Chapter 200: Too Big to Refuse (1)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 200: Too Big to Refuse (1)
The Pope and high-ranking officials from the Holy Kingdom are reportedly coming to the Academy hand-in-hand.
Well, I had already expected this much.
Since a second Saintess has appeared, the Holy Kingdom must be both delighted and quite flustered.
I figured they would make a move, though I did wonder if the Pope himself would actually come.
Through my experiences so far, I’ve realized that whenever I think, Surely they won't go that far, they usually do.
However.
“Why is the Emperor coming?”
Even the Emperor’s arrival was outside my predictions.
“There are a lot of complicated reasons behind it.”
“Can I get a one-line summary?”
“The Holy Kingdom is bringing an army centered around the Pope without any prior consultation, so the Imperial Family is responding in kind.”
“Is it really that big of a deal…?”
“The higher-ups see this incident as a show of force from the Holy Kingdom. Since major figures, including the Saintess, have been threatened continuously, they’re supposedly seizing the opportunity to move.”
I don’t fail to understand why the Empire thinks that way.
“From where I’m sitting, it looks like they’re just acting without thinking.”
“I thought so too and said as much, but they asked me how that could possibly be the case.”
Well, from the moment the RoFan started, the Academy was part of the Empire.
Even though it was located in what could be called the heart of the Empire, it had become a world entirely separate from the outside.
The common sense of the Academy differed from the common sense outside.
It seemed there were many things those who didn't live here simply couldn't understand.
“So, what are you going to do?”
“I’ll ask just in case, but you have no intention of helping, right?”
“Are you crazy?”
“I figured as much.”
Uncle Aeryun seems to have a handle on things now; he doesn't just blindly ask for help anymore.
Instead.
“Please, just do something about Daisy.”
“Good luck with that.”
I thought he’d grown, but he’s trying to dump the biggest bomb on me while pretending he isn't.
“Wait! I know what you’re thinking, but just listen to me!”
Listen to what?
“The Holy Kingdom is visiting; do you think they won't look for Daisy?”
Even if they didn't, the center of a RoFan is ultimately the RoFan Female Lead.
In other words, Daisy.
Even if the Emperor and the Holy Kingdom don't look for her, a Dark Mage certainly will.
To think he’d try to dump such a bomb on me.
No matter how I looked at it, it was outrageous.
“Calm down and listen. The Holy Kingdom’s targets this time are Violet and Delmoa. Not Daisy. That’s why the Empire is building a plan around those two.”
“What kind of plan?”
“Roughly speaking, a plan to seize the initiative in the confrontation with the Holy Kingdom. The important part here is Delmoa’s nationality.”
According to Uncle Aeryun, unlike Daisy, Delmoa’s nationality is with the Holy Kingdom.
Therefore, the Empire judged that if the Holy Kingdom poked at that point, things would get very annoying.
“So, they’re planning to make her an Imperial citizen.”
“What kind of crazy talk is that…?”
The Empire has gone mad.
Come to think of it, considering the incidents that have happened in the Empire lately, it wouldn't be strange if they were starting to lose it.
“They’re going to start the adoption process.”
“Who’s taking her in?”
“Violet.”
They really have lost their minds.
“Does that even make sense?”
I mean, no matter how much Delmoa treats Violet like a mother.
There isn't even that much of an age gap, and they’re talking about adoption?
“Will they even accept that?”
“I’m telling you this because they already did.”
“……?”
What kind of nonsense is this now?
“Who accepted it?”
“Violet and Delmoa.”
“Accepted what?”
“The adoption.”
Faced with a word that made my mind go blank the moment I heard it, I asked with total sincerity.
“Did you scam them?”
“Would the Empire be crazy enough to scam a Saintess and someone of equivalent status?”
“Is this conversation even possible for people who aren't crazy?”
“Fair point.”
Uncle Aeryun nodded calmly, but he didn't take back what he said.
In fact, he answered with even more conviction.
“The higher-ups went to persuade them, but they accepted so immediately that the time spent preparing felt like a waste.”
Why on earth did that happen?
Uncle Aeryun’s answer was incredibly simple.
“They said they hate the Holy Kingdom.”
“Excuse me?”
“They said they like the Empire better than the Holy Kingdom.”
At first listen, it sounded like the Empire had done something like brainwashing or blackmail, but considering Delmoa’s background, it made sense.
However, even if that was the case for Delmoa…
“Violet accepted that?”
There’s no reason for Violet to choose the option of becoming a mother out of the blue.
“To be precise, she’s not becoming a mother herself; Delmoa is going to be adopted into her family, House Daina.”
“Why?”
“She said if she didn't, she felt like she’d be dragged away.”
“……”
—I’ll curse you! I’ll curse you even if I have to borrow the Goddess’s power!
My last conversation with Violet echoed in my head.
It seemed our Boradori was doing her absolute best to survive.
“But what does that have to do with Daisy?”
“According to Violet, there’s a very high probability that Daisy will interfere.”
“Why?”
“I’m not sure either. She said Daisy’s possessiveness is surprisingly intense, and that’s the problem?”
It sounds like more talk about the Original Work again. Like an onion, the more I peel, the more unknown content keeps coming out.
“Anyway, the request to keep Daisy in check didn't come from me, but from Violet. Listen to your junior’s request.”
“……”
I couldn't help but agonize over Uncle Aeryun’s words.
Even though he said it like that, it didn't change the fact that he was trying to dump the Daisy-bomb on me…
Was it a gut feeling, or perhaps Violet’s malice? I felt a sense of resentment.
It felt like she was cursing me, saying I’d regret it if I didn't listen to this.
Let’s not forget.
Our Boradori is a sorceress, the very definition of a wicked image.
Even setting that aside, since she knew the Original Work, she had plenty of ways to make things difficult for me.
“What’s the compensation?”
However, accepting right away would be a rookie move.
I could strip the Empire for all it was worth, weakening them while making Leon stronger.
“I was wondering when you’d say that.”
Seeing me like this, Uncle Aeryun casually handed me a letter.
“……”
Inside, a condition I couldn't refuse was written.
The contents of the letter weren't written by Uncle Aeryun or any other Imperial agent.
It was just a single line written in Boradori’s very familiar handwriting.
—The Demon King's Magic Sword can be used with Delmoa’s divine power.
Because it was written in Korean, of all things, I went to find Boradori immediately.
“You didn't even come when I was crying for help…”
She glared at me with a sulky expression, which wasn't anything new, but she had never looked this venomous before.
I laid out the high-end cake set I had squeezed out of Uncle Aeryun and began the conversation.
“First, let’s eat something sweet before we start.”
“Do you think my anger will be quelled by a few pieces of cake?”
“These cakes cost a gold coin each, you know?”
“Well, since you went to the trouble!”
Perhaps the cakes were too expensive to refuse, as our Miss Boradori stabbed a fork into a cake, taking a whole chunk as she spoke.
“The content is exactly what you saw. The explanation is probably exactly what you’ve heard.”
It was a truly simple explanation.
“It really works?”
“All the humans commonly called clergy can use divine power. But the output varies by individual.”
The higher the rank of the clergy, the more divine power they can use.
And thus, they are thought to be closer to God.
“But as you can see from the former Cardinals, divine power is also a talent.”
Just as the amount of mana a mage can naturally hold is predetermined, the vessel for divine power is also decided from birth.
“It’s just that there’s no way to increase divine power like you can with mana. The rest is similar.”
There are differences in scale, but the quality of the divine power itself isn't different.
“Except for the Saintess.”
Unlike regular divine power, which is a one-way street based on faith after being received once, the divine power used by the Saintess is said to be connected to the Goddess.
That’s why the Goddess can support the Saintess in moments of crisis.
And though it would never happen, if the Saintess were to walk the wrong path, the Goddess could take that power away.
That’s why there are things only a Saintess can do.
“If Delmoa receives divine power from the Goddess in the same way, then Delmoa can do everything Daisy can do.”
Therefore, as long as Delmoa is by my side, I can charge and use Daisy’s Magic Sword whenever I want.
“The problem is whether you can get Daisy to hand over the sword.”
Having said that, Violet, who had somehow already deleted three cakes, frowned.
“It’ll probably be hard, right?”
“I suppose so.”
Daisy isn't an idiot.
In fact, despite being the central figure of a RoFan world, she was a rare existence who had awakened her intuition—though some might say that was because of Boradori.
There was no way she didn't know the value of her own sword.
If she didn't, she wouldn't have abandoned the magic she’d studied her whole life to transfer to the Swordsmanship Department.
“No, it’s not for that reason.”
At my thought, Boradori grimaced with a reluctant expression.
Seeing her chew on the cake despite that, she must have really been craving sweets.
“How should I put it? The girl has a surprisingly deep streak of obsession? Once she perceives something as hers, she won't give it up easily.”
“What kind of setting is that again…?”
“#ObsessiveFemaleLead.”
“What are you talking about?”
“It’s in the tags.”
“You really are something else.”
“It was even added later on.”
Seriously, why did this person read a novel like that?
“So, we need a strategy.”
It seems it’s not entirely impossible.
“We need a price that can match the Magic Sword.”
“What is it?”
“Even if it’s a Magic Sword, it’s just an object in the end. Unless it’s someone who’s gone crazy for magic swords, Daisy knows values more precious than objects.”
“And what’s that?”
“People.”
As expected, even if the obsession tag was attached, Daisy was still Daisy.
So I just have to take a person hostage and tell her to hand over the sword.
And the person Daisy would be most obsessed with is…
“As expected of Agent Boradori.”
“……?”
“To think you’d sacrifice yourself to get me the Magic Sword.”
“…I’d rather die. Do you think I’d do that? And besides, I have to play tug-of-war between the Empire and the Holy Kingdom in the first place!”
“Then, should I throw a RoFan Male Lead at her?”
“Daisy has zero lingering feelings for them, so there’s nothing to obsess over.”
“Then what do you want me to do?”
Violet raised her fork and pointed it at me.
The cakes, which had been annihilated before I knew it, were a bonus.
“You.”
“……?”
“I’m telling you, you’re the only one with even a sliver of a chance right now.”
It was a story that made no sense at all.
What part of me would Daisy be obsessed with?
“Well, it’s hard to find any romance there. But, how should I put it? Um. Right. It’s a bit of an old-school trope, but something like, ‘You’re the first person to treat me like this’?”
“Just how old is that line…?”
“I know that too! But nothing else captures the feeling!”
The fork, waving wildly in the air, poked at the bottom of the plate where the cake had been.
“Anyway! Since you’re the one who’s going to use it, you have to make a sacrifice.”
“……”
Since it was true, I had nothing to say.
“But what do you get out of this?”
“Time.”
“What time?”
“Time to roughly bring Delmoa over? Things will probably be awkward between those two for a while…”
With a reluctant expression, she lightly bit the tip of her fork.
“It’s always easier to act first and ask for forgiveness later…”
Until then, she was basically telling me to be the sacrificial lamb.
But the Magic Sword was too big to refuse, so I had no choice.
Therefore.
“Wanna sell the sword for cheap?”
“……”
“I can pay a high price if you let me do installments.”
Let’s try to solve it with money first.
“I don’t want to…”
Apparently, it was an amount of money she could refuse.
