After-Story Chapter 10: The Remus Royal Couple’s Stay in the (Former) Capital City (Part 5)- The Shadow Queen

“In that case, let’s visit my father’s filming location tomorrow,” Ivan had suggested at the dinner table, and Lombard and the others readily agreed. Therefore, today they set out to visit Ivan’s father, Moltov, who was filming in a village near Van. Since the destination was said to be not far, they traveled by the Juniro family’s carriage.

The village they arrived at looked like any typical farming village… or rather, it had a slightly antiquated, nostalgic feel: a view of fields, a brick windmill, unpaved dirt roads, and a stone wall of only about a meter high surrounding the village, whose defensive capability was questionable.

Nowadays, roads are well-maintained throughout the Kingdom, and due to the constant traffic of people, even the countryside rarely offers such a purely pastoral scene. If you were to compare the feeling of a modern citizen of the Kingdom seeing this village to a person from Souma’s original world, it would be similar to seeing the Red Brick Warehouse area of Yokohama or the preserved townscapes of Kurashiki or Takehara.

“Are they truly filming in this village?” Lombard asked Ivan, having stepped down from the carriage and helping Yomi disembark.

Ivan nodded. “Yes. Since it’s around noon, they should be filming and broadcasting right now. While we’ve managed to mass-produce the Mini-Orbs, the recording function is still under research.”

Although the Mini-Orbs made it possible to film multiple programs, they lacked the recording functionality of the original Orbs. Thus, Mini-Orbs were mostly used for live broadcasting. However, since the recording function for the original Orbs was only recently unlocked, this limitation was understandable.

(This village… has a nostalgic atmosphere, but it doesn’t strike me as charming,) Lombard thought, observing the scenery. A village that was not charming to his eye. Yet, the people of the Kingdom of Friedonia found value in it and were trying to utilize it effectively. The newly formed Kingdom of Remus, currently undergoing reconstruction, has many ruins. Lombard began to consider whether even some of those ruins could be preserved and put to use for something.

Just then, it happened.

“Kyaaaah!!” A woman’s desperate shriek echoed from within the village.

“Nooo! Help!”

“?! What is it?!”

“Lord Lom!”

Lombard shielded Yomi while gripping the hilt of the sword belted at his waist. He and the others were about to rush toward the source of the screams, but Ivan and Margarita immediately circled around and blocked their path.

“W-Wait! I told you we’re filming right now!” Ivan’s voice was frantic, showing a clear loss of composure.

“Please calm down.”

Lombard regained his composure at the sight of Ivan frantically trying to stop him and took his hand off the hilt. Filming… so the scream must have been an actor’s performance. Once the two were calm, the group slowly entered the village.

They found a crowd of people watching a farmhouse from a distance. Beyond the crowd were people handling Mini-Orbs, presumably the filming crew, and beyond them were a girl dressed in an old-fashioned dirndl, giving the impression of a farm girl, and several thuggish-looking men dragging her away.

“Father! Father!”

“Oh, please! Please, don’t lay a hand on my daughter!”

The scene was a daughter desperately resisting being led away by the men, and a father trying to stop the men by crawling on the ground and clinging to their feet. The men surrounding the pair were sneering mockingly.

“Girlie, if you’re gonna hate someone, hate your old man for not paying his debts.”

“N-No! But the interest clause was rewritten after we signed the contract… it’s too high… P-Please, just wait a little longer!”

“Shut up! You’re the one who stamped your seal on your husband’s promissory note!”

The men kicked the clinging father and began to stomp on him. Then, a well-dressed, middle-aged man with the demeanor of a villainous boss stepped forward. He covered the girl’s mouth with one hand and pulled her into his embrace.

“Relax. My family will take good care of you.”

“Noooo!” cried the weeping girl.

The men let out lewd laughter. If Lombard hadn’t known this was acting, he would have instantly cut the men down.

Just then.

Shun shun shun!

“Guh!?” (Whack!)

A fan, fluttering from somewhere, struck the arm of the boss who was restraining the girl. The impact forced the boss to release his grip, freeing the girl.

“Who’s there!” the boss yelled.

A carriage then approached with a paka-poka sound. It dramatically pulled up in front of the men, and a noblewoman, aided by two coachmen wearing tiger and wolf masks, stepped out. Her glossy hair, shining in the light, and her beauty and presence made her age inscrutable.

“W-What is this?! Who are you?!” the boss yelled, slightly intimidated.

The noblewoman produced a fan identical to the one that had been thrown and clapped it against her palm with a pa-shin, like a whip training a beast.

“One, for the places where light does not shine; Two, for the people who weep in silence; Three, to deliver brilliant judgment— By the iron hammer of the Shadow Queen.”

Having proclaimed this, almost singing, she pointed the fan at the boss.

“To cruelly burden honest farmers with an unjustly massive debt, and then attempt to violate their daughter—such barbaric acts are worse than those of a beast. This cannot be overlooked.”

“W-What nonsense! You may be well-dressed, but what can one woman do! Don’t mind her! Cut this suspicious woman down!”

The noblewoman smiled sweetly at the boss, who was revealing his anger and ordering her murder.

“I am not alone.”

“What did you say?!”

“Lord Shadow-Lion (Kagejishi), Lord Shadow-Wolf (Kagerou), give them a small lesson!”

“Yes, Ma’am!”

The two masked coachmen instantly shed their elaborate coachman coats, transforming into figures clad in ninja-like outfits. They leaped into the crowd of men and began to cut down the villains one after another. Meanwhile, the noblewoman ordered a plump man hiding behind the carriage:

“Poncho… Take this girl to a safe place.”

“Y-Yes! Understood, Ma’am!”

Plump Poncho took the girl away so she wouldn’t get caught in the fight and returned her to her father. While the father and daughter embraced, “Father!” “Oh, thank goodness you’re safe!”, the fierce battle between the Shadow-Lion and Shadow-Wolf continued. The two were exceptionally strong, and the villains were quickly losing ground.

Some tried to break the deadlock by attacking the noblewoman, but she met them with a staff she produced from somewhere, knocking a full-grown man unconscious with her skillful handling of the weapon. As the situation grew increasingly desperate, the boss began to gingerly back away, attempting to escape.

Shun shun shun!

“Gwaaah!?”

The fan flew again, striking the back of his head, sending him tumbling onto the ground, covered in dust. The noblewoman, whose posture indicated she had just thrown the fan, clapped her hands.

“Lord Shadow-Lion, Lord Shadow-Wolf, let’s stop here.”

Hearing her words, the two masked men nodded to each other and shouted loudly.

“All of you, stand down!”

“Hey! Get back, get back, you rogues!”

They subdued the men who still tried to fight and quelled the conflict. When the place grew quiet enough for normal voices to be heard, Shadow-Wolf shouted, “Haiya!” as he climbed onto the driver’s seat of the carriage and turned the opposite side of the carriage toward the men. Emblazoned on it was the large emblem used by the royal family of Elfrieden.

“Wha—That emblem is!”

The boss, realizing who the noblewoman was upon seeing the crest, turned deathly pale and panicked. To the boss, whose expression seemed to scream, No, it must be a mistake!, Shadow-Lion ruthlessly declared the truth.

“Do you know who this noble person is?! She is none other than Her Royal Highness, the former Queen of Elfrieden, Elisha Elfrieden!”

The solemn sound of a pipe organ suddenly swelled from somewhere, and a halo shone from behind the noblewoman… Elisha (likely a special effect produced by the Juniro family’s magic).

Shadow-Wolf, having jumped down from the carriage, shouted at the panicking men. “Everyone! You are in the presence of the former Queen! Hasten to bow down!”

“Y-Yes, Ma’am!”

Regardless of their status—the boss, the villains, the farmer and his daughter—everyone except Elisha, Shadow-Lion, and Shadow-Wolf uniformly dropped to their knees and prostrated themselves. Naturally. Although it has been a long time since the change of generations, to defy Elisha, who is a direct member of the Royal Family, is tantamount to an act of treason against the state. This was the climax. What judgment would be passed from here?

“…” “…”

Lombard and Yomi watched the scene with expressions of astonishment—it was impossible to count how many times they had been surprised today.