Chapter 304: translated
I Killed the Demon King. It Was a Mistake.
Chapter 304
They needed to move quite hurriedly to match the timing of the National Foundation Day.
However, Count Vex said he had preparations to make and took two full days off, ultimately departing by train at dawn on January 3rd.
But even traveling non-stop by train from Kilheim, the capital of Vex Province, to the imperial capital Vexilla would take about nine days. Leaving at dawn on January 3rd, it was impossible to arrive in time for National Foundation Day on January 10th unless one could hold back the sun.
Of course, things would be different with the formidable power that someone like Count Vex possessed. Gloria watched the passing platforms while feeding magic stones to Kos.
"...Is it alright to pass through these stations like this?"
The passengers standing on the platform could only stare blankly as the train passed by.
"It seems like we've already passed about ten stations."
"What can anyone say when Count Vex demands urgent use of the train?"
Perhaps in other provinces it might be different, but in Vex Province, there would be no way to stop this train. There was absolutely no way for train robbers to board a train moving this fast, and moreover, no foolish robber would dare touch a train running with Count Vex' flag at the front.
Raven carefully removed the wine cork and smelled the fragrance remaining on it.
"It's a bit uncomfortable traveling with Count Vex, but this one thing is definitely good."
"Vex Province has always been famous for its wine."
"But will we have enough time? We need to stop by the City of Sin as well."
"We'll go there after finishing our business in Vexilla."
"Will we really be able to go?"
Raven poured wine into her glass and Caesar's while speaking.
"After this job is over, we'll be completely severing ties with the Eileen Empire. From now on, we'll have to deal not only with robbers but possibly soldiers of the Eileen Empire as well."
Kos wrote in her notepad and said.
[But what exactly happens on National Foundation Day?]
Gloria looked at Kos as if she were pathetic.
"Grandma, did you really forget? Are you really suffering from dementia?"
[I'm not your grandma! And I don't have dementia!]
"Then why don't you know?"
[I just fell asleep during the explanation. I'm not awake 24 hours a day, you know!]
Caesar took a sip of wine and stood up from his seat.
"Alright, the plan has changed a bit anyway, so I'll explain. Listen carefully. Grandma Kos."
[I'm not a grandma!]
"Then grandfather?"
[I'm female!]
When Kos convulsed like a live fish, her torn side broke again. Gloria slapped Kos' back with a smack.
"Stay still! Do you want to go back into the ring?!"
Kos became dejected and rubbed the magic stone that Gloria handed her against her side.
Caesar took out a letter without any seal from his spatial bag.
"First of all, there's only one reason we're going to Vexilla. It's because of Prime Minister Hilos' request for asylum. Our top priority is to safely escort Prime Minister Hilos to His Excellency Duke Noah Arch."
"How?"
"His Excellency Hilos plans to cause a major incident during the National Foundation Day. At that time, Raven will take care of Prime Minister Hilos and put him in a prepared carriage. That carriage..."
As Caesar pointed to Gloria, she raised her hand like a model student and said.
"His Excellency Duke Arch has agreed to prepare it."
"Good. Originally, we were planning to get on that carriage together and head to Homigraph, but unfortunately, we're planning to go to the City of Sin. So the three of us..."
When Kos tapped her chest in dissatisfaction, Caesar nodded.
"Right. The four of us will send Prime Minister Hilos off in the carriage and then head to the City of Sin. So we'll need to find another carriage for ourselves to head south, right?"
"Who's arranging that carriage?"
"I've already asked my brother."
"Your brother? Could it be Eric Sylvatil?"
"That's right."
"...Can you really trust him?"
"I promised to help him establish a large magazine company in Homigraph if he does well. Since he's decided to leave his homeland and move to Homigraph, he'll need to make a good impression on me, so he'll do his best."
Raven raised her hand and said.
"But will Prime Minister Hilos accept this willingly? From his perspective, he would expect you to escort him."
"We'll have to make him accept it. We absolutely must go to the City of Sin."
"Couldn't we go to the City of Sin later? There's no need to risk moving separately."
"No, to be honest, we're already late as it is."
"Late for what?"
Caesar met Gloria's eyes. Gloria tilted her head.
"...Because it will be difficult to travel after the Imperial Province splits apart."
Raven's eyes narrowed. Caesar was lying right now. To be precise, it felt like he was hiding a lie within the truth.
Normally it wouldn't have been detected, but it meant that Caesar was that urgent.
"And we agreed to pick up Pesson and Theon too. We'll stop by the City of Sin, take care of business, then visit Shalibi to bring Pesson and Theon back to Homigraph."
"Right. We agreed to bring those two along as well. The schedule is really complicated."
"Don't worry too much about bringing Pesson and Theon. Pio and Lady Aurora will help."
Gloria opened her eyes wide in surprise.
"What? Lady Aurora? How? And who is Pio?"
"My secret friend."
"Secret friend?! You had a friend, Sir Caesar?"
"What's that supposed to mean? Do I look like I don't have friends?"
"You've never introduced any friends to us until now."
"That's a hurtful thing to say."
"What kind of person are they? What do they like? Is it a man? It's not a woman, right?"
As Gloria poured out questions rapidly, Caesar calmed her down and said.
"He's a man, and a complete sister complex. He likes his younger sister."
"...That's a relief."
Really now, what's such a relief about that.
"Thanks to him, I learned that Lady Aurora drank the Dinon's Tears. Because of that, I was able to ask my brother Eric to quickly find an antidote."
Raven made an expression that said ‘I should have known’ and muttered.
"Now he's even employing spies."
That's right. Who would have thought that after living the life of a spy, he would end up employing spies. Life is truly unpredictable.
"More importantly, how is Lady Aurora coming to Shalibi? I thought she was under house arrest."
"Pio and my brother will help with that."
"Why is Pio helping you anyway? Have you known him for a long time?"
"No, to be precise, it's more like a business relationship."
"Business?"
"I agreed to save someone for him."
Knock! Knock!
At that moment, there was a knocking sound at the compartment door.
Caesar opened the door himself. Outside the door were not train attendants but butlers and maids employed by Count Vex, holding trays.
The butler bowed politely to Caesar and said.
"Have you finished your meal, perhaps?"
"Oh. Yes."
"May we clear it away then?"
"Yes, please do."
The butler and maids began clearing the empty plates on the table. Among them, Caesar fixed his gaze on one maid.
'Being of the same blood, they really do look alike.'
With the same green hair as Pio and sharp eyes, she was quite striking. When Raven and Gloria noticed Caesar continuously staring at one maid, they finally caught on.
'So that's the woman he's trying to save.'
Meanwhile, Kos looked at Caesar as if he were pathetic.
'How many women is this guy trying to seduce?'
***
Olivia bit her nails until they bled.
"Wh-what... What should I do now? What should I do?"
As soon as she lost the duel to Gloria, Olivia immediately went to see her father. Strictly speaking, it wasn't Olivia's fault, but Olivia felt that Aurora's loss was because of her.
However, her father dismissed her without even a glance, as if she were a nuisance.
-I'm busy, so let's talk after I get back.
Olivia felt that her father was truly angry to the very tips of his hair. That must be why he wouldn't even meet her eyes.
Olivia was terrified of being abandoned by her father. Without her father, Olivia was nothing. To be precise, without the Vex family, she was nothing. She would become, as her father said, a useless human garbage.
"This is all... This is all because of that bitch."
Gloria. That damn woman. Because of her, Olivia was being cast out from the Vex family. She would live as a beggar on the streets and die of starvation. Olivia couldn't bear to live and die such a miserable life.
"Didn't she say she was close with that bitch Aurora?"
It didn't make sense that Aurora would lose.
How could a knight with 15 years of experience lose to a knight with barely 1 year of experience? This was clearly a deception.
That bitch Gloria must have conspired with Aurora to ruin Olivia's life. Olivia jumped up from her bed and went outside the door. The maid waiting outside was startled and stood up hurriedly.
"La-Lady Olivia."
"Bring me scissors right now."
"Wh-what?!"
Olivia slapped the maid's cheek.
"I said bring me scissors right nooow!"
The maid touched her cheek and was shocked. There was blood soaking her hand. Had her cheek been torn? If she stayed any longer, her other cheek might be torn as well.
"Ye-yes! I understand."
The maid ran off. Before going to the kitchen, she thought she should report to the head maid first.
After the maid disappeared, Olivia became even more anxious. Being left alone was so lonely and frightening. And the lonelier she felt, the more her anger surged.
Olivia made her way to the underground prison. She pulled out a candlestick that was on the table and took it with her. She would light this candlestick and burn that woman's tongue.
"Huh?"
As Olivia was hurrying down, her foot caught on her long skirt hem and she tumbled down the stairs.
"Aaaargh!"
Olivia's right leg burned intensely. As she fell, the candle on the candlestick broke, and the sharp candlestick spike had torn a long gash in Olivia's thigh.
"Aaaaaaaah!"
Olivia threw away the candlestick. She cried like a child. It was so painful and pitiful.
Why on earth were these things happening to her?
What wrong had she done to deserve only these misfortunes?
While crying uncontrollably, something strange caught Olivia's eye.
Knights were collapsed against the wall. The knights' helmets were removed as if someone had struck them, and blood mixed with saliva was flowing from their mouths. Olivia's mind froze, unable to grasp the situation. She gently nudged one of the knights.
"H-hey."
The knight didn't move despite Olivia's touch.
"Hey, hey... What on earth..."
At that moment, a shadow fell over Olivia. A man wearing a black hood was coming out supporting a woman with flowing silver hair.
"Hup!"
When Olivia's eyes met the man's, she was so startled that she felt her breath would stop. The man's eyes were too fierce to be considered human eyes.
"...Tsk, this has become troublesome. Should I kill her?"
"No."
Olivia's attention was drawn to the beautiful voice like a music box. The silver-haired woman looked haggard but had shining blue eyes. It was Aurora.
"She's a pitiful person."
"She could call for others."
"Let me try to persuade her."
"We don't have time."
"Please give me a moment."
Aurora staggered and knelt on one knee, meeting Olivia's eyes.
"I apologize, Lady. As a knight, I should have brought you victory, but I lost. I wanted to apologize to you properly, and here we meet like this."
Olivia was frightened but simultaneously overwhelmed with sorrow, tears streaming down her face.
"It's, it's all because of you. My becoming this miserable is all because of you. I'm going to be abandoned now. Because I've become useless to my father. My life is now... Over."
At that moment, the sound of people coming down to the underground prison could be heard.
"Lady Olivia! Where are you?!"
Pio drew his sword.
"Damn, things have gone wrong. This cursed woman has brought people here."
Olivia struck Aurora's chest.
"It's all your fault. All your... your fault. Because of you, I..."
"I know. So please let me take responsibility."
"Responsibility? What kind of responsibility can you take? Will you take the punishment from my father instead? Huh?! What can you possibly do?"
"It seems you're afraid of the Count."
Olivia wiped her endlessly flowing tears.
"Yes... I'm so afraid. I'm so scared. I want to run away somewhere. I... don't want to be abandoned by my father. I... just don't know what to do anymore."
"Then let's find out together."
"...What do you mean?"
"I don't know what Lady Olivia can do inside this mansion. But outside this mansion, there might be things Lady Olivia can do."
Aurora tore her clothes and wrapped Olivia's thigh.
"So let's leave together, Lady Olivia."
At that moment, maids and soldiers came down the stairs. They saw the knights lying fallen and bleeding, Lady Olivia, and the black-hooded man standing with a sword, as well as Aurora. The soldiers couldn't grasp the situation but raised their spears nonetheless.
"Wh-what's going on?! Release Lady Olivia immediately!"
Then Aurora stood up and said.
"An intruder broke in and ran away. Didn't you see anyone on your way here?"
"Wh-what?! What are you talking about?"
Pio immediately realized what Aurora wanted. He bit his lip. He wasn't the type to enjoy gambling moves, but he had no choice. Now he could only trust Olivia and Aurora.
"That's right. We just prevented intruders from kidnapping Lady Olivia. Isn't that right, Lady Olivia?"
Olivia locked eyes with Aurora for a long time.
Although Olivia's hands and feet trembled with anxiety, she eventually closed her eyes, took one deep breath, and opened her mouth.
"That's right. If it weren't for Lady Aurora and Sir Pio, I would have died."
"Is, is that true?"
"Yes. But do you know who you're pointing those spears at right now? Do you want to die?"
The soldiers hastily withdrew their spears.
"We-we're sorry!"
"You think sorry is enough? Huh?!"
"Ah, that... well."
"What are your names?"
"We, we apologize! Lady!"
"I said, is sorry enough?! Shouldn't you be catching the intruder who cut my thigh and ran away right nooooow!!!"
When Olivia threw a fit, the soldiers hurriedly said.
"We'll go immediately."
As the soldiers scurried away, the maids came down.
"M-miss. Let us help you with treatment."
At that moment, Pio stepped forward and said.
"A doctor will be needed. The wound could become infected if not treated properly."
"But the attending physician left with the Count..."
"There must be others outside the mansion. I've prepared a carriage, so we'll go in that."
"Ah, yes! But when did the carriage..."
"Be quiet and get out of the way."
Pio carried Olivia on his back.
"I apologize for the rudeness of touching the Lady's body."
"It's fine. Let's just go quickly. Lady Aurora, please come with us. I'll feel more at ease that way."
Aurora smiled gently and said.
"Yes, Lady."