Rust Ravishes Lady Milione!? #1
Milione Archibold.
Apparently she had left her hometown of Fierenzo and come all the way to the Agarpe territory.
The Lady Milione I remembered had never once set foot outside Fierenzo.
That alone might mean just how serious this situation was.
After all, the second son of the prestigious Archibold bishop family had been brutally murdered at the hands of heretics.
"My husband Hyde! Lady Milione has really come to Agarpe! That promise about taking a second wife is still… in effect!"
Whoosh—.
With that, Psyche dashed out of the prison toward the outside.
What a healthy woman she was.
Lady Milione.
Did that mean the talk about making her my second wife was still valid?
Of course, in my opinion, the chances of taking Lady Milione as a second wife had dropped close to zero this time.
Because Oscar had died far too horribly near the Agarpe territory.
The Archibold family would be furious.
That arrow of rage would point toward the nearby heretics, and naturally toward Agarpe as well.
And I was now, in name and reality, a member of this count's household.
"In other words, Lady Milione has come as the executor of the Archibold family's wrath. Even for me, bringing up marriage talk won't be easy."
I didn't have the bandwidth to worry about a second wife either.
I myself was angrier than anyone else in the world right now!
"Aaaaagh!"
I had sworn never to write erotica again—.
And I had just broken that vow I made to myself!
Of course, there might be mitigating circumstances.
If I hadn't written those twenty thousand characters of erotica on the spot there, the human meat grinder Las would never have stopped and would have killed us all.
The madwoman Las's rage could only be soothed by the erotica I wrote.
In other words, I hadn't committed a sin — I had saved people!
Little Paulo and the innocent female knight Galatea's lives!
Yes!
I had saved people's lives!
I deserved praise instead!
"And…."
And in the first place, no one in the world knew that I, 'Hyde', had written such erotica. That was what the iron mask was for.
That was what the pen name 'Rust' was for!
I would never wear a mask again.
That would settle it.
"Rust is no more."
"Lord Ruuuust─! You idiots…! Hurry and send me to Lord Rust's side! I, Galatea, am His only servant! His slave! Aaaaaagh…!"
I'm going crazy for real.
The condition of the imprisoned female knight Galatea was extremely bad. Where had the female knight who had smiled so reliably at me at Emeris Monastery gone?
She had been a faithful and devout woman more than worthy of being my second wife.
"Dame Galatea, I am Hyde. Don't you remember me? You wrote me a travel permit, didn't you?"
"I'm not Dame Galatea! I'm a servant! A blank page for Him! Lord Ruuuust─! Write on my body again─! I am waiting for you to return to this land again aaaaagh!"
Can a person break this badly?
As expected, the heretics' brainwashing techniques were terrifying.
Those damned bitches of the Crescent Moon Sisterhood!
What on earth had they done to ruin a person this much?
With a heart so pained I felt like I might cry, I comforted Galatea.
"Dame Galatea, there is no one like Rust in this world. Believe me. Such a man never existed before and never will. He is someone who should not exist."
"What do you know! What do you! What do you know! Don't spout nonsense! You noisy chirping eunuch bastard! You don't even have balls! I'll castrate you right now!"
Thud thud— Galatea was slamming her head against the prison walls.
How do I know Rust won't exist going forward?
Because I'm the one in question, that's how!
But I was thoroughly flustered by these recent events, and Galatea's madness looked like it would smash the prison any second, so I had to flee quickly.
Pababbat—.
Having burst out of the prison like that, I found countless people already entering the Agarpe territory before my eyes.
They were soldiers wearing black cloaks as if for a funeral.
Not one of them was smiling; all wore solemn expressions.
Clank, clank—.
A single carriage sliding into the territory under the soldiers' escort.
From the carriage drawn by two horses, a woman stepped onto the territory grounds with the soldiers' attendance.
She was a woman in a navy dress with exceptionally beautiful blonde hair.
About the same age as Psyche, perhaps?
"Is that person Lady Milione?"
Even for me, this was the first time seeing Lady Milione.
And to be honest, I was greatly surprised in the purest sense.
I had once confidently told Psyche, "There is no woman beautiful enough to follow even your shadow."
That had been my sincere feeling as well.
After all, in this medieval world, I had never seen anyone as beautiful as Psyche.
But now I could understand why Lady Milione had been grouped with Psyche under the name of the Three Flowers.
If Psyche was a lily with pure, noble, and innocent beauty, Lady Milione's beauty was like a rose — proud, provocative, and carrying a certain sharpness.
"Sh-she's really… pretty, isn't she?"
"I've never seen a woman as beautiful as Lady Psyche in my life."
"…N-no! Our lady is twice as pretty!"
The people around were surprised too.
It was surprising that another beauty on par with Psyche existed.
Of course, my wife Psyche was prettier.
At least, that's what I thought!
"Miss Milione, thank you for visiting the Agarpe territory like this. Given the various circumstances, please forgive us for the modest welcome—."
Psyche greeting Lady Milione.
She offered a greeting in the most elegant manner, as nobles do.
Two beautiful women in one place.
Just as my eyes were about to be dazzled by the two of them seeming to glow somehow, Lady Milione spoke.
"Show me my brother Oscar's corpse first."
Oscar's corpse had been carefully prepared by the Agarpe count's household.
Even so, his horrific state could not be hidden.
"How dreadful. Just what kind of person would do such a thing? What kind of people would do this to the second son of the Archibold family?"
Lady Milione.
She was greatly enraged.
Clenching her fists tightly and trembling, she looked thoroughly furious.
When a beauty frowned and got angry, the intensity was tremendous.
"Our Archibold family will not stand by and watch this. And the Agarpe count's household must unconditionally cooperate with us until the masterminds behind Oscar Archibold's murder are found!"
It was the natural course of events.
For the declining Agarpe count's household, they had no choice but to prostrate themselves flat before the Archibolds for now.
Indeed, Psyche reached a hand toward Milione's back and spoke comfortingly.
"I'm sorry about your brother. Although I, Psyche, and Lord Oscar had little connection in various ways, they say he never lost his pride as a faithful believer until his final moment."
Psyche's voice was extremely gentle.
She was sincerely comforting Milione, the younger sister, about Oscar's death.
Even knowing that Oscar had been a hunter who had come to swallow her family whole.
Psyche was that kind of woman.
A woman who would shed tears even if the one who died tragically was the worst villain. That was why I liked Psyche so much.
But Milione clicked her tongue.
"Hypocrite. I know full well that the people happiest about Oscar's death are the Agarpe people. Now that it's come to this, let's stop the masquerade."
"Ha? Hy-hypocrite? Playacting?"
"Psyche, it's been a while, but I'm relieved that your goody-two-shoes act is still the same. Oscar died because he deserved to die. So who was the one who heard Oscar's last words?"
Lady Milione.
Her attitude changed so suddenly that Psyche seemed thoroughly flustered.
I was quite flustered too.
The daughter of Archibold, a woman called one of the Three Flowers.
I had naturally thought she would be a devout and faithful woman.
That was why I had joked to Psyche about making her my second wife—.
But wasn't this temperament completely lawless?
Where did such rudeness come from in a body only about five feet tall?
Sway, sway—.
Was it those F-cup breasts?
Were those the rudeness pouches?
Then Milione's red eyes met mine.
"It's you, isn't it? The Wood Badge monk named Hyde. You said you heard my brother Oscar's last words? Then you were there until then, right?"
"I was. Oscar Archibold. Though he and I could be called rivals who loved the same woman, his final moments never— in the glory of the Archibold family—."
"That doesn't matter. You were there, so you must have seen him? The author of this novel, Rust. Have you seen that man? You were at the Crescent Moon Sisterhood's stronghold then too, right?"
Swish—.
Saying so, Lady Milione pulled a book out from between her breasts.
It was a thoroughly worn book, as if she had read it over and over many times.
The title was this.
Way of the Beast
Oh shit, what is this.
Why has this been made into a book?
While I was truly shocked, Lady Milione said.
"In my opinion, Oscar Archibold was killed by the author of this book. He must have used the count's household and the Crescent Moon Sisterhood to set a meticulous trap."
Snap—.
When Lady Milione snapped her fingers, soldiers entered the reception room.
Instead of weapons, they held boxes in their hands, and those boxes contained a large number of books.
Way of the Beast.
I felt like my vision was spinning.
Psyche also seemed appalled by this situation.
"Lady Milione, what on earth is going on? And what are these books!"
"Books recovered from the Agarpe territory and the Durgien region on the way here. These books are already spreading rapidly through the Durgien region. Books whose printer is unknown."
Shit!
Without my permission, who is printing my books— no, strictly speaking they're not my books, but anyway, who is freely printing and spreading these horrible erotica?
I felt like my insides were turning over.
Soon Lady Milione stood up, opened a book, and shouted.
"This book is rebellion itself against the kingdom and the Church. In my opinion, this man is dangerous if we don't catch him now. So how about Archibold and Agarpe putting a bounty on him?"
"A bounty?"
"Yes, for now fifty gold coins. Alive or dead, to whoever captures this Rust of the Beast and brings him in, we'll promise fifty gold coins. The Archibold family will cover the entire cost of the bounty."
Fifty gold coins.
That was enough money to pay the wages of several decent knights.
Enough to form a mercenary band.
That huge sum being put up as a bounty.
My ass tingled.
"And you, Hyde. Actually, one of the reasons I came to Agarpe was to meet you."
Swish—.
Milione approached me.
She was about a head shorter than me, looking up at me from close range, yet even though I was looking down, I felt overpowered.
"So you were this kind of man?"
What kind of man is that?