Past and Present
We stayed at an inn in the Ashtar territory. Given the situation, I only sent a quick note to Rockton and came here to check on Karhem. Through Claire I received the knight order’s reports on the situation between Karhem and the Ashtar duchy.
I originally preferred to handle things in person. But everyone kept telling me to take care of my body since I was the young lady of Ashtar. It seemed to be even more the case because this involved Pector. Honestly, sitting back and receiving reports wasn’t such a bad feeling either.
I had a rough idea where Pector was. The problem was that having an idea only made me more suspicious. No matter how I looked at it, Pector’s movements could only be seen as the opening moves of an attack on the empire. So had he really begun his assault? No. Even so, his movements seemed strange for that. Why Karhem of all places? Looking at how the other Four Heavenly Kings had moved so far, it felt unnecessary. Considering his personality, Pector wasn’t the type to come first. He might have been the Demon King’s field commander, but he had never been one to move so recklessly.
“Lady Olivia. You really don’t know? He’s an opponent you’ve fought well against until now, isn’t he?” Seria scratched her head vigorously, looking annoyed.
“Even if I’ve grown a little attached to the bastard, that doesn’t mean I know every single one of his traits. I told you. I’m a mage, not a military commander. And I’m certainly not some stubborn knight spouting about chivalry.”
I couldn’t think only from my own perspective. This Pector had appeared after I died. He would be different from the one I knew. After all, he had made a deal with me precisely to raise the hero.
“For now, after the knight division and mage division thoroughly investigated the territory and surrounding areas, they’ve confirmed it’s near Karhem,” Claire added in a report that basically stated the obvious. It was already decided.
“It’s probably certain to be this place. If I had to pick one, the wild hill near Karhem. I’m told people rarely go there.”
“Wait, then this really means… war with the empire?” That Pector was genuinely planning a war? It still felt a bit early to be certain. The whole thing was a little too ambiguous.
“You’re too late.” Ribelt, who was uselessly striking a pose by the window, picked a fight.
“Ribelt. What do you mean?” If he said something pointless again I’d tear him apart.
“I heard the prince was kidnapped by ruffians near Karhem.”
What? Where the hell was this nonsense coming from?
“Didn’t I tell them to turn back? You must have heard wrong.” I clearly remembered hearing that they understood my words.
“Why would you think they’d listen to you?”
“Ah!” Ribelt’s words made me lose my mind for a second. Ah. That’s right. Fuck. I’d forgotten. There was no way those bastards would just listen to me. One was an idiot with delusions of grandeur, another was wary of me and did the exact opposite of whatever I said, and the last one was a brainless sycophant. My neck suddenly burned. Calm down. I had to endure it.
“They should’ve just stayed holed up at home. Why did they have to make a scene? Is that prince really a fucking idiot?” No matter how you looked at it, he was an idiot. Even the original Olivia would have been completely turned off by him.
“Miss. No matter how angry you are—”
“Don’t expect any mercy from me. Next time I see him I’m going to punch that pretty face until it caves in.” I’d beat him and beat him again. I’d smash that smooth, handsome face to pieces.
Time passed once more. I simply stayed put. No, honestly, hearing that those guys had been captured pissed me off. Part of me wanted to just leave them there.
“Are you not planning to rescue them?”
“Why would I save them? They’re not worth it. Would you want to save them?” I spat out grumpily in response to Ribelt.
“Then you’re just going to abandon them?”
“There’s another child anyway. The princess is still there.” This was a good chance to reduce the number of imperial heirs by one. The emperor must have expected something like this, right? If things got bad they could just flee the empire. When you thought about it, there were quite a few small countries that were perfectly livable.
“No, even so, from the Ashtar family’s perspective we must rescue him,” Claire said earnestly.
“Seriously. This isn’t helping my life at all.”
“The Ashtar family is a loyal vassal of the imperial house. If we abandon the prince here, our political standing will be in danger.”
“Like the number of Ashtar members in the council could decrease?”
“Yes. And could we endure His Majesty the Emperor’s wrath?”
“We just have to save him. Save him.” In the end it all came down to the family. When you thought about it, it wasn’t all bad. Thanks to that idiot getting captured, Pector’s presence had been confirmed. His location was exposed too, so if we caught Pector while we were at it, we’d be taking down one of the Four Heavenly Kings.
Then a single bird flew over to Claire, whispered something in her ear, and vanished. It was probably magic. I really didn’t like it when something else happened on top of everything.
“New information has been obtained from the mage division.”
“What information?”
“The hero party has encountered Pector.”
Huh? Those guys? Did they come out for a picnic? Or a trip? If it was Karhem… Well, yeah, they must have come traveling. After all, what would those guys do without me around? That hero bastard was probably running around grabbing every woman in sight, thrilled I wasn’t there. If they ran into Pector while doing that, it would be hilarious.
“But they were defeated.”
Ah, that was welcome news among the reports. Well, that was obvious. I couldn’t imagine those guys beating Pector.
“Since Pector would have brought troops with him. We should send the Ashtar mage division and knight division to Karhem.”
That was obvious, but there was something I’d been curious about for a while. Even though Claire was from the assassination guild and one of Katarina’s closest aides… didn’t she have too much authority? This was the Ashtar territory, after all. Where had Katarina, the actual field commander of Ashtar, gone?
“Hmm. But Claire, you’re really something. Isn’t that usually something the mother should be doing?” At my question Claire flinched. Her flustered appearance was suspicious.
“Ah. Um. I’ve been given full authority.”
“And Mother?”
“That is… she’s… traveling.”
Just as I thought.
“Hmm. It’s a bit awkward to say this, but isn’t it wrong for the mistress of Ashtar to act like this when one of the Four Heavenly Kings—Pector—has appeared?”
“Ha. Haha.”
She must have received the information by now, right? Or what, did she think Claire could handle everything alone? Since the invasion had come through the Ashtar territory, the Ashtar family had to resolve this Pector matter. Yet Katarina was leaving everything to Claire. As expected, that woman was just an ordinary noble wife after all.
“I guess so. Even Mother was nothing more than a noble wife.” Well, noble women often just went around enjoying themselves, didn’t they?
“Perhaps the mistress has some circumstances—”
“No, no matter what, isn’t it too much to take Mother’s side like that even though you’re a subordinate?”
“Uh. Um. That is…” Just what had Claire received from Katarina to show such loyalty?
“Um, Lady Olivia? Please stop. Claire must have her reasons too.” Seria stopped me.
No, why was she stopping me? I was trying to free Claire from Katarina’s clutches while I had the chance.
“Yeah. Well, Pector is more important right now. I was a bit hasty. Sorry.”
“Not at all. What you said has a point, miss. For now, I’ll send the mage and knight divisions.” Claire left the room with her head bowed. Look at her getting all depressed over something that wasn’t even her business.
When I thought about it coldly, Katarina wouldn’t be much of a fighting force. The opponent was one of the Four Heavenly Kings. Even if she came, she probably couldn’t do much. No matter how strong she was, she specialized in assassination. She might be able to handle Demon King army executives, but facing one of the Four Heavenly Kings would probably be difficult. In that case, it was better that she wasn’t here.
“Then I’ll go check on the Karhem side too.”
“You?”
“For now, I’m also an imperial citizen. Since I went on the inspection tour with them, if the prince is captured, even Ribelt could be affected.”
Ribelt also left the inn. The only ones left were me and Seria. After confirming that Claire and Ribelt had left, Seria stuck close to me.
“Lady Olivia. The way I see it…”
“Go on.” Did Seria know something?
“Couldn’t Pector be looking for you, Lady Olivia?”
“Why would that guy?” Was there a reason for him to look for me? Not really. Anyway, he was one of the Demon King’s Four Heavenly Kings. I was just a mage from the hero party. We had fought a few times, but we weren’t close enough to have any affection or attachment.
“No matter how I look at it, it seems that way. If you think about it, you were planning to use Pector to train the hero party, right?”
“That’s right. You know well?” So Seria knew about that too. That was simply to strengthen the hero. But… those guys lost again this time? It seemed like that hero party would never be able to beat Pector no matter how much time passed. So in the end, I had no choice but to step in again.
“I told you I know everything about Lord Noah, didn’t I? That includes the fact that you’re going to fight him again.”
“I suppose.” Seria seemed annoyed by my answer, as if something about it displeased her.
“It seems our Lady Olivia has become a bit of an idiot after mixing with the original Olivia and Lord Noah. If the person you’re supposed to fight suddenly disappears, wouldn’t you try to draw them out?”
That was basic strategy knowledge. Attacking enemies who were holed up and fighting to the death would only increase your losses. You had to draw them out instead. Everyone knew that. But to think Pector was using that tactic on me. Was that what she was saying?
“No, would he normally do that? Was he a guy who wanted to fight me that badly? We’ve already exchanged blows several times.” Was that not enough for him?
“Exchanging blows and fighting seriously man to man are different things, aren’t they?”
“That’s… true, I guess.” We definitely hadn’t gone at each other with full power once more. But after coming this far, was there really a need to fight? The Demon King was dead, so Noah was stronger than the Demon King! Couldn’t he realize that much and just bow his head? Besides, I wasn’t Noah right now.
“But since you are Lady Olivia who is also Lord Noah now. I’m not sure what to do. I can’t get a read on it.”
“If we’re going to send him back, the answer is to have a proper fight after all.”
“That’s true, but… Hmm. Is it possible?”
Well, if that was the case, there was no other way. We’d have to fight. He might retreat if left alone, but he could really destroy the empire. The fact that the other Heavenly Kings weren’t moving while Pector was was suspicious. That’s why we had to be even more careful.
“Can’t be helped. We have no choice but to fight.”
“No, a woman’s body is inevitably weaker than a man’s. Though it does have the advantage of having more mana instead.”
Stamina for men. Mana for women. That was common sense in this world. But stamina could be supplemented with mana.
“I’ll have to cover it with mana.”
“Can a body trained for over ten years be the same as one trained for a few months?”
“I’ve learned the tricks over those ten-plus years. The training itself isn’t difficult. The feeling of it being ingrained in the body remains the same.”
Certainly with this body, I wasn’t sure about the physical abilities, but…
“Wow, what an annoyingly talented genius?”
“I don’t think I’ll lose.” At the very least, I didn’t see myself losing. If it got too difficult, there was always the option of compromise. At least Pector was someone you could talk to.