Chapter 157
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 157
Chapter Title: Batori
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"Hello. I am Batori, the faithful servant of Lady Erzsebet."
"......."
In front of Batori, who bowed her head politely in greeting, not only the staff but every demon minion wore awkward expressions as they stared at her.
How could it not feel utterly out of place? The woman who had been rampaging like a madwoman just moments ago had suddenly calmed down and was now displaying this completely changed, courteous demeanor.
"A maid... and they caught some clown from the east, and of all timings, she gets summoned back here?"
"Yeah. It seems her sudden disappearance sparked a misunderstanding with that kid."
And in the meantime, I was able to hear everything that had happened in the east from Erzse, who had finally regained her senses. Including the memories she had lost.
"So, you've recovered all your memories?"
"No. All I've recovered are the memories about that kid, Batori... As for the rest..."
"....?"
Erzse trailed off, frowning, so I waited for her to continue, but she just vaguely brushed it aside. Claiming her mind was still too chaotic for the memories to fully surface.
Well, recovering even part of them was something. Though the process had been incredibly perilous...
"Master...? What do you mean by master, Lady Erzsebet? What is this...?"
Batori, who had been eavesdropping on our conversation, watched us with a confused look. Then, in an instant, her expression turned fierce again.
"No way. Lady Erzsebet... were you forcibly captured by these people...?"
"Batori."
Once more. Erzse gave a gentle smile to Batori, who showed signs of explosive rage, and raised her hand.
-Smack!!!
"......?"
"L-Lady Erzsebet...?"
Erzse slapped Batori's cheek outright, and Batori stared at her with eyes full of disbelief. But Erzse's expression was resolute and utterly cold.
"Since when does a servant get to meddle in their master's affairs?"
"......!!!"
At Erzse's icy words, Batori's face—who had looked ready to erupt in fury—drained of color. She trembled violently and slammed her forehead to the ground.
"I-I'm sorry! Lady Erzsebet, please punish this foolish servant's blunder...!"
"Sigh."
After venting once at Batori, Erzse turned to me and bowed her head.
"I'm sorry, Master."
"Why should you be?"
"Isn't it all because of me that she came all the way here searching and caused this mess?"
Batori had tracked her down to this place, leading to the disaster, so Erzse kept apologizing to me profusely.
"You know that, right?"
I got their touching reunion, but seeing the place smashed to bits and the injured minions everywhere, even I couldn't hold back a sharp remark. Anyone who could stay silent after this would be a saint.
At my curt words, Erzse bowed her head even deeper.
"I'll take responsibility for this somehow."
"How?"
No one had died, but the damage was far from minor. Most minions were injured, small magical beasts had perished despite minions' resilience, and the forest we'd barely restored outside was trashed again.
Oh, right.
"Batori, was it? One question. Have you ever encountered a high elf named Renee?"
"Y-Yes. No, yes, I have. While questioning the local demons to pinpoint this place, I ran into a high elf in the forest..."
"Did you kill her?"
"No. She absolutely refused to talk, so I turned her into a kin and extracted the information..."
Good. I'd feared the empress might have killed her, but Renee was alive, at least. Becoming a kin was a snag, but apparently, it wasn't irreversible, so I could undo it later.
"I'm sorry...!"
Lost in thoughts of Renee, I noticed Batori—who was still dazed from the slap—crawl over to me after grasping our relationship. She slammed her head to the ground before me.
"I-I never imagined you were Lady Erzsebet's master... It's all my fault. Lady Erzsebet has nothing to do with...!"
Having heard Erzse call it her own blunder, Batori insisted it was solely her wrongdoing, revealing just how deeply she cherished Erzse.
"I'll repay this sin somehow. Take my life if you must. Take my body if you wish. B-But please, don't hold Lady Erzsebet accountable for this foolish servant's crime..."
As Batori offered even her life, Erzse approached and whispered to me.
"...Master."
"What?"
"...I know it's shameless. But for my sake, please spare Batori's life."
Biting her lip hard, Erzse bowed to me and pleaded earnestly. Begging me to spare Batori, who was offering her own life.
"You're saying it yourself. You know it's a shameless request?"
I had no intention of killing the empress to begin with, but I couldn't just blindly heed Erzse, so I replied coldly.
Erzse bit her lip, bowed to me again, and made one proposal... no, a plea.
"Master, do you remember the terms of the contract we made?"
"...I do. You swore loyalty to me until you recovered your memories."
Back then, I hadn't fully grasped the situation, so I'd conditioned it 'until you recover your memories.' Demanding eternal obedience would have made the then-Erzse rebel to the end.
"If you spare Batori, I'll alter the contract."
"Alter it how?"
"Even after I recover my memories, Master. Until the moment your life ends, I'll be your faithful servant. Not the current terms allowing refusal of excessive or life-threatening orders, but an absolute master-servant contract where if you command death, I die."
'...That far?'
I widened my eyes at Erzse's offer... no, her plea.
Though I'd bound Erzse with a 'Blood Contract' as my subordinate, it was conditional until her memories returned—and forbade unreasonable commands like suicide. What she proposed now was essentially offering her life to me.
"Why go that far?"
No matter how precious, wasn't she just a maid? Her willingness to stake her own life for a servant's struck me as odd, so I asked why.
At my words, Erzse closed her eyes, recalling Batori's memories that had flowed into her during her slumber.
For centuries, waiting endlessly for one person alone, never losing her loyalty—the servant who was now her last remaining kin in the world.
"...If a servant devotes herself this much to her master, shouldn't the master repay that devotion in kind?"
Though she'd slapped Batori's cheek, her words as she gazed warmly at her convinced me of her sincerity.
I pondered with my chin in hand for a moment, then made a proposal.
"How about this."
At the heart of the continent. The top floor of the temple's main headquarters.
A heavier silence than ever hung over the conference chamber overseeing all major and minor affairs.
[Hero of Deception Pierre. Fallen.]
"......."
"......."
Before them lay a report containing utterly shocking contents.
One of the pillars upholding the empire. One of only six 5-star heroes in existence. It detailed the death of the Hero of Deception.
"What in the world..."
Amid the silence, one cardinal finally spoke up haltingly.
"What happened to Sir Pierre?"
It was incomprehensible.
The Hero of Deception, Pierre. His direct combat prowess lagged behind other 5-star heroes, but his versatility and trickery were unmatched.
His Holy Relic 'Arcana' housed over fifty phenomena, allowing him to handle any situation. On the stage he created, Pierre was practically invincible.
A being who could counter anyone, never die once his stage was set, escape via repositioning anytime, and even neutralize any foe with his final Holy Relic...
The Hero of Deception had served as the ultimate wild card against anyone...
"The empress? Did she take down Sir Pierre?"
"Impossible... We've received reports of multiple clashes with the empress! Each time, Sir Pierre held her at bay and returned unscathed!"
The temple's upper echelons, who valued Pierre's abilities highly, had dispatched him to check the empress in the east. Believing he could contain her and return safely.
Indeed, past reports showed the Hero of Deception toying with her in repeated engagements and withdrawing leisurely. But...
"A-Analysis of the body transmitted to the Return Temple confirms traces of that 'empress's' power."
"No way...! We've analyzed her abilities thoroughly already!"
Humanity's war with the dungeons had raged for ages. And among them, analysis of the eastern 'Silent High Castle'—one of the oldest—and its master was long complete.
The empire's top strategists had concluded that even in worst-case scenarios with irregular variables or other dungeon masters intervening, Sir Pierre could escape unharmed. What was this...!!
"Your Eminence! Report from the investigators dispatched to the east...!"
"Bring it in quickly!"
Wracking their brains in confusion over what had transpired, contact came from the specially selected investigators sent to uncover the truth.
The cardinals, mid-conference and desperate for more intel, hurriedly admitted the messenger—and heard the bizarre report.
"The empress is missing...? No trace in the east?"
"Massive blood surge in the south...? Empress traces in the south?"
"The demonic realm is completely empty? What...?"
The empress, presumed to have felled Pierre, had vanished from the east, her traces found in a southern forest. And as proof of her absence, the barren demonic realm.
Normally, Batori's kin would remain, but her blood magic derived from Erzse's blood postnatally.
With Erzse's blood restored, Batori could no longer wield her former blood magic. Thus, most kin maintained by scant power severed, and during the clash with my staff in the south, she'd exhausted everything—severing even the last connections...
"What the hell happened..."
"No, situation assessment later. If the demonic realm truly lacks guards... isn't this our golden chance for another conquest?"
"Nonsense! Assessment first! What if it's a trap by vile demons?!"
"Even a trap, with that 'demonic realm' in play, it's worth it! How long will you just cry for assessment, Dragoe?!"
They'd gotten the intel they wanted, yet the meeting plunged deeper into chaos. And then, a new report halted them all.
[Eastern Demonic Realm. 'Silent High Castle' Annihilated.]