265
I Killed the Demon King. It Was a Mistake
Chapter 265
Olivia called her father immediately after receiving the duel response from Gloria.
"Dad! That rude Gloria...!"
-Just the main point.
Count Vex's tone was very dry. Though hurt by his tone as dry as desert wind, Olivia suppressed her feelings. If she could only push down the high nose of Gloria who looked down at her with those haughty eyes, this level of hurt would be nothing.
"...She agreed to the duel."
-Where and when is the duel?
"They dug their own graves. They said they would hold it at the official dueling ground in Vex Province."
-In Vex Province?
"Yes. Given the distance, they suggested January 1st next year."
For a long time, there was no voice from the other end of the receiver.
"...Dad?"
-Good. Then who will represent them in the duel? Caesar, as expected?
"No, Gloria said she would do it herself."
Olivia was so excited she thought she might go crazy. A thrill ran through her entire body at the thought of that self-important Gloria being beaten by Lady Aurora and becoming a bloody mess. In fact, Olivia's approach to Gloria at the funeral was intentional.
The only special mission Olivia received from Count Vex was one thing. To publicly insult Caesar to either receive a duel challenge or to challenge him to a duel. However, Olivia could not possibly approach Caesar during the victory ceremony. Not only were there too many people surrounding Caesar, but as people began to leave the party venue around midnight, Caesar also vanished suddenly.
Just when she thought she had failed, Laar Arch's funeral was held. Olivia had planned all kinds of schemes to pick a fight with Caesar at this opportunity, but Caesar entered a strange room with Raven and did not come out. Just as she was about to give up, Olivia's eyes fell on Gloria. With the same blonde hair, blue eyes, and white skin as herself, she shone even without wearing a neat dress like Olivia's. Olivia did not like such a Gloria, and with the thought of ‘a chicken instead of a pheasant,’ she picked a fight with Gloria and ended up challenging her to a duel.
-Well done.
At that moment, she received praise from her father for the first time. Her heart raced so much at her father's one word of praise, more than any sparkling jewels or necklaces. As a member of the Vex family but without talent for aura or swordsmanship, Olivia had always been neglected within the Vex family. So Olivia always hungered for her father's praise. This time too, he would praise her for doing well. With such high expectations, she waited for her father's words.
-Tsk, I understand.
"Dad...?"
-Return immediately. You need to receive swordsmanship guidance from Lady Aurora so that we can say she acted as your instructor, don't you?
"Dad, I...!"
Beep! Beep! Beep!
When the phone disconnected, Olivia's hands trembled. And as sorrow welled up, tears flowed.
***
Count Vex spoke to the man with purple hair sitting at the opposite table as soon as he hung up the phone.
"I thought Caesar himself would step up, but unfortunately it seems not."
The man was wearing a red priest's robe symbolizing a cardinal, with round glasses and narrow eyes that made his gaze difficult to read.
"How strange."
The cardinal poured milk into his tea and stirred it with a spoon.
"Usually when arranging a duel, people typically choose to conduct it in their hometown or a place they have connections to. Why would Gloria volunteer to duel in Vex Province where she has no connections at all?"
"Is this not Caesar's hometown? So it is not entirely without connection."
"Would Homigraph not be clearly better for both Caesar and Gloria?"
Count Vex put a sugar cube in his coffee and replied.
"Well, that is also true."
"Information has leaked."
"It seems so."
The cardinal was very uncomfortable with Count Vex's lukewarm response.
"Will you continue to be this uncooperative?"
Count Vex looked at the cardinal with a sharp gaze.
"Cardinal Anders, mind your words. Uncooperative? For this matter, I have put my youngest daughter in danger."
Cardinal Anders drank his tea, hiding his distorted expression.
'Even though he does not think of that daughter as his daughter...'
Those who should know already know how Count Vex thinks of Olivia. A misfit, a half-wit. Despite inheriting the blood of the Vex family, she is an incompetent person with no talent for Aura or swordsmanship. Once Count Vex realized that Olivia had no talent, he cut off his interest in her. He only intended to use her for a political marriage with a suitable noble family, now that she was of marriageable age. But such things cannot be said openly. Cardinal Anders put down his teacup and spoke.
"Whether Aurora wins or loses against Gloria is meaningless. Did I not make it clear? In this matter, justification is important."
"You mean justification to strike at Arch Duke?"
"Through this incident, we will spread Caesar's base nature to the world. But Arch Duke will inevitably protect Caesar. Caesar and Arch Duke have formed a very close collusive relationship."
Count Vex saw the greedy ambition glistening in Cardinal Anders. The Royder Order planned to cooperate actively with Elijah to overthrow the Emperor. And while at it, they intended to strike at Arch Duke to break the monopoly system of wizards. That was also what Count Vex wanted. Arch Duke had monopolized wizards for too long. As a result, the economic development gap had widened further, and had not people been leaving Vex Province while flocking to Wizard Province?
"The root of all evil is not Caesar. It is Arch Duke. Through this independence war, we will drive out Arch Duke and show the wizards that true truth lies not in magic but in doctrine."
"So what exactly do you want me to do?"
"As you sow, so shall you reap. Gloria, who has received Caesar's teachings, must surely have the mind of a devil. We must reveal that to the world."
If you aim for the general, you must shoot an arrow toward his horse. Just as they captured Caesar to catch Arch Duke, now they capture Gloria for Caesar.
'Would that be easy?'
When these insane religious fanatics of the Royder Order get involved, rational plans do not emerge. In Count Vex's mind, he thought it would be right to just pull out, but thinking of the wizards who might come into his grasp, he could not decide how to act.
"Let us think about it for now, since we have time. The duel is on January 1st of next year."
"Understood. Instead, let us assign people to follow Gloria and Caesar."
"You handle Caesar's side. I will take care of Gloria."
Count Vex drank his tea, considering who to entrust this task to.
***
Gloria called to the necklace tied around her wrist.
"Kos."
Kos immediately appeared before Gloria and wrote on the ground.
[Shall we have another match?]
"Yes."
Gloria threw an iron sword to Kos. Kos twirled the iron sword and immediately assumed a stance. Gloria took up Flawless and took a deep breath.
"Here I come."
Gloria immediately charged at Kos. Gloria smoothly blocked Kos' downward strike and grabbed her wrist. Then she tucked her hip into her body and immediately threw her down.
Bang!
Kos' heavy body dug into the middle of the training ground, raising dust. Gloria immediately placed her sword on Kos' chest area. Kos put down her iron sword and immediately applauded.
Clap! Clap! Clap! Clap! Clap!
Gloria felt that applause was somewhat insincere. Kos stood up and wrote on the ground.
[Perfect! There is nothing more to learn about throwing techniques!]
"Really?"
[Shall we try the next one?]
Kos continued to let himself be caught by Gloria's techniques while checking her movements.
'Indeed, her skill in using her body is exceptional.'
It had been about a month since Kos began teaching Gloria in earnest, and Gloria had perfectly mastered the principles and basics of sword wrestling. Kos had taught Wendy, Liana, and Yura as well, but when it came to the skill of using the entire body, Gloria was the best.
'Her handling of Aura is not stiff but flexible and...'
Kos was thoroughly enjoying teaching after a long time. Gloria was breathless, air filling up to her chin.
"Whew......"
[Shall we rest a little and try again?]
"Sure."
After drinking the water and using the towel Kos gave her, Gloria blankly stared at the sky. Perhaps because it was autumn, the sky was high and blue. Having only seen gloomy and red skies for the past half year, that clean sky looked so wonderful to her.
[Are you nervous?]
"About the duel?"
[Yes.]
"I am nervous. But since Master said I can win, I'm trying to believe that."
Aurora was a knight Gloria knew about. Perhaps due to serving for more than 10 years in the Ghost Knight Order under Count Springfield, she was known as a master of agility. What was most remarkable about her was that she donated all her earnings to help the poor and needy, and she was such a righteous knight that she even engaged in duels with nobles to save those suffering from their oppression. Gloria could not believe at all that she would be fighting such an honorable knight.
"Objectively speaking, I probably can't win against Lady Aurora now, right?"
[That's uncertain. I haven't seen Lady Aurora personally. However, I do know something about Count Springfield's Ghost Knight Order.]
"I also know a bit from what Sir Gideon told me. When those knights move as a group, they move quickly and silently like ghosts."
[Well, that's true, but what's truly frightening is encountering them at night.]
"At night?"
[Count Cozel Springfield, who established the Ghost Knight Order, was more of an assassin than a knight. When he found someone afflicted with disease, he would instantly move behind them and slice their necks , just like that.]
"......An assassin? That's practically an insult to knights."
[But if you see their agility techniques, you'll truly feel that way.]
Come to think of it, it was like that when she saw Sir Gideon's ghost walk. At that time, although Caesar clearly struck Gideon, he disappeared like a ghost and suddenly appeared from behind, swinging his sword. Such mysterious agility techniques were closer to an assassin's skills rather than a knight's.
[If you're facing someone like that, there's only one way to respond. Just grab them and beat them.]
"Will I even be able to catch her? From what I heard, she was a veteran in the Ghost Knight Order for as long as 10 years. She even trained new knights."
[At that level, you can't win right now.]
Kos drew a crescent-shaped sword.
[Of course, if you had the Blood Moon, it would be a different story.]
"Just having that sword won't suddenly make me faster."
[Still, you'll have more ways to counter. I'll teach you.]
"I wonder when they'll tell us to depart?"
[It's been about a week since we arrived here, so it's probably time to leave.]
Gloria's eyes deepened. When her thoughts drifted like that, she was almost certainly thinking about Caesar. She was probably worried, having been separated from Caesar for quite some time. Kos gently held Gloria's knee and wrote.
[Don't worry too much. I'm here.]
"I'm not worried about myself, I'm worried about Lord Caesar."
[Why Caesar?]
"He's a person who causes dynamite-level incidents just by walking around. When that happens, he usually goes missing and comes back with some serious injury."
[You probably don't need to worry about Caesar that much. He handles things well by himself.]
"Still, what's worrying is worrying."
Kos' hand slowly moved up onto her thigh. Gloria glared at Kos and said.
"Speaking of which, you keep touching my body. If you want to spend your life as a necklace, go ahead."
Kos was startled and removed her hand. Kos stood up and said.
[Then shall we slowly start training again? Even the Blood Moon requires basic training to use.]
"Alright... Huh?"
At that moment, two people walked in through the back door of Caesar's house. One was Caesar, and the other was someone Gloria knew well.
"It's been a while, Raven."
"It's been a while for me too."
Raven pulled down her pointed hat. The autumn sun seems quite warm.
"By the way, are you ready?"
"Pardon? Ready for what?"
"Ready to travel."
"Eh......? Now?"
Caesar handed Gloria the spatial bag he was carrying on his back.
"Say a quick goodbye to your family, pack your things in here, and leave right away."
"So suddenly?"
"Yes. I've explained everything to Raven, so you just need to follow along."
"What? Raven is coming with us?"
Raven yawned as if annoyed.
"Caesar kept asking, so I'm going along."
"No, I can't cause such trouble......"
Caesar tapped Raven's pointed hat.
"She also has her own reasons for going, so it's fine."
"Really? What reasons?"
Raven swung her wand toward Caesar.
"Gack!"
A magic bullet flew and struck Caesar's forehead.
"Don't touch my hat, Caesar."
"......That's no reason to fire a magic bullet."
"I'm doing it because you don't feel pain even when your joints are broken."
Raven fumbled in her pocket and took out a small map.
"First, we'll head to the wasteland, and after getting the Blood Moon, we plan to go here."
"Where?"
Raven unfolded the map and pointed to a river where Royder, Dre, and Goldmile provinces all meet.
"There's a rumor of an undiscovered ancient ruin here. I want to investigate it."
"An ancient ruin?"
"Yes. The City of Sin, Grezawa. It's presumed to be a dragon's lair."