Unruly Summon Chapter 12: Complexity (Patreon)

Princess Stephanie remained silent for a few seconds more than was comfortable, before sighing. "We'll need to admit it at some point," she said. "There were a series of... incidents along our border. Humans crossing into demon lands and taking from their farms. There was no violence, and they never took much, hoping that the shortfall would go unnoticed. For that reason, even though the provincial nobles involved knew what was happening, they tolerated it. Alas, the demons noticed, and were understandably unhappy."

"So your farmers bulked up their production by raiding their neighbours and stealing their harvest, with the blessing of their landowners?" I asked, doing whatever the opposite of paraphrasing was. Stephanie had obviously tried quite hard to edit naughty words like 'theft' out of her explanation, given that her efforts survived the divine translation, and I felt obliged to put them back in.

"That would be a succinct way of putting it, yes."

How on earth did they expect the demons not to notice? However little they took, if demons had the same pressure on food that the humans did, they would be sure to account for every last bushel. And wouldn't their storehouses be guarded? Even if they trusted the humans not to send raiding parties, presumably they had internal crime to worry about?

Now it was my turn to remain silent for a few seconds. Stephanie's face remained impassive, but her hands were fidgeting. It was the look of someone who needed to try to look impassive.

"And they launched a full-scale war over that?" I asked.

"First, they demanded we turn over a quarter of the Chiral Plains in restitution, along with the heads of the thieves, but, as I mentioned, we couldn't afford the loss of farmland. We refused and offered to return double the stolen food along with the heads, which was a perfectly reasonable offer. Alas, their response was the declaration of war and doubling of their demands."

"Okay, next question: what, exactly, do you want me to do about it?"

"Uh... To stop the demons?" answered Stephanie.

"I believe he's asking for more details than that," said Christine, speaking up for the first time of the lesson. "We don't yet have a concrete plan, because we don't know how the battlefront will change by the time you arrive, but unfortunately we can't end this with the death of a single general or king. It'll be more drawn out than that. Your tasks will involve breaking sieges, picking off roving war-bands, and liberating captured settlements and defensive installations. Our conventional forces will follow behind, repairing and remanning fortifications, dealing with hiding stragglers, and so on. You just need to break their main power, so that we can mop up the rest."

That was half of the question that I wanted answered, but it skipped the other half completely. "And when does it end?" I prompted.

"Pardon?"

"The end. When do I stop fighting? Is my role over once they're driven back to their territory? Or do you have unacceptable demands of your own to make, and expect me to launch an invasion of my own to enforce them?"

"The demons won't surrender if they know you won't enter their territory, no matter how lenient the terms. They know we won't be able to launch a counter invasion without you."

"So you do expect me to enter their territory and keep fighting there?"

"Hopefully, that won't be necessary. You just need to prove that you're willing," continued Christine, which seemed dubious at best to me. How could I prove willingness short of doing it? "In that regard, the more impactful your initial appearance, the better. If you show up as an overwhelming force and drive into them the certain knowledge that they have no hope, they may even surrender immediately."

I suppose. If I turn up and effortlessly wipe out half their forces, they're likely to do what's needed to spare the rest. Maybe. After all, a war was what solved their food shortage the last time. For all I knew, the demons would welcome the opportunity to reduce their headcount and take the pressure off.

"Don't forget, it is not our place to decide when your role is over," added Stephanie. "While we can return you early, it's not within our power to hold on to you for longer than our gods deem necessary. If they decide your role is over once the invasion is thwarted, even before any peace agreement is signed, then so shall it be."

That was a good point, and didn't it actually count against my earlier suspicions? After all, if the gods decided when a hero was needed, wouldn't they have denied the summoning ritual completely if one wasn't? Or sent me back the moment I arrived? The fact that I was here implied there was some problem they wanted me to solve. Although, I suppose the problem they wanted me to solve wasn't necessarily the demons. And again, this all assumed I'd been told the truth about the history of hero summoning.

"Okay, I think that's enough answers to be getting on with," I said, already having enough material to churn over for the rest of the day.

"Then I'll leave you in Christine's capable hands," said Stephanie, signalling the end of this lesson on the logistics of starvation and the beginning of more practical training.

Despite her role being over, the princess followed Christine, Mary and me down the corridor.

... I'd almost forgotten Mary was even there. She'd simply stood in silence the entire lesson, wearing her usual gentle smile. No different from her usual behaviour, but nevertheless, somehow the knowledge that her collar was messing with her head warped my perception of her behaviour away from 'well behaved, diligent maid' to 'creepy automaton'. Thankfully, my mana sight had worn off part-way through the lesson, the duration being about an hour, so I could no longer see the tendrils of mana invading her brain.

"Why are you following me?" I asked the princess as we reached the door of the changing room.

"I told you yesterday, I'm supposed to be your liaison," she huffed. "I had other duties yesterday and this morning, so I couldn't stay with you as long as I wanted, but I'm free at the moment, so I want to watch your training."

"Well, yes, that's fine," I admitted, "but that wasn't the bit I was talking about. Why are you following me into the changing room?"

Stephanie paused. "Ah," she muttered, blushing.

"Okay, I know I said I was done was the questions, but I have to ask: is all this deliberate?"

"W... Whatever do you mean?" she stammered, despite obviously knowing exactly what I meant.

"Yes, of course it is," answered Christine, ignoring the princess. "We're asking you to risk your life to save ours, and can offer you very little in return. Even if we had a pile of gold to gift you, you'd find nothing to buy with it, and you couldn't take it home with you once you're done. So, based on our history with summoned heroes, we arranged one of the things you were deemed likely to want; companionship. Princess Stephanie and I were fully willing to sleep with you whether you considered it payment, entertainment or simple stress relief. Believe me when I say that I am thankful you turned out not to be that sort of person, although it seems Stephanie hasn't given up. Perhaps she's just disappointed that she psyched herself up for nothing."

"Lady Christine!" yelled Stephanie, whose head would have been well camouflaged in a bowl of tomatoes.

"Are you okay? Would you like to change on your own today?" asked Mary with complete innocence, alerting me to the fact that I'd frozen up in the doorway. In my defence, I hadn't been expecting such a blunt answer! Christine had struck me with a mental blow I hadn't at all been prepared for.

"Um... Yes, yes I would, thank you," I managed, before closing the door on two members of my would-be harem. Or was it three? Was that why they'd provided me with such an eager-to-please slave girl? Stephanie's comment about other needs popped back unbidden into my mind.

I once again had to fight down the bile that was rising up my throat, not so much because of their behaviour, but because I suspected they were right. How many people did I know back on Earth who absolutely would take advantage? A number that shrunk but remained non-zero even if they had the knowledge that something was messing with Mary's head.

Was Wendy part of this farce, too?

"Are Mary and Wendy in on this?" I asked once I was done changing into my borrowed armour.

"Wendy is, and Mary had no need to be," smoothly answered Christine. "I don't know Wendy's opinion on the matter, beyond that she was willing to go along with it. But please don't take the wrong impression; Wendy and I are still among the best tutors you could have. By no means were we assigned to you purely based on sex appeal. After all, your willingness to fight is immaterial if you lose."

No need to be? As in, if I asked, it would be expected of her, no prior consent required?

"And what's your opinion?" I asked Mary. "And don't answer with 'I take my duties seriously' or something, because I know you do. What do you personally want? Was this what you had in mind when you sold yourself?"

Mary's eyebrows furrowed as if she was dealing with a difficult question. "I... uh... I want what you want?" she tried, sounding uncertain about her answer. "I had no idea I'd be serving a hero, but I'm glad that I am!" she added, that part expressed with far more confidence. "Now I'm a part of saving the kingdom!"

"I give up," I sighed. "You lot are weird. Cute in your own ways, but still weird. Let's get on with the lesson."

"C... Cute?" stammered the princess, who had apparently left her eloquence behind back in the classroom, unable to cope with the open talk of sex.

I ignored her and followed Christine out into the courtyard, eyeing up some scaffolding that had gone up against the damaged outer wall with something that wasn't quite guilt. A few masons were working to repair the damage. One of them treated me to a glare that made it clear he would greatly appreciate it if I would refrain from repeating the stunt.

"Let's start with some spear-work today," said Christine. "As much as kids love playing with swords, when it comes to warfare, it's the reach of a good pole-arm you want."

A rather exhausting few hours followed, during which I was happy to find my strength and speed had improved considerably in a mere twenty-four hours. Christine still had me beat on skill, but despite the weight of experience she had over me, it was obvious even to me that I'd soon overtake her.

At least until she used body strengthening, or the nebulous 'other techniques' she'd referred to.

Heroic superpowers didn't make my exertion any less exhausting, though, which was fine by me. It gave me an excuse to kick everyone out immediately after dinner, claiming I needed sleep. All the more time for me to continue my training in secret.

————————————————————

"What the hell was that?" hissed Stephanie as she returned to the main section of the castle with Christine.

"What, precisely, are you referring to, your highness?"

"You told him about the harem plan!"

Christine stopped walking, giving a sigh. "Because you didn't give up, you didn't leave me much choice. It was obvious that he wasn't interested, and valued his privacy, but you tried to force your way into his changing room. What for?"

Stephanie paused in turn, but soon resumed her walk, not answering the question.

"You can't have actually fallen for him, despite your fluster," continued Christine. "It's too soon. You must have been hoping to gain something."

"Even if you did need to say something, you didn't need to rub Mary's lack of freedom in his face like that," countered the princess without addressing Christine's comment. "He looked like he was going to throw up again, and this stupid outfit I have to wear is bad enough without being splashed by vomit."

"... That is true. My apologies. I spoke too quickly, without considering his lack of common sense."

"At this point, I don't think we can risk leaving the pair alone together. If he continued that line of questioning from earlier, who knows what could have happened? His performance just now was utterly terrifying. Be honest with me; in a serious fight, could you beat him right now?"

"Yes, without question. I'd need to use body strengthening at the least, and maybe even battle aura, but I would certainly win. Whether that will remain true after tomorrow's session remains to be seen; I intend to teach him body strengthening."

"Good enough. I've instructed the night-guard not to let Mary in unsupervised. Make sure you're there early tomorrow, and come the afternoon, one way or the other, it'll cease to be a concern."