Chapter 103 The Dwarf Mountains and the Crowley Family
Edited by: Kanaa-senpai
My next move.
Contact with the dwarf tribe.
Their nation, Eisen, is built into the rugged mountain range that stretches west of the Elven Forest, Sylvain.
To the south of Eisen lies the vast territory of the Crowley Duchy. And further southwest lies a troublesome monster spawn point.
Managing that spawn point. Overseeing the prickly dwarf tribe.
According to this country’s official stance, the Crowley Duchy handles both of these responsibilities.
Unlike the forest-dwelling elves, the dwarves aren’t openly hostile toward humans. In fact, under the Crowley family’s skilled governance, they’ve established a relationship of coexistence.
The dwarves craft unparalleled weapons and exquisite decorative goods.
The Crowley family purchases them exclusively—at ridiculously low prices—and rakes in enormous profits through resale.
Furthermore, by taking on the monster subjugation in the area between their territory and Eisen, the Crowley family cloaks their management and exploitation of the dwarves as if it were a legitimate duty and fair compensation.
I was considering commissioning those dwarves to craft a new personal weapon.
To make that happen, I first needed to clear things with the Crowley family, who governed them. That’s why I’d gathered detailed information from Cecilia and Lizel.
Bartholomeus Crowley. The first son of the Crowley family and a student at the Royal Academy of Magic. He’s apparently a member of the student council.
His appearance, as described to me, is that classic “golden-haired, blue-eyed handsome young man”—but generously plumped up. Apparently, he looks like my shady business partner, the slave trader Balthazar, if he’d been seriously cleaned up.
Though he comes from the high-ranking noble house of duke, his abilities are so-so. In the game script I know, he’s a mob character—his name doesn’t even appear once.
But here, a certain piece of my memory clicked into place.
In a certain scenario of the game, that Elenor ends up marrying through a political marriage.
And her betrothed is the Crowley family.
If the marriage fails due to our interference—us being the rebel forces—then the Crowley family won’t be able to handle the large-scale monster assault. Their territory will be ravaged, and they’ll suffer significant losses in combat strength.
But if Elenor’s engagement to the Crowley family goes through smoothly—
She would take command of the defenses. She’d hold the line against the hordes of monsters that the Final Boss Xenos (me) stirs up with his schemes, minimizing the damage.
In that scenario, Elenor leads the Crowley family’s forces and joins Prince Liam’s protagonist camp as a powerful reinforcement.
By marrying Elenor off to the Crowley family, the protagonist secures that plentiful military strength.
Yet even in this important scenario, the name of Elenor’s marriage partner never appears.
For the protagonist, what matters is that Elenor brings a strong army to their side.
So there was no need to flesh out the name of a marriage partner who didn’t matter.
Or maybe the scenario writer simply omitted it, deeming it unnecessary to show on the surface.
Now, through my personal agenda of tracking down a Crowley family contact to commission custom gear from the dwarves—
I’ve unintentionally uncovered Elenor’s “phantom marriage candidate.”
Someone who looks harmless from every angle. A slightly pudgy student council officer.
Bartholomeus Crowley is, without a doubt, her future marriage partner.
Anyway, that’s beside the point.
I headed to the student council room to make direct contact with Bartholomeus. Normally, I should’ve set up an appointment by letter, but I skip tedious formalities. He’s of the same standing as me. I’ll just “happen” to run into him.
As I opened the heavy door to the student council room, there—just as expected—were Elenor and that shitty four-eyed bastard Elliot.
Unlike when I’d seen her in the courtyard during lunch break, Elenor wore a serious expression, absorbed in reading a thick stack of documents. The light streaming through the window caught her golden hair, illuminating her elegant profile. And Elliot was stealing furtive glances at her back.
The moment I stepped into the room, that glasses-wearing bastard flinched—it was honestly hilarious.
”Yo. Found the princess yet? Give me a progress report on the search,” I said, my tone deliberately casual.
Of course she hasn’t found her.
I know that.
But I need a surface-level excuse for being here, so I’ll toss that out for now.
Elenor didn’t look up, her eyes never leaving the documents.
”…No, not yet. We’ve been forcibly investigating every facility that might have connections to criminal organizations one by one, but there’s still no decisive lead,” she replied, a hint of exhaustion creeping into her voice.
”Elenor-sama. You should not be sharing our investigation details with such a vile person. This man is the head of the pro-war faction. For all we know, Lady Liliana could very well be imprisoned beneath Grimlock Manor.”
Elliot, speaking to me who’d casually tried to lighten the mood, raised his voice in outrage, his hostility laid bare.
…This guy’s annoyingly sharp.
Wordlessly, I grabbed Elliot by the collar, swiftly swept his legs out from under him, and sent him tumbling to the floor. Elenor didn’t look up from her documents. She only offered a single warning: “Keep your fights within reason.”
”Yeah, got it. Also—today I’ve got business with another student council officer. I’ll be waiting here a while,” I said, without so much as a glance at Elliot sprawled ingloriously on the floor.
I dropped onto the reception sofa. The leather creaked slightly under my weight.
Since I had time to kill until Bartholomeus arrived, I had Elenor brief me on the search details.
Apparently, the search was being conducted using a manpower-heavy approach, with the Royal Holy Knights split into several units. The primary targets were facilities that pro-war faction nobles were secretly pulling strings behind. Using my easy granting of permission to search the theater as a precedent, they’d been pushing quite aggressively.
”Even that Grimlock is cooperating with the investigation. You lot have no grounds to refuse,” Elenor stated.
When presented with that reasoning, the other side apparently had no counter.
This was exactly why Oscar had pulled that sour face when I readily accepted the forced investigation. Just as he’d feared.
…Well, whatever.
Elenor finished her explanation in a matter-of-fact tone. Her words seemed to carry a subtle irony—that my existence was being used to push the investigation forward.
Happy to be of service.
Of course, some targets did resist. But the search teams were the Royal Family’s elite Holy Knights. Occasionally, Prince Liam or Princess Elenor herself would join. No noble could possibly stand against that force.
Before long, my target arrived at the student council room with a leisurely gait.
Bartholomeus Crowley.
Just as I’d heard from Cecilia and the others, he was a plump, harmless-looking man with a kind face.
His well-fleshed features were nonetheless refined, befitting the bloodline of a high-ranking noble. And he wore a perpetually polished, gentle smile.
His presence seemed to soften the tense atmosphere in the room ever so slightly.
He was a man with that sort of peculiar aura.
—
Summary:
The protagonist plans to commission custom weapons from the dwarves, requiring him to navigate the Crowley family’s political influence. He discovers Bartholomeus Crowley is Elenor’s “phantom marriage candidate” from the game’s original script. After confronting Elenor and Elliot in the student council room, he waits for Bartholomeus to arrive while learning about the ongoing search for Liliana. The chapter ends with Bartholomeus’s entrance, his harmless appearance belying his significant role in future events.
—
Trivia:
The Crowley family maintains a seemingly legitimate governance over the dwarves while actually exploiting them through unfair trade practices.
Elenor’s political marriage to the Crowley family is a key game scenario that determines whether the protagonist’s forces gain a powerful ally.
The protagonist’s casual approval of the theater search became a precedent used to justify more aggressive investigations.
Oscar predicted the protagonist’s cooperation would be weaponized against pro-war faction nobles.
Bartholomeus Crowley appears harmless but is positioned as Elenor’s future husband in the game’s original timeline.
The monster spawn point near Eisen and Crowley territory requires constant management and justifies the family’s military presence.
Elliot demonstrates sharp intuition by suspecting the protagonist’s involvement in Liliana’s disappearance.
Notes:
• Crowley – Bartholomeus’ family name.
• Cecilia – The eldest daughter of the Vermillion Duchy and a former saint, she is Xenos’s fiancée and one of his romantic interests. Known for her flame-red hair, blue eyes, and pet, Lumiá, she possesses a cold yet playful nature. Though she rejected Prince Liam, she adores Kuuko and teases Lizel. Lilia shows no jealousy toward her. She occasionally uses a ring to adopt a revealing dancer’s disguise.
• Lizel – A petite, graceful Blanchet count’s daughter, wind mage, and academy student with pink twin-tails, purple eyes, and a signature smirk. Known for her protective, anxious tsundere nature, she is Luca Dalton’s fiancée, Grimlock’s classmate, and Cecilia’s friend. Disguised in a dancer’s costume, she walks the “Path of Light” and is one of Xenos’s devoted romantic interests whom Lilia does not resent.
• Bartholomeus – First son of the Crowley family and student council member, which governs the Eisen mountain range where dwarves reside. Described as a plump, round-faced, harmless-looking noble with refined features befitting his high-ranking lineage. Wears a perpetually polished, gentle smile that softens the atmosphere around him. Member of the Crowley family who provided Xenos with information about dwarf blacksmiths in the Royal Capital.
• Balthazar – Son of the Crowley family. A pervert with no boundaries who considers himself improved after being advised to stop saying “stinky” to women. Obsessed with female scent. Currently engaged in an arranged marriage meeting.
• Elenor – Princess Elenor, the haughty, analytical “Saint of Light” and sister to Liliana, is a silver-blonde swordswoman and healer with gray-blue eyes. Though a noble princess and Grimlock’s fiancée, she is the protagonist’s submissive, magic-sealed slave. A tsundere torn between royal dignity and affection for Xenos, she balances sharp retorts with intense devotion, often appearing in revealing cosplay.
• Xenos – Job: Heir to a high-ranking noble house; Relationship: Owner of Lilia; Has romantic connections with Elenor, Cecilia, and Lizel; Item/Magic: Summoning magic, [Substitution Collars]; Note: Was caught up in a Royal Palace explosion and missed three days of school. Pragmatic and calculating personality. Job: Noble of Grimlock family, protagonist; Relationship: Manipulator of Princess Liliana, pursuing Serena; Item/Magic: [Ring of Transformation]; Note: Reincarnated villain with game knowledge, calculating and arrogant. Job: Theater Owner and noble of Grimlock family; Relationship: Fiancé to Cecilia; Item/Magic: Game knowledge/metaknowledge; Note: Reincarnated villain protagonist who knows the original game script.
• Liam – Liam Asgard, the golden-haired, emerald-eyed First Prince of Asgard, is Liliana’s older brother and the liege of Elliot and Aldrick. Betrothed to Elisabeth, he is an arrogant yet fundamentally kind man who speaks with elegant grace. Though he underestimates his rival Xenos’s Zero Mana status, he shows consideration toward him, even as his obsessive pursuit of Cecilia threatens his political standing.
• Elliot – Elliot Valias, a tall, slender, blue-haired noble and intellectual aide to Prince Liam, masks his deep, unrequited love for Elenor with crude, condescending arrogance. A pseudo-intellectual prone to quick accusations, he harbors murderous, freezing hostility toward Xenos Grimlock, driven by intense jealousy over Xenos’s intimacy with Elenor.
• Grimlock – Xenos’s family name.
• Liliana – Known as the “Angel of the Asgard Kingdom” for her golden hair and sky-blue eyes, this princess is the younger sister of Prince Liam and Elenor. While maintaining a refined, angelic public facade, she is a manipulative mastermind who wields explosion magic. As Serena’s liege and the true culprit behind recent assassination attempts, she carefully hides her dark nature behind whispered, noble asides.
• Lilia – Xenos’s fiercely loyal, trauma-resilient Head Maid is a lovely, pale, busty woman with long dark hair, a chest tattoo, and a nullified crest. Dressed in a black uniform, she maintains refined, icy elegance when disciplining others, especially Elenor. While formal and efficient with guests, she masks deep, jealous anxiety for Xenos, finding her greatest joy in serving him and sleeping by his side.
• Oscar – Head butler of the Grimlock family and Gaius’s most trusted confidant. A tall, lean man in his late forties with impeccably groomed gray hair, silver-rimmed glasses, and a perfectly tailored black tailcoat, he is known for his expressionless face and piercing azure eyes. Beyond managing the family’s servants, he serves as the Grimlocks’ strategist and spymaster, overseeing finances, intelligence, covert operations, and rebellion funding.
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Edited by Kanaa-senpai.
Thanks for reading.
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