For some time now, Emrys had begun to realize that he had made a mistake, and quite a considerable one at that.
He had thought that by accepting that the inhabitants called him "king," the problem would eventually disappear.
Obviously, he had been wrong.
Quite the opposite, in fact.
At first, whenever someone called him that, Emrys would still take the trouble to correct them. He would calmly explain that he wasn't a king, that he had never asked to become one, and that he didn't even possess a kingdom in the traditional sense of the word.
Then people would laugh.
Simply because they seemed to think that saying those words was a joke.
And now, after several weeks, Emrys had completely given up on trying to convince them.
He should have been wary, though.
Because if the inhabitants had stopped arguing about his title, that didn't mean they had stopped thinking about their kingdom.
The problem appeared one morning as Emrys was casually walking down a street lined with small houses.
He had just brought a new community into Unlimited Blade Works.
But unlike the other times, he hadn't gone looking for these inhabitants himself. They had come of their own accord, seeking a new home after hearing about this place.
At first, Emrys had been surprised. The Code of Hammurabi should have prevented any information from leaking out.
But he had then realized that while the people inside Unlimited Blade Works couldn't speak about its name or its true nature, they could still reveal certain pieces of information, such as the peace that reigned there.
After making sure that everything was going well, he had decided to stay for a few days before leaving on another journey.
He probably should have continued his journey immediately.
It would have saved him a lot of trouble.
"Your Majesty!"
Emrys kept walking.
"Your Majesty!"
He sighed.
He already knew who was coming up behind him.
"Emrys!"
This time, he stopped.
He turned around and saw a group of inhabitants approaching him. Rou was among them, accompanied by Farel, Adrian, Grey, Heim, Nono, and Lonni.
"What is it?"
Rou arrived in front of him with a smile.
"We wanted to talk to you."
Emrys looked at the seven young men.
Then he looked behind them.
Another dozen or so inhabitants were present.
And then a few more.
He narrowed his eyes.
They were representatives of the various villages and communities present within Unlimited Blade Works.
"Why are there so many of you?"
"Because it's important."
"That doesn't answer my question."
Rou shrugged.
"It's important to everyone."
Emrys remained silent for a few seconds.
He had learned to be wary of that phrase.
Every time a group of people told him that something was "important to everyone," it usually meant he was going to have to sit through a long and annoying discussion.
"What do you want?"
A middle-aged woman stepped forward.
"We want you to give this kingdom a name."
Emrys stood perfectly still.
He looked at the woman.
Then Rou.
Then the others.
"...Nani the fuck?"
"The name of the kingdom," she repeated.
"I heard you."
"Then you understand."
"No."
The answer came so immediately that several people exchanged amused glances.
Emrys crossed his arms.
"Why do you need me to give it a name?"
"Because you're the one who brought us together."
"And?"
"And because we are now one population."
Another man spoke up.
"We have humans, demons, giants, druids, and beastmen. We live together. We have our own homes, fields, workshops, markets..."
"And our own king," someone added from behind.
Emrys closed his eyes.
"I'm not a fucking king, damn it!"
"As you wish, Your Majesty."
A tired sigh escaped him.
Rou let out a small laugh.
"Don't start."
"I didn't say anything."
"Your smile is enough."
The young man immediately became serious again.
"But they're right about one thing. We need a name."
Emrys thought about it.
He had never considered the matter.
To him, this place had always been Unlimited Blade Works.
A space created by his magic.
A place where he could shelter those fleeing war.
He had never imagined that the inhabitants would eventually come to consider it their country.
"Fine. Unlimited Blade Works. What other name do you want me to give it?"
Silence.
Emrys smiled inwardly.
Perfect.
They would finally stop bothering him.
At least, that's what he thought.
A young woman raised her hand.
"No."
Emrys's smile disappeared.
"...Why?"
"First, we can only talk about Unlimited Blade Works among ourselves, as inhabitants. Second, because Unlimited Blade Works is literally the world."
"What's the point of giving the kingdom a name if we can't show it off?"
Emrys frowned.
"What's the difference?"
A man stepped forward.
"A big one."
He vaguely gestured toward the outside.
"Britannia is the world we live in. But the kingdoms within it have their own names."
Emrys remained silent.
The man continued.
"The Kingdom of Camelot isn't called Britannia."
"There is also Cambria," someone added.
"And several other territories."
"So Unlimited Blade Works can't be the name of the kingdom," the woman concluded.
Emrys looked at the people in front of him.
They were serious.
Really serious.
He would have preferred it if they had simply accepted his first choice.
"You people are complicated."
"You're the one who created an entire world," Rou replied. "You should have expected complications."
Emrys shot him a look.
"Shut your damn mouth."
"My bad."
Another wave of laughter went through the group.
Emrys ran a hand through his hair.
He could have given them any name.
Something simple.
Something that didn't require any thought.
But since they seemed determined to make this into such an important matter, he might as well give them something that could genuinely represent what they had built.
"Fine."
The conversations immediately stopped.
Everyone's eyes turned toward him.
"I'll think about it."
A few people looked disappointed.
"When?"
"I don't know."
"Tomorrow?"
"I don't know."
"In a week?"
"I just said I don't know."
"In a month?"
Emrys stared at the man who had spoken.
"Are you trying to piss me off?"
The man smiled nervously.
"No."
"Then stop your bullshit."
Emrys started walking again.
He had barely taken a few steps when he heard Rou behind him.
"You'd better come up with a good name, Your Majesty."
Emrys stopped.
Very slowly, he turned his head.
Rou was already laughing.
───
Emrys didn't find the name that day.
Nor the next.
Over the following days, however, he continued thinking about it.
He discovered that choosing a name for a kingdom was much more complicated than he had imagined.
Whenever he traveled through the various villages, he heard the inhabitants discussing the matter.
Some suggested names related to safety.
Others wanted something that represented the unity of the different races.
A few proposed completely ridiculous names.
One man even suggested calling it "The Kingdom of Emrys."
The reaction was immediate.
"Not even in your dreams."
"Why?"
"Because I don't want that, and because it's terribly lame."
"Yet you are our king."
"I'm still not a king."
"You see? You're doing it again."
Emrys pinched the bridge of his nose.
He had given up long ago.
But this time, he absolutely refused to let them use his own name, especially if the result was going to be that damn terrible.
So he continued on his way.
In a newly established village, he found several people gathered around a large table.
A rough map was spread across it.
"What are you doing?"
A man looked up.
"We're looking for a name."
"Again? Don't you ever get tired?"
"We need your opinion."
"I thought this was my problem."
"That's exactly why we're asking for your opinion."
Emrys looked at the map.
It represented the entire territory they occupied inside Unlimited Blade Works.
There were the original settlements from Fondval, the new villages, the fields, the roads, the wooded areas, and the various places where the new populations had begun settling.
The map was far from perfect.
But there was something strangely pleasant about it.
Emrys leaned over.
"You've already started organizing the territory."
"Yes."
"Who made this?"
"Several people. The druids helped us with the farmland. The giants with some of the construction. The beastmen know the wooded areas well. And the humans are mostly handling the roads and workshops."
Emrys nodded.
He remained there for a few moments, studying the map.
He realized that his little project of providing a refuge for populations tired of war had turned into something far beyond his understanding.
"You know," Emrys said, "you don't need everything to be perfect."
"We know."
"Then why are you taking this so seriously?"
The answer came from a woman sitting at the end of the table.
"Because a name means that we belong to this place."
Emrys didn't answer immediately.
The woman continued.
"Before coming here, we were always somewhere that wasn't truly our home. We fled. We moved from place to place. We simply looked for somewhere to spend the night without knowing whether we'd still be there the next day."
She placed a hand on the map.
"Now we have a home."
Emrys lowered his eyes slightly.
"All right."
Everyone looked at him.
"I'll give you a name."
He understood their intentions now.
He wouldn't refuse them anymore.
───
That 'evening', Emrys found himself sitting alone on the Hill of Swords.
In a way, it had become a place of refuge for him, as well as a sacred place that the inhabitants weren't supposed to approach.
He watched the lights of the settlements.
There were so many of them.
Far more than there had been at the beginning.
In the distance, he could hear the sounds of a workshop that was still active.
Further away, voices echoed through the streets.
Children ran around.
Farmers finished their work.
Merchants put away their goods.
Giants continued transporting materials.
Druids returned from the fields.
Beastmen talked around a fire.
And somewhere among them, the eleven Higher Demons were living as well.
Emrys found it difficult to believe that all of this had begun with a single village.
He closed his eyes.
His mind naturally turned toward Unlimited Blade Works.
Immediately, he sensed everything within it.
They were a long way from the hundred people of the beginning.
The population had surpassed four thousand inhabitants.
And it continued to amaze Emrys.
I really didn't think things would develop in this direction.
This was their home.
"A name..."
He thought about it.
Then, after a few moments, he opened his eyes.
He didn't know exactly why this particular name had come to him.
Maybe because he had heard it somewhere before.
Maybe because he liked the way it sounded.
He remained silent for a few more seconds.
Then he stood.
───
The next morning, Emrys was almost immediately surrounded.
He had barely entered a street when a voice called out to him.
"Your Majesty!"
He kept walking.
"Your Majesty!"
He sped up.
"Emrys!"
He stopped.
Rou caught up with him.
"You found it?"
"Yes."
The young man's smile widened.
"Then?"
Emrys looked around.
A crowd had already gathered.
He sighed.
So they had all been informed.
"You could have waited for me to tell them myself."
"We were impatient."
"I can see that."
He looked at the people in front of him one last time.
Then he simply said:
"Ulster."
Silence fell.
Several people repeated the word quietly.
"Ulster..."
"That's the name?"
Emrys nodded.
"Yes."
"Why Ulster?"
Emrys shrugged slightly.
"I like the name."
Several inhabitants laughed.
"That's it?"
"Yes."
"You don't have a deeper explanation?"
"No. Did you need one?"
Rou smiled.
"That sounds just like you."
Emrys shot him a look.
"What does that mean?"
"Nothing. Forget what I just said."
Emrys stared at him for a few seconds before letting the matter go.
"Then Ulster."
A man raised his glass.
"To Ulster!"
Other voices immediately joined in.
"To Ulster!"
The inhabitants began talking among themselves.
The name was accepted.
There was no need for a ceremony.
The name had already found its place in the hearts of the inhabitants.
And from that day onward, something changed.
───
At first, the change was subtle.
Merchants went 'outside' and began saying that they sold goods produced in Ulster.
Farmers talked about Ulster's harvests.
Craftsmen said they worked for the people of Ulster.
Even the children began using the term when talking about their home.
Emrys even overheard two little boys talking in the street.
In the markets of other kingdoms, the situation became even more obvious.
"Where are these tools from?"
"Ulster."
"Where is that?"
"Ah, it's a pleasure that you asked."
───
Emrys, for his part, still didn't feel like a king.
He had no throne.
He didn't govern the inhabitants in their daily lives.
He had never asked them to obey him.
He continued traveling just as before.
He saved populations just as before. Although the situation had changed somewhat in the meantime.
More and more people were beginning to seek out Ulster of their own accord rather than waiting for him to find them.
It hadn't brought only benefits, because there had been many attempts at infiltration by other kingdoms, and even by Stigma.
But Emrys's Observation Haki allowed him to sense the hostility of those individuals even when they blended into the crowd.
While he was away, the inhabitants simply continued living their lives.
Yet something had changed.
Whenever he returned, they welcomed him like someone coming home.
"Welcome, Your Majesty."
"Your Majesty, the work on the new village is finished."
"Your Majesty, the harvests are good."
"Your Majesty, the giants have finished the road."
"Your Majesty, the druids have found a new method for improving the crops."
"Your Majesty, the workshops need more materials."
And every time, Emrys reacted the same way.
He listened.
He helped whenever he could.
Then he left again.
One evening, as he was walking through a street, a little girl ran toward him.
She was holding something in her hands.
"Emrys!"
He crouched down.
"What is it?"
She held out the little object to him.
"It's for you."
Emrys took it.
It was clumsily made.
But he could recognize a small representation of a house.
"What is this?"
"Our home."
The little girl pointed toward the houses around them.
"It's in Ulster."
Emrys looked at the object.
Then he smiled slightly.
"It's very good."
The little girl seemed satisfied.
"Are you going to keep it?"
"Yes."
"Then are you really the king?"
Emrys remained silent.
The little girl looked at him with wide eyes.
He could have said no.
He should have said no.
But he already knew what would come next.
So he simply replied:
"Go home before your parents come looking for you."
The little girl smiled.
"Yes, Your Majesty!"
She ran away.
Emrys watched her disappear around the corner.
"...Even the children now."
A voice came from behind him.
"You've given up, haven't you?"
Emrys turned around.
Rou was standing there.
"I haven't given up."
"You just missed the perfect opportunity to explain to her that you're not a king."
"She would have kept calling me that."
"But you've given up anyway."
Emrys sighed.
Rou walked alongside him.
They continued in silence for a few moments.
"So," Emrys finally said, "how's Iklia? It's been a while since I've seen her."
The sudden change of subject surprised Rou slightly, but he answered.
"She's doing well. She actually likes the name you chose. She's been repeating 'Ulster' all day long."
"I see."
Emrys looked around him.
The streets were illuminated by a few lamps.
The inhabitants were returning home.
Voices still echoed from inside the houses.
A giant was talking with two humans near a building.
Beastmen were carrying goods.
A druidess was closing the doors of a workshop.
Further away, demons were still working.
All of this had become normal.
Races that would probably have fought one another elsewhere were living side by side here.
Emrys had used Unlimited Blade Works to give them a refuge.
But Ulster...
Ulster was something they had built themselves.
"Yes," he finally replied.
"I really like the name."
Rou smiled.
"Then you did well to accept it."
Emrys continued walking, looking at Ulster.
I have to admit, I really do like this name.