[Translator - Night]
[Proofreader - Gun]
Chapter 227: The Spider and the Empress (4)
"What... what were you thinking when you said that?"
"What do you an?"
As I shrugged nonchalantly at Professor Elisha, who was visibly agitated, her violet eyes flashed with intensity.
"Are you seriously asking because you don't know? Not only did you refuse the Empress’s proposal, but you even had the audacity to call her ‘you’ informally!"
Well, I suppose I did.
But, you know...
"Hmm. Do you really have the right to say that, Professor Elisha?"
"What…?"
"You defied the Empress’s orders and said everything you wanted as well, didn’t you?"
"T-That’s..."
Professor Elisha averted her gaze, flustered.
If we were to argue over who had made a bigger ss, of course, I was the greater offender for speaking so casually to the Empress.
But it was Professor Elisha who had set the stage for it.
“…I’m sorry.”
She lowered her head with a defeated expression.
I swallowed a chuckle and took her hand.
"Anyway, why did you do that all of a sudden?"
"Do what?"
"You said sothing about how recruitnt offers were impossible under the Three-Nation Agreent."
Even I hadn’t expected Professor Elisha to step in at that mont.
"…I was just stating the facts."
"Hmm. But you knew that Empress Callia wouldn’t simply abide by that, didn’t you?"
"That’s…"
She shut her mouth tightly, lost in thought, her gaze wandering into the distance.
"Could it be… were you jealous?"
"J-J-JEALOUS?! What nonsense are you spouting, Candidate Dale!"
Ah, I see now.
She really did get worked up hearing Callia tell to beco her vassal.
"Pfft… Haha!"
"D-Don’t laugh!"
Professor Elisha stomped on my foot in frustration.
Clang, clang!
The sound of tal echoed.
"Well, it’s fine. It’s not like anything serious happened, right? We haven’t been banished from the Imperial Palace or anything."
"…Nothing serious?!"
She frowned and looked down at the source of the tallic sound.
A large shackle bound my ankle.
Naturally, I also had thick handcuffs locked around my wrists.
That’s right.
After all that happened…
"You’re saying being imprisoned in the Empire’s underground dungeon isn’t a big deal?"
Professor Elisha let out a deep sigh, as if her head was starting to ache.
I leaned back against the cold stone wall and lazily turned my head.
Dim lantern light flickered through the dense iron bars, and the damp air carried the stench of decay.
It was hard to believe this dreary and grim place was part of the sa grand Imperial Palace.
"We’re not actually imprisoned."
"…Not imprisoned? What are you talking about?"
"There aren’t even guards posted outside. And also…."
I lifted my shackled wrists.
These handcuffs, imbued with the power of ‘Seven-Star’s Blessing,’ couldn’t be removed by normal ans.
Fwoosh! Clang!
But as embers flared, the ‘Seven-Star’s Blessing’ burned away, and the shackles split cleanly in two, falling to the ground.
"They only put on restraints that could be removed this easily."
"…The only one who could remove them so easily is you, Candidate Dale."
"And Empress Callia wouldn’t be unaware of that."
I swallowed another chuckle and swiftly undid all of Elisha’s restraints as well.
"…So, are you suggesting we escape together?"
"No."
There was no need for an escape.
‘They’re going to co and release us soon anyway.’
Leaning against the wall, I turned toward the iron-barred door.
Click, clack.
From the distance, faint footsteps echoed down the corridor.
"Hmm."
Callia appeared beyond the bars, no longer in her usual nightgown but dressed in an extravagant gown.
She narrowed her eyes at .
"So, you truly possess the power to nullify the Blessing of Ye."
[TL/N: Empress here talks in an arrogant way.]
Clicking her tongue softly, she glanced at the broken shackles scattered on the floor and let out a brief sigh before turning her gaze toward and Elisha.
"My apologies for locking you up. If I hadn’t, lina would have made a fuss."
"lina… You an that strict maid?"
"Yes, Ye’s most devoted attendant."
A faint smile tugged at Callia’s lips as she recalled lina.
"When Ye destroyed Gehenna City, I personally took her in from the ruins."
The Empress’s attack on Gehenna City—
It was the decisive event that catapulted Callia to the rank of the number-one hero.
Wait a second.
She personally took her in from Gehenna City?
"Then… don’t tell …"
"Not everyone in Gehenna City was a demon. Just as not everyone in Valhalla City is a hero."
"……."
Hearing that, I had nothing to say.
"lina was one of the children kidnapped and taken to Gehenna City. If Ye hadn’t been there, she would have suffered countless experints at the hands of the demons before being brutally killed."
So, from lina’s perspective, Callia was her savior.
"…Now I understand why she was glaring at as if she wanted to kill ."
"Her loyalty can be excessive at tis, but that’s just who she is."
Clang.
With a simple gesture from Callia, the heavy prison door slid open.
"You ca here chasing the Eternal Order, didn’t you?"
"…You knew?"
"Heh. There is no truth in this world that can escape Ye’s eyes."
She smirked, her confidence unshaken.
"You must have heard it from Headmaster Lionel."
"…Tch."
Clicking her tongue, Callia looked slightly annoyed at being exposed.
"You truly have not a single cute bone in your body."
"Hmm."
"…Do you have sothing to say to Ye?"
She turned her sharp gaze to Professor Elisha.
"Well…"
With a serene smile, Elisha spoke.
"I actually think Candidate Dale has quite a few endearing qualities."
"Oh? Are you contradicting Ye’s words right now?"
"And if I am?"
[Translator - Night]
[Proofreader - Gun]
Their gazes locked.
Just as the tension between the Spider and the Empress was about to ignite again—
"Both of you, that’s enough."
“Ugh.”
“Ahem.”
Professor Elisha and Empress Callia, who had been glaring fiercely at each other, let out awkward coughs.
"Anyway, back to the main point."
Empress Callia gestured outside the prison with a nod before continuing.
"If you wish, I shall help you track down this so-called Order of Eternity."
"I thought you had no interest in the Order of Eternity?"
"That is correct."
"Then why…?"
"My interest is not in those mongrels of the Order of Eternity, but in you."
Callia’s eyes sparkled like a child who had just discovered a bundle of gifts.
"I want to see. Just how capable you are."
"……."
So, she wasn’t interested in the Order of Eternity itself but rather in seeing my abilities in action while tracking them down.
‘If that’s the case, Professor Elisha would probably be the one to shine more than .’
Well, whatever the reason.
If I could get the Empress’s help in pursuing the Order of Eternity, there could be no better support.
"Stay still for a mont."
Callia reached her hand toward us.
A radiant aura of seven colors flowed from her fingertips.
The shimring aura enveloped both and Professor Elisha.
"This is…?"
"As long as my aura resides within you, you shall be free to move about the imperial palace."
So, it was like a pass for free movent.
"Now, step out."
"By the way, what should we do if we encounter that maid, lina, during our investigation?"
If we had been imprisoned here because of that lina, there was bound to be trouble if we ran into her while investigating the palace.
"You need not worry about that. lina is currently out on external duty and is not in the imperial palace."
"I see."
I tilted my head slightly as I looked at Callia.
"Do you have sothing to say to ?"
"No, I just found it a bit unexpected."
Given Callia’s personality, I figured that no matter how much she cherished a servant, she wouldn’t be the type to consider their feelings at all.
But seeing her like this, she seed to care quite a bit about that maid, lina.
"I am boundlessly generous to those who swear loyalty to ."
"……."
She didn’t exactly strike as the kind of person one would associate with generosity.
"If you were to beco my servant, you too would experience my generosity."
"…I believe I’ve already given my answer to that offer."
"Heh. It seems you still don’t fully understand ."
Callia smiled leisurely, her eyes gleaming.
"What I desire always ends up in my hands."
"Ah, yes."
Sure, whatever you say.
‘One thing’s for certain—getting involved with her is exhausting.’
Swallowing a wry smile, I stepped out of the prison.
Professor Elisha, who had been glaring at Callia, followed out.
Once we had exited the underground prison and moved far enough that Callia was no longer in sight—
"Cadet Dale."
"Yes?"
"Give your hand."
Professor Elisha, who had been following behind , grabbed my hand.
She interlocked her fingers with mine, her gaze shifting away.
"……."
This wasn’t a ti for enjoying a sweet, date-like event.
We were in the middle of tracking down the infiltrators from the Order of Eternity within the imperial palace.
"Why? Do you have a problem with this?"
"No, not exactly…."
"Then stop complaining and just hold it."
With that, she strode forward, swinging our hands slightly.
Though I couldn’t see her face, the redness in her earlobes made it clear that she was embarrassed about the situation.
‘Honestly.’
She really does have a cute side.
"Now, let’s begin our investigation in earnest."
Professor Elisha spoke as she pulled out two glass bottles filled with red liquid from her coat.
"What’s that?"
"Blood samples from the Wolf Mask and Fox Mask. I collected them just in case, but I didn’t expect to actually use them here."
I see.
By consuming the blood, she intended to maximize the power of the Blessing of Insight.
The Blessing of Insight, when enhanced through bodily fluids, was powerful enough to uncover even the bombs that the Archbishop of Madness had desperately hidden.
It would certainly be useful in tracking the Order of Eternity.
Gulp.
After drinking the blood from the glass bottles, Professor Elisha’s pupils transford, turning a vivid reptilian yellow.
Her gleaming "Cursed Eye" scanned the surroundings.
"For now… I don’t see any traces of the Order of Eternity."
"Let’s keep searching."
As we wandered through the imperial palace, investigating every corner—
"Wait."
Professor Elisha suddenly halted.
She fixed her gaze on a large painting hanging on the wall, her Evil Eye flickering ominously.
"Beyond this wall… I sense sothing suspicious."
She stepped closer to the wall and extended her fingertips, conjuring threads of spider silk, which she sent flowing behind the painting.
Then—
Click.
Rumble.
With a deep vibration, the section of the wall holding the painting rotated, revealing a hidden passageway.
[Translator - Night]
[Proofreader - Gun]
Reviews
All reviews (0)