After winning the battle against the Dukes and Amidonia, the question becomes what happens next, especially with the Kingdom of Elfrieden occupying the Amidonian capital, Van. While there's a lot of cleanup to do in the aftermath of the war, Souma starts by taking on a different responsibility: using the Jewel Voice Broadcasts to create a singing show.
Starting with Juna and finding other great singers across the country, Souma creates a singing show, broadcast across Elfrieden and in the city of Van. The show is an instant success, serving to show the people of Amidonia what freedom from living under an oppressive, military government is like, leading to a minor artistic renaissance in the city. Elfrieden also provides food to help Amidonia through its own food crisis, trying to endear the people of Van to the Kingdom.
At the same time, however, Elfrieden has to deal with the Gran Chaos Empire. They had signed several nations to the Mankind Declaration, a treaty meant to help the fight against the Demon Lord's Domain. Part of the treaty prevents changing borders by force, so the Empire comes to negotiate the return of the city. Julius, sovereign prince of Amidonia, hides behind the Empire's power to get Van back, but only after being forced to pay large amounts of reparations to Elfrieden for starting the war in the first place.
Back in the kingdom, Souma is dealing with the aftermath of the civil war and trying to prepare for whatever the next big conflict will be. He lets Georg Carmine kill himself with poisoned wine rather than have to deal with a prolonged treason trial. Castor and Carla are also tried for their crimes, with Souma using some nobles as a jury to help decide what punishment he will personally give to them. This is actually a cover for a purge: the nobles were corrupt, and Souma executes the ones who call for Castor and Carla's deaths. Castor becomes a prisoner of Excel, the only one of the Dukes who never opposed Souma, and Carla becomes a slave of the Royal Family. Souma and Hakuya also create the Black Cats, an intelligence agency for the Kingdom.
While things look settled at home, Souma starts to look outwards, while Julius's sister Roroa has plans of her own.
Tropes:
- Aristocrats Are Evil: At least, the ones that Souma has executed.
- Bait-and-Switch: A group of corrupt nobles are led to believe they're helping determine Castor and Carla's punishment, so many call for them to be executed. They're executed without warning instead, since they had committed crimes that were just as bad.
- Battle Harem: Souma has one now with his engagement to Aisha and Juna, along with Liscia's military training.
- Blatant Lies: Julius claiming that he was just acting on his father's orders in going along with the invasion. Everyone knows that he's lying, so they force far more concessions out of him for the return of Van than they might have otherwise.
- Comedic Lolicon: The kobito race stops visibly aging past age 12. Souma half-jokingly considers creating a protected district in Elfrieden to keep them away from predators.
- Cruel Mercy: Carla and Castor's punishments are possibly worse than being executed:
- Castor is stripped of his titles and family name, then left in the custody of Excel, his mother-in-law.
- Carla is made a slave to the Royal Family, which requires serving as a maid under the innocently sadistic head maid Serina. She's also given an order by Souma to kill him if he ever starts to become a tyrant, an order that would kill her if she carried it out, along with making her friend, Liscia, a widow.
- Faking the Dead: Georg Carmine was merely drugged, not poisoned, and is now known as Kagetora, the leader of the Black Cats. Just don't expect Souma or Kagetora to admit to it.
- Gambit Pileup: The Empire has their turn in this crazy game of politics. They really just want to keep everyone who signed the Mankind Declaration happy, so they force the return of Van to Amidonia, sending thousands of soldiers to make sure war doesn't break out again. Rather than explicitly side with Amidonia, however, they force harsh war reparations and end up forming a secret alliance with the Kingdom of Elfrieden.
- Good Is Not Soft: Souma will fight those who are a real threat to the country if need be, as shown with purging the corrupt nobles and his negotiations with Julius.
- Hoist by Their Own Petard:
- Amidonian general Margarita Wonder joins the first singing show and performs the Amidonian National Anthem, which includes parts about invading Elfrieden, in an attempt to bait Souma into overreacting and getting the people of Amidonia riled up against their invaders. Instead, Souma applauds her and compliments her singing voice, improving the people's opinion of Souma and the Kingdom.
- The corrupt nobles brought in to judge Castor and Carla. All of them were guilty of similarly treasonous crimes, so when they call for Castor and Carla's execution, the nobles are executed instead.
- Hypocrite: Julius claimed a loophole in the Mankind Declaration meant they could invade Elfrieden, then used the authority of the Empire and the Declaration to force Elfrieden to return the capital city, Van. While this worked, everyone involved made it clear that Julius was in the wrong, even if they needed to give him what he wanted to keep up appearances.
- Idol Singer: Souma introduces the lorelais as this world's version. He starts with a tamer version, as he's afraid that pop idols as they are in the 21st century might be too much for the people to take.
- Just Following Orders: Julius claims the invasion of Elfrieden was just his father's idea and he had no choice but to go along with it.
- King Incognito: Souma does this, seeing what Van is like after the Kingdom takes over. His attempt isn't quite as successful as he'd like, as Jeanne Euphoria, military leader of the Empire, finds him on that excursion.
- Kryptonite Ring: Souma's order to Carla to kill him if he becomes a tyrant acts as one of these.
- Leave Behind a Pistol: Souma leaves Carmine some poisoned wine, rather than having to deal with trial and conviction as a traitor. The wine wasn't actually poisoned, but provided enough of a cover story so everyone would think he was dead.
- Loophole Abuse: Julius repeatedly tries this. First, he claims that the invasion of Elfrieden was allowed because they didn't sign the Mankind Declaration, and once that fails, tries to say that he wasn't responsible for the invasion because he was Just Following Orders.
- Marry Them All: Since polygamy is legal in this world and they're all okay with it, Souma ends up agreeing to marry Aisha and Juna along with his existing engagement to Liscia.
- Names to Run Away from Really Fast: “Kagetora” of the Black Cats. Depending on the reading, it can mean either “Shadow Tiger” or “Complete surprise from shadow”.
- Not Used to Freedom: Souma works hard to avert this with the people of Van. The singing show is so important because it opens the door to them embracing freedom under the kingdom that Amidonia never would have given them.
- Rejected Marriage Proposal: Souma seems to be turning down Juna's proposal, but he simply wants to wait before announcing their marriage, fearing that Juna's popularity as a singer might cause riots upon discovering she's engaged.
- The Purge: Souma and Hakuya use Castor and Carla's trial as a front to collect a bunch of corrupt nobles. The ones who called for Castor and Carla's execution, who are just as guilty of crimes that are at least as bad, are killed instead.
- This Is a Work of Fiction: Souma has Chris Tachyon read this out to test how her speaking voice would come across on broadcasts.Chris: This story is a work of fiction. The people, organizations, places, and events depicted have no connection to anything in reality.
- Unwanted Harem: Souma seems like he would have been perfectly happy with just Liscia, but Aisha and Juna want to marry him as well. Unlike many examples, he's not oblivious to their affections and welcomes them once it's clear what their intentions are.
- Yoko Oh No: Out of fear of this happening after her becoming a beloved singer, Juna and Souma's engagement is kept secret for the time being.
