Literature / The Conqueror from a Dying Kingdom

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He lived a listless life, no job, no purpose, no friends or family he cared about. One day, while walking home from shopping, he saw an elementary school aged girl carelessly fall into a river. He died drowning from exhaustion saving her.

He's then reborn as Yuri Ho, infant child of Rook and Suzuya Ho, a rancher family in another world. As ranchers, they care for and raise Plainsrunners, flightless birds, and Kingeagles, large flying Eagles, that can both be used as mounts. The Hos are citizens of the Kingdom of Shiyalta, a nation of Shanti. The Shanti are humanoids with well formed features, long ears with tufts of hair growing at the tips, and longer lifespans than the more familiar humans known as the Kulati; in other words, Elves.

Long ago, the Shanti empire was shattered by the Kulati and has been dying a slow death for the past 900 years. Witness the growth of a young boy, from the son of a rancher, to conquering hero, as he takes advantage of his modern day college of science education to change the world.

The Conqueror from a Dying Kingdom: The Demon King Seems to Conquer the World~ (Horobi no Kuni no Seifukusha: Maou wa Sekai wo Seifuku suru you desu) is a novel series written by Fudeorca, which started as a Web Serial Novel that was first released on Shousetsuka ni Narou in 2015. It was later published by Overlap as a series of Light Novels in 2020, with illustrations by toi8. A manga adaptation by Muraji began serialization in Comic Gardo in 2022. The novels are licensed in English by J-Novel Club as a digital-only release.

Tropes:

• Absurdly Divided School (Zigzagged): On one hand, Knights and Witches hold each other in contempt due to their conflicting cultures and because their families hate each other. On the other hand Knights are mostly young athletic men, Witches are mostly young women. Then again, the sexual tension seems to be something intentionally inspired by the Witches, as they have a culture of forcing young knights who impregnate one of their young witches to marry into their Witch families. Young Knights are taught to not become intimate with the women of the Cultural Academy precisely because of this.
• Act of True Love: Yuri carrying, protecting, and hiding a wounded Carol through enemy infested forests for over a week. He had to kill, mutilate, torture, and suffer injury through it all as she bore witness.
• Action Dad: Gok Ho, Rook Ho, Rakunu Ek, Galla Godwin are all fathers with combat training. Rook, despite dropping out of the Knight Academy years before, proves he's Still Got It when he takes down Rakunu.
• Armor Is Useless (Inverted): Fighting enemies in plate armor is difficult and dangerous. Enemies in mail are tricky. Close range weapons do not magically pierce armor, and if a fighter forces the issue with skill or brute strength, they will find their weapon quickly becomes dull or damaged.
• Assassin Outclassin': One assassin is attacked before he can reach his target because his hair gives him away. Another assassin is noticed because of his distinctive face and notorious reputation alert the target.
• Babies Ever After:
  • Yuri finds out his parents are expecting as he's close to graduation.
  • Yuri and Carol's trysts eventually result in her pregnancy, despite his coitus interruptus.
• Balcony Wooing Scene: Yuri throws a stick at Lilly's window. He just wants to talk business with her in private. It's clear from her reaction that she's excited to see him and doesn't mind being seen with him in public.
• Bavarian Fire Drill: Yuri, during the 15th Crusade against the forces chasing him.
• Beautiful Dreamer: Carla watching Yuri sleep under a tree. Dolla watching Carol sleep. Carol watching Yuri sleep.
• Behind Every Great Man: Although Rook becomes the new patriarch of the Ho family, he leaves most of the major decisions to Satsuki, Gok's widow.
• Benevolent Boss: Yuri tries to be this for his Ho Company. Arguably, Caph is possibly a better fit.
• Big Man on Campus: Yuri is of high status, handsome and charming. He's a strong and skilled knight, perceived as intelligent and well educated, who is well on his way to graduating early in 5-7 years if it weren't for required age restrictions; 10-15 years is the norm. Famous and popular at school, the boys admire him, and the girls fawn over him from a distance, having unwritten rules about not getting too close to him.
• Bodyguard Babes: The Royal Swords of Shiyalta and Nightcloaks of Kilhina are Ninja Maids that protect the Royal family. They often wear pantsuits, but do not favor fighting directly out in the open. During the day, they are maids and servants of the Royal family while acting as nondescript bodyguards. At night, they are the Queen's spies and assassins.
• Bully Turned Buddy: Dolla tries to pick on Yuri when they're assigned as roommates, only to get his ass handed to him. He's a Sore Loser at first, but eventually gets over it and becomes one of Yuri's reliable allies.
• Buxom Beauty Standard: Several illustrations and narrations helpfully point out Lilly's generous bust and curves, especially notable among the typically slender Shanti.
• Clueless Chick-Magnet: As the Big Man on Campus, bordering on School Idol if not an outright one, Yuri's oblivious to just how popular he is with girls until the revelation catches him by surprise. He finds it strange that he would be so unaware, but he's informed that due to the past generation's stalkerish behavior, the female students now self regulate so his adoring fans do not make such a nuisance of themselves to the point that he notices. Things were different during his father's generation.
• Commitment Issues: Carol brings this up every once in a while. Yuri does not want to marry Carol. His main concern is political. He does not want the burden that comes with being her Prince Consort, and being tied to the Royal family. He has other goals and plans that require a certain degree of freedom.
• Common Tongue:
  • The Shanti nations speak Shanish.
  • The lingua franca spoken by the Kulati nations is called Terolish, which Yuri and his friends learn at the academy. Harol wants to learn so he can trade with non-hostile Kulati settlements (and not because he has a crush on the teacher or anything). Yuri becomes good enough to understand chatter from enemy soldiers and even pose as one of them, as long as he hides his ears.
• Classical Tongue:
  • Ancient Shanish, which only noble Shanti families learn, and the Great Witches conduct their meetings in this language.
  • The original scriptures of Yeesusism were written in Totish, which only few outside the church have learned.
• Compulsory School Age: The minimum age to graduate from the Knight Academy is 20, so that the graduates don't go into war too early. The Cultural Academy however, has no age restrictions though most graduate by age 22-23.
• Crush Blush: At some point, almost all the girls who are interested in Yuri.
• The Cycle of Empires: As stated in the title, Shiyalta Kingdom is in the "Dying/Decay" stage.
• Decadent Court: The Queen's government is filled to the brim with corrupt nobles that behave no differently from gangster thugs on the street. They abuse their power, embezzling government funds, accepting bribes, and maliciously neglect their duties, all for the pursuit of more wealth, power, and self indulgent decadence.
• Defector from Decadence: Myalo was born the talented grandchild of the Great Witch Luida Gudinveil. Raised as a noble, Myalo was steeped in their culture and saw nothing wrong with it. Only upon maturing at a young age due to family events and revelations did the scales fall from Myalo's eyes.
• The Dragonslayer: There's an in-story book that talks about flying lizards commonly known as dragons. Professor Ether explains that those who slay a dragon, especially the old fashioned way with sword and spear instead of gun and cannon, are lauded as heroes by the Dragon Empire and Dragon Kingdom.
• Eating the Eye Candy: Yuri whenever he sees Lilly, or rather her chest. Yuri when he's having a romantic moment with Carol.
• Edible Theme Naming: Pina Colata. Carulginion Pestoparsley.
• Enslaved Elves: Any Shanti outside of the Shanti kingdoms are slaves. Kulati only see Shanti in these terms. They've even considered what to do in the future when all the Shanti kingdoms are destroyed. Some Kulati are thinking of setting up breeding companies or ranches so there will be a continuing supply.
• Everyone Can See It: Yuri and Carol. Everyone can see how close they are. They're often seen arguing in public, doing each other favors, going out on dates that aren't dates according to the couple. The two of them deny it whenever it's brought up.
• Everyone Loves Blondes: Everyone who's blonde and blue eyed is of Royal Blood, either an actual Royal or descendant of Royalty. Shanti display deep respect to Royals, but foreign Kulati go slightly insane and seemingly lose their reason when they set eyes on one. They will send entire armies to capture and enslave a Shanti Royal.
• The Exile: Some of the Kulati refugees in Shiyalta were exiled from their homes for political or heretical reasons, including Ether Vino/Wichita, the academy's Kulati language teacher.
• Fantasy Counterpart Religion: Yeesusism is basically Christianity with the names barely changed, and is the mainstream religion of the Kulati. The main branch of Yeesusism is called the Catholica sect.
• Firearms Are Revolutionary: The Crusades started using them decades ago, and they've only grown more numerous. The Shanti are politically and technologically isolated with no access to firearms or blackpowder. This makes each subsequent Crusade since their introduction, more and more lopsided, especially once artillery are introduced.
• First Day of School Episode: One each for both Yuri and Sham.
• First Girl Wins: Lampshade Hanging from Pina during a conversation played off as a character analysis of Yuri.
• Forever War: The Crusades against the Shanti Empire, and later their successor Kingdoms, have been going on for over 900 years. The excuse for the wars are religious doctrine calling the Shanti demons or devils. The reality is that the Shanti are beautiful and highly desirable as slaves, making each successful Crusade an extremely lucrative ordeal as tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of Shantis are enslaved for profit, and their land taken.
• Forgiveness Requires Death: Rakunu Ek is ordered to commit seppuku for his betrayal of Gok Ho. His father, wife and child also kill themselves to plea for mercy. Therefore, Satsuki allows Rakunu's nephew, Jano to serve as acting governor for the family's former territory after she strips the Ek family of its lands and titles.
• Good Parents: Yuri had never experienced parental love until Rook and Suzuya gave birth to him and raised him with affection.
• Grade-School C.E.O.: Yuri due to being a Grade Skipper. By age 15, he's already attained 90% of the required credits and has little schooling for most of the day, which leaves him enough time to manage the Ho Company.
• The Grappler: The hand-to-hand techniques favored in Shiyalta Kingdom are based on judo/jujutsu. Yuri was trained in martial arts by his master Soim prior to entering the academy, and takes down Dolla with a seoi nage throw and collar choke.
• Hoist by His Own Petard: Yuri sets a trap for the enemy, which is successful, but he also ends up falling victim to his own trap and injuring himself.
• Horse of a Different Color: Plainsrunners and Kingeagles. Both are giant mountable birds, one flightless, the other flyable.
• How They Treat the Help: Yuri deems Rakunu's nephew, Jano Ek, as not trustworthy after seeing him act like a Professional Butt-Kisser to him while also abusing a maid.
• Humans by Any Other Name: The humans are called "Kulati".
• Impoverished Patrician:
  • Lilly Amian comes from a "castaway noble" family which produces mechanical devices for a living, and she pays her tuition by fixing up pocket watches at the academy. She later takes a side-job as Yuri's go-to Gadgeteer Genius and happily orders extra food when he treats her.
  • Lyrica Kuklillison is also from a minor Witch family that handles waste management for one of the capital's districts. Seeking a better future, she takes a job at Ho Company and even learns Terolish.
• Intra-Scholastic Rivalry: The Knight vs Cultural Academy. Since they study completely different subjects, there's usually no real academic rivalry, but if there's a student that attends both schools, or there's an event that bridges the two schools, such as the Togi Tournament, this trope will rear its head. It's usually more of a Friendly Rivalry, despite how antagonistic the noble families may be.
• Kissing Cousins: Sham and Yuri are first cousins, their fathers, Gok and Rook, being brothers. As Lord Gok died without a male heir, his wife Satsuki wishes for control to remain within the family by having her daughter, Sham, marry Lord Rook's son, Yuri. At some point, the two families start to live together and Sham definitely has something of a Big Brother Worship that slowly develops into a Big Brother Attraction that she is mostly successful in hiding.
• Knight in Shining Armor: Many examples, from in story fictional knights, frequent references on how an honorable knight should behave, to dashing knightly rescues.
• Lady and Knight: Yuri tries to set up Dolla and Carol as this, but Yuri ends up being the Knight to Carol's Lady. He first makes an implicit Declaration of Protection to the Queen, then later to Carol in private.
• Like Father, Like Son: Yuri and Rook were both skilled, respected knights while at school. They were also both intensely popular with the girls, with both of them featuring heavily in the fiction written by the Yaoi Fangirls.
• Low Fantasy: There is no game-like system, leveling or magic spells, but there are still elements of fantasy, such as the different species of humanoids and animals.
• Madden Into Misanthropy: Why Yuri became a no-lifer in his past-life. He used to be a postdoctoral researcher in Japan until his employers stole his invention (a more advanced and efficient solar panel) and tried to hide his involvement. Having kept a backup of his research, he managed to sue and win a decent-sized settlement, but the whole experience left him with no job, friends or faith in anyone else. After spending a year traveling the world, he settled into his Hikikomori lifestyle until his early death.
• Mafia Princess: Myalo. Jula Lacramanus. Direct descendants and presumed heir to one of the Great Witch families.
• Matriarchy: The ruler of Shanti nations is always a woman, a Queen. By law and tradition, the bureaucracy and Royal Army have women at the highest positions. The Royal Army may be filled with men, but the leader must be a woman. The nobility are divided between Knight and Witch families. Witch families are always ruled by women and sons are clearly seen as inferior and given lesser priority and status. Knight families are ruled by men, but women are expected to be able to keep control of the domain while the men are away at war.
• Memorial for the Antagonist: Yuri shrouds the Arc Villain's body and gives him his last rites to honor a worthy foe.
• Mercy Kill: Yuri is forced to put down Stardust, his own Kingeagle, after being fatally wounded by a dragon.
• Military Academy: The Knight Academy. Aspiring Knights learn the martial skills necessary to become a knight. This includes fighting with various weapons, how to ride Plainsrunners and Kingeagles, cultural and military history, tactics, strategy, logistics, etc.
• Muscle Angst: Myalo has a slender build and never seems to gain enough weight or muscle, despite eating and training properly.
• Nepotism: Yuri's father, Rook, encourages him to employ a cousin in his company. Subverted in that she's actually competent and trustworthy as she becomes the company's accountant.
• Official Kiss: When Yuri and Carol confess their feelings, this serves as the notice for their Relationship Upgrade.
• One Dialogue, Two Conversations: Myalo and Liao. Myalo thinks Liao is milking her for information about Yuri. She purposely feeds him either misinformation or minimal truths. Liao makes a Love Confession to Myalo by praising her abilities and discussing his ideal partner, with Myalo perfectly fitting his bullet points. He tries to learn the truth of Myalo and Yuri's relationship and becomes irritated at anything that sounds like praise for Yuri. Myalo ends their conversation thinking she's successfully protected Yuri's secrets. Liao comes away thinking she's romantically available.
• One-Man Industrial Revolution: The first product Yuri re-invents is plant-based paper, which can be produced and sold cheaply compared to parchment. This lands him in hot water with the Great Witches, particularly the Lacramanus family who controls the parchment guild.
• Only in It for the Money: Despite Yuri's personal disgust of the subject matter, his company becomes the biggest publisher of yaoi smut in the kingdom. He tells himself this trope name repeatedly.
• Our Elves Are Different: The Shanti are basically elves.
  • Inhumanly Beautiful Race: Even the most average appearing Shanti is still considered well formed or beautiful by the Kulati. Still, most Shanti are not called inhumanly beautiful.
  • Dying Race: The Kulati seek to conquer all Shanti nations while keeping the people as slaves. When the story begins, Shiyalta and Kilhina are the only Shanti nations still unconquered.
  • Immortal Procreation Clause: The Shanti are unable to crossbreed with humans, and while not immortal, reproduce slowly.
  • Long-Lived: Soim is over 120 years old and still quite spry for an old man.
  • Medieval Stasis: Ever since the Shanti empire was shattered into the Shanti Kingdoms. They have not progressed in any significant way politically, culturally, or technologically, to their detriment, as the rest of the world pulls ahead.
  • Pointy Ears: With hairy tufts at the pointy end.
  • Proud Scholar Race: The Witch families
  • Proud Warrior Race Guy: The Knight families
• Parents as People:
  • Yuri's past-life parents were divorced and had little contact with him. Yuri's father was a ruthless businessman who eventually disowned him for not wanting to succeed his company. He also had a string of lovers and impregnated a teenager.
  • Myalo's mother pulled The Baby Trap on her husband while they were still in school and they quickly fell out of love. Despite this, he was still a loving parent to Myalo. After his death, she revealed the man was not Myalo's father, as he was infertile and she had cheated on him.
  • Rook is a Tragic Dropout of the Knight Academy. During his student days, his Stalker with a Crush committed suicide after being rejected and her older brother challenged him to a duel. Since the challenger was from a powerful family, Rook was compelled to accept and killed him, after which he gave up becoming a knight.
• Pervert Revenge Mode: Carol goes after Yuri after he tries to get Dolla to do something unforgivably perverted.
• The Plague: Early in the story, the Ho family's territory has an outbreak of sorepox, which turns to be exactly like smallpox. Yuri cures it the same way on Earth, advising his father to quarantine the victims and mandate cowpox inoculations.
• Puppet Queen: The aim of the Great Witch Conspiracy is to install a puppet that will ineffectually rule so that they may advance a greater conspiracy.
• Protection Racket: A classic example plays out when a store owner refuses to pay and has their shop trashed by gangsters owned by a Witch family. After Yuri's plant-based Ho paper becomes successful (with parchment becoming less profitable), Luida tries to extend her "protection" to him as well, only to get brushed off.
• The Queenpin: Luida Gudinveil and the other Great Witches that rule over the seven Great Witch families.
• Rags to Riches: Yuri and his parents were initially simple ranchers until Rook rose to prominence as head of the Ho family and all its territories. Yuri then becomes an independent Self-Made Man by establishing the Ho Company.
• Reasonable Authority Figure: Queen Shimone. It's hard to give examples that don't include the Protagonist, but in every conversation where accusations are made against him, she gives him room to defend himself, instead of instantly siding against him. Regarding Yuri's solutions to the Kingdom's largest problem, she of course dismisses them because they are dangerous and destructive.
  • Divided We Fall is very much in effect. Power is not centralized with too many competing factions or families that cannot be ignored.
  • Obstructive Bureaucrats fill the Royal court and bureaucracy, corrupting the government, hiding information from the Queen, and otherwise actively working against her goals.
• Red-Light District: Brothels are occasionally mentioned in the capital and it's an Open Secret that students from Knight Academy are patrons there.
• Reincarnate in Another World: From Earth, to an alternate Earth with similar but not exactly the same geography.
• Rescue Romance: Yuri saving Carol from a kidnapping when they were children. Again, when Yuri saves Carol from capture and escorts her through enemy territory. Both times, it serves to upgrade or improve their relationship.
• Revealing Hug: When Lilly hugs Yuri, Sham can clearly see Yuri's expression and condemns him.
• Romantic Ribbing: Yuri mostly does this to Carol when they're in public by being excessively polite, often in the Queen's presence. Carol jabs him right back by calling him out on it.
• Romantic Wingman: Lyrica Kuklillison sees an opportunity to earn a favor and swoops in with a timely assist.
• Royal Brat: Princess Carla. Probably Princess Tellur too, at least while she's young. Princess Carol to a much lesser degree that she quickly grows out of.
• Royals Who Actually Do Something: What Princess Carol aspires to be. Princesses normally only attend the Cultural Academy. She joins the Knight Academy in addition to the other school, planning to graduate from both. She actively seeks out the capital's slums to better assess the state of the downtrodden and poor, hoping she can help in some way. When war comes, she volunteers to bear witness, learn, and give her kingdom's young officers a chance to earn experience. Angela Sacramenta is similar. Angela Sacramenta aggressively educates herself and forces her way to participate in the 15th Crusade, making valued contributions.
  • Politically Active Princess: The Shanti Royal families are matriarchal, so this comes with the territory. Carol proactively chose to go to both schools and train as a knight, which is not traditional. She intends to choose her own husband suiting her own criteria. Both concessions she bargained for or won from her mother, the Queen. She is socially active and a source of leadership at the Cultural Academy. Angela Sacramenta is always spending time socializing with other nobles, both foreign and domestic, establishing connections and exchanging information.
  • Warrior Princess: This seems to be Carol's goal, but the Queen appoints another as her commander during the 15th Crusade, so the trope is partially averted. She's still in a leadership position and participates in the war. Played straight with Angela Sacramenta, she's able to arrange a leadership position and fight on the front lines.
• Ruling Couple: The Queen and Prince Consort of Kilhina.
• Secret Relationship: Yuri and Carol. They hide it from everyone else as best they can.
• Sexy Flaw: Carol finds Yuri's scar incredibly attractive.
• Sham Ceremony: The coronation for the 2nd Princess to Queen after she poisoned her mother and sister. Carol barely survives.
• Shed Armor, Gain Speed: Canka dumping the easily detachable parts of his armor to flee from the battle faster.
• A Simple Plan: Yuri and his fellow top-ranking students are to travel to Kilhina Kingdom and merely observe, not fight the impending invasion. Things go downhill quickly when a dragon rider attacks the group.
• Slow Life Fantasy: How the story begins, or how the protagonist wants his life to be. No Unique Protagonist Asset or other bonus. Tries to avoid any major adventures or political entanglements, although that doesn't truly work out because he's incapable of completely blinding himself to what he sees and people won't leave him alone.
• Small Town Boredom: Some guards stationed in rural areas, such as the Ho territories, miss the more exciting times when they were living in the capital while attending the Academy.
• Smart People Play Chess: The Shanti like to play togi, which is similar to Xiangqi. Before his death, renowned commander Gok Ho assessed Yuri's potential by playing against him. At the academy, the best players are Yuri, Myalo and Lyrica.
• The Strategist: As Yuri matures, his formal military education shows itself during battles and wars, as he uses commonly known military knowledge to predict and subvert his enemy's strategies.
  • Yuri proves himself a budding strategist at a young age, by not only being good at togi, but also advising Satsuki on handing Rakunu Ek.
  • Batman Gambit: Vaticanus Volunteer Knights are historically known to go out of their way to be cruel to the Shanti, such as forgoing strategic objectives to take slaves or kill all Shanti civilians on sight when slave taking is not possible. Yuri predicts their behavior and uses it to Take a Third Option when left with two opposing choices, and lure the enemy into doing what he wants. If the enemy fails to act as planned, his gamble will fail, but he will still have the option of going with one of the two original choices, perhaps upgrading it to a Xanatos Gambit seeing as failure is accounted for and something the gambler can still make use of. It turns into a Hoist by His Own Petard moment for the Crusaders when their bold surprise raid behind enemy lines becomes a ruinous rout when their path of retreat is cut off.
• Students' Secret Society: The White Birch Dormitory holds a secret library of smut. Everything is handled internally by the students. The writers, editors, book binders, librarians, and readers are all members of the dorm who keep it a secret from the rest of the disapproving public.
• Succession Crisis: Numerous, from domestic to foreign.
• Sweet Polly Oliver: Myalo. Women are not forbidden from being knights, but she seems to enjoy being treated as One of the Boys. It doesn't seem to be plot important to any of the other characters except for Yuri.
• Tamer and Chaster: On top of being a Compressed Adaptation, the manga also removes some sexually suggestive scenes:
  • Carol and Yuri get into a brief scuffle when he teases about using some of his profits on a brothel, only for him to clarify he's not doing that.
  • When Dolla confides in Yuri about his unrequited feelings for Carol, Yuri suggests he "let off steam" with Carol's underwear, which leads to Carol beating up Yuri.
  • Lilly visits Yuri's room, wearing a thin nightgown and offers herself to him. While seriously tempted, Yuri turns her down.
• The Teetotaler: Yuri makes it a personal rule to abstain from alcohol until he's twenty (when Shanti are considered adults), mainly because drinking too early can stunt brain development.
• Through His Stomach: Carol enjoys cooking or making tea for Yuri whenever she gets the chance.
• Translation with an Agenda: According to Ether, the official Kulati scriptures of Yeesusism contain a deliberate mistranslation referring to the Shanti as "hairy-eared demons" to justify any atrocities towards them; the original texts merely referred to them as "foreign people".
• Tsundere: Carol is more of the classic example in that she starts prickly, but becomes more affectionate over time.
• Unknown Rival: Yuri to Dolla and Carol. Both try to get competitive with him, physically and academically, but he's not interested in that, and they eventually drop it.
• Unsettling Gender-Reveal: In the second volume, Yuri is taken aback after he finds out his best friend Myalo has been a girl the whole time. Everyone else knew, only he was ignorant, which is perhaps more unsettling to Yuri than his own lack of perception.
• Uriah Gambit: Angela Sacramenta's brother is always trying to get her killed in battle. Every opportunity he has to send her to the front lines, behind enemy lines, or anywhere else that's dangerous, he takes it. She survives and gains more experience in war, develops a better understanding of Yuri than most others, and garners some respect from international leaders. Averted with Rakunu's nephew. He wants to join up for the 16th Crusade but Yuri doesn't want to give him an opportunity to gain power and military merit so he denies his offered service.
• The Usurper:
  • Rakunu Ek makes a play for Lord Supreme of the Ho territory after he fled from the battle where Gok died.
  • Much later on, Shiyalta's 2nd Princess becomes Queen when she poisons her mother and sister. The Vaticanus Minister of War imprisons the Pope and seizes power.
• Vice City: The Capital City of Sibiak always looks thriving and prosperous to those who visit for the first time, but to long time dwellers, it is rife with noble/Witch owned gangsters and impoverished refugees fleeing the war.
• War Comes Home: Yuri predicts that it's only a matter of time before the Crusades reach Shiyalta Kingdom. By Volume 6, Kilhina Kingdom has fallen, with only Shiyalta Kingdom as the last nation of Shanti.
• War Is Hell: Yuri intentionally tries to play up this trope to dissuade the Queen from an adventurous military expedition. She is unmoved.
• Xanatos Gambit: Yuri pulls one as a child, during the Ho family conflict between Satsuki Ho and Rakunu Ek. Both sides claim to present Gok Ho's last will while declaring the other's as forgery, but there's no definite proof. Yuri pretends to side with Rakunu so that Yuri's own family will be kept safe if Rakunu wins. However, he also informs Satsuki on the plan to expose Rakunu as a fraud.
• Yaoi Fangirl: Many of the girls of the White Birch Dormitory love shipping the most popular boys at school with each other. Their interests are generally disapproved of by society so they keep it a secret and no books from their secret dorm library are allowed outside.
• You Must Be Cold: Yuri gives Carol an oil paper poncho to keep her warm. Eventually graduates to Intimate Healing.
• You Shall Not Pass!: Every time a rearguard is required.
• Zip Me Up: Yuri helps Carol with her buttons after a private liaison.