Chapter 341 The Problematic Stan
Edited by: Kanaa-senpai
”To think that little brat would grow into such a fine young man…”
”Heh. A far cry from you at that age, isn’t he, William?” Queen Cecile replied with a smirk. “You were just a snot-nosed kid waving a stick around.”
”I was not ‘snot-nosed’ by then!” King William snapped. “And for your information, that stick was a training sword!”
Cecile couldn’t help but trade barbs with the King, her delight at Prince Roland’s growth evident in her playful tone. However, seeing the Prince himself-the very subject of their attention-shrinking under the spotlight, Marquis Dan Samoro, the Prime Minister, gave a sharp, pointed cough. With that, the two monarchs smoothed their expressions and resumed their royal masks.
”Ahem! Very well, let’s discuss this ‘Western Trade Sphere’ ¹ of yours,” William said, leaning forward. “But mark my words: if this plan contradicts the ‘grand ambition’ you mentioned earlier, the deal is dead. Do not forget that.”
”Fair enough,” the Queen said. “Though the concept is simple. It is a trade initiative between four nations-Canaria, Ferguson, Coalmine, and Sylvaol-centered on products from a specific magic circuit workshop.”
”Magic circuits, eh? Hmm. I can see Sylvaol coming to the table, but Coalmine?” William asked, his brow furrowing. “What on earth could you have offered to convince those stubborn mules?”
Cecile navigated the conversation with practiced grace, dancing around the more… sensitive details. I watched her, wondering how she planned to survive this. Surely she wouldn’t drop the “Ddo-Buddy” ² bombshell here in front of Prince Roland?
Beyond her own shame at admitting her shop’s main inventory consisted of adult novelties in front of her ex-fiancé and her brother, there was the Prince’s own image of her to consider. If he found out, the pedestal he’d placed his “perfect” older sister on would shatter into a million pieces. Oblivious to my internal panic, the Queen reached into her robes and produced a small device.
”This is it,” she said. “The Hot-Shot-kun ³ heating circuit. It is perfectly safe. Feel free to examine it.”
”Hot-Shot-kun? This little thing is what made Coalmine fold?”
I see. Clever. While it was true we’d flooded their market with the Ddo-Buddy during the war, the Hot-Shot-kun had indeed been a vital piece of the puzzle in swaying the Coalmine Kingdom. Cecile handed the device to the King.
”Hmm. At a glance, it looks like a paperweight. It’s surprisingly light, though. Hollow? And this little button here…”
”Uncle, I believe you are meant to depress that protrusion to activate it,” a cold voice interrupted.
”Ho? Lady Unia Greter, you have a sharp eye,” William said, looking at the girl. “What makes you say that?”
I watched with a start as the Duke’s daughter, Unia Greter, correctly identified the device’s function without even touching it. Was she the first person in this world to understand the concept of a “switch” just by looking at the industrial design?
”The form factor suggests a specific mechanical intent,” Unia said simply, her face as expressionless as a porcelain doll. “It did not appear to be a mere ornament.”
”I see…”
She’d deduced the function purely from the design logic. Most people hear “magic circuit” and immediately try to pump mana into the material, but she clearly wasn’t hampered by those kinds of preconceptions.
”Correct,” the Queen said. “Go ahead, King William. Press it.”
”Right… Oh! It’s… it’s getting warm! Well now. A heating circuit that requires no mana input and doesn’t seem to use a magic stone… How is this possible?”
William turned the device over in his hands, baffled. Meanwhile, Unia gave a tiny, almost imperceptible nod.
”…So that’s how it happened,” she whispered.
”What’s ‘how what happened’?” the King asked.
”The mystery of the war is solved,” Unia replied. “By my calculations, the Canaria Kingdom should have been facing total collapse by now.”
”Unia, watch your tongue…”
”No, let her speak,” the Queen countered. “Go on, Lady Unia.”
”As I said. The Pickaxe Fort at the border should have fallen by summer,” Unia stated, her voice clinical. “Followed by a fighting retreat through the Badcage territory. Canaria would have scrambled to reorganize their mages for a final stand at the capital. But by then, the Stampede would have hit, making a continued defense impossible. You would have offered to cede Badcage for a ceasefire, been rejected, and the kingdom would have bled out in a quagmire of total war.”
It was a grim prediction-and one that was uncomfortably accurate. If Coalmine had been at our throats when the two Great Dragons and the Stampede hit… no, even before that, a Lesser Dragon would have reached a defenseless capital. The same Lesser Dragon that took our entire elite force three days to kill.
”UNIA!” William barked.
”…My apologies,” she said quietly.
”It’s fine,” Cecile said, her voice steady. “I asked for her thoughts. It was a very real possibility. So, you’re wondering why it didn’t play out that way?”
”Yes. By all accounts, Coalmine collapsed from within,” Unia said, looking at the device. “Yet there were no reports of a coup. So why did they stop? They had no choice. This circuit… it was designed for military logistics, wasn’t it?”
”What makes you say that?”
”The design is optimized for mass production and pure functionality,” Unia explained. “If a soldier has this, a winter march becomes a triviality. The power balance shifted overnight during the coldest months of the year. No… that’s still not quite enough. Unless… it was also intended to be used as a weapon?”
The room went silent. The Canaria side was reeling at her insight, while the Ferguson side was finally realizing the terrifying potential of our inventory.
”You’re mostly right,” the Queen admitted. “This is the N-Type. We also developed an X-Type for combat, which features a flamethrowing function.”
”A flamethrower… like a localized fire-bolt? I see. That would have leveled the playing field more than expected. And yet…”
Unia was clearly visualizing the guerrilla tactics our army had used with the X-Types. Even as the guy who made the things, her sheer analytical speed was giving me the creeps. She stayed silent for a moment, racking her brain, but even a genius like her couldn’t leap to the conclusion that a vibrating adult toy had actually won the war. She looked at the Queen, searching for an answer.
Then, for the first time, Unia smiled. It was a faint softening of her doll-like features, but it was unmistakable. The rumors were true-she was a stunning beauty.
”I knew it,” she murmured under her breath. “You are amazing, Sister ⁴… ❤️”
”S-Sister?” Cecile stammered, her regal composure cracking. “I don’t recall giving you permission to call me that!”
The Canaria side bristled. Was this some kind of high-level honey trap? King William, sensing the sudden spike in tension, jumped in.
”Unia! I told you to stop that!”
”…Sorry, Uncle.”
”King William, care to explain?” Cecile asked, her eyes narrowing.
”Ah… right. Well… Please, don’t take it the wrong way. There is no hidden agenda,” William sighed. “It is just that Unia here… well, she is a massive fan of yours.”
”A fan?”
”Yes. Honestly, I do not quite get it myself,” William said, rubbing his temples. “But ever since she heard about you-a young woman taking the throne and leading her country through a crisis-she has turned you into a hero. She uses her family ties to pester me for stories about you, and she tries to sneak off to Canaria every chance she gets. It is a nightmare. During the war, she was screaming about how she had to ‘Save her Sister!’ Apparently, this ‘Sister‘ thing is some trendy term the girls in our country are using for women they worship…”
Unia cupped her cheeks in her hands, her face turning a vivid shade of pink. Queen Cecile, meanwhile, looked like she’d just discovered a terrifying new species of monster.
”She heard I was coming here and practically forced her way into the carriage,” William explained. “But she is brilliant. The greatest genius our nation has ever produced. She is the reason the Greter family is so wealthy, and as you’ve seen, her tactical mind is frightening. She was actually the first one to agree with your kingdom’s ‘prediction’ during the Stampede.”
”Well… that is certainly… ‘problematic’ in its own way,” Cecile muttered.
William didn’t look like he was lying. He and the Queen shared a look of mutual, weary exhaustion. Unia, completely unbothered by the awkward silence, began to fidget.
”I simply adore you, Sister… ❤️ Eek! I finally said it! ❤️”
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Summary:
During trade negotiations, Queen Cecile introduces the ‘Hot-Shot-kun’ heating device to King William. The genius Unia Greter deduces the military and economic impact of the device, revealing she accurately predicted Canaria’s collapse during the previous war. However, the tension breaks when it’s revealed Unia is actually a hardcore ‘Onee-sama’ fan of Cecile.
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Trivia:
- The ‘Ddo-Buddy’ (an adult toy) was actually used to flood the market and disrupt Coalmine Kingdom during the war.
- Unia is the financial and tactical backbone of the Greter Duke family.
- The ‘X-Type’ magic circuit is a combat-oriented flamethrower variant of the heating device.
- William is Cecile’s former fiancé
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Character Insight:
Unia shifts from a cold, hyper-analytical tactical genius to a blushing, star-struck ‘stan’ of the Queen, showing that even the most brilliant characters in this world have eccentric weaknesses.
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Behind the Scenes:
The ‘Onee-sama’ trope referenced by William is a common trope in Japanese media (often associated with the Class S genre) where younger girls admire and worship older, dignified female figures.
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TL Notes:
Notes:
• Cecile – A queen in the capital who possesses the authority to regulate business and commerce, particularly concerning moral or public order issues. She is currently investigating Kento’s shop, ‘Harvest.’ Have long golden hair, elegant, and wearing expensive white dress with gold accesories.
• Roland – he younger brother of Queen Cecile and the heir apparent to the Canaria throne. Clean, golden-blonde hair, same color as the Queen, innocent, beautiful face that could be mistaken for a girl but dressed in a boy’s formal wear.
• Samoro – A middle-aged Marquis and Prime Minister with a lot of white hair, a magnificent mustache, and luxurious attire. He is a key figure in the court who has supported the Queen since her enthronement.
• Unia – The third daughter of the house of Duke Greiter. Has blonde hair tied in an intricate style, dol-like beauty, and expressionless face.
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Edited by Kanaa-senpai.
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