Chapter 78
Chapter 78
Chapter 78
Elvin and Karen (2)
"I think of you as the daughter I lost long ago."
"Lady Pruna."
"You will someday become my successor and the captain of the Imperial Guard."
"Captain of the Imperial Guard..."
"And if you take the head of that man who is Kaitel's disciple, the position of the next Sword Master will be yours."
Did she want to obtain such a shining position even by killing Elvin?
If she were to answer that question herself, the answer would be No.
But Karen now was extremely vulnerable to desire and temptation due to special treatment in addition to judgment clouded by rage.
"If you hesitate a little to kill that man, how about experimenting with someone else first?"
"Someone else... You mean?"
"She also has connections with you, but she's also one of your enemies, so she'll be much easier to deal with than the man named Elvin."
Pruna whispered a person's name into Karen's ear.
"Princess Luciella von Delphione, bring me her head."
At that moment, faint demonic energy began to flow from Karen's body.
***
"...Demonic energy, you say?"
"Yes, Master Kaitel said he felt something similar to what I did, so it's probably not wrong."
Rudian felt his facial muscles involuntarily contort at the fact Elvin had revealed.
Demonic energy, no matter what, hadn't the difficulty level risen too much?
"When Karen expressed anger toward me, there was a faint black aura swirling around her fist. While magic itself being black isn't impossible, I've felt the aura your sword emitted before..."
The demonic energy of Demon Kings has unique characteristics for each individual, but the essence itself is the same.
"...What should we do about this?"
"......"
Rudian was the most knowledgeable about demonic energy in this place.
Even with everyone's attention focused on him, Rudian couldn't break his silence.
'This is serious.'
If Karen had become a subordinate, it would be irreversible.
A subordinate is ultimately a contract where one sells their soul to gain power.
Even if you kill the contracted Demon King, if that Demon King doesn't give up the soul, it's all for nothing.
Even Diablo's power couldn't reverse such a thing.
'...No, it's still too early to conclude that she's become a subordinate.'
There was also the possibility that she had simply been brainwashed by demonic energy or had only borrowed power.
"It's still too early to make a definitive judgment. I think we need to see our senior directly."
"What if Karen has sold her soul?"
Elvin's voice trembled slightly.
It was unfortunate to have to answer such a question, but he couldn't lie.
"...You should prepare yourself."
"......"
A subordinate appears to maintain their ego properly on the surface.
But that's only how they appear on the outside, inside, they become completely empty marionettes moving for their master.
"Let's meet Senior Karen first and then decide. It's not too late to worry after that."
"R-right."
Only then did Elvin calm his rough breathing and regain his composure.
For now, Rudian decided to take Elvin along to visit Karen's mansion.
Luciella also joined this schedule, instantly forming a three-person party.
Although the sun had completely disappeared and the moon was high in the middle of the night, this was actually when they were more likely to meet her.
Rudian asked Jester, who had come out to see them off, to look after Rebecca's well-being.
"I'll be back soon, so if she wakes up and looks for me, please comfort her well."
"Understood, Master."
Since the other employees kept saying "Master," Jester was also calling Rudian "Master."
"Take care, Master!"
Several others who hadn't gone to sleep also saw Rudian off, calling him Master.
...Why on earth had such a title taken root among the employees?
Rudian got into the carriage with a reluctant expression.
"To Bolero Street."
"Yes, Master!"
Couldn't they just call him Count or Head of Family?
Oh, they don't know yet that he's been elevated to Count, do they?
Still, since the distance between him and the initially awkward employees was gradually closing, it seemed pointless to correct them.
In any case, the carriage began heading toward Karen's mansion.
"Even Imperial Guards wouldn't stay in the imperial palace 24 hours a day. There should be some time when she's at home."
Karen originally lived in dormitories, but just in case, she had prepared a small mansion on the outskirts of the capital.
Very few people knew about that mansion, but Elvin, who had grown up with Karen since childhood, knew of its existence and exact location.
"First, let's assess her situation, and if it's determined that she's not a subordinate, then we'll try to have a conversation."
"What if conversation doesn't work?"
"The most convenient thing would be to subdue her and then restrain her until everything is over, but..."
"...Are you serious?"
Toward Luciella, who was narrowing her eyes with a slightly angry expression, Rudian shrugged his shoulders and shook his head.
"Of course not. If we did that, even if we secured Senior Karen's safety, our relationship would be completely ruined. If conversation doesn't work..."
"Then what?"
The two of them looked at him with anticipation in their eyes, but Rudian chuckled and covered his lips with his index finger.
"Let's save that answer for later enjoyment."
"......"
Luciella began glaring at him with fierce eyes, but honestly, since he hadn't finished forming a proper plan yet, it would be awkward to answer rashly.
'Honestly, I don't really know how to solve this kind of problem between men and women either.'
Pride, affection, reality, status, goals...
Various keywords had come together to create this situation.
Honestly, believing that the current problem could be magically resolved with just one conversation would be an overly optimistic judgment.
If the emotional rift was too deep and this meeting ended in a bad direction...
'Then... I'll have to create a stage.'
A fierce and passionate stage where they could vent all those emotions, risking their lives.
***
The mansion where Karen resided was located quite far on the outskirts of the capital, Nevan.
It seemed that expensive housing prices in the capital were the same in any era, and the houses that Karen, a fallen noble, could obtain were quite limited.
"Is this the place?"
It wasn't quite a slum, but it was single-story with shabby parts visible here and there.
No matter how fallen a noble Karen was, this was definitely not a house suitable for someone maintaining a family name.
Anyway, seeing a faint light glowing inside the house, fortunately there seemed to be someone there.
"Wh-who might you be? Oh! Young Master Elvin?"
"...It's been a while, Emma."
The person who opened the door was Emma, the only employee of the fallen Leticia family.
Now approaching her fifties, she was in a position no different from Karen's nanny and had also formed a friendship with Elvin.
"Y-Young Master..."
"Is Karen here?"
"She... Hasn't returned yet."
At Emma's words, disappointment appeared on the group's faces.
They had thought she would be home since it was close to midnight.
Then Emma collapsed where she stood and grabbed Elvin's trouser leg.
"Young Master, please..."
"Emma."
"Please... Save the young lady..."
"...Get up."
Elvin grabbed one of the sobbing Emma's shoulders and helped her up again.
If someone closest to Karen was saying such things, it was safe to assume that Karen's mental state was indeed on the verge of collapse.
"As expected, Karen's situation doesn't seem normal."
"The young lady becoming like that... I know the circumstances roughly. But still... right now, you're the only person I can depend on, Young Master."
"Don't you resent me?"
"I do resent you. I resent you to the point where I want to plunge a knife into your chest with my own hands, Young Master."
"......"
At Emma's chilling words, Elvin's shoulders could be seen flinching slightly.
"But if I did that, the young lady would truly collapse..."
Rudian looked at Emma and fell deep in thought.
'It doesn't seem to be the worst-case scenario.'
If Karen had truly become a subordinate, Emma wouldn't be showing such behavior.
Probably because Karen was struggling mentally and hadn't yet thrown off the bonds of connection... Emma, watching that, had no choice but to act this way.
Elvin said to Emma:
"First, I'd like to go inside and hear the details."
"What details?"
But that answer came not from Emma's mouth, but from behind.
Rudian, who had noticed that presence, slowly turned his head.
There, he could see Karen wearing the uniform of the Imperial Guard.
Karen smiled broadly and opened her mouth.
"There are many faces I haven't seen in a long time, aren't there?"
Her voice was full of energy, but seeing her completely opposite gaze, Rudian's shoulders flinched slightly.
"It's been a while, Senior Karen."
"Yes, it's been a while. I'm glad to see you're doing well."
Though proper conversation was taking place, Rudian immediately noticed that Karen wasn't looking at him.
Even while speaking, her gaze was still directed toward Elvin, and for some reason, Karen's gaze was also shifting to Luciella.
"Elvin, it seems you let what I said before go in one ear and out the other?"
Step by step.
Karen's hand began moving toward her sword hilt.
"I said that the next time we meet, it would be a day of killing each other. I was quite looking forward to that day, but I didn't expect you to come looking for me so quickly."
Karen's hand, gripping the hilt tightly, moved as fast as lightning.
"Was what I said so amusing?"
FLASH!
The drawn sword tip thrust straight toward Elvin's neck.
"Young lady!"
Even with Emma right beside them, Karen showed absolutely no mercy in her attack.
CLANG!
But Karen's lightning-fast thrust was blocked by the flat of a massive two-handed sword, producing only a clear metallic sound.
"Your manners have gotten quite bad while I wasn't looking, Karen."
Karen quietly called the name of the one who had blocked her attack.
"...Princess Luciella."
"Seeing you swing your sword without warning, it seems conversation won't work."
"...Move aside."
"I don't want to. And don't speak informally to me."
It was a momentarily forgotten fact, but Luciella was originally a woman with quite a temper too.
Gritting her teeth!
Toward Karen, who was gritting her teeth, Luciella pointed her two-handed sword with a composed expression.
"It seems that in Sir Elvin's current state, he can't properly attack you, so I'll entertain you. Once you're tired, we should be able to have some conversation, shouldn't we?"
"...Fine. I also had orders to bring your head, so if you insist on fighting, I won't avoid it either."
At the mention of bringing a head, Rudian and the others flinched.
"A head? Who said such a thing? Don't tell me Pruna Silent said that?"
"That's none of your business."
"Since she's been living in Uncle Kaitel's shadow her whole life, she probably harbors resentment toward me, his niece, as well. What a petty woman."
"Don't insult her!"
Anger filled the thin, sharp sword.
But when anger and heaviness were added to swordsmanship that should be wielded lightly and coldly to display its true power, there was no way it could produce proper force.
CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!
Karen swung her sword mercilessly, consumed by rage.
A brilliant force close to an aura, completely different from her previous subtleness, pressed down on Luciella.
"Tch, you've just gotten stronger in a brutish way."
The duel between Luciella with her great sword and Karen with her rapier showed a completely opposite aspect to their appearances.
"Die!"
"Stop it, Karen!"
"Shut up! After I kill this woman, it's your turn!"
Karen retorted viciously and rushed toward Luciella again.
Luciella calmly deflected Karen's fierce offensive while muttering:
"Certainly, the amount of magic has increased exponentially compared to before."
"You're also one of the main culprits who destroyed my dreams! I'll definitely kill you!"
"...Yes. I admit that I was too indifferent and abandoned you. I sincerely want to apologize."
"Then give me your head!"
"Well, if it were possible, I'd like to, but..."
BANG!
As soon as those words ended, Karen's body was sent flying far away, struck by Luciella's swinging sword.
Although she succeeded in defending by turning her sword at the last moment, the force was so strong that Karen couldn't absorb all the impact.
Having sent her flying with one strike, Luciella planted the tip of her great sword in the ground and snorted.
"No matter what... My pride won't allow me to give my head to such sloppy swordsmanship."