When I Say I Want to Be in a Band with You for Life, You'd Better Say Yes / Kazimierz: Ursus Wants to Sign a Non-Aggression Pact with Victoria?

If I were in your position, even if you welded me to that throne as a puppet, I wouldn't have a single complaint!

Another thing worth noting was that she hadn't expected Koschei not to be the boss. He wasn't even second or third-in-command, looking completely like a pathetic lackey. Meanwhile, Qianyi, whom she had initially ignored and taken for Koschei's servant, was actually the boss.

Good thing she hadn't shown it, or she'd be utterly humiliated right now.

"Great Your Majesty, I offer you my eternal loyalty."

Having calmed herself, Aibrana walked forward, stopping one step away from the throne. She extended both hands and knelt before the two of them.

Neither Qianyi nor Talulah understood what she was doing, so Koschei explained from the side, "This is the Kiss Hand Ceremony, a necessary part of a noble swearing loyalty to an emperor."

The two nodded, but neither extended a hand for Aibrana to kiss.

Qianyi thought Talulah was the emperor, so naturally Talulah should accept the Kiss Hand Ceremony. Talulah, meanwhile, thought, I've been picking at my feet. How nasty and unhygienic would it be to stick out my hand for someone to kiss? You do it instead.

The two silently tugged back and forth with remarkable coordination, leaving Aibrana standing there with her hands raised in awkward silence.

As time passed bit by bit, the Banana Dragon was drenched in sweat, under overwhelming pressure.

W-what was going on...

Was she being looked down on? Did he not need her loyalty?

No, it had to be because she hadn't done enough. Daring to ask for a Kiss Hand Ceremony was already too presumptuous. This was the Emperor of Ursus, a great being who might even seize Victoria in the near future, practically half the Emperor of Terra already. How could she dare overstep her station?

She should lower herself further. Offer a Kiss Foot Ceremony, or simply become the step for the Emperor to mount his horse?

Just as she was about to lower her hands and act with greater humility, she finally heard a response.

"Ata, why aren't you extending your hand?" Qianyi felt that Aibrana, who had been left hanging for more than ten minutes, must be dying of embarrassment, so he took the initiative to break the stalemate.

"Huh?" Talulah jolted.

"What are you surprised about? You're the Emperor of Ursus, so of course you should be the one accepting it."

"I just picked at my feet. Are you sure you want me to extend my hand for someone else to kiss?" Talulah raised the hands that had been resting on her feet and showed them to Qianyi.

After thinking it over, Aibrana felt this was a good chance to earn favor, so she volunteered, "Actually, I can acce—"

"Fine, then I'll do it. We can't make a loyal subject who came all this way to pledge loyalty kiss the hand you used to pick at your feet." Qianyi and Aibrana spoke at the same time. Noticing that Qianyi had opened his mouth, Aibrana immediately fell silent and let him finish. When she heard that Qianyi, rather than Talulah, intended to accept her Kiss Hand Ceremony, she nearly burst into wild laughter.

Don't laugh. Not yet!

Aibrana held her breath and carefully cradled Qianyi's outstretched hand. Her expression was as solemn as that of a groom at a wedding, preparing to place a ring on the finger of the person he loved most in the world.

She lowered her head and lightly kissed the back of his hand with closed lips. Because her intentions in coming were far from pure, she was particularly dishonest during the Kiss Hand Ceremony, deliberately slipping out her tongue and lightly scraping it over his skin. Wherever it passed was warm, soft, slick, and indescribably smooth, carrying a faint searing heat like flame.

But she knew her current status and didn't dare overstep herself. She only took a brief taste before hurriedly pulling back, then took out a handkerchief and wiped Qianyi's hand clean.

After she declared her loyalty, Patriot, FrostNova, Alina, and the other Reunion members and officers all did the same.

Kids, was this some kind of Terra-style music party?

After one round, Qianyi felt as if he had been tossed into a basement filled with a hundred thousand succubi. He was about to be drained completely dry, his mind muddled.

Why the hell was ascending the throne harder than killing eighteen Inner Guards? If he'd known, he shouldn't have let Talulah do as she pleased. He should've made her come handle this exhausting work.

At that moment, a Snake Scale member hurried in with a report.

"R-reporting to the Emperor, Grand Duke, those nobles, those nobles..." Apparently having witnessed something incomprehensible, the Snake Scale member was gasping so hard he could barely breathe.

"Those nobles? Heh, have those damn nobles finally agreed to come pay their respects?" Koschei's expression was cold. A short while ago, he would naturally have been eager to receive those ministers, but now that the two Drac sisters had already pledged loyalty to New Ursus as Ursus nobles and subjects, completing the ceremony of loyalty to the new emperor, he no longer needed them.

There were as many replacements for those nobles as he wanted.

"Make them wait. Ursus needs reform. Since they're unwilling to follow the new emperor, they can follow the old one instead." Koschei spoke coldly. The implication was clear: they all had to die.

"Those nobles are all dead."

"???"

When I Decide to Form a Band With You for Life, You'd Better Agree

No one knew why Fyodor had abdicated. They only knew that the ridiculous Haki Dragon who had somehow gained Koschei's favor, replaced the Grand Duke of Baikal, and then had the Third Army Group seized by the emperor was about to ascend the throne.

Although the nobles all knew that Koschei was the greatest of the dukes and that, after the emperor "abdicated for the worthy," Koschei was effectively the emperor, they still had to put up some resistance to protect their own interests.

Knowing they couldn't oppose Duke Koschei alone, they tacitly gathered outside Saint-Junburg. They didn't obstruct Koschei's ascension, but neither did they pledge loyalty to him, leaving him hanging over a brazier.

Once Koschei couldn't endure it any longer, he would naturally lower his stance, come negotiate with them, and yield more benefits.

Then they were all blown to pieces by Unknown AOE.

And the culprit behind all this declared—

"Nice! Pop the champagne~!"

"Quickly confiscate every last one of those nobles' homes. New Year's coming soon. Give the brothers under us one year's worth of red envelopes—no, three years' worth."

Qianyi had no idea how those nobles had died so inexplicably, and in such clownish fashion, but that didn't stop him from looting their gold.

Nobles were basically cash machines. They wailed about being broke all day, but once you hit them with a few sticks, they pulled out money faster than anyone else.

"Three years' worth? Isn't that too much?" Talulah was startled.

"Is that a lot?" As Qianyi had Koschei compile a list of the nobles gathered outside Saint-Junburg, he chatted casually with Talulah. "That's not much at all. Loyal people deserve rewards. Besides monetary rewards, I also intend to grant them spiritual and honorary rewards, such as titles. I'll make them nobles and let them break free from the infected class."

"You're going to grant infected people noble titles?" Talulah was shocked.

"Why not?" Qianyi asked in return.

"Isn't that too radical?" Alina was concerned as well. Infected people in Ursus were still despised by everyone. Suddenly placing large numbers of infected people above ordinary citizens...

"Nobles are replaceable in endless supply. Does it matter whether the ones holding the titles are infected or ordinary people?" Qianyi didn't believe the forces currently gathered in his hands would be unable to handle that problem.

This was the Terra Continent, not some strange world. Discrimination against the infected wasn't something etched into the fundamental laws of the world like Floating Chicken or the Mafia. With enough power, they could simply crush it all by force!

"What if the commoners riot?" Patriot asked the fatal question.

"Then they won't be ordinary commoners. They'll be enemies of the Empire, and we must strike them hard." Qianyi picked up the Scepter beside the throne and spun it carelessly between his fingers like a pen. His tone was casual. "Since we're granting titles, there should be a beginning. We'll start with everyone in this room. At this very moment, everyone here will be granted a title."

His voice was light, as though he were merely stating a fact rather than issuing an order or making a request, yet to everyone else's ears, it was like thunder crashing down.

"It would be inappropriate for us to attend a high-level meeting. We'll take our leave." Frost, Mudrock, and the other Sarkaz bowed, intending to depart.

"We'll excuse ourselves for now as well." Aibrana and Lavhini also planned to leave tactfully.

This was an Ursus ennoblement ceremony. One group was Sarkaz from Kazdel, while the other was Drac from Victoria. Neither had anything to do with Ursus, so there was no reason for them to remain when it wouldn't be their turn anyway.

"Please stay. I just said that everyone in this room will be granted a title, and right now, you are standing in this room." Qianyi smiled.

"We are Sarkaz." Frost emphasized the origins of himself and the others.

"Do you look down on Ursus titles? I can offer a different reward."

"No, how could we? Becoming nobles of Ursus is something we wouldn't even dare dream of."

"Then stay. I need you. Ursus needs you. Can you give me the rest of your lives?"

"Your Majesty..."

The Sarkaz Mercenaries were moved to tears. In the past, they had always given everything, even their lives, to fight for some nation or organization. Yet after helping them win, the first thing those people often did was forget their debts.

Never mind what had been promised—even the basic mercenary fees were things they tried to weasel out of paying. All because they were Sarkaz, a lowly race despised by everyone across this continent, like rats in the street.

And now, someone had not asked them to lift a finger from beginning to end. Their leader had charged to the front and fought while they watched from behind. Afterward, not only was he not kicking them aside and saying they were useless now, he was instead going to share the glory of victory with them.

Was this a dream...

"Everyone who drifts from place to place wants somewhere they can call home. Ursus is a little cold, but it has plenty of land. Even if you live there for the rest of your lives, that would be fine." Qianyi spoke lightly, then looked toward the Wildfire sisters. "Victoria's Regal Authority cannot be given to you, but after we take Victoria, I can promise you ducal titles and rename your territory Tara. The Tara Dynasty cannot be revived, but Dukes of Tara can exist."

"Y-you knew?" Aibrana said, trembling.

Qianyi didn't answer directly. Instead, he continued, "You traveled all the way from Victoria to Ursus, so you must have suffered a great deal. You may face even more difficulties in the future, but believe me. I will let the Drac reclaim everything that should be reclaimed."

"Why?"

"Because Talulah is my friend for life, and you are her last remaining kin. I don't want the Drac to fight among themselves, and I especially don't want this already shattered race to fall apart over selfish hunger for power."

"..."

Aibrana fell silent.

Friends for life... what heavy words. Were they friends? Talulah wasn't his puppet at all, but his friend? How could they have that kind of relationship?

For some reason, an earth-shattering thought suddenly rose in her heart. She wanted to refuse him outright and say that she could replace Talulah, become the Red Dragon puppet beneath his hand, and offer him everything.

If I fought Talulah, would I win?

But the instant that thought appeared, she felt something deep inside her collapse in a single moment.

No! She couldn't say it. If she did...

She looked at Qianyi, smiling as he waited for her agreement, and swallowed that ridiculous thought. She had a premonition that if she insisted on becoming Talulah's enemy for the sake of power, the emperor before her—the one who truly controlled everything—would show her a despair worse than death.

No! Since Qianyi and Talulah were friends, didn't that mean she had a chance!

"Has Qianyi become more and more intense?" Toyokawa Shoko felt that Qianyi was terrifyingly powerful now, already transformed into a humanoid walking black hole that sucked in everyone who saw him.

"Intense?" Artoria didn't quite understand the meaning of the word.

"It means constantly asking for someone else's whole life, their remaining years, and everything." Toyokawa Shoko felt that those three phrases might soon evolve and merge into not even death can separate us.

"That's wonderful, though." Artoria said, "I want to be with Qianyi for my whole life too."

Toyokawa Shoko was speechless. After holding it in for a long time, she finally forced out a few words. "...You're intense too."

Was a lifetime something that could be promised so easily? Could one person truly bear the lives of so many people? What would the one-hundred-million Band Dissolution Tax eventually evolve into? Would it really end up wrapped around her own neck?

Shoko couldn't help thinking about it.

After several seconds of silence, she changed the topic. "Have you decided how to spend the money from this time?"

"For me, I'm definitely buying Magical Girl merchandise." Hiiragi Tina said.

"If you don't have anywhere to spend your money, could you lend me all the money you got this time?" Seele suddenly asked.

"What's wrong?" Toyokawa Shoko asked with concern.

Seele nodded and stated her goal. "I want to buy a Star Destroyer."

"A Star Destroyer?!" Toyokawa Shoko, Hiiragi Tina, Artoria, and Kiana were all startled.

"Earlier, I found a broken IPC robot in the Underworld. I tried repairing it, and I found Star Destroyers for sale in its menu. If we had a Star Destroyer, maybe Belobog's crisis could be resolved." Seele explained what had happened.

"Why don't you ask Qianyi whether he has a solution?" Kiana said.

Seele shook her head. "The debt of gratitude I owe Qianyi is already almost impossible to repay. I can't keep owing him more. Belobog's future must ultimately be reclaimed by the hands of us Belobog people ourselves. I'll pay the money back later."

"That's true. We can't always trouble Qianyi. I've saved up quite a bit. I never spent the money from before, and altogether I have around fifteen billion yen. I'll give it all to you later." Toyokawa Shoko took a deep breath and decided to contribute all her savings at once to help her groupmate.

"Is it really okay to give me all of it?" Seele was a little worried that this would affect Shoko. She remembered that Shoko seemed to need money urgently too.

"It's fine. I do very well in school, so I get scholarships every year, and I also have a part-time job. I can manage my living expenses. Besides, we've obtained Ursus now. Next, we'll take Victoria, maybe even the whole Terra Continent. We'll earn this little bit of money back in no time." Shoko smiled, radiating a gentle, angelic glow. "Besides, I really want to see what a Star Destroyer looks like."

Koschei, who had been eavesdropping nearby, wore a grave expression.

Kids, are you trying to destroy the Terra Continent?

Why could a schoolgirl like you say something so cruel and domineering? Take Victoria, even the whole Terra Continent, and then buy a Star Destroyer?!

Was that kind of thing even on the same level as us?!

What a joke! Use Origin Stone Arts properly, damn it!!!

Finding their conversation amusing, Qianyi joined in. "A Star Destroyer? That really is a good thing. Count me in. I have plenty of funds. If anyone dares withdraw from our Empire without permission, we'll send them to the sky with one shot."

"I think we should love peace." Koschei said righteously. "Ursus is a peace-loving nation. We shouldn't develop such powerful weapons. Even if we do, it should be at least a hundred years from now—no, a thousand years!!"

"That's wrong. Having a Star Destroyer and not using it are two different things from not having one at all." Talulah refuted Koschei.

"But even if we pool all our money together, we're still far from enough." Seele scratched her head and said.

"That's fine. Ursus still has plenty of nobles. Victoria has plenty of nobles too. Yan has plenty of nobles as well..."

Qianyi said with a smile.

Kazimierz: Ursus Wants to Sign a Non-Aggression Treaty With Victoria?