lardon chuckled. “Now, if only your enemies were no smarter than pigeons and crows...”
“Hah, I wish... I’m really just borrowing your reputation as the divine dragon.”
“Of course. Use it as you please,” Lardon said in amusement. “In that case, why not add a human figure atop my head?”
“A human? What for?”
“Though interpretations may vary, what would most humans assume when they see that I’ve allowed a human on my head?”
“Uh... That it’s me?” I blinked. “A scarecrow of me? Will that even work?”
“Are you not thinking too little of yourself, Monster King?”
“Hmm...”
That gave me pause. Setting aside how I thought of myself, it was a fact that the human nations called me the Monster King. Personally, I would’ve been much happier being called the Magic King, but anyway... I suppose a scarecrow of the divine dragon and the Monster King together would be a bit more effective than just the former alone.
“All right, then. I’ll make a statue of myself on your head,” I decided.
“Just a human figure should do. Nobody can tell from a distance.”
“That’s true.”
Lardon’s advice was sound. I couldn’t make a statue of myself on the spot anyway. Maybe if I took my time with it... But that was effort I wasn’t willing to dedicate to just one among eleven safety measures, not to mention that this scarecrow had no actual tangible effect. I’d rather give my all for the more certain measures I was preparing, especially since all I needed was for these to hold out for half a day.
“Huh?”
Just then, I spotted something—a carriage—approaching from the city. It kicked up dust as it ran along the unpaved path.
“A carriage? Is it Bruno or Scarlet?”
Hardly anybody used a carriage in this country. After all, monsters typically had their own means of getting from one place to another, which were usually much faster than a carriage. This was true also for the few humans like Asuna who had enhanced physical capabilities thanks to Familia.
Therefore, only Bruno and Scarlet used carriages around here—Bruno because he didn’t live here, and Scarlet because she was a former princess. I’d placed my bets on the approaching carriage being either one of the two, and... It was Scarlet who stepped out, proving me right. She was dressed in formalwear, so she must have just come from negotiations with the Duchy of Parta.
She approached me, stopped a few steps away, and performed a prim bow. “Master, I’ve returned.”
“Welcome back,” I greeted. “How were the talks?”
“You may peruse all the details here.” She offered me a document with both hands. “To summarize it verbally: The Duchy of Parta has agreed to a complete and unconditional surrender.”
“Ohh...” I took the document and gave it a quick scan, but the contents were too complex for me. Instead of the paper, I turned my gaze to Scarlet and asked, “Does this mean everything went as you and Lardon planned?”
“Yes,” she replied.
“Nice. Thanks, you two.”
“It is my honor.”
“Then these measures are unnecessary now, no?”
“No, I’m continuing. We already know that they’re not past launching surprise attacks. We can’t let our guard down just because they’ve surrendered.”
Lardon chuckled. “I suppose not.”
During our brief conversation, Scarlet had been studying the stone statue behind me. “Is this...the divine dragon?”
“Yeah, it’s a statue of Lardon...” I trailed off. “But she just scolded me about it. She said it doesn’t look like her at all.”
“It looks as imposing as I imagined,” Scarlet remarked.
“Really?”
“Of course.” Scarlet nodded firmly, confident in her answer. “This statue matches with the image I’d cultivated of the divine dragon while studying about the promised land from various texts and documents.”
“Oh, well... Huh?”
Scarlet tilted her head. “Is something the matter?”
Something clicked in my head when I heard her mention the promised land. The promised land was what this territory—where we’d now established our country—was originally called. These days I simply referred to it as “our country” or “the magic city,” so it had been a while since I heard it called the promised land... Now, it reminded me of something.
“Master...?”
“Why the sudden silence?”
“Well, speaking of the promised land...” I turned to Scarlet and met her perplexed gaze. “Would it be possible for us to...seal it up again?”
Scarlet blinked widely. “What?”
“Oh...?” Lardon hummed, amused. “Would you go that far? Ah, I suppose you would.”
“That sounds like a yes,” I told her.
“Indeed it is,” she replied firmly.