Chapter 223. Mind Your Own Business

Ferda answered the question.

"You have a good eye. That is indeed Sir Alberdo."

"I can recognize him even without that bumpy armor. What happened to that armor?"

"We melted it down and turned it into a weapon."

"A weapon?"

What kind of weapon could he mean?

The only thing that had changed about Alberdo's appearance was that golden object shining brightly.

His characteristic rock-like armor was gone, but the shield and club he carried still gave him the appearance of an overwhelming fortress.

"How did you manage to persuade a Wandering Knight who had never served anyone as his lord?"

"We simply shared the common goal of exterminating the Demon Race, so the conversation went smoothly."

"I see. The Demon Race…"

Wouldn't Ureas have thought of something like that as well?

Even though he had offered to provide full support for killing the Demon Race, Alberdo had never given him an answer.

Ureas was practically overflowing with envy.

Now, his own knights were starting to look like cheap third-rate soldiers to him.

As he stared at Alberdo like a child standing in front of a toy store, Olivia stepped forward and greeted Ferda.

"You must be tired from coming such a long way. Please get some rest, and then stop by the command post for a while so we can exchange information."

"Of course I will, Princess Olivia."

Ferda looked down at her.

"Would it be possible for the two of us to talk for a moment?"

"With me?"

"Yes. I have a proposal I would like to make regarding the command of the Tactical Infantry."

Olivia made a face as though she had been caught off guard.

Even Ferda, who already knew that everything had been arranged, was momentarily fooled.

"I suppose I can't refuse. I'll just take a little time—"

"Wait."

Just as Olivia was about to take a step, Ureas stopped her.

"If there's something you want to discuss, why not do it here? I have a feeling there will be rumors again otherwise."

"What do you mean?"

"Wasn't there that scandal? My sister suffered quite a bit because of it."

Olivia answered.

"Suffered? Things like that happen to me all the time, so I didn't pay much attention to it. If anything, the Regent was the one who worried about it."

And that was indeed the case.

Ferda tried to reassure Ureas, who was blocking their way.

"She is destined to become the Saintess of the Arken Empire. How could I possibly make a move on her?"

"Then at the very least, shouldn't you tell the man who is going to become your brother-in-law what you intend to discuss with her?"

He was being annoyingly persistent.

Ferda had no choice but to answer him.

"Princess Olivia demonstrated excellent command of the Tactical Infantry during the Monster extermination campaign. That is why I came to ask whether she would be willing to take command of this army as well."

"Why should my sister command your army?"

"The current commander-in-chief of the Tactical Infantry is Sir William. Sir William also served as Princess Olivia's adjutant. I hold the abilities of a comrade who fought alongside him in high regard, and I hoped they could once again share their strategies during this campaign."

Ureas crossed his arms and spoke menacingly.

"Would it be all right if I cut that William fellow's head off?"

Ferda frowned.

"Why would you do that?"

"It's obvious that he's trying to pull some trick to get close to my sister. How am I supposed to let that slide?"

Is this bastard serious?

Judging from the veins bulging on Ureas's face, he seemed to be completely serious.

There were certainly plenty of people who flirted with Olivia, but William was not the kind of man who would do such a thing.

Olivia lightly touched Ureas's arm and called out to him.

"Brother. I think I understand what you're worried about. Let me speak with him first, and then I'll tell you—"

"Be quiet, Olivia. Your brother is speaking."

"..."

"Olivia came here as the head of the relief corps of the Alte Religion, providing support from the rear. What difference is there between throwing my sister, who knows nothing about the battlefield, into the jaws of death and selecting her as a commander simply because she happened to achieve one great victory?"

Ferda was beginning to understand roughly how Ureas treated Olivia.

"That sounds as though you don't believe what happened during the extermination campaign."

"I care deeply for my sister, but war is not a game. How could my sister possibly have accomplished such a feat? The son of that Ducal House even confessed that he had given her the position simply to win her favor. Anyway, don't try to make a move on her this time—"

"Ureas."

Ureas was silenced.

Her voice was much quieter than his, yet it was clearer than ever.

It was not the lively, cheerful voice she usually used with that bright smile.

It was cold and chilling, like a blade that had been honed for several decades.

Despite being Olivia's voice, Ureas almost doubted whether it was really her.

Ureas lowered his head and looked at her.

He knew that gaze well.

It was the same hatred and contempt she had shown only to the First Prince, Alexander.

She said:

"Mind your own business."

Leaving those words behind, Olivia walked toward Ferda.

***

Before the Far East Joint Operations Base had even been established, Olivia entered Ferda's tent.

People might normally have made a fuss about propriety between men and women, but the moment they saw Luri, the Maid, standing there, no one dared to barge into the tent.

Thus, the atmosphere inside the tent was peaceful.

The cold expression on Olivia's face gradually melted away in the warmth of the black tea.

"Ureas has started getting some strange ideas."

She said it casually.

Because Ferda had just witnessed such an odd situation outside, the meaning of her words seemed somewhat ambiguous.

"Strange ideas?"

"You know that King Heinkel is using the lives of his kingdom's people to perform Black Magic, correct?"

So that was what she meant.

"Yes."

"The kings are after those spells."

The once-pathetically weak King Heinkel had become a Grand Mage.

After digging into the situation in the kingdom and examining every possibility he could think of, he must have deduced that it was a spell called Legion.

He would also have realized that Legion was a paradise even the Great Demons had failed to create—and that this paradise had actually been realized in the mortal world.

So naturally, they were desperately trying to get their hands on it somehow.

They were people in positions of power, people who had endured countless threats throughout their lives. More than anyone else, they yearned for a way to reach paradise.

"And he's trying to become one of those idiots."

"He won't listen to you at all?"

"I didn't tell him directly, but I did say that if it had anything to do with Black Magic, he absolutely must not possess it, and that the demons would try to join hands with him somehow. Every time I said that, he would loudly insist that there was no way someone born with Arken blood could possibly do such a thing."

"And…"

"The plan hasn't changed. He's after that magic."

There was a look of hatred toward humanity in Olivia's expression.

"This is why obedient dogs annoy me."

No.

It seemed she did not even regard Ureas as human.

"Even if you train a dog to obey you, a dog is still a dog in the end. It can't suppress its instincts, and it just follows after the bigger bone."

"I see."

"I've ended up complaining again. I don't know why I become so weak-hearted whenever I'm with you, Regent."

She cast him a slightly resentful look.

Is this my fault?

Olivia aimlessly stirred her tea with a teaspoon.

"I'm asking just in case, but…"

"I have not the slightest interest in that magic."

"Oh my, I haven't even said what it is yet."

"I've already been questioned about it once, so talking about it any further would only make my mouth hurt."

"I understand."

Olivia did not press him any further.

A scene was still vividly replaying itself in Ferda's mind.

Ureas had been watching Olivia's back as she walked out of the base.

The look on his face had been as if his entire world were collapsing.

"Will your relationship as siblings be all right from now on?"

"Is it unlike you, Regent, to take an interest in someone else's family affairs?"

"It's political affairs."

"Hehe, I suppose it is."

Mother isn't coming back.

It was an incredibly cruel thing to say, yet it was so very Olivia.

It sounded convincing, and yet at the same time, Ferda couldn't help but wonder whether this was really the right thing to do.

But he soon stopped thinking about it.

Olivia smiled as though she were enjoying herself, then quickly spoke with an expression of displeasure.

She leisurely sipped her black tea as she continued.

"He won't be able to defeat me. That bastard is just a child who misses his mother terribly."

"Your mother…?"

"Why do you think that bastard cares about me so much?"

"Because you're his beautiful younger sister?"

"That answer isn't enough. Ureas sees me as his mother. He says that I'm becoming more and more like the face of the mother he saw when he was young, and that's why he's obsessed with me."

"..."

"Even if I hurt him with the cruelest words imaginable, Ureas won't be able to abandon me. Because the mother who went far away a long time ago isn't coming back."

"I see."

Olivia had always been a woman who knew how to take care of herself.

But just as Ferda worried, Olivia herself wasn't certain either.

She had acted on impulse this time.

If it had been the Olivia he usually knew, she undoubtedly would have simply let Ureas's words slide.

Or perhaps she would have calmly talked some sense into him.

But before she even had time to consider either option, the incident had already happened.

And it had happened in front of none other than Ferda.

Ureas had been treating her like an attachment doll, and Ferda had seen it.

He had been showing Ferda that he considered her his possession.

My heart belongs to that man.

She could not tolerate that arrogant behavior of him claiming ownership of her in front of Ferda.

Thinking about it again made something boil furiously inside her chest.

"I suppose I should make Ureas suffer a little more. May I have another cup?"

"Certainly."

And while I'm at it, I might as well enjoy that face a little longer.

Olivia smiled sweetly.

***

The Far East troops, having settled into their position, became superstars within the Empire's forward base.

They had brought along a huge amount of unfamiliar new technology that had never been seen in the Empire before, so everyone flocked to the place to sneak a look.

"I heard that thanks to that thing called a Mana-powered Automobile, it took only a week to get here from the Far East."

"They rode inside automobiles to get here, didn't they? Some people complain like crazy that even putting their hands on a carriage makes it feel heavy."

"I asked about it. Apparently your legs stay comfortable, but your stomach gets turned upside down. They said it's even worse than riding a carriage."

"Walking is comfortable, my ass. Having your stomach turned upside down is a hundred times better than getting blisters on your feet and having to rub ointment on them!"

Traveling by vehicle was a privilege only nobles could enjoy, yet the fact that ordinary infantrymen had enjoyed the same privilege was unbelievable.

They seemed even more envious of that fact than of the Magitech Rifles.

At the same time, the knights were also gathered around, staring at the equipment from the Far East as they talked among themselves.

"The infantry have changed in all sorts of ways, but the knights don't seem to have anything different."

"That's not entirely true. The knights are carrying something too. Something like a short, thick staff, and another thing that looks like a fruit."

"What are those?"

"I asked. They said they were shotguns and grenades. Apparently, they can use magic too."

"How could little tricks performed with such things possibly surpass a Mage?"

"The infantry are already at a level where one of them can match a Mage. Why couldn't the knights do the same?"

"Hmm…"

It was hard to believe, but it wasn't entirely impossible.

At least, not if the words Far East were attached to it.

"But I think that thing called a shotgun might just be a bluff."

"Why?"

"You know the walking fortress, don't you?"

"You mean Sir Alberdo."

"Exactly. Sir Alberdo's shotgun was shorter and had a golden color."

"If it were a weapon made of gold, they'd make it as a ceremonial ornament, wouldn't they?"

"If Sir Alberdo were actually carrying around a weapon made of gold, wouldn't that mean it was an utterly useless weapon?"

"Those country bumpkins boasting about things isn't anything surprising."

The knights muttered among themselves and were about to dismiss the matter.

But one knight who knew a little more about the subject did not let it go.

"Wait. You said it was a golden-colored weapon?"

"That's right."

"A golden-colored weapon… That weapon probably isn't made of gold."

"Then what is it?"

"I heard that Frontesis visited the Grand Duchess's territory of Valdrova."

Every knight was startled upon hearing that name.

"Frontesis! You mean that Bronze Dragon known as the God of Blacksmiths?"

"Why did he come to the Far East?"

"I heard he became furious because someone had handled his belongings carelessly and then left. If something that looks like gold suddenly appeared afterward, what do you think that means?"

"Don't tell me… Frontesium?!"

Even the Imperial workshop, said to be capable of creating anything, could never handle it.

It was a one-of-a-kind raw mineral.

It was the ultimate symbol of the continent, a material so extraordinary that even the title of the greatest in the Empire seemed shabby in comparison.

"No way…"

"That's something even my grandfather used to mutter about when he was completely senile…"

But if that really was Frontesium, there was no way they wouldn't want to see it a little more.

They had been told that an object made from that legendary ore was right here.

So they kept glancing at Alberdo while pretending to walk past him, desperately trying to get even a little more of a look.

***

The knight who had been watching all of this, Zed, lightly nudged the person beside him.

"Hey."

"Yes?"

The person sitting beside him was Arwen.

"At the Grand Ducal Council, what did I tell you?"

"I don't remember."

"You remembered it perfectly every time you had a fit whenever I called you a country bumpkin."

"Damn it, why are you picking a fight with me again?"

"No, I was just going to tell you something interesting."

When Arwen glared at him, Zed snickered and nodded toward the Imperial knights.

"See their faces?"

Arwen turned his gaze in that direction.

There, one knight from the Far East and three Imperial knights were talking together.

Since knights from the Far East and knights from the capital were gathered in the same place, Arwen had wondered if they were about to start a fight.

But that wasn't the case.

They were examining the Magitech Shotgun with expressions of amazement.

"I see them."

"Their eyes look exactly like yours did back then."

Arwen's expression stiffened as he looked at the eyes of the Imperial knights.

"...Don't be ridiculous."

"Accept reality."

"There's no way I made such a pathetic expression."

"That's reality, country bumpkin."

"Ah, seriously!! Stop saying useless crap! I might just cut you in half!"

"Hahahaha!"

Arwen shouted in a way that was unusual for him.

Having accomplished his goal, Zed disappeared into the distance.

Arwen tried to dismiss it as another one of Zed's stupid remarks and forget about it.

But the words had already become a curse, lingering in his mind.

Again and again, he imagined his own face wearing that pitiful expression.

In the end, unable to bear the embarrassment, he slammed his fist into the innocent ground.

***

The next morning, Ureas came to see Ferda.

"I was too emotional yesterday. I apologize."

It was quite an unusual sight.

The great Ureas apologizing to someone.

It seemed his little sister really was frightening after all.

"No, I understand. You consider your sister's chastity important, so I can understand your reaction."

"Thank you for saying so. I was too harsh toward someone who already has a fiancée. Let's put that uncomfortable subject behind us."

Ureas then got to the main point.

"That being said, I'm going to talk to the Allied Forces regarding the territory, with the intention of giving up on half of it. Three people from my side, Count Rooster, and you—six people in total—will take part in the discussion. What do you think?"

"Thank you for the invitation. I'll attend."

As it happened, Ferda had been curious about this himself.

When they all shared the exact same filthy objective, what kind of conversations would kings have?

This was a good opportunity to find out.

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