Note from the translator:

Was busy with house-moving, I'm back now. Enjoy the chapter~

Yoshi

It took about ten minutes for Princess Kurnelia to calm down.

"I am terribly sorry for losing my composure in front of you, honored guests. I am the ninth child of Queen Donaneris of Zanalpadna, First Princess Kurnelia. From now on, let us ensure our relations are..."

Though there were some subtle differences in her etiquette from ordinary noble ladies, she bent her eight legs and bowed gracefully. There was indeed elegance in her movements.

"Princess, I believe that this is impossible to smooth over," Myuze said.

"... Is it~?" Princess Kurnelia said in a miserable-sounding voice as she slumped onto the ground helplessly.

Indeed, even though her younger sister who had become bait for the Noble Orcs and left to an unknown fate in order to allow everyone else to escape had returned, she had performed a flying body attack with her body whose lower half alone weighed easily over a hundred kilograms, embracing her younger sister so powerfully that any person caught up in it would have been seriously injured.

It was quite difficult to smooth that over.

Though none of Vandalieu's companions said anything.

"Princess... Even though it has been delayed due to the war and should have already happened by now, you will be married, so you must be more calm," said Myuze.

"But since our negotiations with the Lizardmen were obstructed, Mother said that we have no choice but to continue the negotiations or pray for Zanalpadna's descent... And just as I was persuading Darling that we cannot afford to lose Mother, I heard that Gizania-chan had come home, and I couldn't help myself... but I'm glad you're safe! Without any missing arms, legs or compound eyes!" said Princess Kurnelia, touching Gizania here and there to make sure she wasn't wounded.

"Princess, please stop!" said Gizania, seeming embarrassed, but in the end, she couldn't do anything about it.

"It seems that Princess Kurnelia gets along well with Gizania," said Basdia, nodding in approval at how close the sisters were.

"I get the feeling that they get along too well, but... I knew that what is common sense here would be different from the common sense that I know," said Eleanora, almost groaning as she kept her eyebrows from rising.

Eleanora seemed to have thought of what a relationship between a normal princess and her younger sister with no right to the throne would have been like in a human society, causing an uncomfortable feeling that she couldn't shake off.

In human societies, neither individual would show their true feelings like this in front of the other, and nobody would have expected it to be possible for Princess Kurnelia and Gizania to have a good relationship with each other.

After all, one was a princess who would marry the first prince who was supposed to have become the king of an important allied nation, while the other was someone who would never be called princess due to the fact that she was born later than her sibling.

"That's probably because there has never been diplomacy and war of the kind that you and I have in mind, Eleanora. Not until the coup d'état in the Noble Orc empire, that is," said Vandalieu.

The Noble Orcs and Arachne had both originally been races that worshipped Vida, and the sense of companionship and union had continued long after the 'Wise Emperor' Buugih's rule.

This was probably completely different to the tragic, complicated and mysterious diplomacies, wars and power struggles that occurred in human societies.

The fact that the rulers of the existing group of city-states had been monsters like Noble Orcs and races created by Vida was one of the main reasons for this.

No matter how intelligent monsters were, strength was an important characteristic as a standard to measure oneself and others. And there was no guarantee that the rankings in strength would keep the current ruler's bloodline continuing.

That was likely why authoritarianism based on bloodlines like human royals and noblemen hadn't taken hold. Of course, strong parents usually produced strong children that inherited their characteristics, so they were still respected in this society.

But even so, there was no concept of "valuable new blood."

"And Myuze just said 'politics and religion,' so I'd assume that there are roles that govern religion in Zanalpadna and the Noble Orc Empire as well as roles that govern politics," said Vandalieu.

"That is correct, but a king is such a being, is he not? Shrine-Maiden-dono, you are a shrine maiden and a king at the same time, are you not?" said Myuze, agreeing with Vandalieu's words as if they were obvious.

It seemed that in this group of city-states, including Zanalpadna, the king was one who ruled and also acted as head priest.

Vandalieu did wonder if it might be best to separate church and state, but gods existed and they would send Divine Messages to reprimand the rulers if they did anything stupid, and if their actions were terrible enough, their divine protection would be removed and they would be chased from their throne. Thus, there were no problems.

"Indeed, I'm the 'Holy Son of Vida,'" said Vandalieu.

The same applied for him. The effects of his Title were so beneficial that even if one told him to separate church and state, he would have to refuse.

"By the way, you can let go of Vandalieu-sama now, you know?" said Eleanora.

"Oh, how imprudent of me! I felt a strangely comforting sensation and I forgot," said a startled Myuze as she handed Vandalieu to Eleanora.

Eleanora didn't raise him into her arms; she quickly put him down.

Vandalieu-sama doesn't move when someone is holding him, so when he doesn't speak, he looks like a doll, doesn't he? she thought.

As Vandalieu didn't show much facial expression and had a weak presence, he gave off a strong doll-like impression if he didn't move on his own.

And it looked very bad for the representative of Talosheim to be lightly carried around by citizens and royal family members of Zanalpadna, a nation that wasn't even an ally yet.

Even though Zanalpadna was friendly, it was still a nation that had no diplomatic relations with Talosheim.

An elderly person appearing to be a mage came from within the gate and began speaking. "Everyone, we apologize for the princess having made a terribly shameful display. Also, we would like to express our gratitude for saving Gizania-sama. I am Bakota, a mage who serves Queen Donaneris. Err, Queen Donaneris has instructed that the guests from Talosheim should be brought to the castle, and... that her foolish daughter should be taken away by Myuze-dono."

"Taken away, no way~!" Princess Kurnelia complained.

"Princess, this is an order. Hurry and get walking," said Myuze.

With the words of the chief mage... one person who was likely equivalent to a court mage in human nations, Princess Kurnelia let out a pitiful noise as Myuze took her away. Right in front of guests from a foreign nation.

"... Perhaps we don't need to be so concerned about that," muttered Eleanora, one of the few people with common sense that had been brought on this journey.

"I'm begging you, please be concerned about it. I can't do anything on my own," said Kurt, who was unmistakably someone with common sense as well.

"My shoulders don't get as stiff as when I negotiate with human royals and noblemen, so I feel like it's fine," Vandalieu said to the two of them.

Incidentally, it seemed that nobody had mistaken Eleanora for Vandalieu's mother this time.

This was because nobody had noticed that she was a Vampire, as she was standing plainly in the sunlight, and even if they had, they would think it strange for her to refer to Vandalieu as 'Vandalieu-sama' if they were mother and child.

The total population of Zanalpadna was about a hundred thousand. This could be broken down into about ten thousand Arachne, seven thousand Empusa and about a thousand members from other city states who had been adopted into Zanalpadna's families, such as Noble Orcs, High Goblins, High Kobolds and Ghouls. The remaining eighty-two-thousand were people known as the 'citizens.'

And within the city's walls, there were many buildings that were very strange compared to those of ordinary cities.

There were countless large towers lined up in rows, and those were apparently private residences. Vandalieu had thought that there might be buildings resembling Japanese houses, since there were Samurais and Kunoichi, so he was surprised by what he saw.

It seemed that Arachne and Empusa larger than people, as well as humans, Dwarves, Beast-people, Titans and other races adopted from other nations, lived together in these towers.

Incidentally, there were almost no Elves. Apparently, many of them lived in other city-states instead.

"I see. Arachne and Empusa are races of only women, so it's ordinary for them to live alongside members of other races to preserve their races," Bone Man said in a tone of comprehension, watching humans and Dwarves going back and forth on the main street.

Incidentally, he was still keeping his face well-hidden under his helmet, of course.

Among the people were other Noble Orcs who had escaped with Prince Budarion, so if Gorba and the other Orcuses of the Black Fang Knights' Order under his command were seen to be with Gizania, Myuze and Princess Kurnelia, there would be no problems. The diatryma monsters they had tamed were being looked at from a distance, but surprisingly, didn't seem to be feared.

But deciding that the same wouldn't apply for an Undead, Bone Man was continuing to pretend to be a human wearing armor and a helmet. For now, it was still only Gizania who was aware that he and Borkus, who was also wearing a helmet, were Undead.

This was because when they had temporarily returned to Talosheim before, Fidirg, the Dragon God of Five Sins, and Merrebeveil, the Evil God of Slime and Tentacles, had been consulted. As a result of their advice, it had been concluded that it would be best to report this directly to the queen, who was also the head priestess for Zanalpadna, the Evil God of Carapaces and Compound Eyes.

"I believe it is likely that Zanalpadna was able to receive Divine Messages from Vida-sama, unlike me."

"As far as I've heard, she retained enough strength to stay active after the battle of a hundred thousand years ago."

"Even if she failed to receive Divine Messages, there were several other gods with her, so one of them should have been able to receive one."

As Fidirg finished speaking, Merrebeveil continued from where he left off.

"However, we have no knowledge of the events that occurred outside the Boundary Mountain Range for... tens of thousands of years, at least. Even if the Arachne outside the Boundary Mountain Range worship Vida-sama, they would not worship Zanalpadna. It is likely that she could not protect the Arachne and Empusa outside the mountain range as she desired, so they deliberately let their faith die out," she said.

"Races that worship powerless evil gods are just monsters to the guys on Alda's side."

"If it's just Vida –"

"Add -sama to her name," Merrebeveil warned Fidirg.

"Hyih?! My apologies, Merrebeveil-anego*! I merely thought that it would be easier to escape harm at the hands of those on Alda's side if they only worshipped Vida-sama!"

TLN*: This is a humble honorific meaning 'older sister.'

"Th-that is why if we receive a written certification from the queen who has likely received Divine Messages from Zanalpadna, the rest of them should be convinced as well!"

The current policies had been decided as a result of this discussion that had also revealed the relationships of power among those who had changed sides during the war. It was a request to a god in a time of need... though the phrase's meaning was different to its meaning on earth.

Unaware of these circumstances, Princess Kurnelia began explaining some things to everyone, including Bone Man.

"It is as Kotsujin-san* says, but it also means that the mistresses, the Arachne and Empusa, protect the citizens," she said.

TLN*: The Japanese pronunciation for Bone Man; Princess Kurnelia is unaware that this name literally means "bone person"

In the battle between Vida and Alda a hundred thousand years ago, Vida's subordinate gods and the evil gods of the Demon King's army switched sides, and the god of war Zantark fused with evil gods. And the races created by Vida fought under her command. However, there were also humans, Dwarves and Elves who believed in Vida as well.

The ones who survived the battle escaped here, to the inside of the Boundary Mountain Range, along with Vida's races.

"A short while after that, the humans apparently built independent settlements in this region, where Zanalpadna lies," said Princess Kurnelia. "Though we were allies, they live differently to us so it was better to live separately, even if we conducted trade with each other. At first, things went well that way, but..."

"According to the records, Devil's Nests began spreading abruptly within the Boundary Mountain Range, and powerful monsters became prevalent," said Bakota, continuing Princess Kurnelia's explanation. "It is likely that when Vida raised the Boundary Mountain Range higher to protect her children from Alda, she filled it with thick Mana, causing numerous Dungeons to appear. As a result of repeated monster rampages as they emerged from the Dungeons, this place became a world where only those with the strength to fight can survive."

Zanalpadna and the other gods had also created Dungeons for their children who worshipped them, but they had been unable to control the Dungeons that had appeared naturally, far away from the settlements. The monsters in those Dungeons had increased in number, and the people of the distant past had concluded that Devil's Nests had spread rapidly due to the monsters from those Dungeons.

"... Now that you mention it, there are a lot of monsters inside the mountain range for a place that is supposed to be a refuge," said Vandalieu.

The Boundary Mountain Range that acted as a wall that separated the area within it from the outside world. Until hearing Bakota's explanation, Vandalieu had never questioned why even the area within the mountain range as well as the mountain range itself and the skies above it were filled with Devil's Nests where monsters were rampant.

"This is what's called not thinking critically," he whispered to himself.

"Mmm, I did not feel that anything was out of place," said Zadiris.

"We haven't lived outside a Devil's Nests, after all. What about you, Borkus?" asked Vigaro.

"Actually, it was thanks to the monsters and Dungeons that we Titans of the old Talosheim prospered and went from being a settlement to a nation," said Borkus. "Well, it was apparently tough at first, though."

Bakota laughed. "Indeed, for those who are capable of hunting monsters, Devil's Nests and Dungeons are blessings."

Monsters, which developed faster than ordinary beasts, yielded ingredients and components for food, clothing, arms and even Magic Stones that could become ingredients or fuel for Magic Items. Even plants grew quickly, producing fruit and other edible products within a year.

In addition, Dungeons produced already-made metal products and minable metal resources that could be processed, without limit. The treasure chests inside even contained Magic Items and Potions.

Environments filled with Devil's Nests and Dungeons were unparalleled blessings to the powerful.

In fact, just like the Titans of the old Talosheim, the Arachne, Empusa and Noble Orcs and other races had hunted monsters and cleared Dungeons to acquire all sorts of goods.

However, the humans and Dwarves hadn't been able to do this.

"We don't consider humans, Dwarves, Elves, Titans and Beast-people to be weak," said Gizania. "In fact, I would not even pose a threat if I was faced with Bakota-dono's magic. However, humans and Dwarves have a greater portion of non-combatants compared to us, and it takes time for them to become able to defeat the monsters in this area, so it seemed that they had no way to cope."

"I see, they are Rank 4 monsters to begin with, after all," said Eleanora.

Rank 4 monsters were monsters that could be defeated by even by a veteran D-class adventurer alone. And a D-class adventurer was something that most people could become with an ordinary amount of talent and hard work.

However, that didn't mean that young people with no experience in real battles could reach D-class in a short period of time.

Even Titans and Beast-people, who were races created by Vida with exceptional physical capabilities, needed to become adults and gain several years of experience after that... while producing numerous casualties and wounded, in order to become able to fight Rank 4 monsters.

"That was when our ancestors and the ancestors of my darling decided that the races with the strength to fight monsters would protect them," said Princess Kurnelia.

"Ever since then, we have been called 'citizens,' and we have coexisted up until now by supporting the races that are our guardians," said Bakota.

In other words, the Arachne and Noble Orcs had upheld their noble duty, while those being protected supported them through production-related work. It seemed that this class system had formed naturally.

Zanalpadna was a maternal-bloodline society; each tower had a single Arachne or Empusa family living in it, with several citizen family members living with them.

Arachne and Empusa apparently shared the adopted wives and citizen men that were husbands.

"... Bufuh? Harems?" said Gorba.

"This is bad, Kasim's probably going to say that he wants to move in here," said Borkus.

"No, I don't think it's as good as it sounds," said Vigaro.

"I vaguely understand what you are trying to say, but as Vigaro-dono says, I do not believe that it is something to be envied by outsiders," said Myuze. "The first duty of those we adopt into our families is making children with our women. The rest is the same as the citizen women. The only difference is perhaps that they do more physical labor."

In Zanalpadna, it was generally Arachne and Empusa that took up leadership roles. Even if humans and Dwarves tried to become warriors that hunted monsters or soldiers that protected the nation, they would be of no use unless they were at least as strong as medium-strength adventurers.

And the Arachne and Empusa were prioritized, as it was easier for them to receive Zanalpadna's divine blessing.

That was why it was desirable for men to be involved in production-related work.

"There are also cases where the men cannot work outside because there are many women in the family that they are being adopted into. Raising the children is hard work, after all," said Princess Kurnelia.

She was referring to what was known as full-time house-husbands.

"That's... normal guys would be happy with it, but Kasim and Zeno wouldn't like that environment," said Vigaro.

Raising children while surrounded by women, not needing to work. In a way, this was an ideal lifestyle. However, this wasn't an environment that would be welcomed by Kasim and Zeno, who still intended to climb to new