Rivelia disarmed the last opponent. The Queen and Laila approached the captive, who was gasping for air, and the rest of the group followed reluctantly.

Having witnessed the primal fury of the non-humans, the human emissaries no longer saw them in the same light. They were monsters, and they radiated fear.

“I have a question. Are you part of Dark Royale? You seem too weak to be one of them.”

Rivelia didn’t like the Queen’s phrasing, but that same question had come up in her mind during the battle. They were too weak to be Dark Royale. They seemed to only know how to operate their firearms. They didn’t seem to know any tactics, given that foe and ally alike were caught in the crossfire.

“You’re right. Only ten or so of them could use mana.”

Reisha nodded as she flicked the blood off her rapier. The few men among the emissaries who had proclaimed themselves as Reisha’s fans flinched and looked away, pretending they had seen nothing.

“Kukuku! This insignificant part of the plan didn’t need Dark Royale’s full support.”

The man snickered. The Queen’s eyebrows furrowed.

“Aren’t I your last hope?”

The man looked back at the Queen with a scornful expression.

“You are our last hope? Bitch! I would have killed myself long ago if that was the case.”

“Don’t tell me you still believe in Mr. Isaac?”

“…”

The man snickered once again. The Queen was practically snarling as she shouted.

“Find out what’s happened to Mr. Isaac with the communicator now!”

The Queen’s guards immediately took their communicators out, fiddling with it. They shouted collectively.

“It’s not going through!”

The Queen’s face twisted. The situation was going awry. If the communicators were down, it meant either the New Port City’s broadcast station or Gabelin’s broadcast station had been captured.

“Check the broadcast station! If that’s not it, it’s Gabelin!”

It wasn’t wrong to say that the Queen had full control over the comms in this world—except she had lost her influence over most of it during her stay in the other world.

Though it didn’t matter anymore, she still needed to use it discreetly. If people knew she could monitor and eavesdrop on all their communications, it would no longer be effective. It was going to take time for her to regain administrative access.

In the past, she had compatriots—the Invaders—that would lay the groundwork for her. But she had cast them out by her own hand, so it was going to take her time to do it all alone.

Some of the non-humans who were cleaning up the battlefield immediately bolted for the broadcast station, while the rest closely guarded the Queen, on high alert.

It seemed even Kunette and Rivelia were caught off guard. They too tried to connect to a station using their own communicators, while Reisha summoned a spirit to act as her messenger.

“Is something wrong?”

The leader of the true delegates approached the Queen and asked. The Queen’s eyebrows crinkled together, then smiled as if nothing was wrong.

“I wonder. I’ll need to check what is happening for now. I’ve warned them time and time again, but it seems they still let their guard down.”

“… I see.”

The delegate’s words trailed off as he observed the Queen closely. As part of the Expeditionary Forces, he was aware of the relations between the Queen and Central. He was the inside help who provided the Queen with military supplies, disguised as battles against the Expeditionary Forces. But there was no fool that’d fully trust their diplomatic counterpart.

The Queen provided crucial help in creating the Gate and starting the interdimensional trade. But he was still suspicious, as the Queen had yet to reveal her motives.

‘Those fools.’

The Queen sighed in her mind. She was aware that the delegate was suspicious of her. But he wouldn’t find a shred of evidence. Even if he did, they could only prepare for the future, not shut off the Gate. That’s just how lucrative the Gate was.

It was then that Laila approached one of the bodies and picked up a pistol. The delegates flinched the moment Laila picked up the gun.

“Do I pull this?”

“L, Laila, there’s no need for you to…”

Rizzly tried to stop Laila, but Laila was firmly set on her decision.

“I am the Lord of this land. And it was you Mr. Rizzly, who taught me that Lords are the protectors, not the protected.”

Rizzly sighed. He pulled back the pistol’s slide and instructed Laila.

“Aim with both of your hands. You should rest the gun on his forehead, since you aren’t strong enough to withstand its recoil.”1

PR Note: Resting your gun’s barrel on your target does not actually reduce recoil because when you fire a gun, the force of recoil launches the gun backwards away from your target. There is nothing between the gun and Laila’s body that will absorb the force of recoil. Resting the gun barrel on your target will probably just prevent your hands from shaking and make sure you hit the target.

The raws are the following: ? ??? ???. ?? ? ?? ??? ??? ?? ??? ??? ? ??? ???.

“W, wait! What are you doing? Teaching a child to murder?!”

Disgusted from the bottom of their hearts, the emissaries shouted. Rizzly smirked and shrugged, while Laila approached the captured man.

The man, who had been cursing the Queen constantly since his capture, quietly exposed his forehead to Laila as she approached him.

“Shouldn’t we stop them?”

Even the leader of the delegates advised the Queen, uncomfortable. The Queen sighed. Morality in this world and the other was different.

Neither world would let children murder someone. But here, it was different if the person was a Lord.

Although the attack wasn’t targeting her, Laila was still caught in the crossfire. Any attack on the Lord, intentional or happenstance, was treated like an attempted assassination.

The immediate judgement of such a crime was solely in the Lord’s hands. Not even the Emperor could intervene. Regardless of even what the Queen wanted, Laila’s decision to kill her would-be assassin then, was final.

The Queen didn’t want to kill the man. Not because she felt bad that Laila was committing murder, but because that man was the only source of information during this time of emergency when all communications were down. But the Queen didn’t stop Laila—neither did Rivelia and Kunette, who were looking at her with great concern.

Laila placed the gun on the man’s head and announced to the man as he closed his eyes.

“This land is mine, and my authority is supreme here. My name is Laila Rondart Wolfgang. As Duchess of the Empire, I sentence you to death. What are your last words?”

“… Glory to the Empire.”

Bang!

The man’s head jolted backward. Laila stumbled backwards from the gun’s recoil into Rizzly’s embrace.

“Dear god, to commit such barbarism…”

One of the emissaries muttered. Rizzly turned to the emissary and growled.

“Do you think this is barbaric?”

“…”

Laila said as she left Rizzly’s arms. The emissary looked away. Seeing a child so numb to death gave her terrifying chills.

“From what I know, your world gives guns to children and has them fight in wars too. Was I wrong? Or do you not consider them human beings?”

“…”

The emissaries couldn’t reply with an answer, knowing their world was not so different. Correcting Laila’s question that those children were only a portion of the most destitute parts of the world ruled by the greediest overlords was pathetic at best. Such an excuse would only be passable for humans of the same world, not here.

Laila snorted at their silence and handed the pistol to Rizzly.

“Hmph. A world full of hypocrisy and fallacies. Disgusting.”

-Is this going live?

Flinch!

Everyone raised their heads at the sudden voice from the skies. Everyone turned to a screen on one of the buildings’ walls. And on the screen was Isaac sitting on the judge’s bench with his legs crossed, smoking his cigarette. Kneeling before him were a group of people, surrounded by the royal guard.

“What the…”

Rivelia looked at the screen in utter disbelief, seeing both the Emperor and Duke Pendleton were kneeling in the group.

Taigon shouted confidently as warriors disembarked from the airships onto the battlefield.

“See that! We were aware of your petty scheme from the beginning! We didn’t think you’d use yourself as bait, but we knew you’d attempt to capture the Queen in the midst of the confusion.”

Isaac stared blankly at the screen. He smirked.

“What the. I got scared for nothing.”

Taigon frowned, irked by Isaac’s smile. Isaac tried to get on his feet, but doing so with his arms tied was difficult. He was about to fall over, when the royal guards next to him helped him up and even undid the shackles.

“… What is going on?”

Taigon glared at Isaac, clearly not expecting the royal guards to do that. Isaac stretched his arms and neck and took out a cigarette from the pack the royal guards handed.

The Grand Council members immediately got up from their chairs and readied themselves for battle. They were well aware that Isaac could summon monsters by using these cigarettes.

That was why they had done a thorough pat-down when they detained him, confiscating anything that seemed suspicious. The monster wasn’t the problem. But the confusion it’d cause could create an opening for Isaac to escape. But they never suspected the royal guards would give him the cigarette.

“Hmph. So you did have something prepared. I hope you know you’ve gone with the worst option of them all, Emperor. ”

Taign growled at the Emperor as he turned to face the royal guards. If the Emperor had betrayed them, it was they who had fallen into a trap. The Grand Council had chosen this isolated plaza to prevent Isaac’s rescue, but it had come back to bite them.

The walls of this plaza were so high that not even their superior physiques would be able to scale the walls. And the walls themselves were guarded by royal guards. The Grand Council’s personal guards were beyond the gate, which were firmly shut.

The members of the Grand Council were elders who had retired from the field long ago. Some of them were warriors in their prime, such as Taigon, but without defensive coats, they couldn’t possibly win against so many royal guards.

But they knew their deaths here would only serve as a temporary emotional gratification; nothing real would be gained from it. The Empire was finished either way. That is why the Grand Council couldn’t believe the Emperor had made this choice.

“Don’t be so harsh. This isn’t the royal guard in the first place.”

“What?”

As if to prove Isaac’s words, the royal guards began corralling the royal family to the defendants’ seat. They even approached the Emperor and Duke Pendleton, violently pulling them off their seats. The Emperor and Duke Pendleton frowned but moved without resistance.

The members of the Grand Council looked around in confusion as Isaac took a seat at the top of the judge’s bench, his legs crossed. He spoke to the Grand Council members.

“Why don’t you guys go down too?”

“… Hmph! Did you think we’d surrender? In fact, this is better. I will gladly give my life if it means I can purify the world of these disgusting humans.”