The king had been frightened, but he seemingly relaxed at the sight of a dependable ally and cried, “Bartos, those two are rebels who attempted to cause me harm! Cut them down! But capture Michelle alive!”
My gaze met Bartos’s.
“So, that’s the witch Michelle,” he said. “But why are you here, Yahagi?”
“Stand back, General,” I warned, “or else I’ll detonate this giant Rocket Bomb.”
Chichi’s shrill cry interrupted our conversation. “My Sealing Staff is holding back the witch’s powers! She can easily be captured now. General, do something about that bomb!”
General Bartos turned his gaze toward the staff stabbed into the ground.
“I see, so this is it...”
In the very next moment, the general’s large sword flashed as it sliced the Sealing Staff right in half. With the staff broken, the piercing, high-frequency sound ceased, and the oppressive air that had been weighing upon us faded.
“What are you doing?!” Chichi screeched. She snatched up the staff in a panic, but there was no fixing what had been destroyed.
General Bartos barked out a laugh. “It’s exactly what it looks like.”
“What’s the meaning of this, Bartos?” the king demanded, appalled. “Are you going to disregard my command? I’m telling you to capture the witch and that man!”
General Bartos had been given his orders, but he turned his back on us to face the king instead. He let out a heavy sigh, sounding completely fed up.
“Let’s end this already, brother,” he said.
“End this? What do you mean?”
“I’m tired, you see.”
“Tired? You’ve taken plenty of time off since you returned from the front lines, haven’t you?”
“That’s not what I’m talking about. I mean that I’m tired of serving an incompetent fool.”
“You bastard... What are you saying?”
It seemed the king could not make sense of the general’s actions. General Bartos sneered at such a foolish king and loudly declared, “My subordinates have already surrounded this arena. Put away your swords, soldiers. From this moment forth, I, Bartos, will succeed to the throne. If you surrender now, I’ll guarantee that you’ll retain your positions. If anyone has any objections, feel free to step forward.”
Whoa, this is a coup d’état! I kind of feel like I’m witnessing history in the making.
“D-Don’t be ridiculous!” The king made an unsteady grab for the general, but General Bartos struck him instead. The general was overwhelmingly more powerful in battle, so it was akin to a child challenging a heavyweight boxer. After just one light blow, the king collapsed to the floor, and the Jhar Zako he had been holding tumbled out of his hands. I slowly moved to pick it up, but nobody attempted to stop me.
“I’ll have you relinquish your throne at once, brother. It’s preferable to dying, is it not?”
“Urgh...”
General Bartos turned to his subordinates. “Escort my brother and the queen to the room. We’ll have them sign the declaration of their abdication.”
None of the imperial guards had moved a muscle. It seemed they had abandoned the king and accepted this conclusion. These soldiers were directly under the king’s control, so it was pitiful that even they hadn’t bothered to protect him. Still, he was simply reaping what he’d sown. Nobody paid any mind to Michelle and me, who were lost amid the chaos as General Bartos, Baron Ethel, and the others removed to the VIP lounge in the back.
I couldn’t read Michelle’s expression as she silently watched them drag the shrieking king and queen away. I myself didn’t know what to think about such a development. Mere moments ago, I had prepared myself to die when all those soldiers had surrounded us, but now it was like they’d forgotten I even existed.
“Oh... Can we go home now?” It was an embarrassingly anticlimactic question, but I decided to ask for Michelle’s opinion anyway.
“Yeah, probably,” she replied.
The two of us smiled wryly at each other.
The afternoon matches at the arena had already commenced. I was astonished that they were continuing the tournament, in light of all the commotion that had just happened. The general population would learn about this coup d’état much later, I supposed.
The tournament completed its final rounds, and in the king’s place, Baron Ethel handed over the award certificate and prize money to the champion. With that, the event came to a close.
✦ ✦ ✦
Not many days passed before General Bartos became king. He lowered the taxes a little, reinforced the maintenance of public order, and cut back on wasteful public spending, so the people were pleased. I’d also heard that the plans for the new castle being built for the queen had been completely scrapped.
The former king and queen had been incarcerated and were now living under house arrest. They were being forced to live on a diet of only bread and water to repay the hefty bill of their luxurious lifestyle—though I was sure that alone wouldn’t be enough to make up for the torrent of cash they’d drained from the treasury.
Well, these were the results of the coup d’état. The world was becoming a better place bit by bit, so it was something to celebrate, but for the general public, things had just been so terrible up until now. I’d put my hopes in what was to come.
Even if we were under a new king now, my basic lifestyle hadn’t changed. Today, I had once again opened up my shop at Hot Spring Yahagi. Michelle was absent, conducting her research in the dungeon depths like she always had. Michelle’s love for me was both deep and heavy, so I felt loneliness mixed with a sense of freedom as I merrily ran my business.
Just a little before noon, a certain someone stopped by my shop.
“It has been a while, Sir Yahagi,” the baron said to me.
“Hello, Baron Ethel,” I replied.
Our greetings were stiff and awkward.
“My life has been rather hectic of late, so I could not come visit for a while.”
Well, there had been a coup d’état, so of course things would be hectic. Word on the street was that the baron had also taken up an executive position in the new government. He had apparently been one of King Bartos’s coconspirators.
“For what reason are you here today?” I was grumpy, considering they had exploited my Mobile Forces for their plans. I was aware that my words sounded just a little harsh.
“It seems you are displeased after all,” the baron said, picking up on my dissatisfaction. “Are you upset that we used your Mobile Forces in our revolution?”
“I wouldn’t say I’m upset,” I said hesitantly, “but I wouldn’t say I feel good about it either.”
“It was the only way to lure the former king out of his heavily guarded palace. We may have used them as a means to an end this time, but my love for the Mobile Forces is true. I would like you to believe that at least.”
“Well...”
The baron had gone out of his way to come here and apologize. I doubted there were many nobles out there who would do such a thing. Also, I had never disliked this old man in the first place.
“How would you like some Ramune?” I asked. “The weather’s grown much cooler, but I’m sure you’re thirsty after walking here.”
“I shall gratefully accept it.”
As the marbles clanked inside our bottles, we made our peace.
“Incidentally,” started the baron, “is there something I can do to thank you? You have done us a favor after all, Sir Yahagi.”
Michelle’s situation was what obviously came to mind. With a new king on the throne, her crimes might be forgiven now. If she was taken off of the wanted list, then we could date openly.
“I only have one thing I’d like to request,” I said. “Would you be able to remove the witch Michelle from the wanted list?”
Baron Ethel looked a bit astounded by my question. “Is that really the only thing? I can do much more for you than just that.”
“No, just that alone is fine.”
He smiled a little. “How very like you, Sir Yahagi. I understand. I shall undertake this request of yours.”
Michelle would now be able to completely throw herself into her research, no holds barred. She wouldn’t have to wear a mask anymore, and we would no longer have to date in secret. I might find myself more tightly bound in her shackles than ever, but perhaps that would be its own form of happiness. As I mulled over these things, I drained my Ramune down to the last drop.