Chapter 535: Jealousy is My Power (35)
Chapter 535: Jealousy is My Power (35)
The state I found the Elder Sword Duke in was, to put it mildly, not good.
I had first sensed something was off when I met the Emperor. A faint shadow of worry and anguish had been visible on the old man’s face.
Of course, I hadn't paid much attention to it at first.
The pinnacle of the Empire himself had come out to personally greet a mere knight. At that point, my heart had nearly stopped from the sheer shock.
It didn't even take a split second for my knees to hit the ground.
“Ian Percus of the Percus family greets His Majesty the Emperor!”
“Enough, enough.”
However, despite my utmost display of etiquette, the Emperor merely waved his hand dismissively. The faint look of boredom in his eyes revealed his true feelings.
“There is no need for such formalities when others aren't watching. We’ll be seeing a lot of each other from now on; do you intend to kneel and cry out how honored you are every single time?”
“But…”
“Think of me as a neighborhood uncle. If I hadn't been born with the bloodline of the dragon, I would have lived such a life anyway.”
He seemed sincere.
Nevertheless, I couldn't bring myself to stand up and simply hovered there, hesitating. Hadn't I been raised hearing such things since I was too young to even remember?
The Emperor of the Empire is the supreme being.
The lives of all subjects exist for the Emperor. The Emperor was the Empire itself.
In other words, loyalty to the Emperor was synonymous with patriotism.
So, as a knight of the Empire, I couldn't just easily cast aside my manners.
The Emperor overcame this hurdle quite simply.
“…It is an Imperial Decree.”
There weren't many who could resist that sigh-laden voice.
At the very least, they could be counted on one hand within the Empire.
In the end, I had to obediently bow my head.
“I shall obey your will, Your Majesty.”
Only after I straightened my knees and stood up did the Emperor look somewhat satisfied.
The questions followed after that.
“So, what brings you here at this late hour? The sun set quite some time ago.”
“Yes, well… I have come to seek the Elder Sword Duke’s help regarding a matter of great importance, so I took the liberty of visiting.”
“It must be urgent.”
It was an assertion, not a question.
The Emperor seemed to have deduced the general situation just by observing my demeanor.
After a moment of hesitation, a long sigh escaped his lips.
“That… right now, my uncle is… No. You said it was urgent, so there’s no time to waste.”
Following the Emperor’s gracious guidance, we arrived at a place I had visited once before.
The Sword Duke’s room.
There, a spectacular sight unfolded: a young girl was chugging straight from a bottle of hard liquor.
“Hic, Cien… I’m sorry for being such a pathetic grandfather…”
It was a line that didn't suit her appearance in the slightest.
The alcohol she was holding wasn't even wine. At a glance, it looked like whiskey.
In truth, for a powerhouse like the Sword Duke, intoxication was no issue. Even I could flush out all the alcohol from my system if I put my mind to it.
Nevertheless, the girl’s cheeks were flushed, and the smell of booze wafted all the way to the door.
It was hard to deny that the girl was thoroughly wasted.
She must have chosen not to dispel the intoxication.
At my bewildered expression, the Emperor placed a hand on his forehead, looking pained.
“That was from my private stash…”
No wonder he looked so gloomy today.
I immediately understood the reason for the Emperor’s foul mood. At the same time, a sense of hopelessness washed over me.
A drunken Sword Duke.
Even when sober, the Sword Duke was a free spirit who might fly off in any direction. Given that her martial prowess rivaled the greatest on the continent, even I was reluctant to provoke her.
But I had to go.
Because Seria would be waiting for me.
I swallowed hard and took a step forward.
There was no way someone like the Sword Duke wouldn't have noticed my presence.
As I finally entered the room, the Sword Duke asked without even looking back, “…What is it?”
The words were thick with the scent of alcohol.
As she tilted the bottle again, the Sword Duke’s eyes were half-lidded. Seeing a girl who still looked so young acting like that gave me a somewhat criminal impression.
On the other hand, her slumped, slender shoulders looked pitiful.
I chose my words carefully so as not to provoke the Sword Duke’s temper.
“Um, Elder Sword Duke… I have obtained important intelligence regarding the vampires. Please, come with me.”
“Source?”
As if to prove she belonged to the Imperial Intelligence Agency, the girl immediately questioned the reliability of the information.
Unfortunately, it was something I couldn't easily answer.
After a moment’s hesitation, I spoke with firm resolve.
“To be honest, I’m not entirely sure. That’s why I thought it would be best if the Elder Sword Duke accompanied me, just in case…”
“I refuse.”
It was a flat rejection.
Breaking into a cold sweat at her unexpectedly stubborn attitude, I glanced back.
But the Emperor, meeting my eyes, only shook his head.
He was telling me to handle it myself.
It seemed even the Emperor couldn't control the Sword Duke once she became pigheaded. Swearing inwardly, I had to speak up cautiously.
“Um, may I ask the reason why…?”
“…Why, you ask?!”
It was at that moment that the Sword Duke suddenly raised her voice.
Slam! The reddish-brown hardwood table shattered and collapsed. Even so, the way she didn't let go of the bottle made it clear where the Emperor’s drinking habits had been inherited from.
The girl was trembling, unable to contain her indignation.
“Do you have any idea how much humiliation I’ve endured this single day?! There’s a limit to misunderstandings! What kind of things will I hear if I go around with you again? M-moreover, my grandniece… she called me… a ‘bitch’…”
As she muttered that, the girl’s pupils and hands were shaking uncontrollably.
It was proof that the shock and horror of that moment had not yet faded. It was clear that Cien’s fainting spell had dealt a profound blow to the Sword Duke’s psyche.
It didn't take long for the shoulders of the girl, who had been shouting in a fit of emotion, to slump again.
The Sword Duke muttered with a tearful face.
“Ugh, I hate this now… Cien, Cien… sob…”
And with that, she tilted the bottle again.
Gulp, gulp. The sound of the girl draining the rest of the bottle echoed through the room. To down half a bottle in one go…
Even for a heavy drinker, that would be hard to handle.
Reflexively, I reached out to stop her, but it was already too late.
All that remained was to pay the price.
Phew. The girl wiped her lips gallantly, and for a moment, her eyes went blank.
And a few seconds later.
“…Wait, am I really the ‘Sword Duke’?”
It was a completely random statement.
I wasn't the only one taken aback by the sudden change of heart from the girl who, until a moment ago, would have insisted she was the ‘Sword Duke’ even if she were dying.
The fact that the Emperor spoke up before I did was proof of that.
“No, Uncle. What kind of blasphemous talk is that? If you aren't the Sword Duke, then who is?”
“No, no… I mean, look. My body? It’s too small, isn't it? Right? Even if I stand on my tiptoes, I barely reach your shoulder, don't I?”
As she flailed her hands, all reason had evaporated from the girl’s eyes.
Watching her, I realized instinctively.
This is dangerous.
A single drop of cold sweat trickled down my back.
“Actually, actually, maybe I was just mistaken? Yeah, what was it… Ian, you said it yourself. A mental patient who mistakenly thinks they’re the Sword Duke? Th-th-th-that’s what it is~”
Puhuhu. A clear laugh was added to the end of her sentence. Despite her stuttering, the girl’s face held a somewhat cheerful expression as she finished speaking.
As if she had finally realized the truth, the girl raised both arms with a broad smile.
“Right, I wasn't actually the Sword Duke!”
She seemed to have reached a clear answer in her own way, but the Emperor and I weren't about to just let it slide.
The two of us immediately cried out in horror.
“No, have you lost your mind?!”
“Uncle, Uncle! Get a hold of yourself! If not you, then who else could wield the Divine Sword?!”
But despite our desperate persuasion, the girl merely snorted.
“Hmph, I don't want to hear it! What kind of grandfather gets called a ‘bitch’ by his niece… Don't make me laugh!!”
Stomp, stomp. She shouted and stomped her feet, looking extremely resentful.
Was I really supposed to wait until she sobered up?
Just as despair crossed my face.
“…Sir Ian!”
At the topic the Emperor brought up, both the girl’s and my eyes turned toward him simultaneously.
Our gazes were polar opposites.
I looked like I had no idea what was going on, while the girl’s face looked momentarily indifferent.
As if telling him to go ahead and speak.
The Emperor hurriedly spun a lie.
“Sir Ian said he wanted to spar with you, Uncle.”
“…Hmm?”
At that, the drunken girl’s gaze slowly shifted toward me.
I swear, I had never said such a thing in my life. Did he think I had no survival instinct?
A spar has to be between people of somewhat similar levels; if I crossed swords with a monster like her, I’d be at risk of serious injury.
But what could I do?
Under the Emperor’s desperate gaze, I decided to swallow my tears.
“Th-that’s right! I thought I might be able to learn a lot if I crossed swords with the Elder Sword Duke…”
Then, silence.
The girl tilted her head a few times, making “Hmm, hmm?” sounds.
The silence didn't last long.
Smack! A powerful sound of a hand hitting a back echoed. It was because the girl’s palm had slammed into my back.
I hadn't even seen her approach.
I struggled to swallow the blood rising in my throat and turned my head.
There stood the girl, who had somehow blown away all her intoxication, bursting into a boisterous laugh.
“Hahaha! You rascal, if you wanted to spar that badly, you should have said so sooner! Fine, fine… then shall we start right away?!”
“No, I told you there’s somewhere we have to go right now!”
Jumping up and down from the pain vibrating through my spine, I cried out in grievance.
“And what’s this? Just a few seconds ago, you were insisting you were a ‘girl’…!”
It was right then.
The sensation of something lightly tapping against my Adam's apple.
Instinct immediately made my body go rigid. Beads of sweat formed on my tense forehead.
My stiff gaze slowly lowered.
There stood the girl, wearing a shadowed smile.
“Kid…”
It was truly an unreasonable situation, but I had no choice but to gulp.
“…You want to die?”
Survival of the fittest was a law that applied to more than just Mother Nature.
At least I was glad the Emperor understood my feelings.
In the end, the Emperor gave me a look of pity and patted my shoulder.
“…Good luck.”
I could only let out a sigh instead of an answer.
But who could have known?
That the real trouble wasn't the Sword Duke.
And a few minutes later.
Finally, the Sword Duke and I were able to face Seria.
“Gah, urgh… Aaaaaaaaaah!”
We found the girl wailing, blood dripping from her wrists.
And standing before her was a gray-haired woman, wiping her mouth with a blood-soaked sleeve.