novelraw Chapter 50 : Chapter 50
Chapter 50 : Chapter 50
Chapter 50. Mammon (4)
Moltke was the highest-ranking noble, excluding royalty.
He did not frown over something like this.
Of course, his inner thoughts were different.
‘Damn it. I've encountered an unexpected ambush. But I must remain as calm as possible. I can't break down here.’
If he stalled for time somehow, a chance would surely come.
The Lombard Kingdom would soon start a war.
‘I don't know for what reason they're arresting me, but they won't have any physical evidence either. I can just deny it.’
Thinking that, he arrived at the king's office, but an unexpected person was in front of his eyes.
Frank was standing proudly next to the king.
‘H-how is he here?’
Other than him and the Saintess, only the king's royal guards were visible.
Not a single other noble was in sight.
‘This is disadvantageous. There are no nobles to help me, are there?’
As his back grew damp with cold sweat.
The king's stern reprimand pierced his ears.
“You scoundrel! Did you think you would be safe after betraying the kingdom!”
“It-it's a misunderstanding, Your Majesty!”
“I have heard everything from Frank. To think you would so brazenly walk in here on your own two feet after joining hands with the Lombard Kingdom!”
Moltke argued that it was absolutely not true, but the king did not listen to his words.
‘Where did the information leak from? Was there someone among my subordinates who was in contact with Frank?’
It was true that the mages of the Lombard Kingdom had attacked the dragon's paradise, but his own soldiers were not included.
Of course, a large number of Lombard soldiers were stationed within the marquisate, but he had tried to maintain secrecy as much as possible.
Moltke raised his voice, claiming he was being wronged.
“I believe there is some misunderstanding, Your Majesty.”
“What misunderstanding! Can you still say that after seeing this!”
Charles VII showed him a document that detailed the location of the Lombard soldiers' lodgings and their numbers.
“When did I ever order you to let them in without an inspection? This is clear evidence of treason.”
Moltke swallowed dryly and continued to shake his head.
“Anyone can forge a document like this. I am innocent!”
Then, Frank strode towards him.
It felt like facing the god of death.
“Wh-what are you trying to do!”
However, the man put something on his wrist without a word.
Clank.
“What is this?”
“A tool that will reveal your sins in full detail.”
“Ha?”
He glared with a dumbfounded expression, but the man opened his mouth with an unfazed face.
“Is it true that you were in contact with the Lombard Kingdom?”
Moltke clicked his tongue inwardly and was about to say no.
Does he think I'm a fool?
But his lips moved on their own.
“It is true.”
Huh? What just happened?
While he was completely confused, the man rapidly threw additional questions.
“For what reason did you betray the kingdom?”
“I joined hands with them with the intention of kicking out the incompetent king and becoming king myself. Above all, because I could kill a detestable bastard like you.”
Heok.
His inner thoughts flowed out on their own.
While Bruno, who was next to him, was trembling and didn't know what to do.
Frank relentlessly interrogated him.
What was the military strength of the Lombard Kingdom? When would they attack the Benedict Kingdom?
What were their main troop types and weapons, and so on.
Most of it were facts he didn't know, so he answered that he didn't know, but at the point where he had confessed to colluding with the enemy, his death was as good as decided.
The king looked straight into his eyes with a solemn face and shouted.
“Lock that man in prison at once! I don't even want to see his face.”
“Y-Your Majesty! I am innocent! This is clearly a conspiracy! There are those who are trying to frame me!”
Regardless.
Frank collected the bracelet from his wrist and, smiling brightly, just waved his hand as if to say goodbye.
***
A short while later.
I left the royal palace and moved to the cathedral.
The fact that I was here was a matter that should not be known to the outside.
If other nobles found out, they would seize the opportunity and raise their voices to punish me.
Wasn't it to reveal the marquis' atrocities?
It was the same in the world I used to live in, but it was the business of the political world to seize and cling to even the slightest opening of the opponent.
‘If I get entangled in a pointless problem, it will only be troublesome for me.’
I talked with Isabel about the marquis.
“What will happen to Moltke?”
“He will be executed soon according to the kingdom's law.”
“That's a relief. If we let him live, it will only leave behind unnecessary embers.”
Isabel slowly nodded her head and said that the other nobles wouldn't be able to rashly help him either.
“It's what the marquis confessed to himself, and it's related to treason, so no one will be able to defend the marquis. At the earliest, the date of the marquis' execution will be decided within this week.”
“Your help was great, Saintess.”
“What did I do? From one to ten. This was all your work.”
She handed me a bundle of gold coins.
“This is?”
“It is the reward His Majesty the King has bestowed. You were the one who first reported the marquis' treason, so please take it without feeling burdened.”
Counting roughly, it was an amount exceeding 1,000 gold coins.
It was an amount equivalent to 10 years of child-rearing expenses.
‘The reward is generous because it's related to treason.’
Refusing money given as a reward is something only a fool would do.
I said I would use it well and handed it to Anonymous.
In Princess Produce, there was no separate subspace, so you had to carry all your money with you.
“Does His Majesty know about the appearance of Primus?”
“I haven't told him yet.”
“It would be better to tell him quickly. The fate of the entire world, not just the kingdom, is at stake.”
It was highly likely that Primus existed behind the Lombard Kingdom.
Otherwise, a high-ranking Demon Tribe member wouldn't have suddenly appeared.
Isabel nodded her head with a heavy face.
“Primus alone is a headache, but with the Lombard Kingdom involved, it's even more complicated.”
“A war may break out between the two countries soon. We should also prepare for it.”
If the marquis' execution is decided, this news will soon reach the ears of the Lombard Kingdom.
If so, we don't know when they will invade here.
At the point where their ambitions have been revealed, there would be no reason to hesitate any longer.
‘I must return to Rarc Village as soon as possible and strengthen the village's defenses.’
If the marquis' position becomes vacant, the marquisate would also be as good as empty land.
If so, Rarc Village would transform into the kingdom's northernmost region as well as the easternmost border region.
“I think I should get going. I don't know when a war might break out, so it would be best for me to quickly return to my territory.”
“Frank!”
As I was about to get up and leave, Isabel caught me.
I wondered what she was trying to say and stared into her eyes, but she just blushed.
She didn't say anything.
Her lips moved as if to say something, but it didn't connect to a sound.
‘Does she have something to say to me?’
Like that, we stared at each other's faces for about five minutes without a word.
‘She's really pretty.’
If you were to line up the women of this world in order of beauty, she would be in the top 5%.
“Haa. It’s nothing. Please return safely.”
Her face was full of disappointment.
***
After Frank and Anonymous left her room.
Isabel constantly sighed and blamed herself.
‘You fool. Why couldn't you hold on to him.’
It wasn't intentional, but she had conveyed her feelings to Frank.
So she should have at least asked what Frank thought of her.
‘Why am I so foolish. I had to hide my feelings even when we broke up, and I'm just repeating the same mistake.’
Until now, she had tried hard to deny his existence, but after speaking the words out loud, her heart burned like fire and she just kept going back and forth.
‘Is it right to hold on to him even now?’
If it were now, he probably wouldn't have left the royal palace yet.
Because Anonymous wouldn't be able to transform into a dragon inside the royal palace.
But that was also for a moment.
‘No. Who am I to hold on to him. It's just a thing of the past.’
In a crisis situation like this, could she throw away her position as a Saintess?
That was just an evasion of responsibility.
If she left this place, the cooperation with the Unseen Ones that she had worked so hard to achieve would become nothing.
‘Is this also your trial? You're really too much.’
Isabel looked up at the ceiling and resented the Goddess.
It was a thought that a Saintess should never have, but the only target to vent her anger on was the Goddess.
‘This is not something I can reveal to others.’
Isabel shook her head back and forth and pondered and pondered on how she could endure this period of storm and stress.
Her heart ached as if it would tear apart.
***
After parting with Isabel, I headed to the basement instead of going outside.
“Where are you going?”
“I'm going to meet Mammon.”
“Eh? You're going to see him again?”
“Yes. Because there's one more item I need to get from him.”
If I return to Rarc Village, it's hard to say when I'll be able to come here again.
In the game, if you decided where to go, you could move in an instant as the date changed, but this was reality.
‘I can't waste time carelessly. I'll finish my business as quickly as possible and return to the village.’
Besides, since I received an unexpected amount of money from Isabel, it would be good to use it here.
It was an amount that would only be a burden to carry around anyway.
Rarc Village had already become a place overflowing with money from the gold mine.
Standing at the entrance of the ancient ruins, I took out the key I had received from Charles VII from my bosom.
Anonymous asked back, saying that she didn't have the Saintess' key.
I quietly shook my head.
“For someone who has entered this place once, it doesn't matter if there's only one key.”
Fortunately, Charles VII did not ask me to return the key, and I had no intention of returning it either.
I needed this to be able to come and go from this place as if it were my own room in the future.
If he were to ask for the key back, I could just hand him a replica.
‘I can't return such a precious item.’
This was for the peace of the world, so the King would understand.
We used the side path we had used before.
We went down to the lowest floor at a rapid speed.
Mammon, while having a surprised face this time as well, also welcomed us.
“Well, who do we have here? You really came back?”
He felt like a puppy wagging its tail after meeting its owner who had left home.
He sniffed the air as if smelling something and also said these words.
“Sniff, sniff. I smell gold coins somewhere. What's the business today?”
I let out a chuckle and got to the point.
“There is an item I want to get.”
“Hey. Don't be like that, tell me some news from the outside. I'm curious how things have changed.”
Mammon said these words with sparkling eyes, but he was soon subdued by Anonymous.
“If you say one more word, I'll cut your throat right away. You seductive demon.”
“Tsk. I wasn't talking to you.”
“I'm gonna kill you for real!”
“S-stop! I don't like fighting. If you want to fight, fight with other people.”
Mammon protected his face with both hands as if he didn't want to get hit and trembled.
It seemed that his personality from the game hadn't changed.
“If you don't want to get hit, you'd better listen to her. I'll give you this, so quickly bring the Armor of Reflection.”
Jingle.
I took out the bundle of money I received from Isabel and threw it at him.
Mammon counted it one by one and licked his lips.
“Hee. You're rich? I like you more and more. But what should I do? The item you mentioned is a bit expensive.”
“Don't be ridiculous. The Armor of Reflection is enough with eight hundred gold coins. I don't need the change, so don't play around and bring it right now.”
“Whoa. Are you a merchant? How do you know the price of the item so well?”
He wore a surprised expression and soon brought the item I had mentioned.
The Armor of Reflection.
Literally, it was an invincible armor that reflected all kinds of attacks with a 50% probability.
Whether it was a physical attack or a magical attack, ‘As long as I wear this, I'll be fine.’
It didn't just reflect it, but it returned it to the attacker as it was, which was as good as the opponent being hit by their own technique.
Originally, it was one of the items that had to be obtained right before facing the Demon King, but there was no harm in getting it in advance.
Mammon watched me put on the Armor of Reflection and said these words.
“Are you going to hunt the Demon King or something? Why do you need that?”
I shook my head and brought up Primus' name.
“Do you happen to know someone named Primus?”
“Wh-what? What did you just say?”
“I said Primus.”
“Fuuuuck!! Get out right now! Why did you have to bring up the name of the guy I hate the most! Damn it. This won't do. I need to strengthen the traps.”
Mammon panicked, shouting at the top of his lungs.
Did the name Primus touch a trauma of his?
Curious, I continued to talk to him.
“It seems you have some bad memories with Primus. How about it? Will you make a deal with me?”
“What deal! Didn't you hear me say to get out right now! I've never had a good experience getting involved with him. You better not say I gave you that item, okay?”
Hoo. This is getting interesting.
I thought that I might be able to make even an archdemon like Mammon an ally.