Ch.737Yuri Is Fined Now

I stopped interrogating her and moved on to a more constructive conversation.

While Ophelia’s decision to abandon the fight against the dragon and lock herself in the mansion was certainly worthy of criticism, she had—and I could understand—a reasonable explanation for it.

“About that bait. How effective is it really? Can it lure Nidhogg out from its hiding place in the Sky Mountains?”

If possible, we could lure it into a trap and deal with it easily. Better yet, if we could just lure it into Imperial territory, we could even prevent other races from interfering.

“Well… if it can detect the mana from the soul stone, it might respond, but the range isn’t that wide. To lure it out with just this, we’d need to search every corner of the Sky Mountains.”

Of course, things wouldn’t be that easy for me. Unfortunately, it seemed impossible to simply trap it and take it down effortlessly.

“So it’s difficult, huh.”

“Yes. Wandering around the Sky Mountains trying to lure out Nidhogg when we don’t even know where it’s hiding would be extremely inefficient. Rather than enduring such hardship, it would be better to use a smarter approach.”

“A smarter approach?”

“Think of it in reverse. Instead of using Isabella’s remains to lure Nidhogg, we can trace the magical connection between Isabella’s remains and the dragon, allowing us to find Nidhogg directly. Using this soul stone as a compass.”

So we can’t lure it into a trap, but we can find out where it’s hiding. That alone would be a significant achievement—if it’s possible.

“Is that possible?”

In response to my question, Ophelia shrugged confidently with a self-assured smile.

“Leave it to me. Who do you think I am?”

“A crazy necromancer who molests her regressed sister.”

“……”

Oops, my true thoughts slipped out.

“Well… I mean… it’s infuriating that I can’t refute that…”

Ophelia’s face crumpled as she slightly hunched the shoulders she had just confidently squared.

“…Still, I’m pretty normal for a mage, you know?”

“Sure, whatever you say.”

What a lie. If you’re the average for mages, then all mages should be exterminated.

“Ahem, ahem. Anyway, I can do it. It’ll take about three days to remove the existing formula and create and implant the opposite one.”

Three days. That was just enough time to prepare for hunting a half-wit dragon.

“Then get started right away. I’ll provide whatever you need.”

“I don’t really need anything, but there is one thing to be careful about.”

“What is it?”

“If Archbishopess Elmaine says she wants to come along, you must stop her by any means necessary. This tracking formula using Isabella’s remnants in the soul stone is obviously a form of necromancy. That woman would try to smash my head the moment she sees the completed compass.”

…That’s highly likely, isn’t it?

While not like a witch or a mage who embraces dark mana, a necromancer is still considered the worst kind of heretic by the Church of Elpinel.

She’d probably either deliver a devastating blow to Ophelia’s head with the cross spear she carries around or try to burn her alive with holy fire.

“From what I saw today, she’s not in any condition to follow us to the Sky Mountains… but if she insists on coming, I’ll stop her.”

Not just Lacy, but other clergy and mages would need to be watched carefully too. I wasn’t sure if they could recognize Ophelia’s necromancy formulas, but better safe than sorry.

“Good. So, is that all your questions? Now I’d like to hear about the news you said you needed to tell me. You mentioned two things, right?”

“You’ve already heard one of them. The news that we need to depart for the Sky Mountains soon to subjugate the dragon. And naturally, you’ll need to come along too.”

“Me too? Isn’t that excessive force?”

“It would be if Nidhogg was our only enemy.”

I explained to her the current situation in the Sky Mountains.

I told her how the dragonborn had gone wild with the news that dragons had appeared for the first time in hundreds of years, and how the elves had started interfering, using some two-thousand-year-old justification as their pretext, making everything much more complicated.

“Dragonborn and elven guardians… what a headache. You’re saying we’re facing multiple enemies on Perneisia’s level. Those creatures seemed disgustingly powerful.”

“Yes, that’s why we need to gather all available forces. We don’t know how many guardians will be deployed.”

“Why did that worm have to fly to such a place…”

Ophelia exhaled a long stream of mana herb smoke with a sigh.

—-

“Guardians, guardians… I’ll need to think about how to counter spirits. Anyway, I understand. So, what’s the second piece of news?”

Ophelia nervously brushed back her slightly damp hair and put a second mana herb in her mouth, her expression slightly wary of how bad the news might be.

Fortunately for her, the second piece of news wasn’t that bad. At least not for her.

“Leopold said he wants me to become a queen.”

“…What?”

The news was shocking enough that she dropped the mana herb she had just lit onto the floor.

“Wait, what does that mean… is he divorcing the Duke Wien’s daughter? Has he decided to get rid of the Duke after all?”

What is she talking about?

She seems to have misunderstood due to the shock.

“What are you saying? Why would he get rid of a perfectly fine duke?”

“Well, I don’t know about Ka’har customs, but Imperial law prohibits polygamy…”

She definitely misunderstood.

“Not an empress, a queen. Queen. He wants me to take my territory, declare independence, and wear a crown.”

“…Oh. Not a proposal but an expulsion. I misheard.”

Ophelia finally seemed to understand what I meant and nodded, stepping on the fallen mana herb to extinguish it.

It was still new and barely smoked, but apparently a noble lady couldn’t pick up something that had fallen on the ground.

“But thinking about it, that’s just as strange. Looking at the state of the Empire, it wouldn’t be surprising if Leopold gave you a duchy to keep you firmly tied to him. But independence instead? Was Duke Wien’s influence that strong? Strong enough for Emperor Leopold to release half of the Empire’s greatest power?”

“It’s more that… I caused a bit of trouble.”

I awkwardly fidgeted with my cigarette as I explained the details.

I told her how during the victory ceremony, my stigmata had brilliantly shone, revealing to everyone that I was the Saint of Order… and how that had made my position extremely awkward.

“Why did you reveal that…”

“The stigmata shone on its own—what could I do? I just had to accept it as the goddess’s will.”

Ophelia sighed. Having grown up as an Imperial noble, she must have immediately understood the situation.

As Leopold had said, once I revealed my stigmata, I could no longer remain an Imperial noble.

For the representative of Goddess Astraea to serve as a direct subordinate of the Emperor would make it appear as if the entire church was submitting to secular power.

That’s why Leopold had no choice but to make me a queen. As the leader of a completely independent country with no obligation to obey the Emperor.

“It’s still just at the discussion stage, and it will take some time before actual independence.”

“…This kid becoming a queen? A queen…? The world really is coming to an end…”

[I completely agree. It’s no small end of days.]

That’s harsh. I think so too, but it’s still harsh.

Someone might think the world will end the moment I become queen.

“Isn’t this good news for you? If I become queen, you could easily become the head of the royal magic tower. Compared to last year, it’s literally a meteoric rise, isn’t it?”

Ophelia pulled up the corner of her mouth in a crooked sneer.

“Rise? Do you know how many hours Tower Master Floheta sleeps each day? Three hours. Three. I hear she’s practically skin and bones these days.”

…Really? It’s amazing she’s still alive. Maybe with my iron constitution it would be manageable, but how is she enduring with a mage’s physique?

“Since all the other high-ranking mages have burned out, she keeps asking if I’d consider joining the tower, which is getting scary.”

Ophelia shuddered and shook her head, probably imagining Floheta’s desperate gaze as she searched for someone to replace her.

Is it that bad?

Me, Leopold, Lacy, Floheta—it seemed that in this country, the higher one’s position, the less one enjoyed power and the more one suffered.

I suppose the citizens should be happy that noblesse oblige was being so well observed.

—-

Having finished all my business, I ordered Ophelia to complete the “Nidhogg detection compass” she mentioned as soon as possible and went back up to the surface.

I joked that if she delayed her work because she was busy with Claire, I would impose a heavy lesbian tax in the new kingdom.

“…That’s a joke, right?”

“That depends on you.”

You should work for the salary you receive—if you neglect your duties because of your personal hobbies, I’ll have no choice but to take back the salary I’ve given you, right?