Yuri Empire

(…… What should I do?)

As Yuri looked up at the ceiling, she pondered for a while.

Even before she came to this other world, when she was playing the game『Atros Online』at home, Yuri was sure that everyone in the Yuri Empire was her beloved wife.

At the time, everyone in the Yuri Empire was a “AI” that only acted in a certain way, and if you ask me if they were human-like, I’d say no.

The fact is that Yuri beloved girls can think for themselves, act on their desires and judgments, are moved by all kinds of stimuli from the outside world, and respond to Yuri with love and individuality. It was only after she came to this other world.

That’s why at first Yuri thought that the change in everyone in the Yuri Empire was due to the work of the God who brought them to this world, the Goddess of Healing, Lydina.

However, it seems that this is not the case. In the garden of『Divine Realm』, I had the chance to talk to Lydina directly, and Yuri learned later. She has not done anything to make such a change in everyone in the Yuri Empire.

“I’m sure your beloved children evolved because of your love.”

“…… Oh, love?”

“Yes. You may not be able to see it yourself, but as one of the main gods of this world, I can see it. Your love is so great and so pure. It is so great and pure that it can change a being that had only ‘artificial intelligence’.

Yuri. With your love that can change others, you are qualified to be one of the main gods of this world. Why don’t you become the ‘Goddess of Love’?”

Yuri still clearly remembers the first words of invitation that Lydina gave to Yuri when she joined the ranks of the main gods.

Incidentally, at the time, Yuri immediately replied to Lydina’s proposal, “No, I don’t want to.”

In the end, however, Lydina persuaded her that she could help the children of <Water Lily> who were unable to use sacred magic, and she reluctantly agreed to join one of the main gods.

―――Getting off-topic.

If Yuri’s love is the reason why everyone in the Yuri Empire has a heart. The current situation where everyone in the Yuri Empire is taking their actions and doing things in the dark is exactly what Yuri wanted.

That’s right. Yuri is rather aware of the fact that everyone in the Yuri Empire is doing various things as they please, outside of Yuri’s intentions.

For example, the collapse of the Kingdom of Eldard by the skeletal soldiers, she knew that everyone in the Yuri Empire was involved.

This is because Yuri is a [Player] and everyone in the Yuri Empire is an [NPC] associated with the same game account.

Of course, now everyone in the Yuri Empire is no longer appropriate to be called [NPC] but has been changed into a human with their hearts. That’s not what’s important here.

Yuri has a unique feature that allows him to check the information of NPCs on her account at any time. This feature allows you to view the status of NPCs’ abilities, locations, and action logs.

In addition, the same function can also be used to check information about the followers summoned by the children of NPCs.

In other words, if Yuri wanted to know, she could find out where everyone in the Yuri Empire and their followers were, and what they had been up to.

According to the information that can be confirmed, the total number of followers currently summoned by the children of the Yuri Empire is 811.

Of these, 120 are summoned by <Kikyou> for the construction of new cities, and 161 are summoned by <Nadeshiko> and <Rindou>for city management and production work.

Then, of course, the remaining ‘530’ are the followers summoned by the children of the other unit.

In the Yuri Empire, except for <Nadeshiko>, <Kikyou>, and <Rindou>, the other nine units are all full-fledged combat units. And the followers that they summon are also all highly skilled in combat and are not useful for internal affairs.

The majority of the 530 combat followers being summoned by the nine units are active outside the country. The largest number of them are active in the territory of the Kingdom of Eldard, and the number of those active in the territory of the Duchy of Selsia also seems to exceed 100.

What on earth are they doing in the enemy country―――Yuri wondered.

Of course, a follower is loyal to their master and does not act independently unless ordered to do so.

Therefore, the fact that a large number of followers are actively working in other countries is related to the intentions of everyone in the Yuri Empire.

If Yuri wanted to find out what it was, she could do it.

If Yuri reads the action logs of the followers, she can find out everything about what they’ve been doing in other countries.

Once Yuri has a full picture of their behavior, it’s not hard to guess what their true intentions are.

“………”

But Yuri does not do that…

This is because Yuri likes the fact that everyone in the Yuri Empire has a heart, and as a result, they act in secret, even from Yuri.

Everyone in the Yuri Empire is Yuri’s “wife”, “companion”, and “subordinate”.

Still―――none of them are slaves.

Yuri wants to be a person who can respect everyone in the Yuri Empire.

If they want to do something in secret, even from Yuri, that’s fine and even desirable for Yuri.

And even though everyone is ‘acting in secret’, Yuri understands that it’s not against Yuri. The absolute loyalty they have to Yuri is not something that can be questioned in the slightest.

Yuri thinks that everyone is working in the dark to help Yuri. If that’s the case, she doesn’t want to restrict their actions from Yuri’s side.

In addition…… no matter what everyone in the Yuri Empire is doing against the kingdoms and duchies, it is a trivial matter for Yuri.

Both the kingdom and the duchy were enemies of war, so there was no need to show any sympathy. If the kingdom collapses as a result of the efforts of everyone in the Yuri Empire, it doesn’t matter to Yuri.

(―――However, there’s a limit to everything.)

With a snap, Yuri dropped the dozen or so pages of the report she had been reading onto her desk.

If, as Yuri guessed, the children of <Kuroyuri> are ordering their succubus followers to steal Sofia Theodore’s [Wisdom]. That is something that cannot be allowed.

Because Sofia Theodore was a young girl who was visiting as an emissary from the duchy. It is especially important in diplomatic etiquette not to attack the envoy of another country, and it is a rule that must be respected at the very least.

Since it’s wartime, it doesn’t matter how outrageous the <Kuroyuri> girls are to the Principality. But even so, the messenger is the only one that should not be attacked.

(For now, let’s check the facts.)

Yuri used her function as a player to scrutinize the information on the succubus followers that the <Kuroyuri> girls were still summoning, especially the action log.

As expected, the fact that the succubus who was summoned as a follower was acting under orders from the <Kuroyuri> captain, Cassia, and was executing an [Ability Absorption Drain] on the duchy’s emissary, Sofia, revealed.

The <Kuroyuri> intentions were that the peace negotiations between Yuri and Sofia would fail and that the war with the Principality would continue.

So they drain Sophia’s [Wisdom] to the very limit, turning her from a brilliant woman into a foolish girl.

And, on that day, Yuri threw Sofia out of the audience room when she brazenly proposed to make peace by splitting the pain. Everything went according to <Kuroyuri> plan.

(You don’t have to go through all this trouble. ……)

Yuri thought to herself.

She didn’t have to take such a roundabout way. If the children of <Kuroyuri> had said, “We don’t want you to make peace with the Principality”, Yuri would have done exactly that.

“…… In the meantime, we need to get Sofia recovered.”

We must not attack the messenger. That’s what Yuri thinks.

So, the first thing that Yuri, as the head of state, should do is to return Sofia, the official envoy from the duchy, to her original state and then apologize to her as the head of state.