Episode 70: The Romance of the Giant Bipedal Golem (1)
What kind of place is the royal family of the Eustia Kingdom?
The first thought that came to mind was, 'Aren't they descendants of a species compatible enough to even marry the Demon King, the ruler of the demon race?'
But I could clearly see a future where my head would physically become Guan Yu's if I said that out loud, so I obviously only thought it.
I had no desire to hear Aria say something like, "Author-nim... why have you come with only your head..."
"Besides, the demon race isn't exactly a species you'd hear called compatible in the first place."
Couldn't you tell that just by looking at the succubi and incubi I'd recently cooperated with?
Did they have appearances that would make people suspect them of having weird fetishes?
People either liked them or were neutral toward them; they didn't find their appearances unpleasant.
Demons are people too! People!
Of course, the succubus race's beauty is quite specialized, but there's no guarantee the Demon King wasn't like that either, right?
And if you think about it that way, aren't beastmen actually more suspicious?
"Well, this might just be my standards as a reincarnator being a bit strange."
Anyway.
Starting from my monumental debut, *The Betrayed Hero Takes Revenge*, I'd maintained quite a close cooperative relationship with the royal family over the past few years.
You could tell just by looking at Count Lucid—a duke of the kingdom and an influential figure backed by the royal family's trust—getting along so well with me.
So when I, who prided myself on knowing the royal family better than most, looked at them.
The royal family of the Eustia Kingdom was quite generous when they chose to be, yet flawlessly cunning when it was time to reap benefits.
They didn't hesitate to help when necessary, but rather than giving things away blindly, they maximized their own gains simultaneously.
'Put nicely, they like win-win situations.
...Put a bit badly, they're running an auto-hunt.'
Well, from whichever perspective you looked at it, I thought it was a fairly suitable style for a royal family that must stand at the very top of a nation.
Since even I had that kind of give-and-take relationship with them.
They connected me directly with the Publishing Guild and exempted me from taxes.
They permitted me to renovate the Academy.
They also gave me quite a lot of conveniences for my arcade and game businesses, as well as various events.
Of course, it was because my cultural dissemination activities had proven equally helpful to the kingdom and the royal family.
Just making the kingdom's people devote themselves to various cultural activities instead of drinking or gambling was an enormous achievement.
"Honestly, I feel like I've done a bit more for them."
Well, that's just how power works—the higher you go, the bigger the slice you take, so it can't be helped.
I didn't particularly suffer losses, so I had no complaints.
Let's just think of it as a win-win.
Anyway, what was important here wasn't such trivial losses or gains.
Despite having cooperated with them many times, and honestly having assisted with several nationally important policies.
The important thing was that this was the first time I had ever been invited by the royal family!
Now do you understand roughly how heavy the meaning behind this invitation was?
Unless you were born with an SSS-grade special bloodline like Count Lucid standing before me right now.
You had to accomplish at least this much to receive an invitation from the royal family.
Of course, that didn't mean I was shouting, "Let's overthrow this old-school, bloodline-dependent shitty doomed game!"
"It just felt like I'd achieved some extreme-difficulty accomplishment, giving me psychological satisfaction."
To receive an invitation from the royal family after building up fame and clearing quests.
Wasn't it a solid, orthodox cliché of an achievement, like a fifty-year-old original beef soup restaurant?
"It is truly an honor! I shall answer the summons immediately."
Moved by this event where I could experience such gamer romance with my own body, I answered.
Count Lucid added with a smile.
"Your efforts until now have been recognized.
Truthfully, there were opinions to invite you a bit sooner, but..."
But?
What? Had I done something wrong and gotten rejected?
"You've been juggling so many jobs at once, haven't you?
If we called you while you were busy and you felt burdened, it could hinder your creative activities.
The conclusion was to leave you alone and not approach you carelessly until your ongoing matters were wrapped up."
"Oh..."
Thankfully, I hadn't done something wrong and gotten on the royal family's bad side.
I felt like I was being treated like an ocean sunfish, but since most authors are indeed ocean sunfish, you could say it wasn't exactly the wrong treatment.
"Besides, as you know, there are many people in the royal family who enjoy your works.
They couldn't stand for your works to be interrupted midway. Hahaha!"
"Ahaha. That is also something I am grateful for and honored by."
So they had left me alone so the works they were reading wouldn't get interrupted.
Well, sudden hiatuses are very bad for readers' mental health.
'Should I thank them for this consideration?
Or should I say they're like a master who set up an auto-hunt and is watching proudly, thinking I'm doing a good job.'
I just couldn't tell.
Either way, it was a result of them evaluating me positively.
"But now the time has come.
Your busy work must be mostly wrapped up.
More than anything, your contribution in helping the succubi and incubi and improving their living conditions this time was quite significant.
To the point where it was difficult for the royal family to delay your invitation any longer."
"What? Was it really to that extent?"
I had naturally thought I deserved some credit for raising the favorability of a race living within the kingdom and providing solutions to prevent potential incidents.
But was it really such a great achievement?
"It seems the royal family has been continuously concerned about their situation.
It has now been revealed openly, but the royal family actually has the Demon King's blood flowing through them, and succubi are demons, are they not?"
"That's right. Ah! Could it be?"
"Yes. The royal family considers them part of the citizenry as well.
But because of public perception, they couldn't openly step forward to help.
And just then, you stepped in and perfectly solved their problems, so they naturally view you favorably."
"...No wonder the permit regarding periodic absorption—even if limited to handshakes or hugs—came through so easily."
To think that was the result of them, as descendants of the Demon King, considering demons as people they had a duty to care for.
Well, with that kind of history, and these days when demons were becoming fewer and harder to see.
They might indeed feel that sense of responsibility toward the remaining demons.
Since I had handled that responsibility in their stead, from the royal family's perspective, I must have seemed quite commendable.
"And I heard there is something they wish to entrust directly to you, who carried out such a mission excellently."
"What? Something to entrust to me?"
But a royal quest out of nowhere?
No, even if I had some free time for the time being.
I knew well that not just anyone could receive a quest from the royal family, and that it was a privilege in itself.
Still, when what came back in return for satisfyingly scratching the royal family's itchy spot was a new quest, I felt something subtle.
Like the feeling of falling into the trap of a bothersome chain quest.
...Since it had come to this, I could only hope the quest was easy and the rewards were good.
"Don't worry too much.
With your skills, it won't be that difficult! Hahaha!"
If Count Lucid was saying that too.
It would probably be fine...?
***
"Hehe. There's no need to strictly observe all the formalities and etiquette.
You've been invited to celebrate your achievements; there's no need to be so stiff.
I'd like to sit more comfortably and chat.
I too am a fan of your works, you know! Hahaha!"
"It is an honor that Your Majesty speaks so to me personally."
Contrary to my vague image of the royal family, worried that it would be a heavy, authoritarian atmosphere.
His Majesty King Harold Eustia, the supreme ruler of the Eustia Kingdom and the head of the royal family, spoke so benevolently.
He wished to converse naturally without stiffness, sitting comfortably without needing to strictly observe the formalities set for an audience.
'I was worried I'd be suffocating.
Maybe I didn't need to be so nervous.'
Had I been too intimidated by the name "royal family"?
If the atmosphere was this comfortable, the mission he wanted to entrust didn't seem like it would be that important or difficult, just as Count Lucid had said, right?
My naive thoughts, trying to relax with a much more comfortable heart.
"...What?"
Were instantly shattered by a single sentence from His Majesty.
"Are you speaking of a way to strengthen the knight order's morale and prestige...?"
"Yes. I need to imprint the knight order's prestige once in a while, or else fellows who do foolish things appear.
Didn't we recently select the first female royal guard knight in the kingdom's history?
Some might look down on them because of that, so I'd like to manage things here a bit."
In this world, when you spoke of a knight order, they were the absolute core occupying a considerable portion of national defense.
When a knight trained in mana reached a certain level, ordinary soldiers couldn't stop them.
If they reached superhuman levels, ordinary soldiers became little more than human barricades.
It wasn't that ordinary soldiers were useless, but in a fantasy world, a knight order meant a group with that much power.
So wanting to strengthen such a knight order's morale and prestige was natural for a monarch, but...
'Why are you asking me about that method...'
If you thought about it, this was related to national defense.
Was it right to ask me, who had nothing to do with that, about such important matters?
'I should have known...
I shouldn't have believed Count Lucid's words so readily!'
I should have realized early on that a mission entrusted directly by the royal family couldn't possibly be easy!
"Author Wei. I wish to borrow your surprisingly abundant knowledge and creativity that you've shown until now.
I'm curious if you have any ideas, even if not concrete plans."
This was not a topic I wanted to meddle in.
But I couldn't just answer "nothing" in front of the King speaking like that.
As I racked my brain to come up with some appropriate answer.
An idea that suddenly flashed through my mind leaked straight out of my mouth.
"Giant bipedal golem..."
"Oh, you've already thought of something? As expected, you're incredibly fast!"
"Ah, that's..."
"What is it? Don't be modest, speak.
Whatever it is, I won't ridicule you."
Without even giving me a chance to say no.
The King urged me on with a face full of curiosity, asking what idea I'd come up with.
But even at the King's urging, I couldn't help but hesitate.
Was it really right to say 'that' here?
Wouldn't the atmosphere just get cold if I spouted such absurd delusions?
'But it's also true that it's a large-scale project that no one but a nation's king could even dream of...'
That made me worry even more.
If 'that' succeeded, the knight order's morale and prestige would definitely break through the ceiling.
It was also something I personally really wanted to see in reality if possible.
If I missed this opportunity, perhaps the possibility of seeing 'that' in reality might disappear.
Then wouldn't it be better to at least say it?
Since His Majesty the King would decide anyway, wouldn't I be able to just enjoy the pleasure without any responsibility?
After a fierce internal debate in that brief moment, I eventually proposed 'that' to His Majesty the King.
"How about a giant bipedal golem?
One that knights directly board and pilot!
Literally, it would be like a giant appearing on the battlefield!"
Mecha fiction... no, in this world it would be called golem fiction—one of a man's romances.
Could it actually be made?
Would it have actual combat capability?
That's none of my business.
For starters, it just looks cool.
So of course the knight order's morale and prestige will rise!