Chapter 70
Chapter 70
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 70
Chapter Title: Chapter 24 - Peliaru
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My vision was completely blocked.
It wasn't an issue with my eyes; it was simply that the external cameras on my visor had been obstructed. Even so, Luther flailed about and shouted, effectively blind in that moment.
"Integra?!"
"Luther? Is that you, Luther?"
The familiar voice that followed belonged to Peliaru.
Having faced her just before his vision went dark, Luther turned his head toward the source of the voice and replied.
"Yes, it's Luther. Just so you know, I can't see a thing right now, so no need to worry."
[Put some clothes on, quick!]
No sooner had Luther offered his excuse—not quite an excuse—than Integra raised her voice.
Peliaru then leaned in close to the mini hologram of Integra and said,
"Shh! The maids might hear. You can imagine what happens then, right?"
The maids enter the bathhouse.
They scream at the sight of a man in front of the naked princess.
The royal guards are summoned.
He's branded an indecent intruder in the princess's bath and sentenced to death.
'No, wait. Death penalty?'
As if they would go that far—
But it wasn't impossible.
Regardless of the reason, he'd barged in while an unmarried princess was bathing.
"For now, let me wrap a towel around myself."
Calmed by Aru's composed voice, Luther quietly shut his mouth and waited.
He could hear the splashing as Aru stepped out of the water, the towel brushing against her skin, and other sounds cluttering his ears.
[External speakers muted.]
"Excuse me?"
Before Luther could protest, Integra, who had muted the external speakers, turned toward Aru with a sullen expression.
Aru, now covered by a large towel, chuckled softly and slipped back into the water.
"It's fine now. You can open your eyes, Luther."
Luther couldn't hear her with the speakers muted, but it wasn't an issue.
The moment Aru gave permission, Integra released the nanosuit's visor.
"Whoa."
Aru let out a fresh exclamation of awe as the visor dissolved into nanoparticles, defying time itself.
Luther was equally impressed.
Aru, with her wet hair cascading down and a faint smile on her lips, was breathtakingly beautiful.
'The little mermaid princess is prettiest when she's wet, after all.'
As Luther entertained a slightly dangerous thought, Aru adjusted her posture, smiled gently, and said,
"It's a bit sudden, but... I'm glad to see you again, Luther."
"I'm glad to see you too, Princess."
When Luther smiled back, Aru turned to mini Integra, who pouted her lips and gave a curt nod that wasn't quite a greeting.
It could have been an annoying reaction, but Aru giggled as if it were cute, then messaged Luther via magic.
[She's still a fairy full of jealousy.]
"Hahaha..."
As Luther laughed awkwardly, Integra narrowed her eyes and messaged into his head as well.
[Just you wait.]
'No, wait for what?'
But voicing it might lead to bigger trouble, so Luther clamped his mouth shut and looked at Aru.
'Miss Popular Princess, please handle this somehow.'
Perhaps sensing his simple wish, Aru smoothly defused the situation.
"Anyway, Luther, what happened? How did you suddenly end up here?"
She asked with a smile, but now Luther noticed a subtle menace in her expression.
'Well, makes sense when you think about it.'
She'd been interrupted mid-bath.
Especially since, for a brief moment—
[That's enough.]
Integra shot Luther a sharp glare before turning back to Aru and saying,
[For now, let's move somewhere else.]
[Peliaru Princess, where exactly is this place?]
"It's inside the palace, in the hot spring attached to my residence, the Plum Blossom Palace."
[So it's the princess's private quarters?]
[Is there a place where we can talk quietly?]
As Aru said, they couldn't have a long conversation here where maids might enter at any moment.
Aru pondered for a bit, then shrugged helplessly and replied,
"Then there's only one spot. Though I'm not sure if you can even get there..."
[Where is it?]
To Integra's question, Aru gave a wry smile and gestured with her eyes toward outside the hot spring.
"My bedroom."
Peliaru Princess's bedroom.
"By the way, no man's ever set foot in there before."
Under the bright moonlight pouring in, Aru smiled seductively, and Luther blushed without realizing it.
Integra pouted again.
* * *
[Three maids moving down the corridor ahead.]
[Activating invisibility mode.]
[5]
[4]
[3]
[2]
[1]
[Deactivating invisibility mode.]
[Maids have passed.]
[Guard at the end of the corridor is passing through.]
[Blind spot in patrol route maintained for 10 seconds.]
[10]
Luther moved quickly but silently, carefully knocking on the large white door.
"Princess, Princess."
[8]
[7]
"Princess?"
[5]
[4]
"Come in!"
The door clicked open with a hushed voice.
Then, three more seconds.
As the guard turned, Aru's door closed tightly again.
"Haa."
Luther slumped to the floor with a sigh of relief. Aru giggled at the sight, as if it were amusing.
"You're really something, Luther. The security is tight, but you broke through it all to get here."
"It's thanks to Integra."
[Hmph.]
As Integra smugly hummed for some reason, Luther slowly stood and naturally scanned Aru's bedroom.
As expected of a princess's room, there was no bed in immediate sight.
There was a living area with a sofa, and beyond that, another door—likely leading to Aru's actual bedroom.
"Just in case, let's go deeper inside."
"Huh? Oh, sure."
Luther had assumed they'd talk on the sofa, but Aru led him straight to the innermost part of the bedroom.
A massive bed.
A real princess bed, complete with canopy and curtains.
"Somehow I feel embarrassed. It's my first time letting a man into my bedroom."
Aru closed and locked the bedroom door, blushing slightly with a smile. Luther blushed too.
For some reason, his heart started pounding wildly.
'No, I mean, it's, well, unavoidable, right?'
Aru was dressed in airy sleepwear.
And with her shy smile, not blushing would make him less human than a stone Buddha.
[Hmm.]
But one person ignored the circumstances and shot him a side-eye.
Luther cleared his throat, trying to regain his composure. Aru giggled again, plopped onto the bed, and asked,
"So, Luther, what happened? If it's not a proper story, I'll scream like I said earlier."
Faced with her cute yet threatening demand, Luther smiled awkwardly and replied.
"Well, you see..."
The sequence of events.
He couldn't exactly say he'd taken the submarine train all the way here.
It was true, but the story was too big.
[High chance the entrance to the submarine tunnel connected to Peliaru Princess's bathhouse floor will be sealed off immediately.]
A valid point.
Malkuth Kingdom might confiscate the submarine tunnel, and even if not, they wouldn't leave an external passage linked to the palace—specifically the princess's bathhouse—unchecked.
So Luther embellished the tale a bit.
"You touched the Sword Emperor's ruin, and teleportation activated?"
"That's right."
Luther said, showing Aru the Clairheim Morr strapped to his back.
"This sword is the Sword Emperor's blade that had been slumbering at the ocean floor for ages—Clairheim Morr."
Aru's eyes widened at Luther's words, and she stared intently at Clairheim Morr in awe.
"Luther, Clairheim Morr... you mean the Star-Cleaving Sword?"
"Exactly."
"Wow."
Aru approached Luther, swallowing dryly, and asked,
"Can I touch it?"
"Of course."
Luther placed Clairheim Morr on the bed.
It was too heavy to just hand over casually.
"The Sword Emperor's sword..."
As Aru gently caressed the blade, she wore an entranced expression and let out a hot breath.
[What? Is she a Sword Emperor otaku or something?]
To Integra's hushed question, Luther responded with an awkward smile.
It seemed Integra was right.
"Luther, where did you get this? How did you find it?"
Aru's eyes sparkled like they were lit from within.
She seemed more curious about how he'd found Clairheim Morr than how he'd ended up intruding in her bath.
[Master, be careful. Peliaru Princess might use her authority to take Clairheim Morr.]
'No way.'
They'd only been together a few hours, but Luther was certain Aru wasn't that kind of person.
Besides, he was her lifesaver.
'Though she saved me too.'
They'd saved each other's lives, so he could trust her.
'Come to think of it, I wonder how Karen's doing...'
Another girl he'd mutually saved with.
She must have reached the capital with Arma by now, right?
[Master, focus.]
[Peliaru Princess is still staring.]
Snapping to attention at Integra's words, Luther gave Aru—who was still gazing with sparkling eyes—a rough account.
"Well, you see..."
He'd encountered the Kraken in the ocean and fought it, only for a Trigon to appear. While battling the Trigon, the Kraken struck from behind, sending him plunging into the sea.
Then he was captured by the Trigon again and taken to its nest, where he found Clairheim Morr, the Sword Emperor's sword.
'It's all true, but saying it out loud makes it sound so fantastical.'
But it was all fact.
And whether it was the sincerity or her trust in him, Aru didn't doubt it—instead, her eyes shone brighter with admiration.
"Wow, what an incredible adventure. It's like a scene from a heroic novel."
And sparkling again.
Faced with eyes full of longing, envy, and awe, Luther cleared his throat and felt embarrassed.
Aru laughed merrily and continued,
"So, Luther, did the teleport happen at the place where you got that sword?"
"Well..."
There had been more after that, but after some thought, Luther nodded.
Mentioning the detour to Saint Elena's Island would either reveal the submarine train station's location or require inventing another fictional island.
'Sorry, Aru.'
He hated lying to someone who trusted him so much, but he had no choice.
"Yes, the magic device held by the sword's previous owner activated, teleporting me. I don't know why it was here... but maybe because I thought I'd have to visit Princess Aru in Malkuth Kingdom."
He'd made it up recalling the royal necklace she'd given him before.
Fortunately, Aru nodded without suspicion or pressing.
"What a mysterious thing. And fortunate too."
"Fortunate?"
"Yes, fortunate. You appeared right when I was bathing. If I hadn't been there, it would've been trouble—like if the maids were using it."
Aru even lets her maids use her bathhouse.
As expected of Princess Aru. So kind.
Luther briefly admired that, then imagined the scenario she'd described.
Intruding while maids—not Aru—were bathing.
Himself, a lone male Holon, amid a bathhouse full of mermaids.
"...Yeah, that definitely would've been big trouble."
"Yes, you'd probably be dragged to the underground dungeon by now."
Aru giggled as she casually dropped the chilling line, twirling her sky-blue hair lightly.
"Anyway, I get the gist. But Luther, why did you come to the south in the first place? To see... me, perhaps?"
Her voice trailed off seductively, her expression enchantingly alluring.
Luther nearly blurted out "Yes," but he couldn't.
His real reason for coming south.
Practically speaking, to prevent the rebellion at the ritual and avert the south's tragedy—the tsunami—altogether. But even to Aru, he couldn't say that straight.
'Saying I came to treat the king wouldn't make sense—no, actually it might.'
The king's dire condition was top secret, unknown even to Princess Aru. But it wasn't secret that the Malkuth King had been in long-term recuperation due to chronic illness.
'Yeah, let's go with that.'
He hadn't anticipated meeting Aru so suddenly, so no prior discussion with Integra, but in this situation, claiming to treat the king seemed the most legitimate reason.
"Luther?"
As Aru tilted her head questioningly, Luther took a deep breath, met her eyes squarely, and spoke.
"I've heard that His Majesty the Malkuth King has been ill for a long time. I obtained a medicine good for his condition, so I came south to deliver it to you, Princess."
"My father's?"
Aru's eyes widened in surprise, and Luther nodded again.
"Yes."
Of course, that alone wasn't enough.
He needed more details.
How he'd learned of the king's illness, how he'd gotten the medicine, how he knew it would work, and so on.
But before probing, Aru nodded first.
Because she trusted Luther that much.
"Got it. Then for now, you'll need to leave the palace and come back in properly."
"Huh?"
"Well, I have to introduce you as my benefactor, but I can't say 'My benefactor suddenly appeared in my bath!' right?"
The teleportation mishap story only worked 'with Aru.'
Anyone else—even Sandalphon—wouldn't believe Luther and spin wild theories.
"So, let's talk details after you leave the palace, use the Silver Gratitude Token I gave you last time, and re-enter as a proper guest."
Leave and re-enter as a legitimate visitor.
It made sense, but Luther instantly sensed a key gap.
'How do I leave?'
They were in the palace's deepest part.
The princess's bedroom, no less.
Could he slip out past everyone?
Integra furrowed her brow, looking troubled by the same thought.
Seeing their reactions, Aru smiled brightly, puffed out her chest, and said,
"It's fine. I have an idea."
A way for Luther to sneak out of the palace undetected.
"It's going to be really fun."
Aru let out a mischievous chuckle, while Luther and Integra exchanged uneasy glances.