Chapter 75
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 74
Chapter Title: Reward (2)
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A polite knock echoed from beyond the firmly locked door.
Knock knock.
"Are you inside, Madam? Important guests have come to visit."
"Right on cue."
Ellis let out a soft chuckle as she grabbed her obliquely leaning cane and pointed it at the door handle.
Click.
Though not her specialty, Ellis could handle simple magic. She unlocked the door, revealing a familiar face.
Not that he knew her name. He only recognized her as one of the female executives who had stepped out with Ellis yesterday.
"Madam. A messenger just arrived from the palace with knights... Oh. Have I intruded?"
"No, Merrillda. I was just preparing to head out anyway. The zipper's giving me a bit of trouble, though..."
Ellis glanced up at him subtly. He nodded back at her.
"What's wrong with this thing? It's completely stuck."
"Is it? Merrillda, could you help Enoch out?"
"O-of course, Madam."
Merrillda hurried over with a dubious expression. With deft hand movements, she lowered the zipper briefly before smoothly zipping it all the way up.
"Thanks. Our family is great and all, but it's a real shame I can only ask a woman like you for help with stuff like this."
"You're too kind, Madam. By the way, this gentleman is..."
"That's right. He's the Duke of House Zahav. Someone with a long history with me. Thanks to him, we got assistance before those Ksalys bastards could properly stab us in the back."
"Ah...! A pleasure to meet you for the first time, Your Grace!"
"Uh, yeah. Ellis's subordinate, huh? Keep up the good work."
He knew full well how relentlessly Ellis drove her people before a major operation, so he gave a casual reply.
But Merrillda, looking even more tense, turned to Ellis.
"By the way, Madam... how should we treat His Grace?"
"Ah, so that's what was bothering you?"
Ellis chuckled and straightened his disheveled clothes, which had gotten rumpled from him throwing them on haphazardly.
"Treat him as an equal to me. If our orders ever conflict... prioritize Enoch's."
"...Ah."
It was blatantly positioning him above her. Of course, it was also a warning not to stir up pointless trouble given his position as duke.
But whatever she made of it, the woman called Merrillda gave him and Ellis meaningful looks in turn before nodding.
"I see... so that's what Carlo meant... Ahem. Understood. If it's Madam's command."
"Thanks, Merrillda. So, where are the guests?"
"I was planning to escort them to the VIP room, but..."
"They're refusing and waiting outside."
"...Yes. He said someone bearing His Majesty's orders couldn't casually enter a place like this."
"What a stickler. But the timing is perfect."
With that, Ellis draped the coat she had set aside over her shoulders.
She then lightly tugged his hand and flashed a smile.
"Let's go, Enoch. They're probably guests here for you."
"Me? Not you?"
Wasn't she in the middle of tightrope-walking with the imperial family amid their succession disputes? He'd assumed it was one of the imperial scions trying to pull the Ellis family to his side.
"Enoch. Think about what you did before we met."
"What else? Dealt with the black mages brazenly hiding out in Elisium... and smashed Wild Hunt. Yeah, I get it perfectly."
Ignis's sleep issue wasn't something new from the past day or two.
It had probably been decades... maybe centuries since he'd warned the palace and begged for help, only to be left stamping his feet with no real solutions.
Then, out of nowhere, the bastard son everyone thought was dead from House Zahav becomes patriarch, teams up with Duke Ignatus, and effectively wipes out Wild Hunt.
Naturally, they'd be curious about who the hell he was. They'd probably been planning to summon him anyway.
And before the palace could even reach out, he shows up in the capital without a word and crushes the black mages hiding right in their front yard.
Even he'd have freaked out and dragged the guy in.
"I actually had a bit more to say..."
He'd wanted advice on bringing Ellis into House Zahav and on the mercenary guild, but the timing was off.
As he scratched his head, Ellis patted his back lightly, as if in consideration.
"We can talk next time, right? It's not like we don't know where to find each other anymore."
"True enough."
He shrugged and headed out of the casino with Ellis.
The gazes of the organization members watching them felt a bit different from yesterday—probably just his imagination. He forgot all about it the moment he saw who was waiting outside.
There, amid the knights, was a face from the succession ceremony.
Wavy pink hair grown so long it seemed like it might brush the ground.
A hairstyle that would turn heads from anyone passing by.
But what defined her aura was something else.
Cat-like upturned eyes. Petite stature, yet a haughty gaze that looked down on others. And despite the somewhat aggressive impression, the faint smile playing on her lips.
"Princess Cornelia?"
That was right. She was the one who had attended his succession ceremony. Knowing House Zahav's situation was dire, she had promised support under the guise of academy fieldwork.
The Third Imperial Princess, Cornelia Ortenzia.
"Long time no see. What brings you here?"
"Not quite long enough to call it that. It's only been two months or so since the succession ceremony."
With that, Cornelia gracefully gathered her skirt and curtsied.
Watching her, a slight headache began to brew.
An imperial princess coming all the way to the slums herself? To the front door of the Ellis family's stronghold, which had remained untouched amid their precarious balancing act?
It reeked of the start of something annoying.
Perhaps because he unconsciously scowled, the knights standing behind Cornelia began emitting a threatening aura.
...To avoid any suspicion on the Zahav name, there was only one thing to do in a situation like this.
He could avoid picking a fight, but ignoring a provocation thrown his way wasn't Zahav-like—no matter how mild-mannered.
"Rude, ignorant, and weak to boot."
Not yet accustomed to his expanded mana circuits, he'd deliberately kept his aura suppressed. Now, he unleashed it in an instant.
Whoosh—
The surrounding temperature rose noticeably as raw, unrefined energy itself engulfed the knights.
"Ugh..."
"Kh!"
The knights broke out in cold sweats and averted their gazes.
Imperial knights—and ones guarding a princess at that—weren't lacking in skill.
Even compared to Zahav knights who fought constantly, they were clearly superior.
At the very least, vice-captain level like Hilda. Given some time, they'd reach captain level like her father, Calton.
But they were weaker than him.
The two froze solid, unable to mount proper resistance.
At the sight of her escort knights, the elegant smile Cornelia had so carefully composed cracked, and she clutched her temples as if suffering a migraine.
He chuckled and addressed Cornelia.
"Princess Cornelia. You have to train your dogs properly when raising them."
"Sigh... My apologies, Duke Zahav. Dukes of your stature don't often visit the capital, so some of them don't know any better. I'll apologize on their behalf. Of course, I'll make sure they receive thorough training to prevent this in the future."
"Yeah, yeah. When the empire's own princess apologizes like this, I have to accept. But..."
He playfully curled his lip and pointed his index finger at the two frozen knights.
"No next time."
Scraaape.
His finger dug into the thick iron of their armor, leaving an ugly scar that didn't match the ornate design.
He did the same to the remaining knight and shrugged.
"That way, it'll be easier to recognize you next time."
"...Indeed. Thank you for your generous judgment, Duke Zahav."
Cornelia forced a smile with trembling lips.
Good. That should be Zahav-like enough.
Cornelia felt a chill run down her spine.
'These idiots...!'
Compared to her fellow imperial siblings, Cornelia's faction was relatively weak. To bridge that gap, she had recruited several knights from commoner backgrounds.
Because of that, they didn't fully grasp the prestige a duke commanded in the empire—and committed a grave rudeness.
Against none other than Enoch Zahav, no less, unleashing hostility laced with killing intent.
'Who the hell do you think you're messing with?!'
Loyalty was good. But this was excessive. Dukes were the ones who single-handedly held back the empire's disasters.
They held authority second only to the emperor himself—authority no imperial scion could overstep.
In strict terms of imperial hierarchy, Enoch—who had completed the succession and rightfully ascended to duke—was her senior.
Skilled as they were, these knights from bloodline-obsessed central had been ignored by all until Cornelia alone recognized them. Was that why they overdid their loyalty? Or had they simply not mastered the complex etiquette as commoners?
Whatever the case, they had blundered badly.
Enoch had proven House Zahav's vitality and ruined Cornelia's plan to secure their interests.
Naturally, her already slowly shrinking faction had become even more subdued.
To turn things around, she had been fleeced in negotiations with Jevella, trading interests for friendship with House Zahav in a bid to sway Enoch...
But her guards—skilled but lacking in everything else—had caused the problem.
'Once today is over, I'll make sure they get proper punishment.'
Steel-resolving inwardly, Cornelia mustered the most apologetic and friendly tone she could manage.
"Sigh... My apologies, Duke Zahav. Dukes of your stature don't often visit the capital, so some of them don't know any better. I'll apologize on their behalf. Of course, I'll make sure they receive thorough training to prevent this in the future."
"Yeah, yeah. When the empire's own princess apologizes like this, I have to accept. But..."
Fortunately, Enoch accepted her apology readily.
...Or so she thought.
Until he casually gouged deep scars into her knights' armor with his bare hands—no aura manifested, nothing.
'What in the...?'
Gouges as natural as if it were clay.
Of course, the material wasn't actual clay. Would a knight guarding royalty wear such shoddy gear?
Rare materials, handcrafted by the palace's master artisans.
Sturdy armor enhanced with useful enchantments from the Magic Tower.
In price terms, the equivalent of wearing a top-grade carriage on one's body.
Yet Enoch had crushed it effortlessly with his fingers.
Scraaape.
Metal that could withstand a mid-tier monster's charge was forcibly shaved away.
The enchantments hand-applied by elder-level mages from the Magic Tower let out a faint crackle as their death throes before forcibly dissipating.
Impossible to believe it was done bare-handed, without even drawing on aura.
But then again, this must be the level required to beat a massive true dragon into submission.
As Cornelia swallowed dryly in tension, recalling the report from the empire's intelligence bureau...
Enoch flashed beast-like golden eyes and curled his lips in a savage grin.
"No next time. That way, it'll be easier to recognize you next time."
A blatant warning. And a promise to watch how they acted from here on.
Suddenly flashing through Cornelia's mind was Enoch's appearance at the succession ceremony.
A man lounging like a sated predator, exuding an unavoidable pressure. House Zahav's secret weapon, hidden in Calypso Territory by the previous patriarch.
That Enoch had bared his fangs the moment black mages were mentioned.
Surely, there would be no next time—as he'd said. And when that came, those fangs would be aimed at her, not the black mages.
Cornelia forcibly steadied her trembling body and barely managed a smile.
"...Indeed. Thank you for your generous judgment, Duke Zahav."
Cornelia was afraid of Enoch.
Absolutely terrified.