Chapter 59
Chapter 59
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: uly
Chapter: 59
Chapter Title: Maria Timons (3)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
For a moment, I couldn't quite grasp what Rabin had said. Who exactly was he asking me to take to Aintban with me?
“……What?”
“When you go to Aintban, I’d like to ask you to take Maria with you.”
“May I know the reason?”
At my words, Rabin hesitated, as if wondering whether it was okay to speak.
At that moment, Maria stepped forward and spoke.
“I’ll explain. Count.”
“It seems there’s a special reason.”
“Yes. It’s because of my bloodline.”
Maria took a deep breath before opening her mouth.
“I’m different from my brother and mother. My mother…… was a demon.”
It was a fact I already knew from checking the settings.
But I pretended to be surprised as I spoke.
“A demon?”
“Yes, to be precise, a succubus. My birth mother was a succubus, and she disappeared after giving birth to me.”
As I stared at her blankly, Maria added, as if interpreting my gaze.
“My brother is different from me and wasn’t born with impure blood, so you don’t need to worry about him. His mother was an ordinary human who unfortunately passed away from illness.”
“I don’t particularly think badly of your bloodline.”
“……Pardon?”
“I just don’t understand why you need to come with me to Aintban.”
I understood that Maria’s bloodline was succubus.
But that didn’t explain why she had to go to Aintban with me.
‘Besides, I already have a half-human, half-dragon around me, so a half-human, half-demon is nothing.’
I thought of a certain princess who was probably sipping tea and reading in the mansion right now.
Riya had holed up in a room in the mansion like she was on vacation, not moving unless she came to see me.
[It’s dragon nature. Dragons are lazy by default. Their hobby is holing up in their lair counting gold coins.]
My illusions about legendary dragons had long been shattered by Gransesia’s explanations every time.
“First, the reason I want to accompany you, Count, is because your side is safe.”
“Safe? Because your abilities don’t work on me?”
“That’s right. Excluding my family, you’re the only one who has looked straight at my face without showing any particular emotion.”
I see. It wasn’t complete, but it was a convincing reason.
“And the reason I must go to Aintban is that I’ve heard my grandmother is there.”
“Didn’t you say succubus?”
Maria nodded slowly.
“We’ve been searching for information about my mother through our merchant group for a long time, but it wasn’t easy to find. However, recently, I obtained information that a beautiful woman with pink hair was sighted in Aintban’s capital.”
Maria gently brushed her own hair with her index finger.
Pink hair was certainly an uncommon color.
But given her confidence, the information she obtained was probably more than just the hair color. Maria was too clever to act on just that.
“What do you plan to do if you meet your mother?”
“First, I’ll question her. About abandoning me after giving birth.”
“And then?”
It was more temperate than I expected.
I had thought her resentment toward her mother who just ran away would be quite strong.
“I’ll learn how to use my abilities. From what I heard from my father about her personality, she’ll surely teach me.”
“She must have had quite a unique personality.”
“They say she was very curious and quick to get bored. So, she’ll be curious about me, who has stronger abilities than a typical succubus. If I can just learn how to use them then, that’s all I need. After that, I’ll keep her attention myself.”
To cut it off so decisively.
It felt chillingly cold.
‘Her personality is just as described in the synopsis.’
The personality of Maria written there was simple.
Cynical, and she would seize any goal she set, no matter the method.
She endured any humiliation except for wasting her own emotions.
That’s how she had wrapped the Bellun Count around her finger, and in turn, grown the Timons merchant group by devouring him.
‘In the end, she uses Fabian to shatter even the Bellun Count family and achieve revenge.’
What a terrifying woman.
‘Why are all the scary women around me, except Mone?’
[I’m not that scary either? I’m a saintess!]
‘Only acting like a saintess at times like this.’
I mulled over everything Maria had told me before nodding.
“Alright. I permit you to accompany me to Aintban.”
“R-Really?”
Maria, who had been maintaining a cold expression until now, looked at me with surprised eyes for the first time.
“It doesn’t matter much to me. But the travel expenses will all be covered by the Timons merchant group.”
“Of course. We’ve already secured a certain amount of capital through mithril distribution, so there’s no need to worry about funds.”
Her face was still expressionless, and her tone was a flat, emotionless voice without inflection.
But her slightly flushed cheeks revealed that she was excited right now.
[You accepted more readily than I thought?]
‘Rabin’s biggest help was for her sake from the start. Making Maria one of my people will definitely be a huge asset.’
Until now, I had gained an advantage over others by obtaining information from the synopsis that no one else knew, and using it to seize the high ground.
However, that had only worked because of luck so far, and the day would come when it reached its limit.
In fact, at the Founding Festival, without Riya’s help, stopping the Plague Disaster would have been much harder.
‘But with Maria by my side, it’s different.’
If I could gain her wisdom, I could more effectively utilize the future information I had and maximize its effects.
‘……Her personality is a bit scary, but according to the synopsis, that’s not a problem either.’
Maria would repay her enemies no matter how many years it took, but she was endlessly kind to allies and never abandoned them.
Especially for Fabian, whom she loved, she would take any risk.
Infinitely kind, yet a woman who didn’t suit being a merchant more than anyone. That was Maria Timons.
“Then, we depart in two days, so prepare by then.”
“Understood. You plan to travel mixed in with the merchant group?”
“Yeah.”
Aintban was a closed-off nation.
If a count from another country tried to enter with unclear intentions, they would surely face backlash.
So, it was better to move with the Timons merchant group and hide my identity.
“Understood. I’ll prepare your identity as well. If you have any companions, please let me know in advance.”
“Got it.”
With that, preparations for heading to Aintban were complete.
An unexpected companion had joined, but Maria wouldn’t be a burden.
‘Now, finally……’
All I had to do was pick up ‘that’ from the Fairy Forest.
* * *
“Welcome, Clay Banheart.”
Upon arriving at Kitten Forest, Beatrice greeted me with a bright smile. Thanks to frequently talking while entering and exiting the dungeon lately, Beatrice and I had grown quite close.
Close enough that she, the Fairy Queen, allowed me to call her by name.
“Yes, Beatrice. I came to say goodbye since I’ll be going on a long trip soon.”
“You’re here to pick it up anyway, yet you speak so well.”
“That’s just a bonus, at most.”
“Hehe.”
Beatrice laughed like a girl and raised her right hand upward.
Then, bright light gathered, beginning to take on an elongated shape.
“Human chosen by the Human Sword Genova, Clay Banheart. We southern fairies have put all our effort into crafting this scabbard for you.”
Soon, in Beatrice’s hand was an antique wooden scabbard embossed with silver.
“This is the Fairy Scabbard, ‘Agatram.’”
It was clearly no ordinary scabbard at a glance.
A mystical energy flowed through it, and I could confirm through Insight Eye that mana was spiraling around it.
“The material of the scabbard is Fairy Wood, which protects our territory, made from my body and the hair of numerous fairies for the embossing.”
Fairy Wood, the source of Beatrice’s power, had completely different strength from ordinary wood.
Its hardness rivaled orichalcum while being light, and its mana conductivity was equivalent to magic stones.
If I didn’t liberate Genova, the scabbard alone might be more valuable, a thought that flashed through my mind.
==
<Agatram>
A scabbard made from the Fairy Wood of the southern Fairy Queen, Beatrice, and the hair of numerous fairies.
Grants the owner resistance to poison and disease, as well as rapid recovery.
The owner can also effectively absorb surrounding mana and receives assistance in mana operation.
==
[It’s fraudulent!]
‘Yeah…….’
Gransesia muttered in a dazed tone.
I couldn’t help but agree.
Even I, who knew some of the scabbard’s performance already, was stunned by its abilities.
Disease or poison resistance was useless to me, but excluding that, it held unimaginable value.
[In my view, there’s no better scabbard than that. Even Damian, called the Sword Saint, probably never used one this good.]
A scabbard so valuable even the Sword Saint hadn’t used one like it.
‘But now it’s mine.’
I received the scabbard from Beatrice while managing my expression as best I could.
“Thank you, Beatrice. I didn’t expect such an amazing gift.”
“We didn’t know such an incredible item would be made either, so don’t thank us too much. It’s all your fortune.”
As I slowly sheathed Genova, the scabbard resized perfectly to fit it.
The more I looked, the more amazing the scabbard seemed.
Just wearing it, I could feel faint mana gathering around me.
‘One scabbard changes my quality of life.’
This is why you need good gear for everything.
“You said you’re going to Aintban?”
“Yes.”
“I wish you good fortune. From what I know, there is another sword like yours there.”
Just as Beatrice said.
Fabian obtains another sword in Aintban.
The Boundary Sword Solaris.
That was in Aintban.
* * *
Two days later, the day of departure for Aintban.
Riya was looking at me with a sulky face.
“……Telling your escort to stay behind.”
“But what if Nior pulls something?”
“Surely he wouldn’t.”
Common sense dictated that the Bellun Count family wouldn’t dare act rashly after a warning from the imperial princess.
“But thanks to you, Nior has lost the Bellun Count’s trust and his position as heir is shaky. No one knows what a cornered rat might do.”
“That’s…… well, maybe.”
Riya sighed faintly after replying.
Then she stared at the Timons merchant group’s carriage parked outside the mansion window.
More precisely, at Maria, who was waiting eagerly for me.
“Hmm.”
Riya’s pupils slit vertically like a lizard’s.
Proof that her mood was quite bad right now.
Still, her not refusing my request showed how much she respected me.
“If it gets really dangerous, I’ll call for help anytime, so don’t worry too much.”
“What I’m worried about is……. Yeah, I get it. Waiting is something I’m used to anyway.”
She always smiled elegantly, but now she sounded just like a sulky teenage girl. I actually found this side of Riya more approachable.
[But didn’t you originally plan to take that lizard girl along?]
‘Maria tagged along. Just looking at their personalities, they don’t seem compatible?’
[True. Both have nasty tempers.]
‘Not nasty enough to call it that…….’
Anyway, there were several reasons not to bring Riya. As I explained to her, preparing for emergencies was one, but their incompatible personalities was another.
‘If it gets really dangerous, I can go through the Magic Tower and she can come right away.’
Once I arrived in Aintban and assessed the situation, I could call her if needed. It would mean owing Riya a big favor, but it couldn’t be helped.
“Then, take care of the mansion.”
“Yes, leave it to me. But…… hehe, yeah.”
Riya covered her mouth with her hand as always and smiled softly.
“This makes me feel like the lady of the house in my own way. Not a bad feeling.”
……Well, if she was satisfied, that was fine.