Chapter 90
Translator: crow
Chapter Title: Incompetent Husband
“Ugh….”
Knight and daughter of Duke Irwin, Yuren barely opened her eyes.
Through her blurry vision, she could make out the silhouettes of people. She squeezed her eyes shut and rubbed them, and her sight sharpened a bit.
“Ah, Father….”
The sight of the duke clutching his severed arm and groaning. Rage burned inside her.
She shouted at the backs of Enoch and his group as they chatted casually while leaving the banquet hall.
“This humiliation, I’ll never forget…! I’ll surely have my revenge…! Gah….”
The promising youths of the kingdom chattered as they watched Yuren faint after being hit by the muffin Enoch tossed.
“The House of Duke Irwin is really losing face.”
“Yeah, that’s gotta hurt quite a bit.”
The duke, head bowed, ground his teeth.
Enoch and his group left the banquet hall and walked the completely darkened night streets.
“Choco, let’s head straight to Demisto.”
“Hm? Why are you telling me that?”
“Teleport us.”
“I can’t.”
“What.”
Tsukiyo, clinging tightly to Enoch’s back while riding on Eri’s back, chomped on his shoulder.
“Teleportation isn’t something for the likes of grandmasters, nyang. I’m not even a mage. It’s weird that sword saints and daddies can do it despite being martial artists.”
She could shatter space to that extent, but teleportation was a whole different story. Enoch scratched under the growling Tsukiyo’s chin and sighed.
“Then we’ll have to take the carriage again.”
“What’s the big deal about just sitting there?”
“I want to lie down.”
At Enoch’s words, Zikfryne tilted his head.
“You lay down in the carriage seat on the way here too.”
“Shut up.”
In the end, Eri carried Enoch all the way to the carriage, then claimed a spot and curled up.
They’d considered leaving in the morning, but since they’d made a huge scene, staying the night felt a bit apologetic.
“Just crash here, no biggie.”
Of course, it was the others who felt bad, not Enoch.
Hiiing-! The carriage started off, making the seats shake lightly.
“More importantly, Enoch, check this out.”
Zikfryne pulled out a wooden board from somewhere. It was covered in black and white squares. Curious about the unfamiliar object, Enoch tilted his head, and Zikfryne grinned as he explained.
“It’s chess. Good for studying strategy, and it’s fun. Wanna play?”
“Strategy? Pass….”
The ultimate strategy was total annihilation. Enoch, firm in his conviction, made a face of disgust.
“Hah, chess? You still playing kids’ games?”
Tsukiyo clicked her tongue.
“Huh? You know chess?”
“You think I wouldn’t?”
“I figured beastkin tribes didn’t have it.”
“…This is why humans are like this. You think the beastkin tribes are some backwater village?”
Zikfryne chuckled awkwardly and scratched his head at Tsukiyo’s words.
“Uh…, wanna play a game then? I’m pretty good.”
“Ugh, why bother with such a pointless game.”
Zikfryne quickly arranged the chess pieces on the board.
Zikfryne took black, Tsukiyo white. He yielded the first move, and Tsukiyo furrowed her brow.
“Fine. I’ll give you a handicap.”
Tsukiyo swept all the pieces off the board, leaving only the queen and king.
“Even so, that’s a bit much.”
“Just play.”
Tsukiyo moved to d7 and captured a pawn. Zikfryne tilted his head and reached for his bishop, but—
Thwack-!
Tsukiyo swiftly moved her queen and knocked off the pawn next to it.
“Huh?”
Zikfryne’s mouth hung open dumbly.
Thwack-!
In that moment, Tsukiyo took out a bishop with her queen too.
“Ah, no, Tsukiyo…? That’s not how you….”
Thwack-thwack-thwack-!
Before he knew it, all the pieces were gone except his king. As Zikfryne stared blankly at the board, Tsukiyo smirked confidently and smashed his king with her queen.
Crack-!
“Hmph, how’s that.”
“That was expensive….”
“…I’ll buy you a new one. I’ve got money.”
Tsukiyo snorted and crossed her arms over her small chest.
“Every time I see it, it’s a completely meaningless game.”
“No…, that’s not how you play….”
“You said it’s good for strategy. Real war is just like this.”
Tsukiyo wagged her slender index finger.
“When a mortal moves once, a transcendent moves hundreds, thousands of times. Their blades can’t even scratch a transcendent, but a transcendent’s blade slays hundreds of mortals in one swing.”
“Ah, yeah.”
“Once you reach grandmaster, no matter how many mortals gather, they’re no threat—like a chess piece that can move hundreds of times anywhere on your turn.”
“So strategy and tactics mean nothing?”
“Pretty much.”
Tsukiyo puffed out her chest proudly. Enoch spoke up.
“Choco, you don’t actually know how to play, do you.”
“Wh-what…!”
He’d hit the nail on the head.
*
“Is this… for real?”
The woman irritably scanned her surroundings. On the surface, it looked like an ordinary city. But it was different. This city was dead.
“We’re lost? What a ridiculous joke.”
Grinding her teeth, the woman stomped the ground hard with the heel of her shoe.
Boom-!
The earth crumbled, and the buildings standing on it collapsed powerlessly. Tugui shook his head slightly at the fuming woman.
“Yekaterina, calm down.”
“How can I calm down right now?”
“That won’t change anything.”
As he said, after walking for about ten minutes, the same scenery greeted them again. The buildings’ positions, layout, soil color, cloud placement—everything was identical. Even the buildings she’d just destroyed were restored.
Proof they weren’t just looping in the same space.
“It’s definitely not an illusion cast on the space….”
Tugui stared into empty air, then suddenly glanced at Yekaterina. Her body stiffened as he stared straight into her eyes.
“Wh-what?”
He lifted her chin with his hand, and her cheeks flushed slightly.
“Wh-what the hell!?”
“So that’s it.”
“Huh?”
For a moment, Tugui’s eyes seemed to glow red as he glared into the void and growled.
“What’s this supposed to be?”
“What did I do!”
Yekaterina flinched and yelled. But Tugui’s gaze wasn’t on her. Realizing that, she followed his line of sight.
“There’s nothing there….”
“I won’t ask again. How does a dead soul interfere with the living? I won’t stand by any longer.”
A moment later, a voice came from empty air.
[Oh my, how did you know? You’ve got sharp eyes.]
Whatever it was giggled, then revealed itself. A faint ripple appeared in the air, forming the shape of a translucent woman.
“Enough. Release the spell.”
[Can’t do that.]
“Must I spill blood to satisfy you?”
[I’m a ghost—no blood to spill.]
“We’ll see.”
Tugui clenched his fist, red bubbles boiling around it. The ghost, who’d been smiling at the sight, clicked her tongue.
[Troublesome. Why keep interfering? Haken Wert’s done for anyway.]
“None of your business.”
[Hmm… No choice? I don’t like using power, but…]
The woman pouted and tapped her chin, then suddenly lit up.
[Oh? Already here? That changes things.]
The woman vanished in an instant, and the surrounding scenery shifted. More precisely, the scenery Tugui and Yekaterina saw shifted.
Yekaterina frowned at the total mess.
“My traces?”
“She cast the spell directly on our souls. As beings of the soul hierarchy, it took me time to notice.”
“Ah…, so from outside, we looked like idiots spinning in place?”
Yekaterina ground her teeth. In the distance, Demisto Castle was visible. Naturally, as it was near the city center, plenty of people passed by, staring at them oddly.
If they’d attacked, they might’ve noticed despite the soul spell, but they hadn’t even realized.
“Annoying….”
Yekaterina stomped her high heel into the ground.
Thud-!
“For the crime of witnessing a lady’s disgrace. Pay with your life.”
A red line slashed through the air, followed by a wet splatter—and suddenly all noise vanished.
Yekaterina walked gracefully through the chunks of corpses.
“Let’s hurry, Liege.”
Tugui sighed and shook his head.
“We’re almost there anyway. No issue. Let’s go.”
*
At the same time, Enoch and his group arrived in Demisto and ran into the marquis who’d come to greet them.
“Dad?”
Zikfryne looked surprised, and the marquis opened his mouth with a stiff expression.
“I’ve learned more about Idalian.”
“In this short time?”
“Yes. In this short time. Information just started pouring in, like we’d been bewitched or something.”
The marquis’s face was dark. He stared at the ground for a moment, then continued as if talking to himself.
“The butler’s harassment was just the beginning. Once it continued, the other servants looked down on her too. Her mental barriers gradually weakened, and the harassment intensified.”
It started with minor disobedience, escalating to mocking and belittling her. When no consequences came from her attitude, their actions grew bolder.
“Idalian usually dressed plainly.”
Despite expensive jewelry, she only wore the few pieces the marquis had personally given her on special days.
“So when she apologized several times for losing jewelry, I didn’t pay much mind. She was a modest woman, but clumsy at times.”
Losing a few trinkets meant nothing to the marquis’s house. She didn’t seem bothered, so he took no action.
“Fool. A lord ruling a territory didn’t even think to check what was happening to his own wife.”
Idalian’s personal maids helped with her attire. Using that as an excuse, they’d yank her hair, tell the country bumpkin that flashy jewelry didn’t suit her, and even pocket her items right in front of her.
Of course, they were careful not to do anything too obvious.
Just spitting in her food, mocking her to her face, and when the marquis’s attention waned, blabbing that she’d end up whoring in a brothel.
“Do you think that makes sense? I knew nothing. Didn’t even think to investigate. Idalian was always smiling. Even if she was suffering, the husband she could rely on knew absolutely nothing.”
A pure woman born and raised in the countryside. Had she lived as nobility, maybe, but she just endured without thinking to resolve it.
“I should’ve told her. What power she had. What authority. I shouldn’t have just admired her innocence and watched.”
He loved the sight of the pure flower but didn’t notice the bugs eating its roots.
He’d brought her to a place with no one she knew and assumed she’d be fine without taking any measures.
“Those damn things are worse than beasts, but I was the real idiot, tossing Idalian into their den and not knowing. I was the most incompetent, ignorant bastard of all.”
“…….”
The marquis, who’d been pouring out his words, fell silent. He scanned the group with haggard eyes and let out a hollow laugh.
“…I’ve made a fool of myself in front of guests. My apologies. I’ll head in first.”
The marquis bowed deeply and walked away with listless steps.
“…Enoch, I’ll be right back.”
“Yeah.”
Zikfryne chased after the marquis, and Enoch, left behind, clicked his tongue softly.
‘He’s not wrong.’
An incompetent fool who couldn’t even protect his own woman.
But he didn’t feel like cursing him, so he kept quiet.