Negotiation

After spending a pleasant time with the members at the club for the first time in a while, I was able to head to Modiste through the sewer late at night after everyone had returned to the dormitory.

It seemed like she was displeased with my lateness. Estelle, wearing a black cat mask, sat on the sofa with her legs crossed, tapping one foot. As I carefully sat opposite her like a criminal, a barrage of insults flew at me as if she had been waiting for it.

,Were you too much of a pig that your ass was heavy? Thank you so, so much for making me, who is so busy, wait here doing nothing. Thanks to you, I had plenty of time to shut my mouth and think all by myself, huh? Why did you come so early? Why didn’t you just come tomorrow? If you had told me that a person’s sense of time is different from a pig’s, my generous heart would have understood it well enough.”

Her jewel-like, beautiful purple eyes were filled with anger. I scratched my cheek as if I didn’t see it and turned my head to the side.

Amber, who was standing next to Estelle, made eye contact with me and bowed her head with a bright smile. It was probably out of gratitude for helping her find her lost younger sister.

,Ahem, well, first of all, I apologize for being late….”

I started with those words along with a dry cough, but Estelle immediately cut me off.

,Enough. Do you think I’m as narrow-minded as you are? If I’ve cursed you out this much, you can just let it go. Sigh, what if you have no tact?”

The words, “So what?” almost came out of my throat, but I endured it with superhuman patience.

Getting angry at a *mesugaki* is losing. I repeated inwardly. I’m an adult. I can endure it…!

As I was calming my mind like that, Estelle uncrossed her legs and muttered softly, like a spoiled child.

,…Anyway, thank you.”

At least she has a conscience. I nodded, intending to lighten the mood, and threw in a little joke.

,Somehow, it sounds like the word ‘thank you’ is quieter than your insults….”

,Sh, shut up! It’s enough if you understood it roughly!”

Are *mesugaki* and *tsundere* separated by a single sheet of paper? I don’t know, but it seems that having a cute reaction is a common point. Ah, I think I should add that wanting to flick them on the forehead is also a common point.

,I’m grateful too, Baekhap-nim.”

I shrugged my shoulders at Amber, who was thanking me again.

Maybe it’s because I don’t have much experience, but I felt uncomfortable receiving thanks from someone older than me. It felt like my back was itchy for no reason.

,You’ve proven your abilities… Modiste will now trust you completely. You’ve become a true shared destiny.”

I nodded lightly at Estelle’s serious voice.

But the story about Amy wasn’t over yet. I felt sorry for them being happy, but the verification process was essential.

,Then, although it’s late, can I see Amy now? There’s something I need to check.”

At my words, Estelle readily nodded. Amber left the room for a moment and returned with a child who hadn’t outgrown her childishness.

As if wary of strangers, Amy, who was hiding behind Amber, couldn’t hide her curiosity and peeked out slightly to look at me.

When I waved my hand, she hid her face, reminding me of a snail.

I raised my head and asked Amber.

,Amber-ssi. May I check Amy’s body for a moment?”

Amber’s smiling face hardened. It seemed she thought we would simply exchange words.

Seeing her look at me with instantly wary eyes, I could understand a little how much Amber loved her younger sister.

,…Amy’s examination has already been done thoroughly in various ways. Other than her being underweight, there’s nothing wrong with her body. I can prove it.”

It was a fact I already knew. Amy, who was rescued a few years later, lived happily without any problems.

It was just a verification process to eliminate variables. There was a high possibility that the plot would act on its own again.

,I’m simply trying to check if there’s any magic power in Amy’s body.”

Saying that, I glanced at Estelle. It was a rude act of passing the responsibility to the decision-maker instead of the person involved, but this method is always effective.

Estelle raised her head proudly and said.

,Amber, don’t worry. Even if he looks like trash, he’s not the worst kind of guy who would touch a child. He’s a pervert, but he’s not low-class.”

,…Thank you for seeing me that way.”

At the insult disguised as a compliment, I sighed and turned my head to Amber. Amber, who had been biting her lip tightly, carefully patted Amy, who was behind her.

,Just show me your wrist for a moment, like you did during the day. Okay?”

,U-ung, okay….”

As Amy carefully approached me and held out her thin wrist, I took out some food from my spatial storage to ease her wariness.

,Do you like candy? I also have chocolate.”

When I gave Amy, who was nodding her head, a handful of candy and chocolate, she gave me a pretty, beaming smile. After all, children look best when they’re smiling.

,Shouldn’t you offer it to the adults first?”

Ignoring Estelle’s immature words from the side, I gently placed my hand on Amy’s wrist, who was eating candy. Then, I focused my magic power on my fingertips.

The released magic power swept through Amy’s body without any resistance and returned.

Whether it tickled her, Amy smiled bashfully.

To use such a cute child as a slave, I let out a bitter smile.

I had no right to blame anyone, since I was the one who created such a setting without thinking.

,Thank you, it’s late, so you should brush your teeth and go to bed now.”

I stroked Amy’s head and gestured to Amber. The moment Amber left the room with Amy, I let out a sigh of relief that I had been holding back.

,Why is it a problem that she doesn’t have magic power?”

,I’ll explain it all at once when Amber comes back. Amber needs to know about this anyway.”

A moment later, Amber returned, and I opened my mouth with a smile.

,First of all, before I explain, let’s start with a summary. How much do you all know about the immortal Roman, the ruler of Ludwig?”

,I know that the Count who owns the city of pleasure is Roman. But I’ve been wondering, what does ‘immortal’ mean?”

A question mark appeared in Estelle’s eyes.

,And Roman isn’t even related to the Order, is he?”

,That’s right. Roman has nothing to do with the Order at all. I’ll explain about the immortal later.”

Is this all Estelle knows? I turned my head to look at Amber, and she kindly explained the information she knew.

,Count Roman Krahel. Age 42. He is the ruler of Ludwig, the city of pleasure, and is known as the richest of the southern nobles. He is skilled in magic and swordsmanship, and possesses various abilities such as alchemy, magic engineering, and ancient languages. He is a well-known devoted husband and loves his children dearly. He makes many donations for the development of the city. He is regarded as the best noble in the South.”

I smiled and nodded. Fortunately, nothing had changed in Roman’s setting.

,Roman is very well-regarded by the people. If you curse him in Ludwig, you’ll be mobbed by the citizens. But in fact, Roman’s true identity is not human. He’s a monster that eats people.”

,A cannibal?”

I nodded at Estelle’s question.

,He’s not just a simple cannibal. It’s not that he enjoys eating human flesh. Over the years, Roman has combined black magic and alchemy to develop his own unique magic. He uses magic to inject his blood into the bodies of others and parasitize them.”

,Parasitize…? Then the reason you checked Amy’s body earlier was….”

Estelle nodded as if she finally understood. Seeing Amber’s expression change seriously, I hurriedly added.

,Amy is fine. The body that Roman parasitizes always has magic power. He uses the magic power in the body to eat away at its life force and avoid his own death. If the host body is killed by someone, he revives by using the parasitized body as a host. That’s why he’s immortal.”

Roman doesn’t die. Although his body changes, his abilities and memories are passed down intact to the new host’s body. I smiled bitterly.

,The reason he loves his children is simple. They are another version of himself who will inherit everything. Roman has survived by constantly changing his body like that, and his current age is probably over 500 years old.”

,…He’s a real monster. And an immortal monster at that.”

Amber nodded as if agreeing with Estelle’s muttering.

I took a deep breath for a moment, paused, and then opened my mouth.

,In the future I saw, a great tragedy will befall us. It starts when Roel, who was stopping the Emperor’s immortality plan, clashes with Roman, who was trying to make a deal with the Emperor, and Roel ends up killing Roman after a battle.”

,Then isn’t that okay? Even if he comes back, you can just kill him again.”

Estelle tilted her head. If you think about it simply, that might be the case. But the opponent is an immortal. And one who revives in a different body.

,Roman attacks Roel every time with a different face and gender. He even disguises himself as a student at the academy.”

Roman indiscriminately attacked the people around Roel as well. Roel was almost broken by the fact that he could be attacked by someone anywhere and that his loved ones might be in danger at any moment.

Estelle, who now understood how difficult it was to deal with an immortal, lowered her gaze.

,…He’s the worst enemy. It’s perfect for developing a distrust of humanity.”

I nodded at Estelle’s words.

,That’s right. For Roel’s sake, Bella receives help from Modiste and uncovers Roman’s secret. Bella kills all of Roman’s family and relatives to prevent him from reviving.”

,That’s right! If you kill his family and relatives first before killing Roman, he won’t be able to revive!!!”

Amber, who was next to me, said before I could answer.

,Baekhap-nim checked Amy’s body, didn’t you? That means….”

As Amber trailed off, Estelle belatedly clenched her fist.

,The one Roman parasitized wasn’t just his family….”

,That’s right. Roman, who had ruled Ludwig for a long time, had parasitized the citizens in his sphere of influence in preparation for any eventuality. So that no one could find out who he had parasitized. However, what Roman failed to calculate was Bella’s madness for Roel.”

Estelle raised her head. Her eyes were filled with interest at the word “madness.”

,He didn’t expect the Imperial Knights and 130,000 soldiers to march out and kill everything alive in Ludwig. Roman also failed to calculate that those with magic power among the knights and soldiers who marched out were poisoned by the poison mixed in the alcohol distributed at the send-off ceremony and were terminally ill.”

Roman, who had been constantly reviving, eventually died in vain because there was no one left to parasitize. As one of the hundreds of thousands of innocent Ludwig citizens.

A strange silence filled the room. I remained silent and watched until Estelle opened her mouth.

,…We joined hands to fight against the Order. I can’t shed the blood of my clan on something that has nothing to do with the Order.”

I had already anticipated what kind of reaction Estelle would show. Thanks to that, I was able to answer smoothly.

,Confession’s Number 2, Cassis, will use these corpses to undo the demon’s seal.”

A murderous intent flashed in Estelle’s eyes at that moment. It couldn’t be helped.

Cassis has a history of massacring Estelle’s clan under the orders of the Pope. And he is using those corpses as his subordinates.

The successor of the clan will not be able to forget that humiliation.

That’s why I’m forcing a negotiation. With words that Estelle can never refuse.

,If Estelle kills Roman, I will kill Cassis.”