Chapter 16
Chapter 16
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 16
Chapter Title: An Audience with the Lord
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That evening, Iris and I prepared to meet the lord. We'd originally planned to go tomorrow morning, but apparently, that bastard had sent a servant to summon us right away.
Iris was dressed in her usual white sleeveless top and dolphin pants, while I threw on some plain cloth clothes. It was a real relief that the men's outfits hadn't been changed.
"Got it? Don't act on your own no matter what. If that guy asks you anything, just keep your mouth shut and stay quiet. I'll handle all the responses."
"Got it. How many times have you said that already?"
"I'm repeating it because it's not even close to excessive. Keep it in mind—that guy might treat you any way he wants, and who knows what he'll nitpick. You absolutely have to stay still."
All the way to the lord's mansion on horseback, Iris repeated her advice in her own way, over and over. It wasn't particularly useful advice.
If that bastard was really determined to find fault, that kind of advice wouldn't help at all. And more importantly, I knew far more about the lord than she did.
The other knight captains, Iris included, had just suffered his abuses. But I was an experienced player who'd killed that guy in the game using every method imaginable.
Sure, snapping his neck right at the first meeting would make things hellishly difficult afterward, so I couldn't go that far here. But including prep time, I was confident I could take him out clean in two weeks tops.
"Here."
How long had we been riding toward the city center? Iris pulled her horse to a stop in front of a grand mansion.
It was so ridiculously huge that even I was stunned. Far bigger than the mansion I remembered from the game—I just stood there gaping at it.
Because he was imperial blood, he couldn't let go of his vanity, right? It looked like it could easily pass for the emperor's residence.
'Come to think of it, the emperor's a woman too, huh?'
In the NPC appearance retouching mod, the emperor had been female.
No, more accurately, in the appearance change mod, pretty much every humanoid boss had been turned into a woman. Male bosses left unchanged were the real rarity.
My head was getting complicated. Yeah, probably a woman. I just hoped her personality hadn't changed too.
"Halt! Halt!"
The knight standing at the gate leading into the mansion spotted us and barked irritably. It was worlds apart from how the city gate guards had shown some basic courtesy.
His posture was slouched, his face radiated annoyance, and his tone was curt. By skill alone, he was no match for Iris, but he was acting tough thanks to the lord's backing.
"Why are you here?"
The question came out without even the barest scrap of politeness. I was dumbfounded watching from the side, but Iris responded with a calm expression and tone, as if she were used to this treatment.
"I'm here to report on the prison dispatch."
"Oh, right? Then go on in. Tie the horses up somewhere."
Now he wasn't even gesturing with his hand—he just jerked his chin toward the inside.
Iris shot me a look that said to hold it in, then dismounted. I did the same and walked past the knight.
"Wait, who's the guy next to you?"
I thought he'd let us pass, but he jabbed his chin at me and asked brusquely.
"A newbie."
"Newbie? Pfft, trying to get kicked out in a day again? Can't you learn?"
The knight cackled, while Iris silently tied the reins to a tree. Once we'd crossed the garden far enough that the knight couldn't hear, I whispered in her ear.
"Is that normal?"
Even in the game, talking to the mansion knights early in the story got you oily, rude responses. But it hadn't been this bad.
"You'll have to get used to it. The longer you stick around our knight order without getting booted, the more of that crap you'll hear."
Iris answered flatly. It wasn't so much a lack of anger or irritation—it was closer to resignation.
From there until we entered the lord's mansion and were told to wait in the drawing room, I felt down to my bones just how much shit the Silver Dawn Knights had been putting up with.
I didn't know what the problem was exactly, but it was definitely worse than in the game.
In the game, the servants had looked down on the player but still did their jobs. Here, they were so busy scorning us that they weren't even doing the bare minimum.
After being pretty much dumped in the drawing room and left to wait, how much time passed? Suddenly, a swarm of maids in uniforms rushed in and laid out all sorts of pastries on the empty table.
"The lord is entering."
Of course, it wasn't for us—it was for the lord about to come in. They'd left us to starve while calling it dinner, and now he was going to chow down?
I heard someone entering and finally thought I'd see his face, so I looked up.
'...Holy fucking shit.'
And I was shocked by visuals way worse than I'd imagined.
Not content with being covered head to toe in rolls of fat, it had oozed into his face, burying his features completely. His whole body was so bloated I wondered how the hell he even walked.
I'd never seen a human where the vertical and horizontal measurements looked almost the same.
I wanted to applaud the fact that he'd walked in on his own two feet instead of rolling. His knees were still intact with that frame?
'He was fat in the game too, but not this bad.'
The lord waddled in, let out a long exhale, and plopped onto the sofa. The seat sank deep under him. The first thing he did upon sitting was grab snacks from the table.
After a good long while of smacking sounds, the lord finally let out a prolonged burp and opened his mouth.
"So, you're back, Iris."
"...Yes. As you ordered, we investigated the prison."
Even looking like that, he was imperial blood, so Iris was using utmost formal speech with him. Her face, though, was twisted in a way that wasn't like her usual self.
"Report."
"Including the prisoners and guards, everyone in the prison was killed by the beast except one. By the time I arrived, it had already happened—no chance to intervene."
"Tch. I told you to prepare thoroughly. I don't know why you ignored me."
Yeah, right. That beast—you lured it in yourself?
I knew the whole story, so I sneered inwardly. He'd sent people to lure the human-slaughtering monster to the prison and now acted like he had foresight. What a load of bullshit.
"And that guy next to you is the prison's sole survivor?"
He must've had some chops from politicking in the imperial palace, because he glanced at me and instantly pegged my identity. Iris nodded.
"Yes."
The lord seemed to ponder something, then grabbed a handful of pastries from the table, crunched them down, and gestured for Iris to leave while looking at her. Iris panicked.
"You, out, Iris."
"Pardon? But—"
"I said out. You planning to defy my orders?"
"......"
Iris gave me a look full of worry, but there was no way around it. She bit her lip, bowed her head roughly, and left, closing the door firmly behind her.
This situation right at the first meeting was unexpected.
Well, from my perspective, it didn't matter. To take out the lord without loose ends, this one-on-one was an event I had to go through anyway.
In the game, you could only get a private audience with him from the third meeting. Jumping straight to it from the first was actually a boon for me—I wanted to deal with him ASAP.
Now that we were alone, the lord draped his arm arrogantly over the sofa back and propped his feet on the table. He was treating me like total dirt.
Well, from his view, I was just a prison convict, so he'd see that attitude as natural. A guy who looked down on even knight captains wouldn't give a damn about some prisoner.
Considering how the personalities of everyone in this mansion had turned way more asshole-ish than in the game, it wasn't surprising if he'd crossed the line ages ago.
"Hey, you."
"Yes, my lord."
"You were locked up in the prison, right?"
"Yes."
"You met Iris and barely survived?"
"That's correct."
"Any trouble with the knights along the way, or fights with one of the knight captains?"
"None."
Recalling the game's choice options, I picked only the responses that would lead to his offer. The lord nodded on his own, then thought long and hard about something.
"Why were you in the prison?"
There it was.
Just as I'd expected. I smirked inwardly at the question.
Things looked like they'd go pretty smoothly.
"Why do you think they lock people up in places like that? Probably the same crimes you're imagining."
"Hmm, yeah, I suppose so......"
I deliberately flashed the sleaziest grin I could muster.
At this point, digging the grave was pretty much done. All that was left was to prepare the grave goods, show them to him, and let him walk into the grave himself.
After brooding for another long stretch, the lord finally spoke.
"You interested in women at all?"