Chapter 483

Tatsuro relayed the conversation he had just had with the Magic God to everyone, including the matter of the Valkyrie Unit and the Knights of the Round Table.

The response was largely positive. Leah in particular reacted with notable enthusiasm to the prospect of earning Duplication Points through a separate channel.

"If that happens, we'd have unlimited access to materials! We did it, big brother!"

"It'll make Creation and magical beast synthesis easier too. But nothing's been confirmed yet, so don't celebrate too early, Leah."

"Ah, right. But hearing something like that, I can't help getting my hopes up."

Among this group, Tatsuro and Leah stood to benefit the most, so naturally, neither of them could keep themselves from buzzing with excitement. Tatsuro appeared composed on the surface, but deep down, he was practically screaming, "Come through for me, Magic God!"

While Tatsuro and Leah were riding that wave of excitement, Leela and Ishtar were discussing things from a different angle.

"Valkyrie Unit and Knights of the Round Table, was it? If that actually takes shape the way Tatsuro envisions it, it would be... I don't know, something else entirely."

"My, are you against it, Ishtar? I'd actually love to see it - a knightly order straight out of a fairy tale. It makes my heart race."

"I'm not against it either, and I'd like to see it too. But just where exactly is Tatsuro headed?"

A knightly order built around multiple Half-Divine Beings as its core, split into two separate organizations by gender - and on top of that, he intended to attach powerful Familiars to it as well.

The Dragon Continent alone had Egeria and the divine dragon kings, so even if such a knightly order launched a full assault, victory would still be achievable. But that was only because of Iphigenia, with its True Dragons and powerful dragons in its ranks.

If the knightly order were given enough time to sharpen its skills and raise its level, any other nation would undoubtedly be trampled under its heel - and that was with Tatsuro and the others not even lifting a finger, relying solely on the knightly order.

Of course, having spent so much time with Tatsuro, she understood he was not the sort of person who would do something like that - which was why she wasn't opposed. What she couldn't grasp was why he wanted such a powerful knightly order to begin with.

"Hey, Tatsuro. Once things settle down, you're going to do something like a merchant, right? Why did you want to build a knightly order of that scale? Do you want to become a king or something?"

"Huh? Why would I become a king?"

"Well, thinking about it normally, the person a knightly order raises its banner for is a king. Besides, this place is practically an independent territory already - what kind of merchant holds a knightly order capable of going to war with every nation in the world?"

"Ah, I see what you mean. But no, I'd never become a king. That sounds like an absolute headache, doesn't it - being royalty?"

"A headache... that's true, governing a nation is no small thing, but... is that really your reason? Any ordinary person who had that kind of military power would probably consider it at least once."

"I can't even look after people whose faces I don't know."

"You could just become a dictator. Do whatever you want."

"Even then, there's no way I could stay completely hands-off from running a country. Well, maybe some people manage that, but I'm the type who ends up caring. So it's absolutely out. I want to live comfortably like any normal person, but I don't need status or honor. I just want to live a fun and interesting life with Ai."

Tatsuro said it without a single shred of pretense.

The sincerity in his eyes came through clearly to Ishtar, and she could only let out a quiet sigh.

"In that case, you don't even need a military force that large. And yet, you have no intention of compromising on it, do you?"

"Obviously. And it's not so much that I want military power - I want the Valkyrie Unit and the Knights of the Round Table. Think of it as an extension of my hobbies, really. You of all people should get it, Ishtar. If I'm going to build something, I want to build the strongest knightly order there is."

"......Indeed. I think I actually understand that."

"My, so that's what it takes for you to be convinced."

When Tatsuro appealed to that Chuunibyou spirit of hers - certain she'd understand - she came around without a fuss.

Leela laughed a little at that, as though she found it mildly amusing.

Ishtar hadn't been trying to object in the first place - she had simply wanted to know the reason - and once she had it, she backed off without ceremony.

This time, however, it was Uriel who had been waiting for a pause in Tatsuro's conversation before stepping forward with a question.

"Am I to join this Valkyrie Unit and protect you, my Lord?"

"That's the idea, eventually. But I'll hear out what you want as well, and more than anything, we only have one person right now, so that's still on hold. Besides, as I said earlier, it's not yet confirmed how the Duplication Points situation is going to turn out."

"I see. Then what should I do in the meantime?"

"Hmm. For now, I'd like you to work alongside Jiya - he's one of Jeanne's Retainers. Specifically, that means managing Cardina Castle behind us. And looking after the baby, I suppose. I don't intend to force anything, and if you have other wishes, I'll do my best to accommodate them - but what do you think?"

"I don't believe I am yet capable of being a meaningful fighting force for you and the others. I would like to manage the castle, care for the infant, and temper myself in the meantime."

"I see. Thank you. I'll introduce you to Jiya later."

"Yes, my Lord. ...By the way, I understand I will be caring for the infant, but what is the child's name?"

"Ah..."

At that, every single person except Uriel froze in place.

Now that they thought about it properly, they had been saying "the baby" this and "the baby" that, and had completely forgotten about a name.

"That - hasn't been decided yet. What should we do? Even Ai would feel a bit awkward naming a child from someone else's family - wouldn't you?"

"Yeah... as much as I'd love to put my talent to use, our connection is just too thin... it might be a little hard to feel right about."

No one commented on Ai's mention of her "talent," and each of them fell into a thoughtful, furrowed silence.

The child no longer had any blood relatives in this world.

In this era, Belkerp was probably still alive, but going to find him would undoubtedly throw things into disarray and crumble the path Tatsuro and the others were working toward - so that was naturally out of the question.

But a name had to be given, which meant this group would have to decide it themselves.

In that case, there was really only one candidate.

"So, Leela. We're counting on you!"

"Well, I suppose it would come to that..."

Ai gave a thumbs-up and pointed straight at Leela, making clear she was the only choice.

Leela was the only one who had spent any amount of time with Belkerp, and she shared the exact same race as the child's father. Among everyone present, her connection to the child was deeper than anyone else's - though calling it familial would still be a stretch.

"Leela. How about you look at the child while you think it over?"

"That makes sense."

Following Ishtar's suggestion, Tatsuro and the others dusted the sand off themselves and returned to Cardina Castle. The baby pandas and Mameda tagged along behind them.

When they went to the room where the baby was resting, Jiya was already there looking after him, so they took the opportunity to introduce Uriel as well.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Jiya."

"Please, there's no need for honorifics, Lady Uriel. In terms of standing, you are far above me."

"But I also consider Lady Jeanne one of my parents. In that sense, you are something like an elder brother to me, are you not? Standing has nothing to do with it."

"Even so, I would rather you not address me with such formality. Please, simply call me Jiya."

"Very well, Jiya. Let us both do our utmost for our Lord."

The two shook hands.

Their first impressions of each other seemed to be mutually positive, and Tatsuro felt they would get along well going forward.

While Tatsuro was looking over at them, Leela was gazing at the face of the baby still sleeping in his capsule.

"How's it going? Think you can decide? Leave the advice to me."

"Yes, I think so. I'll count on you when the time comes, Ai-chan."

"Leave it to me!"

Tatsuro couldn't help wondering why she was quite so confident, but he loved that about Ai too, so he reached out and gently patted her on the head. Ai squinted happily and leaned her back against him.

"Same as always," Leela murmured with a warm smile as she watched the two of them, then turned her attention back to the child.

The baby still had no ego of his own and barely moved, so his gender had never really been a concern until now - but for naming purposes, it mattered. Leela thought it through, factoring in that the child was a boy.

"Let's see... if I remember correctly, this child's mother's name was Lucy Tarant."

"I believe that's what it was."

"Then there's Lucy... Lu-cy... Lucille... but that's a girl's name. ...Hmm, in that case - how about Lucien? Belkerp's mark was passed on through being born an Elf, so Lucy left her mark through the name - something like that."

"That sounds wonderful. Then, keeping the surname Tarant as well, this child would be Lucien Tarant."

When they all looked at little Lucien again, somehow the name felt like it suited him perfectly. There were no objections, and the baby was officially named Lucien Tarant.

"Lucien. From now on, Jiya and I will be looking after you. A pleasure to meet you."

"......"

Uriel smiled down at the infant with a radiant, compassionate smile so beautiful it could have left any man at a loss - yet the men watching were entirely unaffected: Tatsuro, a devotee of Ai above all else, felt nothing; Jiya, a devotee of Jeanne above all else, felt nothing; and Lucien was simply too young to feel anything at all.

In their place, Ai and Leah both let out a soft, breathless sigh of admiration - taken in by that beauty as fellow women. A charming little moment, nothing more.

"Well then, shall we call today's experiments wrapped up? I'd like to hold back on any more Creation to preserve Duplication Points, so I'll spend some time playing with the mascot magical beasts and restoring the magical beast materials that were badly damaged."

"I'll watch too. And I want to play with the panda babies some more."

"I - ...I will return to my research."

It seemed that after weighing panda cubs against her research, the scales had tipped just barely toward research.

"Are you sure, Leah?"

"Yes. I'm eager to get back to it, and I'll play with the panda babies another time. See you later~"

When Leah waved, the pandas each did their own thing - some tilted their heads, some waved back, some simply ignored her and kept playing with each other.

But even that sight was enough to soothe her, and Leah headed back to her workshop with a big smile on her face. Nana followed after her, saying, "I shall go as well."

It was then that Ai remembered Leah had called them "panda babies," and pointed out that these little ones needed names of their own too.

It was true that calling them all just "panda babies" felt rather dull. So they decided to give all ten of them names.

"The classic naming style for pandas is definitely repeating a two-syllable word, right?"

"Yeah! So let's take names from everyone here and use them! This one gets the 'Ta' from 'Tatsuro' - so TanTan! And the 'A' from 'Ai' - AnAn!"

"TanTan is fine, but AnAn? That's like the name of a women's fashion magazine... Well, I suppose it's not that bad."

"Exactly, don't overthink it! Momentum is important when it comes to naming!"

"I feel like you might have a little too much momentum..."

Tatsuro muttered this, but Ai rattled off name after name without slowing down. To tell the pandas apart, they prepared differently colored handkerchiefs and tied them around their front paws.

In the end, the names that emerged were: TanTan from Tatsuro, AnAn from Ai, KanKan from Cardina, JinJin from Jeanne, NanNan from Nana, RinRin from Leah, TenTen from Athena, RanRan from Amaterasu, TsunTsun from Tsukuyomi, RenRen from Leela, ShinShin from Ishtar, and YanYan from Sai - both Aito and Aika - making twelve candidates.

But there were only ten pandas. That meant two people among them would not have a panda named after them.

And yet everyone was thinking the same thing: they wanted at least one to carry their name.

"It'd be a shame to leave anyone out, so let's just bring two more into the world - actually, adding Jiya and Uriel's share too, let's make it four more."

"Oh, but-"

"There is really no need on my account."

The two of them immediately tried to decline. Jiya seemed genuinely unbothered, but Tatsuro had been quick to notice that Uriel had looked just the tiniest bit envious. And since leaving Jiya out would feel off too, he pulled them both in by force.

"It's fine. Having lots of cute little ones is never a bad thing."

With that, Ai swept the matter up in her signature forceful way, and despite Tatsuro having just said he wanted to hold back on consumption, he spent 3 Duplication Points - and just like that, JiJi and RunRun were welcomed into the family.