[The Second Queen remains trapped in her past. Erase the regret etched deep within her heart.] [Let the Second Queen et her old friend.] [Reward: 10 to any desired attribute.]
While Karia was tornting Curz Newman, I glanced at the quest window and froze in place when I saw the reward.
Ten points to any attribute I wanted! That ans, with just this reward, I could push four of my stats past 100!
No, wait, maybe I should think of it as a supplent and focus on getting my Divinity over 200. Reaching 200 in a single stat brings various changes.
Maybe those changes will be even more intense now that this isn’t just a ga.
Hmm. Now that I think about it, maybe that's not ideal either. Since I'm an apostle of the Supre God, raising my Divinity over 200 won’t take that long.
Instead, I should go for what I need right now, sothing that’s lacking. Let's raise Intelligence.
What’s the point of going from 58 to 68, you ask?
Not entirely wrong. Honestly, compared to boosting so other more useful stat, it’s inefficient. It's the kind of dumb choice I wouldn’t even consider back when I was behind the monitor.
But I don’t want to admit that I’m a blockhead! Sure, I might be dumber than others, but that doesn’t an I want to accept being a 58 IQ blockhead!
“Excuse , employer. Are you listening?”
My self-deprecating thoughts were interrupted as Karia’s voice snapped back to reality.
‘Sowhat.’
“Your shrill voice was hard to listen to, so I was only half-listening.”
“So, you weren’t listening.”
Karia held her forehead and sighed audibly, then continued her explanation.
Two days after the incident at the end-of-term party, where the Second Queen and I had clashed, her side reached out to the Newman family.
Although she didn’t know my exact relationship with the Newmans, she guessed I was connected to them and wanted to use Newman as a diator to apologize to and propose a deal.
The Newman family, eager to deal with Seraine—a power player in the royal court and a duchess—welcod the opportunity, planning to facilitate the negotiations and benefit from bringing us together.
But the Newman family’s plans never ca to fruition. Karia intervened before they could proceed.
“I would have ignored it if it were just a minor diversion, but this idiot went too far.”
“No, no, Karia. Our family may deal in the shadows, but we’re not oblivious to honor. We only took what was needed for diation…”
“Hey, Curz. Keep talking, and I’ll tell Benedict everything I know. Think you can handle that?”
“…I apologize.”
Watching Curz Newman bow his head in submission mid-sentence, I felt a complex blend of emotions. When I first t him months ago, he was the picture of arrogance, secrecy, and cunning, the kind of noble who belonged in the underworld. But with Karia around, he looked like a common thug.
“Anyway, back to the point. The reason I ca to you today is to give advice on what you should gain from this deal with the Second Queen. If you have no pressing needs, I hope you’ll hear out.”
Seeing the seriousness in Karia’s gaze, I nodded without a word.
Right now, I’m in a position where I can get most things I want, and since I’m following the path of a paladin, there’s no task requiring the Queen’s authority.
When I indicated my willingness to follow her suggestion, Karia smirked.
“Then let’s get straight to the point. I hope you’ll ask the Second Queen to monitor the First Queen.”
Karia’s suggestion was to have the First Queen monitored.
Since they live in the palace together, she could set up a tighter surveillance network than anyone else, allowing us to respond quickly if the First Queen made any moves. Karia’s voice was laced with deep-seated hostility toward the First Queen.
In the ga, she was already deceased, so I didn’t know much about her. I couldn’t guess the source of Karia’s hostility, but I agreed with her proposal. It was clear that the First Queen was a dangerous figure.
‘Let’s go with that.’
“Do as you wish, ma’am. I’m sure your rotten spinster instincts will handle it well.”
“I understand you’re skeptical, but… wait, what?”
Karia’s face flushed as she struggled to brush off my remark, prompting Benedict to quickly place a hand on her shoulder.
“Let go, Benedict. Do I look like soone who’d get angry over sothing like this?”
“If you want to say that, maybe remove your hand from the dagger first.”
“This isn’t on the dagger; it’s on the hidden weapon beside it.”
“Sa difference.”
As Curz Newman broke into a cold sweat, I noticed the entire street was filled with traces of divine energy and tilted my head.
Strange. Just yesterday, there weren’t this many clerics in Bardronel’s territory. What happened?
‘Karia, I have a question…’
“Rotten old maid, enough with the sulking. I have a question. Has sothing happened in this masochistic freak town?”
My offhand remark silenced the table. I suddenly realized that their gathering wasn’t just about discussing a deal.
‘What happened?’
“Silence wasn’t my request, you know. It’s creepy when people are too self-aware. Spit it out—what’s going on?”
Benedict avoided my gaze, Curz clamped his mouth shut after glancing at Karia, and Karia herself hesitated, seemingly debating what to say.
Hearing Grandfather’s voice, I let out a dry chuckle. While he ant it for my sake, his words only solidified my suspicion.
If even Karia and Grandfather are withholding information, there’s only one explanation.
Soone died, and it was linked to .
Both Grandfather and Karia know my mind isn’t fragile. I may grumble when faced with difficult tasks, but I won’t avoid or collapse over them.
But death is different. I’ve shown sensitivity to death on multiple occasions.
Once I had a general outline, piecing it together was simple.
The divine presence ant clerics were involved. The extensive presence of divinity suggested it wasn’t a simple death, and the spread across the area indicated multiple deaths.
Among the people in Bardronel’s territory, only one person would have the nerve to kill high-ranking clergy from the Supre God’s church without hesitation. And that person was connected to .
Even with an Intelligence of 58, it was clear what had happened.
Lasha. She killed church clerics in Bardronel’s territory. And she did it for .
If I were to guess, it went sothing like this:
A church official witnessed Lasha using divinity to fend off an attack, and, fearing that I’d face trouble with the church, Lasha eliminated them before they could report anything.
While I’ve been forced to accept her favor, I didn’t feel grateful. I never wanted to preserve my safety at the cost of another’s life.
Ah, I wonder if Erin felt like this when I told her to rest. An unwanted favor leaves a terrible taste.
“Lucy, are you alright?”
Noticing my expression, Benedict cautiously asked, but instead of responding, I turned to glare at Karia.
“That brainless muscle-head—where’d she go to graze this ti?♡”
“Can you be a bit less… direct, employer?”
Her sigh told I’d guessed right. Lasha had indeed done sothing stupid.
“She may be old, but her hearing is still sharp, right?♡”
“What are you planning?”
I didn’t answer Karia’s question. It wasn’t because I couldn’t tell her, but because I didn’t know myself.
I wanted to lash out, scold her for ddling, and make her as annoyed as I felt. Yet, when asked exactly what I’d do, I couldn’t say.
But one thing was certain. I needed to see her.
“She’s heading toward the archipelago.”
The answer ca from an unexpected source. Despite the cold stares of Karia and Benedict, Curz Newman continued, breaking into a sweat.
“There’s a woman making a na for herself in the archipelago. She probably went to fight her.”
“Curz.”
“Count Newman.”
“As I said, I owe Lady Allen a great debt. It is my duty to fulfill whatever she desires.”
Whether out of resolve or obligation, Curz Newman held his ground before the two, exuding the poise of a noble head.
She went to hunt a strong opponent? Good. That makes things easier. If I position myself near her target, I’ll et her eventually.
The archipelago, huh? Perfect timing. I was already planning to go there for Senar’s request.
Might as well take so friends along. So of the mid-level dungeons over there have plenty of interesting creatures. If they clear those, they’ll improve their dungeon-raiding skills.
Hmm. All that’s left is to annoy Lasha as much as she annoyed . If so, everything should fall into place.
As I crossed my arms in thought, an idea struck . How do you anger soone who lives to hunt the strong? Simple—prevent them from hunting.
With this thought, I turned to Curz.
‘Count Newman…’
“Head of the useless clan, could you tell more about that trash gaining fa in the backwater archipelago?”
“Of course.”
Listening to Curz’s explanation, I felt my grin widen.
Perfect. Let’s hunt down the opponent Lasha is after first.
I wonder how frustrated she’ll be when I beat her to the punch.
Heh. Just imagining it brings joy.
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