I asked as many questions as I could think of, but before I could hear the answer, I suddenly thought of a new one.
"...But it doesn't necessarily mean that the Black Emperor himself, who expanded the territory, ceded it. Maybe it was another emperor who divided up the empire's territory?" (Fia)
However, Captain Curtis quietly confirmed my initial idea.
"No, it was definitely the 'Black Emperor' who ceded the Gazzard region to our country. Similarly, it was the 'Black Emperor' who created the 'Sacred Kingdom of Dithal' next to our country." (Curtis)
"Well" (Dia)
In other words, it was the Black Emperor who created the foundations of the current Nav Kingdom and its surrounding nations.
Just as I was thinking that he must have been a very powerful emperor, Green continued speaking, as if to confirm it.
"The Black Emperor was not only the strongest knight of the empire, but also an unparalleled warrior who was able to control half of the continent with unparalleled force. That's why he ceded part of his land to other countries unconditionally. He had the freedom to build a country or start another country....In the first place, the Black Emperor was born in the Nav Kingdom, so he must have had his own thoughts and granted part of his territory to the Kingdom." (Green)
"Born in Nav Kingdom..." (Fia)
The moment I heard that, my heart skipped a beat.
...That's right, I wonder why I didn't notice it.
Didn't I know someone 300 years ago who had the potential to sit in the Emperor's chair?
Unintentionally, the image of the commander of the Royal Guards from my previous life flashed into my head.
"...I...I wonder where the name Black Emperor came from?" (Fia)
As his name suggested, I pretended to be casual and asked the question, thinking of a beautiful silver-haired, silver-eyed knight who shined like a star in the night sky.
However, despite my efforts to calm down, my heart was pounding like an early bell.
As I waited unblinkingly for an answer, noisily thinking about my throbbing heartbeat, Green, who was unaware of my state of nervousness, easily spoke words that betrayed my expectations.
"Ah, the name Black Emperor was given to him because of his appearance. Not only did he have black hair and black eyes, but he also seemed to always wear black clothes." (Green)
"Huh? Huh! Black hair, black eyes...!?" (Fia)
Because he answered with a different color than I thought, for a moment I didn't understand what was being said and I kept repeating the same words.
Black hair, black eyes...
As soon as I understood what that meant, I let out a deep sigh.
In my head, Sirius, who was the commander of the Imperial Guard in a previous life, appeared, and raised one eyebrow in shock at me, and I had automatically assumed that the Black Emperor was Sirius.
Oh, that's right!
Come to think of it, Sirius was not only born in the Kingdom, but he had been raised in the Kingdom for a long time, so there was no way he would have been called to the empire now.
Sirius himself had said that he would always live in the Kingdom, and he was the kind of person who could make his wishes come true, so I didn't have to worry.
Well, I didn't like it. When I calmed down, I wondered why I misunderstood.
...Ah, because I heard that the Black Emperor was the strongest knight.
The strongest knight 300 years ago was definitely Sirius, so I misunderstood.
However, it was not common for someone who could be called an emperor to be passed down to future generations as "the strongest," regardless of the facts.
Thinking of this, I felt a sigh of relief, and regretted that I had asked out of curiosity.
No, no. Reincarnation was something that was originally impossible.
Even if I found out about Sirius after I died, there was nothing I could do about it now, and it was rude to have arbitrary thoughts based solely on the fact that I didn't know if it had been conveyed accurately or not.
So, don't dig up the past.
When asking about the past, you should talk in general terms, as if you were asking about history.
I clasped my hands together and made my decision once again.
And, because I was just telling myself so strongly at that time...I didn't notice Captain Curtis staring at me as if he was asking me something.
"Well, it's wonderful! Blackpeak Mountain, where Zavilia lives, is a very wonderful mountain!" (Fia)
That was what I thought as I looked down at Blackpeak Mountain from Zavilia's back.
As Zavilia suggested, and as Captain Curtis requested, he and I flew all the way to the top on Zavilia's back.
Looking down from the sky, Blackpeak Mountain was majestic and beautiful, the air was clear, and I felt like I understood why Zavilia chose this mountain as his home.
As we neared the top, we began to see colorful lumps on the ground.
Hmm, maybe those are all monsters?
Thinking so, I looked closely, and the closer I got, the more I realized that not only were they monsters, but they were all dragons.
Well, about 100 dragons!
This was the first time I had seen so many S-rank monsters gathered together.
It was a rather frightening sight.
While I was wide-eyed in surprise, Zavilia slowly descended.
Interestingly, as soon as Zavilia appeared in the sky, all the dragons straightened up, raised their heads, and stared intently at us.
When I saw that scene, I was so happy that my cute Zavilia seemed to be very popular.
Zavilia dropped us off a little further away from the dragons and looked at us questioningly.
...Ah, Zavilia, who can read my mind, is waiting for me to stop thinking about things in my head and calm down.
Realizing this, I kept my eyes on the dragons and placed one hand on Zavilia's body in gratitude.
Perhaps because I didn't have a familiar system in my previous life, I tended to calculate the strength of a monster in my head as soon as I see it, regardless of whether I was facing a familiar or a friend of Zavilia.
I unconsciously calculate, "Can I defeat the monster I'm facing with my current strength?"
In front of me were about 100 dragons.
Our forces against them were Captain Curtis, Green, Blue, Zavilia... and myself as a saint...
"...Yeah, Fia is amazing because she can conclude that you can win." (Zavilia)
Zavilia, who had shared my thoughts before I knew it, murmured in admiration.
"Fia is really amazing when it comes to combat. Even after coming to the conclusion that you can win, you're still making up patterns over and over again in your head, wondering if there's an even better move. I've been thinking since then, but familiar contracts have a big benefit for the monsters. It's amazing that I can share Fia's battle thinking." (Zavilia)
Having come to a general conclusion, Zavilia's words suddenly caused me to lose concentration and look up at him.
"Yeah, I guess so? Of course, the knights who fought alongside me in my previous life shared the same way of thinking about battle as me, but they didn't think it was that big of a deal, you know?" (Fia)
Zavilia glanced at Captain Curtis, who was sighing heavily next to her, and murmured suggestively, "...I think there are different opinions," but no, no, please trust what he said.
I didn't know what Captain Curtis was trying to say, and even though Canopus fought alongside me in a previous life, but there was no more reliable comment than Captain Curtis himself!
As I was thinking about this, Zavilia tilted his head cutely and looked at me.
"Well, no. I only have one request. Fia tends to take familiar contracts too easily, but this is quite a difficult one. Don't sign a contract needlessly. It's no good" (Zavilia)
"Huh? I already have a contract with Zavilia." (Fia)
I blinked, wondering what Zavilia was going to say all of a sudden, unable to gauge what he meant.
Then, Zavilia continued speaking as if to explain.
"Yes, but there is no need to limit the number of monsters you contract to one. If I had the power of Fia, I would probably have to make contracts with many monsters to protect myself, but... I'll be as strong as you ever need, so please don't sign contracts with anyone other than me." (Zavilia)
Zavilia looked at me intently as he said that, and despite his huge size, he was extremely cute.
Well, when it came to Zavilia!
Even though he said, "I'm going to be king," and left, he was still a spoiled brat.
Thinking so, I hugged Zavilia tightly.
"Of course, Zavilia! Zavilia is my only familiar!" (Fia)
Behind me, Captain Curtis let out another disappointed sigh.
"Even if we ignore the pros and cons of the matter, Lady Fi makes too many promises..." (Curtis)
Yes, that might be true.
However, I didn't need any other familiar other than Zavilia.
Thinking of this, I smiled back at Zavilia, who looked happy.
Author's Note
As always, thank you for reading!
...
Thank you very much for your support.