Chapter 88
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 88
Chapter Title: What Will You Give Me?
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What Will You Give Me?
Why? Is this somewhere I'm not supposed to be?
A peerless beauty, whose mere presence brightened her surroundings, answered my surprise with a blunt retort.
That's not it. It's just unexpected. Come on in.
I stepped aside from the door, allowing her to enter the room.
The beauty who entered, her purple hair shimmering, was my fiancée, Ilia Marcus.
Her aura has changed.
Her presence and atmosphere were distinctly different from the last time I saw her. Sensing her aura, I could feel that its density and size had increased significantly.
But she looks a little uncomfortable...
Hmm?
Bbaek?
Ilia looked around the room, and her eyes met with Bbaekbbaegi, who was lying on the sofa.
Bbaekbbaek.
That Bbaekbbaegi, it seems to have an eye for beauty. It was smitten by Ilia's looks and flew right in front of her, starting to act cute.
Bbaek.
Hmm
Ilia watched Bbaekbbaegi without much change in her expression before turning her head to me.
What is this bird?
It's a spirit beast I happened to start raising.
Ah, I heard. The one you got from the demonized region.
That's right. That's him.
Ilia looked at Bbaekbbaegi again, but her gaze was one of mere curiosity.
Bbaaek.
When Ilia showed no particular interest in it, Bbaekbbaegi let out a sigh and went back to rolling around on the sofa.
To give up so quickly, it's truly admirable.
Cute.
Even Ilia seemed to find that amusing, letting out a small chuckle before sitting down next to me.
What brings you to the royal palace?
Why? You don't like me being here?
That's not it. I just wasn't expecting it. I'm really glad to see you after so long, I was just curious.
This is dangerous. I need to choose my words carefully.
Activating Creator's Eye.
Name: Ilia Marcus
Traits: Nation-Toppling Beauty, Sword Queen, Lunar Body
Favorability: 47 (Favorable)
Current Mood: Glad to see you after a long time, but with a sense of regret.
To have awakened the Lunar Body at this point, it seems she really was just cooped up in the training grounds, swinging her sword.
But regretful? What is she regretful about?
I was summoned, just like you.
Summoned?
Not long after I left for my training journey to the south, I found a village being attacked by monsters. There were a few knights and soldiers, but the monsters were lizardmen, and it didn't look like they could hold out for long, so I joined the fight immediately.
Lizardmen?
Yes. A large number of lizardmen were devastating the village.
The mention of lizardmen attacking a village reminded me of something.
Dealing with the lizardmen wasn't difficult, but suddenly a high-ranking monster, a Lizardman Warrior, appeared to command them. It was clever and targeted the villagers instead of me.
As Ilia spoke, she undid the top button of her formal attire, revealing her shoulder and collarbone. On her collarbone was a scar that looked as if it had been cut by a saw.
If it had been just a little deeper, she might never have been able to wield a sword again.
It's a wound from the Lizardman Warrior. It pretended to target the villagers, then attacked me. I haven't seen a monster that clever since the Orc Champion you and I faced.
Listening to her, I focused my gaze on the wound on her collarbone.
The wound is still painful, isn't it? And it's hard to move your arm?
The stronger the monster, the more severe the aftereffects of the wound. Just as you said, it's still painful, and I can't swing my sword.
After my Myriad Poisons Magnetic Divine Qi reached the sixth star, I became able to see a person's acupoints and their condition through the Creator's Eye and the power of my internal energy.
I could see turbid energy swirling in the Zhongfu point on Ilia's collarbone, hindering her recovery. It would disappear with continuous divine power treatment, but that would take quite some time.
So that wound was the reason she looked uncomfortable.
Just a moment.
But I felt I could shorten that time.
Y-Yuren?
I placed my hand on Ilia's Zhongfu point. She blushed and flinched in surprise, but upon seeing my serious expression, she closed her mouth and remained still.
Ah
As the true qi of the Myriad Poisons Magnetic Divine Qi entered her acupoint, Ilia let out an involuntary moan.
Just bear with it for a moment.
I used my true qi to slowly flush out and erase the turbid energy clustered in her Zhongfu point, loosening the blockage.
Ugh
Every time I moved my internal energy, Ilia bit her lip, trying to suppress the moans that threatened to escape.
There.
In less than five minutes, I had cleared most of the turbid energy from her Zhongfu point. The little that remained would completely disappear after a night's rest.
Now, try moving your arm.
Ilia's face was as red as a ripe persimmon. She had endured it because of my seriousness, but it seemed she was extremely embarrassed.
Ah!
She rotated her arm once, then looked at me with wide, rabbit-like eyes in astonishment.
H-how!
It's just a type of massage.
But even the priests said it would take time to heal
Um, first, you should fix your clothes.
Ack!
As she had rotated her arm, Ilia's clothes had slipped down a bit more. When she noticed her state, she shrieked and spun around.
Th-thank you.
It was nothing.
Well, I'll be going then. L-let's see each other later.
Ilia still had her back to me, but even so, I could see that her cheeks were bright red. She just waved a hand behind her and quickly left the room.
Wow, so the future Sword Queen has such a cute side to her.
Bbaek.
Bbaekbbaegi covered its eyes with its wings as if it couldn't bear to watch, then started bouncing on the sofa.
Anyway, an attack by a Lizardman Warrior. In the original story, that village was supposed to be destroyed. Ilia has changed the plot.
In the original story, the village is destroyed, which makes people wary of lizardmen. But Ilia, on her training journey, altered that storyline.
I was the reason Ilia started training and went on her journey. In the end, I've changed the story again.
Still, this change probably won't affect the big picture. The start of a new episode is just around the corner.
Lord Yuren. It is time to go to the audience chamber.
Yes. I'm coming.
Hah
When I came out wearing dark green formal attire emblazoned with the Lox family crest, Baron Viditz let out a gasp of admiration.
You seem to be the most dashing of all the young nobles I have seen in the palace. The color of your attire suits you perfectly, Lord Yuren.
I'm afraid I have nothing to offer in return for such praise.
I played along with his joke, pretending to search my pockets.
Haha! It's true. I do not tell such lies.
Viditz shrugged as if to say he was being sincere.
Let us head to the audience chamber. The others should be waiting in front of it.
Yes.
When we arrived in front of the audience chamber, I saw Arin and Ilia dressed in knights' formal attire.
They were summoned for their achievements as knights, so they wore formal uniforms instead of dresses. But even in uniform, their beauty was not diminished, shining like a radiant light.
Hm?
Ilia met my eyes, then pretended not to see me and turned her head away.
Is she still embarrassed?
Is everyone ready?
Yes.
We are ready.
Then I will open the doors.
After we responded to the scribe standing before the audience chamber, the doors began to open slowly, like revolving doors.
There are quite a few people today.
Unlike the last time, when only the king and a few retainers were present, the audience chamber was packed with nobles.
Directly below the king stood two men who resembled him and a beautiful woman; they were the first and second princes and the princess, who had not shown their faces before.
Please enter.
I nodded to the scribe and moved to the center of the audience chamber, immediately dropping to one knee.
Yuren Lox, eldest son of the Marquis Lox House, offers his greetings to the sky of the Krassis Kingdom, Your Majesty Agassis Bryard.
Ilia Marcus, eldest daughter of the Marquis Marcus House
We greeted the king in turn, and each time, he nodded with a solemn expression.
All of you, rise.
Your grace is boundless.
I rose from my position and bowed my head again. This was my third time, so I felt I had become quite familiar with the etiquette of facing royalty.
Hmph, good.
The king looked at the three of us in turn, a gentle smile on his face.
Everyone, listen.
At the king's magnificent voice, the audience chamber fell as silent as a graveyard. Not even the sound of breathing could be heard.
The three before me are heroes who have sacrificed their own well-being to greatly aid others. Today's gathering is for these heroes, so I bid you all to give a great round of applause and praise for their heroic deeds.
Yes, Your Majesty!
Satisfied with the nobles' response, the king looked at us again.
First, Arin.
Yes, Your Majesty!
At the king's call, Arin took a step forward.
I have heard that you bravely ventured into the demonized region, a place even paladins and priests are reluctant to enter, and achieved great merit. And that even when everyone else let their guard down, you acted alone to save the lives of many priests.
The king of Krassis believes a knight should be dignified and martial. He seems to be quite fond of Arin.
The diplomat from Iocal mentioned your name and offered much praise. Thank you for raising the name of Krassis in a foreign land.
I only did my duty. Such praise is excessive, I don't know what to
You have done a great deed, so you receive great praise. Do not be modest. I shall grant you the opportunity to take one treasure from the royal treasury.
Ah
She seemed so surprised that she didn't know what to do, so I gave her a slight nudge.
Y-Your grace is boundless.
Yes.
The king's gaze left Arin and moved to Ilia.
Ilia Marcus.
Yes, Your Majesty!
Arin stepped back, and Ilia stepped forward.
I heard that upon seeing a village attacked by monsters, you jumped in before anyone could stop you.
It was the natural thing to do.
Indeed. But there were also those who failed to do what needed to be done.
In the original story, there were those who saw the large number of lizardmen attacking the village and fled in fear. He must be talking about them.
You did not stop at simply killing monsters; you fought to protect the people even while sustaining injuries yourself, and despite being wounded, you fought to the end and eliminated the Lizardman Warrior. Thank you so much for saving our people.
It is only natural for a knight.
Huhu, I still remember your bold declaration at the princess's birthday long ago, that you would become the sword of the Marcus House.
That sentiment has not changed.
Khahahaha! Yes. That's how it should be.
At Ilia's crisp answer, the king let out a hearty laugh filled with satisfaction.
To Ilia Marcus, I also grant the opportunity to take one treasure from the royal treasury.
Your grace is boundless, Your Majesty!
Having offered her thanks, Ilia stepped back.
Yuren Lox.
Yes, Your Majesty.
As I took a step forward at the king's call, I felt the eyes of everyone in the chamber fall upon me. In their gazes, I could feel fragments of many emotions: admiration, envy, jealousy, and even hatred.
Hah, you... I truly have no words for you. To return after being called a Saint in the Holy Nation, my goodness.
Though his words sounded like that, the king's smile was the most genuine yet, and he looked proud.
I heard that as soon as the child called the Saintess said people were in danger, you moved immediately to the demonized region.
That wasn't actually the case, but it seems the rumors have painted me in a very good light. There was no need to correct them, so I stayed quiet.
I heard you always fought at the forefront, saved those in danger, eliminated a Death Knight, and even rescued the Saintess by capturing the Demon Tree, the source of the demonization. It was so astonishing I wondered how much of it was true, but Duke Huraken of the Holy Nation has confirmed it all, so I have no choice but to believe.
It seems Huraken was kind enough to write his report in a way that was as advantageous to me as possible.
And in the end, you even purified the demonized land itself? I heard that a spirit beast was so moved by your heart that it chose to follow you.
The rumors had spread like that. Listening to it all, I felt like a hero from an epic poem.
To one such as you, I cannot give an ordinary reward.
Y-Your Majesty?
What does that mean
The nobles, who had been looking at me with various expressions, turned to the king in bewilderment at his words.
To Yuren Lox, eldest son of the Lox House, who has rendered great service to the diplomatic relations between Krassis and Iocal and has raised the name of the royal palace across the continent, I hereby grant a fiefdom.