Episode 197
"Phew."
"You have worked hard, Your Majesty."
"Did I really do the right thing...?"
"You did well. With this, the Empire must have come to know Carpe's prestige. Your Majesty is Carpe itself. The people still have not forgotten the time we were invaded by the Empire."
"Right. That's right."
She herself was the nation itself.
She was the king who represented a country.
Personal sentiments were unnecessary.
She just had to face the Empire, channeling the humiliation and sorrows she had endured all this time.
Yes, I did well.
The queen soothed herself and let out a deep breath that had been stifled by tension.
"However, through this incident, we have been promised 50,000 troops and over a hundred Star Generals of the Empire. As well as 300,000 gold and a large quantity of high-tier artifacts. Carpe will grow even more prosperous through this transaction, so it is only right that you bestow a great reward upon the Count who made this happen."
"I also agree with Sir Victor's words, Your Majesty."
"Grand Duke Chloe."
"I greet Your Majesty."
The queen looked benevolently at Chloe, who bowed according to etiquette.
"Yes, that's right. Of course we should. What would be good? Ah! Should we bestow a sword from the royal treasury?"
Chloe shook her head.
"He already possesses the Mad Dragon. And I heard he acquired many swords during this pilgrimage. He already owns four Phantom Swords, so if the royal treasury lacks a sword of that caliber, it would rather disappoint him."
"Four of them?"
"Yes, that is correct."
He was a man who possessed four Phantom Swords.
He wouldn't be satisfied unless we gave him the Holy Sword that the Order had lost.
"Your intelligence network is quite impressive, Grand Duke. You've already heard such stories."
"One of the Count's companions was a Master named Obarna, the Floor Master of the 61st floor of Agathod in the Sahara Sanctuary. I heard it from her."
"Agathod. I've heard of it too. A tower standing alone in the sanctuary. There are guardians of the tower who protect that place. If she's on the 61st floor, she must also be a knight who has broken through the wall."
"Yes, your assumption is correct."
The Floor Master of the 61st floor.
The queen's snow-white eyelashes fluttered. If she was a Floor Master, she must be a Master.
Why was she, who should be guarding the tower, following Callius around?
She was curious.
"Perhaps..."
"Yes, just as you suspect, Obarna is said to be the adopted daughter of Saint Orbile."
"Huh? Ah, yes. I see. I thought the names were similar for some reason."
She hadn't thought of that at all, but the queen didn't show it.
Then, Chloe began to spout hot breaths and rattle on about things she wasn't even asked.
"Lady Obarna was with him ever since the Count encountered the dragon. Along with his majestic appearance of severing the dragon's neck, he slew Corruption and instantly killed the Empire's Spear, as well as capturing the Saint as a prisoner! Not to mention, in the North, he stopped the bandits' invasion and even subjugated the trolls and fairies!"
An expression asking if it wasn't amazing.
"I... see. Such incredible deeds in such a short time..."
The queen forced herself to nod.
It was indeed amazing, but Chloe was so overly excited that she couldn't purely admire it.
"Yes. Isn't it truly amazing? It's like the adventure of a hero from a fairy tale, and I, Chloe, couldn't hide my excitement the entire time I listened. If it were up to my heart, I would go find the Count right now and request a tea time."
"......."
"I'm sorry. Since he is the savior of my life, I get excited without realizing it when talking about the Count."
"It's fine. I understand, Grand Duke Chloe. He is a man with a magnetic charm that draws people in."
Well, since he was the savior who saved her life, it was no wonder she was like this.
"I look forward to the day I can stand on the battlefield with him soon. Ah! And the reward for the Count seems a bit lacking, how about this?"
"Please speak."
"Out of the 50,000 troops, how about giving 40,000 to him?"
"40,000 troops?"
That's a bit too...
"Yes. He would be fully capable of using them well."
"Grand Duke Chloe. If you hand over that many to the Count, the nobles' backlash will be fierce. Reduce it to 10,000."
As Chloe seemed to be pushing too hard, Victor stepped in.
"I see. Then how about 30,000?"
"Even if they are Imperial soldiers, they are borrowed troops. If you consider when we have to return them..."
"Are you going to return them?"
Grand Duke Chloe asked, looking puzzled.
"Of course we are..."
The queen was about to answer as if it were obvious when she suddenly felt something strange.
"Carpe is called the nation of swords, but there are clearly spearmen in the army as well. You don't necessarily have to return them. You could just exhaust them all in the battle against the Principality and start a war at the timing of their return, isn't that all there is to it?"
"I will consider it. 30,000 soldiers wouldn't be bad for the Count to face the Principality, so I will review it positively."
It might be a concept of borrowing, but even so, they couldn't just leave them idle.
Once you have them, you must use them.
The regions that actively used soldiers the most in Carpe right now were the West and the South.
Currently, the South was expected to clash with the Principality more frequently than the West, so giving him the 30,000 Imperial troops and ordering him to prepare for battle against the Principality was the right move.
"But I feel like we might be working him too hard. I should at least give him this."
"That is..."
"It would be better to hand it to someone who will use it more valuably than me."
"Isn't that a gift from the Empire for Your Majesty? Such a precious thing..."
"It's a gift because it's precious. Shall I deliver it? I'll run there right now."
"No, I will summon the Count later and bestow it upon him personally, so it's fine."
"Hmph."
Chloe beamed with a wide smile as she looked at the necklace the queen held, and Victor let out a small sigh.
* * *
Bang!
The ruined great hall of the Principality.
Around the Iron Mace-wielding Grand Duke, a sea of blood and mountains of corpses unfolded as if a storm of blood had swept through.
"Lady Rebecca, a candidate for Sainthood, went as an envoy... But to not only humiliate and insult her, but to also frame her for a crime and throw her into a vile graveyard called the Catacombs!! This is, on a small scale, an act of ignoring the Principality, and on a large scale, no different from putting a sword to the neck of the Iron Mace God!"
"That's right! If we let this slide, the Principality's face will fall to the ground, so we must make an example of them!"
The trembling ministers raised their voices to criticize Carpe.
Because those who had previously upset the Grand Duke's mood had all been beaten to a pulp.
"Since it is a matter between nations, it could be understandable, but we can never stand by while our god is insulted!"
"Your Highness, please!!"
"Please destroy Carpe!"
Gulp.
A silence that swept in in an instant.
Squelch. Ripping the iron mace out of the minister's corpse, the Grand Duke stroked his chin with a blood-stained hand and spoke.
"When the princess was said to go as an envoy, who approved of it?"
"Marquis Manuel."
"Y-Your Highness! I...!"
Bang!!
Crunch! Crunch! Squelch! Smash! Crunch!!
Only after seeing Marquis Manuel turned into ground meat in an instant did the Grand Duke wipe away his crazed expression.
"I'll give you 50,000, so bring the princess. I hate repeating myself. No, I'll give you 100,000. Bring her."
"......."
"If the princess is dead, your grave will be Carpe. If you bring her back, I will make you my son-in-law."
Pat, pat. The Principality's Master had his shoulder tapped.
Regibang nodded heavily.
Thud.
The Grand Duke sitting on the throne pulled out a medicine vial from his embrace and tossed it.
Catch.
"Spear of Betrayal. I'll give you the Spear Sage Water you spoke of. It's something I don't need anyway."
Luteon.
"Bring the princess together. Understand? That will be the least of my sincerity shown to the Emperor."
"I will definitely bring the princess back."
Definitely.
The corners of Luteon's mouth, holding the Spear Sage Water in his hand, drew a wide smile that seemed to tear his cheeks.
* * *
"Hand it over."
"I, I told you no. Jeez."
The Inquisition Commander's office.
Zenos, with his feet on the desk, and Callius, standing in front of him playing with a dagger, were bickering.
It was because of the Order's holy relic.
"No, why are you doing this to me? You know better than anyone that the Inquisition Commander wouldn't have authority like the right to view holy relics?"
"You're a Pilgrim, so you wouldn't know."
"You're a Pilgrim and the Captain of the Inquisition. The Sixth Division, no less. If you have nothing to do, take those guys and go."
"The Sixth Division? Are they still alive?"
"Isn't that too harsh? You had them undergo every body modification available and then tossed them aside. The Sixth Division guys must be pretty disappointed."
"Not interested."
"The position of the Sixth Division Captain is still vacant. Everyone was just waiting for you to return."
"So what. Hand over the holy relic."
"Talk to the Pope, will you? You two are close."
"I was rejected."
He said that using a holy relic for personal reasons was disrespectful to the saint.
When I told him that he might become a holy relic himself soon since he was pointlessly persisting with the stubbornness of an old man, I was kicked out.
"What, you got rejected already? Faster than me. I haven't been rejected yet."
"......."
Cookies.
Looking at the trademark, it's the Priné brand.
'Come to think of it, was it the eldest son or the youngest son of Priné who once told me to let him know if I needed help?'
I had heard that he regularly sent cookies as gifts to the North and Callius's mansion. I heard he sends them often after hearing that Emily likes them.
"By the way, is he still doing that?"
When he said it before.
He said he liked someone from Priné, so I thought it was someone within the family, but it wasn't.
The guy had simply lost his heart to a female employee of the Priné shop.
Even though he's a Count from the Four Great Noble Families, to think he'd court a commoner woman like that.
'Well, he's always been that kind of guy.'
"I was going to confess my feelings today. But some strange woman got in the way."
"Interesting."
Though not interested, Callius humored him while secretly stealing and eating Zenos's cookies one by one.
"Delicious as expected. Do they put divinity in them or something?"
"That was definitely my last line. I was thinking of facing her one last time. But she suddenly appeared and tried to take the cookies. I was dumbfounded."
"So what did you do?"
Callius picked up two cookies.
"I was going to teach her a lesson, of course. But she fought quite fiercely with an iron bar. I showed her the difference in speed and finished it well."
"You mean she ran away."
"It wasn't running away. There was just no need to fight."
Hearing it was an iron bar, I know exactly who it was. Callius tossed all but one cookie into his mouth and wiped his hands with a handkerchief.
'Did Obarna also stand in line?'
Come to think of it, she asked me a while ago if there was any way to make money... was that why?
"She was a woman I never want to face again."
"Hmm."
Shaking his head, Zenos's hand reaching for the cookies stopped abruptly.
Because the many cookies had, at some point, dwindled down to only one left.
Soon, Zenos's hand glowed as he glared at Callius.
Crackle!
In a flash, he threw two throwing daggers like lightning.
"Should I go see Esther?"
But Callius merely tilted his head slightly and dodged them effortlessly.
And then, he popped the remaining cookie, which had somehow ended up in his hand, into his mouth.
Crunch.
The broken cookie melted in his mouth along with a fitting sweetness.
"...I waited for two hours for that."
"You can wait another two hours tomorrow."
"I should have beaten you up a lot two years ago."
"It's never too late for regrets."
Zenos sighed deeply and neatly folded the empty cookie bag, putting it into his desk drawer.
Two years' worth of cookie bags were stored in the drawer. It was a sight that even showed madness.
"...Have you met the Saint?"
"Which Saint are you talking about?"
"Ah, I mean Saint Ciliad."
"You mean Esther. Not yet."
"If the Pope rejected you, how about asking the Saint? She is quite favorable to you, isn't she?"
"Well. I don't think I've ever had such good memories with her. Isn't that your delusion?"
"You're incredibly dense too. Anyway, go and talk to her once. The Saint has more authority than I do."
"...I will."
Pulling the throwing daggers stuck in the wall, Zenos turned to Callius, who was opening the door to leave.
"Come to think of it."
Zenos, casually turning his head, scratched the scar on his nose and said.
"Alphonse. Do you remember him?"
"Alphonse?"
"Don't you remember? From what I heard, you studied swordsmanship together with him."
"Hmm."
Don't know.
"Alphonse von Orvid."
"Ah."
Orvid.
Hearing the surname, I know.
One of the Four Great Noble Families that rules the West.
Seemed like he was talking about the son of Orvid.
"He broke through the wall."
"Hmm..."
"Your expression isn't great. Were you not close?"
"Well, not really."
"Alphonse seemed to want to see you."
"Me?"
Very uncomfortable.
Because connections from the past were never good. I don't even remember.
"If there's a chance."
"Ah, Ruon also talks about you from time to time. He said he was struggling because he was blocked by the wall."
"I see. I understand."
Creak, thud.
Tap, tap.
Walking down the Order's corridor, he soon headed to the Saint's prayer room.
Paladins were guarding it, but no one dared to raise their heads stiffly in front of Callius.
But. Stop.
"The Saint ordered that no one be allowed in."
"Doing useless things."
She probably knew he had come.
Since he went straight to see the Pope upon arriving, there was no way she wouldn't know.
As if they had been waiting, the Paladins drew their swords and swung them at Callius.
Perhaps because they were Paladins raised by the Saint, their swordsmanship was similar to hers.
"Crude."
Ping.
Flicking the Paladin's sword with his finger, it bent like a bow and their stance crumbled.
Smash! Boom!
At that moment, kicking them in the abdomen, the door was shattered as two Paladins rolled into the prayer room.
It was filled with candlelight, and clear water flowed down the statue of the goddess holding an urn.
In the center of it.
The Saint, wearing pure white cloth and praying, came into Callius's view.
"Are these the ones you raise?"
"Yes. But they couldn't even force you to draw your sword. Build up your skills more. It's still too early for you all."
"...Yes."
Leaving the quickly retreating figures behind, the Saint bowed to Callius.
"It was the time when their skills were rising and they were getting arrogant. With this much, they will probably learn a little."
"You're using me quite well."
"It's an opportunity they rarely get."
An opportunity they rarely get.
It was an attitude as if she had known Callius was coming.
"...Did you bribe the Pope?"
"Did I get caught?"
As expected. It seemed she had coordinated with the Pope.
No wonder he rejected me so firmly.
"You already knew I would go to the Pope."
"Because you wouldn't come to me first."
"The holy relic?"
"Here it is."
Ring of Veria.
But why go that far?
It couldn't have been just because of the Paladins.
"But I have a condition."
"Speak."
"Please go find the Holy Sword with me."