Chapter 118
Chapter 118
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 118
Chapter Title: Microwave (7)
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Day six morning.
A single carriage was parked in front of the Hotel Meriats.
Well, calling it a carriage might be a bit awkward.
It was a driverless vehicle pulled by a massive steel beast shaped like a giant wolf.
"Then I'll be off, Louis."
Erzebet, who had been peering down at the black iron box of a car body from the window, greeted me dressed in her usual gown.
I patted the ice oriole chirping pee-yee hostilely toward her from under the blankets to calm it down and asked,
"Is the escort alright?"
"Yes, it's fine. Nobles invited to Marquis Elvin's party aren't allowed to bring escorts in the first place. Too many people would be an issue, and besides, no additional forces are needed for a mansion guarded by armored soldiers and iron hounds."
"......Understood. Ah, Princess."
"Yes?"
I made one request to her as she was about to leave.
"If all your schedules are done today, can we consider the escort duty you asked of me finished at this point?"
"Hmm......"
She seemed to ponder for a moment before nodding.
"Yes, you'd want to rest on the last day. I permit it."
"Understood."
That was the end of the bland conversation.
As promised with Liv, I could enter the library's first-class secret archives on day seven.
As Erzebet's carriage kicked up dust and departed, I sat on the bed where she had been and fell into thought.
The story about Marquis Elvin that Ansen had told me yesterday lingered in my mind.
— Marquis Elvin Hygnets appeared gentlemanly on the surface, but he was actually extremely violent. He killed his family's servants, slaves captured in war, even his own wives.
— The Church nearly branded him a heretic back then; he had a bad relationship with the Saint, but there was no way to bring down the Iron-Blooded Prime Minister.
— Why? Simple. No one else knew how to properly control the iron hounds and armored soldiers. The Empire has strong imperial authority, right? They forcibly extracted the production methods and stored them in the Uzet Library, but it wasn't complete.
— I heard even the iron hounds handled by Goliath have serious issues. Nothing publicly known, though.
Marquis Elvin was apparently a brilliant mage but also a man afflicted with some kind of mania.
With his steel army, he grew intoxicated with blood, eventually committing murders so frequently in the Empire that it came to light publicly.
In the end, after his death, the armored soldiers and iron hounds were usefully employed by the imperial family—a happy ending, supposedly.
'Who knew the guys napping idly at the canteen had such a tragic backstory.'
I decided to toss them a bent iron sword from the forge as a snack next time.
Anyway, my concern boiled down to one thing.
Would something happen to Erzebet?
I also doubted whether she could persuade Marquis Elvin to reveal the armored soldiers' production methods.
Tick-tock went the clock hands.
I finally got out of bed.
Since I didn't know what might happen, I decided to at least check out the party venue.
At the very least, I was her escort until today.
The problem was that I lacked tracking skills, making it hard to pinpoint Marquis Elvin's mansion or Erzebet's exact location—
"Ah, right."
A brilliant idea struck me just then.
I pulled out Adella's ice oriole, which had been sleeping under the blankets.
And I quietly spoke to it, this thing that showed hostility toward the women around me for some reason.
"I'm going on a date with Baroness Liv tonight."
"Pee-yeeeeeeee—!"
It bolted upright and charged toward the Uzet Great Library.
Liv called it a bomb, but it seemed more like a heat-seeking missile.
This time, I tried praising Adella.
"I can't wait to get back to Pharenchia and see Adella. You feel the same, right?"
"Yaaang~ Yaaangyang~."
Even weird sound effects.
If Adella could casually make something like this, maybe she'd mass-produce iron hounds later.
Anyway, tracking Erzebet with this should be easy.
"But the princess's dress from yesterday keeps lingering in my mind...... You don't see outfits like that often at the academy. Like a bride at the altar......"
"Pee-yeeeeeeeee—!!"
As long as it didn't explode when I got there.
Erzebet had grown up experiencing two wars up close.
When the Demon King's army invaded Thessalon, she witnessed the capital's people trembling in fear and her father losing sleep over covert intelligence wars and assassinations.
Cruelly, Goliath and the military's inspection office told her nothing, but that didn't mean she was blind or deaf.
Now, with the Saint visiting Monarch and preparations underway for the Grand Duke Conference.
She instinctively sensed another storm sweeping the continent.
"Please take care today as well, Lady Erzebet."
"Don't worry."
She needed power.
And people.
After entering Pharenchia Academy, she had built ties with the Temple of Light and scouted promising talents.
She had even reached for the unattainable, suffering minor burns.
"The Iron-Blooded Prime Minister, Marquis Elvin, enters!!!"
She had come to this place to claim one desired thing from Scandale, the once-a-year event of the old world.
Seated before the harmonium, she locked eyes with Marquis Elvin, who arrived flanked by four massive iron hounds and dozens of armored soldiers.
"Lady Erzebet from Penheim will now perform a piece in celebration of the marquis's birthday."
During the performance, she didn't bother trying to draw his attention.
She already knew there was no need.
Penheim had managed Scandale for decades, and she wasn't the first to reach this point.
A lady from an obscure minor family unknown in the Empire.
Embarrassing to admit, but she was aware of her beauty.
As the music ended, a servant approached as expected, handing her a small key and pointing to the third floor of the party hall.
"The marquis awaits."
A good sign.
About two hours into the party, Erzebet slipped quietly through the crowd amid praises for her performance and headed to the room the servant had indicated.
Armored soldiers clanking clunk clunk guarded the door.
She knocked lightly, and a voice from inside bid her enter.
Opening the door, she saw Marquis Elvin holding champagne, having just removed his navy coat.
"Splendid performance, Lady Erzebet."
"It's an honor that it pleased you, Your Excellency."
The room contained several motionless armored soldiers like furniture and iron hounds curled up round on the carpet.
Even though Marquis Elvin himself was a formidable mage, engaging in close combat in this confined space against those forces would mean instant subjugation.
"I hear you're from Penheim. May I ask which territory?"
"Just a small countryside. Savage monster packs lurk on either side, making it precarious at times."
"I see. Hard to believe such a beautiful young lady grew up in such a harsh place. However......"
Swipe.
His hand slid over her exposed white shoulder above the dress.
"If you need help, I can personally dispatch soldiers from here to eliminate that danger."
His desire was blatantly obvious.
Erzebet gently removed his hand and revealed her true purpose.
"Soldiers aren't enough, Your Excellency."
"What?"
"I want the armored soldiers. And I want to own them completely."
His already fierce eyes darkened further.
Every armored soldier and iron hound in the room bared teeth and blades in unison, the ambient mana surging.
Overwhelming killing intent that pinned even a finger immobile.
"That's quite the joke, Lady."
"......Urk!"
"Iron hounds chew soft meat surprisingly well, you know?"
The touch caressing her pale nape and collarbone felt repulsive.
Erzebet steadied her breath with effort and spoke to him.
"Your Excellency, urk! I'll offer you something to your liking."
"Wrong. That's not the right approach at all. If you want everything of mine, you should seize it, not be given it! Like His Imperial Majesty!!"
Boom!!
The room trembled as the soldiers stomped in unison.
But she pressed on calmly, unflustered.
"I know about your death, Your Excellency. I can help you avoid it."
"What......?"
"Three years ago, you killed the daughter of Count Tetrham whose marriage proposal with your son fell through and buried her at Senrir Lake."
The end of Marquis Elvin as recorded in future history.
A world vanishing tomorrow anyway—Erzebet planned to use it without hesitation.
"An adventurer exploring near the lake discovers a small cave. You thought it swept into the North Sea currents and sank, but regrettably, no rain fell that year, so it flowed elsewhere."
"Lies, no doubt."
"Send someone to Sandalphonia and you'll see. Of course, the imperial army might storm here first."
The adventurer finding the body was at least ten years later, but that hardly mattered now.
As everyone in this era knew, getting a prophecy from the Morae sisters at the Sandalphonia Observatory took unknown time.
Seeing the marquis's expression grow serious, Erzebet inwardly sighed in relief.
But his next words made her flinch involuntarily.
"Still, this deal doesn't balance."
"I'm offering information that can save your entire life."
"You misunderstand, Lady. Do you really need to flaunt your pitiful magic skills before me?"
She glimpsed the madness in his blue eyes.
"These are more precious than my life. You don't understand."
"......"
"I won't lose them twice. Well, have you said all? Shall we discuss something else?"
Confirming the woman's will broken, Elvin regained his leisure.
He had never intended to let her leave unscathed.
She even knew his unknown secrets.
Obviously, kill her after having his fun.
But—
"It won't work after all......"
Erzebet, sighing, showed no fear whatsoever.
Amid countless blades aimed at her, she slowly relaxed her grip on the blue ribbon and sash at her chest and spoke.
"I knew it. If just eating weird food and performing gets an invite to the party, you'd have tried many times already. The imperial histories were compiled by the royals from the start."
"What do you......?"
Her eyes, moist with the sorrow of many sacrifices, looked profoundly sad.
Yet moments later, Erzebet lifted her head and stared straight at the marquis.
Repeating once more what she had said to him.
"I want the armored soldiers, Marquis. And I want to own them completely."
"You just said that......"
"I want ones loyal only to me, that protect me, reliable at any moment. Strong enough to yield to no one, noble, secretive perhaps, a bit frivolous maybe, but just and good."
— Louis, you promised to help me last time.
— If I pass, can I hire you as my temporary escort?
"And if they can cook, that'd be perfect."
Thwack.
She smacked his hand away firmly and smiled brightly.
Her heart pounded wildly, but she feigned composure.
She wouldn't deserve to make him hers if she crumbled here.
Mysteriously, thinking of Louis steadied her heart's beat.
Deeper, calmer.
Like steel itself.
When she first heard her father's advice, she had been wary of him.
After the chairman called her to her office, fearful.
Seeing his barren, empty home, pitying.
When he climbed into her bed insisting on escort duty, flustered.
Yesterday, when he suddenly said her dressed-up self was pretty—
'Best not dwell on that for now......'
In any case, the armored soldiers Erzebet Brunhart sought weren't at Scandale.
From the moment she told Louis she'd grant him a title, her goal had been singular.
"Sorry, Marquis. I have a fiancé, so no more conversation beyond body or heart."
"You want to die right now, wench."
"Oh, no soundproofing spell? Good. Someone must be worrying about sending me here alone. What if they can't find me? So......"
She wasn't good at this sort of thing.
Loosening her sash slightly, she muttered,
"Mind if I scream?"