Chapter 76
Chapter 76
Chapter 76
Unintended Variables (4)
"Answer me."
Rebecca's eyes were frightening.
Very frightening.
"Ah, no..."
Even if Rudian told the truth here, would Rebecca accept it?
"Don't tell me that thing you said only you could do was going around meeting women?"
"......"
Rudian became speechless.
Even if he said Luciella felt like a workplace superior and Maria was a friend, Rebecca would probably just laugh "ha ha ho ho" while fetching a kitchen knife—and that would be fortunate.
"Oh?"
At that moment, Luciella, who had spotted Rebecca, approached with gleaming eyes.
"...!"
For some reason, Rebecca's wariness reached its maximum and she hid behind Rudian's back.
'Please don't cause any trouble.'
Though she was glaring fiercely like a cat hiding behind its mother, honestly, those two people weren't beings Rebecca could do anything about even if she became hostile.
Luciella overwhelmed Rebecca socially, and Maria in terms of physical strength.
One was approaching with interest, while the other was growling with wariness.
Since the timing was off, the atmosphere in the room naturally became strange.
'I'm sorry. No, I apologize.'
I sincerely apologize for our Rebecca ruining the atmosphere.
While Rudian was sending such looks to the two women...
"Hello? It's been a while."
"...What?"
Something unexpected happened.
"Do you know me?"
Luciella, sitting on the bed, smiled kindly at Rebecca.
"I saw you once in Baran Village. Though you were unconscious at the time, so you wouldn't remember seeing me."
"...Ah!"
"I'm Luciella von Delphione. Rudian's friend, right? Nice to meet you."
Rebecca knew the name Luciella too.
She was the great noble among great nobles who had eliminated all the wicked bandits trying to attack the village while Rebecca was unconscious.
Though the causality was somewhat distorted in the telling, combined with the village chief's praise about how she had generously donated money for Baran Village's reconstruction before leaving, Rebecca already had considerable favorable feelings toward Luciella, whom she had never even seen.
"Th-th-nice to meet you! I'm Rebecca."
Rebecca's hostility had not only disappeared but she had clasped both hands together politely.
At the sight of the girl bowing respectfully on the bed, Luciella burst out laughing with a "kkeureuk."
"It's, it's okay. Heh, hehe...! You don't need to do that."
"Still, you're a noble..."
"If you're Rudian's friend, then you're our friend too. You don't need to worry about it."
Finally, as Maria joined in, the awkward atmosphere completely relaxed.
"Baran Village was quite impressive. Knowing the invaders weren't simple bandits but soldiers from another country, yet choosing to resist rather than flee, that's not an easy decision to make."
Luciella began steadily winning over Rebecca with conversational skills honed through noble social circles and information guild fieldwork.
"Is, is that so?"
"Of course. How firm Rebecca's resolve must be, having grown up in such a village, is obvious without even looking."
Starting with praise for the village, then reaching the person through those around them.
"Heh, hehe, ehehe...!"
Rebecca, who had initially been sharply wary, had somehow returned to her usual self and began chattering and laughing.
'She's completely relaxed.'
Why did the phrase ‘trainer taming a wild beast’ come to mind?
Upon learning that Baran Village was Rudian's hometown, Maria also began showing interest and actively participating in the conversation.
But coming all the way here to rest because it was difficult, was that place quite uncomfortable?
'I should get up now.'
He had no desire to intrude on girls' talk, nor did he have any material for it.
Just as he was about to get up to give them space...
"Where are you going?"
'What a shock!'
Before he knew it, three pairs of eyes were directed at him.
Those gazes felt like looking at minerals, and Rudian felt chills run down his spine for a moment.
"Huh? I thought there wasn't really a place for me here, so I was going to give you space..."
"Didn't you say you'd stay with us?"
Rebecca smiled brightly while applying pressure.
And strangely, the girls on both sides seemed to silently agree with that statement... Was it his imagination?
"......"
"Sit down."
"...Yes."
Like a trained puppy, Rudian quietly sat down.
By the way, hadn't Luciella come here talking about apologies and such?
He couldn't find any trace of that from her as she rejoined the chatter.
It was only after more than three hours had passed that Luciella suddenly remembered the purpose of her visit and jumped up.
***
While Rudian was suffering as a useless sack of barley...
Thanks to Demon King Iblis of Rohans' fervent protests, Asmodeus finally ended up deploying considerable forces to the Iskar region.
"Damn it, that bastard Iblis! Just because he receives some favor from Baal, he acts so rudely."
Asmodeus tore up the letter Iblis had sent with quite an impolite tone and got angry.
"Calm down."
"Marbas! Aren't you angry? Why did we split from those guys and come all the way to Morian!"
Asmodeus continued while biting her thumbnail.
"The forces we're deploying this time are one supreme-class demon and three high-class demons. Plus twenty familiars! That's almost one-fifth of our total strength!"
That much was needed to maintain some dignity before Iblis.
"We're busy manipulating the political situation using the Third Prince, but if this much force is absent, who knows what the Emperor might do by exploiting that gap."
"You don't need to worry about that."
Marbas immediately dismissed that concern.
"You sound quite confident...? Could you let me know the reason?"
"It's nothing special."
Marbas spoke quietly toward the back.
"Come out."
Then, parting the curtain of darkness, a mature-looking female knight appeared.
Recognizing the female knight's identity, Asmodeus finally showed signs of relief.
"Ah, right. You were there. Current Captain of the Imperial Guard Knights."
"I am Pruna Silent, my lady."
"Right, Pruna."
The final shield and strongest sword protecting the Emperor closest to him.
Having this sword and shield figure recruited under their command was one of Marbas's greatest achievements.
Pruna bowed respectfully and said:
"Please don't worry. Over ten members from the Imperial Guard Knights have already joined to serve their lord. No matter what the Emperor attempts, we can sufficiently stop him."
"Good, very reliable."
If they could securely tie down the Emperor, there were no other worries.
Probably those Adora fellows would have to focus their attention there too, so the capital would be peaceful for a while and her plans would proceed steadily.
That alone was sufficient, but Pruna enthusiastically continued to appeal to her competence by raising her voice.
"This time I recruited about ten new members to the Imperial Guard Knights. They have excellent qualities and proven loyalty, but they're from humble families or are illegitimate children, so they couldn't be properly utilized in the current system."
"Oh, really?"
"By gradually taking control of the Imperial Guard Knights centered on these people, we'll eventually create a new knight order that works for our lord's world!"
Pruna passionately listed praises for the new recruits she had selected.
But having already lost interest, she listened to Pruna's lengthy speech with a listless attitude.
'Not particularly handsome and not my type either.'
While Marbas, who claimed to be a warrior, received Pruna's chatter well, for her it was... Well.
But then.
Asmodeus's eyes stopped at a certain point while surveying the new Imperial Guard Knights.
'...Oh my?'
A single flower among the new recruits.
Uncommon purple hair. Her face was equally beautiful.
'What's this flower doing among the weeds?'
She wasn't in Asmodeus's preferred age range, but since the surroundings were such a wasteland, she was relatively much more appealing.
Preferences aside, she was definitely within Asmodeus's strike zone.
"You, what's your name?"
Asmodeus got up from her seat and approached the purple-haired girl.
For some reason her eyes were quite dead, but when called upon, she obediently answered Asmodeus's question.
"Karen... Karen Leticia."
Rudian's academy senior and Elvin's childhood friend.
And Karen, who had been a beneficiary of the Delphione Foundation, had somehow become a new member of the Imperial Guard Knights.
***
After the girls' talk between Luciella, Maria, and Rebecca ended.
Maria, feeling much more refreshed, left the mansion again to handle organizational matters, and Rebecca, whose strength hadn't fully recovered yet, fell asleep again.
And Luciella, the only one remaining, finally remembered the purpose of her visit and became like a yes-man office worker, continuously bowing her head toward Rudian.
"S-sorry, Rudian! For me to make such an outrageous mistake...!"
Luciella repeatedly apologized for not informing her colleagues about the family secrets her father Vincent had been hiding.
"You didn't know about it either, Princess. It's not good to keep bringing up past matters."
"Still..."
"That's enough. The strategy meeting takes priority."
Luciella composed herself at Rudian's repeated persuasion and entered the meeting.
Currently, Luciella was mobilizing all personnel from the guild she led to locate demon strongholds within the capital, in addition to the information Rudian had provided.
Most were forces pushed out by Psychic Luminous, but since they possessed small but potent fangs, they spared no effort in the search.
"Since His Majesty the Emperor has entrusted even the actual authority of the Imperial Intelligence Agency, there must not be a single mistake in this matter."
It was essentially a situation where the entire Morian Empire's intelligence network was being mobilized.
No matter how well hidden, since it was within the capital, the locations of those strongholds were being identified one by one.
"Fortunately, there are some results, so the rest should be resolved by time."
Luciella pointed to spots on the map and continued with a troubled expression.
"The problem is the demons' main base that Rudian told us about..."
She pointed to the eastern part of the capital, the resort area, and finally sighed.
"The numerous slaves that Count Marba Ainsworth brought from the East... Reports keep coming in that many of them have gone missing in this vicinity."
"......"
Rudian also frowned and remained silent.
Of course, having directly explored that area, he could guess why they had taken the slaves and made them disappear.
"Either as food for magical beasts or for sacrifice purposes..."
"It might be both."
As food for magical beasts, humans were actually quite expensive fare.
No matter how many slaves they had acquired, simply throwing animal meat would solve the magical beasts' food problem, so if we had to consider possibilities, it leaned toward the latter.
"The number of missing slaves has already exceeded a thousand. At this level, they're being blatantly obvious about their activities."
Luciella was certain.
"The Demon King's summoning plan..."
Asmodeus' sinister scheme to summon four high-ranking Demon Kings to devastate the Morian Empire.
"It depends on who strikes the enemy first."
Reading the urgency in Rudian's expression, she sternly scolded him.
"Being too hasty ruins things. We're also hurrying our preparations as much as possible."
"......"
"Please trust us a bit more."
Her expression as she admonished Rudian held unwavering conviction.
'Indeed... She has great capacity.'
Certainly in this aspect, she overwhelmed Rudian in capacity, ability, and everything else.
Having someone else take the lead here wouldn't make things progress faster anyway.
"Yes, I'll trust you. Princess Luciella."
At Rudian's words, for some reason Luciella curved her lips like a cat.
"Hehe, you're now of Count rank or higher, so how about dropping the Princess part?"
"Th-that's!"
"Maria and Rebecca too. Seeing you call them by their names so familiarly, I somehow wanted that too."
At Luciella's sparkling-eyed approach, Rudian somehow panicked and took a step back.
"Is that not okay?"
Calling her by name?
Her, who was like a caring older sister and workplace superior?
He had never thought deeply about such things.
"Uh, ah..."
While Rudian was noticeably flustered and floundering...
KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK!
From beyond the tightly closed door, Jester's voice came to Rudian's rescue.
"Master, you have a visitor."
"A, a visitor? Who?"
"Young Lord Elvin Kepler. He says he has something to discuss and has come to see you."
Eh, Elvin?