Chapter 333 |
Interlude, Rival (1)
The Empire was, by and large, peaceful.
Black mages occasionally went on rampages, and demon contractors from who-knew-where sometimes stirred up trouble, but none of it grew into a serious problem.
How many knights and Transcendents did the Empire have, after all?
Most black mages had their heads taken off before they could even start causing chaos, and even if they somehow survived that, they still had to face a white-haired killer with strikingly pretty hair.
「Pleasure to meet you.」
「Any last words?」
It was extremely hard to dodge the blade of a Sword Master who had reached Transcendence by being exceptionally good at cutting people down. Thanks to that, the Empire stayed mostly peaceful, but for roughly the last half year, it had to endure a fairly chaotic stretch.
The Starlight Sect, one of the three great churches and the largest among them, suddenly announced: "We were in contact with Camlann, and we also made a contract with a Demon King. Actually, we even built a direct road to Camlann under our grounds."
"Huh?"
The star of the Knight of Betrayal flashed in the sky, neighboring nations declared war as if they had been waiting for this exact moment, and then:
"What is that this time?"
"Ah. You don't know? That's the Carnival King's star. She drags around triple-digit stars all by herself."
"Then how are we supposed to record this?"
"If I knew that, do you think I'd be standing here like this?"
After barely suppressing all that somehow, they now had to fight a war against a Transcendent who commanded hundreds of stars.
The Demon King with eleven stars, the Carnival King.
A being who set every fire she could across the continent and caused chaos unlike anything in Imperial history. Rumors spread that this time the Empire might truly collapse and the whole continent might fall into disorder, but...
「Great Sir Najin, subjugation of the Demon of Revelry!」
「Obtain the 9th star.」
That chaos too was neatly settled with the birth of a hero. So the historians, finally able to write "The Empire is generally peaceful" in the history books again, had to add one footnote beside that line.
「In Imperial Year xxxx, the Empire regained peace.」
"Hey."
"Did you call for me, Staff of Selection-nim?"
"Could you step back a little?"
"Excuse me?"
"I said, step back."
"I'm not sure what you mean."
「*Except for Arbenia territory.」
"I said step away from him...!"
Merlin screeched and grabbed Yuel's arm to pull her away. Her reason was simple: the seat beside Najin was hers, so why was Yuel taking it?
"Ten."
Merlin muttered with her eyes wide.
"Nine, eight, seven..."
Najin, who had been peacefully sipping coffee, shot to his feet and clamped Merlin's mouth shut with his palm. He had experienced not long ago what happened when that number hit "0."
The hole blown into one corner of the Arbenia ducal garden was proof.
Yuel blinked innocently, Merlin pointed at Yuel like she still wasn't done being angry, and Najin subdued Merlin with ease.
"Ah..."
Watching all this, the mistress of the ducal house, Dieta Arbenia, lifted her coffee cup with trembling hands.
"The coffee tastes great, Najin."
The Empire had regained peace.
Except for Arbenia territory.
2.
There was a woman named Dieta Arbenia.
If one tried to explain her competence, there would be no end to it, and her success story had already been published in every kind of book and swept the Empire's publishing market (with a little funding from Dieta Trading), so what more was there to say?
Even her titles and rank alone were enough to show her greatness.
Founder and Chairman of the greatest merchant company in the Empire.
Head of House Arbenia, in other words, a duke.
Holder of an exclusive contract with the Empire's greatest mage tower, closest friend of Eternal Radiance Horn Sir Cypria Gachevska, the tycoon who held the Empire's financial lifeline in her grasp, the Empire's richest magnate, an investment genius, and the only lady Dawn Horn openly confided in, and so on...
Recently, one more line had been added to that long list of epithets.
Coin-Eyed Horn, Dieta Arbenia.
The Empire's Fifth Pillar, and the first person in Imperial history to rise to a Pillar seat as a merchant.
First Horn, Gerd Isabalt.
Dawn Horn, Najin.
Eternal Radiance Horn, Cypria Gachevska.
Purity Horn, Loren Aresche.
Coin-Eyed Horn, Dieta Arbenia.
Her name now stood among figures like those. Dieta thought she had probably scored high points for supplying massive amounts of materials when the Empire prepared for war. She was quite happy.
It felt like she was finally being compensated for her harsh childhood.
No matter how mentally healthy she had become, no matter how much she had grown as a person, childhood wounds still remained wounds. And she was resolving hers in a very healthy and wholesome way.
That method was taking walks through the duchy.
Even the walking route was always fixed.
Dieta had designed it with great care so it passed in front of the residences of the former ducal family members, all now demoted to commoners.
And every single day, without fail, she went out for that walk.
When the duchess passed in front of your home, how could a resident not run outside? Every time Dieta walked by, the former duke, former princes, and former princesses had to run out, even barefoot, and bow their heads.
"We greet the master of Arbenia!"
Those former nobles shouted it with proper etiquette and the prettiest bows they could manage, and every time she heard it, Dieta felt refreshed.
「How dare someone like you use the name Arbenia.」
「You do not suit Arbenia.」
「Arbenia is not a name someone like you gets to speak. Shut that mouth and get out of our sight at once.」
How delightful it was to see the older sisters and brothers who used to spit those words now drenched in cold sweat, shouting, "We greet the master of Arbenia!"
It was a slightly dark way to let things out, sure, but so what?
'If they didn't like it, they should've won the fight for the family head seat.'
This was the rightful privilege of the victor, and Dieta was enjoying that privilege.
"Hmm, hm-hmm."
A hum escaped her naturally. Every day made Dieta happy, and soon she was going to be even happier, because that person would be arriving.
That person was Najin.
After ending the war and returning to the Empire, Najin immediately promised to visit Arbenia Duchy, and while staying in the Empire he declared, in front of the Emperor himself, that he would stay at the ducal house.
"Hk."
Remembering that moment, Dieta swallowed hard. Of course, he probably hadn't meant it that way. It was likely just bothersome to find a new residence, and he probably only meant he would do as he always had, but...
「Ah, is that so?」
「Hmm, then I suppose the rumor that you and Duke Coin-Eyes are especially close was true. Very well, do so.」
「If you need anything, come find me at any time. The gates of the Imperial Palace are always open for the Empire's hero.」
Judging from the Emperor's expression, he seemed to have taken it in exactly that way. Dieta, who had stood there with them, had nearly broken into a sweat trying to keep a straight face.
Wasn't this basically dating?
No, wasn't this practically already marriage?
No one was there to correct her misunderstanding. Who would dare scold one of the Empire's Pillars? In any case, Dieta waited for Najin with an excited heart, and then...
"Hey."
"Did you call for me, Staff of Selection-nim?"
"Could you step back a little?"
"Excuse me?"
"I said, step back."
"I'm not sure what you mean."
And that was how...
"I said step away from him...!"
...things reached the present.
'What am I even looking at right now?'
As she watched the whole bickering sequence, cold sweat ran down Dieta's back. In fact, some was running down her forehead too.
Yes, she had gained one star now.
But one person in front of her was a legendary archmage with eleven stars, and the other was a notorious Sword Master with six stars. Dieta's pupils shook.
"The coffee tastes good, Najin."
Still, after seeing scenes like this for days now, she had gotten used to it. Dieta took a deep breath and steadied herself.
It also helped her peace of mind a lot when Merlin dragged Yuel away, saying, "You need to talk with me."
Leaving Merlin behind as she spread both arms and explained something to Yuel in the distance, Dieta stared straight at the man in front of her.
"Najin?"
"Yes."
"What on earth happened?"
Just what had happened for that infamous killer to get fixated on you? No, if it were only fixation, Dieta could understand it. She had often seen Yuel demanding a duel.
'But...'
This case felt different.
"Wait..."
Dieta narrowed her eyes. Half-lidded, she stared at Najin.
"Najin, you..."
"I can guess what you're thinking, and it's not that."
"You know what I'm thinking?"
"You remember that promise, right? That if I ever started seeing someone, I'd tell you first."
Najin took a sip of coffee.
"That promise is still valid. It's not that I didn't tell you separately, I just still haven't thought in that direction yet."
Those clear eyes. His attitude, saying he still had no intention of dating anyone, seemed unchanged. Dieta let out a relieved sigh and sipped her coffee.
"I did get confessed to, though."
Drip.
She had barely started savoring it when coffee streamed from between Dieta's lips. Noble etiquette was not very useful in this case. She hurriedly wiped the coffee from her mouth with a handkerchief and tilted her head.
"What did you say?"
"It's a bit complicated to explain, but I think I did receive something like a confession. I couldn't answer at the time because of the situation."
Najin made an awkward face. Dieta, who felt like she'd just been struck from behind, had trembling lips.
"No, what in the world were you doing to get confessed to by that infamous church executioner?!"
"I'm honestly wondering that myself."
From Najin's side, there was something unfair about this too. He had only done what the other person wanted, and as always, he had dealt with her sincerely. Merlin occasionally screamed, "You seduced her, you lunatic," but those words were hard for Najin to understand.
He still lacked the experience to understand the subtle psychological dynamics between men and women.
'Right, this is what kind of person he is.'
Dieta held the back of her aching neck and looked up at the sky. Then again, was she really the only one who fell for him? Looking at Najin objectively, it wasn't strange at all.
Looks, personality, sincerity in everything, and now even soaring fame. He was also very young.
Of course, Dieta cleanly dealt with nobles who presumptuously threw marriage proposals at Najin, but if the opponent was a church executioner, even for Dieta it was not easy.
'And besides...'
Najin didn't seem to notice, but Merlin, who deliberately materialized and stuck right by his side, wasn't ordinary either. Dieta's head throbbed as her rivals kept increasing.
'He's always been this kind of person.'
Dieta narrowed her eyes.
Still, this felt a little unfair.
Her head understood he was not at fault, but her heart seemed to think otherwise.
Rustle.
Dieta stood from her seat. After straightening her skirt, she moved from across from Najin to the seat beside him. Then she reached out and grabbed the hem of his clothes with both hands.
"Why do you dress like this? It's a complete mess."
Using fixing his outfit as an excuse, she closed the distance. From this close, one palm's width more and their faces would touch. Dieta looked up at Najin.
"Najin."
Dieta's eyes gleamed.
"I won't drag this out."
"Excuse me? What do you mean?"
"Maybe not for other people, but when it comes to you, Najin, my heart is as wide as the sea, you know? No matter what you do, my sea won't dry up."
Dieta smiled softly.
"Just one thing."
With a sharp motion, Dieta grabbed Najin's necklace. The ring hanging at the end of it jingled. As she pulled the necklace, Najin's head lowered a little. Holding his gaze right in front of him, Dieta whispered:
"The first is mine."
Did you understand?
"As long as that one thing is kept, mm, I don't care about anything else."
By the time Dieta took one step back, satisfied that she had made herself clear, she noticed the voices from farther away had stopped at some point.
Merlin and Yuel, who had been talking at a distance, had fallen silent and were staring right at Dieta.
The great mage's icy blue eyes and the executioner's blood-red eyes flashed.
They said ordinary people shrank in front of Transcendents' gaze, but Dieta handled their stare with practiced ease.
Yes, she knew they were Transcendents and incredible. She knew.
So what?
'I liked him first.'
'I confessed first.'
'You're second and third.'
'The first is me.'
As the old sages said, first-mover advantage wins. No matter the field, the one who got in line first benefited. It was a law of the world. Dieta smiled brightly.
"..."
Merlin wasn't any different. The words had risen all the way to her throat: "The first is me, though? I met him earlier than you?" But Merlin managed to hold it in with superhuman patience.
She thought it was a bit much to get heated against someone much younger than herself, and not even a Constellation.
Amazingly, Merlin also had a sense of shame.
'Wait, didn't she get one star?'
Probably.
'Ah, now I'm pissed.'
She probably did.