Chapter 50
Chapter 50
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 50
Chapter Title: Ulstro Kingdom - The Innocent Princess and the Vicious Knight (19)
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"What? You got caught by Her Majesty the Queen?"
"Yes. She pretty much knew everything."
"Hah..."
While learning the sword from Serennia at dawn, Valdes informed her of the events from the previous night.
It was a decision he'd made because he might need to align their stories depending on the circumstances.
"You managed to come out unscathed, huh."
"I just spoke from the heart."
"What? ...Pfft hahaha!! Yeah, yeah. That's more than enough!"
Serennia burst into laughter at his casual remark, as if it were no big deal.
She knew better than anyone that it couldn't have been that simple. Having served the queen for over twenty years, she understood Beatrice's personality all too well.
"Well, if it's you, I'm sure you handled it just fine."
It had only been nine days since she'd taken him as her disciple, but her voice was filled with trust in Valdes.
Valdes was the ideal disciple that every knight dreamed of at least once.
If there were no real-world constraints like the royal family, knight orders, or household matters, she would have kidnapped him and secluded themselves for about a year of intensive training. His talent allowed him to endlessly expand on a single lesson by himself.
Serennia expected a second Pedro to be born. It was a shame, really, that this was a time of stability where his talents had nowhere to shine.
"Who do you think I am? Of course I could."
He swung his sword while speaking, under her watchful eye. Even mid-conversation with her, the arc of his blade was breathtakingly beautiful.
She had never once seen his sword waver. It extended exactly as he intended—an ideal realm for any knight.
"Pfft! You sure know how to talk."
Thanks to Valdes, she'd recently discovered a new pleasure, and she gazed at him with a pleased expression.
She had thought he resembled Hero Pedro in face and demeanor, but their greatest similarity was in their swordsmanship talent. If she knew more about Pedro's sword techniques, she would have passed them all on without reservation. It was good news, at least, that he was researching them with Mercedes.
"I'm serious. As your disciple, I'd get chewed out if I couldn't even manage this much."
Valdes glanced her way and flashed a hearty smile.
Serennia felt her heart skip a beat and coughed awkwardly in surprise.
"...Ahem."
'I'm such a fool.'
"Your face is a bit flushed. Are you okay? Should we call it a day?"
"N-No way! Keep swinging that sword!"
She had been wondering if he even needed to repeat basic drills, but as her first disciple, she wasn't sure how best to teach him.
Even when she prepared various lessons, he mastered them perfectly in less than a day, making her preparations feel wasted. Her disciple was advancing too quickly for her preparations to keep up.
That's why she had him repeating the basics—the first thing she'd learned from Pedro.
'Damn. I look like a lousy teacher.'
Serennia grumbled to herself in self-reproach.
She wanted to offer occasional pointers like Pedro had done for her, but Valdes was already perfect even in that.
'Should I teach him something other than swordsmanship?'
She even ended up pondering that.
'I never said I was only his swordsmanship teacher anyway. I should teach my disciple more things... teach... Ah, damn it.'
As she racked her brain for something else to teach besides swordsmanship, she suddenly recalled the latter half of The Retired Knight and Her Male Disciple, which she'd read a few days ago.
'Who knew that novel would turn into that kind of story! That naughty Mercedes!'
She should have realized it from the title specifying a male disciple. Midway through, when the mood shifted strangely, she'd chalked it up to romance novel tropes. Like an idiot, she hadn't noticed it was a sign of erotica until she reached the latter half and realized what she'd been reading.
But stopping there would have wasted all the time she'd invested so far, and the story was genuinely fun. She was curious about what happened next. In the end, she pulled an all-nighter to finish it.
She slept in a separate room from her husband anyway. She wasn't even sure if he'd come home. He was the type who got lost in nighttime revelries and let rumors spread. Staying up late wasn't an issue.
Her first proper book in ages turning out to be erotica was embarrassing.
'And of all things, that content... Sigh.'
The story was problematic too. A female knight in her early thirties falling for her disciple half her age. Excluding the ages, there were quite a few similarities to their situation.
'...It even made me masturbate after so long...'
It felt like the first time since her marriage had soured.
Even when problems arose, she hadn't wavered in her devotion to her husband, and she was too embarrassed to masturbate, so she'd resolved it by exhausting her body with training instead.
'That guy's the problem too.'
Serennia subtly shifted her position so Valdes couldn't see and stole glances at his face.
He was Mercedes's lover, yet his smiles were too captivating. Even if she was his teacher, flashing that grin at another woman was foul play—especially with his handsome face. She could understand why the princess had fallen hard.
And his scent was odd too. A master's sweat should be pungent, but his was just fragrant. Simply watching him train nearby satisfied all her senses. At master level, waste barely built up in the body, eliminating sweat odor entirely, but his was even more so. His natural scent alone could make you believe he was half-elf rather than half-demon.
And today, it was worse.
'What the hell did this guy do...'
Did he reek of semen in clumps?
Now that she was aware of it, her face burned. It had been ages since her last sexual encounter, but not so long that she'd forgotten the scent. The knight order was full of men anyway. During long missions or training, guys secretly jerked off all the time.
Even if cleaned properly, her senses at the peak of physical conditioning picked up that fishy smell precisely.
But what she sensed from Valdes now was beyond that. Far thicker, more intense, and addictive. Even if his semen was denser than most, how many loads would it take to emanate like this? She even faintly caught a whiff of a woman's scent.
'No way, Mercedes? Ugh. That's a problem either way.'
The biggest issue was the persistent twinge in her womb.
Her body was reacting to the potent male scent after so long. Her womb, craving pregnancy like a bitch in heat, and her flesh were awakening.
"...I'm losing it."
She craved the tobacco she'd quit long ago.
"Let's end today's training here."
"Huh? You, who always sticks to the schedule like clockwork—why suddenly...?"
"Quiet!!"
She snapped at her disciple for no reason and stormed back to her quarters as knight commander.
No one important would enter the commander's office for the next hour or two. If some unimportant person showed up, she could just make them wait outside. More pressing was soothing this heedlessly aroused body right now.
"Heh. She's so cute."
Valdes chuckled, watching Serennia's retreating figure as she dragged her excited body away.
For a married woman in her thirties, her actions were still childish. It was a stark contrast to the rigid, orthodox knight vibe she'd given off eighteen years ago. But that's what turned him on.
After tidying up roughly, he headed back to his room. Since training with her ended early, he had time before morning practice. With his plans progressing smoothly, he figured he'd check in on the status.
Ulstro Kingdom.
His first target and former hometown.
The original goal was to topple the three mother-daughter pair and seize the kingdom's core. Ulstro had strong royal authority anyway, so those three would suffice. It was preparation to weaken national power ahead of the war he'd start in two years.
But after acquiring the talented black mage Bilma, he'd decided to shake the kingdom's heart and waist as well—namely, the established power class and up-and-coming knight nobles. The aim was to incite infighting, rapidly drain national strength, and distribute blame and criticism toward the royals across the ruling class.
Irina and Bilma seemed to be handling that part well.
Back to the main point: dominating the royal family, plus conditioning Knight Commander Serennia and Lady Etilene Profilene. That side was as good as done.
Mercedes had fallen long ago, and Marie was increasingly addicted to the pleasure of the castle he was introducing her to. Beatrice, now believing him to be the amnesiac Pedro, was only a matter of time. One thrust into Etilene within the remaining bet period, and game over. Serennia was the only one left needing a bit more attention.
Beyond them, there were no other key female talents. He'd already swallowed the royal family whole, and among high nobles like counts and above, there were few women anyway. The few that existed weren't worth the effort to cultivate. No need to approach low-value targets like noble wives or female heirs. Etilene was a special case.
"Next target is that place, after all."
Ventorino Kingdom.
That stupid-looking warrior bastard who'd stabbed him in the gut. And yet he'd married into an earldom and birthed a new royal line.
"...This pisses me off all of a sudden."
Valdes's face twisted fiercely.
Beatrice had been crazy from the start, and while he'd added a push, it wasn't much. But the others were different.
His former comrades had prepared so thoroughly to kill him. Just thinking about it ground his teeth. He had no intention of forgiving either the men or the women.
Archmage, Warrior, Saintess, Elf Archer, Dwarf Paladin. Those five weren't all.
After subjugating Beatrice, he'd compare intel on who contributed most to the betrayal. The results probably wouldn't differ much. Excluding their party, there were four who'd invested massively and one annoying bitch who grated on him.
Especially the unforgivable alliance.
Emperor Dejark, who saw him as an obstacle to continental conquest.
That incompetent dragon was sitting idle in the non-human alliance republic formed to oppose the demons, doing absolutely nothing.
The Three-Power Alliance leaders who sat on the sidelines claiming no skin off their backs, only joining late.
The demon bastard who'd betrayed three times and was now hiding as a fugitive on the continent.
And finally... the irritating goddess who'd done nothing during all this.
He planned to forgive none of them.
Emperor? Dragon? Goddess? He didn't care.
He was the future Demon King who would devour the entire continent.
Rumble─patter patter. Thud. Thud.
"Eek! Cough, cough! Ow, the dust..."
As the dungeon wall crumbled and dust poured in, Bilma covered her nose and mouth with her robe hem and coughed.
"Good work, Miss Bilma. You're more capable than I thought."
Irina, appearing behind her, offered praise.
"More than you thought? More than you thought?! Do you know how capable I am?!"
"Well, now you do. Thanks to our combined efforts, we found this place."
Bilma couldn't hide her excitement at Irina's words.
"Hehehe, exactly! This is a huge discovery! Who would've thought the previous Magic Tower Master's hidden dungeon was in Dejark—no, in Ulstro!"
"I heard he was a crafty old man."
"What's inside, I wonder?! Ah! This is exciting! Related to alchemy? Or enchantments? Maybe a lab for developing comprehensive magic!"
"...She's not listening to me."
Bilma jumped in fright at Irina's chilling tone.
"Eek! Ah, n-no, I mean... Sorryyy..."
"Sigh. I get why you're excited, but calm down a bit. We need to contact Young Master too, since he told us to find this place."
It's not the ideal spot you're hoping for.
Irina's pitying voice echoed through the dungeon, gazing at Bilma.
"Is this the Hero's tomb?"
The girl marveled at the massive castle ruins sprawling before her. So utterly demolished that even its original shape was unimaginable. Only the sheer volume of debris hinted at its former grandeur.
The tomb's state aside, something this size might be the world's largest. Even after an assault, it befitted the hero who'd defeated the Demon King. No one of human build could survive such a fortress collapsing.
"...I still don't get it."
The girl was twenty-two. This was her first journey.
She'd lived in the countryside caring for her mother until recently, when her frail mother passed away.
With her mother's dying revelation of her true birth and a final wish to see the wider world, she'd set out to wander the continent.
Monsters attacked often, but no major issues.
Her swordsmanship talent was so extraordinary that she wondered if her mother's words were true.
"Is it real? But then why...?"
Why hide the truth all this time and never tell anyone? She couldn't understand. If it were her, she'd have gone straight to the kingdom, revealed it, and lived in luxury. At least an earldom, right?
Her mother had said power wasn't that simple, but her short life in the boonies hadn't taught her that, with barely any noble conflicts.
"Whatever. I'll head back to Ventorino for now."
The girl turned away.
Behind her lay the corpses of countless monsters she'd hunted to reach this place.
"I don't know for sure yet, but if it is... I'll come back later. ...Dad."
With those words, the girl with thick red hair resumed her steps.