Chapter 138: Invitation to Gyo-guk

If an adventurer’s guild were established, it would eventually regulate the number of demons without the need for military intervention.

Well, that also means adventurers would die in the process, but no weaklings would come to Crad in the first place.

***

When she arrived at the office, the Ashtar brothers were already there.

“Have you come?”

“Yes, next head of the family. Lord of the territory.”

Rokton was the heir, and the second son was the lord.

So, for now, she decided to address them this way.

Calling him ‘older brother’ in this situation felt a bit off.

“You are called a saint, but the authority of Ashtar is higher. Why is that?”

In other words, he was feeling left out and wanted her to act more as part of the Ashtar family.

“Well…”

“Come now, call me ‘older brother.’ This is Ashtar’s land. You have nothing to be concerned about.”

‘Yes, I do! Syria is right there, smirking!’

‘Maybe if she weren’t here, but right now?’ No way.

Syria kept staring at her!

“Syria? Why don’t you step outside for a bit?”

Olivia smiled as she tried to send her away.

But Syria stood firm like a pillar, refusing to leave.

‘This girl… is she doing this on purpose?’

For a brief moment, Syria flashed a sly smile before quickly switching to a sorrowful expression.

“What do you mean, Olivia? What would you do without me by your side?”

‘What do you mean, what would I do? You’d just tease me, obviously.’

“That makes sense,” Rokton said. “A noble should have close aides, regardless of gender. And having the future master of the magic tower as one isn’t bad.”

‘Damn it. Do you really have to say that in front of family? Shouldn’t aides be sent out when discussing family matters?’

There was no way out.

These annoying Ashtar brothers were eagerly waiting for her to say it.

She had no choice.

“Yes, yes… older brother.”

“There, there! That’s what I was waiting for.”

She glanced sideways.

Syria was grinning.

That smug, smirking expression.

Like she had just obtained prime gossip to spread across the Ashtar domain.

‘Damn it. This is so annoying. I swear—’

Syria was still grinning beside her.

Having the time of her life.

She secretly pinched her own thigh in frustration.

‘That girl is definitely planning to make fun of me later.’

***

“So, what brings you here?”

“Well, about that…”

Olivia explained that there was a corrupted temple in the nearby forest, modified by Clanis.

And that she had encountered Pector.

She told them as much as they needed to know.

That bastard Pector—he really should try hiding things from her, but he always ended up getting caught.

So, of course, she had to report it.

She was grateful that he had helped destroy the temple, but that was that, and this was this.

“Hmm. So Pector moves through this land as if it’s his own.”

“Yes.”

“But it’s hard to blame him for it. In the end, he took care of what could have been a ticking time bomb.”

As a result, they couldn’t exactly criticize Pector.

Thanks to him, Ashtar had avoided a crisis.

For now, sealing the purified temple was more important than going after Pector.

“That’s true.”

“But why is that bastard so soft when it comes to you?”

The second son pressed her for answers.

‘Why am I even getting questioned about this?’

She couldn’t afford to be suspected of colluding with demons.

She had to play it safe.

“Uh… I don’t really know.”

“Hmm. Suspicious.”

“Could it be that he has his eye on you? I should capture him next time and break his legs.”

“No, please don’t. Seriously.”

This was getting ridiculous.

‘What kind of thoughts were they even having?’

Pector was an enemy, but he was also useful.

“Please don’t. He won’t come around so easily next time anyway.”

“And how do you know that?”

“Oh, you know… just a feeling.”

There was no need to reveal that she had some sort of relationship with that guy.

Who knew what Ashtar might do with that information?

She didn’t want any unnecessary trouble—especially not from these overprotective older brothers.

Hopefully, she could avoid any strange misunderstandings.

“Fine, we’ll leave it at that. Olivia.”

“Yes, older brother?”

That damn girl next to her was still smirking.

Her barely restrained chuckles were really starting to get on Olivia’s nerves.

‘Didn’t she say she liked me? One day, I’m definitely going to get back at her.’

***

“An envoy from the Holy Kingdom has arrived here,” Rokton said. “And they have some rather sinister intentions.”

‘What now? Why are they here?’

“What do they want?”

“Well, it’s obvious, isn’t it? They want you to come to the Holy Kingdom.”

She had expected that.

‘But for them to send an envoy just for that?’

‘Could it be… that bastard is involved?’

The Pope.

That damn bastard.

No, not even a bastard—he wasn’t human.

With the way he was running things, his dissatisfaction must have been reaching its peak.

But that was his problem.

“I was going to go anyway, so what kind of nonsense is this?”

“They’re always full of nonsense, aren’t they?”

“Well, if that’s the case, there’s no choice. They’re probably asking me to come as a saint, right?”

Even without asking, the answer was obvious.

“Yeah, you know well. They want you to come as a saint.”

“And in return, they must have agreed to officially recognize the Imperial Goddess Church.”

Predictable.

That must have been the case.

Otherwise, this brother of mine—Ashtar, the doting fool—wouldn’t have brought it up.

Since it benefits both the Empire and Ashtar, he decided to propose it to me.

If it weren’t beneficial, he wouldn’t have even mentioned it.

“Oh? You do know well.”

“It’s obvious what those guys are thinking.”

“Honestly, I don’t want you to go. What do you think?”

The second brother spoke to me cautiously.

He didn’t have to be so careful about it.

Honestly, I don’t have much of an opinion.

“You brothers must be drooling over the benefits, so you decided to offer me up, right? Since it’ll be profitable for the Empire and Ashtar.”

“To be frank, yes. But as I said, the decision is yours. We have no intention of forcing you.”

‘Then, what should I do?’

To be honest, I don’t want to go.

But one thing is certain—that damn Pope has definitely set his sights on me.

In other words, even if I don’t go now, the Pope will keep bothering me sooner or later.

In that case, it’s better to go and check things out for now.

“Hmm… In that case, I’ll go.”

“To the Holy Kingdom?”

“Well, where else would I go?”

“Yes. There’s no choice. I should at least go and see. If we get official recognition, it’s not a bad outcome. It will also advance diplomatic relations with the Holy Kingdom.”

In the end, this situation isn’t necessarily bad either way.

Especially now, with that bastard White King stirring things up.

Maintaining relations with the Holy Kingdom is even more important.

“They might do something terrible to you.”

“Brother, no matter what, they wouldn’t go that far. They’re still the Holy Kingdom, after all. What could they possibly do?”

“Yeah… I suppose. But I can’t help worrying.”

Well, that’s fair.

The Holy Kingdom isn’t something to be taken lightly.

Even though they are clergymen, there are always those who commit all sorts of atrocities under that very excuse.

Bernoa almost got assaulted there, so that says enough.

“Well, if it comes to that, there’s no choice.”

“I’m just saying it’s a possibility. But I’ll be fine.”

For various reasons, maintaining a good relationship with the Holy Kingdom is beneficial.

So, going at least once isn’t a bad idea.

However, someday, I’ll have to make that Pope regret ever targeting me.

“There’s an envoy here right now. Would you like to meet them?”

“An envoy?”

‘Who could it be?’

“It’s someone named William or something.”

‘William?’ The Pope’s grandson.

On the outside, he seems incredibly kind, but inside, he’s rotten to the core.

Not in a way related to women—his ambition for power is the real issue.

He pretends to follow the Pope, but in reality, he’s aiming for his position.

Personally, I don’t want to deal with him.

“Well, as unpleasant as it is… alright.”

I have to meet him anyway.

As an envoy, he might end up traveling to the Empire with me.

“And one more thing. I was going to bring this up later… but Atlerina is beneath your level. How about just graduating from there entirely?”

Atlerina?

Honestly, I’d love to graduate.

The only thing I like about that place is the cafeteria.

“Hmm… Atlerina, huh.”

“What do you think?”

“Leaving would be good, but… I’m not sure the ones left behind will be able to handle things properly.”

Those foolish nobles, I mean.

I seriously doubt they’ll manage.

“How could a little bit of training be enough?”

“Don’t worry. The faculty isn’t bad. Besides—”

“Besides?”

“What have they done now?”

“The students are already half out of their minds. They’ll be fine even without you.”

I wonder… ‘Will they really be fine without me?’

These are the same people who needed an excuse just to go through a 24-hour training drill.

Just because they caught a few anti-Imperialists doesn’t mean they’ve changed.

People don’t transform so easily.

“Really?”

“The professors are full of praise.”

“What the hell happened?”

I have no idea.

All I did was train them.

And now, getting praised for something so basic just feels burdensome.

“Atlerina has practically turned into an Imperial military training center. Some professors even say the male students could be enlisted in the Imperial Guard immediately.”

“Olivia, I see you in a new light. How on earth did you, a noble lady, manage to teach those stubborn noble brats?”

“How did I teach them?”

“I just worked them hard, 24/7. That’s all.”

Anyway, if things are going that well, I suppose I can just leave.

“Hahaha.”

“They even suggested making you a professor.”

“I didn’t even do much.”

“This kind of training should be standard, shouldn’t it?”

“If they can’t even handle this, can they really be called people?”

For me, it’s just ‘Ah, finally, they have some combat ability.’

That’s about it.

“Maybe it’s because they recognize the Ashtar name.”

If they start uselessly praising the Ashtar family, I’ll have to make my escape.

“Well, anyway. I’ll go see William now.”

“Go ahead. He’s staying in the room at the far end of the corridor outside the office.”

‘Oh? So they shoved him into a corner because they didn’t want to see him.’

With that, I left my brother’s office.