Chapter 106
Chapter 106
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 106
Chapter Title: Engagement - 1
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Lucille had become able to wield the new river spirit.
It felt a bit odd to say she was "wielding" it, but if she could perfectly control the dimensions with the river spirit's help, there wasn't a better way to describe it.
"But is that okay?"
"You mean Lucille bonding with the river spirit? It's fine. Well... it might end up similar to the previous spirit once time passes."
But that was a story for the distant future. For now, there was no need to worry much about it.
I patted Baltin's concerned shoulder and turned my head.
With the spirit business settled, all that was left was...
"Ugh... uuuugh... s-save... please spare me..."
It was time to deal with the shaman who had tried to build his power by offering sacrifices.
Sasdin, wriggling on the floor like a bug and begging, convulsed the moment our eyes met.
"Hiiik! Devil!! It's a devil!! T-to make a spirit vanish!!"
I could make that puny thing vanish if I wanted.
But Sasdin, completely terrified, tried desperately to crawl away from me as he shouted frantically.
"Princess... Princess...!! From ancient times, those who defy and persecute nature have been extremely dangerous...!! You mustn't keep someone like that around! Surely...! Surely, it will have a bad influence on you..."
"...Priest Sasdin."
Did he think Lucille was his only hope for survival? Sasdin crawled desperately toward her, pleading.
It was a plea so pitiful it brought tears to the eyes.
That's why I put on a little performance, wiping away fake tears with the skill "Crocodile Tears," but the merchants nearby only got angrier and gripped their clubs tighter.
"Princess... Think of all I've done for the royal family... A-and I have many noble friends! So please, I beg you..."
Slowly, Lucille turned her gaze to me.
"Why?"
"Master. You're friends with nobles too, right?"
"Something like that."
Not just in the main story, but even in side quests, I had dealings with nobles.
And among them, there were definitely some I could call friends.
"I'm friends with Marquis Raysi Tralman, a great noble, and I cured the mental illness of Count Loiter Gasorder's son..."
Plus, I'd solved problems in several other nobles' territories or repelled monster attacks, so yeah, we were on good terms.
Of course, I couldn't say there weren't nobles who disliked me, so some might come after me over this. But there would be people to shield me.
Even if not, it didn't matter.
"I see."
"T-that..."
"And."
Lucille gripped her staff with both hands and smiled.
Quite.
Chillingly.
"The crime of insulting my master. I cannot forgive it."
*Thwack!!*
"Kwuaaaack!!"
Nice shot.
She put some real swing into that waist?!
A proper mage doesn't just suck her thumb when mana runs out.
They all learn basic staff arts—striking techniques with the staff—and of course, I'd taught Lucille staff arts too.
Lucille, having struck Sasdin down exactly as I'd taught her, growled with utmost coldness.
"You will pay for all the crimes you've committed so far. No matter what."
"Ah... ahhh..."
Was it Lucille's menacing tone? Or the solid hit from the staff?
Maybe the backlash from the river spirit's dissipation.
In the end, Sasdin foamed at the mouth and passed out. I raised a hand to stop the merchants approaching to beat him to death.
"Don't touch him."
"But, Sage! That damn shaman strutted around as priest all this time..."
"And he even tried human sacrifice! Shouldn't we execute him on the spot?!"
"Of course, but..."
I lifted the fallen Sasdin with telekinesis.
"The final sacrifice means he becomes the sacrifice!"
The state usually wants public executions anyway, so let's make him a sacrifice for the kingdom.
Sasdin's punishment was carried out swiftly.
He was dragged to the royal castle, and the intelligence department and Lily Knight Order began swift torture.
Afterward, quite a few of his past misdeeds came to light.
After successfully bonding with the river spirit, he had offered maidens to it every few years to borrow its power.
I wondered why this hadn't been caught, but there was a reason.
The maidens Sasdin used as the river spirit's consorts—more accurately, sacrifices—were mostly refugees, the weakest of the weak with nothing to their names.
He'd secretly kidnap them or buy them cheaply from human traffickers and offer them to the spirit.
Not only did he gain powerful shamanic abilities from the spirit, but he also secretly communed with it to kill off disciples aspiring to become priests.
Of course, there were plenty of lesser crimes too. Hiring mercenaries to pressure merchants for money, skimming festival revenues, arbitrarily banning merchant groups he didn't like from participating, and so on.
"...This is my oversight."
When the queen saw Sasdin's crimes were more numerous than expected, she looked quite dejected.
The queen, slumping as she read the report, rubbed her face and let out a heavy sigh.
"Even if the kingdom was in chaos due to the Demon King... To think something like this was happening in the capital. This is entirely my fault as queen."
"...It is not Your Majesty's fault. The intelligence department and I, as prime minister, failed to uncover it..."
"It is my fault as captain for staying on the front lines and neglecting the capital! Execute me, Your Majesty!!"
The queen.
Lukel, the prime minister and court mage.
General Leoden, who had been on the front lines, and several other ministers were all quite distraught over this incident.
"...We owe the Sage yet again."
"Don't worry about it."
Yeah. This wasn't something for the queen to fret over.
Sasdin had deliberately hidden it, and some nobles and ministers who took bribes from him submitted false reports, blocking it from reaching her eyes. What could she do?
Of course, there might be some criticism that a queen of her caliber should have caught it, deeming her incompetent, but she'd handled everything else well, so let's let it slide.
Especially since she never got in my way, which I appreciated.
"We must publicize this to make an example and warn that it never happens again."
The queen was quite serious. Calling herself out on managerial responsibility despite the hit it would take.
She had a conscience.
"And we'll combine Sasdin's seized assets with the royal treasury to compensate victims' families and hold a memorial rite for the sacrificed."
"I see."
"So, Sage. Could you perform the appeasement rite for them? And help Lucille take a position to prevent such things in advance..."
"Ah. No, we won't do that."
To the queen subtly leaning on me while looking glum, I drew a firm line.
A few days after the meeting ended, an execution platform was set up in the kingdom capital's plaza.
On that platform were Sasdin and his underlings, plus a few ministers and nobles who knew of it, defended him, and took bribes.
Naturally, among the nobles, those with lesser crimes faced demotions or fines.
Of course, the nobles punished for minor bribes and their sympathizers didn't stay silent.
But what could they do?
The kingdom's highest noble, Marquis Raysi Tralman, and the quite powerful Count Loiter Gasorder openly supported me and the royal family.
Connections are everything in this world.
"Kill them!! Kill them!!"
"Hang them and burn them!!"
"Tear them limb from limb and feed them to the dogs!!"
"Kill them!! You crazy old bastard!! Kill him!!"
They were hyped.
The crowd in the plaza started hurling rotten tomatoes, eggs, stones, and the like at those ascending the platform.
Some growled in rage at that, but what could they do?
The execution preparations were already complete.
"Kill them!! Kill them!!"
The bloodthirsty crowd chanted.
To heighten their excitement further, today's opening event began.
Sasdin's quartering—tearing him apart limb by limb—was about to start.
"Uwaaaack!!"
Chains bound Sasdin's arms and legs as he thrashed. As the ropes attached to oxen for the execution, the cheers grew louder.
Some praised the queen for punishing Sasdin, and me and Lucille for resolving it.
But those were probably Lukel's paid agitators, so ignore them.
"Kwaaaaaack!!"
"Kill them!! Kill them!!"
No need to watch more.
As Sasdin's screams intensified, so did the crowd's cheers.
Listening to them, I pulled up my hood and smirked.
Anyone who messes with my achievements gets fucked.
"Hey! Sage! Why watch trash like that? Got a good quest! Come with!"
Baltin, back from the adventurer guild, approached energetically.
Right.
The important stuff wasn't these losers' executions.
"What's up?"
"Monster extermination at Tosdino Farm. Party with lamb after. You in?"
A sheep ranch?
If so, I could pick up shepherd quests there too.
"Of course."
I needed to clear as many quests as possible.
***
Gathered in the conference room were the kingdom's heavyweights.
First, naturally, the queen.
Next, her closest aide, court mage Lukel.
Then, Ishina, captain of the castle guard and the kingdom's knight order, the Lily Knight Order.
General Leoden should have been there originally, but he left the day Sasdin's execution was decided, unable to leave the front lines long.
In this meeting of several key ministers, the queen broke the silence.
"I'm glad this resolved easily."
"Indeed."
It was truly a blessing.
What if the Sage hadn't handled the Sasdin matter?
The fact that they offered a noble as a sacrifice for the festival would eventually leak, earning the kingdom condemnation not just from other nations but its own nobles.
"After the plague incident, we led the racial council..."
But what could they say when we couldn't even police our own?
Still, this was fortunate.
There would be damage since sacrifices had already happened, but we'd excised the kingdom's tumors like Sasdin with our own power.
There'd be a hit, but our position in the racial alliance wouldn't slip much.
"We can never thank the Sage enough. Lukel. Did the Sage ask for anything specific as reward?"
"None."
What a peculiar man. Doing so much for the kingdom without greed.
"But what is he doing now? He usually attends these meetings..."
"Uh..."
Lukel groaned briefly before answering awkwardly.
"He's at Tosdino Ranch... tending sheep."
"...What?"
Tosdino Ranch was a large ranch near the capital, supplying wool and lamb.
Wool was in high demand, but good shepherds were hard to find.
So the ranch often hired strong, capable adventurers for shepherd quests.
It was a D-rank level quest at best, one adventurers avoided.
For the Sage—who saved the kingdom and could erase spirits—to do such a trivial task.
"Ha."
Thinking of the Sage just made me laugh.
Impossible to pin down.
What did he want? What was he aiming for?
Everyone in the room racked their brains, but no answer came.
"Urgh... Anyway, to keep the Sage in the kingdom longer..."
It was then.
The conference room door burst open, drawing all eyes.
*Clack. Clack.*
Boots clicked on the marble floor, revealing slender legs clad in white uniform pants.
Firm thighs supporting voluptuous hips. A slim waist that contrasted sharply.
Even wrapped in luxurious white uniform, the prominent chest couldn't be hidden.
The beauty with black bob-cut hair brushing her shoulders knelt on one knee, and the queen tilted her head.
"I greet Your Majesty the Queen."
Polite, yet cold voice.
Staring at the young ice-like beauty's stoic expression, the queen sighed.
"Come in. Marquis Raysi Tralman. Thank you for this matter."
Raysi Tralman.
A woman dubbed "Iron Blood" who, a few years ago, outshone her prominent brothers to become head of House Tralman.
With exceptional talent leading young nobles, and swordsmanship like a dance earning her the moniker "Sword Dance," revered by swordsmen across the continent, she spoke in her usual businesslike tone.
"No need to feel burdened for helping the Sage. He is my close friend and business partner."
"I see. You've been so tied up consolidating your house that you rarely left your territory, even ignoring royal orders. What brings you here?"
To the queen's slightly sharp question, Raysi answered calmly.
"I wish to become engaged, at least on the surface, to the Sage, my close friend. I beseech the royal family to permit it."
At those words, the queen furrowed her brow again and sighed deeply, as if the ground would cave in.
They'd just surmounted one massive mountain, only for another to appear.
Author's Note
See you at 10~!!