Volume 3 Chapter 85 Quest： Aperitif III
Edited by: Kanaa-senpai
”Your Excellency, there’s something I need to discuss in private.”
As the guards draped a cloth over the monster’s corpse, Kian sidled up to Maribel and whispered to her.
”Yes, what is it?”
”I’d rather not discuss it in front of others. Let’s go over here.”
”Alright.”
Without a moment’s doubt, Maribel told the guards, “Please wait here,” and headed towards the staircase leading to the observation deck.
She seemed to trust Kian with all her heart, even though she understood the situation.
The guards silently watched as Kian and the princess girl were left alone.
Suddenly, he thought:
If he could bring Maribel to ecstasy in both the dream world and the real world, wouldn’t he be able to manipulate Izerland’s politics as he pleased?
He would use his p**is to make her powerless and take control of politics and the military.
He’d kill the annoying Renaud in a fake duel.
For the troublesome Head Magician, he’d use Christy to trap them all into falling for his p**is.
Maybe it’s easy to do now—
But as he thought that far, he realized how boring it was and stopped.
After all, Kian helped Maribel because he wanted to see the Izerland she would create.
Not to control her like a puppet.
It would also limit his own freedom, which wasn’t what he wanted.
(Growing desires, huh? Maybe Oswald felt this way too, his ambitions flaring up in a moment like this.)
”Let’s talk here.”
”Yes.”
They climbed the twilight-lit stairs to the landing, stepping into the shadow of the observatory.
From below, they’re fully visible, but acting too sneaky here might cause misunderstandings.
As long as their voices don’t carry, it should be fine.
Kian looked down at the princess’s face, lit by the torch on the wall.
”Actually, it’s about Lord Owl’s rampaging corpse soldiers.”
”Sorry. Because I decided to lock them up, all this happened. If we were gonna kill them anyway, we should’ve just gotten rid of everything from the start.”
”No, that’s not it. What I mean is the 3 corpse soldiers I fought.”
”Three corpse soldiers?”
”Yeah, the monster called for backup partway through. The other corpse soldiers were easily crushed by Mr. Gao and the others, but those 3 were different. After breaking out of the cell, they took weapons from the guards and stood right in front of me.”
Kian kept talking.
”That was Lord Guillaume, who had been missing.”
”…So Owl was the one who killed Guillaume?”
”Unless they found a corpse somewhere else, probably.”
”I see. The body’s been taken down to the dungeon for now. Do you know any details to identify Guillaume?”
”His head and limbs should’ve been chopped up with sharp blades. I killed him again. His armor was silver. The magic engravings were──”
’”Hardening,” “impact neutralization,” “heat resistance,” “magic resistance,” “stretching,” and “body ability enhancement promotion”──those 6.’
”I think it was hardening, impact neutralization, heat resistance, magic resistance, stretching, and body ability enhancement promotion.”
When Kian repeated ‘glasses,’ Maribel’s eyes went wide.
”Oh, that’s a lot~. But yeah, Owl’s Knight squad gear was only Rank 1. It’s different from my nearby guard squad’s stuff. If we’d been able to give out better gear, maybe no one would’ve died.”
”Speaking of which, what about Mr. Gao and Baron Mankovitch?”
Maribel frowned hard.
”Gao’s in critical condition, unconscious. He’s getting emergency treatment at the healing clinic now. Mankovitch tripped while running away and threw his back out.”
”I see.”
”Thank you for the report. About Guillaume, his armor might be like the other corpses, but no one else was killed like that. I think we can identify him for sure.”
”About this, if I get a chance to talk to Lord Owl with Ramsey, I’ll ask him myself. Knowing him, I think he’ll tell me everything if I ask.”
Maribel gave a soft smile.
”Thank you so much for everything. Without your help, I, once again, wouldn’t have been able to do anything… Really, there’s not a day I don’t wish Kian would become Defense Minister…”
”Don’t you dare tell Lady Eleonora that.”
”Yes… She’s done well. Honestly, I’m grateful just that she answered my request. But this time, she made a deadly mistake. Even if they’re the Knights of the Sun, as a ruler, I have to judge her.”
Maribel said that and pressed her lips tight.
Eleonora had heard Maribel pushed hard to get her invited.
It was definitely painful to question her like that.
There might be a rift forming between them that couldn’t be fixed.
”You said you’d escort the nobles home afterward, but do you have enough soldier guards and witches who can teleport?”
”Christy will probably handle teleportation once she’s back. But… no guards. If I get attacked by that monster again, all I have are people who’d just be meat walls, no offense.”
”My party will join as guards. The familiars just teleported here and are coming around from the windbreak forest side now.”
”May I borrow a few people then?”
”I’ll send Kitsune and Tengu.”
”Ms. Natra and Ms. Rufna, right? That’s plenty.”
Maribel said their names and placed her right hand on her chest, showing thanks with a “Thank you so much.”
”I’m gonna help guard around the old Oswald mansion until we leave for Ramsey. I can’t make the others come, but I think if you ask, they might stick around until about ten at night.”
”Are you sure about this?”
”Half the guard squad is down, Lady Eleonora’s under house arrest. We know the government offices are kinda weak right now. Since we can’t move until Ms. Priscilla gets the carriage ready, I thought maybe I could be useful to Your Excellency in the meantime.”
”What should I do? I’m starting to see Kian as a god or something.”
Maribel gave a bitter smile, stepped a little closer, and whispered,
”Alright, it’s up to you. Kian, I love you♡”
* * *
After that, everyone split up to do their jobs.
Natra and Rufna stayed with Maribel as guards.
Kian, Sarah, and Serena were put on patrol around the old Oswald mansion.
The Sunlightland Knights were busy mourning their fallen comrades and searching the monster’s lair.
Maribel’s guard squad was half wrecked, so the ones who survived, except a few, were sent back with Kian’s crew for guard duty.
As for cutting open the monster, that was going to be done by Lucretia, Christy who came back with her, Friedrich and Gonzales from the Adventurer Guild, and a coroner for dissecting.
Maribel didn’t join──stuff like dissections isn’t for a princess of the country to see, and just hearing Christy’s reports was enough.
Kian was asked if he’d join as an expert, but since the Oswald mansion defense was way too weak, he refused.
They said the Sunlightland Knights (except Eleonora and a lieutenant dude) would be back on guard duty by morning, so after that, things should be fine.
But the plan to beef up military power at Izerland fortress just took 2 or 3 steps backward.
The road ahead is gonna be rough.
Around ten in the evening after a dinner break, Christy, who was doing the dissection over by the square, suddenly popped her head out of the main gate.
Kian was standing right by the gate, so he started walking over to her.
Sarah was secretly following from behind, trying to look casual.
”Christy, be careful around here. The stone tiles cracked when the monster landed, so watch your step.”
”Kian! I’ve been looking for you!”
”Hey, look, it goes without saying. Be careful, alright? I don’t want to see you get hurt.”
”Oh, thanks…”
Kian caught Christy as she tripped over her boot’s toe.
Her hair smelled like perfume mixed with a strong beastly odor and blood.
It was from that monster.
Kian caught the blue beret that fell from her head and put it back in place.
”Did you finish examining the monster’s body?”
”Yeah, everyone’s working together to get rid of the smell in the square right now. I’ll be back soon. But first, I wanted to tell you a few things we found out from the body.”
”Alright.”
Kian glanced back over his shoulder.
”────”
Sarah quickly hid her face in the shade of a palm tree.
But the trunk was too thin, and her nicely shaped, womanly butt was still visible.
”So, what did you find out?”
”First, the monster’s limbs were surprisingly similar to human ones. They were huge, but the length ratio of each bone was roughly the same as a human’s──or a Beastman’s.”
Christy started talking seriously, not noticing Sarah.
”There was a blue tattoo on its right shoulder, shaped like a wolf or a thorn. It’s definitely not a scar. You were right to guess that the monster used to be a Mercenary, weren’t you?”
”Yeah.”
”Probably right. That man was a Mercenary before. Maybe he turned into a monster because of the thorns they gave him.”
”What exactly were those thorns?”
Kian asked, and ‘glasses’ chuckled softly.
’Hmph. You ask just to confirm your suspicions, huh?’
(Just in case.)
’Just in case or not, you must have absorbed the factors.’
(────)
”I don’t really know the details. But when I think of thorns, I picture the ‘Thorn Demon’… According to records, the Blood Servant of the ‘Thorn Demon’ was covered in countless thorns. If that monster had been left alone, it might have ended up looking like that too, with its flesh eaten away.”
”────”
”Anyway, back to the guy’s personal info. He probably lived a meat-heavy lifestyle. He was a heavy drinker and a crazy big eater. If you opened up his stomach, you’d find almost nothing but a giant belly inside. Like, if there was a stomach, it would just be sitting there, all proud.”
Christy snapped her fingers and heated the ground, skillfully drawing a human figure.
She crossed her arms in front of her enormous chest and continued.
”The contents of his stomach were a mix of Sunlightland Knight members, like a smoothie. It smelled the absolute worst… That smell is what they mean when they say it’s worse than vomit. I can still smell it!”
”Looks like we’re gonna need a lot of soap tonight, huh?”
”Yeah. Want to join me?”
Crunch…! Snap…!
”Nah… I’ll pass. Hahaha.”
”Just kidding. Can’t go having s*x at Manon’s place. Anyway, the original Beastmen guy was probably super obsessed with eating. Judging by the throw-up marks, he seemed to have eaten until he literally vomited before battles. I don’t really get it, but is that how warriors (like you guys) are? Feeling anxious and super stressed before a fight makes you want to binge eat?”
”Nah, that’s not me. Fighting is incredibly exciting. I get more adrenaline from it than when I’m having s*x, or even more depending on the situation. It’s totally addictive.”
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Edited by Kanaa-senpai.
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