Chapter 46
Chapter 46
Saint, You’re So Vulgar! – Chapter 46
Afterward, the tales spilling from Lycrus's lips revolved around the various troubles weighing on him as the overlord of his domain.
A society it might be, but a pirate one at thatin this razor-edge balance where betrayal could strike from behind at any moment, he was tearing his hair out over the turbulent currents stirred up by one protruding thorn.
While offering fitting responses, Asher exchanged flame flowers with Judith.
[Looks like...]
[A woman who brainwashed the local hegemonnot to mention lord of half the archipelagodoesn't exactly scream ordinary, does she?]
[Brainwashing, maybe?]
[High chance? We'd need details to know for sure, but mental manipulation's a staple spell among heretics.]
That was the angle for any investigation.
So, how to infiltrate the western archipelago?
Those concerns dovetailed neatly with Lycrus's own dilemmas.
Of courseif they charged west without prep, pirates from other regions might hit them from behind.
No need to amplify needless risks.
The enemy was an artificial witch even a 1st Class Knight couldn't guarantee victory against solo.
Such were the deepening worries.
[That's enough. We've got our path forward.]
Judith passed him a flame flower.
Her lips parted right after.
"Perfect."
"Hm?"
"Meaning we've figured out how to tackle the archipelago."
She flashed her signature smile, decadent charm oozing from every curve.
As Lycrus blinked in confusion, Judith rose, slipping her long pipe between her lips.
"The enemy of my enemy isn't quite a friend, but the key's the west. North, east, even here in the southnone of it stabilizes until that bitch is gone and we can pirate properly and sort our territories."
"True enough. Got a plan, girl?"
"How about an alliance?"
"Eh?"
Lycrus furrowed his brow, as if wondering what nonsense this was.
Judith elaborated.
"A temporary pact. We're all dead if we don't team up and rip that bitch apart first, then divvy up the western islands. We can sort the pecking order after. Sound convincing?"
Lycrus shook his head.
"Those aren't the types. The second whispers of talks leak, the west catches wind. Could make things worse..."
"Then don't make it obvious."
"...Huh?"
"Listen, old manwho holds secret meetings out in the open? You scheme in the shadows, sync up covertly, then smash skulls. That's a secret meeting."
Judith's face brimmed with wicked glee as she spoke.
"I've got~ ideas, you see?"
Though he knew she shouldn't, Asher couldn't help thinking it as he watched Judith bulldoze the situation in seconds.
'Wow, she's competent.'
Unlike Lubena.
He kept it internal.
...Strictly internal.
* * *
Judith outlined the rough plan to Lycrus and his crew.
At first skeptical, Lycrus soon grasped its feasibility and betrayed real surprise.
With the framework set, they dove into details and prep.
Judith orchestrated it all meticulously, weighing every factor to marshal the pirates.
Not hard at all.
After all, wrangling people or plotting and executing beat researchfewer wild variables.
At least during infiltration prep, no chilled solutions exploded on air contact, blowing up the lab.
As preparations neared completion...
Judith eyed Versia, who had hovered uselessly at her side, muttering "Ooh... ohh..."
Judith's eyes narrowed.
"If you're not helping, park it in the corner?"
"Ah, I was going to...!"
"What's 'ooh ooh' helping?"
"......"
Versia's lips pursed.
She averted her gaze, clearly at a loss for words.
A sigh escaped at the sheer incompetence, but more than that, the reaction felt alien.
It had to.
Judith had joined the Church as a Saintess over fifteen years ago.
Right around Versia's time, just a tad earlierthey'd lived under the same roof, eyes on each other ever since.
Their vibe had always been icy silence.
Like roadside pebbles, ignoring each other while tending their own affairs.
Yet now thisplaying friendly, innocent, nice.
Couldn't it just grate?
Time-forged prejudices lingered.
Even this struck Judith as posturing for Asher's sake.
He'd stepped out to help elsewhere, yet here she wasfrustrating, so Judith finally spoke.
"You can drop the act now. He'll play along when he returns, so spare me the creepy show?"
"Creepy?!"
"Sigh, did the bitch's curse really hit you?"
Versia bristled.
"That curse! Calling it that is wrong! It's the proper Curse of Gal-aewhy cheapen it?!"
Judith snorted.
She knew the Curse of Gal-ae toppled the first kingdom ruled by a Saintess-Queen.
Knew it twisted the noble, exalted final Saintess-King into a lovesick fool.
But still.
She got it, fine.
"You started it."
"Eh?"
"Memory wipe? You coined 'bitch's curse' first."
About seven years back.
Lubena's secondary traits had kicked in full, shaping her feminine allure.
She'd obsessed over shopping, new clothes, primping all day.
Versia, spotting her at tea, sneered.
Oh my, caught the bitch's curse? Strutting with that hip sway, begging for a smack. Oh, compliment intended. Post-Saintess, pivot to that line of work.
Such rudeness, delivered with prim smiles and soft tones.
Utter mad bitchthat day, Versia earned the moniker in Judith's mind.
Even hating someone's antics didn't justify face-to-face savagery; no normal morals allowed it.
Recalling it, Judith brushed goosebumps from her arm.
"And after, you'd snipe 'bitch's curse' whenever. Stuck, so we all used it."
Her finale drew a spectacle.
Versia's jaw hung slack.
Shock etched her face.
Lips quivering, she mumbled, "...Why would I ever...?" Worry crept in.
Looked genuinely memory-wiped.
Judith's expression soured.
But explaining more exhausted her.
She sighed, waving her off.
"Whatever. No energy left just scram and stop hovering."
"Bu...t."
"What, more to say?"
Versia hemmed and hawed.
Judith peered down silently.
Then...
"...You asked."
"Asked what."
"How I really know those people. My ties to Kyle Riguel..."
Judith scoffed.
"Your guard knows them, not you. I'm not LubenaI know who trained your sword, so yeah, I inferred. I pushed you front and center, hence this setup. Your knight past? Not my business."
She meant it.
Judith prized efficiency.
Irrelevant to the taskothers' histories or privates held zero interest.
Unless it touched her.
She sorted people two ways.
Helpful or not.
Everything else? Useless.
Versia gazed up blankly after hearing it.
Then fidgeted, soon smiling shyly.
"...You were a kind person, huh."
"...What?"
"I mean, trusting your own eyes over rumors or rep. Valuing skill over flawsthat's mercy too. And hard-won, I know..."
Those words clashed with some buried memory.
That girl's creepy! How's she my daughter...!
Her heart twinged, but the fresh echo washed it away.
Oddly, that throwaway line matched the lifelong thorn's weight.
Judith's face twisted.
She couldn't pin the expression.
Awkwardness.
That's what to call it, but foreign to her.
"What the... even."
How does one hear that and twist it so?
A hollow laugh escaped; Versia pressed on.
"Sorry if rude. Just saw something praiseworthy."
Goosebumps prickled.
Oddly non-averse ones.
Clueless how to respond, Judith lip-smacked, scowled, and stomped off.
"Enough. Should've kept quiet."
Versia hurried after.
Rare for Judithshe barked.
"Don't follow?! Go play in the dirt with your guard!"
"Eh."
As she distanced, lighting her pipe, puffing smoke.
Judith's earlobes flushed faintly.