Epilogue
As Duke Sakuragi blocked any escape for Suzuha’s brother and the line of nobles stood arrayed before the duke, Toko watched flustered Suzuha’s older brother and felt a slight weight lift off her shoulders, allowing her to crack a mischievous smile.
“Fufun, even Suzuha nii has to struggle once in a while, doesn’t he?”
“Hmm? Doesn’t Queen Toko always get bailed out by the Margrave of Lohengrin?”
asked Grand Duchess Ayano.
Toko puffed out her cheeks slightly. “But Suzuha nii always shows up cool and collected whenever I’m in a pinch and resolves everything easily. Isn’t it only natural to want to see him in a weak moment once in a while?”
“He’s helped you out that much?”
“You bet! Ever since Suzuha nii became the Margrave of Lohengrin, he ended the senseless war my idiot brother started against the Uentas Principality in an overwhelming victory. He also discovered the mithril mines the previous margrave had covered up, so our financial troubles should be resolved. At the treaty signing, he firmly kept the war-torn nations eyeing our country in check. Oh, and the icing on the cake—his resounding victory against Callandor ensured our country was recognized as the dominant power on this continent!”
At this point, no country would dare attack us.
The impact of Suzuha’s brother’s two major victories was simply too immense.
For the Kingdom of Drosselmeyer, exhausted from the coup d’état and reckless war, it was an advantage they desperately craved—a life-saving blessing.
“…Looking back, if we hadn’t made Suzuha nii the Margrave of Lohengrin, our country would’ve been in serious trouble by now.”
“Doubtful. The secret pact with the Amazoness was likely made before that.”
“You knew about that!? Ah… why don’t you just join our country then?”
“I’d gladly accept if you let us have the Margrave of Lohengrin in exchange.”
“Absolutely not.”
Ayano flatly responded as expected.
Their gaze fell upon Duke Sakuragi, who still had Suzuha’s brother apprehended.
The fact that their conversation carried this far was likely intentional—
the duke was clearly flaunting his control of the situation to everyone present.
Despite such an overt display, Suzuha’s brother seeming oblivious to its meaning only made Ayano chuckle inwardly.
“…I wonder what would’ve happened if we didn’t have the margrave.”
It wasn’t a serious question—
just an idle musing that slipped out.
As Toko kept watching Suzuha’s brother, she counted off on her fingers.
“If Suzuha’s nii wasn’t around, I definitely wouldn’t have become queen. Oh, but the princes’ coup would’ve still happened, so I’d probably have been killed either way. And Yuzuriha would’ve been left a hollow shell, leaving an opening for the Amazoness to start a war and destroy our country, right?”
“…A rather grim hypothetical…”
“Can you imagine any other scenario?”
“Unfortunately, no.”
“Basically, I owe Suzuha’s nii for saving both the kingdom and my own life.”
“How enviable.”
Ayano truly meant it.
If Suzuha’s brother had been born in her country,
she was certain she would be wearing the same bashful smile as Toko right now.
“…It’s making me rather upset. Shall we attack his weakness instead?”
“Huh? What do you mean?”
“Are you really unaware? The current Kingdom of Drosselmeyer has a critical weakness. Or rather, it’s about you and the margrave, Queen Toko.”
“Eh? Ehh?”
Thrown off by Ayano’s confident manner, Toko grew flustered.
After all, Ayano was someone who had risen to the rank of grand duchess through her military and political talents.
Toko valued those abilities above anyone else’s.
Besides, Ayano wasn’t the type to make baseless boasts in situations like this.
“What is it!? Come on, tell me!”
“I wonder if I should…”
“Seriously, please! Just give me a hint!”
Gotcha! Ayano mentally struck a victory pose.
A single favor owed by an impassioned Queen Toko would be immensely valuable.
And Toko’s personality meant she wouldn’t forget such a debt.
“—Sushi.”
“Huh?”
Toko’s mouth fell open at the cryptic word Ayano had suddenly uttered. Sushi?
“You don’t understand. It seems the Margrave of Lohengrin is quite fond of sushi.”
“Oh, yeah. So?”
“Just hypothetically, if I were to send him a renowned sushi chef as an apology for some misdeed—”
“Ah!?”
She nearly shouted out loud before hurriedly covering her mouth.
That would be bad. Very bad.
That was precisely the reason she hadn’t been able to fulfill her promise of unlimited sushi!
“Given the margrave’s character, he’d likely refuse any lavish gifts, but he couldn’t turn down sushi. And with the excuse that the raw ingredients would spoil, he’d be forced to eat it.”
“I can just picture Suzuha’s nii happily eating sushi with a big smile on his face!”
“And eventually, the margrave would grow fond of the sushi chef, welcoming him like family—”
“That would be a disaster!”
In reality, Toko didn’t think Suzuha’s brother was the type to be manipulated by a sushi chef.
However,
the lack of his awareness combined with a skilled chef ignorant of national affairs would undoubtedly lead to a problematic situation—of that she was certain.
“And anyone with a modest fortune could pull this off, right?”
Even a mere noble would suffice.
If Ayano were one of the nobles lined up behind Duke Sakuragi waiting to pay respects, she would undoubtedly send a sushi chef under the pretext of a victory celebration or something.
Even if the chef was sent back, it would only cost her a small sum of money.
“Wh-what should I do!?”
“One more favor.”
“Lay it on me!!”
“—Very well.”
Ayano nodded expressionlessly,
but inwardly she was in tears of joy.
She now had two favors owed by Toko, the most powerful queen on the continent.
Figuratively speaking, those favors were worth at least one major war victory.
Thank you, Margrave of Lohengrin.
Thanks to you, Queen Toko has gone completely bonkers—though she couldn’t voice such gratitude to the man himself.
“If it were me, there’s only one answer.”
“Which is!?”
“The issue arises from having the sushi chef take up permanent residence. So instead of that, either every week or at least once a month, you should bring a sushi chef to visit him, Queen Toko.”
“Ehhh!? But the Margraviate of Lohengrin is in the absolute boonies!”
“And what of it? Use your secret magical artifacts or whatever to teleport there.”
“Well, I do have those, but—! Using them even once burns through a tenth of the royal family’s annual budget!”
“Then it must remain a secret. The Margrave of Lohengrin wouldn’t take kindly to it.”
“Ugh…!”
As Toko agonized over the decision, Ayano could already tell what she would choose from her mumbled “But then I’d have an excuse to see Suzuha’s nii every month…!”
Ayano just shrugged slightly.
She wondered—
if the Kingdom of Drosselmeyer eventually united the continent under Toko’s rule,
would it be a remarkably peaceful and tranquil world,
much like the current queen herself?
READ THE ORIGINAL TRANSLATION AT LOCALIZERMEERKAT.PAGES.DEV
Afterword
It’s been a while.
The first volume was rather niche, making me wonder “will this sell?” as I published it. But I was pleasantly surprised by the positive reception, allowing me to release this second volume.
The warmth of the readers who purchased the first book truly resonates with me these days.
Also, let the big-boobed clumsy female knight student trope become more popular (wishful thinking).
In any case,
since the title includes “Female Knight Academy,” I did consider including some kind of female knight academy element. But that proved rather difficult.
You see,
the setting established this as a school training the nation’s top elite female knights and all that.
But the depiction of combat in this work doesn’t really align with typical Western quasi-medieval fantasy warfare.
It has more of a period drama or musou/wuxia flavor, where a single overpowered individual can effortlessly defeat dragons and the like.
—Well, that’s a rather lenient power dynamic common to many fantasy works, with varying degrees.
So in portraying a female knight academy, what kind of knights would they be training?
And in this story, there are already two ridiculously overpowered female knight students.
So
when I tried brainstorming ideas like “The Strongest Female Knight Academy’s Deadly Battles” or something, all I could imagine was Suzuha and Yuzuriha effortlessly dominating in a yuri school story setting. So those ideas got scrapped.
Maybe someday if a decent concept emerges, a female knight academy arc could randomly begin.
Just as with the previous volume, I owe tremendous gratitude to many individuals for making this second volume possible:
Those who provided evaluations and comments on the web novel version, or helped spread it on Twitter, etc.
The editor, Ms. M, who kept the often wayward story on track.
The illustrator Nata-sha, who masterfully combined adorableness and sensuality in the illustrations.
As well as the designers, marketing staff, and all others involved in this work’s production.
And of course, the readers who purchased and read this book.
I extend my heartfelt gratitude to you all.
Visit the request page If there’s a Japanese Light Novel (LN) or Web Novel (WN) you’d like me to translate
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