chapter 36
Chapter 10 The Empress’s Perspective (2)
Ainen went crazy shopping at the department store.
After buying the clothes, cosmetics, and accessories that I usually want, the amount of the gift certificate remains.
It was a considerable amount for a gift certificate that I received for answering the quiz questions.
Finally, I was going downstairs to buy food.
“?”
While turning the corner, someone walked side by side.
I thought it would pass because she followed me from behind, but I speed up with her.
“… … ???”
I glanced at someone I knew, but it was the first time I saw him.
He was wearing a suit and sunglasses, so he couldn’t see his face very well.
“Ah, over there?”
“Shh.”
said the man quietly.
“There is someone waiting for Mr. Ainen. Come this way.”
The man slightly stuck to Ainen and guided him in the direction he was going.
The man’s guide was polite and not stubborn.
As much as Ainen can do it if he tries to get rid of it.
“Who is waiting?”
“You will know when you arrive.”
“Why don’t you listen here when no one is there?”
At Ainen’s words, the man brought his face closer.
He whispered into Ainen’s ear.
“Fili Terst is looking for you.”
“Fillite… … May your Majesty… … !”
“Shh.”
When the man paid attention, Ainen shut her mouth.
I hiccuped because it closed too quickly.
“Hey, why me?”
Ainen asked with a voice crawling for a while.
“I have only been ordered to bring Mr. Ainen.”
The man spoke as if he was ready.
This is probably not going to give you any more answers.
Ainen was led by the man’s judo table and rolled her head as she walked.
‘Fili Terst, Empress of the Empire!’
Ainen is too high an opponent to deal with.
She’s not a combat teacher at Constell, just a librarian.
He couldn’t quite figure out why the Empress was looking for him.
‘Besides, why are you moving so secretly?’
Shouldn’t it be a proud name for the Empress?
Ainen Float, come right in front of me and obey my orders!
With that one word, there would be no need to go through such a complicated process.
‘There is a difficult reason for not being able to go out to the Empress, or I don’t want to inform the palace… … .’
Either way, from the Ainen’s point of view, it’s like dying.
While guiding Ainen, the man opened the ‘No entry except for officials’ door, went inside, turned to the right, opened the door again, went down the stairs, and crossed the ‘under construction’ sign and opened the door.
And finally, I walked down the one-way escalator in reverse.
‘Old, old-fashioned… … .’
It seems that the intrusion was thoroughly prevented, and it seems that it is too salty.
And when the man finally opened one of the iron gates.
“… … Wow.”
The place we arrived at was definitely not a department store.
There were splendid ornaments and artworks that looked like they were taken from the interior of the palace.
‘By the way, did you say that Philly Terst likes warm colors?’
Perhaps reflecting his taste, the room was filled with red, orange, and yellow.
After walking around the room for a bit, I saw a table.
There was a cup of tea on the table to make sure it was ready.
“Please sit down and wait.”
So the man went out.
Ainen looked around the room blankly.
‘… … Will it happen?’
I thought about it for a moment, but it was unreasonable.
No matter how suspicious you may be, you cannot disobey the Empress’s call.
And there was no room for that.
“Wow, you are here, Mr. Ainen.”
A warm voice was heard.
A tone and tone that makes people feel comfortable.
Ainen quickly got up and tried to get down on her knees,
“Ah, no. You can’t do that.”
Somewhere in a voice without tension, he waved his hand.
“Sit, sit.”
Saying that, Ainen saw her sitting on the chair first, and then Ainen properly looked at her.
White hair resembling snow.
Her face was so young that she couldn’t believe she was the mother of a child, and her red eyes were slightly opened.
At some point, I feel like the atmosphere is going round and round.
‘… … It’s languid air.’
When I say drowsy, I think of the human sloth in Constell.
He always had a languid face. Should I say sleepy face?
But unlike Frontier, Philly has a bright mood.
It’s not the drowsiness caused by being sleepy or tired.
A peacefulness that seems to be dyed with the gentleness of the surroundings.
“Are you very upset? I’m sorry. I really want to meet you somehow.”
“Are you talking about me?”
Ainen’s tone became strange.
You must have had conversations with the imperial family.
Philly laughed.
“Just say it comfortably. The Empress is nothing here.”
That should be easy.
Ainen couldn’t find anything to say and drank the tea.
Philly asked.
“Did you use your department store gift certificate well?”
“Hoop?! Cologne, Colloc!”
Surprised, I suddenly drank the car.
Ainen coughed and tears came out.
“Cool, kohl, how do you do that… … .”
“Actually, the quiz was from our side.”
“The Empress… … ?”
Philly smiled and nodded.
“That is why we found Mr. Ainen. I never thought that there would be someone who could get the professional answer right.”
“Well then, why are you looking for me… … .”
“yes. It’s because of the quiz.”
In response to Philly’s cool reply, Ainen nodded blankly.
Still, I felt like my thoughts were cleared up a bit.
I asked him why he was looking for himself, who had nothing to do with the imperial family.
It was because of the quiz.
‘You’ve found someone who has given you a professional answer.’
wait.
Then what the Empress wants to know now is… … .
Philly smiled softly and brought her face closer.
“So, Ainen-san.”
“Yes, yes?”
There was a beep
Phil didn’t mind.
“About Dragon Heart, how did you know?”
* * *
I had a very bad dream.
Is it a dream or a memory?
I saw something like the dregs that absorbed the knowledge of Frontier.
It’s so simplistic and vague, I don’t know the exact content.
There was someone who secretly passed on information about the ancient language to Frontier.
But no matter how much I search my memory, I can’t figure out who he is.
‘… … This is probably because even Frontier doesn’t remember properly. What he said, what his voice was, and what he looked like.’
But seeing that I said ‘that guy’ without realizing it, I think it was a man.
Anyway, the former Frontier heard a strange noise from a certain guy, and devoted himself to the interpretation of the ancient language.
It must have been a way to destroy Elodie’s divine power.
‘Being able to interpret the ancient language, Frontier isn’t stupid. Obviously, his words were convincing.’
Or was it magic or hypnosis?
Either way, you need to be careful with the guy.
──So, where am I thinking of this now?
“Ugh… … . uh?”
In the hospital bed, I was thinking as I watched Cybel sleeping on her stomach.
Somehow, my stomach felt heavy while sleeping.
Cybel was sleeping without knowing since when she had been by my side.
I felt sorry for waking him up as he looked so comfortable with the subject of sleeping on his stomach.
… … I am the patient, but anyway.
quiver-
Then the door to the hospital room opened.
“Oh my, Frontier-kun. woke up?”
“hot?!”
It wasn’t me who responded to the nurse’s words, but Cybel.
He opened his eyes and quickly raised his head and straightened his posture.
The nurse laughed at that.
“My girlfriend has been sincere since yesterday.”
At the nurse’s words, Cybel sat up straight and said without moving.
“Girl, my girlfriend, no.”
“Cybel, pronounced.”
“Uh, ow.”
At my point, Cybel raised her hands and pressed her cheeks tightly.
… … Does your pronunciation improve over there?
“Cybel, hair on your lips.”
“Ah, yes, yes.”
“Spit on the chin.”
“hot?! That, yes.”
“snot.”
“lie!”
“yes. lie.”
Stop being fun.
Leaving behind Cybel, who looked at me with resentful eyes, I asked the nurse.
“How long have I been sleeping?”
“It’s been a day. Here, Miss Cybel and Miss Elodie took turns taking care of me.”
“… … Am I that serious? Who needs to be by your side?”
“Uh… … . I said it was okay too, but I really wanted to take care of him.”
At the nurse’s words, I looked at Cybel again.
Cybel averted her gaze from me.
said to me like that.
“No, what is it? you look hard Couldn’t you just stay still?”
“… … Well, it was hard for everyone in the hut.”
“Well, it’s not like that. That, a long time ago… … I think it was difficult.”
“yes?”
What is this sound?
from a very long time ago
Oh, maybe it’s because of the reputation of being a ‘human sloth’.
The reason this happened was because my bad reputation also played a part.
But in reality, the reputation is not that difficult.
People around me look away from me, or avoid my seat, or something like that.
I have never been subjected to visible bullying.
Well, the Roach family must have been more scared than me.
I said.
“it’s okay. Because I am used to it.”
“… … Are you used to it? something like that?”
“Um, what. There were no injuries or anything like that.”
“That’s what it used to be!”
Cybel exclaimed rarely.
Those eyes seem to be scolding me, no, as if persuading me.
“I’ve done that more than a hundred times… … .”
“… … yes?”
hundred times?
what a hundred times?
“No, it’s okay.”
Cybel shut her mouth.
Somehow, I don’t know why at all.
It felt very strange because it seemed like they were looking at me with pity.
“Oh.”
And another person entered the room.
She came up to me and smiled.
… … He also has a similar expression to Cybel.
“Wake up, Frontier.”
“Ugh. Elodie.”
──After that.
I told them both about the situation.
First, Serp was confirmed dead.
Instant death due to a penetrating wound to the forehead.
The weapon was not visible, but it was supposed to be Cybel’s magic arrow.
And another leader, Grovel.
When I asked why he only talked to Serp when he was in the woods, Grobel was in a state of being knocked out by Serp’s surprise before that.
Because Serp was trying to control Rockbell.
To do that, Grovel must have judged that it was a hindrance.
Grovel was sent to ‘Tayburn’s Wall’.
Tayburn is the territory of the Urpa family, and it is located on the outskirts of the family in the complete opposite from Yeranhes, the territory of our family.
This area managed by Ridwi Urfa is more dangerous than Yeranhes.
Unlike Yeranhes, who prevented all monster invasions due to the excellent leadership and management of my father Ampere, Tayburn was not like that.
When winter comes, the monsters outside become more hungry, sniff the food and creep inside little by little.
For this reason, every winter there is a brutal battle in Tayburn.
To defend that winter, Grovel will be honorably ‘written’ as one of the soldiers.
Grovel’s progress was far worse than the mistakes he had made.
Even if he was in a state of fainting, the superficial leader of ‘Aktober’ was Grovel.
He made his younger brother act, arson, injuries, and even attempted murder.
Besides, he even tried to harm the son of a nobleman from two powerful families, me and Elodie.
Severe punishment was inevitable.
I asked.
“When will I be discharged?”
“Just today. The cause of the fainting is not serious, and there will be no aftereffects.”
“Um, what was the cause?”
“… … Mana exhausted.”
When he said that, Elodie spoke as if he had been sentenced to some kind of cancer.
What do you mean by feeling like that?
What’s wrong with mana exhaustion?
I nodded.
“It was, too.”
‘ I said this time without thinking.
How did they take my words, Elodie and Cybel bowed their heads.
… … No, what the hell is this atmosphere?
Then Elodie said as if thinking about it.
“That’s right, when you wake up, Teacher Ainen asked me to say thank you.”
“Ainen teacher?”
“Yeah, what did you say? A quiz?”
“… … Ah, that.”
You’re talking about the dragon heart problem.
“Thanks to that, I got a department store gift certificate. Terst Department Store.”
“… … Terst Department Store?”
Terst Department Store.
As the name suggests, it is a department store under the jurisdiction of the imperial family.
‘Adventurer’s Quiz, the last question that no one seems to know, Terst… … .’
I feel something ominous.
Tiling-
As if answering that thought.
My phone on the table rang.
I handed the phone to Cybel.
I checked and it was a text message.
[Hello, I’m Philly Terst.]
… … what?
Who?
While I couldn’t keep up with my thoughts, another text came.
[See you soon, we.]