The nation that challenged the Algrand Empire—the Gudwar Hegemony.

This interstellar nation, calling itself a Hegemony, was a truly simple country where might makes right.

With power, one could rise.

Without power, even royalty would lose their status.

For this reason, the Gudwar Hegemony was a place of more intense conflict within its borders than without.

There was a prince who united this Hegemony and challenged the Algrand Empire.

He was one of the Hegemon's sons, but his status was very low.

He was but one of over a thousand princes, and his claim to the throne was quite low.

But he said,

“It’s no good to keep fighting amongst ourselves. If we must fight, then let’s fight outsiders!”

He put forth his theory that rather than determining the strongest within the country, they should invade other nations to expand their territory.

He—【Izel】—beat down his older brothers with his fists to make them acknowledge him, raising his rank in the line of succession.

In the Hegemony, the right of succession is determined by strength.

The still-young Izel was a man who had risen for the future of the Hegemony, climbing to the position of Crown Prince through sheer force.

He had just turned two hundred, yet his appearance was that of a man in his early twenties.

However, his well-trained body bore numerous scars.

He also had a cross-shaped scar on his forehead, but in the Hegemony, scars from battle are a mark of honor and are never removed.

The fleet of the Hegemony led by this Izel numbered three million ships.

In response, the Algrand Empire had prepared a fleet of five million.

In the command room of the Hegemony's flagship—a fortress-class vessel—Izel was gazing at a simplified map displaying the entire battlefield.

“Calvin shouldn't have much of a combat record, but he's holding on well.”

Surrounding Izel were brave warriors. Many of them were formidable foes whom Izel had defeated and subjugated, men who should be called friends.

Even the staff officers had mastered some form of martial arts, giving them a muscular and powerful appearance.

“I thought the Imperial Prince was a weakling, but among his subordinates are warriors worth noting.”

“Even so, the Imperial forces are a mess.”

“It looks like they just scraped together the numbers.”

Izel crossed his arms and looked at the data on the enemy fleet. The fleet surrounding Calvin was equipped with state-of-the-art battleships.

However, nearly forty percent of them were nothing but outdated vessels that looked like they had been scraped together.

In contrast, all of the Hegemony's battleships were standardized.

It was an interstellar nation where might was everything, but perhaps because might was everything, no corners were cut when it came to weaponry.

Izel extended his right hand forward.

“We will crush the Empire and claim new territory for ourselves!”

The fleet of the Hegemony, led by the spirited Izel, launched an assault on Calvin's fleet.

◇

The bridge, where the warriors were getting fired up.

Among them was the figure of the Guide.

(Might makes right, no matter what, is it? Honestly, I find it hard to understand.)

Glancing to his side, he saw Gudwar, whose octopus-like head was bright red.

The Hegemony's continued strife was heavily influenced by Gudwar, a being similar to the Guide.

The Guide was acting subserviently towards Gudwar.

“My, what reliable pawns you have. Is that young man named Izel your current favorite, Gudwar?”

Gudwar glared at the Guide.

“—What is the meaning of this? I was expecting to see a battle between warriors that would make my blood boil, but every last one of them is a disappointment!”

“Y-You can't blame me for that.”

The Guide had thought that if the Hegemony made a move, Liam would surely join the battle. But in reality, Liam had refused to participate, citing his training—or rather, Calvin had kept Liam away from the battlefield.

For some reason, he was now at the rear of the battlefield, which was unexpected even for the Guide.

He had thought that if the Hegemony continued its rapid advance, Liam would eventually appear—but he didn't.

Gudwar had been looking forward to seeing the rumored One-Flash Style. And yet, no matter how long he waited, he couldn't see it.

There were battles between the strong on the battlefield, which served as a distraction, but none of them were the main event.

“I want to see Liam! Will my Izel kill Liam, or will he be killed? That’s what I want to see on the battlefield!”

The excited Gudwar was slapping the Guide's cheek with a tentacle.

“O-Ow. S-Stop it, please, Gudwar.”

(This bastard! If only I hadn't lost my power, I could erase you in an instant!)

Gudwar slapped him back and forth, then grabbed him by the collar.

“Hurry up and bring him here.”

“Huh?”

“Hurry up and bring Liam to the battlefield! Make him fight my Izel!”

“D-Don't be ridiculous! If I get close to him, I'll be erased!”

“Just do it!”

Izel had Gudwar's blessing. Unlike the Guide's, it was a genuine blessing.

The Guide tries to bring Liam down, but Gudwar is different. Gudwar gives Izel one trial after another, rewarding him each time he overcomes one.

However, if he fails to overcome them—he will lose Gudwar's favor. And if he becomes too strong, Gudwar will grow bored.

Being loved by Gudwar is not necessarily a blessing.

The Guide, in his current state, couldn't stop the excited Gudwar and reluctantly decided to obey.

“I-I understand.”

“You should have just said so from the start!”

Facing the angry Gudwar, the Guide clenched his fists.

(—This guy... once Liam is dealt with, I'll definitely erase him.)

Telling himself that now was the time to endure, the Guide vanished.

◇

Around the time the Hegemony made its move.

Marion arrived on Planet Augur.

The reason he had followed Liam after a slight delay was that his orders had been issued at a different time.

He had prepared a plausible excuse, such as needing to hand over his duties.

Inside a spaceship entering Planet Augur's spaceport, Marion stood with his arms crossed in a place where he could see outside.

Spread out before him was a magnificent spaceport, though still under construction.

“—He's a monster, just as the rumors say. If he can prepare a spaceport of this scale in such a short time, I can't even use that as a weakness to exploit.”

He had thought Liam would be scrambling to deal with the sudden orders and would only be able to prepare a small spaceport.

As an agent of the mastermind who intended to blame Liam for that outcome, Marion had also come to investigate.

“Well, if I dig around, I'm sure I'll find plenty of dirt.”

He planned to get close by pretending to be an ally and search for Liam's weaknesses.

“This took longer than I thought.”

From the very beginning—Marion had been Liam's enemy.

The spaceship arrived at the spaceport's dock, and as its hull was secured, arms extended one after another.

As Marion started walking towards the exit, the crew members on board made way for him.

Marion's status as an official from the Capital Planet was unusually high compared to others.

That was how high the status of officials was within the Empire.

When he headed from the spaceship to the spaceport, a welcoming party was waiting for him. The person was a knight serving the Frontier Count Orgren.

From Marion's perspective, this was a knight who worked for the main family line.

“Lord Marion, it has been a while.”

“Did you come all this way just to greet me?”

“Yes.”

Surrounding them were knights and soldiers serving Frontier Count Orgren, encircling Marion. The atmosphere was tense, but from Marion's point of view, they were allies.

“I didn't expect you all to be here.”

The knight was smiling.

“It is all thanks to you, Lord Marion, for securing support from Count Banfield. The Frontier Count is most pleased.”

Marion felt a sense of doubt at those words, but before he could react, the surrounding knights and soldiers drew their weapons.

“—What is the meaning of this?”

The smiles vanished from the knights' faces, replaced by a palpable killing intent. Sensing their strong resolve to attack if he moved, Marion raised both his hands.

“Count Banfield is waiting for you.”

Marion broke out in a cold sweat.

(What's going on? Why is Senior Liam's name coming up? I haven't even introduced Senior Liam to the main house yet.)

While Marion was meeting with the masterminds on the Capital Planet, Liam had also been making his move.

The knights gave a dark smile.

“Shall we have you change your clothes? It seems your current attire is not to the Count's liking.”

“S-Stop it!”

Marion's eyes widened as he tried to resist, but female knights restrained him.

◇

What do you do once the construction of a spaceport is complete?

A party, of course.

It doesn't matter to me if my allies are fighting on the battlefield.

Besides, I have something to look forward to today.

It's a standing buffet, but thanks to the use of zero gravity, people are standing on the ceiling and walls as well. It's such a strange sight I can't quite comprehend it, but it's not uncommon in an interstellar nation.

Since not just the floor, but the walls and ceiling can be used, the capacity is high.

Also, I left all the preparations for this party to Wallace.

“Wallace, isn't this a bit plain?”

When I said that to the grumpy-looking Wallace, it seemed he had put some thought into it in his own way.

“Even so, if we make it any more extravagant, we'll be resented by the folks on the battlefield.”

“It's fine. They're political enemies anyway.”

“We're part of the same Imperial army. If we anger them, I think this place could be in danger too, you know?”

Wallace is exasperated, but I came to the frontier to see for myself—unfortunately, it seems Calvin wasn't the one who brought me to the frontier.

It seems he wasn't connected to Lady Annabel.

It's extremely disappointing.

The liquid in the glass I'm holding is designed not to fly away even in zero gravity.

When I swirled it in the glass, it trembled like jelly. But as soon as it entered my mouth, it turned back into a liquid.

After taking a sip of the drink to wet my mouth, I talked to Wallace about the future.

“No problem. Calvin is a capable man. Calvin is, anyway.”

“What do you mean by that?”

He probably didn't have the luxury to try and oust me.

Someone else used Lady Annabel.

“It means Calvin doesn't have time to be fighting with us.”

“Then who on earth sent you to the frontier, Liam? No, it was Lady Annabel, wasn't it? I heard Cleo gave permission. What is he even doing?”

I gave Wallace a pitying look. He seemed to notice it and angrily questioned me.

“What is it! If you know something, you could at least tell me!”

I want to tell him to think for himself, but I'll set that aside.

I turned my gaze to the entrance.

“More importantly, it's time for today's main event. I'm going to entertain our guest, so you come too.”

A single woman, surrounded by guards, entered the venue.

She was wearing a cute dress, but the skirt was short, revealing her beautiful, slender legs. It's hard to notice since she usually wears pants, but it's very clear when her shoulders and legs are exposed.

Wallace tilted his head.

“I feel like I've seen her somewhere before.”

Of course you have.

As the two of us approached, the woman blatantly furrowed her brow, showing her displeasure. That's the face I wanted to see.

“It's been a while, Marion.”

When I called out to her, the woman—Marion—looked frustrated.

It's not that I made him cross-dress; Marion was a woman from the start.

When Marion turned her face away, the Frontier Count Orgren standing next to her spoke to me. He was friendly.

“Lord Liam, I thank you for the invitation.”

“Having the Frontier Count who protects our borders attend adds prestige to the event.”

We exchanged pleasantries, putting on a show for those around us like, 'We're best buddies!' but personally, I was showing off for Marion.

—See? Even without you, I'm on good terms with the Frontier Count.

The Frontier Count talked about the weapons I had sent him.

“Regarding the state-of-the-art weapons you provided, we should be able to form a unit within a few months. Thanks to that, we can send reinforcements to the front lines.”

“That's good to hear.”

As the Frontier Count and I were talking, Marion, who was listening beside us, was trembling with frustration.

However, the Frontier Count's gaze towards Marion was cold.

“—I hear Marion has been in your care.”

“Yes, we get along well on the Capital Planet. Isn't that right, Marion?”

I gave her a smile, but she wouldn't even look at me.

Her expression seemed to say that her current outfit was a humiliation.

—She weighed me against the Langran family, so she should be grateful I let her off this easily.

The Frontier Count started to complain.

“We sent Marion to the Capital Planet to secure support, you see. Of course, the Banfield family was among the candidates—but for her to go and act on her own, of all things... she is a troublesome daughter.”

Frontier Count Orgren, and the Viscount Orgren family—the gazes from the members of these two houses towards Marion were cold.

The reason was that Marion had been acting on her own selfish judgment.

She had ignored the orders from her main house and her own family to negotiate for support from influential nobles.

No, she intended to use those orders to show off her own talent.

It seems Marion had intended to rise through the ranks of the Orgren family.

When I investigated, the results were quite interesting.

Well, it wouldn't have mattered to me either way if Frontier Count Orgren had been trying to frame me.

If he had opposed me, I was planning to use the Hegemony to crush him so badly he'd never recover.

I spoke to Marion.

“I told you from the beginning, didn't I? To bring out your master.”

Marion turned a face full of hatred towards me and was about to reach out her right hand when the people around us started to move. The Frontier Count's knights moved to restrain Marion, and from my shadow, Kukuri and the other black ops members stirred.

But I immediately grabbed that right hand.

“It was fun, Marion. I'll praise you for putting up a good fight for a small fry.”

“—Hk!”

I let go of Marion and turned to the Frontier Count.

“Well then, if you'll excuse me.”

“I apologize for the trouble caused by one of my own. We will punish her in a way that satisfies you, Lord Liam.”

“No, that's quite alright. In fact—I think I'd prefer it if you did nothing at all.”

The Frontier Count accepted my offer. Then, he only glanced at Marion.

“Do not waste Lord Liam's generosity.”

I left the spot with Wallace. I should say one last thing to Marion.

“Marion, you looked cute in that dress.”

Wallace muttered to me, “You're so cruel, Liam,” but I've been a cruel man from the start, so he's not wrong.

Waka-ki-chan ( ゜∀゜) 'The true idol of the afterword is the one who remains on the side with more page views! So now I'll promote Volume 6 of 'Trapped in a Dating Sim: The World of Otome Games is Tough for Mobs'! But, I feel like I've talked about it to death, so today I'll talk about the special bonuses.'

Waka-ki-chan ( ゜Д゜) '...For volume six, the survey bonus was the "Marie Route," and it was a whopping 50,000 characters long. I mean, what the heck, 50,000 characters? I think it would have been way more cost-effective to prepare a bonus story about me.'

Waka-ki-chan ( ゜∀゜) 'You all want to read about the exploits of this afterword's idol more than the Marie Route, right? Right?! You can even write in the comments section that you want to read a story about Naegi-chan. Also, please vote for Naegi-chan in the popularity poll!'

Waka-ki-chan (#゜Д゜) '...I didn't get a part in the drama CD this time, but I won't give up here. I'll definitely rise to the top. I'm absolutely going to become popular!'