The Strange Woman's Flag
That night, I was summoned by Count Serpine.
“Bring them.”
Count Serpine stood there with a vicious grin, his face triumphant as he eyed the two long rows of heavy gold coin boxes stacked before me.
I, the weak and fragile Arian, was supposed to haul this enormous weight? The petty, mocking look on his face was unbearable.
With a hundred million gold coins on the line, even the count had to empty nearly every coin he owned.
A hundred thousand Chador flowers were precious, but spending that kind of money would sting far worse. That was why he was playing this game now.
I carefully called up the Status Window to inspect the coins inside the boxes, then personally carried three of them out.
“Gerka says these three boxes contain counterfeit money.”
The count’s eyes widened. He glanced at his butler, who looked startled; two knights rushed over. In front of me, they stacked the coins twenty to a pile.
Sure enough, the last line of coins didn’t match. Some boxes were even missing a few at the end.
The count stared at me with surprise rather than anger.
“How did you know?”
I muttered to myself, “I’m Petya, I’m Petya.”
Then I looked up at the ceiling, perfectly imitating Petya’s expression.
“Because the gods told me.”
Honestly, that sounded a little too theatrical, but it always worked here.
Still, the count murmured in a trembling voice, “So it was truly the gods who…”
While he spoke, the butler bowed and said, “I’ll be right back, Your Excellency,” and left with the knights. They were probably going to punish the ones who had stolen the coins.
The count barely registered the words. He kept staring at me, then his face brightened. His eyes burned with madness as he shouted,
“The gods have chosen Treven!”
…Huh?
For a split second I almost showed my real expression, but I held it back. The Serpine men must have had laser-etched shamelessness in their genes.
“Holy crap, Gerka really picked Serpine…! Ah, Lady Dania, tell me—what else did Gerka say?”
Well… not much, probably. That otaku god probably doesn’t care about humans.
“At dawn tomorrow, the temple will possess one hundred thousand Chador. Make sure your apostle carries out my will.”
I deliberately unfocused my eyes and muttered with a dazed expression. The count stepped closer, took my hand, and kissed the back of it.
Of course he wasn’t kissing me. He was kissing Gerka, who lived inside me.
“Everything is according to the gods’ will. Serpine follows you.”
After that, everything went smoothly.
“I’m sorry, but may I ask you to step aside?”
“I must offer the gold coins to Gerka.”
The count looked at me in shock.
“You’re going alone?”
Even at dawn tomorrow you’ll go alone? I answered with the pure demeanor of a divine apostle, bowing deeply.
The count looked a little bewildered but eventually stepped aside.
Once the door closed, I let out a long sigh and opened a sub-space door in front of the gold coin boxes.
Fortunately, this was a medieval setting, so I didn’t have to worry about CCTV.
Out of caution, I scanned the surroundings with the Status Window. There were no devices watching me, and no human presence.
The Status Window was truly wonderful. It made finding listening devices so easy.
I carefully placed the gold coin boxes one by one into the sub-space. Carrying them right next door meant it finished in no time. Even if I had paid five hundred gold, the boxes would have been heavier than the coins themselves.
After everything was done, I closed the sub-space door and checked again to make sure nothing suspicious had been dropped nearby.
I knocked twice at the door. It opened, and the count entered, then paused. His face turned pale when he saw all the gold coin boxes had vanished.
“Gerka has accepted them. At dawn tomorrow I will receive the Chador at the city’s main temple. Since Chador is a precious flower, we will need maids to watch over them so they don’t wilt until the wedding.”
“I’ll take care of it.”
“Then I shall take my leave, Your Excellency.”
Phew. My money. My hundred billion gold.
At last it was in my hands. No more worries. No more worries.
I was about to turn away when the count suddenly called out,
“Wait.”
I turned my head. The count looked at me with a completely different expression.
He studied my face in detail, then asked gently,
“Lady of the Dania family already has a man who has made you a future promise?”
A strong impulse hit me to casually drop Damien’s name. But these things always got exposed quickly, so I answered with proper humility, hands clasped.
“Even if it’s only temporary, I am a servant of the gods. How could I form a secular promise?”
“In the end you will return to Dania. Your father will regret it. For being born a daughter.”
“Both elder brothers are outstanding, so it’s only natural the family’s prosperity will be restored.”
The count chuckled and shrugged, then stepped aside.
“Let’s settle it that way for now, young lady of Dania.”
While Arian was receiving the ridiculous amount of gold, Damien was casually watching the everyday life of an ordinary noble family.
The elder son was mercilessly beating the younger son until the poor kid staggered. The younger son gritted his teeth and endured the beatings.
Every time the younger son staggered, the elder poured out curses.
“Stand straight.”
The knights around the elder son were snickering lazily. The younger son had probably endured this kind of abuse for years, or even his entire life.
Damien didn’t try to save the younger brother. If he had been the younger one, he would never have shown such a pathetic sight to anyone.
“You’ve always coveted what’s mine. Bad habit.”
The elder son sneered, showing his teeth as the younger son’s face turned deathly pale.
The parts covered by his clothes were probably in a mess, but cleverly, the elder avoided the exposed areas.
With a crack, the elder son slapped the younger’s shins. The younger’s knees finally buckled.
The elder hit the younger’s body several more times, then grabbed his hair and lifted his head so he could see himself.
“Soon my wife will live in Serpine. It would be embarrassing if she heard about you. You know my wife is a noble. You, a mere second son, have no right to even glance at her.”
The moment Damien frowned, the elder stepped in front of the younger, legs spread.
“I’ve sworn to you many times that I would be my elder brother’s dog, haven’t I?”
“…”
“Woof, bark while crawling.”
The elder’s face twisted with viciousness as he commanded the younger to pass between his legs while barking.
At that moment, Arian’s voice rang out, calm and clear:
“It’s rude to interrupt the brothers’ time of harmony, but the one kneeling on the floor promised me, didn’t he? I don’t have much time right now, so please hurry.”
Damien startled and straightened up. He couldn’t understand why Arian, who had said she was going to receive the gold from the count, had come all the way to the dark corner of the garden and was staring at the Serpine brothers with sharp eyes.
She wasn’t even accompanied by anyone. Why was she doing that? Damien watched her in bewilderment.
The elder son sneered and glared at Arian.
“You think a king’s dog has the right to order the Serpine bloodline around?”
King’s dog? The terrible insult made Damien frown. Arian wouldn’t stand for that kind of talk.
When the elder reached out to threaten Arian, Damien prepared to intervene and looked down at them. But Arian answered coldly,
“I never said anything like that. The only promise I received was from my younger brother. If you don’t keep it, I can ask the count separately. Please, show your brotherly love.”
The elder flinched. He had already heard rumors that the Dania girl had been in and out of the count’s study and residence.
Even his mother hadn’t asked him what was going on.
The girl from Dania turned and walked away without hesitation. She was probably heading back to her father.
What would she say to her father? If he got angry and the wedding was disrupted, it would be a problem.
The elder hurriedly grabbed his younger brother’s hair and hurled him toward Arian.
“You’re always a disgrace to Serpine.”
The elder whispered that, then left with the knights in a hurry.
Arian turned to the younger brother. His face twisted in rage.
“I don’t need any help from you!”
“Whether you need help or not is your business. I don’t like seeing people in distress. If you don’t want help, stop getting noticed by me from now on.”
Some people act like they’re helping because they want to. What a strange thing.
Arian sneered and walked away from the elder, opposite the younger. Damien muttered to himself, “So that’s Arian for you.”
“What kind of woman is there like that…”
The younger brother muttered.
Damien turned his head sharply to look at him. The younger brother’s face was burning red—the same words he had been muttering about Arian.
Damien no longer felt like complaining about the northern snakes and such. He just wanted the day after tomorrow to hurry up, finish everything, and leave this cursed land.