Episode 75 – Negotiation Table

*

With a clinking sound, the brownish liquid in the teacup on the table trembled, and a fragrant aroma gently spread.

Originally, I’m a thief who’s far from such luxurious tastes like black tea, but after spending a few weeks with Mena, I seemed to have developed some discernment for tea. I could tell just by the fragrant scent tickling my nose.

The teacup in front of me contained meticulously brewed tea using very high-quality tea leaves, so delicious that just holding it in my mouth would make me feel happy.

Among the people sitting at this table, I probably have the least experience drinking such high-end tea, yet even I could imagine the taste enough to make my mouth water.

But these guys, who probably know the taste much better than I do, weren’t even glancing at their teacups; they were just glaring at each other.

Banata, who missed the timing to leave and ended up stuck at the table, was glancing around nervously, sensing the chilly atmosphere.

In the uncomfortable silence where no one would speak first, it seemed I was the only one who could break the ice.

“Last night, I finished my revenge on Jennifer, and I asked Lara to distract the guards in the meantime. I even told her to drag it out as long as possible.”

“If ‘distract’ sounded like ‘kill’ to you, I’d suggest you go to a hospital,”

“Ellie. I understand you’re angry, but we’re here to talk, so please don’t be so aggressive.”

“…Hmph, fine, I get it. You’re right, Ed.”

I calmed down the grumbling Ellie and then looked at Lara.

Just by looking at Lara’s stiff neck, I could tell she wasn’t admitting any fault at all.

Lara picked up her teacup and opened her mouth at my gaze.

“Yes, I killed them. If you want an apology, I can give you one, but at the same time, I can clearly say that even if I went back to that moment, I would do the same thing again.”

“…Lara-nim, are you out of your mind?”

“Of course not, I’m perfectly fine. I’m not crazy. Ed, do I look like I’m bloodthirsty?”

“No, but I think there should be a good explanation for why you killed the guards.”

Lara tilted her teacup, took a small sip, and moistened her lips.

It was an elegant gesture reminiscent of her days as a Countess in Robin’s mansion, but it only seemed to infuriate Ellie even more.

“Like I said before, I didn’t think Ed would kill Jennifer in an instant. He would need enough time to at least partially satisfy his grudge. Causing a commotion to divert attention? That sounds easy, but causing a commotion big enough for the guards to leave their posts for hours would only result in more casualties.”

“… Hmm,”

“But you didn’t have to kill them. You could have used those fancy stun bullets to knock them out or something…”

“If I did that, it would be like announcing that someone broke in to kill Jennifer. You know Ed drew a picture on the wall with Jennifer’s corpse and blood, right? That was to make it look like Jennifer’s death was related to the Demon King. Since the guards are all dead, the ominous rumors about Jennifer’s death will spread even faster.”

Lara’s words were more logical than Ellie expected, so Ellie removed her fierce gaze, grabbed her head, and bowed her head.

I nodded at Lara’s words as well.

Come to think of it, the guards who were imprisoning and watching Jennifer, a great mage from the Hero’s party, might give some attention to a commotion happening outside, but they certainly wouldn’t leave their posts for a long time.

I eventually came to the conclusion that all of this was my fault.

Lara had simply carried out my unreasonable request to ‘distract them’ that I had asked without much thought.

Ellie seemed to have realized that too, and was at a loss for words.

“If you had told me first, I might have come up with something.”

“That’s right. The Princess is very clever.”

“You could have ordered the guards to leave their posts for a while,”

“But, if the Princess directly intervened and influenced the guards, and it got found out, the Valguir Dukedom might claim that ‘the Princess orchestrated the Countess’s murder to reduce the Hero family’s influence.'”

“…”

“Like I said, I’m not crazy. I’m not a bloodthirsty maniac who kills people indiscriminately because I’m stressed.”

Lara looked straight at Ellie and said.

Ellie’s face flushed red.

I don’t know the true meaning of those words, but it seemed to stem from a conflict between the two of them not long ago.

I started talking from Ellie’s perspective this time, so that Lara wouldn’t push Ellie too hard.

“Anyway, since the death of those guards is also my responsibility, let’s talk about that. First, what can I do?”

“Haa… First, we need to compensate the bereaved families. If we’re going to disguise it as a death involving the Countess, as Lara-nim said, then it’s a death during duty.”

“Then I’ll prepare the compensation for the guards’ bereaved families, and even the funeral expenses.”

“Okay. I’ll tell you when the exact amount is calculated, Ed.”

“Okay, and what other requests do you have?”

“It’s not like you did anything wrong to me, so there’s nothing you need to do for me, but I need to get a promise that this kind of thing won’t happen again in the future.”

Ellie said to me in a strong tone.

The innocent deaths that will occur in my journey of revenge.

In fact, this was a part that was vaguely glossed over before, so it was an issue that was bound to be confronted someday.

However, I didn’t quietly back down on this part.

“…Ellie. That’s a bit of an unreasonable request. Of course, I don’t welcome the sacrifice of innocent people with open arms, but I won’t care about any innocent sacrifices that occur in the process of achieving my revenge.”

“Ed, I plan to help you with your revenge, but at the same time, as a Princess, I can’t turn a blind eye to the sacrifice of innocent people every time. You don’t think you can just kill them and solve everything with money, do you?”

“I hope that kind of thing doesn’t happen either. But I don’t want to be hindered in my revenge by worrying about the lives of strangers.”

“I’ll help Ed until the end. Then we can come up with a proper plan.”

“Maybe, but I don’t think I’m the kind of person who moves according to a plan.”

In reality, I had an impulsive and spontaneous personality, so there were many times when I made plans but ended up doing things in an ‘oh well’ kind of way.

At the same time, Ellie’s plans, unless all the information was perfectly in her hands, could easily go wrong if there were variables that even she couldn’t predict.

Even in this Banata rescue process, the fact that Jennifer had that terrible laboratory and that Banata had been possessed by Rose was something that even Ellie didn’t know.

Of course, who could have predicted such a thing?

No matter how ghostly Ellie’s plans were, if I couldn’t carry them out or if unexpected variables arose, then I would have to deal with things on the fly, and there was always the possibility of unavoidable civilian casualties.

I looked at Banata with those thoughts.

Ellie, Lara, and Deborah, who were following where my gaze was directed, also looked at Banata.

Banata, who was sipping her tea while wagging her long tail, was startled when everyone’s attention suddenly focused on her, and she choked and coughed.

“*Kek! Kek kek*, uh… why, what’s wrong?”

“… Haa,”

*

Ellie glanced at Banata’s tail once, then sighed and lowered her head.

Then, she naturally put her hand on her chin and pondered.

There was already a threatening monster living in the capital in the form of Ed, and now another demon, Banata, had appeared in the capital, which was partly her fault.

It was Ellie who had been slow to act, taking her time to find the right moment to exploit the Hero’s weakness, even though she had realized relatively early that Jennifer was kidnapping people.

Of course, even if Ellie had tried to move quickly, she couldn’t just order an investigation of the Hero’s mansion without any warning. Even if she used the Princess’s authority to force her way through, she hesitated because if she couldn’t find any evidence, it would immediately become a political threat.

In fact, Jennifer’s secret laboratory was a secret passage created with magic that would only be used in the shadows, so there was a high possibility that Ellie wouldn’t have found it even if she had pushed for an investigation.

She wouldn’t have found it if it hadn’t been for Ed, the legendary thief and rogue.

Ellie knew, of course, that not everything went according to her plans, so it was difficult for her to strongly object to Ed’s words.

Obstructing his revenge would only increase Ed’s anger, which would obviously bring even greater disaster to the people and the empire.

Ellie slowly raised her head and looked at Ed.

Even though he had stormed in recklessly because he was angry about the guards’ deaths, fortunately, he didn’t seem too displeased.

Ed was definitely a respectable person.

It was even more so when she thought about what she would have done if she had experienced the same things as Ed and gained the same power as him.

He would often say that the reason he was putting so much time and effort into his revenge was to take everything from Robin, which was a rather vague expression, but watching him from the side made it clear what he meant.

Of course, he was killing or recruiting the Hero’s sons and daughters, but as a result, it seemed like he wanted to slowly bring down the Hero family itself.

If he recklessly killed the Hero and all of his former comrades, he might feel relieved, but the Hero would eventually be remembered as a hero.

Even if Ed revealed his identity to the world and exposed the lies the Hero had told, the Hero family, backed by the Valguir Dukedom, would obviously not fall.

In any case, it was a definite fact that the Hero had defeated the Demon King, and if Ed’s revelations didn’t have much of an impact on the Hero, the only one who would suffer the most would be the Saintess.

It was obvious that Ed wanted revenge.

But at the same time, it was also true that his every action revealed a feeling of pity for the Saintess.

Just as the Saintess’s divine power remaining in his body was slowing down the Demon King’s invasion of his body, his feelings for the Saintess seemed to be gradually extinguishing his anger that was burning with revenge.

That affectionate, pure love was so pitiful and precious that any woman would have no choice but to pity him if they heard his story.

At the same time, Ed’s such aspect also made her think that she wanted to be the object of such passionate love as well.

Ellie looked at Lara.

She claims that she killed the guards only for Ed’s sake, but Ellie was definitely convinced.

That she killed people as a way to vent her anger.

Just recalling the madness she had seen last time made her skin crawl.

Well, how anxious must she be, having Ed by her side who only looks at the Saintess even now.

The stress that Lara receives from forcibly turning away from the fact that she can never be Ed’s partner must be enormous.

Ellie clearly remembered Lara on the day she first entered this room where Ed was staying.

She couldn’t hide her displeasure if she tried to have even a light physical contact with Ed.

Ellie thought that perhaps the one who was truly threatening to the empire was her.

There would only be one way to stop Lara’s rampage.

If Ed tells her not to do it, she won’t.

In the end, is there no other way but to go around and persuade Ed?

Ellie was deep in thought.

And after a while

A slightly childish and petty fact came to mind.

“Ed.”

“Yeah?”

“Do you remember that?”

“…?”

“The thing about granting a wish.”

“…”

Ed looked at me with a dumbfounded expression, his mouth wide open.

“Damn it, that’s too cheap.”

“Are you using it now?”

“You said you had a separate mission to entrust to me, but you’re just going to use it for this?”

“I originally had other plans for it too, but I’ll give them up.”

“Just that playful wish-granting bet. What are you going to do if I don’t keep it?”

“Like I said before, I’m looking for a trustworthy ally. Even if it’s a playful bet, a bet is a bet. If you don’t keep it, I’ll become your enemy. A difficult enemy with the status of an imperial princess who knows your secrets.”

“Hah,”

Ed let out a hollow laugh and then fell silent for a moment.

After a few minutes of silence, he slowly opened his mouth.

“Okay. I lost.”

.