The Princess Who Flatters for Her Friend's Sake
As expected, she’s a power type similar to Sigrid, the Knight Commander! In that case, dealing with her is simple!
“Baaah!”
“—Hup! I won’t fall for the same trick twice! It would be troublesome if my evaluation dropped any further!”
This time, Riu flowed past the attack and gripped her short sword, striking a pose.
“B-Baaah…?”
Thick smoke was slowly spreading. There was no need to ask where it had suddenly come from.
‘Butt troops.’
‘It is the butt, yes.’
Roman already knew, and Sunho had sharp eyes and had been standing behind them, so she had seen everything. It was a truly skunk-like sight, but from the opponent’s perspective, it was an inexplicable anomaly.
“There should be a barrier that repels magic…! Cough, cough!”
“This smoke… it’s physical in nature!”
The two remaining eunuchs shouted loudly, “Quickly, kill that wench!” but Riu, now a jiangshi, seemed to have lost much of her intelligence and merely tilted her head in confusion.
“Baaah… baaaaah…?”
She stuck out her tongue and swept her bizarre jaw around, but the smoke had already grown so thick that her enemies were no longer visible. Sunho’s soldiers and the injured had used the opportunity to flee, and even though the remaining warriors wanted to pursue them, their instincts as martial artists still alive warned them not to move recklessly.
In that opening, a blade flew in.
“—A gap!”
It was Saki’s sword, striking precisely from behind, aiming for the neck. Even while tense, it was an assassin’s strike that should have been fatal.
“Baaah~!”
“Hweh?!”
Clang!
Normally it would have been instant death, but—her arm twisted in a grotesque angle and blocked it.
“Is she a monster?!”
“Baaaaaaaaaah~!!”
She had gone through the trouble of laying down a smokescreen and hiding her body, yet the prey had come charging at her instead. Seeing this as an opportunity, Saki grabbed the sword to pin it down and reached for the blade hidden in her opposite sleeve, aiming to stab the stomach—
In that instant.
“Now!”
Whoosh—!
“This is the real one!”
“I’ll take the limbs—!!”
“Beheh?!”
There were exactly four of them. They attacked in sequence, targeting the right arm, left arm, left leg, and right leg. Riu froze her stabbing motion and hurriedly twisted her head at a bizarre angle, blocking the attack with her left arm, but she couldn’t stop the remaining three strikes.
—Sliiiiiiiice!!!
“Behaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!!!!”
“Nice texture!”
“I cut her beautifully~!”
“—Begek?!”
Finally, even her left arm was severed.
The opponent was a jiangshi famous for being immortal, but without arms or legs, even immortality had its limits.
“You should have gone all out from the beginning!”
“I almost died because it wasn’t the main body!!”
“Understood, I will correct myself!”
“Hmph!”
The clones scolded the main body before vanishing with several puffs of smoke. They returned to scroll form, and Saki happily shoved them into her own anus with a cheerful “Nngyah~♡”.
Whether it was the smoke bombs that came out of her back hole, the scrolls, or her current behavior, she was frighteningly skilled at assassination.
“…Is that the only kind of subordinate you have?”
“She’s useful and erotic, isn’t she? But I won’t lend her to you~!”
“I have no need for a butt assassin like that.”
Ignoring Sunho’s bitter gaze, Roman clapped, and Saki happily bent one leg and flashed a V-sign.
“Did you see that! I won, My Lord! I relied on first-glance-kill again, but it somehow worked out!”
“So that’s how you defeated Sigrid too.”
“Yeees~!”
…It was rather unfair. Roman decided once again that he would comfort Sigrid when they returned.
The loincloth girl flew into his arms.
“Grrrr~!”
“There, there. That settles it, then.”
Hugging Saki, Roman extended his empty hand and summoned tentacles to retrieve Riu’s torso and severed limbs.
“Baaaaaaaaaah~!! Beeeeeeeeeeeeeh~!!!”
Even so, the severed arms and legs tried to move on their own, causing the tentacles holding them to shake violently in chaos. The overwhelming pressure suggested that if he relaxed his grip even slightly, they would either escape or merge back together.
When he imagined what would have happened if she had retained her sanity, his laughter stopped and a cold sweat broke out.
“She’s rampaging even in this state… Honestly, if I had come alone, it might have been dangerous…”
“For someone saying that, you looked quite relaxed, didn’t you?”
“No, I only prepared one substitution doll. Unlike Saki, I can’t dodge, so the second attack would have killed me instantly, you know?”
“You left the Great Spirit behind and yet you say such things…”
“That one is obviously an exception.”
He honestly declared that even guarding with tentacles had been instantly pierced, so facing her directly was impossible. Thinking back, the owner of that chilling aura he had felt earlier must have been Riu. He placed his hand on the limbless torso.
“What do you intend to do? I know you are fond of women, but even if you are my benefactor, I cannot help but feel contempt if you choose to violate Riu in this situation.”
“Who the hell would fuck a jiangshi in a situation like this! Even if I did, I’d do it in a much better setting!”
“Then why are you erect?”
“…This is just a physiological reaction!”
“…Is that your preference?”
“No, it’s because white hair is my type. This really can’t be helped, okay?”
“In all my life, I’ve never heard such a bizarre excuse. Did you know that even death-row prisoners about to be executed make better excuses than that?”
“It’s true.”
Ignoring Sunho’s sharp retort, Roman tried to peel off the talisman stuck to her pussy.
…It wouldn’t come off.
He tried infusing it with his signature intense curse, but something was lacking.
“Please stop humiliating Riu. She worked hard to save my mother. At the very least, grant her an honorable death.”
“It’s a curse, so I was wondering if there was something I could do about it.”
“……If you do it, can you save her?”
“If it’s me, somehow. And even if I can’t, there are other means—Perpena.”
“…………”
At those words, Sunho realized he was serious and regained her composure. Naturally, her palm performed a corkscrew twist.
“I did not know… I apologize for my rude behavior. I am truly sorry.”
“It’s exactly what I’d expect from a princess. More importantly, now that we’ve suppressed the secret force, we should wrap up this damn farce.”
“Indeed… By the way, didn’t you say you came for personal revenge? There are two left, and the mastermind is still alive, so you may do as you wish with the rest.”
“You’re not just flattering me for Riu’s sake, are you?”
“If I said no, that would be a lie. However, since it was Lord Cornelius who resolved this matter, it would be improper for me to act arbitrarily.”
“What a commendable woman. Very well, I’ll accept that opinion. I’ll hand over the mastermind, and I’ll enjoy the rest myself~♪”
When Roman raised his right hand high, the intertwined tentacles formed a massive lump and rose up.
“H-Hiiieee~?! Stop! We are officials of the court! If you spare us, we will offer all the wealth we have accumulated until now, so please, stoooooop!!!”
“That’s right! A mountain of treasures that not even the Cornelius family could covet! In the secret vault that only we know of, there are piles of—”
Without waiting for them to finish, the tentacle mass slammed down.
Crunch!!
“Hihyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!!!!!”
When the remaining colleague was reduced to scattered chunks of flesh, the eunuch who was hit directly by the gore screamed until he collapsed. One had his stomach pierced and died instantly, another was crushed to death by the tentacle mass, and the last one rolled his eyes back and pissed himself. It was an utterly pathetic sight.
“Heh heh! Hehehehehe~! Hahahahahahahaha!!!!! Aaaaaah~~!! This feels fucking amazing! I wish all those bastards who said revenge is pointless would just die! Even though it ended a bit anticlimactically, my brain chemicals are surging so hard it feels like I’m getting change back~! Hahahahahahaha!!!!”
“At this point, I’m starting to wonder what exactly they did to you.”
“Hehe, hehehehe, ahem… It’s not really something to brag about to others.”
“Still, there must have been a significant reason, right?”
“If I had to say, it’s because they insulted something I personally cherish very much, and it pissed me off. You know how it is? Like when you’re arguing with someone and they unconsciously insult your parents and both sides get heated… If they had insulted something else, I probably would have laughed it off, but these guys crossed the line.”
“So they insulted something precious to you.”
“It’s nothing, just cheap revenge, really.”
While Roman laughed refreshingly, Sunho had a hunch about what it was.
『Is there something hidden?』
『Yes. It is only a single line, but the fact that it was deliberately concealed suggests it is important information.』
『What does it say?』
『Hmm… It says, “Beware the head maid of the Cornelius family.”』
『Huh? That’s all?』
『These are not children who would play pranks with something like this. I believe they discovered something. The fact that it is only one line probably means they kept it within a range that would not cause problems even if noticed. Therefore, let us keep this information in mind and act with caution in case of the unexpected.』
The secret letter sent by the Xiao and Mao sisters. The head maid written there…
‘Could it be… related to the head maid named Perpena?’
“If you dig any deeper into Lady Perpena, I will kill you right here.”
‘……! He read my thoughts…?! —Ump!’
Her mouth was sealed. A palm was pressing down on her face.
“Don’t make me say it twice.”
“Mmph… ugh… mmmmmm… ugh…!”
Seeing Roman’s suddenly sinister aura, she trembled. Just moments ago he had been a monkey crazed with lust, but now he seemed like malice given human form.
‘I understand… sir…’
Realizing she had stepped on a dangerous line, she apologized, and the hand released her. He did not scold her further. Instead, Roman himself became awkward.
“Sorry. I didn’t expect you to notice with just that…”
“…No, I was the one who asked the two of them to gather information.”
“I called them idiot princesses, but from my perspective they’re annoyingly sharp… Wait, is that why they got scolded?”
“That is a painful observation.”
She had unnecessarily pestered her father and earned his resentment, which led to this situation. For Sunho, it was a remark that carried many thoughts.
While she was lost in such sentimental feelings, the limbless Riu was wrapped in a mass of tentacles and retrieved. The soldiers who had withdrawn from the battle returned, saw the situation, and announced Sunho’s victory throughout the entire palace.
With this, people would soon flock in and begin cleaning up the incident. Sunho could have stepped forward first to spread the urgent news and ride the momentum, but instead she approached the eunuch whose barrier had been dispelled and stared down at him blankly.
It seemed she was not in the mood to revel in victory; her expression was quite gloomy.
“You tortured me so cruelly, yet you yourself cannot even look at a corpse.”
“Why is that?”
“Because it makes me realize how foolish I was to have been defeated by scum like them. If you had not saved me, my spirit would have broken, and right now I would probably be somewhere barking like a dog.”
“That actually sounds like something I’d like to see.”
“Shall I show you?”
“You and your jokes.”
“No, since you are my benefactor, I can show you as much as you wish.”
When Saki read the mood and hid herself, Sunho quietly approached this time, embraced him, and whispered into his ear.
“…Thank you truly. Once this matter is over, I will definitely repay you. Until then, please rest comfortably.”
Whether it was flattery or her true feelings, she licked his ear so seductively that even with mind-reading it was impossible to tell, then withdrew again.
Then she shouted to the soldiers.
“The evil that shook the world, pursued selfish desires, and rotted the nation—I, Sunho, have defeated it! From now on, I will punish those who clung to this parasite one by one! Gather the scattered soldiers and people and spread this news far and wide!”
““““Yes, Princess Sunho!””””
With those words, the soldiers scattered like a swarm of bees, and Sunho followed after them.
Roman stood there blankly for a moment, then took the fallen eunuch with him and headed to the audience chamber to bring this incident to a close.