novelraw Chapter 34 : Chapter 34
Chapter 34 : Chapter 34
Chapter 34. Moltke (2)
There were numerous magic potions in PP, but the one Noemi had obtained was special.
‘As long as you succeed in making them drink it, you can use the dragon who drank the potion as a slave for life.’
There was no madman who used that on Anticus, but quite a few users raised dragons through that potion.
They used them as mounts or raised them as pets.
This was because, in the world of PP where the concept of portals did not exist, there was no more efficient means of transportation than a dragon.
However, I had once accidentally drunk this myself.
I had double-clicked while the potion was designated to Frank.
‘The result of it being the only potion that could lift the Demon King’s curse was something I had never expected.’ It wasn't a perfect solution, but it was true that it had partially lifted the Demon King’s curse, which I had thought was impossible.
The problem was whether I should drink this myself.
Or if I should make Anticus drink it.
When Noemi had informed me of the potion’s existence, after some thought, I had chosen to drink it myself. Not only was secretly making Anticus drink it not the right thing to do, but also, ‘The center of this story is me and my daughters.’
Turning Anticus into a slave would not change the difficulty to very easy.
But the situation was a little different now.
Moltke wanted the support of the dragons.
If I were to make Anticus a slave, all the dragons she led would follow my orders.
Isn't there a saying like that?
To command the soldiers, you must first command the general.
Moreover, Anticus was the queen of the dragons.
I didn’t know much about Primus, whom I had never encountered, but at the very least, a Demon King-level opponent would be no problem.
However.
‘No matter how much I think about it, this doesn’t seem right.’
I was a father raising three daughters.
Although Anticus wasn't my daughter, her appearance was that of a mere 10-year-old girl.
Was it okay to do something so cruel to her?
In a game, she was just a virtual character on a monitor, so there was nothing holding me back from doing whatever I wanted, but this was no longer a game.
‘Trampling on Anticus' heart in such a way would not be the right thing for a person to do.’
From the perspective of a father raising daughters, what's wrong is wrong.
Having steeled my resolve, I opened my mouth with a serious face.
“No matter how much I think about it, the second condition is difficult.”
Moltke retorted with a disappointed look.
“You’re just repeating what you said earlier. Tsk. You’d do well to remember clearly that you were the one who rejected my proposal.”
He narrowed his eyes and scanned my face like a snake.
But my heart was at ease.
How could I call myself a Hero if I were to abandon my humanity?
‘This is the end of my conversation with him. I’ll have no choice but to control the Marquis using Saintess Isabel.’
As I was thinking this, Moltke suddenly threw out these words.
“Then how about this?”
“How about what?”
“Send Adel to marry my son. Then we can become a blood alliance, bound by blood.”
What?
Hand over Adel? Is this guy for real?
He continued to chatter on, saying this seemed like a better method.
“Actually, if Bruno failed, I was planning to pass the position of Finance Minister to my son. But since things have turned out this way, you’ll have to appease my son. Our son will be satisfied with Adel.”
“Through Adel’s abilities and fame, our son will be able to possess even stronger power. Haha.”
What in the world is he talking about?
It seemed the Marquis had been considering the possibility of Bruno’s failure.
‘It seems he was planning to use Bruno as a scapegoat.’
To think he planned to kick Bruno out of the royal palace, since he couldn’t kill a high-ranking noble carelessly, and give the vacant spot to his own son.
The more I thought about it, the more it gave me chills.
And what?
To marry my precious Adel to his son?
Why was that?
An unbearable anger surged from the depths of my heart.
“If you say one more word……”
“Hmm?”
“You won’t be able to return home in one piece.”
I lowered my voice to a deep growl and glared at him fiercely.
If I had my way, I would have drawn my sword and cut out his heart right then and there,
but I endured with extreme patience.
‘This son of a bitch, worse than an animal. How dare he covet Adel?’
I could not give my daughter to anyone.
Not even if it was God.
My daddy power was beginning to explode.
***
After Moltke left my house as if fleeing.
I leaned back in my chair and stared blankly out the window.
‘What is what.’
Was this the right thing to do?
Although I was a former Hero, now my power was sealed, making me a nobody.
On the other hand, Moltke was the highest-ranking noble in the kingdom.
Guilty if you have no money, innocent if you do.
This was a society with a strict class system.
The truth didn’t matter.
A world where a person of high status was innocent, and a person of low status was guilty.
Despite that.
I couldn’t forgive that bastard.
I had tried to save him through my own kind of negotiation, but he had suddenly bared his fangs at me.
While I was contemplating how to get rid of him.
The door suddenly opened, and Anonymous came in.
‘What’s so funny to her?’
She laughed cheerfully and approached my side.
“Keke. You’re really cool.”
“What is?”
“If you had just persuaded me and said a word to help that fellow, I would have listened. Were you being considerate of me?”
Considerate? It was different from that.
I just thought it wasn't a humane thing to do.
But Anonymous, who didn’t know about the existence of the potion, said she liked it and continuously stroked my head.
“I’m not in the mood for jokes. Please stop.”
“That’s when patting is even more important. Stop talking back and stay still.”
“If you do it more, I’ll get angry.”
“Tch. You stubborn mule.”
She distanced herself from me slightly and moved to my front.
She looked into my eyes without a word.
“Aren’t you curious how I know what happened in here?”
Come to think of it, it was strange.
Her room was on the second floor.
It was on a different floor and in the complete opposite direction from the room I was in.
Did she eavesdrop on the conversation from outside the door?
I tilted my head and asked back.
“How do you know?”
She made a satisfied face, as if I had finally asked the question she wanted.
“Dragons have sharp ears. Especially a great dragon like me can hear sounds from several kilometers away.”
Damn it. From now on, I’ll have to ask Adel to put up a soundproof barrier.
At this rate, my privacy wouldn’t be respected at all.
‘She didn’t happen to overhear the conversation Noemi and I had, did she?’
The story about discovering the magic potion in the ancient ruins.
But her expression was innocent.
It seemed she didn’t know that much.
I subtly changed the subject.
“It’s true that the Lombard Kingdom is strengthening its army. They will surely aim for the Marquis' domain first.”
“Hoot. That’s none of my business. As long as I am here, I will not allow anyone to approach.”
“Does that mean you will only protect this place and neglect the Marquis' domain?”
Anonymous perched on the edge of the desk and shrugged her shoulders.
“Because that’s not my territory.”
Her answer was quite firm.
In any case, as long as she was here, the possibility of Rarc Village being harmed was low.
It was just that I was concerned that Adel might be dragged there if a war broke out.
To think I would miss having Noemi, who could see the future, by my side this much.
By the way, she had no intention of getting down from the desk at all.
“If you have anything to discuss in the future, feel free to tell me anytime. Am I not the only existence who can give you humans a solution?”
She looked like a 10-year-old kid, but anyone watching would think she was my mother.
And yet, why did I feel a sense of relief just by having this little-kid-looking being here?
I felt an unknown confidence in her gaze and nodded my head.
***
Pavia, the capital of the Lombard Kingdom.
A bizarre incident was taking place here right now.
“Uuuuugh.”
Alboin, the king of Lombard, was drooling with a dazed expression on his face.
He was the king of kings.
A man who had conquered countless lands and even earned the title of conquering monarch.
But now, he was only groaning as if he had lost his mind.
An old man was standing next to him.
He was known to the world as Clapo, the chancellor of the Lombard Kingdom.
But his true form was not human.
In the original version, he was Dekal, one of the Four Heavenly Kings of the New Demon Tribe, transformed into a human.
“Huhu. Humans are too, too easy. If you just brainwash the king, the rest will take care of itself.”
In fact, even if he hadn't come here, Alboin would have waged war with the Benedict Kingdom sooner or later.
But that alone wouldn't be enough to bring down the Benedict Kingdom, where the Hero was holding out.
Thus, he had not only trained a much larger number of soldiers.
He had also deployed some of the Demon Tribe, transformed into humans like himself.
With this much military power, it would only be a matter of time before the Benedict Kingdom was erased from the map.
“I had to endure for a whole five years. This time, I will crush them thoroughly.”
Soon, Nox, whom he served as his master, would ascend to the throne of the Demon King.
Dekal muttered with a wicked smile.
“It’s starting now. I will absolutely not repeat my last mistake.”
His evil eyes glinted sharply.
***
“Wow. How long has it been?”
“You’re as beautiful as ever. Your skin seems to have gotten even better.”
“That’s enough with the jokes. It’s just caked with makeup.”
“Caked! Is it okay for a Saintess to say something like that?”
Saintess Isabel replied with a gentle smile.
“I’m only like this because I’m in front of you. By the way, why is Noemi here?”
Rude briefly considered telling the truth, then dismissed the thought.
‘Frank said I must not reveal this fact to anyone. Isabel seems okay, but it’s probably best to keep it a secret for now.’
He put on a good-natured face and gave a vague excuse.
“I came to see if there might be ancient ruins in the Baesin Desert.”
“Really? Well, you have been interested in ruins for a long time. But will you be okay?”
“What about?”
“You have claustrophobia, don’t you? Some ruins are narrow, isn’t it too dangerous?"
Recalling the ruins in the Baesin Desert, Rude gave a bitter smile and held his tongue.
He couldn't tell his former comrade, Saintess Isabel, what kind of ordeal he had gone through there.
‘I’d be teased about it forever then.’
Rude asked in return.
“What about you, what are you doing here? It must have taken a long time just to get here.”
“Ah. I had some business.”
“Business? What kind of business would require the Saintess to come in person? It doesn't seem like an ordinary matter.”
As Rude narrowed his eyes and looked at Saintess Isabel, she revealed her inner thoughts as if she had no choice.
To Saintess Isabel, Rude was a trusted ally.
“I was summoned by Cardinal Daniel.”
“Daniel? Isn’t he famous for prophesying the appearance of the Demon King? Why? Did a new Demon King appear?”
Saintess Isabel quietly shook her head.
“The details are confidential, so I can’t tell you, but it seems something even worse has appeared.”
“What? There’s something worse than the Demon King?”
“I can tell you this for sure. We might be facing a major event that we have never experienced before. This is just the calm before the storm.”
Then, she brought up the story about the Unseen Ones.
“You must know them well. The leader of the Unseen Ones is here right now.”
“What?”
“But they’re coming on so strong that the cardinals’ opposition is quite fierce. Haa. We have to join hands with them somehow to overcome this crisis.”
The leader of the Unseen Ones.
Wasn’t that Iris, whom he had parted with just a while ago?
Although Iris hadn’t revealed with her own mouth that she was the leader of the Unseen Ones, Rude could roughly guess the fact by instinct.
But from Saintess Isabel’s expression, it seemed she didn’t know this.
“Wait a minute. Iris is here?”
“Whaat? Iris? What are you talking about?”
Rude ended up explaining everything about why he and Noemi were here.
Saintess Isabel made a surprised face, then slowly nodded.
Her situational judgment was fast, as if to prove she wasn't the Saintess for nothing.
“No wonder I thought her face looked familiar somewhere. So that was the situation.”
“What are you going to do?”
“I think it would be best to meet her separately right now.”
“Will that be okay?”
Rude asked worriedly, but Saintess Isabel smiled gently.
“It’s none other than Iris. She’s like a daughter to me. Of course, you are too.”
Saintess Isabel also gave a benevolent smile to Noemi.
Although there was no change in Noemi’s expression.
***
Iris was flustered.
Just before the 6th meeting was to be held.
It was because Saintess Isabel had come into her room.
‘What is she thinking? She wasn't like this before.’
While Daniel, who had brought her to this room, left the room with a strange expression,
Saintess Isabel delivered a shocking statement.
“Iris. What on earth are you thinking?”
“……?!”
What? How does she know my identity?
Could it be that Daniel betrayed us?
Cold sweat dripped ceaselessly from her fingertips.