Chương 27: Chapter 25: Royalty on the Move
Time to shake things up and start preparing to fight the witch! Yeah!
Thanks to my dream, I now had a plan to prevent the witch from teleporting: the yes-I'm-relying-on-others-super-duper-vacuum plan!
The first step would be to send someone to the basement to fight the witch and get her to waste her MP.
I couldn't ask Layla...or any other knight, for that matter. If the witch understood that I knew where she was hiding, she'd flee.
This damn scaredy-cat!
We had to make her think that a student or teacher had lost their way and ended up in the basement by chance. She'd be afraid that they'd blabber to me after escaping, so naturally she'd try to dispose of them right there and then.
The only issue was that, while she was a freaking wuss, she was still the final boss. Pitting a regular student against her was akin to sending them to their death.
Verner and his party could take her on in the game—Verner could even defeat her on his own from the second run onward—but it was still best to remain cautious. The witch was strong.
What to do then, you ask? There was only one answer—train Verner and the others and make them even stronger.
To achieve that, I'd asked the old man and Layla to coach them in secret when they had time.
If you're wondering why it had to remain secret, it was because I didn't want the other students whining that Verner and his friends were getting preferential treatment.
I was also wondering if there were other students who, like Marie, were already as strong as some knights.
I should look into the second and third-year students who did well in the tournament.
Oh, and since we'd taken over Dias's contact network, we also had to think of a way to use it to our advantage. The witch still had no idea we'd arrested Dias and his allies, so she was still using the Stil's birds to communicate with them. Naturally, the person answering her wasn't Dias anymore—it was Four-Eyed Pervert. Thanks to him, I knew exactly what the witch was thinking.
Leaving such an important task to someone like him made me a little uneasy, but I was pretty sure he wouldn't leak my information to the witch even though he was a pervert.
H-He wouldn't, right?
The witch was currently scheming to find a way to force me to leave the academy. Her newest idea was to have one of her subordinates pretend to be her and go on a rampage somewhere far away.
If we played our cards well, we could use that against her. That was why, for the time being, I'd asked Four-Eyed Pervert to play along and help the witch think of a good plan to draw me out. I'd also instructed him to feed her false intel. He'd told her I had yet to notice anything shady about the basement.
And, hm... That was pretty much it, actually.
For now, we were waiting for Verner and his friends to get stronger and keeping an eye out for other promising students. Then, we'd be able to carry out the plan.
We had all the time in the world. The second part of the game—from the end of the summer holiday to the winter holiday—was pretty much dedicated to Ellize and all the problems she'd caused in the original game. As long as I didn't bother Verner myself, everything should remain peaceful enough.
After the winter holiday, though, the real challenge would begin. At that point in the original game, the witch would start going all out in order to kill the newly established saint—Eterna. She'd send tons of assassins after her, and if you made the wrong choices, some of the heroines would die.
That said, I intended to remain in the position of the saint, so I expected the plot would be changing a lot.
The rocking of the carriage jolted me out of my reverie. I was currently on the way back to my castle.
I hadn't wanted to return in the slightest, but the royal families of several countries were getting together for a ceremonial dinner in order to "reinforce their connections" or something. The saint's castle didn't belong to any one country—or rather, it had ties with every single country—which made it the ideal place for such talks.
Anyway, I'd been summoned too and had to attend.
Why do I have to be "invited" to my own castle?
It was kind of ridiculous. Imagine someone asking you to attend their party before telling you, "Oh, by the way, we're throwing it at your place."
Who's inviting who, huh? I'm the host, all right?!
As far as I was concerned, I would've preferred it if they'd thrown their party in some faraway country and left me alone.
Urgh... I don't wannaaaaa...
I'd told Verner and the others I'd be back soon, but I really wished that "soon" was now. I'd have to spend hours sitting at the dinner table smiling at old men while pretending to be having the time of my life. Plus, I had to be even more careful than usual with my perfect saint persona when I was around big shots; it was exhausting.
As soon as I reached my castle, I ordered my servants to prepare for the royal families' arrivals and to get some food ready. Then, I headed to the kitchen myself. I'd received a request, so I was going to bake a large cake and cover it with whipped cream. I could use magic to make the process shorter, but it was still a pain. Since I was keeping the recipe secret, I couldn't even get anyone to help me.
I did what I could to get the castle ready. Before long, the royals started arriving.
"It's been a long time, Lady Ellize. You're beautiful as always," King Aiz of the Bilberry Kingdom greeted me.
While his name made him sound cool, he was just a muscular old man with gray hair. I could never tell what the old geezer was thinking, so I didn't like him much.
The academy was actually located in the Bilberry Kingdom. It was the most powerful and influential country around here. My birth village—in other words, the village in which Eterna had also been born and raised in—was also part of the Bilberry Kingdom. Most of the main characters, including Verner, Eterna, and I, were Bilberrian. Layla wasn't, though—she'd come from abroad to attend the academy.
While the saint was supposed to remain neutral to avoid tipping the balance of power, the knights who were in charge of her protection technically belonged to the Bilberry Kingdom, which went to show how shaky that neutrality was. To give a telling example in modern terms, the Bilberry Kingdom was pretty much the United States of America of this world.
Anyway... Behind him were his sons, the princes. They were all pretty different; one was fat, the second looked like a pretty boy, and the third was all jacked and manly. While their appearances were widely different, they all looked at me in the same disgusting way. I could see the lust in their eyes.
I couldn't say anything, though. These people were royalty.
"Thank you for welcoming us, O holy saint. Please accept this magical blue rose. We grew it carefully for you. As I thought, beautiful roses can only suit someone as gorgeous as yourself."
The guy who'd just given me the weird-colored flower in the most pompous manner possible was the king of...somewhere. The previous king had recently passed away from an illness, and this guy had succeeded him...or something like that. I didn't really care, to be honest.
"Oho ho ho! I see you haven't changed at all, Lady Ellize," another king commented, laughing cheerfully. His expression was friendly, but I could see his good humor didn't extend to his eyes.
"Leoooon, I want to eat some cloud!"
"Ha ha ha, worry not! You shall have some, my lovely Elly!"
The two idiots who'd come in flirting with each other were the king and queen of God-knows-where. They'd only recently gotten married. The queen had been born in a minor noble house, but she'd risen to power because the king had fallen madly in love with her. The king's former fiancée—some villainess or something?—had been kicked out after their engagement had fallen through. Honestly, it all sounded like the plot of some drama.
At any rate, the two of them felt very out of place.
Guys, we're in a dating sim targeted at men, not in some otome game, okay?!
Leaving that aside, I'd heard their country was on the brink of collapse because of a dire economic crisis.
I mean, that's what you get for putting a queen who's never been educated for the job on the throne.
"Oh my! I'd heard rumors but you're even more beautiful than they say! How about a drink with me tonight?" an old man with a topknot asked, flirting with me even though it was the very first time we'd met.
His clothes were somewhat reminiscent of Japanese-style clothes...
No, actually, they're totally Japanese-style clothes.
He seemed to be from a small archipelago called Giappon located in the east, beyond the sea.
Why's there always a pseudo-Japan if you go east in 99% of fantasy worlds?
The last king to greet me was the one from the Lutein Kingdom. "Lady Ellize... Once again, please let me thank you for what you did for us."
Yo! You look a little down bro. What's wrong? Constipation?
"Lady Ellize, this gathering is... No, never mind."
He seemed to have something to tell me, but he ended up walking away without saying anything, a gloomy expression on his face.
What's uuuup?! I'm super curious now! It's not nice to leave me hanging like this!
◇
The gathering proceeded in an amicable atmosphere. Well, the countries that were currently seeking help because of their struggles with economic difficulties were brushed aside curtly, but it was still amicable, I suppose.
After a while, when the atmosphere was at its best, King Aiz suddenly spoke up. "This brings to mind... Lady Ellize, you decided to enroll in the academy to look for the witch. Have you had any success?"
"I'm afraid I cannot say for sure. I've been able to find circumstantial evidence, but nothing conclusive yet. The only thing I can say for now is that the probability of her lurking in the academy is rather high," I said.
I actually had proof already, but I had no intention of telling them. I had no way of knowing where the witch's spies were hiding, after all. Even if all the people here were trustworthy, I had no insurance they wouldn't tell someone else... That someone could, in turn, tattle to the witch.
"I see. This means you have yet to defeat the witch... What good news."
What do you mean, "good news"? Are you dumb or what?
"Lady Ellize, I'd like to ask you something... Would you be open to the idea of giving up on defeating the witch?"
What the hell was wrong with this old geezer?! If I gave up on killing the witch, I could kiss my happy ending goodbye.
He has to be an idiot, there's no other explanation.
Was there even such an event in the game? No way. I didn't remember Ellize being invited to a gathering and leaving the academy at all. I was a pretty far cry from the original Ellize, so it made sense for things to be a little different, but still...
The atmosphere is starting to feel quite oppressive...
"May I ask you to elaborate?" I asked after a pause.
"Even with the witch alive, your presence is enough to let this world bask in light. The people do not live in fear anymore, monsters have been confined to narrow areas, and the witch hides in fear. People used to have to put their lives on the line to travel along the roads, but they're now completely safe. All of this...everything is thanks to you."
Praise me more!
I had put in extra effort to make people believe I was the real deal since I was, you know, me.
So yeah, I did a good job, but what's your point?
"And so, we've reached the conclusion that this status quo should be maintained as long as possible," he concluded.
"Do you not hope for the situation to improve further?" I asked. "The world won't fully be rid of the darkness until I defeat the witch."
"It would be preferable, of course... Erasing the darkness from this world would be the most desirable. However, that peace wouldn't last longer than five years. And I do worry we will never see your match again should you pass. That is why I cannot help but think the people would profit more from an imperfect, but durable peace, rather than one that is perfect, yet short-lived..."
What is this old man saying? You want me to let the witch be and maintain the status quo? Are you okay in the head?
"I'm afraid I cannot go into detail, but...saints do not survive for long after they defeat the witch. Even though you're the most outstanding saint in history, you will be no exception. In the past, saints have only succeeded in bringing us peace for five short years at most. But you're different, Lady Ellize. You've already maintained the peace for over seven years...and you will surely continue to do so as long as you breathe. We cannot afford to lose you. I'm afraid humanity would not withstand the trials to come without you..." He exhaled before asking once more, "So, would you agree to leave the witch alone?"
Oh jeez, he's really going all out with the bullshit.
How could a king, someone meant to protect his people, ask me to ignore the greatest threat to humanity?
To be fair, I do get where he's coming from. These geezers are all convinced I'll turn into the next witch.It stood to reason that they were afraid of the birth of the strongest witch of all.
"Are you aware that the Lutein Kingdom was almost destroyed a few weeks ago?" I asked instead of answering his question. "If the witch is left alone, tragedy will eventually catch up with us."
"You were there to prevent that tragedy, were you not? That's what convinced me that you were more than qualified to protect the peace...even with the witch still alive," King Aiz said. He grinned before adding, "If I am to be fully honest, I must say this imperfect peace is the best option for humanity. It's true that after a witch dies, we get five years of peace and no monsters threatening our lands. However, people start fighting among themselves when they don't have a common enemy. The unity between us weakens. Lady Ellize, were you aware that every war fought between humans—each one in our entire history—was fought during a period without a witch? A period of perfect peace will inevitably be rendered imperfect by humans. Think of it this way—if we are currently experiencing an era of relative peacefulness with the witch, would that not be better than an era of strife among neighbors?"
I have to say, that old geezer's good at giving speeches! Just what you'd expect from a king.
He raised both arms triumphantly and continued, "Even with the witch alive, I've never lived through more glorious days than the past seven years. A common enemy makes us stronger and keeps us united. The people will be able to rally under you, Lady Ellize! They'll be able to keep moving forward!"
He managed to make every word he said sound like the truth, and I'd even found myself thinking, Oh, that makes sense a few times.
"The relative tranquility we have now is enough— No! I'd go even further and say it is necessary! A perfect peace isn't desirable. When people have no goals to strive for, they become lazy. They need to constantly strive for a realistic, yet challenging goal. Let the world bask in your light without erasing all traces of darkness! Shadows shy away from the blazing sun, but they never cease to exist, do they? I insist! What this world needs isn't the death of the witch. We need you, our saint! As long as you're here, peace shall endure for the next ten or even twenty years— No! You do not age, so we may even have a hundred years ahead of us!"
All right... I'm starting to get it. This guy totally has the wrong idea.
I hadn't really explained my situation to them or told them I was a fake, obviously, so it made sense, but still... For some reason, he'd started assuming that I'd live forever just because my body didn't age.
You got it all wrong. It's the reverse! I'm gonna die much sooner than you think!
I only had one year left at best. To put it bluntly, my batteries were running out, and fast.
Life expectancy was already fairly short in this world. It was a mere twenty years if you took into account external causes of death—such as monsters and the like—or thirty with monsters out of the equation. After all, starvation, malnutrition, epidemics, and even the cold still killed over half of the babies. Naturally, people who lived in a good environment—like royalty, nobles, and knights—often got to celebrate their fiftieth, or even sixtieth birthdays, but the average was still pretty brutal. Ever since I'd started helping around, the survival rate of children had risen quite a bit, but it was still a far cry from modern-day Japan.
As for me...since I'd absorbed Verner's dark powers, I was much worse off than your average person.
Anyway, I probably shouldn't agitate him for no reason. Let's just give a noncommittal answer and call it a day.
"I understand... I will take note of your advice."
"Take note? I'm afraid that's not enough," he replied.
I wanted to avoid kicking up a fuss, but King Aiz wasn't having it. He snapped his fingers. Suddenly, a bunch of soldiers stormed into the room and surrounded me.
Are you for reaaaaal?!
"Lady Ellize! You will remain as the symbol of justice until your death, and you will not be allowed to slay the witch! We have already reached this conclusion, and it is nonnegotiable!"
Would you look at this...
Their plan was to keep me trapped, like a bird in a cage, until the day I died. Now that I thought about it, the geezer had also been the one to order my confinement on Eterna's route.
Well, this is a pain.
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