Chapter 121: Reunion
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 121: Reunion
Trying her best to ignore the sounds coming from behind her, Makina finally finished crafting the requested number of massagers and turned around.
When she did, she saw Linna leaning against Yohan's arm, her body trembling uncontrollably, while Yohan pressed a massager firmly between her legs.
“Hnngh- Hah, hnnngh-! You… you'll pay for this…!”
Hanging onto Yohan's arm, Linna shivered and shot him a fierce glare. Of course, people who say "you'll pay for this later" are never actually that scary.
Vvvvmmm—! Activating the massager between her legs once more, Yohan noticed Makina looking at him and held out the beaker he had set aside.
“Here you go.”
“When did you get this ready?”
“Just now.”
Makina was curious about what could have possibly happened while her back was turned, but she didn't really need to know the details.
All she needed was the semen. If she could just unravel the secrets held within his semen…
“Anyway, here are the massagers you asked for… and you said you wanted to see Her Majesty the Empress. Let’s go together.”
“Is there a reason we need to go together?”
“Because if you go by yourselves, you’ll be stopped and questioned at every turn. That won’t happen if you’re with me.”
It was a perfectly reasonable explanation, so Yohan followed Makina, with Linna, whose legs were still trembling, and Linne, who had some curly hair stuck to her mouth, in tow.
On the way to the Empress’s office, just as she’d said, soldiers approached them every few steps. But as soon as they saw Makina’s face, they would beat a hasty retreat.
They were the Empress’s trained soldiers, but none of them wanted to get involved with a witch.
“Alright, we’re here.”
Arriving in front of the office, Makina didn’t even bother to knock and threw the door wide open. The Empress, who was inside working on documents, must have recognized her guest from the way the door burst open, as she frowned slightly.
“What is it, Makina?”
“Hmm─ Guests?”
“Guests?”
Only then did the Empress notice Yohan, Linna, and Linne, and her expression began to soften. Having accomplished her goal, Makina told them to have a nice chat and promptly vanished.
Left alone to face the Empress, Yohan observed her cautiously.
She looked exhausted, as if buried under a mountain of work, yet she showed no signs of shunning or rejecting him. Yohan had thought she had no reason to welcome him, but he now realized that wasn't the case.
‘Ah, the letter…’
The Empress had sent him a letter. A letter stating her desire to recruit him. His ability to handle witches with such ease must have seemed like a mouth-watering prize to those in power.
She must be interpreting his arrival here, with two women she had never seen before, as a positive response to that letter.
“It has been a while, Yohan.”
“It has.”
“Am I to understand that you are here to accept my proposal?”
Frederica said, flashing a brilliant smile. It was a smile so bright that it made him feel guilty for having to state his real reason for being here.
Nevertheless, Yohan carefully revealed why he had come.
“No, you’re mistaken.”
“…Mistaken? Then why are you here?”
“I have a request… no, a proposal.”
With that, Yohan explained his purpose. He told her he could create love dolls using Beatrice’s doll technology.
He explained that the soldiers on the front lines wanted them, and that dolls related to sexual desire, one of the three great human desires, would surely be a profitable business.
After listening to his entire explanation, the Empress pressed a hand to her temple as if she couldn't comprehend what she had just heard.
“Wait… just a moment. Love dolls? What are those? And the three great human desires? What is that?”
“Why wouldn’t you know… Ah, I guess that’s not a concept here yet.”
Realizing his mistake, Yohan started with the basics, explaining what love dolls were and what the three great human desires entailed.
After hearing it all, the Empress finally understood what Yohan was talking about.
On the surface, it seemed he simply wanted to start a prostitution business. The thought that he would come to the Empress for such a trivial matter was absurd, but…
‘That’s not it.’
Just because people lived in a less advanced civilization didn't mean they were foolish or unwise. Moreover, someone of the Empress’s stature was bound to have an exceptional talent.
Just as she had predicted that the witches would have a major impact on the rise and fall of the Empire and recruited them, the Empress instantly grasped the effect this business would have on the Empire's future.
This instinct was a power that bordered on the supernatural.
‘This isn’t just an object for relieving sexual desire. On a small scale, it will affect the Empire’s birth rate, and on a larger scale, it’s something that could swallow the Empire whole…’
She couldn't simply refuse. Yohan was backed by the witches, who were far more powerful than the Empire.
They were transcendent beings who could obliterate the Empire with a single gesture.
Rejecting a proposal from Yohan, who had them at his back, was no different from provoking them.
“Very well. I accept.”
“Oh, how decisive of you.”
“However, there is a condition.”
The Empress rummaged through a pile of documents, pulled one out, and handed it to Yohan. Taking the document, Yohan tilted his head and looked it over.
“…What’s this?”
“Read it.”
“I skimmed it. I meant, why are you giving this to me?”
The document detailed the number of troops required to subjugate a certain monster that existed in the Kingdom.
Yohan smelled war in the plan, but whether a war broke out or not was none of his concern, so he didn't point it out.
However, for her to hand him a document about needing soldiers while they were discussing a love doll business meant…
“You said they were dolls that think and move on their own.”
The Empress said, looking at Yohan. Meeting her eyes, which were filled with firm resolve and will, Yohan realized that the Empress would grant his request.
But only halfway.
“If the dolls perform well in that operation, I will purchase them then.”
Not as love dolls, but as soldiers.
And once she realized that they were not just useful but overwhelmingly effective as soldiers—she would put a stop to the love doll business, citing them as too dangerous.
Having secured approval for the love doll business and top-tier adventurer qualifications for the two witches, Yohan immediately left the Imperial Palace with them.
He briefly recalled the document he had just seen.
‘A monster subjugation plan… but there are no monsters within the Empire.’
The power of guns and gunpowder was indeed great; the Empire had succeeded in completely driving out all monsters from within its territory.
However, they couldn't stop them from spawning outside their borders, so monsters were constantly invading along the defense lines surrounding the nation.
And the Northern Defense Line was where the most numerous and powerful monsters appeared.
‘Going directly into the Kingdom to deal with monsters, that’s completely…’
It was the same tactic the great powers of Earth used in their colonies back when they were still empires.
Why would the Empire care about monsters inside the Kingdom in the first place? It was tantamount to internal interference.
‘Is a war about to start…?’
Yohan briefly considered what would happen if a war broke out. The Kingdom would fall, and all those damn Holy Knights would be wiped out.
‘…Wait? Isn’t that a huge win?’
If those insufferable Holy Knights died, it would be a blessing. They were trash who didn't see humans as humans, who valued the so-called word of God written by their ancient predecessors more than human rights.
Thinking about it for a moment, he decided it would be better for them to just be conquered under the Empire's flag. Deciding to mention this to his Teacher, Yohan tried to hurry back to the hotel.
“…You?”
Just then, he heard a very familiar voice. A voice he never expected to hear in this city, or more accurately, in this country.
“Elesis?”
“It really is you, Yohan…”
The red-haired Holy Knight.
Elesis appeared before him.
Why was she here when she was supposed to be in the Kingdom?
“What are you doing here…?”
As he spoke, Yohan noticed that she wasn't wearing the uniform of a Holy Knight of the Kingdom, but a simple nun's habit.
It accentuated her figure, making her look a bit sensual, but that was a problem with her body, not the clothes themselves.
“I should be asking you the same thing. What are you doing here? I thought you were in the Forest of Monsters…”
“Well, Margaret was with me.”
“Ah… the one who could travel through space…”
“I’m the one who should be asking. What are you doing here?”
For her, a Holy Knight of the Holy Kingdom, to have cast aside her uniform and appeared in a nun's habit…
If the Holy Knights of the Kingdom saw this, they would be appalled. There was an immense gap between a Holy Knight who could wield Divine Power and a simple nun.
Elesis looked like she had a lot to say. Her lips parted and closed before she spoke cautiously.
“It’s a long story… Do you have time?”
Yohan nodded.
A moment later, he began to hear her story.