Chapter 44
Chapter 44
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 44
Chapter Title: The Heretic of the Magic Tower (3)
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Kiss, if you look at it broadly, the person who reached out to the Magic Tower to resolve the land purification issue we've promised with the entire Spiegel tribe is none other than Leimi Big Sister.
And since that same Leimi Big Sister wanted me to contact the Emperor and give a proper report, I stopped putting it off and made the call.
While staying here, I'd received a communicator, and Leimi Big Sister had adjusted the crystal orb's connection, so I didn't overthink it and initiated the communication without much hesitation.
A brief waiting tone signaled the connection, and then the Emperor's face... no, her full body appeared. She'd connected from her bedroom, wearing a negligee.
What the hell. Why is she like that?
『Long time no see.』
"Hello."
This time, I wasn't calling to get the drop on her or tease her, so I skipped the stiff formalities and started the conversation casually. After some light small talk about recent events and the coffee I'd tried while Liz was around, I was about to get to the main point.
If only she wouldn't keep subtly shifting her body into weird angles.
"...Why are you taking this call from your bedchamber?"
I couldn't exactly ask why she was half-naked, so I phrased it indirectly, and she answered with a perfectly natural expression.
『This is an unofficial contact I can't handle formally, so it's only natural to take it in my private quarters.』
"Ah, yes. Understood. Alright, shall we get to the main topic?"
『How heartless. Couldn't we chat a bit more normally?』
"I figured you'd be busy."
『I can spare this much time.』
The position of Emperor didn't seem like one with much free time. Back when I was at the main house, I was spinning through studies, training, imperial studies, and practice with no spare moments. Naturally, even as Emperor, she was still young enough that her age hadn't fully ripened, and since the previous Emperor had passed away relatively young, she'd ascended the throne somewhat underprepared, so it was normal for her to be busy juggling studies alongside her duties.
And that previous Emperor's untimely death had some suspicious points, but since a demon god's mark was found at the scene, it was somewhat related to what I was discussing today.
Of course, there was no hard evidence, and the fact that demon god worshippers had quietly infiltrated the palace basically screamed internal betrayal, so there was no official announcement.
I let out a sigh as I watched her keep changing positions in a way that distracted me, whether she knew it or not.
"Anyway, Your Majesty."
『What's this 'anyway' about?』
"I'll explain what we learned from the incident with the southern elves and Spiegel."
She seemed a bit miffed that I wasn't reacting to her odd movements, her expression puffing up slightly, but as I began the proper briefing, her face grew increasingly serious.
The full extent of the demon god worshippers wasn't something humans had completely grasped, so I couldn't definitively state how many executives they had, what abilities they possessed, or the scale of their forces.
Still, her expression softened a bit upon hearing that we'd thoroughly crushed one of them.
『So that's why the raids have been so unusually frequent lately.』
"They said the only light-attribute magic users capable of standing against them are the key figures of the tribe, who have no interest in anything beyond the World Tree."
『Those lunatics who stake their lives solely on that World Tree and its surrounding ecosystem?』
That's right. It's not for nothing that players in my past life called them eco-fascists—they'd come charging to snap your neck just for breaking a single twig near the World Tree.
Humans were strictly forbidden from setting foot there, so I'd never gone in myself, and naturally, negotiation was out of the question. We could communicate through the elves who ventured into the secular world, but even sharing the continental common tongue, it was painfully clear that language didn't mean understanding.
Just because words align doesn't mean minds do.
Anyway, as I explained what I'd done with Spiegel and the agreement we'd reached, the Emperor's expression turned uncomfortable.
『It's not like we haven't tried appeasement policies with the southern elves before. The problem is we've never sustained peace to the extent we wanted. If we provide food and support land purification, the lords of territories already stripped bare will object.』
"I figured as much, but if we consider not just land purification but also restoring the plains and forests, they'll likely justify their raids as a matter of survival anyway."
『And it's right through Astraea and the desert, where my influence wanes, making it hard to push through.』
Still, realistically speaking, she seemed to agree that simply saying "We killed Karsis, so stop the raids" wouldn't cut it—we needed to open a path forward. She fell into thought for a moment.
It wasn't for me to press her for a decision, so I waited quietly, and she spoke again, a slight furrow in her brow.
『This happened in the southern Imir Kingdom, so it'll spread to everyone regardless of how it's wrapped up. And no one will truly believe the elves took them out alone.』
"Isn't that just confirmation bias from everything that's happened so far?"
『It could be. But the Imir Kingdom has plenty of people with experience facing elves, so it's natural they'd doubt their capabilities.』
"...What do you want?"
『I know you're not greedy for credit. So let's handle this as imperial business, reward the cooperating elves to close it out, and in exchange, I'll owe you one.』
I kept my expression neutral as she leaned forward slightly in her translucent negligee. If I had to compare, it was like a client company president three years my senior acting this way—hard not to fight the twitch at the corner of my mouth.
I'd seen glimpses now and then, but when someone you've never interacted with as man and woman does this, it's more off-putting than pleasing.
Not to brag, but my love life had always been downright abysmal.
"As long as you don't ask for anything weird."
『Weird?』
Like what you're doing right now.
Of course, I couldn't say it aloud. How was I supposed to react as she lifted her leg to cross it, practically showing everything like she wasn't wearing underwear under the negligee?
Resisting the urge to cut the comms, I wrapped up the conversation smoothly. The debt felt like it was strangely mounting, but she didn't seem intent on dragging me onstage right away, so if I laid low for a while, it might blow over.
For some reason—or rather, I had a pretty good idea why—I gave in to my fatigue and dove into bed.
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"Is this guy made of stone or what?"
Not to toot my own horn, but I was confident in my looks. Highborn families across nations managed their children from childhood with various methods, including magical ones, and that effort naturally reflected in their appearance.
Yet even after donning a highly revealing translucent negligee I'd never dreamed of wearing in my life and striking provocative poses, Julius's face didn't crack in the slightest.
Imperial nobles often avoided me on sight due to my push for imperial authority, but Julius seemed utterly indifferent to me, unaffected by that either.
Including stories I'd told him in the past that he didn't even remember, it felt like another defeat.
"...I probably didn't look too pathetic, right?"
Worried that my fidgeting to draw attention had caught me in a weird angle, I picked up the crystal orb to check the recorded call log.
The initial pose was worth the effort—appealing just enough sexiness without being off-putting.
The problem was, perhaps because Julius stayed so composed, I subconsciously grew hasty midway and started shifting positions nonstop.
Even to my own eyes, why was I sitting like that? Uncomfortable contortions, tilting my body unnecessarily to gauge his reaction.
My eyelids twitched as I watched myself grow increasingly frantic and ugly.
Huh. No way I'm malnourished, so why the twitching eyelids?
I closed my eyes, pressed them firmly, massaged my brow, and looked at the orb again.
It's fine. The poses are a bit odd, but not ugly.
"Uh, um."
Toward the end, leaning to emphasize my face, trembling my legs slightly anxious-like, then lifting one fully to completely switch positions.
Up to here, no issue. It happens. Should be fine, fine, fi—
"This is straight-up whore behavior!"
The problem was this paper-thin, translucent negligee I'd worn for the first time ever. Naturally, I had no clue how much it fluttered or what it revealed in certain poses. Thrashing around like that, I'd exposed everything to an outsider—a man—no woman should show, things I couldn't even voice myself.
Realizing it, the entire comm video now looked like a desperate spinster's pathetic sex appeal tape, flashing everything to a younger man who'd missed her prime.
Oh goddess in heaven. No wonder Julius ended the call with that subtle expression.
I ripped off the damned flimsy negligee, threw it aside, changed clothes in a flash, burrowed under the covers, cast a soundproof spell, and screamed my lungs out.
Alina experienced, for the first time in her life, straining her throat from screaming too hard.