Episode 45 – Negotiation

*

Anything becomes easy to underestimate once you get used to it.

I treated my body like trash, to the point where my hobby was throwing myself out the window and reattaching my shattered limbs.

Since any wound would slowly recover anyway, being a high-level undead, and I could instantly heal with divine power, I became numb to the idea of getting hurt at some point.

Naturally, I didn’t even bother to take off my clothes to check the wounds Deborah-ssi inflicted.

That was my mistake.

Who knew Deborah-ssi’s sword would be a silver sword?

I remembered the small burn mark on my hand shortly after meeting the Princess a few days ago.

I didn’t know how it happened back then, but it must have been the mark left by the silver ring Elizabeth-ssi prepared.

She already knew I was undead back then.

Elizabeth-ssi isn’t as cautious as a princess should be?

Ha, I was the one who wasn’t cautious.

A painful blunder.

I bit my lip and deeply reflected.

“Hehe, Baron Salvier. Say something.”

Elizabeth-ssi smiled contentedly as she looked at me, who had gone silent.

My silence was practically an agreement, an admission to her words, and a declaration of defeat.

But my eyes, hidden behind the mask, were burning coldly.

Should I just do it?

I could probably kill them now.

Fighting Deborah-ssi would certainly be a burden, but that was only if I limited myself from using demonic energy.

The current situation was an emergency that could affect my revenge, so I was prepared to use my power without hesitation, even if it meant killing her and my master.

My silence stretched on a bit.

Elizabeth-ssi, who had been waiting for my reaction, seemed to notice something suspicious. She wiped the smile off her face and looked straight at me, saying,

“I’m not your enemy, Baron. I told you, let’s join hands.”

“…”

I looked at her in silence.

Could I really trust her?

How much does she know about me?

Isn’t it more likely that she’ll use my secrets to manipulate me and then discard me?

How far will this clever girl trust and accept me, an undead, just because we can communicate?

Numerous other questions filled my head, but I couldn’t figure out any of them on my own.

Unfortunately, I wasn’t as smart as this girl in front of me.

I broke the silence and opened my mouth.

“What do you want from me, Ellie?”

“…You’re willing to talk?”

When I called her by her nickname, she nodded and took off the mask she was wearing.

Of course, I didn’t bring Baron Salvier’s mask, so I didn’t take off my mask.

I had no intention of revealing my bare face.

I leaned back against the wall and said,

“It seems too late to deny it, and now that the Princess of this country knows I’m undead, I’m worried about being hindered in my activities…”

“Yes, you understand the situation properly…”

“Besides, I don’t really want to fight the former Knight Commander.”

Ellie’s eyes widened at my last words.

Deborah-ssi, who was watching me with her arms crossed behind her, also looked surprised.

Judging from the fact that she had even prepared a fake name, Monica, it must have been a secret to the world that Deborah-ssi was working as the Princess’s personal bodyguard.

Indeed, there were hardly any rumors about what happened to her after she was pushed out by Robin.

Judging from their reactions, they didn’t expect me to know Deborah-ssi’s identity.

If so, at least one thing was certain.

The Princess still doesn’t know that Baron Salvier’s true identity is ‘Edward’.

Ellie smiled slightly, looking interested again.

“Look at that, I got one over on you.”

“I need to show someone as skilled at scheming as you that I’m not someone who can just be used, so we can build an equal relationship, right, Ellie?”

“Hehe, you’re absolutely right, Baron.”

Ellie looked impressed.

I was reminded of how many different expressions she had.

Of course, she, who lived in a palace where politics and intrigue unfolded, couldn’t have failed to learn how to hide her expressions.

Ordinary people hide their thoughts and feelings in a blank expression, but she, on the contrary, seemed to hide herself with various expressions, confusing the other person.

I shouldn’t rashly trust her expressions.

I had to be on my guard in front of this ghostly woman who noticed everything if I let my guard down.

Contrary to my inner thoughts, I pretended to be relaxed and opened my mouth.

“So, what should I do to reject your offer and keep you from talking about me?”

“Aw, are you going to reject it? Why?”

“I hate betrayal more than anything. If I’m alone, there’s no chance of being betrayed. So I don’t want to join hands with anyone, especially not with a terrifying woman like you.”

“Ah, I guess I made you unnecessarily wary. I apologize for that. But Baron, I at least don’t betray my people.”

“That’s the most common type of lie a person in politics can utter.”

“It’s true that I’ll use any means necessary to achieve my goals. But Baron, the goal I want to achieve is to make a lot of my people. My people who I can trust and rely on. That’s why I don’t break trust.”

“Ha, does that ‘my people’ include a place for monsters? You’re a very problematic person as the Princess of the Empire, Ellie.”

“Hehe, an open mind is always a problem for closed-minded people, Baron.”

“Isn’t it a bigger problem for the Princess to let an undead roam around the city?”

“Well, I was quite nervous when I first found out you were undead, Baron. An undead with such a clear consciousness, I wondered if you were a vampire, but no one has been attacked since you came to the city.”

“And you walk around perfectly fine during the day.”

“Yeah, so I thought I’d rather make you my ally.”

“If you were so desperate for talent that you wanted to borrow the hand of an undead, why didn’t you make Robin one of your people?”

“I even got engaged to him to do that, but Daniel must have hated me because he ran away to the afterlife. Everything fell apart because of that. Ah, now that I think about it, wasn’t your fault somewhat involved in my fiancé’s death, Baron?”

“Oh dear, I’m sorry about th…”

“Appuppeu- You don’t have to worry about it. I was depressed for a while at the thought of having to marry a guy who was into incest.”

Ellie and I exchanged words without a moment’s rest, like a sabre fencing match.

Honestly, I even enjoyed the conversation with her, who deftly parried probing and sarcastic remarks.

Thinking that I had finished the preliminary exploration to some extent, I decided to get a little more to the point.

“What do you want me to do?”

“Baron- You hate the Hero, anyway, and so do I. Isn’t that why you accepted my request and spent so much money on free meals?”

“That’s right.”

“So, let’s join forces and harass the Hero a little more. And then the Valguir Dukedom as a bonus.”

“Hmm…”

It was here that I realized the limits of the information she had.

It seemed that she only thought that I didn’t like Robin.

Perhaps the only motive she could guess was the incident in Flavis where Rose, the Baron’s maid, was poisoned by Rose.

She didn’t know that I was trying to kill Robin,

That I killed Daniel and Rose,

And that I had committed the unholy act of resurrecting and moving Daniel’s corpse.

I pondered.

I had the upper hand in information.

How helpful would she be to me?

If I joined hands with her, how much information should I share?

“Ellie, if I join hands with you, can you help me achieve my goal?”

“Of course, but it depends on what that goal is.”

“What are the cases where you can’t help?”

“I can do most things as long as it doesn’t hurt our people.”

“… Hmm,”

“…”

“…”

I closed my mouth at the unexpectedly normal answer.

Even though I was betrayed by Robin and died, my resentment wasn’t directed at all of humanity.

Besides, the Demon King’s personality hadn’t completely taken over my body, so at least I wouldn’t go on a mad killing spree of ordinary people in the process of revenge.

But it was also true that I wouldn’t hesitate to harm people if necessary or if they got in the way.

It seemed very unlikely that Ellie, the Princess of the Empire, would tolerate that, so I stopped talking.

When my silence grew longer, Ellie said in disbelief,

“What is it, Baron? What’s your goal that you’re being like this?”

“…There’s not enough trust built between us yet to say that.”

“Hey, monster-ssi. Are you trying to avenge the Demon King who died 20 years ago now?”

“…Ha, it’s close enough.”

Ellie put her finger to her chin for a moment and tilted her head, lost in thought.

It was a habit she had when she was thinking, which I had seen before.

After thinking for exactly 2 seconds, Ellie’s eyes widened as if she had realized something, and she looked at me.

“Could it be, the Hero? Are you trying to kill Robin Boldiras?”

“If you’re thinking of interfering, you’ll have to die here first, let alone join hands.”

No sooner had I finished speaking than Deborah-ssi unfolded her arms and slowly approached Ellie.

Ellie looked at me and said,

“Appeubeubeu, don’t misunderstand. I’m probably the one who wants to kill that arrogant, stupid Hero the most. But if it were possible, I would have done it first.”

“Why is it impossible? Is the Hero’s skin made of steel or something?”

“Baron, don’t talk nonsense. Even if we ignore the fact that I don’t have the political justification, there’s no one in this empire who can defeat him by force.”

“Hmm,”

“That goes for Monica, no, Deborah-sensei as well.”

Ellie looked at Deborah-ssi, who was standing next to her, and said.

At Ellie’s gaze, Deborah-ssi cleared her throat once and continued in a resentful tone.

“Yes, Robin is definitely a son of a bitch, but he was still a clear Hero. He hasn’t neglected his training since the old days, and he has accumulated a wealth of experience through numerous wars and monster remnant hunts since defeating the Demon King.”

“Are you saying his skills have improved since the past?”

“At least there’s no one in the Empire, including me, who can beat him.”

“Yes, people, that is.”

Deborah-ssi quietly looked at me at my last words.

Even if the Princess wanted to kill Robin, there was probably no suitable way.

Since the opponent was the Hero anyway, his support and popularity among the general public was incredibly high, weakening the political justification for driving Robin into a corner, and it would be even more difficult if Duke Villard was backing him.

Even if she sent assassins, it wouldn’t be a problem for Robin, and there was no way to harm him by force, so Robin would feel like a thorn in the Princess’s throat that she couldn’t pull out.

I, who was also a member of the Hero’s party in the past, knew Robin’s terrifying skill and power well.

The reason why I didn’t immediately move to cut Robin’s throat even though I had gained the power to wield both divine power and demonic energy was, of course, to give him even greater pain,

But at the same time, it was also because I couldn’t be sure of victory if a fight broke out with Robin right now.

Of course, considering that our entire party had lost to the Demon King once, I would be able to beat Robin after I mastered demonic energy more perfectly,

But I was cautious because if I relied too much on demonic energy and something went wrong, the Demon King might take over my body.

I would definitely kill him, but rather, I was taking my time and making plans to do so.

Ellie said to me with a serious expression.

“What I wanted from the Baron was to support us with your wealth and put pressure on Robin, but if you can really kill Robin, the story changes. But I don’t think you can kill Robin.”

“I can do it. Of course, I have to give him enough pain before that.”

“… I’m curious.”

“About what.”

“I found out that the person behind the Baron’s mask in front of me is Baron Salvier, but I want to know who your real identity is behind the Baron’s mask.”

“…”

“Who are you, the undead who says you can kill that Hero?”

I pondered for a moment.

She was definitely someone who would help me kill Robin if she was convinced that I could do it.

Is it right to reveal my identity to give her confidence?

Or is it better to hide it until the end?

Dawn was already breaking.

It was time to make a decision.

“Ellie, do I have to reveal my identity to join hands with you?”

“As I said before, my goal is to gather my people who I can trust. Of course, I need to know who you are. If you’re not just a pawn I’ll use and discard, but a true ally.”

“… There are conditions.”

“Tell me.”

“First, never divulge it.”

“Yes, I expected that much.”

“Second, help me kill Robin, but never interfere with the method.”

“… Hmm, is advice okay?”

“…”

“App- Sorry, keep talking.”

“Third, don’t deceive or endanger me or my companions.”

“Okay. And what else?”

“Fourth, don’t ask any additional questions about my past, abilities, or companions other than what I’ve explained.”

“Ugh, can’t I even be curious?”

“I’ll only tell you what you need to know.”

“Tch,”

“That’s all I can think of right now. If you agree, I’ll reveal my identity and join hands with you, Ellie. What will you do?”

“… Hmm,”

Ellie pondered, resting her chin on her hand.

For about 1 second.

Ellie nodded in 1 second.

“Why not.”

.