novelraw Chapter 22 : Chapter 22
Chapter 22 : Chapter 22
Chapter 22. Iris (2)
The noble system of the Benedict Kingdom was a bit peculiar.
The surrounding nations followed a feudal system.
In other words, it was common for the king to rule the central region while the feudal lords governed the remaining lands.
However, in the Benedict Kingdom, when a feudal lord was appointed as a central official,
they had to leave their own land and perform their duties in the capital.
For this reason, Finance Minister Count Bruno was also staying in the capital, Tournai.
"When the Saintess leaves, an opportunity will come. Hehe. This is it!"
Bruno laughed cunningly as he burned the letter sent by Marquis Moltke in the candlelight.
For some reason he didn't know, Marquis Moltke had recently been staking his life on stripping Frank of his noble title.
‘Until recently, he had entrusted the matter of Frank to me and just watched from the sidelines, but suddenly his attitude has changed. Is there a reason?’
However, Bruno didn't ponder on it too deeply.
Whatever it was, as long as he could attack Frank, it didn't matter who became his ally.
Bruno plunged a dagger into a paper with Frank's face drawn on it and lifted Adel's portrait.
A victor's smile was plastered on his face.
‘Once Frank is defeated, Adel is mine.’
If Frank were to be ousted from his position as a baron, he would also lose the qualification to sponsor the Children of God.
At that time, he could just protect Adel and take her as his wife.
Adel was merely a knight, so she couldn't refuse his request.
"Now that I've even won over Alvarez, there's nothing you can do, Frank. Hehe. I want to see his face soon. Go ahead and struggle to your heart's content, writhing in agony."
The reason for his confidence was the letter from Alvarez that the Marquis had enclosed.
The reason Frank received the title of baron was not simply because he was the hero who defeated the Demon King.
There was a hidden meaning that he should look after the Children of God as their sponsor.
But if the fact that he neglected his daughters became known, even the king would no longer be able to defend Frank.
"As soon as the Saintess leaves, I will begin your public execution."
Of course, he didn't mean he would literally kill Frank.
After all, Frank was the former hero who had defeated the Demon King.
It was absurd to kill him for something like this.
However, stripping him of his title would be no problem at all.
"Yes. That alone will be the end of you."
Bruno couldn't stop laughing as he imagined a future where he took Adel as his bride.
Little did he know that this act would ultimately lead to his own downfall.
***
Meanwhile, Marquis Moltke, who, like Bruno, was sipping wine in his residence in Tournai, wore a relaxed smile.
"Huhu. By now, Bruno must be excitedly making a scene. The foolish fellow, not even knowing he's just a pawn."
Stripping Frank of his title?
There were no legal issues, but the people would not stand by and let their hero be touched.
"In the end, he'll become the scapegoat and return to his domain as if fleeing. Thanks to that, the position of Finance Minister will become vacant."
A wicked smile spread across Moltke's lips.
He could just hand that position over to his son.
However, there was something that bothered him in a corner of his mind.
The suspicious being who provided him with all this information.
He had no idea who it was.
"Who on earth is helping me like this? Didn't the letter come from the Durani Empire?"
The Durani Empire and the Benedict Kingdom had a long-standing antagonistic relationship.
Because of the distance, there had never been a military conflict, but they were by no means on good terms.
And yet, this person knew the internal affairs of the kingdom, as well as the secret that the Saintess would soon be leaving the capital.
He had introduced himself as a great merchant from the Durani Empire and had sent various riches, saying he wanted to build a friendship with him, a high-ranking official of the Benedict Kingdom.
The amount was so large that it was by no means inferior even when compared to the annual harvest of his domain.
That wasn't the end of it.
"He recommended Alvarez, saying he wanted to get close to me. He said I could get good information if I sweet-talked the fellow."
Moltke was a man of great suspicion.
No matter how many riches were offered, he wouldn't be easily swayed by that alone.
Moreover, wasn't the Durani Empire practically at loggerheads with the northern continent where the Benedict Kingdom was located?
Riches were good, but it would be troublesome if unnecessary rumors arose.
But when he approached Alvarez, whom the person had recommended, he was able to obtain unexpected information.
"To think the second daughter ran away long ago, and recently even the youngest has disappeared. Huhu. Then the story is different. There is no better move to pressure Frank than this."
Of course, there was no need to get his own hands dirty.
After all, Frank was a hero to the entire nation.
Thus, he was instigating Bruno to lead this matter from behind the scenes.
"Furthermore, he even provided information that the Saintess might be leaving this place soon due to internal problems within the Goddess Cult. Who could it be? Who could know such things in such detail?"
The Goddess Cult was the state religion of the Benedict Kingdom, but it adhered to strict secrecy regarding its internal affairs. Among them, the whereabouts of the Saintess, who was at its center, was a secret no one could know.
But the other party had already grasped that much, so it was clear they were no ordinary person.
"It's unsettling, but for now, it's best to accept the goodwill. They didn't ask for anything specific from me in the first place."
Moltke tilted his wine glass again.
This was a special wine that the other party had sent as a gift.
He was a wine aficionado, but this was his first time with such a drink.
"For some reason, the more I drink it, the more the taste and aroma come alive. How on earth was it made?"
Moltke narrowed his eyes and stared at the wine glass.
The wine, slowly trickling down the wall of the glass, was characterized by its deep, blood-red color and sticky viscosity.
It was a drink that pleased him to no end.
"Hmph. Once Frank's title is revoked, the mine he's developing will fall into my hands. I can use that money to procure this wine to my heart's content."
Marquis Moltke savored the last remaining wine with a sinister smile.
Unaware that he himself was becoming addicted to the wine.
Moltke believed he was a cut above Bruno, but there was only a difference in greed and calculation.
In the end, both were nothing more than Villain A in the world of PP.
A week had passed since Adel cut Anonymous' hair.
But since then, their training had ceased.
This was because Anonymous had said she would upgrade Anceps and hadn't come out of the forge for days.
I comforted Adel, who was staring blankly at the garden.
"Anonymous won't bring the sword right away just because you do that, so take it easy."
"Hooo. Still."
"It's a sword she's making. She'll surely want to make it the best, so it will take a long time."
"But Anceps is good enough as it is, isn't it? There's no better sword than them."
Adel pouted, puffing out her cheeks.
‘Cute.’
Unconsciously, the face of a pleased middle-aged man formed on my face.
Now she finally looked a bit like the Adel from the game that I knew.
‘At first, I was worried because she seemed so different from the Adel I knew, but it's a relief.’
With a gentle smile, I subtly made a suggestion.
"Would you like a drink?"
"A drink?"
Adel's eyes widened in surprise.
"You're an adult now, aren't you? It's best to learn how to drink from your parents for the first time."
"Then... I'll have just a little."
As Elliot tried to slip away, looking for cues, I shook my head and said.
"I'll prepare it myself."
"You, Master?"
"Yes."
There was an event like this in the game too.
The scene where Frank personally made a simple dish and shared it with his daughters.
‘More importantly, I'm quite the cook, I tell you.’
Ten years of living alone.
My cooking skills were bound to improve.
Why wouldn't they?
Even when eating the same ramen, one would want to eat it more nutritiously and deliciously.
Naturally, I used to put in all sorts of ingredients and enjoy a hearty dish.
Leaving Elliot behind, I came to the kitchen and, after some thought, decided to make what I often enjoyed eating: so-ya.
In other words, stir-fried sausage and vegetables.
‘There's nothing like so-ya for a side dish with drinks. Yep. That's right.’
This was a dish that had already been verified many times.
Whether it was a school festival or a gathering of friends, so-ya always brought me praise.
"Hey. You should just open a restaurant. Why are you so good at cooking?"
"Hyun-soo's so-ya is the real deal."
"Kuh. You're better than my mom. Hyun-soo hyung. You wanna be our family cook?"
Those crazy bastards.
Recalling the cheerfulness of my friends, I cut the sausage and vegetables into appropriate sizes with a pleasant smile.
"Let's see. I have all the other ingredients, but I don't have the sauce ingredients."
The key to so-ya was none other than the sauce.
Ketchup, gochujang, soy sauce. And the harmony of sugar and oyster sauce created that taste.
But in PP, which was based on medieval Europe, such things were not easily obtainable.
"For ketchup, I can just grind tomatoes, mushrooms, and walnuts, strain them, and add sugar and salt, but the other sauces are the problem. For now, I'll have to substitute with what I have."
While making instant ketchup, I created my own special dish by generously adding a sauce with a taste similar to Worcestershire sauce and sugar instead of gochujang.
A moment later.
The PP version of so-ya, exuding a fragrant aroma, and a top-grade wine appeared on a single plate.
Seeing it, Adel exclaimed with a surprised face.
"Did you make this yourself, Father?"
"Yes. It's not the recipe I originally knew, but the taste isn't bad."
"No way! You know how to cook too, Father?"
I chuckled and shook my head.
"You don't bring a cook along when you're going to defeat a Demon King. I can make simple dishes myself."
"I see. Then I'll try some."
"By all means."
Adel, with a face full of anticipation, picked up a sausage coated in the special sauce with a fork and took a mouthful.
What kind of reaction would she show?
‘It's not the taste I knew, but it wasn't bad in its own way.’
The problem was whether it would suit Adel's palate.
But what was this?
Clang.
The fork fell from Adel's hand, and she put on an incredibly serious expression.
No, why? Was my food that bad? Suddenly, my confidence plummeted.
I didn't make something I shouldn't have, did I? Adel considered herself a gourmet.
***
She had to give up everything else to endure her father's extreme training, but she couldn't give up delicious food.
But what was this taste? ‘It’s a f-first. A dish like this!’
A sweet yet sour and salty aftertaste.
And why were the sausages and vegetables, which were just ordinary food, so delicious? It was a taste that made one crave alcohol.
Without her father's permission, she poured wine into her glass and took a sip.
Kuhh.
This was the taste.
This was why adults drank wine every day.
No. It wasn't that the alcohol was delicious, but they drank because there was a side dish that called for alcohol.
One sip of wine, one bite of the side dish.
As she ate voraciously, her father burst out laughing.
"Is it that delicious?"
There was no time to answer.
Her father watched her and continued.
"Eat slowly. You might get indigestion. By the way, it's a good thing that drink isn't here."
"Munch, munch. That dink?"
"Yes. There's a wicked drink from the Durani Empire called Infernus that gets people addicted."
Adel stopped eating and tilted her head.
"Isn't alcohol inherently an addictive substance?"
"That's true, but Infernus is different. It's the same as a drug."
At the word 'drug,' Adel put on a serious expression.
Without even knowing that her lips were covered in dark red sauce.
"I heard the Durani Empire is a nation of drugs."
"Yes. It's a place where they paralyze the reason of the people with drugs, and chicanery is rampant at the top. I don't know if Iris will be okay."
Her father's face was filled with more worry than ever.
‘As expected, Father was also worried about Iris, knowingly or not.’
Among the three sisters, the one who received the least of her father's attention was the second, Iris.
She was not particularly talented in either swordsmanship or magic.
So she thought she would be completely forgotten the moment she left home, but the fact that her father still cared for such an Iris warmed her heart.
‘Come to think of it, Father was the first to try and leave this place to bring her back. It was because of me that he was tied down.’
Adel corrected her posture and was about to tell him not to worry too much.
Right at that moment.
"What on earth is this smell? Someone's been hammering away all day in a cramped, hot forge, and you're secretly drinking without me?"
Master Anonymous came storming into the room.
She looked like a ten-year-old kid, but the way she spoke was no different from an old man.
Moreover, in her two hands was an Anceps that looked somewhat different.
Anceps, which at a glance, now exuded a sacred atmosphere like a holy sword, not a demonic sword.
But for some reason, An and Ceps clung to her, crying their eyes out.
What on earth had happened? Adel walked towards the entrance with a bitter smile.
The master of Anceps was none other than her.
It would be a lie if she said she wasn't curious about how much the sword had changed.