episode_0179

Episode 179

Three people enter a dark alley. They all seem to have their hoods pressed down and want to avoid people’s attention.

When we arrive at a door, the person in front knocks lightly. The door opens and the face of a man with many scars pops out. He said a word with a strange intonation.

“Dotia Lecha.”

“Leme, Patini Spa.”

The man stepped aside and opened the door wide. As I entered, a musty smell hit my nose.

I took off my hood. Rika and Carmel too.

‘Ominous magical power stirs everywhere.’

If it’s natural, it’s natural. This is the home of Ktisha, the strongest shaman in Luli. If Leelia had come, she would have made a fuss and said she would purify everything.

“Welcome, princess and queen. Your compatriot is an official knight, right? Hehe, noble people came to visit a shabby place.”

Is it because of confidence that this is already their territory? Ktisha was confident even in front of two royal families.

Contrary to her relaxed attitude, the subordinates around her were giving her negative looks. Most of them were of various ethnic groups, but there were also some Rustiers. Everyone had the same look in their eyes as if they were out of their minds.

“It’s been a while, Ktisha. Even though we live in the same Lurie, this is the first time I’ve come to see you.”

Carmel was acquainted with Ktisha. It seems like they knew each other in the North about ten years ago.

“I understand, Carmel. The position of queen must not be so easy. Meeting people from the back world like this would be a flaw in itself. But still, there is a good reason why you came here, right?”

Ktisha slowly got up from her seat and walked towards us. Her outfit, reminiscent of a dancer’s outfit, did not fit the current season at all. Various patterns were tattooed on the exposed skin.

“Is it that important? Or is it just that secret? Hehehe, either way it’s very interesting to me, right?”

Ktisha looked closely at the faces of Carmel and I, as if trying to figure out his intentions. Carmel didn’t pay any attention to that and asked straight away.

“Shamans who appeared in Sangseine Street. Is this what you are doing?”

“What are the details? no. From the beginning, didn’t the nobles of Lustier hate our compatriots and witchcraft, calling it uncivilized?”

“Okay. But according to what Sera said, it seems that people who actually practice witchcraft are frequenting that family. Do you have any clue?”

When my name came out, Ktisha glanced at me. There is curiosity in the snake-like eyes.

“Nothing comes to mind right away. But if you look at the face or have some clue, you might be able to find out. Because those who deal with curses within Lurie know roughly everything.”

“Really? Then that’s it. If you find out anything, please let me know. If it’s compensation, I’ll give you as much as you want.”

“Hmm, I understand. But I have one question: Why did you bring that beautiful princess there?”

From my perspective, it is natural for me to accompany people to hear information. But from Ktisha’s perspective, it would seem like Carmel brought me along unnecessarily. It was natural to have doubts.

“Well, I think it’s my daughter’s field trip. Unlike me, this child still has a lot to learn.”

what?

“You get along better than you think? The new queen and the original princess. Even if you look at old stories, they don’t have a good relationship.”

“It’s not something you should worry about, right? Things in the world are surprisingly different from what they seem.”

“…Hmm.”

Ktisha turned and walked a few steps. A tattooed butt twitched through the transparent fabric.

“It’s a lot different than before, Carmel. Before you… you had colder and lonely eyes. Did you decide to become Lustier’s real queen because you were favored and favored in such a high position? Where did you go when you shouted in a dry voice that you would become a disaster and a curse for Lustier?”

There was a time like that. I stared at Carmel’s side face. Carmel said, doing her best to ignore my gaze.

“…It’s still the same now. That determination has not waned one bit. Since when did you start evaluating me, Ktisha?”

“If it were in the past, I might have been frightened by those words. But now you are not scared at all.”

Ktisha opened the distance and crossed her arms seductively. The sight felt as if a snake had coiled itself and reared up just before it attacked.

”Princess Sera… please leave it here. We will serve you politely.”

Ktisha’s men quietly stand up from their seats. Each holding a weapon in their hands. Rika quietly placed her hands around her waist and into her arms.

“You’ve gained a lot of courage in the time we’ve been together, Ktisha. To be able to do something like this to the queen of a country.”

“You have become very careless, Carmel. Just the three of us, and carrying a lot of luggage with us, entered the enemy camp. Have you been tainted by the fallen Lustiers?”

“No, Ktisha, you are greatly mistaken. That’s two too.”

“Illusion? What is it?”

“One, the reason I came to see you in person was because I still had the goodwill of a friend. The one you just trampled on.”

“Wow, that’s fun. What is the second?”

“Even if I add all of your poor subordinates together, my Rika is much stronger.”

With those words as a signal, a blade came out from under Rika’s hood and blew off the heads of the two closest guys. Ktisha’s men all shouted and rushed in.

Of course, among Ktisha’s subordinates there were shamans. The moment the cage-like black magic tried to entangle Rika, another blade hidden in her bosom cut off the black magic.

“Seo, Holy Sword…! Damn it, I can’t believe you were hiding something like this…!”

Holy sword Drald. The curse-breaking holy sword easily dispersed all the approaching black magic. In fact, I would say that Rika’s ability to cut through invisible magic with intuition alone is even greater than the performance of the holy sword.

As Carmel assured, Ktisha’s men were no match for Rika. In fact, to me, who watched the movements of elite knights every day, they just seemed like a ragtag bunch.

They fell like fallen leaves without even being able to get close. Some people ran away, perhaps because they were more afraid of the blade in front of them than of Ktisha’s curse. Ktisha shouted with a distorted face.

“Carmel…!”

Black magical power blooms from the tattoos on Ktisha’s body. At that moment, Carmel stretched out her arms towards Ktisha.

Black magic power, several times that of Ktisha, clings to the tattoo. Ktisha frowned as if in pain.

“Ugh…”

“You made little progress from the previous techniques, Ktisha. It was good to increase the power and ease of activation through tattoos… but if that was going to happen, wouldn’t it have been better to hide it?”

“Even so, how can you get this much mana…! No way, the grimoire…!”

“Do you understand now? That I wasn’t just playing and eating in the queen’s body. This enormous mana… it’s all the result of bloody training.”

That’s not true… I was lucky enough to pick up Mystilia’s magic power…

But it seemed like the words worked well for Ktisha. Because he lowered his head as if he had accepted his defeat.

Only then did Carmel release the black magic that covered Ktisha’s body. Carmel spoke to Ktisha, who was breathing hard as if in pain.

“Since you bared your teeth first, I will no longer consider you a friend, Ktisha. Going one step further, if you become my enemy, it won’t end like this. I’ll make you go through every pain you can imagine.”

“Ah, I understand…I will never disobey you…”

“Sorcerers of the Saint Seine family. Contact me if you find out anything. I don’t need to tell you how to contact me, right?”

“Yes, yes…”

Carmel turned around, fluttering the hem of her hood.

“Let’s go, Sera, Rika.”

* * *

“I saw you again a little bit today, mother. As expected, it was a good thing I asked my mother.”

“Hohohoho, ohhohohoho! of course! This is too easy for Carmel!”

You seem to be in a good mood. I guess I’m quite happy to meet an opponent that I can crush after losing to him.

“But in the end, I didn’t get much out of it. In particular, what can be called information…”

Carmel looked at me with a slightly surprising look. When I tilted my head, Carmel spoke in a proud tone.

“What, you didn’t know, Sarah? Hehe, you really have a lot to learn. Ktisha clearly told you the information, right? If Ktisha doesn’t know, it means that the shamans of the Sesene family come from outside Lurie.”

“Hmm…”

As someone who doesn’t know Ktisha’s influence, it’s an inference I can’t make. Well, but that’s definitely good information. It’s pretty good for Carmel.

“But is it okay? That woman named Ktisha may have harbored a grudge against her mother…”

“No, it’s okay. He’s not the kind of person who can attack an opponent he once overwhelmingly defeated. It’s been a while since we last met, and I misjudged it when I saw him enter his space. Moreover, he must have been blinded because he felt like he could get his hands on such a valuable treasure called Princess Sera.”

This time I looked at Carmel. Carmel seemed puzzled for a moment and then remembered what she had just said. I was embarrassed and my face was turning red in an instant.

I said, gently pressing my face towards Carmel, who was blushing bright red.

“Treasure? I am? Is that what you just said?”

“Rain, it’s a metaphor! Ransom or whatever! It means it has the same value as a treasure! Well, why are you looking at me like that!”

“Hmm, that’s right. When Ktisha asked for me, didn’t you ever think about just handing her over?”

Carmel muttered softly in a voice that was devoid of the confidence it had shown earlier.

“There’s no way you could hand it over…”

That’s cute. so cute. How lucky I am to have such a cute mother.

Looking at Carmel, who was blushing bright red, I gave her a teasing smile.