Chapter 37 - An Unrestful Weekend
Chapter 37 - An Unrestful Weekend
After spending a hellish life at the Ministry of Finance, a peaceful weekend finally came to me for the first time in a while.
On a day off like this, sleeping in is a given!
I tried to sleep in, recalling memories of sleeping like the dead on weekends in my past life.
But that wish of mine did not come true.
"Wake up, Edric. Let's do morning exercise!"
"Ah... morning exercise?"
A while later, at the mansion's vast training ground.
On this day, perfect for napping under the warm sunshine, I was sparring with Nataliya, holding a wooden sword.
Tak-! Tak-!
"Edric, your sword lacks strength. Where did that Edric who defeated me go!"
"Haa! Haa!"
That Edric is dead and gone from working overtime at the Ministry of Finance!
The wooden sword I held for the first time in a while felt much heavier than I remembered.
Wow... is this the feeling of a gym rat experiencing muscle loss?
I could feel that my skills had dropped to a level that surprised even me.
Compared to that, Nataliya, who stood before me waving her blue silver hair that was more dazzling than the sun while holding a wooden sword, was truly flying.
Swish-! Fwip-!
"Na... Nataliya! Your sword is getting faster and faster!?"
"It's Edric who is getting slower. Put more effort into it!"
"Uwaaaaah!"
The sound of Nataliya's wooden sword cutting through the wind became sharper.
How did I actually win back then? Did I get some kind of protagonist buff?
At that moment, I saw Nataliya's flank was open, and I kicked off the ground with a battle cry.
"Haaah!!!"
The shhh sound of the wooden sword cutting the air was quite sharp, but Nataliya didn't even blink.
She lightly twisted her body to deflect my attack, then moved in flexibly as if dancing to tap my wrist.
"Argh!"
Just by Nataliya's wooden sword lightly striking my wrist, my wrist lost strength and I dropped the wooden sword.
And in an instant, the tip of her wooden sword touched under my chin.
"I... I lost."
"Hmm, Edric, your skills are completely dead. What kind of work did you do at the Ministry of Finance?"
The moment I heard Nataliya's words, the terrible paper hell came to mind.
The countless white documents coming up from the Empire... those white devils approaching me...
Kuaaaagh! Don't come near me!
Seeing my pale expression, Nataliya was also surprised and said.
"Ar... Are you okay? Edric, your face has turned deathly pale."
"Nataliya... it was so hard for me..."
I threw myself into Nataliya's arms.
Documents are scary... The Empire is scary...
Nataliya looked at me in surprise, then soon made a soft expression and hugged me tightly, saying.
Squeeze-
"Yes, you've worked hard."
"Nataliya..."
"I'm sorry I didn't realize. Let's rest today doing whatever Edric wants."
Nataliya said, soothing me.
Feeling the fragrant flower scent coming from her, I felt my heart recovering.
Is this what they call 'mommy energy'?
Ah... I feel like I'm being healed.
After having a healing time with Nataliya for a while and finishing a refreshing shower, we headed to a hot place restaurant in the Capital that I wanted to go to.
"Please come this way, Edric-nim."
"Hmm... understood."
Thanks to the Order of the Iron-Blooded Lion medal, we were able to enter the restaurant without waiting.
And we ordered the most expensive dish at this restaurant.
"Wow... this sea bass steak is really delicious."
"Right. This is the first time I've had sea bass steak cooked so evenly."
As I put a piece of the golden-grilled sea bass meat into my mouth, the savory flavor of the fat exploded on the tip of my tongue.
Nataliya also seemed satisfied, narrowing her eyes and chewing.
"It's a different taste from the salmon of the North. The sauce is very delicate. Edric, you have sauce on the corner of your mouth."
Nataliya naturally reached out and wiped the corner of my mouth.
At that moment, I felt the envious gazes of the nobles around us.
Keu... this is life. I'm really glad I was born into this world.
After leaving the restaurant after the meal, I asked Nataliya.
"Nataliya, is there anywhere you want to go?"
"Hmm... I want to go to Weapon's Heaven."
"Weapon's Heaven?"
'Weapon's Heaven', the shop I was hearing about for the first time, was the Empire's largest equipment store, according to Nataliya.
To think she wanted to go to a weapon shop, not a dress shop or a perfume shop... It hit me again that Nataliya was the captain of the Northern Knights.
Having nowhere else to go, I followed Nataliya to 'Weapon's Heaven'.
"Welcome! Welcome to 'Weapon's Heaven', the Empire's largest equipment store boasting 230 years of history."
As we entered the shop, a high-tension dwarf welcomed us.
It felt like when I entered a ramen shop in my past life and the staff greeted me.
I looked around.
The fact that it was decorated with the bones of a giant dragon from the entrance told me that this was a place where rare weapons from the entire continent gathered.
Nataliya's eyes sparkled as she examined the display case, and she pointed to a sword placed in the corner.
It was a sword with a red handle and a sharp, pointed design like a rapier.
"Clerk, what about this sword?"
"Customer, you certainly have an eye for things. If I may speak of this sword, it is a masterpiece created by the collaboration of 1st-class mage Ariel-nim and 1st-class blacksmith Ktun-nim, named 'Eos'."
The dwarf clerk started explaining excitedly.
Were dwarves a race that talked this well?
My image of dwarves was changing.
Nataliya asked, looking at the clerk.
"What kind of magic is cast on it?"
"It has summoning magic cast on it. If you wear this bracelet, the sword is stored inside the bracelet."
When the clerk wore the bracelet, the red sword glowed and disappeared into the bracelet.
The clerk wore the red bracelet and reached out, saying.
"Now, if you think about summoning the sword inside,"
Vwoong-!
At that moment, the rapier appeared in the dwarf clerk's hand.
The clerk showed it while holding the rapier.
"Like this, it appears anytime, anywhere to protect its master. How is it? Isn't it cool?"
Whoa, so that's possible. I couldn't hide my surprise at the teleporting sword I was seeing for the first time.
Nataliya, who was watching the sword from the side, said.
"I like it. Let's go with this one."
"Yes! Thank you."
Nataliya paid for the sword with her own money.
And she placed the bracelet in my hand.
"Nataliya? This is..."
"Edric, this is a gift for you."
"Something this expensive?"
"It's cheap compared to the price of your life. You never know who might target Edric, anytime, anywhere, so keep it with you at all times. Understand?"
"I got it, Nataliya... I'll keep it with me at all times."
My heart warmed at her heavy love worrying about me.
Keuheuk... I'm thinking about it again, but I'm glad I was born in this other world.
After that, while we were drinking coffee on the terrace where the sunset was burning upon returning to the mansion, Nataliya put down her cup and stared at me intently.
"By the way, Edric, there is one thing I want to ask."
"What is it?"
"Does the Imperial Princess-jeonha not make you do strange things these days?"
Pfft!
I almost spat out my coffee.
The memory of that day I wanted to forget came to mind.
How do I explain the Princess's insane request to 'slap her cheek'?
I desperately maintained a poker face.
"No, no way. She's just grumbling a bit about Ministry of Finance work."
"Really?"
"Re... Really."
"Hmm... I might not know about others, but you can't fool my eyes. The look in the Princess-jeonha's eyes when she looks at Edric was not the look of a subject. It was the eyes of a predator eyeing its prey."
"Is... is that so?"
"Yes, that's right."
I recalled the Princess's gaze that day.
The eyes staring at me certainly looked like those of a wolf.
Ugh... just imagining that day is fucking scary.
Just as I was trembling in fear, Nataliya grabbed my hand tightly and added.
"Edric... I understand that having more women is an honorable thing. But I cannot tolerate you hiding it from me. You know what I mean, right?"
"I... I will never hide it! I swear!"
I shouted desperately, holding her hand back.
Just as I had a premonition that a bloodbath was about to begin, the maid Anna brought a letter urgently.
"Edric-nim!"
"What's the matter, Anna?"
"A letter has arrived from Azelia-nim of the Church."
"Azelia?"
I opened and read the letter Anna brought.
It contained exactly that content.
It was that the date for Saintess Azelia's Investiture Ceremony had been set, so please make sure to attend.
"Has this moment finally come?"
"What does it say, Edric?"
"Hmm... it says that spring will come to the Imperial Prince-jeonha's life."
"Spring?"
I sensed that the opportunity had come for me to be the Cupid for the Prince's fresh unrequited love.
Alright! Let's gift spring to the Prince who has come to his senses.
At that time, on the outskirts of the Livia territory in the South, in the basement of an abandoned building infested with rats and bugs.
Kahel William, the son of Wilhelm William who once enjoyed the greatest wealth in the South, spat blood-mixed phlegm onto the floor.
"Edric Noel... Azelia...!"
His voice, trembling with rage, shook bizarrely like the cry of a cracked bat.
His family, the William family, had completely collapsed during the Southern civil unrest incident.
All assets and territories were confiscated, and he had to watch his father being executed in the square.
For him, who had lost everything, only burning hatred remained.
"Young Master, with our current strength, we cannot even cross the Church's wall."
"I know that too! Isn't that why I said let's target the Saintess Investiture Ceremony!"
He had devoted everything to killing the two people who ruined him: Edric and Azelia.
Using the money he hid when escaping the family, he obtained information that the Saintess's investiture ceremony would be held soon and prepared an assassination plan.
The place where the Saintess Investiture Ceremony was held was not the Imperial Palace or the Papal See, but the Holy Land.
Security was bound to be relatively loose, and he tried to aim for that. However...
"No matter how loose the security gets, it's impossible with our strength."
But no matter how loose the security of the investiture ceremony became, assassination was not easy with only the power of fallen nobles.
At the words of the servant who was reading the room from the side, Kahel slammed his fist into the wall. With a crack sound, the wall cracked.
"I know! But I can't just starve to death like a rat like this! Rather than watching that sycophant receive a medal, become a lord, and live in luxury, I would rather rip out my heart and cast a curse...!"
It was then.
In the middle of the closed basement without a single window, shadows flickered, and an ominous purple mist rose.
The fallen nobles who were there drew their swords.
Clang-!
"Who are you!"
Kahel also drew his dagger, but the man who walked out of the mist didn't even flinch.
He was revealing skin that was so pale it was almost transparent from between the deeply worn black hood.
"Put down your swords. I am a person who came to help, drawn by the scent of revenge."
The man's voice caused an unpleasant resonance as if scratching metal.
Kahel gritted his teeth while feeling instinctive fear.
"Who are you! Are you a hound of the Papal See, or an assassin sent by that bastard Edric!"
"A hound, how rude. I am merely one of the merciful believers who listens to the prayers of the 'forsaken' like you."
The man in the hood slowly raised a pale hand.
Then, black smoke gathered on the table where there was nothing, and a bizarre box was summoned.
On the surface of the box, the shape of a twisted snake wrapping around a skull, the symbol of the Dead King, was clearly engraved.
"Don't you want revenge, Kahel William?"
"... Even if I have to risk my life, no, even if I have to sell my soul, I want to tear those bastards apart."
Kahel's eyes flashed.
The man opened the box as if satisfied.
Inside lay a dagger forged from black metal, pulsating like a living creature.
"Use this. It will be a source of strength for your revenge."
Kahel held the dagger in his hand as if possessed.
The sensation of cold metal traveled up his palm and stimulated his brain.
"... Why are you giving me this power? What is your purpose!"
The man stepped back with a fishy smile.
His figure began to slowly melt into the mist.
"Do you think you are the only one who wants revenge on the Empire?"
"..............."
"It is just like that. Then, I wish you success on the day of the investiture ceremony."
As soon as he finished speaking, the man disappeared without a trace.
In the empty basement, only Kahel's scream-mixed laughter, bursting with madness while holding the Dagger of the King of Death, echoed.