Trapped in Another World With No Magic

Roeta walks with Grand Duchess Aramellianna as the matriarch makes her way to her office. The pink dragon tries to urge her gently, “Your Grace, you really should continue to rest. Lady Yanidere…”

“Has done an excellent job during my convalescence,” replies the Grand Duchess. “But, I was brazenly attacked out in the open, and several of my loyal guard were slain. I…”

The brunette trails off as she overhears, “I don’t care if you have to line up every citizen and question them! The Grand Duchy is pledged to the Fievegal, and an assault was carried out on both the Grand Duchess of Stalvaltan and the commanding General of the Fievegal Army. You should be thankful the Grand Duchy is keeping the Fievegal from invading at this very moment!”

They enter the office where there is a surprising number of people. Aramellianna sees Kalegrynten, Veiranoei, the Honeydip Baron and Baroness, as well as Gwenesphia, and a few upper-rank nobles from other parts of Mattarglos.

At the center, standing behind Aramellianna’s desk, which is piled high with paperwork, is the second eldest daughter of the Stalvaltan Grand Duchy.

Yanidere adds passionately, “Even as we speak, my sister, Empress Consort Wenlianna is in council with his Grace, the Emperor, trying to dissuade him from retaliating with the full might of the Fievegal.”

Several of the nobles who don’t already know better shrink a little under the verbal assault.

One of them, Count Klajurr, tries to reply as respectfully as he can, “Your Ladyship, no one disputes your position, but the fact of the matter is that we don’t have the resources to…”

Yanidere slams the desk with her fist. “‘Resources, resources, resources’! That’s all I’ve been hearing all morning! Merchants and mercenaries have flocked to the capital to grab the momentum of the defeat of the Three Terrors! Has the meat from those combined monsters suddenly run out? Have the rivers run dry?”

“N-No, your Ladyship, but… Steel is…”

“Then say so! If armaments are your concern, it must be the security of the city. The Grand Duchy will…”

Yanidere finally notices Aramellianna and Roeta standing in the doorway, and she flinches. “M-Mother!? Y-You’re…” She darts around the desk as the others also turn in surprise. Everyone bows respectfully to the Grand Duchess, and she dips her head.

“Are you alright, Mother? You should get more rest. If there was anything I needed, I would have…”

Aramellianna cups her hand against her daughter’s cheek, halting the young woman in her tracks. “My Dear Yanidere, you seem to be doing quite well. I’m proud. But, you are still in council. You should mind your etiquette in spite of your feelings.”

Yanidere flinches and glances at the nobles in the room. Gwenesphia, Veiranoei, and Kalegrynten give her gentle smiles, since they’ve seen plenty of her to know she’s doing just fine overall.

Yanidere collects herself, taking a breath. She curtsies politely, saying, “Your Grace the Grand Duchess, welcome. I am glad to see your condition has improved. Please, join us. We were discussing the state of affairs of the capital.”

Aramellianna smirks, saying as she enters the room, “I heard. For a moment, I thought I was having an out of body experience.”

The nobles in the room chuckle together, and they each take a moment to greet the Grand Duchess as Roeta keeps within arm’s reach, since she could collapse at any time, let alone fall under attack.

Aramellianna takes a seat on the sofa, saying gently, “Even unbiased, I would agree with Lady Yanidere. Crowd control is well within the Grand Duchy’s capability, and we have two of the Empress Consorts of the Fievegal present with us. I believe we can count on the Fievegal’s support in defending the capital while Mattarglos guard commences a full investigation.”

“Many… are concerned,” speaks up Marchioness Fyluer, a shenwulf woman. “There are many reports of a dragon that partook in the attack.”

“That dragon was Lord General Neith of the Fievegal. The Grand Duchy acknowledges the collateral damage caused by Sir Neith’s reactionary defense. Lady Yanidere, has the Fievegal spoken of the collateral?”

Yanidere glances at Gwenesphia, who nods. “Yes, M-Your Grace. Lord General Neith has been sanctioned by her Greatness, Empress Hekate, and construction materials for repairs and financial aid for the affected families are already en route.”

“I see. Thank you. Then, what else is there to discuss? The soldiers and guards of Mattarglos undoubtedly have greater familiarity with local terrain, so it is only natural that the search be carried out by local authorities, yes?”

The other nobles are quiet, and Grand Premier Kalegrynten finally speaks up, “The Emperor and his people saved Mattarglos from a triple plague of the worst monsters seen in generations. They are asking for our assistance to find dangerous assailants that are the enemies of our new allies. The standing army can be brought into the capital, but as her Grace said, the local authorities will have an easier time rooting out the enemies.”

A new presence bursts into the room. While she has one of the smallest statures on the airship, her presence is easily the largest as she walks in with the archoneldwyn ‘lady-in-waiting’, given her dress.

“Your Greatness!” greets Yanidere quickly and nervously.

Hekate says nothing, storming straight towards Count Klajurr. Without a word, she grips the man’s right forearm and yanks him to the ground, startling everyone as those who are seated bolt to their feet.

Gwenesphia cries out, “Hekate!? What are you-...!”

“Get this demon off of me!” cries out Klajurr.

Anyone who looks like they’re moving to aid the count is quickly warded off by Doephluev stalking in a slow and predatory circle around Hekate and the count, keeping everyone else back.

“Your Greatness!” shouts Aramellianna.

“I’m working,” retorts Hekate, inspecting the man’s wrist. She then grabs his other one, inspecting it as well. He tries to struggle, but Hekate puts her shoe on his bicep and wrenches her whole body at her waist.

A sickening ‘pop-crack!’ silences the room, with exception of Count Klajurr screaming out in agony.

“See?” states Hekate as she shows the limp wrist to Doephluev. The archoneldwyn nods, blurting out a little more innocently than usual, “How do we remove it?”

“The safest method will be…”

“Enough!” snaps Roeta as she storms in, shoving Doephluev back to confront Hekate. “This is not acceptable, your Greatness! Look at everyone here!”

Doephluev states, “I promised to protect everyone on this vessel in Daniel’s absence, Roeta. Stand down, and I’ll explain once the situation is secure.”

“I do not take orders from you!” snaps the pink Valkyrie as she whirls to face Doephluev.

Hekate finally states bluntly, “My Love made me Empress of the Fievegal, Dame Roeta. If I declare someone to be an enemy, then they are an enemy. The Fievegal is the greatest power in this world. And this;” She wrenches the man’s arm again as he tries to get leverage to move, and he screams in agony once more. “This is a cursed object.”

There are many gasps in the room, and Kalegrynten reacts the most quickly. “Clear the room! Guards! Escort everyone out! Quickly!”

Roeta glances between Hekate and Doephluev, confused by what is happening so suddenly.

And, just as instructed, everyone is ferried quickly out of the room, save Roeta, Aramellianna, Doephluev, Hekate, the count, and Kalegrynten. Yanidere and Veiranoei try to stay behind as well, but Kalegrynten convinces them to leave for now, and for the gatonine knight to escort the young Duchess.

Once the room is relatively secure, Aramellianna asks coldly, “Doephluev, is… it truly the same?”

“Yes, it has to be,” replies the servant standing off to the side.

However, the Grand Duchess replies, “I wasn’t talking to you, Hekate.”

This surprises everyone else, including Doephluev and Hekate. Hekate, still pinning the fading man down, thinks for a moment. Her expression twitches, and she murmurs, “My Love… Damn.”

The Grand Duchess smirks, while Roeta snaps, “Wait! What!? Y-You…!?” She points at each of them, and ‘Doephluev’ crosses her arms. “You ruined it!”

“Not so fast, your Greatness,” replies Aramellianna. “I would not have had the success in life that I have enjoyed were I not observant of people’s behavior. There were already signs, and talking long enough,... Well, regardless, explain what I am party to. This was supposed to be a meeting on state affairs, not a battlefield.”

‘Hekate’ sits down on Klajurr after putting him to sleep with magic. She replies in a mature tone, “Ever since my Beloved was cursed, I have been looking for signs of it everywhere. This…” She points at the cufflink on the count’s left wrist. “This has magic on it that I don’t understand. I did not witness the curse or the cursed object, but given the effects, it is a magic I am not familiar with.”

“It’s common knowledge that Daniel and the Dragon Empresses have left, and rumored that I left as well,” explains ‘Doephluev’. She flinches, realizing that she’s still in disguise. She cancels the spell, turning into her usual self as Hekate. “Since I rely on Daniel so much. Even if not, I still need to protect everyone. And, now that we have one of the mystery people tied to whoever cursed Daniel, I was hoping Vae or Senn could analyze it and determine where this spell comes from.”

“I believe they are both in town performing healing for the people,” explains Kalegrynten. “I can send a couple of soldiers to retrieve them.”

“Please do,” replies Hekate.

‘Hekate’ then speaks, “The problem is, according to Daniel and Neith, touching it caused the emblem to vanish, and holding it activates the curse, even if it’s passed to someone else. Only Nemaisol could temporarily cancel it out.”

“We don’t know that yet,” replies Hekate. “Daniel didn’t have any magic stones present at the time.”

“And, how do you intend to test it? I’m not doing it, and if I allow you to, My Beloved will never forgive me.”

“Obviously we’re not going to touch it!”

“Then how do we determine what works? We can’t risk deactivating it until it can be better understood.”

The others watch Hekate and ‘Hekate’ bicker for a moment, and Roeta finally cuts in, “Either way, why did you walk in and assault him while everyone was here? Couldn’t you have waited until he was on his way out?”

Hekate shakes her head. “No. Because I don’t think everyone on the airship can be trusted either.”

This puts an unease into the air, and her doppleganger adds quietly, “Right now, her Greatness and I are actually in the colosseum, fighting. Sir Magnir and Xyreko are handling that.”

Roeta is baffled, and she darts to the door, looking up and down the hallway, which is clear for now. She then walks closer and whispers just loud enough to be heard only by those in the room, ideally, “You really think one of the Empresses is an enemy?”

“Daniel is worried that it might be the case.”

Doephluev, still in disguise as Hekate, puts Count Klajurr into a void bag to prevent him from waking up. “Obviously, it should go without saying why we’re even having this conversation with you three.”

Aramellianna, Roeta, and Kalegrynten glance at each other, and then return their gazes to Hekate and ‘Hekate’, who are now standing next to each other.

Kalegrynten states with a fairly stern and somewhat angry tone, “Veiranoei is not a traitor.”

“I think you’re right,” replies Hekate. “But, no one stands out like this guy did. He’s like a small bonus, because I wanted to collect one of the cursed items that was still not deactivated.”

Kalegrynten looks at the void bag Doephluev is holding. He grumbles, “Count Klajurr has been a colleague and friend of mine for twenty years, now. He held my youngest son at his first magic assessment…”

“He is allied with our enemies,” states Doephluev coldly.

Kalegrynten nods quietly. He retorts a little coldly, “That is the only reason we are not in battle currently.”

“We need to learn of their allegiances,” replies Aramellianna. “But, my interrogators have been killed or wounded more gravely than myself. I can contact an Inquisitor who owes me a favor, but…”

“The worst enemy is the one who blends in with your friends,” replies Hekate for the Grand Duchess, thinking the same thing. “One of my friends could be a traitor, and it makes me sick to my stomach to think that it’s even possible.”

“I’d like to keep an eye on Aoloan, your Greatness,” remarks Doephluev. “She tried to pit us against each other. I feel like that makes it obvious.”

“Almost too obvious,” grumbles Hekate. “If we’re on the right trail at all, these are a people who have been manipulating a forever war in this world for as long as most people can remember.”

The Grand Duchess crosses her arms across her chest, bearing an uncomfortable expression. “Daniel mentions it so casually, but… I don’t know if I am afraid that he is wrong and we’ll be making a mistake pursuing this issue or…” She trails off, and Hekate finishes for her. “That he is correct.”

Aramellianna nods softly. “Reflecting on meetings and words of the past,... I can certainly see why someone could be convinced of the existence of such a group, but…” She sighs. “I have had some of my best and most loyal information gatherers investigating leads in the Empire and Mornistae. I’ve only received a few reports so far, but it does seem that information from deep within the Citadel is known to individuals far outside of the Fievegal’s apparent reach.” Aramellianna looks at Hekate. “I understand the position Lady Vaergraes was in, but are we certain she is not a part of…?”

Hekate shakes her head. “Vae negotiated with Daniel in hopes of defeating the Devourer. From everything I saw that day to now, I don’t think she has a dishonest bone in her body.”

Roeta murmurs, “I agree. She was often quite opposed to Morthybargaron taking action. She preferred us dragons to focus on the Devourer if we were going to do anything, but we had long given up on that.”

Aramellianna can’t help the small smile that finds her lips, which Hekate notices. “What is it?” asks the perceptive young fox-eared girl.

“Oh, nothing important. I just find myself wishing I could have borne witness to the feat of defeating such a being with my own eyes. To know that my one and only son holds such prestige…” She smiles reverently at the thought.

Hekate frowns a little dryly, but she doesn’t make any objections. If anything, she agrees with the Grand Duchess… mostly. The only difference is, she was there.

“Anyways, we have to be careful, Doephluev. Aoloan can detect lies, so if we’re not careful, we’ll give away that we’re onto her, and she’ll be more careful about covering her tracks.”

“Is it possible she was also just concerned for her Greatness?” asks Kalegrynten as he thinks. Until now, he has been listening, since he doesn’t have as much information.

“I’m not sure,” replies Hekate. “She was simply pointing out that Doephluev is suspicious, and that Daniel left her to spy on me, which are both sort of true.”

Doephluev frowns, and Hekate scowls at her in turn. “Am I wrong?”

“Of course not, your Greatness. It just displeases me that you enjoy saying it so much.”

“Daniel knows he can’t stop me, so if I kill everyone here, that’s my prerogative. He’d be disappointed, so I won’t, obviously. But, if anything, Doephluev is here to help me, since this place is less secure than the Citadel, where he went.” She grumbles, “I bet those evil lizards are just having the time of their lives right now…”

“Laughing at you,” adds Doephluev, as if it were a matter of course.

The Feldrok Empress grits her teeth. “Scheming behind my back…”

“Sleeping in my Beloved’s bed…”

“Grah!” snaps Hekate as she swings her arms in futility to derail that train of thought.

Aramellianna finally offers advice, “Your situation is very different than mine, your Greatness. I do not believe I would be content, but from the outside looking in, I am certain you are well-loved and greatly respected, even in such strange circumstances. And, something you must accept; when your loved ones are not currently in your field of view is when your trust truly matters. You need not blindly trust, but you will learn what your darling’s tells are if he is being deceitful.”

Hekate narrows her eyes at the brunette matriarch. It’s no secret that Aramellianna still carries a great deal of love and affection for the man who gave her five daughters. It’s difficult to believe she ever suspected the Grand Duke of unfaithfulness or deceit.

Aramellianna, as if reading the teen’s mind, simply smiles gently. “No, he was never unfaithful to me. I am fortunate in that regard, even at times when I might have been insufferable enough to drive him to such. No, he once tried to hide the fact that Yanidere kicked a duke’s son at a royal banquet while I was on bedrest shortly before Bunnrimae was to be born.”

“Y-Yanidere?” asks Hekate, surprised. The young woman is rather well-mannered and, if anything, somewhat timid in social gatherings, from what Hekate has seen. Though, given the meeting that Hekate and Doephluev interrupted, she is merely keeping herself under control.

“That’s right. And, Yaandrestarr tried to convince me that nothing happened that I should be worried about. I knew he was lying at once, even though he didn’t give it away obviously. But, I knew.” She smirks. “You’ll learn the same skill in time as well, not just for Daniel, but for those you surround yourself with. Often, those with the most to hide are the quickest to speak.”

Hekate nods. “Thank you for the advice. I do trust Daniel, and I know that the Dragon Empresses love him very much. I know what they’ll be doing. I’m just… really jealous…”

Kalegrynten laughs, and the young empress gives him a mighty pouting glare, while Roeta, Aramellianna, and Doephluev all look at him.

The gatonine grandfather says jovially, “It’s always refreshing when those we fear are larger than life share the same problems as the rest of us.” He pets her head a little more roughly than she likes, and she growls, batting his hand away.

The Grand Premier adds with a gentle tone, “Tell me, young Empress; if his Grace Daniel disliked girls with black hair, would you still like him?”

Hekate cocks her head with a look of disgust, and Kalegrynten laughs again. “Sorry, sorry. My point is, even the trivial things, including beliefs he brings from his world, if any of them were different, would he be the man you want to be with?” He smiles as he remembers his own past. “My wife would snore. Darn near shook the entire house some nights. I have loved her every day of my life since she told me that I was a muscle-brained fool who would bury myself on the battlefield.” He pulls out a small memento and shows it to Hekate, depicting two gatonines, a surprisingly familiar man before decades have passed to bring him before Hekate now, and a beautiful gatonine woman with faint pink hair. It is a carved stone with a surprising level of detail, and the two look truly happy together. “My wife snores. That is part of being the woman I made my wife.”

Hekate smiles softly. Daniel cares about her a lot, and he has promised her. She has a long time to live, and she’ll find a way to keep Daniel around for all of it. If he tries to forget his promise, she’ll make him remember. If he still won’t honor it, she’ll make him fall in love with her. She won’t give up. She doesn’t have to give up.

“Thanks, Grandpa. This… helped. A-And, thank you to the rest of you, too. Aramellianna, I… I’ll take what you said to heart.”

“Mmm. I never get tired of being called ‘Grandpa’,” replies Kalegrynten with a big grin.

Aramellianna smiles. “The Grand Duchy has prospered thanks to your generosity, my Empress, and the Stalvaltan family is more secure and stronger than it has ever been. Perhaps, with your help, I can even restore the honor of my own Grandfather’s legacy. Though, to do that, I would need a new heir to that family, and I would not want to lower Yaandrestarr’s children to that family.”

“You have my blessing to start your family as a branch family,” replies Hekate. “The Fievegal will acknowledge both families as rightful noble families under the Fievegal, though your heir to Phenglegorn will need to prove themselves for me to decide for sure what title to bestow.”

The Grand Duchess smiles with amusement. “That is very prudent of you, your Greatness. I look forward to that day.”

“You could always do what the dragons did,” blurts out Doephluev. When the others look at her, she adds, “With the exceptions of couples like Sir Magnir and Dame Roeta, most of the greater dragons’ first eggs are not from living dragons. Since you’ve said you will likely never marry again.”

Hekate retorts sassily, “If she’s going to do that, she should use one of the feldroks, then. At least then I wouldn’t be the last one in the world.”

“Would that even work?” asks Kalegrynten. “I know humans and gatonines… but, we’re close enough to humans…”

“You haven’t seen them, but the second eggs of each of the Empresses are Daniel’s,” confirms Roeta. “I can’t speak to what kind of children will be born, but the Empresses are… eager.”

Everyone notices that Aramellianna is silent, and they look at her.

She’s deep in thought.

Hekate whines, “I-I-I wasn’t serious! I-It’s just an option, your Grace! I don’t really care! It’s kind of nice that I’m the only one. Then, when we beat monsters and stuff, I get all of the mana!” She becomes bashful, “Th-Though, it doesn’t make as big of a difference anymore. B-But, you would know better than me what you want to do…”

Kalegrynten warns a little playfully, “As I said, your Greatness, I would urge you to mind your words. The words of an Empress are the law of the land.”

“I know!” complains the feldrok girl. “But, anyways, I don’t even know if a half-feldrok or half-dragon child…”

Suddenly, the ravenette halts, and everyone looks at her, including Aramellianna.

Hekate murmurs, “Half-dragon… Great Aunt Reina…”

Just as suddenly as her train of thought shifted, Hekate’s expression seems to drain of all color. She bolts out of the room, leaving everyone stunned. They glance at each other, and Roeta asks, “What was that?”

“Is.. Would it be dangerous?” asks Aramellianna.

“N-No. No more than usual, at least. A child is a child. I don’t know, but I’d expect that an egg would develop. W-Whether you can… lay it…”

“That doesn’t seem to be what concerned our young Empress,” points out Kalegrynten.

Doephluev sighs. “Ugh… I’ll go spy on her.” She jogs after Hekate, just in case it’s something she’ll need help with, or if it will need to be quickly relayed to Daniel.

***

Daniel does his best to work on assembling a copy of the mana detector that Ahok finished. The half-goblin magic artisan is nearby, though she is still keeping solid objects and furniture between her and Daniel. She has warmed up a little bit, especially because Shek and Skloe join her to meet with any of the male demon-kin she needs to meet with, and Daniel is noticeably cautious about not putting pressure onto her.

The interruption Daniel is facing happens to be a young dragon who is seated on his lap, lounging against him while he tries to work. He’s trying to be careful to work in front of her, but it’s definitely a little inconvenient. But, Geirahoel is trying to push his buttons for a change. She regularly changes positions, complains, takes the thing he’s actively assembling. He doesn’t make a fuss about it, since she’ll get bored eventually…

He assumes.

“Daniel,” calls out Ahok. “I’m afraid I don’t understand what you’re trying to do with this. To my knowledge, anti-magic stones cancel out magic in a large area.”

“Certain materials can block the effect, but I think sharmelkolle might actually be able to conduct it. If we can switch between which one is active, I should be able to adapt to more situations.”

Ahok studies the drawings once more. She explained the void artillery to Daniel and his team, and from what she described, she was given the springboard idea from a loose description of an atom bomb, and adapted that to mana and the elemental magic.

Daniel adds, “It’s just an idea for now, and I was hoping it would make enough sense to test it.”

Ahok nods, studying Daniel’s notes. She’s very sharp, and Wenlianna believes she’s much more adept at the magic-side of magic devices, where Wenlianna is stronger at the function of the device when trying to design tools and other useful equipment.

The half-goblin sets the note pages down and starts writing on one of the pages. She flinches, asking, “S-Sorry, is… is it alright…?”

“Please do,” replies Daniel gently.

“Make him rewrite it if you need the original again,” retorts Geirahoel unhelpfully.

Daniel smirks, and he kisses the top of her head, which causes her to squirm. “Do you need anything, Mukori? Restroom? Drink?”

She scowls up at him, retorting as she settles into his lap again, “No. I’m quite comfortable.”

“Good. Me too.”

She hums with a pouting expression, and Daniel adds, “My thinking is to use lead to switch which material is exposed to the sharmelkolle.”

“I’ll run some experiments, but… I… The sharmelkolle…”

“Please be reasonable with your attempts, but you have my permission to experiment. If you’d like, send me some designs of the test apparatuses, and I’ll approve them or make suggestions.”

Ahok nods. “I’ll do that. Thank you.”

“Of course.”

There’s a knock on the door frame, and Balamae is present. “Your Graces, Lady Artisan, please pardon my intrusion.”

“No problem at all, Balamae. What is it?” asks Daniel.

The golem bows her head, explaining, “There has been an incident, your Grace. Raiders are encroaching on Fievegal territory.”

“The Grand Duchy, or this side?”

“This side, your Grace. Primarily the northwest area.”

Daniel nods. “Please gather the Field Marshals and their commanders at the conference station, and inform the… uh… Empresses and Queens if they want to attend.”

“I shall at once, your Grace. Please excuse me.”

Daniel sets the components down, and Geirahoel, who ended up helping more than disrupting, also sets the pieces she was working on onto the workbench. However, she doesn’t make any effort to get up.

“Mukori…?”

“What will you do, Mu-YEEP!”

Daniel shifts her with his arms so he can cradle her, and he stands up, carrying her like a princess as he leaves the room. “Excuse us, Lady Ahok.”

“R-Right, your Grace. I’ll report if I need anything.”

Geirahoel stammers, “M-M-Mukori…”

He ignores the orange dragon’s mild protests and embarrassed expression, since a small victory will be in making her squirm and blush. Outside of the lab, Daniel finds a couple of acolytes of the Unity of the Great Dragons standing by patiently. They are faithful servants, even if they are definitely still cultists. They worship the dragons, and though the Empresses rarely call upon them for anything important, they follow the dragons around the Citadel in hopes of being able to show their faith.

“Your Graces,” state both women together. One is an oni, and the other appears to be a succubus or cambion, but Daniel is unsure.

Daniel says gently to the two women, “The eggs are in their stroller. Please retrieve it and bring it with us if you would.”

Both women perk up, suddenly glowing brightly with being given such an important task.

“Y-Yes, your Grace!”

“Y-You’re embarrassing me,” whines Geirahoel as she hides her face while the two women jog into the lab to retrieve the egg stroller containing two eggs from the youngest dragon Empress. They return right away, having politely greeted Ahok and given her a respectful farewell before following Daniel and Geirahoel.

Daniel trusts his subordinates to make the decisions needed, but he has tied their hands in the past. He needs them to know what he’ll tolerate, now that it’s clear to him that he was wrong.

The worst thing he could do is keep making the same mistakes.

***