Ch.337Chapter 337 – The Person Who Must Not Waver

I sensed Princess Gabriella’s question momentarily changed Diana’s expression.

However, she quickly smiled and said,

“Yes. We’re simply here to deal with the demons in the Kingdom of Firenchena.”

“I see.”

Princess Gabriella closed her eyes briefly.

She seemed lost in thought for a moment.

Archery stepped forward toward her.

“Your Highness, if I may be so bold, may I say something?”

“Permission granted.”

Once the princess gave her permission, Archery stepped forward.

“First, we appreciate that the former Holy Knight Commander of the Emiris Order and the new Saint are offering to help eliminate the demons…”

“Feel free to be blunt and just say what you want to say.”

After Diana spoke, Archery hesitated briefly.

Then he carefully said,

“We would prefer to decline your offer.”

“Hmm, do you think you can handle the demons on your own?”

“Yes.”

Archery nodded.

“We’ve already driven out many of the demons that were in the palace. I believe if we combine our forces with external armies, we can drive them out completely.”

“Such confidence. Honestly, I’d be happy if you declined, as it would spare this old body from traveling around the country hunting down remnants.”

Diana spoke as if she would welcome a rejection.

It seemed she had come simply because she was sent, not because she particularly wanted to help.

“However, I do have a question.”

As if to prove my thoughts wrong, Diana smiled and said,

“As I understand it, the princess is a member of the resistance. You’re not in a position to command the royal army. Especially when the Kingdom of Firenchena has a king…”

“It seems the news hasn’t reached you yet. The former king has passed away.”

Archery immediately corrected Diana’s statement.

Since the news of the king’s death had only emerged right after the battle ended, it made sense that Diana wouldn’t know.

“That’s unfortunate. …I should offer my condolences, but given the circumstances, I’ll continue our discussion.”

Diana spoke with a small gesture of courtesy, perhaps unable to openly dismiss the death of a foreign king as insignificant.

It seemed like she was trying to avoid future diplomatic repercussions, though the person wasn’t someone she had a deep relationship with.

And in truth, the king’s survival didn’t seem particularly important to Diana at the moment.

“Even if the throne is vacant and the princess can immediately ascend to it, I question whether all the armies you mentioned will gather. If you had enough support from soldiers scattered throughout the country, you would have already established your own power base rather than being part of the resistance, and there would be better-armored soldiers here. They might have already settled in the palace to welcome me. But that’s not the case, is it?”

“That’s…”

“I’ve already seen quite a few injured and exhausted soldiers before coming here. You fought a fierce battle just yesterday, didn’t you? I wonder if you can lead such a unit to eliminate the demons before they cause more trouble.”

Diana spoke as if testing the waters.

“Or perhaps you already know the whereabouts of the demons?”

Diana turned her gaze toward the royal guard.

As if she had already predicted the situation from their appearance, Diana smiled quietly while the guard seemed to be contemplating how to respond.

Princess Gabriella spoke to him.

“You may answer honestly.”

After Gabriella finished speaking, the guard fell into contemplation.

But now he was a knight of Princess Gabriella.

“…While yesterday’s battle confirmed that many demons inside the castle have been killed…”

The guard swallowed once before continuing.

“It’s also true that many of the demons seen inside the castle have disappeared. I heard it was mainly vampires who vanished.”

“Sirius must have fled with his direct subordinates.”

Sia muttered quietly.

I had already heard that Sirius had endangered Sia’s group by collapsing a tower.

‘They said they found shelter when the fog conveniently rose.’

It was a highly suspicious circumstance that gave us much to think about.

Since no one had seen Sirius since then, if that vampire hadn’t fled elsewhere, it meant a powerful vampire named Sirius was still hiding somewhere in Firenchena.

I could see the princess slightly bowing her head in thought at this unwelcome news.

‘It must be difficult.’

Even if she ascended to the throne, the princess’s path would not be smooth.

Gaining support from people other than her own followers, the ongoing civil war with the Emiris Order, and the inevitable hostility from the resistance once she took the throne.

As Sia had said, she had a difficult road ahead, and now she was also facing the problem of demons remaining in the kingdom.

‘Perhaps the demons are an even bigger problem?’

If demons ran rampant and caused civilian casualties, her enemies might use that to damage her reputation.

The more her reputation suffered, the harder it would be to gather support for her.

‘What a headache.’

There were already many issues at my level of understanding, and now another burden was being added.

It was understandable that the princess’s face darkened.

And Diana, as if determined not to miss this opportunity, smiled and said,

“Don’t worry too much. We’re here because we believe that if demons run free, they might regroup and harm the Kingdom of Mikea, so we want to root them out in advance. We’re not here to harm the Kingdom of Firenchena.”

Diana clasped her hands slightly as she spoke.

“Will you trust this old woman and entrust us with dealing with the demons?”

“Princess Ella…”

Domestica looked at Gabriella with concern.

Then Gabriella spoke.

“Thank you for your kind offer.”

“So…”

“But I must decline.”

For a moment, silence fell over the surroundings.

The princess looked at Diana with a gentle smile.

Diana showed a slightly surprised expression before quickly changing to a gentle smile and asking,

“You’re declining?”

“Yes.”

Gabriella nodded and said,

“I doubt you’re offering to help us purely out of goodwill. How many instances of military action without compensation exist?”

Gabriella smiled as she spoke.

“It’s obvious you’ll make some demands once our kingdom stabilizes.”

“It wouldn’t be anything too…”

“Well, what might seem insignificant to you could be significant to us, so it’s too early to make assumptions.”

The princess spoke again.

“Although our situation is indeed difficult and chaotic, I cannot accept something that might become an even greater burden and increase future confusion.”

The princess spoke quietly.

“We know the lessons of what happened when we brought in the Emiris Order. Honestly, your offer is very tempting, but we must not repeat such foolish mistakes.”

Her tone was gentle but firm.

Gabriella continued,

“No matter how difficult it may be, we will eliminate those who threaten our people with our own hands.”

Gabriella stated firmly.

“…I will not resolve everything by borrowing others’ hands and strength only to pay for it in the future.”

Believing that further persuasion would be futile, Diana nodded.

Then she asked,

“Are you sure you’ll be alright?”

“Of course we will.”

The princess quietly replied.

“Making things alright will be my job from now on. So yes, we’ll be fine.”

“You’re quite confident?”

“I have to be.”

Gabriella said resolutely.

Diana looked into her eyes and asked,

“Why are you so certain?”

“Because if I lack confidence, the people who follow me and my citizens will become anxious.”

Gabriella smiled softly.

“If I waver, they waver too. For their sake, I cannot easily show signs of uncertainty.”

“And you boldly state this in such a setting.”

Diana laughed softly.

The princess spoke again.

“Go tell Princess Liriel that the operation has failed. All these proposals you’ve made, they were all thought up by Princess Liriel, weren’t they?”

“I wonder. But why do you think so?”

“From what I can see, Diana seems like someone who moves according to what she believes is right, not someone who calculates every move.”

Gabriella smiled gently.

“So I thought that you undertaking such a politically motivated action was simply due to your position rather than your genuine belief, making it the intention of someone who can give you orders. Am I right?”

“I wonder.”

Though she said this, Diana looked quite relieved, suggesting the princess was correct.

“Let’s leave it at that.”

Either way, Diana seemed satisfied.

The princess quietly addressed her.

“I apologize for not fulfilling your wishes, but I am now someone who must become king.”

The princess took a breath and said,

“Please understand that I must approach cautiously anything that could harm the country, even if it might extinguish an immediate fire.”

“How admirable.”

Diana said with a smile.

Then she spoke again.

“Well, I guess the money for gifts for the orphanage children is gone. Instead, may I make another request?”

“I’m listening.”

“As you know, we have a long-standing friendship with those travelers standing over there. Since we want to help them, would you allow us to stay in this country?”

Gabriella nodded at Diana’s request, which was made while looking at us.

“You’re saying it’s simply to help them?”

“Is that difficult? I heard they’ve done great things for you.”

Though she spoke pleasantly, Diana’s proposal meant allowing foreign armed forces to stay in the country.

Since it would be understandable if she refused, Diana seemed to be emphasizing our contributions.

At those words, Gabriella thought for a moment, then looked at me and the others.

“This seems more like a decision for you than for me. Is this acceptable?”

“It’s fine.”

They weren’t people we could control anyway.

If they wanted to help us, I had no reason to object.

Hearing my answer, Gabriella nodded.

“If it’s for the heroes of Firenchena, I’ll gladly permit it.”

“Thank you.”

Diana smiled at the princess’s permission.

Gabriella was smiling as well.

+

Somewhere in the New Kingdom of Traigena.

Space suddenly distorted in what appeared to be a laboratory.

Soon after, Idea and Somnus emerged from it.

“We’ve finally arrived.”

“Yes.”

Idea spoke while looking at his arm, which had received emergency treatment.

They hadn’t come directly here because they had stopped elsewhere first for Idea’s emergency treatment.

“It was truly a close call.”

Somnus said quietly with his hands clasped.

“That escape was truly divine intervention, I believe.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes.”

Somnus smiled and said,

“After all, He briefly manifested to prevent that specimen from pursuing you again, using Harkan’s body as a medium. And not only that, He even checked the Demon King to prevent him from rushing in recklessly. …It’s clear that God helped you.”

Idea quietly nodded.

After thinking for a moment, he looked at Somnus again.

“Somnus.”

“Yes.”

“How did you know about that situation?”

Somnus’s body froze momentarily.

Idea quietly asked again,

“You would have rushed to my side at that time. How did you know that God had descended upon Harkan?”

“Well, about that.”

Somnus smiled as if he had no choice and said,

“It’s a secret.”

“…”

Idea stared at Somnus for a moment.

Soon after, Somnus clapped his hands and said,

“More importantly, since you’ve lost an arm, we should prepare a prosthetic first. If we had your severed arm, that wouldn’t be necessary, but…”

They hadn’t been able to recover Idea’s severed arm due to their hasty escape.

Therefore, they needed to prepare a prosthetic.

“A prosthetic, huh.”

“Yes. It should be as excellent as the ones I have. Wouldn’t that be fine?”

Somnus smiled and showed his prosthetic hands.

Idea replied with an expressionless face,

“I don’t need a prosthetic, Somnus.”

“Pardon?”

“I said I don’t need one.”

Somnus seemed to be contemplating what this meant.

Soon after, he clapped his hands and said,

“Could it be…”

“Yes, that’s exactly it. Is it possible?”

“We’re missing one ingredient, but…”

“That’s only needed in the final stage, so it shouldn’t be a problem to use it before then.”

Idea quietly said to Somnus,

“Make the preparations.”

“Understood.”

Somnus bowed deeply and said,

“Since you personally diverted the magic stones, that much is certainly possible.”

“Indeed.”

That was Idea’s true purpose for targeting Kay at that location.

The reason he went there.

It was to recover the magic stones that should have belonged to the Emiris Order.

For that purpose, Idea had personally confronted those who would interfere with him, while his subordinates recovered the magic stones in the meantime.

Although it seemed a significant portion had been used for strange purposes, they were still able to recover a massive amount.

At least enough for them to prepare for their next task.

“Next, we need to find the whereabouts of the Philosopher’s Stone.”

Idea said quietly.

“The next target is Seraphina…”

“Ah, about that. I was thinking of changing our approach.”

“Approach?” Idea quietly asked.

Somnus smiled and said,

“From what I can see, that specimen’s life is hanging by a thread now.”

“Is that so.”

“After all, it was forcibly moving a dead body to begin with, and it’s been pushing itself too hard. This time too, it overexerted itself trying to kill you…”

Idea’s eyes changed slightly.

Seeing this, Somnus made a slightly displeased expression and said,

“Well, don’t worry. It won’t die today or tomorrow. It probably has a few weeks left.”

“…I see.”

Idea quietly nodded.

“Continue explaining.”

“That girl, and the girls around her, as well as the false goddess, seem to care deeply for that specimen. They might have already formed a bond.”

And that point was important, Somnus said with a smile.

“If they’re that close, they’ll probably want to revive that specimen by any means necessary, but with its body in such a state, there’s only one way.”

“…So they’ll look for the Philosopher’s Stone to use it for that purpose.”

“It’s not a legendary catalyst for nothing.”

Somnus smiled and said,

“So they’ll desperately search for the Philosopher’s Stone. Within those few weeks.”

“So that’s why you want to change our approach.”

“Yes.”

Somnus nodded at Idea’s words.

“We can ease up on our own search efforts now.”

He smiled and said,

“Because they will find it for us.”

With his hands clasped in prayer,

Somnus smiled.