“You must be tired from your long journey, Chancellor Sullivan.”

    “It’s been a while, Kraut. You seem to have...grown even larger since our last meeting—“

    -!!

    Inside the reception room on the second floor. Before the two could finish their formal greetings, the entire Kendride Margraviate was shaken by an explosion.

    “...”

    “...”

    Chancellor Sullivan and Margrave Kendride exchanged a look of weary resignation.

    “...How long has this been going on?”

    At Sullivan’s question, Kraut let out a sigh before throwing a glance at his castle’s courtyard.

    Thanks to the clash between Iliya and Riru, an entire annex was destroyed.

    “If my memory serves me right, they’ve been at it since morning.”

    “...”

    Hmm.

    So he’s telling me that this large-monster-invasion-level battle—something that could easily raze buildings in a single blow—has been going on since dawn?

    Chancellor Sullivan stroked her chin while looking around the surroundings.

    Seeing how the interior of the Margrave’s Mansion had been almost reduced to rubbles, that didn’t seem like an exaggeration.

    “...How much would it cost to rebuild all these?”

    “I’d say it’ll probably take the entire Margraviate’s annual budget. Well, I can just send the bills to the Imperial Palace later. This whole mess happened because of that ‘official wife’ or whatever thing anyway.”

    “...”

    The fact that the margrave could speak so calmly suggested he had reached a state of zen regarding the existence of that man, Dowd Campbell.

    “...In any case, discussing official business in this...environment...would be quite difficult.”

    Sullivan gestured towards another building collapsing in a cloud of dust, another casualty of the ongoing battle.

    Though she’d come with urgent business requiring Dowd’s immediate presence, this chaotic scene had made things rather difficult for that.

    Although, she was a little surprised. Normally, such destruction would be accompanied by various screams, and yet...

    “I commanded everyone to evacuate beforehand.”

    “...”

    “I had a feeling that this would happen from the moment he said he was going to visit my territory.”

    He’s treating Dowd like a natural disaster now...

    Sullivan wisely chose not to speak out loud and keep her mouth shut.

    “...Why does it turn quiet all of a sudden?”

    At Sullivan’s question, Kraut also stroked his chin while looking around.

    The constant barrage of explosions and shouts—this part was mostly just insults they directed at each other’s femininity, though—abruptly ceased.

    “...Ah.”

    As for the reason why, it didn’t take long for them to find out.

    Since the women had been too busy fighting amongst themselves, they failed to keep track of Dowd’s location amidst the chaos. But, the collapse of a certain building’s outer wall had inadvertently revealed his location. r??ANo????S

    Inside the rubble, there was Yuria, attaching a collar to Dowd’s neck with a feverish excitement on her face.

    Her breath came in ragged gasps, her eyes were unfocused—she was completely absorbed in whatever it was that she was doing right now.

    Before her was Dowd, kneeling with cold sweat running down his face, like a condemned prisoner who was receiving his sentence.

    “...”@@@@

    “...”

    “...”

    A chilling silence descended upon the group of women who witnessed this scene.

    “Oh dear.”

    Before Kraut’s words could even dissipate into the air, a chorus of outraged shrieks erupted.

    “That bitch is cutting the line—!”

    “Have some common decency! You undeveloped flat-chested bitc—!”

    “I’m going to strangle you to death with that collar.”

    “Why can’t you stay in your corner like the gloomy bitch you are—?!”

    “...”

    The sheer intensity of their rage was...impressive...in a terrifying sort of way.

    It was rather depressing to think that the women who were hurling such vulgar insults were the future leaders of their generation.

    “Truly a shame. Ah, would you care for more tea?”

    “Gladly.”

    Nevertheless...

    Neither the chancellor nor the margrave sympathized with Dowd’s predicament right now.

    Then again, why should they?

    As I endured this hellish experience, I suddenly heard a ripping sound from below my neck.

    “...?”

    I looked down, fearing the worst.

    Thankfully, there was nothing wrong with my body.

    It was just, my clothes were unable to withstand the situation, and it was shredded into rags.

    In other words.

    I was now standing in the middle of Margrave Mansion while wearing nothing but underwear.

    “...”

    “...”

    “...”

    Silence fell upon the surroundings.

    Not only the ones who had been fighting over me, but even the people watching from afar, as if they were watching a sports match, were now quietly focusing their gaze on my half-naked body.

    I could even faintly hear someone covering their mouth, murmuring, ‘Oh my, what a nice body,’ or something along that line.

    “...”

    I kept my mouth shut.

    My body trembled.

    I felt like I might cry from this humiliation...

    “U-Um, s-sorry—”

    “If you think this could end with just an apology, then don’t start this sort of thing in the first place.”

    Someone stammered out an apology, but before she could finish her sentence, she was struck on the back of her head and collapsed with a groan.

    “W-Wait!”

    “W-Wha—”

    And she wasn’t the only one. All the women who were playing tug-of-war over me were struck on the back of their heads and fell down one after another.

    Normally, they wouldn’t easily succumb to such a simple hit, but since they had exhausted themselves going against each other’s throat, they just didn’t have the energy to respond anymore.

    Also, considering that the one hitting them was someone they couldn’t guarantee victory against even if they faced her at full strength, such an outcome was inevitable.

    “I’ve come to rescue you, Dowd.”

    “...”

    “You seem to have gone through quite the ordeal.”

    The newcomer, Eleanor, said as such as she draped the coat she was wearing over me, letting it flutter around my body.

    Her appearance looked super dependable. Like a hero rescuing a heroine who had gone through terrible hardships with a gallant smile. In fact, I was so moved that tears actually started to trickle out...

    “S-Stop...c-cutting in l-line—!”

    Iliya—who was writhing after receiving a fierce blow to the back of her head—mumbled those words, but she only received a snort and a dismissive reply.

    “Well. You said that anyone who wants to claim this man has to prove it with their skills.”

    Eleanor’s gaze swept over the women sprawled all over the ground as she spoke such words slowly.

    With a triumphant smile that was rare to be seen on her face.

    “I think I’ve proven my skills by being the last one standing.”

    “...”

    “So, I’ll be taking him with me. Besides, there’s an urgent matter that requires his presence. A summon from the Imperial Palace.”

    “...”

    “...”

    “What? Do you have any complaints?”

    Obviously they had complaints. Lots of them. It was obvious. But unfortunately, after the tug-of-war thing, none of them had any strength left to voice them.

    In other words, no one could get up and start a fight with her.

    “...Um, Lady Eleanor.”

    “What is it?”

    “I’m asking just in case, but...”

    Iliya, while trembling, spoke up.

    “You... Could it be...? You waited for us to exhaust ourselves before joining in...?”

    “Now, I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

    “...”

    “Besides... Even if I did, what are you going to do about it?”

    “...”

    In the end, this chaos ended more anticlimactically than expected.

    With everyone being subdued by the strongest and most fearsome lady.

    Footnotes

    1. It''s an old-school execution method where they tie a person''s limbs to horses and have them run in different /genesisforsaken