Chapter 18
Chapter 18
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 18
Chapter Title: Vespa
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Within the Empire, beating up a noble was a heinous crime by any standard.
In that sense, the fact that Carlyle had gotten tangled up with Leon Grimwald in any way was an incident that could very well blow up into a major scandal.
“We should take some kind of action, shouldn’t we?”
It was the kind of event that warranted such thoughts.
In any case, to root out the poison of Hell that might be festering within Cradle, he still needed freedom of movement. Drawing attention from all sides was the last thing he wanted.
He probably would have kept thinking along those lines if Gray hadn’t scoffed and said what she did.
“Don’t worry about it.”
“Pardon?”
“Go grab a magitech communicator.”
“...?”
He handed Gray something that resembled a modern telephone. She gave Lionel a brief rundown of what had happened.
Grand Duke Chasefield was furious. More than Carlyle had anticipated.
He was outraged at the mere fact that anyone had dared to make advances on his daughter, whom he wouldn’t let a speck of dust touch. He was doubly outraged that they’d picked a vulgar fight with the young man he’d personally brought into the family.
That sentiment must have been vividly clear in the letter he’d sent to the Grimwald Count Family.
True to Lionel’s character, it was elegantly worded, polite, and socially graceful. But its contents could be summed up in one sentence:
“If you don’t want to die, then shut up and stay put.”
The Grimwald Count Family decided not to mess with a ducal house.
A wise choice.
They had no intention of going to full-scale war with a grand ducal family over some mishap caused by a distant heir to their title.
As such, Carlyle’s academy life didn’t start off on the wrong foot. Fortunately.
...Though he did look a bit pathetic, diligently massaging Gray when she returned from sword practice.
“Am I getting gaslit or something?”
It had become almost routine to be worked to the bone by Gray, which was suspicious in itself.
For now, he’d chalk it up as compensation for the count family covering for him.
“Lady, should I knead a bit harder?”
“Yeah.”
As he massaged her legs with all his might, the edge of Gray’s hand came chopping down on the top of Carlyle’s head.
A bizarre *thwack* escaped from Carlyle’s mouth.
“Too hard. That was.”
“...”
She was still picky as ever, but at least her hand hadn’t split his skull open this time. He’d take that as progress.
What was the word for it? Overall, her attitude toward him had softened just a touch.
“Her possessiveness trait threw me for a loop...”
The word itself sounded ominous. Possessiveness.
The desire not to let someone be taken by another.
He wasn’t sure if it was as a friend or as a cherished tool, but whatever.
[Good things are good things.]
“...Should we call good things good?”
As long as it didn’t impose harsh restrictions, it was fine. Building a bond with Gray would only help in reforming her.
Of course.
“What’re you doing tomorrow?”
He couldn’t help but tense up whenever she asked questions like that.
How to put it.
Up until now, she hadn’t cared about his schedule and just pushed her own agenda, so she’d never bothered asking.
He couldn’t read her intentions, which made answering tricky.
“I’m planning to meet with Marchioness Heiress Anastasia and choose which mentor classes to take. It should’ve been done on the first day, but my schedule got backed up.”
Gray’s face soured the instant she heard that.
The kind of expression that made his legs go weak on sight. Had he done something wrong?
Or maybe she still resented him hanging around Elena.
But then her expression slowly relaxed, and she let out a slow breath.
“Okay.”
“...?”
What was that.
He had no idea what thought process she’d gone through.
[She measured her own caliber.]
“Measured what?”
[Anastasia’s no big deal. Even if she took something Gray’s laid claim to, Gray could crush her and take it back in no time.]
“...”
[If you’d mentioned the Gray Cardinal, the reaction would’ve been different.]
Poor Elena.
No clue what kind of treatment she was getting in Gray’s head...
“Then, full classes starting tomorrow?”
“Yes, Lady.”
“Do well.”
“Thank you for the encouragement.”
“Burn it into your head. You know what happens if you don’t?”
“...I’ll stake my life on it so my neck doesn’t get twisted.”
Gray nodded in satisfaction.
...Her standards were still ridiculously harsh.
Carlyle let out a sigh as he left Gray’s room and headed back to his own quarters.
“By the way, Hero.”
[Yes?]
“I’ve got a lot built up, so it feels like it’s time to cash in again soon.”
He said this while eyeing the status window floating before him.
After all these incidents, he’d accumulated quite a bit of usable “rewards.”
“Roughly speaking, what I can use now...”
He could copy about four abilities.
And he had one “command right” usable on Gray.
He had no idea how much coercive power a command right held, but he could save that for later.
[Save that one. You’ll need it for something crucial.]
“Got a specific memory of it?”
[...You’ve been nothing but helpful, so I’m reluctant, but there is an incident coming up.]
“Pardon?”
[It concerns my dignity. Let it slide.]
Dignity?
Dignity, huh.
“...Something embarrassing about yourself again?”
[...Shut up if I tell you to.]
The sharp tone suggested he’d hit the mark.
Probably some other mortifying incident.
Carlyle chuckled and changed the subject.
“Fine, we’ll hear about that when the time comes. What about abilities?”
[Melee’s the quickest for results, so we’ve got that covered. Time to branch out.]
“Branch out?”
[Magic, miracles, curses, martial arts—pick whatever. Anything goes. What can’t a Hero do?]
“Hero, you’re being obnoxious.”
[...]
“We decided not to live off your smugness, remember?”
[...True enough.]
Carlyle smirked at the sheepish response.
Well, he agreed with Gray on that point.
She really could do anything.
But even so.
“There’s gotta be a better way than me growing alone.”
If he was going to do something, better to maximize gains in multiple ways.
Carlyle had two main directions in mind.
“Helping the lady over there grow is first.”
[...My growth? Why bother?]
She’d grow fine on her own if left alone.
He shook his head at the puzzled response.
“Because she’s the foundation of my power, in the end.”
In any case, the abilities he acquired came from “this timeline’s” Gray.
To follow the roadmap that the Gray in the holy sword envisioned, he had to nurture this timeline’s Gray as well.
“Paradoxically, for me to grow fast, she has to grow with me.”
And the path forward was already set.
If he could just pass on the knowledge from the holy sword somehow, she’d devour it and thrive on her own. Her fundamentals were already solid.
Plus, there were things he could do “together” while handling that.
“We need to look after important people too.”
Even a near-demigod Hero couldn’t take on all the Archdemons alone.
Three Archdemons had been handled by humanity’s strongest excluding the Hero.
That’s who Carlyle meant.
“With your abilities and knowledge, we can raise them together.”
[...]
And just like that.
The response from the holy sword cut off abruptly.
Carlyle gave a wry smile as he looked down at it.
He could guess what it was thinking without looking.
“Hero.”
[Yes.]
“It’s okay. We can change it this time.”
This time, there would be no failure.
They’d avoid that horrific outcome from before.
“I’ll be with you. Don’t worry too much.”
[...]
“Let’s save them together. Those people.”
[...Thank you.]
The voice was flat but heavy with emotion.
Carlyle yawned and added one more line.
“That way you won’t bawl like last time, right?”
[...]
“Sounds like you’re about to cry again.”
[....]
He could hear some crude cursing muttered from within the holy sword.
But whatever.
The mood wasn’t awkward, so it was fine.
[So, which important figure first? You can’t watch over them all at once.]
“No need to go far.”
There was one right away.
An “important figure” right nearby.
“Shall we go raise the archmage?”
Time to meet a member of the Hero Party.
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Vespa Luciana.
Gray Chasefield’s loyal personal attendant.
Lately, her mood had been utterly foul.
“...I wonder if the Lady’s okay.”
Lying in bed and staring blankly at the ceiling, Vespa had that thought.
Normally, she’d be run ragged catering to Gray’s tastes, with no time to breathe. But recently, she’d found herself with more and more free time like this.
Probably because Gray had started handing off tasks she used to give Vespa to someone else, one by one.
“It’s all that guy’s fault!”
Carlyle Bellfast. The man the family head had suddenly brought into the household.
She didn’t know how he’d caught the family head’s eye, but he’d quickly cozied up to the Lady and started stealing her duties.
“...Idiot! Moron! Playboy!”
Vespa muttered curses as she flailed her limbs.
Born with such a kind heart that she couldn’t truly badmouth anyone, that was the limit of her insult repertoire...
If Carlyle saw it, he’d probably pity her pure soul and click his tongue at how she’d stuck by Gray’s side despite it.
“The Lady always needed me the most...”
She and Gray had been inseparable since childhood. Ever since Gray had outgrown infancy, Vespa had been her dedicated caretaker.
“The Lady was so cute...”
Her face softened into a dreamy smile.
Memories floated up: little Gray toddling over, giggling as she climbed into Vespa’s lap.
And clutching Vespa’s hand tight, refusing to let go.
That’s when it started. The realization that she alone must care for the Lady until the end.
Sure, the Lady was going through a stormy phase now and her personality had gotten a bit weird, but she was still the Lady. Vespa would serve her to the end.
If Carlyle saw it, he’d probably question what kind of rebellious teen phase involved killing people over bad moods, but Vespa didn’t care.
...Even her own father, Lionel, assessed that Vespa was hopelessly devoted, but she didn’t care about that either.
“The Lady can’t fall into the hands of some bad guy!”
In that regard, Carlyle—who’d rapidly grown close to the Lady lately—was nothing less than an axis of evil to her.
In Vespa’s pure mind, an image popped up of Carlyle laughing “muahaha,” the evil cackle of Demon King Carlyle...
“Miss Vespa? Are you in there?”
The muahaha Demon King’s voice suddenly came from outside the door.
Vespa bolted upright in a panic.
“S-Sorry!”
“...Sorry for what?”
“I-I never thought Carlyle was bad, not once!”
“...”
“N-Not that he’s a playboy or seducing the Lady or anything...!”
“...”
“N-No, I mean, s-sorry!”
“...Shall we talk for a bit?”
This woman.
Same as ever, past and present.
Such thoughts bubbled up in Carlyle’s mind as he stood outside the door.
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