"Hate responsibility? Do you know what you're saying, Jessica?"
"I know exactly what I'm saying, Your Majesty. In fact, I should be asking you if you know what you're doing. The heir to the Middleton line is right here, yet you're considering for the throne. Was the previous king truly as harsh to you as the tabloids claid?"
"No... Jenkins won't do. He wouldn't make a good king."
"How would you know?"
Miss Windsor pressed.
"Isn't it obvious? He's never been involved in politics, nor has he ever shown any administrative ability. If he becos king, the Fidektri Kingdom will surely face major problems within the next decade."
"And what of it? He may not understand, but it's not as if the entire country rests on his shoulders alone. I will help him, and many others will be glad to help him. As for him, being the legitimate heir of the Middleton family, his presence on the throne is the greatest security this nation could have."
"No, that's unacceptable. The country would fall into chaos."
Her argunt was already sounding incredibly forced.
"Is that your reason for opposing Jenkins's succession?"
Miss Windsor hadn't intended to have a long conversation, but now her interest was piqued. She had learned about the state of the real world from Jessica, but she had always assud Queen Isabella's reluctance to let the most suitable candidate ascend the throne stemd from so other reason:
"Isn't this rather foolish? What are you thinking? The heir at the front of the royal line of succession is right here, yet you ask if I want the throne?"
Miss Windsor's brow furrowed, her words laced with growing impatience and disrespect:
"Forgive , but neither you nor I are mbers of the Middleton family. For you to offer the throne now is a direct betrayal of the late king's trust, is it not? I rember clearly that you promised the throne would belong to soone of Middleton blood after your reign."
The Windsor and Middleton families were indeed related, but the blood connection was very distant—nothing compared to a direct male descendant like Jenkins.
"Do you want to end the Middleton line?"
Miss Windsor finally uttered the most damning question.
"No, no, how could that be possible?"
Faced with such an accusation, even Queen Isabella grew flustered. The old woman shook her head, finding it hard to believe Jessica would say such a thing to her:
"Since you intend to marry him, if your children were to inherit the throne from you, wouldn't that also return the crown to the Middleton family? Or would you pass the throne to soone other than your own children?"
"This is utterly laughable. When the late king placed you on the throne before he passed, it was rely to have you safeguard the crown that belongs to the glorious Middletons. Have you truly co to see yourself as the rightful owner of the throne? Is its fate really for you to decide?"
It was the most scathing remark since their conversation began. Queen Isabella was not without her opponents, and their argunts were much the sa as what Miss Windsor had just said.
"Jessica, you..."
Queen Isabella was growing angry.
"I know you're angry. You think you're 'doing what's best for ' by offering the throne, and yet I'm not the least bit grateful, even speaking to you like this. But you must understand, not all good intentions are correct. As I said, I have no interest in the throne. I'm only interested in helping the man I've chosen ascend to it."
She blushed a little as she said this; after all, it was Jessica who was to marry Jenkins, not her and J-Miss.
The conversation ended there. Jessica didn't wait for another word, turning toward the side door of the lecture hall. Even if she had no idea what to say next on the podium, she had to steel herself and carry on.
Just then, the loudest explosion of the day echoed from a distance. The sound seed to co from high in the sky, like a steam cannon detonating mid-air.
"I know what Jenkins intends to do today. I admit he used you well, getting you to make the most suitable preparations and arrangents. But as long as he fails to return before the speech ends at noon, he will not achieve his goal."
Queen Isabella's voice rang out again after the strange sound.
"This business with the strange chanized corpses... are you involved?"
"Jenkins already asked that question. I have nothing to do with it."
"Then how can you be so confident that Jenkins won't be back?"
"I've broken off contact with those cultists, but our deal is not over."
Jenkins had asked the sa question earlier, confirming that she truly hadn't known about the events in advance.
"What deal did you make?"
"The tax departnt... overlooked the tax issues of certain factories. We're talking about over two hundred thousand pounds. In return, they were to ensure that if I was ever in danger of being forced to abdicate, whoever was behind it would not succeed. And look, they've actually done it."
So this matter truly was unrelated to her; she had rely struck a deal. She couldn't have known whether the Human Jigsaw Puzzle would appear—in fact, after breaking contact, she couldn't even be sure they would still honor the agreent. But now, it seed even wanted cultists had a strong sense of professional integrity.
"You're using the nation's interests to secure your own throne?"
Miss Windsor asked, her brow furrowed.
Queen Isabella admitted without a second thought:
"Look at you. When you say that, you truly sound like the queen here. Yes, I did it, because I am the monarch of this country. Jessica, if the upcoming speech is too difficult for you, then don't give it. I know this speech is just a gimmick; what you really want is to force my abdication. That is impossible now. Don't make things harder on yourself."
A strange cry, like a giant roaring in the distance, interrupted them again. Due to the city hall's layout—a corridor flanked by rooms on both sides—they couldn't see what was happening outside from where they stood.
"Jenkins will definitely be back. That little girl just promised ."
"You'd rather trust a little girl than trust ? Then let's just wait and see. The break ends in five minutes. I'm curious to see just how he plans to return.
Also, I've heard Jenkins has a rather unusual relationship with that little girl. His relationship with his cat is also quite unusual. You should be careful..."
anwhile, on the other side of the city, Miss Bevanna hovered in mid-air, a book in her right hand flipping its pages automatically at high speed. Below and to her side, a tall, slender man with dark skin stood in the middle of the street, his arms raised high with a bright smile on his face, as if to embrace the sun.
In reality, however, the sun behind the layer of fog was already half-gone. A solar eclipse was occurring, but only here. The Human Jigsaw Puzzle, now transford into the Cursed Item A-03-4-2392, The Creeping Emissary of the Dark Sun, had summoned this bizarre celestial phenonon.
This was the fifth Cursed Item form the Human Jigsaw Puzzle had assembled since its appearance, which made it perfectly clear to the Church that this was definitely not the Cursed Item currently contained by the Church of Creation and Machinery's Holy See. Although its abilities were identical, the power of the assembled humanoid Cursed Items was far weaker than the original.
The current manifestation, The Creeping Emissary of the Dark Sun, granted the Human Jigsaw Puzzle the ability to summon a solar eclipse and weaken all divine arts for its duration. It didn't make the entire sun disappear, but rather began to reassemble itself again when only a third of the sun remained.
But the eclipse it summoned would last for at least half an hour, and the suppressive effect on divine arts would persist throughout that ti.
Flutter~
The book in Miss Bevanna's hands finally stopped flipping. She reached out her free left hand and pressed it onto the page. A streak of golden brilliance finally pierced the dim sky, striking the ground below, but it failed to interrupt the Human Jigsaw Puzzle's instantaneous transformation and reassembly.
In its transford state, it wore dirty blue overalls. Though it had a human form, its ten fingers had been replaced by ten different tal tools: screwdrivers, wrenches, awls, and the like.
"B-10-4-3392, The Fanatical Machine Repairer? Oh no!"
As the Human Jigsaw Puzzle's form fully solidified, the chanized corpses that had been lingering around it, protecting it until the eclipse appeared, began to shed parts. Components clattered to the ground, as if squeezed out of their flesh.
But then, even more parts with a gleaming tallic sheen began to sprout from within the corpses, making the curse-controlled bodies look even more terrifying.
Miss Bevanna sighed, feeling a pang of discouragent at her futile effort. But the Church hadn't been counting on her to stop the Human Jigsaw Puzzle's transformation. The mont The Fanatical Machine Repairer appeared, Church squads surged from every direction, confronting the chanical corpses surrounding the Cursed Item head-on.
Under the suppressive effect of the summoned eclipse, the effectiveness of most divine arts was diminished. This made the already unfavorable battle situation even more perilous for the Church.
The Church could barely manage to contain the machine-fused corpses within the area. They could be destroyed, but the process was slow. anwhile, a steady stream of bodies afflicted with the chanical curse kept appearing, spreading the curse throughout the entire district. While this wasn't one of Nolan's most densely populated slums, the impact of an uncontrolled spread of the curse would be far greater than that of the Human Jigsaw Puzzle itself.
Though the strength of the chanized corpses was unexpected, the demigods and Saints of the Twelve Orthodox Churches had successfully intercepted the Human Jigsaw Puzzle. So far, every form it had manifested had been countered by the Church. While the Church couldn't defeat the thing, it couldn't gain the upper hand in its battle against them, either.
Reviews
All reviews (0)