Chapter 28 - Annoying Curse
I observed the situation that had heated up.
Compared to my family who focused on military arts to fight monsters, it seemed that the adult male who was the head of this military noble family had military experience focusing on human targets.
Zoe's curse seemed to have given them an open opportunity to shine.
When I wanted to spread Zoe's curse to the remaining two childs, my attempt was thwarted by the group of soldiers who protected them.
"Stop this madness, Lily-sama!" he shouted.
I could see his body trembling with fear as he pointed the tip of his sword at me.
"Lily-sama, if you wish, can you allow me to be your sword and fight them?" said the adult male as he prepared to charge at them.
The markings on Zoe's butterfly wings lit up so perfectly, that it was like a sign that required them to act by my side as part of their curse. As long as their family continued to produce descendants of the same blood, they would remain the attacking swords and protective shields of the Marquess Rommel family.
This indirectly added an eternal ally to the Marquess Rommel family.
Even when I glanced at the child who bullied me earlier, he could only smile wryly without being able to fight the curse I gave.
"I give you permission, to show that you are the family that has become the attacking sword and protective shield of the Marquess Rommel family," I said coldly.
When the attack order came out of my mouth, I could see the adult man immediately running and swinging his sword.
Pang...
Ting...
Pwang...
The sparks from his sword strike gave rhythm to his loyalty who drew his sword for the Marquess Rommel family.
The soldier guarding the two remaining children was overwhelmed when fighting him in one strike.
The swing of the sword they fought had such a heavy pressure that it slipped from one of his hands. When the soldier lost his sword, a punch flew from the adult man's fist and made the Royal Palace soldier who was wearing full armor fall to the ground.
Bugghh...
That extraordinary power came from just one person. Unlike me who used the sword technique from the Yurification System, the attack technique seemed to go from training and hard work.
"Nice blow, where did you learn all that?" I asked the adult man.
"This is the basic training I often did when I was a child," he replied as he sheathed his sword.
"All obstacles have disappeared, Lily-sama. You may continue with your remaining work," he continued as he made way for me.
All that was left of the child was the fear caused by the display of physical violence seen by Zoe's curse, with him sobs filled with sorrow, I did not feel like giving forgiveness to those who had bullied me all this time.
"Now there are two left, do you know who they are?" I asked the adult man.
So far, I have cursed a military noble family, a merchant noble family, and a noble family that could only be disgusted by the sight of their beloved girl acting like a burning worm.
"They are a family that is quite close to the Crown Prince faction."
The simple answer I heard from the adult man. Of all the families, it seemed they had one common alliance which was related to the Crown Prince of the Kingdom who had become that disgusting trash.
"I'm not surprised by the fact that they always bother me when I'm at the noble party. They come from a family that is close to power it seems," I grumbled a little annoyed, and crossed my arms.
My small steps were now approaching them.
Just by looking at me walking closer, they looked very scared and wanted to run away with facial expressions that looked like they saw a monster.
"I didn't want to do this but you guys started it," I smiled as I said that and pulled one of them arms and brought him to his family's party table.
In the corner of my eye suddenly saw the expression on his family's faces filled with fear as the adult man who had defeated the Royal Palace soldiers with one punch escorted me right beside my body.
"You don't need to bother following me."
"But this is already the duty of the family that has become your protective shield," he replied with a proud smile.
"Uuhh... you'll be considered weird for escorting a monster like me, you know."
"Is there a problem with that? There's no monster as beautiful as you, Lily-sama."
"Your words are a bit unusual when flattering someone, are you used to doing all that?"
"Yes, I am used to lowering myself to a higher noble status. Do you feel uncomfortable when being flattered like this, Lily-sama?"
"I am just not used to it."
Our brief conversation seemed to have separated our closeness by the distance of noble status.
"You can move freely when it comes to me," I said to end the discomfort of being flattered and respected like this.
"From the start, I have no high noble status for you to respect because it belongs to my father."
"I am just an ordinary weak girl who is not worthy of being flattered like that."
My answer seemed to surprise the adult man. His bulging eyes and smiling facial muscles made me realize that the adult man had a harder time speaking to a young girl like me without respect.
"It is a bit difficult to call you without respect, Lily-sama." Experience new tales on empire
"That is true, it would seem very strange if a young girl like me spoke familiarly to a grown man like you."
"Ah... hahaha..." the adult man's awkward laughter was heard and he scratched his face with his index finger.
"Uhm, you can respect me according to my father's noble status. But let me warn you one thing, I am not used to excessive respect or flattery."
"I understand, Lily-sama. I will adjust your honor according to the circumstances," he said while bowing respectfully to me.
My arm was still holding the little child in front of their family's party table. When my gaze was drawn to one of the adult women who looked scared, I immediately released my grip and spoke, "I don't want to talk at same phrase, which one of you is his mother?"
"Lily-sama, if I may suggest. The curse you gave will seem in vain because this boy is not from the main family but from one of the concubines married by the head of the family. It is indeed a bit embarrassing when a child from a concubine insults you with full confidence."
"Eh? Where did the courage come from to bully me when he has no power in his position as part of the main family?"
"That's a bit difficult because this noble family is farmers who spread their territory through marriage to cultivate new farmland. Almost all of their agricultural products become a strong source to support the people of the Aurora Kingdom independently without buying agricultural products from other kingdoms. We can even still sell it because the stock of the harvest is always excessive."
A glimpse of a new plan for the curse I wanted to plant came to me.
"This gives me an idea, you are a farming family, right? Then, is it okay if you try harder to cultivate fertile land that has a high level of harvest difficulty?"
"…"
They fell silent as they did not understand the meaning of my words.
"Starting today, the level of the agricultural land you own has a fairly high level of harvest difficulty. If you usually water the land only once a day, now you need ten waterings a day to maintain the stability of your harvest. Good luck with your hard work…" I said while planting Zoe's curse on the land they owned.
As long as their descendants are still the noble farmers that the royal family is proud of, they must work hard to meet those expectations.
"Lily-sama, is this okay?"
"Hmm… did I make a mistake by making them work harder than usual?"
"No, that's not what I meant. Isn't the curse given too low for them?"
"This curse is simple but has a very high level of complexity. Who would want to water the crops ten times in one day? In addition to the worsening workload, their finances and trust as a farming family will be at stake in the stability of the harvest. Oh! That's right!
You are not allowed to monopolize the price of the harvest or the harvest itself," I said, adding one more curse to the noble farmer family.
"At least I can breathe a sigh of relief after hearing that last curse. It would be very problematic if they did something bad like that. How could you think of all that, Lily-sama?" the adult man asked, turning to me.
"Nothing special, it's because their greed is obvious with that look," I said as I turned my body to look at the remaining little child.
My wide smile was now much more towards joy than forcing my will to spread Zoe's curse. These five little children had become the main stage that made it easier for me to become a Villain figure who approached the Demon Queen according to the blessing given by the Goddess.
"It seems that there is only one rat left, Lily-sama."
"Rat? Isn't he human?"
"I mean about his family who moves like rats. His family openly embezzles royal family funds and always escapes the audit. It makes me wonder how they do all that. The smuggling and laundering of royal family assets is a debate that always occurs because there are no clear rules that limit it. They openly use the royal family's storage assets to fill their gold pockets."
"Ugh, just hearing it makes me disgusted."
"Isn't that the same as a rat that moves gnawing from the inside?"
"I don't want to meet his disgusting family. Starting today, you don't have the power to talk nonsense and express your deepest feelings openly. All your rottenness will naturally be spoken in your mouths including the disgusting behavior that you will do."
With that last curse, I left the last little child with a menace smile. Zoe's last curse seemed to be a hard blow to one of his family's bloodlines.
"I will kill you!" he said with a clear scream.
It seemed that Zoe's curse had worked optimally.
I immediately turned around and saw her whole body covered in anger. A pure honesty fruit could be seen in her with the active suppression of Zoe's curse. When a family filled with trash becomes more honest, it seems that it is still a big family filled with trash.